The 2 men left the injured Ronie behind, Ronie's body was quite a shocking thing to see, Teras thought mana overflow was something good, but in reality, every rumor he heard about mana overflow was right
'maybe a limited amount of people can use it, and I'm probably one of those people'
Teras thought as he was walking with Har
"Everybody gather here we will continue the tournament! Of course, Ronie will be out due to his injuries"
everyone gathered and the tournament continued, the fights went by fast, and after an hour the tournament ended
"Guys gather around so you can see those that passed with flying colors"
Recka told them
________________________________________
Teras: 3 points
Har: 3 points
Ginsou:3 point
Tyo:3 points
Lia: 3points
________________________________________
"It's not fair! you guys are very strong how can you not lose a single match?"
Cara said
"Well we have cards that can be used for offense, your card is more like a defense type of card"
Lia answered, once everyone saw their score they then were informed by Recka to go to the lunch area to prepare food for themselves, she also told them that the afternoon class will be canceled, once everyone arrived at the lunch area they began to prepare stakes, those with fire and electricity power were starting the fire, strength users and Teras was carrying the meat, and some that could use super speed and manipulate the air were sent to pick up herbs and spices for the meat, and the rest of them cooked the meat, after some time the lunch was prepared, everyone took a seat and enjoyed the lunch
"Oh man, it looks delicious!"
Cara said as she took a massive bite
"Whoa there, slow down, nobody is going to take it from you"
Teras told her
"Oh shut up! I haven't eaten this good in ages"
Cara told him embarrassed, Teras proceeded to eat too, he was amazed
"I'm so proud I made something this delicious!"
he said(he didn't actually make it)
"I agree the meat is fantastic, I guess food from your own hands is always tastier"
Har added (he didn't make it either)
'what are these 2 on?'
Lia wondered, after lunch, everyone went to sleep, and after some hours they woke up the group went to the hot springs so they could enjoy their free time, they wanted to avoid Ronie as much as they could, everyone walked together to the springs, they then decided to enter a huge spring with towels around them
"I swear every time I come here is like I am in heaven I wish Ronie was here with us"
Cara said, Teras was a bit skeptical but still agreed
"I wanted to ask this for a long time, how are we going to name our party?"
Lia asked, nobody answered, they couldn't think of a good name at the time
"How about Orion?"
Teras suggested as he was pointing at the dark yet bright afternoon sky
"You mean like the constellation? I guess it's a good name, I don't have a problem with it"
Cara replied, the others seemed to agree too
"Who's going to be the party leader? we have to choose carefully, our leader has to be strong charismatic and has to bring the party together"
Teras told them
"That sounds like you Teras, so what do you think are you up to become a leader?"
Har asked
"W-Wait are you saying that I... don't joke around! we recently met, can you really trust your party to me? if I remember correctly it was your dream to be into a good group, please don't gamble your chances on me!"
Teras told them, he seemed anxious about leading a team, Har still stood by his words, and the girls didn't seem to disagree, so the leader had already been decided
"Shouldn't we ask Ronie too? I think he wouldn't be happy if I was the captain, would he?"
Teras asked
"About Ronie... we are thinking of leaving him behind, even I as a friend can't understand what's wrong with him, I'm always trying to talk to him but he acts like I'm not even there, he is focused on only one thing, that is power, also his personality has become unstable, he is always looking for trouble, I honestly don't know what to do about him anymore, he isn't the Ronie I knew anymore"
Cara said
"So you are planning on abandoning him after all those years? without any attempt on helping him? you know people are complex, is not a matter of white and black, a human rarely shows his real side, don't you think that Ronie is something more than a goof that tries too hard to act cool?"
Teras asked them
"Don't make it sound like that I tried but he just doesn't want to hear what I have to say"
Cara replied, she began to feel angry
"EXCUSES!!! ARE YOU 2 REALLY FRIENDS?! IT'S EXACTLY LIKE THE TIME RECKA ACCUSED ME OF BEING A PERVERT, SHE THREATENED ME WITH EXPULSION AND NOBODY TRIED TO SUPPORT ME, YOU ALL STAYED QUIET SO YOU CAN STICK TO HER GOOD SIDE, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS NOW, EVEN IF HE DOESN'T LISTEN TO YOU, MAKE HIM! HE IS YOUR FRIEND, DON'T EVER GIVE UP ON HIM UNTIL HE GIVES UP ON YOU, HE ISN'T IGNORING YOU HE IS AVOIDING YOU JUST SO HE CAN FOCUS ON BECOMING BETTER, AND IN THE PROCESS HE WALKED ON THE WRONG PATH, IT'S YOUR JOB TO GUIDE HIM BACK BECAUSE YOU ARE HIS FRIENDS!!! DO YOU GET THAT!!!"
Teras screamed at the top of his lungs, he was standing up staring down the others, Cara began to cry
"TERAS APOLOGIZE NOW!!!"
