章 51: Third Vein
Things would have been slightly easier if the Alpha were sound of mind. How did it even get to become an Alpha anyway? It was simply beyond Jered's understanding. Rainey would probably chalk it up to the eccentricities of the magical world, but holy shit, this Alpha was completely out of its rockers, "You want to be my friend?" he asked, the layout of a plan brewing in his head. He didn't know if it would work, but if it did, it would be a huge boon for Akashka.
"Yes! Yes! Friends! Besties!"
"Would you like to come with me, then?"
Evelyn snapped her gaze up at him, confused.
As a matter of fact, even the Alpha was not expecting that follow-up. With a twisted grin on its snout, it flickered in front of Jered. He held his ground, however. Something was wrong with the creature. He had read about the Wolfkins, and knew how unreasonable and bloodthirsty they were. But this Alpha. It was different. It had a whimsical nature that didn't care about anything but its own amusement.
In a weird sort of way, it was similar to Jered.
"What do you meeeaan, lovely human? You better speak, or I'll have my way with you."
"Evelyn..." he got the woman's fleeting attention, "... you said they betrayed us. Is it the whole organization or a select few?"
She coughed, sending a wary glance at the listening Alpha. Its head was cocked sideways in a cute way.
"A select few. I believe the ones who gathered intel about the Wolfkins have something to do with it. The enchanter is in it too."
A smile lifted Jered's lips, "Okay. That's more than enough already, but I trust that if I were to give you time, you could come up with a more detailed list, right?"
She nodded.
"Awesome. Hey, Alpha."
"Yeeees?"
"I'm sorry for killing your family, really. But there is a few Magicians you could have... 'fun' with, and they'll never come here because they're scared of you. Pathetic, isn't it? If you kill me now, I'll be the last fun you'll ever have. You're smart enough to know that if you step out of the forest, the stronger Magicians will obliterate you and your kin. So here is my suggestion. Why don't we join hands? It's a simple strategy, but one they'll never see it coming. A lone Magician and an Alpha fighting for self-administered justice. Doesn't it sound good?"
Evelyn didn't know how to react. It was Ashy Petals he was talking about. Her home. She didn't mind retaliating against the unlawful perpetrators, but she feared the chaos would involve innocent Magicians. She didn't want to be seen as evil. She tugged Jered's sleeves, begging him with her eyes, begging him not to do anything stupid. He smiled at her, but she didn't feel any better.
Teaming up with the Alpha didn't sound good at all, but what was she supposed to do?
A pondering rumble rang out from the Alpha's throat.
"What about NO?"
It pounced at Jered, whose face twisted into a furious frown, "Looks like you leave me with no choice then."
The Alpha made an abrupt stop, turned around, and whisked from tree to tree. It had sensed it, after all. The ancient power of Pharaohs. The heat went up so high the rain evaporated before it could even touch the ground. The leaves spontaneously combusted, and so did the surrounding trees. 'Pharaoh's Flame' was not a spell he could use willy-nilly. Certainly not after being power-boosted by 'Soul Eater'.
He didn't know how hard the backlash would be. Hell, he could probably die too.
"I DON'T LIKE THIS GAME! I DON'T LIKE THIS GAME! LOVELY HUMAN, STOP!"
Evelyn gasped for air, the oxygen was being burnt away at a fast pace.
The earth quaked as a surge of fire spewed out of Jered's hand. The white flames twisted and squirmed into a huge depiction of Tutankhamon's face. It rippled up in the air, expanding, swallowing entire stretches of land. The Alpha was fast enough to stay out of its range, but the extreme heat had long overcome it. The Wolfkins who couldn't outrun it were devoured by the swelling fire.
[The system has converted Soul Essence into mana.]
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 3 points.]
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 4 points.]
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 2 points.]
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 1 point.]
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 5 points.]
[Your third vein has been stirred.]
