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nWithin the frozen surroundings, dozens of young men and women stood, completely unable to move.

nNo wind could be felt, no moisture in the air.. No sound reached their ears.

nThe only one capable of feeling what was really happening, thanks to his spiritual senses, was Daniel.

nIn the air directly above the building, a large scale battle was currently taking place. Boulder-sized stone hands rose from the ground, thunderbolts crackled through the space, and the moisture in the air evaporated as sea-like waves of flames engulfed the surroundings.

nBetween the various spells, numerous sparks of various colors flashed in the air, disappearing right after.

nTo an ignorant passerby, this might have been looked like the most amazing of firework shows, but the truth, was that within the flames, thunderbolts and explosions.. Various entities were contending for Daniel.

nThe battle had gone on for various minutes, and none of the fighting parties was left unscathed.

nTo the Umelan kingdom's side, the old doctor had a scorch mark that covered the right side of her body, and in its middle, her dress had melted to her skin. She also had a deep gash on her left leg, from which fresh blood dripped copiously.

nThe twin assassins weren't in any better shape.

nThe white clothed one was missing his left arm up to the elbow. On the injury, was a dim gold colored light, which prevented healing essence from pushing through, and therefore making him unable to reattach the severed arm to his bloody stump.

nWhile instead, on the black clothed one's feet, two holes that went from one side to the other could be seen. Holes he had gained during his second attempt to take Daniel, but unfortunately for him, he felt two spikes stick up from the ground, and pierce both of his feet instead. On his chest, a superficial sword cut went from his left shoulder, down to his navel.

nThe one in the best shape, was the rank 8 spiritual cultivator. His clothes were slightly burnt, and blood dripped from the corners of his mouth and nose, but overall, aside from a square slap from a giant stone hand, he had avoided most of the heavy damages directed at him.

nTo the Zann's side, The robust man who wielded the greatsword, due to his low stage of cultivation, had ended up becoming one of the most injured within the field. He was currently trapped within a water bubble, inside which, metallic spikes were being constantly thrown at him. He parried all those he could, but many still managed to break through his defences, and pierce his body from side to side.

nThe refined clothes of the dignified middle aged man from the Zann's kingdom were in ruins. Many superficial cuts covered his body, and in at least half of them, golden light shone faintly.

nThe handle of the scythe of the old man in farmer's clothes had been cut in half, forcing him to a much closer ranged battle than before. A few patches of his skin had signs of ice burns, and a few cuts from which little blood dripped out could be seen, lightly staining his clothes.

nFinally, from the Karalis side, were the two old men. Both old men weren't in their best shape. That was caused by the face that, no matter how higher their combat experience and repertory of martial arts and spells was, their level of cultivation was still at the peak of the seventh rank, and limited them greatly.

nWhat had helped them in holding on, was the large amount of high level resources owned by the old alchemist. Yet, both of them were exhausted, and on each of their faces, worry was starting to form.

nThe old alchemist had recognized the spell which the middle aged man in refined clothes had casted on the surroundings. It was called 'Total Blockade', and was a mid level time spell.

nIt forced the calm and omnipresent time essence, to forcibly overlap any other types of essence. The effect, was the complete time freeze of a specific area.

nWithin the area blocked by this spell, time would stop, but what was the most shocking about this spell, was that it didn't allow for others to enter the area, as no matter how much time passed inside the area affected by the spell.. in the outside, not even a fraction of a millisecond would have passed.

nThe high number of enemies to focus on, was a huge strain for each of these powerful cultivators. That had caused the many attempts to get a hold of Daniel, to end up in failure.

nWhile fighting, various telepathic messages were sent from one expert or another. At the moment, the old alchemist was trying to pressure the invading parties into retreating

"We all know that 'Total Blockade' has a limited duration.. The moment the effect ends, every powerful cultivator within the city will rush here.. You better leave while you still have the time.

" He said while forming a whip made of lightning, and making it crack against the damaged scythe of the old man in farmer's clothes.

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"Not without the kid.

" Said the old thin man, while summoning six elemental columns. Each column was made of a different element. Fire, water, wood, wind, earth and metal all rose at the same time, each taking the shape of a massive snake and then dashing at the old master-at-arms.

nThe old master-at-arms charged his golden halberd with as much ki as he could, and threw six large slashes in the air. These slashes were so powerful that the spatial essence that came in contact with them, cracked slightly, forcing the appearance of each slash, to be slightly bend out of its original straight shape.

nThese slashes kept going, until each of them clashed against one of the elemental snakes. The moment they touched, huge explosions formed in the sky.

nFlaming splinters and hot metal fragments, started to rain from a large cloud of mist. But the moment they were about to fall on the helpless frozen young men and women, a thin veil of water interrupted their fall.

nThe old alchemist had managed to protect the people stuck in 'Total Blockade', but as he looked back at the old master-at-arms, he noticed that something was wrong.

nThe black clothed assassins had appeared behind him, and was slashing at his friend's back with one of his two daggers.

nHe immediately tried to shield him, but before he could manage to, the white clothed assassin appeared behind him, and pushed his knife through the steel plaque that he had promptly created with his spiritual essence. Unfortunately, the tip of the dagger still managed to perforate his skin.

nOn the other side, The old master-at-arms hadn't been any luckier.

nWhen the old alchemist looked at him, he noticed a deep gush that dripped with fresh blood on his back. The cut started from his right shoulder blade, and reached all the way down to his lower back.

nThe damage wasn't that severe, but what worried the old alchemist the most, was what he felt afterwards. He started to feel dizzy, the shallow injury on his back started to burn burning, and his eyes felt heavier and lost focus.

