Free Web NovelChapter 11: My Mana Crystals Are Gone!
"Regardless of the means, right?"
Silas watched the distant young Enhancers battle another wave of Stone Frogs.
Four days had passed since the incident involving Lyra. Since then, he had kept his distance from the team, sleeping and living apart from everyone. He took part in no battles, gained no new cores, and received nothing but hostile stares now and then.
He made no effort to hide how little he cared about their attitude. While they exhausted themselves fighting monsters and protecting the rune site, he ate, rested, and trained in peace.
This was his little revenge against what they did to him. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
As the monster attacks grew more frequent, both sides silently agreed to ignore one another. No one came asking for his help. If anyone still sought his company, it was Darius, who visited whenever he could and kept him informed about everything happening within the team.
Through Darius, Silas learned how thoroughly Brant had attached himself to Vaelous. The hunter never missed an opportunity to speak ill of him, constantly feeding the resentment lingering within the group. At the same time, he never stopped singing Vaelous praises.
Out of gratitude for Darius’s loyalty, Silas repeatedly warned him about the man’s poisonous intentions, though he doubted his friend fully understood the danger.
Darius had just returned to help the others fight the Stone Frogs. More than once, he had offered to share some of his cores, but Silas always refused.
Darius was worried about his friend, worried he might end up ranking last in the test. Yet Silas viewed the situation differently. Something told him that, by the end of the test, many of these hopeful youngsters would never reach the academy at all. And whatever they left behind would eventually become his.
If the C-grade Enhancer had been truthful about one thing, he promised to lead every battle after driving Silas away. He fought on the front lines without holding back his lightning. Without his intervention, the team might have already suffered casualties or failed to kill monsters fast enough.
When the seventh wave of the day finally ended, Silas rose and headed toward the southeastern edge of the area. During the past days, aside from occasionally teasing his former teammates with his relaxed attitude, he had devoted nearly all his time to mastering his Raven ability.
At first, using the ability with his daggers had been half successful. Silas had the impression that using small weapons like daggers would help. But reality proved otherwise.
During the first two days alone, he lost two daggers after failing to recall them from beneath the ground. But repeated practice gradually sharpened his control. What had begun as a struggle to manipulate a single dagger had evolved into the ability to send two simultaneously and retrieve them without issue.
’I still need more practice.’
As he walked toward his usual training spot, his hand unconsciously brushed against one of his daggers.
’Only two days remain.’
’I need to be ready.’
The approaching deadline had sharpened his focus with each passing day. The pressure that weighed on everyone else felt strangely invigorating to him. To the others, the end of the test represented the reward for their efforts. To Silas, it marked the moment when Vaelous’s mask would finally crack.
Hours passed as he lost himself in training. Night eventually descended, and with it came the first wave of Fiery Hounds. Under Vaelous’s leadership, the five youngsters battled for nearly half an hour before bringing down the last monster.
"It’s taking far more effort to handle each wave now than it did at the beginning," Cassian said as he landed on the ground, breathing heavily. His summoned creature had been killed moments earlier.
"The test is designed that way," Vaelous replied calmly, showing no sign of fatigue. "Its difficulty increases alongside your growth. And don’t belittle your team’s losses. The exam was created for a team of seven, after all."
Darius caught the subtle jab and inwardly sighed. Over the past few days, he had tried repeatedly to repair the fractured relationship between Silas and the others. And yet, every attempt had failed.
If anything, his efforts had only earned him suspicion. Many now viewed him as an accomplice to a traitor and treated him coldly. Still, he never stopped trying.
"That damn Lisan Al-Gaia," Brant spat. "He’s out there sleeping and living peacefully while we’re risking our lives protecting this place."
"You’re saying that after being the one who kicked him out?" Darius snapped, and no one responded.
"He’s a liability," Selene said coldly. The grudge she held over Lyra’s incident remained as strong as ever. "We’re struggling because of him."
Darius looked at her but remained silent. He had heard the same accusations too many times already. No matter what he said, no one would listen.
"Look," Leon suddenly said. "His evening stroll is over. He finally decided to come back and sleep."
