Chapter 5: TO THE OUTSIDE!
<<URION'S POV>>
BEHIND WALLS, we receive protection from the harm of the demonic beasts. But outside, we exercise our freedom to the fullest. Being free, like an uncaged bird flying anywhere it desires, is what human long for after all.
The heavenly gate was guarded by the troops of berserker and mages, some standing beside the pathway and others on top of the walls. Most are at the silver rank with one or two gold-ranked warrior— which I can tell by looking at the weapon they are wielding. They might be on lower levels but they can hold off the attackers for quite some time.
Home was calling me already. The gates are wide spread as multiple soul users—combatants and warriors—are walking out the kingdom. Probably, they will venture out the nearby lands to hunt down beasts or explore dungeons. Most soul users search for treasures, artifacts, and cultivating and crafting materials—either for their own use, or for other to earn money.
Treasure hunting and item hunting are one of the most hard-earning job in the kingdom, especially when they accumulate rare items, weapons and such. Most people call these workers as "hunters" which have two types: beast hunter and treasure hunter. The auction house is their best friend—selling their haul for hundred thousands to millions.
Right now, that is what I am going to be. I will mine my own fire stones, green shards and molten rocks for Master Gideon. This is not new to me since I already experienced mining works when I was still a slave.
I was about to walk pass the gates while hiding amidst the crowds of soul users. I am still fourteen after all. The guards might not allow me to go out all by myself, especially I am still at the trainee level. They knew that I still have no skills to defend myself from any beasts.
Running away is only my special power—as of now.
Trainees are considered as burdens in battle. After the Class Recognition Ceremony, that will only mark the start for most. There will always be three results: stay in trainee for lacking physical or spiritual growth, be a soul warrior who excel in brute force, or be a soul combatant who has control of their soul energy.
If I won't hurry, I will end up joining the league of soul warrior—it is not bad but if I want to reach greater heights, I at least need to be a combatant.
Once I stood on the outside world, it really felt like home. The grassland and cold breeze here are far better than the crafted dimensions—I do prefer the natural ones over the magically crafted lands.
Walking a few meter away from the gates, I stood firm on a boulder that is half-buried beneath the ground. I was waiting for the other soul users to move distant away from me. As much as possible, I do not like anyone to follow me since poachers exist in our reality—no one wants to fall victim.
As long as I'm only relying on brute force, I should not involve myself with clashes. For sure, I will not survive a fight against a soul user that charges soul energy. Magic and spells are ten times stronger than the physical attacks. Defending using my body, arms and hands will not save me from magical blasts... But it will only severely burn me to a crispy death.
My eyes looked around, examining the people passing by. Most of them are soul warriors with chiseled physique. Honestly, they seemed to be no harm except for a one individual hiding inside a black cloak.
A man? A woman? Only the gods know who he or she is.
The mysterious person was wearing a platinum-grade artifact: the Fiend's Cloak. Anyone who put on its hood will be covered in shadow—right now, I can only see darkness all over its face.
For the records, only four Fiend's Cloak are officially found by our kingdom's people. I am not familiar on who managed to attain one because their names, identity were not written on books. Yet, to have that artifact on hand is surely everyone's wish. Some people might even pay millions just to grab one.
I heard that there are lots of those scattered around in the deepest of a dungeon nearby... And that rumor already attracted a lot of treasure hunters and contractors.
I want one of those... But this is not the time to envy someone's magical item. I will search for my own someday when I achieved enough power to help me survive the outside world. Right now, I should focus on my task.
After all, the sun is already scorching at its peak. I definitely have less than three hours to accomplish my task. I need to run as fast as the lightning if I would like to learn cultivation. Master made it clear: There will be no handicap.
However, there is something that stirs my curiosity about this mysterious person. I glanced at it for the last time. My eyes fell in shock as it was facing me. Even if I cannot see its face, I feel a spark in my chest that bonds me with this stranger.
Who is this?
Aside from the powerless, Master Gideon, Oracle Fyero and the academy people, I had never interacted with anyone. But the feeling of this unexplainable familiarity is really puzzling me. Somehow, I thought that we had a connection on my past life.
