Path to Transcendence

She was running for her life. Mana and aura were empowering her body like never before. She didn’t think she had ever pushed it this far before. Definitely not against another Tier 3. The boy was a demon wearing human skin.
She had so many questions and not enough time to answer them. She was too busy trying to survive and get away. The first surprise came when he reacted to her attack with alarming speed. His barrier was the next surprise. She could understand if the barrier had been able to defend against her first attack, but the same barrier had been able to withstand her second bolt. A bolt that was specifically created to ignore mana-based defenses.
That meant he had created the barrier out of a second energy source as well. It could have been aura, or even kinetic energy, she believed that she had sensed something like that when he had been chasing her. It was hard to tell because she had never come across such a barrier before.
After that, the surprises kept on coming. He had somehow found her despite being shrouded by the cloak that her master gave her. She didn’t know how he managed that. She also had zero clue how he moved so freaking fast.
She thought the flying device was something he used to supplement his speed, but she was wrong. He was much faster on the ground than flying around on the board. Despite putting everything into her skills, he would have gotten to her if he had a few more seconds.
It was only thanks to Riven that she had been able to get away safely. The mage prodigy and her good friend had summoned a literal firestorm, smothering the other boy in it. She was still baffled by how he created such a powerful attack in the blink of an eye, even after all these years of knowing him.
She finally stopped herself as she slid next to Riven. Her friend looked as calm as ever; several large barriers were already deployed around him, ready to intercept any attacks that might come his way.
She looked back at where the firestorm was still raging, but she wasn’t able to sense anything within it. The flames blocked her vision, and the mana was too dense to perceive through. The heat of the attack tickled her skin, even though she was so far away.
Riven wasn’t subtle, that was for sure. He probably picked it up from his master, who was notoriously flashy and was known to love massive spells.
“Is he dead?” She asked Riven after several seconds of the firestorm continuing.
“No, he is still alive,” he said with a frown and furrowed his eyebrows into sharp lines. An even larger explosion blasted out, and the flames started to rise even further in the sky. Only then did he seem content.
The firestorm ebbed away, and what was left was a barren patch of dirt that had been scorched black. Smoke was floating from the surface, and the stones on the ground were glowing red from the residual heat.
However, to her shock as well as Riven’s, a naked boy was standing in the middle of this barren patch of land, lit up by the flickering flames. Not only had he survived, but he looked almost entirely okay. Except for his lack of clothes and some reddened skin, there were no signs of any real damage.
What was even more disturbing was the smile on the young man’s face. It was a feral smile that was full of excitement and… hope?
Eva felt an uneasy sensation ripple through her stomach. But she didn’t get time to think about it because their opponent’s form blurred, and she was barely able to track him.
However, she wasn’t able to react in time. An earth-shattering blow slammed into Riven’s barrier. The cool-minded mage showed concern for the first time at the immense blow. His barrier held up for a brief moment, but that was all it could do. A crack formed, and that was enough to compromise the shield's integrity.
The dense collection of mana shattered, and Riven grabbed Eva, teleporting the two of them away. They made it just in time, too. The monster’s fist had passed through the same spot they were occupying, blasting a troll-sized hole into the hard ground.
While still holding onto Eva, Riven blasted himself upwards into the sky. Once they were high enough in the air, they both stared down at the naked boy. She averted her eyes in embarrassment now that she had time to realize what she was staring at.
The black haired youth stared up at them with a bright smile, but suddenly frowned and looked down at his body. A brief look of panic crossed his face, and a new set of clothes appeared on him before he let out a relieved sigh. Eva copied him, for different reasons.
Only when he had dressed himself properly did he look back up at them. Despite being brutally hit by Riven’s firestorm, he seemed fine. Better than fine, in fact. He looked like he had just experienced a good night’s sleep.
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“What do we do? How did he survive that?” She asked Riven. However, the chiseled face of the future archmage was etched with confusion as well.
“A powerful fire resistance skill? Honestly, I don’t know. But he is dangerous. I think he's the one whom my master said I should pay attention to,” Riven admitted, and he pulled out his staff. Eva’s eyes widened. Riven never took out his staff unless he was taking things seriously. The staff was a reward from a Challenge Rift and was very powerful as well as soul-bound to Riven.
