In the end, Philip had won the Staff of Undying Flames. After the whole ordeal, and since Myra was definitely not a staff-wielder, everyone with half a brain believed that Philip earned it.

As they finally began their trek towards the dungen, he was practically snuggling it like a cherished child as the staff was basically made for him, specializing in Fire magic.

Myra kept ribbing him at it, but Philip only just smiled and clutched onto his staff harder, as though daring Myra to take it for herself. Myra just shook her head, smiling and laughing along with the twins.

For a moment, Myra practiced with the skill. There wasn’t a target to use it on, so she just mainly threw it in the air. When it activated, her hand glowed with a fiery glow which promptly left her hand into the air. The moment it reached its zenith at about 10 feet away, it blew into a tiny explosion, embers flying all over and burning the grass underneath.

It wasn’t super powerful, but it was as expected when one would launch a skill at a low-burn. Looking back at her now singed hand, she frowned.

“Damn, it really drains the mana,” Myra muttered, flexing her fingers. They weren’t burnt–just singed like soot covering her skin. “If it weren’t for my attunement, I’d be running dry by now.”

“How many can you throw?” Mikella asked.

“Maybe… three or four times? Though I can probably control it to a degree. I can probably use it on my spear blade and just make the monsters blow up.”

“Ooh, nice!” Mikella cooed in excitement, getting the girls to talk animatedly about blowing up their enemy’s insides, which was a first for Zeke.

…..

Thankfully the horses weren’t killed during the monster horde as they knew precisely what to do in a battle after being trained by the tamer from Eve Glade. What was more impressive is that they didn’t run away either as a simple whistle call made them run back towards the group, ready to help them travel once again.

About an hour or so after trotting, just as they expected, there were no ambushes in sight, or any monsters they could spot via scouting. In the end, it was a simple gaunt towards their destination.

They passed through several clearings, eventually reaching the areas where the trees were less dense, and more rocks and boulders covered the scene. The grass surrounding them was starting to diminish as well. The once green forests were now becoming somewhat desolate, and the air itself was getting… dry.

It was almost as though the mana containing any essense of nature was dying out, and something else was replacing it. That feeling of rot returned again, after so many hours not sensing it after the horde battle. It made him shiver.

Somehow, he felt that they were approaching the target of their venture. But before he could consider using his Recovery skill to focus on the mana, he noticed someone approaching him.

It was none other than the general Zacharia, his stoic expression beating Piker’s by a mile.

“Zeke,” His gravelly voice echoed out. “I wish to speak with you.”

His horse, being thicker than most horses, approached right up near Mikella and Zeke’s horse. Clearly, it was meant to be private, and Zeke had no other option than to agree.

“O-Of course,” Zeke nodded. He could tell Mikella’s nervousness from the way her body stiffened up a bit. He could only tell that since he was the closest to her by now. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Just an opinion,” Zacharia replied briefly. He kept looking forward, but his attention was clearly to Zeke despite his eyes looking away. “I take it that your barriers and arrays take quite a bit out of you. Mana-wise, correct?”

“Y-Yes,” Zeke answered.

“Do you also lose Stamina?” He continued.

“Y…” Zeke hesitated, but then he continued. “Yes, mostly Stamina. If the situation gets any worse, then life energy is involved too.”

“I see,” Zacharia answered simply. For a moment, he turned silent, letting the air become heavy. Then he spoke again. “I understand your need to do your job. I cannot ask for better. But you must take conserving your resources into account. There are many like you who think their spells can turn the tide, only to be left dry and cut apart.”

Zeke shivered at the idea. The image of his dome shattering right before the Red-maned giant died flashing in front of his eyes.

“Heed my words,” Zacharia answered. “Let your soldiers fight for you. You focus on what is needed. That is all.”

Zacharia then turned his attention to Mikella, who easily flinched, but it wasn’t visible to the general, but clearly felt by Zeke.

“I ask you this as well, Mikella,” He spoke calmly, but there was depth in his voice. “If you notice his exertion, take action.”

“Y-Yes sir,” Mikella nodded. “I will.”

“Good.”

