“Get ready,” Vestia said, nodding at the Star Seekers, before closing her eyes to increase her concentration. Controlling the storm… It was not easy to say the least. Especially with the pace it was growing. Initially, she had planted the seed of storm on just a whim. Since Alnea needed the cover of the sands to take down the Lotus clan’s Wanderers, she would give him a cover great enough to take down all their enemies…
Or so she had thought. But things did not go exactly as she had planned. Who knew that the Black Desert’s weather conditions would be so perfect for a storm seed to take root? From the small seed she had planted some mere ten minutes ago to the giant storm spanning more than two kilometres in length, the storm had grown at such a rapid pace that even Vestia herself was having a hard time keeping it in check.
Three minutes. That was the extent of how long she could control the storm. Not just because of the lack of her Spirit Power, but also because of the lack of her Spirit’s quality. After all, how could just a False Spirit control a storm larger than five kilometres in width. If things reached that point…
No, she had to disperse the storm before then, or it would spiral out of her control, and become a true sandstorm, one that would never stop growing by itself. By then, even if they had dealt with their enemies, none of them would be able to escape their death. Unless some True Wanderers came to their rescue. That too, some of the relatively stronger ones. Those who had command over Mysteries that could rival forces such as an ever-growing storm. But that was just a fantasy.
Why would some True Wanderers suddenly come to their rescue? She was not stupid enough to think that others would help them out of kindness. And neither did she like to let others control her life. Or else, she would not have come all the way from Water Region to the Lightning Region.
Others thought that she had come to the Lost City to select a suitable candidate for herself, fulfilling her responsibilities to her clan, but that was only partly true. After all, there were no lack of suitable candidates in the Water Region. Even in the Lightning Region, the Lost City was located in one of its remote corners. Not to mention that until she met Alnea, she had not even tried looking for a suitable partner.
The true reason she ran away from the Water Region was to run away from the control of her clan. Had she stayed back, it would not have been up to her to choose her partner. Then again, the Lightning Region did not lack in her clan’s presence either. It was only a place like the Lost City, cut off from the rest of the world, forming a system of its own, that she could truly be free from the influences of her clan, and make her own decisions. Or she could just travel to other Domains, just like many of her fellow clanswomen. With her identity though, that did not seem likely…
Just convincing her clan to let her come to the Lost City had already exhausted all her means. Asking them to let her leave the Tes Domain? It was just a fool’s dream. Unless… Vestia smiled as she recalled the promise that she had asked from Alnea. If it was him, maybe—No, not maybe. He would surely find a way.
Withdrawing her senses from Alnea, Vestia focussed on her—on their enemies. Of the thirteen Wanderers who had come to ambush them, only five were left. Three from the Bluebud family, one from the Pinkbud family, and one from the Whitebud family, the one acting as their leader. Yet, it was the leader himself, who had fallen back first, retreating on the first sight of trouble. All she did was give him an opportunity.
The moment that the Wanderer from the Whitebud family noticed the storm bending to her will, separating him from the rest of the Wanderers of his clan, he turned around, and began retreating the same way he had come, shouting for his clansmen to the do the same, asking them to wait for the storm to pass. Unfortunately for the Wanderers of the Lotus clan, his voice was not able to penetrate the storm.
Of course, the scattered Wanderers were still a force to be reckoned with, especially with the condition that the Star Seekers were in. Without a leader to rally around though, they were not much of a threat. At the very least, the Star Seekers still had a chance against them. A slim chance, but a chance, nonetheless. And a chance was enough for Alnea to create miracles once again.
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Ignoring the Whitebud Wanderer who was trying to retreat, only to get lost in the storm, Alnea rushed towards the Pinkbud Wanderer, just as Cecilia and Karl took on a Bluebud Wanderer each, leaving the rest of the Star Seekers to deal with the last remaining Wanderer of the Lotus clan. Unlike the trio facing the Wanderers of the Lotus clan on their own though, the rest of the Star Seekers were too battered and exhausted to move against the storm. So, Vestia could only expend a bit more of her Spirit Power to open a path for them.
However, controlling the storm was not easy. The storm… It was like one continuous gust of wind, that kept flowing in the same direction, albeit a circular one. As such, controlling even a small part of the storm was akin to controlling the entire storm itself. The more she tried bending the storm to her will, the more the storm resisted against her Spirit. Controlling the winds to part ways, and create a path in the storm…
“You have two minutes and fifty seconds,” Vestia said, using all of her concentration, and a fifth of her Spirit Power to barely create a path wide enough for two people to walk at the same time. The only relief she felt was that she could let go of the wind she had been keeping at bay from flooding the place the Star Seekers were resting at.
“Got it,” Norren said, spinning the short swords in his hands, before rushing headfirst into the path she had created, with the rest following right after him, each wielding a weapon of their own. Ralph a spear, Fran a shield, Aren a dagger, and Zain a stick that looked more like a staff, the kind that some Arcanists used to increase the power of their Arcanas. Of course, in his state, the staff was good only for bashing against the head of his enemies. Still, it was quite a handy weapon to stun enemies, as proven by Zain in their last battle.
Unlike the Redbud Wanderer though, the Bluebud Wanderer was not going to be so easy to sneak up to. After all, Wanderers from the Bluebud family were known to be much calmer than their Redbud counterparts. Even if the Wanderer seemed to be a little panicked on the surface, when faced with enemies, he was not going to descend into some incompetent rage. A fact that Vestia had already confirmed from the way the other two Bluebud Wanderers responded to Cecilia and Zain’s attack.
Rather than hurriedly attacking Cecilia and Zain, or trying to find their way out of the storm, the two Bluebud Wanderers were focussing more on defending themselves, trying to drag out their battle for as long as they could. Probably, just like the Whitebud Wanderer, they too had guessed the truth of the storm. Not that it was going to help them much anyway.
“Two minutes thirty seconds,” Vestia said, as they reached the end of the path she had created, with a wall of raging winds, carrying an inestimable number of black sands, blocking their way forward. “Remember, keeping yourself safe comes before killing the enemy. If you think that you cannot handle the Wanderer, then there is no shame in retreating. Yuri and I will handle the rest for you.”
“But your Spirit Power—
“Although we are a little exhausted, Vestia and I can still handle a mere False Wanderer,” Yuri said, trying not to show her exhaustion on her face, but everyone knew better. Acting as the transit point between the senses of Vestia, Cecilia, Karl, and Alnea, just the amount of stress that her Spirit must be bearing…
“…So can we,” Norren said, gripping his swords even more tightly, before turning around, and rushing into the storm, with the rest following right behind him.
“Wait! Why are you rushing first? Optah’s boots! Are you trying to steal my show? Hey, wait for me, damn it!”
“Keep your voice down, idiot. Are you trying to get discovered on purpose?”
“…But I was supposed to be first…”
“…Is that what important right now?”
“But my stage…”
“…Let’s keep up, or you probably will not even get the chance to perform.”
…Although the Stars that the Star Seekers were chasing after were all different, there was one thing that everyone had in common. A determined Heart. And a drive to prove themselves. So what if they were exhausted? Even if they did not have Vestia and Yuri’s help, they were still no worse than others. They were all a team. And for the first time since they had come together, they were going to prove it with their actions.