Cal stopped walking and turned back to the group. “We are approaching the border of the abyss,” he said. “Be ready for a fight, the shades are more concentrated around here.”
He started walking again. On the way they encountered another regular adult shade that took the form of a monkey. It had some sort of speed enhancement ability. They had caught it in a bad position as it could not effectively use that ability inside the tunnels. It was quickly taken care of by a knight of the wind aspect, named Eric, who seemed to have similar strength as Rish and Ava. He could make wind walls that he used to bash it in. Later Cal learned from the sergeant that all three were peak Rank 4 individuals. The same rank as Cal.
They took another break after that fight in a cavern like the first one. Now, they were finally approaching the end of the deep mines after two days of travel.
“Will we find any shadows there, Cal?” Sergeant Ved asked.
“We might. They generally don’t get out of the abyss, but some might linger around the border.”
“These shadows, how are they born? From what I read, it’s said that one of the methods of their births is the evolution of a shade, but that shouldn’t be the only one, am I right?”
“You are right sir. Though I don’t know how. If the evolution of a shade was the only way, then there shouldn’t be that many shadows in the abyss.”
“I heard you fought one before. Was it hard?” he asked.
“The one I fought had most likely just evolved and did not have a good grasp of its abilities. It was at the upper layers of the mine. A shade had managed to sneak in and hide near a mined flamestone pile. It quickly consumed all the flamestones when no one was looking and evolved into a shadow.”
Sergeant Ved interrupted Cal and asked, “No one noticed an adult shade?”
“It had a rare invisibility ability,” Cal explained and continued, “By the time people noticed it, it had already evolved into a shadow and killed twenty mining slaves. The guards sent all the nearby enforcers to look for it. I was the unlucky enforcer to find it. I broke four ribs that day and had to walk with a limp for a month—”
“But you won,” Sergeant Ved said.
“—but I won,” he finished.
“How strong was it compared to an adult shade?” Sergeant Ved asked.
“Stronger. A lot stronger. An adult shade would be a plaything for a shadow. Speed, strength, intelligence, regeneration, it trumps an adult shade in all those criteria. Additionally, it’s not as bulky as an adult shade. Their bodies are just like humans—if humans were made of pure darkness. A shade can still be noticed in the dark due to its eyes or movement, but a shadow does not have that weakness. It blends in the dark and becomes a part of it,” Cal said.
“How does it see without any eyes?”
“I don’t know, but I suspect it has some sort of dark sense. The one I killed had a hard time locating me since it wasn’t that dark there, but the ones I encountered in the abyss did not have this issue. It was impossible to hide from them. I had to run anytime I saw one in the abyss. However, that’s not the end of its powers. Its most scary strength is its strong dark manipulation ability. It can make any weapon it wants out of darkness, and it can materialize that weapon anywhere it wants as long as there is no light around that area. In the abyss, it’s like the whole environment is trying to kill you.”
“So, if we can illuminate our surroundings, we won’t have to deal with that ability?” Sergeant Ved asked.
“Yes sir. But it can still create weapons on its body or hands.”
“That’s fine. I will be happy enough if we manage to stop it from stabbing us from behind. Her excellency can light up our surroundings.”
They stopped their conversation when they arrived at another cavern.
“We are here. The tunnels ahead are part of the abyss,” Cal said.
This deep into the mines, there were no flamestone lamps on the walls. It would be pointless as they would be consumed by the environment in a couple of hours. They had been using torches to light their way for the past seven hours. They had to light them constantly as the deep mines kept snuffing them out.
“When we step into the cavern all the torches will stop burning. The strength of the supernatural phenomenon is much stronger in the abyss. We can only use our own mana to light the way,” Cal explained.
Sergeant Ved nodded and looked at the High Priestess.
The High Priestess also noticed his stare and said, “Bring it out.”
Sergeant Ved didn’t say anything else and took out the tall box from his back and opened it. He placed the box in front of her and took a step back.
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Cal watched as she took out a beautiful red staff with a white gem from the box. The mood turned very serious as everyone cautiously looked at the staff. Cal wondered what she was going to do when she closed her eyes and stood there for a moment.
When she opened them again there was a white halo around the edges of her blue irises that gave off a soft light. If Cal looked closely at her eyes, then he would have noticed that it was actually a tiny ring of magical runes.
The High Priestess gently taped the end of the staff on the floor. Almost instantly the whole place lit up. Cal could see about fifty meters around him. The light didn’t have a source. It seemed like it was coming from the wall, but he knew that was impossible. His respect for the High Priestess increased after the feat. If he had that staff, then his previous excursions in the abyss would have gone much smoother. But he knew there had to be a catch since everyone was looking at it with fear and caution.
Cal took his eyes off the staff and surveyed his surroundings. Behind them, at the edge where the light was slowly fading away to give way to the dark, he saw an adolescent shade looking around in surprise. It must have been confused by the tunnel suddenly lighting up.
