"Sir I meant, the rope is not long enough and the Prince is twenty meters down." Mashal tried to clear out the situation.
The rope the soldiers brought was taken out of horseback, which is actually for tying things up like food supplies and some enemy, but not for descending and climbing mountains and cliffs that need long and great durability. So it was a kind of passable solution for rescuing the Prince.
If he falls while carrying the prince to the surface, there is no way they can survive. The rope isn't thick and tough enough to support the weight of Mani alone, as he is quite heavy... because of his enhanced body and muscle along with high-density armor.
// Way heavier than an average person, around 300 kg and 350 kg along with his all armors. //
To be able to carry that much weight without getting exhausted, surely a horse should be special too... Thus, the kingdom issues a breed of enhanced Shire horses that is capable of carrying up to 400 kg of weight.
// In real life, they can at most carry 220 kg. //
Mani halted and stared at him with the looks of "I know, but it won't stop me anyway..."
"...the fog is very thick that not even my voice can reach your ears, If anything happened there I will be unable to help you," Mashal spoke to convince him to not act rashly.
"I have my fire to help me!" Mani said as he released the small flame from the pinch of his fingertips.
"I'm your guide, sir... In any case, you will be needing this..." He said and extended his arms towards Mani to give him a bracelet, a kind of voice transmission magic tool he possessed exclusively. He knows the rope cannot become any hindrance for him but still the Swamp is unpredictable and dangerous.
The bracelet floated towards Mani's left hand and automatically opened in half and fastened. As it closed both bracelets on Mani's and Mashal's hands' sparkle faint yellow and dimmed afterward, indicating the connection.
"Well, okay... be on alert!" Mani replied and gave a warning before descending, as there can be enemies lurking around waiting for the opportunity. Though he knows his elite forces are capable of detecting the enemies and subduing them before they can possibly make a move.
Mani descends the cliff from a range of five meters away from the unconscious prince. It is necessary to avoid harming the person below from the possible debris. The cliff is nothing like a rocky cliff, it is too slippery like muddy terrain yet made with solid minerals. So, maintaining the balance is very difficult to impossible by any ordinary troop.
Mani started to abseil along the cliff... His rope is attached to a sturdy stone bolder which is quite distant from the cliff. This is why the rope isn't reaching even twenty meters down the hill, though the rope is fifty meters long they have to use it twofold to ensure its stability. The soldiers aren't holding the rope themselves as it will be riskier... not that they don't have the strength. Their combined strength is able to even pull an elephant easily.
However, they can't just occupy themselves in holding the rope. If the enemy strikes with range weapons, they will be in huge trouble as a slight mistake can risk the life of Prince and Captain.
As Mani descended the rope, he disappeared in thick layers of mist. Mani began to realize that this mist is really very abnormal as he had heard from others. He initially thought that the mist is just some water vapor and people just make an unnecessary fuss about it. But he began to notice the slippery property of mist, due to which the slop of cliff is so smooth. It has even made a thin layer on top of the rocky cliff.
Moreover, the foggy atmosphere is making it hard to see anything besides plain white view everywhere. Even the rope he is holding and his hands are slowly fading away in the mist...
"Mashal, can you hear me...?" He called out to get his assistance, as he has roughly descended Ten meters down and now he can't see a single thing, let alone rescuing the prince. A normal person in his case would have been already feeling dizzy due to the mist.
*Mani*
"Huh? No one replied?" I'm just right here and they can't see me, neither hear me anymore.
"Sigh... I have no choice besides using this." He thought and spoke through the bracelet.
"That's why I gave you the voice transmission bracelet... but you still seem unreluctant to use it, sir," Mashal replied from the other side.
He is right, Mani was always like this... He may seem to work in a group, but he never really thrust anyone or their advice and ideas, even though he knows they are not gonna harm him if he follows or work with them.
He added, "You are on the right path sir, just a little bit low around eight meters down the rope will end and you have to rely on your skills after that." He continues to assist him till the end of the rope...
Mani reached the end of the rope and raised his left hand to ignite the extremely hot but controlled fire which only surrounds his hands. Though he can't see the fire in his own hands, he shoved his hands towards the white wall of the mist to melt the thin layer of the whitewashed cliff...
He had already started to feel a little nuisance due to the fog. He realized the oxygen is still abundant in the air but the mist itself is what causing this problem.
"I have to hurry! This is even affecting me, who knows what is the situation of Prince Erick. I hope he is safe and sound. I'm just glad this is not toxic..." Mani said before increasing the power of the flame in his hands.
The white layer melted and some part of it vaporized assimilating into white mist. It didn't take him much time to reach the rocky surface beneath that layer. As he touched the hard surface, he sighed in relief as he has finally returned to reality... Then he even melted the surface of the rock to make a hole enough deep to make a stable grip.
Doing this several times with the directional aid of Mashal, he reached near the tree where the Prince was sitting unconscious. Exceptionally the area around the tree is a lot more clear, only very thin mist is present and thus, Mani immediately recognized the Prince. Surprisingly enough, the tree seems normal yet, it is filled with vitality even in this harsh environment.
"What sorcery is this, is this some kind of Ancient tree recorded in the books...?" Mani wondered.
"How in the hell it grew here?" He said before getting back at his thoughts about protecting the Prince.
But, he noticed he still can't reach the Prince. He still needs to reach further down at the trunk of the tree to approach the Prince. He doesn't want to jump into the branch directly, who knows how much weight the tree can hold. It might break and fall. Then he gradually descended further down the cliff...
"My Prince, can you hear me...?" He called in the direction of the branch in the hope of getting an answer but then he realized the Prince appears unconscious.
"sigh... What a terrible place you have chosen to sleep, my Prince."
"Mashal, I found the Prince... there is also an ancient tree here." He said before carefully getting on the trunk of the tree.
But, on the other side only "Ma--- I ----- the ------ *cut* " can be heard.
Mashal replied, "What...? I don't get it, sir, can you repeat? sir..."
No reply came back even after that. "Sir, can you hear me? sir, sir..." Mashal got instantly alert as suddenly the voice transmission got blocked and he can only see the position of Mani, there is no way he can reinitialize the Voice transmission connection.
Along with Mashal the other cavalry troops also got alert and began to scan the surrounding area for enemies excluding the Swamp area, which they can't... Besides Mashal is already scanning that field and he is more proficient in that domain.
Unaware of this, Mani began to slowly approach the Prince... The tree is slightly inclined horizontally, it is still hard to climb it because of the slippery surface.
Mani reached out to Prince... To his relief, the Prince was laying safe and sound while recovering his Mana. He tried to wake him up but the Prince, but he still couldn't.
"He must be very exhausted..." Mani said and lifted the Prince on top of his back before getting down carefully.
But as he reached near the end of the trunk, the Prince suddenly got away from his back...
"No..." He got startled and turned back. He thought the Prince fell down the cliff, but it was something else that pulled the Prince from his back.
"Shit no! This tree is conscious...?" Mani shouted as he saw the Prince wrapped around the flexible branch-like vine. But, earlier he didn't saw any movement even with his perception magic which he was constantly using from the moment he started to descend the cliff.