Within seconds, James was back in the city.

“I hope you guys got a lot of xp while I chased that sucker, cause we’re about to go to the next city.” James laughed and immediately left to absorb the energy reserves.

“How is he so quick?” Denmac asked while channeling a barrier over the group. “It makes no sense. It takes us longer to kill these normal ones than it takes him to kill all the elites.”

“I know, I’m having a bit of an existential crisis.” Emilia replied as she shot a slowing arrow at an agent that was inches away from stabbing Helios, who was recklessly slamming his molten body into entire groups of agents. “It’s making me rethink what is and isn’t possible. I mean, I have heard of people with an incredibly high level doing impossible things. But high level mages don’t show themselves to people like us. Not only do they prefer to hang around places fit for their level, where others of their kind spend their time. But they also have various restrictions, political or otherwise, that limit their ability to just do whatever they want. And yet here he is, a mage in the mid 200s, doing things that one couldn’t even dream of until they gained another several hundred levels.”

The dwarves nodded in agreement. “It boggles the mind.” Eruditus replied as he threw an imp at an agent’s face. “I’ve heard of such things only in legends. And usually, such feats were only possible if the hero possessed some divine artifact, or the guidance of the spirit of a divine being or something. But he seems to be doing this from sheer insanity and willpower alone.”

“I’ve actually heard about such phenomena.” Bacchus replied in a serious tone. “They’re not as uncommon as you think. The world is full of arcane secrets and divine mysteries, therefore it’s only natural that some people find a way to tap into things that grant them power way beyond their peers. But often times, these extraordinary people choose to reduce their notoriety, sometimes even scrubbing any hint of their existence altogether. That’s why you don’t hear about them very often. A mage strong enough can even make himself disappear from most people’s memories. Some spells can even delete any trace of yourself from the aethernet.”

“Either that, or they’re killed before their star could really shine.” Ruppus added timidly. “Such power tends to attract trouble. It doesn’t help that the extreme confidence you get from the repeated moments of great success and glory, makes your downfall all the more sudden and unexpected.”

“I used to worry like that too.” Helios shouted as he slammed into another agent, leaving nothing but a pair of cauterized feet in his wake. “But brother proved me wrong, time and time again. I say you should stop worrying, and just go with the flow. Grab the xp while you have the opportunity!”

“Even now, I still worry a little bit.” Lunaris admitted while pumping heals into the reckless Helios who was throwing himself at agents without giving a thought to self-preservation, as if James’s insanity had warped his mind as well. “But after my worries were repeatedly proven to be senseless by James’s … adaptability, I’ve learned that the best thing to do is to have faith. The reason he’s so powerful is precisely the fact that he doesn’t think like the rest of us. His insanity and recklessness are what got him this far. I only hope that I can keep up, so that I can be there and heal him when he needs me.”

“But unfortunately, I see that his recklessness and insanity is infectious!” Lunaris shouted as Helios jumped headfirst into a group of twenty agents.

“What do you mean?” Helios coughed as he climbed out of his scorched crater filled with dead agents. “James took care of all the bigger fish. So we can go hog wild and kill as many of these trash ones as we can. In fact, we’re leaving xp on the table if we don’t hurry up and delete as many of them as possible.”

“I think James’s mind-boggling feats warped your standards.” Lunaris sighed. “Even a normal agent is a huge threat. Several months ago, we almost died just trying to kill one of them. We need to be careful, who knows what they can throw at us?”

“Relax, Lun.” Helios chuckled. “Our progress might not be as astronomical as James’s, but we’re not the same people as a few months ago either. We’ve hitched our wagon to his star, and we’ve sure as hell been dragged to the sky along with it. A year ago I would’ve told you that killing one agent was a matter of life and death. And now I’m killing them by the dozen.”

“Ok, but don’t you start getting all crazy on me. I can only handle one insane guy at a time.” Lunaris then smiled devilishly. “I guess I was just hoping that I’d only have to repeatedly grow back one person’s limbs. But I guess you don’t mind pain either.”

Helios shuddered as he remembered the unbelievable pain of regrowing a limb. “You win!” He immediately bowed. “I’ll only jump into groups of 15 or less, not a single agent more!”

“That’s his idea of being cautious?” Emilia laughed. “I guess James’s insanity really is infectious. Oh my god, will I become like that?!”

“Don’t worry, you won’t.” Lunaris answered as she shook her head. “It’s an innate thing, he was always like that. Well, more or less. James’s arrival just made it worse.” She sighed again. “A lot worse, actually. Now he has a buddy that’s even crazier than him, and it’s really warping his worldview. He used to be the craziest guy around, but when everybody else is normal, you compare yourself to them and that sort of puts a limit on your actions. But now he’s comparing himself to Mr. Asylum himself.”

“You know what, now that I think about it, killing twenty agents in one attack is a mind-boggling feat too.” Denmac said while watching Helios kill an agent by running into him. “James really raised the standards and twisted my perception, but you guys have become freakishly powerful as well. I mean, Lunaris, you’ve been healing Helios’s stabs and burns from a distance, so well that he barely even felt the damage! That’s stronger than any healer that I’ve ever heard about!”

“Oh stop it, this is nothing.” Lunaris blushed.

Suddenly, dozens of explosions shook the city. Hundreds of red rods struck the agents around Helios, their bodies dropping as soon as they were touched.

“Hey, what gives?” Helios protested. “I was just about to do that myself!” Though as he went to high five his brother, he began laughing gleefully.

“Sorry, but there will be plenty of agents to kill in the next city. And we can’t waste any time! Ladies and gentlemen, please get on the carpet!” James announced.

The group climbed onto their vehicle, but James had a serious look on his face. “I want you to really listen to me now. I need you to cling to this carpet like you’ve never done before. Be one with the carpet, glue yourself to it. It’s a matter of life and death!”

“What’s the matter?” Emilia asked in a panic. “Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just afraid that I don’t know the limits of my own strength anymore.” James smiled awkwardly.

Hearing that, every single member of the group hugged the carpet tightly, desperately throwing as much mana as possible into chaining themselves to it.

Unlike what the group was expecting, James didn’t climb on the carpet this time. Instead, he began lifting it with his mana.

He then went beneath it.

“I apologize for this in advance.” James said.

Denmac was holding onto the carpet like his life depended on it. One moment they were still on the ground, but the next, they found themselves rocketing through the sky so fast that his skin felt like it was on fire.

“What the hell? Am I dreaming, what is happening?” He shouted.

“You’re definitely not dreaming.” Emilia shouted back. “I think we’re still on the carpet, but I can’t even turn my head to look.”

Before anybody could say anything else, the carpet suddenly stopped.

“Well, we’re here!” James announced gleefully.

He was smiling ear to ear. He already had a lot of mana before they even began this mission. But now that he was rapidly expanding his mana pool, he was willing to recklessly spend as much of it as he felt like at the moment. And the results were even better than expected. It was also fun to not impose any limits on oneself.

But while James was gleeful, the others weren’t quite as happy. As quick as the trip had been, it didn’t feel worth it at the moment, not while they were emptying their stomachs.