After finding the first clue, the second and the third were far easier and soon we were following a trail through the forest that was almost as easy to travel as the main road. An hour of walking later and we found ourselves in front of a mound of earth with a gnarled tree gingerly resting a top of it. The roots of the tree spread down the earth and rooted together to form a natural guise to an entrance to a cave.
Zale stepped forward, but I quickly placed a hand on her shoulder stopping her. "From this point on, I think it'll be for the best if I take the lead." I spoke. For a while, she had been in the lead, as the forest was an elf's domain and would be stupid for not utilising that. However, from this point onwards, we might be greeted with traps, magical or otherwise.
Zale didn't seem to understand why I wanted to take the lead at first, but once I explained my reasonings, she agreed and let me enter first.
The roots that covered the entrance wasn't as stubborn as I was thinking they would be and easily moved to one side and let us through. Inside the cave proper, was as dark as you would expect the inside of a cave to be.
However, I was prepared for this and conjured five small spheres of light. One for behind us, one for the middle, one for just in front of us and two that I used to probe the way ahead. This amount of fine control would have given me a nosebleed and violent headache a month ago, so I was glad I hadn't slacked off in my training to achieve something that would have been impossible only recently.
The passage we found ourselves in was just enough to stand in and wide enough for an average wide person to comfortably move through, but that was it. I was glad that I didn't have a problem with small spaces.
Using my two free spheres, I ran them across the walls, floor and ceiling, five or so feet ahead of us, as we moved forward. So far, I hadn't found anything hidden, traps or otherwise, but I didn't have a habit of letting my guard down and I don't plan on starting that today.
Then we came to a curve in the cave, the light of the spheres didn't bend well around the cover so I couldn't make out what was ahead. However, I stopped in place, as I had sensed something off to my right.
"What is it? Is there a trap up ahead?" Zale asked, gripping the hilt of her sword, ever on guard.
I shook my head. "No, something more exciting." I replied, that made Zale's eyebrows furrow.
Reaching forward towards the cave wall, my fingers disappeared into the surface. "An illusionary wall." I grinned.
These types of enchantments were easy to dispel, you just need to disrupt the flow of mana. Doing so, with a flick of my wrist, the cave wall shimmered and vanished to reveal another passageway.
"Shall we see what was hidden?" I said, with a smirk as I headed down the passageway lights in tow.
After only a minute of walking, the smell of body waste and body odour assaulted my nostrils. It didn't take a genius to work out what we were going to find. Cages built into the cave's walls, thick bars made of hard stone sealed each cage, with no door to be seen.
Guiding my spheres inside the cages, I heard rustling and movement and mild yelps of surprise.
Zale rushed past me and headed straight to the bars, I wasn't far behind and soon saw what she did. Three forms, huddled together, each had long, blonde hair and pointed ears. From what I could tell, they were all elven women.
Turning around to the cage behind me, I saw two figures inside. One was lying on the floor and the other was slumped against the wall.
"Sena! Are you safe?" Zale spoke in a worried tone as she gripped the bars and tried to break them apart.
"Z-Zale is that you?" a woman's voice spoke back, choked with emotion.
"Yes, I have come to save you." Zale answered, in-between pulling on the bars.
The three elves started to weep at her words. "I knew, I knew that help would come." Another spoke.
Zale continued her futile attempt at freeing the elves for a few more moments before she turned to me. "Cain, can you do something about these bars?" she asked, almost pleaded.
I nodded, "Step back." I said and waited for the area to be cleared.
Reaching my hand towards the bars, I focused for a few seconds and soon, the bars became darker, almost black as the temperature dropped slightly. Then, shattered into dust that melted away, leaving behind a small puddle of water and cold breeze.
"How did you do that?" asked Zale, seemingly bewildered by my spell.
"Hmm? Oh, well I flash froze the moisture in the bars and then shattered the ice." I replied nonchalantly, having already gotten used to how flexible the elements truly were.
Zale looked at me with a weird expression for a moment, before remembering the newly freed elves.
Turning back towards the other cage with the two figures inside, I noticed that both of them were human men, but the one lying on the floor was already dead and the other one was close to greeting death himself.
Shattering the bars to this cage, I walked over to the man, who now I had a better look at him, looked to be in his early twenties.
"Father?" He muttered weakly.
"I am far too young to have a son your age." I joked, as I knelt down in front of him and handed him a waterskin, which he weakly took and began to drain it eagerly.
He looked up at me with more clearer eyes. "Who are you?" he asked, with some of wits returned.
"Just a helpful passerby." I replied as I stood up from my kneeling position in front of him.
"We were thinking of getting out of here. Want to come?" I offered with a nod in the direction of the elves and with my hand outstretched.
"…." He silently looked at me for a long moment, before smirking. "Sure, I was getting bored of this dank cave, anyway." He replied to my sarcasm with his own.
I help him to his feet and then left the cage. "All ready?" I asked Zale as she and the other elves made their way out of the cage themselves.
She nodded at me with a determined look on her face, the other elves behind her were a little hesitant when they saw me, but that was understandable.
"Good, take this and head for the exit." I said, as I conjured a sphere of ice, the size of a fist and infused it with mana, making it glow a bright blue colour. I heard gasps of astonishment as I did, but Zale just looked up at me confused.
"Where are you going?" she asked, taking the sphere without question.
"I plan to explore the other passageway we found. I need to find the cause of all of this and make sure that nobody can stumble across it." I explained, mixing lie and truth together. I just wanted the tablet myself, as I was curious about it.
"…." Zale stood there for a long moment, before nodding, conscious of the people that relied on her.
