This is no good.
I just escaped through the window, thinking that it would be just running afterwards. But here, right in front of me, there were some guards, probably the Duke's henchmen.
Some seemed to be already there from the beginning, while others seemed to have been drawn by the commotion in the office.
And now they looked at me, ready to take action. I can't count them right now, but they are more than a dozen. Probably.
"Don't kill her! Bring her alive!!!" I hear 'Dad' shouting.
At some point during the escape, I had dispelled the illusion on the collar, as it had become meaningless anyway. Which means these men won't think that I can't cast magic.
I used to lead a quite sedentary life back on Earth... and here it only got worse, as I haven't even left the room for the whole seven years since I was born.
Sure, I did some exercises disguised as child's play, but it was just enough for my muscles not to atrophy.
The strengthening spell meant that I would be able to pull off feats that my body would deem impossible, but it wasn't enough to match adult warriors.
I don't stand a chance against those guys.
But it's better to be dead than to be without life.
:::
Those thoughts cross my mind at lightning speed (pun intended, sorry), and I start moving as soon as my feet hit the ground. I run onto them while I weave another spell.
Flames spread from my fists, bursting forth like a raging inferno.
It's an illusion, of course.
When they noticed that they weren't actually burning, I was already tumbling between them.
I hear someone shout. "You think you're the only mage here?"
My sprint is quickly interrupted by a small bump that appeared on the ground, just high enough to make me trip and fall headfirst to the floor.
I immediately rolled to the side, in an effort to face up to whatever came next. Then a guy jumped on, trying to grab me.
I quickly cast my 'taser' spell, hitting him on the arm. When I got up to my feet, he didn't, still reeling from the shock.
I think that I'm getting the hang of that spell.
Anyway, the order my 'father' gave them worked in my favour. If they were trying to kill me, I would've been dead already.
Thanks, Lord Addledsomething. Your stupidity will forever be remembered in songs throughout the realm.
:::
I had no time to dabble on it, so I cast an illusory barrier from the earth. I simply imitated the little bump that was used to trip me, and raised it to an adult's height. Then I spun and ran as fast as possible.
They probably won't be fooled for long by the illusion. But a static illusion like that, I'm able to leave it there for one entire minute, even without concentration.
The best part is that it effectively blocked their line of sight, so they won't be able to see me until they pass it or dispel it. Which will buy me some seconds, at best.
Luckily, the building didn't have outer walls, so I quickly reached a street and turned left into a twisting alley. I could hear the shouts of my pursuers behind me. From their shouts, I knew that I was able to fool them.
:::
It's night, and the alleys are dark. I keep running through the alleyways, zig-zagging without pattern or any goal besides going as far away from the shouts as possible.
It seems that the place I am in right now is some sort of slum, by the overall quality of the homes and their apparent wealth. People quickly looked away, closing the doors and windows of their homes, when they saw me.
Yeah, the law of 'I didn't see or hear anything, I don't know anything' is the same no matter the world you're in. Slums have their own laws.
I desperately need to take a break and catch my breath, but I can't find any good hiding spot. Desperation starts to crawl onto me.
Then I just see it. An empty lot, still with the rubble of the house that once existed in it, along with what looks like a couple of years of trash piling up.
Yeah, that will do.
I quickly go to the rubble and search for a hole or any place my body can fit. I quickly find one, hide, and cover the entrance with the illusion of more rubble. It's a part of the wall of the old house that was still standing, on which some planks were leaning. By the smell, it was probably being used until recently by some homeless person or whatever.
It was in good time, because I could feel the effects of the buff spell wearing off. And I was already at my limit.
I couldn't stay here forever, though. No place in this city was safe. Even though I was able to hide my collar or change my appearance with illusions, it wasn't exactly easy to sustain it for long.
Transforming a collar into another collar was a matter of changing some details, so it wasn't so hard to have it on during the short time while going outside of the room.
But completely erasing a collar and sustaining the illusion for long periods would be impossible for me.
Also, as I had to move, the illusion would need to move following my movements, so I had to be concentrating on it during its duration.
That was the main reason for me to drop that illusion as soon as the confrontation started.
Also, they already know that my strong suit is illusions, so they are probably taking precautions against it at this very moment.
The fact that the 'earth barrier' was enough for me to slip out of view was already a miracle in itself.
I take a deep breath and think about the weapons I have at hand.
My mind races through all the arias I know, all the words in my magical vocabulary, and the syntax of magical commands.
There is a part of the illusion aria that casts the bursting flames that is about releasing forward.
I had formed a hypothesis that it can work with the 'taser' spell. It looks like a function of sorts, and the other part with the fire simile seems to be the parameters.
I didn't have the strength of spirit to test it right away before making sure I could handle the easier 'taser' aria without failing. But now I feel more confident in my abilities.
I've never fought in my life before, this is the very first physical confrontation of both my lives.
My mind races through the linguistic patterns. I revise the words of the new aria, and something new takes form.
I chuckle. "Who would've imagined that deep knowledge in programming languages and that old Malinowski book about the linguistic structures of the magic chants of some Melanesian people would end up saving my life?"
It wasn't time for me to muse, though. I quickly cast the buffing aria and get out of my hiding spot. I look around, trying to get my bearings to see where I can run to.
At a distance, I see what looks like a guard tower, like those that are normally on walls. It has some torches lit on its top, like a beacon in the night. So that's the direction I run to.
:::
Just as I walk a mere two hundred meters, I meet some henchmen, who recognise me instantly.
The first of them has a huge scar on his cheek down his neck. He carries a small backpack and is armed with a short sword and a buckle.
The other one handles a mace, and his eyes spark with the promise of violence.
"Well, well... look who crawled outta the shadows. Your little tricks ain't foolin' us this time, runt."
"Yeah! And guess what? We got new orders — this time, you ain't walkin' away."
There are only two of them, so I muster all my courage and sing the aria I created minutes ago.
The air seems to crackle around me, and soon a fucking bolt of lightning burst from my fingers, sending both of them flying for a couple of meters.
"Heeeeeh?"
The spell was a lot bigger and powerful than I expected, but it cost me a lot of mana. It's not something I can keep firing at will. I need to manage my resources, and I'm almost dry already.
If I want to have the time and safety to perfect the spell and reduce the mana consumption, I have to keep pushing forward.
At least those two won't get up that soon. They are alive, of course, just passed out because of the shock.
But that blast sure should've caught everyone's attention in the whole neighbourhood.
I take the backpack and the sword from the man with a scar and keep moving.