Edward was lying on top of a big stone rubble, gasping for air. Meanwhile, Eryas was sitting not far from Edward and was tending to his sword. He wipes off the blood from the blade of the sword using his jacket sleeve.
By now, his white T-shirt had gone entirely. He had taken it off to use it to wipe off the blood from the cuts from the fights and the black blood he was drenched in. He also tears part of it to make new makeshift bandages for his head.
The wound on his head was opened during the last fight, and the bandages were completely drenched in blood. Because of the blood loss, Eryas sometimes felt like he was lightheaded, but he couldn't afford to faint. Not yet; he needs to get out of here and ensure that Helena is fine.
Eryas uses his sword to help him stand up. He sheathed the sword and walked towards Edward.
"Can you move?"
Edward slowly opens up his eyes and glances at Eryas.
"My stamina has already recovered, but my mana is only half."
"Well, we've got to move. We will walk through the ruins."
Both of them steadily traverse through the ruins. Sometimes their path requires them to climb and sometimes to descend. It is not an easy path, but it was better to have walls protecting their backs rather than walking blindly open on the streets.
Their visions are limited, but the same cannot be said for their enemies.
To get out, they need to find the cause of it. But instead of wandering around aimlessly, they decide to lure the enemies onto them. Yes, it is dangerous, but this was the only way they could do it.
Luring the enemies towards them sounds risky, but that is why Eryas had prepared those traps to catch them off guard. The traps did bear their result, but the assault was actually too much for the two of them to handle.
But in the end, they are the ones who emerge victorious. Still, even though they survived, they were not left unscathed. Right now, they need to make a move. They need to change their locations and try to lure enemies into a new area.
The plan itself has many flaws, but they need to take action. One of the questions is whether the cause is really something alive. Well, darkness creatures are hardly considered alive.
However, the point is that it can also be a device or something that causes this unusual phenomenon. And the reason why Eryas was so sure that the cause is a living being is that, as of now, only humans are capable of building such an astounding technology.
Their only rivals are the dwarven themselves. But humans and dwarves have been on friendly terms for hundreds of years. They were also working on multiple projects together. And the enemies that they were fighting right now are darkness.
Mindless darkness creatures to add to that.
It's not that all darkness creatures are mindless; the higher-ranking ones have extremely high intellect. And that's why they manage to stand their ground against all living beings for thousands of years.
But Eryas himself has never met any high-ranking officer from that force. Even though darkness has its own intelligence, the technology of Sorcertech is still far away from their reach.
And it only means that they are still incapable of creating a device that can cause this dust prison.
As they move through the fallen buildings, debris, and rubble, Eryas's stomach suddenly growls loudly. He holds his belly with his hand. Hearing the rumbling, both of them stopped and looked directly at each other.
Edward is the first one to speak.
"Let's take a break."
"Yeah…"
Eryas sits on the ground with his back leaning against the wall of the ruin. Both of his hands hold the sword tightly. His head turned to the ground, resting on the sword pommel, while his eyes were tightly shut.
He is still conscious at the moment, but his mind has slowly been drifting away.
'Helena… where are you? You said that you love me. Then why would you goooo… well if you go, at least… at least… at least.....................…'
Eryas turned his body to the left, then to the right. Neither of them seems to help him feel comfortable, but luckily, there is a warm, soft bed under him with a thick blanket.
He pulls the blanket closer to his face.
'Nothing beats my bed and blanket. I wish I could sleep all day. Wait a minute! I got a date! Crap, I forgot I just got dumped. Wait… wasn't I supposed to…'
Eryas opened up his eyes instantaneously, while his body slightly jolted, causing him pain. Ignoring the pain, he slowly lifts his body, trying to sit correctly.
His head swiftly turned around, scanning his surroundings. It was a different place from where he and Edward were resting. And speaking of Edward, he didn't see him anywhere.
Right now, he was lying in a small room with a small campfire at its center. He notices that behind the campfire, there is a small opening that was supposed to be a door, but it appears to be slightly deformed. Under him, there is a makeshift bed made out of clothes.
As he tried to focus his vision beyond the doorframe, a figure suddenly emerged from it and walked into the room. He looked at the figure with shock, but then calmed down when he could see it clearly.
A woman with hazel eyes and black hair was holding a cup of water in her left hand, while her right hand held a piece of bread. Her eyes were wide with shock as she looked at Eryas, who had just woken up. She gasped.
"You're awake! Thank gods. I thought we might lose you."
The woman walked towards Eryas before she knelt beside him. She pushed the cup of water towards Eryas. He looked at her with a confused expression. But then he slowly reached for the cup and drank the water.
It appears that the cup was made from earth magic, and the water also comes from magic. For him, water that comes from magic tastes so weird. But he had no choice; his throat was dry as a desert.
He took the bread from the woman's hand and ate it immediately. Eryas accidentally choked on the bread as he devoured it.
