Into the Night

Aris woke up from his slumber while the moon was rising. Every hair on his neck was standing up straight as he went over the events earlier in the day. He walked to the window, placing his hand on it and watching as it glowed blue and gave a shock to his hand. His breath came in at a hiss as the pain shot up his arm causing him to flinch.

'I didn't notice it before but there seems to be some sort of barrier blocking this window. I don't stand a chance of escaping going through the house, so this is my only way out. I've started cultivating my body, able to store mana whereas earlier I couldn't, but now how do I use it?'

'I can tell you a spell and how to learn it, but you will have to put in the effort for it. It's not too powerful nor too complex but it should be enough to get us out of here.'

Aris nodded and sat on the floor as he waited impatiently for the amulet to tell him what he needed to do. His mind worrying about the possibility of him failing and having to face Lord Redmont in the morning.

The amulet showed him visions of his ancestors, trapped in situations similar to how he was now with the only difference being the barriers keeping them in were much more powerful. He watched as they used a barrier of their own to shatter the other by creating theirs inside of it.

'A mana barrier spell is quite simple, luckily it's also perfect for what we need right now. Focus on the space in front of you. Imagine an impregnable wall. An object that can't be moved. Now feel the mana flowing through your body, filling every cell with power you've never felt. Push it out to where you want it to go and think about it turning into whatever you thought of first. The magic of this world isn't like your movies or anything else on Earth. It's natural and simple. It flows through everything in this world and the only limit to the strength of each spell is the mage who casts it and the mana available to them.'

Aris mind wandered, picturing a solid steel wall. Focusing on the mana flowing through his cells and pushing it to a spot about two feet in front of him. He thought of it becoming a solid force, impregnable and immovable.

The amulet popped up in his head again, his voice shaking as he knew they were running out of time. 'Now Aris, try pushing on that spot.'

He stretched his arm out, pushing up to the spot where he imagined the barrier being. A familiar blue glow pressed against his hand, shocking him and causing him to flinch once again.

Aris shook his hand to get the blood flowing again. 'Damn it! Even my own barrier shocks the hell out of me?'

The amulet laughed in his mind and moved onto the next part of the plan. 'What happens now is the difficult part Aris. You have around 6 hours until dawn. If we aren't out of here by then everything is over. To escape this floor we can either go now and take the drop. It's risky and could cause damage to your legs. Otherwise spend the next couple hours practicing placing more of them at the same time. Doing this method will allow you to make steps out of the barriers rather than just blocking with it.'

After thinking it over for a couple minutes Aris was determined and ready for what was to come. He calmly sat with his back against the bed, pushing every worry out so as to focus on the task at hand. He focused the mana into a second barrier, then a third, and a forth. Maintaining all four simultaneously he smiled and was thankful to have been brought to this world for the first time since entering it.

Off in a corner of his own mind the amulet was amazed. 'Not only did this kid just start cultivating the mana in his body, but he can already simultaneously hold 4 mana barriers? Just how much is this kid capable of?'

After holding the mana barriers in order to be sure he could hold them long enough to walk on Aris released them, watching as they dissipated into a blue mist. A sudden worry popped up in his head.

'Um, hey amulet? Won't the barriers shock me if I step on them?'

'Not to worry. Since this is a basic mana barrier it only affects you if you touch it with your hand, skin, whatever. Basically if your body touches it then it shocks you. The barriers can't be destroyed by physical means, it has to be magical. That's why so many mages use these barriers.'

With all his worries situated Aris returned to cultivating his mana, drawing in the mana in the room until there was none left to absorb. With an hour 'til dawn Aris approached the window.

Looking out the window Aris decided to create the platforms where he'd be stepping first before splitting the barrier on the window. The thought of whether or not anyone would be able to sense the mana barrier being broken had crossed his mind and he wanted to allow as much time as possible to escape.

With all of his barriers set in place Aris began working on creating a mana barrier inside of that in the window. As he focused on making the barrier a blue light started in the center of the window. Cracks started to appear in the window, spider webbing out before shattering into the blue mist.

As soon as the barrier was gone he flung open the window and climbed out, setting his foot onto the first barrier he had prepared. As he stepped to the second a patrol of two guards passed by under him. With Aris standing on the barrier it was emitting a faint blue glow that he could only hope wasn't enough to register in the guards' vision.

The guards passed by, leaving him standing in the air breathing a sigh of relief. He continued on his way down and his foot finally hit the ground. As soon as he hit the ground he took off running for the wall, creating a barrier and launching himself off of it and over the wall.

As he reached the top of the wall and could see over he quickly grabbed onto the wall and hung on, his fingertips the only thing holding him up. Walking directly below him were two guards on a break from their patrol.

Aris dangled there, his fingertips slowly sliding towards the edge of the wall. As quick as he could he created another mana barrier below him so he could stand. He kept his back against the wall and slowly shifted his weight onto the mana barrier. The guards finally left to return to their patrol after 15 minutes which felt like forever to Aris.

