Chapter 15: Reality.

Day 4, part 8.

After listening to Eri’s “bright idea”, I am now standing in an open spot a few hundred meters to the east of the main gate while looking nervously between the aforementioned gate and Eri and her band of adventurers.

“I'm not so sure about this...” I say to Eri yet another time as the nerves get to me. “Are you sure you can pull it off?”

“Quit your whining already.” Eri replies irritably. “It's got a far better chance of working than most stupid things you've done today. I don't see what your problem is.”

“Really?” I say sarcastically.

“You don't see what my problem is? You're “bright idea” consists of me being practically launched as a living cannonball!” I retort angrily while throwing my hands up in the air in a huff. “Towards thousands of enemies, I might add!” After a quick inhale, I add: “And let's not forget! It's highly questionable whether you can even manage to do it without me going; splat against a wall!” I say irritably to her.

Rolling her eyes, she sneers at me.

“Oh c'mon. You asked me for an idea to get back so you can help your teammates, and I came up with an idea. What more do you want?” Eri replies, a dangerous edge to her voice. “Besides, what other options do you have?”

Sucking in air, I look back towards the gate that is on the receiving end of a full on assault even as we speak.

Letting out the air, I let out a long sigh. “Fine… we try your idea.” I reply weakly.

“Good. Now give me a minute to get ready.” Eri says and walks away a few meters and begins chanting spells quietly.

“Are you sure about this?” Someone says from behind me.

Looking over at the speaker, a young man from Eri’s group that has a handsome face and chestnut coloured hair as well as a name I can't remember.

A moment passes before I remember what he said to me and I shake my head weakly in reply.

“No, I'm not sure.” I say and look back towards the gate for a second. “But I am sure that I need to go help. I don't want to abandon my teammates to the monsters.” I say firmly.

Nodding, he also glances over towards the gate.

“Ah, where is my manners; I never introduced myself, did I?

I’m Bry. Bry Ashwood.” he says and offers his hand to me.

“I'm Rayder. But everyone just calls me Ray.” I reply as I take his offered hand and give it a shake.

Looking back towards the battle around the gate, Bry says: “I understand your loyalty to your friends but… I would strongly advise against doing this. Even if the princess actually manages to pull off her crazy idea, the odds of getting out of there alive are... Well close to none, honestly” He says grimly and shakes his head.

“Never tell me the odds.” I reply, chuckling to myself.

Not getting the pun, he looks slightly bewildered. Seeing his reaction I scratch my head awkwardly.

“Never mind, bad pun. You were saying?”

Giving me a hard to place look, he shakes his head slowly.

“You will be dropped in the middle of that mess, y’know?" He says and gestures at the south gate being beset by thousands and thousands of monsters. "Aren't you scared?” Bry says finally as he too looks at the gates.

Feeling lost for a reply, I shrug weakly. “Scared shitless… but I can't just leave them there. I have to at least try, or I won't be able to live with myself.”

After giving me a long look, Bry sighs. “You better prepare then. Good luck.” He says and waves goodbye as he walks away.

After waving back to him, I turn my attention inwards.

It seems I almost used up all my mana back when I fainted, and going by what Ley said, it apparently can be fatal, if severely overdone.

‘I better take better care to monitor and manage my mana level better…’ I note to myself.

As for my mana, even with the elixer, only somewhere about 20-30% of my total amount has recovered. I guess it's not bad, though, since only an hour or so has passed since I passed out but I'm a far cry from being able to use any real large-scale magic to take out significant amounts of monsters, but you have to take what you get and use it to the best of your ability. There isn't much I can do about it at the moment, and worrying won't make anything better anyway.

‘I wonder if there are meditation techniques or something to help with recovery…’ I ponder loosely.

‘I better ask someone later.

...If I manage to stay alive.’

Shaking my head to clear my stray thoughts and armed with a better grasp of my current mana level; or rather lack thereof, I let out a long weary sigh and instead focus my attention on my weapons.

Or that was my plan at least, until I realize I don't have my bow any more..

“I don't remember seeing it after I woke up either…” I remark to myself.

It seems I lost my bow somewhere along the fight with the behemoths, or perhaps shortly thereafter. Either way, if It ended up outside the barrier when I was attacked then then I doubt there is anything but ash left of it either way...’

Sighing again, I turn my attention to my only remaining weapon; the strange katana like sword, with what I imagine are runes carved into it.

"So, I'm left with a melee weapon... Which I have no real experience of using and is most likely possessed and/or cursed by some entity... Great." I remark to myself sarcastically as I lookt at the blade in its sheath and the one remaining rune that is shining dimly on the sheath.

After yet another sigh, I draw the blade from its sheath slowly as I inspect the blade.

