Lotus:

Yet another swarm of ostrich beasts was blasted away only to be replaced by even more.

By now she has used that spell five times.

Aside from the skill and experience needed to master them, High Level spells used up a lot more mana. Lotus’s mana capacity was by no means low, but multiple usages of high level spells were taking their toll on her.

Lotus:

Strangely nothing happened.

Lotus: “I am out of mana!”

This was bad. They were surrounded by hundreds of those beasts and each one could easily shrug off most low tier spells. Even high level spells could not do the job when it came to so many.

Salamander demon could no longer keep producing her green flames.

Aijasyl: “So am I!”

Karli: “I have a little left, but it is nowhere near enough to defeat all of them”

Lotus: “We are surrounded. There is nowhere left to run.”

Karli: “I will not give up without a fight!”

Karli:

The spell created a continued stream of ice, blasting all of the ostriches within the vicinity. Some were frozen in their tracks; however, many of them seemed to possess extreme resistance to ice type damage by coating their body in flames. The heat they radiated was so intense that the ice Karli created was quickly melted away.

Now this was truly the worst possible situation for her to be in. Not only were these beasts extremely tough, but they also possessed a resistance to her main ability. On top of that, she had ran out of mana.

It was one bad situation after the other.

The ice wall she created around her allies started to shatter into pieces due to beasts’ relentless assault.

It was pointless to pray for a miracle.

It seems this was the end.

Suddenly a blast of frost spread around them, swallowing most of the beasts, turning them into frozen statues. The intensity of the cold far exceeded that of Karli’s.

A unique brand of fire magic that started out as small sparks of flames, but the moment they touched a target, the fire would spread, feeding upon the mana of the victim, becoming bigger and hotter until the target was reduced to ashes.

The ones that appeared before them were a familiar form of a Frost Wolf and Dragon demon.

Karli: “Brother?”

Lotus: “Lumina! What are you doing here?”

Korkau: “Hey Karli”

He was acting rather humbly, in stark contrast to his past self. It seems like his recent losses and defeats had truly humbled him, for better or worse.

Lumina: “What’s up, sis?”

Lumina’s face adorned a big smile.

It was a rather pleasant reunion.

There was no doubt that Karli and Lotus were delighted to see their siblings.

Aijasyl: “But you guys are not allowed to participate in the trials….how are you here?”

“Allow me to explain, my fair lady”

It was a familiar voice belonging to a familiar Darkling.

He was standing upon a floating platform made entirely by his Darkness magic.

Aijasyl: “Doran!”

Doran: “That’s me, all right”

Aijasyl: “I don’t understand….”

Doran: “Darkness magic allows the user to travel to any known or marked location, as long as the user has enough mana. Ideal for nomadic types such as myself…”

Aijasyl: “How could you have possibly known we were here?”

Doran: “Before you guys entered this trial, I marked you. See?”

He pointed at her right hand.

Only now did she notice that there was a glowing magic circle inscribed upon it.

Much to her disgust, she remembered Doran licking the very same hand.

Doran: “Since I have marked you, I can instantly travel to your location any time I want to”

Aijasyl: “That’s just plain creepy”

Just knowing that Doran could track her down anywhere at any time was anything but comforting.

Lotus: “It does sound a lot like stalking”

Karli: “Disgusting”

Doran: “Oh c’mon! It worked out ok, didn’t it? I mean, we managed to save you guys by coming here”

Aijasyl: “Thank you very much, Korkau-san, Lumina-san”

Karli: “Likewise, thank you very much”

They thanked everyone but Doran.

Doran: ‘Did they just single me out here? Oh man….’

Doran: “Look, I just came here to help my brother”

Aijasyl: “In that case, our goals are the same. We have ended up separated from him. Can you take us to him?”

Doran: “He is not with you? Oh man….”

Aijasyl: “Can you take us to him?”

She was trying her best not to lose her patience with him. But that proved to be a rather difficult endeavor.

Did Master Ymit really adopt this guy?

Doran: “That is…kind of impossible”

Aijasyl: “Why? You tracked us down just fine”

Doran: “You. I tracked down only you and only because I marked you beforehand”

Aijasyl: “Didn’t you mark Ren?”

Doran: “No. I assumed you guys would all be together in a single group, not separated like this!”

Aijasyl: “That means you are completely useless. Please just jump off the cliff and die”

Doran: ‘Ren mentioned she was a tsundere, but to this extent? Are you kidding me?’

Lumina: “Uhm, guys, not meaning to interrupt your lovers quarrel….”

Doran and Aijasyl: “We are not lovers!”

Lumina: “Wow, still in denial huh. Anyways….Too late”

Just when they thought they were safe, they found another tribe heading their way.

It was the Serpent Tribe.

Appearance-wise, they ranged from the ones that had serpent tails and ordinary lizard-like feet, but all of them had serpent heads. Some even had four to eight arms.

And unlike the ostrich tribe, they were well armed, wearing weaponry and armor.

Korkau: “*Cracking his knuckles* Let the fun begin”

* * *

Rabbit tribe territory.

Orin: “How in the world are there so many of them?!”

Sirinke: “Luck seems to have forsaken us”

Sukesir: “It’s not luck, it’s just this plague of a tribe keeps getting on my nerves!”

Orin: “They just keep hopping out of the holes and they are all over”

Out of mana, injured, and disoriented, they were not in the best shape.

Rabbit tribe may not be the most powerful, but with sheer numbers, they could overwhelm any foes.

Funny enough, the ones the trio ended up encountering were not even the warriors of the tribe, but mere mooks.

But they were still getting their hinds handed to them.

Orin: “Any suggestions?”

Sirinke: “I used up all the destruction spheres”

Sukesir: “Do you know anything that works on rabbits?”

Orin: “Carrots?”

Both Sukesir and Sirinke looked at Orin with a furious expression.

Orin: “Ok. Ok. I will take it seriously….How about flames? Any of you can breathe fire by any chance?”

Sirinke: “No. Unlike dragon demons, lizard demons do not have the capacity to breathe flames. Although….”

Orin: “Although what?! They are piling me here!”

That much was true; rabbit beasts were literally burying him under their weight.

Sirinke: “We do have an organ that stores flammable gas inside our body, however, without ignition, it is useless”

Orin: “Let out the gas, leave the ignition to me!”

Sirinke: “Right away”

Inhaling, Sirinke used the air to force the gas to come out of his mouth.

What he exhaled now was a pure and highly flammable gas.

Orin: “*Lighting a tiny match over his shell* Boo-yah!”

Rabbit beasts were blasted all over.

Orin: “Now that’s what I call an explosion!”

Orin: “Sirinke, are you thinking what I am thinking?”

Sirinke: “Yes, let’s do it!”

Sukesir: “More are coming, we need to get out….What are you guys doing?!”

Sirinke attached himself to Orin’s arm, with Orin holding a match and Sirinke prepared to exhale gas again.

Orin and Sirinke: “COMBINATION ATTACK: Beetle-Lizard Flamethrower!”

Sukesir: “Is this going to be ok?”

She knew this was for the sake of survival, but… she couldn’t help but note how ridiculous it looked.

Sukesir: ‘He could have just given the matches to Sirinke…’