CHAPTER 94: FIFTEEN SECONDS

Maeve blinks several times rapidly.

She pales. Her heart pounds loudly in her chest.

Julian notices. "Maeve? You okay? You look pale."

He turns to Aldriana. "She looks pale, right? Can you please check her first? Treat her injuries?"

Maeve somehow goes even paler.

Aldriana nods and scoots closer.

She smiles gently, then remembers she’s wearing a mask.

She clears her throat. "Hi, I’m Aldriana. Can you tell me where you’re injured?" Her eyes soften as she studies Maeve.

Maeve shakes her head. "I’m not... I’m... I’m not really injured. I’m just... exhausted."

Aldriana smirks beneath her mask. If she had any doubt before, it’s gone now.

This ginger woman is a mage. Just like her.

She feels mixed.

Part of her is thrilled to meet another mage.

Part of her can’t forget her first mage encounter on this world... the Baroness.

Aldriana hesitates only a second before placing her hand gently on Maeve’s shoulder.

Her voice is soft.

"It’s okay. If you don’t want anyone to know, I won’t tell. But you produced fireballs. And when I whispered the correct words, you reacted immediately and made stronger ones. Julian saw it. I saw it. Wouldn’t it be easier on you to admit it?"

Julian, now unusually sensitive to Maeve’s feelings, nods hard.

"Yeah. We won’t tell anyone. But Maeve... we need to survive this dungeon. No secrets. Don’t worry, we got you."

Maeve looks at him and feels her tension melt.

She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly.

"Okay. Thank you for promising to keep it secret. And yes, I did use magic. I am a magus. But—"

"Oh my god! I can’t believe I’m talking to a real magus!!!" Julian yells at full volume.

Everything freezes.

The area where Arthur and Liam are competing to kill more haelions than the other falls silent.

Every haelion head turns toward Julian.

Arthur and Liam’s heads turn too.

On Julian’s side, all three of them turn toward the battlefield.

A beat.

Then the haelions charge straight toward the cave entrance.

They move so fast that Arthur and Liam are caught off guard.

"Hey!" Liam shouts and sprints after them.

But the haelions are crazed. They gallop like their lives depend on it.

Julian and Maeve sit on the ground, injured and unable to move.

At this speed, they’ll be crushed within seconds.

Aldriana rises and steps in front of them, facing the stampede.

Their numbers have dropped, but the remaining haelions are more than enough to kill.

She doesn’t say a word.

She lifts her right palm.

Thousands of blue fire arrows appear behind her, forming a glowing halo.

She flicks her wrist.

The arrows fire forward like bullets. They pierce straight through all of the haelions from front to back.

Every haelion struck by the arrows drops dead instantly.

Some bodies slide across the ground, some simply collapse where they stand, and all of them pile into one fast-moving avalanche of carcasses rushing toward Aldriana and the rest.

Aldriana moves her hand again, palm out, as if stopping traffic.

All the sliding carcasses stop at once.

The entire thing takes about fifteen seconds.

Silence.

Clap clap clap clap.

All heads turn toward the sound.

Maeve is sitting on the ground, face pale, legs stretched out, her clothes torn in several places, yet her expression is pure awe and admiration.

And she’s clapping with all her might.

She realizes she’s clapping, looks around, and slowly lowers her hands until she stops completely. She looks awkward and clears her throat.

Julian is staring at Aldriana with his mouth wide open, gaping like a fish.

Arthur and Liam run over to check if everyone is alright.

Aldriana makes sure there are enough light orbs floating around for everyone to see clearly.

Arthur immediately crouches beside Julian, checking him. "Where’s the wound? I’ll treat it."

But Julian turns to Aldriana instead and clears his throat. "You... you’re a magus. Can you... can you do healing magic or something?"

"Julian!" Arthur scolds him.

Aldriana laughs. That is very much Julian.

She nods. "Yes, I can. But I need to see the injury before I try to heal it."

Heal?A high-level magic? She can do it?

"Try? Does that mean you can’t heal me?" Julian asks like a child.

"Like I said, I need to see it first. Healing magic isn’t simple. It deals with life. It doesn’t matter if the injury is small or big, it still involves life. We, mages, are not God. We can’t magically fix someone."

Aldriana’s explanation makes sense, but it is also confusing. Julian tilts his head. He understands the words, but not the meaning.

"I don’t understand," Julian admits, head still tilted.

Aldriana laughs. "You don’t have to. You’re not a mage."

Maeve jumps in. "You mean magus."

Aldriana blinks. "Huh?"

"You keep saying ’mage,’ but you actually mean magus, right?" Maeve tries to correct her.

"There’s a difference?" Julian asks, thoroughly confused.

"Yes!" Maeve nods. "A mage is someone who can use magic. A magus is a mage who underwent formal education in magic."

"Formal education? You mean like... magic school?" Julian asks, suddenly excited.

"Julian," Arthur cuts in, firm. "Let her see your wound first. Then we talk."

Julian presses his lips together but stays quiet.

Aldriana grins. "Don’t worry. I’m keeping my promise. I’ll check her first."

She turns to Maeve and raises her brows.

Maeve sighs and takes off her blazer, half wincing as dried blood pulls at the fabric stuck to her wound.

Aldriana calls on pure water and pours it gently over the wound to loosen the blazer. While she’s concentrating, four pairs of eyes stare intently at the water flowing out of thin air, trickling steadily over Maeve’s arm.

Aldriana notices the silence, looks around, then up at the floating water.

She chuckles. "I guess it does look magical."

Once the blazer is finally off, Aldriana examines the wound closely and exhales.

"I can fix this. Bear with me. It’s going to hurt."