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"Poison..

" He muttered to himself. He rapidly searched his memory for every type of poison he knew, while with part of his ki, he explored his spatial ring in search of the matching antidote.

nIn the meantime, he looked at his old friend, and sent a telepathic message to him.

"Dizziness.. Feeble corrosion, and loss of consciousness?..

" He asked.

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"Yes.. Do you have the antidote?

" Replied the old master-at-arms with clear hope in his tone.

nWith sadness in his voice, and a dire smile on his face, the old alchemist looked at his old friend and said

"Actually, I was hoping you had it..

" He then turned serious once more, and added

"The positive thing.. Is that it doesn't seem to be lethal.. but..

"

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"But if this goes on the kid is lost.. I know

" Said the old master-at-arms, interrupting the old alchemist.

nThe two looked around, and noticed that the cultivators from the Umelan kingdom had stopped paying attention to them. Clearly they had been prepared to use this tactic on the two of them, and now that they had been successfully poisoned, they didn't consider them a threat anymore.

nTheir senses were still locked on the two old masters, but their focus was on the three cultivators from the Zann kingdom.

nThe old alchemist looked at the old master-at-arms, and after what looked like an internal battle, he asked

"Plan B?..

"

nWith an unwilling expression, the old master-at-arms looked at the frozen figure of Daniel, and after a few moments, he tightened his hold on the halberd, and nodded at the old alchemist.

nBright golden light started to shine from the edge of the halberd, and then, the old master-at-arms dashed in the direction of the thin old man from the Umelan kingdom.

nThe thin old man, almost completely uninjured, pushed his spiritual essence out of his body, and turned it into fire and earth essence. He then merged the two, and created a meteor which he then sent crashing against the charging old master-at-arms.

nBetween the old master-at-arms and the flaming meteor, the old alchemist created a large shield made out of ice, which instead of breaking down upon contact, was forced back against the old master-at-arms.

nThe injured master-at-arms, now hidden from the view of all the other cultivators, approached the frozen Daniel, but as he was about to reach him, he was forced to send an horizontal slash to shield himself against the scythe of the old man in farmer's clothes.

nIn a moment of distraction, the old alchemist took an artifact out of his ring, and crashed it against his own clothes.

nHis body suddenly started to shift through space, and in just a few moments, it disappeared and reappear right next to Daniel.

nThe unexpected move had caught everyone but the old master-at-arms by surprise, as there was no reason for the two old man to snatch Daniel away.

nEvery attack was put on hold, as everyone turned toward the old alchemist.

nThey could do nothing but observe as he created a metallic field around Daniel and himself. As the others view became obstructed, he rapidly took another artifact out of his ring, and said to Daniel

"Try not to die kiddo.. We still have many things to teach you..

"

nHe then broke the artifact.

nAfter the second artifact was broken, the space inside the metallic orb started to tremble. An horizontal cut formed in thin air, and after a few seconds, it split into two, and opened like a pair of eyelashes.

nBetween the two trembling lines, a whole new scenery, completely different from the city of Phyrri, could be seen.

nThe portal opened more and more, and now Daniel could see.. A long beach which faced a vast sea.

nThe sea's clear water reflected the bright sunlight over the flour-white sand, making it a spectacle to the eyes.

nIn the distance, to the left side of the portal, a few boats could be seen leaving a harbor and departing towards the large aquatic expanse.

nDaniel could only observe the scenery in complete silence, as he felt the old alchemist grab him by the arm, and threw him into the portal.

nThe very moment Daniel's body crossed the portal, he found himself able to move once again.

nThe first thing he did, was to turn around and watch through the now closing portal. He immediately noticed the old alchemist standing within the dark metallic orb, and as he was about to say something, a silver thread perforated the orb, went through the old alchemist's shoulder, and entered the portal.

nIt then wrapped around Daniel's waist, and tried to pull him back into it.

nBut before it managed to, the old alchemist grabbed the thread with his left hand, and started to inject his own spiritual essence into it, disturbing its owner's control.

nThe silver thread turned soft for a few seconds, and that was just enough to allow the portal to close, severing the connection to its owner completely.

nDaniel was shocked. All of a sudden, he had been sent into a spatial portal and to an unknown land.

nThe only words that came to his mind, were

"Great.. Now what?..

"

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