Jered's heart thumped again, its pace quickening the more his mana increased. By the time a dozen of Wolfkins died, 'Pharaoh's Flame' had already set half of the forest aflame, the acrid smoke billowing up, as if a volcano had gone off. The Royal-Tier spell was beyond his control. Once it was out of his hands, he couldn't tame the rampaging beast anymore. The land, the trees, the shrubs, and the scurrying critters were drowned in a sea of fire.
Their surroundings were the most accurate representation of the metaphor 'Hell on earth.'
While the rain couldn't fully stop the 'Pharaoh's Flame', the moisture did help to slow it down. As a mana-fueled fire, normal water was nigh helpless against it.
"I... can't... breathe..." Evelyn said with tears in her eyes. She was forced to mash her face into Jered's chest, and breathe in the filtered air. But even that was of little use.
"We... need to get out of here..."
Easier said than done.
There was nowhere to go, and Jered's heart felt like it was about to burst.
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 2 points.]
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 1 point.]
The thump almost made him fall back down. It was like a perfectly aimed punch. He couldn't even stop his 'Soul Eater' spell. The backlash would leave him powerless to the destruction he had caused, "Damn..." he bit his lip and forced himself to navigate through the safe, unlit patches of grass, "Don't worry. We'll be fine..."
She nodded against his chest.
Thankfully, the waves of smoke were waned down by the deluge. The smoke itself was not made of mana, hence it didn't take long before Evelyn could look up again.
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 1 point.]
As they dragged themselves further into the forest, a crack in the air stopped them. It was a black slit overlapped by a violent mana storm. The white, blue, purple energy swirled around, roaring impatiently, "Jered... the portal!" Evelyn cautioned. Of course, with their rear and front barricaded by the stream of fire, the option of jumping into the portal sounded too good to pass on.
"Have you ever been to the Other Side?" he asked.
"I've been there a couple of times..."
Jered was relieved to know they wouldn't be completely lost once they went through it.
"But..."
Except that it was short-lived.
"... if we go through the portal, it will probably take us to the Wolfkin's den."
"Aren't all of them here? There can't be more than one Alpha, right?"
She agreed, "There won't be another Alpha, but I don't know how many Wolfkins are there, and how many of them came here."
"Still, this is a risk we should take."
Jered whipped his phone out and typed a quick message to Rainey. Anything could happen, and she had to know in case he needed her assistance, —"Hey! I fucked up. Badly. I'm going to the Other Side. See you!"
The fire advanced towards them.
"Let's go!"
He carried her up to the portal entrance, when his heart almost stopped. His knees couldn't hold the weight of his body. He lost his balance, his head making a beeline for the muddy ground, "Tch!" he gritted his teeth, a hand clasping his chest. Evelyn extricated herself from behind him and shook his body.
"Hey! W-What's wrong?"
[The system has converted Soul Essence into mana.]
[Your mana pool attribute has risen by 26 points.]
[Due to the copious amount of mana you've absorbed, your third vein has been vastly stimulated.]
The Alpha was dead.
"I'm not... feeling well..."
Evelyn was not in a good condition either, "I'll help you..." because she didn't have enough strength to pull him up, she ended up dragging him behind her, "Hang in there!"
Honestly, she didn't know if it was a great idea. But they were stuck, and the portal could turn out to be their escape or another dead end. Meanwhile, 'Pharaoh's Flame' raged harder, and there was no doubt that by the time Ashy Petals' Magicians came to put the fire off, the forest would have been as good as gone. She had never seen such a powerful, ancient flame. She had heard about it, which was why she was confident of their success when Jered tagged along for their expedition.
Now it the whole fucking thing could be their grave if she wasn't fast enough.
"Coooome oooon!"
With a grunt, she yanked him through the last few yards between them and the portal.
And when they were finally close enough, the suction force levitated them up in the air and closer to the pulsing crack. Jered's heart was beating so fast he seriously thought a heart attack was knocking at his door. And as the darkness of the portal twisted his vision, only the system's notification accompanied him through it.
[Congratulations. You have unlocked your third vein.]
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