(Flynn's POV)
'Checkmate!'
I immediately fell on one of my knees while panting heavily as sweat dripped from my face. A bit of blood was also leaking from my nose.
That magic spell took all my mana with it, leaving only barely enough to maintain my body's normalcy.
The scorching heat from our explosion wasn't helping matters either as I could feel it lick my skin even from a fair distance.
'This is why high mana core ranks are very important' I inwardly said to myself while tapping my storage bracelet as I retrieved two mana potions from it.
I downed one of the potions in a single gulp while simultaneously tossing over the other one to Ivar.
He seemed to be in a much worse state than me as he struggled to even hold the vial of liquid, his hands quivering as he raised the vial to his mouth.
Mana core ranks ensure you can use magic spells, and although it is not an indicator of an individual's skill level, core ranks dictated just how much mana you can pull from your body to perform spells.
This was why both me and Ivar were heavily panting, as we had used spells far beyond our capabilities.
I glanced to the side to see Aiden standing without a single hint of tiredness even though he had compressed such a large explosion.
'This OP punk! He looks completely unfazed' I said to myself while following his gaze.
I realized what he was looking at and I also slowly stood up, my mana recovering at a normal pace as I stared at the burnt and charred bodies in front of us.
I knew all of them weren't dead just yet even though the gruesome scene before me would speak otherwise, but considering how mana especially helps to preserve an individual's life for a few hours before they're completely dead, I knew all of them were still very much alive.
However though, I also knew that a few of them would die very soon if they were not attended to in the next one hour or so.
Maybe we could have found another way to do it without endangering their lives but based on the time we had and also how we have no idea what state Ivelia was in, I was left with no other choice but to come up with a dangerous and flawed plan like this.
Also, these guys deserved it. Maybe not all of them, but most of them definitely did.
My plan may have had flaws that I didn't even consider but I'm no master tactician or strategist. I'm just an average guy who's slightly smarter than most.
I glanced the other way to see that Ivar had also gotten up from where he was and was staring at the scene before him.
I was glad to see that just like Aiden and I, he knew that it was something we had to have done or it would've been us instead.
"Stay sharp guys. This isn't over yet." Aiden said while taking a battle stance, his words snapping both me and Ivar out of our thoughts.
-Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Who would've thought, that instead of the Tower, it was just three puny teenagers who caused such a big mess"
A big burly man who seemed to be in his early forties began to approach us with light casual steps through the sea of fire left by the aftermath of the big explosion.
As his frame fully came into view, we all instinctively knew who this was. He had a scar across one of his eyes and a buzz cut that gave him a menacing look.
"Kai…" I muttered to myself.
"You've done a good job whittling most of our forces, but unfortunately for you brats, your luck ends here!"
The moment he said that, Kai emitted an intense wave of bloodlust that reached across to us, causing both me and Ivar to take a step back.
He had a dangerous glint to his eyes while smiling evilly at the three of us.
Aiden however seemed unfazed as he stood his ground while staring at Kai dead in the eye.
"Oh…" the Kai said after realizing that Aiden wasn't backing down.
This image of Aiden standing his ground caused me to forcefully throw away my fears as I took a deep breath before speaking to Ivar who still had a terrified look on his face.
"Ivar. Take this" I said while throwing my smartwatch to him before I continued.
"Get away from here as fast as you can and head to the vehicle"
"But I can't ju-"
"Ivar. Trust us. I'll make sure we save Ivelia but I need you to do as I say. Trust the plan"
Ivar was really contemplating if he should go but after realizing he'd be more of a hindrance than of help, he reluctantly agreed.
"You two make sure to stay alive!" he shouted while running towards the direction we parked our car at.
"Did you really think, that I'd let you go scot free after all the mess you've caused?!" Kai roared while immediately bolting towards Ivar.
'He's fast!' I said to myself while dashing and positioning myself to protect Ivar from the incoming hunk of muscle.
"[Telekinetic Series: Force Field]"
The moment I chanted the spell, a transparent green aquamarine-like shield surrounded me.
