Chapter 44: Anomaly
VIRION ERALITH'S POVAs the portal shimmered and closed behind us, I stepped out onto the familiar, dense foliage of the Beast Glades. The air was thick with the scent of earth and greenery, the towering trees casting long shadows as the sun dipped lower on the horizon. Beside me, Lance Aya emerged her expression a mix of determination and concern. We had a singular goal in mind: reaching the Widow's Crypt and finding out what had happened to Arthur, Jasmine, and Alea.The situation had escalated far too quickly for my liking. Alea's connection had been abruptly severed a few hours after she and her team of Yellow Core mages entered Hell's Jaw. My immediate attempts to reach her through our communication channels had failed, leaving me with a gnawing sense of dread. Something had gone terribly wrong, and I needed answers.But it wasn't just Alea. A report had come in from Cynthia, the director of Xyrus Academy, that Arthur and an S-class adventurer named Jasmine had also gone missing within the depths of Widow's Crypt. The timing and proximity of these events were too much to be mere coincidence.With no other options, I had turned to an old friend for guidance: Rinia. She was a seer, gifted with visions of the future, though those visions were often cryptic and difficult to interpret. I knew that seeking her help would be a gamble, but it was one I was willing to take. We had arrived at her secluded dwelling deep within the Elshire forest, where the smell of her peculiar tea hung in the air, filling the small cabin with its pungent aroma.Rinia had been expecting us. She greeted us with her usual enigmatic smile and, after a few moments of silent contemplation, she spoke. "To find what you seek, you must venture to the lowest floor of Widow's Crypt," she said, her voice calm yet carrying an undertone of warning. "But be prepared for what you will see. The truth is not always easy to bear. Though it would be best if you bring whatever you find here first." She sipped her tea with deliberate slowness, her eyes clouded with thoughts she chose not to share.Aya exchanged a worried glance with me, her normally composed demeanor tinged with unease. Rinia's words were always cryptic, but they had a way of settling into your bones, making you wonder what horrors awaited.Aya adjusted the straps of her armor, the subtle sound of leather tightening breaking the silence between us. "Are you ready, Elder?" she asked, her voice steady, yet her eyes betrayed the tension she was feeling.I nodded, trying to shake off the apprehension gnawing at my gut. "We have to be," I replied, not entirely convinced myself. Together, we made our way through the treacherous terrain of the Beast Glades toward the entrance of Widow's Crypt.The dungeon was eerily quiet, unnervingly so. Not a single sign of mana beasts, no distant growls or rustling in the underbrush—nothing.We descended further, the air growing colder, heavier with each passing moment. Aya's senses, sharp as always, picked up something long before I did. She turned to me, her expression intent. "There's a waterfall nearby," she said, her voice a whisper in the oppressive silence.The faint sound of cascading water grew louder as we approached, the only break in the deathly silence. We found the source, a curtain of water flowing over a hidden passageway. Light filtered through from the other side, beckoning us forward.Crossing through the waterfall, we emerged into a cavern bathed in a pale, eerie glow. The sight that met us was horrific. Corpses of soldiers, those who had accompanied Alea, lay strewn across the floor, their bodies brutally mangled. My heart clenched in my chest as I surveyed the scene, horror settling deep into my bones. These were good men and women, comrades in arms, and they had met a gruesome end.Aya's face paled as she took in the carnage, her hand gripping her weapon tightly. We shared a look, both of us silently praying that Arthur, Jasmine, and Alea were still alive somewhere in this nightmare.As we cautiously moved forward, we found them. Alea was seated in a meditative position, her body enveloped in a soft glow as she gathered mana, clearly recovering from a fierce battle.Arthur—the brat that I first saw when he was a toddler almost a decade ago, was now laying in Alea's lap. He lay unmoving on her lap, his chest rising and falling slowly. Even unconscious, I could feel him drawing in mana from the atmosphere, his body working to heal itself.Curled up on Arthur's stomach was a small white fox, its fur pristine and glowing faintly in the dim light. And I could only assume her to be Sylvie, Arthur's bond that hatched a few months before his departure from the Elven kingdom. Beside him was a young girl, perhaps no more than 12 to 15 years older than Arthur. She lay atop the belly of a massive wolf, its fur tinged with a greenish hue that indicated it was actively healing its bond by transferring its mana. The wolf's presence was imposing, yet the protective posture it maintained around the girl was unmistakable.Not far from them lay