Jareth's sword appeared in his grasp at that instant, its surface transforming into glowing crimson. Squinting his eyes, he peered into the darkness around him but couldn't see a thing.
His heart beat wildly.
He quickly looked around but still saw only darkness; however, he felt walls on both sides.
Holding his sword, he turned back as if waiting for the spell caster—the beast.
If someone had an aerial view, they could see a black wolf peering at Jareth from the roof of the story building beside him, who was vigilantly scanning his surroundings.
Just as Jareth took a step, the wolf dove down.
The corner of Jareth's lips quirked up slightly as he took a step back and thrust at the descending wolf's chest.
The wolf impaled itself on the blade.
Glaring at Jareth, it snarled before its eyes shut.
[Rank 2 Mist Wolf Killed.]
Jareth exhaled in relief as the darkness faded.
Although he had lost his sight due to the thick smoke, he nonetheless saw the green mist of grief from the corner of his eyes when he scanned the area.
A sharp tug from his arm pulled his attention back.
Under his stunned gaze, a cloaked figure pulled the dead wolf from his sword, and disappeared almost into the top floor of the building in a fraction of a second.
Jareth vacantly stared at his glowing sword where the body had vanished, completely dumbfounded. He snapped out of it a second later, sent his sword into his badge, and swiftly climbed the building.
When he climbed inside, he looked around but only saw a large empty room with many big holes in the walls and ceiling that could easily fit a person—like evidence telling him, It's gone.
Not believing it, Jareth climbed through the hole onto the flat, concrete-like roof.
Standing high above, he scanned the area but saw only beasts prowling the ruined landscape, with distant flashes of arcanists fighting.
'Screw me!' Jareth clenched his fist.
Roars from below jolted him back. Lowering his head, he saw some beasts already climbing the building.
Jareth instantly crouched, descending through the hole into the building before jumping out of the window into the alley as he escaped.
'I still need about eight more Rank 1 cores to add to my seventeen to reach my target so that I can return home,' he thought along the way.
Squinting his eyes, he changed his mind about escaping directly. Instead, he would hunt the remaining eight.
He switched lanes, weaving through the narrow alleys until he reached close to the boundary—the vicinity where the beasts halted and sauntered back.
Picking the tallest and most intact building in the area, he sent his sword into his badge, climbed up, and entered the top floor.
Retrieving his sword, he vigilantly searched the building but found nothing. Then he walked to the last room.
He pushed it slightly, and a silver blur hacked at him through the opening. Jareth retreated as the silver thing whooshed past his face, and he stamped his foot against the door, flinging it open. His sword transformed into glowing crimson. A fire spear materialized in front of his other hand.
To his surprise, all he saw was a shivering, gangly, lean, and somewhat hunched boy in navy blue body-fitting armor, with messy straw-blonde hair that seemed to stick up and nervous blue eyes darting around.
"You ar-ar-are not affected? Your spel-spell is working?" the boy stuttered.
Jareth's eyes widened, and he growled in a low voice, "You attacked me, and that's what you said? Was it not supposed to work?"
"So-Sorry! Sorry! I never knew a human was here. Everybody—my classmates—hunt deeper to-to train. I thought I was the only one here," the boy replied in a shaky voice.
Jareth just stared intently at him without saying anything.
The boy fidgeted under Jareth's gaze. "Oh, uh, sorry?" he said when he couldn't handle it.
"Fine." Jareth dispersed his spell. It wasn't like he was planning on doing anything. "And lower your voice."
"Sorry," he apologized in a whisper.
"So, what are you doing here?" Jareth asked as he walked inside.
The boy hurriedly explained, "I was not trying to attack you! I am clumsy with a bad spell, so… so I was rejected by my classmates who went deeper. I understand too. I know I just make things worse. I would have stayed at the outskirts, but the beasts seem to have vanished."
Jareth nodded and walked to the sealed window, which had just a slight opening, making the room dark.
"I covered it to prevent beasts from seeing me," said the boy in a hurry.
Jareth peeked through the opening, gazing at the ground between the wrecked buildings where beasts walked around, stopping at a position as if an invisible barrier was stopping them.
He tried to find the hidden Rank 2s, but they all looked like different kinds of quadrupedal beasts of the same rank based on their body size. Although a few stood out—like a leader of a pack of black panthers.
Turning to the fidgeting boy, Jareth asked, "Hey, kid. What's your name?"
"Finnian. Finnian Thorne!"
Chuckling, Jareth said, "You don't need to be tense. I'm not unreasonable, even if you still feel guilty about attacking me. Okay?"
Finnian nodded slowly.
"So, what's this bad spell of yours?"
"Mana Dissonance. Bu-But it's bad. It makes everybody's spells go out of control within ten meters around me, including my teammates. Yours was…" He lowered his head and stared at Jareth's hands. "How did you do it?" asked Finnian in a soft voice.
Snapping his head up, he hurriedly explained, "I never meant to pry. I was just—"
"I just controlled it," said Jareth as he raised his palm and made a crimson ball of flame, moving it around his fingers. "Activate the spell."
"It-It-It is activated," he stuttered while staring at the flame between Jareth's fingers with an enraptured expression.
"It doesn't use mana?" Jareth asked.
"Huh? It uses mana."
"So, why waste mana by keeping it active?" Jareth arched an eyebrow.
"S-Sorry! I'll disperse it."
'His spell will be useful against those hidden Rank 2s. If they can't use their spells… A smirk glossed his lips.'
"Okay, kid. Here's the thing—we'll escape from the midst of these monsters while nabbing enough. All you need to do is follow me, pick up the dead corpses, and keep your spell active. You get half of the kills. Are you ready?"
The smirk never left Jareth's face.
"Wh-What?!" The boy took a step back.