"We will wait at the entrance. But make sure that you hurry." Zale finally spoke. Her voice sounded commanding, but her face spoke otherwise.
I smiled and nodded, then followed behind them until the path diverges. I head down the unexplored passage, while the others headed towards the exit.
After a minute of walking, making sure there wasn't any traps along the way. I arrived at a large room with wooden furniture, like a makeshift study, or a cave with an old wooden table with papers strewed across it.
In the centre, was a magic circle carved into the dirt, and seemed to be stained with an old, dark liquid, which could only be blood, if the heavy iron smell was anything to go by. The room was thick and ladened by the same sickly repulsive mana that was stuck to Ula when I first met her. So, it was practically impossible for me to detect anything using mana sense.
So, my only clue was the papers on the table. However, as I arrived in front of the table, I saw the tablet I was looking for, unceremoniously placed on top of the surface.
Looking over it, it gave a horrible feeling just looking at it and made my skin crawl when I held it. 'Just as I thought, this was made by a demon.'
Demons were a race in the underworld that their only goal was to corrupt and destroy everything else. I guessed it while I was reading the notebook, but seeing it in the flesh, I could easily tell that it was demonic in nature. I have, explored the underworld myself, after all.
I quickly stored it away in my inventory and gave the room a onceover, in case I have missed any hidden loot. However, the tablet was the only thing of value in this room. Even the papers were only madman ramblings.
Taking only a few minutes to return to the entrance, I found Zale and the rest waiting, eager to be gone from this place. Zale looked at me with a look of relief before turning to direct the rest of the party to leave through the roots.
As we came out into, what was left of day light. We found that it was snowing, and the wind was blowing. Looking at the shivering elves and man, I smiled and began to hand out fur cloaks that I had bought just before we left yesterday.
For starters, we made our back to the main road before the light was completely gone from the skies. And because of our weak and malnourished party, it took us nearly double the time, or at least it would if the light didn't betray us.
"Let us make camp for the night." I said, looking up at the navy-coloured sky.
"I agree." Zale said, looking back at the tired looks on our party.
Like the night before, Zale prepared the fire, and I prepared the barrier, with a little modification, this time, I placed a temperature modification onto the it, just to keep things a little warmer. Though, it did mean that the strength of the barrier was a little weaker than before, but I doubted there was anything prowling in these woods, anyway.
For dinner, it was a soup, only with more meat and vegetables to supplement what the malnourished members were lacking. I wasn't sure how long it had been since they had last eaten, but as we would be travelling for a few days, I wanted to make sure they got as much fuel as possible.
"Sir, can I ask where you come from?" As I was sitting, looking at the stars through the canopy of trees, a young man called out to me.
"Call me Cain. And for the moment I'm from Novrad." I replied, without looking away from the stary sky.
"For the moment?" He asked.
"I'm an alchemist by trade and an adventurer by nature. It only makes sense that I travel about." The gentle rustling of the treetops was almost hypnotising.
"Then what about your magic? Where does that come from?" The inquisitive man asked.
"I was born with it. It's as much a part of me as my arms are." I answered as I watched the swirling mana of the barrier mixing with the stars and trees. The stars began to twinkle with vibrant colours and the treetops began to swish clockwise and anticlockwise. And the top of the dome began to ripple like water in a pond.
Before I knew it, the camp had become silent. Turning my gaze downwards from the skies, I saw burning figures where my party members used to be. Each of them burning or glowing a different colour. Somehow, I wasn't afraid, it was almost comforting.
Turning my gaze down towards my own body, I didn't see me, I saw purple energy flowing like water in an outline that resembled my body.
'Ah, this must be my mana.' I thought, lifting my head up once more. This time, other than the bright forms of my party members, I saw bright balls of light, each with different colours, all dancing through the air, like they were playing with each other.
I felt strangely happy while I watched, I almost wanted to get up and join them in their playing. But then I realised that I couldn't move my body. However, it wasn't worrying because somehow, I knew that I wasn't really here. I was in the in-between, the space between dimensions, also called the crossover or the fade. It was a place where spirits and the flow of mana reside.
'I have always wanted to visit here.' I smiled as I slowly looked around once more and took in everything I saw. It was only something I had read in books, and it always excited my adventurers spirit.
Suddenly, I felt a hand grab my arm. "Cain!" with a blink, I turned to look at the familiar voice that called out to me and saw Zale, looking at me with a look of concern.
"Yes?" I questioned, confused as to why she looked worried.
"Are you alright? Your eyes suddenly glowed purple and then you didn't respond for a while." She explained and I realised why she had that look.
"I'm fine. I was just distracted by something." I smiled, feeling a little sad as I missed the serene calm of the in-between.
"What distracted you? Should I be worried?" Zale questioned, seemingly ready to reach for her sword.
"Spirits." I replied. Zale furrowed her brow and the elves behind her began to whisper to themselves.
*Ping*
[Mana manipulation: level max]
[Mana mastery: level 1]
Having toiled for a long time, you have stumbled onto the path of mana mastery. You have a greater understanding about all things magical. The amount of mana required for spells have been greatly reduced.
[Mana sense: level max]
[Spirit eyes: level 1]
Your phenomenal senses have granted you the ability to see both seen and unseen. You have gained the ability to see into the in-between and unravel the secrets of mana. Also boosts resistance to mental and spirit attacks.
Even before I looked at the notification windows, I knew I had gained something as I felt more complete. Even my body felt connected to the world and something unseen. If I hadn't experienced it myself, I would have thought that I'd been drugged by someone.
But for the time being, I had to rest. We had to travel to the domain of the elves, and for that, I needed my wits about me.