Novel Full Chapter 186 - Daybreak
Gasping for breath Eldrian fell onto his back and tried to recover his energy as quickly as possible. Worried that it might come back any moment.
Vivian herself was in no better condition than Eldrian. She was soaked in sweat and exhausted. Simply having kept Nelida's Flame's passive ability powered had taken a great deal of focus and mana. Causing her to be far more tired than she would normally be after just ten or so minutes of fighting. Though this is actually a really long time for an intense fight. Normally the fight would be in bursts of under a minute, giving one some breathing room between.
She had never thought that it would be so hard to deal with one monster. One which was not even stronger than her, it was actually a Tier lower! However, its attributes were actually higher than hers when it was not surrounded by light, causing it to be quite a strange creature.
"No wonder everyone is so afraid of those things. Do they even have a weakness?" Eldrian asked through gasps. Naturally, he did not mean fire. If that was considered a weakness then the creature was nigh invincible.
Vivian found herself a seat, keeping her sword lit in case other of those things might come, or this one return. "Other than light and flames, I don't think so."
"Like you can call that a weakness!" Vivian nodded in agreement, it really did not feel like it weakened the monster all that much. Instead, it only brought it down to the normal level of Tier 3 monsters, yet it still fought in a strange manner and was extremely resistant to damage. It also had almost double the HP other Tier 3 creatures would have.
"Yeeze, just think what will happen if a group of them attack." As soon as Eldrian said this he cursed himself, hoping that he had not jinxed them.
Vivian nodded as she held her hand out towards Eldrian. "That would be really bad. Mangue please." To which Eldrian took out a fruit and gave it to Vivian, taking one for himself too.
Feeling the sweetness enter his body caused him to regain some strength, in a manner which magic could not compare to. It reenergized not just his body, but also his soul and mind. Changing his tiredness into an eagerness to get back on his feet.
"I hope we don't encounter another one," Vivian said after finishing her second Mangue, standing up to continue their journey as she threw away the pit.
"Do you think we should keep a light out?" Eldrian asked as he joined her in standing, taking out some nuts that were also in the baskets. Something more they could enjoy as they started walking.
"It will draw everything to us," Vivian replied as she accepted a few nuts.
"But it might keep Night Terrors from coming."
Vivian nodded to this, "True. I'd rather fight a few orcs or beasts than another of those. There should not be many other monsters and beasts in any case. The army is trying to kill all that they run into."
With this settled, they both became quiet for a while. Vivian responsible first for keeping light with her sword, after around half an hour Eldrian took over and cast two different spells. One was naturally Floga, keeping it active hardly taking any of his concentration nor mana.
The other was Fos, the Tier 0 light spell which simply formed a fist-sized ball of light at this point. Its light could almost not compare to the one coming from Floga, Eldrian kept it active nonetheless. He did not know what was more effective against the Night Terrors and would rather go overboard to keep them away.
Keeping them both active strained him slightly, with him losing around 30 mana every minute after going over the time he could keep them active for free. The cost was much cheaper than before, and he managed to keep them active for free longer too. Eldrian only needed to use Aoidos's ability to keep up with the cost, allowing him to hold out much longer than he would normaly be able to.
As an hour passed Eldrian asked Vivian to take over the lighting duties, wishing to rest his mind a little. As they swapped, he asked, "How do this sword's flames work?"
"I don't really know. It just connected with me and allowed me to use it. Every time I use it, a part of me also feels like it is stirring. But I am unable to find this part."
A hidden ability of hers? Eldrian wondered, not asking more since he could tell that Vivian did not know more and that she was still tired. For some reason, he still did not feel the strain of being awake for nearly the entire night. Vivian on the other hand was starting to feel it, especially after the fight.
As another hour passed, and only two more remained to daylight, Eldrian asked, "Do you want to rest?"
"No, we should keep walking. But can you take over the lighting job?"
Eldrian nodded and did. With that, they continuing walking through the night. They did not run into any more trouble. Either keeping the light active kept things away, or continuing to walk did. Both of them did not care which it was, only that nothing else came to bother them. They simply felt elated as the sun rose, signifying that the most dangerous part was past them.
On the horizon, they could even see the silhouettes of some tents highlighted by the brightening day. Without words they both started running towards these tents, wishing to get some much-needed relaxation. The entire journey having eaten at their nerves.
Naturally, they were stopped at the edge of this division. "Stop! Who are you!" A guard shouted, stepping forwards from the fire he was guarding.
"I am a Chosen, Haru! Can I just come rest? I am dead tired." Eldrian shouted back, taking the lead to stop Vivian from saying who she was. He wanted to first confirm that they were at the right division before letting her say who she was.
This might be over complicated and unneeded, but Eldrian did not wish for more trouble right off the bat. Though identifying himself as a Chosen could actually lead to just as much, if not more trouble.
"Who is she?" The guard asked.
"My friend, can we just come in?" Eldrian's voice oozed with tiredness, which lessened the guard's wariness. Still, he could not just let them enter the division's camp.
"Why are you here? Why did you travel through the night?" The guard asked, not overstepping his bounds. They were not asking for much, hence he did not wish to cause trouble. He only wished to confirm their story. Due to this, he stuck with asking questions, instead of using Observe to confirm their identities.
Sighing Eldrian replied with a question instead, "Can you first tell us who the commander of this division is?"
"Why?" The guard asked, placing his hand onto the hilt of his sword. This question causing him to feel something was wrong.
"Because the previous division I was at was really unfriendly to us Chosen. Thus I decided to try and venture through the night, instead of waiting for poison or a dagger. I might not die, but that does not mean death isn't a pain!"
Eldrian's words shocked the guard, and his shout attracted the attention of the other guards nearby. Causing most of the nearby guards to leave their post to watch what was going on. With the most dangerous time passed, and them being on the inside of the army's formation, they did not feel the need to keep tight watch anymore. Casting only a glance around every few seconds would be enough.
"What division was that?" The guard asked, curious which people were still so dumb to try and make an enemy of the Chosen. A group of people who would not die and could come back at anytime for revenge.
"I don't know. I just know that Walter is the division's commander." Eldrian spoke through a sigh, hinting at his tiredness again.
Hearing this, whispers and head nods came from the nearby soldiers. They knew that it was one of the divisions where the nobles set up their camp, hence hostility to commoners and others were expected. "I'll believe you for now. But you can't just enter the division. We have to make sure you aren't trying to cause trouble. Just stay with us until we can verify this."
"No problem. Can you tell me who the commander is now?"
"Arthur."
Hearing this, both Eldrian and Vivian completely relaxed. They did not try to make any more of a fuss and simply waited for the guard to follow the procedures he needed to go through. Vivian catching a quick nap while Eldrian logged out to quickly get something into his stomach.
He had no idea what the effect of playing so long was going to be, and had asked the guard to take care of his body if he did not wake in an hour.
Asking him to simply throw him on a horse if needed. Having explained that he needed to return to his world. Eldrian asked the system to not dematerialize his body on logging out, leaving his body in the hands of the guards.