"So this is the true might of a master." Ren watched in awe. Mahābodhivān may have flattered himself in the tome, but clearly he held back in describing the extent of his cultivation prowess. The heavenly beasts were relentless however, as soon as one was cut and killed, another took its place.
Divine great white Rhino, a beast of mighty power and stamina. Ren recalled reading a chapter in the tome where Mahābodhivān praised and talked about the beast in great length upon learning about the great beasts.
The rhino shone in bright alabaster—like it was a miniature sun that took form. It charged at Mahābodhivān, its horn glinting in the sunlight. The other beasts parted, and the white rhino struck, or did it not?
Ren's mouth was agape. From his vantage point, it seemed like the cultivation master had been stabbed, but Mahābodhivān still stood gallant. He had impeded the Rhino's attack with his hands. The rhino's horn impaled his hands, and he winced in pain, but however, he was quick to react. He balled a fist of fiery mana, and dug it into the rhino's large face, sending it back staggering.
That clean strike would have ended the beasts that had come before, but not the great white rhino. Mahābodhivān's bony hand steamed from the punch, the beast's skull had offered so much resistance. The creature appeared stunned momentarily, but it soon regained its alertness.
It opened its mouth agape, letting out a jet of destructive mana, and Mahābodhivān took on the Gan stance, immediately coating himself with a field of protection.
The cultivation master cupped his chin once danger passed. Ejected mana from an orifice, that's nothing he had tried or even thought about, he had always found his limbs to be sufficient in letting out condensed energies.
He focused on his core where a large amount of mana coalesced, and visualized mana streaming from his mana vessels and escaping from his knuckles, but this time, he had mana travel from his core, through the mana vessels across his torso and throat, and out his mouth.
The thought alone had been sufficient, and he executed the move excellently in his first try. A blue jet of energy blasted out of his mouth, and the divine great white Rhino responded in kind, both of their attacks meeting at a point, and then vying for dominance.
"The one with a greater mana output wins." Ren whispered. The fight however was cut short, interrupted in the most dramatic fashion. Mahābodhivān had been obstinate about resisting, but now, the gods had him where they wanted him.
The bright sun disappeared like it had been snuffed out, and the whole world was plunged into darkness. Ren thought that this was the time to wake, but that was not what occured. An enormous hand of white, jutted from the blanket of darkness that enveloped the world, grabbed Mahābodhivān, and as swift as it came, it disappeared back, taking the great master with him, and then, Ren woke up.
Tunish had been struck hard with the deaths of the majority of its men. Hundreds of children would live their lives without their fathers present with them, and not only that, the men held most of the livelihoods in the village, from farm to shepherding, with them gone, others would have to take on the roles–their wives would have to don the mantle.
Ren's vision was blurry upon waking, his limbs felt heavy, and he was quite groggy, but he had to get up nevertheless. He turned to the side, spotting a woman sitting next to him. She was composed, but Ren could see that she was happy. He squinted his eyes hoping to get a better look at the woman, but it was to no avail, but he wouldn't need to see who it was as he recognized her voice once she spoke.
'Who is this?' He was mildly surprised, he did not reckon that he had developed such a connection with anybody in the village, perhaps Eldrad, and a stretch Tuarine, but he knew it was neither of those two who sat, then she spoke.
"Daysdawn sir Ren. How are you feeling?" She leaned forward, and Ren could pick on the smell of her fragrance.
"Elizabeth?" He uttered.
"Yes? What's it?" She seemed worried from the pitch of her voice.
"Oh nothing, I'm just a little surprised. I can't see as much. I must have over exerted myself in that fight. How is Tuarine, and Jonan?" He had to know of their conditions. He knew Tuarine to be quite sturdy and tough, and he had a strong feeling that she was doing better than him, but Jonan's situation was different, he was the one who had taken the most damage in the fight.
"Tuarine is doing much better than you are, and Jonan has been on his feet since yesterday?"
"Yesterday? How long have I been asleep?"
"Five days, you would not wake. Eldrad believed it had to do with burning most of your mana."
'I doubt that is it.' He knew that it was the dream that had kept him asleep for that long, and he would have slept even longer had the fight persisted.
'Mahābodhivān wanted to tell me something important.'
"I am going to inform Eldrad of your awakening, I'm sure that he's going to be glad." Elizabeth uttered, and stood from the wooden seat, leaving Ren all alone.
"Quite kind of her to visit." His body was feeling quite sore at the moment, especially his limbs.
"Why did the gods stop Mahābodhivān? The cultivator believed himself to be a god, but he wasn't, not even close. Perhaps the tome will let on some hints later."
His thoughts however soon drifted from the dream, and he thought back on the class wielder responsible for all this.
"Alana, she called herself." He would never forget that name and face. This was a great time for Enoa to show up, but he knew he could not depend on that, the messenger only showed up when she wanted.
"A magicker." He recalled the tattooed across her body, and he felt fairly certain that her abilities were connected to them. The giant snakes had jutted from her breast that had large colorful snakes painted on them. If that was the case, then it explained why she left her top unclad.
Elizabeth came with Eldrad into the room, the chief oozed an aura of sadness, but there was a look of relief on his face. The village had lost half its men to an attack they were confident they would prevail in. This was going to have dire effects, that much was clear, but such heavy topics could be better spoken in another time.
"I'm glad you survived." He came in for a hug, "Tuarine told me that you are the reason she and Jonan lived. You three face a devilish foe."
Ren merely nodded, he had no words to utter. The village chief was heartbroken, and so was the village.
"She also mentioned that this fellow knew you." At this utterance, Eldrad crept closer, menacingly close.
"She is a summoned just like I am, and somehow, she could tell that I was. She was trying to build a sense of camaraderie in our shared experience, but I didn't let that happen."
"You three survived a mage, that's one feat you could feel proud of." Elizabeth spoke, trying to dampen the mood.
Ren smiled, "Close enough, but it was a magicker, and we were lucky."
"Magicker or mage, we are glad to have you Ren. Jonan is up and with his family should you hope to see him." Ren nodded to Eldrad's proposal. Perhaps It was his nodding motion, but suddenly, he was hit with a great feeling of hunger and thirst which was given as he had not had anything those five days asleep, only liquids had been forcd down his mouth. His belly made the loudest rumble he had ever heard it make, and it stilled everyone in silence for a few seconds.
He raised his eyes from his belly, and stared awkwardly at his two guests.
"Yes, I have something for you to drink and eat." Elizabeth cut the silence, crouching to her black bag, rummaging through the items and eventually bringing out a wineskin, and bread. This gladdened Ren, he instantly grabbed the wineskin from her hand, and gobbled down its contents, and he immediately went on with stuffing the bread in his mouth.
His eyesight improved the moment he had something in his belly, and he scanned his surroundings. He had not thought to ask, but he had gotten the impression that he was home, but certainly, waking up would have prompted Neg to come excitedly at him, however his little dog was nowhere.
"Where am I?" This time, he could hear a clamor of voices outside his room, and sounds of steps. Unless people were gathered outside to see him, there shouldn't be sounds of that much activity.
Neither Elizabeth or Eldrad answered, stirring up fear in Ren.
'Not the village.' A window was close to his bed, and upon getting enough energy from the food, he stood and walked to the window where he saw a plethora of people walking by the building that housed him.
He turned to the two, "Where are we?"
"Marina the Coin-crowned City." Elizabeth answered.