Chapter 8: Escape …
‘Shit, the voices are getting closer and I can’t cut my way out or they will know I’m here.’ Looking around Cameron found a dark corner of the cell and positioned him-self in the miniscule amount of shadows in the prison cell. He started to manipulate the mana within himself and changing it to darkness mana so that he could use the second level dark mana skill “Cloak”.
Instead of the six different levels of transformations when converting mana into elemental mana, light and dark mana have 6 different techniques that correspond to the other elements.
He quickly finished converting the necessary dark mana and then had it surround his entire body. Once the cloak of dark mana was created and manifested itself, it would stay on him until he dismissed it or reabsorbed as much of the mana as he could. The reason he was hiding in the shadows of the cell was that Cloak only created a cloak of darkness that would cloak the user while in darkness or shadows. If they moved or walked into the light all somebody would be able to see was a moving cloud of darkness about the same size and shape as a person. Cameron finished cloak just as the voices neared the gate at the entrance to the stairwell.
???: “Damn it smells down here. I hope any demihuman children teleported here didn’t die or else we won’t get near as much for them.”
???: “Good thing nobles and the rich like to use their hides for clothes and decorations. Course if there are any females we can always have our way with them and then get rid of them and claim they came that way. I’m hoping there is a cat or rabbit girl personally.” Both of the male voices started laughing which just caused Cameron to seethe with rage at the fate Natasha and Lily nearly had.
The two men finally reached the gate at the entrance to the underground prison that was lit with magic stones and entered. The two men were humans who quickly showed faces of disgust as they neared the cell where Cameron was hiding.
Slaver1: “Damn, it’s some of the light elves that went. Let’s report this and see what they want us to do.” The human slaver put his finger up to his ear where a small magic crystal was located and touched it. “We just checked out the cell and all that’s here are the corpses of three of the light elves. What do you want us to do sir?”
Cameron couldn’t hear any noise coming from the crystal but he could tell something was coming back over since the crystal was glowing as if it was in use. ‘Must be transmitting the sound straight to the brain since I would hear it otherwise’ he thought to himself. A sudden picture of guards in suits with ear pieces came to mind from his past life and disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Slaver1: “Yes sir we will take care of them and come back when we’re done.” The man took his finger off of the crystal and let out a sigh. “We have to dispose of the corpses and any mess then head back to our post. Let’s just hope they didn’t die too messily since these shoes are brand new.”
Cameron started gathering dark mana on the claws of his right hand as the guards started to unlock the door to the cell he was hiding in. He would most likely only have one chance to take out both of the humans before they could call for help through the crystals they were wearing. When he released the “Slash” he was charging on his claws and his Cloak would instantly dissipate. It did this due to being disrupted by the other mana being released. If he didn’t get a perfect chance to take both of them out he would have to risk setting off an alarm since he doubted he had the mana and efficiency to use fire mana to melt the ridiculous amount of gates he had heard being opened and closed in the stairwell.
Slaver 2: “I’m glad they got killed with fire attacks so they didn’t bleed all over the cell, but mad do they reek.” The slaver bends down and starts to lift one of the headless corpses while the other walks over to corpse missing its heart. The slavers are facing opposite directions and both have their back to the corner where Cameron is hiding.
Seeing what might be his only chance to strike and escape, Cameron runs close to the slaver near the heartless corpse and releases his Slash towards the man’s neck once he is within the skill’s 2 meter range. Without waiting to see if the attack even worked he enhances his feet and hands with basic mana to strengthen them and sprints the 6 steps it takes to reach the slaver who is just now starting to raise his body while still holding the corpse. The last thing the slaver sees is Cameron’s left hand sticking out of the front of his throat right before his skull and brain are turned into a bloody pulp from the punch of Cameron’s right fist. Cameron places a foot on the slavers back then pulls his left hand from the corpse’s throat while also turning to see if he still needs to deal with the first slaver he attacked. He sees the man’s head rolling towards him and crushes it with his foot just to make sure the crystal can’t send a telepathic message of warning while the brain was still working. The brutal executions of the two slavers didn’t even take 15 seconds and were completed before the first body hit the floor with a dull thud.
