Zalroth, with Anthurium and Iris close behind him, ran through the forest, at a moderately fast speed. He abruptly stopped, causing Anthurium to stumble slightly as she stopped in her tracks and Iris crashed into the back of Anthurium's head. Iris tiredly climbed on top of Anthurium's head and lead down on her stomach.
Zalroth looked behind himself and up to the sky. Anthurium tried to look at the thing that got Zalroth's attention but didn't have enough energy to raise her head. Far off in the distance, Zalroth could see the pillars of light created by Zulcrestus; however, due to the distance, it appeared that the pillars of light were a single giant pillar. Zalroth smirked a little before looking downwards and spotted Anthurium laying on her back, with Iris laying face down on Anthurium's face.
Lola stopped fiddling with the puzzle box and noticed Anthurium and Iris on the floor. She created a magic circle. A light shower of ice magic particles started to come out of the magic circle and rained down onto Anthurium and Iris.
"Are you alright?". Zalroth crouched down next to Anthurium. She lifted Iris, by the black collar of her white dress, off her mouth.
"Ye-ah, just need to catch our breath," Anthurium explained. Iris let out a fed up groan.
"Why'd it get so hot all of a sudden?". Iris continued to exhaustively complain. Zalroth quickly sighed.
"Would you like me to carry you?". Iris nodded and Anthurium murmured something along the lines of a yes. Lola stopped her ice spell as Zalroth picked Iris up and placed her on Lola's head. He quickly picked Anthurium up in his arms and turned in the direction of the wagons. Lola nervously tugged on Zalroth's shoulder while looking backwards.
"Yeah, I know, fluffkins.". Zalroth drew his right leg back. Zalroth and Iris glowed a faint blue while Lola and Anthurium glowed a faint red. Anthurium tried to ask what he was up to. But due to her exhaustion, she was unable to keep her eyes open and passed out.
"Hold on tight.". Iris opened her right eye, in response to Zalroth's warning, right as Zalroth instantly sprinted at high speed. Iris panicked and fully opened both her eyes. She frantically tried to grab onto something but realised she wasn't moving at all. She confusedly looked around. Iris slowly crawled forwards and leaned over Lola's face, causing Lola to look up at her.
"What's going on?" Iris asked.
"I don't know... I just heard something scary." Lola replied.
"O...oh, how ominous.".
While he was running, Zalroth glanced behind himself before making the spot below his foot glow a bright blue. He launched himself into the air, right before a bolt of energy struck the spot he jumped from and exploded. Zalroth continued to evade the barrage of energy attacks by launching himself, with his magnetism magic, from tree to tree.
He spotted an opening in the volley of energy balls. He quickly created a fireball next to his foot and launched it by kicking it. The fireball transformed into an arrow and darted through the gap in the volley of energy attacks. The fire arrow disappeared inbetween the trees, followed by the sound of the fire arrow colliding with a magic barrier.
The barrage of energy attacks suddenly stopped and Zalroth proceeded to hop down to the ground. The group, aside from the resting Anthurium, looked in the rough area the energy attacks originated from.
"Did you get it?" Lola asked while her ears rapidly twitched, as she tried to listen for whatever attacked them. Iris pretended to be angry and playfully patted Lola on her forehead.
"Don't say that, you're gonna-".
Suddenly, a giant cross-shaped windblade sliced through the trees and made a beeline for the group. Zalroth started to create a magic barrier to block the attack. The windblade collided with the magic barrier and created a shockwave; mini wind blades splitted off from the cross windblade and ricocheted into the surrounding terrain, and sliced trees into pieces. The magic barrier started to crack, due to it not being fully formed, and Zalroth channelled mana into the magic barrier to stop it from shattering. The barrier and the cross windblade shattered simultaneously causing Zalroth to be knocked back slightly, roughly five centimetres. Zalroth regained his balance and clicked his neck. The group looked at the cluster of sliced trees and where the cross windblade originated from. Iris ducked behind Lola's head when she spotted something moving in the forest.
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A pair of beady yellow eyes stared Zalroth down as the creature they belonged to emerged from the shadows. As it came out from the shadows, Lola recognised what the creature was. The creature was a large dark green-furred boar, roughly triple the size of Zalroth, with two super large glowing lime tusks.
"Papa, it's a whirlwind boar.". Lola looked up at Zalroth. He looked down at her and gestured to her that it'll be fine. The boar slammed its front hooves into the ground as its tusks glowed even brighter. Zalroth wasn't sure what the boar was doing but given Lola's and Iris' expressions, he knew he should be on guard. The boar dug its front right hoove into the ground before charging at Zalroth, as wind magic started to shroud its body. Zalroth casted a speed boost spell on himself and raced off in the opposite direction of the boar, as it chaced after him.
