The nights cool breeze blew across the eerie lake,and from it a saddening sight emerged out of its rippling waters, a crying Caspian arose from the waters his tears clearly distinguishable from the waters of the lake he had just sprung out of.
His armor had been stripped from his body,and now layed on the shore of this lake,his only remaining clothes being a white linen shirt,and black pants,the remnants of the chains that remained on caspians wrists clung to the ground,and dragged behind him,as his bare feet finally touched hardened soil,the cold breeze of the wind blew through the thin linen cloth,along with it already being soaked wet with water,it was only natural that it caused Caspian to slightly shiver.
Infront of him was a lone tree,that grew near the banks of this lake,his breathing was heavy his body a bit feverish,his eyelids heavy,he had lost most of his energy,and after taking 9 steps his body collapsed being unable to continue further,what was left of him could only afford to rest beneath the shade caused by the leaves of this narrow tree.
He sighed coughing up water,before resting his head on the trees trunk,his eyes were limpid,as he looked at the lake,reminiscing of the fact that he had once been trapped inside of its depths just moments ago.
His heart beat faster forcing him to hold onto his chest,his eyes catching a glimpse of the clear scenery,of the lake as the artificial light cascaded on the waters surface creating an illusory,but beautiful sight as he finally took this chance to rest.
The first day had officially ended.
The next morning a new sun rose,but in this fake world the artificial stars simply changed there glow,intensity,and position simulating a new day.
In the cold blistering storm Darian,Benjamin,and Galahad walked through the blizzard they had found themselves in,this mountain of ice,and snow was extremely dangerous Darian took out his lantern guiding the other two while they all covered their ears with a solidified substance Darian had made.
Within the storm echoed an alluring,voice the creatures who heard it had their eyes blackened,and followed it deeper into the blizzard,and towards their death,Darian and company experienced this first hand.
As they saw creatures gather appearing one by one,from blizzards wind of concealment as they walked about towards the sound acting as if they did not exist moving right passed them some even grazed them as they passed but made zero reaction,they were Cleary hypnotized by this song.
The group recognized this creature from their common knowledge,and immediately hatched a plant protect themselves for you see there have always been legends of a seductress in the snow a pale skinned white monster that wears a females face,sings with a beautiful voice but when one approaches it's mouth deforms,and it swallows them whole.
Darians group moved down the mountain,trying to get out of this blizzard,the Temperatures easily reaching zero degrees Celsius.
Finally they had escaped the harsh blizzard,finding themselves in a downward slope far away from them but visible was a frozen over lake,and around it were frozen over trees.
Darian turned around,and taking off the plugs,indicating they should do the same,and so they did.
Galahad spoke first," We seem to have gotten out of the snow women's range"," That does seem to be the case mister obvious",Benjamin said in a teasing manner,Galahad then reflexively punched him near the shoulder," Owww,thar hurt",Benjamin said in an exaggerative tone.
Darian was the more focused of the three,he quickly observed the snow he noticed deep footprints of a creature he had no idea about.
Darian quickly turned around to warn the two while Benjamin laughed in the background," Guys,be on high alert!,theirs...".
The air seemed to snap like a wip,unleashing a disorientating sound,something seemed to pull,Darian back,and fling him in the air.
Darian was taken aback,if he was a normal human that action would of collapsed his torso,and torn him in half,luckily he was a mage," lesser spell air walk",Darian said mentally as he stopped himself mid air.
A lesser spell was a term they had learnt during classes these were classified as all spells not of the quality of spells contained within a path,and they were many.
Darian tried to problem solve what had just attacked them but his knowledge on magical creatures were not too broad.
Meanwhile on the ground something unseen,attacked Galahad crossed both his arms preventing the strike from reaching his chest the attack pushed his body away but he held his ground.
Darian thought to himself while he stood suspended in the air,using the functions of his magical boots to generate air Propulsion.
" are they just really fast,no that's impossible even using our peak sensory,they can't be tracked they leave no mana residue".
