Early in the morning, Leiya and Xerxes both awoke, motivated and ready for the day—with more determination than they had before. Bertha and Gundrik had also noticed the slight shift in their behaviour.
It wasn't as if there was a wall between Xerxes and Leiya; instead, it had begun to crumble. Whilst some relationships took longer to rekindle, Gundrik and Bertha were sure that the two would soon reconnect to what they had once been.
Moreover, while Xerxes was serving someone a beer, a customer initiated some interesting talk.
An adventurer from a guild that Xerxes had become quite familiar with, The Hollow Veil, began speaking to him. His name was Curtis, and he was in his 30s. He wasn't exactly powerful, merely an adventurer who made a living taking on quests—no greater dreams than that.
"Get this, Xerxes. The Hollow Veil is investigating the Forest of Dreams' outskirts, and people say strange things have been happening."
Xerxes wondered what it could be, although he had an idea. "Oh, really? And what is it, a new monster besides the Mandilex, or have you found a way to enter the epicentre of that death trap?"
Leaning in closer, gripping his cup of beer tighter, Curtis continued, "Rumour has it some beast with fire mana has been spotted there. It's no taller than six feet, but don't let that fool you. It's an embodiment of flames; it supposedly shoots flames bigger than the trees."
Curtis began to display both fear and amazement. "Some adventurers investigated the site today, and it was terrifying. The entire ground was split apart, trees were toppled, and everything around it had turned to ash. We believe it encountered another adventurer because we spotted a trail of blood leading outwards."
Taking a swig from his cup, he took a deep breath before continuing. "The Hollow Veil is eager to find out about this new type of beast. We understand that the Mandilex are roughly Tier 5 in strength, but this thing—ah, I can't even begin to think how strong it is. Maybe Tier 4? Tier 3? And if the Forest is spawning these things, it may spell trouble."
Xerxes laughed inwardly but decided to play the fool for now. His name already had some 'local attention', and if people found out more about his abilities, it wouldn't be good for the tournament, not in the slightest. He needed to keep as much about himself a secret as possible.
That was his advantage. No one knew he could go intangible. No one knew Xerxes could emit flames that had intrigued quite a reputable guild across Baratheon. "It sounds quite terrifying, Curtis, but The Hollow Veil would surely be able to deal with it if a problem arose, no?"
Curtis sighed. "Yeah, I guess we could. Our collective strength, if we ever needed to battle something or someone intensely, is pretty much absolute, and that ain't the alcohol talking. That's from my own experience. The guild master is on another level, but rumour has it he may be stepping down for a different role soon. I'd tell ya, but not even I know."
Xerxes replied, "Just as you were getting to the really interesting part, you had to spoil it, didn't you, Curtis? That's classic with your stories."
Curtis let out a loud chuckle, the sound rich with amusement. "Y'know me too well, Xerxes. Well, I'll leave you to it. I need to be heading out soon, I promised a young lady I'd help her train for the upcoming tournament."
Glancing at the leaflet on the wall, he added, "It gets closer and closer each day. About five weeks, and then it starts. I've been loyal to this tavern for over a decade, so I expect free drinks!" he roared.
Xerxes nodded reluctantly, quickly moving on to the next customer. The cycle of conversation and learning more details continued until Xerxes and Leiya's shift had ended.
Today, Leiya decided that she wanted to train, to which Xerxes agreed. Their location would be where the Mandilex were. Although it might draw some attention due to The Hollow Veil's interest, it also had a benefit: Leiya's chance to obtain a Mandilex soul shard.
While walking, Leiya turned towards Xerxes with judging eyes and a hint of confrontation in her voice. "Tell me, Xerxes, everyone in the tavern was raving about some fire creature. Do you and Airi have something to do with it?"
