(One Month Later)
Six months, that was it, that was when Arthur would be back here. I couldn't wait to see my brother again. I wanted to show him just how strong I am now.
I spun the ring on my finger as I sat around the fire with Samantha and Callias. I believed Victoria was in the main tent, talking with the Commander, and Tess and her team went back into the dungeon to scout.
"So, Veer, you know that Scarlet eye thing you do, I was thinking." Callias said, but before he could finish, I interrupted him.
"Oh god, you were thinking." I sent him a smile.
"You know, I'm older than you." He said.
"Haha." Samantha laughed. "You guys are like brothers."
"Sometimes it feels like it." Callias was like an older brother. "Back to my point, you think when you get to white core, your eyes will be able to do more."
I shrugged. "I hope, I can't say for sure." I've barely used my new eye ability; I was still hiding it from Tess and her team. I didn't want people to know about that yet, especially because of what I allows me to do.
"I wish I had your powers." He sagged in his seat.
"Callias, I think everyone wishes they had his powers." Samantha told him. "I know I do."
We sat in silence as I kept on playing with the ring on my finger, and then decided to use it. I closed my eyes and activated "Blood Oath" then started to absorb mana into my core at a quick rate using my blood magic. I stopped after ten seconds, and relaxed my body, it felt good.
"What are you doing?" I opened my eyes, Callias was staring at me, most likely confused.
"I was absorbing mana." It wasn't a lie, just not the whole truth.
"Oh, to me, it looked like you were about to shit." I stared at him, he may be older than me, but he acts like a child.
"Callias, really?" Samantha scolded him. "You are more like a kid than him."
"I couldn't agree more." I added, giving him a smile. "He fights like a child too."
"Wow, harsh words from both of you." He shook his head. "You know, I was only joking, go back to absorbing mana then."
"Ah, did we hurt your feelings." Samantha kept joking with him.
I closed my eyes and ignored them. I was going to use the ring one more time, the sooner I got to white core, the better. I pulled the mana to me, and started to absorb it into my core, after ten seconds I stopped, making sure I didn't hurt myself.
I took a deep breath, then opened my eyes again. Callias didn't question me this time, and I stood up.
"Where are you going?" Samantha asked me.
"Stretch my legs." I started to walk away, but I sensed Samantha get up and follow me.
"You shouldn't walk around by yourself." She smiled at me.
"Really? I'm fine with the company, but you know, no one here can touch me in a fight, even if they all came at me." I said honestly.
"I know, I'm just playing with you." We walked along the outskirts of the base, where all the tents were, but for some reason, something felt off. "What are your thoughts on the war?"
"Thoughts on the war?" I said, not knowing how to respond to that.
"Yeah, like, do you think we will win?" Samantha asked me.
For some reason I didn't respond right away, I thought about my answer. "Well, I think it's going to be a tough couple years no matter what." My mind was flooded with memories of reading the novels, no matter what I do, the road ahead is still going to be tough.
"Yeah, probably." She responded. "It's weird talking to someone your age like this."
"Why?" I kicked a rock on the ground, and it rolled in front of me. "You know me, Samantha, you've been with me for a year now."
"Oh, I know, it's still so weird how mature you are." I froze and stopped walking. "What's wrong?" I still had "Blood Oath" activated, so I was able to track the blood inside of people. "Veer?"
I turned to the base exit and watched as the doors opened. "Stannard?" I said questioningly as he ran inside.
"He's covered in blood." Samantha spoke in a low tone. What was going on? We ran over to him as he went straight to the main tent.
"Stannard!" I called out to him, and he turned to me. "What's wrong?"
"It's bad, it's very bad." Stannard looked concerned, like really concerned. "Tessia, everyone else, we were attacked, I lost them in the chaos, but it's bad, Veer."
"What do you mean attack?" I asked, getting ready to spring out there alone.
"We were clearing a simple floor, we killed around a hundred mana beast, then out of nowhere, Alacryans showed up with more mana beast." He paused and caught his breath. "Then, as we were running away in the tunnels, we ended up splitting up, they are all out there still."
"Shit." I started forming wind around my body. "Go alert Commander Bronx."
"You can't go in alone." Samantha told me. "Let me come with you."
"Alright, just keep up." I got ready to move, that's when Stannard grabbed my arm.
