Sia goes to each worker moving the excess remains to the incineration room. While the others are processing the next set of monsters she rounds up the materials they had set aside. The furs are given to the seamstresses while the remaining parts are stacked separately to be taken to the dining hall.
Loading her arms up with as many rolled up blankets and rugs as she can carry she leaves to take them to the dining hall. As she comes to the fork that leads to the entrance she comes across Jellal. Before she passes by he tells her she'll be in charge of security while he's gone like usual. Without giving her a chance to reply he heads to the cave entrance.
Reaching her destination she piles up the items on a table. As she's about to leave she notices a new earthen table by the path to the prison area. Curious about the new addition she walks over to take a peek. Laid out on the table are three swords, a mana potion, and a healing potion. "For emergency use" is carved in front of the items leaving no question as to the reason they were left there.
On her way back to the work area she runs into Evangeline and Meredith. As she walks past them she can hear their back and forth.
[Can't we take a break now? Even if we take a break now we'll still carry the materials eventually.]
[No, you can't do that Eva. If the others aren't taking a break how can we. Did you forget they were working hard while we were still sleeping without a care in the world? That isn't fair at all, Eva. We need to work hard to make up for the time we missed.]
[But] [No buts! Now, let's hurry, we still have a lot of work to do.]
'How nice, they're just like sisters. But why is the eight year old the one acting like the older sister, while the vampire of unknown age acts like a spoiled child?'
Jellal steps out of the cave, closing the way in behind him. He's greeted by the dark and gloomy forest. The trees have started withering, looking wrinkled and dry. Dead leaves constantly fall from the branches littering the ground below.
'Is this all because the miasma? How can a forest go from being a beautiful, peaceful looking place to a place that looks unfit to support life in a matter of days? I may have underestimated the miasma.'
Setting off he heads in the direction where he last met Mac and Sionia. In a matter of minutes his way's blocked by a horde of over three hundred monsters moving perpendicular to him. He moves stealthily to the back of the pack to go around them even a little bit faster.
Continuing on, he weaves between smaller groups ranging from ten to fifty. In a few short minutes he runs into yet another sizable horde. They number just under two hundred and unlike the last horde are moving toward him.
Getting annoyed with the never ending supply of monsters blocking his path he decides to try changing the way he's moving. Bypassing the horde he climbs into a tree. Reaching the very top of the tree he pokes his head out above the canopy.
With things in the sky appearing to be all clear he gathers wind mana. Using magic to create wind he gives himself an updraft. Complimenting that he keeps wind magic all around him to push him in any direction he desires.
Concentrating on the surrounding mana he begins trying to tinker with the gravity around him. Since it's his first time playing with gravity magic he takes a while to get the hang of it. In the end the effort and concentration to barely decrease the gravity around him isn't very efficient as well as being distracting so he decides to put this prototype flying magic to the side for now.
Using the updraft he adjusts the concentration of wind until he hovers above the trees. Nodding he lets off of it slightly and gently floats back to the tree tops. Bending his knees he pushes off the tree with a powerful kick. The branch he kicked off of shatters thunderously and rattles down to the ground below.
Soaring five meters above the tree tops he uses the updraft to keep him from dropping while a tailwind bolsters his speed. The air rushing by his ears makes it difficult to hear anything while the wind pounding his face causes him to squint.
As he's soaring he tries messing around with wind magic to block off the wind in front of him. The way he decides to do it is by curving the air in front of him around his sides before curling it either below or behind him to join and supplement his previous magics.
His momentum slows as he flies. Decreasing the updraft he glides gracefully down to another tree top. His flight magic had one problem he didn't foresee which ate away at his efficiency as he went on.
If there's one ability he's been putting extra effort into it's his ability to let mana pass through him. He's been working hard to perfect it so he can do it as naturally as breathing. Because of his practice he's been unconsciously letting some of the mana from his magic pass through him, killing his efficiency.
Taking his future into consideration, he scraps his current flight magic prototypes. Going back to the drawing board he comes up with a new version.
Sitting on a branch he concentrates on becoming one with the surrounding mana. From there he begins merging his mana with the wind mana. Taking it a step further he attempts to merge as well. This type of magic that focuses on the physical aspect of the body is more suitable for aura which specializes in it, but since he hasn't learned how to use it yet he can only wing it with his superior magic skills.
