With a crash, the rocks covering the entrance crumbled from the snake’s strike. The large beast made its way through the area, snapping at the slimes as it flicked its tail. Whenever the end struck one, the slimes would pop like overripe berries.

Jennifer watched from the gap of her crack, mentally going through her plan once more. It was going to be risky, a lot of chaotic elements could make things problematic and Jennifer had no good way to properly gather the slimes. She’d have to trust the Mark to follow through on that end.

“Are you sure about this?” Livian asked, his eyes nervously darting outside to the hissing snake slithering through the cavern, attacking the various slimes flopping around.

“No,” Jennifer replied as she flashed Livian a smile. Her heart was racing as she watched the serpent plow through the room, its tongue flicking out, tasting the air for their scent.

"Ready?" the Mark asked, and she sensed some excitement seeping in through the words.

"As ready as I’ll ever be."

She sensed an acknowledgement coming from the Mark, and began to weave her spells together.

“I’ll send a pulse of mana, be ready to fire when I do,” Jennifer said, as she rushed out of the crack in the wall.

Shards of Glass flew around Jennifer as she stacked glass bolts together. She didn’t bother hiding her magic, rushing straight towards the snake.

The serpent reared up with a hiss, fangs bared as a stream of liquid shot towards her.

“Reflect,” she whispered under her breath, a hexagonal mirror forming in front of her. The jet of poison splashed against her shield, the glass cracked and hissed as the stream of poison pushed against her. Letting her shield block the attack, Jennifer rolled to the side. The glass shield cracked behind her, leaving a trail of poison that let out pungent fumes when it touched the rocks..

Acid-poison. Of course it is.

She channeled Agile Wind, breaking into a run as the snake shot another stream of hissing green poison at her.

“[Enchanted Glass Creation] [Twofold enchanting]” Jennifer murmured, layering her glass with enchantments. Sharpen. Harden.

Three hexagonal mirrors formed around her, flying near her as they blocked the oncoming stream of poison. Jennifer extended her skills to the glass bolts around her as they grew larger and sharper. With a burst of wind she launched them towards the serpent, a barrage of glowing glass.

The snake flicked its tail, cracking it like a whip as her shards shattered. Yet enough pierced the beast's scales, drawing dark blood as the beast hissed in pain.The monster roared leaping towards Jennifer and she rolled to the side, shooting another glass bolt aimed at its eye.

Her glass struck the beast’s eye, sinking in with a disgusting squelch. The beast roared in pain, a sound she didn’t know it was capable of making, as it thrashed around for a moment. The monster's eyes snapped towards Jennifer a moment later, its body shuddering with rage.

The snake’s aura flared, pushing down on Jennifer, as its long tail shot forward.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she pulled her glass up front, trying to layer it with her guard. “[Lunestone: Gu—

“[Scorching Ray]!” she heard Livian shout as a thick beam of light struck the snake’s face.

Rocks exploded near Jennifer the next moment, as the serpent’s tail missed her by an inch. Her heart dropped into her gut as she froze at the near death experience. That would’ve been the end of this reset. She would’ve died then and there.

“Jenn, run!” Rumina screamed, the dagger flying from her hand as it cut through the snake’s scale.

Snapping out of her daze, Jennifer quickly pushed her feet to action. Glass shards gathered at her fingertips, as she shot a barrage of those towards the snake. A light bird flew around the snake, shining and blinding the monster every so often before flying away as beams of light hit the beast, leaving its scales bright red and smoking.

“Shoot its eye!” Jennifer shouted towards Livian, as she reached out towards the snake. Little spikes of glass formed near its body, piercing the snake, but the monster’s magical aura was far too strong for her to penetrate as it easily broke through her trap.

The monster turned towards her at the move, hissing, when a beam of light from Livian interrupted it, followed soon by a rock Rumina threw that hit it in its injured eye once more.

Jennifer weaved together a glass blade, trying to keep a shield ready to form in front of any of her friends if need be.

Her glass mana pulsated as the spell took shape, but her attack was interrupted by something heavy falling onto her back with a disgusting odor and wet sensation. Jennifer quickly reached out to her back and saw the slime that was sticking to her clothes, already trying to eat its way through.

