Melina didn't know what to do. Through Sienna she had clearly seen a cragjaw drake appear. Their connection broke off soon afterwards, as the wyrm had to concentrate on protecting herself rather than maintaining their link.

"Dammit! What can I do? Should I rush to the Monster Realm?" Melina bit into her thumb and paced around her room nervously.

She was supposed to be still resting today, but how was she supposed to rest when a drake that was attacking Sienna, Alistair, and other adventurers was explicitly resistant to fire and physical attacks? Sienna's fire wouldn't do much damage, and physical weapons were completely useless.

If I somehow managed to get there, then maybe I could redirect Sienna's mana in a way that could defeat the drake. Try to burn it from the inside out, perhaps? But then I'd have to get there really quickly. If I delay too long, then Sienna will run out of mana, and then there will be nothing that I can do.

Melina looked outside and saw Knight grazing on the far side of the garden. If there was somebody who could get her there quickly and safely, then it would be him. But she couldn't take Knight without talking to Gilbert first.

I have to try. I can't just leave them on their own.

She didn't know how she could convince the old baker. It was clear that he'd reject her idea and send her back to bed. But Melina had to do something. She had to.

"What's got you in a rush all of the sudden? Shouldn't you be resting?" Gilbert asked as she ran out into the backyard.

He'd been resting on the bench in the backyard, watching the peaceful scenery.

"Sienna and the others got attacked by a cragjaw drake!"

"A cragjaw? Are you sure? Those are quite rare," Gilbert questioned, his eyebrow furrowing with worry.

"I'm certain. I saw through my connection with Sienna. Master, can I—"

"No!"

"You didn't let me finish."

"I know what you want to do—take Knight and rush into the Monster Realm after them."

"I have to help," she said desperately.

"What can you even do?" Gilbert chastised, and Melina flinched back.

"With Sienna's mana—"

"By the time you get there, how much mana do you think she'll have left? How much will she be able to provide you with? Don't be a fool, girl! You going there will only burden Sienna and the others. They'll have to protect not just themselves but also you!"

Melina looked at the ground, feeling utterly useless. "But… I can't just do nothing."

"I understand how you feel, but the best thing you can do right now is wait," Gilbert said and motioned for Melina to sit down next to him.

She let out a long sigh and sat down, grimly looking down at her hands. Small and weak—she couldn't even conjure a single spark without Sienna by her side. If only she had her magic back, something like a cragjaw drake wouldn't be an issue. Just douse it with water and electrocute it with a powerful lightning strike.

"Give them some credit, too, you know. They are not helpless children," Gilbert reprimanded.

"But it's a drake which happens to be resistant to fire and has scales so tough that weapons can't pierce it," Melina retorted.

"Is it immortal?"

"Well… no."

"Then they'll figure out a way to deal with it."

Melina felt he only said that to make her feel better. But realistically, he was right. Her rushing to the scene won't be of much help. She didn't have her own power anymore. It was all borrowed from Sienna.

I need to help those adventurers somehow. Increase their odds of winning against monsters like these. But right now, the only thing I can do is hope that they come back safe.

"Barrett!" Alistair called out to the bulky man, giving him the signal.

The whole group was engaged against the drake, working in tandem in order to tire it out and prepare the battlefield for their final attack. Their main goal was to keep the monster away from Leon.

In essence, their plan wasn't much different from the one they used against Sienna. It only proved how crucial a mage was in fighting against highly specialized and powerful monsters. But they didn't have a powerful mage, just a self-taught newbie without a System.

"Yes, Captain," Barrett responded and, together with three other adventurers, began to do their best to harass the drake. They shot arrows, beat their shields, threw rocks—anything to attract the large behemoth.

This strategy wouldn't have worked against an intelligent monster, but as it turned out, this particular type of drake wasn't too bright. It chased after whoever made the most noise at the time.

The drake ran towards Barrett's group, snarling and growling, throwing rocks in the air left and right. Everyone did their best to avoid the hits. There were some close calls, but thanks to the elves' agility and fast reflexes, they had managed to avoid any casualties.

"Elowen!" Alistair directed, seeing how the drake was getting too close to Barrett. The silver elf instantly jumped into action, getting straight into the path of the drake and brandishing his sword with a strong flourish. A strong gust of wind came from it, instantly catching the monster's attention.

