TBATE: The Seraphim Project.

Have you become much stronger, huh? - I thought and with one motion flipped him onto my back, understanding that he needed first aid as quickly as possible.

But before I could do this, suddenly a crash sounded that nearly knocked me off my feet. The cave we were in began collapsing. Keeping my balance, I looked at the remaining vines of the Elderwood Guardian. The vines that just a couple minutes ago had been green now took on a brownish hue and dried up, as if they'd been lying in the sun for months. A thought surfaced in my mind that the ancient forest's keeper himself had been the one maintaining the cave.

Frowning, I pressed Arthur's legs tighter so he wouldn't fall while I ran.

Covering my body with mana, I ran toward the boy with glasses. He was sitting with his hands on the floor, while Jasmine lay next to him. Noticing me, he frowned and shouted: «Run here faster!»

I didn't understand what he was planning, but in response I nodded to him - it wasn't like there were many options anyway.

Dodging and jumping over debris falling from the cave ceiling, I quickly reached the boy. He struck the ground with his hands, and suddenly an iron dome formed around us, protecting us from the rockfall.

The bespectacled boy, breathing heavily, closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall of the dome he'd created. The debris crashed against the iron surface with a roar, creating a peculiar sound. I laid Arthur on the ground and tapped the inner side of the dome with two fingers to check if it was really iron.

«Don't worry, it'll hold!» - the bespectacled boy said, catching his breath. Now that he was right in front of me, I could see him better. He was a boy with green eyes and short black hair falling over his forehead, wearing square-framed glasses. His clothes were torn in places - he wore a black shirt and matching black pants.

Under my attentive gaze, he suddenly grew nervous and asked: «S-something wrong?».

«No, everything's fine», - I shook my head. - «It's just we haven't met before...»

«O-oh I see, well... my name is Elijah Knight,» - he uncertainly extended his hand and asked: - «And you are?».

I shook his hand and answered: «Thunder!»

He, like everyone else who'd heard this name, made a stupid expression. Frowning, I exhaled and tapped the lightning symbol in the middle of my mask with a finger.

His eyes widened slightly as he said: «Aah, got it!» - when he realized this was an adventurer's alias.

Taking a short breath, I turned to Arthur and Jasmine who were still unconscious.

«We need to help the wounded,» I said, pulling one of my shirts from spatial ring and placing it under Arthur's head. This reminded me of something, as if I'd done it before... Turning my head, I saw Elijah had placed something under Jasmine too. Looking back at Arthur, I noticed everything below his left forearm was covered in ice. That hand wore a black leather glove... A glove with emerald-green crystals painfully familiar to me.

Miss Levin had given me similar ones when I left. Carefully plucking one crystal, I crushed it and directed a wave of green energy at Arthur.

«H-hey, what are you...» Elijah's words cut off mid-sentence when he saw the ice layer on Arthur's arm melt and the burns partially heal.

I took another crystal and tossed it to Elijah. «Do the same for Jasmine,» I ordered. He caught the crystal and examined it. «What is this?»

Leaning against the dome wall, I explained: «Magic crystals containing single-use emitter spells.»