Arc#1 Chapter 9: Fight and Flight
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*Reminder to self: Write a LONGER Author Note. Make it 100 paragraphs long.*

This novel just hit 100 readers yesterday!

That's great. It took 3 months for my first novel to get that many followers(in Royalroad), so it makes me stoked that I achieved that in just a couple of weeks of posting!

A BIG "thank you" to everyone who added my hot garbage to their reading lists!

I love you all, and I wish you get isekaid when to your novel of choice when you die.

Just don't let it be a Dark Fantasy one. lol

"Wow, it actually looks exactly like how I envisioned it." Zayne thought out loud as he scrutinized the hellhound pursuing them, a hint of wonder in his voice. Even though he'd drawn an illustration for it, seeing it in real life was an amazing experience for any author.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, the hellhound's three crimson eyes glared at him fiercely. Its jet-black fur with a streak of red that traveled down its spine, was blown back by the wind as it rushed after them. The ground shook as its muscular limbs trampled across the soil, scattering dirt everywhere.

Suddenly, it sprang upward, its maw — filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth — was primed and ready to swallow the fleeing couple whole. Fortunately, it was a couple of meters short, paying dearly for the failed attempt.

The gap between them widened by more than a few dozen meters, causing Zayne and Luna to heave a sigh of relief.

"Stop gawking at it and think of something!" Luna exclaimed as she concentrated on flying. Even though she'd never get physically tired from it, it caused quite a bit of a strain on her mind. She didn't think she'd be able to keep it up for too long. Sending glares toward the man in her arms was all she could manage for the last two minutes, but she finally lost her patience now.

"Relax. I was just kidding earlier. I've got a plan," he replied, without a hint of apprehension.

"Why haven't you done it yet!?" she gnashed her teeth, her eyes turning red. "I swear to god I'll throw you down there!"

Zayne scratched his head at her words.

'Should I tell her that it's because I'm not confident in my aim?'

In any case, they couldn't continue the chase any longer. Luna would get mentally tired eventually, and that stupid mutt wasn't doing them the favor of being quiet. If he took too long, more hellhounds might arrive in pursuit.

'Right, let's see... which one should I use?'

It only took a moment for Zayne to decide. He pointed a finger towards the hound, waiting for it to leap forward again.

"RAAAH!"

The hellhound seemed to think that it was being provoked. A mere human? Provoking him? Angered, the hellhound put power into its hindlegs and bounded upwards, faster and higher than ever before.

'Now!'

Zayne imagined lightning manifesting at the tip of his finger, then streaking toward the demonic beast. Once he felt like he'd visualized it well enough, he uttered a word of power.

<< Ki Zo Rath >>

Bzzzt!

Blue Lightning crackled as it gathered on the tip of his finger, shooting in the direction he was pointing at with speed that could only be surpassed by sound and light.

"Hii—!" The hellhound whined in fear during the split second before the bolt of lightning... passed by, leaving the demonic beast completely unharmed.

"Shit!"

"Woah!" Luna swerved to the right to avoid the hellhound's claws. She looked toward Zayne in amazement. "Was that magic? I don't know any. I'm so jealous!"

"Yeah! Haha." Zayne chuckled. "At the start, you need to know words of power to cast magic. When you've practiced enough you can cast without them."

Zayne sniffed with pride. Words of Power were state-kept secrets in the world of Garottia. From time to time, a nation would find relics that had ancient symbols carved into them. Symbols from an archaic empire that fell hundreds of millennia ago. Although translating them was insanely difficult, the profit was immense, for they could now add another Word of Power to their country's arsenal of spells.

Imagining the correct phenomenon and saying the word (even in their heads) would let even a baby cast magic, as long as they had enough mana. This was precisely why ruling bodies couldn't let them be known to the general public.

But as the author and creator of the words, Zayne naturally knew every single one. Despite the situation, he couldn't help wanting to boast about it to his favorite person.

"Wow, that's cool."

"Haha! Well..." Zayne scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

"Why don't you try actually hitting them next time?" Luna sneered.

"..." Zayne visibly deflated before turning away in a huff. "Sh-shut up..."

Suddenly becoming curious, he took a second to check how much mana he still had.

 

MP: 100%

 

'Fuck. I forgot my mana regens ridiculously fast, so I gotta check in real-time.'

