The Sentinel''s orbs, carried by w-like structures on the end of its arms, slowly lit up before suddenly unleashing four beams of pure energy of heat and red light. The four beams converged at the surface of Zach''s lens, where they seemingly disappeared.


    The four beams that were as thick as mediocre legs on one side of the lens transformed into a single beam the thickness of a wrist on the other side.


    With a tremor and an ominous hum, theser sshed into the swamp, quickly raising a cloud of steam that obstructed the view for Zach and the others until the heat drove even the steam away.


    It didn''t take long for the water in the area directly around theser''s strike zone to evaporate and leave nothing but a desert-like ground behind. And it didn''t take long for theser to begin piercing through the ground.


    Slowly, theser melted and blew away the soil with incredible heat and force. Theser dug into the ground like it was an eternal enemy that had finally be weak enough to sumb.


    Zach''s grin only widened as the heat escaped the protective barrier and made them sweat. But only for a moment. The heat and light theser produced chased away the sweat as well, leaving the three students almost as dry as the ground beneath them.


    Dukiel''s and Julius'' jaws almost hung to the ground. If the air hadn''t made their lips and skin dry up, they might have been smooth and stic enough to reach the ground. As the air became difficult to breathe, they closed their mouths.


    Dukiel continued looking at his Sentinel in awe. He knew his familiar was powerful. But he had never managed to help it unleash such concentrated destruction. He nced at Zach, filled with mixed feelings of gratitude, admiration, and envy.


    Julius nced around. He had realized something else.


    Wouldn''t the forest catch on fire at this rate?


    The residual heat was enough to dry out the ground even outside twoyers of barriers, and the leaves on the trees and bushes were quickly turning crispy. If it extended further or grew hotter, wouldn''t things start burning soon?


    Julius considered asking Zach or Dukiel to ask the Sentinel to stop for a moment. But theser was loud.


    He hadn''t even noticed it since it wasn''t noisy. It just filled the air with tremors and vibrations that made it difficult to hear anything.


    Julius couldn''t contain his worry. But before he could tap either of his two friends, the Sentinel cut thesers of its own volition with a hissing sound. It looked like steam or smoke was rising from the orbs, but that could have been a mirage due to the smokeing from the hole the Sentinel had dug.


    The Sentinel retracted itssers and hovered in ce, its surface visibly hot. It waited for a few moments while it rapidly cooled down before flying over to Sentinel.


    The others couldn''t tell, but Dukiel could. The Sentinel was excited and happy at having unleashed such a powerfulser, even if it was with the help of someone else.


    Zach was curious about the hole and was about to approach despite the heat when he stumbled.


    He quickly caught himself and rested his hands on his knees as he had to take several deep breaths. The barrier lens had shattered right after the Sentinel stopped sting it withsers.


    Since the Sentinel was done, Zach figured it was fine to stop focusing on keeping it whole. It had been a slight misjudgment.


    Zach''s chest felt ufortable, but after taking a minute or two to gather himself, he stood up.


    Although theser had only been a wrist thick, it hadn''t been concentrated enough that it only burned through the ground with the same circumference. It would be a tight fit, but the whole was wide enough for them.


    Zach gave Yanael an apologetic look. Her dress wouldn''te out on the other side untouched. Fortunately, Yanael didn''t seem to mind. Or she was too busy staring down the hole to care about Zach''s look.


    Yanael had a serious expression.


    Zach wanted to ask her about it. But Dukiel and Julius were right behind him. And the hem of his pants was on fire.


    "Ah! Shit, shit shit." Zach hopped around while taking off his pants and stomping out the fire on them.


    Dukiel and Julius looked at his heart print boxers and then at him with judgmental eyes.


    "Do you and Jarron shop at the same ce or what?" Julius asked mockingly.


    "Not as far as I know, no. But you shouldn''t underestimate howfy these are. It''s like being held by and caressed by clouds—"


    "I''m going to stop you right there, Zach. How does it look?" Dukiel held up a hand and interrupted Zach since he was entering the territory of too much information. He nodded toward the hole that the Sentinel had burrowed.


    "It''s deep."


    "Is it deep enough?"


    Zach shrugged.


    "It''s too dark to see well. It''s also too hot to investigate, so let''s take a break for the night and eat something. I''m famished."


    "Saying you''re famished with those boxers…—"


    "That incident is in the past, Julius. We live in the present. Get over it. Besides, what was I supposed to do when my pants were on fire?"


    Julius shrugged.


    "Dunno, man. To me, it looks like you''re presently exposing your underwear for the world to see."


    "Nonsense."


    Zach ignored Julius and picked up his pants. They were a little singed at the bottom and a little dirty from the stomping but still perfectly useable. He put them on while the others prepared food. They didn''t have to try hard to get a fire started.


    While they ate, they kept ncing over at the hole as if they were expecting something to creep up from it. But nothing did. It was anticlimactically boring.


    It was also still hot when they had finished eating, so they decided to wait until the morning.