I awoke leaving my trance, I shock my body trying to loosen the stiffness in my back. I had to try to stop sleeping on the stone floors like this it was playing hell on my back. I reckoned it had been six or seven hours. I stretched my body feeling for the tiredness within my muscles that normally accompanied low mana levels. Feeling nothing, I reached into my mana veins manifesting a small spark of mana at my fingertip. Judging by the response time of the mana I had around eighty percent reserves, although not full it would be enough.
Hơ̷̢̢̞̤͙͉̭͂̀̋v̶͇͔̭̻́ë̶̮̠̺̹́̊͂̈́͋͘͝r̷̟̯̝͙͗̈́̾̿̕͝ì̷̟̣͉̽́͘n̸̼̔g̴̜͉̙̣͐̃̈́̒́͜ ̴̮̀̊̈̈́̉l̵͚͝i̷̯̘̾͛̒̎̀͝͠ģ̴̗̘̭̻̍̽͆͌̈́͝ḫ̵͛̋̔t̷̬̟̲̗̲̗́̇̀̏̌
A small ball of light appeared beside me illuminating the tunnel, I reached over picking up my sword and moved to stand before the door. I stood there waiting for a minute waiting for my light spell to run out of mana. If it was dark outside opening the door with a light beside me would light me up for miles around. I had learnt from experience never to give your position away. After a minute the light started to flicker and shortly after vanished-out of existence. I pushed on the door opening it. I stood there for a minute taking in the view. It was night time the sun had set. I looked towards where I had seen the town in the distance but could see nothing, A thin haze had set over the horizon blocking my view of the town. I looked upwards towards the sky looking for familiar constellations to see if I was indeed in Novae Terrae Online. I stood there for several minutes looking for stars I recognised, it took a while I kept seeing parts of constellations’ I recognised but they were missing a star here or had a few extra ones. After around five minutes I gave up, it was similar to Novae Terrae Online night sky, but it was different there were no holy stars and I couldn’t see any of the planetary bodies that existed within Novae Terrae Online.
After a while of standing there, I turned my eyes back down to the forest below. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of light.
Ơ̵̢̮̩ḧ̵̭̱̈́͊͝ ̴̝̊̀̈͝w̵̲̥̒̐i̸̮̊́̆́̚n̷̡̻̒͆̾͒͋d̷̮̹̬̣͌̈́ͅ ̶̼̯̈͝
̴̫̼̓̈́̚̚L̴̞͓̿̌e̷̜͙̎n̵̙͚͆͒͝͠d̶̞̹̂͌̂̊͒ ̴͖̖̮͑͊͘͝m̵̨͔̥̘̙̔̏e̵̢̦̽̓͑ ̷͓̂̓̓ÿ̸̝̦̝̜̰́̍̀o̴̲̬̗̫͌͌̆̽͝ų̸̼͙̜͛͗̓r̴̝̙͋̿̇ͅ ̷̮̕s̸̢̘̀i̸̭̙̭͙̬͂͋͐g̴̛͚̝̜̫̦̽͠h̸͉̬̃̌́̽͝t̸͓͎̼̉̑̔͊͊͜
̸̧̺̼͎̥̈́̔́̅͝L̸̲̤̈́̍̓͂̕ȅ̴̦͇͖̈́͂̂̽t̶͕̖̗̅̿̆͆͠ ̵̯͈̞̀̈̈́͘m̴̢̯͈̠̻͐͋͘͘e̷̯̗̠̞̼͐̔͛ ̴̤͎̗͓̠̓̕s̶͎̋̍e̴̙̬̤͙̩͛̕ḛ̵̡̢̔ͅ.̶̧̝̍̓̀̈́ ̴̲̖͚̊̂͐
̵̞̻̅̉̂̇̄͜͜L̵̫̩̼̻̤͑͝ȩ̸̙̟̰͈̈́͝t̶͙̠̱̔̑̌̌ ̷̧̦͇̼̙̀̉͘m̷̥̠̺͎͓̃̓͌͛è̸͎̳̬̄ ̶̩̳͖̪͓̌͑͝s̷̨̮̰̈́̏͗̂͜o̸͉̠͌̆ã̴̛̱̆̓ŗ̶͖̜̇͐.̷͈̖̀͛
̵̘̰́F̴͕̒ŕ̴͓ẹ̸̰͎̏̄̑̾é̸͉͝ ̴̠̦̒̾̒̊W̴̻̹̱̬̦̏̉̃̅͌ỉ̴͙͓́͋̈́͘ǹ̵͈̖̈́̄̂̋͜d̴̩̻̯͆̃̈̂'̷̧̬̘̪̽͂͌̒͝s̴̛̥̠̐ ̴̼̓R̸̫̯͖͒̀̊ó̶͍̙͕̽͑͆̋ȁ̴͕̲̼̍͑͂̕m̵͙͖͎̏͂̎́̃
Free wind roam was a very useful spell it allows the caster to place his eyes in the wind, to fly with his with his mind's eye able to see wherever the wind reached. I used it often for scouting, as my vision flew down towards the forest floor, I saw the light again. As I focused my vision on the light I saw the origin of the light source. A group of men with dogs were chasing after a young woman. The women was slowing, as I looked towards her I saw that she had no boots, her feet were cut to shred but she was