“…How much time do you think we have?” Aren said, following Alnea’s gaze towards downstream of the river.

  “Enough,” Alnea said, withdrawing his gaze back from the river, and turning towards his teammates. “We have our first enemies of the Final Trial coming to us in a while. How about we prepare a surprise to welcome them?”

  “…You are not very good at preparing surprises,” Cecilia said, with a grin slowly blooming on her face. “But I sure like the idea.”

  “How are we doing this then?”

  “By laying down some traps, of course. This is the perfect opportunity to catch our enemies off guard.”

  “But those Wanderers already know that their base has been invaded. No matter how many traps we lay, we will not be able to catch them off guard.”

  “…That may be true, but we cannot give up without trying.”

  “What is the use of trying, if we are only going to waste our Spirit Power and resources?”

  “It will not be a complete waste,” Alnea said, interrupting the heated discussion between his teammates. “Aren is right in a sense. Since our enemies know that we are here, they should not be stupid enough to fall for any traps that we lay. But the more that is the case, the more traps we must lay. Only then, can we make those Wanderers let down their guards a little, and create a chance for our true surprise to work.”

  “…So, our traps will be decoys?”

  “You can say that,” Alnea said, nodding to Aren. “It would be best if those traps work, but we will not put all our hopes on those traps.”

  “…But that will be waste of our resources. There is only so much material we have brought with us. If we keep lying traps like this for all the enemies that we meet, our stock would not last for even a week.”

  “…You do have a point, which is why we will not be using the resources we have brought with us, but the resources that are available around us.”

  “…Why do I not see any of the resources that you are talking about?”

  “Vestia.”

  “Leave this to me,” Vestia said, with a grin that did not lose to Cecilia’s in deviousness, as she closed her eyes and began chanting under her breath. Moments later, the river in front of them parted ways. Not completely, of course. Though the flow of the river was not too fast, it was not so slow that it could be parted by just a Peak Stage False Wanderer. And even if it had been slow, the river itself was too large to be controlled easily.

  The entire stretch of the river in front of them, as far as they could see, was about ten to fifteen metres wide, and was probably half as deep. Not too large, but not too small either. At least not small enough for Vestia to control at her will. At best, she was only able to push against the river, and divert its flow to create a dry area on the riverbed adjacent to the bank they were standing on.

  “…Are you saying that we are going to hide in there?”

  “This is the perfect place, is it not?”

  “Running water can indeed aid us in hiding our traces. But how are we going to breathe in there? And what are we going to do about the current trying to wash us away?”

  “You do not have to worry about those things. Vestia will take care of it.”

  “…Even if that is the case, hiding in running water is not the perfect solution. It can be easily breached with a little effort. And we will still have to waste resources to lay down our traps.”

  “I am not done yet,” Vestia said, before letting out a long breath, and chanting once again. And this time, she did not stop after just one chant. Once, twice, thrice… It was not until her face became a little pale, that she finally stopped chanting. The river in front of them though, did not stop changing.

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  It began with a small ripple at first, going against the flow of the river. The clash between the two would then force the water on the surface of the river to surge, and break through the bonds holding it down, causing some droplets of water to fly over its surface. And once these droplets jumped out of the river, they never went down. Instead, they soon gathered together to coalesce into the shape of a fish, about three metres large, with sharp and menacing teeth.

  Yet, that was just the beginning. The fish may have taken time to form, but it was the result of Vestia’s first incantation. One, two, three, four… Each time that Vestia finished her chants, a new fish, with the appearance of a different breed, equally menacing and dangerous, would jump out of the river’s surface, and float over it, swimming in the air. And before anyone knew it, an army of fish had formed over the river, awaiting Vestia’s command.

  “…Such an ingenious way of borrowing the forces of the river,” Zain mumbled. “This is absolute genius.”

  “No one knows how to use a forest’s resources better than a Weina,” Vestia said, with a hint of pride on her pale face, as she directed the creatures she had created to dive back into the river and hide themselves. “Except, maybe for those Forest Maidens in the Ionia Domain. Still, when it comes to making the best use of the resources of a forest, we Weinas are one of the best.”

  “Really?” Cecilia mumbled. “I thought you were best at ensnaring men from all over the world.”

  “…Not now, Lia,” Alnea said, before glancing at the rest of the Star Seekers. “What are you all standing around for? Waiting for our enemies to come back and waste all of Vestia’s efforts?”

  “…What are we supposed to do now? Find more ways to lay traps, or—

  “Go down, of course,” Alnea said, holding Vestia’s hand to offer her support, and taking the lead in jumping down to the riverbed, with Cecilia and Forne following right behind him. Though, from how she was grumbling with dissatisfaction, and glaring at Vestia’s grinning face, her reason for following him so quickly might have been a little different from what he was expecting to induce in his teammates.

  It was only because of how pale and weak Vestia looked, that Cecilia did not say anything to her. Still, he could not continue to hold her either. Reluctantly letting go of Vestia’s hand under Cecilia’s glare, Alnea glanced up at the rest of his teammates, and gestured for them to join him. But they were too busy looking at him incredulously, wondering at his audacity to jump into a literal island of air, surrounded by gushing waters from all sides, without any hesitations whatsoever, to pay any attention to his gestures.

  “…Are you really going to wait until our enemies come back before jumping in?” Yuri said, glancing at the Star Seekers who were still at the riverbank, breaking them away from their daze.

  “…Let’s go,” Karl said, pulling Zain along with him, as he jumped down.

  “What are you puling me for?” Zain grumbled, but followed along willingly when he saw Yuri’s indifferent glare. The others were not much different, following the duo the moment they recovered themselves. And in just a few moments, all the Star Seekers, including Yuri, had gathered back at the riverbed.

  “…Vestia.”

  “I know,” Vestia said with a nod, and closed her eyes, before mumbling under her breath. Moments later, the river around them surged once again, recovering its flow. But not completely. Vestia controlled the river to flow around them, leaving them enough space for them to move around and breathe with ease. Though, in return, her face became even more pale than before. And that was the least of the consequences.

  Vestia had become a little unsteady even before they had jumped to the riverbed. Controlling the flow of the river once again finally pushed her to her limits, making her sway from side to side, as if she would fall down at any moment. Noticing her condition, Alnea quickly put his arms below her shoulders to support her. But she had already lost all her strength, and soon fell into his arms.

  “…Are you alright?” Alnea said, looking at Vestia with a worried gaze.

  “…I am fine,” Vestia said in a low voice, almost as if she was whispering into his ears. “It is just—

  “Are you an idiot? I only asked you to create some traps, and prepare a hiding place for us, not for you to push yourself to your limits.”

  “…I had to do my best to make it look as if they were getting ambush by a group of Wanderers so that they would not have the time to search the river.”

  “…We could have thought of something else,” Alnea said after a moment of silence. “I know of a few Glyphs which can control water, and Zain also has a few Arcanas that can achieve the same effect.”

  “…But then, you two would also have lost some of your combat potential, would you not?”

  “…It would not have had much effect on us.”

  “…Still, it would have had some effect. Why make so many people lose their strength, when I can bear all the burden by myself? Just like you always seem to carry all the burden by yourself…”

  “…Is this how you express you anger? By putting yourself in danger?”

  “…Even if I am in danger, I believe that you will never let any harm fall upon me,” Vestia said, putting on her bravest smile. “It is just that I might not be able to provide much help in the upcoming battle.”

  “…You have already done enough,” Alnea said, staring into the Vestia’s eyes, as a confident grin broke on his face. “Leave the rest to us.”