Jeez, it's hard to explain just how useful of a spell that "Mana Location" is. My entire journey went down about three difficulty levels as soon as I figured out how to do that and interpret the information.
I mean, there are its obvious drawbacks, but even then it's so extremely useful I actually really want to try expanding its radius and sensing in greater detail. I refrain for now though, because if I increased the mana consumption of this spell any, I'd start losing mana slowly but surely. That's the truth, so surely I should just keep using it as I had originally intended? Right?
I pumped up its radius as far as I could possibly get it, which cost me about 10% of my total mana.
The reason I did this was to try and find a way out, but I wound up overflowing my brain with information, and ended up rolling around on the floor with the worst headache of my entire life. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't have an aneurism.
I think I found a way out like that though. Honestly, it's a miracle that even worked without any mana interference messing that up. Of course, I only have a vague idea so I'm heading towards where I think I detected the exit so that I can do the spell again, this time smaller. The idea is to gradually shrink the area that the exit may be instead of trying to head straight towards it.
It's pretty difficult because given the radius that I'm checking, I can't see very far down the path that I'm taking. That means that they can head whatever direction they want to outside of my radius and I'll have no idea. Caves that I think lead to where I want to go will suddenly change direction and head away from my objective.
I really want to just do the big "Mana Location" spell again, but I'm afraid I might actually have an aneurism if I keep trying that with the same intensity. If I keep not making progress soon, I'll try it again, this time with a much smaller radius. If that fails, I think I might honestly try getting as high up as possible, and slowly start blasting my way out with lightning.
As I'm heading towards my objective, I feel some very subtle mana interference enter my radius. It isn't enough to prevent me from knowing the general lay out of the cave, but it is enough to prevent me from knowing just what's causing it.
I switch to Mana Detection and try and figure out what spell is being used. I sense some sort of connection with Florian, and that already makes me not want to engage with whatever this thing is.
I do a bit more looking into it, and it seems much more "gentler" than what I did with that connection before I sealed it away. Much more widespread too. I think… that whatever it is, it's generating small, warm lights all around it as a way to see. Whatever it is, it clearly can't see without that spell.
I enter a rather large cave, and the source of interference. It's above me, and I want to head in the direction that it's coming from. We're quite far away from each other, and this cave is curved slightly, so we can't see each other quite yet. If I keep walking along the outside and do my best to hide when it comes around, then it should hopefully pass me.
I keep using Mana Detection, and an unintended benefit is that since I have to focus on the exact location of mana manipulation, I'll always have a rough idea of where it is, unless if it suddenly moves extremely quickly. Down here that would probably mean having to teleport.
So even though they have light and I don't, I'm definitely aware of their presence while nothing indicates that the reverse is true. It doesn't know I'm here and I know exactly where it is. Man, it's been so long since I've had an advantage like this!
I hear the small flapping of wings. I switch to Mana Location and sure enough, I sense a small flying thing coming from the interference. There are a lot of explanations for what it could be but I decided that I should play it safe and hide behind a rock.
The flying monster flies right by the hiding place that I had picked out. It flies in that direction for a bit before circling back in on itself. It keeps flying around the cave, like it's looking for something. Does the source of interference know I'm here?
Should I shoot it down? No, that would make it incredibly obvious that I'm here. Besides, if the interference is human in origin it would make our relationship really complicated if I were to kill their pet. Conversing through situations like that is definitely not my specialty.
As I'm thinking about it, that small creature I was detecting lands right on top of the rock that I was hiding behind. Whatever it is, it knows I'm here. Let's just hope that it's friendly…
"H- hello…" I say, holding both my hands up "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
It doesn't respond before flying away, back to the source of interference. Well, I can either run away, or I can pray to Kari that the interference is friendly. If it really comes down to it, even with all its faults, my Mana Location should give me an edge in running away in this environment. As long as it can only produce light and has no idea where it's going, I should be able to leave it in the dust.
Let's leave that as a last resort though. For now I want to slowly walk towards the interference with my hands up. I think that the cause is human anyway, so whoever it is should be a real help getting out of here. Just in case though I get my wind magic ready so that I can start flying away at a moment's notice. I also have my escape route planned out already. My experience down here has taught me to have both of those ready at all times.
