It has been half an hour since Kyran and Anette started their journey underground.
During this time, Kyran did not lower his guard. He kept the Regis technique active as he observed the surrounding.
Anette, on the other hand, appeared relaxed as she engaged Kyran with small talks.
Though she intended to get to know her godson, their talk was pretty one-sided, with her doing all the talking and him answering now and then with few words.
Anette did not find Kyran boring to talk to, though. She even found his expression easy to read, even with his indifferent face. Knowing both of his parents had an advantage. Because he sometimes displayed similar behaviors as his parents. Of course, she knew he also had a unique behavior that he had yet to show. But, Anette was not in a hurry to find out. Right now, she only wanted to take this moment to understand her godson slowly.
‘Hm?’ Anette felt a change in the surrounding energies up ahead.
“Kyran,” she called as she slowly controlled the broomsticks to a stop.
Kyran also looked ahead with furrowed brows. He also sensed something different up ahead.
If Anette felt the change in the energies, Kyran sensed strange movements. To be precise, it was the lack of movements that made him wary. Before, he could still hear small movements coming from insects on the walls. But now, there was nothing. As if whatever was up ahead was a vacuum, devoid of sound.
“Something’s up ahead. The energies in the surroundings are getting thicker,” Anette warned him.
Hearing her warning, Kyran suddenly remembered how Cyneah made him stop because she could see ‘lights’ up ahead. He frowned slightly at the random thought. It was not the time to be remembering unnecessary things.
“I also sense something strange,” Kyran admitted and jumped down from the broomstick. “I’ll go first and check.”
Anette shook her head and also hopped down her broomstick.
“No need for that,” she said while taking out another lump of clay from her coat pocket. “I have a better idea.”
Kyran did not refute and just watched her in silence. He was interested in her magic and did not mind seeing more of it.
In a few seconds, Anette threw the clay in her hand into the space ahead. With a small puff, the clay grew in size.
The clay turned into three half-a-foot wide eyeballs. She manipulated the eyeballs and let them fly deep into the tunnel ahead. Then she turned her attention to the broomsticks and waved her hand. The broomsticks shrunk in size and flew in front of her. She reached for them and put them inside her coat pocket.
“It’s best to walk. I have to concentrate my energy in controlling those magic eyes,” Anette told Kyran with an apologetic smile.
Kyran only nodded in consent.
The two followed the magic eyes while keeping their distance.
Although Kyran could see as far as thirty meters using the Regis technique, what he could see was limited to the naked eye. Anette might not have told him what those magic eyes could do or see, but thinking of her words from earlier about energies, he reckoned that those magic eyes could also see the surrounding energies. It might also have the ability to see farther than thirty meters.
“What did you sense ahead?” Anette asked.
“Nothing.”
Realizing that she might interpret his answer differently, Kyran added, “Which is strange.”
“So you see nothing nor hear any sounds?”
“Yes. It feels like there is a space ahead devoid of anything.”
“Like a void space?”
Kyran’s brow furrowed as he looked at Anette’s profile. He had not thought of that. But since she brought it up, he did think that the idea of void space was indeed similar to the situation of whatever was up ahead.
“I guess so.”
“It is pretty strange indeed. Right now the energies up ahead are converging at a certain area, but it appears to be stuck. As if it is being blocked by something and can’t move forward,” Anette said.
“Blocked by something? Is it something solid?” Kyran asked.
Anette sighed and shook her head. “I am not sure. The magic eyes are still searching what it is.”
Kyran frowned. The lack of sound he heard was at least thirty meters ahead. However, the magic eyes still could not see what it was. It did not make any sense.
‘Could the dense energy ahead be the reason for the lack of movement and sound?’
As soon as he thought of it, Kyran rejected the idea. ‘No. The lack of sound means there is no air for it to travel, but the energies also move in the surrounding air, right?’
An idea popped into Kyran’s mind as he pondered the situation.
The energies in the surroundings did not necessarily move in the air but everywhere. Meaning the only affected element ahead was air. If this was the case, the phenomena up ahead might not be void space but had something to do with air magic.
“Does the reptilian beasts around here use magic?” Kyran asked without looking at her.
Anette pondered for a moment before replying, “If you meant like using magic offensively then no. Their ability lies in absorbing the surrounding energies and strengthening their bodies.”
“Are there any other beasts you’ve encountered here?”