Furthermore, his words made her even more cautious. If his master said to pay attention to this boy, then there was a good reason for that. Eva might have already experienced that reason for herself.
The youth down below was still staring at them while Riven was supporting the two of them with his wind magic. Eva breathed a sigh of relief. It would appear that the younger boy wasn’t able to reach them up here. From what she had observed, his item had an altitude restriction; it could only fly so high above the ground.
“Are you guys just going to stay up there forever?” The boy suddenly called out with a mock pout.
They didn’t answer him. They were both befuddled at the youth’s behavior.
“What? No reply? If that’s the case, then you can at least tell me why you attacked me out of nowhere. That was pretty rude,” he shouted up at them.
Eva was about to shout something down, but before she could, she felt Riven create several large pillars of stone around him. They were around the size of a small carriage. Then, with a wave of his hand, they were hurled down to the surface. He used a bit of fire and wind mana to give them a boost. He also used some gravity magic to accelerate them even further.
They sped toward the ground in a flash of light. The entire ground exploded, lighting up the night sky. A plume of dust and rock over a hundred feet high rolled across the area. She gulped when she saw the devastation he caused. Riven wasn’t joking around.
However, in the midst of all of this destruction, a small blue spike the size of her fist appeared. There was a faint trail of flame on the end of the construct. It was fast too, with the dust cloud obstructing their view, they were almost too late to react.
Luckily, Riven had already set several barriers in place. With that being said, it was barely enough. The single spike tore through the first barrier like cloth, then exploded into a fiery burst as it destroyed the second one.
, she realized with a wince.
She quickly grabbed hold of Riven and activated her cloak's enchantments. The familiar bubble wrapped around the two of them, causing them to disappear from sight. This bubble also had another function; it protected them against most mana-based attacks—even aura-based attacks to a certain extent.
Once they were shrouded, Riven shot them off in another direction.
Before they did anything else, she connected her mind to Riven’s. Telepathy wasn’t one of her strong suits, but she had gained a skill that allowed her to touch upon psychic energy. She wasn’t a trained psychic or anything, but she would get better at it over time. At the moment, she was pretty limited, and even something as small as this put a lot of strain on her mind.
she made sure Riven knew this piece of information. He nodded in confirmation before he created several more barriers around the two of them.
,” Riven informed her.
She did as she was told and searched for the boy on the ground. Her senses expanded all throughout the area; the intense remnants of mana made it difficult, but her perception had always been excellent. She quickly spotted him and immediately relayed the information to Riven.
However, they both paused when they saw the boy stroll toward them without a care in the world. There wasn’t a hint of panic or fear; he simply stalked forward, several of the blue spikes hovering over his shoulder. He was covered in some dust, but that was all.
He had no visible injuries despite Riven’s terrifying bombardment that would have hurt a Tier 4. Their hesitation only lasted for a second or two. Riven had finished his preparations, and a large ring of glowing gold runes appeared on the ground, surrounding the boy.
She saw the surprise on the boy’s face, but to her disbelief, he made no effort to escape. He looked at the runes with curiosity and even bent down to touch them with his hand. A large smile appeared on his face, and he looked directly at the two of them despite them being shrouded.
A chill went down her spine, but Riven sent some of his calmness over to her. She relaxed and watched as Riven activated the golden circle. Even if the boy had wanted to escape the circle, it was too late now.
The anti-spatial properties of the circle were already in place, and no Tier 3 would be able to break free. She had experienced this very skill herself, so she should know. This circle was Riven’s attempt at replicating a domain, and it was very powerful despite not quite reaching that status.
The golden runes pulsed with power as they activated. She saw the boy stagger to his knees as all of the mana within the circle underwent dramatic changes. He shouldn’t be able to feel his mana at this point, nor should he be able to control his aura with much finesse.
The spikes over his shoulders flickered out and disappeared into little particles of light. Then, before he could do anything else, the area contained within the circle collapsed. The spatial runes crushed the space inside, and all that was left was a dull golden glow where the runes used to be.
However, that didn't make Eva feel any more comfortable because that wasn't how this particular skill worked at all. It crushed its opponents. Yet, for some reason, the boy was nowhere to be seen. He had vanished into thin air.