She turned towards Xerxes and Airi. Airi immediately hid behind Xerxes' head, pinning all the blame on him. Xerxes sighed and admitted it was him. "Yes, I didn't mean to draw the attention, but no one knows it's me yet. I'm training with Airi to get better at holding and utilising that form. But today, Leiya, I won't be the focus, you will."
"Maybe you'll get some mysterious rumour about yourself, like… hmm…" Xerxes held his chin, trying to think of a nickname. "The Deadly Puncher?"
Leiya shook her head. "You suck with nicknames…" Slumping his shoulders, Xerxes walked dejectedly alongside Leiya until they reached the outskirts of a different portion of the forest.
Unfortunately, there was still no sign of Thornfum. He was likely still recovering, to Xerxes' knowledge. Although it was a bit frustrating that he couldn't come, it was okay, they all had plenty of time to work together and understand each other's abilities.
Leiya stood opposite Xerxes as he crossed his arms. Looking at Leiya, as the wind tousled her sapphire hair, Xerxes asked, "Are you sure you're ready, Leiya? Because you need to understand that you can't do something half-heartedly. You need to fully commit, and I need to see that."
Hearing the rustling within the forest, Leiya's ears twitched in response. "I'm ready," she said adamantly. But the truth in her words would have to be reflected in this battle, and Xerxes was going to judge that.
Xerxes raised his power more and more to attract creatures, as many beasts began approaching. Leiya was still wearing her artifact, the very same artifact he had obtained, which increased her magical and physical strength in response to her emotional state.
Judging by the power radiating off Leiya, she was in that very state. Was it the fact that she needed to prove something to herself? To me? Or was it her desire for revenge pushing her forward? I'll find out.
Bracing herself, the metallic creatures began moving forward at a rapid pace. Leiya held her ground as roughly ten creatures approached her.
Raising her mana, blue casings of water armoured her hands. Her body also shone with the faint ambience of the mana beasts' soul shards, which she had previously absorbed.
Leiya then stamped a foot on the ground, rushing forward. Xerxes didn't really know how her fists could crack through the metallic plating of the creatures, but with Leiya's emotional state and the pent-up anger she had, it was clear that the force behind the blow would.
She drove her fist forward, pivoting off her back leg to channel as much power into it as she always had, then she completely tore through the armour encasing one of the creatures.
Two creatures on her left and right quickly closed the distance, attempting to trap her between their dagger-like mandibles.
One of them instantly dove towards Leiya, trying to pin her with the unforgiving tip of its razor-sharp blade. But Leiya had been in more dangerous situations with the beasts of the fallen kingdom, and killing monsters was something she was all too experienced with.
Pushing off her lead leg, Leiya slid back. The beast that was idle swung one of its many legs horizontally to catch Leiya's body, but she ducked beneath it, planting a hand on the floor to narrowly evade the strike.
Using the momentum from being so low to the ground, Leiya sprang up like a rabbit, immense power surging from her legs as her body grew ever stronger. She roundhouse-kicked the beast, causing them to collapse under the weight of one another, tumbling from the force of the blow.
Then, as she ran, one of the beasts almost caught Leiya from behind, just as she wasn't looking. However, she could still sense its mana. It was then that Xerxes noticed something about Leiya—something that was holding her back.
Channelling the water mana into a concentrated, ferocious ball of rotating destructive force, she shot it out. Though she was using her capabilities as a Tier 5 mage, likely excelling to a higher echelon of Tier 5, Xerxes saw, as soon as the blast detonated, that though it knocked back the beasts, a Tier 5 attack of that standard should have killed them.
This was evident from Xerxes' prior experience with killing the Mandilex with basic tier 5 attacks. So, he continued to observe Leiya.
She continuously transitioned between mana and physical attacks, but Xerxes noticed this pattern, particularly with her mana arts, which led him to believe that one thing could be an issue.
Due to the encounter with Yves, Leiya may be subconsciously suppressing her raw power to the fullest it could be. I can't say I've ever seen or heard of anything like this...this may be trouble.