Ian was acting different. The same thought was going through almost everyone's mind as they sat inside Prince Albert's bedroom and analyzed his behaviours. Except the newly added members of their group, Ria and Rick's party, everyone else could feel it. It was a gut feeling at first, but then soon, they could even point out the little differences. First of all, him waking up during lunchtime whereas he'd normally be the first person to wake up and wake the others up as well. It looked like he had only woken up cause he was hungry. His bedhair which was normally a rare sight to see were poking out of every corner of his head and he looked like he had no intention of fixing it anytime soon. "Slow down.. You'll choke.." Albert said as he looked at Ian with a strange expression. Even he looked like he had noticed Ian's weird behaviours. Take what's happening right now for example, Ian was practically devouring his food like a starved barbarian. He almost looked like he was for
"What.the.hell?!" Someone from Ian's party exclaimed out loud as they saw the scene in front of them. They had finally reached the inside of the barrier made of thorny vines. All of them expected the cat tribes and their town to be inside that barrier. Well, it was there alright. Just, not in a shape that they would've ever expected. Right in front of Ian and his party, there was another barrier. It wasn't another vineyard but rather, a sophisticated mana barrier. A grayish hue more on the side of black was being emitted by the barrier as it glowed by itself. That in itself wasn't too much of a big deal. A barrier this size to protect a hidden village like this was fairly normal. If only it was being used as a shield, for protection. Oooong...ooongg... But this particular barrier, it was giving off a really creepy vibe as it made those noises. Ian and the rest got shivers as they looked at the huge, almost black barrier in front of them. "This thing.. what is it? Why is i
While Ash and Louis's party were busy dealing with the two groups of men belonging to the organisation, Ian was almost done deciphering the spell. He had his eyes closed and was concentrating on the flow of mana that he was sending inside the barrier flowing like streams. And soon, they all connected like a giant maze. Ian sighed in relief and opened his eyes. "I'm done." "Is it over?" Bela, Ash's mother, asked from under the shades. Ian nodded his head in response. It had taken him even less that ten minutes to decipher a spell of that level. He was actually feeling proud of himself. But sadly, all he had with him were genius, peerless kids and teenagers and a out of the question Demon Queen. Meaning, he had no one to admire him for the marvelous achievement he had just achieved.
'How?'The Phoenix asked staring at Ian intently. 'How what?'Ian asked back as he started gathering all of his mana in one spot. After he starts rewriting the algorithm of the shield, he'd have to use up most of his mana in one go. 'I won't have much time to gather my mana once I start, y'know.'He explained thinking the Phoenix was asking about his mana, which was clearly a wrong assumption. 'Tsk. That's not what I'm asking. You're really going ahead with that plan? I told you it's impossible no matter how talented you are.'It explained once again. Although Ian surpassed it's expectations countless times in the past, there was a clear difference between being smart and being stupid. The Phoenix simply couldn't understand why Ian was so hung up on an idea so bizzare. 'It is only possible in theory-''Or if you have two brains.'Ian cut him off and answered back. He shook his head thinking how the stupid Phoenix was focusing on the wrong part of the conversation once again. 'I-
Rick and his knights were currently accompanying Ian in his journey or adventure or just roaming around aimlessly, whatever he called it. And right now, they were standing outside the village where the people of the Cat tribe lived. They were trying to save the lives of the countless people living inside that village right now. And Ian, the most important person of their party, was trying to reverse the algorithm of a giant shield that was large enough to cover the whole village and which was also the cause of the villagers suffering. Damon, as he explained what Ian was trying to do, managed to gather some mana and stabilise his condition. He and Ash had helped Ian by lending him their mana and they were the only two people capable of doing so since both of them were connected to Ian by a soul contract. But that was a secret that the other's didn't know of. "Wait a moment." Louis cut him off while he was explaining some things to Rick as he grabbed him by the arm. "What?
"Brother!"Both Ash and Louis shouted simultaneously as they ran towards Ian's direction. A sense of urgency covered their mind and body as they went down on their knees and looked at Ian. He was there, lying unconscious, with a peaceful look on his face as if he was having a great dream. They looked at him for a long while before moving their eyes back up at Bela. "What's wrong with him?"Ash asked his mother before Louis could even open his mouth. She was lending her thighs for Ian to use as temporary pillows. And as someone who was standing by his side the whole time, they were sure that she would be able to tell. Or so they thought."He just fainted.""Fainted? How? Why? When?"A barrage of questions attacked her before she could even finish answering the first one. Seeing her kid show such an urgent expression over something so small, she almost laughed but managed to stop herself in the last moments. "Why aren't you answering him? How long has he been like that?"Even Louis
The Phoenix had assumed that it'd take Ian at least two days to recover from damage. So the other's also started preparing accordingly. They were planning on camping there, beside the shield for at least two days. And once Ian recovered, the rest depended on him. During the night. "The food's ready." Ash informed everyone as he brought down their food, grilled meat and fish, from the fire. These foods were hunted by the other members during the day. Luckily, they found a nearby creek which also solved their water problem. "Mmm~ smells so nice!" Amber commented excitedly as she sniffed the air around the food. She was one of the ones responsible for the meat hunting group. And the wild boar twice her size that she had brought in earlier was enough to drop everyones jaws to the floor. "I'll help." Richard also approached them quietly and took the initiative to help Ash in serving the food. The cutleries were provided by the vineyard when Ria asked them for help. There
"Sooo... I wasn't supposed to wake up today?"Ian asked while rubbing his nose. Earlier when he was trying to surprise Ash, it seemed like his tactic worked too well that it almost backfired. He did manage to save the food that Ash had worked hard to make, but failed to protect his precious face in the process. Bumping into his head which was as hard as a rock, Ian almost teared up. "That's what we were told..""But.. are you sure you're okay?"Ash explained the whole thing to him, about how he fainted, how someone else appeared and reassured them that everything was okay and that it'd take two days at least for him to wake up."Yeah. I'm fine now.."Ian felt the curious gazes of the people around him directed towards him and started scratching the back of his head. Although everyone was trying not to be too obvious, it was very very obvious. 'They're trying too hard.'They were trying too hard controlling their curiousity. Nobody had yet asked Ian about the other person but it see