“Is that important right now?” Circe rushed to Zeke’s side as she dropped her sword, noticing how pale his complexion had become. While Einar knelt to the ground, she sat down beside Zeke and placed a hand on his temple, feeling the burning heat that responded to her touch. “Ze—Silas, are you okay?”

Instead of words, Zeke responded with a shake of his head. “It’s…” he gathered the strength to speak, only to wince in pain a second later. “Magic Inundation…”

“Magic Inundation?” Einar’s voice reminded them of his presence, his brows furrowed into a confused frown as he looked at Circe. “That’s a condition only experienced by people who are sensitive to mana…Is Lord Silas a mage?”

With no other choice, Circe nodded in confirmation, letting the tired Zeke fall onto her shoulder. “We…kept it a secret from everyone else for personal reasons, and I hope that you would do the same for us, Sir Einar.”

At her words, silence hung in the air between them, but it lasted only briefly as the knight gave a hesitant nod while discontent showed in his scarlet eyes. “…I would be lying to the marquess…but I will keep your secrets out of respect for you, Lady Ruelle, I do not wish for you to get into trouble because of Young Master.”

Magic Inundation, a status condition that only mages have to deal with. When coming into contact with an immense amount of mana, they would suddenly feel weak as nausea and piercing headache threaten to split their temples apart. However, Magic Inundation is still a rare condition, only mages with high sensitivity to mana have a higher chance of catching the affliction.

“It must be because Silas has the Mana Overlord aptitude…Impairments release strong magical energy, so his body taking all that at once must’ve worn him out.” Circe speculated as she propped Zeke into a more comfortable position, letting his entire body weight pushed against her side. With that done, her attention shifted towards the knight on the ground. “Sir Einar, how’s the condition at the banquet hall?”

“The Broken Impairment appeared to have swallowed both Lord Lysander and Marquess Salvador, so the situation is currently being controlled by the Salvador knights,” Einar responded sternly as he would with any normal report. “While many nobles had been caught up in the wolves’ attacks, fortunately, there was no fatality just yet.”

Just yet. Circe may not focus a lot on story mode, but she had intentionally played chapters that pertained to ‘Broken Impairments’ for events and other potential rare drops. Unlike ‘Dungeon Breaks’, which is a phenomenon where enemies from within dungeons manage to escape to the outside world, ‘Broken Impairments’ occurs as a result of an error in creating a portal. “So instead of a normal dungeon appearing, a wide area is instead transformed into a semi-dungeon.”

Because the event covers such a large parameter, ‘Broken Impairments’ are considered to be even more dangerous than Dungeon Breaks.

“But even if it’s only half a dungeon, there’s still a boss that you need to defeat in order to restore the broken space,” Circe stared ahead at the cracks weaving around the air like a spider’s web. “The problem is…It could either be an Elite Monster…or a Boss Monster, since this entire place is incomplete.”

She casted a side glance towards the knight. “I believe you know how Broken Impairment works, Sir Einar.”

“Yes, I do. All Salvador knights had been taught how to deal with monsters, including phenomenons like Broken Impairments and Dungeon Breaks.”

Circe shifted her focus towards Zeke as she quietly brought up the party menu.

< Party Status >

P.1 || Silas Salvador (LVL: 8)

- HP: 100%

- MP: 400

- SC: (0:02:07)

P.2 || Ruelle Peregrine (LVL: 10)

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

* HP: 100%

* MP:

* SC:

<<>>

“Silas needs about two more minutes, then we can go and clear the Broken Impairment.”

Unexpected to hear her declaration, Einar’s eyes turned wide from shock. “Lady Ruelle, Magic Inundation can last up to weeks for frail individuals…and apart from that, you want the three of us to clear the Broken Impairment?”

Since Einar did not know the whole picture, his concerns sounded reasonable, but Circe merely smiled. “You don’t really think that we’ve only lied about our skill set, do you?”

“…” It took Einar a moment to realize what Circe had meant, and after her words clicked like a fitting puzzle piece, his expression distorted from surprise. “Oh.”

.

.

.

Just as Circe had said, Zeke returned to a normal condition after two minutes almost on the dot, much to Einar’s disbelief. Now, the group wandered through the labyrinth of fracture spaces, avoiding any unnecessary battle as they made their way towards the banquet hall, located in a building separated for guest-related activities.

“…Young Master.”

“What?”

Einar didn’t meet with his master’s eyes, instead remained fixated on the path ahead with his right hand laid atop the grip of his sword. “…Since you’re a mage…will you still be taking your swordsmanship class?”

