She knew that that wasn’t an ordinary [Fireball] spell, but a [Pyroblast] instead specifically made for range and massive damage in order to eliminate all the evidence in the room, the failures that were meant to protect it as well as those who tried to stop them. It was heading straight for her and while she could dodge it, it’ll only hit the staircase behind her accomplishing nothing as it’d still affect 80% of the room and if there are any explosive items it’d only act as a further accelerant.

Her most powerful [Flash Freeze] spell had too low range to stop it and it’s so hot it’d take a few moments while her other ice spells would be even slower at that. She quickly stopped channelling the ability she was doing and stretched her arm towards it.

The other confused and not knowing what she’s planning quickly buffed themselves up while the one who was nearest the portal inspecting it, buffer her as she was bracing herself to take it head-on. Soarhia being the second highest level there and combat experience knew exactly what would follow and reacted before everyone else could casting “[Peerless Aptitude!]” which improved everyone the effectiveness of everyone’s following spells and abilities and while they were casting theirs

“Reinforce, [Ice Barrier]!” to buff Truelip’s resistance to damage and fire.

“[Defense up!]” said the second guard to buff everyone defense.

Their leader also time to cast a second unique one “[Defense Of The Watchers!]” that boosted her charisma and everyone’s defense.

Last was Truelip who cast [Ice Queen’s Domain] which did not seem to have any immediate effect while gauntlets made out of ice appeared on her arms with sharp tips, which she used to grab the [Pyroblast], but instead of taking it head-on, started spinning around in place, trying to redirect it back towards the portal, using the first spell she cast to extract the heat away from the spell converting it back to the mana it was made from and use it to fuel her ice magic and the gauntlets - one to further cool it down and the second to use as a barrier from the heat. Of course, the rest of her body wasn’t protected, but her spell was sapping the heat fast enough for that to be bearable.

At that moment it crossed her mind that they probably shut the ability to go back through the portal or might turn it off altogether at which point she instinctively grabbed the spells itself, the lingering mana within it that the caster left to keep the spell together and tells it how to behave as well as some extra mana since not all is converted properly into the spell and she can use that and the faint trail of excess mana it had left behind it too to link to the other side, preventing the portal from closing.

Problem being that if all the mana gets used up the spell gets broken and she has a raging fire in her hands that will probably explode on the spot and the forced closer of the portal might use the mana in the link as fuel to keep it open and there definitely isn’t enough wasted mana in the spell for such a big portal meaning it almost instantly will start using the one that binds the spell together instead.

She was halfway through the spin already when her realisation dawned on her and she needed a way to pump mana into it. Her face looked disinterested even in this moment, but it had a hint of being worried. Does she have a spell like that? She is currently doing the opposite, taking mana away from it. So she can take that heat that her spell converted into mana and then redirect half of it into the [Fireball] spell instead of her ice gauntlets.

“[Flash Freeze], [Empower!]” she yelled out as she sent one last push of cold right before she shot it back at the portal since she empowered the fireballs spell itself, instead of giving any new properties or increasing its old ones she simply fed it mana and since she already cooled it off she redirected the mana from [Ice Queen’s Domain] entirely to it. Those standing beside her who could sense mana noticed hers go from 80% to 20% at a constant and rapid rate after she cast those two spells and stopped the moment she let go.

As she had expected they had already tried to shut down the ability for anyone to go back, but the mana flow was preventing it as there was mana being held together on by sides. The only problem with this plan is if the mana trail on the other side runs out before the fireball reaches it because while she can boost it on this side, she can only do so to things she directly touches. Knowing these she yelled out at everyone prematurely.

“Get back!”

OF course, everyone listened, including the bandits who finally managed to get their feet off the ground as the frost melted from the intense heat in the room and everyone and towards the door or behind a crate. Even if her plan doesn’t go perfectly she still reduced its heat and the massive influx of mana screwed the ratio of attributes it had been assigned before as it was set to fill the entire room with its heat, but now the range bonus will barely be 12% coupled with the reduced damage and range from the heat loss it should hopefully be manageable.

As a last resort and while she watched it fly back she had the time to cast two more spells as the massive mana that was not given a purpose slowed it down heavily. “[Ice Queen’s Domain], Fallen frigid frost, incarcerate in icy imprisonment, [Frost Mist]!” The first she recast because it stopped the moment she let go of the [Pyroblast] and it allows her to cool down if an explosion occurs and use the mana to fuel the second spell to again further cool it down.  She was already at 16% mana left only from recasting them and the mist continually drains from her which is why she tried to time casting it right before it touched the portal.

