Chapter 262: Her Source of Purpose Again
[Vanessa’s POV]
Vanessa rushed through the rain, her boots splashing across the soaked ground as she followed the direction Ruvian had given her.
The closer she got, the quieter everything became, only the sound of the rain could be heard.
Then she finally arrived at where Calyra and Rosalin were supposed to be.
Her pace slowed on its own. Her eyes widened, while her lips fell open as the scene before her finally came into view.
’What the hell happened here?’
The marshland was almost impossible to recognize anymore.
Shallow streams had been split apart by long scars carved through the earth, while muddy ground had been overturned into deep trenches that stretched across the land.
Small flames still burned across patches of soaked grass, refusing to die despite the rain. Hundreds of broken ice spears littered the marshland, some shattered, others still embedded in the ground.
Taking in the devastation around her, Vanessa struggled to imagine how fiercely the two of them had fought.
’Are they trying to kill each other? What kind of monstrous fight did they have? Unbelievable...’
After walking a little farther, Vanessa finally found them.
Rosalin remained unconscious on the muddy ground. Her sword and Calyra’s staff rested beside her, while a translucent [Magic Barrier] sheltered the two of them from the rain.
Kneeling beside Rosalin, Calyra held both hands above her wounds as soft blue light flowed into Rosalin’s body.
A healing spell...
Vanessa sighed and walked over, her boots sinking into the mud; the soft splashes drew Calyra’s attention.
She stopped casting, then turned toward the approaching footsteps.
"Ah, Vanessa."
Vanessa slowed to a stop a few steps away.
The moment she saw Calyra’s face clearly, the color slowly drained from her own. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth before she could stop herself.
"Calyra..."
Hearing the strange tone in her voice, Calyra tilted her head.
"Hmm? What is it?"
Vanessa hesitated for a second before slowly raising a finger.
Without saying a word, she pointed toward her own cheek, her eyes never leaving the long scar stretching beneath Calyra’s left eye.
Calyra looked at her curiously before reaching up to touch the scar beneath her eye.
"Ah, this... it’s fine. I’ll heal it later."
Vanessa glanced between the scar and Calyra.
"Later?"
"Yeah," Calyra replied softly, her fingers slowly dropping away, "I’d like... to leave it as it is for a while."
Vanessa opened her mouth, yet ended up swallowing the words she wanted to say.
Unable to find the right words, her gaze shifted toward Rosalin, still lying peacefully beneath the barrier.
"You don’t have to worry. Rosalin isn’t eliminated, her bracelet never activated, and she’s... in stable condition. She simply wore herself out." Calyra reassured her.
Vanessa kept her eyes on Rosalin for a few seconds, then nodded.
Then Calyra looked up at her. "Anyway... may I ask how things are going over there?"
Vanessa avoided Calyra’s eyes.
"About that... we were fighting, and my squad seemed to be doing alright, so I slipped away. I only came because Ruvian told me to."
"I see."
Calyra lowered her gaze to Rosalin.
"Well then... take Rosalin with you."
Vanessa blinked.
"What about you?"
"I’ll stay here," Calyra answered softly. "I have a way to contact one of my squad members, so they should stop fighting and come here soon."
"Alright, if that’s the case, then I’ll get going."
Vanessa raised one hand.
Without a single touch, Rosalin slowly floated upward beneath the pull of [Telekinesis], then settled onto Vanessa’s back.
Calyra’s brows lifted.
"[Telekinesis]. What a surprise. I didn’t know you could use that."
Vanessa smiled awkwardly.
"Yeah, but don’t tell anyone, okay? I’d rather keep it a secret."
She adjusted Rosalin on her back before taking her first step.
"...Ugh, why are you so heavy?" Vanessa puffed out her cheeks. "You don’t even look that fat — no wait, is it because you’re so tall, but still... where are you hiding all this weight?"
Calyra watched quietly. Then her brows slowly drew together. "...If you can use [Telekinesis], why don’t you simply use it to lessen her weight as well?"
Vanessa laughed.
"I wish I could," she admitted, "but I’m not at the stage where I can cast another spell alongside [Telekinesis] yet. If I try, the spell will just fall apart."
"Ah, I see..."
Calyra lowered her eyes for a short while, then she lifted one hand, a pale blue magic light softly bloomed beneath her palm. Moments later, another translucent [Magic Barrier] formed around Vanessa and Rosalin, shielding them from the falling rain.
The rain immediately bounced harmlessly off its surface.
"There," Calyra said. "You won’t have to worry about getting wet now, I’ve already attuned the barrier to protect the two of you for several more minutes. That should be enough to reach your teammates."
Vanessa blinked surprisingly.
Her eyes darted between the barrier above her and Calyra before an awkward smile spread across her face.
"R-right... Thank you, Calyra."
She shifted Rosalin a little higher before casting [Telekinesis] around her. Rosalin suddenly felt much lighter. Then, Vanessa smiled before giving a small wave.
"See you again, and goodluck!"
With that, Vanessa slowly disappeared into the curtain of rain, while the translucent barrier followed quietly above the two of them.
*****
[Calyra’s POV]
Once Vanessa was out of sight, Calyra turned around, and her eyes slowly lifted toward the dim, rainy clouded sky.
Her expression slowly grew serious.
’Hmm.. was it just my imagination?’
During her fight with Rosalin, she had actually been tense the entire time because something was disrupting her sense of danger — an insidious disturbance. At first, she had thought it was coming from Rosalin.
But she had been wrong.
That overwhelmingly powerful presence...
It had come from the sky.
But now, after their fight had ended, that presence was no longer there.
’Maybe I was only imagining it.’
She tiredly sighed.
Then, the thought soon drifted away. Her eyes eventually settled on her own hand. She slowly opened her fingers before closing them again.
After everything that had happened today, she found herself unable to understand what she was feeling. She had come here fully prepared to bury the dreams she and Rosalin once shared.
She believed she had already accepted that choice.
Yet after speaking with Rosalin, after hearing every desperate word she refused to give up on, the emptiness inside her had slowly begun to soften.
She then suddenly recalled the conversation she had with Ruvian.
—"To be honest, this is not for the Vazrun Island Test. The reason why I want you to engage in a fight with Rosalin is for the sake of both of you, which is beyond just that."
"For the sake of both of you, huh?"
Calyra softly repeated those words to herself.
It was then that Calyra finally understood why Ruvian had wanted the two of them to clash.
The answer was surprisingly simple.
Just as she had become the reason behind Rosalin’s resolve, Rosalin had quietly become hers as well.
Was that his true intention all this time?
But whatever it was...
Calyra couldn’t help but to admit it, that deep within her heart, however faint that feeling was, she found herself wishing to find...
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[Chapter 262: Her Source of Purpose Again]