Eryas was looking at Edward scavenging something under the pile of rubble. After telling Edward that he was somewhat capable of using a sword, Edward asked Eryas to follow him.
After a while, both of them stopped inside the ruins of a building that was half destroyed. The only things that are still standing are its walls. The view before them was disturbing. On the ground, there were two bodies of darkness humans.
Its limbs were severed and thrown everywhere. However, the black blood that splatters all around the area suggests that a fight was happening here. Eryas massaged his temples, feeling like he was lightheaded from the smell, the pain of the injury, and from seeing such a sight.
"What happened here?" Eryas asked, his voice steady despite the grim scene before them.
Finally, Edward rises from his position, holding onto another sword. He walks towards Eryas and gives it to him. Eryas looked at the sword intently. This was no ordinary sword.
It was the special sword that every city guard had, imbued with Rune sorcery. It was a symbol of duty for every Veloria city guard. The enchantment, which sharpened the sword and prevented it from losing its edge, was one of the best a swordsman could have.
Every city guard who started serving the city felt delighted when they received this boon. But to Eryas, the enchantment was simply useless. He could not even activate it, so in the end, it was just a regular sword to him. Even so, he wouldn't complain. It's better to arm yourself in this situation. His throwing knives are not suitable for melee, so having a sword does help.
"This was my friend's…"
Edward stopped for a moment. He took one deep breath before continuing.
"After the explosion, my friend and I found ourselves in this area. I was fine with only a few scratches, but my friend... he was severely injured. We were attacked by these creatures. He told me to run and get out of here, and informed everyone that darkness had invaded Veloria."
'So that's what happened. His friend must have sacrificed himself so that Edward could escape and call for help, but it was in vain. In the end, nobody can get out of here.'
Hearing that Eryas suddenly remembered the reason why he had not been attacked throughout his wanderings. The one and only reason why he hasn't been attacked ever since he was in this cloud of dust.
Darkness creatures can sense the mana of living beings to track and hunt them down. However, since Eryas himself is manaless, those creatures are incapable of detecting him. Even if they use their nose, it still wouldn't help in this situation since Eryas himself was covered in dirt and blood. Those smells literally linger everywhere here.
Eryas slowly nodded before he clipped the scabbard onto his left hip.
"I will use it wisely."
Edward looked at Eryas before walking away from the ruin, surveying the area that was shrouded in a dark cloud of dust.
"We need to get out of here. I need to inform my superiors about what happened. Let's go, we don't have any time to waste," Edward declared, his resolve unwavering.
"Wait, do you even know how to get out of here?"
Edward turned to Eryas with a weird expression on his face.
"Well, we just need to walk in one direction, and eventually we will reach the border of this dust."
Eryas massaged his forehead, hearing that simple and not well-thought-out plan. He sighed
"It's not that simple. I've already tried it, and I couldn't even reach the border. It seems that this area of dust is created with magic that can manipulate space. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it keeps us from getting out and also prevents people from entering. Logically, there should already be soldiers and guards in this area rescuing civilians, but I haven't seen any. The explosion is massive; surely the authorities have reacted."
"Hmm, then what should we do?"
Eryas looked at Edward while rubbing his chin.
"I have a plan, but it's going to be a dangerous one and we might get out of here terribly injured," Eryas warned, his mind already working on the details.
"As long as I get to fulfill my duty serving Veloria, I don't mind it. So let's hear it?"
Having lived the rest of his life as a manaless person and working as an assassin, Eryas truly understands what is possible and what is simply impossible. And right now, getting out of the area seems impossible. But what he truly learns from the past is that sometimes impossible things can be made possible simply by doing something crazy.
Being an assassin as a manaless person is not easy. He constantly needs to kill someone far stronger than him. Every mission is a death sentence to him, but he prevails. He learns that to complete his mission, he must go beyond his capabilities.
Sometimes he needs to do scouting for weeks and even months. And sometimes he needs to lay down traps that have been meticulously designed to work with every possibility. These experiences have shaped Eryas into the person he is today, someone who is not afraid to take risks and do what needs to be done.
So now the plan he had is simply suicide. But a suicide is what they need to get out. Staying any longer would only cause harm. They are injured, tired, and hungry, especially Eryas. From the morning till now, he hadn't had any meals.
The plan was to go for breakfast with Helena, but the plan had veered so far off course that he didn't even have a chance for a meal. And now he is starving. Eryas was also suddenly reminded of Helena, about her safety.
'I miss her already. Where are you, Helena? I hope you're fine.'
"Okay, so here is what we're gonna do."
***
The sword that Eryas got from Edward, right now, was buried deep inside the body of a tainted human. The sword pierces right through its heart from behind. Eryas holds the sword using both hands and slowly pushes the body away using his foot. The lifeless body falls to the ground with its black blood overflowing from the wound.
Eryas turns his gaze around the ruins. One, two, three, four... bodies. Including the one he just killed, there are five. A few minutes earlier, Eryas had already killed five different tainted creatures that were attacking them. Eryas gasped for air.
"Two more."
Eryas quickly turned his glance. Before his eyes, Edward was fighting two of the tainted humans by himself. The two tainted humans launch their relentless assault on Edward. He is struggling to defend himself, waiting for backup from Eryas.
And so Eryas dashes away from the ruins, circling around the two remaining creatures. Edward was still handling both creatures by himself. One of the creatures slashes its claws onto Edward, but is easily dismissed by his sword.
The other attacked, lunging forward with its fangs. Those sharp black fangs bite onto Edward's right hand as he uses it to block the attack. Luckily, those fangs couldn't bite into the flesh as Edward turned his skin hard like a stone.
This is his personal magic.
Personal magic is a special kind of magic that is unique to anyone who receives it. It comes in many forms, and it is entirely different from the basic elemental magic. Personal magic is an inferior version of the blessing of the heir that the gods have given to humanity.
The blessing of the heir is passed onto the bloodline, but personal magic is given to a random person. It doesn't care if you are royals, nobles, ordinary citizens, or even low-life that live in the slums. Anyone worthy will get their own personal magic.
At some point in life, Eryas was hoping he would get his own personal magic, maybe the most special kind of magic. But those hopeful feelings were crushed by the fact that he is simply manaless.
How would one receive a unique magic if he, himself, couldn't use any magic? Well, his condition is unique, but in the wrong way.
Edward catches a glimpse of Eryas circling around him. He immediately throws the monster that was biting him towards the other one. Both creatures collide and fall to the ground, but neither of them took a long time to recover, and Eryas was just a few meters away.
To buy time, Edward cast an earth magic by putting his hand to the ground. A brown circular magic spell forms on the ground right under his palm, and then the ground slowly shakes momentarily, throwing both creatures off balance.
Because of the tremor, both creatures were struggling to gain footing. Eryas quickened his steps; he was readying his sword, ready to swing it when in range. Edward also lunged forward, holding his sword with both hands.
When in range, both of them slash onto the neck of the tainted humans, beheading them completely. Eryas moved with precision; his sword movement, perhaps lacking in power, was offset by the fact that he used all the momentum he had, and he didn't waste it on pointless movements.
Because of this, the creature's head was cleanly severed from its body. The point of cut was also directly onto the vital parts, the carotid arteries and jugular veins. Meanwhile, it was totally different from Edward, whose strike was full of force.
The way he swings his sword is as if he is releasing all energy from his body onto the tip of the blade. This caused the head severing to be more brutal, and parts of the head were crushed a little.
But the same thing both experienced is that both of them were bathed with the dark blood of the tainted.