Lia demanded, she was very angry, Teras ignored and left them, as he exited the spring Lia launched a lighting attack at him, it was very effective because Teras was wet
"What's your fucking problem?! you want to fight?!!!"
Teras told her as he activated his mana flow, before the situation could escalate further Har raised a wall between them
"Teras leave now!!!"
Har shouted at him, Teras then quickly left, and he went back to the camp, on his way to the dorm he saw Recka waiting in front of the door of the dorm
"Teras do you have a second?"
Teras wasn't in the mood to argue so he stayed
"What do you want Recka? I thought you wouldn't talk to me"
he asked
"I came here to apologize for my actions, as a teacher I shouldn't have raised a hand to my students, you have every right to report me to the adventurers association"
she said, Recka looked really serious about it
"As if I care to report you, and as for your apology I don't accept it, so can you move away from the door so I can go to sleep?"
Recka didn't expect this answer, she was confused, and she didn't move because she tried to process what Teras said
"Will you move or...?"
before Teras could finish his sentence Recka took Teras's hand and slapped herself
"Do you accept my apology now?"
she asked, Teras scratched his head out of confusion
"Recka are you stupid? what are you doing?"
Recka was embarrassed
"Shut up dummy! I will not tolerate you mocking me! I will be in debt to you, so you can ask for any favors as long as I can accomplish them of course, that means you have to accept my apology"
'no, it doesn't'
he thought
"Alright I forgive you, and I will make sure to use this favor of yours before I leave"
Teras said as she moved her out of his way
"Sweet dreams Recka, see you tomorrow"
he said as he entered the building, Teras then quickly fell asleep, as for the others they shortly came back to the dorms and they were in a state of panic, after they took a moment to calm down they too slept, they slept in peace on this quiet summer night not knowing what is about to happen, some time through the night, Teras woke up, he felt his throat very dry, in his surprise, Cromi was sleeping on top of his face
'you troublemaker, you have all this place to sleep and you decided to sleep on my face?'
Teras was kind of annoyed, he carefully pushed Cromi away, he didn't want to wake her up, he then got up and decided to go to the bathroom, on his way he saw an empty bed
'Isn't it Ro...'
the realization then hit Teras, it was Ronie's bed, Ronie was missing, Teras quickly took his equipment and ran outside
'he was beyond injured he couldn't have gone too far, but I can't possibly search this whole place alone, I guess is time for Recka to repay me'
he thought, he then rushed to her house and knocked on her door
bang, bang, bang!
nobody answered, he then nocked again with a lit of bit more strength
BANG, BANG, BANG!!!
Teras then heard a bed squeak, Recka then opened the door, she was dressed in her sleeping clothes
"Who is it?"
Recka had opened the door but still couldn't see who was at the door
"Recka wake up, Ronie is missing! we have to find him!"
he told her as he was shaking her with his hands
"Hey stop that, I will get dressed and will come just wait here for a bit"
Recka heard what Teras said but still couldn't comprehend the emergency of the situation, after a minute Recka was ready, she had fully woken up
"Recka you go behind the dorms, and I will search the other side of the forest, he is very injured so he must be close by"
Teras told her, and she then ran to her destination, Teras left too, and he activated mana vision to make it easier for him, the place was silent, too silent, he searched as hard as he could but couldn't find any trace of Ronie, all he could see was the endless trees sleeping under the moonlight, in the other hand Recka searched for Ronie in the silent forest that Teras and Becka went before, she felt the same uneasiness they felt but she kept on searching
'it's for Teras, I promised that I would do anything'
Recka had D E T E R M I N A T I O N, she pushed herself deeper and deeper inside the forest, her legs were on the verge of giving her up, she didn't know why she felt that scared, it was a simple forest, after some time she found a trace, surprisingly she followed it, as she followed it she eventually arrived at Ronie's destination, it was an open area, surrounded by trees, in the middle of this area was Ronie and Prodo, Prodo wasn't in his original form, he seemed more human-like rather than a ghost, Recka was surprised from how pale Prodo was, as she approached them she could hear them talking
"Prodo you bastard you didn't tell me that this mana overflow was dangerous! why did you do that? also, why do you look like that? actually, I don't care, just tell me why didn't you tell me how to properly use the 2nd card(strength)? if I knew I would easily beat this piece of shit of a human being!"
Ronie screamed at Prodo, Recka was surprised, she didn't expect Ronie to be this evil, Recka gulped in fear when she saw Prodo's face, he was smiling like a maniac
"I'm sorry for that young one, to make up for my mistake I will offer you WHATEVER YOU WANT"
a sudden change of mood appeared on Ronie's face, Recka was terrified to even more of Ronie, he wasn't the same arrogant blonde boy she knew, at this moment he had turned into a greedy monster that was dying of thirst for power
"Grant me ALL of your POWER, so I can KILL everyone"
Ronie said with a scary expression
"Close your eyes and brace yourself for the pain"
Prodo told him, Ronie then closed his eyes, and in a flash, Prodo grabbed Ronie's sword and stabbed him in his heart, Ronie coughed up blood, and his eyes began to tear up, he tried to reach for Prodo with his hands but he didn't have any strength left, he quickly passed out, Recka then quickly revealed herself
"You bastard what did you just do!"
