We frantically ran through the forest. Although we had killed the scouts, the main group would soon discover their deaths and send a group to hunt us. Because of this, we couldn’t stop to rest until we were sure that we got rid of them. Silver guided us through the forest, and instead of being in the front of the group, he was in the back to make sure that no tracks were left behind.

We ran for three days without stopping or resting. Lily couldn’t hold on during the second day, and Beirut had to carry her on his back. Everybody else was exhausted but was still faring well. After all, Lana, Silver, and Beirut were Ki users and had great stamina, but Lily used mana, and couldn’t hold for so long. As for me, the properties of origin energy, and my mutation made my stamina seem almost endless. My mutation transformed my body and made me use all of my strengths without waste, thus giving the impression of not getting tired because the energy was replenishing faster than it was used.

Night arrived, and we finally stopped in a clearing that Silver found. Everybody seated around the bonfire, and I used the concept of darkness to hide the light that the fire was creating so that our enemies couldn’t find our position if they were close by.

I got some old jerkies, herbs and dried vegetables that were left from our supplies and made soup while the others laid on the ground. They were dead tired, and even Beirut, the one that had most stamina from the Ki users, was exhausted because he carried Lily during a whole day. After some minutes, the soup was ready, and I separated the portions in different bows and served them. They ate like hungry wolves, and the soup ran out fast.

Lana forced her tired eyes open and said. “We will watch in two shifts today, I will do the first one with Ullach, and Silver and Lily will make the second one.” Everyone nodded and promptly laid on the ground to rest; they didn’t even care to set up the barracks.

I seated on a rock and looked around while keeping the light of the bonfire in place. Lana was between the dreamland and looking around. It was a funny sight to see her fighting against the tiredness. I watched the surrounds and the night quickly passed.

Morning came, and I was already up. I didn’t sleep last night as I didn’t feel the need to. I could sleep if I wanted to, but I thought that it was not necessary. Just staying put and reserving my strengths was enough to make my body well-rested. Everyone got up and walked like zombies.

“The camp is just a few days away. We have made it here, let’s keep going.” Lana said to motivate the group.

We left the camp and continued to walk through the forest, I felt that there were no more enemies behind us, but it was always good to be cautious. The last days of the trip passed slowly, and we were finally getting closer to the camp. The group was rested now, we found some beasts and herbs in this land and ate them. Although it was not ideal because the food from here had abyssal energy in it, we could still survive eating it.

“SCREEEEEE”

I heard a cry coming from the sky. The whole group instantly hid in the shadow of the trees and looked up to see what was flying in the air. A huge red bird with black striped was flying, transpiring power and confidence, and on the back of this bird, was an abyssal. He had humanoid features. Instead of having a bulky body full of scales, it had pale skin and a red horn on its head. It looked like a beautiful human with horns, and it was using a black battle armour with a halberd on his hand. Even from the ground, I could feel the oppressive power emanating from the abyssal.

Everybody froze in place and waited for the enemy to pass by. After everyone was sure that he had gone away, Lily left her hiding place and said. “What the hell was that?” I had the same question in my mind.

“He was an expert from the lower floors,” Lana said.

“But isn’t it impossible for abyssal’s above the fourth tier to appear in here?” I asked with doubt in my voice.

“You’re right. They really can’t normally descend. However, there are ways around that. One of them is sealing your cultivation, lowering it to other tiers. That abyssal is an expert that sealed his cultivation to come to the fourth floor.” Lana answered.

“If that is possible, why we couldn’t see any other abyssal’s like him before?” I asked.

“Because it’s too dangerous to do that in normal times. Although they have superior fighting strength, if they seal their cultivation to tier 2, someone at tier 5 could easily kill them on the second floor, this usually only happens during the abyssal invasion.”

I looked toward the horizon where the abyssal had disappeared. By now, everyone had realized that the direction where the abyssal was going was the meeting point. There were only two possibilities to this; One, it was a coincidence, and he would only fly by the place. Two, the abyssal’s had already found the site and send an expert to deal with the situation.

I was more inclined to believe in the second possibility. It was unlikely that the abyssal passed through this region by coincidence.

“We should find another place to go, but where to?” Lana asked while turning to silver. The man thought for a while after receiving the glance of everyone in the team and said. “It’s better for us to head back and find a place to hide. The abyssal’s should be coming from there, but at least they will not expect us, and we could go unnoticed.”

“Although it sounds crazy, I agree with you. Let’s head back.” There was a flame of determination burning in Lana’s eyes. This decision was too hard for a leader. Any wrong move and we would be sentenced to death.

I agreed with Silver opinion as well. The survivors of the camp would scatter in the opposite direction of where the abyssal’s were coming from, and if we went toward the abyssal’s, our chance of surviving could be higher.

There was a heavy air on the group, from now on, any mistake would be the last one.

Silver carefully guided them and instructed the group to be careful not to leave any tracks. We strolled, paying attention to every detail. I could see the sweat flowing through Silver’s neck, the responsibility must be pressuring him right now. Strangely, Lana had a serious look on her face, like everything that could be done was done.

