Darius Lamark stepped through the gaping maw in the face of the earth. He raised his hand and moments later a glowing orb of light stood above him. After a sign, the Lightorb flickered and now the light was only visible for himself.
Darius strained his hearing and heard light whispers somewhere in front of him. I am on the right way he thought, touching the small, shining green gem mounted in the middle of the round silvery pendant and activating the spell woven in the material. I hope it was worth the time to charge the diamond with air mana. A small sphere was erected to keep Darius from unfriendly eyes as he walked deeper into the gloomy cave. Stalagmites and stalactites gave the illusion of a giant jaw, trying to crush everybody stupid enough to walk inside.
Sneaking forward, the silence of the cave unnerved Darius. Soon he was able to hear a small cry for help in front of him. He increased his speed until he stood in front of a three-way junction.
Should I use another windstone for my illusion magic, or do I trust my luck? Darius asked himself. As a teacher at the academy of magic, he, of course, had the means to be wasteful, but sadly he only brought a few. No, I shouldn't risk it. Too much is at stake.
A minute later the spell matrix was drawn and another green gem was put in the middle of the mandala-like structure. The modification of a Detect Life spell was far harder than it seemed. Not only did he need to cast an ordinary Detect Life, but the construct needed command for the time difference. A combination of more than one school of magic took a much bigger mental strain on oneself. Luckily a soulstone was used, otherwise, it would have taken much of his soul strength, as he wasn't very proficient with an element as elusive as time.
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As soon as the gem hovered in the middle of his extended hand a small arrow pointed to the rightmost junction. Darius silently went that way and what felt like seconds later was met with a dreadful scene. Four bodies lay spread over a distance of maybe 15 meters. Damned, it got them too. I was afraid, it would end this way. We should stop giving out those risky missions. Agitated, he stroked his shivering hand through his shoulder-length white hair.
After Darius calmed down a bit, he knelt down next to the first corpse. Of course, he knew them, as he had followed the young adults for almost two weeks. Still warm, it can't be far from here!...But wait, there is too little blood. Darius leaped up, just to be thrown against the wall.
"Your small Invisibilty is ridiculous!" a gnarled voice said. Shaking his head, Darius tried to regain his mind.
As strong as this push was, his enchanted outfit kept him from more harm. Hastily he cast a Windsphere and upped the output of his Lightorb. "Those measly tricks won't help to keep your life" was heard, before a hand blew through his Windsphere and took him by the throat.
"Wha-" Darius tried to ask before soul-rending pain lashed through his very being. Seconds later Darius fell to his knees and tilted face-first into the dirt. "Not much longer" the tall dark shadow, which seemed to suck in the last glows out of Lamark's armor, spoke to no one in particular.