Chapter 33: Excellent Combination
Priam nodded, then made a gesture and swallowed several pills at once.
This left Shione and Lumiere confused.
Those were Ether recovery pills. They were among the most expensive pills available for purchase, and also among the hardest for a low-level alchemist to produce. Fortunately, for someone from the Mortal plane, Priam was absurdly rich.
Since he was only a level 4 Acolyte, their effects were extremely significant. For a Mage Disciple, for example, consuming them was no longer worth it, since they would recover almost nothing. Of course, in the Divine plane there should be high-level pills of this type, so the situation would be different.
Priam swallowed all six pills he had and felt two-thirds of his Ether return.
He turned to the two of them. Shione should have already recovered her strength that had been sealed by the poison, so she could fight. Looking at Lumiere, he asked:
"Did you lose a lot of Ether?"
He was stunned by the question. "I only lost around 40%. What are you..."
Priam smiled. "This mountain is huge and full of powerful beasts. The ones who attacked you should still be climbing, and maybe we can catch up to them. Or do you really want to go back?"
The entire trap and the incident with the siblings had happened just over three hours ago.
Considering the size of the mountain and the fact that the attackers were not that powerful, it was possible that they were still climbing at this very moment.
Shione and Lumiere fell silent, staring at Priam in astonishment.
"The people who attacked you will be forced to fight and kill many beasts along the way, making our climb easier now. Of course, there are flying beasts that, after seeing empty space on the mountain, have already moved back in. But the three of us will still have a much easier time. If we’re quick, we might even arrive in time to see who those people were. Don’t you want to find out?"
Priam spoke slowly, and the two took deep breaths. Then their eyes shone like stars.
"I have to catch them! Using that poison is obviously against the rules." Shione said, clenching her fists.
"Good. But I have one request." Priam said, his expression turning serious.
Lumiere nodded. "We’ll do whatever we can to help you."
"It’s nothing major. Just, if we find the culprits, I want you to stay silent until the coming-of-age ceremony is over." Priam said slowly, without explaining much.
He didn’t want to create problems by telling those two that the person who had tried to kill them was their own Big Brother.
It was better if it looked like they didn’t know. That way, during the next phase of the Trial, when Gangrel saw that they were alive and well, there was a good chance he would try something even more foolish. That young man was just a spoiled idiot without much ability. Priam felt that letting him hang himself with his own rope was a simpler and more efficient option.
It would be an attempt made without much thought or preparation; that was a recipe for creating mistakes that would incriminate him. If Gangrel were an experienced and intelligent elder, Priam would not take such a risk. But a greedy and idiotic 19-year-old Young Master like that?
Shione looked at Lumiere, then the two nodded in unison. They didn’t understand his reasons, but they chose to trust Priam.
"Since you agree, let’s not waste time. The strategy will be the same: I’ll take the front and draw attention. Lumiere is our offensive power. As for Shione... your ice power is good defensively; you should focus on protecting your brother and sensing flying beasts approaching from outside the mountain. That’s possibly the greatest danger."
Shione snorted lightly. But she couldn’t deny that her specialty, the ice element, had defense as its greatest strength. She could use the water element and fight in other ways, but ice was still her strongest power.
It’s just that... her personality was the complete opposite of someone who fought from the rear.
"Let’s go, we can’t waste time."
Priam said and stepped forward.
The two looked at his back and took deep breaths. This young man from the clan’s side branch seemed like anything but someone their age.
Along the way, Priam used Synthesis again, creating new healing runes.
He had several dozen piranhas in the Ring of Life, and he was killing them one by one, removing their cores for synthesis. Unfortunately, he would probably have to use up both of the great treasures he had recently obtained.
He merely reflected quietly.
Since he could only have one power rune at a time, he needed to fight strategically. If the rune’s power ran out in the middle of battle, it would be difficult to stop and create another one. Fortunately, he had Lumiere’s offensive power and Shione’s defensive abilities.
Thinking about it, those two were an excellent combination with him.
Against unintelligent beasts like these, as long as Priam drew their attention and made them feel fear, they would focus only on him. But against even slightly intelligent enemies, the situation would not be so simple.
’Maybe having one more person on the front line would be more efficient...’ As soon as he thought that, the image of Flaris appeared in his mind.
*Kee-eeeee-arr!*
A sharp, piercing cry echoed around them.
From above the mountain, a flying beast that resembled a bird of prey, but with a ten-meter wingspan, appeared menacingly.