The blade’s only remaining rune on the blade twinkles weakly as it comes into sight, a centimeter above the handguard.

The blade has no blemishes or marks to speak of. Testing the edge reveals it to be incredibly sharp too.

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‘I wonder how long its been lying there in that box… Doesn't seem like the edge has dulled in the least, for some reason. Magic, most likely.’ I muse to myself.

A few practise swings revealed it to be perfectly balanced and easy to handle. Added together with its light weight makes it a very easy to handle weapon.

Even if the sword's low weight takes away some of its power, it's extremely sharp edge more than makes up for it with its cutting power.

As I swing the sword around to get a better grasp on the weapon, I notice the sword feels ever so slightly lighter in my hands and I can swing the blade ever so slightly faster as I continue to swing it around.

‘Huh… does it continue to get lighter the longer you use it? Or is this something else entirely?’ I ponder as I continue to swing the blade.

After a minute or so of swinging I have confirmed that it does indeed get lighter as I use it, even if it is by a very small amount currently.

Pondering how that works, I put the blade back in its sheath that is tied to my belt.

After waiting a moment I pull the blade out again, wondering whether it retains its lightness or not.

As I pull the blade, somewhat quickly, a strong rush of air accompanies the blade and trails its path, lashing out at anything that happens to be in its way.

“Woah!” Dropping the blade in surprise, I stagger backwards a few steps before falling on my ass.

“The hell!? Scared the living hell out of me! I didn't hear anything about this! Riatos!” I shout towards the sky.

No reply forthcoming, I turn my attention towards the sword itself that is lying on the ground in front of me, where I dropped it moments ago.

The sword lies still, not showing any signs of being anything more than an ordinary lump of steel.

“Ahem”

Spinning around in a hurry, I am met with the sight of Eri, who is looking at me strangely. Following behind her is her group of adventurers, who also give me a look that questions my sanity.

“Uhm… What are you doing?” She says and cocks her left eyebrow. “And why are you shouting at your sword?”

Unsure how to reply, I simply stare blankly at her and her group for a moment.

No good excuse forthcoming, I opt for changing the topic.

“So, did you finish your preparations?” I instead ask Eri nonchalantly, completely ignoring her questions.

Giving me a long searching look, Eri shrugs and gestures towards the group behind her. “We’re ready. I decided to have them support me with what they can. That way I can focus more on the important parts so you don't go splat, or worse.” She says and gives me a bright smile.

Nodding at her, I grumble quietly beneath my breath.

“It almost sounds like she wants me to do just that…”.

"Alright! Let's do this!" She exclaims energetically before turning towards her entourage.

“Ready everyone?”

Nodding affirmative, they all move to form a circle around Eri, who is facing me with a look of concentration. "Ok, I'm starting. Hel! Kali!”

“Yes!” “Right!” The two easily recognized girls of the group reply at the same time and start chanting quickly in a low voice and I am only able to pick out a few select words that are being emphasised.

“Erian… du... Hal!...”

“Galios… herdeby… Raos!...”

Clapping her hands together, Eri locks eyes with me.

“Here goes nothing!” She says loudly and starts chanting in a loud clear voice. “Eriam de Aria. Grace us with your blessing, Aria of the wind!

Levitate!”

Suddenly it's as if gravity has stopped working properly, the familiar pull on my body all but disappears and I'm left feeling strangely light and… bubbly, for lack of better words.

Looking down, I realize I am floating a bit above the ground. Just a few centimeters or so, but it is enough as I can't reach the ground.

And now, I’ve started spinning ever so slowly thanks to my thoughtless movements. Great.

Feeling immensely awkward with my current lack of gravity, I try to focus my attention away from the sensations I am currently experiencing.

‘At least I'm not just floating away aimlessly…’ I remark to myself as the two girls, Hel and Kali, end their chants.

“....Erius di Tetra! Stabilize!”

“....Deakin du Kai! Amplify movement!”

‘Oh great. That leaves the last one then... the one that is meant to give me the momentum…

Maybe I should just quit while I can…?’

I get startled out of my musing as Eri shouts loudly.

“Get ready Ray! 'Cause this will rock your world!” She yells to me with a huge grin on her face.

Grimaging at her bad pun, I grumble to myself. ‘She is so enjoying this… and that pun is so bad, it's hurting my head…’ I retort to myself.

Laughing at my reaction for a moment, Eri then refocuses on her task and resumes chanting.

“Eriam du Hekator! Lend us your might, O great Hekator!

Force blast!” Eri shouts

Suddenly my vision blurs and my ears start singing as the world rushes me by far too quickly as I zoom through the sky towards the gate at ludicrous speed.

What feels like an eternity passes, as I try in vain to look at the gate and the connected walls.

