"He is right. Even portal stones, Enchanter Arnis gave to us, don't work." Amara was looking at the orb in her hands.

"I think I have few ideas." I said while looking around.

At first, I tried to teleport a bit to the side. Even with my mana manipulation at maximum, it was hard to pull it off. While I think it was possible to make it work, it was hard to tell what would be my destination. This could be compared to making a precise jump during an earthquake.

Still... A perfect defense simply doesn't exist, and this enchantment sealing teleportation wasn't an exception.

I created a barrier around me, the same that Phoenix was using during the ranking test, and was free from any influence. Just to be sure I absorbed mana within the sphere and then teleported a bit to the side.

"You did it!" happily shouted Tia.

"Great. Now that we have means of getting back..." started speaking Magra.

"Not so fast." I interrupted him. "This is very different from group teleportation. We need a magic circle for that, and I am not sure we are able to expand our barrier to this degree."

As I said so, I started creating teleportation circle, but the seal didn't allow it to fully form and there was always part of it missing.

"Can't you just make that magic circle smaller?" asked Arodin.

Arodin was an elf and he was a leader of templars. Even Brandon was under his command.

"Only slightly." I answered while looking at Phoenix. All this time he had a look on his face as if he knew the answer.

"We could try a fusion spell." finally he suggested.

"You can use fusion spells?!" asked Amara with a shocked expression.

"Not yet." I replied with a smile and then extended my arm.

"What do you mean not yet?!" shouted dryad, but I didn't answer.

Phoenix placed his arm on my own and I felt his mana entering every part of my body. I could feel that my own body tried to resist, but I quickly changed that with body manipulation.

Very few people are capable to use fusion spells. And those who do are usually very close family members, twins we meet in the dungeon is a good example.

For one, there must be a complete trust between partners, With the way fusion spells work, it's very easy to harm one another. And, needless to say, I have no problems in this regard.

Even then, there must be a deep connection and synergy between partners.

It takes years, sometimes decades of practice, and for a reason. Partners must know the magic of another, even if they can't cast it themselves. Every mage, without any exception, cast the same spell a bit differently, and their partner has to know every little detail.

But that was hardly a problem for us. After we shared memories with one another, I doubt there is anyone in the world that knows magic of their partner better than us. If not for that weird class restriction, I could use every magic in his possession.

As I guided my mana through the hand into Phoenix, I was able to control it just like in my own body. From tickles inside me, I could feel the same was true for Phoenix. In a way, we were becoming one... and it was a wonderful feeling.

High synergy detected.

Do you want to create a bond with Reveon Sile'dur? Y/N

Of course!

Just a moment later I could feel an invisible connection forming between us. Through it, without any words, we could vaguely feel thoughts of one another. While it wasn't a telepathy, it wasn't far from there. It was done through mana and there was a need for body contact, but even if we were away from one another, now I could feel his location through the bond.

As I felt that Phoenix wanted to start I nodded in response. Though that was only out of habit and wasn't necessary, he could feel it through the connection.

While fusion spells usually combine two different elements, there was nothing preventing from creating a more powerful spell from the same.

In a way, it's like working with two hands instead of one, while it's possible to do stuff even with one, there are many things you simply can't without both. It was even more so with magic.

The barrier around us started to grow. It was now three meters in diameter, five, seven, ten... Some soldiers who paid attention jumped out of the way, but not all.

The barrier simply passed through them, as if it was an illusion. It didn't mean it wasn't working, we simply changed its composition before the contact. After we finished with the barrier and I absorbed all mana inside, we started creating teleportation circle.

After a bit, we finished and teleported two meters above the floor .. with all who were inside the circle.

"One less headache to worry about. But we still need to search this place. There might be someone left and we need clues about their possible destination or evidence about their allies. We can't get back empty handed." said Magra "Melissa, can you deal with other traps just like with the first one?"

"I would like to avoid that, what if some of them... nevermind, yes I can." I answered and started to look where to start.

I feared that not all traps could be deactivated in the same manner, my devour mana has limits at might be too slow. If I was in their place, I would make traps that can collapse these ruins on our head. But I forgot that with Space Time Magic at my current level, it is possible to peek into the future. While it's only a few seconds, if activated right before tampering with traps, it's enough to know if it's safe.

