FROST
Chapter 49: Too Much for a Mortal Body

Chapter 49: Too Much for a Mortal Body

"H-How... how is she able to sense him?" Sebastian muttered, breathless from their relentless pursuit. His chest heaved, heart pounding with disbelief.

They had chased after the lingering mana traces — chaotic storms of energy left in the wake of West and Xavier’s clash — only to find them dissipating into silence. But then the trail twisted, pulling them toward a new disturbance, colder and sharper.

Estes — Xavier’s brother, one of the two Elden Elves — had barely escaped Ezekiel’s fury. Bloodied and broken, he had slipped through their grasp only because Sebastian had been forced to stay behind, shielding Adeline and the unconscious Mila from a sudden ambush of vengeful elves.

To be fair, Ezekiel had nearly matched Estes blow for blow. But it wasn’t until Estes faltered — losing control after sensing his brother’s dying mana — that Ezekiel finally struck true. Even then, Estes vanished, concealing his mana so perfectly they never saw him leave.

At least, not until Silvermist’s spear found him.

They stopped abruptly on a jagged ledge, the cavern yawning below them. Moonlight poured through shattered stone, revealing the battlefield — quiet, cold, and final.

West stood in eerie stillness, his dark hair tangled, violet mana faintly curling off him like smoke. At his side, Silvermist remained steady, her presence glowing with an unsettling, cold luminescence.

And there — above them on broken ground — lay Estes. The crystallized spear still pinned him to the earth, its shimmer fading, the pool of blood beneath him dark and wide.

A cold sweat traced down Sebastian’s spine. She sensed him... when even Ezekiel and I could not. His breath caught. She didn’t just sense him. She struck — perfectly.

He glanced at Ezekiel, tension crackling between them in silent understanding.

Whatever Silvermist was becoming...

They could only pray it was something they could still trust.

Slowly, Sebastian stepped forward, his boots crunching on broken stone. Behind him, Ezekiel followed, and floating lazily after them on his flaming cushion was the still-unconscious Mila, snoring softly, completely oblivious to the carnage. Adeline jogged to catch up, her eyes wide with morbid curiosity.

Sebastian knelt beside Estes, whose chest heaved in ragged breaths, blood bubbling at the corners of his mouth. His glassy eyes fluttered half-open, trying to focus.

"X-Xavier..." he rasped, coughing wetly. His trembling hand reached out weakly. "Y-You can’t die. Y-You still have to..." He choked, trying to prop himself up on one elbow with the determination of a man writing his final will on a napkin. "Y-You still have to—"

Sebastian grabbed him by the collar and shook him like a broken vending machine. "To what?!" he barked, exasperated. "Spit it out before you spit out your lungs goddamnit!"

Estes wheezed, his head lolling dramatically. "You still have to... return... my library books..."

Sebastian blinked once. Then twice.

He looked down at Estes’ lifelessly flopping body in his hands.

Then, without further ceremony, he lifted Estes into the air like a ragdoll, spun once for momentum — purely for flair — and launched him like a baseball straight toward Xavier.

The two brothers collided with a surprisingly satisfying sound, both letting out matching pained coughs as they bounced awkwardly off each other and landed in a tangle of limbs.

"Sebastian!" Ezekiel whined, immediately leaping down from the ledge. He hurried toward the two crumpled elves.

Sebastian threw up his hands. "What? They’re elves. They bounce."

Ezekiel ignored him and crouched beside the brothers. His face twisted in frustration — their mana was fading fast, like water slipping through cupped hands.

He shot a glare over his shoulder at Sebastian. "You do realize we need them alive, right?! The orb is gone and all the other elves are dead because someone went full murder-hobo!"

Sebastian crossed his arms, unrepentant. "They started it."

Ezekiel groaned and quickly rolled Estes off Xavier’s back with all the care of flipping pancakes. He placed both palms forward between them.

In an instant, a translucent red energy flared to life, forming a floating diamond-shaped barrier between the two brothers. The air shimmered, rippling with controlled heat and soft crackles of magic.

Inside the barrier, soft glowing tendrils of red light reached toward their wounds like searching fingers, knitting torn flesh and sealing bruises. Bones realigned with soft cracks, mana veins pulsed faintly back to life, and the color slowly returned to their faces.

