BOOK 1, CHAPTER 21 – A Way Out

Warmth spread in the surroundings. Small balls of flame floated in the air. They hung there, resembling suspended candles. They slowly circled, creating wind that ruffled the being sitting in the center.

Several of the flames flickered in the wind. These flames bobbed lower, receiving more mana than the flames above. Some flames winked out, not fed enough to persist. New flames sparked into existence, bolstered to a size, then joined the larger flames on top.

The being controlling the flames dripped wet with sweat. Both from the heat of the fires and the effort. His eyes remained close, his body completely relaxed. His face tightened as ten new flames joined the rest in the air. A surge of mana poured out from him, one strand tethered to each flame.

In total, thirty flames circled him. The flames either shrank or grew, all becoming the same size. The symbols inside the flames glittered only in the creator’s eyes. With a thought, the flames rose overhead. Effectively at three feet above, they all shot forward.

The flames’ tethers broke. They greedily sucked in mana from the air as they continued forward. In a short span, they doubled in size, slamming into the black wall in front. Loud explosions rocked the being’s ears, making him wince and cover his face. Powerful waves of heat rippled out, transforming back into mana in the air.

“Phew.”

Artien wiped his brow. He opened his eyes, seeing the damage done without Divine Sight. The cliff wall was undamaged. The ground before it was as if several small meteors struck in the general same spot. The consecutive explosions created craters in the ground. Some overlapped, now filling in with water from the small pond nearby.

“Not bad. Still not good enough.” He said, thinking about the monster that awaited them as soon as Little Green and he exited the Land of Mist.

He got up, retreating several meters back before resuming his cross-legged position. He once again reactivated Divine Sight, creating one flame after another. After hitting a certain size, he immediately threw the flames forward. He made more flames follow, creating them one after another.

The tether broke half way to the wall. The flames tripled in size. They hit the wall in a barrage. Heat and explosions blasted outward. The flames coming in behind the first fed on the heat, explosion, and mana. They grew bigger, blasting out with even more force.

The heat waves hit Artien. At first it was a hot wind. Then he was buffeted by sparks. After the twentieth flame he halted casting fireballs. He got to his feet, running a distance away. The sparks around him increased. The air rumbled as mana was sucked in. He felt the mana rush past him as he ran as fast his legs could.

He activated force, filling his body with both strength and enhancement as the final flame reached the core of the explosions. The flame imploded, drawing all the energy in from the outside. There was a short moment of silence. A huge wave of heat rushed him from behind before a huge boom rocked the air.

The ground trembled from the force. The flames raced up the cliff wall, nearly reaching the top. The energy from the boom raced outward, carrying both the extra mana and wind with it. It reached Artien, throwing him off the ground. He flew into the air, feeling his skin heat up.

He looked out into the sky, slowly turning in mid-air. When the ground came into view, it was twenty feet from him. His eyes widened, his skin going white as he felt the blood leave his face and end up in his feet. He started to fall faster. In panic, he quickly imaged symbols, layers of Airflow up front, along with several water shields between him and the airflow spells.

Upon contact with the earth, the airflow spells popped, pushing back against the surface. This slowed him down somewhat. The first water shield shattered, then the next. A soft layer of water cushioned his fall slightly. He covered his head, slamming face-first into the ground.

Mud, grass, and dirt flew into the air. He felt his teeth slam together as his body flipped over and he landed on his back. His momentum continued, sliding him across the grass, shredding both the ground and his clothes. He slowly came to a stop. He lurched up, his backside screaming.

One hand went to his face, the other to his back. He bent over, the pain pounding through his teeth into his head. His back burned, red and raw. He took a few huffs of air. “Hnnnn!”

He stomped on the ground before deciding to kneel. Mana followed his control and flew to the sources of pain. He began on his face, healing all small damages done to his jaw. With force still running through his body, the healing naturally quickened.

