ZADKIEL

Arch-Mage Zadkiel was taking his time packing his things while the surrounding castle devolved into utter chaos and activity. With his dear pupil's departure, he was readying for travel, his time here was up and he was ready to plunge back into his research, just a few months ago a new dungeon sprung up in the wilds of Vitalis far to the East so he had a slight smirk on his elderly face as he placed each of his things into their selected spatial containers.

He liked rings the best; he had two long leather straps with tens of rings hanging off of each and both were secured to his chest so he could quickly reach anything he could want.

Zadkiel was a master of divination and illusion, mostly because those helped in his quest to discover the secrets of nature and its connection to magic. He was an accomplished botanist, biologist, ecologist and geologist, among many other things, most of which didn't even have an official name. When one lived to his age, they tended to be proficient in many fields and to one as obsessed with his study as Archmage Zadkiel. That was even more so.

While elves would view Zadkiel's third millennia of life as impressive, he thought little of it.

The morons could live for four millennia without even activating their cores if they stayed away from danger.

And while he thought he knew they had little a choice with those pesky humans raiding their land nonstop; he had complicated feelings about them. On one hand, the Corvus Empire was unquestionably the foremost nation in terms of scientific and magical advancement and, on the other, they were utter arseholes.

He only sneaked into their precious little academy's 'forbidden' library and they sent FIVE arch-mages to hunt him down.

Not that they achieved much.

He tricked four into killing the fifth by using one of his most devious illusion spells on them. That's what they get for standing between him and knowledge. Who told them to forbid non-humans from attending their academy? Stuck-up primates.

Only because of his mastery of divination and expert manipulation of his mana sense did he find out what in the ancestor's name was going on in the castle.

Mythral arrived back at the castle recently on death's door while reporting that a group of humans ambushed the Princess's convoy and roused a Feathered Serpent and now the young royal was missing while most of her escort lay dead.

Despite his elderly appearance, Zadkiel's mind was sharp, and he quickly devised a plan. It wasn't even a new plan. He'd a slew of pre-prepared ones for an entire list of possible events and this one was among them.

He gently tapped into his mana sense and pushed out a few well-hidden spells, checking for any attention on himself. The King was good with his ever-present sense and divination, but Zadkiel was a master; he put up a shield that would make it seem like he was leisurely packing away without alerting the sovereign.

His hand traced the rings on his chest before stopping at the last. He plucked it off of its place and held it between his fingers while scrutinizing it. It was a thin ring of pure Silverite with a feminine design; it had two of his own illusion spells imbued into it, but that wasn't why he had it.

With a smirk, he began casting. This little piece of jewelry was a replica of the twin ring he had given to the Princess only a few days prior. This made it an ideal medium for divination. Hundreds of intricate runes snapped into place in his mind. Two-dimensional, three and even fourth-dimensional runes revealed themselves. Veins of mana connected them in an intricate pattern, something that was essential for a spell at this level.

The Spell Circle, as it was crudely called, despite being more like an orb, was crystal clear in his mind and spotless. He concentrated and through one rune, serving for just this purpose; he flooded it with his potent mana.

Once the spell was charged, he Activated it with a flex of his will and the complex spell structure collapsed upon itself, a small tendril of mana extended into his mind and started interfacing with it while the Spell Matrix disappeared so quickly that even his essence enhanced senses couldn't catch it.

He felt more than saw with his mind's eyes as it reached its target in a fraction of a second.

His sight cleared as he was now levitating in the air. An imperceptible orb of mana looked down on the peacefully sleeping form of the Princess with the Silverite ring that guided him here, still on her finger.

He smiled mentally as he guided the orb towards the ring; it connected, and he pushed himself deeply into it. Yeah, he made that thing so it would come in handy for the willful girl if she ever slipped past her guards, but its primary function was far more important for her to succeed.

After all, if he could find her this quickly, other Arch-Mages wouldn't be far behind. He had to be quick.

He fed the mana, making up the orb into an enchantment hidden deep within the ring. This enchantment would set up a nearly imperceptible ward against any divination and keep the girl away from prying eyes. Even he wouldn't be able to find her again once this was in place.

