Presko, as it turned out, was an earth skill user, specifically on stone. Sereza joined us while the others stayed. Exiting the barrier from Giyanni was tough on everyone else, but thankfully, Presko quickly tore open a circular hole into the building's wall.

We exited into a clear area not blocked by the mob of statues. The others happily welcomed the change in environment. Their faces lightened, and their eyes showed noticeable relief.

I turned to Sereza and stuck out my tongue. "Feeling better?"

She glared as we began running. "I don't know how you were doing so well even without the necklace Callen gave you."

"Truly a mystery. I don't know myself."

"Dragonshit."

I shrugged, and we let the conversation lull into a companionable silence. The city was the same: silent, filled with endless statues. But, somehow, it felt different. When I looked at it, I didn't feel the same oppressiveness that was there, like I knew something was in motion that'd change all of this.

Whatever the feeling was, I shelved it to the back of my thoughts as we approached the square. Nothing had changed about it, and there was a group of more than nine people in various poses ready to fight off the tentacle horrors.

"Where do you want me to start?" I asked while moving closer to Ventus.

He directed me to another elf. He dressed in spiky leathers and held a drawn bow in his hand. He was frozen while pulling another arrow from the quiver attached to his belt.

Presko hissed at the two monsters while sliding his gaze over the square. "If our Lady leaves any of the cultists for us to clean up, I will get my revenge. They dare harm the people of our city, and for that, they will pay."

His voice had real heat, his fur standing up as he spoke. Ventus walked over and clapped a hand on his shoulder. They said no words out loud, but the action was enough to calm the beastkin down.

I approached the man and stood near his back. Placing both hands on his shoulder, I felt for the mana around him and pulled. The process was easy, the feeling too familiar. When the mana tried to fight back, I welcomed it and sunk my metaphysical teeth into its tendrils.

The mana filling me was less than what Ventus or anyone else in the Grand Hall provided. Whatever factor determined the amount of mana absorbed, I couldn't figure it out without asking people about their power levels. For all I knew, the amount of mana inside them could influence how much curse mana it took to maintain its effects on them.

As I stepped back and joined Sereza, I felt the mana settle into my chest, and I flexed my fingers, feeling weary from the constant use of the skill. I didn't let it show, but lethargy started sneaking up on me.

Sereza bumped me in the hip and gave me a sympathetic smile. I returned it with my mask and moved on to the next person Ventus wanted.

When I glanced over, Presko was already explaining the situation to the elf while gesturing to me. The archer looked over with narrowed eyes but nodded and turned away.

So much for appreciation.

I absorbed the girl's mana and moved on to another. This time, it was a shorter beastkin nearly half my height. They were fish-like in their appearance and wore robes while holding onto a strange-looking rod. It took me a second, but I realized that the rod was actually a caster. She was essentially wielding a wand.

After taking her mana, I struggled to stand with the energy welling up inside me. I wanted to force it down to condense it and make room, but the static energy refused to budge. It was akin to pushing on a rock, hoping to flatten it.

"Ventus. I need to release what I absorbed."

He walked up slowly and placed a firm hand on the robed beastkin's arm. She tried to raise it when she broke free and screeched in alarm after realizing she couldn't.

"Alis'treela, calm yourself. There is not much time, but I will explain when we can. Alright?" Ventus said calmly, his voice even and soothing.

Alis'treela, who sounded and looked strangely similar to Alish'trala, spotted Presko and the elven archer waving a hand. Visibly calming, she looked to where Sereza and I stood and then returned to Ventus.

"Very well, Ventus. What do you need me to do?"

Ventus gestured to me. "I need you to take his mana so he can help free the others. You still have three gems left?"

She clutched protectively her right chest her hands cupping around a slight bulge. "Fine, but you're replacing them after all this ends."

"And I will—If we survive. So please, let's hurry."

Alis'treela made a weird wub wub sound and then walked over. She pulled out a small white crystal the size of her thumb. "Place your hand on this crystal and channel the mana you intend to give to the crystal. Don't worry about pushing too much all at once; these are durable."

I complied and took the crystal from her. It was weird talking to someone much shorter than me, but I ignored it in favour of removing the bloated feeling in my chest.

I pushed my mana, but nothing happened. I gripped the crystal harder and tried again, but as with the first attempt, nothing happened. The mana inside my chest did not want to go into my arms. There was even a feeling of wrongness, the kind that warned you whatever you were doing, you should stop before you got hurt.

I slowly lowered my hand while Alis'treela stared, waiting. "Sorry, you're going to have to ignore what I'm about to do and not question it."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Before she could voice her objection, I plopped the crystal into my mouth and let the foreign mana flow. The crystal worked as intended; soaked it up like a sponge. Within a dozen seconds, I spat the crystal back out and held up the now grey crystal.

"Here you go," I said as I gingerly placed the crystal back into her palm while studiously ignoring the shocked expression on her face.

Sereza was bending over with a hand over her mouth as she tried to stifle her laugh. Ventus put on a neutral smile and gently dragged the beastkin away.

I freed the rest of Ventus' people for the next dozen minutes. Whenever I needed to discharge the mana, Alis'treela would begrudgingly hand me the crystal I needed, all the while glaring at me from the sidelines.

When all was said and done, I had to summon Áine and let her repair my severely tired body. Sereza helped me stand at one point, subtly moving her body around mine like she was congratulating me on my good work. I don't think anybody bought it, but it was a nice gesture. I leaned on her till Áine restored my leg's sturdiness, and I could stand on my own.

Ventus approached after directing his people into formation. A few of the newly restored people used their skills to create barricades or structures that the others used. They surrounded the two monsters with their weapons and hands at the ready.