Zayne prepared another spell. Since there was a demon volunteering to be a practice dummy, he would practice a bunch of different magics. Because the hellhound had fire resistance, he couldn't very well use a fire spell.

'Let's do an earth spell then.'

He imagined a tiny pebble shooting forward at the speed of a bullet. Zayne — taking a page out of a certain Jobless Reincarnator — added a little spin to improve its accuracy and penetrative power.

<< Toh Vhak >>

Perhaps because of Zayne's various add-ons, the spell demanded more mana from him than the previous spell. A marble-sized pebble rapidly spun and then shot forward, turning into a blur as it buried itself into the hellhound's right eye.

'I hit it! All that playtime in Valo paid off! I didn't grind to Ascendant for nothing!'

Reveling in his success while listening to the hellhounds yelps of pain, he checked his mana.

 

MP: 99%

 

Zayne was just in time too, since his mana went back to full just after he checked.

'So that only took one percent of my MP? Nice.'

One of his [Demon Spark]'s — the object that was placed inside Grant's body by the bastards in the hidden facility — effects was regenerating one percent of his max mana every second, which meant he could keep shooting low-cost spells indefinitely!

Zayne sent a look toward Luna. She sensed the pride in his gaze and couldn't help but smirk in exasperation.

"What? Do you want head pats?" since her hands were occuppied, she craned her head and gave his forehead a light peck. "Good job?"

"Why is it a question? Whatever." Zayne sighed as he wiped the spot she'd kissed, then returned his attention to the hellhound. "It's not dead? What the fuck..."

"RAAAAAAAH!" The hellhound roared ferociously as it kept on chasing after them. Even with its right eye maimed beyond recognition, it still had two left, which it put to good use by glaring at them with palpable hatred.

Just as Zayne was about to cast another spell, he saw the hellhound's mouth open wide, fire bursting from its throat.

'Oh shit!'

Zayne hastily envisioned a bubble of mana wrapping around him and Luna, following them as they moved.

<< Bahl Sagal >>

The barrier formed just in time to protect them against the orb of fire that the hellhound lobbed at them.

Boom!

"Ah!"

An explosion followed right after the collision making Luna scream in shock.

"Keep going! I got this!" Zayne cried out, trying his best to reassure her.

 

MP: 97%

 

'Pfft. That only took three percent? That's nothing! Besides, that bastard only had sixty percent MP left, last time I checked. I remember that it cost twenty percent for every one of those, so this mutt only has two more shots. It's impossible to lose! Well, except if he somehow successfully pounces on us...'

Of course, he wouldn't let that happen.

Zayne imagined a shard of ice, spinning rapidly as it shot toward the hound's middle eye. Then he imagined another shard of ice. And another. And another. And just because he could, he added another one.

<< Ah Yo Lha >>

Five ice shards streaked outwards, aiming at the hellhound.

Since the hellhound hadn't pounced yet, its feet were still on the ground, giving it greater ability to evade, which it tried to do.

Unfortunately for the demonic beast, the five shards were too much to avoid. Two of them found their mark on its body, one burying itself into the hound's shoulder, and the other on its back.

"Wait wait wait. Luna, stop for a while." Zayne called out.

"Why?" Luna asked with a confused expression, but she still obediently stopped.

"Look, it's injured." he pointed at the hound. "This is the perfect time to finish it off. It won't be able to jump well enough with those injuries."

Picturing a bolt of lightning, Zayne tried to redeem his first spell by using it again. He tried to imagine a bigger, much stronger bolt of lightning this time.

'Let's see... maybe use ten percent?'

<< Ki Zo Rath >>

BRZZT!

Zayne's eardrums almost burst from the roaring sound caused by the lightning bolt as it tore through the air, crashing against the hound.

"HYIII!!" The hellhound squealed as electricity coursed through its entire body, cooking its insides to a juicy crisp. The nerves in its body refused to respond to the creature's commands, but perhaps because of its demonic origins, the trace amounts of magic left in its body allowed it to make one last act before it died.

Fire gathered in its mouth, burning brighter than the last, as if the creature was using its life for one last hurrah. The miniature sun soared toward Zayne and Luna, causing beads of sweat to stain their clothes and form on their foreheads. It was especially bad for the other half of the couple that didn't like heat at all. His sorry excuse for a shirt was soaked as perspiration flowed down his chin like an open faucet.

