They each took a couple of candles and placed them along the edges of the salt circle.

"Now, we need to stand around the pentagram and hold each other's hands. Then add our mana to the candles," Rya explained.

They all got into position as Rya stood in front of the point of the pentagram that was facing true north.

"A-Are you sure this is going to work? I can leave if-" Nieren was interrupted by Dalia.

"I thought you were an adventurer? Don't worry, we'll be fine. I've seen a lot of weird things in my lifetime," Dalia reassured.

"I'm older than you!" Nieren said.

"What does that have to-"

"ENOUGH! You two need to focus your mana into your hands and I'll take care of the rest, okay?" Rya said as she was able to get the bickering girls' attention.

"Okay..." Nieren reluctantly agreed.

"Sorry, Alpha..." Dalia apologized.

"Good... Now focus your mana into your hands... I won't let anything happen to you guys. I promise," Rya said.

Dalia and Nieren closed their eyes

Once they all finished focusing their mana into their hands Rya started to chant the incantation.

Then the mana flowed towards the God's Tear and made it pulse to life before the mana lit the five candles on the edge of the pentagram with black flames. When the candles lit up, the pentagram started to glow a faint purple. After a few seconds, the gold and silver coins began to melt and flow into the pentagram.

"What the heck is going on?!" Dalia screamed out.

"It looks like the gold and silver are flowing into the pentagram! This is creepy!" Nieren exclaimed.

"Shhhh! It's almost done. The black flames are going to get bigger," Rya replied.

After the last coin flowed into the pentagram, the lines of the rune turned bright red as the God's Tear started to light up with rainbow colors while the pentagram started to shrink down and move closer to the egg-shaped crystal in the center of the table. After a few more seconds the God's Tear began to morph into something they couldn't make out as the pentagram glowed brighter and brighter until its blinding light forced the three women to close their eyes. The candles melted down into nothing and everything in the room went pitch black as the magical torches went out.

"H-Hey, what happened? Are we cursed?" Nieren asked in a panicked state.

'Nieren! Your fear of curses is getting annoying... Haah... Whatever this thing is close to finishing.' Rya thought as she controlled the mana flow inside the salt circle.

"No, not yet. Just stay calm. We're almost there," Rya said calmly.

She then opened her eyes to the pitch black and looked at her friends. "Now, we have to close our eyes again, and when I tell you to, open your eyes."

Dalia and Nieren both nodded.

"Let's try to keep our breathing steady and silent. If we do that, we should be able to calm ourselves down before we open our eyes," Rya whispered.

Both of them closed their eyes and waited for Rya to start chanting again.

'I feel it! This is amazing!' Rya thought to herself.

At some point, the God's Tear morphed into a demonic monocle with an intricate gold and silver frame. The crystal that turned into the glass looked pitch black and had a purple glow inside of it as the room became visible again once the magical torches were able to relight with its mana no longer getting interfered with.

"That wasn't so hard now was it? It's safe to open your eyes, ladies," Rya said to her friends.

They all took a deep breath in unison.

When they exhaled, Dalia and Nieren slowly opened their eyes to see the monocle glowing with a purple hue.

"Is that the Seer Stone? It looks like a demon's eye!" Nieren exclaimed.

"How do you know what a demon's eye looks like?" Dalia asked curiously.

"Well, that's what my father told me that a demon's eye looks like... well, that... Demons are evil creatures that can look into your being and know your weaknesses!" Nieren explained.

"Didn't your father tell your mother that Dark Elves were evil? I'm going to wait to pass judgment on them until I meet a demon in person," Rya corrected.

"Well? I-I guess that's fair," Nieren reluctantly said with a conflicted expression.

Rya released Nieren's and Dalia's hands and reached for the monocle. She grabbed the artifact with her left hand and brought it closer to her glowing azure eyes so she could examine it better.

"This is definitely the Seer Stone. So this thing should let us see everyone's mana vein," Rya said in a satisfied tone.

"Ooh! Ooh! Test it on me, Alpha! I'm feeling lucky!" Dalia said eagerly.

"Sure thing. Let's see how well this works," Rya replied.

Rya held the monocle up to her right eye and focused her gaze on Dalia. Everything looked dark when looking through it but in the middle of Dalia was a strange light that looked like a glowing artery that was pulsing with mana.

It was almost like looking through a thermal scope and seeing someone's heat signature, but instead of seeing a full figure. Rya was only able to see this long vein or artery-looking thing was all she could see through the monocle. It went from the top of the heart and all along Dalia's spine.

'Holy shit! It works! Okay! Okay... Let's see... Her vein has a bluish tint to it... Which means...'

Rya then flipped a few pages in the demonic tome until she got to the part explaining which color mana vein correlates with what rank they are.

"So? Is everything good?" Dalia asked nervously.

"Wow! You have a blue mana vein. And it means your vein is ranked as Elite," Rya said calmly.

