Helise fell beside a tree and looked at the people pursuing them. The black-cloaked men were excellent warriors, skilled in both magic and physical combat.
Fatenai kept running. Suddenly, she jerked sideways, and a blade skimmed past her ear. She heard it whistle through the air. As she dodged, she tilted her head back, narrowly avoiding a kick from the same black cloak as he spun around. His foot came within a hair's breadth of her.
It was an astonishingly lucky escape.
The black cloak looked surprised, then, on instinct, drew another dagger, intending to surround her with the companion who was close behind. The two fastest black cloaks accurately tracked Fatenai in the darkness, closing in from the front and rear.
The black cloaks moved swiftly, thrusting their daggers at her. It seemed there was no way for Fatenai to dodge—but she paused for just an instant, then slipped through the gap in their attacks like a fish darting through a narrow crevice between rocks in a stream.
It was simply unbelievable.
In truth, Fatenai's heart was pounding.
It was difficult to move through a forest at night by sight alone. Doing so meant brushing against leaves and grass, making rustling sounds that easily muddled one's hearing. With all that noise, the black cloaks' senses were dulled.
That gave Fatenai an opening. She wasn't relying on her hearing to escape, but on her "eyes"—the Eye of Connection.
This was her first time using the Eye of Connection in actual combat. The flow of mana was crystal clear to her, even at night.
The black cloaks were well equipped. Their daggers seemed like specially made alchemical tools for mages, allowing mana to gather in them and enhance their power. If the daggers couldn't channel only a limited amount of mana, Fatenai might have thought they were those so-called magic swordsmen.
These weapons let them combine mana with swordsmanship. They were powerful against most people, but they also allowed Fatenai to anticipate every move and dodge their attacks.
Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. Even though she could see the flow of mana clearly, she couldn't react in time when the black cloaks moved faster than she could. Even with her attention fully focused, and her dodges nearly reduced to reflex, she still couldn't keep up.
The black cloaks attacked faster and faster, and Fatenai struggled more and more to evade them. At last, she stumbled back against a tree, nearly getting hit. Seeing more and more of their companions arriving, Fatenai gritted her teeth, pulled something from her cloak, and hurled it at them.
A quick-witted black cloak sliced it in half in midair. As Fatenai marveled at his reflexes, she sped up and darted away behind a tree. The Eye of Connection could also help her make out the terrain in the forest. Places without mana marked the edge of the forest.
The black cloaks, by contrast, were at a disadvantage. Most adventurers relied on their hearing at night. Without it, they would lose track of their target.
So when the black cloak sliced Fatenai's thrown object in half, her little trick worked.
It was a stone-like object. Once it was cut in half, its contents were released and began to expand. The black cloaks hurriedly backed away as the swelling object fell to the ground. It gradually took the shape of a strange, enormous flower.
The flower was black, its huge petals spreading outward, while its center was a vivid crimson. The strange colors made it look eerie.
"Watch out, a Carter Demon Flower!" one of the black cloaks cried, recognizing it—but it was already too late.
The next second, a terrible scream rang through the forest!
The sound carried far, waking the entire forest. Birds took flight, and wild animals fled in every direction.
The Carter Demon Flower was also known as the Screamer Flower. Just as its name suggested, it let out a dreadful shriek whenever it was hurt. Anyone nearby could even be paralyzed by the sound. Two of the black cloaks had already fallen victim, while Fatenai, who had prepared earplugs in advance, took the chance to run farther ahead.
"Pathetic." The voice rang out as one of the Ansendil Family members fired an arrow with deadly force into the Carter Demon Flower.
The arrow struck a vital spot, and the flower's cries stopped at once.
"Master, should we keep pursuing her? She's just a little girl..." One of the black cloaks couldn't help speaking up, apparently thinking their master was making too much of this.
"Do you think what she said in the tavern was true? The Eye of Simorely can only be with her!" The voice was cold and merciless. It sounded like Ed's, but more sinister and dark.
Fatenai ran without stopping. It seemed she had finally shaken off the black cloaks, and the area around her had grown quiet.
"Haah... haah..." Fatenai was breathing hard. She was running out of strength—one month of training simply wasn't enough.
It looked like... she'd shaken them off, right? Fatenai felt surrounded by darkness and silence. Exhausted, she came to a stop.