Recka yelled, Prodo noticed her and he smiled, Prodo then returned to his original form, he simply exited the body of the human he had occupied, he then picked up Ronie's body, Prodo then began to crawl inside the body, Prodo's whole body entered the body, the corpse then started to transform, its limbs started to grow, and the flesh began to stretch on, Recka could hear the bones cracking and the muscles string snapping, the sound has terrifying, the corpse then stood up, it was about the same height as Prodo
"Haahah this body is incredible! this fool really fell for my trap, he thought that I would give all my power to a random brat?! How stupid is he?"
as Prodo was monologuing Recka prepared an attack, and when the time came she launched it, it was a stone spike, the spike penetrated the man's chest, but the wound quickly regenerated
'How did he heal that fast?'
Recka wondered, Prodo laughed
"Is no use woman, I can regenerate quicker than you can wound me, I have been increasing my mana pool for more years than you have been alive, also in the past I was a ranker healer, and now this combination of power is unbeatable for people like you, I have the strength and power to kill everyone on this camp!"
Recka was worried, if what Prodo said was true she could not beat him, in fact, nobody could, so she planned to save some time by asking him a question
"How did you do that?"
"You mean how I stole his body? it's simple really, when I was young and alive I made a deal with god, I sacrificed all my remained years for immortality, the downside was that I would live in a form of a spirit, I also sacrificed my family for the ability to necromance, that means I can possess any dead body, and when I kill you all I can retain your bodies with my magic so I have 40+ lives ahead of me, admit it! Doesn't this plan sound cleaver? "
Recka didn't say anything, she was just surprised by Prodo's actions
"I will offer you, something woman, marry me and I will spare you, you will live your remaining life with me, doesn't it sound better than dying?"
she didn't reply she just pointed behind him, Prodo turned around, and Recka then launched a wave of rocks at him, Prodo then activated his 2nd card(strength) and slashed through the rocks, Recka didn't give up she kept on throwing massive chunks of rocks at him, it wasn't effective though, Prodo had the advantage, his sword mastery plus his strength combo was dangerous, he also had insane regenerations abilities, even though the odds where on Prodo's side Recka didn't stop, she kept on attacking, Prodo was slashing the attacks as he was closing the distance between them, when he got closer he tried to stab Recka but she stopped the blade by hardening her hands and catching the blade
"Did you think you were the only one that could use super strength?"
she said, Prodo was surprised but didn't get stressed, Recka then punched Prodo, she created some distance between them, she then launched a rock at him, this time he couldn't block it, but he just tanked it, Prodo then grabbed the rock and threw it back at Recka, he also tried to close the distance, she raised a wall and put up a mana shield, she managed to block the rock but couldn't block the slash from Prodo, he broke the mana shield and scratched her on the side of her stomach, Recka then fell down from the hit
"You can still change your mind if you want since I still haven't injured you severally yet"
Recka was in a dilemma, JOIN HIM OR FIGHT HIM? The answer was clear but her pride would never let her surrender, so as a last resort she raised a massive pillar right under him, the pillar stroke him at his chin, the pillar also raised above the trees, Recka then fell back, she didn't have much mana left, so she tried to close her wound, she was also trying to walk back to the camp so she could inform the others
'maybe we can win if we are more in numbers'
Recka thought, but she wasn't sure if she could reach the camp before dying, she was covered in blood, she was breathing deeply, she started to see things blurry, she tripped and fell, she could hear Prodo coming closer and closer
'Is it over? Is this the end? I didn't have kids yet, I have so many things that I want to tell my sister, so please, someone...'
"HEEEEELP ME!!!!"
Prodo then swung his blade at Recka, but before the blade could make contact with her, Teras came running and blocked the hit with his mana-charged weapon, the counter-attack from Teras was stronger, so Prodo lost his balance from the knockback of the hit, Teras then jumped and kicked him in the face with a mana enforced kick, he applied too much mana on the hit so he ended up launching him meters away
"Don't worry Recka, I'm here! nothing will go wrong from now on, leave it up to me!"
Teras said
'Is he the hero that Mama told me about?'
she wondered, the words of her mother came to her mind, it was the only thing she could think of after seeing Teras save her like that
"Recka if you ever feel sick of this place remember, one day a hero will come to rescue us all"
Recka's mother told her
"But Mama, a hero wouldn't come to save, some slaves like us would he?"
Young Recka told her mother
"You may not believe it honey, but sooner or later he will show up, you just have to keep on believing because this world hides a hero for everyone, even us"
turns out Recka's wish was granted in exchange for some injuries, and that's fine