The nightly bustle in Rosa didn't fall behind the day, various denizens of the outer sector proceeded out of their homes to enjoy the nightlife. Many were also retreating into their homes after a long night. The rest were the Lion's guard, protectors of Rosa.
Various sorcerers patrolled through the city's streets; some even moved across the rooftops. However, Andrew seemed to have a good idea of their patterns and easily led the brothers through the city.
Sometimes they quickly leapt off the rooftops and down into an alley to avoid unwanted gazes, even retreating into the sewers for a few moments.
These were Xaryus and Zadius' first steps in the city of Rosa, or any city for that matter.
Eventually, they snuck their way in the back of a carriage and stole a ride out of the city. Xaryus was worried that Rosaly would suddenly cause a ruckus at the city's gate, but no such thing happened. Her calmness in the situation was unnerving to say the least.
The rest of the journey after escaping the city was much smoother. They made their way northwards along the northern road that led to the next city, Castillan.
Keeping to the dense forests and swiftly moving across the expansive plains. The amount of mana beasts that would've posed a threat had long been dealt with, and with their cores almost fully saturated at the inept rank, low grade mana beasts posed no threat
Their days consisted of hunting small game when needed, avoiding the occasional aether beast and setting up camp to rest. For as long as they had travelled, Rosaly hadn't said a single word. Her gaze remained calm and composed.
"I'm surprised to say the least, Ms. Lionheart… to think you would keep up your unbothered facade for so long…" Andrew said to Rosaly as they sat across from each other, separated by a campfire.
"But you can't fool me, I can feel your heart racing… You're scared, aren't you?" Andrew questioned.
Rosaly's expression didn't change but Andrew could tell from her body language, and his spite allowed him to sense subtle vibrations around him.
She was scared out of her mind.
Chuckling underneath his mask, Andrew got tired of teasing Rosaly and decided to go to bed.
She was bound to a large boulder near the campfire to prevent any attempts at escaping. Rosaly glanced at the two smaller figures wearing porcelain masks staring at her.
Feeling too uncomfortable, she turned away and also went to bed.
Xaryus and Zadius glanced at each other for a moment and then went back to keeping watch.
"Andrew's nervous, he's a perfectionist that likes things done thoroughly. It's completely out of his nature to rush things to such an extent… So, what's changed?" Zadius thought.
How many more days would they have to walk for until they reached their destination?
"But that's a thought for later, for now…" Zadius concluded inwardly, slowly rising from the ground.
To his front, Xaryus was also slowly rising from the ground with his short sword already drawn.
They were currently being surrounded, Zadius could feel various shadows swarming them. Whilst Xaryus could sense a plethora mana signatures around them.
***
Mana Sense was something all sorcerers possessed, to put simply, they're capable of sensing the mana within other creatures. However, the range and capability of each sorcerer was different.
mana beasts and abominations constantly have a plethora of mana surging through their bodies so it very easy to sense them once they're within range. However, sorcerers' mana is stored separately from their physical bodies, their cores.
Hence, sorcerers often try to go under the radar of another's mana sense by avoiding the use of abilities and even mana circulation.
***
"There's five of them…" Xaryus spoke before quickly glancing to his left, "... Seven." he added.
Coming from the bushes were two extremely large grey wolves. Protruding from their heads were long curved horns and their eyes were filled with anger and hunger. The sound of the beasts had shaken Rosaly, her eyes wide and filled with fear.
The first set emotions she had clearly displayed since they left Rosa.
"I assume you two can handle this…" Andrews' voice sounded, barely coming out over the cacophony of growls that rang out around the campfire.
Zadius had moved first, drawing his daggers and rushing into the dense forest around the campfire.
The mana beasts that were surrounding them were merely grade one, meaning they were equivalent to an inept rank sorcerer. Zadius was more than skilled enough to handle a handful of them.
With his daggers drawn he slid under the pounce attack of one horned wolf and rose to his feet just in time to drag a dagger across the chest of another.
The damaged beast squealed out in pain as it received another flurry of well-placed attacks. By the time the first wolf regained its footing from its pounce attack, its kin had already fallen.