Benjamin found himself flying with what seemed like a claw strike to ground,he then rolled away in time using pure instincts,and guess work as the snow plattered the exact area he layed in a few seconds ago.
Benjamin shouted," I for one suggest it's invisibility let's not Complicate things!!".
Galahad seemed to be fighting the most as he sent flying multiple times,but he was calm his eyes moved as if he was observing the creatures toyed around with him bouncing him back,and forth.
Galahad counted in his mind until he had found a rythme,and frequency to the attack," one,two,three,one,two three".
Darian pondered a bit more," if it was just invisibility shouldnt the snow have warned us,wait unless they can conceal whatever gets too close for prolonged periods him,and they dont give off mana at all",Darian grinned.
The attacks on Galahad became more frequent,and the blows were heavier," three!",Galahad shouted in his head,as he immediately boosted his speed,spinning then unleashing his blade with a swiftness,and force it cut whatever was about to recieve him in two,blood spurted out as the invisibility faded.
The rest of the pack growled quickly moving away from Galahad,as blood covered his face,meanwhile Benjamin was still playing cat,and mouse.
" Guys gather in one spot!",Darian urged Benjamin energetically parkoured towards Galahad,unleashing his blade as well,the creatures gathered as the rate of footprints in the snow increased.
Darian had a stone cold expression," Tornado of flames",a few sparks appeared rhen a Tornado of flames formed from it in less than a second melting the snow around it while covering the entire area except,Benjamin,and Galahad who were at the centre.
Galahad shouted,"They have magic resistant skin!!",Darian replied," that doesnt matter!".
More of the creatures began to show themselves,as they began to glitch,like some sort of natural filter had been removed.
These creatures had mountain ram like horns,they had longer forelegs than hind legs,they had silver scales,a wolfs facial look,four eyes a pair on their left,and right,having had long muscular tails that acted as stingers containing poision,their fur a mix of white,and black.
"What are these",Darian asked," How in hell,am I suppose to know",Darian sighed as they both looked towards Galahad who had his arms crossed," why are you guys looking at me for,and what was the point of blasting them with flames!".
Darian snickered," They produce no mana signature their own covering them with mine will make them easier to track in the future".
Galahad smiled," That's actually genuise",Benjamin took a serious stance,"lets end this quickly then",Darian nodded," spiked crucifixion".
The ground tilted as spiked,rocks appeared piercing through these creatures body,four jumped towards Benjamin yet he flipped backwards,dodged a paw strike,then got stunned by a strong howl he then causing him to fall,and roll he then replicated the plugs,and went straight in.
Two jumped at him,he immediately went low sliding on the remaining snow carving up their belly,he took one by the tail grabbed i,and sent it crashing Towards,another one he jumped,on ones snout with enough force at supersonic speed to destroy its jaw.
Then mid air used both hands to hold the hilt of his xiphos styled blade,he aimed for the beast whos howl had disorientated him before he stabbed the blade on its snout through its mouth completely shutting it up,before destroying its skull with one heavy blow.
Galahad was different he did not chase the enemy came to him,and each time their limbs were sent flying,before this pack could have consciousness to escape they had been dévastée,Benjamin's stomach grumbled," I guess this fixes that",he said calmly.
When the creatures switched to invisibility,the group sensed the remnants of Darians mana,and simply continued the battle.
Blood bones,and guts mammed the Battlefield scarring it with a disgusting sight.
Darian collected the bodies as meat," lucky for us the temperatures keep it fresh",after saying Darians stomach also grumbled leavibg him with a melancholic smile.
Benjamin patted Darians shoulder,while crying," Dont worry we'll be eating good soon",Galahad was crossed armed standing gaurd he then,covered his face with one hand after seeing Benjamin's facial expressions.
" We have to hurry quickly I have a gut feeling that,this wasn't the main pack",Darian nodded," Agreed".
The trio continued heading down the mountain while trying to find some shelter,to properly eat their food.
Darian used the spell memories of the Earth,to find out areas that creatures had gone into for shelter eventually he found a cave.
