With a sharp gasp, Lancer shot upright, his heart racing. His vision swam as he took in his surroundings—a room, soft sheets, and familiar faces.
"Okay, ow," Davi muttered, rubbing his temple where Lancer had accidentally headbutted him in his frantic awakening.
"What was that for?" Davi complained, glaring half-heartedly at him. "I came to check on you, and look what happens."
Still disoriented, Lancer blinked and looked around. "Where…?" he began, his voice trailing off.
"You're back in the village," Davi said, gesturing around the room. "Typhon brought you back, along with some girls."
Memories slowly returned to Lancer—escaping the collapsing cavern, the blinding light, and then…nothing.
"What happened?" Lancer asked, confusion evident in his voice.
Davi leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "You ran dangerously low on mana. It nearly killed you."
"Huh?" Lancer furrowed his brows. He distinctly remembered absorbing the queen's magic after defeating her.
[You did absorb the magic from the Myrmide Queen, but it took time to convert the energy into usable mana.]
The realization hit Lancer like a ton of bricks. Between the constant use of Wrath of the Thunder God and other high-intensity skills, he'd drained his mana reserves faster than usual. The gap between absorbing and processing the queen's magic points had been too long, leaving him dangerously vulnerable.
"So that's what happened…"
"Ugh," Lancer groaned, sinking back onto the bed. His whole body ached, and he felt absolutely miserable. Sleep was all he wanted.
"Get up," Davi said, shaking him by the shoulder. "We've got a problem."
Lancer frowned, forcing himself upright again. "What happened? Did something go wrong?"
Davi sighed, crossing his arms. "It's better if you see for yourself."
Dragging himself out of bed, Lancer followed Davi outside. The sunlight stung his eyes, but what he saw stopped him in his tracks.
Livia stood in the yard, calmly petting a massive, fiery red creature. Its muscular body, huge leathery wings, and spiked tail were unmistakable—it was a manticore. But not just any manticore.
"Where did you find that?" Lancer asked, approaching cautiously.
Livia looked confused. "What do you mean? This is just Notus."
Lancer froze. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed, staring incredulously.
The last time he'd seen Notus, the chimera had been smaller, dark gray like storm clouds. But this version was massive, easily three times its original size, and now radiated heat like an open flame.
"What happened?!" Lancer demanded, panic rising in his voice.
[The excess energy absorbed from the Myrmide Queen was transferred to the Chimerae via Soul Link,]
Lancer stared in disbelief. "Wait, so you're telling me the others are like this too?"
[Affirmative.]
Lancer felt sweat beading on his forehead. "What have I done?" he muttered, already imagining the worst.
Davi clapped him on the back. "If you think that's crazy, just wait until you see the others."
Notus' transformations had left Lancer reeling, and the others weren't much better. Boreas had turned a dark blue, like icy water, and was so cold that Lancer could feel a chill even from a distance. Zephyr had taken on a beautiful white hue and seemed to generate little tempests wherever his paws touched the ground, the winds swirling around him in unpredictable patterns.
But Typhon? He was something else entirely.
Typhon was easily the largest of them all. His outward appearance hadn't changed much except for a spiked tail that crackled with electricity, but the biggest change was on the inside. The system informed him that Typhon's magic point count had more than doubled and was now above 1.3 million—and still rising. Lancer was stunned.
[Subject Typhon has evolved into a Greater Chimera.]
Typhon seemed thrilled. "Master! Look, I've grown so much!" he wagged his tail so hard it almost knocked Lancer over.
Lancer shook his head, still processing. "Yeah, I can see that…"
He looked at the giant chimerae around him and realized something. "Can they get back to a more regular size? They're a bit overbearing like this."
"As you wish, Master!" Typhon responded eagerly. With a few flicks of his tail, all the chimerae shrank to a more manageable size. Lancer let out a relieved sigh; he didn't want to scare the villagers.
But then, his thoughts shifted. "Wait… where are Yumiella and Luna?"
"Oh, you mean those two girls? Remus said something about sparring with them. Seriously, where do you find these people?" Davi added, shaking his head.
Typhon, eager as ever, led them to a clearing just outside the village. Even from a distance, Lancer could feel a surge of magic power in the air. As they landed, the scene before them made Lancer freeze for a moment.
Luna stood with her arms outstretched, a barrier of shimmering energy surrounding her. She was focused, keeping the massive surge of power contained. Meanwhile, Remus and Yumiella were engaged in a fierce sword fight, their blades clashing with sparks flying as their strikes landed. The intensity of the battle was so strong that Lancer could almost feel the heat from where he stood.
When Remus noticed Lancer, he signaled to Yumiella, and the two of them stopped fighting. Walking over, Remus greeted him with a smirk. "Glad to see you're awake. You had us worried there for a moment."
"Yeah, thanks," Lancer replied, though his tone was a bit skeptical. "But what exactly are you doing out here?"
Remus scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, she looked pretty strong, and I figured I'd gotten a little rusty staying in the village. Thought I'd test myself."
Lancer sighed heavily. "You're unbelievable."
Yumiella crossed her arms and gave Lancer her usual haughty look. "Well, it's good that you're up. It'd be terrible if I couldn't get more weapons because you were out of commission."
"Gee, I'm so glad my health is your top priority," Lancer replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.
But then he noticed something strange, blinking a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He looked at Yumiella, then Luna, and then back again. Their magic points were way higher than before—Yumiella's had skyrocketed to 3 million, and Luna's was even higher.
"Hold on. Did you both… get stronger or something?"
Yumiella smirked, flipping her hair dramatically. "Of course. We were already close to the level cap before we went into the dungeon. Now we're at level three."
"What?!" Lancer exclaimed.
"And," Yumiella added smugly, "your friend Remus was it? He has some… interesting skills. He's not as useless as I expected."
Remus chuckled. "Glad to be appreciated."
Apparently, Remus had given both of them a tour of the village while Lancer was recovering. He seemed genuinely amused by their reactions to everything, and Lancer couldn't help but notice how well they all seemed to get along. Shaking his head, he decided it wasn't worth overthinking.
Later, Yumiella and Luna announced that they were heading back home. Yumiella turned to Lancer and said, "If you ever find yourself in the capital, just ask for the Eldrion family residence. Someone will point you in the right direction."
Lancer watched them as they prepared to leave, wondering how they were planning to travel back. He was about to offer them a ride with Typhon when Luna clasped her hands together and activated her magic. In a flash of shimmering silver light, the two of them vanished.
Livia's mouth fell open. "N-no way. She was a Silver Mage this whole time?"
Even Remus looked shocked, his usual composure shaken. "A Silver Mage… just wandering around like it's no big deal?"
Lancer blinked, finally remembering what Livia had told him before about how rare Silver Mages were. Apparently, their abilities were legendary.
"Well," Remus said, recovering his composure, "I'm sure we'll see them again. They seemed to really like your metalwork, Lancer."
Lancer sighed. "Yeah, let's just hope they don't drag me into anything too crazy next time."