Xavier coughed again, this time sounding less like death and more like a man waking up with a hangover. Estes twitched slightly, eyes fluttering but not yet awake.

Ezekiel exhaled in relief, his hands trembling slightly from the drain. He glanced toward Silvermist.

She simply stared at him — calm, as if she had expected him to do exactly that. Her arms hung still beside her, hair glowing faintly in the moonlight, eyes judging.

Ezekiel met her gaze for a second longer before awkwardly shrugging it off. He’s already aware Silvermist felt betrayed once again and he can’t help it. They needed to follow the Triad’s order to start testing her innate abilities and magic.

A moment later, Adeline and Mila — the latter finally half-conscious, clinging to Ezekiel’s flaming cushion like a confused cat — wandered over and sat down beside them.

All of them only stayed there motionless. The air felt heavy. The tension stretched so tight it was almost audible.

Sebastian, ever the genius at reading the room too late, cleared his throat loudly. "Sooo... that was fun. Wow! Kiel, I didn’t know you have a magic to heal."

Instead of breaking the tension, it only made West and Silvermist abruptly turn on their heels and walk away — in completely opposite directions.

West vanished into the shadows of the cavern. Silvermist strode toward the edge of the rocky ledge, her back straight and stiff, shoulders radiating silent irritation.

Sebastian threw up his arms. "W-What’s up with those two?!" he groaned.

Adeline piped up helpfully. "Maybe you shouldn’t have used their only leverage as a projectile."

Mila, eyes still bleary, added, "Did I miss the part where throwing half-dead elves at other half-dead elves became a strategy?"

Sebastian huffed. "Hey, improvisation is the mark of genius!"

Ezekiel just sat back on the ground, exhausted, rubbing his face.

"It might not be a big deal for the rest of you," Ezekiel muttered, running a hand through his already disheveled hair, "but Silvermist has issues trusting people. Deep-rooted ones. She’s not like us." His gaze lingered on the path she’d taken. "She saw West fight — really fight — and who knows what else she figured out. I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t trust any of the three of us anymore."

Sebastian’s lips thinned into a hard line. He exhaled sharply through his nose. "It can’t be helped," he said, his tone flat but resigned. "She needed to learn how to control her magic. No one can teach her that by holding her hand. Sometimes you only figure out your limits when you’re thrown into the fire."

He paused, then muttered, "Which, to be fair, she wasn’t. West took the whole fight like a one-man demolition crew."

Ezekiel gave him a side glance and a tired, bitter chuckle. "You’re conveniently forgetting the part where she sensed Estes earlier. His mana was completely concealed. Even I didn’t notice. Hell, you didn’t notice. West didn’t either. But she did."

He shook his head slowly. "She’s... built different."

Sebastian looked away, chewing on that fact for a moment. "Built different," he echoed. "I mean, sure. But are we talking ’prodigy’ different... or ’dangerous’ different?"

Ezekiel didn’t answer.

Instead, he drew his knees up to his chest, resting his arms on them, and stared into the empty space where Silvermist had disappeared.

"I thought she was just good at adapting," he said softly. "Now I’m starting to wonder if she was made to adapt."

Sebastian frowned, his brow furrowing deeper. "You think something or someone really tampered with her magic?"

"I don’t know," Ezekiel admitted, his voice lower now, almost as if he feared someone might overhear. "But think about it — sensing concealed mana with such ease... striking with that kind of precision... and staying calm under pressure when she could barely make a breeze or ripple a puddle just a week ago? And more than that, she had no fighting instincts, no muscle memory, not even the hesitation of someone trained but afraid. It was like watching someone remember something ancient rather than learn it."

He paused, running a hand through his hair as if trying to make sense of it himself. "I think she’s running entirely on pure instinct — raw, untapped ability, deeper than anything we’ve seen in generations. And the scariest part? I don’t think she has any idea where it’s coming from."

Ezekiel’s gaze flicked toward Sebastian, eyes sharp. "This... this might be exactly what Cloud keeps warning us about. The very thing Frost is desperately trying to conceal. Because if she taps into that power without control, without understanding... she could unleash something so overwhelming, it might tear through her body, or worse — corrupt it entirely. Magic that ancient or potent was never meant to exist unbound in a human vessel."

