The heavy footsteps of the boots of thirteen Adventurers pounded relentlessly against the cleared, dry soil. The humid air tasted like old copper, but the Adventurers forced the foul wind directly into their burning lungs. They needed to hurry.
A frantic Healer from Team A had crashed into their safe camp just minutes ago, so everyone immediately abandoned their bedrolls to sprint toward the nightmare.
Far ahead in the gray mist, Chris and his fellow Thief completely vanished from sight. They used their explosive agility to reach the wreckage first. That left ten Team B members and the weeping Team A Healer lagging behind, running heavily down the cleared path.
And then there was Celia.
The blonde elf was currently fast asleep. Lumina had simply cast a weak floating spell on the Level 7 Healer before leaving the canvas tent. Because an Aura Tail provides a violent, explosive push, using it would just throw the sleeping woman violently into a tree trunk. So Lumina resorted to manual labor.
Lumina ran through the path while carrying a big, heavy backpack. Three big spheres made of a mysterious metal clanked softly inside the tight canvas. Her right hand gripped her wooden staff securely, while her left hand held the thick fabric of Celia's white robe right at the back of the neck.
Celia floated perfectly horizontal to the ground. She drifted about waist-high, completely dead to the world, while Lumina dragged her forward like a weird, weightless balloon.
Thorne wiped dirty sweat from his brow. He looked to his left and saw the ridiculous sight. His eyes widened in absolute shock. A high level Adventurer was taking a nap in the middle of a brutal rescue mission.
"Why is the Perpetual Saint sleeping?" Thorne yelled over the heavy thud of their boots. "Why aren't you waking her up, Calamity Child?"
"It's no use," Lumina replied with a completely blank expression. "It has just been two hours since she started to sleep."
Thorne stumbled over a hidden tree root. He quickly caught his balance, but his mind tripped heavily over the logic. "So what?"
"She won't wake up until she sleeps for at least four hours," Lumina stated flatly. "She will wake up after two hours or so."
The running Adventurers heard the black-haired girl. They stared at the floating elf in utter disbelief. They were running toward a big crisis. Their comrades might be lying dead right now, yet a core member of the raid team refused to open her eyes.
Everyone in the raid team knew Perpetual Saint was a Level 7 Adventurer. It was completely out of character for an expert of that rank to ignore a big threat. If a stray monster attacked her while she snoozed, a single bite would kill her. That kind of careless vulnerability was a mistake reserved for stupid rookies. The hardened fighters simply could not believe this high level Adventurer possessed such a pathetic weakness.
Thorne shook his head. He gripped his staff and pushed his tired legs faster.
"If she cannot wake up," Thorne huffed loudly. "Then why did you bring her unconscious body out here? We are facing a Calamity. It's very dangerous for her."
"If she senses a serious threat near her, like the Titan's Aura, she will wake up," Lumina explained calmly. "She will wake up even if her sleep is not yet complete four hours."
Lumina paused her words for a brief second.
The Adventurers heard that and nodded slightly. It made tactical sense. They assumed the Perpetual Saint simply could not feel the Calamity's terrifying presence from the distant safe camp. They believed her survival instincts would violently trigger the exact moment they arrived at the active battlefield.
"Probably," Lumina added.
Thorne's jaw dropped entirely open. The other Adventurers completely missed their footing, almost tripping face-first onto the ground.
Probably?
Before the veterans could shout a bitter complaint, the tree line broke. They arrived at the scene.
Thick, dark clouds covered the moon, but their trained eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom. The twelve members of Team A lay scattered across a wide, blasted crater. Chris and the other Thief stood near the center, guarding the broken bodies with drawn daggers.
Right in the middle of the devastation, Kaelen sat heavily on the cold ground. He bled from a massive gash across his iron chestplate. Vance, Korinn, and Nia were conscious, though they laid flat on their backs on the ground.
"They are all alive!" Chris shouted, waving his blades in the dark.
Upon hearing the good news, the two Healers of Team B and the weeping Healer of Team A sprinted forward. They raised their staves immediately. Warm green light flashed across the crater as they cast rapid healing spells on the injured men.
Celia could not do a single thing. She remained perfectly asleep, still floating just below Lumina's hip level like a discarded piece of luggage.
Kaelen spat a glob of blood onto the earth. "Damn that monster."
Team B let out a massive, collective sigh of relief. It was an absolute miracle nobody died during that brutal ambush.
Thorne walked up to the sitting commander. He leaned on his staff and offered a grim smile.
"So you are still alive?" Thorne asked.
Kaelen looked up at the old Mage. A weak, tired grin cracked his dirty face.
"I was dead," Kaelen grunted. "But I got entirely bored of it."
