Melina's Depletion

Though being a melee brute and cutting flesh with every swing felt great, sometimes it was simply too crude and too exhausting.

Xia Tong continued studying the scroll intently. Drawn upon it was a rigorous and complex geometric structure.

It was an irregular polyhedron.

The inside of the polyhedron was divided and intersected by countless sharp straight lines.

At the top was a divergent symbol.

Countless dashed lines violently burst outward from the central point, forming a fan-shaped strike zone.

"What is this?"

"Even with 18 Intelligence, I couldn't understand it?"

For a moment, Xia Tong had a headache, his mind buzzing.

Fortunately, there were dense annotations beside the diagram.

This was the ancient script of the Lands Between.

As a Tarnished who had inherited the original owner's memories, Xia Tong was no stranger to it.

He steadied himself and studied it carefully for a while.

He also discussed a few principles of magical energy flow with Melina.

About fifteen minutes later, a flash of understanding appeared in Xia Tong's eyes.

He felt like he had it, so he began his first attempt. He handed the torch to Irina and told her to hold it securely.

He gripped the Demi-Human Queen's Staff with both hands and faced the sole remaining wall.

He gently closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing.

Xia Tong did not hurriedly swing his staff.

Instead, within his mind, he attempted to construct the geometric figure he had imprinted while discussing it with Melina.

It was an unstable polyhedral structure with a collapsed interior, its energy pouring outward.

As the geometric figure gradually took shape and lit up in his mind,

Xia Tong felt the reserves of mental power within him begin to drain away, flowing down his arms and into the staff. As his mind resonated with the staff, the massive purplish-red glintstone at its tip emitted a faint, high-frequency hum.

It seemed to be filled with violent energy, eager to burst forth.

"Crystal Barrage!"

Xia Tong abruptly opened his eyes and thrust the staff forward!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A violent torrent of blue magical energy erupted forth.

Half a meter from the staff, it instantly condensed into more than a dozen pale blue glintstone crystals with sharp edges and irregular shapes.

The sharp crystals let out piercing shrieks.

Like a shotgun fired at close range, they slammed into the brick wall several meters away at high speed!

"Boom—!"

Another tremendous crash rang out.

The Demi-Human Queen's former residence, which had been fairly intact, had suffered Xia Tong's shield and staff in succession.

Now, only two drafty ruined walls remained.

Dense clusters of translucent blue crystals were embedded in some of the sturdy bricks, gleaming coldly in the firelight.

Other stone bricks had been blasted with deep craters as large as bowls by the immense impact.

Rubble scattered across the ground.

Before long, the blue crystals began to slowly fade and break apart.

They were essentially only manifestations of magical energy and could not exist for long.

"So this is Glintstone Sorcery?"

Xia Tong looked at the devastation before him, his heart pounding wildly.

The sensation of wielding supernatural power was simply incredible.

But then a powerful wave of dizziness hit him, making him stagger.

He had just fought a battle, and after using a skill and Glintstone Sorcery, his mental power had finally reached exhaustion.

Summoning Spirit Ashes consumed Focus Points.

Skills consumed Focus Points.

Glintstone Sorcery naturally consumed a great deal of Focus Points as well!

His Focus really was not enough!

"Miss Irina, it isn't safe here. We need to continue onward; we can't spend the night here."

After searching through the entire demi-human ruin, Xia Tong summoned Torrent and prepared to head farther uphill.

Who knew what kind of trouble might arise in the woods at night.

This was the Lands Between, not some fairy-tale world.

And there was no telling whether those scattered demi-humans would return.

Melina's figure slowly vanished, returning to her spirit form.

Irina and Xia Tong mounted Torrent and headed northwest.

Fortunately, although night had fully fallen, the moon was especially bright tonight.

Even without lighting a torch, they could still see the road clearly by moonlight.

They traveled for roughly half an hour.

By then, they were finally far from the Demi-Human Queen's ruins and nearly out of the forest.

A distant sound of wind came from ahead.

Only when Xia Tong and the others drew closer did they discover that it was a Spirit Spring rising from the ground.

Torrent leaped onto it with practiced ease.

Under the bright moonlight, the two riders and their steed shot high into the air, then slowly descended onto a lofty platform, borne aloft by the current.

This was a perfect campsite.

Xia Tong looked around.

It was a square high platform. Only one side faced a steep mountainside, while the other three sides were sheer cliffs.

It stood far above the ground, essentially filtering out threats from beasts below.

As for flying enemies, there were very few in this area. Ordinary Winged Misbegotten posed no threat to Xia Tong at all.

He set up the camping tent, then gathered the scattered branches and leaves from across the platform.

He lit a campfire.

The flames rose up and drove away the chill at this height, and Xia Tong immediately felt much warmer.

He skillfully set up a pot and cooked a pot of soup.

The dried meat from before had nearly been used up, with only three strips left.

Fortunately, before storing the flour obtained from Sick Village in the Site of Grace storage space, he had deliberately kept aside a small bag for emergencies.

It came in handy now.

He poured in the flour and stirred it evenly, making a pot of thick noodle soup.

He sprinkled in some salt and spices picked from the roadside.

After thinking about it, Xia Tong tossed in some Smoldering Butterflies he had collected earlier.

These things could not only be used to make Fire Grease.

Their phosphor powder could also give the soup a distinctive spicy flavor, enhancing the taste while warding off the cold.

Xia Tong and Irina sat around the campfire, drank hot soup, and made do with a hasty meal.

"Irina, were you afraid during the battle earlier?"

"I mean, the battle with the Demi-Human Queen."

Watching Irina sip her noodle soup in small mouthfuls, Xia Tong softly asked.

"Lord Xia Tong, I'm sorry."

Irina held her bowl with her head lowered, the firelight illuminating her guilt-ridden face.

"I didn't contribute anything. I only hid behind a big rock like a weakling."

"After you summoned Torrent away, at least five or six demi-humans discovered us."

"Fortunately, Sister Melina dealt with all of them."

"I couldn't see, but I could hear very clearly."

"Sister Melina's blade was fast. I could hear it slicing through the demi-humans' skin and striking their bones."

"With Sister Melina beside me, not a single demi-human could get close to me."

By the fire, Melina's figure materialized as well.

Her semi-corporeal phantom gently stroked Irina's hair, silently comforting her.

She told her to get some proper rest.

It seemed the battle had indeed frightened the blind girl badly.

Irina nodded, set down her bowl and utensils, and curled up in the tent to sleep.

"You should rest too, Xia Tong. I'll keep watch."

Melina turned to Xia Tong and spoke.

Xia Tong looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"Although there were only five or six demi-humans, forcing yourself to manifest and use your power must have exhausted you too, right, Melina?"

"My physical body was burned away long ago. Only my spirit remains, and I usually reside within the spectral steed whistle."

Melina said calmly.

"I don't wish to say too much about myself."

"Besides, the closer we get to the royal capital, the stronger my power becomes."

"If one day we can reach the foot of the Erdtree, then I may even be able to move freely."

"You still haven't answered my question, Melina. So you did expend quite a bit of power by acting this time, didn't you?"