The mana bled into the enchantment, slowly powering up the powerful effect, and soon enough he was back in his body, his divination spell disrupted by the ward. He carefully took down the shields he put up before, naturally transitioning them to show reality underneath to not appear suspicious.

Be free, young Kha'Lythria, you deserve far more than your preordained future.

He held no doubt about the girl failing or dying in her quest. The ancestors would guide her. Such a talented girl was never destined to waste away in the desert.

He would help more, but they would surely observe rather closely him for a while. He and the king had never seen eye to eye. It was predictable, with one of them being a researcher and the other a ruthless ruler. It would be so much easier for Zadkiel if the ceaseless wars would stop for even a few years.

With his part in her tale done for now, Zadkiel finished packing and left from the Castle with the uproar soon being put behind him. He could barely wait to find out what that newborn dungeon had in store for him.

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The sun was still glaring through the canopy when Kali woke up. Her back was aching and chilled down to her bones. She imagined a human would have died from hypothermia a few times by now in her position, but she was still fine, aside from being uncomfortable.

She frowned down at the illusion ring on her left ring finger; it felt somehow weird and different, but no matter how much she stared at it or even sniffed, she couldn't figure out what it was.

When she infused the ring with her mana, she felt a slight resistance and frowned. With a gasp, she realized what was happening as she pushed a tiny amount inside. Her mana sense extended beyond her body, and for a moment, the ring felt like a part of her.

The dichotomy of the magical density between the two was noticeable even to a person blind to mana so Kali also realized it even though she didn't know why it was so, just before she went to sleep it didn't have any mana of its own only the small amount she gave it to sustain the Minor Illusion while she slept.

As she was breaking her head over it, she felt like her erstwhile tutor was smirking down at her, but the image went away as quickly as it came. Could it have been Zadkiel who filled it up? But why?

It doesn't matter. She shook her head. "Thanks anyway, master Zedkiel."

Although no one answered her whisper, she couldn't help but smile a little. He was one of the few people who truly supported her, unlike her own family. Despite his eccentricities and obsessive tendencies towards research, she appreciated him for both his honesty and helpfulness.

She knew if he could he'd have helped her escape himself, but the old man was under heavy regulations and constant observation while remaining in the Castle.

There were never any excuses for him. The old elf always said what was on his mind and quite a few times that got him into trouble, but he always got out of it somehow. He talked about war, politics and how her father would put him on a stake if he went any deeper into certain topics, unlike her previous tutors who thought that she 'was too young to learn about those topics'.

He was the main reason she wasn't entirely lost now that she was alone. She could think ahead and make plans based on his teachings. Well, she would do that later, anyway. Her growling stomach agreed with her with passion, making its dissatisfaction with a few cookies she ate yesterday before sleeping clear.

Kali touched her obsidian-colored ring against her pillow and it slipped into the spatial storage without a sound. It was always interesting to watch that. Kali couldn't wrap her head around how spatial magic worked or where her stuff had gone or how it made her burn with curiosity, but she couldn't get answers to any of those in a forest.

She got to her feet; she felt as fresh as she could be despite the deplorable sleeping conditions. At the end of the day, she was still a Winter Elf, and Winter had never killed one of her kin before. She refused to be the first.

With a mental command, the illusion covering the opening shimmered out of existence, and she quickly squished herself through the opening. The sight outside was the same as before, but she didn't let that fool her. Her ears were twitching at any sound and she snapped her shimmering blue gaze towards the source of each.

A twig snapped 200 meters away and twenty degrees to the left and on the ground. A moment later, her head turned towards it and her vision zeroed in on the small ratlike creature as it scurried along on the ground, running into a hole in the ground soon after.

Within a few minutes, she would only turn her head if she could not identify the origin of the noise or if it seemed hazardous. For example, if it was caused by a heavier animal or the snapping of larger branches.

Her sight wasn't as much of an asset as it could be, with the many thick trunks impeding her sight in every direction. Her vision went on unobstructed for fifty meters at most, but her hearing was clear for hundreds of meters and she could hear even beyond that, but not with the supernatural precision that made her species fearsome hunters.

