Chapter 2: New Friends

The screen gradually disappeared, and just before it vanished, I flung backwards, air forced out of my lungs.

Before my mind could catch up, my muscles tensed up, needles striking at my chest, water entering my nose. I opened my eyes and quickly swam upwards towards the blurry light. Swimming faster as my lungs tightened, limbs growing tingly, when my head finally sprang out of the water and I gasped for air.

A raging river was carrying me as I looked around, searching my surroundings. The river appeared to be over hundred meters in width. Stuck towards the middle, with currents dragging me forward, I raced towards the riverbank. Just then, a thundering pop shot above me, whistling and fading higher into the sky. Two columns of white shot up towards the clouds, attempting to escape the world.

That was when I spotted them falling down. Two dark objects falling from the sky, racing closer to my location. As they neared, I could hear one screaming and see their arms and legs flailing, as they splashed into the water with a big splash. Are they the ancients, or the enemies?

Those prideful white columns could probably be seen for a couple hundred miles. Is this what the screen meant by, "miracle will be witnessed"? If so, then those two I saw falling must be ancients. Debating whether to check on them, I hoped they could be allies I desperately need.

Both individuals came springing out of the water, thrashing and flailing for air, probably just as dramatic as I had been earlier.

"Hey! Are you all alright?" I yelled over the roar of the river.

"I-I think so," one coughed out.

"Yes, what is happening? Was I teleported?" the other yelled with some excitement.

This was survival. Staring at the white columns above, a sense of urgency grew over me. Quickly swimming towards the two and positioning myself in front of them.

"We are being hunted," I told them flat out.

Pointing my finger to the sky, I shouted, "Let's stay in the river as long as we can to distance ourselves from the two white columns."

"They know where we are because of those?" asked the first man with a calm voice.

"This is like a manga story!" yelled the other, with his face lighting up.

"A voice called out to me upon arriving, that I must survive. Shortly after, I was attacked by a swordsman and archer. Yes, manga might be right, many supernatural things have been happening. We should go down a few miles before we escape the river," I explained as quickly as I could.

"My name is Dean," said the calm dark man whose head was bald wearing a blue windbreaker.

"Harry," said the excited man, with black hair, white skin, and a big nose, wearing what looked like a track suit.

"My name is Joe," I shared too.

We nodded at each other, started swimming down river to speed up, worried more trouble was near.

"Horses are approaching!" yelled Harry.

Crap! I turned around to see ten horses sprinting down the side of the river, with a cloud of dust trailing behind them.

"They will reach us within a minute," Dean said from my side.

"Let's swim out the river and take cover in the forest," I yelled and swam towards the bank opposite of the horses, without acknowledging if they heard me.

These guys definitely seemed conditioned for war games, as I haven't heard a single complaint out of them. The keywords I whispered must have been used to select these men. Hopefully, they can help me figure out this world, and how to survive in it.

Crackling energy streaked through the air, impacting near us, as the water erupted in a towering geyser, sending a deluge of droplets flying. All three of us were tossed up and out of the water, spinning us high into the air.

Whoosh, woosh woosh woosh, thump.

My ears caught the distinct noise of a volley of arrows passing by while we were floating in the air. It looked like Dean got hit by an arrow at the apex, just before we fell back towards the water.

Looking at the direction of the group on horses, my breathing slowed down when I saw the incredible sight of a greenish aura forming around one of the hooden figures, then being released just before I hit the water. I saw what could only be described as a ray enveloped in electrical arcs being launched. Instinctively, I dove down deeper underwater, with no time to worry about my companions, I swam in the direction I thought where the bank was located. An underwater shockwave reached me, forcing out my remaining air and propelling me closer to the river bank.

Using all my strength to reach for the surface of the water, my hands suddenly found dirt and I quickly crawled up the bank gasping for air and ran towards the woods for cover. At the corner of my eye, I could see Dean and Harry also doing the same, as I was sighing in relief, although Dean seemed to be injured.

Another electrical discharge was heard approaching quickly, as it zoomed past me and exploded far ahead in the forest, making a confetti display of the dirt, tree branches, and leaves.

