Chapter 38 Ancient Dungeon (part 4)

-Asher Frostblade's perspective.

-Moments before.

"I see, so that's how it is."

Encrid had shown me how to fly using mana. To be honest, it's not such an easy thing to memorize.

The first step was to concentrate the mana on the 'center point' of the body, just below the navel. The mana had to be carefully distributed throughout the entire magical circuit that was everywhere in my body. The basic formula for maintaining balance was simple, at least in theory and to some extent.

Of course, that's not all I could tell just by looking at it once. But, after Encrid's demonstration, I had some rough ideas of how to fly with mana. It's a difficult concept to grasp right away, but.... I feel I understand it so easily that it is not possible for me to explain it in simple words.

"I see, I can understand it, how to move each drop of mana and where it should be."

The key was to feel the natural flow of mana and not force it. He had learned that by maintaining a steady, deep breath, the manna flowed more steadily. Whenever the wind tried to unsettle me, it was enough to slightly adjust the ratio of the energy flow. It was a strange feeling, but I understood.

I could understand what Encrid tried to show me. With just a few maneuvers that Encrid showed me, it was easy to understand, but I had to see it one more time to check it out.

"Can you do it again?"

"Of course, it looks like you didn't quite get it."

"Actually, I understand it, but I just want to check something."

"..."

"What's wrong, you won't do it?"

"It's not that..."

It was then that I closed my eyes and kept my mana vision on Encrid. A way to see the mana trail of anything is an innate ability of mages, so it wasn't hard to use.

Then, Encrid's entire mana circuit moved in a different way than normal. I was able to check my idea when Encrid moved the mana in certain directions to move freely.

"That's enough."

Then I opened my eyes and could understand better.

"I got it, it's not that hard."

I moved my mana to certain points in my magic circuit. Each drop of mana that moved was so precise that I couldn't lose sight of it. A sensation ran through my whole body, like tingling, it was warm and calm. The sensation of moving the mana like this made me open my eyes and when I did, my eyes widened like saucers.

"I-I made it."

The sensation of rising into the air, with the mana vibrating through my magic circuit, was an unparalleled experience.

Then I began to move through the air as the cool air hit my entire face.

Each flight was a test of my skill, but also a moving meditation. I felt that, with each new flight, I came closer to understanding the true meaning of power and better grasped the capabilities of my magic circuit.

The wind whipped my face as I soared higher and higher and came closer and closer to the floating islands. The feeling of freedom was indescribable, as if all the weight of the world vanished with every meter I ascended. "Flying with mana is not just a trick, it's an art," it was definitely a new sensation.

"Muffled sound."

There were times when I felt like the wind wanted to drag me back to earth, but by slightly adjusting the mana flow, I found stability again. "It's like breathing," I kept repeating to myself over and over again. It was not something I had to force, but let it flow naturally, like the beating of my heart.

"It's amazing, I don't have a word to say.... You have an indescribable talent," Encrid murmured to himself.

Encrid couldn't believe what he was seeing: a boy of maybe 11 could learn to fly in less than half an hour. Knowing what each part looks like and where the mana should move within the magic circuit was too difficult a task without proper study and explanation.

"He's even more talented..."

"Mmm... What is that? It looks like a person," Encrid said, looking up, right at the shore of an island above him and me.

Then Encrid shouted alerting me.

"Hey, brat, isn't that one of your buddies?"

I looked up and that's when a very familiar figure was trying to talk to me. I could barely see her, but I recognized that green hair and that robe.

"Clara, I was right..."

But I quickly left my thoughts. That's when a large monster was descending towards where Clara was.

"Look above you," I shouted as loud as I could, but she didn't seem to understand.

Then she stared at me and it hit me.

"She's reading my lips!", I thought. If she couldn't hear me, then she could read by the movements of my lips and know roughly what I was trying to say.

Then she looked up. That's when a thick curtain of dust filled that area and I lost sight of her.

"Encrid, let's move as fast as we can," I said, and he began to climb quickly into the air.

Finally, he stopped right next to me. I looked up and concentrated the mana in my magic circuit. I quickly began to climb upward. I was flying, which was amazing, but this was not the time to feel that way.

"Starburst!"

Debris fell near me, so I sped up and quickly made it to the island above. Then I looked at where the monster was.

It was a type of plant monster, specifically a monster shaped like a rose. It had a long body, a stem and roots all the way down; on its body some large leaves and finally its head. It was a red rose, but it had no eyes, and its teeth protruded from the top of its head.

"Grrrrraaaarghh-KKRRRRRRAAAA!!!"

Then the monster roared and quickly lunged toward Clara as she prepared a spell and large dark green hands came out of the ground.

"It's a grade 7," said Encrid.

I was surprised at how strong this monster was. But I wasn't worried; we were three against one and Clara was a third circle mage. Encrid, though he had lost his strength, was for the moment first-circle, but I knew exactly how powerful his spells were.

"Quickly," I said, and quickly began to prepare a spell.

[Sphere of darkness]

Slowly a sphere was forming over the monster and Encrid quickly prepared a spell where a dark colored fire with purple rays came out of his hand while in the other hand he prepared a large spear.

