The house was a little worn-down, signs of abandonment evident on every furniture and walls within it. I think they just came here for the birth of this child.
The man who asked me earlier let me sit in one of the dusty couches. The baby's cry is still heard while a woman's comforting voice soothes the baby into silence.
"Nina," he said.
I looked at him and decided to be aggressive.
"Okay, let's not beat around the bush. Are you mages?"
The man sighed, his face full of worry and fatigue.
"Yes."
"Then why aren't you in Agrissi? The Great One has summoned all of you to stay inside the magical realm a week ago."
The man sat down across me.
"We can't. We are from another country. Our city, Deraniel, has been wiped out. We moved here hoping to seek refuge. But we can't detect the magical city.
"We realized that maybe the city here is under attack. But we can't do anything right now because my wife is about to give birth."
"Wait wait hold up. Your city has been wiped out? How come?"
"Monsters have been appearing everywhere, specifically attacking budding mages. We tried to keep them at bay but we couldn't do so much. They found our city when two mages awakened their power inside."
"How? They shouldn't have detected your city. The barrier is supposed to work that way."
"Sadly, no. Our barrier has been constantly weakened because we couldn't produce another great mage. Our powers and numbers were dwindling. Most of us also in Deraniel are healers. Fighting has never been our forte."
I nodded in understanding. It was a good thing Agrissi has been powerful for many centuries now. "It's the same as here. The Great One has been calling in all mages to the realm. I can't take you there yet since I'm not a spatial magic user. But I can take you to a safe place."
"Oh thank you. But how come your city, what you call it?"
"Agrissi."
"How come Agrissi is not detectable to us mages?"
"The Council has strengthened the barrier. A contingency plan in case the monsters could detect budding mages even inside the barrier. So far, it has been proven effective since budding mages were never attacked inside Agrissi."
"I wish we have thought that before."
"Are there no other survivors in Deraniel?"
"There are some. But we parted ways to confuse the monsters."
I nodded. That reasoning was understandable.
"We should go. I'm not sure if the monsters could only detect the budding ones. The Great One also warned us that they might also detect newborn. Budding and birth could produce the same magical anomaly in the air."
The man immediately stood up to get her family. I stayed their and dialed again Ren's and Cellon's number. But still, I'm out of luck.
We shuffled back to the car quickly. Looking for our surroundings now and then. When we were safely in the car, I asked, "Are you both healers?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I hope we don't encounter any problems." Cross fingers.
And then something slammed on the ground that sent us flying a couple of meters to the right side of the road.
Congratulating my bad luck, I groaned and unbuckled my seatbelt.
I looked at the family in the back and noticed that they were fine, just some minor cuts and bruises.
"What was your name again?" That was the right question in the wrong moment. Maybe I hit my head so bad.
The man was slightly confused but still answered, "Dior."
"Okay Dior. Take your family and hide somewhere safe. I'll go face that intruder."
He nodded and helped his family out of the car and into the forest.
I hope that no one would find them there.
I steeled my face and ran towards the monster who destroyed my car.
And oh boy, my good luck has finally left. It's a fucking minotaur.
"Again?! Fuck!"
Where are the boys when I need them?
I sighed. No point in blaming and cowering in fear. It's either save the family and live or we all die. Well, fuck this.
I summoned my sword. There's only one thing I can do here since I can't fly around and decapitate it. I need it to lower itself so that I can reach its neck.
I ground my feet and summoned another lightweight armored boots. One thing I learned while in the dangerous missions hiatus was that I could also summon clothing and armor. According to the Great One, my powers could also summon armored clothing.
I breathed deeply and ran full speed towards the monster's heel and cut deeply. Good thing my weapons are sharp that they could cut into anything.
I first cut the right, then the left. I made sure to cut the tendons so that he can't stand anymore.
The minotaur knelt and glared at me.
I grinned and shouted, "Bow down to me, you lowly peasant!"
It growled angrily and I just laughed. Now for the final act.
Once again, I ground my feet and ran before launching towards it's neck. Now that I'm aware of my magic, I am now able to stay in the air for a little time through my armors.
When I finally reached level with its neck, I raised my sword and slashed deeply, upgrading my sword into a longer and broader one just when it made contact.
I landed on the floor at the same time the minotaur's head thudded on the ground.