‘Damn that was messy, but it had to be done just in case. I can’t let them know that I teleported over without magic hindering cuffs. First things first, I need to find the key and then get some of this gore off so I don’t leave a trail.’ He searched two corpses and found a key ring with two keys on it. ‘One of these must be for the cell and the other for the gates in the stairwell. I guess I will have to figure out the one for the cell first since the stairwell gates might be booby trapped.’ He would have to overestimate the slavers if he wanted to make sure he survived and got out from where he was being held. If he didn’t, no telling how easily they would capture him if he made even a small error.
He cleaned himself up using the clothes of the slavers he was wiping off of himself then also checked to see if they had any weapons he could use. He had dropped his long sword back in the dungeon, of course the sword would be considered a broad claymore if a human was wielding it. Of course with his luck they only had the keys the doors keeping him from freedom. ‘Guess I will just have to use dark mana until I get out of here. I have no idea how long my mana will last if I change it to the other element types.’ He had managed out how to change his basic mana to the different element types so he hadn’t had time to test his efficiency out yet, and running out of mana in the middle of a fight was a death sentence.
Cameron walked out of the bloody and foul smelling cell and sneaked over to the gate blocking entrance to the stairwell. He put his back to the stonewall the gate was attached to and listened to see if there might have been more guards waiting. When he was sure that there weren’t any living beings near him he use the key that hadn’t worked for the cell to open the gate. KERTHUNK the lock of the mana treated metal gate made a loud noise that echoed up the magic crystal lined stairwell. ‘Damn these guys are prepared for anything; they even enchanted the locks to be heard up the stairwell. They will be able to tell if I don’t close one of the gates or don’t follow the proper unlocking method.’
‘I really hope that this isn’t the first time they have done this, if they have then they might be a little careless.’ Cameron then locked the gate behind him which a distinctive metallic sound that also echoed up the stairwell. After about 5 minutes of sneaking up the stairwell and unlocking and re-locking all the gates as he neared the end of the annoying stairwell. With about 3 gates left he saw that the last couple of light emitting magic crystals were broken with crossbow bolts stuck in them. ‘Guess someone got bored and decided to use them for target practice’ also noticing the small markings on the wall near the crystal from missed bolts. He used Cloak again to take advantage of the darkened exit from the stairwell when a guard called down the stairs.
Nameless Henchman: “Damn what took you two so long and why haven’t you answered your crystals? I’ll just unlock the last gate for you since you two seem to be having so much trouble with those goods. Oh, and you can just leave the last couple of gates open for now, I will close them once you get those goods out here.”
‘Lady Luck must be paying me back for all the crap she put me through. Getting what I hope is the lazy and careless guard shift is a freaking blessing for me right now. Guess I can practice using fire mana for a little bit while taking care of the guards in that room. I just have to be careful and take out any elves first then go after the humans.’
Cameron started converting some of his base mana to the fiery hot mana he felt before he was teleported, but just on his hands. Without releasing the mana he had readied and while still wearing the Cloak he unlock the last gate and saw the guard standing at the top of the stairwell holding the elaborate last gate open.
Nameless Henchman: “Wow it so dark I can’t even see you guys yet, and why haven’t you said anything yet? Are you still giving me the silent treatment because I knocked up your sister? I mean I was planning to propose to her before she got pregnant, so just consider it an early honeymoon. It would mean a lot if I got both of your blessings for our marriage.” The guard looked down at the ground dejected and Cameron could see that he was quite young and didn’t look like a bad person unlike his two dead brother-in-laws. His conscience twinged at the thought of leaving the woman with possibly no brothers and no husband so he stopped walking and started trying to convert his mana to a different element.