I saw Harry tossing his palm and snarling at the men on horses, but I ignored it and kept on running into the forest.

"Dean, are you hurt?" I said, a bit worried as we caught up together.

"They hit my arm while we were in the air, it seems," as if it didn't concern him and he was already holding and inspecting the arrow in his hand.

"Did you see that magic they casted! That was amazing!" Harry said excitedly, but his expression quickly turned sour.

"I tried to send one back, but it didn't work," he added, defeated.

We continued on jogging through the forest, and I knew we needed to find a hiding place to form a plan. Explosions continued in the distance behind us, it seemed the horsemen were firing randomly across the river.

Harry was still attempting to use magic, throwing all kinds of odd gestures, which seemed futile, but Dean nor I had the mind to refuse him.

"So far, I have witnessed an archer jumping several meters high, and those magic electrical rays sent to us, which seemed to require some kind of buildup that created a greenish hue glow," I mentioned in between breaths as we jogged forward.

"Greenish hue? I didn't see anything like that," Harry quickly retorted, looking at Dean.

"Me either," shrugged Dean with his calm demeanor.

"Ahh, you must be able to see the mana!" Harry said excitedly.

"Huh?" I looked at him confused.

"In manga stories, they usually have to build up mana around themselves to shoot a powerful attack…" Harry paused, then continued, "You must have some kind of passive ability to see the mana buildup. Do you see anything around me?" he mentioned while moving his arms to his chest and stressing his face.

I just shook my head. His expression was a bit saddened, but he continued trying as we moved along.

"I see something over there at 2 o'clock," Dean mentioned with a slight hint of excitement, pointing to our right.

As we changed direction, we came up on what looked like abandoned houses, or perhaps an abandoned village? The grass was overgrown into the pathways slowly being erased by nature, windows broken, fence posts falling apart, and the houses crumbling.

"Let's split up and check the houses for any weapons, shields, or anything metal," I said while gesturing. The two seemed to be in sync with my thoughts, as they quickly targeted a house they were interested in. There were six houses in total, scattered without any organization to their placement.

Looking around, I chose one of the houses without a door and slowly entered. You could tell these were simple houses with wood panel floors and no cement foundation. The floorboards were mostly warped with dirt peering through from below and between. There was a shabby wood table and broken chairs, no kitchen except for some stove looking thing made of mud that was falling apart in the middle of the house. Stepping forward to get a closer inspection, I noticed a blue object barely poking out of the stiff ash and dirt mix.

"Oh! HA HA HA!" a voice echoed through the gaping hole in the roof.

In a rush, my right hand reached into the pit and scooped up the blue object, which seemed to be about the size of a marble, and perfectly sphere. Concerned about losing the object, I tossed it into my jean pocket and headed for the entrance. Poking my head out of the house, I made eye contact with Dean, seen carrying a short dull axe, who then looked towards the house Harry was investigating. We quickly moved together and entered the crumbling home, passing through a broken door as we scooted inside.

"What happened?" I asked, concerned.

"Tell me if you see something now!" a big smile on Harry's face. Just as before, he brought his hands to his chest, but this time I immediately saw a faint red hue surrounding him.

"Wow, I can see it, a small red glow around you, what did you do differently?" I inquired, impressed by the phenomena.

"Earlier, I was trying to force something out, but I think it is actually the other way around. You have to accept something to enter you, I think?" Harry shared this interesting observation, as he pointed towards himself.

Excited with himself, he made a finger gun and pointed toward the mud pit in the center of this house. Clicking with his tongue and bringing his thumb downwards, all our eyes opened wide when a small fireball discharged from his pointer finger and charged towards the mud pit. As the fireball collided with the mud, a bright flare appeared and the mud exploded spreading out in all directions.

"Whoa," Dean said, slightly intrigued.

"What did you do now?!" as I exclaimed with my heartbeat racing. This was an incredible tool to have for survival. If we could all use this ability, it would let us make a stand and maybe turn the tables on this game.

"I didn't think it would work that well! Earlier I just shot a simple flame over there where that black mark is at. But this time, I just thought about shooting a fireball from my finger. HA HA HA!" Harry laughed hysterically.

