Lowen didn't know how long he had been unconscious for but when he opened his eyes the sky was already pitch black and the forest was eerily quiet. Turning his head, he could see a small campfire burning and crackling in the night. Sitting around it was Roland and Lucy. The two saw Lowen awaken and Lucy reached over and gently held Lowen in her arms, her face that seemed to have just dried from tears, once more burst out into soft cries of joy. She whispered repeatedly.

"Thank the heavens, thank the heavens you're still alive."

Lowen didn't know why this woman cradled him and cherished him so but he truly didn't mind it. The only thing that was a pain, was literally the pain his entire body felt. With gentle movements, he pulled away from Lucy, breaking out of her hands he said.

"Roland, has there been any movements and how long have I been out?"

Roland looked at Lowen with surprise, he thought.

(As soon as this boy awakens, his first questions about the enemy, admirable, truly admirable.)

Roland shook his head slightly.

"No, after my attack, they've already remained inside since then but with that many of them killed, we surely crippled them. As for how long you been out, a little over 2 hours, no more than that."

Lowen sat there and thought. With him and Bren going in, they had been completely set up. Not only were they completely outnumbered but both of their minds had nearly been taken as well. Lowen thought about this and leaned over to check on Bren, looking at his condition, his body was in a terrible state. Passing Bren some of his ki Lowen began healing him as well as unblocking Bren's hearing. As Lowen knelt down next to Bren, he also began healing himself. Remembering when he used his earth magic in conjunction with his ki, as long as it was used for healing, the two energies could work together for some odd reason and when they did, the healing was multiplied by manyfold. Lowen had completely removed the small amount of energy from Colts earth spikes, allowing his body to once more heal at an accelerated rate. Lowen could feel the broken bone in his arm mending and fusing together, at this rate it would be fixed within only a day or two. To any normal person this would seem like an insane impossibility, a miracle beyond miracles but to Lowen, this was his normality.

"Roland, the goblin leader, he can take over your mind with more than just words. When I was in there he almost took control of me. It seems as long as your mind is weakened, he can take control and not for just a little while like when he took over Benjamin in the past or Bren yesterday but instead, permanent control."

Roland hearing this was completely taken aback. He thought about how weak he was in the past and if the goblin leader had shown up at that moment how disastrous that would have been. Roland felt a chill creep up his spine but Lowen's words were not finished yet.

"That's not the end of it, he's also a water mage, at least a second circle water mage."

Roland's hands begin to tremble in fright, he could take on other fourth circle mages and compete with them on equal grounds but this goblin leader, even though he was weaker, his abilities were more frightening than anyone Roland could think of at his level.

(I have to destroy him, I cannot let him grow any stronger. If I and the boy miss this opportunity and this goblin is free of this cave....it can only be a calamity that he'll leave in his wake.)

Roland then whispered softly.

"What do we do? What can we do? If he is allowed to leave from here and grow, he will only be a disaster, a plague upon humanity."

"He won't come out, not until Clovis is completely under his control. We just don't have enough time. He knows that you can't leave here because if you leave from here, then he will immediately march out and find a new base and hide away until he's ready or worse yet march to the nearby villages and Jizhen and take complete control of them. At that moment you and I would have to constantly watch our backs because any one of those people could be under his control and stab us when our guard is at its lowest. That's exactly what he'll do, he'll hide away and send our deaths to our doorsteps and the killers would be from the people we least expect. Right now we're alone in this, there's no backup, no reinforcements, at this point I don't know what a way around this situation."

Lucy sat around the campfire with her head lowered completely depressed. Hearing all this talk about no time and talks of a calamity coming, frightened her to the extreme. She had just been rescued from the most harrowing experience she's ever had in her entire life and now she comes to find out that death is just around the corner. If life wasn't unfair than just what the hell was it. Were the gods having a laugh at her, had she done wrong in her previous lives, if not then why, she simply couldn't understand. Roland and Lowen sat around a campfire with downcast expressions. Roland grew more and more frustrated, finally, he couldn't take it anymore, slamming his fist down in the dirt, he yelled out angrily.

"Damn it all, if only I was stronger, if only I could use another element, then I could crush him by simply turning over my hand but because I use fire I simply can't go in there, damn!"

With Roland's words, a thought came to Lowen.

(Strength, I need strength, enough strength to crush Rize beneath my feet. Should I do it? Should I try for the second stage?)

