Chapter 23: Flame wave. Alpha's rage!

"is that any way to thank someone.....my dear little brother?" Aina asked rhetorically.

At first, Levi couldn't hold back his surprise and allowed his eyes to widen. But he soon regained his composure and asked the white haired female a question.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Levi asked irritably.

"What else?" Aina responded with a question of her own.

"That doesn't answer the question." Levi simply said.

"Ahh. Still as irritable as ever I see."

"....."

"Look. I'll explain it later, for now we have to deal with several mama beasts. John and Juan probably need my help over there." Aina said. She handed a small vial filled with a blue liquid to Levi as she turned to leave the water barrier.

A single glance was all Levi required to deduce that it was a healing potion. A medium grade one at that.

Levi swiftly downed the bottle and his injuries soon began disappearing. The wounds and bruises he had sustained from the short altercation began disappearing, as though they were never there.

The large black hole, which was at the center of Levi's chest, also cleared up as he drank the healing potion. It was a mid grade potion and as such, healing things like burn wounds were not too tall a task for it.

As the black mark and the ever so slight ache Levi felt from the burn wound completely disappeared, he felt a refreshing feeling wash over him.

"This is some good stuff. Thanks, Aina." Levi said to the girl who stood in front of the translucent barrier, preparing to exit from it, and she just nodded in response.

"Uh, wait! Those guys....don't harm any of the wolves. I know them." Levi said.

Aina turned back to look at her brother. She who wasn't aware of the truth about the Mana beasts was quite shocked at the sudden words from her little brother.

She studied his expression for a while before discerning that he was actually serious about all this. Aina had spent a very long time with Levi and knew that he wasn't the kind to joke around in serious situations like this one.

"Understood." She simply said and turned away once again. But something seemed to have drawn her attention again as she turned back once again to look at Levi with a critical eye.

Her expression morphed into one of confusion and shock as she gazed at her brother. She looked like she had just been slapped with a raw slab of meat.

"Y-your mana core...." Aina muttered. It was low, but not low enough for Levi to not pick up on it.

'Damn! She noticed.' Levi's reaction to this originated from the fact that most people would not have noticed the change in his mana and core as humans had already gotten used to the fact that everyone had a core.

A good number of people, most especially the less privileged commoners who could not afford a mana awakening, could not even sense mana. Those who could assumed that if they could not sense one's mana, then there were just hiding it as even the magicless still possessed some mana within them. They just could not use it.

It was possible to hide one's mana either manually, or with the aid of certain technologies that currently existed.

The fact that Aina noticed what about 80% of the mages would not, was testament to her curiosity and critical attention to detail. She was a very gifted scholar.

Aina looked at her brother, her puzzled expression still glued to her face.

'i need to find a way to hide this eventually.' Levi made a mental note to himself.

'for now though, I need to find a way to convince her. This overly curious sister of mine.' Levi thought as the gears in his brain spun, in search of a solution. He needed a plausible explanation to convince some one as learned as Aina.

Suddenly, a bulb shone over Levi's head. He seemed to have some up with a suitable excuse.

As he was about to open his mouth though, Aina waved his attempts at speaking away.

"Later." Aina said and proceeded to leave the water made barrier. With a wave of her hand, a human sized hole opened up in the barrier and she walked through. She had considered the situation at hand before making that decision.

The current happenings were not the type that would take kindly to her wasting too much time with an explanation that might not even have been important. Levi did not look to be in a near death situation, so it could be postponed till later.

Levi immediately ran after her shouting, "wait!" But Aina didn't even look back at him, closing the barrier right behind her.

"Wait! You didn't let me finish, let me out of here!" Levi shouted as he banged on the barrier.

"Sorry, but it's for your own good." Aina said as she ran towards where John and Juan were engaged with the demon bear.

Even though it was two C-rank mages against a single Mana beast of just a single level above, the two mages were just barely holding their own against the demon bear.

There was a substantial difference between a mage at a certain rank, and a Mana beast of same rank. The reason was mostly due to Mana beasts possessing the ability to cast spells with just the root chant. There was also the physical factor. A normal human could not be compared to a Mana beast in terms of physicality

Despite the fact that their opponent was far more powerful than them, John and Juan were actually performing quite impressively. Their team work was exceptional as they fought like people who had been training together from childhood.

Their combination was incredible as both mages assumed their proper positions on the battlefield. As Aina spectated, she had a very hard time believing that the two had not worked together even once before as they seemed to be in nigh perfect sync

John was a earth mage and by virtue of his element, he was very good defensively. He assumed the position of a tank. Using a spell to conjure a shield and mace made of earth, he served as the tank by drawing all of Alpha's attacks to himself and protecting his colleague from the brunt of the demon bear's atracks.