‘If fire mana has the feeling of burning, then lightning mana should have the sensation of being shocked.’ A memory of his past life of him almost getting electrocuted when he was younger made a temporary appearance but let him with the needed knowledge of the sensation. He released the fire mana that was built up in his left hand and instead started trying to form lightning mana in its place. ‘I really hope this works and doesn’t kill the poor guy, and if he dies it’s what he gets for working for slavers.’ Cameron used the mana built up in his left hand to change it to his lightning form, which worked perfectly. As he released the mana he also dismissed the Cloak and charged toward the young guard.
Nameless soon to be father: “What the hellllllllllllllll…” was all the guard could say as a small light lit up in the stairwell and headed towards him. The last thing he remembered was what appeared to be the form of a black wolf striking him with his palm before everything went black.
Just as Cameron had reached the edge of the shadows in the stairwell he had charged the guard and struck him with the palm that was changed into the paw of a lightning fox. As he struck the guard he instinctively released all the electric mana that had changed his hand into the body of the guard in the hopes of just knocking him out. The guard flew a few feet back in the air before landing on the ground back first. The guard was unconscious when he hit the ground but his body still twitched from the electric strike but Cameron did not hear the guard’s heart stop beating. As soon as he had struck the guard Cameron looked to the left and right to see the rest of the room the stairwell led to. There was a wall on the right, but to the left was just an empty room with four chairs, two hallways leading off to the right and left on the opposite side of the room from where he stood. The wall across from the stairwell had a door a bit to the left from Cameron which had cursing occurring behind it soon followed by some sort of water magic. He hurried to spot on the wall next to the door where he wouldn’t be hit when the door opened, hoping to catch the occupant off guard as he exited. His right hand turned black with fiery cracks as he transformed it with the fire mana he had charged earlier as he heard the male voice behind the door and the lock start to turn.
Doomed Guard: “What the hell newbie, shouting when someone is taking a shit. I ought to …” the portly man never got a chance to finish his sentence as fiery claw burned its way in one ear and out the other.
‘Wow, I thought he might have had a mana barrier up since he heard the kid. Using fire mana was overkill on this guy. At least this time I don’t have to clean my fur up since the heat burned the wounds shut.’ When he pulled his forearm out of the corpses head it fell forward and hit the ground with a dull thud. Cameron then headed to where the two hallways went off in opposite directions and hugged the wall with his back as he looked down both corridors. All he could see in either direction were just more stone hallways lined with glowing mana stones which lit them up. Not seeing any guards he walked to where the passages were and started sniffing to see if he could smell fresh air from either passage. He could smell fresh air coming from both of the curved passage ways. ‘I smell the same amount from both passages so either they both lead to exits or the same place.’ He let out a sigh and decided to check on the guard he had knocked out to see if he needed to knock him back. Fortunately the guard was still unconscious and alive, but when his body was searched something was off. ‘He doesn’t have a crystal on either ear and I can’t see it anywhere. Guess he didn’t know what was going on since he thought they were bringing up some kind of goods. Glad I managed to knock him out instead of killing him.’
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‘Now that the guards are out of the way I better see where one of these passages leads.’ He started sneaking along the circular path to the right in the hopes of finding an exit. As he was sneaking along the passage he noticed that after every 3 light emitting magic crystals there were grooves along the floor and wall. When he looked up he saw what appeared to be a metal portcullis but no mechanisms to bring them down. ‘These must be to trap any escapees that manage to make it this far, so I better hurry and get the hell out before they figure out I’m here.’ After what felt like a few minutes the smell of fresh air was getting stronger and then some more male voices were heard which made Cameron stop in his tracks. Since he had not found any weapons on the other guards he would still have to make do with his mana.
???: “Why the hell are those idiots still not responding? They better not still be butt hurt that I took away their crossbows after they shot those crystals. I want you two to go check and see why I’m getting the silent treatment from them.” A rough voice barked out, and based off his words he was the person in charge.
Other guards: “Yes sir we will got right away.” The guards that were giving orders responded before shortly getting into a small argument. “You go left and I will go right.” One guard said. “No way I went left last time so this time it’s your turn.” The other guard replied in a whine.
