The Chair’s Third Trial

Another hour passed, and things were going pretty well. Everyone was more exhausted than usual, probably from staying up and training so late, but they could press on for at least another two or three hours. The rainstorm stopped, so more and more beasts attacked, slowly starting to overwhelm them. I could see Rufus’s eyes darting around, looking for an opening to use a fire crystal.

He didn’t have to wait long. “There’s a break in the forest coming up!” Ai yelled. She was right. The forest trees stopped beyond a certain point, and there were no beasts in that direction.

Rufus smiled with glee. “Emma, fire crystal!”

“Coming your way!” Emma threw a fire crystal she had on hand to Rufus. He caught it and waited. As soon as they made it past the trees, Rufus tossed and punched the fire crystal once again.

The resulting inferno was about three times stronger, instantly vaporizing the beasts and most of the trees behind us. The somewhat damp grass burned away into dry dirt and bedrock. A hot haze lingered over the area that made me sweat even as we rapidly moved away. Rufus’s hand was badly charred, the knuckle slightly fusing with his skin, but he could somehow still use it.

The opening led into a giant crater we ended up cutting through. There was no life inside – not even fallen trees or grass. Everything had disintegrated. On the other hand, the crater was filled with dense mana, preventing the beasts from pursuing us for a bit.

Just a bit further, we could see Dragon’s Sigh towering over the tree line, almost looking like a giant mountain. The entrance was just on the other side of this crater – this stretch was simply a brief respite. Of course, everyone kept their guard up; you never knew what could happen.

As we neared the other side of the crater, a few strange noises reached our ears. The noises quickly multiplied, increasing in volume the closer we got to the edge. From here, everything looked rather peaceful. However, mana sense revealed a different story. Aster couldn’t maintain her expressionless facade.

“What’s going on?” Rufus asked, noticing her expression

“...there are hundreds, if not thousands of beasts in front of us, all at least C-rank.” That caused everyone to tense. They were already having trouble with waves of F-ranks and E-ranks. If waves of C-ranks were added to the picture, they would be wiped out.

However, Aster wasn’t finished yet. “Past the droves of C-ranks, I have no idea.”

“What do you mean, ‘you have no idea’?” Rufus was rather puzzled by that statement.

“There’s a giant barrier of mana around Dragon’s Sigh. I can’t sense anything past that. However, it’s unlikely there are any beasts within.”

“So, you’re saying all we need to do is rush past the C-rank beasts and we should be fine? Though, it’s a bit concerning that there’s so much mana around the cave.”

“That’s normal in the Mixing Point, so we should be fine,” Emma chimed in.

“ But how are we going to get past those beasts? I don’t think my attack could handle a bunch of C-ranks.”

“It’s fine. Your fire crystal punch will be more than enough for C-ranks.” Ai shrugged.

“To burn a thousand plus beasts? And how in the world is it supposed to do that?”

“Just do it. You’ll understand.” Wow, she couldn’t have made it more obscure. Rufus was arguably fuming, but he nodded along. He didn’t have a better idea.

We approached the edge of the crater, speeding up. The beasts started to notice us and growled, staying just outside the crater. They would likely attack as soon as we exited.

“Emma! Proctor! Come up front and get the rain covers ready!” It sounded like she had a plan in mind, so I complied. Vines wrapped around us, holding us tightly in place. Her vines felt like a shock absorber. Every time I moved, I could feel the vines transferring the momentum.

Aster took down the beasts that could potentially flank us. With how strong the beasts were, she needed to throw around twenty needles to beat a single one.

Then, we exited the crater.

“Rufus, now!”

“AAAHHHHH!” Rufus yelled, probably to vent his frustration. It worked to his advantage though; he punched the crystal with a massive burst of speed. The crystal completely shattered.

First came the wind. It knocked back and punctured the surrounding beasts. The C-ranks didn’t stand a chance. Emma and I had already braced, but the others had to hold onto the ceiling to avoid being blown off.

Next came the fire. The mana ignited the air so fast before being swept along by the wind. The flames were so hot they turned blue, vaporizing almost everything in front of us. Every beast definitely died in the fire.

Of course, the recoil was just as bad. The top layer of skin and muscle on Rufus’s right hand burned away. The knuckle fused completely with whatever was left. The Wind Magic imploded on itself, pulling the fire right back towards us. Even if we used the rain covers, we would still fall victim to the flames. However, Ai kept moving forward, faster than before.

She braced Rufus from the back with her vines, transferring the rotation of his body to his left fist. Rufus immediately took the hint without a word, throwing another punch, this time without the fire. A surge of wind rushed forth, a bit more powerful than before, to meet the oncoming vortex barreling towards us.

BOOOOMMM!!

A loud ringing sound echoed through my ears. For a moment, A bright flash of blue and white blinded me. Ai used her vines to move our hands, bringing the rain covers in front of everyone.

Finally, the impact came. The shockwave rolled through us, straining our bodies past their limits. Somehow, the vines managed to protect our bodies from being injured too badly. The rain covers quickly flickered from red to back as the fire and wind rapidly heated and cooled them. Some cracks formed and grew, but the rain cover stayed in one piece. Occasionally, a few beasts tried to sneak behind us, but Aster swiftly dispatched them, using the inferno to incinerate their bodies.

After a few more seconds, the force of the vortex disappeared as suddenly as it arrived – the flames far behind. The forest was a complete mess, turning into the aftermath of a war. Emma breathed heavily under the strain of her broken arms. Aster’s rags were in tatters once again, leaving most of her body exposed. Meanwhile, the beasts froze behind us growling and hissing.

Ai, on the other hand, had more pressing concerns, so she couldn’t relax yet. We were rapidly approaching a stone wall, and we didn’t have enough time to stop or change directions. She fashioned her vines to grab the rain covers out of our hands before squishing us all together. She then surrounded us in a ball of vines, sending the rest to break our momentum.

We jostled around inside the ball as we caught on hundreds of vines, slowing us down quickly. Our velocity broke through a few layers of vines, but we were able to stop just before hitting the wall. Gravity took hold soon after, pulling us back to the ground. The rain covers laid below to stop the acid damp ground from touching our bodies.

Silence ensued as the party processed what had happened. We all laid on top of one another, staring up at the blue-yellow sky. It was a little past noon as the two suns danced around. The trees shimmered under the sunlight; the grass glistened with luster, revealing a beautiful yellow landscape. Dragon’s Sigh was right beside us.

Emma was the first to speak up. “We’re alive.” She pinched her cheek, checking to see if she was awake. Even then, she muttered the words over and over. A tear rolled down her cheek.

Rufus wasn’t much better. “Ha, ha, ha! We actually made it! Ha, ha, ha!” He was cackling and coughing, but he didn’t think this was an illusion. Tears rolled down his cheeks too. “I thought we were dead for sure!”

“Of course we made it! What do you think I am, a hypocrite?”

“Yes!”

“Well, believe me next time!” Ai might have acted calm, but I could hear her heartbeat pound on top of me. Aster was expressionless, but her face was more in pain than relieved.

We made it to Dragon’s Sigh.