Solar Mage

Chapter 29: Psychopath

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"

We all scream as we fall down the deep hole, well lit by magic lamps.

Crap! I don't know any flight magic! I can't see the end! If this hole continues to get deeper, I could die on impact– I need to do something!

Suddenly, the world around me begins to move slower.

Wait, why am I falling slower now?

I turn to see the rest of the party.

They are falling slower as well! Wait no– that's not it. Time isn't moving slower, I'm just thinking at a faster speed! It seems that Heightened Senses skill that master gave me has activated due to this dangerous situation.

This is good, I have proper time to think now. Hmm, what do I do though? What other skills do I have?

That's right! I have the Iron Body skill that I obtained from one of the other elixirs master gave me!

A feeling of stiffness surges throughout my entire body.

My body feels a lot stronger and tougher but, this skill has quite the drawback huh? I can feel most of my swiftness and flexibility leave my body. It makes sense but it's a shame I won't be able to use such a overpowered skill that can nullify most attacks in a fast paced battle.

I can also use Swift Wind that lightens my body and increases my agility to soften the impact more so while the Iron Body skill takes the majority of the damage.

I look down with heightened senses and something comes into view.

I can see the end of this hole!

I concentrate even harder on my eyes with heightened senses on the ground that quickly gets closer and closer.

Alright, it's not that far of a drop left. I will definitely be able to survive with all these skills now, but just to be safe–

My legs suddenly envelop in a bright orange-yellow light in the shape of flames.

There, I've applied aura onto my legs. Hopefully with all of this, I will be unharmed.

As we rapidly approach the ground, I descend upright, with confidence. Then, I look at Tin, still in an happy mood, blinded by my arrogance who has his body enveloped in brown colored mana.

So he had the earth attribute. He's also wearing heavy armor, he should be fine. All of the C ranks in the party should be able to survive there's no need for me to worry about them. All of them except Tin are enemies anyway– wait, Tin wasn't the only exception!

I immediately turn to see Rachel without any aura or even mana coating any part of her body and completely unconscious.

Damn it, I was too complacent! We only have a few seconds at most, before impact! Super Heighten Senses! I need more time to think! If she dies, she won't be able to heal Tin or me from our injuries! I need to grab her, but she's too far!

Thousands of thoughts race across my head in the span of a second until, one of them inspires me.

I've got it! I'm sorry Rachel, this might hurt a bit.

We are just a second away from impact with the ground. A dim orb of Dawn appears behind Rachel and blasts her back, charring her but the force from the blast is enough to push her close enough to me, where I can reach her.

Yes! The plan worked!

Just a moment before we crash into the ground, I pull her in and carry her in my arms like a groom would do to his bride.

I look down at the hard stone floor just before impact.

Well, this is going to hurt a lot.

Then,

"BOOOOOOM!!!"

The solid stone floor below me cracks under the force generated as the result of my mass increasing from Iron Body. In this exchange, one of the sides break and in this case, I won.

I manage to hold in my screams but it is followed by screams of pain all around me in normal speed, as heightened senses deactivate due to the danger disappearing.

MMPPPHHHH– MY LEGS!!! That hurt like a bitch! But at least I can still feel them. Is Rachel still okay?

I look at her.

Hmm, her body other than her back seems pretty fine so do her bones for some weird reason. What about the bald guys and Sara?

The others were not as lucky as me. The ground below them did not crack, but instead their legs did. What laid below them were bloody splatters of blood. Han and Tin still stood upright for a few seconds before falling. Han had a coating of brown mana around his legs whose bones were poking out before the mana quickly dispersed. Tin's Earth attribute mana also quickly dispersed but his legs still remain intact.

How grotesque... Tin's legs probably broke as well but it seems his heavy armor is keeping it intact and in position. And they're both still fully conscious, still writhing in pain. Sara on the other hand–

I turn to Sara's corpse. Laying the floor without any movement or a sound.

What a shame, I had wanted her to torture her a little more before killing her. Oh well, at least Han is still alive.

I carefully set Rachel on the floor and walk toward Han and Tin.

I begin to mock him.

"Hey there party leader, it looks like you are a little injured. That can't be right, didn't you say something about you and Sara killing me? What happened to that?"

"Huff– I'm sorry, I won't ever bother you again. Please– please give me a healing potion."

"Aw party leader, that won't do. It seems you still have no idea what you did wrong. If I let you live you'll just continue to do your despicable acts and get killed from it one day, so why don't I just end you here today so you don't die at the hands of someone else who you don't know as well later on?"

His puddle of blood increases in volume as he screams harder.

"Please... I apologize, I promise I won't ever do it again...

He says weakly.

I let out a low, bitter laugh that grows louder, almost uncontrollable as I cover my face with my palm.

"You still don't get it, do you? You think a sorry is going to get rid of everything you've done? It's pathetic really Hahahaha"

The laughter ends abruptly, my face hardening as I glare at him with a sudden, fierce intensity.

"You tried to kill me—your own mentor that you've been friends with for years—and an innocent little girl, just because someone mentioned that you were bald. That's what pushed you over the edge? That's all it takes?"

I step closer, my voice trembling with a mix of anger and disbelief.

"If I let someone as insane as you back into the world, how long before you start hurting people again? How long before you would start offering your life force to a demon for its evil power? How long before the death toll rises—ten, a hundred, a thousand? You'd leave a trail of destruction that no one could stop, and I'm supposed to be okay with that?

I lean in, my voice lowers and stabilizes.

"Don't make me laugh."

I get up and turn away from him.

"Ha, an even more insane person calling me insane."

He says while smiling.

"You said you were smart right? Then that must mean you must've known what my answer would've been from the start."

He screams out in a barely decipherable outrage with the remainder of his willpower.

"DAMN YOU, NAMELESS. HEAR ME O' GODS AND DEMONS, I OFFER YOU MY LIFE FOR THIS. I CURSE THIS MAN IN FRONT OF ME! MAY EVERYTHING HE DO FAIL AND EVERYONE HE LOVES DIE! WHEN HE DIES LET HIM BE ALONE AND BE THROWN IN THE LAKES OF FIRE TO THE SUN AND BACK FOR ALL OF ETERNITY–

His last words abruptly ended as I shot Han through the head with a thin sun beam without hesitation, instantly killing him. He lays flat on the ground, with the puddle now turned into a pool.

I then turn and see Tin, who seems completely unconscious and feels the rage within me disperse once more.

Ugh, what was that? It was the same feeling as what I felt when I killed those bandits and when I was confronting Sara. This has never happened before back at the capital, something strange is happening to me. I need to be careful with making enemies from now on so that this anger residing inside me doesn't take over.

I walk over and check Sara's corpse first to make sure she's dead.

No pulse or heartbeat. She's dead.

Then, I drag Tin and Rachel's body to a wall and prop them sitting upright.

Then, I take a look around the interior of the hidden dungeon room and release all my spells.

That feels nice. I have about 90% of my mana left. It should be enough to last me until the end of this dungeon.

But this is the first time I've heard of a Hidden Dungeon Room trying to kill its explorers before. Usually the creator of the dungeon just leaves a reward here for the first person to stumble upon it.

I walk up to a wall where there is writing on it and a stone pedestal in front of it.