A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 267: Chapter 267 - Coming out [1/2]

Both Erik and Elora were incredibly tired as they had already gone past their originally planned break, so they were pretty burned out. They obviously couldn't quit when they were so close to the goal.

But, their efforts payed off. And with that realization came a surge of adrenaline that temporarily wiped out any and all exhaustion.

Still holding his big grin, Erik held up his hands, a few inches apart, and palms facing each other. Power flowed through his hands, and an icy-cold orb, crackling with lightning appeared between his hands.

It was like there was a tiny thunderstorm with snow instead of rain, raging inside that orb, and Erik couldn't help but laugh. Experience more tales on m v|l e'-NovelBin.net

Not only did he now have access to a fourth tier affinity, but he had fused it himself!

Pride swelled within him as he continued to stare into the depths of the orb between his hands, reveling in the power and possibilities that came with this.

An exhausted looking Elora materialized next to him and looked at the orb as well. She a proud and loving smile on her face. "Good job, love. Now if we can get that space affinity, you're advantage will only grow."

Erik nodded happily, but than adopted a thoughtful expression. "It's just a shame that this pushes back my advancement to third-rank by a bit."

Originally, his advancement to third rank should have been through the lightning affinity, but that wasn't possible anymore. He still had his lightning affinity, but only in so much as he previously had the affinities that lightning and ice were fused from.

In fact, currently, Erik was technically a first-rank again, although his power hadn't actually been affected.

After all, his abilities remained, as did the power of his body, and the size of his aetherium storage. The only problem was that his primary affinity was now at the first-rank.

It wouldn't last long, however. It's not like his advancements in ice and lightning had gone to waste. He just needed a little time to convert those advancements into the thundersnow affinity. In at most another month he would be right back at the second-rank, and with quite some progress towards the third-rank to boot.

Although, not as much as when lightning was still his primary affinity.

However, before he worked on getting back to the second rank, he had resolved to create Eira's medium. In the end, that was still the priority, for the sake of Elora's sanity.

In response to his comment, Elora nodded casually. "Yeah, but we expected that. It doesn't actually change any of our plans. In at most ten months, you'll be able to defeat both Sigurd and Frostfang."

"I know," Erik sighed. "But it still feels bad. Although the thundersnow is worth it, obviously."

"Alright, well…" their little dome suddenly echoed with a long drawn out yawn by Elora. "I think we need some rest."

"Right," Erik chuckled, as he felt his exhaustion creeping back in now that the adrenaline was fading.

He stood up, and dispelled the sigils surrounding them with a wave of his hand.

However, he was surprised by what he saw.

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A few moments earlier, all the residents of this dimension were gathered in front of Erik's black dome and arguing with each other.

Alice, Astrid, and Emily were standing on one side, while Eira and Emma were standing on the other, trying to keep the first three from Erik's dome.

For the first two weeks, Erik had taken a break after six days of training, but now it had already been eight days since his last break

Suffice it to say: the girls were getting worried. Unfortunately, they couldn't use their connections to Erik to find out what was happening, as the black dome was blocking them out.

Emily looked furious. Her suspicious, somewhat impulsive nature and burgeoning feelings for Erik were on clear display.

Astrid was calmer, but there was clear concern and suspicion in her expression. She may not be as naturally aggressive as Emily, despite some evidence to the contrary, but she was far more inclined to taking action than waiting around. Thus, she took Emily's side in this.

Alice was clearly angry. Her expression was equal parts fearful and ferocious. Clearly, she was afraid of losing another person she had begun to care about. She did, however, somewhat stay out of this. She realized her weak power compared to Astrid and Emily. Plus, Emma was on the other side, and she didn't really want to go against her.

"H— He's fine, I promise!" Eira anxiously stammered while waving her hands around. "I— I can see inside the dome, and he's still meditating! He's probably just close to finishing!"

"And we're supposed to just believe that?!" Emily spat angrily. "What if that damn mistress of yours suddenly contacted you again, and ordered you to do something to him, huh?!"

"N— No! I… Mistress wouldn't ask that of me!" Eira desperately exclaimed. "And even if she did, that fairy is constantly monitoring the sigils in this place! Even from in there! She and Harbinger would have plenty of time to react!"

While calmer than Emily, Astrid narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Yeah? Well I can't help but notice you haven't denied you would do something to him if that Audumla ordered you to."

Eira grew more anxious by the second. Emma even noticed some sadness seeping into Eira's expression. The poor minotaur girl only wanted to get along with these people, but it seemed so hard to gain their trust.

Far harder than Eira had expected.

Meanwhile, Emma's eyes sparkled with nervous energy, but she still kept a calm smile on her face. Ever the peacemaker and beacon of bright innocence, she tried to calm everyone down a little.

"Girls, please calm down!" she soothed while raising her arms in a calming gesture. "I think Eira is speaking the truth! I get you're all worried, so am I, but I trust Master! He's probably just close to finishing!"

Alice, Emily, and even Astrid all felt uncomfortable upon hearing Emma's speech. The fact was, if Emma hadn't been on the other side of this, they would have long since ignored Eira and broken down that dome to see if Erik was alright.

Emily and Alice seemed entirely unwilling to speak up against Emma, so it was Astrid who sighed and took the lead. "Look, Emma. We all love you, and none of us doubt your loyalty to Erik, but… he is also a bit of a blind spot for you. No one is perfect, he might be in trouble right now!"

Emma's eyes took on a stubborn quality, and she opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, she felt a large hand on her shoulder, and heard an exhausted chuckle to her side. "I appreciate the worry, girls, but I'm fine."