Free Web NovelChapter 24: Chapter 24: Climbing to The Top
Riven walked towards the entrance and looked down from the edge upon the sprawling landscape, where vast stretches of sand appeared no larger than lines drawn across the earth.
He felt a chill run down his spine. There was no way that he could jump and hope for the best. If he jumped then he would certainly die.
Ayala walked towards him, her voice full of uncertainty.
"So mister, what should we do now?"
Riven glanced at her from the corner of his eye and sighed
"We will figure something out. For now, let’s rest."
Then Riven walked towards the walls, leaned against them, and sat down. He stared at his inventory.
(Inventory:
Bottle of Water
Chest.)
He just willed them to manifest. A bottle of water manifested on his right palm and a chest on his left palm. He opened the bottle and swallowed the water in one go.
Afterwards, he opened the chest. Inside was an energy bar wrapped in a piece of paper.
He put the energy bar in his mouth and began to chew. As he chewed, Ayala asked.
"What are you doing mister?"
Riven looked at her like she was a fool and said.
"I am eating, I haven’t eaten since entering Astrionis. You should eat too."
Ayala didn’t say a word, instead she walked towards him and sat down beside him. She took an energy bar and began to munch on it.
As they ate, Riven’s mind raced as he thought about something. Not about how to get done but where his subjects that he had abandoned were.
He didn’t know anything about them, all he knew was that they were undoubtedly alive. Otherwise, his level would have dropped by now.
There was only one way to know more about them.
He closed his eyes, trying to establish a connection with them. The connection was established almost instantly, he sensed they were a few kilometers away.
Riven mentally commanded them.
"Come to me and seal any weak undead that you find on the way."
Riven felt them accept his command. He smiled slightly.
He wanted them to return to him not in their current numbers but in greater numbers. That would not only strengthen his army, it would also increase his level.
Suddenly Ayala spoke, grabbing his attention.
"You know... we should make our way to the top of the mesa to increase our odds of survival."
Riven frowned and asked.
"Why?"
Ayala replied without hesitation.
"Because the mesa is the only place that has a river and vegetation around it."
Riven blinked a couple of times before his lips slightly curled upwards. So he wasn’t mistaken. That meant the silhouettes that he had seen when flying over the mesa did belong to the trees.
Her words had confirmed that his suspicion was right. It also
Riven stared at Ayala and asked.
"That means that you have climbed the mesa before?"
Ayala nodded her head and said.
"I have with my guild members."
Riven looked at her in surprise as realization dawned upon him.
"That means you have climbed to the top of the Mesa? Tell me how you did it?!"
Ayala replied, her voice calm yet firm.
"We had a proper climbing equipment minister."
Riven pressed on further as he asked for details.
"What kind of equipment to be exact?"
Ayala thought for a moment and replied.
"We had sharp and pointy daggers... that’s all."
The moment he heard this... he got an idea.
"I have mana manifestation. I can create them with my mana."
With mana manifestation, he could easily create some... He immediately stood up and closed his eyes, creating a mental image of the daggers.
After he was done, two mana daggers manifested in his palm. He just had to manifest two more for Ayala.
But there was a major problem... the moment his mana touched a living being, it tried to convert them into his subjects. He was afraid the same thing would happen to her.
However, it only happened when his mana made contact with an opening in the body. So maybe she would be fine?
There was only one way to find...
"Can you hold this?"
Ayala didn’t say a word instead she grabbed the pair of daggers. For a moment nothing happened. Her expression remained perfectly normal.
But a heartbeat later everything changed... for the worst. Her face became slightly blue and her breathing became heavy.
The very thing that he feared was happening. The process of her turning into his subject had begun...
"Fuck!"
Riven didn’t understand why this was happening. There was no wound or any openings that he could see.
Just then he saw something that made his heart drop. There was a very small cut on her finger through which his mana was entering her body.
Without warning, Ayala shouted and fell onto her knees. Her breathing became even heavier.
"What’s wrong!"
"I’m starti... to forge... what mad... me, me."
"Fight it with your mana but don’t drop the daggers!"
Dropping the daggers meant she wouldn’t be able to use them to climb to the top. If that happened then he would have only one choice and that was to abandon her.
But he couldn’t bring himself to do anything, especially because she refused to go away with the woman. Now, she was her teammate.
And people who abandoned their teammates were no better than scums.
Ayala nodded her head and said weakly.
"I am trying mister..."
She closed her eyes. A heartbeat later, the blue glow around her body disappeared like a lie making her face regain its original color and her breathing stabilize.
She inhaled and exhaled deeply. Riven asked.
"Are you okay?"
Ayala shook her head.
"I am not... your mana is trying to devour my sense... of self. My mana is keeping your mana at bay. If I run out of mana then I would have no choice but to throw your daggers away."
Riven nodded his head, he turned towards the entrance and exclaimed just loud enough for her to hear.
"We need to climb to the top very quickly."
