Outside the dimension, the middle-aged man keeping watch over the crystal was confused when the orange crystal before him turned gray and then white, indicating that a large number of beasts inside had been killed. Yet, no one came out.
He left the chair and sprang to his feet.
"The ones inside should be out of the crystal by now. Did something happen?"
He climbed the stairs and attempted to enter the crystal, but it was still sealed.
After a moment’s thought, he reported the matter to the guild leader, who had asked him to watch over the crystal.
Guild Leader Johnson’s son was trapped within the sealed crystal, alongside another boy and some villains. He couldn’t afford to miss any changes in the crystal and needed to keep the leaders informed.
He was one of the Adept tier Lights who worked for Johnson and Loyd’s guild.
Before long, he saw dawn approaching, marking the beginning of a new day.
Yet, no one emerged from the crystal.
The middle-aged man let out a sigh.
"These kids are so unfortunate. They just had to step on a dimensional field, which is so rare to see, and then end up in a crystal where no other Light was present since the guild stopped everyone after the incident of many getting injured due to a snake. Hope the kids get out of the crystal safely."
He settled into his chair.
Suddenly, his eyes turned cold. He had another reason for being there. The guild had located Robert, who was assigned to protect Skyler, through his phone.
But he was in a critical condition. That’s why he was currently hospitalized, with healers and doctors tending to him. They had saved his life, but it was uncertain when he would regain consciousness.
"I need to catch those damn villains... It’s not certain that the kids would be able to defeat them, let alone kill them, especially since they have not yet seen the cruel side of the world. I need to avenge Robert."
Caspian wasn’t alone. Two more powerful Adept tier Lights were hiding in the area for any unforeseen circumstances.
Unbeknownst to him, the villains were already dead. Not because of the two kids, but because of a certain snake. Still, they would have died even if the snake hadn’t killed them, because one of the kids had already killed before and the second one definitely doesn’t need experience to kill.
***
Simultaneously, in the crystal, the massive snake stared at the place where Skyler and Charles vanished for a long, long time.
It was deep in thought, its red eyes glowing brightly because for the first time it wasn’t able to understand its own emotions.
Emotions had always been hard to grasp, as it had only recently formed a physical body after existing in a formless state.
But the intensity of these emotions was unlike anything it had ever experienced. For some reason, it had even commanded its spider friends not to harm the two pests.
The snake hissed softly. However, it was very, very displeased and wanted to speak in the weird language the small pests used. Something it had never cared about.
Its knowledge was lacking, as it had only ever lived among monsters and didn’t even know that the pests were called humans.
But it had a good brain, so it found and jumbled together every single word it had heard up till now from every pest who had entered its house to know how that one with blue eyes would communicate.
It wanted to know him...
Stay with him...
The emotions were so strong that the first words that ever formed in its head were.
’Mine... He smells... mine.’
With that, every restraint it had shattered.
The snake was still very confused, but now that it knew what it wanted, it left the boss chamber to go and search for Skyler.
Its size reduced considerably, and in the end, it was an arm-length, beautiful, small snake as it moved out of the tree trunk. The many spiders around the tree scattered in fear and panic. Yet, the snake didn’t care.
It seemed it was about time for it to finally change home again and this time it wanted to go where the one with blue eyes lived.
Soon, it was watching Skyler’s every action after slithering onto a high tree branch. Its red eyes were fixed on the two youths.
At the same time, Skyler felt a prickling sensation at the back of his head, almost as if someone were watching him.
He turned around, his eyes narrowing, but saw nothing. He shrugged it off, deciding to ignore it since he didn’t sense any malice or find the feeling unpleasant.
Charles winced as, due to his sudden distraction, he pressed his wound more forcefully while trying to transmit his Light element Evol into it to heal the youth.
"It’s not working..."
Skyler released a sigh, his gaze falling on Charles. The young man’s eyes were closed tightly, his forehead slick with sweat. It was clear he wasn’t conscious.
Initially, he had tried pressing several Light elemental stones on his wound to help him, but they had little effect, barely stemming the bleeding from his shoulder.
Charles’s body couldn’t absorb Light Evol since he lacked affinity with that element. Therefore, only a doctor or someone with Light Evol could heal him externally.
That’s why Skyler had been trying his best to transmit his golden Evol into his wound for hours to heal him, yet it didn’t work.
"Do I really need to know a spell or a healing skill to help him? Why can’t I just use my Evol on his injury and heal him? At this rate, his state is going to get worse."
He pursed his lips and glanced at the sky. Skyler could see the deep night fading and a new day approaching. He hadn’t lit a fire last night to avoid attracting monsters.
The spiders hadn’t attacked them previously, but who knows when they might?
However, he needed to find something to help Charles heal. A source of water in the forest would be a good start.
He stood up and stretched his stiff arms and legs. He was tired and a bit sluggish.
Since Charles had fallen unconscious, Skyler had been keeping watch over their surroundings while doing what he could to help him recover. He yawned softly and pulled the hoodie he had taken from his storage ring to properly cover Charles.
"I can’t leave him alone, not when he’s unconscious. So, I wil just look for water or herbs nearby... but damn, from what I have gone through so far, my luck is terrible, and I don’t have much knowledge of herbs."
He muttered to himself as he roamed the area filled with trees. It was still quite dark. A bitter chuckle escaped him.
"Hah, what if I ended up poisoning Charles instead of healing? Still, I’m sure I won’t find anything, not even poisonous herbs."
So, one could only imagine his shock when, after only a few minutes, he saw a glowing tulip sitting on the ground before him.
"Huh???"
Skyler was more astonished than shocked because the tulip wasn’t rooted in the land. Instead, it lay detached on plain earth, as if someone had plucked it from another place and deposited it right in front of him.
"Haha..."
Taking a step back, he chuckled dryly, a sheen of sweat forming on his forehead. Good or bad, ghosts weren’t his cup of tea, and neither were ’good’ monsters who fed their prey before eating them.
The familiar gray spear appeared in his hand, a tangible reminder of his unease. He wouldn’t be surprised if his bad luck had led him to one of those creatures.
"Who’s there? Show yourself!"
There was silence for a moment before one of the nearby tree branches shook. Skyler’s eyes snapped toward the noise, and a pair of familiar red eyes greeted him. He froze.
"It’s you..."