Chapter 88: Misfortune Haunt Us

At the same time James and Sarah were talking about their experiences in this test, the last member of this group was currently being carried through the forest by an injured mage.

"Ouch..."

"Stop complaining, I'm not that heavy."

The appearance of both of them was quite bad, with most of their clothes in tatters and multiple wounds on their bodies in addition to dirt stains that inevitably appeared due to them having contact with the ground the moment they both fell to the ground.

As for why Kesar was carrying Jay, that was because the damage the latter had taken finally became too much for him to overcome by sheer willpower... or at least that's what he had told Kesar.

After the anticlimactic death of the Aqugas snake, Jay moved to help Kesar, but just before he could even attempt to wake him up, his body suddenly stopped responding to his commands and he fell to the ground, accompanied by another system message that definitely left Jay shocked.

[Due to the heavy damage to the [Carrier]'s body, the system has decided to cease all unneeded movements to concentrate on recovery].

And just like the message said, he wasn't able to move any part of his body except for his head.

'No doubt I have a question session pending with the system...' Jay thought, remembering the message.

This was the second message he had received from the system, and similar to the first, it was something incredibly serious that directly affected his combat ability, so he had no choice but to ask the system about this.

He had already had another questioning session at home a few days after he had fully recovered, but they had only been basic questions, which had just been demonstrated, were not enough.

"By the way, the lake was around here, right...?" Kesar asked, waking Jay from his train of thought.

They had been walking for a few minutes in search of the lake, as for the reason for this, it was because the lake was still the best place to set up an elemental zone, and now that the snake Aqugas was gone, there would be no problem doing so.

Although the area where they had faced said monster wasn't bad either thanks to the small pool they made, making it possible to set up an elemental zone there as well, it had no point of comparison to the lake.

Not to mention of course that the elemental zone Kesar had created was rendered unusable after the rough usage it was subjected to due to Kesar's actions.

"I still see the stream, so we must be going the right way." Jay replied, glancing sideways at the moving stream, and as he did so, he couldn't help but think of Kesar's performance in the battle against the Aqugas serpent.

While he had also influenced the outcome of the confrontation by buying time with the snake and increasing Kesar's attack power and confidence with his little ones, the main character in that activity was undoubtedly none other than Kesar, who greatly exceeded Jay's expectations of him.

Since Kesar himself had said that his spells would not be effective against the snake thanks to the magical resistance it had developed, although Jay had not shown it at the time, he had also been somewhat worried.

However, after said mage rescued him from being trapped by the snake, said resistance seemed almost non-existent due to the various methods of attack that Kesar used.

And even when he used his spells directly on the snake, they still accomplished their task, causing Jay to doubt whether the snake really had a magic resistance.

"Tell me, if the snake had a magic resistance, why were your spells still taking effect?" He asked, trying to satisfy his curiosity.

Although he knew something about magic, that was only limited to a rather general knowledge, knowledge which obviously couldn't compare to the explanation that Kesar, an elemental mage, was able to offer.

"Ah... well I honestly don't know how to answer you that..." Kesar chuckled, an awkward smile appearing on his face, "I think I simply managed to overcome the amount of damage its resistance could take."

The Aqugas snake was an exceptional monster, which had caused Kesar to focus entirely on facing it, attacking, blocking, replenishing his mana using his elemental zone, etc.

As a result, Kesar did not have time to take a more analytical approach to the battle, overlooking several details about said monster, the change in the snake's frost magic resistance throughout the battle being among them.

While the increased power of his spells that Jay's parasites along with the elemental zone gave him also had their merit, the most important thing was that the snake's resistance was getting weaker and weaker as the mass of its body decreased

So unfortunately, what started out as full body iron armor for the snake ended up becoming simply pieces of cloth that barely managed to protect it.

"But you know... I also felt a bit different, like more confident, I think that also helped me focus even more on the fight. Of course, I won't deny that it was quite dangerous at the end, if I hadn't fainted, it really could have ended very badly..." 

Initially he had been quite nervous, but when he had the Aqugas snake face to face, a sudden rush of confidence and energy filled his body, making him able to think more clearly and decisively.

Though of course, also thanks to that, he almost took some pretty serious damage when he tried to use mana directly with his body.

'The effect of my little ones is as effective as ever.' Jay thought as he listened to what Kesar said, feeling satisfied with the performance of the parasites inside the mage.

In that manner, talking but still walking towards their destination, they both reached the lake without any problems, though the moment they did, they were greeted by an unexpected sight.

In the middle of the lake which had previously served as the Aqugas snake's base, there were several people floating in the water, seemingly motionless.

"...That looks bad..." Jay said, observing the people in the lake, "Do you think you can help them?" 

"That's what I was about to do."

After saying that, he put Jay on the ground and hurried into the lake, swimming towards the center so he could rescue the people there.

