One heavy step after the other caused the earth beneath Reyna’s feet to tremble, though they weren’t hers...
The strange Treeman was walking towards her in a carefree stride, its long arms swinging back and forth like it was on a stroll.
The cracks across its skin kept on growing wider, they were spreading, the eerie green glow beneath intensified.
A part of the creature’s face dislodged, a jaw, full of pointy edges opened, to reveal the local’s intentions.
Somehow, for some reason, the remaining Treemen were keeping their distance, almost as if they were afraid of crossing paths with the strange variation.
Reyna’s body lit up like a bonfire, orange and red lights shone through her clothes as the runes that covered her from head to toes came to life, on her chest and back, down her legs, and over her arms to the tips of her fingers, little space was left where there wasn’t some part of her runes’ design.
Even her face wasn’t left untouched; particles poured out of all of them, that then gathered around her, faithfully awaiting their orders.
She raised her hand into the air, she became a beacon of light, the tip of her finger, where the particles soon began to gather, shone like a star.
“I don’t believe that a peak rank two attack is necessary for something like you... but here we are... consider yourself honoured.”
The heat the star gave off was enough to set fire to the Treemen that were observing from the outskirts, even the thick trees in the vicinity were finally affected.
The air around the star was trembling, creating an optical illusion, a stunning phenomenon, that could only be appreciated by Reyna herself, such a sight was wasted on these unintelligent lifeforms.
With an unwavering pace the Treeman approached her, unbothered by the heat of her spell, it continued walking without the slightest ounce of fear.
Reyna winced, she lowered her hand, now pointing forward at her opponent, and the star moved in the same arc, the force that was suspending it in the air disappeared, and the spell fell towards the earth.
The Treeman stopped in its tracks, its head tilted upwards, to face its imminent destruction...
The light consumed all, Reyna’s surroundings were replaced by the blinding radiance of her spell; all noise ceased as the star collided with the Treeman, there were no painfilled shrieks nor footsteps to be heard.
Even Reyna herself was forced to take a step back, as the resulting gale of the detonation blew against her.
She held her elbow in front of her eyes, to block both the wind as well as the bright light, then removed it again as the harsh gleam receded, leaving behind only a toasted statue and the formerly luscious land beneath that had been baked brown and black.
Reyna gasped, “To be able to remain in one piece, and to keep standing throughout it all... I have to admit, I underestimated you... but the same goes for you.” she exhaled, all the runes on her body dimmed down, until they vanished, as though they were never there in the first place.
The Treemen around her still stood frozen on the same spots, none of them resumed their approach, even with the strange one gone.
“Did that teach them some respect?” she scoffed while shaking her head, a short-lived smile crossed her lips before she focused back ahead of herself, to continue her pursuit of Frey.
Reyna walked past the chunk of wooden coal, glancing at it sideways, there was something protruding from the creature’s back, some kind of short object was stuck in it, but it was just as dark as the rest of its body, and she had more important things to focus on than inspecting each and every corner of this new variation.
She turned her back on the thing and moved on, but a shiver ran down her spine; she turned at break-neck speed and distanced herself from the single Treeman, as the burned parts were dropping off of its shaking body like dust.
The green glow beneath its skin returned with a terrifying roar from the local, the remaining black surfaces broke off, and revealed an unharmed body...
All the Treemen around her suddenly backed away, and Reyna could feel why... the aura that it was releasing, it was much stronger than before the star had hit it.
“Rank three.” she calmly appraised, unperturbed by the meaning of her words, rank three, a creature with strength like that could squash humans like bugs, turn castles and strongholds into rubble without any effort.
Such strength was the peak of what most of humanity’s mages would ever achieve, if at all... a being that Plamus, Hadrian and she herself had to gang up on to surmount the last time they encountered something similar, at least until Marquis Gomon intervened.
Reyna shot a glance behind her, Frey was using this chance to escape, if she didn’t give chase soon, she would almost definitely lose him, but going after him with this monstrosity on her back would be impossible... not to mention the risk of it killing her in one strike, should she be taken off guard while her back was turned towards it.
“What a headache.” she frowned, the Treeman’s bark cracked as it turned its head to look at her.
The protective layers all over its limbs crumbled, the Treeman became lighter, swifter, and sprinted at Reyna.
Her muscles tensed as all of the runes on her body lit aglow once more, she began producing fire particles and then precisely controlled each and every single one of them to perfection, not one was overlooked, a pillar of fire rose from beneath the Treeman’s feet that spanned up to the sky, but it simply charged through it.
“Immune to fire?” she cursed, but shook her head, “Impossible. But its armour is highly resistant.”
The earth shuddered with each of the creature’s steps, chills ran up and down Reyna’s body as the thing came closer.
She wasn’t experienced in using movement spells, up until now there was never a need to learn and employ any, if she did, capturing Frey would have been such a simple thing, but that fact was coming back to bite her, as she was now face to face with, and fighting close combat with a beast that was physically far out of her league!
Her spells were leaving nothing but small dents and burnt spots behind, at least until the Treeman shed that part of its skin.
