Chapter 790: Dunes of Hope & Despair 3
Damian continued his work on the various ongoing runic projects. Together with Jacob, he designed and created various parts of the runic machines.
With just one advanced runic engine, Damian wanted to solve all his major runic machine riddles. First, the flying jet runic engine, which will be the fastest. Then, a runic engine capable of pulling large compartments for the railway project. And in the end, Damian also had some rough designs of runic ships and cars.
The runic ships would be the most efficient mode of transport with wind spells and water shaping, and controlling spells. If a runic engine were added on top, his ships had the potential to truly connect the whole of the mainland without any risk.
His waygates were convenient, but they were in no way mana-efficient or safe. For a few, Damian could keep an eye, but giving more to the other countries was like giving them a sword and painting a target on his chest for them to plunge it into. With runic ships, the travellers would have more freedom of movement. Unlike his fixed waygates, merchants and passengers could visit any harbor they could bring their ships to.
Not to mention the explorers would love to have a powerful ship that had defensive mechanisms in-built to fight off monsters to a certain extent. A unique feature of a small flight or a really big jump might even save the ship from the clutches of giant monsters.
Taking a small break from the lab, Damian was having a conversation with his assistants regarding the dungeon opening event when he suddenly felt a fluctuation in the surrounding mana.
A waygate was connecting directly to him.
Damian quickly used the connection to check who it was and who else was nearby. Surprisingly, it was Reize. Then another unique mana signature and a strong aura presence. But even more importantly, Damian sensed a peak level enlightened behind the three people who had a weird mana signature.
Something was wrong.
Damian let the waygate open and flew inside the second it did.
When he arrived at the location, in a fraction of a second, his eyes captured Reize blasting her runic cannons at an armored knight. A girl and a boy beside Reize, running towards the shimmering blue portal. And a red steel plate-wearing armored knight holding a long sword.
Because of the painted headpiece, Damian could not see the man’s face, but the eyes held intensity that only a man set on the mission could have.
The second was all that Damian needed to understand the situation somewhat. He continued flying towards the knight and grabbed the guy from his ugly steel helmet. And before the man could register what was happening to him, Damian threw him straight towards the dense forest. After breaking several trees, the knight finally stopped flying. Damian did not want to kill the guy just yet.
The dust settled, and the constant sound of cannon also halted. Along with Reize, the other two could also see Damian in his fluttering black and gold clothes.
Damian was still hovering above land. There was a scorched, small crater beneath him, from where the red knight had climbed up. A lingering charged mana filled the surroundings, which usually only happened after a large High or Grand grade spell was used in the area.
That was not what had caught Damian’s attention, though. The knight had 7 thin strands of mana connecting his head to the sky high above.
They were just slightly thicker than a single strand of hair. If he wasn’t blessed with the incredible mana sense because of his skills, Damian wouldn’t have been able to sense it. He doubted anyone other than Land-breaker or Sea-Snake would even be able to sense it.
This was what the weird thing he sensed through the waygate was. Even with his enhanced vision, Damian could not see the end of it. It stretched higher and higher in the blue sky.
No simple third-ranker could do this; the thin mana threads were ten times harder to maintain compared to the normal ones, and that was under 50-100 meters; this far exceeded that. But then again, no simple third-ranker could even survive in the environment without breathable air.
Damian could easily see up to 40 kilometers up, and the mana strands still continued above that.
"Damian.." He heard the familiar voice call out to him.
Damian looked back. Reize was struggling to even walk. Her body was experiencing the beginning symptoms of mana abuse. He landed beside her, holding her shoulders to give her support.
"Thanks," Reize whispered.
"If you were in danger, you should have done that from the start," Damian replied. Then added while looking towards the grunting knight, "What’s his deal?"
"I don’t know. The red knights came searching for me, and I fought them off. I didn’t sense this one anywhere."
The boy and the girl also hesitatingly came near them; the girl resembled Reize from certain angles. But unlike Reize, she didn’t have any shadowborne features. No horns or tail. There was something odd about her; Damian couldn’t quite put a finger on it. Usually, espers were like that; their unique mana put sensory-type mages in strange alertness.
However, that only happened when an esper was actively using his or her powers. Whatever her powers were, she was using them on herself and not others. So Damian ignored her odd situation for now.
Noticing his gaze, Reize introduced, "She is my little sister, Yomi. And this young man is Kora."
Damian nodded his head silently. The two individuals, too stunned by the constantly changing event, copied the gesture mindlessly - still in shock.
Damian was about to ask where they were when a roar resounded in the dense forest, scaring away the last few animals and birds remaining in the area. The red knight had stood up faster than he had expected. That was some incredible recovery ability.
"Leave this place, Runebreaker. This has nothing to do with you."