It changed its trajectory and gave chase after Elowen. The elf was by far their strongest player as he could distract the monster on his own for a moment and actually inflict some damage. He had been concentrating his wind-based attacks on the spot between the drake's belly and front paw, where the scales weren't as tough.

The damage was noticeable as it was becoming more irritable each time Elowen hit that particular spot. But with each hit, it also became increasingly more difficult to get the drake away from him. Currently, only Sienna was able to do that.

But each second of distraction was precious. Alistair watched with bated breath how the mage was working tirelessly the whole time. Remi stood by his side, providing protection and giving him a mana potion whenever he was running out. He had already chugged five potions, meticulously redirecting the water from the streams to a particular spot, creating a miniature lake of sorts.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Another potion!" Leon demanded, gasping and wheezing for breath.

"It's enough, you'll get mana poisoning!" Remi objected.

"I can handle one more."

The mage chugged down another bottle and redirected another stream into the lake. Blood dripped from his nose.

He's at his limit. We cannot put this off any longer.

"Elowen, it's time!" Alistair yelled.

Elowen gave him an acknowledging nod, and the adventurers who were scattered around in small groups converged together.

"Lure it to the water," Alistair commanded. Everyone began making a horrible racket to attract the drake. It chased after Sienna, throwing rocks, ignoring them. But the wyrm was much smarter—it leapt towards Alistair, running together with him towards the impromptu lake.

"We got only one chance," he said to the wyrm, running alongside her.

She responded with a loud roar and spat a fireball in the drake's direction. It hit straight in the face and raged, chasing after them. In its rampage, it ran straight into the water. Of course, for such a large creature, it looked no more than a puddle. It merely wet its feet.

"I've got it!" Elowen yelled and took a deep breath. He stood still for a few seconds as the monster ran straight at him. But the energy was noticeably gathering around his blade, as if the wind was being suppressed within it. He released the energy with a large circular motion, creating a small hurricane that ran straight at the monster.

It didn't harm the drake, merely forced it to stop. However, it did something far more important. With its power, all the water by the drake's feet was picked up and thrown up into the air, dousing the monster and everyone nearby in water.

"Everyone, get to the high ground!" Alistair bellowed and activated <Stormbringer's Legacy>.

His body crackled with electricity, and he used <Lightning Dash> to close the distance between himself and the drake. Between his zips, he saw how Sienna gathered anyone who had fallen behind, grabbing them by their scruff and throwing them up on the safe high ground.

Good, I don't need to hold back.

Strengthened by his bloodline skill, the lightning bursts from the dashes already damaged the drake, making it roar in pain. But it couldn't hope to deflect the attacks from his speedy dashes. Soon, Alistair stood by its side and hit his shield with his sword, sending a powerful wave of electric energy.

The drake convulsed for a moment as paralysis hit it. Even a monster this large couldn't resist the effect when covered in water.

"Take this!" Alistair yelled and struck the spot on the drake's side with <Lightning Strike>. One hit, two, three, he just kept hitting the same spot.

The drake roared and lifted its massive front leg, preparing to crush Alistair. But Elowen had been waiting for this moment and struck the wyrm on the other side with powerful wind slices. The monster growled helplessly, paralyzed.

To add insult to injury, Sienna, having moved everyone safely out of the way, attacked with a powerful blue flame, concentrating all of her power into a singular attack. It hit the drake in its face, and the water began to evaporate. The hot steam turned out to be a very effective attack as the scales on its head began to peel off.

The three of them continued attacking the drake from all sides. At one point, it tried to turn and run, but the injuries had proved too much. It fell into the muddy ground beneath where Alistair delivered the final blow—a supercharged lightning strike stabbed deep into its side.

The drake let out a final roar and went still.

[You've assisted in defeating <Cragjaw Drake – Level 42>. You've gained + 682 exp.]

Alistair stared in disbelief at the notification and muttered. "W-We did it…"

His eyes met with Elowen, who looked just as stupefied by the result.

"WE DID IT!" Barrett bellowed, and everyone cheered.

Alistair barely managed to keep standing, his legs feeling like jelly as adrenaline slowly settled down. But then his eyes fell onto Leon, and his blood ran cold.

Melina rustled through the garden, angrily pulling out every weed that happened to be in her path. She had wanted to continue digging Sienna's enclosure, but Gilbert wouldn't allow her to do anything strenuous, so she had no choice but to content herself with weed pulling.