Disgusted, she threw the creature away as it plopped onto the ground. Her gaze traveled around the cavern, looking at the increasing number of slimes falling from the ceiling and heading towards the serpent. Tugging at the mind link, she reached out to the Mark.

"Is it working?"

Jennifer sensed a jumble of thoughts reach her in a chaotic mess, before something more coherent flowed in through the mind link. It took a few moments for the answer to form and reach her.

"Slimes will gather. Brace. Will attack Poison-Death. Soon."

A presence grew in a far corner of the cavern, one she felt her Mark reacting too. Jennifer turned to Livian and Rumina, sending a pulse of mana to both, alerting them to the next step of their plan. She wished she had a convenient method to talk to them like the mind link.

Within a few moments, she felt a wave pass over her, making her stumble. Like a pulsating body, the slimes shifted as one. Large slimes dropped from the walls and the roof, and Jennifer felt another pulse go off even stronger than before. A rain of slimes followed, distrubed from their mindless feast they shivered in place, disoriented and confused.

Jennifer’s eyes shifted to the beast, as it thrashed under the barrage of mind waves, slimes piling over it in a goopy hill.

“Now!” Jennifer screamed.

She felt the mana gathering around Livian, as he weaved his light magic together. His familiar flew around, guiding the mana as a bright ball manifested in his palms. A moment later, a scorching beam of light launched towards the snake, as it impacted the pile of slime. It cut through the gelatinous glob covering the snake, turning the slimes red from the generated heat.

For a moment, nothing happened, and Jennifer feared the worst. Then one slime bloated, expanding to an abnormal size, its membrane stretched further and further to the limit.

‘Pop’ the slime exploded, with a loud explosion that spread burning slime ooze all over. Three more followed in its wake, followed by five, and soon, the entire chamber was shaking from a series of slimey explosions.

“Run!” Jennifer screamed towards Livian and Rumina, rushing towards the crack in the chamber.

Flaming slime rained through the chamber, as more and more slimes continued to fall from the ceiling, and plop towards the serpent. Their membranes popped, a rain of goo, slime and acid spread around the hole, fire spreading faster than she could follow as more and more explosions followed. Jennifer ran, the ground shaking with tremors as the explosions continued to build, dropping even more slimes.

She jumped, rolling into the crack. She turned around, quickly pulling Rumina in, followed by Livian and his familiar now resting on his shoulder.

After making sure everyone was inside, Jennifer spun around and dug her fingers into the narrow rocky walls on both sides of her. She used [Glass Mana Pool], pouring glass mana out from her hands. Glass formed over the rocks, heading over to the entrance, blocking the way in.

“[Lunestone: Guard]!” she cried, using her skill. Her mana dipped rapidly as she spread her spell over the entire section.

“[Light Shield]!” Livian shouted quickly after, layering another barrier on top.

Scorching heat spread through the cavern, as sweat dripped down Jennifer’s forehead. The explosions continued to rattle the ground, soon turning into a flaming inferno that spread across the entire cavern. Acid and fire goo spread along the walls as the cloud of dust rose.

Jennifer heard Rumina say something, but the words were lost in the explosions as they continued building to a crescendo.

As if on cue, a massive blast sent a shockwave that shook the ground under them, cracking the walls and shaking great boulders loose. Rocks tumbled down in her crack, her glass cracking from the strain. Jennifer felt her guard spell straining, and she poured all her mana into it, trying to keep the spell stable.

For a moment, the world was blindingly bright, but the explosions soon began to settle down as the heat started to recede. Jennifer waited within the gap, trying to get a feel for the outside. After a minute of no tremors of noises, she let her guard die off, stumbling back from the exhaustion as Rumina caught her.

“Did… we get it?” Livian asked nervously.

“If it survived that… then it might be time to start praying to the gods,” Jennifer whispered, slinging one arm around Rumina as she let her mana pathways relax.

“You’re insane Jennifer. I mean, I should’ve known, but it is one thing to hear about it all and another to see it in front of me,” Rumina said, glancing at Jennifer.

“She just passed an Apprenticeship Test as a first year student. Jennifer is as insane as they come,” Livian said, and Jennifer smiled awkwardly in reply.

“We should take what we can from the snake,” Rumina said.

“I’d rather get out of here quickly. Enough adventure for the day, and we got what we’d come for,” Jennifer replied, looking at the little bird of light sitting on Livian’s shoulders.

