Chapter 208 - Beasts passed

Today should be fine to move. Adion thought as he stepped out of a cave he had found in the mountains. The sun was about to rise, and the air was still cold from the night. 

It had been four days since he stumbled upon the massive army of beasts and escaped from the Gold stage snake beast. He had gone over to check the situation every day since then, but it wasn’t until the day before that he no longer felt any trace of their aura in the area. 

He decided to wait one more just to be safe, though. Encountering that scene had made him a little cautious.

I hope this was just a rare occurrence. I don’t want to run into any similar situations going forward. 

Adion took a deep breath and started doing some stretches to get his body moving. Since he was about to travel for the entire day, he didn’t feel the need to do any rigorous exercise. 

After he felt his body warm up, he sat down to meditate. He felt he was getting slightly addicted to the feeling now that advancing came easier to him. 

After a few hours, he felt the progress slow down significantly as his Will tired. He got up and started a fire for breakfast. He had run into a group of Iron beasts the day before, so he had plenty of meat.

I hope I can run into lonely Silver beasts going forward. Iron beast meat just doesn’t have the same taste. 

After finishing his meal, Adion conjured a fire to burn the body of the beast. He didn’t want to leave behind any traces. Who knew if a Soul beast would fly over this area and spot traces of his actions. It might be petty and start a search for him. 

When he finished cleaning up, he grabbed a flask of Profound Water from his backpack and took a few sips to recover his Will. After seeing the scene of those beasts, Adion never wanted to be caught with his Will exhausted. 

He put his backpack on and headed down the mountain. 

It didn’t take long before he was back in the forest again.

Let’s see if those beasts have truly moved on. 

Adion had never actually walked all the way up to the valley and looked around. He only felt that the cloud of aura from those beasts had disappeared. But it was possible that a few beasts were left that he couldn’t feel from a distance. 

He set off at a light jog, constantly on guard for any signs of beasts around. He hadn’t seen anything strange over the past few days in this area, but that snake might still be lurking around. When that snake had attacked Adion, he hadn’t even felt its presence until the last second, and only managed to escape thanks to his quick reaction and teleportation.

He didn’t know if it was because he was distracted from fighting those Silver beasts or if he just had too weak an aura sense. But he felt that his distraction shouldn’t account for too much. 

Beasts really are the masters of aura. I need to keep training. 

If beasts were on the same level as most mages when it came to aura, I could completely relax while traveling and sleeping. 

Still, I guess it's good enough that I’m at about the same level as Silver beasts. That should be considered impressive. But it’s still uncomfortable that Gold and Diamond beasts can hide from my senses so well. 

Adion soon reached the area where he had come to a stop four days earlier. Thankfully, the aura he had felt that day was completely gone. 

I’ll get a little closer and then head up the mountain to get a good overview of the valley. 

Adion made his way with light steps, looking around cautiously. Once he was close to where the beasts had moved, he headed up the mountainside to see the situation ahead of him clearly.

He didn’t need to climb very high up before he could see the situation. There was quite a distance to the next mountain, forming a valley. The ground had been completely trampled, and the brown, dry dirt stood in stark contrast to the vibrant forest around him. 

He could easily spot the direction the beasts had gone from where he stood. More than a thousand beasts had managed to change the forest into something resembling a dirt road. 

They seem to be heading west, like I thought. But I can’t be sure they changed direction later on. 

Adion didn’t think too much about it, though. He would need to start heading south no matter what. Now, the mountain range finally gave way and opened up to let him finally start heading in the right direction. 

I can’t be sure there are no beasts around, though. It doesn’t seem impossible that some beast has stayed behind. 

Considering I can’t feel any auras around, they would have to be hiding if they are here. 

If they are hiding, they are probably here to keep watch. 

Perhaps I’m paranoid. But it’s better not to take any chances. 

Adion made up his mind and focused on the space in the valley down below. He used his Authority and teleported over.

As soon as he felt his position change, he once again grabbed the space on the other side of the valley and teleported once again.

When he arrived, he looked around and noticed that there were plenty of trees around to block any vision.

That should have been quick enough for anyone to notice. 

He set off running, wanting to quickly gain some distance from this place. 

As he ran, he slowly made his way around the mountain. Looking up to the sun, he judged that his current direction should be south. 

Great! Finally, I'm on my way again. 

Adion continued running at a fast pace for an entire hour before slowing down and catching his breath.

I should be able to take it easy from now on. 

He was still on edge, looking around him for any suspicious signs. But as the hours passed, Adion gradually relaxed, starting to believe that the danger had passed.

When the sun started its descent in the sky, Adion found a small creek where he drank some water and refilled his bottles. 

Maybe I should call it for today. I want to find a secure place to rest for the night.

