n

n

nDeeper and deeper into the forest Emery and Silva ran. The rays of the golden moon barely peeked through the small gaps of the dense forest. Emery barely kept up with Silva and when another boom that shook the earth, Emery tripped, falling on the ground with a loud thud.

nSilva turned around and tried to pick up Emery. She said hastily,

"Do you want to die? Get up!

"

nEmery's mind was blank. He couldn't think properly even though he could hear a woman's muffled voice asking him to stand up. After having his face hit the ground though, slowly things were becoming clearer. First the images of the magi fighting against a pair of a hulking monster and a man in red armor. After that, Fatty and Topper. Emery's chest tightened as a burning liquid rose to his throat, making him vomit.

nHis ears now finally registered the things happening around him. He wiped his moist eyes as he tried to at least sit up. Then he noticed the sound of explosions, ground still trembling, and the occasional flashes of lights echoing in the sky behind them, letting them know that they were still far from the word safe.

nEmery shook his head at Silva while he tried to catch his breath. Every bit of his body; arms, chest, back, legs, feet, were all issuing a sting that made him feel hot as if there was a volcano ready to erupt inside him. He gritted his teeth, his heart pumping blood as hard as it could to all parts of his body, which felt like it was about to explode. He forced himself calm, looking at Silva and said,

"Run… run without me. There is no reason for you to wait for me.

"

nSilva appeared shocked at Emery, speechless she was before sighing.

"You really are hopeless.

"

nShe faced away from Emery, took one step, before going back to him and checked his pulse.

nEmery sweated profusely and tried to pull back his arm but she wouldn't let go.

"What are you doing?

"

nAs she checked, her brows furrowed. Silva said,

"Stop struggling. You shouldn't fight it. Embrace it and let go.

"

nIt was now Emery's turn to make a frown, whatever she said didn't make sense to him. Embrace that he was feeling hot all up to his bones, embrace the stinging pain and let it go? Emery opened his mouth to ask but another familiar voice rang out and he looked over.

n

n

"What are you doing!

"

nEmery forgot what he was about to ask and forced his body to stand up with his wobbly legs. He rushed toward the direction of the voice, not minding the pain traveling throughout his whole body with each step he took.

nShe followed him, however, before sighing and taking out her sword.

"We really shouldn't waste time with this. If you are feeling fine, then let's just keep running from this place.

"

n

"You don't have to follow me if you don't want to. I'm not forcing you to come with me, I can go alone,

" Emery said before clenching his jaws.

n

"Why do you care about others when you can't even help yourself? There's no benefit with being a busybody,

" Silva said with a tint of disdain in her voice.

nEmery kept his mouth shut and focused on his objective. He started to run and after a hundred steps or so, he finally saw Mags and Cole cornering a bloodied man fire sitting on the ground.

nThat man had his clothes ripped with blood stains on whatever was left of his shirt. His hair was disheveled, looking like someone who had just stepped off a battlefield.

nThe same as what Emery had seen from the man in red armor, this man on the ground had a distinguishing characteristic that clearly told he wasn't a human like them. Apart from the pale skin, free of freckles and unique gleaming eyes, this man's pointed ears were almost twice the size of a human's.

n

"Cole… what's happening here?

" Emery said, his voice's tone low.

n

nCole had his spear on top of the bloodied man's neck while Mags stood behind the man with her staff readied. He turned to see Emery but didn't even try to explain himself.

"Dispel your magic, Mags.

"

n

"This elf is dying. We should report him to the higher-ups and let the one in charge decide on what to do with him,

" Mags said, making her staff glow brighter.

n

"By killing it we can get the contents of its ring. Now stand down and let me finish this filthy thing,

" Cole said, greed apparent in his eyes.

n

"Elf?

" Emery said unwittingly.

n

"You don't even know what an elf is? You're worse than I thought,

" exclaimed Silva before placing her sword in front of her.

"Elves are humanity's mortal enemies. This is one of the reasons why the academy was founded.

"

nEmery finally understood why Cole was acting like this over the bloodied elf. However, Emery wouldn't forget what Cole had done to him and Silva. Still that didn't stop Emery from warning them of what they had just experienced.

"Much as I hate you for leaving me and Silva to die, we shouldn't waste time and get out of here. Fatty and Topper had been killed by a man who looks like him, so I am sure he is linked to whatever is happening now.

"

nCole's lips curled downwards. His face got darker as he pulled back his spear seemingly ready to strike with more force.

"You heard him, Mags. I'll kill this wretched thing.

"

nThe injured elf suddenly coughed blood and hunched over. He opened his eyes and said,

"Little human kids, you all should leave before they come for me.

"

nCole shouted and thrusted his spear toward the elf's skull but a simple wave of the elf's hand warded off Cole's spear to the side.

n

n

"Too slow, kid,

" the elf said before suddenly vanishing and appearing behind Cole. He touched Cole's shoulder and said with a knowing look,

"But hmm… your physique is not half-bad and there's an ounce of talent. I guess you're acceptable.

"

nAfter saying that, a light flashed not far from them. It looked like the same teleportation portal but the figure that came out was different from what they had thought.

n