Mana Storm

"Attack!!!"

Yelling their battle cry, the Dragon Slayers leaped into battle. Through the innumerable bodies of monsters, Aaron could see countless red auras appearing over the battlefield. The Dragon Slayers each brought out their special weapons. He could see double-ended scythes, giant glaives, and greatswords appear out of thin air, along with ninety-seven other unique weapons.

Meanwhile, a team of mages landed inside the barrier and started firing their spells at the horde. Their spells were noticeably more powerful than that of the city guards, and their magic eliminated tons of monsters. He could also see another group of people head to the barrier formation. The barrier of the city was made by a formation master and was powered by a giant mana crystal almost triple the size of a person. Giant pillars of quartz surrounded it, connected to the crystal by large, bulky chains. The people walked up to it and lifted something Aaron couldn't see. Then, a bright blue glow surrounded the crystal. The crystal glowed a golden yellow for a moment before bright blue pulses of light flew out from it in a ring shape. As the rings of light touched the barriers, its dimmed form appeared brighter than it was before. The barrier had been repaired to peak condition.

Aaron looked to his side and saw Autumn itching to help. He sighed. Since the Dragon Slayers we're here, they should be able to join the battle and make it to the city.

Charging, they leaped into the fray, cutting, stabbing, and slashing their foes, heading for the city. Dodging a strike from the heavy fist of a golem, Aaron circled behind it, looking for its core. Golems were powered by a mana crystal, a resource found in underground caves with lots of mana. Finding a small, blue shard sticking out of the center of its chest, Aaron stabbed his spear at the crystal. Before that, the golem was turning around, but now, it stopped in its tracks. Aaron watched in astonishment as the golem disintegrated before his eyes. One second it was there, the next it completely disappeared. Pushing aside his astonishment, he ran after Autumn, who had gotten a bit ahead. His wound was getting in the way, but he could still use his spear with one arm. Throwing it at a goblin in front of him, he quickly picked it back up and continued running. Then, he paused. Over the heads of the monsters, he could see a person wielding two, pale blue swords. They were Bluesteel swords, and Aaron only knew one person who used them in the entire city.

"Faloan!" He called out, moving to Autumn's side. Faloan had always used the two swords since he had become an adventurer. Seeing Autumn and him, Faloan wielded his two swords, making his way towards them. Suddenly, a goblin came out of nowhere and ambushed him. Aaron threw his spear as hard as he could and hit the goblin just before it hit Faloan. He soon arrived and the three regrouped.

"Thanks," Faloan said as he jumped in front of Aaron, scaring him.

"What happened?" Aaron asked. Beast tides were very rare, especially one of this scale.

"I'm not sure," He answered worriedly, "The beast tide just suddenly appeared and started attacking the city."

Although all of them were nervous, they knew everything would be fine. Most of the monsters here were lower than C rank, and those that weren't were dealt with by the Dragon Slayers. The three worked together, making it inside the barrier. After Aaron and Autumn got their wounds checked and healed by a light mage, they went back to the fight. After being healed, the wounds were almost gone, only leaving a mark on their skin. However, the fatigue from the constant battle was still there. After resting for a while, they picked up their weapons from the ground.

Faloan charged out of the barrier first. Killing the closest enemy, an orc, he was soon hidden behind the numerous monsters. Aaron and Autumn charged out together, Aaron pinning down a creature with his spear, giving Autumn time to cut off its head. The battle continued, both sides having casualties. The humans had healers, but some were blocked from getting to the barrier, and others weren't able to react before their comrades were killed.

Although the monsters had much more casualties compared to the humans, their numbers were much higher, and the constant fighting barely left a dent in their forces.

Aaron continued fighting, not knowing how many enemies he had killed. Occasionally, he would see another adventurer fighting as well before they disappeared.

"Rrrrrrrrrrrr"`

Aaron frowned. What was it this time? Was the monster's reinforcement finally arriving? Then again, it was a bit late. Suddenly, a bright light flashed.

"Boom!"

'Lightning?' Aaron thought, looking up. What he saw was shocking.

"It's a mana storm!" A person beside him yelled. Immediately, almost everyone panicked. Even the monsters started to retreat into the distance. Mana storms were feared for their destructive ability. They occurred when the mana currents in an area were unstable, whether it was due to large-scale battles, or a fight between high-level mages, anything in the vicinity would be destroyed. The mana congregated into one, swirling mass. Purple lightning crackled between the clouds, and a giant vortex was formed, dragging in mana from other areas. Everybody started running towards the barrier. With the strengthening from the mana crystal and by using their mana to help, they might be able to survive. Aaron, Autumn, and Faloan were the last to run. They had gone the furthest from the barrier while they were fighting, and they were starting to regret it. The lightning in the cloud grew brighter, lighting up the sky. Suddenly, Aaron could hear a bolt of lightning hit the area directly behind him. A few more stuck the field and the barrier. Slowly, the amount of lightning increased. Now, Aaron and the others had to constantly dodge, but they were too far away. He could see those in the barrier, yelling and trying to tell them something, but the lightning drowned out their voices. Suddenly, his vision turned white, and he tried to look around. The entire world seemed to be spinning, making him dizzy.

'Did I die?' He wondered. Them, he had a nauseous feeling, making him want the hurl. The entire world spun again, and Aaron found himself on a large, snowy mountain. Barfing out his meager breakfast in the ground, Aaron lay winded in the snow. Eventually, he got back up.

"Where am I?" He had never seen this place before. Looking down, he sighed in relief. His spear was still there, the spearhead hidden in the snow. Pulling it out of the ground, he cleaned the spearhead with a rag. Putting the rag in his pocket and holding the spear in his hands, he looked around. He had been separated from Autumn and Faloan. He was unsure if they made it to the barrier, or were teleported like he was. Another thing, what had the mana storm done to him? Not only did he not know where he was, but he was also cold. And hungry. Really hungry.

Walking through the snow, he observed the trees and bushes. They certainly didn't look familiar. Eventually, he made it to a cliff on one side of the mountain, connected to a cave. Looking over the edge of the cliff, he could see a sheer drop to the bottom of the mountain. He could barely see the trees below. Curiously, he threw a rock off the cliff.

Cupping his hands to his ears, he listened. And listened. And listened. He didn't hear a sound.