The sun had set in the Camar Forest, leaving the surroundings dark, a small light could be seen in the forest as a campfire kept crackling with 3 individuals sitting around it.
It hadn't been long since Damascus had left the camp for his mysterious mission.
After having cooked, I shared the meal with the 2 cloaked beings who simply sucked it up like water. I also still hadn't named both as I didn't even had any real knowledge of what they were.
From what I concluded, they seemed to be spirits that somehow had no soul or mana of their own.
They were an anomaly.
There were beings with no mana or no soul, but the mention of something not having the 2 things wasn't in any memory of Wendel.
I for an example, didn't have any mana due to the lack of a Mana vault, however I still had a soul. Not sure if it was mine or the one of the original Wendel but I had one.
There were also objects such as trees which had Mana circulating through themselves, which didn't have a soul.
Spirits often were created through much Mana gathering in one area which sparked a reaction making a soul. Therefore it was often said that spirits were the personification of natural things such as trees.
These guys however were like spirits but with no soul or mana, as if the source from which they had been made with, didn't exist from the beginning. They appeared out of nothing if one would look at it simply.
'Ugh.'
Even only thinking about it gave me a stinging headache.
I wouldn't define myself as not intelligent but this simply went out of my imagination scale.
Especially when knowing deep down that I still didn't believe in the idea that something created something out of nothing.
"Not gonna lie, it seems hypocritical to think that way..."
Yes, I never believed in gods, for a fact, I still didn't. Even though I had seen beings that would be described as godly phenomena and more in my old world, it still somehow seemed unrealistic, especially when these beings still died after their lifespan reached their end.
I even was blessed by one of these beings. In itself it was hypocritical and overall controversial but I simply never saw life as something that was given to me...
I shook my head for a moment as I had nearly gotten lost in thoughts.
'That's not important right now. If I wanted to be a philosopher, I should have become on in my past life.'
What mattered was that I currently was an executive in a cult, deep inside a territory that teemed with monsters and that I had to get stronger.
After all, this world seemed to be slightly relying a good amount on the idea of power mattering.
Looking back at the 2 followers, I gulped. They had something creepy about them, no face and only a cloak around them but I couldn't even call it a cloak as it was made out of the same smoke that formed the rest of their bodies.
The idea of injecting my Mana into them kept becoming more and more interesting, especially when knowing that they didn't have any Mana that could rebel against mine.
Also it wouldn't hurt trying out, at the end of the day, the Seat of Ingenuity created them once, then he can do it again.
Even if it costs something, I am sure I can somehow repay him...
I stood up and slowly approached one of the 2 things. Stretching out one hand, I slowly thought of letting Pure Mana flow out.
'Let's see if this works...'
Suddenly, moments before I could touch the being, it turned it's head by 180 degrees. The whole atmosphere became instantly stiff, as the other one quickly extinguished the fire by also sucking the flame up into what seemed an endless void.
"Wh-!"
Putting it's and over my mouth, the being took me into it's arms and jumped up into one of the trees around us while the one with it's head turned merged into the ground.
'What the hell is going on?!'
I didn't understand the reaction of both spirits. After all, Damascus said that they were stronger than myself which meant they shouldn't have too much difficulty in going against the remaining monsters in the region.
It didn't however take long for me to realise why they had reacted the way they did. Out of nothing I suddenly felt multiple presences closing in our direction. It seemed that both had already sensed them ahead of me.
As my Pure Mana was different from normal Mana, it also couldn't be detected in a normal way. Therefore the only thing I had to do was breath as little as possible.
CRASH!
Then only seconds after feeling them approach, 4 people sprang to the now extinguished fireplace, leaving a crater on each spot where they landed.
They all wore a light grey uniform with orange accents on them, each one seemingly ready to fight every second.
"CLEAR!"
In unison, the 4 individuals shouted and another individual appeared out of nothing. A man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties walked in front of the campfire with a serious demeanor and crossed arms. Dark blue hair, a light beard, glowing green eyes and a posture that seemed confident as well as powerful.
On his hip was something that seemed like a conductor's baton reminding me of the typical magical wands that existed in this world. Different from the others, he also wore a military uniform that had orange accents but different from theirs he also had an orange shoulder cap as well as a golden insignia on it.
Only looking at him, it was clear that he was the leader of the group and I could only gulp internally.
'A military troop?! But why are they here and this deep in the forest?'
Thoughts began storming through my mind as I was under shock from the sudden appearance.
"..."
The leader with a calm demeanor analyzed the fireplace, narrowing his eyes, he saw a small piece of glowing coal lying in the middle of it. Nothing else was there.
"Something or somebody was here.... Definitely..."
A rather plain looking man stepped forward saluting.
"Captain Almun! Shall we spread out and search?"
"No... from what we currently know, the thing that we are facing is strong, searching alone might only play in their hands..."
Captain Almun then looked around for a bit, searching for anything that might lead them to my position. Then he closed his eyes and from one moment to another, a huge burst of wind was released as he grasped the bronze wand on his hip.
As the gust passed through the area, more and more cuts appeared all around, as if the gust itself had the command to kill anything in it's past. Luckily it seemed to not have it me or my cloaked companions.
