The surrounding landscape has become unrecognisable. Craters and deep gashes marred the earth, many of the trees now lay toppled or half singed.
A distance away, Ike is standing above the dissolving body of the Moyibi Nkam, his spear in hand, and examining the process with an unreadable expression, Gamba is laying on the ground not far from him. Our prior confrontation was resolved rather quickly once those two got involved—all I had to do was protect them from the attacks while they got closer, and it was over.
I fear it will have not been this easy had I faced it on my own. Clearly, these doppelgangers do not just copy me—that one was able to do so with at least twice the strength I am capable to give off. I almost ran out of essence with just blocking its attacks. If it can rouse so much raw power with the most basic of attack spells, what would have happened if I used a really powerful one for it to copy?
I shake my head in an attempt to diffuse the thought.
It won't happen.
"We should regroup with the others." Ike says, to which I jolt back in his direction.
"What? But… my compass."
"We can't continue the search while being assaulted at every corner. It's final." He says with finality.
Well, it's not like I can give a valid argument. I cannot track my compass anymore, that stupid monkey either must have run off too far for me to trace back my essence imprinted on it.
As I dejectedly look at nowhere in general, I suddenly perceive something peculiar. In the place where the Moyibi Nkam has now completely dissolved, I sense a faint pool of essence, and it forms a deep trail disappearing among the trees.
Hmm… How come I did not notice it until now?
If the essence comes from Moyibi Nkam, then, perhaps could it lead—
"…with the forest which seems to expand with a mind of its own, it's going to be challenging—Are you listening?"
"Huh?" I turn to Gamba, finding him and Ike are staring at me.
He sighs, "I know you are frustrated about your compass, but you really need to pay attention."
"Say… how about we find where they are hiding? Those Moyibi Nkam I mean." They both look at me funny. "Instead of wandering aimlessly and potentially be attacked, would it not be more productive to deal with them once and for all? At least it will be one less issue on our hands, right?" And with some luck, we might just find that nasty monkey and my compass with it. But I don't tell them that of course.
They stay silent for a moment, evaluating the merits of my suggestion.
"How are we going to locate them anyway?" Gamba eyes me sceptically, to which I answer evenly.
"There is a trail of essence where it was, leading somewhere in the forest. I am certain it will guide us to its location… or close to it."
"And you inform us of it just now, what about the other times?" Ike asks immediately after.
"Um…" I clench on my staff. "I… just noticed it—In hindsight the essence is very faint too, so that is why."
"Might as well do it. A lead, no matter how feeble, is better than no lead at all I suppose." Gamba says after a while, Ike shrugs in response. "So, where do we go?"
~~~~~~~~~~~
It is fascinating how different the forest looks at night. It takes on an eerie, almost haunting aura. Moonlight filters through in ghostly patches, casting long shadows that twist and contort. With only sound being the crunching of leaves dried leaves beneath our feet.
The only other source of light, except from the dim rays of moonlight trickling through the branches, is the soft glow of my staff. It is just bright enough for me to see directly in front of me, though. I would have made it brighter, but Ike was adamant I do not make it too bright, lest we make our position known.
Sure, he might be right and all, but I am not like them with the ability to seemingly see in the dark, so really I am the only one suffering here. So unfair.
"Are we there yet?"
I look down. There is another source of light, the trail of essence flow of the Moyibi Nkam, supposedly, but it is visible only to my eyes. By now what had once been a tiny stream has now tripled in size, which means that we are getting closer.
"We are close." I answer, and Gamba lets out a bored grunt behind me.
"It sure has been calm lately… I wonder what is going on."
I hear Ike hum in agreement too.
"Maybe they got tired of attacking us?"
"I doubt it."
I am not complaining either way.
I am instead preoccupied by something else. That thing being that I have not caught sight of that wretched monkey for hours now, it never reappeared ever since it ran away, and it is already night.
By now my imprint on the compass must have already worn off. How am I going to find it now?
What if, what if I never find the compass? What am I going to do? What am I going to tell Tchio? He expressly instructed me to be careful with those two items and I lost one of them just days later. To a stupid imp no less!
