Chapter 383: Pursuit of the Wind Sage(1)

Point-of-View: Sylvar Miirphys

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Damn it, I...I can't take this anymore! A week had passed since Kuro saved me from Sant and gave me access to the Wind Spirit's power, and after we parted ways, I headed south from Abyss. 

And just two days later, I ran into a group of pursuers from the Laus Domain, tasked with hunting me down. I had no choice but to go all out right from the start and kill them, since otherwise, if I'd instead tried to knock them out or something, I might have given them openings to strike. 

I can't use any spells, so healing magic is out of my reach, which means that I won't be able to heal any injuries I sustain. And I can't afford any injuries, dying because of an infected wound or something like that would be a pretty embarrassing way to go. After that first encounter, I've been running into groups of Elves, Halflings, Dwarves and Fairies every single day. 

That is, until yesterday, when I'd managed to slip past one of their fortresses and then kept heading south, until I came across an area with snow. I'm definitely getting better at sneaking around, which isn't surprising, since for the past week, I've had to move covertly while my life is in constant danger. 

Anyway, a few minutes ago, I'd come across another fortress, quickly hiding behind a large boulder. I can't afford to get spotted, the only reason why they kept finding me initially was because Sant had known my position and could anticipate or predict my routes.

But after a certain point, with him no longer being able to locate me with his telepathic link, predicting my routes became a much more difficult task, the longer I evade him, the sooner I'll be able to completely fly under his radar. If I'm spotted here, then I'll have wasted that advantage. I'm not going to let that happen. 

Hm, but what do I do? This fortress is a bit smaller than the last one I passed by, but they had also built a tall wall that spanned right across the area, with cliffs on either side of the ends of the wall, meaning that I couldn't just go around it. 

My options are to go over the cliffs, or over the wall, or through the fortress itself. I can use my Wind Magic to fly, but both the fortress and the walls are well-manned, it'll be really difficult to do so without being spotted almost immediately. Really wish I'd figured out how to cast spells, invisibility would be pretty useful right now. 

Maybe it'll be easier to sneak by if I wait till it gets dark...I've still got a couple of hours to go before the sun sets, guess I'll rest up till then. I glanced around, spotting a small cave inside the cliff to my right. The snow is pretty deep, if I crawl through it to the cave, I should be able to get there without being spotted. 

I then slowly began crawling towards it, keeping an eye on the guards on the wall...should be fine, I'm far enough that they shouldn't be able to spot me down here, I was practically buried in the snow, it was about half a meter deep, maybe more. 

Still, doesn't hurt to be cautious, I absolutely cannot afford to be spotted. Because if I am spotted, I'll have kill everyone in the fortress to keep from being followed...I may be many, many times faster than them, but they can make up the difference with teleportation. 

And I don't want to kill any more of them if I don't have to...each time I kill those that come after me, especially other Elves, I just feel agitated inside. Maybe that's just my Elven instincts and not really my true emotions, but I don't care...whatever the reason, I don't want to kill anyone else from the Laus Domain. Well, except for Sant, that is. Fuck that guy. 

Some of those in the groups that came after me had shown signs of being conflicted over this whole thing, I tried to reason with and convince them, but it was no use...they refused to give in to their own hesitation and stuck by Sant's orders. So I had no choice but to kill them. 

Heh, I'm sure Sant's been using the news of me killing my pursuers as a means of further riling up the rest of the Laus Domain against me, I bet I'm more hated than the humans right now. 

If only I could find a place where I can safely hide out indefinitely, but there's no such place. This world is extremely small, so there's probably no hiding place that'll remain secure for too long. 

Sure, a deep cave or something would probably work, but I'll have to go out when I need to get food and water, which will leave me vulnerable. In other words, I need to find a secure, well-hidden hiding place that has both a food and water source in it. 

And that's just too convenient, there's no way a place like that exists, not a hidden one anyway. Or well, maybe there is, but it could easily be too well hidden for me to find, so it's a moot point. Am I going to have to stay on the run for the rest of my life? 

Because that's hundreds of years worth of lifespan, and just imagining that is frustrating as hell. What are my options? Do I even have any? Just...what the hell do I do? 

... 

... 

Hm? What time is it? I'm hungry...I sat up with a groan, letting out a wide yawn as I rubbed my eyes groggily. Oh, it's dark out already-...but there's a dim glow outside, what is that? I cautiously crept towards the entrance of the cave and peered out... 

Rows of flaming torches right across the wall and all around the fortress, illuminating the area in an orange glow. Shit...it's probably even easier to get spotted now that it was during the day. What do I do? 

How do I reduce visibility enough so that I can sneak past the fortress? It's not like I can wait for a snow storm or someth-...wait, that's it! Why didn't I think of that before!? I can generate a storm myself, how'd I miss that? Well, whatever, I'll just do it now. 

I then groaned slightly as my stomach rumbled, my throat as dry as a desert. Well, water shouldn't be an issue...I reached down and scooped up some snow, before clamping my hands shut. Within about a minute or so, the snow had melted in my hands, and I gulped it down. 

Brrr, that's cold, but at least my thirst is quenched! Food is still an issue though...it'll be way too difficult to steal some from the fortress, I see some Halflings there, which means that they could sense me if they have that lightning sensory technique active. 

I'll have to hunt something to eat once I'm past the fortress, but first things first. I entered Wind Sage Mode, an explosion of wind bursting out from me as I transformed. I then sat down, closed my eyes and focused, starting to generate powerful gusts of wind...I have to direct them so that it seems like this wind flowed in from the north, otherwise they might get suspicious. 

Okay, to everyone in the fortress, it should now look like there's a snow storm coming in from the north. I then began slowly shifting the wind closer and closer to the fortress...the flaming torches should get extinguished by this too, good...this'll work. 

Alright, the wind should be upon the fortress within a couple of seconds, it's time for me to make my move. I crept out of the cave and silently flew forward, before rising up as the flames illumating the area got put out by the intense snow storm...it was a cloudy night tonight, so it was close to pitch dark out, now that the torches were extinguished. 

Once I'm past the fortress, I'll have to maintain this storm for a while, before slowly and naturally dissipating it, otherwise they're sure to get suspicious. I can't afford so much as a single misstep if I want to keep surviving...heh, even knowing about reincarnation and how death works, I still don't want to die. 

It seems illogical, my life in this world has gone to shit, but regardless, I don't want to lose it. Guess I'm still more human than Elf on the inside, huh? 

Alright, I'm almost to the top of the wall, it doesn't look like anyone's close to this spot, I should be able to sneak past pretty easily...I was still nervous as hell though, my heart pounding like a drum as I reached the top. 

I cautiously glanced around, and after making sure that the coast was clear, quickly flew across the top of the wall and began to swoop down the other side, before halting in shock and dismay, as a massive fireball suddenly burst forth, illuminating the area and making me feel like a prisoner with a spotlight suddenly cast on him while attempting a jailbreak. 

"How wise Lord Laus is, he anticipated that you would attempt to cross here," Remarked the caster of the fireball, as I felt my heart sink. 

There were about a hundred of them, from each race, and leading them in front...was the new Fire Sage, Evie Lavender... 

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