A Relatively Powerful Mage

Imri tried to spend as much time sleeping as he could. Unfortunately, the more necessary sleep became, the more elusive it was. He tossed and turned as he imagined horrible things happening to Emelia. He constantly checked on her through the bond they shared. She was alive and physically well, and he took some solace in that every time he checked, which was often.

“Not able to sleep, hun?” Teresa asked in a whisper, having noticed him rolling around.

“I know I should be getting sleep, but the more I think about it, the worse it gets,” Imri admitted. “Why can’t you sleep?”

“I don’t know how anyone can sleep out here. You know, I never went camping much. What I wouldn’t do for a nice bed and a mint on my pillow,” she said with a wistful sigh.

“Do you think I’m being an idiot, risking everything for a woman I’ve only really known for a week?” Imri asked.

“I thought we were trying to save thirty-four people?” she asked.

“That’s just it; I wouldn’t care if it was three hundred people. Zhaire was right; I wouldn’t be doing this if Emelia were safe. Does that make me a bad person?” he asked.

“Most people would save their own family over countless people starving in a third-world country. That doesn’t make you a bad person, just human,” she said.

The next morning, Imri was awoken roughly by Zhaire. “They’re moving out; get up,” he said. Imri rubbed his eyes, having only managed a few hours of sleep. He would need every possible point of mana he could. Yesterday, he had been able to slip into a walking meditation as they hiked through the forest. He was still far from full mana, but his mana had recovered to a respectable level. They could afford one more day of following behind the marching captives before making their move.

Maintaining a state of meditation while hiking through the forest proved difficult, as negative thoughts and emotions threatened to end the state as soon as it began. However, his efforts were rewarded as a notification entered his mind.

Skill Rank Up Increase

Meditation F to E Improved skill effectiveness by 2.5%

The skill rank was appreciated. While the skill was 2.5% more effective in terms of mana regeneration, the greater benefit was the ease with which he now found meditation. He could now easily maintain the state of meditation while they hiked. His negative thoughts seemed far off, no longer intruding upon his meditation. The skill had likely been the first to rank up due to the combination of having experience in meditation before the integration and being consistently used. He also suspected the challenge of maintaining meditation while under these adverse conditions had been the final catalyst to spark the rank up.

Imri ended his musing on his skill, redoubling his efforts to devise a feasible plan to rescue the captives. Unfortunately, no obvious means of rescue were readily apparent. His first idea had been to crank Time Dilation to the highest possible degree, rushing through the outer defenses with unimaginable speed. While this might work to get him in, he doubted he could maintain it long enough to get back out with Rhesk, especially since he would likely need to extend the spell to them as well. His other idea had been to teleport in with a boundless step, then back out with Rhesk. Unfortunately, the Boundless Step spell only teleported himself, and with that only recently unlocked, he was far from making another breakthrough in spatial concepts.

His next idea was to create a distraction that Zhaire could use. If he revealed he was the one who had killed the soul priest by using the soul capture dagger, he would likely elicit a large response. While he didn’t doubt this method would be somewhat effective, it was unlikely to draw enough of them away for Zhaire to assault the remainder quickly. Imri even considered revealing he was a primordial, something he hadn’t even told Emelia. He wasn’t sure what response that would elicit, though he suspected disbelief would be the only significant response.

His planning was interrupted as Zhaire approached him. He instructed Imri to hold out his hand, depositing the cores of the slain Chixel they had encountered. He also handed him a handgun with a fully loaded magazine and a holster. Imri was the third person with some experience with firearms, though he was like Zhaire, having only occasionally gone to a shooting range. Imri fashioned the holster, feeling reassured by its weight on his hip. He also didn’t hesitate to absorb the cores of the fallen Chixel, even though it was far from efficient at this point. He could feel some of the energies go to waste as his body neared the limit of gains that could be made through absorbing cores. Luckily, it was just enough for him to push through to the next level.

Imri Padar has reached Level 9 in Relativity Mage (1E)

Imri Padar has reach Level 9 in Primordial (1F)

Primary Stats Gained New Value

+1 Intelligence 148

+1 Willpower 132

Secondary Stats Gained

+1 HP 114

+5 MP 209

+3 Mana Efficiency 225

+3 Crafting Efficiency 230

Imri thanked Zhaire, but the big man just shrugged and walked away. Imri could tell the man had seen through his bravado. However, as long as he was willing to support him, that was good enough.