Around ordinary beasts, there was a dark scarlet aura that moved threateningly. By sensing this aura, any somewhat experienced Mage could roughly tell what level of power the beast was equivalent to.
Priam, who had studied extensively using the System’s knowledge, was even more capable than the other two. Judging by its aura, this beast was equivalent to a level 8 Mage Acolyte.
Shione clenched her fists, tense.
But in the very next second, without the slightest hesitation or reservation, Priam leaped into the air and attacked.
Priam’s physical constitution, combined with the almost magical Ether control granted by his Anima, made him an incomparable aberration among those of the same Rank as him.
He was still only level 4.
But even against someone at level 9, Priam was confident that it would be a hard fight, yet one he could win.
And all of that was with an incomplete Magic Art that he could only use once.
In the future...
Priam felt immense excitement when he thought about it.
He definitely had infinite potential.
He was in a magical world, and he wanted to experience everything to the fullest without missing anything.
Since he could become strong and be someone incredible, why wouldn’t he?
Training was fun for him, someone who had always lived bedridden on Earth and couldn’t even run a little faster.
Studying magic and powerful things was also fascinating and addictive for someone as curious as him.
He had a System to support him. And the stronger he became, the more new things he would be able to experience. Therefore, becoming stronger was directly related to his greatest desire.
...
The trio climbed the mountain very quickly. Against beasts with little intelligence, the strategy of Priam drawing attention and absorbing their attacks while being able to heal himself was practically unbeatable.
Lumiere was absurdly efficient in his Ether consumption, in addition to possessing immense destructive power through the pure fire element. He was the type who disliked long duels or close-combat battles.
To Priam, he was like the stereotype of a Fire Mage, with tremendous destructive power but terrible defenses.
On the other hand, Shione was no less talented than him, using the defensive power of ice to protect perfectly. But whenever she saw an opportunity, she didn’t hesitate to attack with an ice sword.
The water element in the form of ice was not useless in hand-to-hand combat, quite the opposite. The problem was that it would always be a long fight, and that type of duel was always dangerous.
You never know the enemy’s hidden cards, and external forces could always interfere. Therefore, defeating the enemy as quickly as possible was always the safest approach.
However, by making contact with the enemy multiple times using freezing power, it was possible to freeze their muscles, meridians, and even the Ether within their body. In the end, in a prolonged battle, the ice user always won.
...
After several battles, Shione and Lumiere became incredibly excited by the efficiency. They were defeating extremely powerful beasts in just a few exchanges.
At the center of it all was Priam, who traded bloody wounds with his opponents, preventing them from defending themselves. Amid the chaos, it wasn’t uncommon for beasts to approach from behind, but they were also defeated very quickly.
In less than two hours, they had passed the midpoint of the mountain and could already see the summit drawing near.
Along the way, Priam occasionally stopped and collected some red crystals scattered across the mountain. His eyes gleamed whenever he looked at them.
’There’s powerful energy inside these... excellent.’
These crystals had been created by refining the raw power of powerful beasts. It wasn’t Bloodline power, only the energy they generated within their cores. Everything had been refined through a process similar to the creation of magical weapons, producing these crystals.
This was one of the characteristics of beasts, both ordinary beasts and Beasts of Primordial Chaos. They possessed extra cores separate from a Mage’s Jade Core. These cores contained a type of energy unique to their races.
It wasn’t exclusive to beasts. Some demonic and humanoid races possessed the same thing.
Shione and Lumiere belonged to that rare category, and it was precisely that core within Shione that Priam had attacked during their previous "fight."
The two of them possessed extra cores that granted them pure Fire and Water elements. They could use extremely powerful Magic Arts that Mages of their Rank wouldn’t be able to perform due to a lack of energy. In addition, they could fight for much longer periods.
Having a core like that truly made an enormous difference for a Mage.
...
"We need to hurry." Priam roared, and all three of them felt a wave of power coming from slightly above. Those enemies really were close, and fighting just ahead.
Without hesitation, Priam began giving it everything he had, leading the advance frantically.
Throughout the journey, they had spotted numerous mutilated beast corpses. That enemy group, even though they were advancing slowly, truly consisted of highly trained individuals.
Minutes later.
"There!"
Shione shouted. At the summit of the mountain, there was a massive cave entrance.
"Quick!"
The trio accelerated, rushing toward the cave after defeating the last beast blocking their path. As soon as they approached...
They felt only a subtle distortion in the space ahead.
Everything was empty.
"FUCK!" Shione cursed, unwilling to accept it. They had missed that opportunity by just a little.