Guard Leader: “It doesn’t fucking matter which way you go, just go you morons!” The leader yelled at the two bickering guards.
‘Guess I don’t have much time, better take out those two now then try to kill the leader before he has a chance to cast a spell.’ He started charging shadow mana on the claws of his right hand, and what he hopped was ice mana in his cold feeling left hand.
While demihumans can only release one type of mana at any given time, unless of special abilities like the dire wolf form, they can still charge up at least 2 different types before they release the first type. This makes dark and light affinities very powerful for multi-alignment demihumans since they usually don’t require a transformation and can be released right before transforming to use a different mana type.
He neared the area where another inlet, similar to the one where the other guards were stationed, was located and heard footsteps nearing the circular passage. With no shadows to hide in this time he just crouched in a form similar to the starting form of a sprinter and concentrated some basic mana on his feet to hopefully give him enough speed to pull his sneak attack off. As soon as he caught sight of the guard nearest to him starting to leave the inlet he charged at him and released the Slash he had charged on the claws of his right hand. Just as he had been trained he released the Slash at the unprotected neck of the guard and released the mana stored in his left hand turning it icy blue. As he kept running at the other spear wielding guard he put his finger together and used his ice mana to form a spike that cover his fingers and extended, just like he had seen his sister June many times before. The guard had started to notice the approach of the demihuman and was turning in the direction of the beast, which just made it easier for Cameron to pierce the human’s throat with the foot long Ice Spike had had formed. Cameron then turned while still holding onto the body the dead guard as he charged another Slash on his right claws and unleashed it towards the leader.
Leader: “… grant me their protection.” The leader finished chanting before raising his shield to block the Slash heading towards him. As soon as the Slash hit the now glowing shield of the leader it just dissipated into the air. “It’s been a while since I last fought a demihuman so this ought to shake the rust of you brat. It would have been nice to capture a strong kid like you to use as a slave soldier, but guess I will still get quite a bit for your black pelt once I kill you.” The leader had his sword pointed at Cameron while he said this then held it in a proper sword fighting posture as he faced the young Beast.
‘He’s much better than any of the other guards; he managed to notice my attack early enough and had the foresight to chant a protection spell. I don’t know what level it is, but without a weapon I will still have to outsmart him and kill him with a sneak attack. Since he seems to be a warrior and isn’t chanting anymore spells he must only have some protection magic to help him fight enemies who use some magic. If I had my sword this would be a hell of a lot easier, but guess I finally get a chance to fully utilize the elemental mana I tried earlier. I really hope there are no more guards after him since I will probably use up most of my mana in this fight.’ Cameron sniffed for a second while in the midst of his standoff with the guard leader and looked around a little. ‘The fresh air is much stronger here so I guess the door at the top of the stairs behind him lead outside. I could most likely outrun him but if I go into the hall he will drop the portcullis and trap me there. Since there is only way through I’ll show this son of a bitch just how dangerous the youngest Royal Guard is.’
Cameron throws the body he has been holding at the guard leader and charges up fire mana in left hand and dark in his right as he rushes behind the body. The leader slices up with his sword and bisect the body his subordinate and lashes out with his shield at the opening hoping the catch the young Beast off-guard. Cameron doesn’t realize that the leader is onto him and gets hit in the face with the shield and is knocked back and off balance. As he is falling back the leader swings the sword that is up in the air down at the Beast. Cameron using the dark mana and releases a Slash to change the trajectory of the sword so that it barely misses him and swings through the empty air in front of him.
Leader: “May lightning strike my opponent down” the leader chants as electricity runs along his blade. He then swings the flat side of the electrified blade to hit Cameron in the face and knocks him back a few meters due to the strengthening and electric magic he used.
‘God damn it, why am I not strong enough to do a damn thing. I’m one of the most powerful demihumans under age twenty yet I keep getting toyed with by opponents one after another. I already died once, like hell am I going to do it again. I only have one chance to kill this guy and that is to see if my chaos affinity can be formed like Stephanie said it theoretically should.’ Cameron got up from the spread eagle position he was in and crouched with one hand on the ground as he tried to form a mana type he had no idea how to form. Fortunately the guard leader was cocky and better at countering so he just stood there and waited for the demihuman to make the next move.
