Stunned, Tyrus sat and watched Igneal disappear. When he finally registered the meaning of Igneal’s words, he abruptly rose to his feet and jogged for the Lockhart.
“Why are you heading for the corrupted mana? I thought the smart thing to do was to avoid it,” Tyrus said, stopping before Igneal.
“Only if you were inadequate,” Igneal countered. “My presence simplifies eliminating the source. From what I was told, there might be an artifact responsible for emitting the corrupt mana. I will solve this problem and bring back an artifact.”
“But you don’t know what kind of danger is waiting there. According to a lizardmen, the masked intruder is to blame. What if that person is so strong that they can easily handle us using just one spell? It’s better to let the overseers and Selena deal with it.”
Igneal shook his head. “Don’t be too quick to trust your enemy’s words. They were probably lying to get the upper hand, or you misheard them.”
“No, I’m pretty sure they weren’t lying. Someone really is doing all of this, and it’s a person who’s strong. I… have a feeling that if we meet the intruder, we’ll die.”
Igneal stared into Tyrus’ eyes for what felt like hours before brushing past him. “You can continue cowering away while I stop this mess myself. I’ll get it done before the end of the exam.”
As if the conversation was over, Igneal continued walking along the rocky shore, humming to himself while Tyrus looked on with a frown.
Had his words fallen on deaf ears or was Igneal that confident in his abilities? Either way, he did not know what kind of trouble he was walking himself into. If what the lizardmen had said was true about the masked intruder, then Igneal was definitely no match for him. After all, Tyrus had seen firsthand just how terrifying the person was, assuming it was the same person.
When he had been sneaking out to look for a simple hat, he had stumbled across a masked person and eavesdropped on his conversation. Even while concealed in the corner of an abandoned building, shrouded in darkness, he was still exposed. And with just a single glare from that very person, he had been so scared for his life that he immediately fled the building without so much as a single thought of returning. Tyrus needed only that one experience to know that the person was strong, way stronger than he had imagined.
However, there was one problem that Tyrus found odd that wasn’t solved already. If he and Igneal could sense the corrupted mana as soon as they stepped foot into the Wasteful Wetlands, then Selena and the overseers are aware of it as well.
So why haven’t they already dealt with the problem at hand? They should’ve already dealt with the problem at hand, given their status as powerful sorcerers who can hold their own in a battle. Additionally, with three of them present, the problem should’ve been resolved a while ago. But with the corrupted mana still fresh in the air and the lizardmen’s warnings, that didn’t seem to be the case.
What was surprising as well was that the exam was still going on. He figured Selena would pause momentarily so that the overseers could deal with the intruder properly, but apparently not. Because of that, it was weird they allowed it to continue. The threat of a strong sorcerer wreaking havoc in the Wasteful Wetlands must be something short of importance to them. Maybe they had already dealt with the masked intruder and were figuring out what to do with the corrupted mana. Tyrus didn’t know how to vanquish corrupt mana, only knowing to avoid it entirely.
“Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be careful in case he was still alive. Right now, as I speak, the son of the cap thief is heading there, exposing himself to the possibility of danger...”
Tyrus bit the corner of his lip, contemplating what to do. He really didn’t want to follow Igneal toward danger. His instincts were screaming at him to stay put and just focus on training his magic in the meantime. Heck, he could even slay a few beasts while he waited for the timer to run out. The goal was to become an explorer today, and not next month.
Nonetheless, the idea of setting him free while fully aware of the impending outcome left a pit in his stomach. If circumstances were to take a turn for the worse because of his inability to persuade or accompany Igneal in changing his stance, the repercussions would gnaw at his heart. Sure, he was annoying and too prideful for Tyrus’s taste, but that wasn’t enough to leave him to die.
Stolen novel; please report.
He needed to do something.
Tyrus noticed his tail flickering and sighed; It soon calmed down. Before long, he caught up to Igneal and joined him. “…I’m coming with you. But if things go bad, we’re following my lead and leaving, alright?”
Igneal laughed. “As if I’d follow the orders of a commoner. However, I’ll indulge in your little request if it ever comes to that for whatever impossible reason. At the very least, I can grant you that much.”
