As a storm raged within Maria, formed of many negative thoughts and feelings all trying to stab at her heart simultaneously, the Rank S adventurer attempted to get her mind under control.

This was a precarious situation. Arrive at Rin's position too late, and a friend could be lost. Not to mention that Rin's life was not the only one in danger right now, given that these bastards had a Rank S adventurer on their side.

So, Maria tried her hardest to focus. Her allies needed her.

"... It seems like these people are under the influence of some strange power. No sadness, anger, these people are showing no emotion at all," she muttered, "but if we want to make it to where Rin is on time, we will need to treat them as enemies. Xhez, you said you could tell where Rin was?"

Hearing Maria ask that question noticeably lessened the dangerous aura that had overtaken the sprite.

"Yes," she replied. "Rin's Spirit... it calls to me. I can feel it. That way," Xhez stated, pointing ahead, past a crowd of armed villagers.

"Then, Cara," Maria said, swallowing her frustrations. "We have to form a path."

Cara didn't seem thrilled at the prospect of having to harm potentially innocent civilians, but, she nodded.

"Let's do it."

She did not take her greatsword out, of course, as she felt she wouldn't need it.

Maria and Cara took point, leading the way with Xhez behind them.

Some arrows flew through the air, and Maria swiped them out of the air easily. A few villagers surrounded them, and Cara effortlessly kicked them away.

"Okay, go!" Maria called out and the trio began running forward. "Xhez, tell us where we need to go."

"Keep going straight!" The sprite yelled, her fears easily felt in her tense tone.

A few more villagers tried to attack them after that, without caring about their lack of results. Maria pushed one back, and went to do the same with another, but, before she could, a spear of ice erupted from the ground and went straight through the man's head. Some of the blood that spurted out from his wound landed on Maria's face, and the woman glanced at Xhez, who'd of course cast the spell that killed him.

The girl's blue eyes looked back at Maria, almost like she was challenging her to voice some sort of disagreement with her methods.

Maria remained silent.

[We don't know if these people are wholly innocent or not. For now, I'll assume that they aren't, since my student's life is in danger, but... This complete willingness to kill is concerning.]

There were no real combatants among the villagers, which made dealing with them extremely easy. Due to that fact, Maria guessed that the purpose of throwing them all at the trio like this wasn't to defeat them but to delay them.

"Is Rin still okay?" Maria asked.

"Y-Yes, but..." Xhez paused, sounding puzzled. "Her Spirit has become slightly darker."

"What are you talking about?" Cara asked. "What do you mean by her 'Spirit'?"

"Uh, Essence," Xhez answered. "I think that's how humans refer to it. I can feel hers, and it's becoming... I do not know, ehm, warped somehow. Shrouded."

"Then..." Maria stopped to consider this, "they might not be killing her. Xhez, where do we go next?"

The sprite led them through the streets of Alera, as the group carved a path toward Rin's location.

Maria and Cara tried their best not to hurt anyone, but the same could not be said at all for Xhez. All of the villagers who lost their lives during this had that happen to them for the simple reason of having gotten too close to her.

Xhez's strange capabilities led them to some sort of old garage. Thrown-away tools and machinery littered the floor, though it had all been set to the sides, forming a path to a metal door at the back.

"Here," Xhez stated. "Though, I can feel many other Spirits in this place as well."

"How many?" Maria asked.

"I cannot give an exact number, I just know there are a lot. Brine's is among them. His burns the brightest, next to Rin's."

Maria took this information in. On the bright side, it meant that Brine was the only true threat here if Rin herself was the second strongest person behind this door. Unfortunately, though, with Maria's Essence having been spent, and her body weary from having been pushed to its limits for the first time in a while, Brine alone could certainly deal with the four of them. Even with just one arm.

Her heart pounded against her chest, but Maria tried to push away all her worries. Her apprentice needed her. That was the only fact that mattered.

"You," Cara said, looking at Xhez, "aside from those spears, what can you do?"

"I have several spellsigns memorized but, against that enemy that Maria faced, I think all I can really do is sit behind you both and heal you."

She sounded heartbroken over her own lack of power, but still offered that bit of assistance.