"Yeah, I heard the same news," Thorne chuckled dryly. "Rumor said the mud spat you back out. Said you were too tough to chew."
They shared a short, grim laugh.
"Seriously," Thorne said, his voice dropping the joke. "How are you even alive?"
Kaelen's face hardened into a mask of pure, terrified seriousness.
"That Titan," Kaelen started, his voice rough. "After we were knocked down, it completely ignored us. It turned around and went in a different direction."
The commander pointed a shaking, armored finger toward the dark horizon.
"The moment the Titan's Mana Pool fell to less than fifty percent, it changed its attack pattern," Kaelen explained. "It was entirely unpredictable, so we got caught completely off guard. After we were knocked down, it just walked slowly toward the West."
Thorne followed the pointing finger. The other Adventurers turned their heads to look at the broken trees. Their faces quickly turned as pale as ghosts.
They realized the brutal geography of the swamp. The beast was not wandering aimlessly. The Miasma-Titan was marching directly toward the Capital of Voragale.
"It's moving slowly," Kaelen said as he pushed himself up onto one knee. "We could catch up if we run right now."
Across the crater, the green light faded. The Healers lowered their wooden staves. The deep cuts and crushed bones were fully mended.
Nia, Vance, and Korinn slowly stood up from the wet ground.
Korinn dusted off his leather armor. He looked at his own hands, entirely shocked. "I can't believe I'm still alive."
"That was scary," Nia muttered. She rubbed her arms to shake off a cold chill.
Vance stretched his back. He looked at the two of them and flashed a big, joking smirk.
"I saw what you did earlier, Korinn," Vance teased loudly. "When the log came down, you embraced Nia to catch the impact. You jumped right in front of her. You looked exactly like a brave prince saving a princess out there."
Nia slowly turned her head. She threw a terrifying, completely silent glare directly at Vance without saying a single word.
Vance felt a freezing chill shoot straight down his spine. The joke died instantly in his throat, so he clamped his mouth shut and looked away.
Before Korinn could awkwardly change the subject, he noticed a bizarre shape hovering nearby. He squinted through the dark. It was a blonde elf. She was floating horizontally while sleeping peacefully.
Nia noticed the floating woman as well. She walked over to Lumina, utterly baffled by the strange display.
"Why is your Healer floating like a dead fish?" Nia asked, crossing her arms. "We almost died here. Doesn't she care?"
Lumina looked at Nia with complete, emotionless boredom.
"She cares," Lumina stated. "But she is strictly adhering to the absolute laws of beauty. She must complete her four hours of sleep."
Nia's right eye twitched violently. "Beauty? We are in a toxic swamp! The air literally melts iron armor, and she is worried about her skin?"
"Wrinkles are the true Calamity," Lumina replied flatly. "If she does not get exactly four hours of uninterrupted sleep, her elven skin loses its natural moisture. She gets very cranky. Last time her nap was cut short, she refused to heal a minor scrape because she said the blood ruined her elegant mood."
Nia stared at the black-haired girl. Her jaw hung slightly open.
"Are you insane?" Nia whispered loudly. "Then why did you bring her out here? Leave her in the tent!"
"I need a shield," Lumina said.
"A shield?" Nia asked, looking at the sleeping elf. "She is unconscious!"
"Exactly," Lumina nodded. "If a Mud Crawler attacks me, I can just swing her floating body to block the bite. She is very durable. She won't feel a single thing until she wakes up in two hours."
Nia rubbed her temples. She was completely convinced the Feeble Soul party was filled with absolute lunatics. She decided to walk away before she lost her sanity.
The remaining seven Adventurers from Team A lay quietly on the ground. Their injuries were fully healed, but they remained completely unconscious. The physical and mental trauma of the ambush had simply shut their bodies down. They needed to rest to recover their strength.
Kaelen fully stood up. He grabbed his heavy iron shield and picked up his broadsword.
"Drink your potions!" Kaelen barked, his voice echoing with desperate authority. "We will chase after the Titan right now!"
Glass vials quickly popped open. The conscious fighters forced the glowing blue liquid down their sore throats. They tossed the empty glass onto the ground and tightened their weapon grips.
They started to run. The pursuit team pushed deep into the dark woods. Kaelen led the charge, followed closely by Korinn, Vance, Nia, and the Healer who had run back to the camp earlier. The twelve members of Team B matched their brutal pace, eager to hunt the beast down before it reached the city walls.
Lumina stopped for a brief second.
She simply let go of Celia's white robe. The floating spell broke. The elf dropped onto the ground right next to the seven unconscious Adventurers. Lumina completely left her sleeping body behind with the exhausted fighters, then turned and sprinted into the dark to catch up with the raid team.