still running. Whoever, this young woman was she sure as hell had grit. Turning my mind's eye towards the men behind her I look at them. There were ten men in all wearing a mix match of armours, six of them were armed with chain and swords the other two had leathers and bows, one was wearing plate armour holding onto a large war axe, the final man wore leathers holding a knife in his other hands were four leads, the dogs had obviously been attached to them previously. As I withdrew my mind's eye retreating back towards my body, I saw the girl running towards a small clearing.
This had caught my interest. I stepped forward falling down over the side of the cliff. I felt myself fall speeding faster and faster towards the ground some two miles below. The ground was getting closer and closer.
Six hundred meters.
Three hundred meters.
A hundred and fifty meters
A hundred meters
Fifty meters.
Ten meters.
Five meters.
F̴̗̽̾l̵͕̫͚̎y̵̨̻͑
Just as I was about to crash into the ground I let go of my mana, propelling me upward and forwards. I flew through the air pushing myself forward until I came to the clearing, I had seen the girl heading toward. As I hovered above the clearing I saw the girl come to a stop in the centre. Pulling off her bow she knocked an arrow and stared out into the forest. I saw as the arrow realised flying towards one of the dogs in the forest striking it dead. By the time I looked back she had another arrow nocked and ready before letting it loose again. The arrow flew true colliding with another dog, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Two other dogs were coming from her right. I watched as she knocked the third arrow, I saw as she jumped as the pair of dogs exploded forward, she span around aiming towards them loosing an arrow striking one of the dog’s dead. As I hovered there, she reached back drawing an arrow from her quiver not even trying to knock it before the dog was upon her. As the dog leapt towards her, she trusted with her hand trying to keep the dog away. As the dog collided with her, she fell falling head over heels losing her bow in the process. I saw as she lay there stunned. The men that had been chasing ran into the clearing. The girl pushed her self up glancing around for her bow, lunging toward it trying to grab hold of it. But she had been to slow the man's foot stamped down onto the bow.
“Devoravit gladius vester canibus, vos erant 'iens ut reddere, EGO eram iens ut velox et nunc, Nunc Im 'iens sumo mihi illo tempore fruor” the man's voice sounded out.
I couldn't understand anything he said, but from the sound of it he sounded pissed. I saw as the girl collapsed down falling to her hands and knees, just looking up at the man with a face of pure defeat. While this was going on the over bandits advanced standing around the fallen girl.
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“Hum, it’s about time I made my entrance” I muttered to myself.
I pushed the mana towards my fingertips pulling at the thread of mana and shaping them to my will. As I pulled the last tread together, I released the spell, chanting out the spells name in the sacred spell language.
