Luan has a great potential that he has yet to discover, and tagging along with those types of people won't let him find his abilities. But if he doesn't see himself taking a journey with me—a stranger who just introduced herself in a bloody way—it is totally understandable. On the other hand, I am not the only person who can see him and his talents.
"Well, it is a fresh start anyway." The sky peeks between the gaps of the shy crowns of trees around me, and the sound of the animals who have made this as their shelter speaks to a language that only they will understand but is music to my ears. It has been a while since I heard this music, and I crave more.
I crossed the stream with my bare feet, and I started walking to what I believe is the south. The mercenaries earlier told me that there is a territory down there, and someone who goes by the name Sir Feron was in charge of a couple of mines, and apparently, his workers fled after seeing the undead; well, some of them perished. Nonetheless, I now know a place to gather enough information about the past, the current events, and their plans for the future. However, what interests me are the rich merchants who'll allow me to sell things or even buy things.
The sweet flow of raw mana took my attention, and it was absolutely different from the raw mana on that graveyard. It is obvious that the trees and the animals use the raw mana and the wind replenishes them consistently, but to be constantly surrounded by this mana does influence my mood. I doubt I am near to that territory since the mercenaries, tactically, should camp from a far point if they want to see the miners who ran away.
While keeping my pace in walking, I look at my hands, which are incredibly thin. I can't believe I slept for hundreds of years, which I do not intend to, and that is what I need to find out. I already did a lot of sleeping for a couple of years just to aid myself from boredom, but it was the first time it went off the mark. Did I miscalculate on things? Thankfully, I have a mana core that kept me alive in that room for so long, because if I recall correctly, there are cases, though it is rare, where my people die due to mana exhaustion.
A mana core is a pool of mana that we can create inside our body; hence, we do not need the raw mana around us. We can store, we can use, and we can even pass these mana however we like. During our sleeping process, or what we'll call the deep slumber, our mana core will supply our needs; therefore, we store a lot of it since we are unable to create and fill the core when asleep. If my speculation is right, I woke up due to the fact that I don't have enough mana in me, which is the good thing.
I woke up weak—too weak that even lifting a finger was a rigorous task for me. I was on the verge of dying. But once I can earn enough strength and use my mana to its full capability, I will no longer need to divide my mana. But in the mean time, to keep myself going, I need to use my strength to produce mana in my core and the rest will be for my physical use. It'll allow me to walk just fine and do things normally. This is the reason why mana core is surely the gatekeeper for mana users in order to be recognized as a master.
As I kept on walking, I heard a couple of sounds from afar that came from people, which urged me to increase my pace to see what was happening. My eyes widen when I see a tall stone wall in the distance and an enormous gate with a pointed frame that has a familiar flag. I can't recall it; probably they didn't matter when I saw it one time. But there are people in line, and most likely they are here for an entry beyond the gate. Is this Gregory or another town?
I continued walking while my eyes couldn't stop looking at the stone gate; even though I was walking on a rocky terrain, all that could come to my mind was that I could finally meet people and how they've been ever since I slept. I wonder what happened in those years.
I stand behind the person last in the line. He looks at me with an uninterested gaze. He is wearing decent clothing, and he carries a rucksack on his back. He looks clean, and I think he often comes here, seeing he seems to be confident in how he handles himself around. He looks at me from my head to toe, and as expected, he was gets surprised just by seeing me wearing a night dress. It seems like this tradition didn't die in those years.
It is indecent to expose yourself wearing a night dress, as they believe you can only see it or your husband—if you were born with blue blood, then your attendants can see you wearing it, but other than that, to strangers, you are practically naked. I don't believe to such thing as they wear clothes thicker than their skin even if it is deadly hot outside.
He didn't bother to talk to me, and he just went back to mind his business. I smiled from the thought of it. He probably wants to say something, but he can't find the reason to talk about it—he didn't want to get involved with someone like me. A person who is blindfolded and wearing a night dress, he might have probably thought of something worse for a story according to my appearance.
The line finally starts moving, and the people slowly walk towards the gate. Some people talk a lot of things regarding the name that I am unfamiliar with, gossip, or even the start of a journey from someone's family. It was fun listening to them with their endless tone of hope—the land probably became peaceful.
"Or not..." The ground starts shaking as people start screaming and panicking. At first glance, this might feel like something deep within the ground, like an earthquake, but the origin comes from somewhere near the surface.
"Everyone run! The cave underground is caving in!" Someone from the gate shouted, and after that, a lot of people started running away from the immediate area. They do respond quickly—well, some, as there are people who prioritise their wealth over someone else's life or their own life.
The ground starts to cave in as a small hole opens on the ground, and looking at it, these people will not make it in time if they save something else before their lives. Once the hole starts to expand, its speed will be unfathomable to humans who can't perform a spell. They can't outrun it.
Before I make my way out of the area, I snap my fingers and cast a spell on the bags that a group of people was trying to lift out of the wagon. It is what they called Burden's Bane. It will reduce the weight of any object to almost nothing.
The ground suddenly opened, and a large hole appeared before my eyes. It was so big that even a portion of the gate was affected. The people I tried to help earlier screamed at the thought that they'll fall to their death, but before that happens, I snap my fingers again, and a mana escapes my body.
"Solae marven driquas." It is my first time chanting a spell, but it is not bad as the ground slowly covers itself. I expected it to be instant, but it seems impossible, for I have to also maintain my strength and this frail body of mine. The people who were screaming earlier landed—though a bit rough, they fell on the ground from a height since I knelt the ground's soil lower than it was earlier.
