48 The Beginning of Battle

Alone in his room, Professor Kal was meticulously taking down notes as he observed one of the many devices he had in his possession. This particular mechanism, consisting of a large clear crystal set in the center of five mithril rings with hundreds of runes carved into each one, was currently floating six inches off of the table he was seated at. The crystal was pulsing bright amber light at a tempo of seventy-pulses per minute, and the time in between the bursts of light was only getting shorter. The five mithril rings, multicolored light reflecting off of their polished surfaces, were rotating rapidly, each on their own axis.

This was something he would check periodically, the levels of mana circulating within a certain area. Mana was an invisible force, much like the world's magnetic field, it was produced naturally and was at almost consistent levels no matter where you looked. Of course, there were exceptions to that rule.

Like his underground lab. The levels of mana there were many times the normal levels you would find elsewhere. There were several reasons for this he discovered over the years. One was he himself. Being a 'magical creature' or monster, he subconsciously radiated small amounts of mana. Although the amount was almost immeasurable, over time, the mana would build up, especially since it was underground.

Another reason was the entire purpose of building his lab where he did, a ley line. A ley line was just the term used to describe an area where the mana was being produced by the world. Ley lines ran up and down the surface of the planet, some small, some large. Ley lines were discovered shortly before the war, many institutions and places having anything to do with magic were built directly on top of them, taking advantage of the much higher levels of mana available.

Since coming back to the surface he had noticed that there were no mention of ley lines, at least from what he had read in the academy's library. He didn't know if that was just another piece of information that had been lost in the flames of the great war, or if it had just become restricted information. He just didn't know. But he had noticed one strange thing after looking at maps of all the known dungeons. All of them, without exception, were located either on top of, or within only one mile of a ley line.

His theory was that whatever made the dungeons function the way they did, it required the constant supply of vast quantities of mana produced by the ley lines. It only made sense; the dungeons had to have had some sort of energy supply. The number of deaths occurring in any dungeon at any given time would never supply the number of souls required to power it. Originally, he had thought that souls captured with each death powered the dungeons, but after visiting one himself, he saw that that was impossible.

The amount of energy required to sustain a system capable of resurrecting the monsters killed inside was astronomical, thousands of times more than what a handful of souls would provide. He would know, as a lich, he is an expert on the soul. Before he had sent his phylactery into the other plane, souls were what granted him his undeath and the powers that came with it.

As an undead, he was unable to use mana in the way a living being could. That wasn't to say he couldn't, it was just much more inefficient. If you compared mana to something as mundane as water, an average mage would required just once cup of mana to successfully cast ice spear. He on the other hand, would require as much as two and a half cups of mana to perform the same spell. The only saving grace was that the amount of effort was the same, so the casting times were no different between the two.

How liches would get around this issue was with the souls of living beings. Every living being, even plants, had a soul. The only difference was sentience. Sentient souls would be much large and packed with more energy, intelligent sentient souls even more so. Liches would take the souls and place them inside their phylacteries, providing them with the energy required for their spells and to sustain their undead bodies.

Shaking his head, Professor Kal put his thoughts back onto the rotating device before him. He had noticed a trend over the last few days. Every night that they would stop, he would measure the amount of mana, and each night, the mana was increasing. Being nowhere near a ley line currently, the only explanation was that the total amount of mana was increasing. The amount wasn't much the first night he had noticed it, but each night the increase was more substantial than the last.

It still wasn't at the levels the mana was before he had gone underground, but after a few weeks, if the rate of increase stayed the same, it may be equal to or even greater than what it was two thousand years ago. Now, the only way that was possible was if the natural ley lines had suddenly increased their outputs. Being that the dungeons were constantly draining them, that was highly unlikely.

The only other cause would be that mana was coming into this world from another plane. There were an infinite number of planes in existence, at least that was the going theory of his time. Only a handful had actually been discovered, even fewer were able to be explored. The most famous plane was the Infernal Plane, or the plane that demons called their home.

For that to happen, a portal must be opened and either left open for a vast amount of time, or many beings from that plane had to move into this one, or both. Thinking back on the summoning of Iscariot, this was by far the most likely cause. It looked like the newly born progenitor was beginning to make waves within the world.

A devilish smirk spread across his face, leaning back in his shoddy chair, he put his hands behind his head and laced his fingers together. Things were finally going to get interesting; he could feel it. With the levels of mana increasing across the world, more and more monsters were bound to be born. That's all monsters were in reality, mutated animals filled to the brim with mana. Not only that, but it was more than likely that demons were now walking this very plane. This world had stagnated for far too long, nothing was pushing it towards new innovations, everyone was happy with what they had. He couldn't stand it. Nothing brought him more delight than to see change happening before his very eyes.

Putting the mana detector away within his ring, he got to his feet. He didn't need to sleep; he had no need to. His body didn't tire, nor did his mind. He still did though from time to time, but to only speed up the flow of time. If he wasn't engrossed in an experiment, it was much too boring to stay awake, so, he slept.

Laying his withered body on a down-stuffed mattress, his head resting on a pillow reminiscence of a cloud, he closed his eyes. Only a few minutes had past before a thunderous explosion shook him from his bed. The entire inn vibrated, dust that must have been as old as him descended from the exposed rafters. An ominous red light shimmered behind his dark pupils, reflecting his terrible mood.