It was just a step away from her, its fist whistled past her face as Reyna evaded one strike after the other, she could hear and see the air in its path crumble and break apart.
Each of its punches would send a shockwave into the distance, cutting through the fog, and massacring the Treemen all around that got in its path.
The longer the fight dragged on, the slower Reyna became, even the runes were starting to get dimmer, her movements more sluggish, she clenched her teeth, her mind was racing with endless possibilities, looking for a surefire way to escape her current predicament, but whatever path she imagined, they all arrived at the same conclusion...
She placed one of her hands around the base of her neck, feeling both her heart’s heightened pace, and the chain of the necklace she wore.
More and more pieces broke off of the Treeman, making it thinner by the minute, but it wasn’t getting weaker, getting more vulnerable; Reyna was fighting against time, not only because she was exhausting her resources... but also because the Treeman was still growing stronger!
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Its aura had passed the rank three mark some time ago, and yet it was still growing fiercer!
Who knew when it would stop, if at all.
Her chances were dwindling, the hesitation in her eyes gradually dispersed, ‘No way around it.’ she thought to herself while gripping the chain.
She let go of it, the Treeman threw another punch, they were devastatingly powerful, yet laughably predictable, if this thing wasn’t quite as durable, this fight could have ended long ago.
Alas, it had a defence to match its offense, but rather than striking Reyna, it was mostly decimating its fellow locals.
Its actual target was ducking and dodging out of its path, and soon ended up behind it.
Reyna was faced with a large back, thick green lines that were all but protruding from its body, and that strange object that was stuck between its shoulders.
Her eyes trailed along those green lines, that were flowing all across it like veins, and for some reason originated at the exact spot the object was located at.
She ignored the oddity and hastily placed both of her palms against the Treeman’s bark, the runes across her body flashed for a second, then all colour drained towards her hands, the design at the back of her hands intensified, her facial expressions contorted from sheer pain, but she pushed through that feeling.
Blood came running down her nose, her skin was growing much paler, her eyes turned hazy, and at the same time the Treeman’s body was expanding!
Another roar escaped the Treeman’s newly formed mouth, as its torso began to bloat, the green colour beneath its surface was being overshadowed by a thick orange, that continuously grew in size and density.
The pendant around her neck was squirming, vibrating, fighting against some invisible force.
The corners of Reyna’s lips curved upwards into a grin, “It sure has been a while!” a rush of emotions was overwhelming her as she felt herself flare up to the extreme.
As the Treeman’s body involuntarily morphed under Reyna’s control, looking like it was about to burst from the amount of energy she was pouring inside, the pendant was calming down again, its struggle was ending, but it did not win, it had resigned...
The air around Reyna burst into flames, unable to stand the pressure she was giving off.
The Treeman was no longer moving, it was ready to pop at the slightest of touch, and so it happened...
With a bang the inflated body of the monster burst apart, hundreds of red projectiles lashed out and shot into the crowd of locals around them.
Reyna was left standing alone at the centre of it all, unaffected by her spells, and unable to move due to the taxing effect of the runes that were drawn on her.
Her aura that had been ever so subtle was finally leaking out in full, not even the artefact she was wearing around her neck at all times could hide the secret she was guarding so carefully...
It was enough to put the opponent she had been facing to shame... a fully-fledged rank three mage.
That feeling of euphoria she felt upon unleashing her might vanished, instead a frown appeared, “Not a chance I can continue chasing the boy in this condition... Damn runes... Damn plane without fire... Damn mother...” she cursed, then fell to her knees.
The Treemen around her were dropping without a chance to even approach, much less try and attack.
She was breathing loudly while clasping her necklace, “Need to hide it again, before I leave too many clues behind.”
Her aura was flaring off drastically, before it returned to exuding the same old feeling of being rank two again.
Reyna was just a short distance from the ground, her hand reached forward, in front of her feet was the curious object that had been stuck inside of the Treeman.
She was trying to identify it, trying to rub the charred black off of it, and sure enough it came off very easily.
Just a cloth was enough to clean the surface and reveal a short and sharp-looking dagger.
It was unharmed... by a rank three spell...
Reyna stopped and stared at it for some time, she had never seen one herself, but knew immediately that this must have been an artefact that people dreamed of getting their hands on.
How much gold would someone pay to own an artefact equal in rank to her?
Thousands of coins?
No, certainly not.
It had to be many more than just that; if even a regular human could rival the top of humanity’s forces simply by owning it, then this thing was priceless.
“How could Aventia get their hands on such a thing? I backed him into a corner where he felt using it was his only way out... Could he have more...?” Reyna inhaled, but she shook her head, “Who am I kidding? But what if...” she swallowed the saliva that had built up in her mouth, forget striking it rich, with stuff like this she could possibly escape her greatest predicament...
“I must find you Frey... now more than ever.” she sighed, her feet refused to listen, leaving her unable to stand or walk away from here.
She was still safe for the meantime, as the residue of her spell was ravaging the swamp, but that wouldn’t last for too long either, not to mention that someone like Plamus or Kassan could just waltz through her spell, and she would be unable to retaliate.