I switch to Mana Detection again. If they're preparing any sort of attack spell, I'll fly down my escape route at full speed before they get the chance to finish casting it.
"Azariah!" That… that was Inell's voice.
My Mana Detection suddenly picks up the same manipulation of mana I cause when I fly. Then I sense it moving towards me at full speed. It's difficult just keeping it tracked, which is no easy feat at this point.
"Azariah!"
"Azariah!"
"Azariah!"
I keep hearing my name over and over again, all in the voices of people I know. Kiaran, Aubrey, Freware, Cesre, I can hear them all. I begin to run after them.
"Guys!" I yell as I start to run after the group.
They only keep yelling my name even more frantically and run towards me. Eventually, I start to see the lights from that spell I had detected earlier. For the first time in a long while, I'm actually able to see. The first thing that I see is Inell flying towards me.
"Azariah!" He yells, landing in front of me.
Everyone else isn't long behind him. Aubrey and Kiaran are running at me at full force. Freware's running while carrying Cesre who seems to be generating the spell of lights. For the first time since I first developed the spell I turn my mana location off completely. It's a bit scary, not knowing all the paths available, but the relief at seeing all these familiar faces after so long of being alone far out classes that feeling of fear.
"Azariah! Are you alright?!" Inell is the first to reach me, he puts his hands on my shoulders as he asks if I'm OK.
"Azariah! I'm so sorry about getting you into this situation!" Kiaran's next running to my side, and apologizing for some reason.
They all keep talking about just how happy they are to see me, but it's a bit of an overload of information so I'm not able to understand anything that they say. Then Freware and Cesre finally get to us and all the stuff that they start saying only adds to the overload. That seems to be another weakness of mine, I'll have to train to overcome that later.
Still, even though I have no idea what's going on, I'm truly happy to see all of them. I'm sure that they know a way out of here. This whole stupid ordeal is finally over! I'm on the home stretch now! I just need to follow all of them out of here, and I'll finally see the sky again! The second I get out of here, I'm flying everywhere up until I drain the last of my mana.
"Thank you… thank you all for looking for me. I'm sure you were all very concerned." I say.
They all start talking at the same time again. Because of that, I still have no idea what anyone's saying. As long as they don't ask me any questions, that should be fine.
"Alright guys, that's enough. Azariah's definitely been super stressed out over the past week. The least we can do is let her collect her thoughts real quick." Kiaran says.
Well, at least Kiaran gets me. I get a moment of silence.
"Azariah, I know it must have been rough, but what happened to your cheek? And your nose?" Aubrey asks.
Well, at least they're only talking one at a time now.
"Um, my cheek because I fell down in the dark and landed on something sharp. I broke my nose because a monster had grabbed my leg while I was trying to fly away. It slammed me into the ground face first."
Everybody except for Inell and Freware recoil in what I assume is second hand pain. Well yeah, I guess everyone except for those two wouldn't be used to injuries that severe. I certainly wasn't when I got them.
"Azariah… are you hurt anywhere else?"
"I got stabbed through the foot, my left shoulder was dislocated, I broke a few ribs, my neck got twisted way more than it should, I nearly tore a whole bunch of the muscles in my legs, oh, and I got stabbed in a whole bunch of other places as well."
The looks of horror on everyone's faces gets worse and worse as I keep talking.
"Azariah… are you really alright?" Inell asks
"Freware, check my apprentice's injuries. Start healing her." At Cesre's words, Freware starts to walk up to me.
"Wait, wait, wait, I'm fine, really. Let me explain…"
Surprisingly everyone listens to me and stays quiet. It takes me a while, but I eventually manage to construct a way to explain everything that had happened.
"Cthosis, huh… I don't recognize that name." Inell says, thinking to himself.
"Yes, I also don't recognize that name. Although a Great Spirit that only exists in the realm after death doesn't exactly lend itself to being particularly famous in the world of the living…" Cesre says.
"Ugh… this is all very confusing… But if it healed you, it should be good, right?" Aubrey asks.
"I think so. I'm not planning on breaking the connection any time soon though. I want to speak with Lucidna about it as soon as possible, though."
"As long as this "Cthothis" isn't doing anything nefarious, it should be fine. Other than having it heal you, what have you done with this entity so far?" Inell asks.
