Congregate

The sheer trust René as their leader gave him in that dire moment elevated his own opinion of himself. Confidence and determination filled Mikael, taking the deserted spot, forgetting his own tiredness.

The following minutes were spent hacking, slashing and squashing the enemies. Meri was treated by Mark, her condition seeming not good, but stable for the moment.

Leon threw himself back into action after a small pause, taking place next to Mikael again, careful to not cross his swings.

He swung down his last strike, ending the struggle this small wild horse like creature put on. He huffed strongly, but despite that lifted up his weapon again, ready to hit another foe.

In the last 5 minutes he got close to being in danger a few times, once a Goblin managed to hold onto him before he pushed it away, another moment a seemingly normal hare jumped at him, its small body full of power and knocking him over, saved only by Leon's intervention.

"We are clear for that now." he simply said, also exhausted beyond normal.

He looked around, and after a solid 30 seconds without contact, he felt a hand from the side pressing his hammer down.

"We are good now, Mikael. There are no more. You did a great job, I'm proud of you. Proud of us all, despite the exhaustion and position, we managed to hold on. Even if someone got injured." he said in the round, kicking away bodies on the ground with surprising strength. René walked over to Meri, who got deathly pale, leaning on the tree, holding Mark's hand.

Mikael put away his weapon, squatting down and coughing loudly, only now noticing how much his lungs hurt.

"You are a freaking beast yourself!" Leon called from his side, laying on the ground flat, his head sideways facing Mikael.

"I don't even got the energy to stand up, and you only need to sit down a bit? Whatever you got, give me some." he joked, laughing weakly as their pressure had lessened.

Sophia fared a bit better, supporting herself on a big boulder, keeping herself standing. But she also struggled, her legs shivering slightly and spitting out thick saliva.

"You on drugs or what? I get my weak point is endurance, but Mother, you're another level entirely." she complained, now with her back sliding down at the boulder, her red hair sticking to the sides from the sweat.

"Hehe, guess that I'm just in a better shape than you."

""Piss off!"" they said simultaneously, getting a chuckle out from Alf who was doing a simple clean up, so the corpses would not be all over the place and also checking if they overlooked something.

Herald followed, again looking as if someone personally insulted him, ripping out shaft after shaft from multiple corpses.

Not knowing what to to, he walked to René's side, checking up on Meri, concerned about her health.

What he saw was more serious that he thought. 'Didn't she only got bitten? Should a wound from a monster bite look that bad?'

Her neck had obvious teeth marks, even some flesh was ripped out the moment that creature got dragged away.

But what truly shocked him was the visibly slowly spreading black veins under her skin. Mark held an emptied flask in hand, caressing her head and kissing it sometimes.

René had bandaged up the cleaned wound then, in a spread that made Mikael dizzy.

But his expression showed no relieve, only worry and exhaustion.

"I'm sorry. I may be able to use some magic, but can't heal or treat wound or infections like that. Either you get her back to town, or pray she can recover somewhat and at leat keep up our pace. The enemy isn't far away, and we need you, I won't lie."

He looked not with pity, but with a rage targeted at the monsters at Mark. He not really gave René his attention, having eyes only for his companion right now.

"I... We had to expect certain variables in this mission. A new variant, with magical powers and mostly vague information. The risks were apparent, but this... This is too much. We need either more man, or silver ranks. One mage is not enough."

He didn't sound judgmental or angry. But his voice was faint, void of the usual energy.

His eyes looked at Mikael, who looked with sorrow at them.

"I'm truly impressed by you, Mikael. You showed more endurance and battle awareness than us here. As seniors we should have projected a better image of us. And your friends as well. I don't think we can be of help here, at least not active. If we aren't too much of a nuisance, can I request to follow along until this whole mission is over?"

"Of course, but be aware as you have to support Meri, we can't guarantee her safety as well. As the enemy is much more dangerous, it is hard enough to look after oneself."

Mark licked his dry lips, nodding stiffly.

"Thanks. I would much rather go back to Chrysalis, but who knows. That thing controlling Undead, I'd only present us on a dinner plate."

