As if it had heard Brewan’s words, a loud roar tore through the air over the deserted town, this time much closer to the two young men. A faint chorus of other beastly noises sounded in the distance, indicating that the monster was not alone.
A loud crashing sound exploded over the town followed by yet another shriek. Kai took a few steps out of the warehouse and peeked his head around one of the pillars of the temple to try and get a view of what was happening.
He could see a few small shapes moving away from where a bright flaming light was hanging in the air somewhere near where they’d killed the boar. It flickered a few times as Kai heard another impact before a more defeated-sounding roar.
[It sounds like the beasts are fighting amongst themselves. They aren’t organized like the ones led by the phoenix.]
Kai pulled back into the warehouse where Brewan was nervously peeking out of the door.
"Can you see what’s going on outside there?"
Kai shook his head and looked back down towards the town.
"I’m not sure, but I think that the big monster that was fighting down there just ran into something strong… and by the sound of those roars, I don’t think it's winning.”
Brewan's face paled even further, and he stuttered as he backed away from the doorway.
"So you're saying that there are even stronger ones down there right now?!"
"Yes, but this might be good for us. We might have a higher chance of escaping if the beasts are caught up fighting amongst themselves." Kai looked around the temple for a moment before walking back into the dimly lit storage room.
He glanced down at his sword, then back up at Brewan. "How far away are we from the nearest city? We might be able to make a break for it before the beasts can catch up to us, if we’re quick."
Brewan looked up at Kai, his already sweaty forehead creasing with confusion. What was this guy talking about? Why would anyone want to run to a city ruin? Those places would be infested with even more, stronger beasts than the relative weakings wandering around in this section of the wild.
Brewan’s eyes wandered down to Kai’s torn robes. They looked similar to the ones worn by magic apprentices, but the style was noticeably different. Brewan hadn’t previously had a chance to think about it given their precarious circumstances, but Kai’s presence didn’t make much sense.
His robes were unfamiliar, his accent sounded a bit off, and he somehow didn’t know what a dispersion spell was. It was impossible to survive outside of a settlement even for a few days without having some way to escape from beasts, but Kai claimed to have none.
“Who are you?”
Brewan slowly tucked his hand into his robes, feeling the smooth leather cover of his magic tome, and his heart started to beat faster as he realized he didn’t even have the mana to cast any of his spells.
“I’m Kai. My friends and I used artifact tokens to escape from a beast, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here-”
Kai’s voice froze in his throat. Where were the others? He and Halia were here, so where were the rest of the disciples? A trickle of dread buried itself in Kai’s heart as he heard the increasing volume of the two powerful beasts still duking it out somewhere in the town.
“Have you seen three idiots running around anywhere?”
Brewan resolutely shook his head, and Halia chimed in before he could speak.
[The inscriptions on the tokens were slightly different for each of them. Before you woke up, I had quite a bit of time to think about it. They’ve likely been transported to somewhere else, though I have no idea how far away they could be.]
“Shit.”
The tension in Brewan’s face finally started to fade away, and a knowing, sorrowful expression reached his face. Kai's visible emotions made his story seem much more believable.
“Were they dear to you?”
“N-no, they’re just a bunch of good-for-nothing idiots!”
“...”
“Ahem, and they’re definitely still alive. Those annoying pests aren’t so weak that they’d croak just because of a dumb bird.”
[Ow. Rude.]
Brewan immediately recognized that Kai was in the ‘denial’ stage of grief. A few gears turned in the young man’s head before he nodded again. His own chances of survival would probably be a lot higher if this guy didn’t move on to the next stage before they could get somewhere safe.
“Yep, they’re probably already at a settlement somewhere. They haven’t been eaten by beasts, or anything else bad.”
Kai let out another sigh as he peeked back outside.
Without me, Enla… or even Halia there to watch over them, who knows what trouble they’ll cause. Urg… and it’ll definitely be me who has to go and clean up the messes they’ve made when we find them again.
Kai glanced down at the ruby necklace hanging on his chest. Halia was annoying, easily distracted, and loved to pull pranks on him and the other disciples. Still, she at least knew how to make friends and interact with people. Out of the core disciples, Kai was the only one she hadn’t become best friends with, but she never struggled conversing with people on the rare occasions of her going outside of the sect.
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If Kai was the regal, noble head of the sect’s youth, Halia was almost like their hidden mascot. She was good enough at socializing that even if more troubles were caused because of her, she never struggled to resolve them.
Hmph, her egging those three on is half the reason all of their personalities turned out so deviant. I wouldn’t even need to worry if she acted half as mature as me.
Kai shook his head, trying to refocus on the current situation. He could worry about the other disciples once he was somewhere safe. Outside, the sounds of the battle were only growing more intense and loud.
“If we’re lucky, the beasts might forget all about us after that. Brewan, where’s the nearest city?”
The other young man’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he answered without much delay.
“The nearest settlement is Talonia, but they only have a dozen defenders. We have to lose the beasts if we want to try running there; If we lure a horde their way, we’ll get lynched before the beasts even arrive.”
Brewan was about to open his mouth to continue, but a loud crashing noise exploded somewhere in the back of the dark storage room. A few orange rays of sunlight beamed in through a new hole in the old wooden walls.
