“Yo, Chen-o, are ye sure it's around here?” Gamby, a man in his late thirties, shouted over his shoulders in his weird accent while standing on the edge of a deep gorge. His brown coat flapped by the upwind from below.

“Yes,” Chen replied as he walked over to him with steady steps. “That’s the core area you are looking at.”

“This big-o thing?” Gamby blinked, pointing at the inky darkness lying beyond his feet.

“Mhmm.” Chen nodded as he stood next to Gamby and looked down. “No one has ever tried to descend and explore. It's still a mystery to us as to what lies beneath.”

“Oh?” Gamby turned his head towards Chen. “Unexplored, ye say? Even after so many years?” His tone carried hints of disbelief. “Are ye guys pussies, o-wat?”

“Well, pussies or not, no one wants to die for nothing.” Chen shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. After a brief pause, he turned his gaze towards Gamby with a smirk on his face, “how about you try and break that record? Maybe show us what a real man can do? Hmm!?”

“Aye! I’d better not.” Gamby shook his head from side to side. Fixing his gaze on the ditch, he mumbled, “When I’m strong-o enough, maybe! Not now. Yeah.”

Chen stifled a laugh at the man’s expense. Shaking his head, he turned around and headed for Loui, who was resting underneath a tree. Although she had her eyes closed, Chen knew she was ever vigilant to her surroundings.

He sat under the shade and leaned his back against her as a sigh escaped his lips.

“That’s the ninth time today.” Loui hummed, with her eyes closed. “What’s on your mind?”

“A lot of things, actually.” Chen rested his head on Loui’s shoulders, breathing in the scent of the perfume she usually used. “I still don't know what we are doing here.”

“Babysitting.” Loui snorted. She threw a glance towards a woman sitting opposite to her under another tree. She wore a cream-colored dress. Blue crosses adorned her knee-length skirt, and blue frills decorated her sleeves. Her long black hair was tied in a bun and held in place by two red-colored hair ornaments.

Chen opened one of his eyes and looked in the same direction as his girlfriend.

Perhaps she realized that people were staring at her, the woman knitted her brows whipped her head from left to right. Chen and Loui promptly turned their heads away from her.

“At least, it’s better than fighting in a war that has nothing to do with us,” Chen muttered.

“Yeah? I don’t think it’s that simple, though,” Loui hummed doubtfully. “Two 2-star warriors, a 1-star support, and one 3-star assassin, don’t you think this lineup’s kinda lacking for a level-up raid of a healer?”

“Strange? How so?” Chen questioned. His voice was barely above a whisper. “I think it’s a bit of an overkill just to assist a single hunter.”

“No, Chen.” Loui shook her head. “That’d have been the case if it was during normal times. Have you forgotten the reason why so many guilds gathered in our town?”

“War!” Chen gasped softly.

“That’s right.” Loui nodded her head and continued. “Everyone knows that a Healer plays one of the most important roles in a party, followed by a Support.”

Loui shifted, adjusting her shoulders to make it comfortable on Chen’s head. “I suspect that she is the only Healer sent to our town. That’s why Mr. Leomord sent her here. She’d be relatively safe inside a dungeon.”

“Hah! Since when have dungeons become safe havens?” Chen snorted.

“At least no one can sneak up on her without others noticing. Outside, there are many dangers to her life, such as getting poisoned.” Loui revealed ominously. “In other words, rather than babysitting, we are like bodyguards. Believe it or not, Chen, we’ve already gotten dragged into this war.”

“That sucks!” Chen sighed.

XXX

“So, what do you want me to do?” Nel asked, sipping a mouthful of tea from his cup.

After the unintentional outburst, he sorted his emotions and set them straight before approaching the brother-sister pair enjoying beverages. Swan offered to pay him a drink and Nel graciously accepted.

The three of them sat side by side on the cushioned steel chairs in the hospital’s waiting area.

Celpie hummed as she pulled the straw out of her mouth. After an audible gulp, she cleared her throat and began explaining Nel’s role. “The knife inside big bro Bell’s ears have your mana coating it. I can’t remove it carelessly or risk the mana going berserk and destroying his brain.”

“I see.” Nel nodded. “So, how do I pull that mana out?” He asked.

Nel understood the crux of the problem and his role in the healing process from Celpie’s explanation. He just had to know the way.

“It’ll be an easy thing for a Projection stage hunter. You!” Celpie said. Nel noted hints of excitement and wonder in her voice when she talked. His heart swelled in pride for some inexplicable reason, which he didn't allow to reflect on his face.

“Alright. But, what should I do?” Nel asked again.

“Hmmm, you have to connect with the mana inside my brother’s ear and pull it out. Once the mana is no longer there, I can easily restore him.” Celpie explained.

‘Restore?’ Nel wondered about the weird phrasing by her but nodded his head nonetheless.

He had gained a rough understanding of projection after creating that miniature spear. Besides, Nel had already gotten hints on how to ‘physically’ interact with mana inside the body. He was confident.

Swan listened to them talking as he sat silently in the middle and felt sour in his heart. Most of the things they said didn't make sense and sounded like jargon to his ears. His sister’s apparent change in attitude towards Nel didn’t help either.

After they finished their respective drinks, the trio left for Bell’s room.

XXX

Bell was lying in one of the deluxe rooms available in the hospital. There were a few machines attached to his body. The constant beeping of one of the devices was the only sound in the otherwise silent room.

Nel followed after Celpie, with Swan flanking him. His eyes immediately followed after the weird scenery of his fruit knife sticking out of Bell’s left ear.

Nel winced, feeling phantom pains in his left ear. It was truly a painful sight.

“The hospital staff had sedated him since he was in too much pain,” Celpie said as she sauntered towards Bell. She gently caressed his head before giving Nel a pleading look. “Mr. Nel, please help him.”

“I -I’ll try my best.” Nel stuttered. He was a little nervous as he was about to perform the task. Outside, they have already talked about it. Whether Nel can help or not, they won’t bother him anymore. As it was their fault, they’d grit their teeth and accept their loss.

Honestly, Nel was more than a little surprised.

“That’s all I ask.” Celpie nodded as she smiled.

Nel silently walked to the left side of the bed. Switching his gaze from Celpie to Swan, he took a deep breath and mumbled, “I’m going to start.”

He wrapped his fingers around the knife’s hilt before tightening the grip. Then, he closed his eyes and allowed his mana to flow into the weapon.

There was indeed a lump around the blade. However, what surprised Nel was the mana had the likeness to the special mana from his [Wave]. It was denser and closely knitted, forming a complex self-sustaining structure.

It was why this lump of mana hadn’t dissipated even after an hour.