Seeing that, the woman hovered her palm over the cup. A bluish magic circle with a white outline appears on her palm, and streams of water flow out from it. The water then fills up the cup. She offered it to Eryas.
He drinks it with caution.
"Thank you. Where am I? What happened to me? Who are you? Where is Edward?"
She chuckles a little, hearing Eryas' question.
"Relax, you're safe here. We are inside what is left of Greg's weapon workshop."
'Wait, Greg's weapon workshop? The famous blacksmith in Veloria?'
"My name is Clara, and I am a healer. I am the one who treated your wound."
By now, Eryas had just noticed that his head had been wrapped with a fresh bandage, even his body, covering the scratch and blood.
"I'm sorry, but my healing magic doesn't seem to be working on you. The best I can do is only treat your wounds normally."
"Don't worry about it. It has always been like that."
Clara looks at Eryas with curious eyes.
"But you know what, I learned that healing magic works by restoring and recirculating the patient's mana. Those mana then slowly heal the patient over time. In conclusion, the patient's own mana is the one who heals the body; the healer only acts as the catalyst for the healing process. Well, that's only true for the general healing abilities. But you know what I mean."
Eryas knows where this conversation is going, and he doesn't like it.
"So Eryas… did you not have any mana at all?"
He sighed.
"Well, technically… yes. Wait, how did you know my name?"
"Ohh, that goes back to your last question. Edward is safe with the other survivors."
'So something must have happened while I passed out.'
Clara steadied her breath. She fidgeted with her fingers, tapping them against each other. Her eyes turned up and down. Then she continued her words, with an interested reaction on her face.
"By the way, since when did you become manaless? How do you know you are manaless? How does it feel not having any mana? How is your everyday life? Is it tough to live without mana? Do your parents also not have mana? Do your senses different from others? "
Eryas looks at Clara, stunned. He opened his mouth to say something, but was immediately interrupted by Clara.
"Ohh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be annoying. I… usually get excited when it comes to magic."
Eryas's eyes widened. He felt something clicked hearing that. A smile came on his face.
"Right! Me too! Have you heard about the discovery of the ancient mage's diary? They said that in the past, humans' magical abilities were more impressive than those of current generations. Have you heard about the first human mage that were able to use all elemental magic? How crazy is that for us humans to be able to use all elements?"
"Yes! It really was a shocking discovery. Imagine the historian's face when they heard that. And the mage, it is quite an astounding feat, actually, for us humans. He would be standing equally with the other blessings of heirs."
Both of them looked at each other for a moment, pausing on their conversations. Silence fills the room, but then a burst of laughter goes out from both of them.
Clara wipes out the tears from her eyes.
"Wow, never thought I would meet another person who geeked out on magic like me."
"Well, when you are the odd one in this world, you tend to see the wonders in it. How about you? Usually, we humans don't really get that excited about magic. Well, being the weakest race of magic. People usually don't really care and only focus more on Sorcertech."
Hearing the question, Clara's expression turned a little sorrowful. Before she talked, she tried to force a smile.
"I grew up in a poor family. Eating twice a day is considered a blessing. But when I got my personal magic, healing, we started having a good life. Being a healer already puts you higher in ranks. So thank gods for this wonderful opportunity. If not for my personal magic, my family would still be starving now. So that's when I started getting interested in magic."
She looked at Eryas with hesitation but still ask the question.
"But you yourself must have it hard too, right? Living as a manaless person. Being different from everyone."
Eryas felt like he had just asked the wrong question. But he smiles to lessen the tension.
"Well, yeah, it's rough. Being the only person who is different from the rest of the world. But that's all in the past. It's not important anymore."
Eryas raise a thumbs up.
"Right now, let's focus on the present… and the future."
Hearing those words, Clara smiles back at Eryas while slowly rising.
"Let's go then, meet the others."
Eryas follows Clara walking through the half-collapsed building. His eyes wandered around, looking at the structure of the building. This building has not been destroyed as severely as others.
In fact, most of the room is still intact, and the only thing that was broken was just the glass. The roof also had only a few holes in it.
"Impressive, this building is still standing even with the explosion."
"Well, it's Greg's workshop. All parts of the building have been reinforced to withstand anything, even this kind of situation."
'Huh, it seems that he kind of anticipated this thing to happen.'
They have already passed through a few rooms. Some were full of weapons, and some had people in them sitting in fright. From what she said, when the explosion happens, these people are already inside the shop.
Due to the shop's structure, it managed to withstand the explosion, saving most of the people inside. Finally, they stop in front of a room where the door is still standing.
From the looks of it, this appears to be the only room where everything is still intact and relatively unbroken. Clara knocks on the door.
"It's Clara."
Then a voice resonated from within.
"Come in."
She was slowly pushing the doors with both of her hands. She appears to be struggling to open the door. The door is only the average size, but it seems pretty heavy for a standard door.
The materials used must be of high quality, which may be the reason why it still looks fine. She could not fully open it, so instead she just pushed until she managed to pass through.
Eryas follows her from behind, entering the room.