They struck as one while my sight was robbed of me as the girl pointed at me however I didn’t panic and felt the flow of wind and while keeping their positions in my mind and moved to push them in each other's path, first the spear into fire then the stone from spear into ice, I kept my flow as I felt the darkness covering my eyes to recede and then jumped with all my strength towards the girl such that the ground cracked yet the spearman still got in my way by using some necklace that made them change positions with each other so I used the moment of disorientation that would come with such abrupt shifts and stuck straight towards where the heart would be and skewered him straight through yet he still stood so I punched his liver and kicked him off yet he still lived while I was shocked I kept moving.

The others appeared enraged and the attacks they sent my way felt stronger while I was regretful that I was not strong enough to subdue them without killing so I decided to kill the others and use the girl to gather information.

Unfortunately, she started to use illusions rather than hinder me which made me take a few hits such that the clothing I had made was ruined so I gave up trying to dodge everything given a single split-second mistake was all it took and then the swordsman came forward slowly with his blade glowing so I fainted with my spear only for it to cut cleanly as if was made of paper.

Yet I didn’t let that stop my momentum and spun into a high kick while grabbing the spearhead with one of my hands which threw him back while I adjusted my grip and strafed while heading to her even if she could catch me off guard it wasn’t like she could hide from me I had too many senses for that but maybe that was also the reason I could be tricked in the heat of the moment. I could only pay so much attention to them.

I could see the fear in her eyes as I kept moving towards her while I was really just using her to get to the others easier as she was the slowest of the bunch while also being the most useful given it other than her only the spear guy who could slow me down. 

The swordsman came running from behind sword still glowing but leveraging the ice that came my way I used the spearhead to direct it straight to him and as he cut it I stuck with the staff to destroy his footwork and pulled him to me using the spike at the bottom and placed my foot on the flat of his blade as I stuck his head with a kick as hard as I could in the moment causing the neck to snap and turned to the others.

 I could feel their fear even if I did not know any of the things they were saying, maybe I could subdue the others as well they didn’t threaten me much even if they were annoying maybe they could have won by attrition but they were too slow yet as walked towards to them they did not attack and where looking behind me so I turned around only to see an old man sitting next to a campfire calmly sipping tea in a clearing that was not there before as he gestured for me to sit in front of him while the swordsman was being healed in real-time as I saw his body being restored by a green glow that pulled him to sit next to the elder as well while his face was filled with shame a moment after he came to consciousness.

I did a double-take at that while the others breathed a sigh of relief. Most of my clothing was damaged so it felt awkward but the same green energy restored them for me as I sat down in front of them while the other three stood behind the elder. I kept my grip firm on my spear even as I tried to relax and have it lean against my shoulder and waited for them to speak.

“You know a language not of our world yet one we know of due to the souls that came many millennia ago who more often than not lacking in rationality so do forgive the need for battle, It is the simplest and easiest way to tell a lot about a person.”

The elder spoke in chinese slowly giving the sense that it was not something used commonly and was being considerate towards me given that he didn’t use the oppressive manner of speaking that can convey intent.

Looking towards them I tried to think how to best move forward but in the end, I chose to be honest given that I didn’t know what was happening to me.

“There is nothing to forgive. I am a stranger and all I know is that my presence is a cause for fear to those that can sense it, that you are willing to talk is something that I am thankful for.”

As I spoke I noticed that none other than the elder understood what I was saying so they kept exchanging glances while he only raised his brows as he looked at me.

“You spoke of seeking aid and while I see that you have fallen unto the path of becoming a lost mage this is something only another mage can help with back from the path you came from.”

I took a breath to center myself because even if I knew I needed help it felt hard to do so especially after so long

“It's a long story. If you have time and are willing to listen I would happily share it.”

He spoke something to the others thus the others sat as well and gestured for me to continue

So I began to tell him the tale of how I ended up here from a dying world to a world filled with life where breath alone leads me closer to death.