Chapter 8,
"A Song for the Dead"
We kept on running, running, and running. But maybe I should use flying instead of running, though. It has been almost a hour since we flown away. I can hear the heavy pants from Miller, Haru and Kent. I feel their exhaustion even by just looking at these three. I can't blame them. The three are only transferring strength from each other without me included. We need at least one of us to protect Zandra from any attacks from the front, sides or the rear. Also, no one can fight if every single one of us exhaust ourselves.
"Let's hide in that cave for a while," Kent said in a weak tone while pointing at the cave.
I nodded "okay, but first, make let's make sure no one followed us here," I kept on looking back an forth.
"Hurry!, I'm running out of strength!" Miller exclaimed. Kent stops on taking energy from Miller and focused his power on Haru who looked tough yet suffering in the inside because of Mana deficiency.
Note: Mana Deficiency. A disease that can be accumulated when you use up a lot of Mana. Mana is known as power of energy that people uses. Deficiency. It's the same as lacking or having not enough.
The old lady cleared her throat "And where the hell are you taking me?" she raised her right eyebrow.
"Anywhere is fine, right?" Miller speaks.
"That's not a good idea. We should find a place to hide," Kent whispered.
"You can't take me anywhere, that place is where I live. I guard that place, duh!" the old lady rolled her eyes on Kent.
"You also know how to speak stagy, huh?" I raised my right eyebrow at her.
"Tsk!" she clicked her tongue.
"Huh?!" Miller half-whispered half-shouted on her ear.
"Shut your mouth, young lady." She ended the conversation by shutting her mouth.
"What a indecent old lady," Miller mumbled under her breath.
"Back to my question, okay?" I try to change the topic.
"By the way, your the one I said the 'duh' to yet this girl got angry. Do you two have a relationship or something?" The old woman Chuckled.
"Oh, Zarah is your name, right?" Miller asks and Zandra's brows furrowed.
"It's Zandra" she rolled her eyes.
"Tsk!, Whatever!" Miller rolled her eyes back.
"Arghh!, My damn body hurts" Kent exclaimed in pain.
"Why don't we drop there for a while?" I sighed.
"Sounds Great!" Haru sounded exited and it almost made me want to vomit everything inside me. If it's somebody else, I'd rather agree if they exclaim excitedly but…you know it's Haru, the lifeless person, cold but kind-hearted.
"Whoaah! You got to be kidding me, right?" Kent's voice startled everyone because of his high tone of speaking.
We got down near a cave and I suddenly paused walking "Oh my God" I paused for a second, one word at a time.
"Is something wrong?" Haru's sounded baffled because of the sentence I said.
"We forgotten about something" all of their brows furrowed "we forgotten about Nikko guys, Nikko" they all paused like their minds are loading.
"Oh, you're right!" Miller hit her left hand that is open with her right hand closed as a form of saying that she remembered something.
"So Nikko is a thing?" Kent chuckled.
"Well…yes, he is a thing," I smiled like I don't care about Nikko, our topic.
"I'm impressed by you attitude." Zandra tried to dissolve our topic.
"Hurry up," Kent said in a half-shouted voice.
"Coming!" Zandra shouted and made Miller click her tongue.
"Shhhhh…!" Kent hissed.
"You guys seems to have no problems with your Mana and magical power, huh?" I raised one of my eyebrows.
I sighed in a recondite but low tone "shall we go ahead?" I said calmly but in the inside, I was hurrying because I feel an intense power coming closer to us.
"He seemed calm today," Miller said to Haru and it made him nod his head.
"Hurry up if you don't 'wanna die!" Kent shouted at the two while us, three, is walking towards the inside of the cave.
"Shit!, They're here!" Miller whisper-shouted then, pulled Haru and ran towards inside the cave.
I set up barrier magic on the front of the cave where the way to the outside is located so that the enemies won't able to see and come to us. My power is 7/10 in barrier magic so that I will be able to use a magic known as the "Magical Space". It's a barrier that you can only put on a hollow place with only one opening or way out. It has a weakness yet, I can't remember it though. The enemies can enter the cave yet when they've entered, no one was there. Therefore, you can enter only if you have the permission from the one who set the magical barrier or Magical Space.
