655 Survivors' Resolve
"There are only 56 gold vials remaining, which would last all eight of us for seven months, and three platinum vials, supposed to last at most three months each, up to one year and four months if we used them consecutively. However, if we utilize them sparingly, it isn't hard for us to stretch it up to two and a half years, or even three years if we want to stretch," Leif responded.
The depletion of each vial depends on how many times they had activated it to use the Vylkr energy within it.
However, it isn't wrong to say that due to the constant attack of the Vylkr vines, as long as they have fixed the vial into their Devourer's bracelet, it will always be activated.
So, to save the number of vials they had, they would need to cut down their usage, and that also meant making some sacrifices, which he was sure nobody present wanted to make.
Suddenly, the river below them moved, and about six figures—
four men and two women—jumped out of the water and landed in the boat.
"Make that 55 gold vials; I just utilized my last one," one of the men said. He opened up a small compartment in the thick bracelet on his right hand and brought out a small intricately structured gold cylinder, throwing it towards Leif.
Leif immediately caught it and shook it slightly close to his ears. He then proceeded to open the golden lid on the tip and sighed when he saw that nothing was inside. "Did you finish them off?' Leif asked, his eyes fixed on Ronan, who had finished drying his body and was helping his partner, who seemed like she had been injured, to dry off.
Ronan shook his head in response, "Unfortunately, there were too many of them, so we had to retreat when the vial had finished," Ronan responded.
"We lost three boats in the process," he added with a heavy, tired breath escaping his lips.
After hearing that Ronan couldn't properly handle the two-star Vylkr vines on their side of the mission, Leif exhaled deeply as he shifted his attention towards Isadora and Lyndon.
"Princess Isadora, Prince Lyndon, we now have one year and three months. However, if we utilize them sparingly, we should be able to last for at least two years and four months, and a couple of more months if we manage to stretch it," Leif said.
When Leif finished speaking, a heavy silence settled in the air.
No one present was stupid enough not to understand the meaning of his words.
"Tch! I will go and check if the Patriarch is awake. We'll need him to give us the coordinates of where the Village is located," Lyndon said.
He immediately walked into the boat without waiting for their response.
Isadora sighed deeply before a smile slowly emerged on her lips, "I'll go check on the Patriarch, too. But before I leave, I would love to thank everyone for their hard work, once again," Isadora said as she bowed down towards the gods' chosen before her.
"Don't worry about it, Princess."
"We will keep on fighting until we reach our destination."
"Yes, we would rather fight than sit idle and do nothing."
The last remaining units of their runaway city all spoke individually with determination or confidence in their voices.
Though they weren't the top or best units that their runaway city had to offer, it was precisely because of this that she felt incredibly grateful and happy that these were the kind of individuals they could depend on in times like this.
"Alright, I understand your enthusiasm, but you all should get some rest and fill your stomachs in the meantime. Eat as much as you can so we won't have any more problems during the next attack," Isadora said with a smile.
She watched as the group nodded their heads one by one seriously before they leapt into the sky and landed on the smaller boats beside the larger boats.
After all of them had left, only Leif remained.
Isadora nodded at him before entering the boat to meet with her father. After all, he had mentioned that there was only one day left before they arrived at the Village.
Also, she could only cling to the hope that their pursuers had genuinely lost track of them.
…....…..
Later that day
The Village
"Come on, guys, don't you all want to become stronger?" Orion urged the Village warriors before him.
They were seated on the scorching ground within the First Border City training ground.
After teaching the Crystalforge warriors how to control and utilize the Celestial energy, which they had learned quickly within a week, thanks to their status as Aerialia's apostles, Orion recognized that their strength had reached an astonishing level. They could now handle swarms of two-star Vylkr vines on their own. However, Orion sensed that the Crystalforge warriors couldn't push beyond that limit.
Of course, this realization dawned upon him after Aerialia, who always observed their training and battles, shared the information. Curious about further enhancing their strengths, Orion asked if there were other methods they could explore.
Aerialia explained the possibility of using powerful artefacts or external means to do so, but she kept the details vague for unknown reasons. He had quickly seen through it and understood that it was merely because of pettiness.
Unfortunately, the artefacts they had recovered from the mountain were only pseudo-lower-ranked-artefacts, offering negligible effects at best. While Orion did discover some valuable artefacts in the mountains, now under his control, he had already distributed them among his wives, a select group of Crystalforge warriors, and the Village warriors.
In addition, he shared with the Village Chief the revelation that drinking from the divine lake could temporarily allow even those who hadn't unlocked their full potential to harness the Vylkr warrior state.
But, to his surprise, the Village Chief simply smiled and disclosed that this was a well-guarded secret known only to each Village Chief and the Stronghold Leaders, a piece of knowledge kept from even the other key figures.
Orion couldn't help but feel a pang of ignorance as the Village Chief could effortlessly go to the edge of the farm for treatment, which made it abundantly clear that he was already aware of this secret.
Regardless, during this exchange, the Village Chief revealed his retirement plans and shared a surprising piece of information with him.
