Chương 19

Our attacker was visible to the eye for a fraction of a second—just long enough for me to identify her as an Ellaris sister. Red, striking hair and a face very similar to Vaela's just with a far less innocent scowl on her face. She wore the same uniform but with pants instead of a skirt. Obsidian earrings glowed on both of her ears like miniature monoliths. This could only be Fellia Ellaris. That was all I could see before a discharge of purple mana crashed against her thick Mana Barrier.

Tonir's sharp Barrier Breaker hit her in the sixth realm. Her mental barrier blinked, receiving a slight jolt, but taking no real damage. Fellia cast Force Blast. A shockwave shook the cavern to the core, dirt falling from the ceiling. Everyone with a level one core was blown back. I stood enough to the side that I survived with only what felt like a punch straight through my barrier to my gut. Vaela's hair flared out, and the attack clearly hurt her as well. The gang's entire formation fell into disarray.

The first member died when mage officers rushed in from the main entrance, firing a Mana Dart at a gang member unconscious on the ground. The rest desperately defended. Tonir and Rend stayed on their feet. Tonir wound up more mana and fired a strengthened Barrier Breaker, which snapped straight into Fellia's barrier like a missile. She repaired it with mana, then slammed Rend's chains with the sides of her fists, amplified by Force Blasts. More gang members were dying to the mage officers.

I saw Erden still alive, sneaking by the corner. I wondered what I should be firing at. If the gang loses, I die, I thought. If they win, everyone in Ellaris dies. I'll fight for an escape, I decided. Red mana twirled in Fellia's palms, then solidified into whips. She swung wide at Tonir and Rend. The edges of the whips were sharp like blades, and the mana around it sparked like an electric shock. Tonir dove to the side, barely dodging, while Rend formed a thick yellow shield.

Utility and control was the strength of yellow magic, and technically his shield should have been the strongest out of all of us. The whip collided, and Rend was blasted backward, falling into the fray amongst the rest of the gang members, only three of whom were still alive. A wild grin on her face, Fellia dashed after him. Her whip left red metallic marks on the stone where it dragged against the ground, before slamming into Rend with impossible amounts of power.

By dashing after him, she opened the way down behind her. Without thinking for a second, I bolted down. Vaela should be safe; she was rescued. I made it to the tunnel and shot down with all the speed I could muster. Tonir and Erden had the same idea, appearing next to me.

"Fucking run!" Tonir shouted. That we did, and I wasn't looking where. The practice grounds passed in under ten seconds, and we were in unfamiliar territory. Tunnels of blue mana-filled vegetation passed faster than I could look. I considered putting Core Concealment on, but Tonir's presence already shone like a flashlight next to me. Behind us, the mana tunnels filled up with mana, as if a flood was chasing us. Fellia must have realized her mistake—or she must have killed Rend already.

She chased much faster than either of us could run. An intersection came.

"Let's split up!" I shouted, and at the last second, I chose the opposite direction that Tonir was running. He kept running at full speed as I had hoped, his aura clearly visible. I activated Core Concealment and ran in the opposite direction. Fellia's suffocating presence was accompanied by two mage officers, one with a level two core. I gritted my teeth. Most likely, all the gang members had died. I kept running with my senses open in fear of running into a magical beast. Our pursuers reached the intersection.

After a second of consideration, the two officers ran after Tonir, and the avalanche of mana continued in my direction. My heart dropped. Why? My core was concealed! How did she know I was here? I kept running, but it quickly became obvious I was more likely to stumble into a magical beast rather than outrun Fellia. I needed a different plan. With my core concealed, I stood behind a corner and readied the pattern for Claw Fingers, ready to hit her with an ambush.

Not three seconds later, her presence ran straight in. My fingers grew to sharp claws, and I cut. I hit a mere gust of mana, as Fellia didn't appear. The cloud of mana expanded, and with it came a thick red fog. I suddenly couldn't see more than a few feet ahead. And with the whole area full of mana, sensing my surroundings became much harder. I gritted my teeth. Fellia could have just killed me; she was way stronger. I could only hope she was playing with me.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon." You thought I let you go?

"a voice spoke. It seemed to come from all around me." You hoped I was careless, did you?" She is playing with me, I realized, but I also didn't know how I could punish that. I kept jogging downward at a steady pace, away from the mist, all defensive spells active." Curious,"she spoke again." How I sense no fear from you? Did you not see your friends get massacred?" I sensed a tiny presence in the mist from her next words."

No matter —" I blasted the direction with my upgraded Barrier Breaker, looping both the speed and sharpness patterns three times. I knew that wouldn't kill, so I immediately began casting Boulder Missile, the most powerful version I could. The mind blast hit her first, like the fang of a sabretooth hammered into her barrier. It flew through the fog, pushing mana aside and her presence was once again clear. The hit couldn't have been more perfect, surprising her enough for her to drop whatever she was saying.