"Are you sure it can hold out very long?" Zandra asked arrogantly. I can see her eyes saying, "Weak Barrier!" 'cause she's half-worried.
"What are you saying?" I smirked "This barrier hides us and not just that, it also makes physical and not physical magic exceed through it".
"So, it's useless then?" Miller sighed after she spoke "if it passed through then, it will kill us!" she half-shouted.
"What?!" I bust out a laugh "of course not! It's called Magical Space. So, it means it's like an another world inside a world".
"What?!" Haru's brows furrowed.
"It's complicated so… you don't have to get it," I said baffled.
"The barrier nullifies any magic that comes through it plus, the magic that exceeded through the barrier makes the barrier more stronger" I chuckled.
The place fell quiet that it makes me feel like it hurts my ears until the barrier makes a vibration. The ceiling grumbled and a strange flow of Mana from three certain people are felt. Enemies.
"What's happening?" Kent asks.
"Exceed," I said in a shaking tone.
"Huh?!" Miller's voice made my gooseflesh rose. She's the scary one even at times like this.
"It's not an Extra Skill but it belongs to the Charms, Spells, and Techniques yet, not all knights can aquire it" Zandra stepped back a little "many says that it's a Extra Skill but it says in the "Kishi no Sho" that it belongs to the Charms, Spells, and Techniq—" Zandra was interrupted by the ceiling that broke apart.
Note: Kishi no Sho is a book of Knights. It means "Book of Knights".
Because the ceiling broke, I finally remembered that the barrier's weakness was it's ceiling "Not good, huh?" I stealthy smirked.
"Don't act cool, kid!" the guy who broke the ceiling arrogantly said.
"Zandra, I presume?" the other guy who exceeded through the barrier politely asked Zandra.
"Exactly! What do you need from this woman?" she asks.
"Oh, I thought you already know. We're here for you. Sorry for the rudeness," the other guy said.
"No need. You've already been rude from the start," Zandra talks back as if they were that very close even of they had just met each other right now.
"Koshiro, right? Let's get out of here," Zandra persuades us to escape.
"Miller, run while you have the time. Take Haru and Ken. If you ever encounter Niko, tell him that I'm in a pinch right now. Hurry! " I summoned my tamed beast and helped them in residing it's back.
"Protect them at all cost," I worriedly said and they escaped from the ceiling that was no longer there. The guy who broke the ceiling used a skill which is most likely to be telekinesis to stop them from escaping but good thing that I used fire magic to disperse his attack.
Miller's POV
Honestly, I want to go back and help them for a better chance of winning against the enemy but, I don't want Koshiro's sacrifice go to waste. Besides, that's a new but strong Knight for you! If only this damn body moves as I order it to. Our last hope for now is Niko. I don't know why but Koshiro looks like he has a plan up his sleeves.
"Oh, my, my, what's a gorgeous girl doing here in a middle of a battlefield? I'd better run if I were you, won't I?" A guy said after making his appearance in front of us giving us a grin.
"Oh, yeah? This Fu*kin' girl you see has a guy inside her. 'Wanna have a taste of my danm punch?" My brows furrowed. This guy gets on my nerves.
This is a huge problem. It seems like even Kent has Mana deficiency too. Are we gonna die here? I thought this is a quest for the lowest rank? Do they think our strength and Mana has no limit?! Curse that damn Guild and their damned Fu*ked up system!
Koshiro's POV
"Excuse me, but aren't you and your friends are being too rude?" the guy who exceeded asked annoyed.
"Let me repeat, you're the ones being rude to me!" Unfamiliar flowers grown fast and send out sound waves to nullify the enemies' magic and protect Zandra from them.
After some while, the flowers wilted and new ones grown, different from the other ones and more beautiful. It played a familiar song. I heard this when I was a kid when everyone around me was crying.
It's a song used in funerals.
Word of the day!
Oi! - Hey
Recommendation:
Weathering With You
(Watch "Your Name" first before that)