As he was still fairly close to the area where those beasts had passed, Adion didn’t want to take any chances during the night. It was best to take some time while it was still bright to look for a suitable cave where he could take shelter.

Having made the decision, Adion started up the nearest mountain.

I’ll probably only be able to stay in the mountains for a few more days. The mountain range seems to fall off in the distance. If I want to keep heading south, I’ll have to travel deep into the forest from now on.

Well, it’s not like I haven’t done it before. It should be fine. 

It only took Adion two hours of walking up and down the mountainside with his space mana before he found a suitable cave that seemed uninhabited. 

The only issue was that the cave opening was pretty wide, and the cave itself wasn’t very deep. Adion thought it felt a little too open for a peaceful sleep.

Maybe I can teleport some boulders over to block the exit?

Adion looked around and thought the idea seemed feasible. There were plenty of boulders about. 

But I still have a few hours of daylight left. It would be great if I could find some food to eat before it got dark.

Adion thought about going out for a hunt for a few seconds before shaking his head. 

I don’t need the food. There is no need to risk it. And I haven’t sensed any beasts all day. It's not certain I can find any. 

Adion decided to block himself off in the cave for the day and spend some time training in his cave instead. 

He walked down the mountain, examining the boulders. He teleported the ones he thought were a suitable size over the cave entrance. 

It took him a while to make it look natural. But he was satisfied with the end result.

It should be hard to sense my presence in there without specifically looking. 

Adion teleported himself into the cave. It was quite dark, but a little sunlight still reached the cave from outside, so Adion could see fairly well. 

That’s good. If I light a fire, the smoke should be able to get out. 

Adion had prepared some wood already. He didn’t have anything to cook, but a fire was still a comfort that gave him light and warmth. 

Adion didn’t feel like spending a long time in the dark, so he quickly got a fire burning close to the boulders covering the entrance. 

Noticing that the smoke didn’t accumulate in the cave, Adion relaxed and sat down. He took out a bottle from his backpack and drank some water.

Now, what should I spend my time on…

Adion looked into the fire for a while and decided to experiment with light for a while. If he gave the subject enough time, he might make some progress and could make use of the beast core he and Shindo had found once he came back here again. 

He grabbed a pocket of space between himself and the fire. 

Like always, light just goes right on through. 

Adion tried his best to feel the space in front of him, trying to sense the light moving through it.

Just what is going on here? Is my concept of stableness not advanced enough? Does light following the Will of the World have some kind of concept that requires a god to influence?

Shouldn’t my stable space break down then? Why don’t I feel any struggle?

Is it a problem with my Authority? This isn’t space I’ve conjured myself, after all. 

Perhaps there are different levels of Authority. 

The Headmaster seemed to have mentioned that Immortal mages have Authority over their own elements, but can’t command the elements of the world like me. That is something only gods should be able to do.

But maybe there is an even higher level…Or maybe my Authority is incomplete. 

I guess it is slightly incomplete, thinking about it. This power doesn’t stem from me, it comes from a pill made just from a drop of blood from the Celestial Phoenix. It would be strange if I received an ability just as strong as the Celestial Phoenix.

One thing I know about my Authority is that it’s limited. But it is something I can change with practice. Maybe there is some other aspect of my Authority I need to practice. 

Adion pondered quietly for quite some time. He couldn’t come up with any answers, but just figuring out what questions to ask was a step in the right direction. 

After a while, he slowly turned his space volatile, studying the way the light from the fire behaved.

It’s slightly distorted.

Adion stopped. He made the space stable again. 

He decided to take things slowly and take it one step at a time. He split the space in two and started moving the two pieces of space slightly. Studying the light around him, he didn’t notice anything special.

A flickering flame really makes this challenging. But I don’t think the light is affected.

He continued slowly splitting the space and examining the way the light from the fire interacted with it. When he split it into 256 pieces, Adion still didn’t notice anything. 

This is getting challenging to control so deliberately. 

Adion decided to push through, not thinking so carefully about it this time. He simply Willed the space in front of him to become more volatile.

There it is. Adion thought with a smile. 

Finally, the light seemed to get affected by his space. 

So…It’s the concept that gets in the way? The light only gets distorted when I don’t do it so meticulously. It looks like my volatile space really has become more of a concept than a spell. 

Interesting. 

Adion let go of the space, a little tired from his effort. 

I should keep experimenting like this from time to time. Who knows what I’ll find?

Adion got up to his feet and stretched his body. He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there, but it should still be some time before the sun went down. 

Looking around in thought, Adion decided to do some painting for once. He hadn’t had the opportunity for a while now. But as he had practically built himself a safehouse with walls of stone, he felt safe enough to paint. 

A painting session to end the day seems like just the thing. 

With a smile, Adion sat down and brought out his painting materials.