Next came my best projectile. Fellia grimaced at the buildup of mana, sensing it half a second before it went through. She opened her palms, solidifying an insane shield of mana on her hands, and grabbed my missile. Her aim was perfect, but this missile could literally crush a boulder. Not Fellia's shield; it was the missile that broke upon contact, shattering into pieces, though the pieces retained momentum, and a few grazed Fellia's second layer of defence, her Mana Barrier, which was also much thicker than mine.

"Fucking rat!" she yelled, followed immediately with an attack on my mental barrier—a crushing, nuke of a blow much stronger than Tonir's. My upgraded, thicker barrier was cracked instantly, though it miraculously held in one solid piece.

"A level one core?" Fellia shouted.

"Who are you? Why do I not feel fear from you!?" She wasn't smiling anymore. The whips burned with unstable mana in each of her hands. She swung at me. I dove and rolled to the side. The whips blew past, cutting deep into the wall. That would cut my Mana Barrier and kill me instantly if it landed.

"How can your tiny core cast a spell like that?" she demanded. Through a heavy breath, I said, "Engineering." That apparently wasn't the answer she wanted, as she went into stance, then launched herself for an attack to cut me down, the spring of her feet enhanced by magic. I dove to the side and forward, slipping past her whip by pure luck, before springing back to a run. I added as much mana into Strength Enhancement as I could to speed up my run, but Fellia's presence still caught up faster.

Her mana reserves had hardly fallen, while mine were well under half already. Running was no help; all I did was give her time to rebuild the red fog and hide her presence again." You did not learn those spells from the library.

"Again the voice came all around me." Such a unique selection. I can't guess what spells you're using next. But can you read mine? Do you know what you're about to be hit with next?" I had no idea, and I kept running with the limited view I had through the mist. This was always the problem with magic: too many spells existed to know them all. Fellia had weapons I didn't know about. I could hardly see five feet ahead, and my sixth sense was muddled at best. My only benefit was Fellia's pride.

She knew I had a level one core. She was playing with me. She could have killed me long ago." If you share your spells,"Fellia said." I'll consider saving your life."

"I can draw them for you," I said. I had no intention to do that, but that would incite her to keep me alive. Maybe I could surprise her again." And take off that mask, will you?" Some sort of levitation spell hit my head, pulling the mask straight out of my head. Fucking hell, I was completely outclassed." Asterran? Not a Gondorran deserter. Even more surprising. You'll be coming with me." The next mind attack burst into my barrier at full power, bringing it straight back to a state of disrepair.

I pushed mana into it. I drew the patterns my Barrier Breaker inside my core and stared at it, wondering where I could improve it. Fellia's next hit crushed my barrier into a hundred little cracks, one breeze away from breaking. Her laughter rung in my ears." One more!" An idea came. The next attack came. While it was in the air, I used Core Concealment and ducked. Fellia most likely used a target closest mana core as an instruction.

That was by far the easiest to land when fighting only one opponent, and a lot of the spells in their spellbook used that. Any other target attack was more prone to missing, while the closest mana core instruction honed straight to a target.

But when her target suddenly disappeared, when I activated Core Concealment and my mana core suddenly disappeared from her vision… It worked. I felt a sharp spike of mana whoosh over my head. The spell identified a new target, finding that Fellia's core was the closest, and only mana core, still remaining. It wrapped back to the direction it came from, and a pained screech came from the left as Fellia's attack found her own head. Her mental attacks were much more powerful than her barrier.

Clear cracks spread across its surface. Still, her barrier was far too powerful to be cracked from just that. I drew mana and formed my next pattern with my life on the line; a Barrier Breaker with all of its power looped five times over. I shot it in Fellia's direction. An opening in the mist cleared up, and my attack sensed Fellia. It hit her perfectly. It wasn't enough.

The cracks grew slightly, yet with Fellia's level three mana core pushing a crazy amount into her barrier, it repaired faster than even my best attack could damage. One by one, the cracks fixed themselves. The cracks… Her barrier had cracks! With a sudden new idea, I drew the pattern of Barrier Breaker again, except I added the same patterns from Ellaris' spellbook—the spell to pry cracks open that Tonir had deemed was useless.

My violent gush of mana shot at her, first hitting her barrier like a small wrecking ball. Then the mana stuck like glue to her barrier, inside the cracks, where it trembled, prying the barrier open. She screamed, collapsing on her knees. She kept pushing in mana, fighting back against the sheer pressure applied into the cracks. Somehow, even still, she managed to prevent her barrier from fully collapsing. That was until I drew the pattern again, and hit her with the second spell of utter destruction.

A hole in the barrier pried open, and no amount of mana could fix it. Her mind was open. I could have induced a nightmare, caused her to scream, or try to force her to sleep—but the solution I chose in the heat of the moment was to hit her mind as hard as I could. A Mind Blast sent her writhing on the ground, screaming her lungs out. I added more mana into the next Mind Blast. The screams finally stopped. The mist dissipated, and her spells lost their effect, including her physical Mana Barrier.

Fellia fell unconscious.