“Seriously, I wasn’t joking about the masked intruder. There’s no way we can beat him. He’s too strong. I have zero idea what Selena and the others are doing, but they must know about the corrupted mana and maybe even the masked man.”
“Or,” Igneal started, “everything happening now is part of the exam. What if Aunt Selena is responsible for the corrupted mana and is hoping for one of the participants to man up and rid the problem themselves? There might even be a secret reward waiting for those who succeed.”
“…Really? I didn't know that was possible for an exam.”
Tyrus did not look amused as he watched Igneal’s face twist into a devilish smirk. Cracking jokes in a serious situation made Tyrus want to abandon him. It took all his willpower to stop himself from turning on his heels and returning to the cave.
“We must head for the source quickly,” Igneal said. “Though I highly doubt it, we mustn’t let the other participants, or beasts, get ahead of us and resolve the problem. With my smarts and your animalistic instincts, getting to the source should be a piece of cake. Following my instructions will make this exam easy for you.”
“How are we going to get there?” Tyrus replied. “There’s a body of water filled with beasts standing between the source and us. Swimming to one of the small areas of land is out of the question. I barely got out of there with augmentation.”
“Don’t worry, commoner. This is the part where I lead with my smarts. Instead of swimming, we'll travel on foot along the water until we're close. There's a high chance that there's a pathway or bridge that connects to the corrupted mana.”
That sounds possible, Tyrus thought. As far as he knew, the Wasteful Wetlands had a lot of broken bridges and walkways scattered around. Someone in the past must’ve constructed a path in order to reach across the dangerous waters. The problem was the high chance of that path becoming broken or blocked. If he remembered right, Fiona mentioned Salithia being abandoned, which was among these parts.
On the chance of that happening, swimming really may be their only option–that is if Tyrus and Igneal traveled further. Hopefully, such a daunting task never reared its face or else they’d die as soon as they dipped their toes into the waters. Those darn crocodiles were lurking somewhere, not to mention the other kinds of beasts that occupied the place. They would just have to be cautious as they moved.
Tyrus slowly lifted his head toward Igneal, watching the boy walk with long strides. Through a series of events, they were now traveling buddies. It was surprising that Igneal wasn’t making a fuss over the duel he had lost.
Then again, he managed to convince himself that he let Tyrus win just because of a few circumstances. While that bothered Tyrus slightly, he was still relieved there wasn’t hatred or vengeance occupying Igneal’s mind. They would need all the focus and teamwork they can garner between themselves against lizardmen and other beasts. All Tyrus could do was hope everything would move along smoothly.
“And what do you know?” Igneal said, stopping in his tracks. “As always, I’m right. And it looks like there are more practice dummies waiting to be defeated.”
Tyrus snapped out of his contemplation and looked at where Igneal was staring at. They were keeping their distance from the water, but the edge had curved more inward. To the far left of the land were desolate trees, tall reeds, and drifting lily pads, and up front were a few beasts Tyrus hadn’t recognized before.
Toddler-sized creatures with sleek skin reminiscent of mud were hovering around, munching on fleshed bones with crooked teeth. Their ears were small but pointy, and their noses had a curl similar to a hook. On their backs were featherless wings that looked oddly familiar to a bat. Underneath them was a half-eaten carcass that belonged to a crocodile.
Igneal stepped forward and lit his hand ablaze. “Swamp imps–territorial spirits that are as greedy as they are hungry. Perfect targets to exterminate from this world.”
“Should we go around them?” Tyrus asked. “If we fight now, your magic might alert nearby lizardmen.”
Igneal gazed fixedly at Tyrus for a moment, then abruptly turned and released a small burst of fire toward the swamp imps. The beasts uttered a cry at the approaching spell and veered away just in time for the attack to miss and strike the ground. They tossed aside their meals and bared their teeth at their attackers as Igneal prepared another spell.
“I don’t run from battles I can win with my hands tied behind my back. And besides, I came here to enjoy myself! I cannot afford to miss out on a rare outing like this. It's your choice - either keep up or flee.”
Recognizing the futility of further argument, Tyrus let out a resigned sigh and joined Igneal. Little by little, he was coming to regret his decision. Were all nobles just like him? If that were the case, he would need to go out of his way to steer clear of them in the future.