43 Newfound Strength

After he affirmed his stance on his current situation, he rolled away the huge stone and exited the cave. The surroundings didn't change much. It was still as bright as day, almost as if time had frozen. The cold breeze embraced his figure as the icy shards of grass swayed slightly under its gait.

He took out a robe from his ring as he wore it and stood there. He just underwent what was akin to an evolution and although the issue of his bloodlines left a bad taste in his mouth, he had to adjust to his current strength.

Frankly, he didn't know what he was right now but he was definitely far from a human.

His senses were much sharper by more than two folds. Although he was slimmer, his muscles contained a terrifying amount of power. He felt that, if he had fought the Owlbear with his current body alone, he would put up a decent fight without employing spells.

Right now, he estimated that he was at least twenty times stronger than a regular human or — in the case of Raoina — a false mortal, with just his physical strength. Excluding his spells and the use of his skills.

In terms of physical strength alone, he could even attempt to take on an early stage Rank 2 Mage. However that only applied to the average mages. He would be no match for those with sturdy foundations, extreme talents or backgrounds.

On average, someone who just stepped into the first rank was nine times stronger than a normal human, which was the early stage of the Oth rank, and those with bloodlines were even stronger.

Yet, this was just in comparison to the humans in Medora. Given their long exposure to the tremendous amount of energy in a high ranked world, humans in this world were a little stronger with more vitality than those on earth.

After a while, he was done adjusting to his current strength. His reaction speed also underwent a dramatic increase. The more he moved, the faster he got as everything slowed down in his vision.

As he traversed the first circle, his ears picked up various noises, mostly coming from magical beasts and mages as various battles waged on. He ignored them and continued on his journey, encountering a few mages on the way.

Upon entering the outer circle, he could sense the energy signatures of the mutated beasts and a few rank one beasts but he paid them no heed. His energy rippled out of him in a show of intimidation as all the beasts avoided his path.

Finally exiting the forest, he slowed down in his steps and the first thing that came into his view were the two gigantic and large greenish hands with open palms, stretching deep into the sky.

The sky was already stained dark with no clouds in sight and was littered with stars. The moons resembled blue orbs stuck in a sea of blackness, casting lonely shiny figures. The Moon Bridge which spanned across the empire like an intricate web, glistened under the moonlight; further adding a blue hue to the surroundings.

There were a few people positioned not too far from the forest, all in a jolly mood and chatting away as they erected bonfires. Various chariots, sepions and magerides spread around with different emblems, flaunting their status.

Even though he attracted a few gazes towards himself, he just ignored everything and kept walking towards his destination where his chariot was stationed. Once he entered, the chariot immediately sped off from the vicinity.

Inside the chariot, Cain's expression was cold. His discovery today put him in a foul mood which worsened due to the fact that he could think of no solutions yet. The only "solution" he could think of was to just delve into the mysteries of the blood element more.

He figured that, since this was a bloodline issue, then studying it more would present an answer. So he settled on this path, maybe it was a long shot but it was a start, it was better than waiting for the inevitable.

...

...

Deep in the forest in the first circle, a young man in cyan coloured hair kept battling a wolf type magic beast. Their battle was devastating as their surroundings were cleared, leaving nothing but debris.

The beast looked just like a normal brown wolf but bigger and possessed extremely large wings which caused strong gales with each flap. It continuously shot out sharp feathers like bullets towards the man, however it kept missing.

As he dodged, the man pointed what looked like a wand at the beast

"Rank 1 Water Spell: Bind Order: Six Arms Of The Sea," he yelled, staring at the beast in front of him coolly.

Immediately after his shout, six large hands made entirely out of water manifested out of thin air and held the beast in place. It tried to free itself from the grip but to no avail, as it was firmly held in place.

Taking this opportunity, the man let go of his wand and began to chant in a strange language with a solemn tone as he clapped his palm. Huge pillars of water began to gradually form around him as he spoke.

