At first, the air seemed like sucked and swirled on his palm. Then, as the motion stabilized, a sphere of light materialized.
It looked like the energy ball Sorath had used in the underground temple. The difference was that rather than a solid, stable sphere, it gushed energy similar to the sun's solar flare, making it seem unstable and ready to explode anytime.
After it fully materialized, it produced a gush of wind, fluttering Sorath's clothes that were near the source.
Walking to the nearby palm tree, he stretched his hand - the energy sphere - to the trunk.
Before it could brush the palm tree and combust, Sorath changed his mind.
'No.'
Pulling his hand, he looked at it for a moment.
Seeing Sorath doing that, the three raised their eyebrows.
"Umm... So-"
Then, when one of them was about to say something, Sorath swung his hand with full force.
BOOM!
The sphere combusted upon brushing against the palm tree, blowing it apart. The explosion's impact gushed the sand behind the tree, leaving a long, semi-circular mark on the ground. Not only that, Sorath, too, was pushed away by the impact.
If not for his readiness, he would have been thrown backward.
Sorath timed his spin well; he turned around at the same time as the tree dropped to the ground, creating a dramatic effect.
"That's how it works," he said. "The energy sphere will explode if it brushes against foreign objects or humans other than me. That said, if you somehow get hit, it will crush you as I can't control its combustion. Such is the flaw of Inferior Trace."
After finishing his explanation, Sorath pointed at Fred, who looked disinterested in the occasions, unlike the two ladies of Aquila House.
"Fre- Luke! You go next!"
With a sigh, Fred picked up a rock and crushed it. Nonchalantly, he said: "Strength Enhancement. It enhanced my strength."
Satisfied, Sorath nodded at Fred. Then, he looked at Enri, whose eyes glued on Fred since they arrived on the sixth floor. Knowing why she was like that, Sorath cleared his throat.
"If you're worried that he will expose your secret. Then don't. That guy doesn't have any interest in the Seven Houses' affairs."
Enri glanced at Sorath and tilted her head.
"What are you saying? I'm not worried about that. I'm just captivated by his face."
Sorath raised his eyebrow at the poor excuse but didn't press the matter. Meanwhile, Fred was sighing while shivering.
After returning to his original position, Sorath sat and continued the discussion.
"Alright. So, what's yours?"
"First of all, I won't demonstrate the Trace as it will cost me some mana for using it," she said, looking at Sorath. After getting a green signal, Enri smiled. "It's Shockwave. However, I need a weapon to use the Trace."
Nodding, Sorath looked at Atri.
"I can use the Wind Boost to increase my movement speed and maneuver mid-air."
That sounded useful!
"Is it only for yourself, or can you do something, like propelling a person or an object with your Trace?"
"I'm not sure..."
Picking up a rock, Sorath asked Atri to make a strong wind current when the rock was in mid-air to launch it like a mortar. Unlike her twin, Atri was willing to use some mana to showcase her chosen Trace, just like Sorath and Fred.
"I'll count. Three, two, one..."
Sorath threw the rock into the air. Then, Atri quickly flicked her attention to it, using her Trace to create a wind current and blowing it away.
The result was beyond Sorath's expectations. Instead of falling in the middle of the sea, the rock flew several hundred meters, crossed the water, and landed in the forest on the mainland.
"That's the strongest wind I can make with this Trace. I could do more than that if it was a high-ranked Trace."
Sorath blinked and glanced at Atri.
"How much mana did you use?"
"I'm not sure. But my mana pool is bigger than an ordinary non-Awakened and almost equal to an Awakened. And I've used a quarter of my total mana for that, which was equal to non-Awakened's."
"I see..."
Sorath rested his hand under his chin, staring at Atri.
'I know that she has a bigger mana pool, but I don't expect it to be that big for hers to be on par with an Awakened's.'
Slightly shifting his attention to her small chest, Sorath closed his eyes and sighed.
'What an irony.'
After listening to each member's chosen Trace, Sorath concluded. He only needed to change a few things in his plan. Clapping his hand, he informed his teammates about what they would do for tomorrow.
...
Tomorrow...
"Okay, let's cross the water today."
Sorath instructed his teammates, except Enri, to execute the plan he told them last night.
First, Fred would use his Trace and throw Sorath into the sky. Then, Atri would create a wind current to make him stay there for a moment until Fred threw a boulder at him. Finally, Sorath would use the Energy Blast at the flying boulder to use the impact to propel himself and land on the mainland.
"Are you sure there's a mechanic that will create a bridge for us to cross?" asked Enri cynically.
"If there's none, I'll look for the other way," Sorath replied.
"You won't leave us here, right?" Atri followed.
Sighing, Sorath looked at his teammates.
"Do you think I can finish whatever our objective is by myself?"
Suddenly, they were silent. Seeing that, Sorath shook his head and ordered Fred to start.
Activating his Trace and grabbing Sorath's wrist tightly, Fred grinned evilly.
Noticing Fred's expression, Sorath warned him in a threatening tone.
"Don't do anything stu-"
Before he could finish his words, Fred pulled him and turned 360 degrees to make his throw more powerful.
Whoosh!
With only the first step, after being thrown, Sorath was already 150 meters away from the mainland.
Before his velocity dropped, Atri created a wind current to hold Sorath in the sky. Then, with a silent roar, Fred sent the boulder flying toward Sorath's position.
Preparing his Energy Blast, Sorath adjusted his angle so he would land precisely in a safe place. He calculated the mana usage for Energy Blast and felt it wasn't enough to send himself across.
Left with no time and no choice, he used some of his Arcane to increase the impact force. Then, as the sphere crashed with the boulder, it shattered the boulder and sent Sorath flying straight to the mainland's white sand at high speed.
Using a few arcane energy, Sorath created an energy barrier around him, minimalizing the damage caused by the crash landing.
With that, the plan was successfully executed.
...
On the small island...
The three candidates squinted their eyes, trying to locate Sorath on the other side.
"There!" Enri pointed, although it was useless. "I see him."
The other two squinted their eyes more but still didn't see Sorath.
"Where?" Atri asked.
Enri kept pointing, knowing it was useless when the other people didn't have good eyesight like her.
"There! He's there!"
Frustrated, Atri screamed. "Where?!"
"Oh. He is waving at us!"
The corner of Enri's mouth curled up. However, it soon disappeared when he saw Sorath move, entering the forest and vanishing from her vision.
"Ah! He abandoned us!"