After going back for a few hours, the sun was almost set on the horizon, and the darkness was spreading through the forest. Only the top of the trees still had some light, but the bottom was all dark. The group stopped in place, and we could feel the ground trembling beneath our feet. The enemies were approaching!

The crucial time of our survival was arriving. If we got through the group unnoticed, we would be safe for some time; otherwise, we would all die in here.

I quickly looked around, looking for a place to hide. The anxiousness was taking place in my heart, and I was becoming nervous. It was a forest, and there was no cave nor hole to hide. Even though Beirut practiced the Concept of earth, there would not be enough time to dug a hole to fit all of us. I saw a huge tree and got an idea. “Follow me!” I said while looking at my companions.

I got behind a tree, and they arrived before me. “Get as close as possible. I’ll camouflage us with the darkness.” I laid my back against the trunk, and everybody got before me. We looked like a group of ants clustered together. I used my concept of darkness along with my concept of space to hide us. A drop of sweat flowed through my forehead while I concentrated on hiding the group. I could feel the nervousness of everyone. Lily was leaning against me, and she was not trembling like the other times. I could see the determination to live in her eyes. “It looks like these experiences can truly change someone.” I thought to myself.

The trembling of the ground got stronger, and even the leaves were falling from the trees. The tree was vibrating on my back, and I could feel the blood in the air. I could now hear the sound of hooves hitting the ground. It was like a chaotic heartbeat that made one go crazy.

The first abyssal passed through us and didn’t see anything. Soon, abyssal after abyssal were passing through the forest, mounted in some ferocious beasts. They were wielding brutal war weapons and had thick killing intent.

I unconsciously held my breath and waited for the group to pass. Each second was agonizing; even keeping the field around us was challenging for me in this situation; the pressure was making me lose control of my concepts. I quickly circulated a soul technique around me and relaxed a little bit, making my control over the darkness stronger. They passed and passed endlessly. It seemed that there was no end to the horde. The most horrible thing was that each one of them was armed and had armor. They were clearly an organized army!

After more than 30 minutes, the group finally passed through us, and I could finally release my field; however, I thought that it would be better to check before getting out of our hiding place.

I looked at silver and said in a low voice, almost inaudible. “Are there any more enemies?”

Silver stopped for a moment and placed his ear on the ground, making slow movements. He stayed in that position for a few minutes and said. “It’s fine.”

Everyone fell to the ground on their buts. We could finally relax somewhat. The worst had already passed; now, we should only be careful and avoid their armies.

We stayed in there for a few moments, and Lana got up and guided the group away.

The rest of the night was full of tension. We couldn’t relax for a second. Even a small sound would make the group aware. This state of high stress was exhausting us too fast. Only after 4 hours of this, everyone in the group had a tired face, and even I was affected by the atmosphere.

The night passed, and we finally could see the sun rising on the horizon. It was soaking our backs with warmth and illuminating our way. Seeing the sun made the group relax a bit, and I could even swear that I heard Lily making a small prayer in thanks.

The light made us see the state of the forest. All the shrubs and small plants were trampled to the ground. Only smashed plants and the soil could be seen. Even some trees were bent toward where the army went.

We left the army route and walked toward a small cave signalized on the map. Although the map didn’t have many useful pieces of information, this was one of them. The group entered the cave. It had a length of 30 meters, and the deeper one went, the smaller it got. Everyone was aware that this was only a temporary solution, and that this hideout wouldn’t last for long if they picked our tracks. Fortunately, the place where we went through was completely destroyed by the army, which made finding us almost impossible.

We quickly prepared our beds and laid around a magic fire created by Lana, it only emitted heat, and because it used Ki to burn instead of wood, there was no smoke. Of course, she could only keep the fire lit while she was beside it, it was one of the limitations of a ki user, no being able to control their elements from long distances.

We rested there in the cave, only occasionally leaving it to grab some herbs and edible plants. Our supplies have ended by now. There was not enough food to feed us. Although a mana user could survive longer using mana as his or her sustenance, Ki users required a significant amount of food.

Food was becoming one of the problems, and I could already feel that liveliness of Beirut, Silver and Lana’s Ki was already diminishing. It was a problem that had to be dealt with immediately. I didn’t have that problem because I could refine the natural mana in the air just like mages, I only needed a small quantity of food to survive.

The days slowly passed, and we left the cave in search of edible food many times. We were lucky and found some things to eat, but not every day was a good day. The ki users avoided making any movement and just seated on the ground in a state of trance most of the time. This state was used in troubled times like this one to preserve warrior stamina during rests.

Thankfully, Lily could create some water with her magic, more than enough to sustain all of us. I left the cave daily to search for supplies.

One week had passed since we arrived in the cave. There were still three weeks until the waves stabilized and the number of abyssal’s returns to normal. I was looking around the forest for food when I heard the sound of a twig snapping in the distance.

I leaned against a tree and hid my body with the concept of darkness. I sneaked around while using soul force to levitate in the air, to make sure I made no noise. I levitated while laying my body against the ground. My belly was almost touching the earth.

“The cave is close guys. There’s only a bit left.”

I heard a voice saying.