But before the ground closes, a shadow escapes from the mine, and it hovers over my head. I look at it and see nothing but the warm rays of the sun heating up my blindfold, which leads me to even be bothered to see what was that shadow, but other than that, it seems like they can amass a large amount of mana without a core. I walk towards the people who were trapped here, and I lend my hand to help them to get up and get back to the surface.
"T-Thank you—"
A sharp metal pierces through the neck of the woman who was talking in front of me, and then she dies before I can even take my breath. It must be that shadow who appears earlier. It has a ridiculous amount of mana, and its malice is screaming from within that it can't even wait to kill everyone. I thought I could give these people a chance to run away from here, but I guess it is useless.
"You! You..." I looked up once again, and I saw that thing staring at me. It was once a living being, but he spent his life doing evil things that even in the afterlife his sin haunts him... a ghoul sovereign.
It bursts out laughing, and it echoes in my ears. It no longer looks like a human; it has a body that is seemingly made out of twig. A ghoul sovereign exists if a person devours a lot of souls in believing that it exchanges for something that will transcend them, probably immortality. It was a foolish belief that back then a lot of people tried attempting, but they forgot that in order to become one, you need to possess a great amount of mana before dying and a wicked soul.
It continues laughing, which leads me to fly beside it. It wakes up because of my mana interference, hence leaving it in the hands of the people that barely comprehend what it is will not end well. I am more than grateful to cut it out of its delusion. It looks at me with its eye wide open, as if it is staring at my soul. I looked towards the ground, and the people that were scattered all over the place stared at us. They should have been running for safety. What is this?
"You should not look away..." I feel a sudden change in the wind flow to my left; it is as if something pushes it towards me, but I have no time to look at it. "Flatus emitte, ventus libera!"
The spell is aiming for my head, but all I can think of in order to avoid the blow is to crouch. The chanting-type of spell is often used in a battle since it is effective to control a good number of people since it uses the force of the wind, but a highly concentrated chant is an instant kill—nonetheless, I still consider it as a low-level spell.
Before I even stand up, I close my hand and punch the ghoul, on what I believe is its stomach, and it sends them flying and covering a distance away from me. It looks like it feels a sudden leak on its mana.
"You see..." I look at it with my uninterested gaze. "I do not admire long fights, since it spoils the fun. Can we make things easier and not resist?"
"A human doesn't have the right to say it. You're the one who wished for a bloodbath; you keep on waging war on each other, and even after killing each other, you delve into your long list of reasons to wage another war." Wasn't he a mortal before?
"Okay."
"But I am—" I push the mana towards my feet, and then a tingling sound surrounds my ears as I slowly feel the cold gust of the wind. Then the lightness envelops my skin, and in an instant, I arrive neat and sound in front of the ghoul.
"You are a mortal, though, and in fact, you are already dead. You don't have a physical form, so you are a bore. I prefer it when I can hear bones breaking to pieces." I raise my hands beside its head, and now, I start absorbing its mana.
I encountered a lot of ghouls back then, but most of them shared a common ground: they were sort of immortal. No, they don't have the ability similar to a lich or a necromancer who defied mortality in exchange for their... well, appearance. Ghouls don't have a physical form; hence, it is not great idea to aim for physical attacks and physical harm, but their mana is ridiculously high. You will be considered immortal if you manage to tie your body and soul neatly upon ascension, like they somehow did.
"But I'll give you a point for being a good source of mana," I whispered to it. I am not sure if they actually have ears, and if they do, I hope they are located where I believe they should be located.
A mana acts like a thread inside an entity or even to a human being. It flows naturally like blood inside a nerve. If I can have a piece of that sturdy thread, I can just grab it and pull it out of someone else's head, and surprise, that head is right in front of me. Upong placing my hands adjacent to his head, I started pulling out the thread that starts from the back of its brain, and since it has no physical form, its head starts to tear apart for its form is based on its mana supply. Its head starts tearing apart that even a chanting-type of spell would be impossible.
It is trying to fight against me, but unfortunately, its mana doesn't have any effect on me—it is not even a sting. Looking at its thread, it definitely uses dark mana and its thread is made out of nothing but evil deeds.
Oh right! I returned its mana back for I have a very interesting idea. A few days ago, I have seen that person who died from using a mana bomb inside it. I wonder, what will happen if I trigger one inside its body. Yes, it doesn't have a bone, but it still has a body.
"I changed my mind!" I raised my right hand next to the right side of its head, and without hesitation, I hit it with my right hand and send it flying towards the forest, and I make a haste to follow it. "Got you!"
I placed my hands again adjacent to its head but instead of taking its mana, I tried to inject mine to it.
"You should be thankful," I looked at it in the eye for it tries to attack me again by throwing a lot of spells. "You gave your worthless life a purpose. There are only few individuals, that despite their evil souls, have a purpose. Most of them are too corrupted that even afterlife will deny them."
"I-I can't hit you! What are you? Who are you?"
"Hmm..." I looked at it and to answer him, gracefully, I took my blindfold. It saw my eyes and all I can feel from him was fear. "My name is Tir, and I am thankful for you are a, well... um... valuable specimen?"
"Y-You..."
"Yes, I am your nightmare!" I inject more than half of my stored mana inside it and all I can see how it starts moving strangely.
It doesn't affect its physical form yet its mana is trying to escape aggressively, but since its entirety is made out of mana, it looks more than unusual. It starts shaking like an object and in just a blink of an eye, I felt a surge of mana around me and the thing falls on the ground.
"Bah, it exploded like how it should be."