Chapter 54
Passing The Gates
Adom, with a renewed sense of urgency, pulled his hood further over his face, blending into the evening's dimming light. His stride quickened, a silent testament to his desire for anonymity. As he moved, his mind turned to the art of invisibility, a complex spell woven from the very fabric of Essentia.
To achieve invisibility, Adom had to manipulate Essentia to bend light around him, a feat that required not only immense concentration but also a deep understanding of the principles of Essentia and its interaction with the physical world. The spell was grounded in the scientific application of Essentia, how to manipulate the properties of light and matter.
Adom focused, envisioning the Essentia as countless streams of energy flowing around him. His intent was not to become truly invisible but to redirect the light around his form, creating a perfect illusion of nothingness where he stood. This manipulation was delicate; too much force would disrupt the balance, making his presence more noticeable rather than less.
The key lay in subtlety and precision. Adom tuned into the natural flow of the ambient Essentia, aligning his own energy with it to avoid creating ripples that could be sensed by those attuned to Essentia's fluctuations. This alignment required a deep, intuitive understanding of the world's energy currents.
As he moved, Adom remained acutely aware of the silence and stealth required to maintain the spell. Any sudden movement or loud noise could disrupt the delicate veil of invisibility he had woven around himself. He moved like a shadow, his steps light and measured, blending seamlessly into the ambient noises of the evening.
This invisibility spell, while powerful, was not without its limitations. Adom knew that to those with a keen sensitivity to Essentia, particularly skilled individuals or creatures of magical nature, he might appear as a faint distortion, a subtle shimmer in the air. Thus, he coupled his magical efforts with physical caution, ensuring his movements were as silent as they were unseen.
As Adom arrived at the gates leading to the forest, he observed the guards stationed there, noting their movements and shifts. He discerned a pattern where one guard would walk the perimeter, taking a designated route that lasted approximately three minutes before returning to his starting position. Meanwhile, the second guard remained stationary, surveying the area from his post, only to switch roles with the moving guard after each complete round.
This alternating pattern created a brief window of opportunity. During the handover period, as the guards exchanged quick reports and the moving guard began his walk, their attention was momentarily divided. After a few repetitions, Adom calculated that this transition took roughly five seconds on average, a small but crucial gap where their focus was not entirely on the gate.
To capitalize on this moment, Adom prepared to use a spell that he had only read about in his past - a fortifying spell aimed at enhancing his physical abilities temporarily. This type of spell is a sophisticated application of medical magic, traditionally used for healing or enhancing bodily functions. By channeling Essentia into his muscles and joints, Adom could significantly amplify his strength and speed for a brief burst, allowing him to perform feats beyond ordinary human capabilities, increase the efficiency of his muscular system, granting him explosive speed. The spell required precise control over Essentia and had to be executed perfectly within a short window, as the sudden influx of energy needed to be carefully managed to avoid muscle tears or joint damage.
Waiting for the exact moment when the guards were in transition, Adom concentrated, feeling the Essentia flow through his body, targeting his legs. As he approached the gates, his heart thrummed in his chest, a metronome counting down the seconds of his audacious plan. With the world around him dimmed to a mere backdrop, his focus narrowed to the task at hand. The guards, oblivious to the impending breach, continued their watch, their eyes scanning the horizon for threats that marched on the ground, not ones that flew over their heads.
"One," Adom whispered to himself, the word barely a breath as he surged forward. The ground beneath him became a blur as he tapped into the depths of his strength. Each stride was measured, a testament to his growing mastery over his own body and the magic that coursed through it.
"Two," he counted, his gaze flickering to the guards one last time. Their silhouettes, cast in the soft glow of the moon, remained stationary, their attention fixed elsewhere. It was now or never.
"Three," came the silent count, and with it, Adom leaped. The force of his jump propelled him upward, a human cannonball aimed straight over the towering gates. For a moment, as he reached the apex of his arc, the world seemed to pause, the only sounds were his heartbeat and the soft rustle of the night wind.
"Four," Adom savored the sensation of weightlessness, the moon a silent witness to his flight. Below, the guards remained none the wiser, their eyes seemingly not trained to catch a man sailing through the night sky. Although, he noticed one of them turning, perhaps alerted by the faintest whisper of sound Adom's leap had generated.
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"Five," the countdown ended, and with it, Adom's brief flight. He was now on the other side, a good 70 meters from the gates that had promised security but now stood behind him, an obstacle conquered. The thrill of the jump gave way to the reality of his descent. Gravity, an unyielding force, beckoned him back to the earth.
In the span of a heartbeat, Adom called upon his magic once more, casting a levitation spell like the one he'd used before to lift heavy luggage with ease . His fall slowed, each second stretched out as he manipulated the very air around him to cushion his descent. The spell, demanding a precise balance between mental focus and the weight he sought to negate, was executed with a finesse that belied the urgency of the moment.