Her footsteps grew increasingly quiet with each step. She carefully monitored her every movement to avoid any unnecessary motion. She had always been a quick learner, but she'd put little effort into physical exercises. All that essence did was enhance what was already there. It wasn't an additive improvement but a multiplicative one.

Essence was an interesting thing. Every moment she had mana in her Core, a small percentage of that would be painstakingly slowly transformed into essence which would infuse into her being, permanently enhancing all aspects of what was Kha'Lythria.

This included her Core, which could house just a bit more mana with each drop of essence that infused it, creating a sort of positive feedback loop that went on and on until she reached the peak of mortal power. Well, in her dreams maybe, but in reality, her Core couldn't absorb ambient mana by itself so it relied entirely on her to do so and for that, she needed Mana Gathering Spells or as they called it in some other places 'Cultivation Techniques'.

Kali only had access to the most basic form of that which was the single Rune called Mana Gathering and it was a pain in the ass to replenish her Core as it was now. She couldn't imagine how annoying it'd get in the future. Her father forcibly imbued her Core with loads of essence to increase her life expectancy but didn't give her any technique to cultivate it further by herself.

If she ever got to a city, the first thing she did would be to buy a cultivation technique, even if it was shitty. She would have to hold that dumb rune in place for half a day, just to recover from casting a few spells. It wasn't too hard and unlike with spells; she didn't need to fill it up with mana. Just holding it in place was enough. After all this thing did was pull whatever ambient mana touched her body into her core.

She'd also have to keep her mana as close to the maximum as she could as the percentile was on her current amount of mana and not on the maximum so that added another level of pain-in-the-ass into the already shitty mix. Not that she could do that for the last five years of her life with guards, maids and her father with his annoying mana sense breathing down on her neck every moment of her life.

Her eccentric master only gave her the mana-replenishing rune on her 15th birthday, leaving her to watch her stores slowly deplete. She had to be cautious when using the Rune due to her guards' mana sense. She could only use up what mana she could regenerate in a single night to keep up appearances.

Setting her frustrations aside, she focused back on her senses. Her footsteps landed on the soft snow without a sound, and her breathing was calm and measured. She was ready.

Her steps picked up speed as she gained confidence, from a crawl she went into a slow walk then a jog and finally a run while relying on her hearing and sight to provide her with direction and on her limited mana sense to alert her if her steps would land on something noisy that she missed with the other two senses.

Now that she was focusing more and had a clearer head the forest was teeming with life, small rodents were hiding in their burrows from the biting cold while birds perched on the countless branches above her while cat-sized predators stalked both from within the canopy.

Those were just the ones that stood out the most, but to her chagrin, she could hear hundreds if not thousands of chittering chitinous legs moving along everywhere. This was the insect's world, and they were just living in it. Just like Zadkiel always told her. The arch-mage botanist was, for some gods-forsaken reason, fascinated with the little monsters.

She realized that most activities happened in the interconnected canopy of the giant evergreens and down here, she would not have too much success. If anything lived down here, it would be much larger than the ones above and she liked her chances much more with the cat-sized beasts than a ten-meter-tall wolf.

She crouched down, contracting the muscles in her legs like a spring before releasing them. Effortlessly soaring through the air, she propelled herself towards the 7-meter-high branches. She passed the first few branches moments later before she reached the apex of her jump; she grabbed at the wet branch above her in a bit of a panic and latched onto it at the last moment.

Now, hanging nearly 9 meters high, she second-guessed her impulsive choice to skip climbing the trunk and giving in to her need for speed. Calm and steady sometimes really did win the race.

It was worth it though, and it was faster. Sailing through the air was fun and the bit of thrill at the threat of falling made her feel alive.

She was smiling lightly until her fingers started to lose their hold on the wet bark. She looked between any close by branches frantically, looking for one that could serve as a landing point.

None was under her specifically but a few were within reachable distance. She'd be able to reach them with her toes if she swung back and forth but that was a less-than-ideal thing to do while she was rapidly losing her hold.

Oh, I can use magic now!!