They stopped as the Chixel did, and Imri’s pulse began racing as he realized they would have to make their move. They were less than a day away from the black pyramid, the pillar of Trosano that he and Emelia had explored. Imri hoped they weren’t too close to the temple; if the raiding party could dispatch a runner for reinforcements, things would only get more difficult.

With nearly full mana, thanks to his walking meditation and a steady stream of potions, Imri set out. Imri cautiously approached the camp, only aware of Emelia’s location, not the camp as a whole. He was only a hundred meters from her when he noticed a pair of sentries. They glowed a bright blue under his mana sight, making them even easier to spot. He easily noticed them first, as they made little attempt to scan their surroundings and even less effort to hide. It appeared that Chixel had the same issues as humans, unable to expend maximum effort on a monotonous task that seemed unnecessary in their minds. Imri moved perpendicular to the direction they were facing, now with even more caution. Soon enough, he spotted another pair of Chixel on watch.

He methodically made his way around the surveyed area. It was easy to spot the rest of the sentries; their distance from the camp was almost identical, and few took the responsibility of watching seriously. Despite this, Imri doubted he could get much closer without revealing his presence. The sentries made up for their inattentiveness with numbers, not leaving a single unguarded approach. Instead, Imri would need to rely on the method he used in his previous escape.

Imri used Boundless Step, silently appearing behind a pair of especially inattentive Chixel. He would've been spotted easily if either had turned around at that moment. Fortunately, they had no reason to suspect someone had already passed their line of sight. However, unlike the last time he had used the spell to escape, this time he couldn’t rush out of their potential line of sight, doing so would likely put him into view of someone in the camp. Instead, he had to creep ahead carefully, even though he could easily be spotted by the sentries. Fortunately, they never turned around, and Imri settled into a relatively hidden position from both the sentries before and ahead.

Despite his precarious position, the next layer of defense would, in theory, be even easier to evade, as those sentries were more concerned with escaping prisoners than someone infiltrating their camp. He could feel Emelia’s presence, hardly more than fifty meters away, causing Imri to consider a more straightforward rescue despite knowing it would be futile. Instead, he used Boundless Step again, this time appearing near the heart of the camp but safely elevated in a stone tree that also provided plenty of obscurement.

He scanned the camp for the second set of prisoners, the Chixel defectors. It took him longer than he would have liked, as he still felt exposed even from a vantage that no Chixel would consider an attack vector. It was too dark to distinguish the Chixel apart, but his eyes eventually landed on a group of Chixel who stood guard over another group. They were treated far better than their human counterparts, they were unbound and unharmed, but no less prisoners than the humans. However, they were even more well-guarded than the larger number of humans, which reassured him his plan had merit. Unfortunately, that reassurance didn’t make it any easier.

Despite the possibility of discovery, Imri bided his time, surveying the movements of as many Chixel as he could. His higher intelligence had a noticeable effect on more than his magic, as he found it easier to memorize and remember where every point of interest was. He also took advantage of the time to swallow another mana potion, hoping he had enough mana to complete his final gambit. He took a deep breath and sprang into action.

He used a third Boundless Step, appearing in the middle of the camp, a scant few meters from those guarding the defectors. He didn’t hesitate to use the last of his mana, using a 7.5% Time Dilation on himself. The first guard didn’t even know anything was amiss as a near-point-blank shot hit them in the head. The next few guards didn’t fare much better, with Imri benefiting from surprise, his superior weapon, and magical enhancement. The final few guards managed some form of a reaction, though it was far from coordinated. Several fled while the remainder launched a fool-hardy attack that quickly got them gunned down. His attack was so effective that the fight, if it could be called that, was over within a few seconds, which turned out to be for the best, as he released the time dilation spell he began feeling the onset of a mild mana headache.

The defectors were not unaffected by his onslaught. None were directly injured, but they were unable to comprehend the slaughter that had just taken place. Like the other Chixel, they had never seen a gun, and it had been too quick to process what had happened. Imri didn’t waste any time, reloading his weapon and approaching the Exalted Chixel. Rhesk seemed relieved as he recognized Imri, then confused as Imri grabbed him and grappled him, pressing the handgun to Rhesk’s head. Imri then moved them so that his back was against a tree, preventing any surprise attacks while using Rhesk as a meat shield. The other defectors stared at him with confusion and hurt over the betrayal that transcended the inability to read other species' body language.

It wasn’t long before the area was flooded with Chixel, all brandishing weapons in Imri’s direction. Imri did his best to appear confident despite his lack of mana. If this didn’t work, he would be completely screwed, with no way to retreat.