̷̳̠͌̌L̷̻͝i̸͙̍̑g̸͓͎̍ḧ̵͎̟́t̵̰͋n̶̲͗̒i̸̱̹̒̒n̵̢̐g̶̼͘ ̴͚̳̈́b̷̮̩͒̊ó̴̰l̴̡̩̈t̷̘̦̏̓
The lighting bolt collided with the target, blasting a hole clean through his chest, I directed the blast sending it towards the large man wearing plate. The lightning bolt was the main reason I had specialised in Heaven magic. With my agility based fighting style, I had little to no answer to those wearing plate mail armour but a lightning bolt against someone encased in metal armour was incredibly devastating. I watched as both men collapsed to the ground. I dropped then pushing a small amount of mana into my flight spell at the last second to cushion my fall. The other eight were standing there staring just looking at me shocked.
Well if they weren’t going to react, I was. I looked towards the two archers standing side by side. I pushed more mana into my hand calling out the chant.
̷̳̠͌̌L̷̻͝i̸͙̍̑g̸͓͎̍ḧ̵͎̟́t̵̰͋n̶̲͗̒i̸̱̹̒̒n̵̢̐g̶̼͘ ̴͚̳̈́b̷̮̩͒̊ó̴̰l̴̡̩̈t̷̘̦̏̓
This time I aimed for there heads, as the bolt collided with the first archer his head vanished, I twisted my hand's slights, twisting the path of the lighting bolt bringing it around back towards the other archer. It collided but it was slightly low crashing into his chest. Dam, I had hoped to salvage some clothes from him in order to cover up my nudity. With that set ruined I could only hope that the first archer's clothes fit me.
It was finally then that the other six men reacted. They scatted four of them running towards me while the other two-legged it towards the forest. that won’t do.
L̷̻͝i̸͙̍̑g̸͓͎̍ḧ̵͎̟́t̵̰͋n̶̲͗̒i̸̱̹̒̒n̵̢̐g̶̼͘ ̴͚̳̈́b̷̮̩͒̊ó̴̰l̴̡̩̈t̷̘̦̏̓
L̷̻͝i̸͙̍̑g̸͓͎̍ḧ̵͎̟́t̵̰͋n̶̲͗̒i̸̱̹̒̒n̵̢̐g̶̼͘ ̴͚̳̈́b̷̮̩͒̊ó̴̰l̴̡̩̈t̷̘̦̏̓
I aimed my left hand towards the two running, quickly firing off two lighting bolts off in their direction striking them down. The other four were closing, running towards me. My god, they were slow. I felt I had time to put the kettle on in the time it took them to reach me. If they were higher than level five, I would be surprised. As the closest one reached me, he stuck out with his sword, lunging forward towards me. Sighing I raised my sword to block, as his blade collided into mine, I felt almost no force. Yes, he was low level he had almost no strength either. I made a quick trusting motion spearing him on the end of my blade before pulling it out and turning towards the next attacker. As he reached me he swung, I simply took a step to the right moving around his blade before stabbing forward, thrusting into his belly gutting him.
“it's no fun if you can’t fight” I muttered to myself.
I raised my left hand pointing it towards the other two charging towards me.
L̷̻͝i̸͙̍̑g̸͓͎̍ḧ̵͎̟́t̵̰͋n̶̲͗̒i̸̱̹̒̒n̵̢̐g̶̼͘ ̴͚̳̈́b̷̮̩͒̊ó̴̰l̴̡̩̈t̷̘̦̏̓
L̷̻͝i̸͙̍̑g̸͓͎̍ḧ̵͎̟́t̵̰͋n̶̲͗̒i̸̱̹̒̒n̵̢̐g̶̼͘ ̴͚̳̈́b̷̮̩͒̊ó̴̰l̴̡̩̈t̷̘̦̏̓
I don’t know when but at some point, during the war I had started to look forward to the fight. The tension never knowing if you would live or die. if you would come out victorious or fall in defeat. living or dying on your skills, your planning your abilities. But this fight was pointless they were such low level. They could never even scratch me. I don’t know when I stopped caring but after that point, I had given up, I had no hope. There was no hero coming to save us and I certainly wasn't one, my failures stood testament to that. I had learnt the hard way the world was not black and white, that the hero didn’t always win. Since that day I lived for the blood for the thrill always seeking the next battle. I didn’t care anymore if my fight saved lives all I cared about was how much blood I spilt.
