Running his hand through every inch of the bars and the walls, Jake was trying to see if he could find a weak spot anywhere.
He could still feel his magic in his body but when he tried to mimic the magic of the true mages he was not successful.
'Alright, that's enough.' Jake thought then curled his fingers into fists and began punching the wall in front of him.
He could already tell the wall was very thick and sturdy but he had increased his strength so he might be able to break through.
He hit the wall continuously, without stopping and with his full strength. He even released his energy around his fists to make his punches stronger and after a couple of hits, Jake finally broke through the wall and could see outside the building.
'It's about time. You'd think as true mages they would have some type of spell to make the walls unbreakable so people can't escape.'
Widening the hole by hitting the sides some more, Jake passed through it and jumped out of the building, landing on a field.
The grass in the field was reaching him just above his knees, swaying gently in the breeze as if whispering secrets of the earth. The lush green blades caught his attention as he waded through the meadow, each step accompanied by a soft rustling melody.
As he walked further, the field seemed to stretch endlessly, a sea of green that met the horizon in a seamless embrace. Flowers of multiple colours dotted the landscape, the leaves of a few evergreen trees rustling in the verdant backdrop far away.
The tranquility of the field enveloped him, a sanctuary where he did not have to worry about anything. Here, time seemed to slow down, each moment savored like a precious gem.
Lost in the beauty of the field, he felt a deep sense of peace wash over him and the sky was unlike anything he had ever seen.
Usually the sun would be in the sky but here, the sky was icy gray and it was illuminated by about a million stars. They all glistened to make everywhere as bright as it was and Jake couldn't help but wonder if it was day or nighttime.
"He's escaped." a true mage who had just apparated into the building shouted.
Turning around and seeing the true mage, Jake thought about attacking the person but chose to make a run for it instead.
With his speed, he had run far away from the building in a matter of seconds but looking around, he could tell that the building was very isolated from pretty much everything.
The elders apparated into the building, including Rheya, and saw the hole in the wall.
"Unleash the beasts." Mithral said without hesitation and with his voice reflecting his anger and annoyance over Jake's escape.
"Are you absolutely certain about that? What if they kill him?" Sevanias asked.
"Sevanias be quiet." Mithral bellowed. "I do not care if they kill him. He does not necessarily need to be alive for the ritual to work."
"How is he already awake?" Serryl asked. "That spell should have left him unconscious for days."
"Perhaps because he is the one from the prophecy." another elder called Daeriela said.
"What do you think Viesagol?" Serryl asked. "You did make the prophecy after all."
Viesagol was the only elder that still had his hood on and he had a slightly bent posture compared to the other elders.
"There is something about him." Viesagol said in a somewhat husky voice. "Yes he is the Harbinger as I prophesied but he is also more than that."
"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Mithral asked, his anger and annoyance not dissipating in the least.
"Are you going to beat it out of me? Or unleash the beasts on me as well?" Viesagol asked as he leaned on his staff a bit more.
With a grunt, Mithral apparated and left the building. Following soon after that, the other elders apparated, leaving only Viesagol and Rheya in the building.
___
The beasts had been released by acolytes and in the middle of the field, a large spot opened up and two beasts crawled out of it with screeching noises while three others jumped out. Three also flew into the air and they all began chasing Jake.
The three beasts that had jumped out all looked the same. They had four huge legs with long bone-like parts sticking out of them. Right where a tail would normally be was another thing that was bone-like.
It bent and curved just like a tail but it was thin and extremely long with the end being in the shape of a ball with more sharp bone-like spikes pointing outwards.
The beasts that crawled out had six legs with what one could call another leg or a hand protruding from its side. Each leg was almost as large as the trunk of a small tree and its mouth had pincers which clicked repeatedly.
The flying beasts were as small as the size of two human fists combined and their wings were connected to their bodies through only a little piercing in their backs. The wings were razor sharp and they had the same appearance as the bone-like parts of the other beasts.
The beasts with four huge legs immediately closed part of the distance between themselves and Jake by running then suddenly vanishing and reappearing a couple feet in front.
The flying beasts weren't too far behind and they could see Jake running from above. They flew straight towards him while the bone-like beasts kept vanishing and reappearing.
Looking back, Jake saw the beasts that were chasing him. He was still running in the field and wondered just how large it was. The evergreen trees were still visible in the background but he was not getting any closer to it.
Stopping abruptly, Jake turned around and with how close the beasts were, he knew he had to fight them and try to kill them.
At that moment, he received a system notification.
[Variety of beasts has been encountered]
[Apex ranked and peak ranked]
[System Quest: Kill the variety of beasts]
[Reward: +35 Stat points, +2 level up, +40000exp]