“Adventurers should be here soon as well. I’d triggered the message scroll Markus had added to our armors,” Livian said.

Jennifer nodded, before diverting her attention towards the mindlink.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Can you come out now?" she asked.

A wave of impressions came to her, and for a moment she felt the mindlink shudder.

"Wait. Poison-Death. Wrong."

"Wrong?" Jennifer asked, but didn’t receive a reply. She peeked through the crack they were hiding in, at the corpse of the serpent further in the cavern.

Slowly, Jennifer made her way out of the narrow gap, motioning for the other two to follow quietly. “Something is wrong with the corpse,” Jennifer said, glancing sideways at her two companions.

“It’s definitely not in the prettiest condition,” Rumian said, pointing at the battered and burnt corpse.

Jennifer didn’t reply, sensing a strange sensation from her [Blood Dagger]. She manifested the blade in her hands, sensing a pulsating rhythm rising from the weapon.

Her blade felt… hungry.

[Detect Danger] flared a moment later, as Jennifer turned around in alarm.

"Poison-Death moving! Death-Poison!"

With a shuddering twitch from the corpse, a pulse of poison gas spread out. The cloud of poison swirled around the serpent, seeping into its body and painting its bloodied scales a dark green. The serpent rose, flesh dripping and corroding from its acidic poison, skull showing through as it hissed. Its eyes lit up with a green glow, skeletal wings poking out from its spine.

The plume of poison remaining outside gathered together, forming a secondary spirit-serpent, as the two beasts hissed and rored together.

“A… spirit remnant,” Livian muttered out loud, but Jennifer had no time to think over the beast.

“Get ready!” she shouted, weaving her magic together.

The snake lurched, green fangs of poisonous aura aiming straight towards them, Jennifer tried to call her guard once again, but the spell matrix broke apart in moments. She tried to scramble back, but her foot got caught in an outcropping. Time seemed to slow down as she watched the fanged mouth of death descend towards her face.

With a thud, the snake crashed into a translucent barrier that had formed in front of her. Jennifer shook her foot loose, her heart thundering as she saw the snake hiss. Then it launched itself towards her, colliding against the barrier once more, bouncing off of the protective surface.

"Protect" the Mark said, and she could almost hear its resolution. "Kill. Grow" it sent, the thought whispering seductively in her mind. Her [Blood Dagger] agreed with the sentiment.

“Jenn! Get back!” Rumina shouted, as the girl’s dagger arced around the serpent, yet the moving corpse showed little issues with being stabbed. Beams of light followed soon after, showing little effect as well.

"Bond?" the not-voice asked, and she felt her Mark grow hot. Magic gathered in her hand, swirling in a whirlpool. Her Mark began to glow, invisible tendrils spreading through the chamber, and even though she couldn't see where they went, she could feel them reaching out towards the mark nearby.

"Strong/Grow/Bond?" it asked again. Jennifer moved a step back, looking at the now slowly crumbling barrier in front of her against the snake’s barrage of attacks.

"Yes," she sent back, and a string snapped into place.

[Bond: Linked Minds] obtained!

Mark of Time:

The Mark of the Chosen of Time.

Bond of Fate: Fated strings

A Bond born from the union of Time and Fate

Bond of Psyche: Linked Minds

A Bond born from the union of Time and Psyche

Abilities: Time Reset

Resets: 4

Integrity: 97.12%

Tier: Undefined

Jennifer let out a hiss of pain, as the magic swirled once more in her hand. Similar to when she'd gotten her mark. It shifted, changing, drawing a new line across her hand.

She looked at her hand, the mark, having subtly shifted, the top crescent moon grew a curving line at its end within which, jagged lines ran, pitch black in color unlike her own Mark. She felt a connection grow, the presence of the other Mark now stable in her mind, its thoughts flowing into her own.

"Words. Can understand better now," it sent, now in a voice instead of the abstract sequence of concepts. Jennifer acknowledged the information. She felt it searching, as pieces shifted around and images went through her mind, too quick for her to follow.

Jennifer moved back away from the snake, the beast now trapped inside the translucent protective dome. It hissed slamming around as the barrier shuddered.

"Where are you?"

