When the door opened, a heavy air rushed to Alek, causing him to turn away for a moment.
What greeted him inside was a dark and eerie atmosphere. It seems like there's no inside. Alek then slowly went inside, preparing a defense spell with his left hand and a dagger with his right.
'Creak'
A long creak reverberated from the inside and the dusty chandelier above him swayed, making a serene yet ominous sound.
"Why did the light guided me here?" Alek thought as he continues to survey the area. After surveying the whole house, he finally settled down and casted a light spell overhead. As it was already nighttime when he finished.
"I thought the Upper World doesn't have abandoned residences. I guess that's one thing remember." Alek took out his canteen consisting of a bread he reheated with magic and a big chunk of meat he also reheated.
He began eating his food and finished it without any disturbances. Just as he was preparing to turn in for the night, he felt a group of presence coming to the house he is staying.
'Bandits? No, there's too many if them. That's unlikely to happen in an urban place like this'
Alek stood and prepared to engage if necessary. He stood behind a pillar in the dark and waited for the intruders to come inside.
'Spread Senses'
Alek then enhanced his already keen senses with a support magic and observe his intruders.
'15......10 knights or of similar class, 4 magicians based on the mana density and 1 supoort/healer.'
This is obviously not your regular group of armed forces.
'Do they belong to a faction?'
Alek wondered, it's not too far off but the question now is what group do they belong?
'Hooooooo.....Where are you Althra when I need you.. Welp, time to go'
The door then slowly opened and the group of men creeped inside. They wore white, red and blue ribes and armor, which piqued Alek's interest. One thing stood out the most for Alek is the magician and support unit who wore white.
No matter how he looked at it, it's the Seekers uniform. And yet why do they have a hostile intentions for him?
'Something is up..'
Fearing that there's more to this than meets the eye. Alek decided to escape using a route he found while surveying.
'Beep Beep'
Just as Alek was about to move out. A mechanical beep suddenly went off, it was a device used by the intruders to track Alek.
'Shit! They know I'm moving!'
"There he is! Behind the pillar at 2'o clock! Get him!"
The knights, buffed by the supporter, rushed to Alek's position. Alek immediately dropped a smoke canister and a flash spell to the pursuing men and pushed through to his escape route. Barely dodging the magic attacks the magicians unleashed.
He was able to come out from the house and continued running towards the forest.
'If I wish to shake them off, then the forest up north is the perfect place for it'
Alek ran and laid down traps and delaying spells along possible routes the enemy will take. Unbeknownst to him, the enemy knew where exactly he was going.
"The little rat is going towards the Forest of the End." A burly man with a mace said casually.
"Hmmmmmm. The assault group failed to catch him even when he was marked." This time, a man in robes and wearing glasses spoke.
"Even if a tool does wonders, if the ones using it is incompetent, it will never yield results." A woman who had her eyes covered while also wearing a nun's uniform added.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's fine, he won't be escaping us. With that said, I'm pulling out from this operation. You guys do it yourself." The last one who spoke was a child who had a maniacal laughter.
"Where are you going?" asked the man in robes.
"Nowhere." and with that the child disappeared.
"Well I guess it's just us then. Let the hunt begin!"
-------------
"Haa Haaa Haaaa"
At this point, Alek is already almost out of energy after running for hours. He wasn't feeling any presences around him so he finally settled down.
Sitting down, he focused his internal energy to suck the mana around him. By doing this, he would be able to replenish his Mana and also his physical energy.
"Damn it. What's up with them? I don't think this is an entrance test since there are other factions involve."
If the people involved only consisted of members from the Seekers, it would make more sense.
"I have to move constantly. This is a new world and I have no allies other than Althra. I don't even trust the organization I joined now."
Alek stood up after fully replenishing himself and began to move. He doesn't know where he's going and only trusted his instincts to decide where he will go.
After 2 more hours of walking, Alek decided to stop and climb a tree to begin a survey around his perimeters. When he activated his Spread Sense, he noticed something is zooming from his west.
'An attack!'
In a split second, Alek jumped down and barely dodged a gigantic spear, coated in fire magic. He instantly rushed in zigzag motion to confuse the attacker to make room for escape.
'That attack is from a warrior or a magician at least 3 tiers higher than me. I'm going to lose if I face multiple enemies of the same caliber with the one who threw the spear'
"AHHHHHH! I MISSED!" shouted the burly man in clear dissatisfaction.
"We shouldn't waste anymore time hunting down this fellow and should do it ourselves. Have our men encircle the area our target is in. I'm already tired if this shit." The robe man also expressed his displeasure.
"Ara~ I just remembered too that I have a mass to attend later so let's finish this shall we?"
Both men nodded and instantly zoomed in towards Alek.
'Ssssseeewwwp'
The three of them arrived to Alek's position and saw the distraught Alek.
"Hello there." the robed man greeted.
"Who are you people?!" Alek barked back.
"HAHAHAHAHA! You really had to ask that first before asking us to spare your life."
'Three of them huh? Looks like I'm really going to die here. But if that's the case then I won't go down alone.'
"Hmmmm I like your face boy. Unfortunately things will end here." the nun said and instantly drawer her chain weapon and throwing it towards Alek.
Alek dodged it and buffed himself with Atk Inc. and Def Inc. He also created a shield and casted a debuff spell towards the three.
"Ohhh he's fast. No wonder he dodged my spear earlier." In just a blink of an eye the burly man threw a punch towards Alek who defended himself with the shield.
Unfortunately Alek was thrown a few meters away due to the sheer force of the impact. But his enemies didn't give him time to breathe as the robe man fired a high tier fire missile towards him.
Alek tried to dispel it but only managed to dispel a few of the missiles, prompting him to apply Magic Resistance Buff to himself.
'The boy has a very high talent in combat. For him to do that in just a few seconds without panicking is phenomenal.' the robed man thought.
"Haaa Haaaa Haaaa." although Alek did all of that. The difference in power and skill still did a lot of damage to him. His skin is burned and ribs broken form the punch earlier.
"Ara~ poor child. To be in this state must be hard for him. Let's ease his pain comrades and send him to the afterlife." As the nun spoke, her chains slowly entangled Alek, rendering him almost totally unable to move for a last ditch effort to bring one of them down together with him.
"Don't blame us kid. We're just doing our job."
"But as an act of kindness on the moment of your death, we will let you say your last words."
Alek didn't speak for a moment and only stared down to the ground. They waited for Alek to speak until the burly man got annoyed.
"Damn it kid. If that's the case then we'll just kill you."
When the 3 if them was about to send their own respective attacks. Alek finally spoke.
"I............ I'm seeing....you guys.....in hell.."
"!"
"Damn it run!"
They noticed Alek's intention but it was too late. Alek rigged the device given to him by Liora to explode. He noticed that it possessed an absurd amount of mana, and all of that mana is capable of destroying a barren world.
Light filled the night sky and shockwaves shook the forest and the nearby towns and cities.The big players behind this hunt all looked towards the place of explosion. Many of them looked happy except for one woman.
"I'm really sorry Alek..... Even if you'll survive now...you will soon face your fate. And I can't do anything to help except making the gears of fate move accordingly in your favor in the long run."
That night, 3 high rank officials from 3 different factions lost their lives. Others believed Alek lost his life too. But fate has other plans for him.
Immaterium· Dec 17, 2021
