Clutching my chest as a sharp pain radiated from my mana flame from the mana I'd been trying to absorb around me,I coughed and fell with my back on the ground as I stared at the bright morning sky while sweating profusely,after my victory in using mana sense I made the bold decision of restarting my mana training however it was truly easier said than done.
Mana flowed through me like I had intended however moments before the Mana made contact with my Mana flame, a surge of pain and loss of breath drew me from mediation and into a fit of coughs and gasps for breath.
"God dammit!!"
I shouted with a weakened fist that smashed the ground as I rolled into a childish tantrum,Belrog yawned at me and swatted sand towards me.Awakening me from my tantrum as I dodged at the last minute.
"hey!!watch where you play around idiot I'm busy here!!"
As if scoffing at my words Belrog crashed to the floor and yawned before burying his head into his arms,rolling my eyes I sat upright and crossed my legs for the final attempt at replenishing my mana flame to at least a less dying like state.
Warmth slowly made it's way from my toes to my legs and arms till the centre of my chest where the dark blue and small flickering flame of light was situated, frowning I hesitated for a second before shaking my head and placing the handle of my sword in my mouth to bite on once the inevitable pain overcame me.I allowed the mana to flush into the passage where my mana flame flickered and burned lightly and in an instant the pain resurfaced with a new kick to it as I felt like a sword was constantly being stabbed at my chest,clutching my chest even tighter now I didn't forfeit and poured even more mana into the passage till my body eventually resisted any more mana to seep inside.
Suppressing the urge to scream I grunted and bit the sword even harder while I focused on refining the swirling mana around my mana flame in order to feed the damned thing,the mana swirling around the dark blue flame turned to the same but slightly lighter colour and it's then that I flushed it onto the flickering flame.
I couldn't supress it any longer, the pain was unbearable.Instead of one sword it felt like a dozen of them were continuously stabbing at my chest,a scream escaped from my lungs causing Belrog to stand up in concern but I held on and kept feeding my mana flame as I now layed sprawled on the ground clutching my chest tightly enough that my fingers slowly started penetrating my skin.
Bang!!
my vision blurred and became black as I lost consciousness from the excruciating event.
my eyes slowly opened to the bright light of an afternoon day and a clear blue sky as I was still on my back however I was moving, turning my head slightly I noticed the familiar saddle and golden mane of Belrog that allowed me to sigh in relief before I mustered the courage to have a look at my mana flame.
Relief and disappointment swirled within me as I saw the slightly larger and less dying state of my mana flame yet the still dark blue colour that I hoped I wouldn't see.
'how cruel,now I'm back to square 1.....'
sighing I shifted my attention to my current layed out position and sat upright as I turned to face ahead of me,the trees had disappeared completely with just a clear grass plane that spanned for a what looked like forever.I still questioned whether to allow Belrog to lead the way in our journey to Loridea but decided upon trusting the words of my temporary caretakers and sat comfortably to take in the scenery,my eyes scanned across the grass plane for hours till Belrog abruptly stopped running causing me to lean forward a bit from the sudden stop.
"I swear if your stomach has taken control of you right no-"
my eyes darted from left to right as I finally sensed the aura of a mana beast,my searching stopped and my gaze fell upon a short muscular mana beast with the frame of a dog and a body clad in white with red quills on its back and eyes of a blazing yellow.I unsheathed my sword slowly as I kept my gaze on the beast which had now met my gaze as well and kept us in a staring contest that I didn't dare want to lose,the beast let out a loud howl as smaller versions of its self appeared behind it and our staring contest ended as the beast ran off with the younglings following close behind.
"haa, I'm glad I didn't have to do anything I'm really not in the mood to fight"
Belrog let out what sounded like a chuckle and puffed out his chest proudly, showing his fearless demeanor.
"oho so you're not scared,I hope you can keep that same energy tonight cause you're doing night duty"
Belrogs fearless demeanor dropped and his head faced the ground as if trying to convince me to reconsider to which I laughed sinisterly in response.
*4 hours later*
I strained my eyes in the distance ahead of us as the usual clear grassy planes we'd got used to seeing for hours were now shrouded in mist ahead with night time now falling, making seeing ahead even more of a problem.we entered the mist with my sword still unsheathed and my senses fully ready to alert me of danger.
"GRRR"
Belrog stopped with his body lightly shaking in fear as blazing yellow eyes stared around us in the mist,my body shaking as well through instinct to the beasts clearly stronger than myself.Sighing at the unfortunate events and my pitiful state as a knightly mage I tightenedy my grip on Belrogs reigns.
"get yourself together and follow each direction I pull you to,now run!!"
Hesitating a bit but following my words in the end, Belrog went off in a fast sprint with the yellow eyed beasts following us while letting out howls and roars as they weaved and disappeared in the mist before appearing next to us with one right ahead,turning my head behind me I pulled Belrog to a halting stop and straight behind us.
The mist in the direction we'd changed to was less dense and allowed me to see a few flaming lights up ahead,struggling to keep up with us in the less dense mist I ushered Belrog straight towards the lights in the hope of safety.A cave with an entrance just large enough for the both of us, we rushed in expecting to keep moving and eventually lose them somewhere in the cave however as we entered our pursuers stopped in front of the entrance and let out growls and howls but didn't dare try and enter themselves.
minutes passed by and the mana beast turned around and slowly walked away before disappearing within the thick wall of mist, sighing in relief to my sheer luck I slid off Belrog and wiped the small bead of sweat on my forehead from the stress before.
"I should try my hand at gambling once in a while but on another note...."
my voice trailed off as I took a look at the cave we were now situated in,a small bed and a stash of nearly finished rations with runes and insignia's drawn across the ceiling of the cave.pacing around I also noticed a metal plate that had been place onto the wall with words ingraved into it.
"Loridea safe station 1"
my face lit up at the words Loridea but quickly frowned and went into pondering as I tried to wrap around what it was meant by "safe station", my mind wandered to the mist traveling mana beasts and how they weren't able to enter the cave as I put everything together.
" so a safe station from mana beasts huh?, but I don't remember Loridea having a problem with seriously powerful mana beasts before"
frowning as I took a seat on the ground I shook my head and gave a light slap to my face.
"either way we should arrive at Loridea not longer than tomorrow!!"
I laughed as I imagined the city of Loridea, my home....