Freedom Jumper-Chapter 97: The Start of a Perilous Journey

The annoying sound of liquid dripping into a dark puddle in the center of the storage house began to annoy the group as they waited for the rest of their caravan. Every single person was well equipped, and thankfully the detour to the Weltor estate had proven to be a good choice. Novius, Emery, and Alexia had medium-sized backpacks adjourned with runes of weightlessness. Blankets, clothes, food, water, torches, and knives. Landon and Leah were the only two people with swords, while Mikhail preferred to use his magic to create his own sword.

"Mister Ruby, why did you help us, and not anyone else?" Novius asked as he played against the stone floor with his hands behind his head.

"Just call me Landon. And to answer your question... Elijah chose all of you... Kinda."

"What do you mean kinda?! Elijah knew this would happen?!" Raylen voiced his confusion.

"No, but he made it clear he wanted to save his friends. Even you, Emery. He knew you were changing and wished he would've gotten a chance to know you better. In the end, the decision was made by Amaris as a precaution..." Landon said solemnly. Everyone in the room felt the sadness within his voice.

R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.

"Everyone will be okay. We will escape this kingdom full of secrets..." Leah added as she knelt down to check on Alexia. When the event played out, she couldn't help but cry tears and look away...

Voices of frustration, confusion, and fear were in the minds of every child. After all, they had just found out they would very likely never see their families again. The only idea in their head that kept them just barely moving forward was how this is what Elijah had wanted.

Knock kn-knock knock kn-kn-knock

Landon tiredly stood up and walked to the large metal door while flicking his oversized black fur jacked to the side. His black shiny sword rested in his right hand.

The wooden plank blocking the entrance of the door was removed, and once opened, the faces of Mikhail and Don grabbed the attention of every shivering soul within the building. They could finally start... However, the face of Don was nothing but shallow. The light in his eyes, neck slouching forward, and arms that were freely laying on his lap signified his mental defeat.

And just when he had turned his mind around...

"My wife... is going to tell everyone about us. I tried to get her to come, but she quickly renounced our love... We have to get moving right now." Don said while being wheeled forward.

"Don! How are you going to come with us?" Novius asked.

"We will figure it out. The beasts on the way to the checkpoint only reach the green core, so there shouldn't be any huge problems. We do have to pass through Nova40—so if we are stopped... stay calm." Mikhail voiced while leading the group to the side door.

"I don't think that is water guys." Theon said while staring at the dark puddle they were passing.

Inside the center of this building was nothing but empty space that reached the third floor and balconies meant for equipment that would allow ease of moving and storing goods.

Out of the corner of Landon's eye, he saw an indescribable figure blending in with the shadows on the third story. What looked like a limb was slowly being gnawed at and was held by a boney and hairy figure with dark and slightly glowing purple eyes. "RUN! OUTSIDE NOW! SHIELD!"

A long grainy white bone was erected from the creature's arm with Landon's declaration of danger. Beforehand, it seemed the creature knew about them the second they walked inside, but decided to relish in the emotions that bounced off the stale stone pillars. But now, a desire to kill was seen in the wide smile it grew before attacking.

A thick black shield of crystal began forming while each tetragonal shape changed and morphed into a new one with every millisecond that passed. However, the white bone that extended and scraped against the railing changed its course at the last second and pierced the top of the left shoulder of a fleeting boy pushing his brother out of harm's way. The bone had gone straight through Raylen's body—from one side to the other without any resistance.

"NOOOOO!!" A shallow cry escaped the mouth of Theon and his friends until his voice cracked in agony.

The wind was violently rustled signifying Leah's declaration of killing this beast no matter what. But before she was able to make a tornado of ripping winds, a red and hot light instantaneously shot a hole through its neck while its head and half its torso was incinerated just from the extreme heat. The blast of bright red fire passed through the top corner of the building and shook everything in the surroundings.