Every second seemed like an eternity as she checked the end of the street, hoping to see the familiar silhouette of Alistair or Sienna approaching. But hours passed, and there was nothing. Her heart beat like crazy. She never knew that waiting for something could be so agonizing.

[Congratulations! Your familiar <Sienna> has reached Level 49.]

The moment she saw the notification, her legs gave out and she fell to the ground.

"Melina, are you alright?!" Gilbert, seeing her fall, hurried up to her as quickly as his old limbs allowed him.

"Yes… Yes… I'm fine. They defeated the drake," Melina said, and laughed in relief. "They are fine. They are fine."

Gilbert nodded and helped her get up. Her sense of relief was short-lived. She knew that Sienna was fine, but what about the others? Were Alistair and Elowen fine? What about Barrett, Remi, and Leon? Even if the drake got defeated, there still could have been casualties.

"Master, could we perhaps go to the Guild?" She asked.

"Don't you think it'll be suspicious that you know the situation?" Gilbert questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"The Guildmaster knows you're a System user, right?"

"Little Arianne? Of course," he confirmed.

"Then I'm sure she has already figured out that I'm not exactly normal either. I believe I can trust her with this information," Melina said with a determined nod.

"I'm glad to see you're not so paranoid about it anymore. Let's go then. I'll prepare the cart," Gilbert said, and let out a whistle. Knight perked up instantly, running up to the old baker. "We'll visit the Guild, old friend."

The nightmare let out an approving neigh—it looked like he was eager for exercise. Before long, Gilbert and Melina were in a cart on the way to the Guild.

When they reached the building, the guards welcomed both of them inside like guests of honor, leading them to the Guildmaster's office. The woman was busying herself with some paperwork, but didn't seem to mind their intrusion.

"Master Gilbert, Melina, how can I help you? Is this about the waffle contract?" She peered a bit nervously at Gilbert. Melina had never seen the woman look so… submissive.

"No, the contract is fine. We are here on the matter of the expedition currently in the Monster Realm."

"What about them? I promise you'll get the dibs on any cooking ingredients they find."

"It's not that…" Melina began, then looked at Gilbert. The old man nodded at her, encouraging her to continue.

She took a deep breath and then explained everything she saw that day. How she had established her connection to Sienna and saw that the group had encountered a cragjaw drake. How the connection had broken, but after a while, she received a notification that confirmed that the drake had been defeated.

But she also shared her worries about the group's well-being. How likely many were injured, or perhaps even worse.

"Not going to lie, I already figured out you were a System user. It was the only reason I could think of why he'd accept you as an apprentice so quickly while rejecting everybody else," Arianne said. Melina wasn't even surprised. These days, her secret didn't feel so secret anymore.

"But the situation in the Monster Realm is concerning. I'm going to send a party of free adventurers to wait by the passageway and provide help if needed," Arianne said, but then a large grin spread on her face. "And if everyone is fine, then we'll be taking that cragjaw down into parts and selling it!"

Oh, yeah, the monster parts from the drake could bring a fortune into Sunglow. I really hope that everyone is alright. I wouldn't want anyone to have died for it.

After their talk, the Guildmaster, as promised, organized a party and sent them to the passageway while leading the charge herself. Melina watched her leave, wishing she could go along too, but Gilbert held her back.

"Let's head home, alright? We did everything that we could."

"I…I wish to wait. I won't go anywhere, I'll stay in the Guild," she said.

Gilbert gave her an appraising look. Seeing that she was sincere, he nodded and headed home. It was a bit odd, sitting in the Guild watching adventurers rush out and about while she just sat there. The inactivity was killing her, but occasionally a free adventurer or two would stop by to chat with her. Mostly about the pastries she was selling. It helped her endure the wait a little.

About an hour later, the doors of the Guild were shot open, Alistair and Elowen rushing ahead and holding the large double doors open. Sienna was sitting on Alistair's shoulder, and the moment she saw Melina, the wyrm skittered over to her.

"You're alright!" Melina cheered, picking up the little wyrm. But then her eyes widened in horror as Barrett and a few other men carried Leon inside. His limbs were turning black, and a dark aura was swirling around him.

"Call Heilia at once!" The Guildmaster yelled from behind. But Melina knew that the elf couldn't help—Leon's mana had become corrupted.

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