"A bunch of lunatics!"

Gerald ran away from the Elves. He didn't plan on interacting with arrogant narcissists as they were the worst kind of people to be around.

And he for sure wasn't going to let the Elf use him as a dumping ground for his dissatisfaction. It was best to just distance himself and let them bicker among themselves. They didn't look like they saw eye-to-eye anyway. Most likely they worked as a team because of circumstances more than anything, at least for the time being.

Either way, he didn't care.

He kind of regretted not confirming where all the Mana was coming from, but it wasn't difficult to guess. And it was still increasing, so the battle at the front lines should become a bit easier. At least mages wouldn't have to conserve their energy and could fight to the limit every single time.

As Gerald returned to the wall, a surprise was waiting for him. A group of warriors were chatting near the campfire and having a meal sponsored by the city.

It was just some simple flatbread, roasted meat of common farm animals, and some cheap beer. Enough to keep you going through the day, but nothing more.

However, the faces were somewhat familiar, and it only took him a moment to remember to who they belonged.

"What are you guys doing here?" he exclaimed and slapped one of the guys on the back.

That one quickly turned around. "Who…? Gerald? Is that you?!" Kerius exclaimed in disbelief. "Damn man, you have changed!" Then he looked up slightly after examining him completely, "Have you… grown taller?"

"Could be," Gerald shrugged, "I'm still young after all." In truth, his friend from the Iron Hawks did appear a bit smaller than he remembered him, but who cares? The difference was small.

"What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you worked in Geldern?" he asked.

The members of the Iron Hawks were all here, with the addition of Doven and his brother Derrick coming from the Silver Phantom. It appeared their group truly fell apart after the death of two of their members.

"Well…" Kerius started, "Long story short, our Guildmaster noticed that all monsters were moving towards the capital, so he sent us and a few others to help. We were here almost a week ago already, we just didn't know you were here also. We only heard some rumors about Black Onyx yesterday."

"Oh, so that's how it was! No wonder… What about…?" Gerald turned to the two brothers.

"If you are wondering about our party, yeah, it's gone. Just the two of us were left in the end, so we decided to join the Iron Hawks," Doven answered.

"We are called Iron Phantom Hawks now, by the way," Kerius mentioned. "But yeah, we combined our forces. Although, usually our elders wouldn't approve, since we aren't related. But times change you know…"

"Sure."

The youngsters continued chatting about various topics, mostly about the monster attacks, but also about interesting rumors and recent events.

As they were laughing around the campfire, the city wall slowly and quietly charged up. As Mana concentrations rose, another spell was cast from the Palace, and the wall started to glow.

Bright red and golden runes appeared on the surface, and following an ear-piercing thunder, a barrier suddenly rose into the air, creating ten meters tall wall on top of the stone one.

The sudden change gave many quite a fright, and the resting warriors quickly jumped on their feet, ready to fight. Exclamations of shock and surprise soon drowned out the relaxed conversations, and those sleeping were also abruptly woken up.

"What is that?!" someone exclaimed, the shout existing between fear and worry. The defenders quickly jumped back and observed for a moment to assess the situation.

The barrier was red-ish in color and semitransparent and moved like waves of the sea. Every few seconds or so, a thick wave traveled from the bottom and diminished in thickness as it traveled upward. Eventually, at around ten meters or so, it finally ran out of power and ended, leaving the sky exposed.

Just like humans, the monsters at the front were frightened by the sudden change but were quickly pushed forward by those in the back. As they touched the barrier, their fur suddenly burst into flames and their flesh melted and their screams of pain filled the air.

The smell of burning flesh was soon swept by the wind and carried across the city.

"Woah!"

"They are burning…"

"Woo-hoo! Yeah, get those fuckers!"

Many warriors and soldiers erupted with cheers and laughter. The monsters were burned to charcoal when coming in contact with the barrier and only roasted corpses managed to force their way through.

Gerald wasn't so optimistic though. The barrier was good, but it wasn't perfect, and the monsters could still come through even though they were dead. It was not a good sign in his opinion.

As such, he jumped on the wall, reinforced his hand with magic, and touched the barrier. There was immediately a sizzling sound as his skin heated up, but it wasn't anything much. A slight burn mark, that was all.

"Hmm, it's even weaker than I thought…"

He pushed even more Mana to his skin, reaching the limit of what his cells could take. He touched the flame barrier again. Nothing happened.

He grinned. The barrier provided some resistance, however with a strong push, his hand went through. The hairs on his forearm instantly turned to smoke, however, his skin remained undamaged.

A goblin tried to attack his hand, but Gerald gripped him at lightning speed and yanked him through the barrier. The beast burst into flames as it passed through with surprisingly little resistance.

The Goblin screeched and flailed around, trying to free itself, but Gerald held it firmly in his grasp and the silver fingers dug in its flesh.

While ignoring the Goblin's screams of pain, he pushed on the barrier once more, this time slower than before.

His hand went through normally at first, but as time went on, the heat increased, and the barrier around his hand was becoming increasingly solid, so much so that he had a feeling his hand was locked in a steel vice.

