“Hey, that’s a Will-o’-the-wisp, right?”
Helos tugged at Julius’s sleeve, her eyes wide as she pointed at the flickering blue-green flame ahead. Her voice was full of excitement. “Why do I feel like it has eyes and keeps staring at me?”
“That just means you’ve encountered a real Will-o’-the-wisp, little girl.”
The Caretaker looked in the direction she was pointing and nodded with a solemn expression. He stepped forward and took a cross-shaped Saint Emblem from his robe.
The surface of the Saint Emblem was covered in intricate patterns, its edges shimmering with a faint luster.
As Mana was injected, the Runes lit up one by one, and the Saint Emblem subsequently erupted with a soft white light.
The moment the light brushed against that Will-o’-the-wisp, the flame shrank rapidly like ice meeting a scorching sun. Moments later, it was silently extinguished, vanishing into nothingness.
“See that?”
The Caretaker put away the Saint Emblem, but his expression did not relax. Instead, he let out a deep sigh. “A Will-o’-the-wisp itself isn’t hard to deal with; even ordinary Holy Light can easily purify them. But the frequency of their appearance lately has been far too high—too frequent to be naturally occurring.”
He was just saying this when his voice suddenly stopped. Not far away, behind a tilted tombstone, another cluster of eerie blue flame suddenly rose. The light flickered unsteadily, as if silently mocking his helplessness.
“…Just like this, they simply can’t be cleared out.”
The Caretaker put away the Saint Emblem, his face looking somewhat tired, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness.
“Hmm, it certainly does seem a bit fishy.”
Julius stared at the flickering Will-o’-the-wisp not far away, his brow furrowing deeply. “Does anyone usually come to this place?”
“No.”
The Caretaker shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the desolate tombstones. “Other than a gravedigger like me, almost no one sets foot here. After all, those buried here are all unclaimed Lonely Souls.”
“In that case…”
Helos tilted her head and whispered, “There’s a high probability it’s not man-made?”
The Caretaker gave a bitter smile. “If it really were man-made, I wouldn’t be having such a headache. At the very least, I could follow the clues to find a source.”
“Let’s check first.”
Julius reached out and patted Helos on the shoulder, saying in a low voice, “You go over there, and I’ll start from here. Remember to look closely.”
“Okay.”
Helos nodded gently. Carrying her Thin Sword, she moved with light steps toward the other end of the Graveyard Area. The Caretaker clearly let out a sigh of relief.
He retreated to the outer edge of the Graveyard Area, clutching his Saint Emblem as he stood in the shadows, waiting quietly. He did not dare follow them, for fear of disturbing their investigation.
The Graveyard Area was deathly silent. The sound of the wind circled among the desolate tombstones, making the withered grass rustle. Helos cautiously bypassed several slanted stone slabs, her pale purple eyes flashing in the dim light, her Thin Sword reflecting a faint, cold glint.
***
Suddenly—barely a dozen paces away from her, a cluster of eerie blue flame abruptly surged into the air. Helos’s heart tightened.
She held her breath and lightened her footsteps even further, slowly approaching the Will-o’-the-wisp. However, just as she stepped within three paces, the Will-o’-the-wisp suddenly shrank.
As if sensing something, it vanished instantly without a trace, disappearing completely.
“Oh… so if that’s the case, are Will-o’-the-wisps actually composed of Mana?”
The young girl stared at the spot where the Will-o’-the-wisp had just dissipated. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as a guess couldn’t help but surface in her mind.
Perhaps the reason for the birth of a Will-o’-the-wisp was precisely the result of Mana and Resentment intertwining? This thought made her expression shift, a spark of curiosity flashing in her eyes.
She lifted her head and looked toward the other end of the Graveyard Area. In the distance, Julius was bending over to check the inscriptions on a tombstone. His black hair swayed gently in the wind, and his expression appeared very focused.
Helos blinked and suddenly shouted, “Julius! I have a question for you!”
“What question?”
The Squire straightened his body and looked over toward the sound, his brow arching slightly.
“Can you perceive the Mana in the outside world?”
“I can. Why?”
“Sense the Mana around here… uh, the concentration? Is that how you say it?”
Helos tilted her head, her tone carrying a hint of uncertainty. She couldn’t sense Mana herself, so she could only force herself to use the terms she had seen in books.
Julius’s eyes shifted slightly upon hearing this. He then closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became steady. He mobilized the Mana within his body, and his keen perception spread out like fine threads, slowly touching the surrounding air and earth.
Inside the silent Graveyard Area, the sound of the wind brushed through the wild grass. The Squire concentrated for a moment but only felt that the surrounding Mana fluctuations were ordinary, with no anomalies.
He opened his eyes and shook his head, shouting to the distant Helos, “I don’t feel anything special! The Mana concentration in this area is about the same as outside; there’s no major difference!”
Helos was slightly stunned. She bit her lip gently, a look of thoughtfulness flashing in the depths of her eyes.
Behind a tombstone not far away, the air suddenly distorted, and a cluster of blue-green Will-o’-the-wisp emerged silently. The flickering flame seemed to have eyes as it quietly stared at its surroundings.
“Julius!”
Helos immediately pointed her hand at the Will-o’-the-wisp, her purple eyes lighting up slightly. “Clear it first!”
“Understood.”
The Squire drew his Sidearm Sword with a reverse grip, while the palm of his other hand suddenly glowed with Holy Light.
After a short Chanting, the light transformed into a flowing Light Bullet that struck directly at the cluster of Will-o’-the-wisp. With a sound, the Will-o’-the-wisp instantly distorted and collapsed, vanishing into the air.
“Well done!”
Helos smiled, then quickly urged him again, “Now, hurry over to the position where it just appeared and sense the Mana concentration there again!”
Julius nodded and stepped into the patch of wild grass where the Will-o’-the-wisp had emerged. He crouched down, reached out to gently touch the withered soil, and closed his eyes.
Once again, he released his perception, finely capturing the flow of Mana in the air and underground.
Helos held her breath and waited nearby, her eyes fixed on the young man. Before two breaths had passed, Julius slowly opened his eyes.
His brow furrowed slightly, and his expression revealed a hint of surprise. “The Mana concentration here is indeed a notch higher than in the previous area.”
“Just as I thought!”
A light flashed in Helos’s eyes, and she nodded hurriedly. “These Will-o’-the-wisps are likely forming frequently because of the abnormal Mana concentration, combined with the lingering Resentment of the deceased.”
She tightened her grip on the Thin Sword in her hand, her tone carrying a hint of certainty. “Therefore, we must find the cause and figure out why the Mana here has suddenly become so dense!”
“That’s easy to say, but…”
Julius scratched his head and looked at the Caretaker who had retreated outside. “Mr. Caretaker, do you have any leads?”
“Uh, I really haven’t noticed anything like that.”
“That’s not a big problem.”
Seeing the Caretaker shake his head, Helos didn’t pay it too much mind. “In that case, let’s determine the range first!”
She shouted toward Julius, “Julius! Go and sense the Mana bit by bit! Let’s see how large the area with abnormal Mana is before we do anything else!”
Well is she the little scientist.