My September - NASTYONA

I reveled internally on this feeling of acceptance. A weight on my mind slowly eased away as I continued to hold Levi in my arms. I decided then and there that I would never let any harm befall Levi; but if I wanted to keep that promise, I'd need to become a lot stronger. Our embrace would've lasted longer but a sudden distant shout broke it, "LEVI!, CHARLIE!"

I recognized the voice to be Ahren's and confirmed my suspicion after I sat up. Ahren sounded worried but I didn't want to go back yet so I hadn't moved. Thinking on it now, I realized how rashly I'd just acted. I hadn't really given them time to respond before running, so for all I knew I'd just misunderstood their intentions. Realizing this, I became extremely embarrassed and lost all urge to return. I didn't want to make the decision so, I decided to ask Levi if he wanted to go back to which he shook his head.

We waited for Ahren to get out of view before rising into a crouch. If we could get around a hill, then we'd be entirely out of sight so we moved in the direction of the nearest one. After rounding the hill, we stood up. Our position was nestled in between numerous hills that rose and fell seemingly indefinitely. The sight produced was eerie but I didn't let that dissuade me.

Looking to Levi I asked, "do you want to race?" with a blatant smile. In front of me was an endless sea of hills but I saw it as the perfect testing ground for wind magic. It was a wide open space with soft ground, much in contrast to the forest where I might run into a tree. It's important to note that my sudden interest in racing was entirely because I wanted to test out my wind magic, not because I was avoiding confrontation or something.

I saw Levi's confused expression but he eventually said "okay" before assuming a runner's stance. I guess I hadn't been specific but I still laughed a little bit. I decided it'd be faster to explain by example so I condensed some wind under my feet to rise into the air slightly which evoked an expression of understanding.

Now that both parties were ready, I counted down before shouting "GO". We hadn't set a finish line but I figured it'd be easy to discern who was faster so I didn't bother bringing it up. I had originally lifted myself with condensed air but my movement strategy was much more advanced. Once in position, I moved the air in front of me to the sides so that I'd be sucked forwards by the vacuum produced. I'd developed this technique in the forest where I didn't have much space which had limited the amount of testing I could do. I quickly discovered a few issues with the technique which are as follows: breathing.

The speed that I was able to maintain was beyond my expectations but obviously the lack of air was a problem for my lungs. I remedied the problem by ordering a small air channel to flow over me subliminally which also acted as a shell between me and the empty space.

I recognized Levi as a worthy adversary so I didn't dare look back or slow down. After a dozen or so minutes, I reached the end of the hilly area that bordered some open plains. I took the change in terrain as a sign to stop and gently landed on the top of one of the last hills before the plains to get a better view. I first looked behind me but didn't see anything of mention, only hills. Where was Levi? Had I really been going that fast? It struck me that Levi might not have any flying techniques because although he was proficient in wind magic, he didn't have the same knowledge as I.

I really didn't recognize anything around me. As I turned to the plains, I noticed a far off mountain range but how could that be? There aren't any mountain ranges for dozens of kilometres! I really needed to work on my sense of distance when flying, what if Levi crashed all by himself?

I was preparing to return in the direction that I'd come when I felt something strange in the air. Mana was moving but I hadn't started yet. Was there someone else?

The mana wasn't controlling any elements, it was merely flowing around the area in a way that reminded me of mana sense. I hadn't deeply explored this technique but to simplify, it was similar to stretching a thin net of mana out around oneself to detect concentrations of mana that gave the viewer an idea of their physical surroundings and the lifeforms in said surroundings. I'd been successful in casting a net a few meters in diameter which allowed me to walk around slowly with my eyes closed but it didn't seem like something I would need. As a result, I didn't practice very much and could only cast a small net.

What I found strange about this net is its size. I paced around the area but I couldn't detect where the caster was in the slightest. I knew that whoever they were, they could see me and I didn't like that. Instead of casting a net, I decided to stretch out a very thin cord of mana so that I could maximize distance and minimize energy consumption. I first stretched it into the plains, towards the mountains where I felt a slight increase in the mana concentration. As I continually stretched out, I became more and more fearful of the kind of creature that could expend this much mana. It had to be extremely intelligent and in possession of a mana core many times more powerful than my own.

Slowly, this fear gripped me to the point where I had to fight the urge to run. It peaked when I could no longer stretch any farther. Yet this creature could stretch greater distances than my limit and seemingly in all directions at once! That was ridiculous; was there some kind of deity here that I'd missed learning about?!

I never discovered what the creature was but I was now determined to find Levi. I didn't like that being's presence. I once more lifted myself into the air before blasting off in the direction that I'd come.

—

Levi's POV:

What kind of technique was that? As soon as the race had started, Charlie disappeared accompanied by a very loud bang. I'd tried to catch up but I don't think I could unless he'd stopped.

I was moving at what I thought was a fast pace by running with condensed wind under my feet pushing me forwards. I had been so proud of myself for all the practice that I'd put into this technique and was exhilarated with the sensation of flight but how could I compare when standing next to Charlie? Regardless, I didn't wallow in self-pity and maintained my pursuit for over half an hour.

The hills began to blend together in my mind. Green, green and more green was all that I saw until I was shaken from my thoughts by a sudden splotch of black. As I got closer, I saw more until there were seven splotches of black in the distance. Curiosity hijacked my mind as I approached them.

Quickly, I regretted this lack of control. The black splotches were wolves, but not just any wolves, dark wolves. They were infamous for their ferocious nature, great speed and monstrous physical strength. One wolf was twice the size of an average wolf and the match of at least four trained warriors, but this was a pack of seven. I was exhausted and in no place to fight but I couldn't fly very high without risk of falling. I'd been practicing but it's unnatural for elves to fly or at least very difficult.

I decided to flee but the dark wolves had already picked up on my scent. It didn't take long before they all pointed their bodies in my direction and gave chase. I knew they were faster than me but while my path was straight through the air, theirs was up and down over hills. This advantage was enough to maintain a distance but it wouldn't last.

The wolves were approaching at seemingly increasing speeds but I knew it was really me who was slowing. I didn't want to die but what could I do? A wolf was about to reach me when all of a sudden, the air seemed to shatter around me, producing a horrendous noise like thunder.

—

Charlie's POV:

It should only take a couple minutes to reach Levi but that was assuming that I saw him as I passed. I decided to slow down slightly so as not to miss him.

I continued this pace until I saw something far in the distance. Any colour other than green stood out clearly in the pure green hills so it wasn't hard to spot a few black spots on the horizon. It would be getting dark soon but there was still enough light to illuminate what looked to be wolves. They were running very fast, even by my standards but what were they chasing?

As I looked ahead of the wolves, I saw what they were chasing and sped up to my limit without a second thought.

—

Levi's POV:

What was happening? Had I died? No, the air was filled with dust so I couldn't see but my ears hurt too much to be dead. It took a minute but I was able to pull focus from my ringing ears and onto the ground surrounding me. It was the same pale grass that coated the hills so I was still in the same place. That was good but what happened to the wolves? I looked around but I only saw dust. That's when I noticed a feeling of extreme heat coming from the cloud of dust surrounding me. I focused on the direction that the heat had come from to see flashes behind the dust wall. I still couldn't hear but the air shook each time a flash appeared.

I continued watching the flashes of light until they stopped. Soon after, all the dust in the air fell straight to the ground as if ordered to disperse, revealing Charlie.