I stood still, looking at the out-of-control rainbow fire, my mind running wild as I tried to process what happened when Carla hugged me hysterically. Understandable, considering she had watched her patrol decimated, her allies escape to abandon her, her best friend lost in great peril.
“Help her,” she gasped as she tried to swallow her cries.
Although I understood her concerns, sympathized with that even, I didn’t have the time to cater to them in the middle of such an emergency. I put on her shoulder, calming her magically with a Biomancy trick.
[-43 Mana]
I simply didn’t have the luxury of doing it otherwise.
Then, I started speaking to her, bringing the full weight of my charisma to bear. “Carla, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened. That’s the only way I could help Aviada,” I said.
I wanted her to talk, because the fire was giving me a bad feeling, making me afraid of poking it. I would still do that, ultimately. I had no intention of abandoning Aviada, especially since I could still feel her companion node as I walked closer to the fire, but it was muted.
Like there was a curtain between us, preventing me from sensing her properly.
Unfortunately, I was under time pressure, because I had no idea what caused that muting effect, which meant I had no idea just how long Aviada would continue to maintain her state of living.
Yet, I waited for Carla to start speaking before taking an action, because it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the fire was extraordinary. It was burning trees, which was rather ordinary for fire. Burning the stones and earth underneath, less ordinary.
Instantly destroying the detection spell that I tried to use to see if there was a living creature, even more unexpected.
“I don’t know,” she murmured, her voice slurring slightly as the calming spell worked on her mind. “We were patrolling when a large fire falcon ambushed us, killing two of the members immediately. It was at least Class Twenty, maybe even stronger. Yet Aviada managed to defend us, if only barely. If the others supported her, maybe we could have…”
“Focus on what happened, we need to save her,” I reminded her. “Did something extraordinary happen? What happened to the beast.”
“I don’t know,” Carla gasped. “It looked like the beast was about to win, but then the glow appeared around Aviada, and she somehow killed the beast in a slash… But as the slash hit, the fire suddenly exploded in all those colors.”
It was probably my fault I decided even as I started to flare my mana again. The fire was too extraordinary to be created by just a monster, at least by a monster that Aviada could resist alone.
To extinguish the fire, my first reflex was to use water magic, which was the opposite element of the fire, which would allow me to suppress it, forming my mana into a huge water wave…
[-1690 Mana]
Only to fail spectacularly.
The moment the wave came in contact with the fire, an explosion occurred as I felt my mana being wrenched out of control, and similar chaos of color spread into the water. “Fuck,” I murmured as the fire flared even worse, threatening to burn us to cinders even in the distance, forcing me to shield us with a spell.
Luckily, the indirect heat didn’t create the same effect.
I was ready to pull back to find an answer, when the water wave rose as well, almost conscious as it slammed against the fire, making my eyes widen in shock.
Something extraordinary was going on.
I watched as the fire and water entangled, fighting violently, threatening to create a disaster, their rainbow colors cycling faster and faster. Unfortunately, the fight was not equal, and the water, despite the elemental advantage, looked like it was about to lose the fight.
So, I decided to reinforce it with another wave.
[-952 Mana]
My spell hit the wave from behind, only to melt into its structure rapidly, giving the water the much-needed opportunity to fight. I watched carefully, trying to find an opportunity, but that was a slow process.
With the Aviada’s echo weakening, I doubted I had the luxury of waiting until the fire resolved completely. It was time to take another ridiculous risk. At first, I thought she was weakening, maybe even dying, but after some concentration, I realized it was different. She was just getting away.
Yet, while that was better than her dying, it wasn’t that much better, because the way she had been getting distant felt foreign. It was hard to explain without knowing the reason, but it felt much different than physical distance. Rather than just walking away, she was sinking underground.
I needed to understand what was happening. And for a quick result, I only have one option, the Arcana dimension.
Luckily, after my disastrous teleportation attempt, I had worked on some basic safety measures, like how to create a temporary beacon that would allow me to return to my own location rather than risking disappearing in Arcana dimension completely.
Pity I needed to work more to create one that wouldn’t degenerate after a couple of minutes at best.
[-1320 Mana]
After making sure the structure was complete, I threw a glance at the chaotic dance of the elements. They were still in a stalemate, so I closed my eyes, letting my body fade in the material reality…
And step into the twisting nature of the Arcana dimension, the chaotic energies flowing wildly around me, worse than any tornado, threatening to destroy my whole being if I dared to rest there more than a few seconds.
Yet, all the twisting colors, the pain, and the threat of total destruction if I dared to dally too long managed to take the backseat, because of three new surprises.
The first, and the most noticeable, was the gaping wound at the giant dome that surrounded the Arcana dimension, giving me the glimpse of a show even more wild and chaotic. Unfortunately, even I had described the dome as surrounding all dimensions, thanks to the warped nature of the distance in this dimension, it was hard to say that it was far away.
“Fuck!” I gasped in pain as some kind of Arcana energy, yet more potent and wild slipped through the wound.
It didn’t hit me, but even passing near me, the damage it created was significant.
[-1230 HP]
Even worse, the sudden flow touched the second problem. Two mercurial presences, fighting in the Arcana Dimension, one made from fire and the other made from water, and the mysterious energy empowered both of them, making them lash against each other with increased aggression.
It would take a total idiot to miss the extraordinary nature of the fire, but even then, I didn’t expect it to only be a physical manifestation of whatever was going on in the Arcana dimension, much more overwhelming than the little mana-burning rainbow. Even worse, the water spell I had used had an equal echo…
[-281 HP]
It didn’t make much sense, so spent another painful second to examine them despite my constantly-draining health, only to notice some kind of line connecting to the wound, one that connected both of them as if it was empowering them.
Hardly a detail to be dismissed, especially if my theory about the dome as the border of the System was accurate.
Luckily, not all was bad, because the wound on the dome was recovering with a speed that was noticeable to the naked eye.
[-247 HP]
So, I turned my attention to the third issue, namely, the location Aviada. I managed to find her easily, confirming she was still alive, but that was the limit of the good news.
I was able to distinguish her location sufficiently, which would have been good news if it wasn’t for one very important detail.
Her presence was behind the Dome, and I was only able to feel her through the wound.
A wound that was closing in great speed, making it impossible for me to pass through even if I was willing to take such a great risk. She was somehow still alive, but I couldn’t risk just pushing forward to see whatever that was protecting her would work to save me as well.
I turned my focus on the battle of fire and water, and noticed that they were losing their vigor rapidly as the wound tightened.
It was time to go back.
[Level: 32 Experience: 499110 / 528000
Strength: 46 Charisma: 63
Precision: 40 Perception: 42
Agility: 40 Manipulation: 45
Speed: 39 Intelligence: 49
Endurance: 39 Wisdom: 51
HP: 4523 / 6528 Mana: 4981 / 8000 ]
SKILLS
Master Melee [100/100]
Master Tantric [100/100]
Master Biomancy [100/100]
Master Elemental [100/100]
Master Arcana [100/100]
Master Subterfuge [100/100]
Master Craft [77/100]
Expert Speech [75/75]
PERKS
Mana Regeneration
Skill Share
Empowerment (0/1)
Teleportation
COMPANIONS
[Cornelia - Level 22/26]
[Helga - Level 22/26]