On the opposite side of the room from where Kai was standing, an enormous bear crashed through the wall. It was easily double the size of the already massive boar he’d felled previously.
“D- Deep Ursine! That’s a Tier 2 beast!”
Brewan immediately darted past Kai, running out of the storage room and hiding behind one of the pillars of the temple.
Kai was about to follow Brewan in running away, but a piercing screech tore through the air, this time sounding like it was right next to him. Kai’s eyes shone with panic for a moment before he refocused on the bear.
Despite having just crashed into the room, the massive beast still hadn’t gotten up. Visible in the evening sun shining through the hole in the wall, Kai could see massive wounds scarring the beast’s coat.
Its dark brown fur was matted and dyed red, with many large chunks of flesh missing near its shoulders. The bear was still breathing, but before it could climb back to its feet, the sunlight that’d been shining on its back disappeared.
Something bigger- big enough to completely block out the sunlight- stepped forward to finish off its enemy.
Nope! I need to get out of here now!
Kai didn’t stick around long enough to see the newcomer. He grabbed Brewan’s arm as he ran out into the temple, then started pulling him toward one of the brick buildings he’d seen further on the academy’s campus.
As they ran, Kai could hear the final struggles of the massive bear as it failed to fend off its opponent. When he was halfway to the nearest brick building, the sounds of the slaughter behind him suddenly went quiet.
[Run faster, and don’t look back!]
[Mana -1, Strength +1]
Adrenaline shot through Kai’s veins, and he started to run even faster. Somehow, Brewan was still keeping pace with him, even as his speed increased.
[On my cue, jump in the air, turn back, and parry.]
“What?! I’ll die!”
The only response Kai got was the sound of quick, heavy footsteps pounding closer to him. There were still a dozen more meters of ground to cross before he would reach the building. Based on the rapidly approaching footsteps, Kai could instantly tell that he wasn’t going to make it in time.
[Now!]
Kai sent a small prayer up to his ancestors as he launched himself into the air, twisting to face his pursuer and bracing the ruby sword.
A long, curved beak. Flaming orange feathers forming a crown over two beady, evil eyes.
The phoenix?!
Kai noticed in the next instant that this was definitely a different bird- this one was built more like the flightless ones he’d seen a few times in the plains region back home. Its wings were tiny and stubby, instead using a nasty pair of talons to sprint at an unbelievable speed.
The beast’s beak slammed into Kai’s sword, the force from its charge sending him flying through the air. By a stroke of luck-or Halia’s calculations- Kai flew straight at the door of the brick building.
Just like every wooden building in town and even the dusty warehouse they were fleeing from, the wooden doors here were just as weak and rotten. Aside from having the wind knocked out of him, Kai didn’t suffer too much damage as he catapulted through them, sending chunks of rotten wood flying all over.
Brewan charged in right after Kai crashed through the doors, grabbing onto Kai’s ruined robes then pulling him further inside.
SCREEEEACH!
The huge bird let out a pissed screech as it ducked its head down, trying to peek into the building. The doorway was only a few meters high, much too short for the huge land-bound bird that had towered over the giant bear.
Its beady eyes instantly locked onto Kai, and it took a step back before lunging forward again. Just before its head crashed through the bricks above the door, Kai’s eyes caught a flash of silver.
A tiny crescent-moon shaped emblem hung just over the doorway. A tiny flicker of silver light reflected off its curved edge, catching in Kai’s eye. The next instant, the emblem disappeared as the bird’s head smashed through the bricks, creating a hole big enough for it to enter the building.
“Shit!”
Kai felt the hands that’d been pulling him further into the building let go, followed by a fading set of footsteps as Brewan abandoned him and fled deeper into the building.
Swish… SCREAAA!!
A faint line of silver light hung in the air, right in the path where the emblem had fallen from above the door.
Instead of charging in and eating Kai in a single bite, the bird recoiled backward. A perfectly straight line of red slowly cut across its body, just in front of its left wing. After taking a few steps back, the bird ducked its head again, staring at where Kai was lying down inside.
Its beady eyes burned with a vengeful aura, lingering on Kai for a few seconds before the bird turned and ran back toward the temple.
“What was that?!”
[No clue, maybe there's still someone strong defending here!]
Kai glanced around the entryway, but there were no signs of other humans. It looked similarly decrepit as the rest of the town, and a layer of dust coating literally everything proved that there couldn't be another person living here.
[Huh, I think we got lucky and actually ran into one of those remnant traps Brewan mentioned earlier. I’m not sure why it didn’t cut us in half instead, though. You were the first one to smash open the doors.]
Kai didn’t even feel anything when he heard Halia’s words. He’d already nearly died too many times in a short span of time, and his veins were practically pumping pure adrenaline. He struggled for a few moments trying to regain his breath before standing back up and limping over to the pile of rubble in the doorway.
[Oi, back up! The trap might still be active!]
Kai stopped a meter short of the rubble pile, then looked down at it, scouring it for any sign of the silver glow he’d seen the moment the bird’s beak struck the building.
“Did you see that crescent moon emblem over the doorway? It looked just like our sect’s symbol.”