"Um… I've made up a few spells using her connection. I was using one of them to navigate through the cave when I detected mana that was interfering with it. I went to hide because I thought it might be a monster. It turned out it was Cesre, though."
"Ah, when Nedys here told me, I was wondering why you were hiding. What spell did you make for that?" Inell says
"Mana Location. I basically send out extremely tiny bursts of mana out and visualize space by how it bounces back towards me. It uses hardly any mana at all, and it's been extremely useful. I can navigate the dark without getting lost, I know where caves lead to an extent, and I can detect monsters long before I run into them. It's been a huge help."
"Isn't that kind of similar to the Archon of Nature's "Spatial Awareness?" It seems to be a bit more… all encompassing, though…" Freware says.
"Well, in the long run, only so much is possible with magic. You're bound to run into similar spells with different connections eventually." Cesre says.
"Well, I'd like to hear the rest of the spells that you've made with this new connection, but we should focus on getting out of here." Inell says.
"Yes, I agree. I want to see the sky again." I say.
"Oh don't worry Azariah! Now that we've found you, we're bound to get out of this in the clear!" Kiaran says.
"Yes, you've said I've been down here a week? I'd like to hurry up and get some fresh air."
"You will here pretty soon Azariah. The entrance we came from is only about half an hour from here." Kiaran says.
"Hm?"
"What's wrong Azariah?"
"Oh, it's only that I picked up an exit with my mana location. I could have sworn that the exit I was heading to was closer than that."
The little dragon starts talking, but in a language that I don't understand. Inell appears to get whatever they're saying though.
"This area isn't completely mapped out, so there may very well be an exit that's closer than where we came from which is what Azariah probably picked up. It would be better to play it safe if we stuck with the path that we know."
"I agree with Inell for once." Aubrey says. "Now, Azariah wants out of here, so we should head off as soon as possible."
"Yeah. Azariah, you want to save the rest of our catching up for after we're back on the surface?" Inell asks me.
"Yes please. I look forward to what you've all been up to, but I want to fly in the sky more."
"You certainly haven't changed. Alright let's go."
Inell then begins to walk towards where everyone had come from. It isn't long before everyone else is following behind him. I don't mention it, but I activate my Mana Location. I know that Inell's strong and could probably handle anything that got thrown at him, but I want to make sure we don't run into anything especially dangerous anyway.
Being able to see without having to spend any mana is actually such a huge luxury. As soon as we get back to the surface, I'm not taking light for granted ever again.
Actually being able to follow people straight out of this stupid cave is also such a huge relief. Knowing full well that every step you take is actually getting you closer to your goal… it's something you don't really get to appreciate unless you spend a while with that not being the case.
Both of those are really good, but something is still really getting on my nerves here. Just how quiet it is! I mean, I hear everyone's footsteps, but no one's talking to each other. I'm normally a shy girl who tries to stay out of any sort of human conversation, but with an entire week without it, I'm surprisingly desperate to hear any of it again.
I try to think of anything to bring up in conversation, until-
"Oh, I think I just detected the way out that I was looking for."
"Oh? How far away is it?" Cesre asks me.
"Um… let's see, at our current pace… maybe 5 or so minutes, maybe a bit more?"
"Hey, the exit we're heading to is still another 25 minutes. Maybe he can head that way instead?" Kiaran asks.
"It won't kill us to walk for 20 minutes more on the path that we're sure of. Not that I doubt your abilities at all, Azariah." Inell says.
"Don't worry about it. But the terrain on the exit I just found seems to be a lot less harsh than where we're heading. I also detected another humanoid wandering around aimlessly in that direction. Maybe they're lost?
Oh, and some very faint mana interference… so faint I didn't notice it at first… Just what's causing that? It's in the same area that man is walking around…"
"Seriously, you get all of that passively? I have to keep on casting "Spatial Awareness" for that. Could you teach me?" Kiaran asks me.
Huh. He said that Mana Location was better than Spatial Awareness! Haha! I'm improving! Also, this might be an opportunity to try and get Cthothis more people to talk to. I'm not entirely sure if Kiaran fits the requirements for being able to talk in the Land After Death, though…
"Of course I will."
