Escape from Crazy! (I)

At the sight of the incoming creatures, I immediately erected a barrier around me and my friends to try and keep them away. I tried my best to keep the barrier intact but it was hard to do so when countless of monsters were pounding on it.

“Do something!” I screamed to them as I held on.

I could hear them scramble behind me and Fan was suddenly beside me.

“Thomas will figure out a way to open the door.” she said and started blasting the creatures with her wind magic.

I couldn’t help but be amazed at her strength and control over her magic. It was better than Freya herself.

-Maybe because she does not hold back and limit herself, unlike Freya who’s constantly pressured by the expectations of her family and her status.

My arms strained as I kept it thrusted forward, feeding the barrier some of my energy. I could feel myself getting drained as the creatures continued pounding on the barrier. Of course, Fan’s and Kai’s (he became fully conscious a while ago) help of attacking them was helping but there were probably at least a hundred of those creatures, trying to hurt us.

“We need to get out of here soon.” I heard Kai say as he shot arrows forward. We gave him his magic bow once he decided to help out. “We’re not going to last.”

He was right. The three of us were obviously getting drained at the constant bombardment. I glanced at where Dean Alkis was located and saw him looking at us, still with a mad smile on his face. On his hand, the orb, I was sure he was using to control those creatures, were glowing brightly.

“I have some bad news.” Thomas said and jogged towards us. “The door is not budging and I sensed a lot of people on the other side. I think they’re there to stop us if we ever get out using that way.”

“How many?” I asked.

“More than a dozen.”

“We need to get out using another way.” I said and sighed.

I took a deep breath and imagined my energy gathering at the palm of my right hand. I could see the faint glow of my energy and once it was the size of a fist, I threw it at the creatures, snapped my hands and it exploded which scattered most of them across the cavern.

“Why didn’t you do that in the beginning?” Fan complained and shook her head in disbelief.

“I can’t use it often.” I told her. “It drains me a lot faster than casting spells.”

The attack I just made was called [Energy Bomb]. Yeah, lame name, but it was the most fitting name for such attack. As the name implied, it was a concentration of energy, both internal and external, and make it explode.

“We need to do something about Dean Alkis.” I said and stood up. “We need to take that orb in his hand. He’s using it to control these creatures.”

“Hey, he said they’re his test subjects.” Thomas whispered. “Do you think… they’re people?”

I gazed at the dazed creatures that were slowly standing up and started coming towards us, again. Indeed, some of them looked humanoid, but they did not look anything like human.

“I don’t know.” I answered honestly. “But people or not, we’ll end up like them if we don’t get out of here.”

I cancelled the barrier and stood more comfortably. I warmed up my muscles a little since I was in the same position for quite some time. I heard my bones make some sounds and then I released a big sigh.

“Well then, we don’t have a choice but to face these creatures. Somehow, my teleportation is not working so we’ll have to get out of here.” I said and pulled out my swords. “Obviously, we’ll have to go back the way we came in. We’ll have to fight our way out. But first, we have to deal with him.”

I pointed at Dean Alkis. I heard them sigh and Fan even sighed in disbelief.

“Fight these monsters, how? There’s a lot of them and only a few of us.” Fan pointed out and motioned to the creatures.

“Have you forgotten where me and Thomas came from, Fan?” I questioned. “Facing monsters is normal for us.”

“What?”

Thomas was suddenly holding a one-handed sword on his hand and I could feel energy rising from him.

“You guys are crazy.” Fan shook her head. “If we die, I’m blaming you.”

“Just follow my lead.” I told her. “Don’t you have a weapon?”

“I’m a magic user, we use staffs or wands. I left mine.”

I paused for a second. I did not have a staff or a wand on my inventory, but I did have a weapon that was fitting for someone who was using wind magic. I wanted to give it to Torii but my adoptive sister liked playing with sharp things so it wouldn’t fit her.

I emptied one of my hands and flicked my wrist. Accompanied by a faint light, a folding fan appeared on my hand. It was made of high quality materials and has twelve ribs made of lightweight orichalcum.

Orichalcum is a type of metal that is highly durable and is the perfect metal for magic. I received an orichalcum ore when I helped conquer a dungeon at the edge of Celestine Territory last year. I already had my swords so I decided to make something else from it. With the help of a really skillful blacksmith and artisan from the territory, I was able to create the folding fan and even had Aunt Zaira engrave some magic circles on it so it could be paired with wind magic.

“Here.” I gave Fan the fan. “It will help you strengthen your spells. It’s also perfect for close combat since the ribs are made of orichalcum and the leaf is also made from enchanted leather so it’s tough and durable. It’s perfect for a wind mage like you.”

Fan gingerly picked up the fan from my hand and studied it.

“Focus mana on it and think of your spell. Give it a wave.”

All of a sudden, she opened the folding fan, revealing the painted landscape of the western plains of the Celestine Territory, and waved it towards the advancing creatures. A strong gust of wind enveloped the room and I could see wind blades attacking the creatures in all directions.

-Wow. I never thought she’d be able to use it really well for the first time.

“This is amazing.” Fan’s eyes were shining and on her face was a big smile.

I turned to Kai and saw him just nod her head, his bow already loaded with magic arrows.

“Be very careful guys.” Kai said and started shooting towards our enemies.

With a nod, I charged at the creatures as well, using my blades to cleave my way towards the power orb in the cavern. I could feel myself getting pulled towards it so I just followed that feeling.

I was right under the orb when Dean Alkis suddenly shrieked. “No! Get away from the orb!”

All of a sudden the mutated creatures focused on me.

“Guys? Why are they looking at me?” I questioned.

“The orb!” Kai yelled and started shooting arrows towards the orb. This seemed to anger Dean Alkis more since he screamed again and the creatures started fanning out.

The arrow seemed to have hit some sort of glass-like barrier since the light arrow got stuck on something unseen and cracks that glowed faintly started forming.

-A protective barrier.

I smirked. Back when I was still a fox deity, I had a skill called [Defense Mechanism]. A barrier of energy would coat me and automatically protect me for any direct attacks whether physical or magical. When I became Luna, I lost that ability but I did have a self-healing one so I never really thought about it. Apparently, my core had the same skill but I was still a little baffled at how Kai managed to pierce it.

I returned my attention back to the mutated creatures and my eyes widened at how all of them were suddenly up and attacking. Even those that were previously brought down and were still bleeding a strange black sludgy substance got up and started attacking.

I felt my body go rigid.

-No, they’re overwhelming us!

I gathered energy on my palms and strongly got them together. Afterwards, I brought both my hands to the ground and ice immediately encased everything in the cavern, apart from me, my friends and Dean Alkis. But all of a sudden, there was an explosion. I felt my body’s temperature rise up and everything went black.