Theron weaved through the crowd of disciples, none of whom seemed all that intent on making room for him despite having clearly heard Dorian’s voice. But there wasn’t much of a reaction to gain from Theron at all.
After following the party for long enough, Theron believed he had a gauge on the temperature of why things were happening this way.
Jealousy.
It was something that he had overlooked, but it was more and more obvious the more he looked at it.
All of these geniuses came from families vying for rank beneath the Thistles. The better they performed, the better their status would be once the Thistles became the new Imperial Clan.
Someone like Theron surely threw a wrench in those plans, not just because of who he was, but because of who he had “backed.”
By marrying into the Vermouth Clan, Theron had shifted the balance of power more than just a small bit. Aeryn was already amongst the strongest of them all, and the Vermouth were in a strong position to claim what would be a very valuable Marquise Title in the future and take control of Thistle Brook after the Thistles inevitably took over the Capital.
To their luck, right before such an important mission, Aeryn fell.
This should have been their opportunity to vie for that position, only for them to remember that there was someone else that might cause a problem.
Now what would happen if Aeryn recovered, and Theron continued to grow into the powerhouse he seemed on track to become? Wouldn’t that mean the Vermouth would have two powerful pillars of the younger generation to themselves?
At that point, how would they even compete?
The Nobles of smaller Baronies and Viscount Clans were quite used to lowering their head to those with Titles that surpassed their own. What they weren’t used to was having to do so to a live-in son-in-law who somehow had more talent than they did.
Theron felt a bit foolish for neglecting this earlier, but it wasn’t hard to figure out why he had.
When Aeryn was here, all of this jealousy was meaningless because he was the shield that took it all on.
It was only when Aeryn was gone that this reared its ugly head and began to manifest in these annoying ways.
Aeryn’s fall had been so surprising to even Theron that he didn’t change his mentality fast enough to account for this.
’A third mistake.’
Theron shook his head inwardly. Even he was prone to missing things. He was only human.
He had been outplayed by Sadie, then outmaneuvered by her brother, the crown prince, and now this slip-up was of his own making.
But he was still confident enough in himself.
These youths had probably received secret orders from their own seniors to deal with him if the opportunity came. And why wouldn’t they?
It was low stakes, high rewards.
Theron was only a Bronze Mancer. Whether he lived or died wouldn’t impact the outcome of the mission. Plus, because he was only a Bronze Mancer, dying in this place only seemed natural.
On top of that, he might be a pawn of the Thistles, but only because of what his talent could provide. What good was a dead genius? Enjoy new chapters from
“Yes, senior brother?” Theron asked with a gentle tone.
“Up ahead there’s a Mana Beast of unknown origin. It isn’t entirely clear what it descended from. Though it has lizard-like features, it has the hard exterior shell of a tortoise, and it somehow seems… natural to it.
“It has the ability to burrow underground by melting earth and seems to have a rare variant Lava Mancy path to it. Because of that, it can form tunnels large enough for it to pass through, then melt them after it has already passed. What’s left behind is too small for more to slip through.
“Your frame is slight, and you have high resistance to heat because of your Water Mancy path. We’ll have to rely on you to go on ahead and make it swallow this.”
Theron looked at the three jades in Dorian’s palm.
Resonate Bloomstone.
If Eruption Bloomstone allowed Flux Mancers to enter a Berserk-like state, then Resonate Bloomstone was the same but for Elemental Mancers.
It amplified Mana to the point it felt like one was fighting an entire major tier ahead, as much as three sub-tiers of advancement. And that was just the lowest levels of it.
But it, of course, also left one’s Meridians in a sensitive state. That was where the Forbidden Spell of the Luminescent Moon Sect came in, soothing the process.
Though the Meridians would still nearly collapse, at the very least, it wouldn’t leave lasting damage so long as it wasn’t used too often. If it was paired with Vital Bloomstone, then one could imagine that this method could be used continuously and provide quite a strong impact.
Even though Theron couldn’t learn much from the methods, though, what he did know for certain was that the Eruption Forbidden Spell and the Resonate Forbidden Spell could never be used at the same time.
Not to mention the fact that most would only have the affinity necessary for just one or the other. If you did use them together, the implosion of your body would actually be the least of your worries.
You might very well lose your soul.
Berserk was known as such for one reason. By releasing the limitations of the body, you were actually impeding your brain in keeping those limitations active. Doing so dulled your senses and made you more impulsive.
If you amplified your body even further with something like the Resonate Forbidden Spell, you’d be giving that psychosis wings.
By this point, it was easy to understand their intentions here.
This unknown, unidentifiable beast was likely far stronger than Dorian was letting on. Though, to be fair, Dorian never mentioned its strength.
Regardless, once it had these Bloomstones, whatever strength it already had would skyrocket to another level. While it would surely lead to death, the synergy between Eruption and Resonate was exponential.
However, Theron wasn’t thinking about any of this. Instead, he had latched onto a very specific piece of Dorian’s words.
’Could it be…?’
Reaching forward, Theron took the Bloomstones.
“No problem.”
After saying this, Theron turned and rushed toward one of the geysers.