Turning to look at Dean, I found him sitting criss-crossed on the floor in a meditation pose. It only took a moment before a faint blue hue emanated around his shoulders and torso.

"Dean, I see something too, but yours is light blue!" I quickly shared. He slowly got up and mimicked the actions done by Harry, but nothing was happening.

"Sorry Dean, maybe yours is different? Like that archer Joe told us about who can jump really high?" Harry tried consoling Dean. With that thought, Dean looked around and stopped to gaze towards the exit. He started walking, but stopped abruptly in front of the broken door. Looking down at his fist, pausing for a moment before picking it up and jabbing it forward. A slight shockwave reached my face as the door exploded into splinters and flew out of the house.

Harry and I standing back, both jumped a little from the unexpected event, but quickly started shielding ourselves from the flying shards of wood.

"HA HA HA! You did it Dean!" Harry said excitedly as he was dusting off the wood fragments.

Dean turned around with a big smile on his face, but I choked on my breath seeing a long splinter impaled on the side of his cheek. Pointing to my cheek to warn him, he calmly reached for his face, pinched the splinter and yanked it off. He stared at the splinter for a second, before tossing it to the side. He then wiped his cheek to check for blood, but surprisingly there was very little exiting the wound.

"Let me try too," I said while beginning to kneel and sit on the floor. As I was adjusting my legs into a criss-cross position, hooves galloping lightly reverberated in the house.

"Shit, did they cross the river already?" Harry queried with a puzzled look as he and Dean walked out the wide open entrance of the house.

I rushed to pull myself up, and I hastily went outside to get a better sense of the situation.

"Based on the density of the surrounding forest, they are probably less than a mile away," Dean said bluntly, while listening with his ear to the ground and continued, "We should expect them within a few minutes."

Looking at the tree line surrounding the village, I spotted a small clearing that appeared to be the old path to enter this village.

"Listen guys, we can choose to fight here, or we can run. I think I have a plan, but we can vote on it," I spoke out while steading my breath.

"Running is not my style," Harry blurted out first.

"Do you want us to try using magic?" Dean asked curiously.

"Yes, but this all depends on both of you executing an ambush. First, Dean, you will knock down a tree as they approach, forcing them to stop in their tracks. At the same time, Harry will fireball them as they group up from stopping abruptly. If we can knock them down from their horses in one shot, it would be a perfect opportunity for a melee," I explained my plan.

I pointed to the clearing where they would most likely appear from.

"Just a few meters into the clearing there, they would be more focused on the exit of the forest as they would be gazing at the village like we were on our approach," I paused to get some feedback.

"Sounds plausible, but you must verify if you see the glow on our bodies. It will be risky if we cannot control it when the time comes," Harry added.

Dean was staring at the clearing thinking for a moment.

"Alright, but if I don't attack, we retreat in the direction they appeared from and we meet back at the river," Dean spoke more than usual.

"Sounds good, let's go find a spot," I replied, as I jogged towards the path entrance hearing the hooves drumming in the air.

The forest had many large and thin trees, and most were soaring into the sky. The path at the entrance was roughly four meters wide with dense brush and thicket drawing a natural wall against the forest. Hills and ditches scattered along the inside the forest, which would make for great cover in a retreat.

"That tree there, do you think you have enough power to take it down?" I asked, looking at Dean.

"Maybe, I will try something different," he replied.

"Let's do a triangle formation to melee them from all sides. I will stand on the other side of the path, and Joe, since you haven't done magic, come from behind them," Harry added.

Dean patted his side and pulled out an arrow hiding in the lining of his pants at the waist, then handed it to me.

"Use this," Dean handed me the arrow like it was delicate.

Using my finger to tap at the needle shaped tip, a drop of blood appeared. Just happy with having a weapon, I turned to look at the two who were attempting to cultivate what Harry called mana.

They appeared at peace in this moment, the atmosphere felt surreal, hearing nothing but the heavy galloping approaching while these two were meditating in cover behind the enormous trunk of a tree.