Kiaran appears to look happy when I say that, but I can't focus on that at all, because something else drew my attention away. Something extremely worrying has entered my radius.
Everyone else appears to notice how I tensed up all of a sudden and got nervous themselves. Yeah, I guess if the member of your party that can sense everything going on around them suddenly tenses up, that isn't a very good sign.
"What's wrong, Azariah?" Kiaran is the first to ask me.
"Another dragon-like creature, a whole lot bigger than the wyvern I fought, heading in this direction."
Everyone pretty much understood exactly what the implications of that were and reacted accordingly.
"It's a Frost Drake." Freware says, presumably just having cast "Spatial Awareness."
"That isn't supposed to be here." Inell says, right after the little dragon says something in that language I don't know. I assume that he's translating for it, there.
"Azariah, can you lead us to that exit you found?" Aubrey asks me, surprisingly.
"Yes, but if we don't hurry, it's going to cut us off, and we'll have to fight past it." I say.
"Got it." Inell says, not missing a beat.
As good as instantly, we're all lifted off of our feet, courtesy of Inell's winds.
"Azariah? Can you lead?" He asks me.
"Y- yes. Follow me." I say, trying to hide my hesitation. Given my experience flying through tight spaces over the past week, this shouldn't be too difficult.
Kari, allow me to fly on my own. I can't be strung along by Inell in this situation. I gather the mana around me, and break free of Inell's winds. I begin flying ahead of everybody else as soon as possible, with my path in mind. Inell drags the others along behind me.
I keep flying in the direction that we were just walking. There's going to be a split in the path here pretty soon. One is going to lead to an open cavern and the exit that I had detected earlier. The second leads to a whole bunch of different splitting paths, where the Frost Drake is coming from, and where I'm assuming the entrance everyone came from is.
I have to get to that split in the path before the Frost Drake does. Not only that, but Inell has to drag everyone else there before it can get there. I'm a much slower flier than Inell is.
"Inell! When you were looking for me, you came across 90 degree right and left turns, right?! We're getting pretty close to that part, right?! You took a left, didn't you?!"
"Yes, we did! Keep going straight when we get there?!" Inell yells, getting what I'm trying to say.
"Yes! That'll lead us straight out of here! No more turns after that!"
"Alright, I understand."
I feel Inell's winds wrap around me, even though I'm trying to fly on my own. It isn't long before Inell's flying far ahead of me, and I'm being dragged along like everybody else. We're going much faster than when I was leading. Man, I really need to practice!
It isn't long before we zoom right past that fork in the road I had just mentioned to Inell. Now, there isn't actually all that much earth between us and that Frost Drake, but now that we've passed that fork, we should be good. Even if it does somehow catch up with us, it'll only take a little present from Adad to close off the path.
As I'm thinking that though-
"Inell! Dodge to the left!" I yell as loud as I possibly can.
Inell clearly gets the memo, because he yanks every last one of us to the left so hard, I nearly lose consciousness. I've had some time to get used to stuff like that, too! There's no way at least one of us didn't faint from that evasive maneuver.
It was worth it though, because the wall to our right suddenly exploded into a bunch of rocks, and out came that Frost Drake, coming to attack us. I heard a huge roar, and- a bunch of red claws forming all over its body? They all cause significant damage, which causes it to writhe around and scream.
"All of you, keep running! Follow Azariah!" Inell yells.
Was that one of his spells?! What connection was that?! That couldn't have been from any of the Archons. Unless it was the Archon of Nature? Whatever, now isn't the time.
I quickly start to run, but when I look behind me, Kiaran's only just starting to stand back up. Aubrey and Freware are still on the ground, but conscious. Cesre's completely out, though. Did that maneuver from Inell knock all of them out? Hey, I'm more impressive than I thought.
"Kiaran, help Aubrey and Freware up!" I yell.
The lights all around us quickly fade completely, proof that Cesre lost consciousness. Thanks to my Mana Location though, I can still safely navigate my way over to her. I run up to her and grab her shoulders as quickly as I possibly can. I start to shake her around violently, while yelling at her to get up, completely out of character for me.
"A- Azariah?"
"Cesre! Light!" I yell. This is really out of character for me. Oh well, the situation calls for it.
"R- right!" Cesre says.