Zalroth ran as quickly as he could and manoeuvred around the trees in front of him. Zalroth jumped over a cluster of fallen trees before continuing to run. Lola and Iris looked back and watched the boar smash right through the fallen trees.
"Hurry, it's gaining on us!" Iris panically yelled while lightly striking Zalroth on the head multiple times. Zalroth playfully rolled his eyes while slightly smirking.
"I'm kinda busy at the moment," Zalroth mentioned. Iris scratched her head and got an idea. Iris waved her hands in front of Lola and got her attention. She whispered something into her ear and Lola excitedly nodded her head in response. Iris created an orange magic circle, while Lola copied the magic circle but with ice magic. The two of them casted their spells at the same time. Walls of stone and ice emerged from the ground, between the group and the boar.
The boar smashed through the walls, as the two continued to create more walls. Zalroth could sense that the distance between himself and the boar was increasing. He took this chance to create multiple fireballs encased in lightning magic. Lola and Iris noticed Zalroth was preparing an attack and dispelled their magic circles. Zalroth jumped in the air, spun around and helicopter kicked the air; the fireballs moved in tandem with his foot and were launched at high speed toward the boar. The boar smashed through the last ice wall and was instantly struck by Zalroth's electro fireballs.
The electro fireballs exploded apon making contact with the boar. The resulting explosion completely destroyed the remaining parts of the ice wall and a little bit of the area around the boar, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
While Zalroth was still in the air, the boar charged out of the dust cloud, at an even faster speed. Iris and Lola tried to create another magic circle but realised they didn't have enough mana left, signified by the magic circles they created flickering before disappearing. Zalroth was about to create a magic barrier but sensed something behind him, which caused him to smirk.
Zalroth ordered the others to cover their eyes before creating a small magic barrier underneath his feet. Lola and Iris covered their eyes as Zalroth backflipped off the magic barrier and two white magic arrows raced past him. The light arrows exploded in a blinding light that disoriented the boar and caused it to trip over. Zalroth landed on the ground and hurried off before the boar could get back up.
Sophia, standing on top of the wagon, lowered her bow and the magic circle over her left eye disappeared. Zalroth emerged from the trees and jumped up on top of the wagon, from the slightly elevated hill. The glow from Zalroth's magnetism magic faded.
"Lola, could you take them into the wagon.". Lola, with Iris still on her head, nodded her head, causing Iris to hold onto her hair tightly, and hopped off his back. She raised her arms and Zalroth lowered Anthurium onto her hands. Lola carried Anthurium, with Iris sort of helping, over her head and wobbled her way to the front of the wagon and hopped down. Zalroth heard her enter the wagon and looked into the forest as the sound of crunching trees drew closer.
"Why can't you go five minutes without getting into trouble?" Sophia rhetorically asked. Zalroth playfully shrugged his shoulders.
"Aren't you exaggerating, just a bit?'". Sophia rolled her eyes as she recasted the magic circle over her left eye and created three green coloured magic arrows. The two braced themselves as the boar raced out from the forest. The boar leapt into the air and tried to belly flop onto the wagon.
Zalroth created a magic barrier and used it to catch the boar. Zalroth bent his knees and arms under the weight of the boar. The boar tried to wiggle its way off the barrier and its movement caused Zalroth to fall onto one knee, while slightly sweating. Sophia leaned down and looked at Zalroth.
"Having a little trouble there?". Zalroth activated a strength boost spell and managed to get back on his feet.
"Of course not... just underestimated how heavy it was.". Zalroth lowered his right arm and created a green magic circle. Zalroth clenched his left fist and punched the magic barrier. The barrier glowed brightly and exploded. The explosion launched the boar a few centimetres into the air. Zalroth pointed his right arm at the boar before firing an air cannon. The boar was sent flying high into the sky by the air cannon. Sophia aimed her bow at the boar before firing the three green magic arrows. The three arrows bursted and combined into a giant tornado.
The tornado crashed into the boar and, in a matter of seconds, it was launched hundreds of meters into the sky. Zalroth and Sophia watched the boar soar through the sky and far off into the distance. The two of them awkwardly looked at each other.
"It'll be ok, right?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah, I mean I hit it pretty hard earlier; so, it'll be fine... probably...". Sophia didn't seem fully convinced as her bow changed into a bracelet and wrapped around her left wrist.