(first released on scribblehub by author Nanayamichan.

7th July 2021, 02:19 cet)

Chapter 25 - shadows, "the fucks" n castles? 

I looked around. 

Yuna stood, bent over puking in the corner of the room to the right of me as I appeared. 

I guess teleportation sickness?

It was a fairly empty room, just a few things on the walls. I suppose they've figured out the use of teleportation rooms to or its a coincidence. 

I looked at the spot we came from for a sphere. But nothing, that means it closed on us as I jumped through i guess. 

I searched with darkness magic, using analyze, it would've lit up a red dot for me if there would be anything left 

And the walls were built with huge stone bricks. 

I'm guessing a room in the castle. 

Or, well, a castle. I tried a location thing with Spatial magic. But nothing. 

For some reason I can't pinpoint us, there's something blocking me from seeing outside, which makes sense.

Blood on the floor though, and a tiny trail that ends about a footstep forward. 

We had put up a barrier around our town's castle that blocks signals going outside. The only way to send something out is through authorized messengers. That way it isn't as easy to spy and just send out info of any kind from inside the place. Of course you could still plant a spy, but it'd take way more work. So quite a few will probably be deterred before even trying. 

But… 

I am authorized in Reatown's castle… 

Which means we're not in Reatown, and we're not in the city anymore. Unless we got another castle hidden somewhere but I highly doubt it. 

The small trace I saw going to our castle was to trick me. 

Maybe. 

Or the trace was meant to trick me. 

I can't say for sure, there might actually be someone in our castle, but I guess I'll assume this is a trap of some sort… 

Kiwi was sitting on the floor in front of a door. 

"Are you ready? I think we're at a bigger base belonging to the cult." Kiwi communicated. 

Yuna breathed heavily as she seemed done with the puking, still leaning over, hand on her stomach with her eyes closed.

"Yuna?.." I said, sounding a bit worried. 

She gave a thumbs up. 

"let's…" heavy breath. "go, I'm OK" Yuna said. 

I giggled a bit. 

I'd started gathering up magical energy from all around me, of any element available, everything I could get my hands on so to speak. Well, for a moment. And when I say any element available it's those I know. So most. 

It attached onto me and drilled into my body. 

It wasn't anything you'd see with a normal human eye sorta, and it ain't as horrible as it sounds. 

It's just energy storing up. 

Also powering me up as I accumulate more. You can store magic energy to use it in different ways on the spot. Eliminating the, for me ridiculously minimal time, it takes to draw it out. 

Not sure why I do it but better to be prepared when walking into the unknown. 

I put a similar barrier around Yuna that I had put on myself before I grabbed her hand. 

"OK let's go then" I said and smiled at her. 

She smiled back, but I felt she started to feel afraid. 

Her adrenaline took over and she just took action without thinking, as usual. I guess no need to give her a speech about how fucking dumb it was to just dive it. Kiwi can handle herself, but Yuna's what people would call dead weight in the field. She really should be more careful… 

I grabbed the door handle. 

Kiwi shrank down and hovered with us above me, looking ready to strike. 

She'd summoned a cloud of sorts she was hovering on. 

It was a cloud made of nether energy, energy from the world of summons and magical beasts. 

So she could in theory just sit up there and shoot lightning like that God, Thor, that retired 200 years ago. Well, we say God, but God is just a title of sorts assigned to waaay too powerful people and/or creatures with intelligence. They have proven powerful enough that they could sway the world sort of. They often don't do much… Well, they usually back up some country or a handful of people. Giving people they deem worthy their blessing. Some just keep to themselves. A few just run around looking for fun stuff to do. 

Their often called "god of whatever element or skill they're insane at", like Sithya God of purity, who at one time cast a cure disease spell on a whole damn country. Also a master at defence vs magic. But that one thing made people call Sithya a god, and was when churches started praying to her.

Anyway...

We opened the door, it led out to a fairly long hallway.

Looked like 20m long or so, with windows on the left side of it and magical torches hovering on the other wall, or side. 

One door in the middle and one on the adjacent side. 

Then one door next to the door at the end on the right wall.

"hum. Maybe.. Which door do we check?" I said. 

Yuna opened the door directly to the right of us that I'd missed as I'd just gazed and analysed what was in front of us… 

"Here I guess," she said and walked in. 

Looked like a closet and armory of sorts. 

Yuna grabbed a dress that was on a rack. 

"Hey, this is kinda cute. Look like.." she said, then looked a bit confused. 

"Yuna… Not the time for clothes talking”I said quietly. 

"But, this is kinda the same sewing pattern as Emilia's old clothes, I took a look at them earlier," she said. 

She turned around and put the dress in her backpack as she did. 

"Of course, that doesn't mean anything, I'm just saying" Shrugging as she said it and walking out into the hallway again, squeezing past me in the doorway and really brushing up against me. 

Pushing her chest onto me.

"Yuna…" I said and sighed. 

"what… It Calms me down.." she said, a bit sad.

I sighed. I guess if it helps her stay calm.. 

I put my hand on her shoulder. 

"don't worry, we'll find her." I said. 

She turned, I put my other hand on her other shoulder. 

"and we'll figure out what the Hell's going on." I said.

I leaned in towards her.

"Now let's keep going" I half whispered with a smile, then pointed towards the end of the hallway. 

"but let's take a peak out the windows carefully" I added and grabbed her and motioned her to get down as we got up against the other wall. We were crouching beside a window. 

We slowly peaked out.

Sky, looks normal, same timezone i think, I doubt we traveled in time. 

