“Stop,” Cecilia said, raising her right hand to signal the Star Seekers following behind her, before coming a stop herself. A trick she had learned from her experience, one that helped the Star Seekers maintain their formation even when coming to a brief stop. Though whether or not their stop was going to be a brief one had yet to be determined.

  “What happened?” Alnea said, withdrawing the senses of his Spirit from the distance to the area around their team. “Did you find something?”

  “I don’t know,” Cecilia said with a frown, as she glanced at the forest around them. “There is something wrong with the fog.”

  “…It looks fine to me,” Norren mumbled, scratching the back of his head. “Are you sure that there is something wrong with the fog?”

  “…That’s the problem,” Cecilia mumbled. “Why is the fog still fine?”

  “…I still don’t understand.”

  “Stop using your head,” Vestia said, slipping her bow from her shoulder to her hands. “Just get ready to meet our enemies.”

  “Why don’t I see the enemies you are talking about?” Norren said, but followed Vestia’s advice anyway. As did the rest of Star Seekers, pulling out their weapons and Glyph Tools. Yet, despite their precaution, and early preparation, their actions still proved to be a step too late. The fog, which had been unusually silent despite all their movements, began to churn violently, before parting to make way for over a dozen Fire Balls, coming at the Star Seekers from all sides.

  The attack was so sudden, that the Star Seekers did not even have the time to summon their Aspects, let alone cast any Glyphs or Arcanas, before the rain of Fire was already upon them. Fortunately, after the catastrophe they suffered nearly ten days ago, they kept a layer of shield active at all times, even when resting. A habit that had saved them from suffering through embarrassing situations many times in the past week. Including, but not limited to, getting ambushed by other Wanderers. And once again, the shield was fulfilling its destined purpose.

  No matter how the rain of Fire raged around the Star Seekers, it could not get past the translucent barrier, tinted with a hint of green, that sprang up around them like a dome. The only one that Fire Balls seemed to have had any effect on, other than the forest around them, was Fran. After all, it was over a dozen Fire Balls that he was blocking, all carrying the might of an Advanced Stage Glyph. Even if their individual impact was not enough to break through his shield, their combined strength was enough to test his limits. Though it was not as if the Star Seekers were just going to sit around, and wait for their enemies to overwhelm their companion. Or their defences.

  “Cecilia!”

  “I still can’t find them,” Cecilia said, shaking her head, as she urged her Aspects to cover her arms and legs in a greenish black hue. “They seem to be using some Arcanas or Glyph Arrays to hide in the fog.”

  “How about I just blow the fog away?” Zain said, only for both Vestia and Yuri to shake their heads.

  “That won’t work,” Alnea said, tightening his grip on his sword, while channelling his to its edge. “It is not just the fog that they are controlling.”

  “…The trees?”

  “And the ground,” Aren said, just as the ground outside of their shield began squirming.

  “…There is also a lake about fifty metres to our right,” Yuri added. “Though it has yet to show any anomalies, it would be best if we kept our distance from its waters until we have dealt with the trouble at hand. Unless that is where are ambushers are hiding.”

  “…I do not think anyone would be foolish enough to ambush their enemies from such a large distance.”

  “What if most of them are Scholars and Arcanists?”

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  “Ones proficient in long range attacks.”

  “And in laying traps.”

  “…If they are truly hiding in the lake, then it would work in our favour.”

  “Only when we can survive their initial attack, and force them out of their hiding,” Alnea said, tearing his gaze away from the depths of the forest, before looking solemnly at his teammates. “For now, let us assume that everything in a radius of about hundred metres can attack us at any moment.”

  “…Cretes’ beard,” Ralph said, grumbling while carving a Glyph on his Glyph Disc. “Just how big of a Glyph Array have they laid?”

  “…Will you guys hurry up?” Fran said, glowing in a bright green light, while clutching the straps of his shield tightly in his hands. “I do not think I can hold on for long.”

  “…I can drag them out, but it will take some time, and my total concentration.”

  “…Go ahead, and leave your back to me,” Alnea said, while shifting from Slaughter to Protect. From red to bluish golden. From ‘Killing Winds’ to the ‘Water of Life’.

  “Then I will leave my life in your hands, Captain,” Vestia said, flashing her dimples at Alnea, and putting her bow away in her storage pouch, as she retreated next to his side. And while she was at it, she did not forget to flash a grin at Cecilia.

  “…Vixen.”

  Ignoring her sullen rival, Vestia closed her eyes, and began mumbling under her breath, just at the last of the fire ramming against their shield went out. Though, in the very next moment, their shield also followed in the steps of the fire, first cracking like glass, then disintegrating into smaller fragments that drifted with the fog into the depths of the forest. And as if they had been waiting for that exact moment, their enemies released another volley of Fire Balls at them.

  “Ralph!”

  “I am done!” Ralph said, activating the Glyph he had carved, summoning a wall of water to intercept the Fire Balls. “But my Glyphs are not intended to defend, so you better hurry with other solutions.”

  “…Vestia is working on it,” Alnea said. “Till then, Karl—

  “You do not have to remind me,” Karl said, activating the Glyph he had prepared, adding another layer of shield to block the earthen spikes rising from the ground. “Though I would not mind some help.”

  “Zain.”

  “In then end, you still have to fall back on me,” Zain said with a grin, before quickly casting his Arcana. A gust of wind that spread out from the Star Seekers, pushing away all the attacks being directed against them, even the ones that were still in the distance. Yet, strong as the wind was, it could do nothing against the fog. Or the trees that struck their roots at the Star Seekers like whips.

  Though, by the time the Trees turned aggressive, Fran had already erected his second shield. This one, much stronger than the precautionary shield he had casted earlier. Still, no matter how tough the shield was, there was a limit to how much attacks it could withstand. Just as there was a limit to how much Spirit Power the Star Seekers could expend. Their enemies, on the other hand, were just launching the traps they had laid out in advance.

  Once… Twice… Thrice… As they defended against more and more waves of attacks, the Star Seekers finally began to feel the stress of expending too much Spirit Power at once. In contrast, their enemies were probably spending only about a tenth of their Spirit Power to activate the prearranged traps. And this was just the beginning. They did not know how many more waves of attacks they had to face. Ten? Twenty? Would they be able to survive all those waves? And even if they did, would they be in a state to fight back? Unless they were able to find their enemies right away, they—

  “Found them,” Vestia said, as she opened her eyes, before raising her right hand and clenching her fist. In response, the fog around them churned, and twisted into a swirl, forming a tornado of sorts. But the tornado was not enough to accommodate all the fog around them. So, moments later, another tornado swung up around them. And another. And another…

  In the matter of just a few moments, half a dozen tornadoes manifested around the Star Seekers, sucking up all the fog around them. Yet, their enemies were still nowhere to be found. So, Vestia turned her fist around, and jerked it back towards her chest. Once again, the fog responded in kind—

  No, it was not just the fog. It was the entire forest that bent to her will, including the trees, the ground, and even the lake. And just as the fog listened to her bidding, clearing the area around them, so did the rest of the forest. First, it was the trees, taking back all the roots that they had been attacking the Star Seekers with, wrapping them around their branches and trunk. Then came the ground, quieting down all their ruckus, before devouring all the mess they had made, including the roots they had exposed.

  Finally, when the forest around them was clear, the lake, about fifty metres away, churned with a great fervour, rising up to seven metres high, higher than even some of the trees, before ejecting all the Wanderers hiding in its bed down onto its bank. Then, and only then, did the lake take back its waters, and quietened down, returning back to its calm self. Though the same could not be said about the yellow robed Wanderers regaining their footing on the lake’s bank.