An enormous serpent head poked out from the river nearby, shocking everyone present. The creature's black scales shone under the sun's rays, and its yellow reptilian eyes stared at Christian and Niketas. Fear! The fear of a top predator manifested from this creature's gaze, rendering both immobile.
Even with Christian's superb ntal defenses, he found himself incapable of moving as his legs wobbled. So, he did not hesitate to bite his tongue, using the pain to overco the fear. His body disappeared and reappeared three tis as he used the Acceleration Charm to reach the others' location.
"Lucretia, build us an underground tunnel." However, even from such a distance, Lucretia and Xin'er were affected by the serpent's fear ability, aning they were standing still with their legs shaking. Christian was about to wake them when he heard sothing approaching him. He turned around and saw a jet of water rushing toward him.
Christian did not hesitate to cast a Shield Charm, blocking the attack. The serpent looked at him, and surprise flashed from this humongous creature's eyes. Then, it opened its mouth, preparing for an even more potent attack. Christian was not about to wait for it to succeed. He used the Water Controlling Charm to create a water bubble around the team, then controlled it to fly into the distance. He ran for his life, ignoring Niketas, who was finally getting rid of the fear after so long.
Another water jet hit Christian's flying water bubble, but his spell held on. And as fate would have it, the creature shifted his focus to the now-moving Niketas. Christian did not know how long he flew or in which direction, but he was at least a few kiloters from the original location before he landed.
Lucretia had regained her bearing, but Xin'er still looked fear-stricken. So, he had to use the Shock Spell to jolt her mind. "Are you alright?"
"I'm…I'm fine."
Despite her words, Christian noticed her body still shaking, so he cast the Cheering Charm, hoping to use the joyous mood to counter the fear. Christian's attempt succeeded as Xin'er's complexion slowly returned to normal, and the shaking stopped.
"Thank you."
"No problem," Christian nodded. "We should rest, and even eat sothing." After everything that had happened since the Negative Field Trial, he felt the need for nourishnt. So, he started the fire to roast the ant at before conjuring drinks for everybody.
Christian ate the horrible food while dreaming about the feast in the resting area. He glanced at Lucretia, who was eating silently by herself. He wanted to say sothing, but did not know how to start the conversation without hurting her, so he decided to break the atmosphere by speaking with Xin'er.
"Do you know what that creature is?"
"It's probably a Lesser Water Hydra," Xin'er replied.
"Don't those have many heads? And what's that intense fear?"
"Hydra can use [Fear Aura] to immobilize their prey before devouring them. As for the other heads? It's probably under the river," Xin'er replied succinctly.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Christian asked. Typically, Xin'er is enthusiastic about explaining the things she knows, but now, she seed to answer him chanically or just for the sake of answering.
"I'm fine, maybe a little tired," Xin'er replied. She expected the third test to be challenging, but never to this extent. Hydras are ancient divine creatures; even Lesser Hydras are classified as [Pseudo-Legendary] creatures. Such things should have been myths or things that [Masters], and even [Grand Sorcerers], should be dealing with, but they seed very common in this trial.
"I see," Christian nodded before turning to the side. "What about you? Are you alright?"
"You saw it yourself, right? This is what it's like to be from a bloodcrest clan," Lucretia said with a wry smile. Although she was not particularly close to her first brother, she respected him and thought he felt the sa way. However, now, she learned that all the pleasantries and good faith competition they've had were a lie. The latter had planned to kill her from the very beginning.
"Do you know why your brother would ask for Niketas' help?" Christian asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Our family may not be the strongest, but we are one of the wealthiest clans, thanks to our successful weapon business. My brother probably promised him cooperation with the Keraunos clan."
"Let ask you sothing. Is it common for bloodcrest mbers participating in the third trial to have spatial artifacts for their safety?"
"There has always been the possibility of death in the third trial; therefore, most clans will have cautionary asures for their most talented mbers. What are you getting at?"
"I think you should consider that Niketas might be lying," Christian said slowly.
"And why would he do that?"
"He knew of your father's intense love for you, aning he might also know he left sothing to protect you, or at least, deduce the truth. When I approached him, I did not detect any Anti-Apparition Charm, aning he knew you would have survived his deadly attack."
"And?" Lucretia said, looking him in the eyes.
"Think about it. Why would he say these things, knowing he could not kill you?"
"He wanted to sow mistrust in our family," Lucretia replied as a look of enlightennt flashed in her eyes.
"What would you have done had you survived?" Christian continued.
"Tell my father."
"And how would he react?"
"I-I don't know," she answered, a confused look flashed in her eyes.
"Regardless of whether he did anything, his view of your brother might have changed, thus influencing the tallus Clan. Niketas' tactic may have been concocted on a whim after seeing you, or it might have been planned for a while. Either way, it seems their clan has eyes on yours," Christian analyzed.
Lucretia pondered briefly before taking a large sip of her fruit juice, exhaling deeply before looking at him. "I didn't know you were a political strategist."
"I'm not—not really. I'm just observant and have so experience," Christian replied. Aunt Eleanor worked as a corporate lawyer and handled nurous cases involving disputes over family inheritance. Over the years, she has told him countless tales of families doing the vilest things to ensure they receive the highest share of an estate or inheritance.
"Experience? Are you also from a large clan?" Lucretia asked.
"Oh, no, I'm an only child. I've just heard many tales of these types of competition."
"That makes sense," Lucretia nodded. "By the way, I never had the chance to thank you for saving ."
"We're teammates, aren't we?"
Lucretia smiled. "Tell what happened to you guys before you found ? Did you encounter any trouble?"
"Hmm, not really?"
"Not really?" Xin'er chid in. "He fought and defeated Aurelius."
"That's right, you ntioned sothing similar," Lucretia realized, looking at him strangely.
"It's not that big of a deal," Christian shrugged.
"But it was," Xin'er said before recounting everything.
"'A prepared bloodless wizard is the scariest thing in the world,'" Lucretia muttered. These simple words succinctly summarize the advantage of bloodless wizards. "Wait, I rember you chose the copper bracelets as your artifact for the test. Were you always prepared to fight him?"
"Well, yes," Christian nodded. Imdiately after seeing Niketas and Aurelius' battle, he strategized how to defeat them. He wanted a spell that could control or redirect lightning, but Mimir told him there was no such thing in the library's second and third layers. So, Christian thought of science and first used a lightning rod with a sharp tip before thinking of the better Faraday Cage.
"Do you always think of ways to defeat people?"
"Not really, but I figured I might face him in the third trial and wanted to be ready."
"Have you thought of how you would defeat ?" Lucretia asked.
Christian resisted the urge to tell her he had never seen her as a threat. Instead, he was about to lie when he suddenly stood up and pointed his wand at the bush nearby: "Who's there?"
Everyone had heard the rustling sounds and imdiately entered alert mode. Then, they saw an injured woman stumbling toward them. She opened her mouth to say sothing, but passed out on the floor before she could utter a word.
"Is that…?"
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