"Congrats on the breakthrough," Tugnier said, flashing that same cocky grin of his.

The guy was literally leaking blood like a broken faucet and still found the energy to act smug.

I swear, if confidence was a stat, he'd have it maxed out.

Merin swayed on her feet, her breathing shallow. Her eyes looked glassy, unfocused, she didn't have much time left.

That Aethercore might've boosted her power for a bit, but now it was eating her alive from the inside.

"Umm… Rune…" Quinn spoke up, her voice gentle yet uneasy. "Advance potion…"

Her tone trailed off at the end. I could tell she was worried sick about Tugnier, but also not sure if I had what I promised to bring.

I mean, fair point, we'd been through a literal warzone, and she wasn't wrong to doubt. If I didn't have one, she'd have to rush in and patch up her husband before he bled himself into a puddle.

I sighed, rubbing my temple. "Of course," I said. "At least someone had to stick to the plan."

I turned my head and shot a glare at Tugnier.

He immediately looked away, like a kid caught stealing cookies.

"Pfft," Lydia chuckled beside me, the corner of her mouth twitching up.

I walked up to him, the advance potion gleaming in my hand, the liquid swirling inside like molten gold.

Tugnier extended his hand with that same lazy grin, expecting me to hand it over.

I walked right past him.

Didn't even look at him.

He blinked once… then twice. The grin stayed on his face, though it tilted slightly like he already knew what was up.

Everyone else just looked confused, their heads snapping between the two of us like they were watching a weird play.

Then I stopped and held out my hand.

"Here you go," I said.

And before me, standing just a few steps away, was the real Tugnier.

The same wide grin, the same blood loss, but this one was actually Tugnier.

I know that sounded weird.. but bear with me.

The illusion behind me flickered once and vanished into thin air.

"How did you know that was my illusion?" he asked, grabbing the potion and downing it in one go. "Even that half-dead girl over there couldn't tell."

I smirked. "Simple. Aura pattern. There's no way a master aura user would have such an erratic signature as that illusion you just made."

He blinked, realizing what I caught.

Mirage, one of the nastier tricks from space attribute users.

It doesn't hide you like Lydia's Phantom Cloak does... but it lies to the brain. Makes it think what it's seeing is real, even if the actual you is standing right next to it.

It's clever because once your brain accepts the illusion, it won't even try to look for the real one.

But the trick has one fatal flaw, if someone sees through it, it collapses like wet paper.

"There's no way you actually remember aura patterns of people," Tugnier said, looking both shocked and oddly proud at the same time.

Why is he proud of what I did.

I rolled my eyes. "If you can't even remember basic stuff like aura patterns, my friend, I've got bad news for you."

He raised an eyebrow.

"You'll never reach sovereign level, forget emperor-level aura control."

I sighed dramatically, giving him a look somewhere between disappointment and mock pity.

Tugnier's grin twitched wider as if he couldn't decide whether to punch me or pat me on the back.

Meanwhile, Quinn just exhaled in relief, Lydia stifled another laugh, and Merin... well, Merin was barely standing, her blood dripping onto the cracked battlefield.

Tugnier wiped the last drops of the advance potion from his mouth with the back of his hand, the glow of recovery already faintly visible under his skin.

Then he cracked his neck once, twice, and grinned like a madman.

"I'll go for round two," he said, stepping forward.

Before he could take another step, thick spirals of wood shot up from the ground, Quinn's doing, wrapping around his legs like living vines.

"No!" she shouted, her voice sharper than usual. "We're all here now. Don't act recklessly!"

Tugnier turned his head toward her, his tone half-pleading, half-defiant.

"Come on! You guys can't handle her!" He pointed toward Merin, who was barely standing at this point, her body trembling under its own weight.

But none of us spoke. Because deep down, we all knew he wasn't entirely wrong.

Merin might look like she could topple over any second, but that didn't change the fact she was a Master-tier warrior, and we weren't.

Exhausted or not, crossing that tier gap meant instant death for anyone who wasn't careful. Her daggers alone were faster than most of us could blink.

"But still!" Quinn's voice cracked this time, angry, scared, and desperate all at once.

Tugnier's aura flickered, his frustration spilling out like a storm. "Your wood won't stop me, Quinn! If we don't kill her today, she'll come back for us!"

His aura flared violently, blue sparks bursting from under his skin, and with a loud crack, the wooden binds shattered, scattering into splinters that vanished in the valley breeze.

Quinn's eyes went moist, trembling between rage and helplessness. She couldn't stop him now. None of us could, not without turning this mess into a bigger one.