Partially merged with the wind mana in the surroundings he can feel every movement of the wind as well as every foreign object it touches. Influencing the wind to flow in the direction he wants to head, he once again kicks off the tree.
He soars through the air, moving along with the wind. His speed, while still fast, is only about three quarters of his previous flight magic. His altitude also decreases gradually until he reaches the tree tops. Using his foot to propel himself higher he continues on while making adjustments on the fly.
Adding in a light updraft he stops himself from continually losing altitude. Concentrating the wind in around his direct area instead of letting it spread so far he's able to increase his speed a fair amount.
Even though he isn't able to fly as fast as he did with his original prototype the feeling they give off are completely different. His first flight magic was basically using brute force and his ridiculously powerful control over mana, while the new version is comfortable with him becoming one with the wind.
One tries to bend nature to its will while the other attempts to join with nature. These completely opposite styles of approach perfectly encapsulates the huge scope of possibilities when using magic.
While Jellal's admiring the endless possibilities that comes with magic a figure shoots at him from a large tree off to his left. As the figure speeds toward him it displaces the air. Taking advantage of his oneness with the wind he rides the displaced air brushing harmlessly past the aggressor.
His vision follows them as they circle around for another pass. When it finally turns its head towards him he can see the visible indicators of corruption in the giant bird's eyes. It flaps its wings powerfully as it climbs into the sky.
From his lower angle Jellal can see the massive gold talons large enough to easily cover a human head.
The burgundy wings it beats give it a wingspan of nearly three meter. Letting out a screech from its bright gold beak it goes into a dive.
Jellal hovers in the air admiring the handsome hawk-like beast. Pulling his saw out from his bag he patiently awaits its arrival. He doesn't have to wait long as it approaches at blistering speeds.
Riding the wind he slightly shifts his body allowing him to once again brush past his attacker. Moving along with the tailwind created by the beast as it flew past he pursues it calmly. He could have attacked as he dodged its attack but the hawk's momentum would've been partially transferred into his weapon. Rather than allowing himself to be pushed back he chose to stay in control of all his movement.
When the hawk starts to circle around he moves to intercept. His foe pulls up trying to use its talons to latch onto him. Slipping between the talons he hacks at the bird's right wing, sending it plummeting out of the sky.
He follows after it as it crashes through the branches of a tree before landing headfirst in the dirt. Floating down head first he kicks the bottom of a branch launching himself at the downed bird. Flipping as he rockets down his heel smashes squarely on the back of the hawk's neck like a guillotine. A shiver inducing crack echoes through the area as the battle concludes.
Gathering concentrated wind magic into a spike he gives the hawk a double tap as usual. Looking at the corpse he's reluctant to leave it sitting there. Instead of bringing it with him he decides to grab it on the way back from the city.
To ensure it's in perfect shape he uses ice magic to preserve it. Following that he uses earth magic to make a giant cube around it to protect it from predators. Moving to the top of the tree it fell under, he ties a colorful ribbon to the highest branch to act as a marker. As a final touch he freezes the top of the trees in the area so it'll be nearly impossible for him to miss the location.
With that taken care of, he sets off once again. In order to draw less attention from corrupted birds he stays one to two meters above the trees.
Crossing over the stream the forest seems to be in slightly better condition. At the very least the forest only gives off spooky vibes rather than looking like it belongs in a horror movie.
Sinking down through the trees Jellal lands on the ground to try to find his desired location. His estimation from the sky proves to be accurate as he locates the spot in less than a minute.
Using the direction Sionia ran in from as a basis he adjusts his trajectory before setting out on foot. Not knowing much about the terrain or land markers he decides to pass on flying to enhance the experience.
Compared to the other side of the stream the hordes of monsters are much smaller with almost none reaching triple digits. The number of hordes is also significantly lower. With his tremendous sensing ability Jellal was unable to find a spot on the cave side where he was unable to sense at least one horde. On this side he can walk in peace without monsters constantly buzzing like flies inside his sensory range.
Keeping his wits about him Jellal trudged along through the brush, taking the shortest path to the city. Intentionally sparsely dispersing his mana over a huge radius to drastically increase his sensory range he started checking out the situation of the forest.
It didn't take long for him to pick up on the differences between the two sides of the stream. By increasing his range he was able to find plenty of traces of battle such as gashes in trees or corpses littering the ground.
