The Chair Jumps Back Into the Fray

The rainstorm continued to lightly patter against the vines of the building. By the time morning came, everyone had passed out on the floor. No one actually went to sleep last night.

“Time for breakfast,” Rufus entered my room trying to wake me up. He had a sleepy yet annoyed expression on his face.

“Five more minutes,” I mumbled, making sure he didn’t get too close. I hadn’t slipped back into bed yet.

Rufus sighed, stopping in his tracks before turning around. “Fine, but we’re eating breakfast now and leaving immediately after, so if you don’t want to get melted, make sure you’re with us.” I shooed him away with a flap of the rag. Once he left, I undid the light magic and slipped the rag back on.

I didn’t really care if I missed breakfast; it wouldn’t be all that tasty anyway – probably some cold cereal. I would sneak a quick bite from my pocket dimension if I could. Unfortunately, there was surprisingly little of anything inside – only some gifts from jobs and friends. Oh, and of course, more coins than I knew what to do with. I tried getting rid of them before, but I always ended up with more coins, so I’d given up. I gave myself a quick reminder to stock up on food, then headed out to the common space.

“Good morning, everyone!”

Nobody responded.

Wow, they all looked terrible. Rufus’s head bobbed up and down, snapping awake for a moment before passing out in a loop. Aster had massive bags under her eyes, but she was still composed and attentive. Emma winced after every move she made. Her hands were shaking, but it wasn’t bad enough to impact her work. Ai, on the other hand, had a bit of drool coming out of her mouth. Her eyes remained dazed.

“How are you feeling, Ai?”

“I’m perfectly fine.” Well, she was conscious, if only barely.

“How are you managing to talk right now?” Rufus asked, surprised she didn’t snap back.

“With a lot of effort, Wolf,” Ai glared.

“Does that mean you’ll still be able to cover us with your vines?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I should recover a good bit of my mana after dispelling the house. I am a C-rank Plant Mage, after all.”

“R-right.” Rufus looked embarrassed, but he carried on. “We’ll have the same formation as before: Aster in front; Ai, Emma, and the proctor in the middle; and me in the back. Dragon’s Sigh is just a bit further, so we should arrive there sometime today, hopefully before the sun sets.

“We still have some fire crystals and healing potions left, but we should save those for emergencies only. We’ll likely have to use some of them regardless, but let’s try to save the healing potion and at least one fire crystal to cook the meat.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Aster, can you tell how many beasts are around us?”

Aster closed her eyes, then nodded her head, “Nothing in the general vicinity. Outside of Ai’s barrier, at least fifty beasts. Fighting with each other.”

“Hmm, they may be starved for food, so they’ll ignore us if we don’t get too close. If needed, we can use one of our water crystals to keep them away, but I want to save those.” Emma nodded her head, holding a water crystal in her hand along with some other items. In the other, she held the other two rain covers, passing one to me. She looked ready to go, as did the rest of them.

“Okay, anything else? Good, let’s get going then. Ai, you’re up.”

“Get around me.” Ai pulled us closer with her vines, but she hadn’t dispelled the vine house yet. She managed to figure out dual casting then. Impressive, though her control was a bit rough.

“Get ready. I’m releasing the spell now.”

The house began to shake, slowly unraveling and slithering back under Ai’s clothes. Her skin gained more color, her gaze growing sharp and focused. The surrounding mana seemed to flow back into her body. She was definitely on her way to becoming a B-rank.

Ai raised her hands above and below, dual-casting another spell, constructing the vine platform above and below us. The safety of the barrier had dissipated, leaving a dry feeling behind. The partitions of the rooms rose up to the roof as it receded to the walls, doors, windows, and floor. Once the last vine disappeared under Ai’s clothes, she took off towards Dragon’s Sigh, using the giant cave above the tree line as a guide.