15: Mysterious Encounter.

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Leo continued to thread quickly across the muddy ground, trying to get back to the wounded young man as fast as he could.

A sudden surge of energy welled up beneath his feet, prompting him to quickly back away. Vines rose from the ground and tied around his legs, almost pulling him to the ground as a shed of flowers rose above him as well.

The rain had stopped pouring on him and he was steady at once again on his feet as well. A bright green glow suddenly appeared before him and afterwards, revealed a human-like figure.

It was a feminine, humanoid figure with vines tied around her head and trailing downwards her neck. Her eyes were emerald green and enchanting with a long green dress covering her body.

" A plant spirit?." He mumbled as he quickly stepped backward.

" You are the summoner of that lowly fire spirit is that correct? And it had to be Ashburn of all of them, I can't have such a violent creature roaming around in my forest." The spirit said, its voice sounding innocent and majestic.

" So you're asking that I send Ashburn away. I beg your pardon, but I asked Ashburn to protect a very good friend of mine and I cannot guarantee his safety once Ashburn is away from his side." He pleaded, staring intently at the spirit.

The plant spirit heaved a sigh, turning her gaze towards the direction of the cave with the words, "Very well then, I'll see to his disappearance from this very realm."

The shed that covered Leo instantly vanished and she slowly stepped away, allowing him to pass before following behind. It wasn't long before they arrived at the cave to see that most of it had been engulfed with violent red flames.

" *Sigh* Such indiscriminate violence, he has yet to learn his lesson after all the mayhem he has caused." She said, quickly walking into the cave.

Leo stood there, staring at the flames in disbelief. He knew his contracted spirit was capable of such destruction, but he asked him to watch over a certain person who he was glad was still barely clinging to life.

" Ashburn!" He yelled at the top of his lungs as he slowly stepped foot into the cave, "Quench your flames at once, another spirit is here to see you."

It was only a few seconds before all the flames began moving past him and a huge shadow was created behind him. It instantly reduced to his size before he could even turn around and standing behind him, was the same fire spirit that he had summoned.

" And what is it that the stupid dryad would want now," Ashburn said, looking away from his summoner.

" Ashburn... Where is the person I asked you to watch over?" Leo said, turning towards him with a stern gaze.

" Leaving such a delicate matter with the likes of him is sure to end in nothing but utter failure. Those crawling beasts would be burnt to ashes with nothing but the slightest of flames and yet you chose to overdo with your toying." She said, walking towards them with the young man firmly wrapped in her vines.

Ashburn slowly shifted away from Leo, gazing blankly at the plant spirit and it was barely five seconds before he instantly vanished.

" He must have gone unconscious due to all the heat being produced by Ashburn. I made sure to heal most of his injuries so he should be fine once he wakes up." She said, handing over the young man to Leo, " And one more thing, please try to pay more respect to boundaries when summoning whatever spirits you're contracted with."

It wasn't long before Fred arrived once again and they all returned back to the city. What happened still ran vague in his mind but every word he heard pained to the deepest part of his soul.

" When was the last time I tried to look at things from their point of view? Maybe it would better their lives if I just left things as they were."

[You know, I think I'm starting to grow tired of your pointless grunts. Now hurry up and quit being lazy, nothing's changing if you keep on staying here]

He didn't say anything after that and simply looked up at his arms which were completely bandaged along with the upper part of his body. His wounds were mostly healed but some parts of his body were still aching.

He began to slowly shift towards the end of the bed, bringing down his leg as he turned his gaze to the right. His eyes widened as soon as he turned his head, as his eyes set on the piece of jewelry which lay before him.

It was the same black necklace that Leo had taken from him. He slowly reached out his hand and tried to touch but as his hand came close to it, his head began throbbing in pain, and began to grunt loudly in pain, falling off the bed.

[A mana barrier, that man sure knows his ways.]

" What do you mean a mana barrier?" He asked. He had stopped the grunting but his head was still in great pain.

[It's a sort of energy interception which can only be triggered once a link has been created. Since his mana is stronger than yours, through mana transfer, he has created a system that completely denies you of harming anything containing his mana in any way. Futile struggles have a very high chance of ending your life in the most horrifying ways possible.]

There was a moment of silence from him as he stared at the necklace once again. That was when he saw a piece of paper that lay before it, a letter from Prince Leo.

He slowly reached for the piece of paper, trying not to trigger the same reaction that left him crawling on the floor just a moment ago. His fingertips met the paper and he proceeded to slowly pull it towards him.

" Hey, I know it's sudden, but what is your link to the system that lies within me?"

[Nothing really, I'm an entirely different entity compared to the system. The fact that you haven't received another warning must mean that the necklace merely being close to you was enough to stop the breakage of your soul link.]

" Wait so you mean..." He quickly stood before he could finish his sentence, reaching for the necklace once again, "You don't know what happened to the system."

It had the same result as last time, causing him so much pain that he was left crouching on the floor once again. Blood slowly began to flow out of his nose and his entire body began to ache even more.

" Damn it." He mumbled with a slight groan as he forced himself up the floor once again, "Isn't there a way to cancel out this stupid barrier."

[There is no other way as long as the caster's mana remains stronger than yours.]

He slowly reached for the necklace once again and this time, before he could touch it, it was quickly grabbed and raised to his face.

He gasped slightly in shock as he looked up to see that it was being hung by a black string and had a note tied next to it. He took the note and slowly opened it to read the contents.

' Grab the necklace by the string and stop being stupid. The mana bridge won't affect you as long as your mana is not in direct contact with it, meet me outside the building after that.'

" Seriously." He mumbled as he quickly folded the piece of paper and stuffed it into his pocket. The necklace was then grabbed by the thread and he quickly made for the exit.

[You do know that you're yet to be discharged from the hospital. Great questioning awaits you so it would be best if you plan your excuse before stepping out.]

" I know that. It's not like the security will let me out with an authorized notice anyway."

As expected, as he walked through the building's hallway, there were a few staff who did question him, but most of them just ignored him.

He kept on moving forward, looking through the glass windows as he trailed towards the exit. He was able to spot a person completely dressed in black standing with their back against him.

He could guess from the figure that it was most likely a female and began to slowly walk towards her. His right foot was suddenly pulled back and he struggled to keep his balance.

When he looked up, she had suddenly vanished. His eyes quickly darted around him and just as he was about to turn around, a penknife was suddenly placed at the edge of his neck.

" Don't turn around. The bridge has been broken, put on the necklace, and meet me at the Great Creek Tavern. Security won't question you, trust me." A feminine voice came from behind him.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, the knife was quickly removed and she was nowhere to be seen.