He moved to his back. He created a second skin with mana. His back healed slowly. The grass-rash on his behind and legs healed quickly. After kneeling for twenty minutes, he was done. He canceled force and enhancement.

As the magic, mana, and force retreated, his body began to ache. He grew weary, his mind slowing. He suddenly felt tired. He crawled over to a soft patch of grass, closing his eyes. As he fell asleep, he questioned himself. “Why didn’t I use earth wall?”

A distance away, atop a rather large boulder, Kor snickered to himself. “This kid is so interesting!”

To his right, a green blur caught his attention. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “This little beast keeps delaying him…”

Little Green raced to Artien’s side, following the clear sent in the air. Upon reaching him, she checked him anywhere visible for harm. Seeing no wounds, she sighed and came to his face. “Why do you scare me so?” She said softly, curling up at his side.

Artien opened his refreshed eyes to Little Green’s face. He reached up, tapping the tip of her nose. She snorted, waking up. She saw him, and her eyes filled with worry. He sensed the worry, regret surfacing.

“Sorry.”

“You need to be more careful.” She scolded.

He sat up, stretching. “Yes. I’ll be more careful.”

“That’s all part of learning.” A new voice joined.

Kor walked up, squatting a short distance away. “If you get hurt, you can just heal yourself.”

“Hsssss. I’d rather he not get hurt.” Little Green said, curling up to spring.

Kor raised his hands defensively. “Or you could heal him instead. You know, like he healed you.”

“What?” She asked, eyes flitting between Artien and Kor.

Artien looked away, becoming fascinated with a piece of long grass. Kor snickered.

“When you both fell into the valley, he took the brunt of the fall. I found you both and brought you to the inn. Fixing you up was simple enough.” He said to Little Green. “Him? He’d nearly torn all his muscles off the bones. His legs in general, well, he shouldn’t be walking from what I saw.”

“Artien!” Little Green cried.

Artien avoided her eyes. “I’m fine!” Had it really been that bad? He thought to himself.

“If it wasn’t for all the abilities you have, you’d both be flat as pancakes.” Kor laughed. “Despite being so hurt, when he woke up, he refused to rest. He poured all his mana into healing you quicker.” He added.

“I-I should go back and practice some more.” Artien made a quick retreat, leaving the other two alone.

Little Green moved to follow, stopped by an immoveable force. She turned to bite. The hand on her tail vanished. She glared, baring her fangs. Kor raised his hands again.

“Why do you stop me?” She asked.

“I only mean to help.” He smiled softly, his eyes holding that look full of history.

“How can you help me?” She sneered. “You’re only a crazed little boy.”

“Wow. You really do not like me, huh? Let me tell you a little secret.” Kor leaned forward, “How old do you think I am?”

“Ten?” She asked dully, wanting the conversation to end.

“That’s what I look like? Hmph. In actuality, I’m older than…” He whispered, low enough only Little Green could hear.

Her eyes widened. She looked at the ‘young’ boy in front of her with fear. “What are you?”

Kor leaned back into a crouch. “Ah, I will not give more about myself then I have already told. Instead, why don’t we focus on you here.”

“What about me?” Out of instinct, she slid back, keeping some distance between them.

“At the rate of Artien’s improvement, you are going to be left behind.”

“I can’t help that. There’s nothing to hunt here.” She looked up at the mist.

Kor looked at the mist, laughing. “If it is the cores, I can give you that. Many beasts have fallen here to die.”

Little Green’s eyes brightened, fear turning to hope. “You must have many.”

“I do. You may have them all.” He cocked his head at her mischievously. “The question, then, is how much can you hold?”

“Oh.” Little Green paused, thinking hard. “Hmmn.” She turned to the side, mouth opening.

With a rumble, large amounts of broken armor, weapons, tattered clothing, books, stale and expired potions all roared out. A large hill was created next to them. Little Green closed her mouth, though a moment more, then opened. She spat out what looked like both rare and useless objects that at one point might have been mildly useful.

