Whatever was encased in those crystals was long gone, and based on the clues, the monsters spread out in all directions. Combined with the recent attacks and kidnappings, at least a few tens of thousands of these monsters were now freely roaming in the Kingdom.

And now even the Giant was helping them destroy the land. As they came back to the crater where the caverns used to be, they noticed a small puddle forming at the bottom. The underground river was apparently blocked off, and in a few days, a lake would be formed.

Any evidence of what happened would then be thus impossible to find.

While the commanders were thinking of ideas with gloomy expressions, the scouts started coming back one by one. They explored the area and came with vital pieces of information to report.

The nearby farms were all decimated and mostly burned to the ground. No survivors, corpses, or monsters were to be found anywhere, it was like they disappeared into thin air.

Some landlords and wealthy ranchers managed to survive the attack, and their guards had a few sleepless nights defending the land from beastly invaders.

They told of the hordes of Goblins that came running from all sides, of demonic wolf-looking beasts with Orc riders on top, of small dark figures shooting flames… It was chaotic.

Those that couldn't fight retreated to bigger cities in the middle of the night, and it was unclear if any of them survived. As the news was begining to spread, the fortified settlements would soon be overrun with refugees. And the Kingdom was not prepared for such a panic.

"We're leaving!" The commanders decided at once. "We'll follow the Giant and see if we can thin out the monster hordes. Hopefully, we can slow them down enough for the capital to prepare…" One of them gazed at the sky and silently said a prayer in his heart. 'Be safe, my love...'

The urgent message reached The King.

"I'll get my soldiers ready," said Razor Northendark shortly after glancing over the contents of the letter.

Auralba was preparing for war for a while now, and yet, everything was still happening too fast. The Empire didn't even knock on their door yet when the number of monsters suddenly exploded all over the Kingdom.

In the following two days, they received news from all corners of the realm of brazen monster attacks. The beasts didn't even bother to be sneaky anymore. They attacked in broad daylight and lay waste to small remote villages and towns.

The wave of people that flooded the nearest fortified cities as a result of this made the situation even worse. Crime skyrocketed, violence increased, and the guards had a difficult time keeping order while fighting against monster attacks.

Then, the most terrifying news reached King's ears.

All manner of beasts, from the weakest Goblins to the strongest Ogres and Giants, all abandoned their bloody conquest and turned their sights towards the center of Myrtana. The capital.

"How long until we are surrounded?" The King asked. He was getting a headache from all the bad news.

"Three days if the beasts don't stop mind-way, and at most a week if we are lucky," answered one of his informants. He was an old man in his eighties, thin and with a hunched back. He served the Royal family since his youth and was one of the most trusted men of The King.

"I see…" The King fell into silence. It was enough time to organize the defenses, but not enough to get reinforcements.

"How long until my generals reach the capital?" The King asked.

"Ten days if everything goes well," the old man answered and said, "They battled against the monsters and need some time to reorganize and prepare. I'm afraid only the Northendark family will be able to help us in time."

"So be it," The King sighed. "May Innos help us!"

Sitting on his bed with closed eyes, Gerald meditated like any other day. However, this day was special as it was the first time he felt like himself in a while.

Over the days his magic slowly recovered bit by bit just as Tabbris said it would. The joy it brought him was immeasurable, and that was not even the end of it. The monsters in his mind grew weaker as time went on, and each day a few of them would shrink, become more transparent, and eventually die, permanently!

Peace was once again restored in his mind, bringing him comfort beyond measure.

His breathing was calm and controlled, and a gentle smile sat on his lips as he meditated. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes slowly. He looked at the watch.

"Two hours…" he grinned. With each monster leaving his mind, the speed of Mana regeneration increased. Individually they didn't change much, a few seconds or a minute at most, however, when this happened hundreds of times, he could feel his mind expand and his head clear.

He could see Mana flowing all around him like gentle, bright, colored light when using Magic Eyes. It was everywhere, and it was all fatally attracted to his body. Each breath filled him with energy, and the air started having a peculiar smell he never experienced before. A certain freshness lingered, like cool fresh mountain air, with a tinge of nature and peace.

The peculiarity made him curious, and with great effort, he held Mana at bay, away from his face. The freshness and calming smell were gone.

"Holy shit!" Gerald gasped and relaxed his mind, getting a whiff of the aroma once more. "I can smell Mana!"

The discovery was amazing, sure… But other than being a nifty bonus to his life, it wasn't all that useful. At least now he could determine the concentration of Mana in the air with a simple sniff.

After having established the changes that took place in his body, Gerald stood up and went out to train. He refrained from consuming any Essence Orbs while being injured so his strength remained at just over five metric tones.

His body was also already at the limit of what could be considered safe for his flesh, so he decided to abandon his search for quick power boosts that would leave him fragile in the long term. Maybe if the Essence Extraction method was more well-rounded he could continue, however simply becoming a glass cannon was not to his liking.

His teammates needed training, and he also desired to stretch his limbs, so he went to the back garden where they established a fighting ring. It was a simple place. The ground was covered with gray stone, and six tall pillars held a simple canvas canopy over it, keeping the sun at bay.

Warren trained his sword swings on a dummy while the three girls were having a mock battle a few steps away. The strikes rained down at a fast pace and the assault was fierce, however, at the same time they took great care in making their spells and sword strikes only painful and not in any way life-threatening.

"Alright, gather around everyone!" Gerald called. The exchange of blows quieted down at once, and Qiona and Blum also came out to the garden behind him for the meeting. He had a few things to say.