Rivers of the Night

Elder Dezend frowned, looking out toward the scene before them. He reached out to the side and touched an iced-over piece of bark, rolling it between his fingers and then crushing it.

"… I cannot tell… if this Ice Mancer is incredibly weak… or incredibly strong…"

"What do you mean by this, Elder Dezend? Didn't you say that we were working with a Water Mancer?"

"Yes. But if the Ice Mancer is skilled enough, exerting a certain degree of control over Water Mancy is very possible. After all, Ice Mancy is a higher variant of Water Mancy—much the same way some Lightning Mancers can exert some control over Fire Mana.

"But this…"

Everyone looked toward Elder Dezend in confusion, not understanding what he was trying to say.

Did those Mancers exist? Yes, they did. But they were impossibly rare, and even those that were capable of it wouldn't spend so much time on such efforts.

One might think that maybe the Chosen just didn't have a choice but to use Water Mancy. But it also had to be remembered that they believed the Chosen they were chasing had planned all of this out, targeting Sadie ahead of time for months.

The trouble with this perspective was that if this was really an Ice Mancer who had limited control over Water Mana, why would they choose an escape path that would rely so much on manipulating Water Mana?

That was to say, they wouldn't do this unless they were incredibly confident, and they couldn't possibly be so confident in using a Mancy Path that wasn't their own unless they were a genius that was shocking beyond measure.

The obvious problem with that was that while this was a Chosen, according to their deductions the Demon Noble they were following under should be of a weaker sort. This was because the Nightingale Sect was too weak of a target to aim at… but this talent was too strong for it to be from a lower-level Demon Noble.

There were too many inconsistencies.

If not for the humiliation these elders had faced, and their insistence on catching this person, maybe they would have realized that their deductions had far too many holes.

Unfortunately, they were already so deeply entrenched in their rage and assumptions that turning back now seemed far too late.

"Please explain," Grand Elder Macie said quickly.

"… To be able to use Water Mana as an Ice Mancer is a mark of an exceptional Ice Mancy Talent, one that is likely at the Primal Resonance level at the very worst, but more than likely above this.

"However, this is the worst level of Ice Mana control I have ever seen. Even toddlers are better. These two things don't make any sense.

"There is no real Ice Mana manipulation here. It feels almost as though they formed Ice Mana around the bark and relied on the chill to immediately freeze all of the Water Mana inside. Despite the chill here, and the density of Ice Mana, it's basically all atmospheric. It doesn't have any markings of a cultivator on it at all. There's no aura to track—."

Elder Dezend's eyes widened, a sudden thought overwhelming him.

Had they done this on purpose so there would be too little to track?

Suddenly, the trail came to an end and they all froze in place. However, seeing this, Elder Dezend was even more sure.

They were being led by the nose again. Were they even close?

"It seems that… we can only continue to do this the hard way…" Elder Dezend said slowly.

...

"… I've lost him completely," Elder Dezend said slowly.

They stood at the end of the path of ice. They had tried going in several directions, but it seemed as though there was simply no finding Theron now.

They could easily guess what had happened. For Elder Dezend not to sense an Ice Mancer earlier, it could only be that the Chosen had swapped to Dark Mana. Then they used Ice Mana again on purpose, only to swap to Dark Mana once again after leaving an obvious trail to follow.

Even now, they were still being led by the nose by this person.

And now, there was only one way forward…

"I would like to propose something," Patriarch Nightingale finally said calmly, his expression not having changed at all from the moment they left the grave to this moment. "But, it will require Elder Dezend and Don to return to your Sects to ask the opinions of your leaders. Please hear this old man out for the moment."

The eyes of the two Third Elders sharpened, but they nodded nonetheless.

"This matter has already roped in your two Sects, and there's an opportunity here for us all to benefit. But what's obvious is that this Chosen is not easy to handle.

"All travel off-world has already been locked down, and I can only confirm that the Nightingale Sect will not allow any unauthorized personnel in or out.

"But I believe that if we are going to share this opportunity, we should share in the burden as well.

"Our territory is vast and there is too much land to cover. I believe we should form elite teams of our disciples—one Nightingale Sect member that is extremely familiar with this wilderness and is adept at wielding Dark Mana, one Bronzed Earth Sect member adept at searching and moving through the earth, and one Resonate Eye Sect member adept at scouting.

"We'll form these teams of three and spread them across the forest, and this time, we'll invest in more sophisticated communication devices since we'll have more time to work with.

"At the same time, this old man will prepare to send word to the Hall of Ice and Heart. What do you say?"

Dezend and Don looked toward one another and then nodded slowly.

"We will return to our Sects to report this matter. We'll have to trouble Sect Leader Nightingale to grant us safe passage back."

"Of course."

…

Things began to move with shocking swiftness, but the plans churning in Patriarch Nightingale's mind were far deeper than just this alone.

Many of their geniuses were locked away in secluded cultivation due to the upcoming trial. But this had suddenly become far more important than that opportunity.

This was his chance to take that step forward.

If he could trade for that item…

As Patriarch Nightingale made his way to awaken the geniuses of the Nightingale Sect, the Dark Spirit was still lingering, its thoughts unknown.

But at some unknown time, it too had vanished from the Nightingale Sect.

**

Theron felt like he was suffocating.

Waves of Dark Mana bombarded him from all sides, buffeting him like winds and yet far heavier. Gasping, he burst back to the surface, flailing a bit.

It would have been funny if he wasn't quite literally on the verge of dying.

Theron was so very intelligent—he took into account so many variables—and yet he had neglected one thing…

He had absolutely no idea how to swim.

Why would he ever need to learn to swim? He was a Water Mancer. Water obeyed him like a little puppy he had raised from youth. Learning to swim had never been necessary.

But this river…

It was completely covered in Dark Mana.

Theron had known this, obviously. He had noted it already. But he still neglected this point.

Bobbing in the water and trying to orient and control his body, Theron felt a wave of Dark Mana flood into his mouth. It was like arms of fog digging into his mouth and pouring down his throat.

He tried to cough it out, but it was almost like trying to push air out of his stomach.

He tried to change tactics and burp instead, but by then he had already taken in too much. Plus, the Dark Mana wasn't pouring into his stomach in the first place—it was pouring into his lungs.

He wasn't hacking and wheezing only because it was about as light and airy as wind itself. But the issue was that there was none of the oxygen he needed, and expelling it wasn't nearly as easy.

It coated his lungs, blocking his airways, and yet somehow also weighing him down and pulling him into the waves.

Theron was well and truly shocked by all of this.

Moments ago, he was planning his revenge and how to lay low, thinking of murder and subterfuge.

But now he was having problems protecting his own life.

As he had these thoughts, the panic in Theron's eyes slowly faded away, replaced by a rippling cold.

It seemed that he had still let his rage and fury cloud his judgment. As normal as he seemed now, he was still a churning mass of chaos, his body fueled by flames of revenge.

And as sharp as he seemed, it seemed his judgment could still be clouded by such thoughts.

As Theron's lungs were filled with Dark Mana and his body began to sink like a rock, his eyes quickly being swallowed up by the waves, he simply let it happen.

It was better to learn a lesson when it cost you little to nothing than learn it when it cost you everything.

He would remember this moment.