Chapter 11: Departure

*AETHERIUS*

"Brother Ther, Brother Ther, are you feeling okay, right?" Elowen woke me up while shaking my arm. "Yes, Wen, I'm fine, let's go downstairs for breakfast." Elowen just nods. I head to the bathroom first, look at myself in the mirror, and notice that the white streak is still there. "I wonder if it'll just be this streak or if more will start appearing," I think, perhaps it's because of the encounter I had with the shadow's voice.

Elowen waits for me to exit the bathroom so we can go to the dining room for breakfast. We travel through the hallway and descend the stairs, where Otto, Nora, Valentina, Fredic, Sara, and Atheria are waiting. "Therius, are you okay?" Once again, they all ask at the same time, and I just laugh, "Yes, good morning, I'm fine now, and thank you all for worrying about me," I say honestly.

"No matter as long as you're okay. You should tell that to Otto, he was worried that your little duel would end up like this," Sara says. I glance at Otto, who indeed looks worried. To alleviate his concern, I infuse mana into my body and quickly move behind him. "See, I'm fine, stop worrying," I tell him. Nora jumps a little when she sees me appear behind them.

"Stop! Therius, don't do that," Fredic shouts, startling me because it sounded like he shouted. "We still don't know if using mana in your body will cause you to collapse again," Fredic reprimands me, still worried. I just show him a guilty expression.

"Alright, I'm sorry, but sooner or later, I'll have to use mana if I want to level up my core, especially to pass the coffee stage," I reply. Fredic falls silent, feeling defeated. "Well, what's for breakfast? I woke up starving after not eating for a month," I say as my stomach really growls as if there hadn't been any food for all that time.

"Alright, dear, let's go, we prepared a buffet thinking this might happen," Atheria speaks to me, and I just follow them, seeing an immense amount of food. Before we even sit down, I start eating spoonfuls of food one after another. The others watch me as I begin to choke on the food, and they tell me to eat slowly while patting my back after I almost choke.

My father speaks up, "Son, we have to return to Shira this afternoon, so rest well because it'll be another 4 days of travel, remember." For a moment, I forgot about it, feeling worried knowing that I might have another convulsive attack or my body temperature might rise again.

"Yes, Dad, just let me train my body for a while because I feel weak after not moving for the last month," I tell them, and they nod in response. "Therius, I prepared a few potions in case you have a fever again on your way back home. This will help you control the level of heat your body radiates. It's enough to freeze you and enough to not harm you. Then Altea will take care of you," Fredic explains, and I just give him a thumbs up while having food in my mouth.

After choking as much as I could, I let the food settle to start meditating and continue training to refine my core and verify that my body won't have any side effects after using mana. I do a few push-ups and lift some weights to get my body moving after a month in bed.

After two hours of continuous training and meditation, I had no problems with my mana or my body. Finally, it was time to leave. "Goodbye, everyone, take care on the way," Nora says. Otto, Valentina, Sara, Fredic, and Atheria accompany us to the capital's exit to bid us farewell. "Dorian, Altea, take care of the children on the way," Valentina tells my parents, "Therius, be careful not to overexert yourself, okay?" Sara tells me, "Of course, I won't push myself too hard. I have plenty of time to increase my power," I reply to Sara with a smile.

"Of course, my dear fiancé will be fine. After all, if we want to get married, he'll have to be stronger than me," Atheria replies to Sara and me, then gives me a kiss on the cheek, catching me off guard, making me blush. Fredic is astonished by what Atheria did. "Hey, lady, what are you doing to the kid, they're only 12," Fredic says, annoyed, earning a hit on the head from Atheria. "Lady, your mother. Besides, Therius himself asked Altea if he could marry me when he graduates from the academy. Besides, the kid has the potential to be my partner," Atheria winks at me, making me even more embarrassed. This time my parents look at Atheria, "crazy woman," my mother tells Atheria, making us all laugh.

As we climb into the carriage, Otto calls out to me, "Hey kid, get in better shape. I want to see who's the strongest in the future." I give him a smug smile in response. "Goodbye, older brothers and sisters, see you another day," Elowen bids farewell, and everyone else waves goodbye.

And so, we bid farewell to everyone and set off for Shira after a month. During the 3 days of travel, it was very peaceful, and there were no anomalies in my body or signs of fever, let alone dreaming of the shadow again, so I stayed calm. On the 4th day, as we were about to reach Shira, we passed through the mountain paths again and encountered the beasts. Last time, they were wolves, but now they were bears, and very large ones. My father and mother were dealing with them since Trevor and Layra weren't here to help my father.

I felt a strange aura behind some rocks on the mountain above me. It seems my parents didn't notice it because they were dealing with the bears in front of us. Feeling uncomfortable with the presence, I drew my weapon. "Brother Ther, what are you doing?" Elowen asks me when she notices me drawing the weapon. "It's nothing, Wen, just stay calm," I reply to calm her. Shortly after, an earthquake shook the mountain. Elowen shrinks beside me due to the sudden tremor, and my parents remain still to avoid falling.

A loud sound echoed from above the mountain. My parents, the carriage driver, and I turned towards the source of the sound, then dust fell from above, revealing a damn rockslide.

Despite having lived two lives, even with my knowledge of mana management and everything related to it, it was the first time I had a borrowed life in my hands when I realized that huge rocks were falling because the path we took was almost a cliff. My parents ran towards us, but it was too late. With my body still developing, I tried to jump with Elowen in my arms. My parents were thrown away from us due to the impact of a huge rock.

Damn, this seems like a scene from some horror story. I tried to use my lightning magic in my body as I did with Otto, but a familiar sensation pulled at my mana, interrupting my concentration, and I couldn't jump too high. Even with Elowen in my arms, the carriage and the coachman were dragged with us when another wave of earth made my foot stuck and dragged me with Elowen. From there, it was a nightmare. "KIDS!" my parents shouted loudly. The earth seemed to be controlled, forming a wall of dirt that prevented my father from getting closer to us to try to save us, but it was in vain. I even tried to escape from the sand landslide, but I was hit by a huge stone.

Covering my body and Elowen with my mana prevented worse injuries, but I ended up breaking my arm where I received the blow while protecting Elowen's body.

As I saw us getting farther away and starting to fall off the cliff, I shouted to my parents with a mana-powered voice, "Find me in Shira when all this is over, I'll be taking care of Elo..." My voice faded when another rock hit my head, and I felt dizzy. Thanks to my strong will, I avoided passing out even as I fell from the cliff. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father trying to leap towards us, but my mother stopped him, still witnessing the worst horror in her eyes.