Struggling to keep her eyes open, Belitha had blood rolling down the side of her head, the damage was more than expected.
Laia was undoubtedly beaten by the overwhelming force of Beltin's spell "Laia! Laia!" she was worried having seen her friend's battered body.
Even with the numerous times she'd called to her, Laia was still unresponsive.
Tears had slowly began to pool out of her eyes, Belitha was broken. She had no concern for her well being, she cared more for her friend. Deeply saddened and appalled by the violence inflicted upon Laia.
Her anguish was heartbreaking, and it was unacceptable that Laia had to endure such a brutal attack.
"We said take it easy, not demolish the target.." Dvena had her words directed at Beltin, he used more force than required and even knocked one of the girls out cold.
It was still vague as to whom the target was, was it Laia or Belitha?
"I can't help it sweet cheeks... The sorrowful screams of a girl just arouse me!" Beltin was open to expressing how much of a sadist he really was. Saliva dropped from the tip of his tongue which he obtrusively stuck out.
"Weirdo." Dvena said in response, but she'd expected this much from him.
Meanwhile, all this time they discussed Lync and Fushu maintained their cool.
There was no objection from as to the manner of force Beltin used, it was necessary to the girls submissive.
"Looks like one's still standing tall boss, want me to take her out?" a cynical chuckle came from the sadist as he ran his tongue through his lips.
"Stand down." said Fushu, this infact meant he was the one in charge. He and Lync were the only ones of the five who knew the target.
But who were these people exactly?
Mages from the Black Pendant Guild. It was truly disheartening to hear of the Black Pendant, a guild renowned for their immense power and resources.
Their magical abilities and skills were said to be unmatched, and they were considered to be as powerful as Gold-ranked mages.
Unfortunately, the Black Pendant was an evil force that posed a threat to a large portion of the continent. Such a sad reality that such a powerful guild used its power for nefarious purposes.
The mages in ragged, black cloaks approached the girls.
Belitha didn't seem shaken by them even with what they'd done. Or maybe she was too ignorant to completely accept their powers stood far above hers.
Let alone now that they had the advantage in numbers.
'Wh-Who are these guys!? Where did they come from!? What do they want!?'
She thought to herself slowly noticing the face of defeat looming over her. Was this the end?
At the Arcadian dungeon, I had my own problems and it was surrounding the weapon once used by Perses.
It had to deal with ripping out a good chunk of the gargantuan armament to make one suiting myself. But so far trying to harvest a portion of this intensely durable metal seemed unlikely.
It wasn't a school day, so I'd chosen to wear a white mandarin collared sleeveless shirt, paired with a black sleeveless stand up collared jacket. The bottom half consisted of white pants, wrapped around by a strong and abrasive belt.
In my palms, flames gathered from tiny embers made from the energy in this magicube rich environment then finally a tight fist was formed. On opening, a sea of flames burst out rushing to overwhelm the weapon and possibly destroy it.
Still and all, it was futile. The intensity of flames lessened until it was no more, and the ground that trembled was once again gentle.
"Lightning has more destructive power, but I doubt using that would do any good, Perses was the lightning forger... I'm guessing it has an affinity for it."
There wasn't any feasible idea that would crack this weapon. Even a piece would be enough given the intimidating size of the weapon, it'd become more difficult to think of an idea.
I sat on the floor moments after absolutely stumped. "What to do now?" I asked myself.
"Nyx!"
"Nyx!"
Someone called my name, unsure whose voice it was I immediately rushed out of the dungeon. I
t had become relatively easier to navigate my way through the underground vault. It took only a few seconds, a quick response to what seemed like a dire alert.
To my surprise, it was one of Belitha's friends, I'd forgotten her name but it was unimportant in comparison to the matter at hand.
"What's wrong!?", she returned an equally quick and unpleasant reply "I-It's Belitha and Laia... they're..." the next few words didn't matter.
No other information from her would be important, my face wore a fiercely stern look.
With my right foot moving forward only a bit, I had triggered the activation of [--Additional Skill: Mana Sense--] a wide view emphasized on my isolation within a bright white (and completely silent) space of emptiness.
An omnidirectional but unseen energy wave emanated from the point my right foot touched. This wave was a sensory perception of sorts.
Mana sense was a great ability that enabled one to perceive the magicubes around them, giving a full 360 degree view of a surrounding.
It's like having eyes in the back of your head. It worked by observing the fluctuation of light and sound waves and converting them into discernable data.
This way, a person could see and hear everything that went on around them, without leaving a single blind-spot.
How cool was that?
I knew where she was, rushing there was the next plausible action.
My adrenaline was pumping as I pushed myself forward, feeling a thin layer of sweat forming on the back of my neck.
I kept my breathing steady as I increased my speed, barely able to make out what was ahead of me in the cold air.
My heart was pounding as I kept going, pushing myself further and further until my legs were tired. Despite the exhaustion, I was able to reach my destination.
"What happened!?"
I came across Alaric first, "I got hit real bad.."
"Calm down Al, conserve your strength" the minor wounds he had looked fresh.
Noticing the strange mages in black cloaks raised another question "Who are they?"
"I wish I knew... Nghk!" Alaric difficultly uttered.
Moving from him and approaching them required boldness which I didn't lack.
'Belitha!' my focus was diverted once more to her, she was awake but with somewhat serious injuries. Laia's condition was way worse.
Ambulating toward them "Nyx, I-I-I'm sorry I couldn't keep her safe.." it wasn't her obligation but she felt responsible nonetheless.
"Don't worry, leave them to me." they'd done the best they could, and while she nodded, I pieced together my surroundings.
Reflecting on the students asleep, among them was Dilbert, "What happened to the others?" my questions were concise and critical to the situation.
"Oh, they've been put to sleep with magic, I'm not sure which one of them is responsible.." I took a mental note of everything she said.
'Magic huh... this won't be easy." I stared at the five amidst the utter silence.
"I don't know what's really going on here, but will you guys be willing to talk this out.." I offered.
A completely ludacris suggestion to Beltin "Zip it kid, if you like yourself stay outta this so we can take our target and be on our merry little way." his psychotic laughter was the most disturbing part.
"We have no interests in discussing with you boy, this is your final chance to flee.." Lync mentioned whilst unsheathing his longsword.
Performing a shrug to express my lack of concern, they clearly knew I had no intentions of leaving.
It was clear they had no aim to harm children, well this was pure speculation.
On the other hand, Beltin seemed like someone who'd do a lot more than harm children. Sadism was written all over him.
"I'll hear no more! You had your chance and you blew it kid, your head's mine little boy.." he thirstily licked his lips while his sadistic gaze focused on me.
After telling Belitha to get Laia to safety, she expressed her worries as to having to leave me handicapped.
Only me against an entire guild of veterans. Be that as it may, I didn't plan on losing.
In a sense it looked like underestimating the opposition, but they'd done that first by seeing me as nothing more but a child.
The galls this kid had, they thought.
"I admire your foolishness boy, but it comes with grave consequences... I take no joy in killing children, but I'll make yours quick and painless." Lync's soft voice uttered.
With Belitha carrying Laia to retreat, and of the two the guild's target. It had to be quick.
Nyx had himself caught in a bit of snag, how would this play out?