"Thank you for your effort, Cyrus. We will be ready for when the curse ends," he said.

"Will you not be returning to the hall to help Callen?" I asked while watching the rest of his team make adjustments to the square.

He shook his head. "No, the Commander will have the rest of his squad with him. They are competent people, so I am not worried."

I glanced at the night sky and frowned. The monsters should be waking up and beginning to rage any minute now.

Ventus waited until I turned back to him and placed a hand on my chest. I felt mana start to coat me, and I had to suppress the reflex to absorb it. What he was doing was not an attack, and I felt his mana enter my limbs, forming around my legs.

It was the flowing wind, a gentle breeze, and a strong gale. His mana tasted like sweet air that blanketed the world with its howls.

I snapped from the daydream and looked at him curiously. He smiled and did the same to Sereza. When he finished activating his skill on us, he put his trident on his shoulders and stepped back.

"Thank you both for your aid. I dare not demand more from you two, but I humbly ask that you return to Commander Callen. He might need your assistance, and we could use all the help we can get."

Ventus gave us a small bow and then turned to join his squad. He placed himself near the middle, behind the apparent tanks of the team.

I turned to Sereza. "Well, what do you say?"

"I want to find where Groxl led the others. They should be holed up somewhere, but I'm only seventy percent certain I know where. However, we should probably go to the Grand Hall. I feel like the rift is about to end even though there are several days left," Sereza replied.

"I know what you mean. Somehow, this feels like the finale." I then looked away and watched the last rays of the sun begin to fade. In a much quieter voice, I whispered. "I only hope the rift stays normal this time."

"What?"

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it. Let's go. I think Ventus buffed our movement speed."

As it turned out, he did. The air around our bodies acted as a slipstream and helped us move without resistance pushing against us. Our steps felt lighter; each push off our heels triggered a short burst of wind that propelled us forward. It felt awkward at first, but Sereza adapted quickly, followed by me. We made it to the hall in nearly half the time it took us before."

We came to a stop when we neared the hole we used to escape the room and began walking while letting our stamina recover.

"That was amazing; I wish I had a movement skill like that," Sereza said.

"You can already turn into a cloud of poisonous gas. I don't want to hear complaints when I have zero movement skills," I retorted.

"Hey, my skill is pretty slow and dangerous to use. That was an actual buffing skill I could use on myself and others without downsides. It's completely different."

"Meh. Still unfair to complain."

"As if your several summoning skills are even remotely fair in comparison."

We bantered and joked around. I knew I was starting to get a nervous feeling in my chest, and Sereza was too. The jokes helped distract from the tension, and I appreciated how easy it was to be around her.

Before we came to the hole and entered the building, I stopped and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, whatever happens next, I'm glad to have met you."

Sereza responded by whacking me with her tail. "That sounds like we are about to die, and frankly, I plan on living. So enough with that."

Her voice contained no heat and offered me a smile beyond the faux-annoyance. I removed my hand and walked into the building.

To say that it was changed would be an understatement. The other statues in the hall, the ones I ignored in favour of focusing on Callen's people, were moved far away.

A large, thickened stone wall protected them from the front and above. I saw a widened tunnel leading out the back of the building, and I understood that the people were supposed to run once things hit the fan.

The rest of the hall was prepared similarly to how Ventus' people prepared the square. They placed battlements, settled barriers and barricades, and created a death trap around the monsters if they ever moved even an inch. They even carefully moved the monster wall blocking the entrance into the hall and surrounded it with what appeared to be enchanted metal spikes.

Giyanni spotted us and helped by extending her barrier slightly so we could rush in. I was fine, but Sereza nearly stumbled in the short distance between the outside and Giyanni's barrier.

"You came back. I take it Ventus is staying to guard the citizens?" Giyanni asked as she pushed up her glasses.

"Yeah, he asked us to come back and see if we could be of any use," Sereza replied.

Giyanni frowned and glanced to where Callen was standing, still weaving the ritual above to prevent the breach. The man did not look good, and I saw blood drip down his nose.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

"He'll be fine but can only channel the ether for so long. It's already impressive that he has held for as long as he had."

There wasn't anything we could do but wait. I welcomed the rest, but it made me feel inadequate. The other members of Callen's squad had serious faces with grim and determined eyes focused on preparing for a battle.

I couldn't do anything, but I could possibly, potentially help. I briefly closed my eyes and opened them after confirming my idea was viable.

I tapped Giyanni on the shoulder. "Hey, I have some spare food I could hand everyone, drinks included. It's not much, but it'll be fresh and hot, something that tastes good."

Giyanni brightened, and she called over a burly human man with hands coated in what looked like liquid metal. She explained what I wanted to do, and he nodded and created a large basket made of the same iron-like material. It was surprisingly light, so it felt more like a slightly heavier wicker basket.

I dumped the rest of my food-stall food into the basket. Most of them were in small paper bags or wrapped in wax paper, so their mixing together into a disgusting, clashing mess wasn't an issue.

The basket filled up, and a delicious aroma floated off the pile of food. I then summoned two large pitchers filled with different kinds of juices.

Everyone passed the basket around, and someone brought out cups from somewhere. They all ate and took a moment to relax. Even those who continuously worked on things slowed their pace to enjoy the food.

It wasn't much, but it was something, and it made me feel better for contributing.

Sadly, relaxation time ended soon, and then there was a loud screech off in the distance. It echoed across the walls and then faded.

The monsters had finally awakened.

Everyone inside the room was ready. Their weapons were out, and their armour was checked and double-checked.

Finally, there was a crashing sound, and the air turned cold as Callen grunted and fell to one knee. He lowered his hands and raised his head to the sky.

"It's time."