A grin split across Maelora's lips as she walked into the chamber and saw Siona alone, without Gawn and the white tiger she had helped him tame. Well, the simpleton fool was there, but in her mind, he might as well not have existed.
Her grin quickly turned cruel as she opened her mouth to express her delight at finding Siona alone.
The princess finally batted her eyes towards the chattering girl, her long, burning silver hair spilling over her shoulder as she stood to meet their gaze.
A sleek sword, identical to a giant needle, manifested in her arm in a swirl of gathering essence. Many of the onlookers' expressions changed, but they didn't budge, readying their weapons.
I guess that explains what she was waiting for, Klein thought, withdrawing a few steps.
Siona was the first to charge at the six odd elves, her form dancing gracefully through the stale air of the chamber. Maelora cast a few wind blades, hampering her advance, but the formidable princess swung her blade in a sinuous form, breaking through the spells like she knew exactly where they would appear.
Klein didn't have much time to watch the show, as an arrow hurtled towards him at tremendous speed. He quickly cast a barrier to obstruct the arrow and shouted at the slender elf who shot it. Obviously, his words fell on deaf ears, as the elf continued to shower him with arrows.
Elowen was torn between trying to help him or her cousin. She instructed the archer girl to stop shooting at him as far as Klein was concerned—but it had no effect on the girl.
Klein could only oblige her in a fight, keeping his Essence barrier and bolts handy. On the other hand, Siona alone was keeping the others engaged. For a moment, Elowen contended with her in pure swordsmanship, but the princess was simply too fast for her to match.
With her needle sword, Siona defended against all attacks, trying to dispatch their numbers one by one.
Klein decided he wouldn't just stand there to watch it all. No, he would rather escape, taking advantage of the situation.
While the archer showered him with a barrage of arrows, Klein decided to run towards the only way out, with the archer following. This should be a good enough excuse for him. To make it realistic, he even let a couple of arrows graze his skin.
He gave Elowen's disgruntled figure one last glance before exiting. This was clearly not a fight to the death, as Siona likely had no trouble killing them if she could already injure them so severely that they couldn't fight anymore. Elowen would be better off here than with him, which could possibly antagonise both parties.
The elf girl didn't relent, continuing to shoot at him as she chased. Thankfully, his [Spatial Sight] came in handy, giving him an edge to dodge just before the arrows could strike him.
Finally, when he was out of everyone's sight, he thrust a wave of power in the direction of the girl, sending her flying.
Klein didn't leave, because the girl was still in a position to pursue him. He noticed that she only had a few more arrows left, though considering her lithe form, she likely possessed some close combat capabilities.
With most of his magical power gone, Klein had no way of ending the conflict without injuring her.
In the end, he shot an Essence bolt into her calves before shooting in another direction.
He sprinted with all his might for a few minutes, finally slowing down after noticing nobody was chasing him.
Finally, freedom is once again in my hands, he thought. I wonder for how long, though.
Klein didn't dwell on it for long, as he soon found one of the treasure rooms nearby. Nobody seemed to have looted it yet, as the aura of the Essence drew him closer.
Scanning his surroundings once, he wasted no time storing it all into his dimensional storage. It might not be much to a princess, but it could very well help him in a breakthrough.
Klein didn't go in the same direction he had come, fearing the white tiger and the handsome-ass elf might still be lurking there. Instead, he decided to go deeper, looking for any other treasures, and possibly a place to hide.
After searching for another hour, Klein found himself face to face with a wall carved with dozens of runic texts, just waiting for him to open it.
Tentatively, he raised his palm and touched it, drawing his Essence to push into the runes. Instantly, a vague image of a runic formation manifested in his mind, the structure of the formation responding to his Essence.
It was like a puzzle that could only be solved through infusing Essence to push the runic pieces together in the right form. Xin probably could have interpreted the right way to solve it with some context, but without her, the only option left was to solve it through trial and error.
The combinations of runes suggested there could be thousands of wrong possibilities that could waste hours of his time. But thankfully, with each wrong combination, he managed to eliminate various variations.
After his thirty-seventh iteration, Klein finally found the correct sequence, and all the runic pieces clicked together.
The stone wall shook and opened up to reveal an entrance.
"The next time I can do it a lot faster," he muttered as he walked into the treasure room. Though his speed couldn't possibly compare to Siona's until he had had some good practice with them.