We rose up a bit more. Peaking out together. 

Looks like a small village.

Wooden wall going around it. 

Guards, heavily armed stationed around this building. 

Just a small fence going around though, bit of greenery and stuff to make it look nicer. 

Oooh. 

The red stripes on the black. 

The colors those cultists wore. 

The guards had em painted on their plate armor. 

Otherwise around this building, castle or whatever it was it looked like a village with small houses, humans walking around, talking, trading, yelling. 

Looked kinda normal. Like any boring village with a castle in the center. 

But it looked like other guards patrolled the village. Wearing normal armor and gear, painted in their colors though. 

Was this a church? A small settlement run by them? 

Kiwi let out a silent bark of displeasure. 

"I agree Kiwi.." I whispered. 

I scratched my arm a bit, something tickled.

Yuna yelled suddenly, I looked to the right and there were a robed mage, wearing the cultists colors throwing fireballs at us. 

My barrier had negated it I guess, must've been what tickled!

He looked very frustrated and confused as he mumbled something that probably was a swear. 

I aimed my hand at him, closed it slowly as I imagined his throat being squeezed.. 

Shadow magic flung out, the mage just got crushed in an instant causing an explosion of blood and gore. Wait, how did I cast shadow magic? 

Instead of just, choking him, I had… Squeezed his whole body...

Kinda like if you'd squeezed a small ant between your fingers, that was what happened. But with that mage, so it just. Went splaat… 

I looked surprised. I was surprised. 

Yuna looked surprised and horrified for a moment. 

"but.. I.. I.." I stuttered. 

"what the FUCK was THAT?!" Yuna exclaimed as she gestured with her arms in a very fitting way to her, what the fuck, expression she had on her face. 

"I just.. Meant to choke him.." I said, hiding my face with my arms. 

Oooh right, I've been gathering up magic energy this whole time, I thought while sighing as I realised. 

I still kept the gathering going though. 

"oh..," Yuna said. 

Still looking very, shocked, now pointing outside. A guard was talking to another and pointing up here. 

"Down." I pulled her down. We were crouched. "A guard probably heard something, I think we're good though since they weren't running. But stay down." she nodded at me. 

"Well. Still. What the.." she said and took a deep breath. 

"Sorry, I'll try to-" She interrupted me as she'd taken her deep breath. 

"FUCK..".. She, whisper-yelled. 

Gesturing fittingly again with her whole body. 

"heads up next time you try to do anything freaking shadow forcy kill kill stuff okaaay?" she said and got up real close to me, gazing very serious at me. 

"Yes, I was trying to say I'll try to warn you next time" I said as I leaned my head to the left and scratched the back of my head. She sighed. 

I sighed.

We looked at each other.

Then we just started laughing as quiet as we could for a moment. 

I guess more like giggling while covering our mouths, choking the sound. 

Kiwi had been on her cloud looking at us from above us the whole time, like she was analysing how a species of tigers behaves in their habitat or something. 

We dried of the blood from our faces with our hands. Got up against the right wall before we stood up. 

Walked past the middle door, 

not sure why but, Yuna wanted us to go check forward first. 

Anyway, and over the blood, gore pool to the end of the hallway. 

We got up close to the door and put our ears on it. 

"scchh" Yuna voiced with a finger in front of her mouth. I rolled my eyes at her. 

Then I facepalmed, I could just. I focused. On phasing out. 

Shadow energy flickered around me. Again, shadow? I'll think about it later.. 

I left my body, with my sight, traveling through the door then looked around the room.

Looked like a tower room, or, the top of a tower. 

There were a guard standing watching out a window, and two men talking sitting at a table. 

One man dressed in a robe, he looked familiar somehow.

The other guy at the table were dressed in brown leather armor with black clothes underneath.

Looked quite well made. 

The guard at the window were dressed in high quality leather armor too, coloured black and red. He also had a short sword that seemed enchanted, sheeted, hanging on his side. 

And he held a crossbow of some kind. 

He didn't seem to pay any attention to the guys at the table. 

"cast appraisal" I thought. 

The guard at the window were just a normal guard by the looks of it, tad higher level. 

Level 30. 

HP: 300

Sta: 120

Mp: 0

The guard at the table was the same-ish

Level: 34

HP: 380

STA: 100

Mp: 20

Ants, I could just squeeze them dead in an instant. 

But the guy in the robe, I couldn't see anything on him. 

---explanation time---

Everyone has a level, as you progress and get skills higher and magic higher. Your level is half of all your skills ranks put together. 

If you get real good with swords, you skill up. 

Which will give you experience, that adds on to your Level. Any skill up adds some to your level sort of. 

So your level is only a quick measure of the power you might have. With emphasis on the, might have. 

It could be a guy with tons and tons of different skills at a low level, which would add up to a high Level of course.

But people usually focus their skills. 

---back to it---

I heard them talking about.. Wait.. They said something.. 

I listened.. 

"did you succeed then Erin?" said the guy in armor sitting by the table, to the guy in the robe sitting next to him. 

"she was extracted smoothly, it shouldn't be…" the guy in the robe answered, then just stopped and held up a finger, like he gestured to be silent, while slowly turning his head as if he was looking for something

"what?" the other guy said.

"we got…" he said as he aimed his hand right at my sight. With his other hand he did a rapid slicing motion that sent out demonic energy towards the other two, who as he drew his fingers across them were cut in half. Blood splattered, quickly coloring his robe, the walls, table, floor and well, half the room.

What the hell, he offed his allies? And fuck, he sensed me I thought as he uttered the words, 

"Mass dispel"