Chapter Twenty-One: Ruin at last

Jasmine watched the smoke ascend above the small hill she sat on. Below her was a sharp fall, about six meters deep. Her legs dangled from the edge of the hill. The rest of her crew was below her, setting up camp for the night. But Jasmine had left them to relax for some minutes and regain her composure.

Jasmine's blue eyes shut over and over again, showing just how tired she was. The zephyr gently fluttered Jasmine's brown hair, while she was watching the camp below her with her weak gaze.

The fifty centimeter brown staff laid next to Jasmine on the green moss that had accumulated on the stone over time.

Jasmine, with a spurt of strength took hold of her staff and attempted to use beatification on a tree nearby. She miserably failed, as not even the slightest changes occurred to the tree. Unlike most magics, Transfiguration does not require chanting, but instead it requires tremendous mastery and heaps of mana. Something Jasmine lacked for the moment.

"Come down here and help already!" Ylda yelled. Her red body shining almost as bright as the fire they started without her. Ylda was pretty much a burning metal, with humanoid shape.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, don't exhaust yourself by nagging." Jasmine said and sighed. She couldn't be bothered walking down to them. So instead she used ward magic to remove the impact from her immediate fall, as she plunged off the hill.

Jasmine hit the ground and the dirt slightly sunk from the impact. As for Jasmine she was completely fine. Her plan had worked and came with the benefit of impressing her new friend Asiana.

"You've already mastered ward magic to such an extent? I'm feeling more and more inferior by the hour!" Asiana said jokingly.

"This much is nothing, before we left the tower I started practicing blocking specific spells!" Jasmine bragged.

Asiana nodded, her blond hair swaying in the air furiously. Just like Jasmine she had blue eyes, but unlike most Falken, she had blond hair. It was an uncommon trait for Falken and often seen as a blessing from the deities.

Days went by and Jasmine gave up on her Beastification and learned Icework instead. On the carriage she would train Blood Circulation and when they stopped for the night she would train Icework. She was successful in learning Icework and Blood Circulation was close to being learnt.

Just the day before they arrived Jasmine finally had a breakthrough and reached Basic mastery in Blood Circulation. She was pleased by her progress, especially when she noticed that the potency of her spells had greatly increased.

Jasmine had sparred with Asiana and absolutely obliterated her. But it helped increase their experiences in live combat. So neither was complaining about the result. If anything it made Asiana understand her flaws, as she too started training like crazy. The two men felt restless seeing them train and did the same. As for Ylda, she just watched them train.

Finally the day had come, they arrived. Instead of a city bustling with life, an eerie silence with a dampening mood met them. Most of the city was gone, replaced by some sort of gigantic, completely intact building, entirely covered in wildlife.

Several people in mage robes came to meet them when they arrived. Arogath was one of the mages who came to greet them. Seems like he had returned here, before they could arrive. It was a pleasant surprise for Jasmine, as she could meet her current master.

"Took you long enough!" Arogath playfully told Jasmine.

"The speed of the horses isn't my fault." Jasmine answered, irritated by her master.

"Excuses, just enhance them to be faster." Arogath said and Jasmine clenched her fist. Really feeling the urge to abuse her master.

"Enough of the two of you! You four will rest for half a day and then enter the ruin. Countless lives are counting on you!"

"Yes boss." Arogath said, almost like he feared the man who said it. The man in question was a thin white haired man with almost withered skin and muscles. It's like death would claim him any day now.

"That's Yranus, one of the five branch managers of the magic towers in this kingdom!" Arogath whispered to Jasmine, as he led her and the other three to a tent. The tent was big enough to house twenty people and looked like a strategy meeting tent, where they would gather to discuss their plans.

After leading them to their current abdo Arogath left them. Letting them get as much rest as they could.

Ten hours later several mages, including Yranus, had gathered in the tent.

"You will move together, never split up! Search for any indication of life and if you have to, follow the corpses of the dead to try to find the survivors. We have no idea what to expect from these ruins! So stay vigilant at all times, there might even be ancient monsters in there that haven't been seen for thousands of years." Yranus informed them.

The four of them were escorted to the entrance of the ruin and were ordered to wait a bit. They were given enchanted robes and potions. Even a mana crystal that could replenish everyone's mana once. But eventually they had to enter the ruin and that time was upon them.

Jasmine was the first to take a step forward towards the entrance. It was dark, like nothing was on the other side, like an actual abyss. When Jasmine's foot touched that abyss like darkness, she felt reality distort and poof, she was gone.

The others hesitated when they saw what happened to Jasmine, but eventually they also entered one by one. Until no one was left.

"Do you think they'll succeed, or are we just sending them to their death because of curiosity?" Arogath asked Yranus.

"I don't know, we can only hope and pray my dear student!"

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