The mana from the candle slowly began accumulating in Dannep's chest.
Unlike Ilyss's garden, there was nothing around her that enhanced the mana in the surroundings, so Dannep wouldn't be able to extract much mana from it.
"Hey, why are you closing your eyes? Can't you see I'm talking to you?" Eva said angrily.
She raised her hand to strike Dannep; she needed to punish her.
"Hey, you remember we're not allowed to hurt her, right?" But she was stopped by the leader of the Black Hyenas.
"I was only going to give her a small hit, I wasn't going to leave any mark," Eva excused herself.
"No, the client said she must remain in perfect condition, we can't risk it. Besides, don't you have cards? Being in a supply cargo carriage is tedious."
Dannep continued concentrating on the mana around her. She decided to expand her accumulation a little more, not only extracting mana from the candle, but also extracting mana from the trees or lakes the carriage passed by.
Even if it was only for a second, any mana she could gather was useful to Dannep.
"This is exhausting," she thought to herself while continuing to concentrate.
"Okay, whatever you say, chivalrous Drake. How much longer until we arrive?" Eva asked as she moved away from Dannep.
"We still have about two hours of travel left, so I recommend you sleep," Drake replied as he approached Dannep.
"Oh, you're going to stand guard? How polite," Eva said mockingly.
"I'm not doing it for you. Remember the horses pulling this thing are two of my specters. If I fall asleep, they'll vanish," the man said coldly.
He looked at Dannep with her eyes closed and couldn't help forming a smile on his face.
"Hey Eva, this brat is trying to store mana," the man snorted without taking his eyes off Dannep.
"What? Seriously? I thought she was giving us some weird silent treatment. Hahaha, she's an idiot. Even if she could use mana, her hands are tied behind her back. Where is she going to aim it, at herself?"
"Hahaha, come on, leave her. She's being kidnapped, maybe she's trying everything she can to escape."
In response, Dannep opened her eyes and stared at both of them in an intimidating way.
"Now I want to do this even more," she thought to herself as her eyes began to glow.
Drake's expression darkened instantly as he looked toward his companion in alarm.
"Eva, run, this crazy girl is about to—!!!"
"PLASHHHH!"
Before they could move, a massive expanding pink aura burst out from Dannep's body, slamming into both of them.
Dannep stood at the center of the expanding wave, feeling the ropes around her snap apart as if a force field had burst out of her body.
She felt a vibration spreading from her body as everything around her began to break apart, and pain started to surge through her.
"Crack!"
The rear part of the carriage was sacrificed, while what remained of it wobbled and tipped to one side.
Pam!
Dannep's body fell onto the road, hitting several rocks on the ground as she rolled. She had managed to escape the carriage.
"Tsk, shit… I can't move, I can't feel my body," she said to herself while checking that she was still alive.
All her muscles and bones ached; apparently she had drawn far more mana than her body could endure, injuring herself.
"At least I killed them, I'll be able to leave." But contrary to what she said, she saw four figures emerging from the wreckage.
"God, she just broke eight of my ribs," Zarek said as he stood up.
"We leave the girl alone for a few minutes and look what happens," Varg added while pressing a cloth against his bloodied forehead.
"That'll teach me not to mock people. God, I feel like I lost half my body," Eva said while holding her arm as she forced it back into place.
"At least you're fine. That crazy bitch just released mana in the form of a wave. Is that even possible without casting a spell?"
Drake asked while getting up. His left arm had been completely destroyed by Dannep.
A strange black serpent covered that arm.
"I guess that's why the girl was worth fifty thousand gold coins. Looks like she's a magical prodigy," Varg commented as he drew his daggers.
"A prodigy of a very high level. I thought magical expansions that don't come from a spell were something not even the professors at the university could do,"
Zarek said as he pulled out a wooden staff with a crystal sphere.
"Hey, aren't we not supposed to touch her?" Eva asked, but she still pulled a small wand from her pockets.
"Well, we're not going to kill her, but she's already injured," the leader of the hyenas said before drawing a saber.
"If we cut off one of her arms, it'll be an accident she caused herself," the man smiled as he slowly walked forward.
Dannep, who had heard the conversation, forced strength out of her aching body and started to run.
"Shit, shit, shit it hurts."
The pain in her muscles was brutal. She felt completely sore as she ran.
Exposing her body to that burst of mana without warning had been far too much for her, but she couldn't give up. Not now.
She pulled out the wand Zafiro had given her and tried to start storing mana, but she couldn't do it. She still had to keep her eyes closed while accumulating mana.
"I've got her!" Drake's voice rang out, and with it a black fox lunged forward and bit Dannep's leg.
"Agh!"
Dannep staggered and fell to the ground, and combined with the bite and her injured muscles, she chose to surrender.
"Well, it's time for you to pay for what you've done," Zarek said while holding one of Dannep's arms.
"GRAWWWKKKK!"
But to everyone's surprise, a massive roar came from above, along with a gigantic silhouette that was becoming more visible by the second.
"Is that… a dragon?" Varg asked, clearly frightened.
"A dragon? Ilyss… she came for me?" Dannep felt a bit excited as she watched the creature's silhouette draw closer.
"Pam!"
The dragon landed on the ground, breaking several nearby trees.
From the head of the creature, an elegant figure in a golden dress descended to the ground.
Her mere presence could be felt in the air as a huge amount of mana spread from her body.
"You were the ones who touched my girl."
Ilyss Dracoryth was furious.