"There... There is one spellsign I could use. If you and Maria buy me some time to draw it, it may be effective. I cannot say for certain, though. Outside of that, though, I must let you know. I am sorry, but saving Rin is my main priority. More than killing anyone, more than anything else. Keep that in mind."

[In other words, if she has to choose between helping her and helping us, it won't be a difficult choice to make at all.] 

"Given that both Maria and I aren't a physical match for him, that might be our best shot. Try to draw it as fast as you can and, once you do, we'll step aside and let you blast him. Sounds good?" Cara asked.

Both Maria and Xhez nodded.

"Alright. Get ready."

On that note, Cara punched straight through the door, likely with a little bit of Essence pushing through her arm. She tore the door off then, and the trio descended past a set of stairs into a dark hall.

"This seems like an Old World structure," Maria informed the others. "Watch for traps. It's said that the humanity of old was not as physically powerful as we are now, but that they made up for it with more treacherous machinery."

As they walked into the strange bunker, delving underground, Cara took out her greatsword.

"It's quiet," Cara whispered. "Where is everyone?"

"Deeper," Xhez answered without making any effort to lower her volume. "I cannot feel any nearby life. They must all be waiting several rooms away."

Both Maria and Cara briefly stopped to glance at her.

"... Pretty useful ability you've got there, if it can tell you that much," Cara stated, voicing how Maria felt as well.

Xhez just shrugged.

"If you want to learn more about my capabilities I would be happy to share what I can do with you. *After* we find Rin."

As Xhez had stated, there was no one here. Not in the lobby that they quickly arrived at, not in the cafeteria-like room they saw, or in the bedrooms they walked past.

It seemed like the enemies really were just packed together, waiting for them somewhere far, far down this structure.

"We're getting closer..." Xhez stated, finally quieting down a bit. "Many different Spirits are gathered just up ahead. Neither Rin's nor Brine's are among them."

"A small squad to try to soften us up," Maria stated.

[A strategy used by leaders who don't value the lives of their own forces, as I'm sure whoever's in charge understands we're probably going to kill every enemy that attacks us here. What kind of people are these? What kind of people did Brine decide to ally himself with?]

Sure enough, around ten people emerged and ran into the hall.

All of them were young beastborn men and women, holding weapons that it didn't seem like they had much experience using.

Cara did not hesitate.

The woman brought her greatsword up and slammed it down on top of the first three or so people at the front, causing their bodies to split and a few limbs to go flying, while Xhez then cast that Ice-based spellsign of hers, and had spikes erupt from the ground, stabbing through the enemies Cara hadn't cut down.

Unlike with the villagers, Maria didn't feel sorry for a single one of them.

"Just a couple of more rooms, that way," Xhez said and they kept going, casually walking over the enemies' corpses.

Soon enough, they arrived at a place where Xhez stopped.

"Here," she stated, looking at a door to her left. "They're all here."

Due to her earlier failure, Maria found some anxiety slipping into her heart. It made her hesitate. What if she failed again?

Cara, however, put her hands on the door, ready to push it open.

"Everyone ready?" She asked. Xhez nodded eagerly. Maria did so slowly. Seeing their responses, Cara opened the door.

It was a lounge of some sort. A spacious area clearly meant to host parties and performances, the type of place that would fit a pop star like the one they'd come to save. The one who was also standing on that stage.

On the stage were dozens of people. Some were beastborn, some were human, and Maria even saw a couple of fairies.

Below the stage, gathered at the front, were two individuals. Rin and Brine, standing side by side.

"RIN!" Xhez cried out, taking a step forward but Cara stopped her.

A woman wearing a gaudy white dress walked up the middle of the stage.

"Welcome," she said with a grin. "I take it there's no need for introductions given what happened earlier. You know who we are, and we know who you are. But, before you all die, I need to ask, June," she turned toward the singer, whose eyes were fixed on the sprite. "Is that blue-skinned girl the 'Xhez' we're looking for?"

"It seems so," June answered robotically. Xhez's eyes went to her then, confused and saddened. "I do not know why she looks like this, but I recognize her features."

"That's all we needed to hear. Brine, dear, go ahead and finish the job. And, Rin, how about you give your sister a warm welcome."