Hazel's thoughts

"What the hell was that?" Gallien got up from the ground. After he shook the dust off his clothes, he ran off to see the Hobgoblin.

When he reached him, he was shocked by the scene in front of him, the Hobgoblin's whole body was charred, there was no spot on his body that was not burned, and the bone was visible in some places as the whole flesh was burned off.

The piece of cloth that was tied around his waist was also completely burned. His metal weapon had melted from the extreme heat.

"What a terrifying spell! Forget about the Hobgoblin which is a fourth-rank monster, I think it can take down even a fifth-rank monster!"

"If we have known that Hazel could cast a spell this powerful, then we should have taken an even higher rank quest!"

"Wait a minute.... mmmm…. there is no way she was hiding that could cast such a spell…. I knew her well for a long time…. with John, the three of us are a family…. she will not watch as we carry out such a dangerous plan while having a better solution"

Gallien knew there was something wrong, he left the Hobgoblin heading towards the rest of the team to check on them.

…..

Dreue was lying on the ground, he was out of strength, and his face was very pale as if he lost all of his blood. He was mentally exhausted and had a very terrible headache, he handled mana way much higher than he could take with his broken level two core.

Hazel was sitting on the ground beside him. She was also very exhausted with a pale face but her condition was better than Dreue's.

"Dreue…. how can you cast such a terrifying spell? even if your core was in perfect condition, you are just a level two mage, let alone if it was broken?" Hazel was very tried but she could not wait longer to know the answer, after all achieving such a feat was impossible according to common sense.

She spoke with great effort, but even if her voice was weak and low, the shock and surprise inside it could not be hidden.

"I will…tell you… later…" Hazel was hardly able to hear Dreue's sound. She got closer to him to hear what he had to say.

"Tell…. Gallien…. when…he arrives…that…it was… a spell scroll…. from your…. family…. master…. whatever…. don't…tell him…what…we did…." Dreue mastered all of his strength to finish the last sentence, after that he closed his eyes and stopped speaking, it was as if he went to sleep.

Hazel had a lot of questions, but she knew that was not the time for that, she will ask him later.

She examined him to make sure he was good; she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard his breathing sound.

…..

"Hazel, how were you able to cast such a powerful spell? Are you good?" Gallien asked directly when saw Hazel.

"What Happened to Dreue?? Where is the captain??" After noticing Dreue on the ground and the missing John, he could not help but ask again before giving her the chance to answer his first question.

"That was a spell scroll given to me by my former master, it is a lifesaving one-time use powerful spell scroll that should be used only as a last resort. Originally, I should not use it before reaching rank four, but I had no choice but to use it now. My mana core was damaged, and I will need some time to recover. I will not be able to use spells anytime soon."

Hazel said as she lowered her head looking at the ground, her voice contained a great sadness, she appeared to be both mentally and physically exhausted.

"Dreue used his ability for a long time, he was keeping track of both the Hobgoblins at the same, and he was able to hang on with willpower enduring beyond his limit. So, when the second Hobgoblin was killed, he lost all of his power, falling directly to the ground, don't worry about him I made sure he was good, he simply entered a deep sleep status because he used all of his mana". Hazel lied with a straight face, regardless of what Dreue is hiding, he saved all of their lives, so if he didn't want anyone to know what he did, she would certainly keep his secret even from her teammates.

"More importantly, John was severely injured during the fight, his right arm and leg are broken. Hurry up and take him to town directly."

"Go alone. Don't wait for us, we will not be able to keep up with you in our current status"

"We will meet you in the town"

"WHAT?? How did that happen??" Gallien was shocked, John was the strongest one among them, to sustain such a severe injury, what in the world happened during their fight with the Hobgoblin.

"Things did not go as we planned. We will tell you later. Now please hurry up and take him to the town. Don't waste more time"

Gallien nodded his head in agreement.

He put John carefully on his back and ran as fast as he could towards the town.

"I hope John will be able to make a full recovery, if he was left with a permanent disability in his arm or leg, then his life as an adventurer will come to end" Hazel kept gazing at Gallien till he disappeared out of her sight.

"If that happened, I don't know how will I be able to face him again…."

Hazel then drank two recovery and mana potions, she also gave Dreue another two.

She waited for a while but Dreue still did not show any signs of waking up.

"He is in a very deep sleep, it seems I have no choice, I can't stay here any longer" she put Dreue on her back.

"He's surprisingly very light. It seems he is living a harsh life"