Like that, Zacharia trotted away on his horse, returning to his own retinue. The two were left flabbergasted, their faces still.

“That guy really scares me sometimes,” Mikella added.

“Yeah, he got that… presence,” Zeke shook his head. “You think he was worried about what I was doing?”

“Anyone with common sense would feel like that,” Mikella answered. Zeke frowned at her, but he could tell that Mikella would gladly frown back at him if she could since he was at her back. “And honestly, I agree. But… I also get that sometimes you don’t have much of a choice. But we should pay attention to what he said, at least.”

“I guess…” Zeke said, but after a while, he turned to Mikella with squinting brows. “Mikella, I think you’re getting pretty cheeky to me lately.”

“You think so?” Mikella looked back, puckering her lips up with a mock pout. “I’m just being honest…”

“Right, and ribbing at me is you being honest.”

Her chuckle only made Zeke frown harder, but there was no substance. In the end, he was glad that they could talk like this. But as soon as the jovial mood started, the entire group stopped when they were met with a serious situation.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Across the way, they were met with a wide river despite already leaving the forested area.

However, the river was not only as wide as several feet–it was deep, the torrent of water rushing down the river was deafening to the ears.

However, there was also something… strange about the river. As the land around them felt dryer by the second, there shouldn’t be any river, as far as Zeke could tell.

Even if there was a waterfall near them, it shouldn’t be this strong. What’s more, the water was blackened, almost dirty. There were hints of mud and gunk in there that made everyone, not just Zeke, grimace at the sight.

“Sir,” The scout approached Zacharia, his face not even sweating despite running all over the place. “The river extends far beyond several miles on each side. It might take us around a day’s worth to get around it.”

“Mmh, unfortunate,” Zacharia grumbled. Though his face was still, disappointment hung heavy in his voice.

“Why don’t we just trudge on through,” The duelist asked, pointing at the river. “It doesn’t seem that deep.”

“You really want to step into that gross gunk you call a river?” Philip asked, pointing at it with disgust. “No way!”

“And who knows what sort of diseases that river has by now,” Cloud added, studying the river closely.

“There might also be creatures there that could persist in the dirty water, and be very dangerous to us,” Val included, squinting at the sight.

“So the other choice is to travel around the river,” The scout mentioned again, even though he didn’t like the idea as much as anybody else.

All the while, Zeke studied the river closely, with Mikella staying quiet. After another moment, Zeke asked.

“Why don’t I just make a barrier for us to travel on?”

Everyone immediately turned to him. The constant stares really didn’t help much for his anxiety, but he continued regardless.

“It’s not heavy for me Mana-wise. And my barrier should be strong enough for all of us to walk right on it.”

“That’s…” The scout widened his eyes. “That might actually work. It would save us so much time.”

“General, what do you think?”

Zeke asked Zacharia, which even surprised Mikella. His nerves felt like they were strained by talking to him, but he knew that Cloud and Val would be up for it.

He just needs every leader to get in on it, including the general. He closed his eyes, then looked back at Zeke.

“This would be good for saving time on travel and supplies. Go ahead. And make sure it is stable enough.”

“Yes, sir,” Zeke nodded, then turned to Mikella who didn’t even have to ask. She made her horse trot over, with Zeke right behind as her ride-along, close to the river.

Once they approached, Zeke lifted his hand and cast his barrier, making it face flat down on top of the river.

The wall of turquoise light was created into being, laying flatly on top of the river. One could see droplets of water hitting the barrier, making it look like seeing through a window while a storm was brewing.

He also made doubly sure to spend some more mana to reinforce it, as it was filled up quite a bit during the walk. The wall of light became thicker, almost several inches thick. That didn’t seem to take up much mana, so he prodded Mikella to go forward.

Mikella didn’t even hesitate. Zeke was actually expecting her to ask whether it was alright to pass on, but apparently she trusted him enough that the barrier would work just fine, so she forced the horse to trot across the barrier.

That, however, did take some convincing. The horse didn't want to approach the river any further, but Mikella whispered softly to it, scratching at its neck and under the head for assurance. The horse, becoming much more confident from her consolation, moved forward.