My turmoil is interrupted by a strange noise. It's like the low pitch hum of an instrument, but at can't tell what kind. The sound stops for about ten seconds before repeating itself in a single, sustained tone. Again, and again, and again.
"Do you hear that?"
Ike moves forward, followed by Gamba in measured steps. I hesitate for a moment before moving too, but this time remain tactically behind them. The vibration sound increases in volume as we draw near.
"Uhh… Is it a good idea to follow the scary sound? I propose we turn around and avoid whatever is making it, what do you say?"
"Is this not the direction we are supposed to follow?" Gamba retorts, shutting me up.
Right… Yes. The essence trails that way… And we are supposed to follow it… To find the Moyibi Nkam.
I grip my staff harder and close to my chest, feeling my pulse increase by the second. I am really not the type to look for trouble, in fact, I prefer to avoid anything troubling, or very dangerous for that matter.
What if it is one of those Junjus? What if we stumble upon another Moyibi Nkam, a score of them? All that I wanted was to find the compass and be done with it, I would have then given an excuse, claiming that the trail had disappeared or something. I never actually expected us to find it!
The more I think about it, the less it feels like it was such a great idea. It would have been better to find a way to regroup with the others. I can be so stupid sometimes.
Will they agree to backtrack if I beg them to?
"Umm—Ow!"
I take a step forward—only to crash straight into something solid. Pain explodes across my face as my nose bears the full brunt of the impact. I stumble back, eyes watering, hand instinctively clutching my nose. Through the blur of tears, I lift my gaze to see Gamba standing completely still—I had bumped into him.
"Why did you stop—"
"—Shh." He hushes sharply, his gaze rooted in front of him. I move to the side to see what they are staring at so intently.
Ahead of us is a small clearing, the canopy opens up to reveal a vast expanse of sky, exposing the stars, and crescent moon to shine unimpeded. Yet what grabs my attention is not the clearing, or the sky, no, it is the gigantic silver sphere lying in the middle of it.
For a moment I fail to understand what is it that I am looking at. A sphere the size of an adult man, perfectly round and unblemished, is lying at the dead centre of the clearing. It is opaque, and coated of a silver shade so shiny that it is reflective—I can vaguely see our reflections from where we are standing—but I can't tell if it is made of metal or not.
Then that eerie buzzing sound starts again. The surface of the sphere ripples like a liquid, becoming darker as a result, then it sags a little before returning to its original state when the sound stops. The process repeats itself when the sound comes back every ten second.
Huh.
I don't think I have ever seen something like this. What is something like this even doing here?
"Is that what we are looking for?"
I look up at Ike who is looking back expectantly.
When I gaze back at it through my Spiritual senses my breath catches. The amount of Spiritual essence emanating from it is absolutely massive, it is easily at the level of a Mystical beast. But then if it possesses essence then it is a living being—Again, I've never seen something like this. And indeed, the trail of essence we have been following is leading straight up to it.
"Ah… Yes… I, I believe this is the Moyibi Nkam."
There is a long silence, occasionally interrupted by the buzzing of the 'Moyibi Nkam', as we just stare at it.
"Man…" Gamba whispers after the sound stopped, "This is not what I was expecting. When I was little I always imagined the real Moyibi Nkam as a terrifying shape-shifting abomination. Something fearsome. Not… This."
"What is it doing?"
"No idea."
We stay quiet for a couple of seconds. Then Ike moves forward. Toward the Moyibi Nkam.
"What are you doing?" I whisper yell.
"We are here to take care of it, no?" He shots back.
"Do you not remember what it can do? It, it could be a trap."
"We made all this way, might as well do something." Gamba says as he walks over too. "Come on."
Crazy... Those guys are crazy. We don't even know the full scale of its abilities, and they just casually walk to that thing like they have no care in the world. What if it copies them? Or with that strange body, turns into a liquid before gobbling them up. Or does something else?
Whatever.
They can do what they want but I am staying right here.
Before Ike could make it too close to the sphere, something happens. It starts to ripple. Very violently. To the point that it has deformed completely from its original state, like it is trying to expand more but is unable to.
Then chaos ensues.