"Wall-nearby. Behind—" the message cut off as a wave of green washed over them. Jennifer felt the scratches on her arm sting, the skin darkening. The barrier shattered into pieces as the snake hissed in triumph. Its aura oozed anger as it launched itself towards them.

“Prepare yourself!” Jennifer shouted as she summoned a pair of glass shards, enchanting their edges. Wind stirred around her, restlessly moving as the glass shards rotated. Livian shot beams of light at the creature as Rumina moved through the shadows, a single glimmer of her enchanted blades the only sign as she struck the snake from far.

“Attacks are doing nothing! It’s a spirit remnant!” Livian shouted, as Jennifer’s heart thundered. What could she do if her attacks didn’t work?

"Attack core," the voice said, reverting to using concepts, and Jennifer felt a pulse of magic shake the area. The ground trembled as rocks and pebbles floated into the air. They hung there just long enough for Jenn to question what was happening before they shot towards the snake.

“Attack it’s core!” Jennifer shouted. She let the wind swirl around her, shooting herself sideways as she moved her glass shards around, letting them launch with a pair of glass bolts.

The snake hissed, the green color washing over its body as its aura deepened. Fangs made of aura snapped her projectiles. The phantom snake of poison coiled around the serpent before it flew across the area, flying straight at Jennifer.

Jennifer leapt to the side, pushing wind around her to speed her escape as the two serpents continued to attack.

"Spirit-Heart. Death!" squeaked the voice in her mind. "Attack!" the voice exclaimed and she saw the rocks rising once more, attacking the snake. Jennifer pulsed her magic, letting her glass affinity tinge her Agile Wind spell. The matrix shifted as tiny shards of glass manifested around her, the wind now swirling harder around her forming a storm of glass.

Jennifer charged her glass with mana, launching off glass tinged mana bolts at the phantom. The beast twirled through the air, its tail flicking at her as it curved, diving towards her.

Her bolts shattered upon hitting the snake, its form wavering as the magic in her spells disrupted its aura. The snake moved in with a whip from its tail, and Jennifer tried to dodge, but the tail hit, cutting through her armor as pain blossomed near her waist. Jennifer hissed, her gut churning from the pain as she felt the blood flow.

She saw the phantom snake move, the aura spreading its poison as the gash darkened. The aura intruded into her body, moving through her blood as it fought against her mana, eating it away.

Anxiety and panic took over, and Jennifer pulled all her mana in, trying to expel the poisonous aura. Her mana churned, coiling and moving against the poison magic, and Jennifer shot off with a burst of wind, away from the phantom.

“Rumina!” she heard Livian scream as fire erupted nearby. Jennifer’s heart dropped as she saw her friend fallen on the floor, Livian fending off the snake’s incessant attack with beams of light.

Her gaze snapped back towards the serpent, this time with rising anger and panic. Resolved to end the fight, Jennifer pulled all her mana together, as she weaved another spell. A spell that she’d been working on through her resets.

Glass magic flowed through her, tiny shards of glass forming around her body. She felt the spell forming, shifting in layers, as the glass and poison churned together. Glass storm mingled and merged with glass blades, the two spell matrices colliding into one. Jennifer felt her mana pathways strain, phantom pain rising in her core as the spell matrices began to quaver.

I need more.

She reached out to her skills, drawing as much as she could from her [Glass Mana Pool]. Her core shuddered, mana levels dropping rapidly as she guided a flood of glass mana through her body.

The blood on her waist froze, turning to glass as it fell toward the floor. The snake turned towards her, sensing the forming spell and it shot off, launching itself. The phantom moved with it, as both snake and spirit surrounded her, leaving her nowhere to run.

Which was fine. She was done running.

Jennifer raised her hand, a red and white ball glowing above it. She felt the magic, volatile and unstable, ready to blow. Twospells warred with one another, set upon her flaming pathways that could barely hold the strength of her magic together. With a small tug, she let it loose.

“Glass Blades Storm”

Bright light filled the area, as Jennifer was knocked back from the strength of her own spell. She screamed as the mana paths in her hand burned from the overload. Glass covered the floor, spikes rising as blades swirled in an inferno of light. The beast screamed as its body was ripped apart by a storm of glass, the phantom dissolving somewhere amidst the explosion of blood and glass.

