The mist had thinned.
As the deeper they were walking, the quieter the fire was turning silent. Only the faint shimmering Silver light was ahead, which was flickering through the fog.
Rin's breath caught.
"Limbo...look."
A valley spread before them.
Dozens of glowing flowers bloomed across the place, their petals releasing faint silver Particales into the air. Soft, graceful, like floating stars.
Silver Bloom, Rin whispered. Her voice had a trembling in excitement and relief. "We finally found it."
The moment she stepped forward, the system lit sharply in Limbo's vision.
[Area identified: valley of Echoing Mana ]
[ Warning: unstable mana concentration 340% above terrain.]
[Secondary Warning: Sub-Guardian activity confirmed. Proceed with caution. ]
Limbo tensed, hand tightening around his spear. "So this is the guardian's nest."
Rin bent beside one of the blooms. "If we can just collect a few..."
Then suddenly, the ground shook.
A low vibration rippled beneath their feet, sending dust sliding down the ridge. The silver light pulsed, then darkened.
Limbo raised his voice. "Rin! Step back!"
Too late. The Earth split apart.
A massive wave of crimson mana erupted upward, started shaping into a form. A four-legged creature emerged, its body was made of black stone with veins of red light running under the creaks in its body.
Its face was covered by a broken mask, one eye glowing silver, while from the other eye was dripping black mist.
The Sub-Guardian Eldrak had awakened.
The system tone into urgency,
[Hostile entity identified: Elydar ]
[Sub Guardian (guard) Type: Corrupted.]
[ Recommendation: Do not engage directly without purification. ]
Limbo muttered. "It's too late already."
The beast just vanished instantly before their eyes. And appears behind before he could react, the beast slammed into him from behind. A tail... massive, by tearing air, hit him. The impact sends him flying into a tree trunk. On the back. He coughed up blood from his mouth, gasping.
Rin screamed. She moved, throwing her hand forward. To attack. "Vine trap! Heed my voice, bind the monster."
Roots burst from the soil, wrapped around the guard beast's legs, but the instant they touched its body, the vines turned black and mixed in ash.
"It's roting them!" Rin shouted. "This isn't normal mana...bea...st."
Limbo forced himself to stand up and raised his hand. Then, "I'll have to stabilize it."
He slammed his palm into the ground.
[ Adaptive Debug Layer....Online. ]
A flickering light spread a circular pattern, glowing blue across the battlefield. The distortion around them shakes, like corrupted air is forced to obey the code.
Debug field active, he muttered through
his grinding teeth. "Let's clean this mess, Rin." If we don't, then... we can't escape either.
Rin looked at him, breathless. "How..? When did you...?"
"Later!"
The guard roared, voice shaking the trees.
Its arms swept through the air, launching small crystals at them. Limbo's spear flashed, deflecting most, but a few scratches his shoulder, drawing blood.
[Warning: Mana drain reaching limit ]
[Suggestion: Overcharging is not recommended.]
"Not recommended, my foot." Limbo spun the spear, channeling light through its edge. The metal began to hum. Bright, unstable, trembling from pressure.
"Limbo, stop! You'll burn yourself out!" Rin shouted. He smirked while with blood on his mouth. "Then we burn him first. Forest Princess..."
He thrust the spear into the ground, and
Then the light emerged upward like lightning, Rin hesitated for half a second, this beast was different from they had encountered. While her power wasn't helpful in the previous battle, she slammed both palms to the earth, her green mana going through the roots and vines.
The two energies clashed, while not rejecting each other, but combining as one.
Emerald vines generated from Rin's affinity wrapped around the white spear. They were glowing blue-green as the light pulsed brighter as one.
[Mana fusion detected.]
[Combined Affinity: Light and Nature.]
[ Output unstable: 172% capacity. ]
"Let's finish together!" Limbo shouted.
He pulled the spear free and marched forward. The spear slices through the air, its vines trailing behind like burning threads. It struck guard beast cheat, light bursting outward. The noise of the blast echoes throughout the valley.
For a moment, everything was covered in white smoke.
Soon, when the smoke was cleared, the beast was still standing on its legs, while the cracks running across its armour, one leg was cut, but it was not dead yet.
"You've got to be kidding me." Limbo said while panting.
The beast roared.
Rin frozen. Beast launched a sneak attack, its tail went straight towards her, while cutting the ground.
Limbo's body moved before his thoughts. Limbo ran, pushing her aside, and the tail hit against his back. Sending him a rolling in dirt, maybe his ribs have cracked.
[ Critical impact. Internal trauma detected. Activating the emergency barrier. ]
A faint light covered him, weak but enough to keep him conscious.
The guard roared again, raising its claw. Limbo tried to lift the spear, but his arms wouldn't move fast enough.
The Something cut through the Corrupted mist. A blade condensed with mana slashes across the beast's shoulder.