Few seconds later, the stranger diverted its attention as it slowly walked to the lands, moving away from me. I just watched its back until it went out of my sight. At that moment, I slapped my head after realizing that I wasted too much time.
I began running in the grasslands, cutting the wind in half. My body felt lighter than before. Did I lose weight due to being bedridden for a couple of days? Anyway, at least, I can sprint to my destination faster than my expectation.
Thanks to the gods, I understood master's words quickly. Somehow, it compensated for the wasted minutes when I was spacing out. If not, it might be impossible or nearly impossible for me to accomplish my task.
Soon, I started entering the tall grasses that sized up to my knees. My stamina is far from going down—I can run for hours without resting! Beast encounters must be avoided at all costs. That will surely slow my pace.
Mounting a horse was an option I considered but after hearing Master Gideon, I chose to run my way. After all, he said that this is a test of strength. It will be better if I will rely on my own body force alone.
I just accepted the challenge wholeheartedly.
Though in this path, I really need to minimize my time in order to return in the kingdom before sunset. Just running out the gates from the oracle's courtyard already took me fifteen minutes... And the journey to the mine will eventually take an hour with my speed.
Thus, I need to collect the items within thirty minutes in order to allot an hour and a half for my way back. I will have a free eighteen to thirty minutes then... I can use that free time to sneak in the land of the slaves—to visit Ashiya and Uncle Makabe.
I really want to see them right now.
Everything must strictly follow this schedule so that I will not have any problem. If I need to surpass my limits, I will be running even when I am already exhausted. This trial will not only test me but I will see it as an opportunity to become stronger.
Thirty-four minutes later, I was sliding down the plateau. Instead of taking the proper road, I choose to take the slopes—though with utmost care. One wrong movement, I will fall to the spiky rocks or roll down the cliff. At worst, to my death.
Thankfully, I have already mastered doing this a long time ago. Being an experienced slave is not bad at all. If only our people got soul spheres, we might even outpower the divine people.
What I need to do is to step on the protruding crags from time to time. The rough surface of the dry ground slows my sliding. I need to keep my stance all the time—butt on the ground, back bends backward nearly leaning on the earth, left leg extending straight and right leg folded with feet leveling to my knee.
"Crap!" I screamed as the crag I stepped on got detached. Thus, I went straight down the slope with my heart drumming the beat of nervousness. Luckily, I recovered my balance and posture after seconds of miscalculated sliding. Though, my butt really paid for it.
Sliding went for another minutes with perfect landing on crags. I have no trouble going down not until...
A flapping sound gusted to my ears, capturing my eyes to look above. I kept my feet on the crags for a while as I watch the unwanted guest to come. Yet, I am not sure if what kind of beast will show up.
This is a nightmare!
To think about it, I might be the one who unintentionally lured that beast due to my scream. Now, I understand master's words better than before. I should lose my identity sometimes to win. If I fear, lose fear. If I keep on getting enslaved by my emotion, I will always end on putting myself in trouble.
"Uwack!" screamed by the creature, hiding on the thick clouds. It is surely a bird. Hopefully, not a man-eating winged beast. I have no way to fight that just in case.
I can throw rocks but that definitely is not enough. It will be a miracle if I did kill it through that.
Nah! I cannot stop at this point. I am already near my destination.
I continued sliding down, forgetting the danger flying above me. At least, that creature might not be too powerful to prey on me because if it does, it will not hesitate to dive down. Just in case, I still grabbed on a piece of rock—having something is better than nothing after all.
Eying the dry ground, I was already near the middle-height of the plateau. There is a flat area in this level where a cave is near. That cave is actually leading to a mine: an old mine where I used to work. This mine is not off-limits to the soul users since it is already abandoned by the Western Slave Control Council, a year ago.
The bird seems to lose interest on preying on me. I am truly lucky today. If it happens to dive down, I will not be able to fend it off due to my bad positioning on the slope. Death will surely come to me if not for the luck.
