Chapter 369: Knowledge Used From Books

The beasts followed—but not all of them made the jump cleanly. One slipped, scrambling for footing, giving her precious seconds.

Seconds which she used gratefully at that point.

She dove into the trees again, switching directions, doubling back once more, deliberately confusing their tracking.

And slowly—finally—the sounds behind her began to spread out.

It became less coordinated and less scattered.

She ran until her vision blurred and her lungs felt like they were on fire. Until she was very certain that they wouldn’t come after her again.

Then she ran a little more.

Only when she was sure—absolutely sure—that she could no longer hear them did she slow, bracing her hands against a tree as she gasped for breath.

Her whole body shook from the aftereffects of what she had just done, but she was alive. She checked her body for injuries and there were none. Her body ached, her legs ached, but she could bear it. There was nothing so obvious that would make Orion mad at her.

Well, if he did find out what she had done right now, he was going to be extremely mad at her and ask if she was okay for putting herself in danger. But she couldn’t just let the beasts destroy her teammates and their chance at achieving their dreams—especially when she knew what to do. And besides, it was Orion who had expanded her knowledge regarding this trick.

Once her breathing had leveled a bit, Sophia began her journey back to her teammates. They had little time to finish the task, after all.

---

Joren nearly bowled her over when she finally emerged from the trees.

He closed the distance between them and barely gave her time to breathe before he enveloped her in a hug.

Then he released her. "Are you insane?" he asked, shaking his head. "No, no. Of course you are. I know that."

Sophia laughed weakly. "Hi to you too."

"Are you hurt?" He pulled back, scanning her face, her arms, her legs, hands already checking for blood. "Sophia, I swear if you—"

"I’m fine," she said quickly. "Just tired. And maybe slightly frozen."

Bianca let out a breath she’d clearly been holding and leaned against a tree. "You’re officially banned from doing that again. I know you are our leader, but that was reckless. It was cool too, but also reckless."

"I couldn’t just watch as you guys fought them alone. And besides, we wouldn’t have had much chance if we did fight one," she replied.

Sophia noticed Holly was there now, and she stared at her. "So you just give people a heart attack and claim you were saving them?"

"I’m not a savior, but at least I did something with the little information I had," Sophia retorted.

Uther studied Sophia closely, eyes sharp. "How did you pull them all away? Those beasts are intelligent, and I don’t believe you tricked them with something simple."

"I can answer that," Miles informed him. "Let me just start by saying I’m glad Sophia is on our team."

"We were almost halfway here; I could hear the water flowing, but then all of a sudden, Sophia demanded I turn around. I’m not even going to lie, we almost had an argument right then and there, but she didn’t care. She was ready to walk back on her own, and I couldn’t have that. I thought maybe she was just going to get something she forgot. Or maybe she wanted to check if Holly was following us—but that wasn’t it," Miles told them.

He spoke fast because Sophia had also told him that they only had little time.

"She made us go back to Ethan, and thankfully, Genevieve was there. Sophia borrowed vials and some of the herbs I used on you guys." He gestured at Joren and the others who were injured.

"The herbs I understand, but what did you need vials for?" Bianca asked.

Joren’s eyes widened. "For the detour," he spoke up.

Sophia nodded as Miles continued. "I asked Sophia the same question—what do we need the vials for? And I found out a few minutes later when she stopped me at the same spot she had told me to turn around before."

Sophia took over from there. "The Tidebreakers, for some reason, like the smell of blackwater berries and bitter veil. The combination of both results in an awful smell. On its own, blackwater berries can be eaten, even though they have a sour taste. And I noticed that both were growing in the exact same place. I have no idea if it’s a coincidence, but it helped. I chewed both, mixed them up, and spat the mixture into the vial."

"That was what we perceived? What lured the Tidebreaker Korraths away?" Bianca asked her with wide eyes, and she nodded.

"But how did you know?" Uther asked her.

She smiled softly. "You are forgetting who my mate is."

"He told you?" Holly asked, suggesting that Sophia had cheated.

Sophia shook her head. "Not exactly. I mean, he did, but only after I found it written in some books. Before the test, I poured over every text regarding the beasts in Nirvana that I could get, and there was one where someone wrote about the Tidebreaker—and that the only way they escaped was with fruits that they never thought would even work."

Joren nodded. "I read the book. I don’t know how I forgot that part. I should have thought of it."

Uther nodded. "I read it too. Although the fruits weren’t explicitly stated, I should have been more curious." He sighed and gestured at Sophia. "And this just goes to show why you have to be the leader."

"I’m trying to understand," Holly spoke up. "If you claim you read it in a book, then where does Orion come into this?"

Sophia rolled her eyes. "Because the book didn’t exactly state which fruits, Uther just said that."

"Okay? So?" Holly asked.

"I asked Orion to tell me what fruits they were, and it turns out it was a plant and one fruit. But anyways, let’s focus on the test itself," Sophia said as she turned to Joren and the others. "Tell me, what did you guys notice from fighting the Tidebreakers?"