"Ehþ ßþeæbß ßeîł þheunðernæ ehþ ßreþæw, ehþ nuß ßegnułp œþni ehþ ßhþepð fœ ehþ ßßybæ, ßæ ehþ ßevæw yœrtßeð ehþ ecæf fœ ehþ nœœm. Pureþ ðnæ wœnk ruœy nwœ ßßenßßełrewrp."

After the chant, he pointed his hands in the direction of the beast.

"Rank 1 Water Spell: Attack Order: Turbid Waters."

Once he finished, the ten large pillars of water — each with different colours — which had already completely formed as he chanted, shot forward towards their target. The wolf beast managed to free itself from the earlier spell and was about to fly off but it was a little too late.

The pillars immediately locked it in place as they surrounded the beast. One by one they smashed into its body, engulfing it with ruthless abandon. A painful shriek escaped the mouth of the beast as it struggled under the onslaught.

However, the waters raged on mercilessly. The man in question had a slightly pale face but the arrogant smirk on his face contrasted with his weary outlook.

His energy kept depleting at a horrifying rate but the beast in question was on its last legs, wailing pitifully at its imminent demise.

After some seconds, the waters dispersed, displaying a ragged and violently beaten down wolf. Its skull was caved in, its legs were detached, its fur was singed as if immersed in a furnace. Its wings became bare bones, leaving only a few feathers on it. The ground around it was filled with its scattered flesh and pool of blood.

It was well and truly dead.

The man slumped to the ground as he panted, immediately taking out a potion to drink. Once he was done, he felt recovered a bit but he remained on the ground, gazing at his trophy.

"This spell is extremely powerful, but drains a lot of energy" he muttered, analysing the spell he just used. His sights shifted to the dead beast as he smirked. "Half a step into the second rank? So what? At the end of the day, you're nothing but a mere beast."

He slowly stood up from where he sat and walked towards the beast, "I wish Bri was here to witness this. I'm sure she would've enjoyed the sight of me smashing a beast that was almost in the second rank."

However, just as he was about five feet away from the beast, his leg sank into a soft patch of ground causing a hole to be formed. He was about to curse in annoyance but became mute when he noticed a dim glow coming out of it.

Curious, he crouched and dipped his hand into the hole, reaching for that light. Once in contact, it felt warm and smooth with several looped contours, and so he pulled it out. It was a jade green pendant with a "ᚦ" runic symbol on it.

Once he held it firmly in his hands, a green aura enveloped his body as he immediately felt a tremendous surge of strength flowing into him. It was so powerful that it immediately elevated him from the Peak of Rank 1 to Rank 2!

He gasped, "An inscribed item?"

It was rhetorical but he knew the answer. It was an inscribed item and an extremely powerful one at that as he could still feel his strength rising.

Noticing this, he erupted into gales of laughter. Completely lost in sheer happiness.

"Now who dares snatch my prize from that meeting," he announced to himself with a ballooned sense of pride. "Even the world wishes for my victory! How can I refuse?"

His laughter continued for a few more seconds before he calmed down, flashing a deadly glint at the corpse in front of him and then at the surroundings.

"I, Jayraul Osterfield, will strike down anyone who steps on my path."

The child of the world gazed at the vast expanse of the forest. His path would begin with that meeting. He already considered it his victory. If he was apprehensive about bloodmages before, now he wasn't. Not with such an item in his hands.

His mouth curled into a chilly smirk as he clenched his fist, "Those without bloodlines have little chance? Who decided that?...Just you wait, I will show you all your own foolishness."

••••••••••••••••••••••

ᚦ - Viking Rune which is pronounced Thuriaz/Purisaz: Means Giant and symbolises strength

For the Magic Tongue: It's basically english backwards (Yes I know, it's the best I could come up with) but some letters are replaced with special characters.

T - þ

S - ß

A - æ

O - œ

D - ð

L - ł

•••••••••••••••••••••

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