Zeke couldn’t help but admire that side of hers. Her motherly tendencies from taking care of Clara also included animals. As the horse walked over the barrier, he could hear everyone gasp softly behind him.

He wondered whether they had to go through this multiple times in their ventures, and only now realized just how useful the barrier is outside of combat. The barrier bridge was stable to the point where the horse didn’t even faze anymore as it just walked over with ease. The clomping of its hooves hit the barrier with a tinging noise, but otherwise it held without issue.

Eventually, minutes passed before the horse finally managed to cross to the other side, which surprised Zeke as to how long the river was. It truly would’ve taken hours just to get around it.

“All good!” Mikella shouted at the others, waving her hand. “It’s safe!”

Clearly, the leaders went in next. Both Cloud and Val walked over with their horse along with Myra, Jackie, Maxie, and the mages. Then Piker and the general walked next, bringing along the rest of the armed forces.

For a moment, Zeke panicked whether the general might be the only one who would have an issue, but it proved fruitless as he crossed over with ease. If anything, the giant horse looked bored throughout the way, stoic just like its rider.

Zeke quickly put away the barrier, making sure that nothing else uses it to follow them or something. They may have taken out several hundred monsters, but he didn’t want any nasty surprises following them.

“Good work, Zeke,” Cloud said. “You just saved us a lot of time.”

Zeke tried to shrug it off, but he honestly couldn’t help himself with the praises. He just felt like it was a better use of his powers. He would definitely prefer this kind of aid instead of just constantly defending others or else they would die. Less stressful that way.

But he knew that wouldn’t be the case. They moseyed on, following the trail that led towards the dungeon.

…..

Alex knew he was meant for great things. He just didn’t know what that was. Much like anyone else throughout their lives, he was lost, not knowing what he could do or how.

But this… this was clearly meant for him and him alone. The stench of his successful experiment filled his nose, a riveting scent if not a little rotten.

He was within a stone-walled room with a dim light from the several candles surrounding him. It wasn’t great lighting, but his experiments were very sensitive towards fire, so he had little choice but to get used to it. Eventually, his eyesight managed to get accustomed to it.

He alone stood in the center of the room, filled wall to wall with shelves and tables, each one filled with all the parts he needed to make his experiments a success.

Looking down at the table, he had created another painstakingly difficult minion–a humanoid zombie.

Ever since he found himself in this place, he has survived with a bit of ingenuity and a lot of genius. Not anyone around him could be able to handle such a situation without wetting their pants or shitting themselves from the struggle.

But Alex came through. He was a genius after all.

Sure, at first, it was a struggle. But eventually he loathed to even leave the place, much less bother with others. The others in particular were very annoying, and constantly grated against his patience. But thanks to stalwart performance, the system itself granted him access to the place he was at now. So he decided to use his newly granted power to get what he wanted.

After getting used to everything, he now started to enjoy these little experiments, researching the great ways he could improve his new minions.

Hence why there were so many animal limbs and body parts within his room. The rotten stench was obvious, as was the blood covering every bit. He got used to it, even if it took him a while to get over it.

The strange compartment this place had were filled with various creatures that seemed like they belonged in some experimental facility. He could easily kill the beasts with his power, allowing him to create his minions to do more work for him, but in the end, he never really liked blood.

Would be great if they come in with no blood at all, Alex groaned. He sighed, knowing full well that nothing can ever come for free.

He clapped his hands, wiping off the grime and blood from his palms. It took a while, but it netted him some decent levels, boosting his stats even higher than before.

For once, he felt that everything was going great. Everything was finally moving his way–not unlike that ‘place’.

Alex shook himself. The grimey smell of corpses was way better than the acrid stench of medicine and latex gloves. He was no longer at that horrid place, where nobody understood him.

In here, nobody has to. Not anymore. Now, he could just replace everyone around him with his minions, and he can do whatever he wants to them.

He rubbed his chin, thinking about what to do next after finishing this one, only just realizing that the blood marred it and now he grimaced. He didn’t mind the blood as much, but he hated looking like a psychopath.

“Huh… now what do I do?” Alex muttered, not even caring about the fact that the minion was nowhere near close to be finished.