*

"Let's try left wing." said Magra after we finished searching quarters.

I wasn't the only one who was dealing with traps. There were four scouts among soldiers and two among templars. It was their job to deal with traps, but what they didn't anticipate was that most of them will be of magical origin. While they weren't a problem for me, not all of them had high mana perception. As Phoenix was helping them to avoid those, we picked the pace in exploring the ruins.

Just as I suspected, we were underground and there was no entrance leading outside. You could get there only through teleportation. We found only remains of what was once a portal, but other than that there was nothing that could lead us to assassins.

"Wait a bit, Elder is trying to contact us." stopped us Arodin while looking at his glowing amulet.

With his gesture, Brandon and other templars, put some parts they were carrying together and a metal disc was formed. Arodin then placed his amulet into the center and with his hand still on the amulet activated enchantment.

Light particles started to gather and formed into a ghostly figure of Elder.

"Aro... No time... need... immediately." many words of Elder were cut off and only some were barely audible.

This disk was some sort of communication device and it picked my interest. Though it seems that connection wasn't that great. Maybe it was interference of some enchantment left by assassins or there were some limitations. Still, I would like a chance to analyze it.

"Elder. Could you please repeat that?" asked templar commander.

The image of elder started to speak again and while it wasn't any better than before, this time I clearly heard one phrase. "... return immediately!"

Even before Arodin could say a word Magra did that first.

"Something must have happened in the city, we must return immediately. Reveon, Melissa..."

"Understood." said Phoenix before he could finish and after looking at me extended his hand.

I placed my hand on his own and we started creating a large barrier. We still haven't found the source of the seal, so it was needed to teleport all of us back.

*

"Thank Goddess you are here, I was afraid my message didn't reach you."

The moment we teleported back, Elder Aradan greeted us with a few priests and some templars. I could hear an uproar coming from the streets, and everyone inside looked anxious.

"What happened?" asked Magra.

"Must be something big." said Jack while looking at his guild badge.

It was glowing red, just like for the rest of our party. This was a signal from the Guild for an emergency request. When we were away, it was too far for them to activate. While theoretically, the signal could reach further, their purpose was to call only adventurers within the vicinity of city.

"Monsters." answered Elder. "Adventurers with soldiers are doing their best to hold them off at the Outpost. It's a good thing that our city Lord was already gathering an army before all of this happened."

"Monsters?" I asked deep in the thought.

I bet that assassin I detected in the dungeon has something to do with it.

"Yes, let's not delay, they can't spare a single man and there are monsters that slipped past their defense. We need to deal with them." rushed us, elder.

"What do you mean doing their best? At the entrance it should be easy to hold off even an army." asked Magra while we were walking.

"That's because monsters they face are very strong and were supposed to be rare." joined conversation one of priests.

"Yes. It all started not long after you teleported to the base of assassins. At first, everyone thought it's just another increase of monsters, but then rare monsters, that were supposed to spawn only once in a while, started appearing in groups and rushed to the surface." continued Elder Aradan.

On the way, I could see injured soldiers and adventurers waiting for treatment. There was a lot of them. All of them were gravely injured. Some were missing an arm or leg, while some had only deep claw marks on their body.

"What kind of monsters are we talking about?" I asked while looking at the wounded.

Those were veteran adventurers, and there is no way increased number could overwhelm them.

"From what I know most of the damage was caused by crystal guardians, formida, and hellhounds." answered Elder. "Quite a few fell to arachne as well."

As we left the Temple, there was a mayhem outside. Some people were rushing out of the city, others were reinforcing their homes with wooden planks. I noticed some nobles heading to the library. That was .. smart.

Those were monsters and not an invading army. They don't know the golden rule - never attack a library. While spirits of knowledge are not known to help out of good will, I doubt it would sit idly if someone tried to attack its library.

Few guards patrolling streets were doing their best to keep the order and prevent robbery.

Suddenly a loud scream attracted our attention. Far in the distance, I saw a large dog starring at a little girl. Its body was burning and lava was dripping from its jaws. Not far from him was a corpse of a man, probably father of the girl.

"Hellhound!" shouted Arodin. "How it got into the city? Did it jumped over the wall?"

With another scream from opposite direction, I suspected it wasn't the only monster in the city.

"It's killing time." said Phoenix and summoned his guns.