As he neared the ground, Adom adjusted his levitation, ensuring his landing was as soft as a whisper, a leaf settling on the surface of a still pond. The magic dissipated, leaving no trace of his passage except for the slight disturbance of dust where his feet touched down.
Adom glanced over his shoulder, the gates and their guardians receding into the distance, their obliviousness to his aerial maneuver a silent testament to their limitations. It struck him then, the inherent risk in assigning the defense of such critical points to those untrained in the nuances of magical warfare. The lack of sorcerers or individuals with even a rudimentary understanding of Essentia and its fluctuations seemed like an oversight, a vulnerability waiting to be exploited.
Yet, in the current moment, Adom couldn't help but feel a twinge of relief at this oversight. It had, after all, played to his advantage, allowing him to breach the gates undetected. A wry smile touched his lips as he considered the irony of the situation. The very lapse in security that posed a potential threat to the village had served as his conduit to freedom.
With the immediate obstacle behind him, Adom turned his attention forward. The dense line of the forest loomed in the distance, a dark silhouette against the night sky, its edges softened by the moonlight. He estimated a distance of about four kilometers to its welcoming shadows.
As he resumed his trek, Adom remained cloaked in his invisibility spell, a shield of light bent around his form to render him unseen. Yet, maintaining such a spell, especially in conjunction with others, was a task that demanded significant focus and control over Essentia. With the recent addition of the levitation spell, even for a sorcerer of his caliber, juggling multiple spells was a taxing endeavor.
As he remembered, the strain of sustaining more than three spells simultaneously was a challenge even for the most experienced practitioners. The risk of one spell weakening or faltering under the load was high, and Adom was acutely aware of this delicate balance. As he moved, he could sense the edges of his invisibility spell fraying, the seamless cloak of light that hid him from view starting to thin, possibly rendering him partially visible to a keen eye. So he ran.
Soon enough, Adom stood at the threshold of the great forest, its towering trees rising like ancient sentinels against the night sky. Their grandeur was reminiscent of the skyscrapers back in Cair Icarus, yet these were monuments not of steel and glass, but of living, breathing nature. The darkness within the forest was impenetrable, a dense shroud that even his keen eyes could not pierce. The only signs of life were the sporadic calls of nocturnal creatures, a symphony of sounds that spoke of a world unseen.
The great forest of Salamander held tales of a bygone era, whispers of the giants who once roamed its depths. These colossal beings, now almost extinct, had called this place home some 4000 years prior. Their alliance with the Lich King during the war against the dead was a stark chapter in the forest's history, leading to their eventual departure to Tartarus, the dark realm that had once been the Lich King's domain.
In the wake of the giants' exodus, the Ka'ui orcs had claimed the forest as their sanctuary. This tribe, seeking to distance themselves from the Ashari Orcs' allegiance to the Lich King, had chosen a path of seclusion within the forest's embrace. Their presence hidden from the world by the dense canopy and the forest's ancient magic.
Adom paused, his instincts urging him to survey the dense forest that lay ahead. Activating his [Aetheric Echo], he sent out a silent burst of awareness, extending his senses in a wide 3000-meter radius. The skill, refined through practice, painted a vivid picture of the forest's hidden inhabitants without betraying his presence.
First, a formidable Direwolf, its massive form huddled in the underbrush about 500 meters to his right, the rise and fall of its flank suggesting it was in the throes of a deep slumber. The creature's lethal fangs, even in repose, promised a swift end to any who disturbed its rest.
To the north, nestled in a thicket 800 meters away, a pair of Twin-Tailed Scorchers, their ember-like eyes scanning the darkness. The air around them shimmered with heat, betraying their fiery nature. Even at this distance, Adom could sense the crackling energy that enveloped them, ready to ignite at the slightest provocation.
Closer, just 300 meters ahead, a Silverback Thornbeast grazed quietly, its barbed hide glistening under the moonlight. The rhythmic movement of its powerful jaws crunching on the dense foliage masked the danger its razor-sharp quills posed.
And lurking in a shallow cave approximately 1200 meters to the left, a Slumbering Earth Draker. Its deep, resonant breaths echoed through the [Aetheric Echo], a deceptively peaceful sound from a beast known for its devastating charges when awakened.
But amidst these revelations, it was the faint, almost imperceptible ping of a foreign essence that captured Adom's focus. A tracking device, cleverly hidden in one of his pockets to avoid detection, now lay exposed by his skill. The familiarity of the pin-shaped object sent a jolt through him.
Adom's heart skipped a beat as the realization set in. Someone had marked him, turning him into prey without his knowledge. His jaw clenched, a mix of anger and betrayal flashing in his eyes. The calm, methodical façade momentarily gave way to a storm of emotions, reflecting the gravity of this new threat. With deliberate calm, he masked his turmoil, his mind racing to decipher the intentions behind this silent invasion of his privacy.