'Could they take any longer? My mana's running low. I really need t-'

Before Aris could finish that thought his mana ran out. The mana barrier below him dissipated and he fell the last 7 feet to the ground with a soft thud. Worried that someone might notice he was gone soon he fled into the nearby woods. He wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and Hyde in the manor.

As he ran through the forest he couldn't help but be amazed. The further into the forest he got the more they began to glow. The trunks gave off a warm gentle blue, the wood smooth and white underneath. The leaves above gave off a natural green light, making everything in the forest visible allowing Aris to run smoothly.

'Hey amulet, calling you amulet is a bit odd, got a name or anything?'

'I'm an amulet... Technically im the Amulet of Arawn but I feel like that should be kept private for now.'

'Then how about I just call you Amawn?'

'Really? Amawn? Could you be any more boring?'

'Right, got it. Boring. Cool. How about I ca-'

'DUCK!!!'

Aris wasted no time in listening, throwing himself to the ground. No sooner had he hit the ground than a massive tiger-like animal with blue flames emerging from his eyes flew over him, its massive claws extended.

'BARRIER! PUT UP YOUR BARRIER!!'

Aris quickly set up a barrier, the tiger lunging again only to bounce off of it. The tiger began prowling around him, a low growl emitting from deep within the its chest.

Running out of time and options Aris began to bounce ideas around his head. 'Can I outrun it?'

'Not likely.'

'Can I climb a tree and wait it out?'

'Claws like those? He'll climb the tree faster than you can say meatball.'

'Meatball? Why meat... Forget it. What if I trap it? I can close it in with my barriers.'

'That... That could actually work. It's your only option. Hurry before it attacks again.'

Aris immediately began setting up three more barriers, angling them so they were at a slope making it impossible for the tiger to escape.

'Alright, it's trapped. Aris run you have to run before it gets out,' the amulet begged Aris, not wanting to see the child torn apart and be torn apart itself.

But Aris wasn't listening. A single fang on the tiger had caught his attention. Covered in blood and stuck on a fang was a golden ring.

'Amulet, what's that ring on the fang?'

The question caught the amulet off guard and rather than continuing to tell him to run the amulet decided to see what it was.

The amulet answered almost instantly, shocked at what was in front of it. 'That's a dimensional storage ring... It allows you to store items and such in sort of a pocket dimension. That's not just an average one either. It's a mastercraft version. In other words the storage capacity is only limited by the strength of the mage who wears it.'

Aris planted his feet into the ground, digging in and preparing himself for the possibility that the tiger would escape. Extending his hands towards his barriers they slowly began moving in, forcing the tiger into a panic, it bouncing off the barriers with every attempt at escape. Much like Aris earlier the tiger was being shocked with every touch.

'Aris what are... How?'

'I can't explain it exactly. I feel connected to my barriers. If I focus on it I can feel the mana and pull it to where I want.'

The tiger no longer had room to move, the barriers constantly crushing it and moving in. Now instead of a ferocious growl the tiger sounded almost like a demon, an echoing screech emanating from its throat.

With one final movement Aris pulled the barriers in as hard as he could. The tiger was no longer moving inside and Aris' mana had run out. The barriers faded into mist as he approached the tiger.

Genuinely concerned and in disbelief the amulet gave a warning. 'Careful Aris. It could be playing possum.'

But as Aris approached the tiger made no movement, the flames in its eyes fading away. Crouching down he pulled the ring off of the tiger's fang and wiped it off. Placing it on his finger he was able to feel the connection to the pocket dimension. He closed his eyes and followed it, everything stored in the ring was visible to him inside his head.

Inside of the ring was stored books, swords, armors, food, odd potions and crafting materials. Everything was sorted neatly on shelves that he assumed were put their by the ring's previous owner rather than just being equipped with it. One of the items inside was a map for the Skystorm Kingdom. Picturing it appearing in his hands, Aris was pleasantly surprised when a moment later he felt a paper materialize.

The north of the map showed the Frozen peaks, spanning the entirety of the northern border. At the base of the largest mountain was the name Khalrogh with what looked like two large statues near it. The center of the map was a large city that Aris was guessing was the capital of the kingdom, City of Storms.

Aris scoffed when he read that. 'They were real creative with the name of the city weren't they?'

The western and southern borders were marked in red and labeled Tolken Empire which intrigued Aris.

'Curious... Is this Tolken Empire friend or foe?' Aris looked up from the map for a moment and shook his head. 'Gah, these people have me speaking weird.'

Looking back to the map he noticed the eastern border had symbols reminiscent of flames and labeled Scar of Draconis. Scattered all throughout the map were small villages, the number too numerous to list. However, in the south-western corner was a small glowing dot with "Aris" directly below it.

Aris scratched his chin and looked at the dot curiously. 'Interesting, it keeps track of my location much like a map in an MMORPG...'

Just to the east of him was Newash village. Before Aris probably would've made his way to it. Thanks to the ring he acquired however he decided to make his way towards the City of Storms.

'If I'm going to learn anything about why my grandfather would send me here it's going to be there.'

With a new determination and the sun rising above the horizon Aris put the scroll back inside his ring and set out to the north.