Juan on the other hand did the job of a long range damage dealer. Firing offensive spells from a safe distance at remarkable speeds, her prowess and precision when it came to inflicting damage was not to be trifled with, apparently. It was a basic ractii, but they executed it masterfully.

Levi who watched all of this go down from within the transluscent barrier couldn't help but think to himself.

'and these guys are just C-rank mages. If they can do this much, I wonder the true powers of a S-rank or even higher, a High mage.'

The ranking of mages were divided into three categories; the ranked mages, that went up from E to S rank. Then there were the High mages directly above S-rank in power and magical prowess and then there was the last level. The level held in high regards as the peak, the epitome of all mages.

The Great mage.

Only the greatest of the great, who had contributed to the growth of magic society greatly and had accumulated heaps upon heaps of accolades could receive this title. In all of history, there were less than a hundred great mages, and in this generation here were only a total of four great mages.

"John! Juan!" Aina shouted as she ran.

""Yes M'lady."" Both of them answered in unison.

"No matter what, do not harm the wolves. I need them for an experiment. That's an order!" Aina shouted instructions and the two servants promptly nodded.

It was a request which they could easily adhere to, since all the wolves in the vicinity were either injured or too afraid to move from where they stood. It was expected, most of them were merely E-rank Mana beasts with only a few D-ranks. There was nothing they could do in this situatuon, even with all their training.

"ROAR!!" Alpha angrily roared. He was already very pissed at the entire situarion.

John came and stood directly at his front, holding up his sheild and readying his mace. He held the shield in front of him, while the mace was held down. He placed his right leg forward, away from his left one, creating a shoulder width distance between the two which would aid his balance. His entire stance bore witness to the fact that he was properly trained.

He was trying to draw Alpha's aggro to himself again, but this time, Alpha ignored him and just ran straight after Juan who stood with arms outstretched in the middle of casting just a few meters away.

"What the? How can a B-rank monster be this smart?" John unknowingly asked a rhetorical question as his entire body turned in an attempt to give chance to the demon bear. Alpha, who had naturally enhanced ears, easily picked up on the statement and took it as an insult.

His swift advance towards the female suddenly came to a grinding half as he turned towards John with a wicked look on his eyes. A malovalent aura seeped from every pore of his being. He was clearly angry,and John's words seemed to have worked better than any taunt.

At first, it would seem like an ideal situation. After all, John had succeded in drawing the beasts attention. Little did he know though, that he had just metaphorically stepped on the tail if a tiger. One he definitely could NOT afford to piss off.

"How can a B-rank monster be smart? You have committed two sins by that statement!" Alpha yelled angrily. The reason why most mana beasts did not talk to humans was actually not because of the in born hatred they had for them, but because most humans actually could not understand their speech.

Levi could somehow do just that. He was not aware of this though and there were still a few inconsistencies that prevented him from figuring it out. If he could understand mana beast speech, then why could not understand the weaker ones? Also, Raja did not show any sign of suprise when Levi made known his ability to understand mana beasts, heck the former had even been the one to initiate the entire conversation.

It was quite obvious that there was a missing piece in all this.

John, Juan and Aina all had their eyes widen in shock, but not for the same reason Levi woukd have thought

Was a B-rank beast, always this powerful? They wondered as the amount of mana which Alpha was releasing was quite.... much.

"First crime! You insulted my prestige by calling me a monster! My name is Alpha, the king and deity of this forest. Second! You insulted my intelligence! My verdict? Death to you and all of your companions!!" Alpha roared in pure, unhindered, unadulterated rage.

The temperature in the surrounding area spiked as Alpha used his fire magic. It was still morning, yet the heat felt like they were in a freaking desert.

"I'll show you....what real magic looks like!!" Alpha screamed as he gathered Mana for the spell. Whatever was coming, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"M'lady! We need to get out of here.... quickly!" John yelled, sensing the impending danger.

"A-alright. Juan get my brother, and you John help the wolf over there. We shall make a run for it."

Again, the two servants nodded and started carrying out Aina's orders.

Juan used her water magic to override Aina's control over the water barrier, allowing her to freely move it with her mind.

After a short chant, she said: "Water bubble." A second tier spell. The barrier transformed into a floating bubble, with Levi still inside. She used her mind to levitate it and move it with her.

John on the other hand used a spell to cover himself in an earth made armour which blocked a significant amount of heat. It was still hot enough to roast a normal human, and John was actually feeling the hear permeating his armour but he braved it and quickly retreived the injured Raja.

