Rael: The Journey of Creation

"I got it!" Selene's voice broke the calm silence. I cast a glance toward her, and she was smiling like she had discovered a secret treasure or something. I couldn't deny, though, that she had always been energetic since I met her!

I split my focus between her and the ongoing beast tide, which was surprisingly calm for us. It was a true testament to how effective our decoys—our captors—had been. The relief and time they were buying us was something we desperately needed.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked.

"Just follow me. Keeping it short, there's an opening through the mountains 100 meters to our left, and it's clear of beasts!"

Odd. At least, it seemed that way to me, but I wasn't a native to this world, so I couldn't be certain about beast movements or whether there were safe zones they instinctively avoided. I cast a glance at Kyoko, and her expression said it all.

"Sele, you don't find that strange?" Her face was filled with uncertainty, and her entire demeanor made it clear she didn't want to take the risk.

"I absolutely do! But we really only have this option or face hundreds, if not over a thousand, bloodthirsty beasts. Sure, if it were one thousand of the same type, we could probably figure something out. But no, it's a variety of hundreds! Which one would you prefer?"

Kyoko looked over to me, but I just shrugged. Either way, it didn't matter to me—I was confident enough to figure something out. Humans are adaptable creatures, and not to mention, I have the complex reasoning of someone from a world of science. Now, with the addition of magic and the ability to bring forth my literal imagination (within reason), fighting so many beasts or treading unknown territory wasn't as scary as it could have been.

I let those two figure it out, as it wasn't like we had to hurry or rush. Forcing a decision without preparation might land us in an even worse position. Cowardice? Maybe. Sure, I could logically think through the pros and cons of either route, but the thick stench of blood in the air and the stress of fighting for my life were things I needed time to steel myself for. Speaking of blood, so much of it had soaked the ground that a faint red haze was forming, and I could even taste the metallic tang of iron in the air.

"The strongest survive... hah. I'm really not ready for this shit," I muttered under my breath, keeping watch while the two behind me continued their discussion.

"Seriously, Sele, there wasn't another solution?!" Kyoko snapped.

"There is, but one of us is guaranteed to die, and I can tell you it isn't going to be him. I'm not fond of dying so early, and I'm not going to risk your life either!" Selene retorted.

"H-How are you so confident he wouldn't die?" Kyoko stammered.

"He can literally do anything! No matter the situation, he has a way to turn it in his favor through his magic. You just saw him create a spear out of shackles! Even when he first woke up, his instinct was to observe calmly—I had to interrupt him. I guarantee you; he'd survive if we took the other route. You and I have known each other for years, Kyoko—you know our limits. We would be the ones at risk!"

"Then why not let him go down that route while we figure out something else?" Kyoko pressed.

"Simple: because we need him. You fail to realize how much easier he makes things for us just by being here."

While watching the beast tide, I frowned. 'Okay, this conversation is rather... insulting.' I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I interrupted, still keeping my eyes forward. "Do I get a say?"

"No," the two replied in unison.

'...These two are lucky I don't just leave right now. Okay, I'm not actually going to do that since I don't know what will happen if I'm alone, but still—why do they think they can control me? We just met!'

"Fine, Sele. But if this plan falls apart, I'm telling your dad to knock some sense into you," Kyoko muttered darkly.

Selene just laughed, brushing it off. "Relax! If something goes wrong, we'll adapt. Simple as that."

'Her optimism is reassuring. I feel more motivated just listening to her. Someone more pessimistic would just wear me down.'

"Ugh... fine," Kyoko grumbled, letting out her final complaint. Selene stretched her arms, and I followed suit.

"This way," Selene called as she dashed to the left. Her speed wasn't as impressive as I'd expected. I pushed myself, dashing at full speed for the first time since I'd arrived in this world. With each step, I crossed one to two meters, but that was nothing compared to the women ahead of me. Selene was clearing at least three meters with each stride, and Kyoko was using mana to augment her speed, keeping up with ease.

'Why didn't I think of that?' I channeled mana around my legs, and instantly my speed surged! I went from one to two meters per step to matching their pace. Edging slightly ahead of Kyoko, I found myself neck and neck with Selene.

The plain environment blurred around us as the wind whipped against my face, only to be broken by the force of my speed. What struck me most as I ran beside Selene was that she wasn't using mana at all. Her speed was entirely due to her physical body. If she decided to channel mana or use any strengthening magic, she'd easily leave us in the dust. To keep up, I'd have to push beyond my basic mana and tap into a different element.

In what felt like no time at all, we reached the area Selene had mentioned. It was exactly as she described, but more—it was a complete ghost town. No sign of life at all. I turned to Selene for details.

"Selene, how does your ability work exactly? I'm sure you would've seen this if it gave more details."

She responded slowly, "Well... due to my current Cultivation level, it isn't as detailed. If I had to say, I get a rough understanding of the space I'm looking at."

"This void of life isn't rough enough?"

"No. All I saw was an open area that seemed safe."

"Uh-huh. It definitely is clear, but safe might be questionable." I couldn't help but scoff. It was situations like these where something totally unexpected happened, thrusting the main cast into a shitshow of a battle. That's how it was in those novels I read, and life wasn't a novel, so I hoped I was wrong.

"Yeah, at leas—?!"

CRACK!

"Son of a bitch!"

The ground beneath us began to shake and crack. In that same instant, a massive red circle appeared beneath us. The tremors grew more violent, cutting off Kyoko mid-sentence. I cursed under my breath. Exactly what I didn't want to happen was now unfolding, and we were in for a mess.

"I've got bad news..." Selene said, seemingly unaffected by the chaos.

Still struggling to keep her footing, Kyoko let her anger out. "WHAT NOW, SELE?! SO HELP ME!"

"I definitely don't want to piss her off. She's got more of a temper than I thought," I muttered, entirely irrelevant to the situation at hand.

"The beasts are heading this way," Selene said calmly.

"..."

Silence. Absolute silence, except for the shifting and cracking ground.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Kyoko screamed.

I felt my body tremble, cold sweat breaking out. The situation was worse than I thought. The ground had shifted into a pit, and neither of us had any way to fly out. Makeshift methods crossed my mind, but the beasts above were approaching fast. I wasn't confident enough to try multicasting under this pressure.

"Hey, it's not like they can come down in big batches!" I said, attempting optimism.

As if to mock me, a cloud of beasts loomed above.

"Nice j—"

"Kyoko, not now."

"Pfft~!"

Selene, unaffected as always, looked radiant and calm. Did anything faze this woman?

"Time to go all the way! [Omni-Boost!]" A radiant, night-sky aura surrounded Selene, far more brilliant than her previous display. She looked like a war goddess, her black-starry aura giving her an appearance reminiscent of Nyx from Greek mythology, save for Selene's striking sky-blue eyes.

'I guess it's time to experiment. The original plan's out the window, so anything goes... wish I'd experimented more back in the cell, but whatever!' I rallied my mana, watching a golden-green glow, almost like the finest jade, envelop my hands and legs.

There were countless possibilities, but the best option overall...

"[Heat Absorption!]" Crossing my arms in an X, I focused my understanding of the concept, manifesting it. The premise was simple: absorb surrounding heat to make the area colder, slowing down beasts unaccustomed to the cold. As for how it would affect Kyoko and Selene... they'd figure it out. Unfortunate, but I trusted them to figure something out.