However, as I watched Kai dash towards me, I knew it wouldn't stop him as he hurled his fist towards me at maximum force to break my shield.
-BAM!
However, before he could, another strong punch connected squarely at the right side of his abdomen, sending him flying away as he crashed into the crumbled dilapidated walls surrounding the warehouse. All of these happened within seconds.
"Go. I'll hold him at bay" Aiden said to me while taking a deep breath as he got back into his battle stance.
"Stay safe bro"
"You worry too much Flynn. Now go find Ivelia!"
I immediately bolted towards the large doors of the warehouse while moving at a very fast pace as I began to scour through the interiors of the building.
The internals of the warehouse had been redesigned and built like a labyrinth, making my search very hard but I wasn't going to stop going until I found her.
I would occasionally run into a few members of the dark guild here and there but my force field easily protected me from their attacks while making it easy for me to knock them out with a few solid punches, kicks and hand chops to vital points of their body.
I wasn't completely invincible though as I'd mostly gotten lucky by running into goons weaker than me and also because even though my force field was doing wonders by repelling and protecting me from their attacks, my mana reserves were already at their limit again.
This spell was one I got from reading a telekinesis spell book.
The theory behind its formation is by exuding the mana from your body and controlling the particles within it to create either a tough exterior or a bouncy one. It guzzles my mana like crazy though.
I could only maintain it for about six minutes from the moment I had activated it.
'I can only maintain it for a few more seconds, fifty seconds tops' I thought to myself while zooming past another empty room.
Finally, I came to a long corridor with dim lights as my force field dissipated. My mana was also almost depleted.
I could see two men guarding an iron door in the distance and as I approached them, they also seemed to be aware of my presence.
One of them had a firearm on him while the other had two small short swords attached to a utility belt on his waist.
I immediately frowned at this. I was at a disadvantage here and I knew it.
"What a shitty time for my force field to dissipate" I muttered to myself while tapping onto my bracelet.
I downed a low-tier mana potion that I'd picked up from another store nearby just in case of an emergency asides from the high-tier ones we had to buy, along with the grenades from another store while Ivar was creating the explosive potions.
"Listen kid, this can only end one way for both of us, and by one way, I mean your death!" the man with a firearm said as he began to fire the large caliber mana-infused bullet rounds from his futuristic assault rifle.
-Ratatatatatatatat!!!
"Tch!" I muttered as I readied myself while tensing my calves and taking a crouching position.
I muttered the force field spell once again, but this time, I made the radius very small and made it closely hug my body since I was in a corridor and these two were the ones I needed to take out. I was also taking my small mana which had recovered into account.
As soon as the mana-infused bullets reached my view, I released the tension in my calves and dashed towards the man who was firing the bullets while keeping a close eye on the other man as he had not made any moves so far.
Immediately I closed the gap between me and the gunner and I was in a range close enough to attack him, I gave a sweeping kick which caused him to lose his balance while hoping to land a solid uppercut to his jaw and knock him out but the second man immediately moved into my view with a downward slash of his short swords, to which I had to immediately backflip with my two hands on the ground to dodge the incoming attack.
The short-sword wielding man however didn't miss the slight opportunity that was created from me narrowly dodging his attack and he landed a solid kick to my abdomen as I returned to a standing position from my flip.
His kick sent me flying back as I tried to regain my balance while skidding back a few meters.
Unfortunately for me, the bastard was not done as I heard him chant a wind spell.
"[Wind Series: Gale Blades]"
-Whish. Whish. Whish.
Suddenly, wind blades began to slice through the corridor, leaving slash marks all around the walls.
Of course they were also affecting me but my force field was holding out, although barely as my mana reserves were beginning to hit rock bottom again.
-Ratatatatatatatat!
"Shit!" I cursed as I saw what was happening before me.
The gunner had finally regained his stance and began firing again, causing my mana reserves to deplete even faster as I tried to effectively manage it but the sudden revival of the bastard's spunk made it even harder for me to advance towards them.
'This guys! They're used to fighting together' I inwardly thought to myself as I began to think of what I could do to gain an advantage over them.