On the right, Elena had already risen to her feet.
Her pale hand slapped directly against Elonore's back.
An utterly frigid stream of ice-aspected aether poured from her palm. It held no aggression whatsoever, yet drilled with perfect precision into Elonore's nearly exploding meridians, suppressing the violent energy rampaging through them.
Saina and Elena worked together without the slightest awkwardness. This was the tacit understanding they had forged through months of real combat and nightly quarrels.
Elonore was at a complete loss. The girl had no idea what was happening and could only grit her teeth and endure the agony of being flayed and having her bones pulled apart.
Both hands gripped the edge of the stone table, leaving ten white marks in the hard slab.
The pain lasted a full ten minutes before the final meridian was widened.
Elonore abruptly straightened her back. A pure, immense wave of fourth-tier aether spread from her body, dense and solid, without the slightest hint of instability.
The wind stopped, and her long white silk dress fell back into place.
Elonore gasped for breath, drenched in sweat. An unhealthy flush tinged her pale face, but the power contained in her body had increased more than a hundredfold compared to ten minutes ago.
She could clearly feel that every bone in her body held enough strength to shatter rock with ease.
Saina released the hand pressing on her shoulder and casually shook out her aching wrist.
Elena withdrew her hand as well, pulled out her chair, and sat back down, continuing to pick at the greens on her plate.
"Fourth tier..." Elonore raised both hands, feeling the violent power that did not seem to belong to her. A height that would take two or three hundred years to reach in the Elven Merchant Association