"Veer, something felt off as we were running, it felt like they planned to attack our team." He toppled over from exhaustion, and I caught him.
"You." I pointed at a random soldier. "Get him to the main tent, now." The soldier quickly ran over to me and did as I asked. "I'll save them, Stannard." I shot myself out of the base, and Samantha did her best to keep up with me.
This is wrong, this doesn't happen in the novel, at least to my knowledge. I feel like this would be something someone talks about though, also, what Stannard says worries me. If they planned to attack them, were they already going for Tess, or were they trying to draw me out? That's impossible, isn't it?
"Shit!" I exclaimed as I entered the portal and closed my eyes. I tapped into my clone's consciousness, to see if he knew anything. After a few seconds, Samantha joined me, as I stood there. "That piece of shit is going to die today."
"What's wrong?" Samantha asked concerned with what I said. I felt my rage boiling up, then I opened my eyes and turned to her.
"I have to take care of something I should have done a long time ago." I told her as I launched myself through the dungeon, and sensed for Tessia, she was my man goal at the moment. I'll find Darvus and Caria after I retrieve her.
I found myself in a cavern, with no corpses, which means we cleared this one before. "Tess, where are you?" I mumbled as I continued to sense for her blood, that's when I felt it, a blood of something strong, no, not strong, on a whole other level. "Shit."
I stared around the cavern, that's when I picked up on Tess's location. Samantha finally caught up to me, but I launched myself toward Tess, flying through the tunnel as fast as I could. This was not what I was expecting today.
In the tunnel ahead of me where only Orcs, I felt thirty of them, but I couldn't waste my time with them. I simply grew thirty ice spikes out of the walls and floor, and they pierced each one through the chest.
I flew right by them and into the next cavern, hopefully, Samantha can manage to get through, she should be able to, they are all dead now. Tess was still alive, I could feel it in her blood, I didn't sense anything around her either, so she was safe, but she was hurt.
I entered another tunnel and flew down it, and then turned down another, and then another, and finally found Tessia, hunkered over, leaning against the wall.
I slowed down, and started to gather my breath, I was moving so fast, I wasn't breathing the entire time. "Veer?" Tess said questioningly as I entered her line of sight. I could see that the elf had cuts down her arms and legs.
"Tess, are you okay?" She fell down and leaned against the wall. "I'll take that as a no."
"They came out of nowhere; we didn't stand a chance just the four of us." I sat down next to her, and started to use my blood magic on her, closing the wounds. "We need to get out of here, Veer, there were so many, after we separated, and I hid, I saw more Alacryans show up."
"Okay, just relax." I told her, I needed to get her out of here, so I could rescue the others. "Samantha should be catching up to us soon, luckily, you managed to get away from them, because I don't sense anyone within three hundred yards of us, and that's Samantha."
"Not even anyone on my team?" Tess turned to me; I could see tears in her eyes. "Tell me they are alive."
"Let me check." I finished closing her wounds and checked for Caria and Darvus, I've been with them for two months, so I knew what their blood felt like. "Stannard made it back to the base, and Darvus and Caria are okay for now." I found them, but it wasn't looking good for Darvus, it seemed like he was surrounded by the enemy. "We need to get you back first."
"No, I can't leave them." Tess got back up to her feet. "You know I can't."
"Tess." I said seriously. "This is not a good situation at the moment, if what I predict happens, you aren't going to want to be by me, and everyone in the base is coming to search for you and your team, they will find them."
"Fine, I'll help them." She told me. "Veer, I am my team's captain, I can't allow them to be out here alone, I'll find them."
"Wait..." I exclaimed, this just got more serious. What is one of Agrona's goals in this war? It's to obtain the legacy, and if we go by what Elder Rinia told me, I am a legacy of some sorts.
"What?" Tessia asked me, as she was getting ready to run.
There are two legacies, at this very moment, alone, with no backup, in this dungeon. "No." I said softly. Agrona doesn't act this early on getting Tessia in the novel, so why is he now, it doesn't make any sense.
Unless, I am overthinking this, and it's just a random attack by Alacryans.
"Veer?" Tess snapped me out of my thoughts. "You good?"
"Hold up." I told her, and thought about our next course of actions, even if it was just a random attack. "Okay, you are going back, now."
"No, I told you I wasn't." She spoke with such authority.
"Please forgive me." I said apologetically.