Meri in his arms moved slightly, weakly pressing his hand, whispering to him.

He then gave her his water, but had to help her, as she couldn't hold the bottle without shaking and spilling its content.

"Let's hope with this battle done we get at least a small pause, having decimated most of its Undead."

René said, simply pat Mark's shoulder before standing up, nodding to Mikael to follow.

Taken a bit away from prying ears, René stood before Mikael, his serious eyes gazing down at him like a lit watchtower at night.

Then he held out his arm to the now familiar method of greeting and acknowledging between hunter.

Bumping his arm with this man surely was intimidating, but what followed upon contact was even more so.

Aa they touched, Mikael got flooded by the sensation he already briefly felt before, it running hot like a formless fluid through his arm into his body, leaving like a ghost a while later.

But that short moment lastet for Mikael an eternity, and as the feeling subsided he longed for it.

His eyes looked to René like a thirsty man that saw in a desert an oasis.

He smiled warmly, having confirmed what he and Simon already certainly knew.

"You got it, Mikael. This feeling you just vividly experienced was mana coursing through your body, interacting with your own. Normally I control it so you wouldn't notice it, but as you likely guessed I intentionally let it out sometimes. From the reports I read and stories I heard the case was mostly clear, but I wanted to get a glimpse of your true self."

Mikael listened, not wanting to miss even a letter that man spoke. Right now he confirmed most of the stuff Mikael had guessed, but the revelation he would be able to use magic put despite the current situation an awkward but happy grin on his dirty face. His green eyes widened, a glimpse of excitement growing.

"But we only spent what, 2 days together? How can you already make sure of myself?" he asked, still afraid he'd make René reconsider. His curious nature tho wanted to know.

"Haha, good, at least you think a bit about the things you are told; what happens around you. I observed not only the actions you did, but more than you yourselves noticed. A lot of a person's personality, especially from a young one, is told by their non-verbal side. Gestures, movements, voice and expressions. Even the way your mana inside your body moves can show me a bit about yourselves, even if hard to perceive. Trust me, I saw enough to speak openly. Congrats boy, you're gonna be a magician in the future, with training, education and determination of course. And talent." he added, unnecessarily as Mikael seemed to hear only the part that interested him.

"Holy Mother, a real magician. Me? I... How..." stumbling to find his words, his eyes couldn't focus, as his mind didn't, too. Feeling the pure joy after the exhausting battle and dread of dead, coupled with the lack of sleep overloaded him. The next thing he felt was the cool leaves and earth on the ground, as the voice that traveled to his ear:" Oh boy, I knew that would happen."

René lifted the small but surprisingly heavy body into his arms, carrying him towards their little camp where Alf and Herald had thrown away most of the corpses, Sophia and Leon a fire lit up and Meri slept against Mark's shoulder, a bit more colour on her skin.

Leon was already about to jolt up as he saw Mikael being carried, but René simply waved slightly at him, lowering Mikael to the fire.

"Sorry guys, got a weak moment. It all came down to me at once."

"Guess so, we are all about to pass out standing, and your rest time was less than ours." Leon took out his provisions, handing Mikael some and beginning to eat his sparse meal.

Other than making their small fire, they only ate their rations, too tired to search again for a new shelter.

"Not that it be of much use. I have that nagging feeling we are being watched from a distance, but not by that big monster." René told, brewing up a coffee he had ready.

"That thing can control Undead, so maybe it put up sentries, like birds or hawks. I think that this creature could be capable of that by now." Alf said, already half asleep, trying to get at least some rest.

"If so we can search for long. In this forest with that vegetation picking out birds is just not possible." Herald said in one breath, putting away his few remaining arrows and shaft he had carved.

"I should have listened better how to recognize foreign mana patterns. That is biting me back now." René grumbled, tossing small pieces of rocks around, some of them with such force they could actually injure someone.

Mikael didn't intervened, his mind already drifting into the dream like state before sleeping, but this time he felt that sensation, clearer than before albeit not as much as René showed him. As he noticed, he tried his best to remain in this state of half-sleep half-awake state, which he managed only for some seconds before fully being awake again.

'Something feels different...'