82 Chapter 82 Stella Pov 3 (1/2)

The light was fading, and she started to get nervous. She had bonuses to see in the dark, but this was a magical fog. She couldn't see anything in it. The edge of the fog was only five or so feet from them, not quite two meters.

As they walked blindly forward, Joseph was muttering to himself, deep in thought. Normally it didn't bother her, but her nerves were frayed from the dangerous fog being so close. She had no way to fight magic!

”Stella?” he asked, turning to her.

”Ah, finally stopped muttering?” she asked back, immediately regretting her snapped response. It wasn't his fault the fog was so dangerous. Thankfully he didn't seem to notice.

”Yeah, I'm going to do something I think I can do, that will freak you out, ok?”

She blinked. What could he possibly be thinking now?

”What?”

”If I tell you, do you promise to let me do it?”

Stella thought about that seriously. The danger was all magical. She didn't have a problem killing something, but this was so far out of her league, she had no choice but to trust him.

”Better just do it,” she finally said in a small voice. She couldn't help but cringe inside and fell panic start to bloom when he handed her his heat stone.

He moved to the edge of the fog and breathed it in! She almost screamed. Fighting the panic that was boiling inside of her, she waited. There was nothing more she could do. The fog was so thick, barely any light made it from above. He fell to his knees and she had to fight her instinct to rush over to him.

Keeping an eye on their surroundings she tried to distract herself from what he was doing, by making sure nothing was sneaking up on them. As long as he was fighting against the magic of the fog, she had to keep away from it. There was no telling what would happen if she approached with the stones.

As soon as he climbed to his feet and turned to look at her, she rushed over to him. He seemed wobbly, as if he had been hit in the head, and she worried that he might have taken damage to his brain.

”Master Joseph, are you ok?”

He started to giggle and she immediately realized what had happened. All of her fear and worry evaporated, and she became mad.

”Never better, though, I think I may be drunk .”

”You're weird,” she said with a sigh. There was no reason to be mad when she couldn't take out her anger on anything.

”I think I may need a break,” he giggled, stumbling and breaking out in loud laughter.

”It had to be now, that you got drunk. It couldn't be when we were safe, but right before we get to the big scary evil,” she muttered under her breath.

”You're cute, even when you're mad. Did you know that?”

She sighed again. What other crazy drunken things would he say?

”It would be best if you stopped talking now.”

”Oh, ok. Should I do interpretive dance instead?”

Stella swung around, shocked. If he started dancing, and stumbled into the fog…!

”NO! SIT!”

He sat, surprisingly, and she blinked. As he sat there, he started playing with his mana, and she just shook her head. He was saying something, but she didn't catch what. Something in the fog had caught her attention. A form was moving, just out of sight.

”Hey Stella, watch this.” A line of flames streaked off into the fog, as far as she could see, burning off the fog instantly, and revealing the most terrifying things she had ever seen in her life. A winter wight. They were ghosts that with one touch would suck their souls out.

Jumping to her feet, with a scream of utter terror, she immediately tried to think of what she could do to escape with him.

”Huh, I wonder if it burns?” he mumbled, then it caught fire, and burned up in a bright green flash.

It was gone. The most horrifying thing she had ever seen, was destroyed in a moment of drunken magic. She turned to look at him, as he mumbled something about that was neat, and he made a funny face at her and laughed.

”Sorry, did you want to kill it? I'll let you take the others.”

Panic coursed through her. Of course there would be others!