The group followed Leon’s gaze as a lone figure approached from the darkness. It was Silas. He had finished training and was returning to his isolated camp.
"My Mana Crystals are gone!"
Brant’s sudden shout shattered the calm, distracting everyone from Silas as they turned towards him. He stood beside his backpack, but the expression on his face carried no trace of panic. Instead, his eyes gleamed with something far uglier.
"He must have stolen them."
Without giving anyone time to react, Brant pointed directly at Silas and began marching toward him. Without anyone fully grasping the full situation, they followed.
Seeing the entire team approaching, Silas immediately sensed trouble. Slowly rising to his feet, he rested both hands near the daggers hanging from his belt.
"You thief!" Brant shouted the moment they arrived. "Hand over the Mana Crystals you stole."
"Who? Me?"
Silas glanced around theatrically, as though searching for the real culprit.
"Who else?" Brant barked. "You stole them from my backpack. You must’ve taken them while we were asleep."
Brant’s sharp words didn’t garner any support from others except Selene. Leon and Cassian exchanged silent glances with each other, feeling their doubt and scepticism towards such a wild accusation.
As for Darius, he rolled his eyes, feeling like Brant had just gone too far this time. As for Silas, he laughed at the truly ridiculous accusation.
"Have you lost your mind?" he calmly asked. "Or did one of those monsters hit you too hard?"
He stepped forward, and almost everyone instinctively retreated. Only Darius moved to stand beside him. Only Vaelous remained where he was, amusingly watching where this would end.
"Come on," Darius said. "This is absurd. Silas hasn’t come anywhere near us for days, and you know it."
"That’s quite a weird situation," Cassian added, "we never spotted him coming near us even for a single time."
"Are you sure you didn’t put the crystals somewhere else?" Leon gave Brant a weird look. Even if Silas was framed as the bad guy responsible for Lyra’s death, it didn’t mean he would be the reason behind anything bad that happened to the team.
Brant hesitated for a moment before greed strengthened his resolve. Even if others expressed their doubts, he was still adamant about getting what he came here for.
"Who knows what a Lisan Al-Gaia is capable of? All I know is that my Mana Crystals disappeared."
"You consumed them," Silas replied with a snort. "And now you’ve set your sights on mine."
Being exposed didn’t bother Brant in the slightest. Instead, he crossed his arms defiantly.
"So what if I did? You’re sitting here doing nothing while we fight. Your Mana Crystals are just collecting dust in your backpack. They’d be far more useful in our hands."
An eerie silence followed. No matter how they tried to justify it, everyone understood what was happening. Silas wasn’t a thief; Brant was.
"Get lost."
Silas took another step forward. And Brant immediately took one back.
"You throw me out," Silas said coldly, "and now you come demanding my belongings? Are you courting death?"
"This doesn’t feel right," Cassian turned to Brant, "we can’t do something this low. Let’s just go back and forget about him."
"Why?" Selene spat, "Brant is right. He is sitting here, doing nothing, while we are fighting monsters all the time."
"I’m with Cassian," Leon sighed, "let’s just drop it. If he did something wrong, then he already got his punishment. There is no need for doing this."
And Darius simply nodded, showing his silent approval of what the other two said in Silas’ favour. As for Silas, he was surprised. For the first time in days, someone other than Darius had spoken in his defence without being asked. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"I’ll give him some of mine."
The unexpected voice belonged to Vaelous. The silent observer finally stepped forward and produced five Mana Crystals, handing them to Brant.
"At least these will be used by someone contributing to the team," he said, moving his eyes among Cassian and Leon. "Someone willing to risk his life for others instead of hoarding resources for himself."
Silas knew Vaelous only did that so he could extricate Brant from the tough spot he placed himself in. Even if Silas was framed for Lyra’s death, others didn’t share the same blind hatred or greed towards him.
Soon, the group dispersed. Only Darius lingered behind, offering a few words of support before another wave of Fiery Hounds forced him back into battle.
Silas watched him leave. Then he turned toward the darkness and began walking back to where he had just come from.
"I can’t lower my guard anymore," he muttered. "I can’t afford to waste another moment."
His gaze drifted toward the distant battlefield.
"I’ll make sure everything is ready by tomorrow."
