Wisp! Awaken in the Magical World

The hill wasn't that big, allowing them to climb no more than a few tens of meters above the mist below. They all made a circle formation and watched the mist on all sides, waiting for the Magic Beasts.

'Alvin, Felia,' Linfel spoke into Alvin and Felia's minds again. 'If it is only you two, I can bring you out of here. I'm a wisp, and I can float. We might be able to float from one high point to the other and make intervals to recover our Magic Energy. However, I definitely don't have the Magic Energy to bring the others. So, if push comes to shove, I'm only helping you two.'

Alvin and Felia were taken aback. However, before they could answer, they noticed movements.

*Vush, vush... vush, vush, vush...*

Several shadows appeared and disappeared a the border of the gray-purple mist of Decayed Magic Energy. However, none of them jumped out of there. It was as if they found some impediment that prevented them from going further up that hill.

*Awooooooo!!!*

After several minutes of tension, the howl of one of them could be heard in the distance. As a result, the Magic Beasts running at the border of the mist around the hill disappeared. Linfel's group could hear their steps growing further away. At some point, the area went silent, and nothing more happened.

"They... left?" Falagita asked everyone, finding it hard to believe.

Linfel's Magic Energy Sense checked the surroundings. "Seems like it. At the very least, they left the range of my senses. As to why they did that or where did they go, I have no idea."

"Sigh..." Claus dropped to the ground and sighed in relief. "Finally, some time to relax..."

"Relax?" Vera narrowed her eyes. They didn't seem to be in a situation where they could relax at all. "Take a look around. How can you relax? We need to find a way out!"

Claus sat up and didn't mind Vera's complaints. "And we will think about a solution, so relax. I'll ask you the same thing, look around. Can you see an escape route? I don't think you can fly, nor can I, so we can give it some time for us to rest and think about a solution."

"That is good," Warthon agreed. "Alvin, Falagita, and I, as well as our Familiars, spent quite a lot of Magic Energy to keep the whirlwind running. Give us an hour to recover."

Vera could only accept it. "Fine... Since we are staying still, does anyone here have any idea about how to escape this hell?"

Linfel nodded. "Sure!" Everyone instantly looked as Linfel continued to talk. "We can simply surrender to Xanzion. Didn't you say sending a message from here would most likely be intercepted? We can do exactly that and wait for Xanzion to appear. We will be imprisoned, but at least we will leave this place."

"Out of the question!" Vera instantly refused. Not only her, but no one there liked the idea either.

"Julius tried as well. "Can we map our way out through other hills?"

"What do you mean?"

Julius pointed in the distance. That wasn't the only hill that appeared about the gray-purple mist. There were various other high-plane places that could be used to avoid the mist. "We can try to go from one hill to another and see if we can make our way out."

Linfel and the others looked at the elevated places that they could see. Some weren't that far, but others truly were just too out of reach. From their point of view, they would get stuck on some other hill sooner or later. "We can consider that option if nothing better comes up."

It was early morning, and the sun continued to rise in the skies. Everyone was silently contemplating their next move. Alvin took that chance to talk to Linfel about his words earlier, though. 'I can't just leave everyone behind.'

Linfel expected that. 'I know. But I also can't save everyone. I'm not sure if I can even save ourselves with that plan.'

Felia joined the conversation. 'Linfel, you are wasting your time. Master will definitely not leave Milia here. He wants to have kids with her.'

Alvin almost vomited blood. 'Couldn't you think about a better reason?'

'Am I wrong?' Felia asked with a knowing smile.

Alvin didn't answer anymore.

Seeing that, Linfel understood he could only give up. 'Fine. Let's see what we can manage.' He could control Alvin's body when they were connected, but that was only as long as Alvin didn't try to block his connection. If Alvin did it, then not even Linfel couldn't force Alvin to move as he wanted.

Some time later, Linfel noticed something. "Is it me, or did the mist retreat a little since we first arrived here?"

Alvin and the others took a look at the mist. They hadn't paid attention since they were more concerned about what lived inside. However, they all watched it for the next ten minutes or so. "It truly does seem to be going down."