"What in the hells are they doing in there?" He grumbled to himself, retrieving his staff from his ring. Before he could make it to the door, he heard his fellow professor finish chanting a spell before another blast shook the inn once more.

Not bothering to knock, he flung the door open to Professor Treffle's room. Inside, he saw the aforementioned Professor standing on the edge of a large hole that had appeared in the wall of her room. The three students were also beside her, looking down into the courtyard one floor below.

Inhaling the putrid air inside the room, Professor Kal couldn't help but comment. "What is that awful smell? Don't tell me you tried to cook something again, have you?"

The four in front of him didn't even bother to turn to him in reply, they just stood stock still and continued to stare down into the courtyard. "Even if it's a bad joke, its rude to ignore someone." He grumbled as he made his way next to them, staring down into the courtyard himself.

"What are those things?" Professor Treffle managed to squeak out, noticing the arrival of her colleague. Everything had happened much too quickly for her mind to really process what was going on. She instinctively attacked when the monster had broken into her room, now though, since she'd had enough time to calm down, she almost couldn't believe her eyes.

There, surrounding four people were several beings much the same as the one she had driven off. She only assumed she hadn't killed it because of the lack of a corpse anywhere. "Oh, huh, I guess I was right." Professor Kal spoke aloud next to her.

"Right about what?"

"Oh, never mind." He continued, squinting his eyes, and leaning forwards a little. "Hmm, I'm not quite sure what those demons are called. Hold on a minute, let me look." He said as he summoned a large dusty tome from his ring.

"DEMONS!" A chorus of four distinct voices reached his ears as they exclaimed in shock.

If monsters appearing on the surface was a rare occurrence, then a demon appearing was absolutely unheard of. No one alive today had ever seen a demon in the flesh, and only those scholars that studied such things even knew that they even still existed. The only mention of demons in this day of age would be in fairy tales and the occasional bard's song.

Gaaaaaaaaaroooooooooooooooo! A blood curdling howl tore through the tense atmosphere, sending shivers up and down their spines. Even the usually stoic Professor Kal could feel a small reaction to the noise, giving credence to the creature that emitted it.

"Is that the…... statue?" Ben asked what was on everyone's mind as he spun around to see a pile of rubble spread out over the table, illuminated by the light coming in from the large hole in the wall. He had instantly recognized the grotesque being to be a carbon copy of the macabre statue Professor Kal had given them just hours before.

"I think it is." Professor Treffle answered absent mindedly, staring with her mouth agape.

The sight of otherworldly horrors was almost too much for her to handle, almost. Unlike many of the Professor's inside the academy, she had real world experience. Over the several years of her travels, she had experienced many battles, mainly with bandits, but occasionally she would come across monsters. They were exceedingly rare in most areas, but the places she had traveled were remote and far away from any population centers. Unfortunately, the students did not have her level of mental fortitude. Even Ryan, with his limited experience inside a dungeon, blanked for several seconds while staring out the gap in the wall.

The creature with the animal skull lumbered forward, its large body moving with purpose and drive. Much quicker than human eyes could follow, it drove its long-clawed fingers into the abdomen of one of the demons. They could only see some of the demon from their position, but they could clearly see the end result.

Thick blood, almost like mucus, splattered in every direction. Black bones projected out of the broken corpse laying motionless on the ground. Organs, pinkish red and lined with veins spilled out of the lifeless husk. GAAAAAARRRRRRROOOOOOOO!! It let out another soul shattering roar towards the sky, challenging the remaining demons.

Abruptly, a thin transparent veil shrouded the group of five. Professor Treffle reached out and tapped it with her slim finger, ripples spread out over its surface like a clear mountain lake on a windy day. She tried to push on it with the same finger, only to find that although it looked very pliable, it would not give a millimeter. Ryan, Laura, and Ben were prodding the barrier as well, their attention momentarily shifted.

"Just in case things get messy." Professor Kal said, lifting a finger and pointing down towards the courtyard, refocusing their attention on what really mattered.

There, in an unnerving glow, was what looked like hell itself. The demons had begun to cautiously circle the summoned creature, completely ignoring the lightly armed men just a few yards away. With their hefty wings spread far apart and their jagged teeth bared, pus still seeping onto the ground, the demons looked for any opportunity to pounce.

The summoned monstrosity spun in circles, following the demons' movements. Even though it could easily rip apart a demon, it was vastly outnumbered, so to commit to offense would be a fatal mistake. This stalemate continued for some time; the three men were dragging their unconscious comrade away, desperately trying to remain silent. Without warning, two more demons landed with a wet thud, flattening the four men underfoot.

The three students recoiled from the gruesome sight, even Professor Treffle could feel her dinner try and force its way up from her stomach. The newly arrived demons moved forward from the pile of meat paste they had landed on. They were different from the revolting, pus covered demons that they had seen so far. They were larger, with four wings instead of two. Instead of legs, they moved around on a dozen tentacles, as thick as a man's thigh, lined up and down with suction cups. The cups themselves had hooked barbs the size of a pinky finger. The demons themselves looked like an octopus with wings.

The demon's four large eyes swiveled around in their sockets, finally focusing on the beast encircled by their brethren. A low growl echoed throughout the courtyard, the spectators couldn't tell which monster had made the noise, but as if that was the signal, the demons converged.