"NOOO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! WHY RAYLEN?!!" Theon was beating the stone next to the lifeless body of his twin brother. Novius and everyone else were in shock—frozen in their fear—while staring into reality's cold deathly eyes.

Everything had happened immensely fast, and the intentions of the fiendish beast were completely unknown. Very likely, it was a simple yellow core—or even orange core beast that had been holed up in this storage house while feeding on anyone that ventured inside. However, the menacing purple glow that radiated from its eyes told a different story in the heads of Landon and Leah.

Mikhail stood on guard while Landon and Leah scoured every last inch of the storage house, and found four different piles of dead bodies with their bones completely missing. The only sighting of bones came from the small pile the beast had likely been feeding on.

Raylen, while completely lifeless, began to emanate an ethereal glow the more drops of tears and emotions that fell onto his body. Suddenly, a hot beam of light that did no harm pierced into the body of Theon while avoiding any type of wound. The boy was grieving, and while laying on top of his dead brother, his tears began to disappear while pain began to course through every vein in his body.

"AHHHHH!"

Theon began to emanate the same ethereal glow, and over the course of many minutes, everyone within the storage house watched as his body began seizing and sweating uncontrollably. Not a single visual change was seen as Theon himself had passed out. However, everyone standing around his unconscious body was not just filled with sorrow, but also confusion.

Silence and the mourning of a fallen brother took place, and within a matter of minutes, the silence was broken.

"I know you all must be struggling and may even want to return, but we cannot falter. We must get to the checkpoint. Mikhail, I feel like something happened between the bodies of Raylen and Theon... Create a basket and carry them over your back." Landon was quick to continue on with the plan even with the dismay in his heart from seeing a promising fire mage executed in front of his very eyes. This event put a fear into his heavy chest as he felt this would not be the only event like this. Ever since the outer wall fell, the abnormalities within The Catacombs have skyrocketed. And now with the fleeting feeling of fear when he witnessed King Astraea and his otherworldly staff, he couldn't help but feel that everything within the kingdom was under his control.

The perilous journey through the Catacombs was filled with explosions, shields, and applications of magic the eyes of children had never comprehended before.

Alexia's heart jumped with her witnessing Leah smash monster after monster with a dense layer of air too thick for anything to pass through. Blades of pure air bended and extended at will while flying through the air like a boomerang. The spinning motion itself created a small current of air resembling that of a tornado, but did zero damage besides spreading the body parts of every monster it cleanly cut everywhere around the cavern.

Emery witnessed specks of floating light—that were actually miniscule fire balls that acted as a nearly invisible defense that would combust with a single thought—or in Landon's case, a snap of his fingers that broke the solitude of the cavern. Similar to Leah's wind blades. Landon controlled a spear of pulsating red fire that bended and extended at will.

During the journey, Mikhail was doing everything in his power to explain the difference between the different core levels.

The red mana core allowed the mage to create any kind of simplistic spell that catered to the natural laws of said element as it flourished in nature.

The orange mana core took the creation abilities to the next level by allowing the mage to shape their spells into a specific shape. At the orange core level, Emery would have the ability to create a spear made of fire, one that could be used as a weapon against the elements, but not something used against a metal sword as the sword would pass straight through the spell.

Once the yellow mana core was acquired, the further shaping of spells became possible as they were moving through the air or after being casted.

After obtaining the green mana core, commands were allowed to be put in place within the spells you cast. Small currents of wind that would explode into a devastating tornado, or tiny specks of condensed fire that would explode on command.

With each pass through into the next mana core came more capacity to hold mana, and the amplification of the natural principles that reside inside that element. A fire that can burn blue but uses a significant amount of mana. A hurricane that protects everything within the eye while devastating anything within its ring, and water that can provide life when only a speck is left. True power comes once reaching a cyan mana core, which gives anyone strong enough the ability to achieve elemental heights that do not occur with the natural world itself.

It is as if the magic that only the strongest yield is not suitable for the world now, or that the extremities of the natural world have yet to show themselves. Has it always been this way, or was there a past the history books do not recall?