The lights return pretty soon. The first thing I notice is that everyone else is already up and ready to go. I also notice that the brief lack of light didn't appear to shake up Inell's fight at all.
The Drake shoots huge icicles at him, but he dodges out of the way with his flight. Next, a loud roar, and three red claws strike at the Drake, ripping off its scales. That was Inell's spell. Thinking back, I don't think I've ever seen Inell this serious.
"Stop watching the fight! It's Inell! The dragon tamer! He'll be fine! We need to focus on getting out of here!" Kiaran quickly brings me back to earth. Were the others also enamored by Inell's fight? I couldn't blame them.
"Come on! Let's go!" Kiaran yells.
He starts running off, and we all have no choice but to follow him. At least, I thought so. That was until I noticed that Aubrey wasn't following us.
"Aubrey! What are you doing?!" Kiaran says, stopping his running. He clearly noticed too. That Aubrey wasn't with us, I mean.
"Go on without me! I'll be right behind you!" Aubrey yells.
I have no idea what he's talking about as he turns around and pulls his sword out. That wasn't the sword I recognized as Aubrey's. The sword he had when we came here was a mass produced one he brought from a blacksmith for cheap. The sword he was holding now though, was ornate, and appeared to be glowing. It was like it was made of gold, with a soft red glow around it.
He took that strange sword, and started running right back towards Inell's fight with the Frost Drake. I was just stood there, with a whole lot of questions, before Kiaran grabbed my shoulder.
"Azariah! He can handle himself if Inell's there. Let's go!" He says.
I'm inclined to ask just what the hell he's expecting Aubrey to do in that fight. I mean, it's Inell, and a Drake much larger, and much less wounded than the wyvern that nearly killed me. I know for a fact that Aubrey's not that strong. I have to admit I don't actually know how strong he is, but I know he isn't that strong.
I don't ask that, though, and instead start running like the others. I notice that even that little dragon is flying away with us, careful to match its pace with all of our speeds. Man, Aubrey… if he lives, I'll have to ask him just what the hell he was thinking.
It isn't long before we run into an open cavern. The exit I had detected is only just ahead, and then above. I can fly, but I'm not sure about the others. I assume that Kiaran and Freware can climb, but what about Cesre? Am I going to have to help her fly?
I stop thinking about that, since something else took my attention. It suddenly got way colder. Like, unnaturally colder for the amount of distance we covered. Like seriously, it went from 70 to 20 in just a few seconds.
Normally I'm all for the cold, but this is weird, no matter how happy it makes me. Also… this cavern is made completely of ice. There are huge pillars of ice holding it up, and even some snow. I'm not the only one confused, as everyone else slows down.
Well, that might be why they slowed down, or it might be because even the floor is made of ice. The exit is within sight, and with it the first sunlight I've seen in a week. It comes down and reflects off the ice in a beautiful, serene lightshow. Cesre doesn't even need to keep her spell up for us to see.
Within the center of this cavern though, and in between us and the exit is that man I had detected wandering aimlessly earlier. I had thought it was because he was lost, but if this area's lit up, there's no reason he shouldn't know how to get out.
That "man" though, is huge. Probably a bit over 6 feet tall, and a wide frame. Dressed in slick black pants and a suit, he didn't seem very refined at all. His hair was snow white, short, and covered every last inch of his body except for his palms and the soles of his feet. He also wasn't wearing shoes. He took one look at us, and smiled.
"A yeti? But… we're so far from the Emednes?" I hear Freware say. Looking over at her, she looks… terrified?! That isn't good! That isn't good at all! What are yetis even like in this world?!
Kiaran steps in front of us, and puts on the bravest face he can muster.
"Hello. My name is Kiaran. We're here to exit this cave. We don't want any trouble."
"Huh, name's Olen, and sorry, but that isn't going to happen. Unfortunately, I'm under orders to kill anyone that comes through here."
It can talk?! Well, it does have clothes, but you don't usually imagine yetis talking do you? Also, judging from what it said, and just how scared Freware was, this isn't a very good situation.
"Under orders? You have a superior then? Who's ordering you? And just what are you getting in return? We have quite the disposable income. We can pay you more than what they're giving you."
"Give up on that, boy. There's no way you're outpaying Vincent Boreas."