Azrael kept running, blindly stumbling across the uneven cave floor in the dark. The explosion had been blinding bright and coupled with the vast cavern’s absolute darkness he saw nothing of what he was running into. Fortunately, there were no corpses this far back into the cavern and no glowing pools of molten stone – though they might have provided some light.
During the raid they had surrounded the dragon on three fronts, not having enough people to completely surround it and deciding to consolidate their strength. As it was, he was running completely unknown territory.
Behind him he saw the illuminated forms of the remaining holy knights chasing after him. There were six of them. He wasn’t sure whether the others were wounded, unconscious or dead. All he cared for was escaping. As he watched they spread out, trying to illuminate as much as they could and find him. Fortunately, the clanging of their metal armour was louder than any sounds he made. Still, with their light they were more surefooted than he was. They were gaining on him. He tried to pick up his pace, only to trip over a small protrusion. He flailed, narrowly managing to keep his balance and mentally cursed, forcing himself to slow down again. There was still enough distance between them.
Eventually, he reached an end – the end. He had run into the far cavern wall. He looked back. His pursuers were closer. Much closer. They were also spread out now, each one ten meters from the next, creating a steadily approaching net of light. He needed some place to hide – soon.
Placing his right hand on the wall he walked left, letting his finger trace along the cool rough stone. During the chase the knights had spread out further to the left, meaning he had a chance of slipping past them before they reached the walls themselves. With hurried steps and a solid guide he moved along the edge of the cavern. As he walked his fingers felt for any crack or crevice he could hide in. Maybe he could find a way to climb up? The more he considered the idea the better it seemed. Invariably, the knights would reach the wall. Then, some of them would spread out, while others might explore the dark again. If he kept blindly stumbling, then they would catch up. If he hid they would likely find him, given time.
Tilting his head upwards Azrael imagined the countless ledges and handholds that were hidden in the dark. He stepped closer to the wall, letting both hands explore the surface. He found his first and second hand holds and pulled up, beginning to seek somewhere to place his foot. He found one within moments. What he didn’t find after that was another handhold. He frowned. The knights were dangerously close now. He checked his mana reserves, only to find them as empty as he had expected. Still, between what little he had left and [Mana Manipulation] he could probably…
A realisation flashed through Azrael’s mind so fast that he almost lost his grip due to the shock. Without hesitation he pulled on [Mana Sight], opening his vision to the mana around him. The [Earth] mana in the stone swirled through the walls and floor of the cavern, while fire mana blazed through everything else, competing with the [Air] mana and even attacking the cool stones of the cavern. As always [Shadow] mana held an overwhelming hold over the cavern, save for where it was banished by the knight’s holy light. In a moment everything was revealed, including the bright star of mana that lay in the heart of the slain dragon. Compared to the small specks that were the crystalised dragon fire it was a veritable sun.
Azrael lost his balance and slipped, his senses suddenly overwhelmed. He hurriedly dampened the skill’s output, adjusting it to a far more manageable level. Unfortunately, the knights had heard him slip and fall. There was a shout and the line moved in his direction, closing in and narrowing in on his location. Azrael staggered up and kept moving, acutely aware that the knights had picked up their pace.
With [Mana Sight] it felt like he was walking through fog. While he was only focusing on the [Earth] mana to ‘see’ the ground every other type of mana swirled through the air, partially obscuring his vision and making the ground harder to see.
Making sure to keep ahead of the knights he reconsidered his idea of climbing the wall. As they were the knights would reach him before he made it high enough to make it out of the radius of their light. His best bet would be to either lose them in the darkness or get far enough ahead that he could climb high enough to feel safe.
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As he ran, Azrael tried filtering out the unnecessary streams of mana, starting with the [Fire] mana. While [Shadow] mana was more prevalent, in the it stuck to surfaces coating the cave floor, walls and ceiling. Comparatively the [Fire] mana actively blocked his vision as it swirled in the air. It made it hard to see the ground and if he wanted to safely pick up his pace he needed it gone.
The deed was unfortunately not as easy as he thought. While he could strengthen and dim the brightness of all the mana in his vision it was exactly that – all the mana. The Skill didn’t seem to want to allow him to fade or filter out specific mana from his view. Instead, he tried a different route.
Focusing on solely the [Fire] mana in his vision he mentally pulled at it, watching as it blazed brighter and became more defined. At first his skill resisted the change, before slowly relenting. Colour flared and [Fire] mana suddenly filled his vision, intensely bright. Having singled out [Fire] he hurriedly tried to invert it, supressing it with all his might. It dimmed and faded, returning to its original brightness, leaving behind a singular blue screen that had snapped into existence. It congratulated him for increasing [Mana Sight] by two levels. He supressed a sigh and waved it away. While the extra levels in the Skill were nice they weren’t what he was after.
Realising that the Skill was unlikely to allow him to completely fade out a mana type he took the next best option, pulling at the [Earth] mana in his sight. The ground and walls became more distinct, allowing him to see better. It was a novel experience to walk on a surface that seemed to flow and writhe when he looked at it, and more than a little nauseating. However, with a better view of where to step he moved faster, regaining some of his highly diminished lead on the knights.
Faster and faster he moved as he gained more confidence, but somehow the knights were always too close. By now he was almost on the opposite side of the cavern from the entrance. It was far larger than he’d realised. What he’d originally thought to be a circular cavern, reminiscent of a boss chamber in video games was more like an oblong oval. Somehow the mana was stronger here. It was barely noticeable over the length of the cave, but there was definitely more that was outside of the mountain. The fact that he could notice such an increase meant that the increase was small but not negligible. His mana was definitely refilling faster as well. He steered towards that direction. Maybe, just maybe there was something that could change the situation.
Suddenly filled with a new hope Azrael steered towards the denser mana. It wasn’t the only thing that changed though. The [Air] mana, previously mostly inert gained a new life, infused with [Wind] mana. They were similar, like [Heat] and [Fire], but there was a slight difference that he was getting better at picking up.
Making sure to keep moving he still slowed down when he reached a new wall. The walls had large gouges and the floor was covered in shattered stone. Under his feet some parts felt smooth, as if stone had melted and then solidified again. Almost involuntarily he slowed, picking his way through the disaster zone. Almost walking now, he came to a complete stop. To his mana sense the wall in front of him split in two, a massive hole dividing the two halves. It was another cave. The mana here was the densest he’d naturally encountered in this game. He took a deep breath.
There was a shout behind him and a mage light flared into existence. He turned, examining the now illuminated space and saw the Holy Knights pausing just outside the massive scene of destruction. It was a chaotic scene, forged of the deep scars in the stone, the shattered rubble, the pools of once molten stone.
One of the knights saw him and pointed, shouting. The sound of metal clattering on stone got louder from several direction, converging upon his location. Then wind enveloped them all, Sophie suddenly arriving to reinforce them. Their heavy footsteps became muted and their speed increased.
Azrael turned away from them, looking instead at the massive black gap in the wall in front of him. Its entrance was ragged and ruined, torn by massive claws and shattered with immense strength. In the uncertain magic light it looked a bit like a yawning maw with hundreds of jagged teeth.
He took a deep breath and began to move again, this time drawing upon his barely replenished mana. With confidence he started [Chanting], weaving [Wind] and words, even as he picked up his pace.
“Rise up and bear me, far and wide, veiled and gyres.”
He passed the cave entrance and spoke the final words.
“[Wind Stride]”
[Wind] enveloped his legs in small tempests and he burst forth into the unknown, the shouts of the knights fading as darkness enveloped him once more.