The interlocking mana particles forming the barrier in front of us began to shake violently. The barrier flickered for but a moment, revealing the horrifying reality within. A cloud of thick, black miasma was gathering above the house, swirling and writhing like some kind of wicked serpent.
The barrier shimmered, once again obscuring the sight from the outside world. The air around us grew still, silent. The wind had stopped blowing; the clouds had ceased moving across the sky. The atmosphere itself began to tremble in trepidation.
A hooded figure emerged from within. Their dark purple robes rippled quietly in the wind, flaunting golden embroidery weaved into regal patterns. They were small in stature, almost a full head shorter than myself, and yet the being radiated waves upon waves of primal energy. The pressure of their existence weighed down upon my whole body and threatened to buckle my knees.
There was a terrifying ocean of mana stored away in their body and the figure made no effort to hide this fact. Their fingertips twitched, unleashing visible sapphire waves of pure mana into the atmosphere, causing the air to grow dense and suffocating.
It would take 10, no, 100 of me to even begin to rival this entity in combat. No... perhaps thousands.
There was an insurmountable chasm of talent, skill and raw power separating us. You could throw legions of first-class mages against this being until the end of time and never land so much as a scratch upon their body.
The figure beckoned us forth, and then disappeared inside the barrier.
Jo was visibly shaken, frozen in a state of fear and existential dread. I was struggling to stay sane myself. I dedicated my whole life to the art of mana manipulation. I was top of my class in all subjects; mana theory, spell weaving, spell casting, advanced combat... There was hardly a soul alive that could rival my skills beyond special-class mages - only twenty of which existed on the entire continent.
Yet, in this tiny rural village, was an entity possessing power beyond reason. Was this the culprit? Is this why special investigators were sent here? If that's the case... why haven't we been killed yet? Questions raced through my mind, for none of which I could determine any kind of reasonable answer.
"We... we... we... we... we..."
Jo's eyes were wild. Her entire body shook in terror as she repeated the word over, and over... and over.
"We... we..."
I grabbed her hand and turned her towards me. "Stay..." I gulped, swallowing my fear. "Stay right here, okay?"
"I... we... no... we..."
In front of me was a human being stripped to nothing but their base instincts. Her going any further might break her mind for good, so I had no choice but to leave her here.
I stepped forward. Jo's hand clung onto mine for a moment, but a little tug and she let go; her body in a slumped posture as she continued to mutter to herself. It was heart-breaking seeing my treasured apprentice like this; but I had to press on.
Out of duty...? Maybe. To protect the civilians of this village...? I'd like to think so, but... no.
It was simple, morbid curiosity. A selfish desire to know what lay beyond the veil in front of me - at all costs.
Is it a trap? Is that figure the perpetrator? Are they with the government? What does the house have to do with this? Whatever the consequences, I had to know.