Alex had been carried by Lara for well over two hours, perhaps even three or more, and the relentless passage of time seemed to blur in his mind as the world rushed by. He had once believed there would be no way to determine how much time had slipped past amidst the chaos, but he was proved wrong as the thinning forest revealed a sky far above, and there, he spotted a timer suspended high in the air. The timer, its numbers glowing in vivid red, displayed the current elapsed time: 00:12:45:35, ticking onward with each passing second.
This meant that Alex and the others had been trapped inside this battleground for exactly twelve hours, forty-five minutes, and thirty-five seconds. Judging by everything he could recall and estimate, it must be close to ten o'clock at night by now, considering the exam had begun that morning at around ten o'clock.
If time in this strange place flowed the same way as it did in his own world, then his guess was probably correct, but there was no way to truly confirm whether his assumptions were accurate or not.
Also, Alex had long since given up struggling to free himself from Lara's unyielding grip as she carried him over her shoulder. Partly, it was because he could never hope to match her speed—she was running so impossibly fast that everything around them blurred into streaks of color—and partly because he realized it required no effort on his part; he was being whisked away to safety, helpless yet oddly relieved.
Alex was, in fact, being carried away like a sack of potatoes by a girl who was no older than himself, and if his memory served him correctly, she was actually a year younger. Everyone entered the academy at thirteen, but Alex, having missed the previous year's intake because his parents had refused to allow it, was now fourteen. Only a few weeks ago, his grandfather had swept in with an unstoppable force and insisted Alex take the entrance exam. So, it stood to reason that Lara was only thirteen.
Alex craned his neck to glance over his shoulder and saw Eldric charging after them. Eldric was no longer carrying the spear he had brandished earlier, and his minions were nowhere in sight—most likely, none of them could match Lara's supernatural speed.
Despite running at an impressive pace, Eldric was still falling behind, unable to catch up with Lara. If Alex remembered correctly, there was at least a four-level gap between them, with Lara at level forty-two and Eldric at thirty-eight.
A strange sense of satisfaction welled up inside Alex's chest as he watched Eldric struggle to keep up with Lara, despite being only four levels behind her.
Suddenly, Lara came to an abrupt halt, and Alex nearly screamed in surprise; if she had not held him so tightly, he would have been flung forward by the force of inertia, tumbling headlong into the unknown.
Alex felt his body lurching forward as if he might be thrown clear, but Lara's grip proved stronger than he had expected. Before he could even look ahead to see the reason for her sudden stop, she hurled him unceremoniously to the ground.
Alex landed with a heavy thud on the muddy earth, his back hitting the ground hard. Thankfully, the spot was free of debris, and Lara had not thrown him with any real force. As he turned his head to figure out what had caused Lara to stop so abruptly, his eyes widened in horror. He gasped, 'What the hell!' The words burst out of him as he scrambled backward in shock. Just a few feet ahead, the land dropped away into a steep cliff, and far below, a river rushed by, leaving them with nowhere to go.
Alex scrambled to his feet and turned around. Lara stepped in front of him, her posture tense and ready for battle, while Eldric came to a stop just a few meters away, eyes fixed on them both.
Before Alex stood Eldric, blocking any hope of escape in that direction, while behind him yawned the edge of the cliff that plunged down to a roaring river. He glanced left and right; ahead lay a forest, its trees now sparse compared to earlier, and the grass, once thick, now barely covered the ground. Behind him, the terrain dropped abruptly, leading straight to the river below, leaving him feeling utterly trapped.
Alex disliked every aspect of the predicament in which he now found himself trapped. Nothing about it inspired the faintest sense of hope or comfort.
Lara, standing before him in a defensive stance, was breathing heavily. Sweat drenched her clothes, the fabric clinging tightly to her body and making her discomfort painfully obvious. She said nothing, but the strain of carrying him for such a long distance had clearly taken its toll. She looked utterly exhausted, though determination still burned in her eyes.
Eldric, too, was bent over, catching his breath, his hands braced against his knees, and his body hunched forward. A crooked smile spread across his face as he looked at them. 'Finally caught you, you little bitch,' Eldric sneered, his words laced with contempt. He did not even spare a glance for Alex, as though Alex were nothing more than dust on the ground.
Alex wondered if he might be able to slip away quietly, unnoticed, in the tension between Lara and Eldric. It was clear from everything he had seen so far that they did not have any amiable relationship, and they seemed to have had previous bad experiences with each other.
Taking a chance, Alex edged to the right, hoping to melt back into the sparse forest and hide. He had barely taken a single step when a harsh voice rang out, freezing him in place.
'No one escapes from here.' Eldric's words growled through the air, and in that instant, a shimmering magic circle opened at his side. From within it, a runebear emerged, its muddy brown fur marked with intricate runic patterns that circled its waist, legs, and shoulders. The beast's paws bristled with sharp claws, and as it fixed its dark, predatory eyes on Alex and Lara, it flexed its talons menacingly.
Alex instinctively retreated behind Lara. The creature was similar to the runebear he had once seen accompanying the patriarch of the Sealborne—Eldric's father—but this runebear was noticeably smaller, younger, and appeared to be of a lower level. Though it was fierce enough, it lacked the terrifying presence that had radiated from the patriarch's companion.
Among all the differences, the most striking was that Eldric's runebear stood only about 1.5 times taller than Eldric himself, who was roughly the same height as Alex.
***
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