the beheaded body of a man—or rather, a monster. His skin was sickly grey, and small horns curled from his head. The air around him was thick with a repulsive, leaking mana, making it clear that this creature had once been something far more dangerous in life.As I took in the scene, Aya's voice rang out, her relief and worry blending into a single cry."Alea!" she screamed, rushing to her side. The raw emotion in her voice was something I rarely heard from Aya, who was usually so flirty and mischievous.Alea's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her name, her gaze unfocused at first. But as her vision cleared, recognition dawned. "Aya?" she murmured, her voice weak but laced with surprise. Her eyes widened further when she saw me. "Elder Virion?"The relief in her voice was palpable, and I felt a surge of emotions—relief, guilt, fear—all at once. We had found them, but the state they were in left many questions unanswered."Alea, what happened here?" I asked, stepping closer to her. "Are you alright? And Arthur...?"Before she could respond, a sudden, serene voice interrupted from beside us, startling both Aya and me. The voice was calm yet carried an air of authority. It wasn't Alea, Arthur, or Jasmine who spoke—it was the green wolf.[Let's discuss things once we are out of this dungeon,] the wolf communicated directly to our minds.I was absolutely shocked. I had heard that some powerful mana beasts were capable of mentally communicating with their bond, while a few extremely rare ones could even speak to other's minds. But not once in my life had I heard a mana beast speak so clearly and decisively.Aya, who was usually composed and unflappable, was just as shocked as I was. She actually cursed out loud, her eyes wide with disbelief.Alea, noticing our reactions, let out a small, weary laugh. "Just accept it," she said, her voice carrying a mix of exhaustion and amusement. "Whatever is happening here is beyond anything we've ever encountered. The wolf's name is Mistral, and she is Jasmine's bond."Still dumbfounded, I nodded slowly, trying to process everything. I glanced at the monstrosity of a man lying some distance away, his sickly grey skin and beheaded form a stark reminder of the brutal battle that had taken place. "And what about him?" I asked, my voice low as I pointed toward the creature. "What happened to him?"Alea's expression darkened as she looked at the corpse. "He was the one who killed the soldiers here," she said, her voice filled with a grim seriousness. "While I was fighting another one.""Another one?" I echoed, confused and concerned.Alea nodded. "There's another monstrosity on the lower side of the floor."Both Aya and I exchanged a glance, and without wasting any more time, we decided to investigate. We followed Alea's directions to the other side of the floor, our footsteps echoing ominously in the silence.As we moved, we saw signs of a fierce battle—scorch marks on the walls, deep gouges in the ground, and the unmistakable residue of powerful spells. The further we went, the more intense the damage became.Finally, we arrived at a horrifying sight. At the center of the room was a huge vortex of water, now frozen solid, with cracks spider-webbing across its icy surface. Shards of ice were falling intermittently, clinking against the frozen vortex with a chilling sound. In the center of this frozen vortex was a massive lance of ice, and impaled upon it was the creature Alea had mentioned.The sight was gruesome. The creature, even more grotesque and terrifying than the first, was pinned to the ice lance, its body twisted in death. Its features were distorted, with sharp, jagged teeth and eyes that had long since lost their light. Blood, sickly green in color, was frozen mid-spill, creating a macabre sculpture of death.Aya and I stood there, staring in horror and awe at the frozen scene before us. It was clear that the battle here had been nothing short of catastrophic. The power it took to create such devastation was immense, and the thought of what Arthur, Alea, and Jasmine had faced left me with a deep, unsettling feeling.Suddenly, a voice called out behind us. "Her name is Jagrette. I would have definitely died if not for Arthur arriving here."It was Alea, walking towards us with Sylvie perched comfortably on her shoulder. Beside her was the wolf, Mistral, and floating beside them in an air bubble were both Jasmine and Arthur, still unconscious. The sight of them suspended in that ethereal state should have surprised me, but today had already been filled with enough bizarre moments that I simply accepted it without question.Aya, however, had more questions as she shot a curious glance at Alea. "You mean this boy helped you fight this monster?" she asked, disbelief evident in her voice.I couldn't help but chuckle. "This boy has always been a work of wonder and anomaly."Alea and Aya both turned to me, confusion etched on their faces. "You know him?" Alea asked.A smirk tugged at my lips as I replied, "Of course. He is my disciple, after all."The shock that registered on both