"HA! I knew I was special! Take that Warkith!" Dalia yelled happily.

"Who's Warkith? I'm assuming that was someone you knew back in your tribe?" Rya asked.

"Oh! He was the jerk Alpha of my tribe... He always said that females aren't supposed to be strong and should submit to him during mating season! And he was constantly belittling me and my mother!" Dalia growled angrily.

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"That sucks, Dalia... You know what? We will go monster hunting at some point and get you stronger so when we run into that jerk you can put him in his place," Rya said with a smile.

"You would do that for me?" Dalia asked with excitement in her voice.

"Of course! After everything you've gone through, you deserve it!" Rya said with a smile.

"Alpha's the best! Thank you! I promise I'll repay you in full!" Dalia said cheerfully.

"Good! Now, it's Nieren's turn," Rya said as she looked at Nieren with the Seer Stone in her hand.

Nieren was now a little nervous. She didn't expect Dalia to have an Elite ranked mana vein and didn't want to be left behind when it came to absorbing mana from hunting monsters.

"Huh... Nieren. Can you do a spin for me? There's something up with your mana vein," Rya said firmly.

Nieren nodded as she started to slowly spin around while keeping her eyes locked on the monocle.

"Hmm... Your vein is a dark green... which means you're a Grand-Master ranked vein but there's these weird gray smaller veins that are protruding out from your main vein?" Rya said as she looked through the monocle.

"What does that mean?" Nieren asked with a confused expression.

"Well, it says in the tome that smaller veins that come out from the main vein are the elemental veins. They are what allow a mage to be a mage. Sooo, it looks like you should have been a mage but they aren't flowing with mana? I wonder why that is?" Rya asked out loud curiously.

"Hold on... You're saying that I should be a mage," Nieren asked with a frown on her face.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying... Let me get another look at you, Nieren," Rya said as she held the monocle in front of her right eye again.

'... There has to be something that prevents her mana from flowing freely,' Rya thought.

After a few more seconds of examining Nieren. Rya finally noticed something and moved in closer to Nieren's chest with the monocle.

"Ugh... Ughh... Is something wrong with me," Nieren asked with a bit of concern in her voice.

"Ahh... I think I found the issue..." Rya said as she focused her gaze on Nieren's heart.

"What is it?" Nieren asked with a bit of worry in her voice.

"You remember that I can see damage done to anyone's body and can heal it? Well, I'm seeing a similar thing going on with your mana vein," Rya said as she kept staring at Nieren's heart.

"Huh? You couldn't see it before? How come you could see this now?" Nieren asked with a slight hint of confusion in her voice.

"I can only see the damage on your mana vein through the Seer Stone. When I'm not looking through it you look perfectly fine... Plus the glow of the mana vein was making it tough to see the red particles... I-I think I can fix it. Do you want me to try?" Rya asked gently.

"Yes! Please!" Nieren replied with a hopeful tone.

Rya smiled kindly and then put the monocle up to her right eye while bringing her left hand up and touching Nieren's chest with her palm.

'Okay! You got this Rya... It's like healing anyone else's wound... Just focus on fixing it!' Rya thought while closing her eyes tightly and concentrating on the parts of Nieren's mana vein that had the damage. She took deep calming breaths as she tried to concentrate.

Suddenly, Rya felt a warmth in her hands as she started healing Nieren's mana vein.

Nieren's cheeks started to blush red as she looked down.

"S-Stop it! That tickles!" Nieren said as she pulled away from Rya.

"Um... Are you alright?" Rya asked with a confused expression.

"Y-Yes! I mean... Yes! I am!" Nieren said with a nervous smile.

Rya had been focusing so much on healing the mana vein that she didn't realize her fingers slid in between the buttons of Nieren's short black dress and touched her bare chest.

"Hahaha... Sorry about that." Rya said with embarrassment.

Nieren blushed a bright red as she looked away from Rya.

"D-Did you heal me yet? Did you get all the damaged parts healed?" Nieren asked as she peeked back at Rya.

"I almost did until you stopped me... Try and bear with it a little longer. It'll be alright. I promise," Rya said as she gave Nieren a reassuring smile.

Nieren nodded and stepped closer to Rya while reassuring herself that everything would be fine as long as she didn't move.

Rya kept trying to focus on healing the damaged mana vein and placed her left hand on Nieren's chest again.

Her eyes were shut tightly as she focused hard on those red particles. Her breathing was slow and steady as she felt the heat from her hands increase because of her mana flowing through her fingertips and into Nieren.

She kept her focus as she tried to repair all of Nieren's damaged mana vein. Nieren flinched again when Rya's fingers slid inside the front of her dress and touched her bare skin once more.

"A-Ah..." Nieren gasped quietly as her body tensed up.

"I-I almost have it..." Rya whispered as she kept her eyes shut tight.

'Something is trying to stop me from healing Nieren? It's like a parasite or something... Whatever this thing is doesn't stand a chance against me though,' Rya thought as she kept her eyes closed.