He almost couldn't pull it back out as his skin started to sting, but luckily with a powerful thought, the Mana around his arm was disrupted momentarily and he was able to retreat safely. He looked at his hand with his brows furrowed, and then glanced at the screeching Goblin in his grasp. He tossed it at the barrier.

The monster flew through the wall of plasma, and it almost appeared as if it was going to completely penetrate it when it got stuck. Half of it was on one side, and half on the other.

Its screams intensified as seconds passed, and after around five seconds, the Goblins' waist exploded into a bloody mist of steam and smoke, with charred bones glowing like cinders along the wound.

Two pieces of the corpse fell, one inside, the other outside.

"Hmm…" Gerald simply looked at it without much emotion as he mused over his experiments.

According to his tests, the barrier should have a fiery nature as a deterrent, but it was not all that strong. It only worked as a passive obstacle, possibly to conserve energy. However, after something disturbed it, or tried to get through, the area around it would be quickly enhanced to destroy any and all invaders. It was a good strategy, but with a major weakness.

Anyone that was stronger than the lowest level garbage, would have no problems breaking through the barrier with only minor burns, if any.

Monsters that knew how to use magic to enhance their bodies could simply walk through if they wanted, and weaker beasts just had to be quick.

"This is going to be a problem…" Gerald mused and returned back to the group.

"What was that? Did you discover anything?" Xilia asked when he came back. They all saw what he was doing perfectly fine, and Kerius couldn't help but whistle at the sight of a Goblin exploding. And when he remembered Gerald simply stuck his hand in, his stomach churned at the thought.

'He changed, he has changed alright! Where did that weak newbie go?' he thought while shaking his head.

During the time he barely advanced in his life, it seemed like Gerald has become a completely different person. And that wasn't just talking about physical appearances, as his body was covered with scars from top to bottom.

It was the feeling he was giving off. From a simple young warrior that barely knew how to fight, to a seasoned fighter that bathed in blood. It was almost as if he has aged a decade in just a few short months. It was utterly bizarre.

"It seems that this wall is hiding some secrets," Gerald mused as he pointed at the barrier behind him with his thumb. "This barrier is utter garbage, but it should be enough to hold back a few Goblins…."

"Then again," he said, "If it's the same around the entire capital, it's bound to be using some insane amount of Mana. Definitely not worth it in my opinion."

"I think It's pretty neat!" Xilia said and stretched her body. "I was feeling exhausted from all the constant fighting, it's nice to have a break for once."

Nobody argued against that. They then sat around the fire and roasted some meat when Eneth approached somewhat timidly.

"Excuse me, mister Gerald?"

"What's up?"

"I have a few questions about magic," the young man said, "If you don't mind…"

"Sure, go ahead," Gerald gestured to him to sit beside him. "Tell me what the problem is."

Eneth nodded and demonstrated his Stone Bolt spell. It was actually quite good, even though he couldn't control more than ten stone pieces at once.

But as the guy was holding his staff and controlling the stones, his face showed severe discomfort and sweat started gathering on his brow. Moving the spell in the sky for a while, he released it and started breathing heavily soon after. He looked at Gerald with an exhausted expression.

"That was pretty good, what's the problem then?" he asked.

"It's too draining… I need to rest a few minutes after every spell otherwise I get a painful headache," Eneth answered and gently massaged his temples.

Gerald contemplated for a while. He knew exactly what the problem was. Eneth's mind was way too weak, but solving that problem wasn't so easy. It took him a long time to improve himself with meditation, but…

'Oh my god, of course! I completely forgot about the benefits of meditation!' Gerald almost wanted to slap his forehead. He even forgot to teach his students proper meditation. His work would be so much easier if they could see Mana just like him.

"Aya…" He quietly sighed and then gestured to everyone, "Alright, gather around people, you will want to hear this…"

It was an interesting sight. Besides the most brutal battlefield, a bunch of grown-up men and women were sitting on the ground with closed eyes and meditating according to Gerald's instructions.

"Take a deep breath, empty your mind, and then release… Let your feelings flow free… Feel the heartbeat of the world, feel its gentle nature... Listen to the screams of the dead and dying, listen to their wails of pain, to the clashes of metal and breaking of bones…"

"Wait, no! Forget that last part." Gerald meditated at the same time as the rest and almost forgot his meditation was a bit different. Having the ability to absorb the spirits of the dead was quite a boon for him, but not so much for the rest.

"My body feels itchy," Sera complained all of a sudden.

Gerald replied without opening his eyes, "I told you it's likely to happen, just perserve…"

They meditated for a while in silence when another voice broke the peace.

"I don't feel so good, mister Gerald," Eneth said. "My head is spinning."

"Just perserve, you are almost there!" Gerald encouraged him. In truth, he had no idea if this would work. But hey, it was worth a try.

Silence returned once again... if you ignore the sounds of war going all around.

"I don't feel anything…" Armaz said in a flat voice.

"Me neither," Ermaz, his twin brother added.

"Just keep going, just a little bit more…" Gerald said and continued with his meditation. He was doing this on a whim, but it might just bring some interesting results...