Harry was deep in concentration as a red glow busted out surrounding him, growing denser and deeper in color.

Dean sat in his criss-cross position humming in a soft tone, as the faint blue hue illuminated around him. It steadily spread out around his legs and arms and took a slightly darker blue than before.

"The glow is definitely there, even better than before. This just might work. I am getting into position," I told them nodding in approval of their effort.

I headed a few meters further down the path and went prone behind the crest of a hill. In order to avoid being too far away when the melee starts, this position would let me approach quickly.

Harry crossed the brush on either side of the path and made his way behind a tree lined up with Dean, who moved to a medium sized tree.

The horses were drawing nearer, and we all knew this moment of truth would decide our fates.

At this critical point in time, my mind is wavering, getting lost and distracted with the Sea of Feelings, remembering all the memories of people living a normal life, and those of my daughter experiencing a beautiful life with her mother and I. My chest was tightening, craving to feel their warmth by wrapping them with my arms.

Groaning and creaking permeated towards me, as an explosive snap rang in the air, awakening me from my stupor. My eyes found the men on horses already in front of us, pulling on their reins desperately trying to halt, as the tree swung downward in their path.

With a loud thud and bang the lead horse was squished under the massive weight of the tree sending a gruesome crunch of the bones into my ears and the death wail of the horse singing in the air.

Harry, not missing a beat, launched his fireball, but something felt wrong, the size was triple, no quadruple the size we experienced in the house.

His startled face was brightened by the raging ball of fire, which quickly reached the front of the horses bumping into each other from their abrupt stop.

The whole world disappeared from a blinding light, filling this area of the forest, and just as quickly as it appeared, winded down to a focal point. The compressed air formed a white shell as the shockwave was birthed with unstoppable force spreading out, growing further with an intense ball of flame following in its wake. The compression slapped over the top of my head, as the intense heat singed my hairs, and the surrounding trees exploded from the ferocious pressure.

My head was pounding and disoriented, the world drew a deafening silence. As I forced myself up to see the damage, something slimy landed on my face blocking my vision and irritating my eyes. Chunks rained down on my head and shoulders, as I attempted to clean and blink away the grime.

Just as my vision was clearing, I peaked over the hill, only to see a towering column of fire rising to escape the forest. The group we targeted was obliterated, leaving only the remains of intestines and body parts painted and scattered around the point of destruction. Hearing the faint sound of someone groaning, I quickly stood up and saw one of the hooded pursuers laying on his back missing both legs, shattered left hand and arm bleeding profusely, as he reached with his right into his shawl and pulled out a tiny blue spherical object.

Bringing it to his face, my heart rose to my throat, and I rushed over through the path cleared by the explosion. Staring him down as I approached, his mouth moved, as if speaking into the object. I leapt forward with the arrow in both my hands, swinging down with all the force I could muster. The needle tip pierced through his ribcage, sending the vibrations into my fingers, forcing him to expel his air, as the glint in his eyes faded away.

I swung around to check on my team, but they were nowhere to be found.

I yelled out, "Harry! Dean! Are you alright?!".

"I'm alive, haha- *cough*," I faintly heard Harry.

Dean popped his head out from behind a thick tree, with bark burning, where they had meditated for mana a minute earlier.

"I'm alright.", Dean said, as we both headed to search for Harry.

Lying on his back with his eyebrows missing and his hair still smoking from the explosion, it seems he had been launched backwards a few meters.

"Try not to move," Dean mentioned, concerned for Harry. Checking his eyes, his pupils were dilated, then Dean ran his hands through Harry's legs and arms looking for breaks. Shifting to slowly patting the ribs to see if he would react to pain, when Harry yelled out and reached to grab near his left breast.

"You broke or bruised a rib," Dean shared.

Harry, still somewhat shocked, slowly sat upwards while Dean helped support his back. He must have been in pain as he quickly grabbed his chest and leaned forward coughing, twisting his face in anguish.

I closed my eyes and said, "You overdid it Harry! But I think we are safe, thanks to you."

When I didn't hear a response, I opened my eyes and the world around me was dark with a bright orange screen shining in front of me.