Kaelen looked at the boy he had saved and called.
"I noticed you can use your mana without a weapon." The boy hesitated under the various gazes then nodded.
"Can you shoot your mana when I tell you to create space for Creen to shoot his arrow?"
"Uhm… I'm not very good at it." He said and the barrier shook.
"Its true he just learnt mana and no one in the group has his form of mana so he's not good at it." A hunter said.
"What's your name." Kaelen asked him.
"A…arin."
"I will teach you what to do Arin…
The barrier shuddered again.
A low, bone-rattling tremor rippled as claws and bodies slammed against the barrier. Faint cracks could be seen before they disappeared.
THUD-
Arin flinched stumbling. "It's going to break." He was murmuring to himself clearly scared.
"Arin look over there
The boy hesitated.
His eyes darted wild, desperate between the writhing shadows beyond the barrier and the lone figure standing at the back of the chaos.
The controller.
Kaelen followed his gaze.
Good. He noticed.
"You see that one? At the back."
"…The tall one? With the glowing eyes?"
"Yes." Kaelen's voice was iron. "That's the source. Everything else is just noise."
THUD-
Another impact slammed into the barrier.
Not much time.
Behind them, Creen adjusted his stance. Arrow already nocked. Muscles coiled.
"I need an opening," he said quietly. "Just a second. That's all."
"You'll get it."
Kaelen crouched low, bringing himself level with the boy.
"Listen carefully." He tapped Arin's chest once, firm like the way his mentor did. "You're not going to force mana. That's what everyone gets wrong."
Tap.
"It's already there. You just don't notice it."
Arin swallowed hard. "I…I can't feel anything."
"You can." Kaelen's gaze didn't waver. "You're just panicking."
He closed his own eyes.
Just for a moment.
Partly to demonstrate. Partly because the world was starting to spin.
"Imagine your breath," he said. "Slow. In… and out. "
The barrier shook again.
"Don't look at them." Kaelen's voice dropped. "Look here."
Arin forced his gaze back.
"Good. Now when you breathe in, feel something gather here. "He pressed two fingers lightly against the boy's sternum. "Like warmth. Don't try to make it big."
"…Warmth…" Arin whispered.
"That's it, let it sit."
Kaelen's vision flickered at the edges.
Stay with him.
"Now when you breathe out don't release it everywhere. Give it a path. "
He slowly extended the boy's arm forward. Aligned it toward a narrow gap between two lunging beasts.
"Think of it like water in a pipe. No direction? It spills. Direction?" He paused. "It flows. "
Arin's hand trembled.
"I can't…"
"You can. "
CRACK.
A sharp split across the barrier. Light flickered violently.
Creen tensed. "Now would be good! "
Kaelen ignored everything else.
"Arin." His voice was quiet. Firm. Unbreakable. "Breathe out."
For a moment-
Nothing.
Then-
A faint shimmer.
Like a thread of pale light, barely visible, gathered at the boy's palm.
Arin's eyes went wide. "I..!"
"Don't stop." Kaelen's pulse hammered. "Keep it steady. Don't push harder, relax and just guide it."
The thread elongated. Wavered.
Then straightened as if finding a current.
"Yes… that's it… "
The beam shot forward.
It slipped between the chaotic mass of beasts threading the needle striking the air just before the controlling creature.
And for a fraction of a second…
The swarm hesitated.
That was all Creen needed.
The bowstring snapped.
The arrow tore through the opening slicing clean past staggered beasts driving straight into the glowing-eyed figure.
A piercing shriek was heard and all the beasts convulsed.
Then chaos collapsed.
Bodies dropped.
Movements faltered and the relentless assault dissolved into scattered, confused motions.
The barrier stopped shaking.
Arin's arm fell limp.
"I… did it? "
Kaelen didn't answer immediately.
His legs gave slightly. He braced against the barrier felt its surface colder now. Dimmer.
Inside his chest, something twisted sharply.
A dull, persistent pain spread outward.
Like bruising from within.
"…Yeah." His voice came rough. Ragged. "You did."
Light flickered faintly in front of him.
[System Notification]
Anomaly Exterminated
Mission Progress: 50% Completed
Kaelen stared at the message.
His vision blurred at the edges.
His lips pressed into a thin line.
And I'm already this drained…
Another pulse of pain hit sharper this time.
Kaelen stood in the center of that circle, the knife still in his hand, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His arms were shaking. His legs were threatening to give out. The mana pathways were screaming, overtaxed beyond their capacity, the thin channels he had been rebuilding now cracked and bleeding.
[Mana Pathway Damage: Moderate]
[Recovery Time: 3-5 days without further strain]
[Warning: Further combat may result in permanent degradation.]
Doran walked toward him through the circle of hunters.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, just a little taxed."
"You helped us alot," Doran said. His voice was tinged with something.
He gave him another small bag and Kaelen was ready to refuse.
"This time it's not from me its from the healer, she saw how you helped her brother,"
He looked to the side and saw the lady treating the injured she looked at him and showed a kind smile.
He took a pill from the sack and felt the pain decrease not by much but at least he won't faint.
Doran sheathed his sword. "Noble normally avoid such trouble but you helped us."
"I did not introduce myself did I, my name Caelus Verant," he said. "Second son of House Verant, working with you has been good."
Doran stared at him for a long moment. Then he laughed slapping his back almost causing him to cough blood.
"Well," he said, "that makes two of us." He turned to the hunters, his voice sharpening. "Back to positions. We're not done yet. The gate won't clear itself."
The hunters dispersed, moving back to their posts.