Despite this, his lips curled into an arrogant smirk.

"Hah!" Zayne scoffed. He would just block it like the last one. "You stupid mutt, just try to break through this!"

<< Bahl Sagal >>

A membrane of misty light formed around them, shielding them from the hound's parting shot.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion two times louder than the last one echoed throughout the forest.

Even though his barrier managed to defend against the demon's final attack, Zayne's smile shattered as his face fell.

'Shit!'

"Fly, Luna! Now!" Zayne exclaimed, the anxiety on his face was clear for all to see.

"Got it!" With her lover still in her arms, Lune resumed flight.

"That motherfucker got us!" Zayne grit his teeth in frustration. "A quarter of the demons in the forest must've heard that!"

The demons entered the mortal plane through the rogue portal in the middle of the forest, so the explosion probably hadn't been heard by that many demons, since they'd traveled quite a distance already. However, it would still be a pain in the ass to deal with those that do come.

Despite his rapid mana regeneration because of the [Demon Spark] in his body, they would be absolutely helpless against a pack of around ten or so hounds. If there were a few imps? They were even more fucked.

'Think, Zayne. This wasn't in the book, so you gotta make something up...'

He racked his mind for a solution. Imps were probably somewhere above them. Although they weren't fast flyers, if they could maintain vision of where Zayne and Luna were, they could keep on sending demons after them. Luna wouldn't be able to continue flying for too long, so when they had to rest, they'd be swamped by hounds and imps.

Most of whom had higher stats and numbers than the two of them.

No matter how much swifter Luna and Zayne were, they wouldn't be able to escape the vision of imps if the fuckers flew high up into the sky. Unfortunately, the couple wouldn't be able to do the same. Seeing as their levitation prevented them from separating from the ground too much.

The only advantage they had was the roof of leaves above their heads. As long as they stayed in the forest, there would be no problems,.

Except for the staying-in-the-forest part.

'Wait, that's it!'

"Luna, go over there!" Zayne pointed toward the small hill. "I have a plan!"

"Alright! This better work!" Luna cried out as she flew towards the lump of soil. "I don't wanna die unmarried!"

'Is that really what you're worried about!?'

Zayne couldn't help but chuckle despite the current situation. Once they were close enough to the ground, Zayne jumped out of Luna's arms and cast a spell. He envisioned an opening in the face of the hill, forming a small tunnel that led underground.

<< Lha Goo San >>

Zayne felt his mana draining out of him. The mana pool kept in the depths of his soul was akin to a glass of water with a hole at the bottom, as his power flowed out to power his magic.

'Goddammit if we can't travel by land or by air, we'll get out of this place through the ground!'

Zayne bit his lip, eyes filled with determination.

Announcement
Chapter Word Count: 2137
Last Edited: Aug 24, 2022

I hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger! chapter!

I finally got to the point where the magic system is revealed!

Zayne — GMAG's author — pretty much made up the words for the magic system of his novel...

But I — Lire, the true author — actually based the words on my country's language!

For example, the first spell he used was: << Ki Zo Rath >>

It's based on the word "Kidlat", which basically means Lightning/Thunder in English.

This is not because I'm too lazy to make up new words okay? Got it? Good.

As for the words, some words from my language don't really sound mystical and whatnot. (to me at least.)

Which is why — for some words — I jumble the syllables around, maybe add a letter or two, and use homophones for certain syllables...

Basically, it's kinda like I made a new word! I'm amazing! Praise me! (I'm joking, don't do that.)

Well, that's it for my author note this time around. Again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter somewhat.

Stick around why doncha! See you in the next chapter!

(シ_ _)シ

Thank you to eil40 for the review!

It warms my heart that you even took the effort to run my novel through a translator just to read it. Though it kinda makes me feel weird since most of my effort in editing is kinda pointless to you! lol

Anyway, I dunno how my novel appears to someone using google translate, but I hope you stick around till the end! Or until my end...

Another thank you to Ast3ral!

I don't know if you felt pressured to do it, (If you did, I really was just joking...) but thank you for the review as well!

That part about how I'm gonna go off-the-charts kinda made me tingly, dude. My innate insecurity is telling me that you're exaggerating, but thank you for thinking that way anyway!

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