'The progression of the miasma's corruption may be linked to how close each side is to its origin at the center of the forest but outside factors likely play a big role in it as well. If I'm only looking at the path I took, there were almost no signs of battles occurring on the cave's side of the stream. Contrarily all signs point to adventurers or knights making a play to hold back the monsters on their side of the stream.
I don't know how the miasma's corruption spreads but I can make a guess based on the information at hand. My money is on there being a source or spring of miasma which corrupts the forest and monsters.
Since there are stories about miasma people in the know probably know a bit about how it functions, yet they only try to corral it instead of dealing with the source. This tells me that in all likelihood even if they knew its exact location there would be nothing they can do to stop it.
Looking at the concentration of corrupted monsters, distance from origin, and the state of the forest there is a correlation. They wouldn't be sending people to kill off monsters for no reason so they're likely trying to slow the spread while preventing raids on nearby towns.
The last thing that concerns me is the sheer number of monsters. There are too many, to the point of it being unnatural. This is also likely to be a result of the miasma. My best guess would be it having an effect on their reproduction and birth rates, but since I have nothing to go off of that theory's only a shot in the dark.'
Jellal's theory about adventurers being sent to stymie the spread was quickly confirmed as he moved forward. From time to time he would find groups of adventurers patrolling. They didn't stay in one area meaning they were likely tasked with simply eliminating as many monsters as they could.
Regardless of whether they were winning or being beaten down he didn't interfere. Even when adventurers were being killed he didn't step up to help. Of course every rule has its exception.
As he was lollygagging about observing how the adventurers fought he came across a familiar duo mixing in with a group of ten. One he could tell by his abrasive deep voice he used to spout nothing but insults. The other was a familiar gray robed blonde bombshell.
Not willing to owe her a favor Jellal flies into the air. Positioning himself directly above the group he readies some wind magic to protect her while he makes preparations for his flashy entrance.
The group they were with was getting attacked from all sides. The group formed a circle as they made their stand but the onslaught was endless. At the center of the circle stood the blonde and a man with thick glasses. The two of them chanted quietly while trying not to get distracted by the never ending siege on their comrades.
As they were desperately fighting for survival the abrasive man stabbed a goblin in the chest. The blade passed through the goblin only to get lodged in a wolf's shoulder. The wolf bit the blade and thrashed its head making it impossible for him to pull it out. With so many enemies bearing down on the group such a mistake turned out to be fatal.
With a death in their ranks the rest of the adventurers had to carry an increased load. It took less than a minute for the extra burden to cost another life. Rather than it being a mistake it was a result of lacking the physical abilities and skills necessary to fight so many opponents at once. Even Jellal had to give credit to the adventurer's superb technique, but his lacking physique couldn't keep up leading to his demise.
With a second adventurer dead the flood gates opened. A pair of wolves managed to slip through a gap in the formation killing the glasses wearing mage. Glasses managed to pull out his dagger as they were chewing on his leg and neck. With his fatal wounds he manned up and took the wolves down with him.
Unfortunately his heroics were in vein as the wolves breaking into the middle of the circle caused enough of a distraction to cost three more adventurers their lives.
The three adventurers remaining from outside of the circle went into self-preservation mode as they abandoned their teammates to make a run for it. With them being surrounded this was akin to suicide as it opened them up to attacks from their previously protected sides and back.
With monsters rushing toward his acquaintance Jellal decided to make his grand entrance. Rocketing down from the sky he directs his landing so it'll be right in front of her. He has his back facing her as he using a classic three-point-landing.
As he makes contact with the ground he uses magic to make the ground ripple with only a small circle around the two of them being a safe zone. The half meter tall ripple surges out like a rolling wave knocking down the attacking monsters.
Placing both his palms on the ground Jellal flexes as he causes another, mush smaller ripple to form. Of course he only does it for the style points as the inch high ripple has no real effect on the monsters. As the ripple passes under downed monsters he uses timed earth spikes to impale them from below to give the illusion the ripple killed them.
Getting out of his pose Jellal stands up and crosses his hands in front of his chest. He looks back over his shoulder, his eyes meeting hers.
[With this we're even. You should be careful on your way home. I won't go out of my way to save you a second time.]
Leaving those words he starts to walk away, wading through a sea of blood as he does so.