“It's a shame, not only does the boy escape, but I also lose this opportunity to get rid of Hadrian. He is too unstable to be of any use anymore. Hm, perhaps he will get swept up in the chaos of our soon to arrive food shortage. I could instigate Plamus to kill him, or better yet, have one of the other rank threes do it and cause a falling out.”
“And then when Plamus is preoccupied...” another smile crept onto her face.
“Hah.” she scoffed, “I wonder if His Majesty ever expected things to end up as they did. But would he really sacrifice the sight of one of his loyal expedition leaders just to have a bunch of up-and-coming mages understand how it feels to fight for their survival? I don’t think investing into our future is worth that much, though the entire premise of this competition came seemingly out of nowhere... I am really curious about their true intentions.”
She forced herself to stand up, “I guess I need to improve my standings with Kassan, who better to ask such a question than him?”
... ...
“Hup!” Matilda exclaimed as her hammer smashed through the head of the shadowy creature that had been among those that were assaulting her party ever since they delved deeper into the Land of Fog.
Her weapon whizzed in and out, the smoke looking body it had parted ways, then started to reform back into its original state, they were built like regular humans, with two arms and legs, a head and a torso.
Matilda raised her hammer above her head, then pulled it straight down, “Kuh!”
The shadow was cut in two, it started to dissolve in the air, and her strike tore into the dead grass below.
There were deep bags underneath her eyes, a volley of arrows passed by her, and struck another incoming shadow-monster, Sarah, the twin wielding a sword and shield, then ran up to it to further cut it into pieces, ensuring that it got no time restore itself.
Spots of black had since appeared at several places on her neck and hands, that looked like symptoms of some sort of disease.
A loud thud caused their heads to turn, Tomalta the giant was standing hunched over, his fists buried in the dirt, “Ouch...” he grumbled, then shook out his hands to ease the pain.
There were a lot more of these black spots on his body than anyone else in the party.
Miser used his dagger to stab at one of these creatures, but none of his attacks were enough to stop the shadow from regenerating, until a white sheen outlined its body; Miser offered Agnes a court nod, then struck the monster again, this time finishing it off for good as the ice shattered into tiny pieces.
“Till! How are we looking?” Matilda shouted.
Till was reading through the book in his hands, the artefact he had placed inside was slowly revealing its ability, he glanced up at Agnes, who was watching over him and protecting him, then at Matilda, “This isn’t it!”
The fighting was soon wrapped up, this wave of shadow-creatures had also been fought off, but none of them looked happy about that fact, they were exhausted and tired, they all gathered around Till.
Agnes on the other hand looked mostly fine, she was the only one without any of these black spots.
“Isn’t there some kind of way to keep those things from approaching us? Surely you know a spell or another that could help...” Miser looked at Agnes, full of hope that these unnecessary fights could be avoided.
But Agnes shook her head, “I don’t know any spells like that. And as much as I hate to admit it, if I was able to overcome the final hurdle and figure out how to alter my spells, then I wouldn’t be a rank two mage anymore.”
“Alright! Nothing we can do about that, everyone take a moment to rest, I will guard us.” Matilda defused the brewing situation, then circled around the carriage.
The horses were very quiet, they looked and acted sickly and had more black spots on their skin than even Tomalta, they were affected the harshest out of everyone, Sinnah and Sarah went to care for them while Till pulled the decayed artefact back out of his book, he showed it to Agnes with a smile, “This thing can actually heal minor wounds! Could this artefact have belonged to the church?”
Agnes nodded at his explanation, “That could be the case. Though I am not sure what the church would be trying to look for in a godforsaken place like this.” she waved off that thought, “Try using it on yourself. Maybe it can help against the death particles you are afflicted with.” she reached out to his face, one of her fingers lightly pressing against one such affected spot.
Till blushed, his face grew red, “I-I’ll give it a try!” he stammered; the artefact activated, it looked like a cylindric tube made of sandstone, roughly as big as his hand, and was decorated with various lines of engravings.
The object glowed yellow for a moment, that glow spread across Till’s skin, it covered him whole, then returned back into the cylinder.
He inhaled deeply, a gentle warmth spread through his body; he looked to his hand, at the back of which was one of the black dots that had appeared on him, “I feel... I don’t know... refreshed? But I don’t think it helps with the spots.”
Till wanted to hand it over to Agnes, but she wasn’t even looking in his direction anymore, he leaned to the side, trying to look past her, at whatever had caught her eye.
Sinnah’s head flicked in the same direction, an arrow disappeared from her quiver and was ready to be shot from her bow in a flash, “Hold your fire!” Matilda shouted back at her.
Several silhouettes approached their carriage, but as they appeared from within the smoke, everyone relaxed a little bit.
“What a surprise! To think we would find other humans in this place!” a short man with a grey beard and hair in the lead of the group spoke, his hands were raised, as if to signal his surrender, “Careful on the release.” he spoke in Sinnah’s direction, “Don’t want to end up on a skewer just yet.”