The group began preparations inside building a fire,and taking out the stored,meat meanwhile a storm had just formed outside.
" looks like we made it just in time",Benjamin said,to everyones nodding agreement as they enjoyed the food silent swept the cave.
" Are we all going to ignore the dragon in the room",Galahad asked,"What are we going to complain about now",Benjamin responded while yawning.
" well I dont know,maybe the fact that our friend chucked a Giant ball of fire that could of vaporized us,with zero explanation how we suddenly found ourselves in this region",Galahad said this while looking directly at Darian who comforted himself by the fire.
Meeting Galahads eyes Darian felt a bit,embarrassed,so he scratched the back of his head.
Benjamin came to Darians defense,and spoke in serious tone," the way I see it the two of us had methods,of guaranteed survival while he didn't,so the only real things he put in danger was our enemy,and himself".
Galahad scoffed," Stop defending him!"," wait why,why not",Benjamin replied laughing," He has his own mouth he can speak for himself",Galahad explained,Benjamins laughter grew," You just dont want to admit that you were worried about him dont you,why dont you be honest","heh",Galahad hit his head in frustration.
Darian watched this commotion with a certain interest viewing their body language,Galahad pointing at Benjamin,and himself,and Benjamin constantly opening his arms,and moving his wrists as he spoke.
Darian sighed," I guess its my turn to reveal my side of the story,Galahad is somewhat right making such a controversial decision last minute means I have to explain myself,but ofcourse Benjamin always has the right to defend me",Darian blinked at Benjamin before finishing the last part.
Darians eyes focused on the fire,while his mind seemed to wander off to some far away place," I'll tell you what I saw,when I used memories of Earth that day,I was able to glimpse what was fighting in the distance,and its history its the same thing that chased us,and it changed everything".
Galahad,and Benjamin leaned in as they grew more curious,Darian tried his best to explain everything as thoroughly as he could," using the spell it felt like my consciousness became a shifting shadow viewing the events from all sorts of different perspectives there were all like reflections on a broken glass mirror to me,and thats when I saw it".
" It seems to have gone on a campaign specifically targeting those who arrived from the gate,it had no mercy gender height or whatnot,it beat many of our fellow students to near death,I could still see their mangled faces,its smile,and the blood covering its fists".
Galahads expression became solemn," I think I understand what happened it must of been the trauma of seeing such a scene that caused you to act so rash".
Benjamin nodded then stroked his chin for a bit,then spoke," if its willing to go that far then did it kill anyone".
"But at the very least what we can tell from this is that scammer Iron Claw lied to us".
Darian nodded his head then explained," Trauma is actually not the reason although it may play a part,the actual reason was that while my mind was in this state I noticed something vital what I think are the true rules of this place,the first one seems to be Mame but not kill,and it only seems to go one way,the second is that hidden teleportation circles seem to be hidden across this land that will transport a group,to new locations,third is no death,and the fourth seems to be punishment".
"The reason it couldn't kill was that everytime it tried or got close to killing it would be suppressed by gravity,or almost obliterated by a ray of light,and third rume shows up in the aftermath this entire space doesn't seem to recognize death,its seems to have a powerful grade of healing embedded in its design that can bring one back from near death,I suspect thats the green light envelopeing the students".
Galahad was a bit surprised,as he clasped his hand in a thinking pose," that makes sense,so you assumed that this place would protect us while attacking that thing,so a zero risk scenario if your interpretation was correct,and a smart way to confirm it".
" Yes,thats essentially it,I suspect based on what I understand from that creatures behavior patterns its going to focus on hunting us specifically".
Benjamin sighed," So we were transported here for our own safety who could of guessed".
" So how do kill it,or tame it".
Darian smiled,and answered," by completely taking,advantage of these rules,and designing a spell from scratch that completely benefits us".
" how do we do that exactly",Galahad asked.
" By playing a little russian roulette",Darian answered.
Galahad was stumpt,Benjamin frowned," here you go again with words we dont understand,what in hell is russian".