After saying those words, Theo closed his eyes to calm his heart. He gently released her wrist and turned around. "I don't have time to play along with all your charade, especially in a mission that is close to impossible."
Alea's hand was shaking as she looked down and closed her eyes.
Ellen let out a long sigh. Although there might be another way to say it, she believed it was necessary to stop Alea. After all, she indeed needed someone to stop her thoughtless remark.
Laust and Sihan looked away as they didn't want to disturb their problem.
However, Alea had once said that she wanted Theo to be someone to stop her if she became unreasonable. And this might be the right time.
This could only happen because Theo didn't see her as someone special that he needed to respect at all times.
He might want to hide his identity, so not many knew him, especially the Lange Family, and died before he could reach his goal, but he was someone who would step up if necessary.
Phyrill returned to the group and met the heavy atmosphere. He had no idea what kind of things would lead them to this kind of atmosphere.
In the end, he walked to Theo and told them it was fine to use this spot to rest before going to another place to rest for the night.
He understood and Theo asked them to rest since going with a disturbed mind would be dangerous. They would make one mistake after another and it would be bad if it continued, destroying their coordination.
Hence, Theo chose to let them cool their heads for a day and focused on leveling tomorrow.
Although he didn't tell the group of his train of thoughts, they got the gist of his intention and didn't complain.
After resting for two hours, they moved to another spot that Phyrill deemed to be safe.
It was flat ground on a gentle hill. The place was surrounded by trees but not that dense, allowing them to see their surroundings easily.
Due to their conflict earlier, Alea had yet to open her mouth the whole time. And since Sihan and Ellen were in charge of the cooking, Phyrill and Laust took care of finding herbs and some vegetables to accompany their dinner. Of course, Ellen lent Phyrill her cooking glasses to discern the plants from poisonous ones.
Theo was in charge of procuring water from the nearby water source while Alea set up the tents.
After dinner, Ellen asked whether Alea wanted to change position with her, but the latter refused, saying they would be fine.
Since their shift would be the first, Theo decided to sit on the ground alone, wanting to cool his head to think about the next course.
Suddenly, Alea walked and sat next to him. The atmosphere was filled with silence.
Before Theo left the awkward situation, Alea opened her mouth. "Theo…"
Theo didn't answer her, but his eyes shifted to her as if telling she got his attention.
"I apologize for my action earlier and would like to thank you for stopping me earlier." She looked into his eyes with a serious expression to tell him she wasn't joking or made light of the situation.
Theo didn't say anything, but he looked back at her.
"I once told you that I want someone to stop me, but to think it would be that hard to swallow. I'd realized how much others had pampered me due to my status." Alea sighed. "That's why I won't mention the mammoth anymore… Can you tell me what we're gonna do next?"
Theo looked at her for a minute before opening his mouth.
"Back in the previous fight, my power was still too useless to even distract it, but the mammoth noticed my commanding ability. I need to do something about my power to have the mammoth notice me not only for that but because he felt danger from me. Only at that time could the mammoth start fighting me seriously.
"Phyrill and Laust had done a good job there, but their strength is still lacking. Only due to Sihan could they cut the mammoth's tail. Even if they couldn't injure the mammoth, as long as they could slightly move the mammoth and make it lose its balance, it's good enough.
"The same applies to Sihan. No matter what, he is our Guardian, the one who needs to be the center of attention, so the others can freely hit the enemy. That's why if he can't shine, the team coordination won't work.
"Ellen's Ice Skills were good and I can see it was effective in distracting the mammoth. However, I can say our group is like a five-man team because the enemy can simply remember Ellen is there and they will be able to fend any attacks from her. I practically liked the time she appeared between the fire lizard and me before she attacked Laust and saved me. It was unpredictable.
"And as you said, if you hit the mammoth a few times at the same spot, he would start bleeding, but there is a limit to how many we can hit him. After all, the mammoth wouldn't take all the hits forever. You need to get another power up… Now that I think about it, the skill you received… Can it be combined with other skills?"
Alea dropped her jaw and the others looked at him with a shocked expression.
'When everyone is still thinking about calming their heart down, he has started reviewing the fight and what they should do to improve?'
At this moment, Alea felt embarrassed and mad at herself, realizing her immaturity. She raised her head, looked at the dark sky with a sad expression, and said, "Ha…Ha… Compared to you, I have been too immature. Ah, I'm embarrassed and hate myself…"
She looked at Theo with a big smile to the point her eyes closed. This smile was different from any other smiles she had shown so far. Her smile was like that of a refined and relieved smile who just got over something big.
Theo was stunned by her change as her sweet voice rang in his ears. "Thank you, Theo."
Ellen closed her eyes, thinking the guy she had been mentoring about magic and other things had become a better person than her and now taught her. Laust and Phyrill, who got the same type of skills from Radvils, looked at each other.
As for Sihan, he had been clenching his fists the whole time and his nails would have penetrated his skin had he not controlled his strength.