Thankfully the Pyroblast went through effortlessly which calmed her down, but it wouldn’t mean much if it causes a chain explosion on the other side instead so now she needed to cut off the mana from this side which was easy enough. She stopped the [Frost Mist] and ran for the portal absorbing all of the now excess mana left behind, yet again, with her body. Just as she got to the portal, it closed, indicating that she had successfully managed to absorb all the mana on this side and that they didn’t think of or didn’t manage to do the same as her and prevent the portal from closing.

Everyone in the room was trembling, partly from the cold mist, but more so for the nerve-racking experience, they just lived through somehow. Seeing as they were experienced in their line of work, the guards quickly came to their senses and shackled the bandits that were still confused as to what had just happened.

Soarhia walked behind Truelip who was hunched over, holding herself up with her hands on her ankles and was panting raggedly.

“Are you okay…?” She asked her worried.

“Yeah… just need to rest a little…”

The redhead put her hand on her shoulder to express concern when they suddenly heard more people coming up the stairs behind them. Of course, everyone tensed up expecting the worst but were relieved when they saw more guards coming up the stairs. Truelip started heading outside as to catch some fresh air and to not get in the way of their investigation of the room. As she went outside she noticed in the distance Tiara next to more guards who were helping out the injured adventurers from earlier as well as the shackled bandits she had dealt with. She walked next to them when Tiara noticed her and ran up to her.

“A-are you okay…?”

“Yes, although I exhausted too much mana and need to rest.”

“Ah… okay…” she thought for a moment what to say to her as she felt uneasy about the situation “…Is there anything I can help with…?”

“Right now it would be best if you waited for the guards to examine everything and make sure it’s safe” she was think of also telling her that after that she’ll be going with them to the guard office where she’ll probably be questioned and then taken in for protection for the night, but decided not to stress her out too much right now which proved to be the correct choice as Tiara seemed to get worried when she heard it wasn’t safe yet and looked down with unease on her face, although that was probably because she also felt useless in this situation. Of course, Truelip’s suspicions on that were also spot on.

It happened as she assumed and the girl was taken in for questioning and protection. It was quite an eventful night, but it had not gotten Truelip at all closer to her objective as while she did bust an illegal gang operation, all they gained from it was that they were smuggling items into and possibly out the city, which did not at all help her track down those who are organizing them. Of course there were investigations to see if there were any explosions throughout the city connected to any item storehouses as to see if the wild [Pyroblast] had indeed set off any, but the only explosions in that night were caused by adventurers fighting and none were found that matched what they were looking for, not even a small one caused from the spell itself was heard.

Of course, they had captured the leader of that gang operation too, but he refused to talk about it and when the protectors used a truth spell on him he had no information to give as he was kept in the dark on everything except what he needed to do.

Truelip didn’t have any new leads and gained that their network was tight and extensive measures were kept to keep it secret as even their leader was uninformed and they had tried assiduously to remove all the evidence once thing turned sour. She probably would need to search more thoroughly that she is right now. That said after she had rested she was also escorted for questioning to see if their reports matched after which she was advised to return home and sleep for the night, but she of course refused and continued her patrol normally although no other assurances had happened that night. Except maybe the aforementioned explosions throughout the night, but they were too far away for her to hear so they did not get a visit from her.

On the next day, Truelip, of course, went to her daily visit to the Adventurer’s Guild. As usual, using her magic sense she could see and hear them whispering about her and staring from behind and as usual, she ignored it. She didn’t really care what they had to say but she did unconsciously hear some things sometimes that grabbed her attention. That didn’t happen this time though so she just continued to her usual targets - Cathy and Elliot. When she saw them, they were talking together again, the purple haired girl standing up, but this time there was a third girl there – Tiara.

Truelip calmly walked to them at a normal pace, until their ‘new friend’ finally saw her and put her arms high up and started waving at her from a distance. Cathy didn’t notice who she was waving at and the red-haired boy, on the other hand, was looking slightly down as he himself looked flustered and tense as he had a weak smile on his face.

Once the blond was next to them she spoke up “Hi.”

“Hiiiiiiii!~” responded Tiara, happily almost jumping with excitement.

“Wait you two know each other!?” Cathy asked confused.

“Yaaaaaash!” was the reply she got.

“I saved her yesterday.”

“Wait you were the one who saved them?!” she continued asking. Truelip simply nodded.

“Wait you didn’t figure it out?” Elliot asked as he looked at the Catherine with a slight smug over his still uneasy face.

“How could I have?~” She complained as she stomped her foot as she had a wide smile on her face.

“I mean how many blond girls do you know that can do what they did in Tiara’s story?”

“Umm, 17 I think?” Cathy replied with a pointer finger on her chin as thought about the answer.

Elliot’s uncharacteristic confidence was instantly lost as he looked down saying “Of course…” as he realised that her job requires her to constantly be around such people…

“You’re name’s Truelip, right?~” Tiara asked, switching the conversation as she looked at her.

“Yes.”

“Can you teach me magic?!~”

“Huh?”