As for why he didn't use some ice spell to make a path just like he did the first time he got to the lake, it was because right now, just as Jay couldn't move his body due to the injuries he had suffered, Kesar couldn't use most of his spells thanks to the extreme use he put his body through a while ago.

By attempting to use mana directly, he put his body's ability to use mana under extreme pressure, causing it to now be extremely painful and uncomfortable to use mana, even with the use of his wand. In fact, it was already fortunate that he could move so freely.

Making a rough calculation, he could feel that he would only be able to cast one more spell before all the mana in his body was completely depleted.

As for the solution, it was quite simple, he just had to rest for a few days until he was back in an optimal state.

Of course, this meant that, with Jay immobilized and Kesar unable to use most of his spells, if any monsters were to appear at this time, that would be the end for both of them.

Strangely, however, neither seemed particularly concerned about this.

The reason for this was simple, both Jay and Kesar decided that they would worry about it when the time came!

After all, in their current state, they really wouldn't be able to do much except run for their lives, so there was simply no point in worrying about it.

After about fifteen minutes, Kesar managed to get all the people out of the lake, although as a consequence he also ended up lying on the ground due to the physical effort he had just made.

There were eight people in total, with two women and the rest being men, their ages ranging from 18 to 24.

'Hm... at least it doesn't look like any of them are in danger...' Jay thought looking at the people Kesar had pulled out of the lake, all showing signs of being alive on his radar.

He didn't know how long they had been inside the lake, but with all of them being supers, it was clear that a little water wouldn't kill them either... at least not as easily.

As for what kind of supers they were, Jay had no way of knowing since he couldn't infect them.

"You know...I think.... I should definitely work on my physique more..." Kesar said, regretting not spending more time on improving his physical form.

However, his words fell on deaf ears as Jay ignored him and suddenly turned his head towards the forest, an expression of complete seriousness on his face.

Seeing this, Kesar also stopped making noise and brought his gaze to where Jay was looking.

Due to the abundance of shadows and the density of the forest, it was quite difficult to see anything, especially for them who were on the edge of the lake, which was a few meters away from the forest.

"Let's get out of here, quick!" Jay suddenly said, turning to look at Kesar, "Something big is coming!"

Immediately, almost as if the tiredness from earlier had been purely a sham, the young mage stood up and hurried to carry Jay on his back before beginning to retreat towards the opposite direction they had been watching.

Even though he hadn't managed to see anything, the urgency in Jay's voice was all the proof he needed to run away.

As for the people who were still unconscious, even if he wanted to help them, Kesar's limit at the moment was only being able to carry one person, and unfortunately for them, that position was occupied by Jay.

*SHHK*

Then, as if to prove Jay right, the sound of several bushes moving began to be heard, louder and louder, indicative that something was approaching towards them.

Slowly, Jay could see how a large shadow of over 8 meters came out of the forest, its form was that of a large bear with fur almost as dark as the night itself, its eyes being the only part of its body that was easy to see thanks to the fact that they glowed a dangerous red color.

'...Ah, why does misfortune haunt us...?' Jay thought, an expression of disbelief on his face.

Unlike how it happened with the Aqugas snake, this time he didn't know specifically what kind of monster it was, but just judging by the presence it possessed, he was sure that at the very least, it would be at the (C) rank.

*Swoosh*

The monster then let out a loud breath that even moved the water and all the bushes near it, the next moment, its gaze fell upon all the unconscious people near the lake.

However, that didn't last long as what caught its attention more was the pair of people moving relatively fast through the darkness, trying to move deeper into the forest.

Without wasting any more time, the bear then extended its right arm and suddenly slashed the air, causing several air blades to shoot out towards the two.

The move had been simple enough for the bear, but it was quite clear that it contained an enormous amount of power.

*CRASH!*

"Argh!"

It didn't even take ten seconds for the wind blades to reach them, cutting through all the trees that stood in their way and forcing Kesar to stop as a log from one of the cut trees fell right in front of them, causing him to stumble.

They both fell to the ground, Jay directly smashing his face into the log, while Kesar hit his head hard against the same log, hard enough to inflict as much pain as possible, but not enough to knock him out.

"D-damn it..." Jay said, his face still being glued to the log since he couldn't move.

"Argh, I think my head is open!" Kesar added, clutching his head tightly.

The next moment, the young wizard gritted his teeth to ignore the pain and hurried over to where Jay was to carry him again, he knew they had to get out of there as fast as they could, so his haste was completely understandable.

However, even though it had only been a few seconds, it was already too late.

*Crack*

The sound of logs being broken filled this part of the forest as a great pressure began to weigh down on them.

The giant bear was now only a few steps away from them both.

*BAM!*

Suddenly, a silhouette shot out from within the forest, crashing into the bear and forcing it back.

"Finally, a monster!" Shouted the person who had just landed on the ground after it hit the bear, great relief and excitement could be felt in his voice.

Fortunately for Jay and Kesar, a person who had the ability to take on this monster had appeared. And what was more, Jay could instantly recognize this person's voice.

"James!"