I let out a long sigh.

"Look, dude," I said, rubbing the back of my head, "either you stay put or Quinn's not giving you food from tomorrow."

Everyone blinked.

There was this... collective pause, like the whole battlefield stopped to question whether I'd just had a mental breakdown mid-fight.

"Huh?" Tugnier muttered, confused.

Lydia gave me a side-eye like really? and even Quinn looked torn between laughter and tears. Sera rubbed her head, sighing.

Yeah… the joke didn't land.

I scratched the back of my head again. "Okay, tough crowd," I mumbled.

But my eyes didn't leave Merin. She was smiling, that same smug, infuriating smile, because she knew exactly how powerless we felt.

None of us could approach her safely. None of us except Tugnier.

"Besides," I said, my voice dropping a note lower. "This battle's already over."

Tugnier's grin faltered. "What do you mean?"

I didn't answer right away. Instead, I closed my eyes for a second and drew in a slow breath. Then I let it out, along with a faint crimson glow that began crawling over my skin like living fire.

Crimson aura.

It started small, a faint shimmer at first, but then it expanded, rippling outwards like a wave of heat.

"You already congratulated me on my breakthrough," I said, glancing at him with a smirk. "So you should know what I meant."

Then I turned toward Merin.

The moment our eyes met, the ground trembled.

DOOOM!

Her knees buckled.

"Ughhhkk…" she groaned, biting down on her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. Her teeth clenched as she tried to stay upright.

"Won't you kneel for me, Merin?" I said, the grin spreading across my face. "You've had your fun."

It wasn't just arrogance. It was aura pressure.

From the intermediate tier onward, aura wasn't just a weapon, it was weight. You could bend the air around you, crush the ground, and make even strong opponents stumble if you knew how to focus it.

Lydia couldn't do it. She hadn't been in intermediate tier for long to have such mastery.

But Quinn could do it, but hers was always too broad, too unfocused, more like a storm than a blade.

She used it mostly to control the orcs when they got too rowdy, to keep them back in order, like she did during the ritual after they announced the cap at position fourty.

But her pressure spread over a wide area, making it weaker overall.

Mine didn't have that problem.

I could focus it, narrow it to a particular spot or person.

Merin's black aura flared in response, crackling out of her body like fire trying to fight back against wind.

Under normal conditions, a Master-tier wouldn't even feel my pressure. She'd laugh it off.

But Merin wasn't normal right now.

She was on her last leg, half her aura spent keeping her body from collapsing. That made my focused pressure feel heavier, sharp enough to drive her to the ground.

Her teeth ground together. "You… godforsaken beings could never make me bow," she spat, venom dripping from her voice.

Her black aura pulsed harder, brighter, as if it was trying to burn my pressure away. "I will neve—"

Thud.

She didn't get to finish.

Sera appeared behind her, and with a swift, clueless swing, drove the hilt of her sword straight into Merin's stomach.

Thud.

Merin dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.

Sera blinked, holding the sword awkwardly. "Umm… I didn't know what the hold-up was," she said with the most innocent smile imaginable.

We all just… stared at her.

Even the wind went silent for a moment.

Right... she couldn't see aura..

Finally, Lydia broke it. "So… it's over?" she asked, disbelief still heavy in her tone.

I exhaled, feeling the tension finally slip from my shoulders. "Yeah," I said quietly. "It's over."

Then I turned to Quinn. "Can you carry her with your spiral veins? It's still not safe to get too close, she's probably drenched in toxins."

Quinn nodded, though she still looked dazed. Her wooden tendrils stretched out and gently lifted the unconscious Merin off the ground.

Behind me, Tugnier was snoring, suspended in the air, still held up by Quinn's vines.

Quinn frowned, worried. "He's unconscious… will he be alright?"

I smiled. "That's actually a good sign. Means the potion's working. Advance potions come with sedative effects"

Technically true. Mostly.

I might've, uh… added a few sleeping tablets to the mix. Cost me five points each, and I dumped in twenty.

Can't have Tugnier charging in again like a headless rhino. But judging by the way his wounds were closing up and the color returning to his skin, the potion was doing its job.

He'd be back to his usual annoying self in a couple of days.

For now, I just looked up at Quinn lifting Merin high, displaying her defeated form to the whole battlefield.

The valley fell quiet.

The battle was done.

I looked at Merin and let a slow smile stretch across my face. "I have a feast to enjoy," I muttered.

Ding!

Quest Complete.

Rewards secured: +383 Stat Points and 1x Advanced AP Card.

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