Another small hill was made. She readjusted her jaws shut and smiled at the gaping Kor. “I’ve more room now.”

Kor grinned, slapping his knee. “You also interest me!”

Little Green stopped grinning.

Seeing her look, Kor laughed harder.

“You can imagine how long since I spoke last with someone.” Kor explained.

Little Green nodded thoughtfully. “That explains a lot.”

Kor ignored her taunt. He raised a hand to their other side. Small specks appeared at each fingertip. Clinking of thousands of glass sounded as cores of all sizes and colors came pouring out. They rolled across the grassland, piling up into individual mountains.

Kor closed his hands after a fifth pile was created. He waved his hand at the piles, using unknown magic to cause the cores to rise into the air. “Let’s see. Let’s first divide by the cores that will benefit you.”

He waved his other hand, separating the five piles into two larger ones. One pile he reabsorbed into his hand with the specks. “Now… by difficulty of digestion.”

The single pile split into ten smaller piles. The piles ranged in size and count. Kor pointed to them in order. “The smaller and more numerous cores are more for your level now. After these are all consumed, move to the next pile.” He placed the piles on the ground.

Little Green, feeling excitement, stored all nine other piles. She left the largest pile out, wanting to start right away.

“Before you get to it, I have a gift for you.” Kor opened his own storage again, taking out a single item.

A small, shiny, egg-shaped stone came out. It gave off a mist of thick, heavy mana. It’s color glimmered like pink-white pearl. Kor stroked it, his face softening. He smiled sadly.

“This core is of the highest purity. Back when I was much, much younger, it had been my companion. Such as your closeness to Artien. I far out-ranked her, of course. This did not come between us. We were together for many years.” He murmured.

He passed the core to Little Green. “Treat it with care. Do not take this core until you have become a King.” He warned.

Little Green stored the core away gently into a soft-lined, small chest. “Why give me so much?”

“You both have something special. That boy, Artien. Do you know his real self?” Kor asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Little Green asked, confused. “I met him at my birth nest. Outside of that, he’s told me about his home.”

“Not that.” Kor shook his head. “Before that.”

“He was a baby?” She asked.

“Not then either. Before that.” He emphasized. “Never mind. You will come to understand with time.” He waved his hands. “Enough with this depressing talk! Become strong. So strong you can stand at equal with him when the time comes.”

Kor jumped to his feet. He took one step, vanishing from the spot. He far surpassed Little Green’s speed, seemingly blinking out of existence.

“When what time comes?” She muttered.

She shook her head. “He is right. I must be able to stand by Artien’s side. Time to eat!”

She curled next to the multi-colored pile of cores, taking several at once. She rested, using all her focus and mana to digest and assimilate the strength faster. Still, every once in a while she thought back on the conversation with Kor, finding some hidden meaning behind his words.

Meanwhile, Artien had began experimenting with water. He moved locations next to the lake at the most south-western edge next to the cliff wall. He had managed to drench himself and create water pools all around. He sighed, rubbing his hair out of his face. He took a strand, pulling it in front of his eyes.

“Need a haircut?” Kor asked from behind with mirth.

“Can you?”

For once, Kor was caught by surprise. “You want me to?”

“It’s grown so long I can’t see when it’s wet.” Artien complained.

Fifteen minutes later, his hair was trimmed short.

“I don’t know if you prefer very short hair.” Kor asked.

“It’s fine. It will grow back.” Artien looked at him sideways. “Come to give more advice.”

“Just one. A hint to leaving Land of the Mist.” Kor raised his hand in the air, moving it up and down. “Light as a bird.” He said, before blinking away.

Artien blinked his eyes. No trace of Kor remained in the place he had stood. No footprints in the mud.

“Light as a bird?” He asked himself, frowning.

“If that’s they way out, then it must be with the wind element.”

He felt a rush of adrenaline and excitement. “A way out…”