Sebastian let out a slow breath through clenched teeth, his jaw tight with worry. "I know I have no right to question The Moon’s choices... but if Silvermist is truly that unstable, why her? Why risk everything on someone so unpredictable? The magic she unleashed in the arena... we all felt it. That wasn’t her limit. Not even close. If she ever loses control — or worse, turns against us — she wouldn’t just be dangerous. She could wipe out entire legions of guardians without breaking a sweat."

"Ahh, whatever. I’ve seen enough. So, if you don’t mind, I’ll go ahead and follow Sil," Adelle announced, flicking the air like she was swatting away a boring conversation.

Without waiting for approval — or even acknowledgment — she jogged off in the direction Silvermist had gone, her ponytail bouncing with all the carefree confidence of someone who had definitely not just survived an insane magical showdown.

Mila stared after her, her muscles twitching with the urge to follow. She made a valiant attempt to sit up, arms wobbling, only to collapse back down with a pathetic oof.

She tried again. Failed again. Her third attempt was cut short when Sebastian casually strolled over and, without a word, placed one finger on her forehead and pushed her back down onto the flaming cushion like he was tucking in a rebellious toddler.

"Stay still," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You’re making me dizzy just watching you flop around."

Mila glared at him but had to admit defeat — mostly because her limbs felt like wet noodles.

Sebastian glanced over his shoulder, watching Estes and Xavier, whose ragged breathing was finally evening out. "They’re stable," he said, but with the weariness of someone who knew stable could turn into trying to kill us again at any moment.

"That’s it for now." Ezekiel straightened, dusting his hands off like he’d just finished gardening instead of rewinding elf life energy.

"Any more and they might wake up swinging." The red energy that had surrounded the elves flickered out of existence with a soft hiss, like the world itself breathing relief.

Mila blinked, her foggy brain catching up just enough to process what she’d seen. "Y-You can heal people?" she asked, eyes wide, voice cracking.

"No," Ezekiel replied matter-of-factly. He glanced at her like she’d just asked if fish could fly. "I just reversed time for them though it can’t bring back mana exhaustion. I did the same to you and Adeline and West was too worried earlier, he had literally forgotten about my abilities."

Mila blinked harder. "Huh?"

"Never mind." Ezekiel waved it off. "Magic stuff."

He turned toward the shadows where West had vanished, his brow furrowing. "I really think something happened between those two before we showed up."

Mila raised a brow. "Like making out?"

Ezekiel froze. Sebastian choked on air, grinning ear to ear.

"Like making out!" Sebastian repeated gleefully, as though he’d just discovered his new favorite phrase.

Ezekiel closed his eyes slowly, inhaled through his nose, and muttered, "Shut up, Sebastian." He opened one eye and pointed. "As one of the Four Season Apprentices, kindly drag his lovesick ass back here so we can plan our next move."

Sebastian winked at Mila like they were co-conspirators and vanished in a swirl of thin air.

The clearing fell into silence, save for Mila’s groan as she once again attempted to sit up, this time with the cautious determination of someone trying not to embarrass themselves further. She finally propped herself up with one elbow, squinting at the elves now peacefully unconscious.

"Those elves," she mumbled, shaking her head slowly, "especially these two..." Her voice trailed off, and she glanced at Ezekiel.

"We barely got out alive. They had the three of us running around like headless chickens." She paused, raising a hand. "Chickens, Ezekiel. We were clucking. But you guys?" She gestured at him, the spot where Sebastian had stood, and the trail where West disappeared.

"You all just swanned in, barely broke a sweat, and took them down like you were swatting flies. Flies, Ezekiel! If you had only shown off your magic right when these two ethereal elves showed up, we wouldn’t have lost the orb in the first place."

Ezekiel wasn’t able to answer. Mila’s question made too much sense, cutting straight through the chaos to the one thing he couldn’t explain. He looked away, his jaw tightening.

He just couldn’t tell her the truth — not yet. Otherwise, the very point of this entire journey to "retrieve the Elixir" would unravel, and everything they had set into motion would go to waste before they even reached the real fight.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.