"Again!" Larissa shouted, extending her hand toward Ren while the mineral fairy within her pulsed with luminous energy amplified by mineral crystals.
Her beast’s power had grown substantially since reaching Bronze rank 2, allowing feats that would have been impossible before.
The light jump enveloped them, and for an instant Ren felt that strange sensation of being everywhere and nowhere at the same time. When they reappeared, they had advanced almost fifty meters.
The experience was unlike anything in his life. For those brief moments during the jump, reality became fluid, distance became meaningless, and the physical laws that governed normal existence seemed to bend around them.
"It’s an incredible sensation," Ren murmured, still not quite accustomed to Larissa’s new ability.
"I never thought reaching Bronze 2 would already allow me to take someone with me." Larissa panted, wiping sweat from her forehead. "I didn’t even know it was possible before Silver 3 until you suggested it. But you’re right about the energy cost... it’s like the fairy has to wrap both my light and yours."
The strain was visible in her face, but she pushed through it with the determination of someone who understood the stakes.
"It’s because I need to support the process," Ren explained while they ran down a particularly dark street. "My hydra has light affinity too, so it can synchronize with your mineral fairy. Without that elemental resonance, paired jumping simply wouldn’t work at this level."
The technical explanation helped distract from the physical exertion, but the underlying truth was more complex. Ren’s understanding of beast synergies went far beyond what any normal eleven-year-old should possess.
"The bad thing is it uses more energy and I can only do it with tamers who have the same light elemental affinity supporting the process."
Liora rolled her eyes remembering what Ren had said.
That process was something only someone with Ren’s privileged knowledge could achieve. Probably even Luna with her light cat and accustomed to jumps would be incapable of replicating it.
Luna, who had been running in silence, suddenly stopped and raised a hand. "Wait."
The shadows around her expanded, creating a mantle of darkness that hid them from view. Her shadow wolf materialized partially, its eyes glowing while scanning the area with supernatural senses that could detect threats long before human perception registered them.
"What’s wrong?" Liora whispered, her Will o’ Wisp floating nervously near her shoulder like a small pale blue flame.
The tiny spirit’s agitation was contagious, its flickering light casting dancing shadows that made the already tense situation feel even more ominous.
The group crouched among the shadows Luna had expanded while observing the soldier who came out of his house and headed to support the bridge.
The man moved with the purposeful stride of someone responding to a call to duty, unaware that he was being watched by four children whose mission could determine the war’s outcome.
"Do we wait for him to get further away or...?" Liora began to ask in a whisper, but stopped when she saw Ren’s thoughtful expression.
"Or what?" Larissa interrupted, discretely wiping more sweat from her forehead.
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