Raising from one knee, Zadius looked at the beast and the two others that slowly emerged on his left and right.
Gripping his blades tighter, he willed the mana in his core to fuel his spite ability; [Herald of Shadow].
Moving to his will, the darkness behind Zadius became denser and darker as if the shadows were rushing to answer his call. Whilst they embraced the area around him, he could feel his strength grow because of his [Kin of Shadow] ability.
Not even allowing his boon of strength to fully set in, Zadius launched his daggers towards the mana beasts to his front and his side.
A simple attack made to create a small moment of time. Immediately after, he quickly dashed towards the third beast recklessly. As he moved, the coalesced shadows moved with him.
Gathering shadows was a small task but holding them there and moving them with him was not. His mana was burning away, and he didn't have much like his younger brother.
The grey, horned wolf lashed out at Zadius intending to rip the skin off his face, but its vicious fangs only slammed together.
Zadius used mana enhancement to suddenly increase his speed, avoiding the wolf's attack and positioning himself to the beast's side. In a single motion, he gripped the upper and lower jaws of the wolf and ripped it apart.
Whilst the horned beast's body fell to the ground Zadius waited for the other two to come at him.
***
Xaryus had locked eyes with the two wolves for a moment, their eyes glued to him as well.
It was strange though, none of the beasts seemed to want anything to do with Andrew. They could sense he was dangerous, but it was funny, because they couldn't sense how dangerous Xaryus was.
"Solaris."
Xaryus activated his ability, infusing his body with energy. His eyes slowly gained a soft yellow glow, and he prepared himself to attack the two wolves in front of him.
Instead, he swung his body around and launched his short sword towards Rosaly.
The young girl's eyes widened for a moment at Xaryus' sudden attack. But the trajectory of the sword was slightly higher than her, finding itself lodged into the neck of the horned wolf that had tried to lunge at Rosaly from behind.
The beast yelped in pain as it fell back to the ground, but another horned wolf had already rushed past it, towards Rosaly.
Clicking his teeth, Xaryus rushed towards her with other two wolves following closely behind.
He pre-emptively drew his dagger as he approached Rosaly. By the time he got to her, the beast was already lunging through the air.
Xaryus was too slow to stop the beast's attack safely.
He lurched forward, recklessly grabbing the wolf by its neck and stopping it in its tracks. A gust of wind blew past Rosaly from the beast's sudden halt in motion, but not even a second later the wolf clawed and bit into Xaryus' arm.
"Argh!"
Xaryus screamed out, throwing the horned wolf back into his two pursuers.
The three beasts tumbled to the ground momentarily. In that brief moment, Xaryus had dropped his dagger and outstretched his uninjured arm towards the horned wolves.
Quickly, a well-practiced phrase flowed its way out his mouth.
"Solaris."
This time, the faint yellow glow that rested within his eyes slowly faded and a vibrant light-like energy began to coalesce in his palm. The light began to shine brighter and brighter, releasing a faint hum.
Xaryus flooded the spell with all the mana he could in such a short moment.
Once it was filled with sufficient mana, the energy roared forward with a boom, faster than the three wolves could react. The ball of light exploded upon impact, kicking up a wide swath of dirt and outing the campfire in its wake.
As the dust settled, Rosaly could see that only bits and pieces of the horned wolves had remained. Rosaly glanced towards Xaryus for a moment, wondering what he looked like under the mask.
Her attention was removed from Xaryus as she saw the second masked figure return from a part of the forest that was clearly darker than the rest.
The figure was covered in wolf's blood, in one hand he held a handful of horns and in the other, a dagger soaked in blood.
"These guys are pretty strong!?"
Rosaly was rather happy that she didn't try to break free from the ropes. She was newly awakened and could easily break out of her binds, but she felt as if her captors, specifically the largest of the three wanted her too.
So, she never tried… she had to wait for the right moment.
After the horned wolf attack, there wasn't anything as eventful and in the blink of an eye four days had passed since they left Rosa.
They had finally reached their destination.