Chapter 268 - The Truth of the Magic World

Anfey did not relax because he was able to avoid the bone cage. Instead, he became more alert. The bone cage was only an intermediate spell, and the hidden mages could use it over and over again if they wanted to. He avoided this one, but it did not mean he could avoid the next one.

Sometimes the Heart of Nature would beat along with his heartbeat, but now the situation was reversed. Normally, tense movements would cause his heartbeat increase, but under the influence of the Heart of Nature, his heartbeat hardly changed.

Anfey felt another wave of familiar magical surges in the distance. He recognized the surge of bone spears, and there were at least two different surges. Anfey frowned, then saw two bone spears rip through the air and fly towards him at a breakneck speed. Anfey took a deep breath and dashed forward, gripping his blade in his hand. He took a few steps forward and leapt into the air.

As the bone spears approached him, he held out his blade and swept it across. The blade hit the spears and changed the courses of the spears. Then Anfey jumped forward and passed in between the two spears.

Another bone cage appeared, but it appeared too late and narrowly missing Anfey.

Anfey pushed off of the ground and jumped to the right. After he fuzed with the Heart of Nature, his instincts grew much stronger. He could feel that there were elements amassing over him, and knew that another bone cage was coming.

Anfey raised his blade and dashed to the right, then he suddenly changed direction and began running to the left. Another bone cage appeared and narrowly missed him.

Anfey frowned as a strange sensation tingled in his heart. Normally, no matter how many elements he amassed when he was using magic, others could not see the elements. They could only see the elements when he released the magic. There had to be a connection. Elements were usually in a state of invisibility and had no right effect on the real world. The process of elements transforming from invisible energy to a visible state was a short one. It happened in less of a process and more of a burst. Elements were only elements, and they had to be transformed into a physical state for them to have power.

In the past, Anfey had never noticed this. It was like someone who first began learning math would not propose questions about complex mathematical processes. Anfey had always thought this was just a necessary step in magic and never questioned it. Just then, however, he felt acutely aware of the process of the bone cage’s creation. He could feel the entire process, including the surges and the elements coming together.

Anfey raised his blade and looked at the spears coming toward him. He jumped aside and let the spears glide past him. As the elemental surges above him grew stronger, it was as if time had suddenly slowed down. Anfey took a deep breath and felt the changes in the elements.

The ground, sky, grass, even the roaring zombies lost meaning to Anfey. The only things he could feel were the elements. It was as if he had opened the doors to a whole new world, and the only things that excited him in that world were elements.

The amassing of elements suddenly stopped, and Anfey raised his blade and slashed upwards. His dark blue blade glistened with gold.

A dozen thick bone columns were stopped by the slashing of his blade. His momentum threw the bones forward.

Except for Suzanna, everyone else was watching the fight. Seeing what Anfey had just done, they all appeared shocked. Even Slanbrea, despite his shaking fingers and tight lips, forced a smile.

Magic could be deflected and a lot of people could do it. What was strange was that Anfey was able to predict where the magic was. This was a rare ability, and there were only a few people in the world capable of it. Slanbrea wondered how powerful Anfey’s mentor must be.

Zombies began running towards Anfey. Bruzuryano had already warned them that zombies were strange in that they could attack even after they were severely injured. Even the broken limbs were crawling on the ground. The black blood was pulling together as if it was alive. For Anfey, however, all of this was just elements.

Anfey raised his arm and dashed towards the zombies. He swept his sword through half a dozen clouds of elements. The zombies sank to the ground and let out bloodcurdling shrieks. The zombies, who were almost invincible before, could not last long without support of elements.

Annunciata growled under her breath in anger. She did not care about normal zombies and skeletons, but those zombies were necessary for her to become an elder.

Anfey moved again. He walked towards Burzuryano, who was still trapped under layers of bone cages and bone walls. He could tell the elements that made up Burzuryano were warm and welcoming.

Anfey walked very slowly. He was waiting for the necromancers to attack again so he could practice his newfound power, but he was let down.

Behind Annunciata, two necromancers watched Anfey with a frown. They both saw their companions fall to the ground and turn into a pile of bones when Anfey destroyed the bone cage. They did not want to use magic against Anfey again. They became necromancers because they were afraid of death, and no necromancer wanted to risk his life. Even though this life was only half a life, it was still a life.

More and more zombies and skeletons turned to piles of bones under Anfey’s blade. His attack was not as vicious as before, but it was no less powerful.

The necromancers who were responsible for keeping Bruzuryano entrapped all took a few steps back when they saw Anfey. They did not want to use magic around him. Before they learned how Anfey was destroying their magic, it was better to be cautious. If there was one thing necromancers did not lack, it was caution. Normal people would fight each other to death over a word or two on the street, but necromancers would never do that. They have long lives and no need to take risks. Of course, they do not mind torturing and killing those who had offended them.

Burzuryano bellowed. Without the necromancers, the zombies and skeletons were no match for him. His sharp claws swept through the air, and the zombies and skeletons were thrown back into the air. Some were reduced to piles of bones and rotting flesh.

Another surge of magic reached them. The zombies and skeletons began retreating. It seemed like even Annunciata did not want additional meaningless deaths.

Bruzuryano did not care about those skeletons and zombies. He turned and looked at Anfey with his calm grey eyes. He was one of the most powerful men in the world, and it was strange for him to rely on anyone but himself to escape a dangerous situation. Bruzuryano did not care about his own dignity, though. He was thinking about his promise. He cared about Anfey, and he could see things about the boy no one could.

The zombies and skeletons retreated fast. Anfey felt strange without threat, and slowly the world of elements turned back into a normal world. He glanced around, and could no longer see elements. He recalled the feelings just a few moments ago, and sighed. He wanted to say something, but in the end he chose to be silent.

"Anfey, what are you doing?" Bruzuryano called. He had already changed back from his bear form. "Don’t be distracted. There’s still a fight going on."

"I thought you would be naked," Anfey said. "I thought wrong."

"Transformation is just magic," Bruzuryano said with a shrug. "It’s just like your fire sword won’t burn you."

"I’m just unfamiliar with transformation spells," Anfey said.

"Don’t worry. You’ll understand once you learn it."

Anfey smiled. "It’s alright," he said. "I enjoy my body now."