Without waiting for someone to attack, Dykur instinctively created his shockwave spear attacks. One in each direction with the group as its origin.
The cloud instantly parted revealing a murder of crows. Naph lowered his daggers just a little bit. 'Uh, that's like normal?' But before he could ask as to how those are caestre.
He was shown the truth.
The same murder of crows multiplied.
"Where-where did the sudden increase come from?!" Naph was surprised.
Ovier looked down to him, "That's the least bit of concern." Raising his head up again, "What's more important is how none of them are wet, and how is a crow even up this high?"
"Eh!" Naph stunned asked, "Why they would not be this high? We are not way past 30 kilometers, let alone the highest mountain of Tarna!"
He believed they were not since he had once climbed more than half the height of Mount Lenista while running from a nation to the Confederation of Tarna. The memories of dead bodies of soldiers sent after him dead due to decrease in breathable air, it came instantly.
"We are way past 30 kilometers." Dykur grabbed on near his spear's blade and began rubbing a wristband on his right hand on it, sharpening the blade crudely.
"Since entering this cloud we ascended from around 20 kilometers to now in forties or so. You couldn't tell because of the poor visibility you have being normal human." Dykur peeked at Naph.
Naph took it bluntly. He wasn't prideful of having the best senses but he was sure he was near average in being a bounty hunter. And according to him that required senses.
"Well, sorry I didn't know you as well were having a battle ongoing in the place you call home." His quip came. Dykur paused for an instant then resumed sharpening.
The murder of crows had encompassed them from all sides. Yet, the six acting as guard did not stop from ascending upward.
Ovier throughout all the discussion had been staring at a single direction. The origin where all seven of them spotted the murder of crows.
Naph still did not even feel he was in danger. Yes, it felt strange but no fear or panic even as a suppressed emotion showed within.
"It..or the murder of crows does not exist." Ovier stated. "It isn't also an illusion. That's the least bit I figured out." He turned his head down and looked at every single one of the group.
"Hmm, none of you are showing even suppressed fear or panic. That's odd."
Cryst catching on that, "Let's just try to leave from here. We don't have time or strength to face what this is." She kept her distance from the nearest crow that stared at her without ever blinking.
Ovier responded affirmatively with a nod and he pulled everyone upwards with an unseen force.
'So he is the one pulling or keeping us together?' Naph noted. "Could there be a better term?" He whispered under a sigh.
Svnyo tilted her head toward Naph and asked, "What was that, Naph?"
"Umm, nothing. Just wondering aloud something." He smirked an instant, the next his face was all serious.
Svnyo straightened as she bobbed her head to her left. 'Fine, I could have answered that for you.'
The group of seven rose through the increasing amount of the crows. None had idea about what may happen if one touched them or they touched it.
Being wet at the same time wasn't helping either, Naph's neon jacket hugged him tightly as his pockets contents outlines were drawn on.
A skirmish was waiting to happen. Their escape in any direction was rapidly being filled with crows after crows.
Ovier stopped.
"We-"
"I know," Cryst assured. Then she spoke under a breath a chant. Both her hands were right after holding blue irregular staffs as that's what Naph understood.
She did not stay still. Her hand was ready to have the staffs before her chant was over. It did not even take more than six countable seconds from the exchange between Ovier and Cryst to her having thrown the first staff at a group of crows.
Blue staff zipped into the depths of the mass of crows. Noticing nothing happening, there was a slight change in Cryst.
She said silently, "Be."
And an explosion of storm of lightning be.
Naph's heart beat increased as the feeling of being watched reached an ever high. Every spot of his skin, hair and insides felt it. Something even more fragile about him was being gazed at.
Before he could sound an alarm, he saw it. Every crows' eyes were lit red. Unblinking.
The skirmish had begun.
Their only option? To escape.
Ovier instantly siphoned his invisible enveloping force to move faster upwards as Cryst began smiting crows after crows with blue lightning staffs. Each explosion causing shockwaves after shockwaves.
However none of the crows ever moved. Like to them the storms of lightning arcs did not even exist. They kept staring and multiplying.
Ovier called out, "Cryst! Upwards."
She threw staff after staff up as they exploded Ovier took the group through the cleared path out of the cloud.
The cloud yet extended upward beyond what Cryst had cleared.
That's when Dykur began throwing his shockwave spears in the same direction. Every shockwave slammed into the invisible envelopment yet it did not penetrate inside keeping everyone safe from suffering damaged eardrums.
Litto's staff had already broken into pieces and flew in between the members of the group and near the membrane of the envelopment.
"I…I feel…being….watched." Naph said through extremely gritted teeth. His entire body was screaming to him to run as well as his body had become stiff beyond reason.
The face Cryst made encompassed the indescribable fear she had felt only once before.
"Its…It is-" Words stuck in her mouth but Nert cut in.
"We have to escape! No matter what class it is!"
She reined it in. Her fear was just right inside her skin waiting to leak out.
None of the crows moved yet. Every single one had red glowing eye fixed at one target. Anaphol.