There was something in its hands. It noticed their group and instead of coming forward to fight them, it ran away back into the dark. Cal raised his wariness. He felt a sense of déjà vu. ‘It might still follow us to prepare an ambush later, not like it will go like the last time,’ he thought.
He was, however, shoved out of any further thoughts when he heard loud roars from ahead. He turned back and saw that there were five adult shades in the cavern. They entered the lit-up area and were all giving them ferocious stares. There were also many young and adolescent shades beside them. Cal knew this would be a tough fight for the knights. But he wouldn't fight unless he was given the explicit order.
The High Priestess watched the shades with a peaceful expression. It looked like she was about to do something when Sergeant Ved stopped her.
“Do not turn on the barrier yet, your excellency. We must save it for the stronger enemies. I will take care of these small fries.”
The High Priestess stopped what she was doing and nodded at him.
Sergeant Ved walked up and stood in front of everyone else. He was directly facing the charge of the shades. Yet, he just stood there and waited. He didn’t have any visible weapon on his body. Cal thought the wooden box he carried had his weapon, but he was proven wrong a minute ago.
The sergeant finally moved when the nearest shade got within a few meters of him. He raised his left foot and stomped it on the ground. What happened next was a sight that Cal was sure he had never seen any mage do before. A large number of earth spikes emerged from where he stomped his foot. They kept emerging and spread out in a cone all the way to the adult shades. The spikes skewered any shades in its path, killing them instantly. Four of the five adult shades were also skewered. What was left was only around ten adolescent shades and an adult shade that took on the form of a bull.
The sergeant wasn’t done. He lifted his left hand and held it away from him to his sides. An earth javelin was taking form in his hand. When it was complete, he took a throwing stance and hurled it at the bull at an insane speed. It went through the bull’s head and came out of its butt without slowing down, leaving a cylindrical hole in its path. There was no way the adult shade could survive something like that. It instantly lost all its strength and was slowly vanishing. The flamestones it dropped after dying were losing their glow at a visible speed.
Everyone looked at Sergeant Ved in admiration. Cal was also a bit moved. ‘So that’s the strength of a Rank 5—Mana Torrent,’ he thought.
It wasn't finished, however. One of the adult shades that was skewered by the spikes managed to survive. It looked like a huge bird that was burning in black flames. It got out of the spikes by turning the affected parts intangible.
“That’s a mythical variant. It should be modeled after a phoenix,” Cal told Sergeant Ved.
“A cheap imitation of a majestic beast,” the sergeant commented. “How’s it different from the regular ones?”
“Their three abilities also imitate the mythical beast they take after. This one should have the ability to regenerate from any fatal injuries. And from the looks of it, it can also change its body structure to get out of any confinement.”
“Hmm. It’s not just phasing through the object?”
“It shouldn’t be. If it could do that then it wouldn’t have shown up in the open. We would have been attacked through the walls.”
“I see. So, we can’t deal with it using regular attacks.”
“It should still be possible to kill it as long as it runs out of mana to regenerate. We could also try to target the flamestones inside, but judging from how it can change its body structure, it may be able to move those around its body,” Cal said.
“So, if I can take out the flamestones from its body then it will die?” Sergeant Ved asked.
“It will, sir.”
“Ok,” he said and then ran forward to meet the phoenix.
When he got close to the phoenix, it screeched in rage. It was so loud and painful that a lot of the knights held their ears. Some even burst their eardrums and could not stand straight due to disorientation. Cal felt the screech in his bones and was absolutely certain that it was another one of the phoenix’s abilities. He turned to see if Sergeant Ved was fine.
The sergeant looked totally unharmed. ‘Rank 5 must have really strong defenses,’ Cal theorized.
Sergeant Ved stomped his foot again and used the same spike attack as before. The phoenix was skewered again. Cal knew that the attack would be useless against the phoenix, so he wondered what the sergeant was up to.
The shade tried to get out of its confinement quickly, but Sergeant Ved didn’t waste any time on his next move. He got down on one knee and put both his hands on the ground. Four walls rose from the ground and surrounded the phoenix. The walls connected with each other and then started to fill out the top portion. When he was done, the shade was caged in a box made of earth. It was screeching inside but the noise was muffled by the walls.
Cal thought that the sergeant was done after he immobilized the shade. But he was quickly proven wrong when the box started shrinking. It kept shrinking until it reached the size of a small cube on the ground. The small cube then turned to dust when it was done shrinking. Cal saw some glowing powder within the dust that quickly faded away.
“He’s strong, isn’t he?” the High Priestess said from the side with pride. “That’s his unique elemental quirk. He can compress any earth that he creates or enhances with his mana. If it wasn’t for his age, he would have had a much higher position in the Knights Templar.”
Cal nodded in agreement.
After the phoenix was dealt with, the knights took care of the remaining shades. A few knights with the nature and light aspect went around and healed anyone who was injured by the phoenix’s screech. Once everyone was healed, they started traveling again. They passed through the border and entered the abyss. The range of light given by the staff was lowered by a couple of meters but otherwise, nothing unexpected happened.