Along the way, Kilian hunted a couple more rabbits and found more of the ones that grew little horns. Horned Rabbits, Kal called them. They were the mutated version of regular rabbits. Nothing much changed except for their gain in speed and the addition of the horn.
This anamoly is often created when the mana becomes dense and changes happen in their bodies when they're being born.
To Kilian, this seems like a great map to find spots with good amount of mana, and Kal agreed.
"As we get closer to the towers the mana in the air increases and more of these animals pop up...and there are some weird ones too."
[Indeed, there's something interesting about that castle.]
Kilian looked up, "Castle?" He only saw the towers from the sky and nothing else, not even the spaces between the trees provided anything.
[It might be surrounded by a magic barrier then.]
Kilian was still confused but Kal didn't explain any further.
[You'll see.]
The man sped up his jogging, though he seemed like a blur leaving behind gentle winds and almost no footprints despite being barefooted. He didn't trust being out in the wild and the castle mentioned may provide some sense of security, even if it is almost as untrustworthy as being left outside.
Kilian kept his guard up the entire way.
They were almost there, he could see the worn brown towers peeking through the treetops whenever he jumped from tree to tree attempting to avoid a creature.
He couldn't see anything else, just three towers seemingly placed at random locations.
[Ah yes, would you like to see your current status?]
Kilian slowed down and knelt by a bush and made sure there wasn't anything around.
"Status? Sure?"
Words began forming out of thin air and appeared before him. They were glistening in a nice light blue color with majestic handwriting.
He saw his name at the very top corner.
[I forgot to tell you, but this provides your information and updates with your body.]
Kilian nodded and looked at the information. Not a lot was said about him, everything was different.
- -
//Name: Kilian Hannes
Age: 18 (78)
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Companion: Kalicsus
Magic Class: Ice Mage
Current Skills:
Ice Bolt (Active)
Intermediate/Greater Mana Control (Passive)
Greater God Fiber Body (Passive)
Bloodline: Origin//
"Ohh~" He saw his current image, a muscular young adult with...piercing dark blue eyes and short white hair. He looked pleasing to the eye but Kilian didn't like the white hair. He believed he looked like an old man, ironically.
He grinned a mischevious grin. But it wasn't one like a child, rather, something that comes from a silly old man.
Kilian continued his running and the status window disappeared into glowing dust.
As he drew closer to the so called castle, Kal suddenly spoke up.
[Be careful when you reach the barrier! It might be harmful and unless we find a way to dispell it, it might prove a danger should you try to get through..]
Kilian saw the three towers clearly. They were made of brown wood and dark brick, and moss and poisonious plants grew on the walls.
Despite the towers seemingly standing on their own, he saw bits of other wooden and brick chunks contstantly phasing in and out of reality. The space around them would distort and return back to normal. A quick eye like Kilian's managed to catch that.
"So, any plans?" Kilian asked the quiet Kal.
[Go around and maybe you'd find a weak spot we can penetrate.]
Kilian began walking slowly while maintaining his distance from the barrier. He could see distortions in the air and automatically knew they were the outlines of the barrier, so he made sure not to get close to those.
But the more he went around, the more confused he became. As he walked, the towers seemed to get shorter and shorter, nearly reducing by half when he finished a quarter of the circle.
This seemed more than an optical illusion..
"Interesting, is it easy to construct a barrier?"
[The stronger the building tools the better the magic barrier. You should be able to construct a magic barrier with just your mana, though I'm not sure of it's uses outside of your protection.]
"I see, this magic barrier thing may prove useful in the future."
...
After rounds of stopping, turning, and advancing in a circle, Kilian just about riddled the ground with his footprints.
[Stop here, to your left, you should see a quaky distortion.]
Kilian turned his head and began scanning the wall. Sure enough, a spot that seemed like a fuzzy screen on a television came to view. It was very small, almost the size of an infant's hand. Somehow he didn't manage to see that, perhaps it randomly appeared.
He stopped in his tracks and walked closer to it, "What now, do I just kick it?"
Considering that it's a barrier then he might be able ro puncture a small hole with his magic. Kilian doesn't mean to overestimate himself but he thought his magic was quite strong, even after not even a day of training.
He had confidence in his learning ability and this body of his.
[Draw mana into your foot and kick it, that should work I suppose.]
"Gotcha."
Kilian took a step back and focused on his foot. The air around his legs began to swirl and debris rose from the ground.
He raised his leg with lightning speed and bought it down upon the barrier, striking his target perfectly.
A small crack appeared but nothing more.
[Again, keep doing it until it shatters.]
Kilian raised his leg once more and this time with more mana and more force, drilled it into the barrier. He could see the spot caving in, and the area around it became even more distorted.
He kept at it until he could see a castle fading into reality. It seemed to be surrounded by broken glass.
Soon enough, the barrier shattered. Glass shards flew through the air and wind pierced and cut the surrounding forestry.
Kilian raised his arms to shield his face and looked at the view.
"Phew!"
[Your mana control is impeccable, Kilian.]