His second uncle, Viscount Rickart, his sponsor and guardian for the past fifteen years had requested he make haste back to the castle of the Torum ducal territory.
With the urgency with which the letter was written, he surmised it was an emergency, one that required an Adept Mystikos.
Ikar barely had seven Adept mysteries in his cache. Something he wasn't proud of. While he should have mastered more, he had spent his time fine tuning and improving the ones he possessed.
He would have chosen to do the same anyways if given a second chance, the result of his modifications had spoken for themselves after all.
His pupils flashed bright silver for an instant, he closed the tome then spoke softly.
"Stop the caravan."
Markus Radav, Brute of the third mark and vice captain of the Barbed Lily mercenaries steered his mount towards his captain at the head of caravan.
After delivering the report of their journey progress to the powerful Mystikos on board, he was going to share his thoughts about the clash ahead to his captain when he heard the command as if whispered to his ear.
Jarce, Ultra of the second mark and captain of the Barbed Lily mercenaries signaled for the caravan to stop the moment he heard the command, only fools would dally.
"We have a guest."
Captain Jarce had no idea when the Mystikos appeared by his mount, but he was sure that wasn't the case a moment ago. Nodding his head in understanding, he unsheathed an obsidian sword, his full awareness focused to intercept any threat.
Seeing that the rest of the mercenaries adopted the same vigilant focus, Ikar nodded appreciatively. Capable guards were worth the weight in rune gold.
He had picked up a mission to protect this particular caravan to Deep's stronghold; it carried ores needed for the smelting of a particular item. And the pay was handsome, it was a good thing to know that the hired mercenaries were not useless.
Drawing down the thick hood obscuring his face, Ikar sported a head of dark shiny hair that reached his shoulders, his countenance was as pale as a corpse and as delicate as a baby's.
His light brown eyes shifted around the forest of colossal trees that was just beyond the road to the right of the long caravan.
Then he moved closer to the forest, stepping off the road. He stopped when he got five feet into the forest, his black robe flapping from eerie winds.
"Show yourself " he said, the wind carrying his voice further and further, echoing across a section of the sprawling forest of colossal trees.
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Brrrrrrmmm. A blinding Lance of pure light cleaved through trees, obliterating all in its paths. A last minute sidestep brought Adam out of harm's way, not that he needed it.
His journey through the forest had been quite dangerously eventful. Getting to fly skillfully with telekinesis while proved quite challenging to master and encounters with the local predators made practicing control over his abilities quite easy.
He'd almost died twice, his intrusion into a living tree territory was harrowing and he got whipped so hard that the experience taught him to both fly and hold a shield at the same time.
Another near death event was with a Mantis like humanoid, with scythes for arms and speed that almost couldn't be perceived with the naked eye. Fortunately, he had prior experience augmenting his nerves and muscles with telekinesis, enabling him to barely keep up with the barrage. He didn't obtain victory though and had to run.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Unfortunately, the Mantisman called for backup.
Over the course of seven hours, Adam was subjected to constant harassment. He could have subdued them if he increased the output on his telekinesis, but that would have put a lot of strain on his body and wouldn't allow him to learn and adapt. Dispatching them was easy after he adapted to using his abilities at crazy reaction time.
The rest of the fights he ran into were pretty tame with his heightened vigilance until he met a Seraphim.
According to the guide, Seraphims are a tough, fast and powerful race with each one of them able to wield light as a weapon. Not mentioning the fact that they towered fifteen feet tall for an average member of the race.
The Seraphim he was fighting could be considered above average in terms of strength and power output but nowhere near the speed of the Mantismen. He didn't bother using a sturdy telekinetic shield, but the one he was applying over his body was enough to deflect the heat waves from light beam attacks.
Frustrated at the slippery and filthy human before it, He'thu snapped his wings from their folds and rushed the human, a greatsword of solid light cleaving through his foe's path, the pressure from the strike crushed rocks and trees alike. Adam dodged again but he wasn't expecting the wings from the creature to slash into his path, a smirk on the Seraphim's face.
Applying a sturdy shield at the last moment, he was swatted a hundred meters, gouging out a light furrow on the forest floor.
He picked himself off from the group shakily, two ribs broken and his left leg fractured. Sighing, he directed telekinetic force to correct the bone positions and heal them using his body nutrients. He visibly shrunk in weight, it was almost unnoticeable save for his slightly gaunt cheeks.
The Seraphim wasn't going to let the wounded prey recover as it flew straight at him, a Lance of light leading it's charge.
Done holding back, Adam shaped his telekinesis into long pointed limbs, releasing more energy into them and compressing it at the same time. Although telekinesis was invisible to the naked eye, the Seraphim increased its charge speed, aware of the danger and sought to end it.
As if time had stopped, the Seraphim hung vertically mid air, its momentum gone as rivulets of golden ichor flower out of five big holes in its body. Three on its chest and two on its stomach. Then the suspended body dropped as Adam withdrew his ability. The body spasming with light fissures even in death.
An hour later, he found a caravan trailing along the wide road adjacent the forest from his high vantage point in the sky, humans on huge horses and a carriage that looked different from the rest. He felt relief at discovering other members of his species and trade supply chains always leads to civilisation, just like the silk road. Although this was no silk road. Unwilling to let the opportunity to interact with the natives pass by. He dove back to the forest. He would wait for them.
He didn't have to wait too long before the caravan was almost close to his location, as he prepared to step out, the caravan stopped and a man in dark robes stepped out of the shadows, talking with the man on horseback before stepping off the road. He glided closer to Adam's location in the forest, and stopped before the huge trees that marked the beginning of the forest.
"Show yourself" he said, the sound reverberating clearly across the forest floor, quieting critters and sending birds flying.
Adam marveled at the display but did as requested, he dropped the invisibility shroud he wrapped around himself. It was more of bending light around his body, effectively making himself invisible to the naked eye.
But it seems the figure was using more than the naked eye to see.
Plastering what he deemed as an harmless smile on his face, Adam raised his palm up to the sky in surrender, stepping out from behind the tree he was hidden.
"Hello there, I got lost traveling and in need of directions" Adam said in Rahh common, the most spoken language of the world, searching the figure's face for his expressions, it was blank.
The Mystikos incredulously thought of how the stranger could survive the forest, he discovered no trace of mystic energy on him, no life force channels as what the Brutes and Ultras practice, and his attire was both strange and very well made, the likes only Altrites highborns wear. The forest of colossal trees was dangerous, even he wouldn't dare thread it as he was. Strange things slumber within it and the common beasts are almost as intelligent as a normal human. It would be suicide to transverse it.
Except he's an author, he thought. Only authors don't have mystic energy and are still able to bend reality to their whims. He had only seen one at Rowell's institute and the author felt just like any other mundane human to his senses. Right now he felt the same thing.
No mere man can traverse these forests. The thought itself an impossibility.
After the stranger told him he wanted directions, Ikar offered that he could join the caravan. After all, their first destination was where the man named 'Adam' sought to go.
Of course, he got a promise from Adam, he would lend a hand when they get to 'Tumult' and also wouldn't abandon the group.
Not that there was anywhere he could run. Even for those capable of Hypersonic flight.