Cameron stood up and stared the leader in the eyes as he started to convert and charge all four of his regular mana types he was born with while the leader just smirked at the desperation in Cameron’s eyes. When Cameron felt the sensations of all four mana types at once in his right hand he tried to release them with all of his will and got nothing. He then tried mixing them together and releasing the mix of sensations at once and felt pain coming from both his hand and head and all he could do was close his eyes quickly as he clenched his teeth from the pain.
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He thought he had only blinked but when he opened his eyes just a little he was no longer in pain and in a strange place. All he could see was a white ceiling so he tried to move his eyes and head to try and observe where he was and what had happened to the guard leader he was facing. He felt warmth coming from his right hand and tried his hardest to move his head enough to see why his right hand was warmer than his left. All of a sudden he felt his conscious start to fade and all he could see was the head of someone with black hair laying their head on the bed he was on. Just as his eyes started to close again he saw a dark skinned hand clutching his right hand and he thought he saw a glint of gold on the hand as his eyes closed and the darkness retook him. Unknown to Cameron there was a smile forming on the face of a female who was in a white room with a 4 painted on one of the walls.
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When he reopened his eyes the guard leader was staring at his right hand in confusion and Cameron felt an impossible to describe sensation coming from the hand. When he looked down at his own hand he saw that it was covered in an aura of mana that was a combination of black aura with what looked like dark purple lightning going through it. He felt that the dark aura was draining his mana at a pace just a little slower than when he went into full hell-hound form. ‘I don’t have much time until I run out of mana so I guess I have to use whatever this mana type is, but I’m guessing its chaos.’ He then looked at the guard leader and grinned before running at the confused human. The leader put up his shield and readied his sword in preparation to strike after he blocked the fist covered in black mana. Unfortunately for the leader even with his mana shield against the chaos mana infused fist his shield was similar to glass and instantly the part covering his face broke. That wasn’t the end to the punch as the fist continued on the hit the guard leader in the face and continued until it reached a little past the back of his skull.
Cameron was still in the position he had been in when he finished the punch as the mana covering his hand dispersed and the headless corpse fell to the ground. As soon as the aura was gone he was hit by a massive wave of exhaustion and he almost lost consciousness. The feeling of punching the shield and leaders head was different from when he crushed the brother’s skull earlier; it wasn’t of hitting it, but it just being destroyed before it even touched his fist. It was like it had been disintegrated by the black aura that had surrounded his hand moments before. He was too exhausted to question what had just happened so he just searched the leader for any keys and managed to find one on a ring connected to one of the leader’s belt loops. He managed to pull the key and key ring off the belt loop by ripping it and headed towards the door to freedom.
When he opened the door he appeared in some sort of warehouse that had lots of boxes in it. He looked up and saw a window in the wooden building and could see that it was night. He looked around the warehouse and saw some hay on a platform on the second floor. ‘Why is there always hay around when a hero needs some sleep? Oh well might as well take advantage of it.’ He somehow managed to climb the nearby ladder then hid himself in the hay before going back to sleep.
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Author’s Note: Sorry about the long wait on this chapter. I have been dealing with quite a few issues in my life but let me know what y’all think. I know there are probably some grammar errors I might have missed and since I don’t have a PR I’m trying to do my best. I know there are some in previous chapters that I somehow only find when I need to look at them for reference and I will try to edit them at some point. I also know I might be changing how demihumans might be using magic a little, but let’s just chalk that down to not being taught all the details of magic (you not the MC). Well let me know what y’all like and what you don’t so I can improve. Also I’m very happy to have a rating over 4 since I know that the second vote I got was a .5 so I’m really encouraged to keep working on this series (which I will be doing for quite a while). Don’t know when the next chapter is going to come out, but it might take less time to write than this one.