Aina ran over to the pack of wolves, who still stood there trembling.

"All of you! Run for your lives!" She shouted at them.

Her words were like a wake up call as they immediately got hold of themselves. Alpha's sudden display of power had stunned them.

They started running. Of course, that was after confirming that their leader was right behind them.

The atmosphere was becoming hotter and hotter by the second, and it felt like they were breathing in hot steam. But they just kept running.

There was no way for them to block the coming attack so they didn't mind the unfavorable environmental conditions and just kept running, as far away as possible and as quickly as possible.

"Everyone! Don't stop no matter what!" Aina screamed out loud.

By this time, Alpha had already finished charging up the attack.

"Flame burst!" Alpha roared. Immediately afterwards, a powerful wave of flames appeared out of thin air and started dispersing in all directions.

The wave was akin to a flood as giant, untamed fire burst forward at unbelievable speeds, completely swallowing all that was in it's path.

Aina and her group ran away from the incoming wave of fire. The hurricane wolves were ahead, with Juan and the bubble a few twenty meters behind, Aina was directly behind her and John and Raja were dead last.

The young man, was having a hard time running with Raja on his back and the flames were just a few feet away.

"Aaaah!!" John shouted as he ran, but was quickly reprimanded by Raja.

"Don't shout. You'll only waste energy that way." Raja reprimanded, but of course it came off as a bark.

"Huh? If you are awake and have enough strength to be barking, then why don't you help out here!" John retorted with annoyance.

"....you know what? You're right. Air step." Raja said after pausing for a contemplative introspection.

"Excuse me?" John unknowingly muttered. There wasn't even time to be surprised as he felt his legs leave the ground before the words finished leaving his mouth.

It was Raja. He was using a wind magic spell to maneuver through the air. Air step, to be more exact. It was good to note that Raja and his pack had purposely refused to learn a wind elemental flight spell.

The hurricane wolves seemed to be much more attuned to the air step spell. That explained why even E-rank mana beasts could perform a third tier wind spell. It was like a generical bias.

"My brethren! Is this how we treat our benefactors? Just leave them to die at the hands of the tyrant while you run away with your tails in between your legs? Where is your pride?! I'm ashamed of you all!!" Raja scolded his pack. They stopped running and bowed their heads apologetically.

"What are you all doing? Keep on running!" Aina yelled, but was ignored. To the hurricane wolves, Raja was the highest authority so it wasn't unexpected.

"If you all are really members of MY esteemed pack, then you will help these humans escape right this instant!" Raja ordered and all complied without question. Raja seemed to be a very charismatic figure as he just made the entire pack move with just a few words.

The fastest ones ran back and grabbed the humans. And using their wind magic, they easily and swiftly glided through the air.

The more powerful ones tried to push back the flames while running, but that ended in failure and they all just focused on retreating.

"Don't despair my pack, retreating does not mean defeat." Raja encouraged as they ran.

"Alpha!! This battle isn't over yet!! Do you hear me?! Howl!!!!" Raja said and howled loudly. Infusing his howl with wind magic so that his voice would reach it's intended target.

*HOWL!!*

The air was soon filled with the howls of many other wolves following the lead of their leader.

After a few more minutes, the spell duration ended and the spell was cancelled. The enemy had already retreated too far away for chase so he decided to let it go.

"I hear you loud and clear, Raja....." Alpha said, and turned away.

On that day, at a point in the far East of the Estian forest. More than a five hundred meter plot of land, had been reduced to nothing but ash. It had been burnt to a crisp, no plant was ever going to be able to sprout from there ever again, and no sort of wildlife could possibly thrive in such a devastated landscape. It would forever be a scar of the Estian forest.

Admist this destruction, a creature with a blood red fur treaded majestically. It's aura was similar to that of the grim reaper, a true harbinger of death. He was the Apex predator of these forests.

"....I swear to fulfill the promise I made to my freind." Alpha said to himself, a determined and bloodthirsty look appearing on his face.

What does Alpha mean by those words? Who was this...freind? We don't know yet.

A/N:

I'm really sorry once again for not posting for some time, I'm currently writing a rest so I had to go on hiatus. I still am though, so I'm sorry to say that I will still be unable to post tomorrow, and there will also be no second chap today as I'm very busy rn. But, but, but...don't despair as I can understand.

This chap is more than 3k words long and I will do a mass release of about 3~4 chaps on Saturday.

Special thanks to my voters; halis_eren_balaban, Epic_Buddie123 and DaoistClJprd. Luv u guys!!!!