Lowen thought about the second stage for a ki manipulator, the Aura Body Stage. If Lowen were to enter that stage his strength would once again rise at an incredible rate. He himself had been holding himself back from entering the aura body stage. The reason was simple, he didn't know what the effects would be on his body ki refiner stage. Lowen had already reached his body's upper limits and the only way his body ki refining stage would grow more was with the passage of time, when his body naturally grew up, developing even further once he enters puberty. If he entered the aura body stage now, he didn't know if his strength would continue to rise when he grew. Technically speaking it should but Lowen had never reached either of these stages so early in his previous life and had no experience doing it so soon. If there was some type of backlash at this level and if even one little thing went wrong, Lowen would have no clue on how to course-correct it and may even damage his future possibilities in his future stages. Possibly permanently ruining himself, making the next stages unreachable. Was this a risk he was willing to take, even he himself didn't know but he did know one thing. If Rize wasn't stopped now, this early on then the future would be all but bleak.

Roland still sitting around a campfire was mumbling to himself.

"Damn damn damn, if only we had more soldiers or another mage or battle mage, then we might be able to get somewhere. With just the two of us though, what can we do? Damn."

Lowen immediately shouted.

"That's it, Roland, you're right. A mage, we need another mage."

Roland's brows scrunched up for a moment before he said.

"Mage, of course we need a mage or something along those lines but the point is, there are no other mages around or have you not noticed?"

A small grin took shape on Lowen's face.

"Aren't you forgetting about someone that lives close to sento village, someone neither you or I get along with."

Roland thought for a moment before an image of a short man with cursed eyes and bulging muscles popped into his head. Roland immediately stood up and angerly kicked a nearby rock, nearly breaking his toe in the process. Roland hopped around on one foot whilst grasping his other in pain.

"AHHHHHHhhhh! Ouch ouch ouch, shit, my fucking toe, god damn fuck!"

After cursing for quite a while, Roland then picked up that rock that he had kicked and threw it far into the dark forest. Turning back, he looked at Lowen as he yelled.

"You actually want to use Sid, that asshole, there's no way he would help. That man and I hate each other's guts and besides that, he's fucking insane. You've seen him yourself, you know there's something not right in his head. If you were to ask him, hed just fucking laugh in your face as you told him how desperate the situation was. Even if he 100% believed everything about that goblin leader, still he would just laugh it off and refuse. That's just the way it is and that's how it'll always be. You're better off getting down on your hands and knees and praying to whatever god you believe in, cuz if you think he'd actually help, then maybe it's you who's actually insane."

Both Lowen and Lucy we're shocked at this angry outbursts. Lowen knew the two had bad blood between them but he never knew why and right now he absolutely did not care. Right now that wasn't important, Lowen thought to himself but if anyone can convince him, maybe, just maybe it was him and if he can't convince him, then maybe he can at least make a trade. Roland continued to rant and rave, this time it was Lowen's turn to become frustrated. Standing up, he looked at Roland with contempt and in a cold tone, he said.

"Roland, this is neither the time or place. Right now we are completely out of options. We have to stop Rize or he will kill us all. Even if we run from here today, right now, after all the enmity we've built up between each other, do you think he'd ever allow us to live? If we don't kill him, then we'll have to look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. Is that something you can do? Because honestly, I doubt I can."

Roland's mood began to calm but his expression soured. As he took in Lowen's words he grumbled to himself for several minutes and thought before finally, he begrudgingly nodded his head and with a bitter sigh, he said.

*Sigh*

"Fine, if that is what we must do, then that is what we must do."

Lowen turned to Lucy and asked.

"I'm about to go to sento village, do you want me to take you or do you wish to stay out here? Whatever you do decide now because I have to leave, now."

Lucy had no idea what was going on but she knew for a fact she did not wish to stay anywhere near that cave.

"I....please take me with you."

Lowen nodded his head and was just about to head off with her when Roland quickly stopped them.

"Lowen, if you leave in the state you're in you'll only pass out again. With your incredible healing rate, a bit of rest here won't kill you and those goblins aren't coming out anytime soon. Have a seat and collect yourself, otherwise, you'll only be setting us all up for failure when your body collapses on you."

Lowen didn't know if Roland was being thoughtful or just trying to preserve himself but he did have a point. Once more, Lowen continued to circulate his ki and earth energy healing himself at a visible rate. After a while, each wound was now completely sealed, Lowen's bleeding had completely stopped and he could even feel his muscles mending back together. Thankfully most of the damage Lowen had received was only surface-level. The real damage he suffered was the broken forearm and the few places he was pierced by the earth spikes. Had they punctured one of his organs, then he would have needed a hell of a lot longer to heal those. Letting out a long breath Lowen opened his eyes and stood up, staring at the two he said.

"Lucy, it's time to go. Roland, watch the cave closely."

Lucy and Roland both gave a nod of acknowledgment and Lowen grabbed Lucy by the waist before he picked her up in a princess carry. The sight of this looked a bit ridiculous because of the difference in size but still, Lowen had done it quite easily. Circulating his ki, Lowen's body blurred and with Lucy in his arms, they disappeared into the night.