Chapter 9: End of the First Day

A banal screech jerked Claude out of his trance.

Behind him, Elric was leaning against the ground. Vomit poured out of his mouth as his entire hands quaked. Swear covered every inch of the boy's body with tears of stinging pain filling his eyes.

"Elric!" Claude rushed over to his friend's side. "Dude, what happened—"

Claude stopped midway as the answer dawned upon him.

The water magic spell.

A memory from the early days in the church of Ephis flashed into his mind.

"Mana depletion…"

Mana made up the essence of one's life in this world. To some degree, everyone could absorb and store mana in their bodies and when that mana was emptied, their bodies would be put under immense stress. This adverse effect was even worse for magicians.

He had heard from Erika that an intermediate mage would start facing mana depletion when they only had the equivalent of ten mana points left.

Elric had… only three. He was already traipsing on the line that led to mana depletion.

Claude patted Elric's back as the boy struggled to even puke out. "You saved us, Elric… thank you—"

A snap rang out.

The crunching of leaves, and the breaking of twigs.

Claude's eyes flitted around as he searched for the source of the sound. The dead goblin remained in the corner of his vision. Maybe it was because of the exhaustion or the shock, but Claude couldn't focus on the now, so, his mind drifted back to another lesson.

The time when he was learning from the chief of the templars in the church. The words he heard back then.

"Goblins never hunt alone…"

As if his mutterings were a cue, the bushes on their left and right shook wildly and two more goblins emerged from both sides. The grotesque monsters cackled when their eyes landed on the tired Claude and the unmoving Elric. Their eyes remained a second too long on Elric for Claude to be comfortable with.

Two more.

Could he take them on?

Just one had him heaving.

Claude steadied his mind and took in deep breaths. Running away with Elric in that state was impossible. With the red of the setting sun gleaming in his eyes, Claude prepared himself for battle once again.

"AAAH!"

A scream rang out from beside him. Elric had got off the ground screaming his lungs out. Both Claude and the goblins froze as the man who seemed on the edge of death quite literally jumped to his feet. Before they could even blink, a trail of dust was left in the air and Elric had dashed off.

"The shadow lord can never catch me!!"

Claude blinked.

He rubbed his eyes, and so did the two goblins behind.

Then, the three remaining gazed at each other.

Claude took in a deep breath and dived ahead. He grabbed the bloodied club, pivoted on his feet, and dashed off too. "Wait for me!!" He shouted from the back.

Only the two goblins were standing on the spot, confused. The realization that their prey had escaped dawned on them a second later…

""KRAAA!""

… and they set off too.

***

Claude chased behind Elric as the two of them dashed through the forest. They curved around the trees and hopped over the leaves. The bushes and the grasses were trampled beneath their unceasing charge as they mindlessly rushed through the forest. Everywhere their feet landed, insects would buzz away, and from the trees they passed, the screams of birds would echo out.

At first, Claude could hear the Goblins chasing the two of them, but it didn't take long for that sound to completely disappear into the forest.

Yet, Elric didn't stop.

Claude's sides hurt from the running and his pace slowed down, but Elric still ran at full speed, almost in a trance. There was no shaking in Elric's breathing and no sluggishness in his feet. Thankfully, Elric's full speed was still a bit slower than Claude's tired quarter speed, so he wasn't paced out.

The red glow in the sky disappeared, the sound of the bugs fluttered and the chirpings of the birds scuttled away.

"Haah… haah… stop… already," Claude's hands swung to the sides, and he fell.

Elric took another step with full force, and as his next one landed, he slipped on the ground and fell face first.

A thud rang out as Elric planted into the ground, and fainted immediately.

At last, the grueling five minutes that felt like five hours to Claude came to end with the setting of the sun.

Claude's muscles screamed into his ears as his throat burnt off from exhaustion, yet, he summoned all the remaining strength in his hands. The mist, the mist could come up at any moment. He tapped on the ground and stretched further.

"Fuck."

He grabbed Elric's feet and fainted.