As I looked around me at the now empty grove, I looked towards the girl remembering her for the first time since the fight broke out. Moving towards her I saw that she was unconscious. Good, that would give me some time to loot, I walked over to the intact archer pulling off his leather armour. Luckily for me, it fit, not a good fit but it was better than being naked. Next, I searched through there bags looking for money of supplies. I found several packages of food and a few waterskins, lifting them up I reached towards one of there bags emptying it. By the end of it, I had found around two weeks’ worth of rations, two full waterskins, a flint and steel, a number of purses with around forty-three copper two hundred and three little silver coins and two golds ones and an axe. Picking up my haul I stuffed it into a bag of one of the bandits had.
I walked over to the girl here feet were bleeding quickly as I checked her over, I could find little wrong with her. She must have collapsed from exhaustion if I wanted answers on what happened here today I would need to wait until she woke.
It was pointless waiting around here until she woke, I had no idea how many more of the men there were and if they had someone more powerful in their ranks. I walked over to some trees using the axe to cut down several branches. Slinging the bag over my back I lifted the branches into arms before walking over to the girl. Pressing my hand against her I pushed mana into her body and into the branches.
W̷̛̹͕̔͊͠ę̴̞̺̼͓͗i̷̦͋̅g̸̛̫̫͗̕h̵̤̀ͅt̵̝̱͖͚̀̓͆l̷͖̮͐̂̅̂ė̵̡̩̲̃͆s̶̻͔̽́s̶̛͍̘̿̄͘
Just before I cast fly and took off, I had an idea and looked towards her feet. She still had no shoes looking towards one of the smaller bandits I reached over to him pulling off his boots, hopefully, they would fit her.
F̴̗̽̾l̵͕̫͚̎y̵̨̻͑
Combined with casting the weightless spell on the girl I was able to take off into the air heading towards the cliff with easy, with both the wood and the girl weightless I was able to carry them with one hand with ease. I Flew towards the doorway in the cliff. Putting the girl and the wood down I turned around grabbing the open door and pulling it shut.
Hơ̷̢̢̞̤͙͉̭͂̀̋v̶͇͔̭̻́ë̶̮̠̺̹́̊͂̈́͋͘͝r̷̟̯̝͙͗̈́̾̿̕͝ì̷̟̣͉̽́͘n̸̼̔g̴̜͉̙̣͐̃̈́̒́͜ ̴̮̀̊̈̈́̉l̵͚͝i̷̯̘̾͛̒̎̀͝͠ģ̴̗̘̭̻̍̽͆͌̈́͝ḫ̵͛̋̔t̷̬̟̲̗̲̗́̇̀̏̌
As I cast the hovering light spell, I pushed several extra charges into it, it would last until I got a fire going. I quickly set up the wood reaching towards the flint and steel.
“Fuck it” I muttered to my self-putting back the flint and steel.
L̷̻͝i̸͙̍̑g̸͓͎̍ḧ̵͎̟́t̵̰͋n̶̲͗̒i̸̱̹̒̒n̵̢̐g̶̼͘ ̴͚̳̈́b̷̮̩͒̊ó̴̰l̴̡̩̈t̷̘̦̏̓
As the lighting stuck the fire it instantly lit it was a waste of mana but could not be covered. I turned back towards the girl her feet looked bad and without attention, she was sure to get infected, and infected feet in a medieval society was a death sentence. As I place my hand against her foot, I began to channel mana into her body speeding up the body’s regeneration.
L̸͍͇͖̭̮͊͐̇͌͘a̴̢̖͔͚͚͗̔̇̏͘y̵̠̱̰̖͐̔̊͐ ̴̲͠ö̶̹̼͕́̇̎̚n̷̡̼̦͓̤̏̃͊̿ ̴̡͕̦͓̦̐̕ḣ̶̗̱͖̥̈́͠ả̷͖̂̋͑͗n̴̹̦͚̘͋d̵̡̛̺̃́̅͛s̸̢̻̊̆͑
As I stood there watching her feet regenerating themselves’ I noticed that my mana was running low, I was down to twenty per cent reserves. I leaned back lying against the wall opening my mind up to the mana around and for the second time that day drifted off into a meditative trance.