"Is it the sun?" Claus wondered on the side.

"Probably. Even though it has Decayed Magic Energy in the mix, it is still mist," Linfel commented. "The sun is still rising, so I believe it should go even further down. Let's wait. Once it gets to midday, it should make a big difference in our field of view. Perhaps we can truly find a route to leave this place like Julius proposed."

This time, even Vera didn't complain. They simply waited at the top of that hill for several hours. During this time, the mist went further and further down. By midday, the mist, which initially stretched around ten meters in the air, now only reached around three meters. However, there was also a problem with that phenomenon. "Look at the mist.

It is definitely down. Yet..."

They looked at it. Initially, the mist was a mix of gray and purple colors. Now, however, it was mostly purple. With the absence of the mist, most of the concentration was pure Decayed Magic Energy. There was still mist mixed within, but Decayed Magic Energy definitely made the majority of the content. It goes without saying that breathing or absorbing that mist now would be even more dangerous.

"From the looks of it, we have two options," Claus concluded. "The concentration of Decayed Magic Energy in the air is relative to the amount of mist. During daytime, we can see more, but the concentration of Decayed Magic Energy is several times higher."

He continued. "On the other hand, we can wait for after midnight, when the mist will be at its peak. The Decayed Magic Energy seems to mix with it, so its concentration will be much lower, making it safer to travel through it. Perhaps the Decayed Magic Energy will spread thin enough to the point we can breathe it for a while, allowing us to move unimpeded.

It's just that it will be a lot harder to deal with any Magic Beasts that come our way as well. We need to choose one of the options."

Vera pondered it. Although she didn't like to wait, so having the ability to move more freely was definitely preferable. Besides, she was an assassin; moving in the dark was her specialty. It would be easier for her to attack, defend, or even escape at that point. "Alright, let's wait for nigh-"

*Griiiii!*

Poor Vera barely had time to finish her words, though.

*Griiiii!*

*Griiiii!*

*Griiiii!*

A weird sound came from above, quickly catching their group's attention. Soon, the skies seemed to grow dark as a cloud began to make its way in their direction. Not long after, their group understood it was no cloud but a swarm of insects. They all came from within the Decayed Magic Energy, rising in the thousands.

"Shit!" Claus instantly recognized them. "Purple Wing Horned Wasps! Forget about the waiting-for-the-night plan! We need to run now!"

"But, the Decayed Magic Energy..." Julius couldn't help but mention.

Claus was already running downhill, though. "The mist will kill us slowly. The wasps, however, will kill us in seconds once they catch up. It is up to you if you want to stay behind and try your luck."

No one had to hear Claus a second time. They all rushed down the hill, even though they would plunge into the far more concentrated Decayed Magic Energy.

'Alvin-' Linfel tried to convince him.

'No!' Yet, Alvin refused before Linfel could even finish speaking.

Because of that, Linfel wondered if he should just leave on his own. However, he simply couldn't force himself to abandon Alvin and Felia, just like Alvin couldn't abandon Milia and Nori. 'Well, fuck it. Let's hope it works.'

In the next moment, Water Element accumulated around Alvin's head and Felia's core. That Bubble shined with a slight reddish color of Linfel's Red Magic Energy.

"What is this?" Alvin asked.

"It will keep the Decayed Magic Energy out. However, there is only so much air to breathe inside. The whirlwind will not cut since there is too little mist. A lot of Decayed Magic Energy would escape and reach us."

Linfel didn't forget the others. He connected to Alvin and used his perfect control of Magic Energy to create similar bubbles around the heads of all Familiars and Maguses. "Everyone, it is hard to keep all of these up at once. Alvin and I will use a lot of Magic Energy."

Claus shook his head. "I'm very good at Water Element; it's my affinity. There is no need for you to do this for me. Just focus on the others and I will copy your idea for myself."

"No," Linfel refused. "The rest of you should focus on running and dealing with the Magic Beasts, especially you, Claus. You and your Familiar are the only Level Three here. There is no time to discuss; let's enter the Decayed Magic Energy."