"Little girl, you can't escape." Fatenai was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when a black cloak dropped to the ground in front of her. Startled, she immediately turned around, but after only two steps, another black cloak emerged from behind a tree. She tried to turn in another direction, only to find black cloaks all around her.
When had they...? Fatenai was stunned.
"Hand over the Eye of Simorely." As the black cloaks surrounded her, their ringleader appeared before her.
"Who are you?" Fatenai didn't answer his question. Instead, she asked him one of her own.
"Morton Ansendil. It seems you've already met my weak-willed younger brother." Morton slowly removed his hood. His appearance was similar to Ed's, but he didn't have the same imposing presence. Perhaps it was because the pressure of his status was so openly displayed in his eyes. "I'll admit you have some wits about you, but fooling him isn't anything to be proud of."
Fatenai was silent for a moment. "Mr. Morton, do you often travel through the forest?"
"No. This place disgusts me." Morton said it casually, brushing the dust from his cloak, which was embroidered with golden patterns.
"Then it seems no one taught you to be careful at night," Fatenai said softly.
Thud—
Several vines suddenly dropped down from all sides. As they fell, they seemed to come alive, darting toward the black cloaks. The sharp-eyed cloaks drew their daggers and cut the approaching vines, but more appeared at once, binding them relentlessly and giving them no chance to catch their breath.
The Black Demon Vine only appeared between the Month of Trekking and the Month of the World. It was extremely tough, and one of the few plants capable of attacking.
Morton was caught in it too.
He frowned. When the vines had completely bound him, a flash of surprise crossed his handsome blue eyes—though anger was the stronger emotion.
"Are all the people in your family that arrogant?" Fatenai looked at Morton and stated it matter-of-factly.
"You think this can really hold us?" Morton paused, then said, "How interesting. No one has ever dared to openly defy the Ansendil Family."
Fatenai was taken aback. Before she could make sense of the question in her mind, the black cloaks suddenly began to "swell." A moment later, black flames surged from within the Black Demon Vines, destroying them completely. Not a scratch remained on the black cloaks, and Fatenai hadn't even sensed any change in the mana.
The black cloaks removed their cloaks, revealing garments embroidered with black patterns. Clearly, their clothes were some kind of special alchemical tool too.
"What other little tricks do you have?" The black cloaks helped Morton free himself from the Black Demon Vines. He rolled his wrists and looked at Fatenai, seeming remarkably patient.
What other tricks could Fatenai have? She hadn't brought much with her tonight, just a few things she'd made through her research over the past month. But it looked like none of them were useful now.
Without mana, was there no chance of winning? Fatenai felt lost.
"Of course not," Fatenai said, sounding disappointed.
"Then..." A trace of contempt flashed in Morton's eyes. The black cloaks continued closing in on Fatenai, treating her like a bird in a cage. But two blinding streaks of light suddenly flared in the forest, shooting out from either side of Fatenai. One black cloak failed to dodge in time and was struck by a burst of flame, instantly turning into a human torch!
"A mage?" Morton's eyes flickered.
Helise and Hubert appeared in the forest. Helise lifted her head and looked at Morton. "How did the Eye of Simorely end up in your hands?"
"So you're from Starlight University..." Morton stared at them, then spoke after a moment. He paid no attention to the companion still engulfed in flames. "Is that old fossil Forresten still meddling in other people's business?"
"You'd better not call our headmaster that!" Helise blurted out. Hubert tried to stop her, but he was too late.
Fatenai suddenly felt relieved that Helise came from a commoner family. With a personality like that, she would have been driven out of noble society long ago otherwise. Helise had so easily revealed where she came from.
"Heh. A heretical university will sooner or later perish in holy fire. What does it matter if you have the Eye of Simorely?" Morton said. Though they lived in different countries, the nobles across the continent all believed in Allentia.
Fatenai couldn't help thinking of her aunt, Lelia, and forming an impression of Starlight University: perhaps it was a school for commoner mages.
"The nobles who use the Eye of Simorely to profit from harming people are the ones who are disgusting," Hubert said slowly. He had been quiet until now, so his words carried an unusual weight. "Mana belongs to everyone. The Ansendil Family will get what it deserves sooner or later."
Before you continue