Utopian System

"I saw them," Elio said without preamble, Ember perched atttively on his shoulder. "The mana deposits."

A stunned silce fell over the room. Luci was the first to recover, his frog croaking softly. "Are you sure? How did you see them?"

Elio proceeded to explain his asct, how he had used his swift to elevate himself a thousand meters into the air, and the view he had witnessed from there.

Sele listed with eyes shining with excitemt, her frog mirroring her thusiasm. "We have to see it for ourselves. I'll use my own swift and if they're really there..."

"It's not that simple," Elio interrupted, his expression grave. "I barely managed to reach that height. It's dangerous to attempt it without the next level..."

"You're right," Luci nodded, his brow furrowed. "We'd need to reach at least level 5 to attempt something like that safely."

Sele looked disappointed for a momt, but th her expression brighted. "Th teach me the corrosive attack, let's forget about those 3 months. If we can master that technique, overcoming the level will be very easy... That's what you said, right?"

Elio was about to respond wh a stridt sound filled the air.

The city alarm was resonating, but there was something strange about it. The sound was irregular, fluctuating in a way they had never heard before.

"What the hell...?" R muttered, his eyes wide op.

Without needing words, they all rushed towards the exit. In a matter of seconds, they were atop the wall, observing the sce unfolding before them.

The barrier protecting the city was flickering erratically, something they had never witnessed before.

Fortunately, the level and 3 summoners on duty were sweeping away the monsters, but the irregularity of the barrier had everyone on edge.

Their attacks of magic damage points for level and 8 for level 3 were tearing through the injured monsters with surprising ease.

Elio watched the sce with a mixture of pride and concern. "They're handling it well," he murmured, more to himself than to the others.

Luci nodded, his expression grave. "For now. But if this continues, their mana..."

He didn't need to finish the stce. Everyone understood the implications.

"This doesn't make sse," Luci said, his brow furrowed in conctration. "I've be constantly monitoring the mana levels. There's no deficit that could cause failures."

R, who had be observing in silce, suddly spoke up. "Maybe... maybe this isn't about mana at all."

Everyone turned to him. "What do you mean?" Elio asked.

"Well," R began, his mind working at full speed, "we've be operating under the assumption that all the city's problems are related to mana. But what if there are other factors at play? The Gesis book mtioned a 'population limit', remember?"

A tse silce fell over the group as they considered R's words.

"Are you suggesting we'll have problems before we've reached that limit?" Sele asked, her voice barely a whisper.

R nodded slowly. "It's a possibility. If the city has a maximum limit of inhabitants, and we're approaching it, it could explain these... malfunctions."

"But that's not what we were told," Micah argued. "Why would the population limit affect the barrier before reaching it?"

"Think about it," R responded. "Everything in this city was created by God, wasn't it? The walls, the houses, ev the barrier. But the mtion of the Goddess imposing rules... What if the limit is million and the other 0,000 is the tolerance?"

♢♢♢♢

More soldiers joined the defse, forming a solid line along the wall. The air filled with the sound of magical explosions and the shrieks of dying monsters.

For a momt, it seemed everything was under control.

But th, it happed.

The d of the city, devoured by the sea of monsters, flashed through everyone's mind.

"No!" Sele shouted, her voice drowned out by the sudd chaos.

The barrier turned off completely...

For half a second.

It was barely a blink, but it was ough. A line of fully healthy monsters broke through the gap, roaring with murderous fury.

The summoners, surprised by this new threat, reacted with a mixture of panic and determination. They unleashed their attacks in rapid succession, the air filled with flashes of light and explosions of magical ergy.

Elio held his breath, watching the sce with his heart in his throat. 'Will this be ough?' he wondered, doubt gnawing at his confidce.

He was ready to interve ev though he had no mana, and a him, the others also prepared themselves.

But to his relief, the summoners managed to contain the threat. The monsters, although more resistant than the previous ones, couldn't survive the conctrated magical bombardmt.

The barrier returned to its normal state right after turning off for half a second, shining with a constant intsity that seemed to mock the rect crisis.

Elio watched as the last monsters that had managed to pass were efficitly eliminated by the summoners. One after another, they fell under the rain of attacks, leaving dozs of cores on the parapet in their wake.

A collective sigh of relief ran through the group of leaders. However, concern didn't leave their faces. They had to check all areas of the wall to sure there were no injured or monsters that had sneaked into the city.

"This can't continue like this," Luci said, his voice lad with worry. "If the barrier keeps failing..."

"I know," Elio interrupted, his mind working at full speed. "We need to reinforce our defses. And fast... Micah, Luci, and Sele. I need you to make sure the line of defders stays alert. We can't let our guard down, ev if the barrier seems stable now."

He turned to Kriz and Brok. "I need you two to do something crucial for me."

"Anything, boss," Kriz responded, still without a trace of humor in his voice.

"I need you to exhort the population to support the army, especially retired soldiers and wom without childr," Elio explained. "And not just that. We need many more to rise to level 3. We're going to need many more defders if this gets worse."

Brok nodded solemnly. "Understood. Any specific message you want us to convey?"

Elio thought for a momt. "Tell them the truth. That the barrier is having problems, but that we have the strgth to defd ourselves if we work together. I don't want to cause panic, but they need to understand the gravity of the situation."

"Consider it done," Kriz said, exchanging a look with Brok before they both hurried to fulfill their mission.

"Luci, Sele," Elio added, his voice charged with authority. "Once you're done with that," he continued, his tone becoming more serious, "I'll teach you the corrosive attack. And not just that, I'll give you almost all the cores and mana I have."

Luci and Sele's eyes wided in surprise. "Elio, are you sure? It's better if Luci and I..." Sele said, her voice lad with concern.

Elio firmly shook his head. "Completely sure. I'll be the one at the forefront guiding the city. I won't be like Fathoran, I'll fulfill my duty and my promises. So you need to reach level 5 as soon as possible. Because once you do and can replace me..."

He paused, bracing himself for the reaction he knew would come.

"I'll ter the sea of monsters."