The best option we had was to burn the corpses; the stench of death and blood would attract more creatures. Right now, we were very tired; it would be a big problem if more monsters came. We gathered all the corpses in the largest crater. The mage woman cast a spell, and they all burned; a great flame illuminated the forest, changing from red to black. The smell was unbearable, so we retreated from the place.
We walked for about an hour and gathered around some trees. We were very tired, especially Reynolds' group, who seemed like the living dead. I told them they could sleep a little. They hesitated at first, but they had no other choice; they gathered in one place and closed their eyes.
"Elsa, come here."
"What's happening?" she replied.
Taking 25 mana orbs from my ring, "Take these; they're yours. Absorb the essence."
Looking at Elsa's experience points, she had exactly the same as me, but something was different.
[Ding! The following amount of experience is required for Elsa Frostine to reach half-bronze]
[3000/15,000]
It was different for her; unlike mine, which required 160,000.
The base, half, and maximum ranks required essence to move up each of them. When your soul essence is in the base, it's at the base of your feet. When it's in the middle, your soul essence is in the middle, reaching the belly button. Once you reach maximum essence, it's in your brain; you are much stronger, and once you reach maximum, you have the strength of the next rank, but at the same time not. It's easier to understand as if you were facing a wall that you can pass through for a short period, but at the same time, you can't go beyond. However, once you move up to the next rank, you break the wall and have the ability to use all your power.
"Uhmm, uhmm, isn't it too much?" she hesitated a bit.
"Don't worry; besides, it's convenient for me if you're stronger. So just take them."
"Okay."
I watched as she took an orb in her hands; she closed her eyes, and I could see her mana reaching her hands. I observed as a small thread of mana came out of the orb, and more and more very fine lines came out of the orb and connected with her body. As far as I understand, they can only absorb half of the contained essence; the other half is corrupt mana. Once you absorb corrupt mana, you have a violent reaction; basically, you're injecting poison into your soul. The consequences can be instant death or a agonizing death. I saw Elsa stop absorbing more mana; the orb, which once shone like a star, went out, leaving only a black substance. It no longer had that mystical glow.
I looked at how much her experience increased.
[3050/15,000]
And indeed, she could only absorb half. Apparently, my ability doesn't work for sharing. I sighed; well, not everything goes as one wants. She still benefited from my system.
"Give me the orb."
"But it's no longer useful," she replied.
For her, it didn't work, but for me, it sure did. I can purify the essence. "Just give it to me; I'll take care of these things. Absorb the other orbs, and then give me the corrupt orbs if they're useful to me, hahaha."
She looked at me suspiciously and pursed her lips. "Hmph! Fine, don't tell me then."
"Hahaha, don't get angry about those things," I said, shaking her hair.
"Stop it!"
It's always fun to tease her.
Almost 2 hours passed; Elsa had absorbed all 25 orbs. She returned the others to me, and I stored them in my ring.
[Elsa Frostine]
[4250/15,000]
Hmm, an increase of 1250 experience; I thought, rubbing my chin. Now she only needs 10750 more to level up; not bad.
Uff, uhhhmn.
Hearing some moans, I saw the group of adventurers waking up one by one. They got up and did some basic exercises while stretching.
"Thank you so much, kid, for covering us while we rested," Reynolds said.
"No problem," I replied, although I was tired; I could stay awake for a few more hours.
"So, what happened to you guys?"
Looking at each other, Reynolds' woman responded.
"We got lost."
They told me how their map, which they had with them, broke due to a fight they had. They lost their way back. I can't blame them; this place only has trees everywhere; it's very easy to get lost, there's no difference, nothing to help you orient yourself. They had been walking for almost 3 days; deciding how many days have passed in this damn place is quite a challenge. Some even lose track of time.
They told me they fell into a trap and were chased until they found us, and the rest is known.
"I guess you want to go back, right?"
Lowering her head slightly.
"Yes, our supplies are almost gone. We're tired of this place; we want to go back to the city, but we don't have a map."
I hesitated for a moment; the truth is that this mission will take me a few days until I leave Zone 1 and enter Zone 2. Once there, I need to find the beast. So I brought many things with me, as well as some maps, just in case. You never know what might happen.
Narrowing my eyes, I took out a map from my ring and threw it to them.
"Have a map; I have more, so take it."
Their eyes shone with gratitude; I felt strange seeing their eyes as if they were coming back to life.
"I don't know how to thank you for everything you've done for us," the blonde woman spoke.
Thinking for a moment, I asked them, "So how about giving me something you won't use?"
The mage woman took out a bottle from her clothes and handed it to me.
Inspecting the bottle, I didn't find anything great.
"This bottle is a magical artifact; you can store up to 4000 liters of water. The bottle won't increase in weight or anything; it's very useful, in my opinion."
I looked at the bottle with wide eyes; the truth is that it's very useful. Obviously, I brought water, but I put it in a large gallon. This bottle is incredible.
"Not bad; it's very useful. Thank you."
The priestess woman took out a necklace.
"This necklace has a passive ability; it helps you absorb ambient mana in small amounts. It's the only thing I have." Her face turned red with embarrassment.
"You shouldn't be embarrassed; it's actually useful too. Thanks." It's not useful to me, but it's quite good for Elsa.
Reynolds, on the other hand, gave me a potion. "This potion improves your strength for a certain time."
Quite good, but somehow I feel like a bandit who is looting them. I feel like the bad guy right now, rolling my eyes.
"Thank you don't need to give me more things; this is enough"
I didn't want to loot them any further.
We chatted for a few more minutes; it was relaxing to talk to more people, a peaceful moment in this damn forest. But they had to leave.
"It was a pleasure, kid! I hope you return safe and sound; if we meet, I'll buy the beer!"
"Please take care."
"We'll meet again."
"Goodbye."
"Take care."
One by one, they said their goodbyes; there were about 7 hours left for hell to return. I need to rest during this time to be prepared.