The realization struck her like a thunderbolt. Before, she couldn't use magic for her problems. It was just a fun thing to do while she was alone at night. She also had just the right spell for this.

Concentrating on runes would be hard and her fingers weren't free to use somatic gestures, so the only thing that remained was her least favorite one.

"M̸̱̩̬̣̗̓̆̔͂̀̅͝a̷̡̻̻͋̊n̷̨̼̬̅͑͒̌å̸̢̙̙̳͇̻̖̦̼͓͈̯̤̬̕ ̸̢̛̛̛̍̉́̉̓͑̽̕͝͝ţ̸̛͚̬̩̜̼͌̒̏̑͊̅̾̂̈́̓̀͜͝h̴̜̤̗͙̰̬̥͕̠͉̎̇ḙ̸̱̍́̅̄͒̈́̚̚ ̷̢̢̬͖͈̜̲̹̯̖̝͚͔͖̾̍̈́͌͑͋̇̈̀ļ̷͈́͒̀̔̾͆̆̌̚i̵̼̹̱͔̦͐̊̿̅̑̓͝ͅf̵̧̥͉͚̼̯̯̳̣̺̂̉̽͌̈̔̚e̵̫̟̰̯̫̖̔͂͗͋͌̉b̴̡̲͆̿̓̂̊̂̔̄͗l̴̡̛̜̮̤̂̈́̑̔̆̃͝͝o̵̡̲͇̗̰̝̘͈̪̙̽͋̄̍̅͜͜ó̸̡̜̯͍̮̥̜̫̝͉̩̯͖̀̔̌̆ͅd̶̢̯̥̗̭̱̘͔̩͉̑̍̀̌̒̈́́́́̊̕͝ ̵̢̢̗̺͓̱̭́ȯ̵̳̗̿́̉̐f̷̧̢͉̺͙͉͚̫͙̹̾́͊ ̷̡̦̗͇̳̲̭̠̳̒͑̅͊̋̅͘͠ͅr̸̪̲̹̖̠̭̦̯̖̲̈̅̊̃͋̅̾͘͠ͅę̵̧̻̠̜̭̼̩̳́͑͂͒̑͛͐̍̐̎̌͗͌ͅâ̶̧͖͕̥̻̹̪̮̮̦̗̜̰̒͌̏̀̃̍̀͌͊̊̒͌l̴̛̟͚̬̭͉͈̯͎̀̽̿̂̋̚i̸̡̍̏̍̀̆̆̏t̸̨̧̢̪̖̮̰͓͎̖͔̻̮͔͒̈́͗̈́̈́̅͝ÿ̷̧̼̠̹͓̰̭̥̜̙̇͊͗͆̽ ̵̡̯̲̹̖̗̤̩̝̈́͑́̌͆̔̔̈́͑̔́̂͜ä̴̢̙͈͈̯͓͈̺͂̉̑̓̀͋̀̈́̓͂̔͐̋͝n̵̛̳̖̭̒͋̅̉͊̊̓͐́̈́͒̚͝͝s̷͙̋͋̐͑̓́w̶͉͔͕̤̝̰͔̜̰̰̠̙̓̈́̍̽̒̽̀͋͗͘̚e̸̢̧̥̮͎͎̘̰̤͙̞͚̖̗̾̃̽̽̀̐͋́͋̚͝r̸̩͈̘̳̗͖̭̝̈͊̂̋͠ ̶̢̟̭̋̌̿̽͗̈́̍̅̋̄̒m̸̨̢̡̨͇̻̥̟͈͎͉͎̦͖͕̀͛̀̐̾̀̎̑͘̚͝͠ỳ̸̳̩̬̪̥̙̄̓͜ ̷̧̮̜̤̰̘̜̪͔̥̮̗̅̍͐̋̋̓͠p̶͕͚͙͖̱͚̐̾͂͌̓̈́͘͝l̵̡̧̲͈̘̃e̴̥̹͉̯̳̯̳̬̾̿͗ͅä̴̛͈̫̞͍̬̘̩͉͉̝͙̖̟͈̀̀̿͒͜͝ ̴̛̛̩̞̥̓͊̈̄̌̇̅̓̓̽͋̀͝a̸͍̋̓ǹ̸̫͖̺͙͔͙̿̂͊̅͐̽͘͝͠d̶̹͉̖̠͖͈͎͙͇̥̹̝̯͇͜͠ ̶̢̢̛̹̤̲̦̦͖̳̋͐̚g̸̥̞̣̙͈̟̀͗̇̃̐̒̂r̷̡̢̟̘̩͇͚̊͂͗̿͜͜ą̵̨̢͍͕̹̜͈͉̘̪̟̿͑̃͊̉̈̓͛̕ͅn̴͚̻̹̼͇͉͚͕͚͉̪̥̈́̑͘̕͜͜͝t̸̛̝̆̂́̏͌̿͗̊̈̄̕̚ ̵͖̖͔͚͚̮͓̙̊̀̈́̀͜͜͝m̷̜̦̬͇̮̠̫͙̰͎̜͑̓̋̄̐͒̋͗͛̄͂ḙ̸̛͇̹̃̓̔̅̀̏́̐̀͗̐̾̚͘ͅ ̷̧̛̳̟͎͎̆͌͂̚̚ā̴̧̩̻͐̈͐͂͐n̸̻̞͆̀̄̃̏̃̓̿͒̅ ̷͚͖͒̎͗́̄͠ã̶̗̲̼͙̞̹̑̕͝͝n̵̲͈̤̊͒̌̅͗c̶̢̢̛̦̖̙͈̪̻͉̔̄̌̚h̸̡̡̼͈̲̹̹̙̹̣͓͑͒̕o̴̧̖̞̝̝̥͍͔͂͒̎̄͊͌̄͊̀̆̑̃̚͠r̵̠̪͉̭̠͆̈́̃͒͆̒́̂̾̇̽̑̌̅͝ ̵̢̨̧̫͖͙͉̠͉͉̖́͒̏̀͌̄͛̆͘t̶̢̧̛͎̼͓̝͖̙̪͔̜̠̾̈́́̍̂͌̓͒̾͋͝ͅͅŏ̵̡̦̲̝͓͑̔̈̾̅̑͐͌̃̇̕͘͠ ̸̨̨̢̢͙̱͓̠͎̙͉̭͔̲̝̅̏̓̿̈́͊̑̍́̅̄͝͝ŝ̵̢̖͓̯̺͇̿̽̿̓̑̒̀̑̿̚t̵͍͚͎͉̽̽̋͘a̷̮̹̻̠̰̩͗̈̀͛͆n̷̨̻̯͔̯͇͎̊̌̂͐̐̂͜ͅd̴͖̠̹̭͇̭̲̱͌̇̉̾̆̽͛̇̓̀̆̒ͅ ̵̛͎͈͓̒̄̇̒̌̀̄̂͛͠ờ̸̥̲̹̍́̅͐̓̏̔̈́͘ń̵̞̬̳͚̥͎̺̲̟͙̣̘̔̌͊̈́̂̌̀̄̔̒͐̚ͅ.̵̨̯͉͇̟̦̗̲̖̳̄̈́͛̀ "

Alien words left her lips in a singsong tone and with each note, the Runes of the Arcane Foothold spell crystalized in her mind with no effort on her part. She cringed at the words she spoke but couldn't help but feel thankful to Zadkiel for insisting on her learning every way of casting she could manage by herself.

Both somatic gestures and chanting were crutches for a mage to cast spells beyond their natural capabilities, but they came in handy in situations like this. She liked somatic gestures as they were silent and looked cool, but she found chanting to be embarrassing.

She released her failing hold on the branch and landed on a semi-translucent shield of mana that started angrily flickering once her whole weight was on it but it still lifted her up a bit after her boots touched it, giving her all the momentum she needed to step onto the nearby branch. When she glanced back at the foothold, all she saw was blue dust disappearing into the air.

Oh well.

She started grinning a bit as her ears twitched at the many prey now being within reachable distance.

She just hoped she wouldn't have to resort to eating rats here. That would be too much of an affront to her sensibilities.

A runaway princess was still a princess.