The Sapphire Staff made gentle clicks on the ground, cutting through the silence that’d momentarily filled the air. After a second of thought, Zeke replied in a sharp tone. “Of course, I’ll have to show results…no matter if it’s only an illusion. This actually works out for the best since then I don’t have to hide my schemes every time we train.”

“Schemes?” Einar raised an eyebrow.

”I’ll tell you about it later,” Zeke tightened his grip on the Sapphire Staff, light shining from the azure crystal. “We’ve got company.”

‘Grrrrr…’

A sudden low growl interrupted their conversation as a wolf stepped out of the darkened fragments in front of them, followed soon by the rest of its allies, amounting to eight in number. As Einar unsheathed his sword, he glanced towards Circe. “Lady Ruelle, please take care of the left side.”

Without giving her a chance to respond, one of the wolves barked and lunged itself towards Circe, its fangs aimed for a fatal blow. Her sword made a swift arch through the wolf’s neck, the force sending it flying to the side, where it landed lifelessly on the ground beside her feet.

Immediately after, another wolf jumped in the place of its fallen comrade, rushing at her while her focus still remained on the dead wolf. When it attempted to sink its massive canines into her arm, a sphere of energy struck it in the stomach, flinging it across the ground until it came to a dead stop in its crater, unmoving.

Unexpectedly, Einar had already slain two of the wolves on his own, leaving only the remaining four. Seeing their brethren die off like moths thrown into flames, they’d taken several steps back while staring at them with hesitation. But without a shred of mercy, Einar rushed forward and swung his sword at the closest target, blinding the wolf’s eye as it let out a whimper in pain.

Another beast tried to help its friend, but Einar had already swept his sword half-way through the air, connecting with the second wolf’s neck, as if he’d already predicted the monster’s behavior. Despite the direct hit, the sword didn’t cut deep enough, allowing both the injured wolves to regain their footing moments later.

Einar’s eyebrows creased into an irritated frown as he struck the one-eyed wolf once more, only for it to suddenly jump to the side, avoiding his blade before chomping down on his wrist. Its fangs dug through the metallic arm guard as if it was leather, making him wince in pain.

‘Oh no.’

With him now completely defenseless, the remaining wolves used this opportunity to rush him from every direction, their maws and claws ready to tear him to shreds. Luckily, Circe was already on the move, and the injured wolf soon fell to her sword while the one that stubbornly held on to Einar’s arm got blasted by Zeke’s magic missile.

[‘Silas Salvador’ has leveled up! LVL: 9]

Circe swung her sword at one of the remaining wolves, while Einar struck the other. Circe’s blade cleaved right through the beast’s neck, severing the head clean off its body. Einar’s opponent managed to evade his initial attack, but soon met with Zeke’s magic missile, falling to the ground dead like the others.

[‘Ruelle Peregrine’ has leveled up! LVL: 11]

“Einar, are you alright?” Zeke and Circe rushed towards the knight as he flopped down to the ground, panting heavily while wiping sweat from his forehead. As Zeke knelt to his level, his concerned frown locked onto the blood seeping from the dented arm guard.

”It’s nothing worth your worries, Young Master,” Einar spoke in a reassured tone, albeit slightly out of breath. Wanting to prove his words, he took off the metallic piece and revealed puncture wounds where the wolf’s canines had sunk through. “This is what armor is for, it might’ve been strong enough to pierce metal, but at least it could’ve been worse.”

Despite the superficial injury, Zeke’s anxious frown remained on his face. “You could still get rabies from this…”

Einar stared at his master for a moment, a hint of surprise visible in his slightly widened eyes. “I never thought I’d see the day when he actually came to care about my wellbeing.”

”Ze—Silas.” Circe’s voice garnered Zeke’s attention. As he looked up, he saw her frowning face staring ahead at the direction of the banquet hall, although upon further inspection, he realized that she had the minimap hovering beside her vision too. “…What are the chances of a Broken Impairment carrying over the Boss Monster?”

Zeke couldn’t tell why she asked such a question. With a small frown, he responded in a perplexed tone. “Since dungeons typically have more Elite Monsters…It’s a one in four chance. Why? Are we facing a boss?”

“…You might want to come see this.”

After giving Einar a glance, Zeke walked over to Circe, watching as she slid the minimap closer to him so he could see what she wanted to show him. “What is this…?” Instantly, his eyes widened in shock.