“No,” Anette replied with a shake of her head.
Sensing that Kyran was up to something, she turned to look at him and asked, “What do you have in mind?”
Kyran also looked at Anette and answered, “I think whatever is up ahead affects the air.”
“Air?” She repeated and came to a stop.
Kyran nodded and also stopped before looking up ahead.
“It can be an object that can remove or drain the surrounding air or a beast that can use air magic.”
“Thus the ‘no sound’ phenomena,” Anette said, nodding her head in agreement.
“It is a possibility,” Kyran said.
“Should we make a detour then? Anything related to air, whether real air or magic, is tricky to deal with.” Anette stated.
Kyran knew what she meant. How could they deal with something or an object that could easily remove the air around them? He was confident that he could guard against the lack of air using the Regis Blessing. Even his Void Magic might be able to counter it. However, if he used both of his magic, how much magic energy and fluctuation would it cause? It would surely attract the people from the Templar Code above ground. Although they were underground, and the earth could block most of his magic’s fluctuation and pressure, what about the commotion that would follow? Especially if what they were dealing with was a beast?
Kyran could not help but sigh. Looking for the rare stone covertly was really troublesome.
“Okay. I’ll look for another—.”
RUMBLE!
A powerful tremor occurred, leading to Anette almost losing her balance.
Kyran reacted immediately. He braced himself and reached for Anette’s arm, pulling her close, before activating his Void Scales.
The tremor intensified as the tunnel shook uncontrollably. Bits and pieces of earth rubble above their heads had started to fall.
“My magic eyes!” Anette suddenly exclaimed when she felt them getting crushed by rubble.
RAWRGH!
An ear-deafening roar filled the tunnel and shook its walls threatening even the ceiling to cave in. Then a seething hot shockwave followed, coming from the direction ahead.
Kyran and Anette fell on their knees as the shockwave came at them.
‘What in the—!’ Kyran exclaimed in his heart as he felt his Void Scales unable to withstand the shockwave.
He immediately reinforced his Void Scales and created four more layers. It was his third time experiencing the Void Scales being overpowered by a mere shockwave!
Anette was also shocked. Not because of how fragile Kyran’s Void Scales appeared before the shockwave because she had no idea of its defensive capability, but because of the roar she heard.
An epic type beast definitely produced that roar. Most likely, a beast, known to be an offspring of a lesser dragon, just like komodos. However, this one was definitely larger and stronger.
‘But how can it be? A lesser dragon can only be found in that place, because of the environment. How can it appear here?’ Anette thought.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Before the shockwave could fully disperse, a consecutive explosion occurred above ground, further aggravating the tunnel.
“Please brace yourself,” Kyran suddenly warned Anette.
“What—?”
Before Anette could form her question, a purple disc appeared below Kyran’s feet.
Holding her close to him, Kyran warped them back to the cellar.
As soon as they arrived back at the cellar, Anette fell on her knees and made retching sounds.
“Sorry,” Kyran apologized.
Given the current situation, he had no choice but to warp back or else they would get crushed to death. Besides, after this incident, he realized that the Templar Code was doing an operation related to a beast. That beast might also be the cause of the obstruction back at the tunnel. But what the beast was and why the Templar Code was after it was not their business. Even if Kyran was tempted to check it, he had to prioritize getting the rare stone.
‘With the commotion there, this is our chance to move,’ he thought.
He went over to the wall and touched it. A two-meter radius purple disc hovered above the wall. Kyran’s eyes turned reddish-purple as the disc extended horizontally, creating a round tunnel.
Earlier, he chose to go underground because he did not want to attract unnecessary attention. But because of the beast’s appearance, the people he sensed near the cellar appeared to have left. Most likely, they left and went to where the beast had appeared.
Anette, finally recovering from the feeling of ‘warping’ looked at Kyran.
“Kyran, are you sure it is safe?” She asked.
She knew why he did not do this earlier, and though she believed the beast’s appearance would keep the Templar Code busy, there was still a small chance that if they detected another magic fluctuation, they would send people to investigate.
“Yes,” Kyran replied, turning to look at her. “There are no—.”
His expression suddenly turned sour as he abruptly stopped and looked up.
“Damn it!” He exclaimed and ran to Anette’s side before creating a complete Void Barrier.
BOOM!
Something big and heavy fell from above, instantly crushing the cellar.