Chapter 6: Outside

Asides from convincing them that they were not under any illusion wards, Asael had difficulty in explaining to them that the creatures they saw were not manually-controlled either.

First of all, it would be difficult for one person alone to produce a massive illusion. Second, even if a group of people did it, coordination in making one cohesive illusion was onerous. Do they think people would go to such lengths just to fool them?

However, this was all troublesome to explain especially as the boys were still recovering their fuzzy senses.

“You’ll understand once we get out of here,” Asael told them. “And don’t worry about those creatures, I placed a noise-cancellation ward and illusion ward here. The former prevents the sounds made inside the ward from making it outside and vice-versa. The latter makes outside creatures see nothing but an empty room here.”

Night had come and it was time for supper. After they had their meal, the older man made them do rehabilitation exercises to grow accustomed to their bodies.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Damian was woken up by Asael. Though his head was feeling light due to lack of sleep, he was instantly vigilant and conscious of his surroundings the moment his sleep was disturbed — his survival instincts kicking in.

The other two were already awoken before him.

The first thing Damian noticed was that there two more adults were also in the room: two men in their late twenties, wearing cloaks.

“We’re going to escape now,” Asael told them.

The boys were already briefed about the escape plan before they went to sleep, so they weren’t shocked about this development. Nonetheless, they couldn’t help but get agitated.

The plan was fairly simple: they had to reach outside the city walls and teleport to the place they have marked and prepared.

Due to the city’s anti-teleportation ward mechanism that encompasses everything within the city walls, they could not simply teleport outside. Anyone that tries to teleport from the outside to the inside the city, or from the inside to somewhere still within the walls or to the outside, they would be redirected to the teleportation hub located somewhere in the eastern outskirts of the city. That security system was backfiring on them now as the east was infested with a good number of magical beasts.

Hence, the plan was to go west where only a few beasts roam the outskirts.

It was best to getaway in the middle night where most beasts were inactive especially as the walls were a few miles from the outskirts.

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Asael put on his cloak and also provided one for each to Damian, Josef, and Leo. When they got out of the house, there were three horses readied outside. Each man took one kid into their horse.

Damian and Josef were taken by the new strangers who have not yet introduced themselves.

As the older men mounted their horse with the children in front of them, each casted a spell of force field around their respective horse. It became evident later what the spell was.

When they got on the move, Damian could only hear the surrounding noise of the night. He conjectured that each man placed a noise-cancellation ward that immediately silenced internally-produced sound, with respect to the barrier.

* * *

In just a few minutes, they were already out of the city — only the walls remaining. So far nothing has happened.

Asael was at the rear, while the man who carried Josef was at the front. He and the other young men have been using hand gestures for communication. They also had their wands ready by their hands.

They went through the woods in order to cover them from the moonlight and the eyes of active beasts. They were passing through it so smoothly and efficiently, implying that their route was already prepared beforehand.

Several questions popped up in Leo's mind as to how they were moving swiftly when he could barely even see what was ahead of him. He could feel his heart beating very fast.

Throughout the run,no one tried to talk (it was useless either way). They were all focused on remaining sharp and vigilant on their surroundings to react in unforeseen circumstances.

Reaction time and split-second responses were at the heart of their getaway plan. They all know too well the consequences if they fail to act accordingly to the threats they encounter.

They confronted a few nocturnal animals, which was inevitable from the start. The men immediately eliminated them by casting light beams that pierced through their heads before they could scream or react.

Each time they would shoot beams, they would get to see glimpses of their surroundings from the light of the spell.

Leo had opened his eyes wide, and barely blinked during the ride. He was frightened and amazed at the same time. It was a dangerous journey indeed, but he was also with capable people who could shoot at the creatures with pinpoint accuracy in this darkness. And most of all, the fact that they noticed them instantly was the most bewildering.

As they were almost out of the woods, the sound of a group of flying creatures were pursuing them. Some creatures have finally taken notice of their existence.

Asael, who was at the rear, quickly turned his upper body around and shot a blue ray of light which created a huge wall of ice. The younger man in front of Asael slowed down to let him catch up. The man then lifted Damian and transferred him behind Asael.

“Hold tight, boy,” the man said. By getting close to each other, their respective wards had interfered with one another.

Damian did as he was told and tightly embraced Asael.

After transferring the child, the man nodded and turned his horse the opposite way. In response, Asael made his horse run faster. As the man’s figure faded in the night, Damian held his tears and did not look back. But he could hear loud and high pitched squeals from the man's direction.

Finally, the five of them got out of the woods and the wall was merely a few meters away. They were, however, kilometers south from the West Gate. But that was no problem as some parts of the west wall have already been leveled to the ground.

Asael and the other man immediately waved their wands as they reached the walls. Behind them, several creatures roared and emerged from the woods. But by then, they already got past the walls and disappeared in sight.