Nothing but blurry colors can be made out, but even then, as the grey blurriness in the distance quickly increases in size, from tiny to massive before my eyes, I know I am about to reach the gate; Hopefully without going splat against it.

Panic in full on Delta 5 mode, my heart feels like it's going to punch a hole through my chest as it beats painfully in my chest.

Finally, as the grey blurriness all but blocks out all other colors, I feel a rush of magic as the very air seems to solidify around me and quickly drains my all but insane momentum.

‘So Eri managed to pull it off… For a second there I thought I was done for…’

After a few moments I have all but lost the momentum from Eri’s spell and for a split second I feel like I am flying, as I look down on the gate and the surrounding fighting that is ongoing. Everywhere I look however, I see monsters rushing like a tidal wave towards the gate, with the goal being the city that lays beyond.

That split second passes however, and I am faced with the age old problem of man; gravity.

It is back with a vengeance as I swear it is pulling me down faster than it is supposed to be able to.

Free falling, it takes but seconds for me to build up lethal speeds and with the pace the ground is drawing closer, only a handful precious seconds remain until I smash into the hard packed soil beneath me.

Gathering my mana, I try my best to focus my attention on the image I want to manifest; reducing my momentum and not crashing into the hard ground.

After a few seconds of solidifying the image, I release the built up magic, only a third of my current max mana all the while praying to the heavens that it will work.

With bated breath, a second passes. Nothing.

Two seconds. Still nothing.

Three seconds…

The ground is frightfully close now and I can clearly make out the outnumbered soldiers that are desperately fighting to hold off the horde of monsters.

Fou… !?

By the fourth second a sudden warm upwards current of air encompasses me and slow my descent, even if only marginally.

As the ground grows ever closer, the current also grows increasingly powerful and by the time I am just a dozen meters from the ground, I have lost most of my momentum.

I say most, because I will still break more bones than I am comfortable with if I hit the ground at this speed, but at the same time, I won't simply go splat like a tomato, which is an improvement.

Looking down, I see the monsters have noticed me and many are looking up at me; lots of unnervingly sharp-looking teeth are flashed at me.

‘Shit! No wonder though, enormous updraft and whatnot… Good thinking dumbass! Stupid!’

Drawing on my mana again, I strain to pull the last remaining mana from my mana pool. With so little mana, I quickly realize that it is futile to even try a normal spell.

Looking down at the gathering beasts, I gather my last mana and forcefully condense it in a ring around me all the while instilling the image of using my momentum from the fall as an energy source to fuel itself.

As I am 1 meters above the ground, I release the magic.

With a swoosh and a powerful rush of wind, I suddenly stop falling as all my momentum is redirected into the spell.

Only to immediately resume falling the last meter a split second later, landing on the ground with a thump.

Remembering I am surrounded by monsters, I stand up in haste as I put my hand on my sword and prepare to intercept the inevitable attacks.

No attack comes however, and a few quick glances reveals why.

It seems that the beasts that were in the immediate area were blown away by the combined might of the blast of air and my free fall momentum, and are currently disoriented; but otherwise seemingly unhurt by my efforts.

As I glance around, the beasts quickly recuperate and look around for the culprit. Spotting me, they howl furiously at me and start moving in on me all the while snarling and showing their impressive teeth.

Glancing towards the gate a few dozen meters away, my attention is quickly brought back as the closest beast makes a mighty jump towards me from my left, easily crossing the 4 meters between us in one single leap.

Quickly drawing my sword in defence, a familiar rush of wind accompanies the blade as it slices through the air.

Undeterred by the hulking mass of muscles in its path, the sword slices cleanly through the monster; as if a hot knife through butter and only a surprised whine and a spray of blood reveals that the beast was actually real at all.

Somewhat dumbstruck, I stare in disbelief at the cleanly cut monster and the growing pool of blood under it.

‘Huh… green blood…’

“GRAAOOUUUHH!!!”

Snapped out of my daze by a strangely loud roar, I glance around me and quickly notice that all the beasts are focused on something else.

They are all looking towards the same direction, as if listening to, or watching something.

A moment passes in silence, seemingly as if the very world is holding its breath.

“GRAAAAAOUUHTH!”

A bright flash of light blinds me.

And then, all hell breaks loose.

“Awoooouuuu!”

A massive explosion shakes the city and its surrounding walls.

A moment later a sea of red/orange fire and a massive mushroom cloud can be seen in the sky above the center of the city, even from my rather low point of view.

A moment passes before the shockwave hits the walls, sending giant stones flying like pebbles and blowing unfortunate soldiers right off the wall towards a gruesome fall.

Throwing myself on the ground, I cover my ears as best I can.

Then the sound hits me all at once, and the world goes black.

End of chapter 15.