"Diedlem, contact Private Naro, contact the back-up. Inform them that we have made contact with the possible living area of the 'Source'. We will return after having taken a closer look of the surroundings."
A person looking like a monk saluted and started running towards north.
It only dawned upon me after the brief exchange of the group that I had realised.. The reason why they were here... was because of us.
'Oh no...'
I could only think of one reason why some military was here. The sudden migration of monsters to different regions than the inner ones due to Damascus presence.
They most likely even tried crossing the border of the Camar Forest, forcing several Monster Waves upon the neighboring countries. I then thought of which country bordered the Camar Forest which only connected in the North with the Yarel Continent.
'The Luxrion Empire.... it just gets worse...'
From what I knew, the Luxrion Empire was one of the strongest countries in the Yarel Continent and overall one of the mightiest nation in the entire world. It had an imperial family which kept ruling over their territory with an iron fist since millennia.
For a fact, their military also seemed to be a huge force to be reckoned with...
'He naturally just had to leave before this is happening.'
I again cursed deep in my mind the man who had left me all alone and was supposed to teach me.
I looked at the spirit which had still myself in it's grasp. I slowly signaled with my eyes to gain some distance, however I didn't think of one particular thing when doing so.
Paying attention where I would move my feet...
Crshk!
In seconds, I felt multiple stares on me, the scariest nonetheless was a glowing green eye which directly stared onto me.
Xui!
Without even seconds to think a huge slash made out of wind was in front of my face which however was deflected by a black wall made out of smoke, as my protector defended me.
"There the problem is...."
The captains eyes widened as he saw how his attack had been defended. Normally it should have cut through butter, but as if facing it's biggest enemy, the spell simply moved to the right cutting off only a part of the branch his enemy was standing on.
"Captain!"
In an instant, the plain looking man took his bow out aiming at me, while the 2 other individuals readied themselves. They were one girl with skin as white as porcelain and red eyes and one tall broad shouldered man that seemed to have 2 swords on his wrists.
"Go..."
With a simple command, the subordinates jumped straight towards us at an intense speed. However, they weren't the only ones that had some power.
My protector jumped off the tree at a tremendous speed, sliding slightly over the ground 3 black spheres formed in front of him, that then shot towards the soldiers. The tall man then proceeded to swing his arms as both swords attached to his arms flew forward as they were connected to a chain that glowed a slight bit.
As the chain and blades clashed with the black orbs, both stood at a standstill. However the trajectory of the balls was pushed off by a bit and as they slowly won again in terms of power, they missed their targets by hair width.
"Tsk, that thing is strong..."
The man spat out some spit that had gathered in his mouth as his demeanor went serious. The blades then slowly retracted back to his arms. He had a concerning look in his face as he had felt only by this small exchange that the being in front of them could easily win against one of them alone.
The thing that worried Private Marsh more however was something else. That thing held something in it's arm... a human, what was even worse was the fact that it was a child.
The fact that they seemingly had something alike to a hostage concerned him because even if they were soldiers, they still fought for the people. The soldiers looked back to their captain only to see something that made their pupils shake.
The other spirit currently hiding had sprang out of the dark behind the leader with an enlarged arm. Bringing it down like a hammer, nearly smashing the human to bits but he swiftly evaded the attack, readying his combat position.
Captain Almun knew there was something wrong already in advance. Thanks to that, he didn't instantly move out with the others as he had suspected something to lurk nearby. Nonetheless, he had never expected to be med by such a being.
Only look at it he didn't know what they were but he knew they would be a problem to deal with. Also the sudden appearance of a human being in those beings hands concerned him, as he didn't expect for such a case.
Never did he suspect that the child was in fact the leader of the beings. There were near no children that were too strong at the age of 12, especially not enough to lead such beings or to survive in this region.
"Get the child and then retreat!"
Quickly giving his command, he swung his wand as multiple spells formed in front of him, each shooting several gusts of wind towards the being which dashed around, dodging the continuing attacks.
Meanwhile I dangled off the spirit, thinking of any solution to the problem.
The soldiers however didn't leave much time to think as they dashed forward, clashing with 'Shadow 1'. Their formation was immaculate, while the archer shot his arrows, the girl and the man fought in close quarters. They only waited for a mistake on our side.
'Shit! Shit! Shit!'
Shadow 1 evaded several attacks while deflecting the others in an erratic and unnatural way as it's body kept deforming.
Xuing!
Aaah!
The female soldier was in a frenzy, crying out loud as the red glow around her intensified it each swing. I also saw several times how the large man tried to grab me from Shadow 1's grip.
But this gave me a possible idea.
I then tried to send a message to my protector.
'Run so that they follow us!'
As if on command, both shadows instantly turned and dashed away into once an area filled with several large rocks and one time a small clear spot without any trees around.
With the intention of not letting us go, the soldiers started running behind us, throwing frequently spells in our direction.
'Those guys are strong...if I had to say they are all Thaumus or Ductor ranked, their leader may even be Argos...'
The fact that the shadows could keep up with multiple of them also indicated that they were most likely around the leaders rank as well.
'Let's hope this works...'