The guard turned towards the new presence.
A boy was standing there, maybe around thirteen or fourteen years old. His hair was black, while tied loosely, his eyes were as sharp as obsidian glass. He also had worn light combat gear, stitched with faint mana threads, and a single glowed which was barely covering his hand.
"You two," he said calmly, "really know how to wake the wrong things."
Rin blinked. Stunned. "Who..?"
Limbo coughed while pushing himself up. "You're kidding me...right?"
"Why are you here, musclehead?" Limbo said, Didn't you go far?
The boy didn't respond.
He dashed forward, blade flashing in arcs of pure white. Each stroke was sharp. Deliberate, no water of movement. He carved through the guardian defence, forcing it back.
Rin regained her stance and raised her staff. "Limbo, one more push!"
"Got it!"
He strengthened his grip, spear trembling
With light again.
Rin extended her mana root into the ground. The earth itself responded. Vine snapping up to bind the guard beast's arms. The boy jumped high by stepping on stones. And slashes the exposed area of the beast, like the chest, shoulder and legs. In an instant, Limbo thrust forward, the spear full of light porechi g through.
[ Combined strike confirmed. ]
[ Corruption density dropping 80%... 40%... 12%..]
[Target integrity critical. The entity is losing stability. ]
The sub-guarding beast realised a distorted scream, body shattering into fragments of crystal.
Sudden silence filled the surrounding...
Smoke slowly started to fade.
The valley, once shaking, became still and calm again. The silver flowers resumed their glow, as if nothing had happened.
Limbo fell to one knee, breathing heavily. "Is... Is it dead?"
The boy lowered his sword. "No. Just unconscious. You didn't kill it, you just broke the corruption link."
What...?
That wasn't its real form. It was just a guard... but due to corruption, it gained this much strength.
"That's... good news, right?"
"Yeah, for now I guess." He looked at the cracks in the earth where faint silver light still pulsed.
"It will wake again if the core reforms."
Limbo was staring at him, confusion mixing with recognition. "You... How are you here?"
The boy looked back, a small smirk pulling at his lips. Long story. "Not the time."
Rin frowned. "At least can't you, tell us your name."
He looked at her with an unreadable expression and a calm voice.
"Later. When we're out of this valley."
The system chime softly in Limbo's ears:
[]
[Shares XP distributed. ]
[Skill synchronisation detected: pure Mana Resonance evolved.]
[ New effect unlocked: resonance field(Lv. 1). ]
Limbo's vision blurred briefly, but he smiled despite the exhaustion.
We must level up our skills and experience.
Rin chuckled weakly. " Wonderful. I feel half-dead, you know."
The boy sheaths his sword, his eyes scanning the valley's edge. "Half dead is better than dead. Move before it wakes."
Limbo and Rin exchanged a glance. Neither argued.
But..
Before they leave Limbo, consume the recovery herbs that Rin gathers.
That boy also gave him a recovery potion, which was of good quality, which instantly eased him..
"Huh, now I'm feeling better. That was a tough battle. I thought it would be a miracle if we survived." Limbo laughed weakly while rubbing on back.
Rin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and you get hurt because of me..."
Leave it... All that didn't matter that time... anyone can be frozen, even I once....
Rin, complete the mission, "for which we came for..?" Limbo said.
Gather all the herbs needed quickly.
Rin nodded her head, rushed to collect the herbs. She collected many. Luckily, they survived throughout the battle. I thought we would not get these herbs, Rin said.
Limbo went near the Silver Bloom flower, "as if something was calling him towards. He attempted to touch the Silver Bloom flower, raising his hand forward."
He then gently grabs the flower. The white shining glow was reflected in his eyes. They were sparkling. Suddenly the system hums..
[ The host has made contact with silver bloom ]
[ The requirements will be shown soon. ]
[ Next fragment location will be available soon. ]
Limbo also collected some herbs and silver Bloom, "But for what he also didn't know, he just felt that he must collect them." And put them in his pouch, while he was away...
They collected many unknown for research and themselves. "Meanwhile, Limbo was feeling better, his injury healing quickly. May that was a miracle of silver moon."
Rin was happy and smiling with her heart..
They turned towards the ridge, the faint light of dawn touching the sky. Behind
them, the unconscious guardian's body pulsed once faintly.
A ripple of Corrupted mana bleeds into the Ground, unseen.
As they climbed out of the valley, Rin whispered, "Limbo... Who is he?"
Limbo didn't answer.
He only looked ahead, the boy walking silently before them, and the system flickered, a message across his vision.
[ Unknown ally register, classification: pending. ]
[Tracking anomaly: stable observation continues. ]
The forest wind rose softly again, carrying away the last traces of battle. But deep down, beneath the roots and flowers, a single silver year sliding down the cracked mask.
The valley had not yet returned to peace.