Jennifer collapsed, her legs failing to hold her up as blood filled her mouth and she coughed, spitting it out. Her eyes spun, as she pulled her body up, something flowing through the link that joined her and the Mark. But she was too disoriented to understand anything.

The glass storm soon settled, leaving multiple small crystalline shards of glass lying all around her. The snake twitched, its mouth moving as a weak hiss escaped. But the beast remained still, blood pooling under its body.

Her eyes turned towards Livian, the boy standing behind a barrier, as he supported Rumina. Jennifer pulled herself up, her whole body screaming in agony as blood flowed freely from her wounds. She avoided looking at her arm. Seeing the dripping blood from the corner of her eye and the lack of sensation from it was bad enough.

Jennifer walked to stand near the snake. The beast’s eyes glowed as it hissed lightly, its tongue flicking out. Jennifer gripped her [Blood Dagger], the blade grown in size as it feasted on her blood. She crouched near the large snake as it bared its fangs at her, glowing yellow eyes looking into hers. It knew of its approaching demise.

Raising her hand up, plunged her [Blood Dagger] into the beast. The glass pierced the flesh easily, like a sharp enchanted blade. Something flowed into her blade, dark green wisps rising and tingling her [Blood Dagger] as it feasted upon the blood of its prey.

Dark blood dribbled through the beast's mouth as it twitched, its whole body spasming once before it stopped, now at rest beyond death for good.

Jennifer shuddered, nausea overwhelming her from the sensation of parting flesh, but she ignored it, standing as she made her way towards her friends. She limped, taking a healing potion out and drinking it. Her wounds closed, an itching sensation covering them. The potion would do little for her busted mana pathways, but it would prevent death from blood loss.

Jennifer paused once more, as she coughed up black bile, the poison coming out of her body now that its source was dead.

"Victory. Will grow" the mark sent, as Jennifer ambled next to Livian.

“Jennifer… you’ve lost too much blood, sit down,” the boy said, leaning as he let Rumina down on a nearby boulder.

“No,” Jennifer replied, as she stumbled towards Rumina. “Is she okay?” She turned towards Livian, asking.

“She’s okay. Just lost consciousness. That barrier thing protected her when the snake came flying. You... on the other hand do not look so alright to me. Please, sit down Jennifer, you just overdrew. You’re drunk on mana and it’ll only make things worse,” Livian said. as Jennifer’s eyes drifted towards Rumina.

“I’ll live,” Jennifer said, but her legs betrayed her as she stumbled forward, soon caught by Livian who set her down next to Rumina. She was grateful for the lack of retort he’d shown her, despite her childish behavior just now.

“I’m sorry, Livian. I just feel very out of it. Can you keep an eye out... I need a moment to rest,” Jennifer said, shifting against the rock.

The boy nodded, walking a bit further away.

"Thank you. For helping" she sent to the Mark, leaning against the rock behind her back.

"Soul-Mark. Felt kinship. Kin should help," the Mark sent back.

Jennifer chuckled. "You might be the only Mark who thinks that," she replied. "Can you come out now?"

She felt a stir of emotions come from the bond, before the Mark shifted. She sensed him drawing closer from the further corner of the cavern, yet despite Jennifer’s best attempts, she failed to find anyone nearby.

Her surprise increased when she felt the Mark move to be right above her. She almost jumped when she felt something fall onto her head.

A white fuzzy creature with more legs than she currently had the capacity to count jumped onto her hand, a dark symbol on its back. Jennifer looked onto the creature as it moved from her head, onto her shoulder, next to her face and raised its front leg to wave.

"Meet/See/Hello. My Name/Call/Sound is Xardhviladrothic."

Jennifer looked at the spider, unable to understand just what was happening. A laugh pulsed out of her, at the ridiculousness of it.

"Hello, Xardhvi- Xardh- Xar. Hello Xar. I’m Jennifer and I think I need to pass out," she replied, leaning back with a sigh.

She heard words come through to her from the bond as the spider spoke something, but she could not hear anything as her eyes forced themselves closed.

A smile tugged at Jennifer’s lips as she was dragged into the oblivion of sleep. Maybe things would all make more sense when she woke up.

[Class: Glass Mage] has reached level 3!

[Skill: Fusion Casting] obtained!