“Adeyemi, are you sure about this? How do we know this isn’t a trap?!” Asime shouted over to Adeyemi, the two dashing through the forest as quickly as they could, hopping over bushes and ducking underneath low hanging branches.
“I can feel it.” Adeyemi said with a slight smile; when Alci had been lost to the Rage of the Epe, she’d felt it before she saw it. And when Alci had regained control of himself, she’d felt that too; she didn’t need her magic skill to figure that out.
Asime stared at her, catching her smile briefly as the trees whizzed by them, and nodded. “Alright then, I trust you.” And it was true. Even though he was born and groomed to be just another mindless, rage seeking warrior, Adeyemi had taught him to be much more than that. And now, it was his time to do the same for Alci, no matter the risks. “But what about Naadi?”
Adeyemi inhaled sharply; it was a good question. Shortly after Alci had been released into the forest, Naadi had ran off to get to the Locket Bearer before Alci could. They’d chased after him to intercept Alci to make him see the light, but by the time they’d started running, his battle with the Locket Bearer had already started. And watching Alci lose his mind beating the two senseless, and then kill one of them; it was so horrifying she couldn’t stop watching. It still shook her to her core seeing Alci murder someone without a shred of hesitation. “I…”
Still, she was happy that Alci was doing his best to make up for his mistakes, even if it could mean his death. That was the way she raised him; that was the true Alci, not the monster that her sister had created to further her own gains. But I don’t just want to stand by and let Naadi kill the boy who helped bring Alci back to his senses. And if Naadi does attack Urn…then Alci will certainly defend Urn.
“We’ll just have to support whatever decision he makes.” She said, and Asime nodded.
“Naturally!” Asime wasn’t fond of going up against Naadi; after all, the young king had sworn to help them save Alci. But he was used to doing things he wasn’t fond of; if Naadi went after Urn, he’d step in, no matter what Naadi said. “B-”
Before the two even realized it, an enormous ball of unstable, constantly shifting black energy dropped from the sky like an astral meteor, bursting in mid-air just before it crashed into them, resulting in a blast that teared a hole through the forest, the heat of the blast shriveling up and disintegrating the trees around them. through the forest. Adeyemi instantly felt a searing sensation rip through her body, as if lava were being poured and stirred into her veins and let out a bloodcurdling stream as she was sent flying high, high into the air.
~~~~
Faster! Naadi thought as he flew through the air, using his magic skill over and over again to conjure bursts of wind to send him flying through the forest. His skill wasn’t meant to be used like this; it was exhausting, draining loads of magic energy, and it wasn’t exactly fun flinging himself through the forest like this. But none of that mattered in the grand scheme of things; he needed to get to the Locket Bearer before anything else!
I can still sense Alci’s and the Locket Bearer’s energy signatures. They’re still close to each other, but their energies are oddly calm. Nothing like before…are they not fighting anymore? Naadi’s eyes narrowed; this could be a major problem. The last thing he needed was Alci and the Locket Bearer potentially working together.
As his momentum started to slow down, he readied his blade and focused his energies, preparing to unleash his magic skill once again. Before he could output his energy, an enormous shadow leapt from the trees, slamming into him while mid-air and sending him flying down into the undergrowth of the forest.
Landing on his hands, he flipped back onto his feet and charged forward, only to be intercepted by the same mysterious shadow that had sent him plummeting into the forest. It looked like a giant, three-dimensional blob of ink with several mouths protruding along its sides, and bright red eyes that glowered at him with unrestrained bloodlust.
Tightening his grip on his sword, he crouched down and leapt into the air above the beast, going right past it. He didn’t have time for another pointless battle. As he once again, prepared to use his magic skill to propel himself into the air, jet black tendrils erupted from the blob’s back, wrapping around Naadi’s ankles and swinging him right back into the undergrowth.
Fuck! Naadi thought, shakily landing on one hand as the monster loomed over him, the tendrils protruding from its back spreading out and cutting off any other escape routes. Naadi exhaled and pulled himself off the ground. Speeding towards the beast, he weaved between several incoming tendrils and quickly closed the gap between himself and the beast and swung his sword along the monster’s side.
Yet Naadi found that just piercing through its skin was tough enough; but as soon as his blade had broken through its skin barrier, a thick, ink like liquid had oozed over the blade, weighing it down and making it impossible to move it. Letting go of the blade, he rolled out of the way as several black tendrils shot towards him and squeezed his fist.
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This was the last thing he needed. Just when he’d finally gotten a lead onto the Locket Bearer’s energy signature, this thing had come out of thin air and intercepted him. Why was it so powerful? It seemed barely more intelligent than the trees surrounding them; so how was a low-ranking magical beast giving him so much damn trouble.
“Just get out of the way,” Naadi snapped, waving his hand. Immediately, the blade vanished from the monster’s side, and reappeared in his hands. He could feel several more energy signatures closing in; all eerily similar to the monster he was currently fighting. They came from the east, the south, the west, and the north, as one by one, the identical blob-like monsters surrounded him, cutting off any hope of escape.
