Chapter 194: Finding Genesis Artifact

"I’m a bit tired after using all these spells," Alisha yawned, stretching her arms. "I will take a short nap until Raphael and Hugo return."

She settled beneath a tree on the opposite side of the duo, a few metres away, and closed her eyes. She wasn’t tired at all.

Vlad turned to Seraphina and asked, "Should we go help Hugo and Raphael? They must also be fighting two Peak Rank Three trolls at once."

Seraphina sat down, leaning against the tree where Vlad had been sitting before she arrived, and revealed, "Those two won’t need our help. They are strong."

She silently looked at Vlad with her pink eyes for a few seconds. "Sit here." She tapped the ice-covered ground beside her.

Once Vlad sat beside her, she tugged at his cape, her lips forming a pout.

"Why was Alisha hugging you?" she demanded in a low tone.

"She wasn’t," Vlad denied calmly. "She slipped her foot and fell on me."

"Ooo~" Seraphina gave him a sidelong glance, her cheeks slightly puffing. "What are the chances?"

"You don’t believe me?" Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You need to come up with a better excuse," she scoffed, turning her head to the other side. In truth, she knew he wasn’t lying. She was just annoyed for some reason.

"I thought we were close enough to trust each other," Vlad sighed, shaking his head. "Was I the only one who thought so?"

"N-no," she denied, immediately turning his way. "I believe you."

Vlad’s statement made her feel as though they were already in a relationship. If only that were true. She was barely holding herself back from telling him about her true feelings for the sake of the quest. If he actually rejected her, things would become too awkward between them, which would also affect the mission.

The thought alone terrified her.

About half an hour later, Hugo and Raphael also returned.

Hugo had minor scratches on his arms and a few dents in his armour, while Raphael seemed completely unscathed. Only his blonde hair, which was always neatly combed, was completely disheveled.

Just from their appearance, Vlad could tell that they had endured an intense battle.

Similar to Seraphina, they had also been attacked by a neighbouring troll. However, they hadn’t killed the troll they were fighting when the other one attacked, forcing them to fight both monsters at once.

Once Alisha healed Hugo’s wounds, the squad gathered around to discuss their next plan.

"The mutation in these trolls has confirmed the presence of a Genesis Artifact," Seraphina began, her tone serious. "We must also assume that the monsters guarding the artifact should be Rank Four and might be mutated as well. Professor Aldric suggested that if we detect such a monster near the artifact, we shouldn’t fight it. Only locating the Genesis Artifact would be considered a successful mission."

She took a brief pause, reading everyone’s expressions. There was a hint of unease on their faces. "Professor Aldric came to this conclusion because he is not aware of our current abilities. Raphael and Alisha have already mastered nearly half of their Three Ring Spells. Hugo is only one step away from becoming a Marshal Knight."

Her eyes shifted to Vlad.

"If he goes all out, he can match the prowess of a Marshal Knight," she revealed, causing a ripple of gasps from the squad.

Vlad didn’t deny her declaration. He was just mildly taken aback that she was already aware of his abilities, even though he had not revealed his full strength to anyone yet.

All because he had managed to break free from her four-ring spell.

"As for me..." Seraphina continued, her lips forming a small, proud smile. "I have mastered all the Three Ring Inferno Spells."

Another shocking gasp escaped from the group, everyone except Vlad looking at her with parted lips.

Their reaction was entirely reasonable, given the absurdity of her revelation. Inferno Spells were the exclusive spells of House Cendral that only the main family was allowed to learn. They were highly destructive fire spells that could outmatch any other fire spell of the same ring. Refined personally by the Archmage Lucas Cendral, the spells had become even more catastrophic than they had ever been. Naturally, the spells were extremely complicated and difficult to learn. Not to mention, more than half of the Rank Three Inferno Spells required Tempest mana to cast.

"Th-that’s Lady Seraphina for you," Alisha sighed, shaking her head.

"She is an S+ for a reason," Hugo added, equally baffled.

However, Vlad remained silent. Seraphina could already use Four Ring Spells, but for some reason, she was hiding that fact from the group. He didn’t give any reaction, though, trusting her decision to keep it secret.

"With our current strength, we are fully capable of defeating a Rank Four monster," Seraphina declared, gathering everyone’s attention once more. "Still, I won’t make the decision alone. If even one of you doesn’t wish to fight the Rank Four Monster, we will strictly stick to finding the exact location of the Genesis Artifact and return to the academy."

"Of course we will fight!" Both Hugo and Alisha declared simultaneously.

"This will be a huge opportunity to broaden our experience," Raphael said, pressing a finger to his monocle. "Letting it go would be such a waste."

"I will follow your decision," Vlad told Seraphina with a warm smile. "You are the reason I’m here to begin with."

Seraphina rose to her feet and announced, "Since I have everyone’s agreement, let’s head out and claim that artifact."

---

The party went back to the camp, turned their mushroom houses back into capsules with just a press of a button, and moved out, mounted on their beasts.

The deeper they ventured into the area guarded by the trolls, the thicker the trees grew, while the forest itself became increasingly sparse.

Some of the trees were even as wide as their mushroom houses. Vlad could also feel the presence of the Umbra element growing denser and denser as they approached the centre.

For some strange reason, even though they had almost reached the centre, they couldn’t sense the mana radiation of the artifact at all.

"What the hell!" Hugo shouted, unable to hold it in any longer. "We have been exploring this area for three hours now and still haven’t found either a monster or an artifact. Did the monsters guarding the artifact take it and run away, sensing that we have killed the trolls and are coming for them?"

"That is impossible, idiot," Alisha muttered, her brows furrowing at his stupid theory. "Once the Genesis Artifact is moved from its place, it stops radiating mana. It would become completely useless for the monsters."

"B-but what if the monster pulled the oldest trick in the book: If I can’t have it, no one sha—"

Bonk!

Before he could finish the words, Alisha struck him on the head with her long wand. "Stop saying ominous things, idiot!"

The duo completely turned their focus to bickering. Meanwhile, Vlad moved closer to Seraphina on his unicorn and told her, "Sera, I think I know where the artifact is."