Emil looked at her once and gave a slight nod in agreement. "Yes, I haven’t."
She studied him for a while, then once again gazed upon the files. She placed the documents onto the table and moved towards the mana circle.
"Come here," she waved her hand towards the circle, giving a slight gesture to Emil so that he knew where he had to stand.
"Place your hand upon the sphere and allow its mana to flow freely into your mana core."
Her expression turned serious.
"If you attempt to resist or restrict the flow in any way, you may suffer a mana backlash. In severe cases, your mana core could be permanently damaged or even destroyed."
A strange sense of distress caught Emil; the thought of his mana core getting destroyed was enough to make him sweat. He swallowed nervously, yet still nodded at her words, as though he understood exactly what he had to do.
Gently, he placed his hand onto the circle. Mana sparks started to erupt through it, which lit up the surroundings entirely. Shortly after, a few waves of mana travelled through the tip of his fingers, finding their way to the mana core.
Emil felt a strange tingling inside his muscles as if someone were deliberately trying to tickle him. Soon after, the sensation faded away, but a strange sight appeared in front of his eyes.
The old woman was still standing before him, but a sudden wave of darkness washed over his senses. His pupils shrank to pinpoints as the darkness rapidly consumed his vision.
Out of nowhere, he found himself standing in the middle of nowhere. He turned his head in all possible directions, but the only visible thing in his sight was cactus and other dead branches that appeared to have completely dried out.
’What just happened? I was in the summoner’s tower, and now I’m in a desert?!’ He questioned himself, trying his best to fathom his current situation.
He dropped down to his knees and sat there normally because he knew that in the desert, there were only two things that were of utmost priority: survival and conserving energy.
’I can’t risk losing my energy over making a useless attempt to survive.’
’I need a proper plan, or God knows what will happen.’
A thick breeze of loo passed through the air, and it also brought tiny particles of sand with it. The loo and the particles brushed across Emil. But he didn’t simply sit there and accept it. He quickly raised an arm to shield his face, preventing the dust from getting into his eyes and mouth.
Once the worst of it had passed, he ran a hand through his hair, gently ruffling it to shake off the dust that had settled there.
A couple of minutes passed; the loo had started to soothe. Emil felt a strange movement below him; it felt like that of something alive.
And because of that, he pushed himself back up in a hurry. He staggered back a few steps, his eye glued on the place from where he felt that sensation.
A crimson scorpion, which had two enormous stingers connected to its back, while its claws were far larger than those of a usual scorpion. Looking at it, Emil couldn’t help but feel that he was staring at a crab rather than a scorpion.
His lips parted, and his jaw dropped slightly. "That was lucky. I would’ve probably suffered from severe pain if that thing had bitten me even once."
But next to that scorpion, something strange caught his attention. A strange pattern that was leading towards a certain direction was there. It looked like footprints, but the size of them was so large that it didn’t seem to be of a human being.
Emil’s brows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed slightly because of the thought that appeared inside his mind. ’Why are the footsteps of this strange size in the middle of nowhere? And why didn’t I notice it before?’
A strange sense of feeling crept inside of him; he stated slowly, caressing his temple. ’Do I have dementia? Or am I seeing different kinds of illusions because of the heat?’
Although multiple questions lingered inside his mind, he had no choice but to follow the trail of footprints.
A couple of minutes passed, but still there was no visible sign of a life source. At this point, even following the trails seemed useless to him.
"I’ve been walking for almost half an hour now... and still no progress." He slowly leaned down and grabbed his knees. "I’m just walking aimlessly, wasting my energy over this idiotic thing."
A strange rumbling occurred through the surroundings; the ground started to tremble as though a powerful earthquake had struck the desert.
Emil, who had barely managed to remain on his two feet, had finally been thrown to the ground. He desperately tried to maintain his balance and avoid sinking into the ground, because if he did, there would absolutely be no possibility of escape.
Soon after, the rumbling began to subside. As the dust finally started to settle, a massive civilisation revealed itself before Emil’s eyes. Enormous walls made of weathered desert stone surrounded it on all four sides, and it was supported by enormous pillars on all sides. A colossal gate stood at the front, but it was closed.
Even from a distance, Emil could glimpse parts of its interior. Countless structures filled the city, but the ones that stood out the most were the grand castles and mansions that rose above the rest.
Emil staggered backwards a bit; his eyes seemed like they would gouge out any second. The scenery in front of him was enough to make his will falter.
"W-what the hell..." his voice wasn’t higher than a whisper.
But a strange thought lingered inside his mind the moment he looked at the colossal door. The door was completely unguarded, and no being was in sight who might try to stop and question him.
"I don’t have any water or food, and if I miss this opportunity right now... I’ll lose my mind because of this heat."
If you like this story, tell me in the comments... I’d like to hear your thoughts.