Suddenly, the feeling of Magic was in every cell of my body—pulsing, flowing, rising up with fierce joy.
It was enlivening and shocking at once, as if it had always been there and I'd just never noticed.
My vision blurred then sharpened unnaturally, colors intensifying.
Lines, like thin beams of light, crisscrossed from the Knot, stretching through the air, alive and thudding like veins. Fire, Air, Earth, Water, Metal, Wood, and… variations of them, combinations of them, some I couldn't even name.
I swallowed.
Two-element Knots were already considered difficult. This was—
My eyes remained glued to the beams of light.
The way they extended from the core Magic of the Knot reminded me of threads, but they looked more like the VR beams I'd seen in VR games at the Elemental Cafes, as if someone had overlaid a neon-lit interface all over this place, booting it to life.
It made the castle look like it belonged in a video game.
The itch had settled slightly, my whole body now tingling with power I didn't know how to use.
My vision locked onto a Thread glowing a bluish white and my body shuddered with a burst of Magic.
As if answering my attention, a new notification blinked into view.
[System Notification: Elemental Thread detected! Flag for prioritization?]
I hesitated. Prioritise?
"Either stop sightseeing or hide somewhere. I can't focus on keeping you alive as well!" Llewellyn growled, rushing in front of me so that the incoming storm of Ice crashed over his shield instead of skewering me.
The itch spiked hard for a second as I stared, startled.
I gritted my teeth and mentally confirmed the prompt.
[Thread flagged: Ice]
The reaction was immediate.
The Thread shivered violently then opened up with a deafening roar. Creatures of ice and frost erupted from the fracture, their shrieks loud enough to rattle my teeth.
Llewellyn pivoted, eyes narrowing.
For a moment, surprise crossed his face. Then, battle instinct took over and he lunged into the fight, sword blazing with Fire.
I staggered back, adrenaline kicking in.
I did that, it seemed.
But why did flagging the Thread summon more monsters?!
The System answered before I could formulate the question.
[Flagging an Elemental Thread triggers protective responses.]
Wait… So not only was I not helping, I was actively making this worse?!
[All threats must be neutralised before the Thread can be severed. Each severed Thread weakens the Knot.]
Or maybe it was helping after all.
My body overflowed with Magic.
Llewellyn's sword blazed, carving through the creatures, which hissed and melted under his attacks.
As I watched him move across the distorted grounds, rushing through several Threads as if they weren't there, it hit me.
He couldn't see the Threads.
He could perceive what Elemental Attack was going to come up and from where with a precision bordering on impossible. But he could not see the Threads.
However, he had seen the one I flagged once I flagged it.
I didn't understand.
Why didn't the System just give him the skill? Why didn't it flag the Threads for Llewellyn directly?
Anyway, if flagging Threads both made them visible for him and turned raw Elemental powers into actual monsters to fight, that was useful. I could work with this.
As I was distracted, an Ice creature broke off from the group and sprang toward me.
Fuck.
[System Notification: "Elemental Mastery" can be used!]
I acted instinctively.
Water formed around my hands. It surged toward the monster and hit it square in the face.
…
...It was, without question, the worst possible move I could have made.
The Water froze on contact with the creature, as the added ice clung to it, making it bulkier. The creature let out an unnatural shriek and rushed at me with renewed speed.
Shit!
Maybe this was why Llewellyn was always annoyed at people who thought Elemental VR games counted as training. You'd think I'd at least developed the instinct not to fight Ice with Water.
Well, even if I had, I only seemed to be able to summon Water—what was I supposed to do?!
I dropped the Water immediately and lunged for a piece of rebar poking out from the rubble.
The creature swiped at me, missing by inches as I swung the metal with everything I had.
The rebar connected with a crack, shards of ice spraying everywhere—but the creature barely flinched.
Fuck.
I ducked as its claws swiped at me. The thing shrieked but didn't stop.
Panicking, I swung again, harder this time, aiming for the cracks spreading through its form.
Still nothing. I was sweating now.
The fifth hit finally shattered it into pieces, leaving me panting on the ground.
Llewellyn's voice cut through the fight.
"If you're done playing around, make yourself useful!"
Still panting, my gaze shifted to another Thread, a dark green one, thrumming with Wood Magic.
[Flag for prioritization?]
I hesitated. Llewellyn was still dealing with the Ice creatures. Could he handle more?
Well, he wanted me to make myself useful.
I flagged the Wood Thread.
Monsters emerged again.
Llewellyn cursed under his breath—just audible—but didn't falter, moving to intercept, his sword drawing perfect arcs of Fire.
The System pinged again.
[Ensure continuous prioritization. Select the right Threads to weaken the Knot until severance is possible.]
I scrambled up. More Threads. Right. Focus.
Soon, a rhythm formed between us. Flag, fight, sever. Flag, fight, sever.
Under the moonlight, Llewellyn's movements were fluid, adapting to whatever came up without missing a beat. Watching him was like watching a force of nature.
Honestly, the difference in our skill level was embarrassing. I could only keep dodging attacks, bruising myself on gravel and ripping my jeans.
At least, opening the Ice Thread had taken care of the shards of ice swirling through the air, which had made my teeth chatter less. However, now the air was scorching with Llewellyn's Fire.
Heat prickled at my skin as I watched. The itch hummed in my chest, raw and alive.
Llewellyn's Elemental Mastery was incredible. It was difficult not to be mesmerized, even in the madness of the Distorted Realm.
Suddenly, some of the Wood monsters took notice of me and rushed in my direction.
Fuck!
I rolled to avoid a strike, barely keeping my balance as I hit the ground hard.
Damn it. Water wouldn't do much against Wood, and I had nothing else to fight them with.
I dodged another attack. It was difficult not to get distracted by the overflow of Magic in my body.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, something glittered.
I glanced at Llewellyn, but his focus was fully on the fight—cutting through the monsters and severing the Threads. Whatever it was, he hadn't noticed.
The glint came from one of the wrecked flower beds—something metallic only visible in the light of Llewellyn's Fire.
It was close enough that I could reach it.
…Before I could change my mind, I dove toward it, barely avoiding an attack.
My fingers closed around cold metal.