A piercing, high pitched screech erupts from it, resonating throughout the clearing. Covering my ears does nothing to reduce the intensity, and I am fairly far away. When I open my eyes—I had not even realized I had closed them—I see Ike and Gamba in the same position as I am, bent over and covering their ears.
I knew it!
I knew that something would happen. But they refused to listen.
Then the sound stops.
I gasp.
The sudden silence leaves me dizzy; I also feel a light ringing persisting in my ear… and there is something wet too. I touch the area and—Blood. My ears are bleeding.
I turn to the others, they appear as confused as I am, if not a little less affected.
"It's gone." Ike says, and I wince. His voice felt painfully loud, I feel the ringing increase by another note. And indeed, the Moyibi Nkam is gone. There is a heavy silence as we stare at the spot where the Moyibi Nkam once was.
How did something so big even disappear so quickly?
"Now what?"
I open my mouth to answer Gamba, but a faint screech comes out instead. I close my mouth shut.
I didn't say that, did I?
Another howl echoes through the clearing.
"W-What was that?"
They do not answer. Their demeanour has changed too. Gamba has unsheathed his two cutlasses and Ike is standing with alertness. Both looking wearily at the tree tops and the sky. More and more screeches echo, the sounds more pronounced and menacing, it is getting closer too. Like a horde of beasts are hurtling our way.
Wait. It couldn't be—
Several shadows zoom past us, plunging the clearing almost completely in darkness. Then they dive crashing down. I lose my footing as the ground shudders violently and fall unceremoniously on my backend. When I get back my bearings, it is a scene of horrors I come to witness.
Creatures of grotesque forms are standing before me. Their sharp talons gleam in the moonlight as they let out bone-chilling screeches, their leathery wings flap aggressively, each ending in a series of curved claws. Their skin appears to be calcified, letting out the pungent smell of rotting blood. Their eyes glow of a sickly green colour, harbouring nothing but wrath and madness, ready to attack at any second.
And this close I can finally get a proper feel of them with my Spiritual senses. It is more awful than I thought. Whatever source of power they draw upon feels like an amalgamation of death and rot. They emanate a cold, unsettling aura that seems to sap the very life from everything around it, the colours of the world seem a little dimmer, and the darkness a bit more pronounced.
As I focus more intently, I can discern the chaotic interplay of energies swirling within them. It's as if they draw upon the essence of countless lost souls, I can feel the corruption spreading like a blight, reaching out with invisible tendrils that seek to ensnare and consume, but never managing to do so, as if they lack the strength to, or are being prevented by something.
This… This is the polar opposite of everything Spiritual essence is.
Then I realize that they are not even acknowledging me, they are entirely focused on Ike and Gamba whom they have surrounded from all sides. I am outside of the encirclement.
What should I do?
I really don't want to have to fight those. Shooting a horde of weaker Junjus when they have already been gathered is one thing, attacking a horde of Junjus thrice my size and look very, very sturdy is another. I wager I will need but to almost completely drain my essence just to wound them. Then I will dead.
But on the other hand… I can't leave Ike and Gamba like this. Maybe they can do it, they are very strong after all.
If only Zaylany was here, he is a powerful battle sorcerer, he would deal with this is the blink of an eye. No. This isn't the time.
I look around me, trying to find an appropriate solution for this situation. But—
Something is wrong. Why am I further from the clearing than I previously was, or did I subconsciously step back?
Before I can take a step forward my surroundings change, I get deeper and deeper into the forest, yet I am not moving at all. And before I can do anything the clearing has completely disappeared. I now find myself in an open lake, staring at my own astonished expression.
I let out a shaky breath, feeling a wave of nausea and vertigo.
That, that was a Displacement spell. A spell like that requires great skill and knowledge on Dimensionalism. Opening pocket dimensions—which is very hard to do—is easy in contrast, and there are very few sorcerers who had mastered it.
Who could have possibly casted it? And why bring me here?
"Ah. I have you alone at last, darling. I was starting to think I had have to whisk you away personally."
Huh?
The surface of the lake ripples, and my eyes widen when a hand emerges from it. Then grabs my ankle.
The only think I manage to do is yelp in horror when it yanks me into the water.