Episode 3: Alert (5)

"...phew!" Seeing the giant ball of slime fade into ashes, Fei let a sigh of relief. Soon after, she quickly lied down on the ground, tired. "I'm beat!"

"...you," Damian glared at Fei as he helplessly shook his head. "Now you're tired huh? I sure hope you won't collapse before we get back."

"Agh! Who do you take me for?!" she cried out.

"Someone that nearly got crushed by a slime?" he scoffed. "In any case, you got hit by those acidic drops, right? Are you okay?"

"Fine as I'll ever be!" Confidently speaking out, Fei touched her skin as if to show that she was all right. However, the moment her hand met with the wound that was inflicted by the acidic slime, she yelped. "Ack-!"

"...and you say you're fine?" he clicked his tongue as he made his way over towards Fei. Soon after, he forced his sister up from the ground whilst taking out a small bottle of liquid from his pouch. Momentarily, he poured the water down onto Fei's wound.

The liquid slowly flowed down onto Fei's arm, as the burnt parts of her skin slowly faded away until it only left behind a small mark.

"There. This should temporarily help with the pain," Damian stated. "Have Orelia properly heal you up when we get back."

"What about you huh?" Fei glared at Damian.

"Unlike you, I was left unscathed."

"Hmph!" she turned away from him.

"Sigh..." he listlessly stood up as he turned towards the direction of where the kids were. "Hey, you two, are you going to come out now?"

"Sob... i-is it safe now?" Soft voices murmured out from behind the rubble, as moments later, two kids that seemed to be around the age of nine appeared.

"...yes," Damian nodded his head. "Everything's in the clear."

Hearing the greenlight from Damian, the kids hurriedly rushed over towards the group. "Waahhhh!!" With tears streaming down their eyes, Anaya who was at the front reached the group first as she quickly hugged the sitting Fei. "Feeiiii! I was so scared!"

"There, there," Fei patted Anaya. "Everything's alright now! Next time, don't head over to the ruins, okay?"

"I'm sorry... we just wanted to play hide and seek..." Anaya muttered out in a soft voice.

From behind Anaya, came Teri who headed over to Damian.

"Well, it's fine now I guess," Damian shrugged. "Just don't do it again."

"R-Right, we won't..." Teri replied.

"Aha, everything seems to be in the green now," Roy chuckled out. While Fei and Damian were bickering earlier, Roy had walked over towards the spot where the ball of slime once stood, picking up its remains—the blue mana crystal.

"Has the overflow been solved?" Damian questioned.

"From the looks of it, yes," Roy answered.

"The cause of the overflow was because of that slime, right?" Fei blinked at the thought whilst distracted in calming down Anaya.

"On paper, this slime seemed to have been the cause of the overflow, but..." Roy cautiously observed the mana crystal within his hand. "I don't sense any abnormalities from its core. It seems to have been a crystal from your everyday slime."

"Eh? Something that big is your everyday slime??" Fei cried out in shock.

"That's what didn't make sense to me," Roy pondered. "Something's up. But... for the time being, we should head back over to the guildhall. It's been a long day."

"Ah- Right, right," Fei nodded her head as she turned to the kid in front of her. "Anaya! Shall we go now?"

"Mm..." Anaya silently nodded her head. "I'm sorry again..."

"Just save your apologies for Maria, she was worried sick," Damian stated as grabbed onto the hands of Teri. "Anyways, we're going now. I don't want to stay here in the ruins longer than I have to."

...

Within the Jade Forest—Zaross Ruins [2:19 PM].

Making their way out of the ruins, Roy who was at the front, cleared out the small waves of monster that had remained after the overflow had ceased.

"..." Waving his spear in an arc, he turned the Rogras within the area into grey-ash. While doing so, Roy cautiously observed his surroundings, as if he was on the lookout for something.

"Roy? Is something the matter?" Noticing the unease in Roy's expression, Damian turned to ask.

"...huh?" Alerted by Damian, Roy abruptly turned to him. "Ah, it's nothing. I just thought I sensed something." Quickly shaking his head in reply, Roy swiftly hurried along the stone grounds as he entered into the forest that led to the twin pathway.

"...?" Damian raised his brow in suspicion whilst stopping at his footsteps. "...sensing something?" he pondered on his words and, while he did so, Fei walked up ahead of him.

"Damian? You okay there? Why are you just standing around for?" Fei questioned as she saw that Damian wasn't moving. "You tired or something?"

"..." Not giving an answer to Fei, Damian soon turned his head over towards the Zeross Ruins, staring at its structure blankly for a few seconds.

"Earth to Damian?" she waved her hand in front of his face.

"Just what is it?" he muttered to himself while lost in thought. "There's nothing I can sense..."

"Damian!" she shouted out.

"...!" Hearing the loud shout coming over from Fei, he snapped out of his thought as he abruptly turned to Fei. "What?"

"Ugh, never mind. Just get going already or you'll be left behind at this rate!" Fei pouted as she turned back on Damian. Soon after, she proceeded to enter the forest.

"...cough. Right," Damian quickly shook his head, ridding the thought. "Roy said it was nothing..." Taking a step forward, he soon followed after the group.

...

From above the ruins of Zaross, a hooded man stood in place, watching as the events unfolded within the ruins. Within his hand, was an aura of mana that swirled around him.

"Hahaha..." The hooded man chuckled. "Interesting. How interesting." With an amused look on his face, his eyes narrowed down onto a young girl walking into the forest alongside her brother.

"Fei Lin and Damian Lin..." The man muttered out. "I wonder, what fate has in store for you two?"

With a smirk, the aura of mana that swirled within his hands dissipated into nothing. Moments later, he took a step forward, silently disappearing without a trace.