Now, I might still have an hour and forty minutes to finish everything I want to do including my visit to the slave's land. Just wait for me, Ashiya, Uncle Makabe! I will not let this chance go to waste. I will force to make some time just to see you two.
Walking towards the entrance of the cave, the hair on my fair skin stood up. The inside is blowing some discomforting air. Something must be inside and only the gods know what it was. I took a deep breath before approaching the cave.
Should I continue or should I back out?
This is not the time to think it through. Giving up from entering this cave will automatically send me to a loss. I will have no enough time to reach other mines.
This is now or never!
Stepping one foot on the cave's shadow, I smashed my chest twice to release some tension. I continued walking in the darkness without any torch to guide my way. All I can hear is the dripping of water from the ceiling down the ground's puddle.
Splash!
That almost gave me a heart attack. I did not know sounds can be this terrifying. At least, the splashing sounds are music of peace. There is no—
"Wahhh!" A long scream invaded the quietness inside the cave. Then, heavy footsteps were heard which gets louder and louder each seconds. There are other people here—definitely, I am not alone.
The loudness echoed and turned louder. Someone must be coming to my direction. I immediately rushed behind a cone-shaped rock on the corner, hiding half of my body—with the darkness, this is enough to not be noticed while waiting for the one making noise.
Seconds passed. I took a peek on the pathway. I saw two muscular men, running while swinging arms. Both of them were panting heavily but they seemed to not think about resting. Their widened eyes showed fear like seeing a disastrous monster lurking in this cave.
When they were near my spot, one of them tripped over the ground. The other man did not mind to look back and just shouted, "Stand up on your own! I do not want to die in this place."
What is going on? What kind of fearsome being is chasing them? What can it do to them to lose their conscience? And just leaving a friend behind?!
"Helped! Helped me! I can't stand!" cried by the man lying on the ground. He rolled over, facing the ceiling. He was pressing his legs which seemed to be injured. He is hopeless and maybe sweating too much while looking back in the cave.
Pleading for mercy is his only light but no one dared to respond to him. Even the gods will play deaf. His friend—not even sure if he is a true friend—really left this poor man alone.
Whatever they are fleeing from, the unknown creature made this man crazy enough to shout for help despite not knowing if he is no more alone. Desperate call for a rescue. I was planning to stand up and pick him up but...
"Rawr!" echoed not from afar. It was probably the roar of a ferocious beast that this man was being afraid of. How the hell did this happen? My luck ran out of stock in the most crucial part.
"Please! Anyone! Help me!" the man continuously cried as he tried pushing himself backward. He then rolled over and started crawling for his life.
Giving him help might be a suicide mission for me. I decided to stay on my hiding spot to watch what will happen next. This might give me a hint on how will I be able to get through this hindrances on my way.
Another spine-chilling roar pushed my heart. It is coming, running toward my direction. I lie down on my spot to completely hide myself. A beast living in darkness might have the eyes of a bat.
"No! No! No! Stay! Away!" the man screamed as he picked some rocks, throwing it in the darkness. Thud. He did it again and again but it only hit rocks.
Meanwhile, a pair of ball of red light flashed not from afar. It emits the aura of a mad murderer, making my body freeze. It was rushing its way toward our direction. Even if it was not screaming its roar, I already know that it was the beast.
Its skin and its whole merge to the darkness. It was like a shadow devil whose eyes can only be seen in darkness. Yet, with its height and footsteps, it must be a four-legged beast.
"Crumble the earth, raise the rock, stone of justice, bring forth your wrath!" the man chanted the {Rock Smash} spell which formed a brown circle containing a drawing of totem figures in its light. With this spell, a huge boulder was blasted out.
Fighting must be his last resort. If he take it down, it will be a big he—
"Uwaah!" An agonizing cry came out of the man's mouth. He cried its loudest like a person experiencing a horrifying death. Snapping sound invaded the silence. Soon, I smelled the stench scent of blood. With the darkness, I cannot see the whole view—but I can imagine a horrible fate of a man.
What just happened?
No! What will happen next?
>/~•~\<
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