their faces was palpable. They stared at me as if I had just spoken some unfathomable truth."Wait... Arthur is your disciple?" Aya asked, clearly needing reconfirmation.I nodded, my smirk widening. "Do you remember the announcement I made years ago about taking in a human disciple?" Both of them nodded, still trying to wrap their minds around it. "Well, Arthur is the one I took under my wing."Aya was still trying to process everything. "But by that time, Arthur would have only been four years old at most. What kind of training could he have possibly received at that age when his mana core hadn't even awakened?"A grin spread across my face as I casually replied, "Ah, that's where you're wrong. The brat awakened at the age of three."Both Alea and Aya remained speechless, their faces reflecting a mixture of astonishment and disbelief. The mere thought of a child awakening their mana core at such a tender age was unheard of. To imagine Arthur, at an age when most children were still learning to speak properly, already honing his powers was beyond extraordinary."It explains a lot, doesn't it?" I added, glancing down at Arthur, still unconscious but steadily drawing in mana. "He's always been special—far more than anyone could have anticipated."Alea, still processing the revelation, nodded slowly in agreement. "That's true," she murmured. Her gaze then shifted toward the fallen soldiers scattered around us. "But what are we going to do about them? How are we getting the bodies out of here?"Mistral's voice chimed in, her serene tone cutting through the somber air. [I can take care of that, but someone needs to carry Arthur and Jasmine.]Aya nodded as she said, "Well, I can carry Jasmine, and if Alea is recovered enough, she can carry Arthur.""Kyu!" A sudden chirp from Sylvie drew our attention. In a swift movement, she leaped off Alea's shoulder, and before we could react, a radiant white light enveloped her, flooding the room with brilliance. We shielded our eyes from the blinding glow, and after what felt like an eternity, the light finally subsided.When we opened our eyes, what stood before us was something straight out of ancient myths—stories my father once told me when I was young. Sylvie had transformed into a majestic pitch-black dragon, at least ten meters long, with glowing golden eyes and two enormous horns protruding from her head.Despite knowing that Sylvie was a dragon, seeing her in this form left me speechless. The sheer magnitude of her transformation was something no amount of preparation could have braced me for.Aya, typically unflappable, stood frozen beside me, her jaw hanging open in shock. "Of course," she muttered, almost to herself, "today just keeps getting more bizarre." Her usual flirty and casual demeanor had vanished, replaced by sheer disbelief.Sylvie, now in her full draconic form, let out a low, rumbling growl—not of threat or warning, but of reassurance. It was as though she was telling us that everything would be alright. Her presence, though overwhelming, carried an unexpected sense of calm. Lowering her massive frame slightly, Sylvie knelt down, her wings tucking in gracefully as she positioned herself to help carry Arthur and Jasmine.I took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm of thoughts in my mind. Sylvie's transformation was just another reminder of how extraordinary Arthur and his bond truly were. "Let's not waste any more time," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "We need to get them out of here."Aya finally snapped out of her daze, her eyes narrowing in focus. "Right. We've overstayed our welcome in this cursed place."As we began the careful process of moving Arthur and Jasmine, Mistral worked swiftly to encase the bodies of the fallen soldiers in a large bubble of air, her control over her element both efficient and gentle. Even the gruesome bodies of Jagrette and Bilal were placed in separate bubbles, at my request. These monstrosities would need to be examined, and I couldn't risk leaving any part of them here.Alea, walking beside me with a steady but tired pace, glanced over, her voice breaking the heavy silence. "So, where exactly are we going?"Her question brought me back to the words Rinia had spoken before we embarked on this mission. Though it would be best to bring whatever you find here. Her cryptic statement had stuck with me, and despite my usual reservations about her visions, I couldn't deny their accuracy."Elshire Forest," I replied, my voice calm yet resolute. "We're taking them to Rinia. She's the only one who can give us answers."~~A/N: Well lucky you, huh? I was a bit free waiting for my stuff to arrive so here is the chapter. I know you were starved, so feed yourself on this chapter. Anyway, I think the next chapter will be the end of this event, and the tournament arc will start soon, though the updates on this series are going to get slow, I will be updating Tbate: Caera, and catching up to the current timeline for the plot to continue. Anyway, vote for the chapter if you enjoy it, and comment with your thoughts.