Naadi watched in horror as tendrils erupted from the backs of each and every blob, the tendrils rising into the air and practically forming a dome of black around him. They seem a lot less like magical beasts and more like puppets. Naadi mused…and then doubled back on that thought. Was it possible that these magical beasts were the result of a magic skill; it would explain why they stood out so much compared to the other beasts he’d encountered in that forest.
If I’m right, the person controlling them has to be nearby. Otherwise, the magic energy cost would be too overwhelming. If I could just get past these monsters... Naadi thought, barely paying attention to the situation he was in. His body felt like it was moving on autopilot as he weaved in between thrusted tendrils, ducking, leaping, and spinning out of the way of the onslaught of attacks with the grace of a ballerina. As he swiftly evaded the attacks of the monsters, they seemed to grow more and more agitated, the swinging of their tendrils increasing in speed. He could only keep on avoiding them for so long.
Focusing his energy into his blade in another attempt to unleash his magic skill, his momentary pause in movement left him a wide target for attacks. A tendril whipped through the air and slammed into his back, sending him catapulting into a tree, completely losing all of his concentration and the magical energy he’d built up. Dazed, he slowly sat up, finding it hard to even keep his eyes open, and watched as the monsters slowly grew closer and closer; he’d die if he kept trying to fight them like this.
He stared down at his blade and sighed. To get past them, he’d have to make a sacrifice. He couldn’t risk trying to awaken here; no, he’d have to do the complete opposite. By awakening, one gained large amounts of magical energy, that was either equated into a magic skill, or added to a preexisting one to make it even stronger. So then…what would happen if one tried to revert a magic skill back into pure magical energy?
It could either supply me with enough magical energy to speed past these guys; or do absolutely nothing. It’s worth trying. Naadi got to his feet and tightened his grip on his sword. The Vigil Sword was his first magic skill, one he’d spent years honing and practicing. It was almost an exact mirror of one of his Father’s magic skills, which was part of the reason why he’d ended up garnering more attention from his Father than his other siblings. But it was time to let go; it was the only way forward. He was sure that if his Father was in this situation, he’d sacrifice any skill to get to the Locket Bearer.
Time seemed to slow down for Naadi as the tendrils extending from the monsters’ bodies rose into the air, and then in unison, came diving down towards Naadi; they planned to eliminate him with this next attack. Whoever was controlling them obviously didn’t see Naadi as a threat. Tightening his grip on the blade, he shot into the air, and sent his energy through the Vigil Sword and broke down the magical energy that made it up. Cracks spiderwebbed through the blade as magical energy leaked from the blade like rivers of green; and then it shattered, sending a rush of immense magical energy into Naadi’s body.
It was incredibly rejuvenating; much like the feeling when awakening, Naadi felt himself overflowing with life energy. Concentrating the vibrating mass of energy shrouding his body into his bones, he used the energy to reinforce and boost his body beyond its max capacities; and shot right past the tendrils before they came down.
Landing onto a nearby tree, he cast a sight over the area; and immediately spotted a flash of silver within the shadow of a nearby tree. Launching off the tree with enough power to dent where he’d leapt off of, he landed besides the very enemy that had been sending the monsters after him; a boy around his age with spiky black hair, and a necklace with a fang hanging from it.
“Find a better hiding spot next time.” Naadi said, and then slammed his fist into the boy’s skull before he could even get out another word, promptly knocking the boy out. As soon as he struck the boy, the monsters melted away, oozing into a thick black liquid that evaporated in the light of the sun. The energy rushing through Naadi’s body started to fade; apparently it was only permanent, but that wasn’t too concerning.
Just as he was about to take off, Naadi’s feelings of triumph were cut short by the sound of applause. Naadi turned towards the boy and reeled in shock. The boy had melted into the same oozing ink-like liquid the monsters had- and the same liquid was wrapped around his ankles, keeping him rooted to the ground.
The source of the applause grew closer, stepping out of a nearby tree and revealing himself; the same spiky haired boy he’d just knocked out.
“You’re alright.” The boy said. “Not as strong as I’ve heard, but you can think on your feet pretty well. But I think better.”
“What?” Naadi’s eyes narrowed, as he desperately tried to yank his feet out of the oozing liquid; but it clinged to his body like chains. “Why are you doing this- who are you? One of the Locket-Bearer’s lackeys?”
“No.” The boy scratched his head. “Oh, right. You’re really hung up on the whole revenge thing, aren’t you? That’s troublesome…mmm…”
“Let me go, or I’ll kill you!” Naadi threatened, flowing all the magical energy in his body to his legs, but to no avail as the chains of black liquid remained tight and unmoving. FUCK! Naadi thought, growing more and more desperate as the Locket Bearer’s energy signature moved farther and farther away. “Are you slow? If you’re not with him, then why are you getting in my way?”
“Yeesh.” The boy muttered. “Really hung up. Guess I’ll just bring you to Lamarse, okay?” The boy extended a hand, and the liquid oozing over Naadi’s ankles suddenly rapidly expanded, shooting up Naadi’s body and wrapping around it, tightly restraining the King in an inky cocoon.