Rya added more mana to her fingertips as she continued to focus. When Rya opened her eyes, she saw her hands were now glowing gold.

'Now whatever the fuck you are, prepare to get out of Nieren's body!' Rya thought as her hand started to glow brighter.

"Mmmm... Mmph... Mmmph... Mmf... Mmmph..." Nieren moaned softly as her vision started to blur.

Then all of a sudden Rya felt something crack against her mana. That caused her to open her eyes and look through the monocle to see a few small runes that, glowed with an eerie red, were on Nieren's mana vein in a few spots and started to light up before they shattered and disappeared from existence.

'What was that? Did someone place some spell on her? Like a debuff, or a curse?' Rya thought as she blinked a few times trying to make sense of what just happened.

Nieren was panting heavily and her eyes were still unfocused. Rya quickly sat up and placed her hands on Nieren's forehead. Then she channels her mana into Nieren trying to heal her.

"Y-You're done..." Nieren said with a weak voice.

Rya nodded while she stood next to her and looked down at Nieren's chest as she was wondering what was going on with her mana vein. "How do you feel?"

"I think I'm alright... Y-Yes, my head is spinning a bit but other than that, I don't feel any different." Nieren said as she sat in a chair and leaned her elbow on the table next to her in order to steady herself.

Rya felt relieved that Nieren was okay. "Alright then, let's see if those smaller veins are flowing with mana, shall we?"

Rya then looked at Nieren through the monocle again and witnessed those smaller veins lighting up and glowing with two different colors.

"Hmm... looks like you can use two different elements Nieren," Rya said as she smiled brightly.

"What!? Woody is a mage now? I would like to be a mage," Dalia said with a pout as she crossed her arms.

"Oh please, we all know you like using your claws as your main weapon," Nieren said with a soft chuckle.

"Sheesh! Don't start with that! I would cast magic if I could," Dalia growled.

"Calm down Dalia... Now Nieren, your element veins are the colors of dark green and pale yellow... Which means you are fluent in vegetation magic and light magic," Rya said as she looked through the monocle and saw Nieren's element veins, which intertwined with beautiful deep greens and soft yellow colors that went throughout her body.

"I can use Green Word!? So all this time I had my mother's ability to talk to plants! But something was preventing me?!" Nieren exclaimed.

Rya chuckled and shook her head. "Well... Nothing is stopping you now... And in a book I read at the Mages Guild said that light magic is a common thing with the High Elves. That's cool that you can cast that now too... But I'm wondering why there were those strange runes on your main mana vein. Do you have any idea when you got those things cast on you?"

"I don't know..." Nieren answered.

Rya then looked at Nieren. "Hmm? Well, it's fixed now so no big deal," she said as she pondered a bit more about who might have cast those debuffs on Nieren behind her back. But no matter how much she thought about it. She wasn't going to get an answer anytime soon. So, Rya just put it off to the side for now.

"Hey, Alpha... Can I look through the circle thingy?" Dalia asked as she pointed towards the monocle.

"Why not? Just don't drop it, please," Rya replied as she permitted Dalia to use the monocle.

"Hehe! This is going to be neet!" Dalia said as she took the monocle from Rya and looked through it.

Dalia looked at Rya first and was stunned by the dazzling array of different types of element veins that came from Rya's much larger golden mana vein.

"Wooow! Alpha your mana looks so flashy!" Dalia said with awe.

Rya had a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, I can only imagine. I can use so many different elements that I must look like a tree or something similar."

"Daaamn! Your main vein is glowing with a golden light! I guess that means you are a summoned! You have so much mana too!" Dalia said as she continued to look through the monocle.

"Yeah killing a couple of basilisks and the cave troll helped a lot," Rya said with a weak smile.

Dalia looked back at Rya. "You never told me that you took down one of those overgrown lizards. I hate those things! I'm surprised that you are still alive."

"I barely made it out alive myself, but their eyes were covered so that helped," Rya sighed.

Dalia thought about that for a moment.

"Yeah can't turn you to stone if they can't see ya'," Dalia muttered under her breath.

Rya just nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's awesome you took them down, Alpha. I like to hear more about it after I take a look at Woody's mana vein," Dalia said with excitement.

"Yeah, you just want to gloat about you having an Elite ranked vein and tease me for having a Grand-Master ranked vein, don't you Dog..." Nieren teased Dalia as she knew that the wolfkin was going to make fun of her.

Dalia giggled and nodded, "It's my duty as your friend, Woody. Now let's see what yours... Looks... Like...? Um? Alpha... Didn't you say, Woody's vein thing was green?" Dalia asked with a hint of confusion.

"Yeah? Why what's wrong," Rya responded to Dalia.

Nieren became curious, "What do you mean, Dalia? What did you see?"

Dalia looked up at Rya and Nieren, "It's blue... I think."