Clara, using that spell, caught the monster with those giant dark green hands that came out of the ground and held the monster tightly. Then Encrid and I cast the spells at the same time.

"Boom!!!"

An explosion echoed so loudly that it raised a great dark fire as the sphere of darkness fell on the monster. The air moved strongly and seemed like a storm that shook with its strong wind.

A blizzard enveloped us and then, a few seconds later, everything calmed down.

"It's dead, isn't it?", I said as I saw only a petal of the monster's head, as this was a type of monster shaped like a rose.

"It's not obvious," said Encrid.

"..."

"Well, then how did you get to this place, Clara?"

"I don't know, when I woke up I was lying on the floor and there was also the door."

"Then it's the same thing," I mumbled to myself.

Quickly Clara looked at Encrid, who was standing a little apart from the two of us.

"Who is he?"

"Don't worry, he's... A friend who looks like he was already here from before."

It was the first thing that came to my mind, what else could I say? An unknown man who was with me and knowing that only Alicia, Clara, Dik and I had entered this strange place. It was strange, so I simply made up a story.

"I see, but can we really trust him?"

"Absolutely yes, he's trustworthy."

***

-Scene change.

-Dik's perspective.

"Where... where the hell am I?"

Dik looked around after opening his eyes. He was puzzled and his hair was throbbing steadily. He put his hand to his head and narrowed his eyes.

"Whistling."

A yellow field with nothing else and some small mountains in the distance. Dik looked around, confused, where the hell was he and how did he get there? A field, some small mountains and the whole place was yellow. Then he looked up.

An orange sunset was casting sunlight on the yellow field. The place was nice, yes, but....

"I feel strange."

Dik felt watched. He looked around quickly, but....

Nothing, not even a hint of noise or anything.

So what was this feeling Dik felt at that moment? He felt like the prey of a monster that had him in the palm of its hand, but it was strange, very strange.

Everything in that place was strange. Dik stood up and quickly grabbed his sword that was at his waist. He held it in one hand and looked around while half crouched.

His eyes moved quickly to any situation. At that moment he felt puzzled but also confused.

"Where... where are the bastards?"

Was the first thing he muttered. To tell the truth, no one knew where he was and where he was, but the situation was not safe at the moment.

Finally, Dik started to walk slowly while looking around. He couldn't let his guard down so easily and then....

"Rumble!"

The ground began to shake and Dik's heart began to race. His breathing became heavy, his facade of arrogant and confident knight was crumbling just because the ground shook. But that made sense.

"That... is a death worm? There's no way a grade 6 monster would be here."

Although Dik is a strong knight, a death worm couldn't even think of defeating him. Maybe Dik is arrogant and confident, but he is not an idiot.

He knows how to look down on people, yes, he is a very arrogant knight, but he is not an idiot when it comes to monsters or a really dangerous place. And that dangerous time is this.

Then he quickly stopped and sharpened his ears and....

"Rumble!"

Again the ground trembled slightly. Sweat was pouring down from Dik's forehead. Slowly it built up and the sweat fell to the ground.

"Dripping"

A small sound echoed and then the shaking on the ground stopped.

"What's wrong...?"

Dik was puzzled, but quickly remembered a deed he must not forget that he had precisely just committed.

"In the face of a death worm, avoid making as little noise as possible. If you make noise, you are dead," were the words he remembered from his master.

Then he began to feel strange, the sensation of a death he felt in his body. For a moment he felt suffocating and for another moment he felt calm, but....

"Burst."

A worm of more than fifty meters, with a wide and fat body that looked like a very thick pillar, appeared. On the part where the monster's teeth, an infinity of teeth, the entire body of the giant worm was covered with a kind of gray metal scales, as if this monster had armor.

"Raaaawr-rrrRRRRRREEEEEEGGHH!!!"

Then the death worm roared and quickly its body moved towards where Dik was.

"Outburst."

Dik was swallowed by the huge monster. He felt no pain and a darkness came over him the moment the death worm ate him.

"Ahahahahah... W-what the hell...?"

It was all about a simple illusion. Dik looked down at his hands, they were shaking so hard they wouldn't stop. His heart was pounding and his breath was coming in short gasps.

Dik felt as if his throat was coiling up and he couldn't breathe clearly.

Then sweat started pouring down from his head and his whole body was filled with sweat.

"W-what... happened...?"

"I just...died... died... then how...?"

The words weren't coming out of his mouth right. He didn't know what the hell had happened. Then...

"Muffled sound."

The yellow flowers began to echo as if someone was moving. Quickly, Dik looked to his right and stared at her, confused but at the same time scared as he didn't know what the hell was going on.

Then Dik looked at Alicia. Finally they both stared at each other.

"Hey, are you okay? You look weird."

Her words echoed and he quickly stopped being stunned by what had happened to him a few seconds ago. Dik responded:

"I'm... fine."

It would be a mockery for him to say that he was not fine and that he was afraid, so he wanted to lie and try to be his usual Dik, one that he is not "afraid" of and not a "coward" either. Dik looked at his hands and they were still shaking.

"What the hell was that all about?" simply put, that "death" he witnessed was something he had never felt before....