Pursuit

"First contact my ass!"

Cursing words were resounding non-stop inside the forest as a man kept darting from tree to tree, running like mad as a group of green-skinned creatures are pursuing him. These creatures are small with the smallest at 100 cm and the tallest at 200 cm tall. They greenish brown skin with clothes made of animal hide and were sporting weapons made of wood and stone such as clubs, hammers and spears. The man on the other hand kept running as if hell is chasing him as he turned around, casted a Fireball spell and then kept running again.

Just as he thought, theses goblins are a bunch of uncivilized ones. An hour or so ago he met them, they brought him peacefully at their camp. He thought that they were being good, and that's when the goblins tried tying him up and roasting him in a pit. And then, all hell breaks loose.

No matter what he tried, the goblins kept catching up. No matter how small a goblins is, they are a race of fast and quick-footed creatures. Add the fact that this forest is their home ground.

Modern mages uses a combination of tier II Polished Earth spell, tier II Slippery Ground and tier I Muddy Ground to delay their enemies but using these combination spells in the forest will have minimal effect than expected. Combination spells are spell combinations that modern mages used. Each spells individual power is weak and their effects are minimal so modern mages thought of combining them to boost their power. And lo and behold, combination spells became the standard for modern mages as it quickly spread.

He casted another Fireball spell as he turned around and chanted a new spell, a combination spell to be precise. Combination spells either needed a primary spell to be enhanced or a group of spells to complement each other. This time, he is using the tier III Explosion spell as a primary spell, patching it to the tier II Fireball spell and adding the tier III Fore Repulsion at the end of the spell to create an exploding fireball that gives a powerful shockwave as an aftereffect.

He stopped again, conjured the Fireball while storing the Explosion spell inside and adding Force Repulsion at the end before tossing it towards the group of goblin before running away once again. Soon a deafening explosion is heard as he turned around to see the goblins in panic as he swiftly ran for all his worth until he could see no goblin at his heels.

The day passed as he found a large tree to settle himself, placed a few alarms around him and settled down as he dozed off.

It was the dark of the night when he was awaken by something rustling in his surroundings. He quickly used Sensory Wind and Inner Mind and he silently readied his escape route. What he saw in his surroundings are four goblins covered with leaves and grasses with one of them holding a leash tied to a hound looking creature. About a meter in length and height with hunched back, strong front legs and short and weak-looking hind legs. The surroundings are filled with the pitch black of the night and he can't see his surroundings well as he silently looked for an escape route while contemplating on how to kill the hound.

If he was not mistaken, the hound must be a descendant of the Terra Warbeast. These beasts are about ten meters in height and length with strong looking front limbs and stubby, short hind limbs. They are monsters of war and either a tier VI magician or tamer is needed to subdue one. Their descendants will always not exceed five meters in height and length and will have the same characteristics of limbs as them. This hound must be a very distant descendant as it feels weaker than a true descendant of the Terra Warbeast.

He made a choice to kill the hound first before trowing a trick or two then running like hell as he made his preparation. His hands pointed at the hound as he casted the Tier III spell Silent Energy Arrow. As soon as the arrow hit the hound, he released a combination spell as a bright flash of light illuminated the surrounding as he ran like hell is on his heels. The combination spell he used was combination of the tier I spell Illuminate, Tier II Light Sphere, and the Tier Blind. and together these spell works like a flashbang.

It was dawn already as he stopped running and began walking whilst concealing his tracks. An academic mage won't be having the same physique as him, a combat mage annd if survival is tested between an academic mage and a combat mage, the combat mage would win seven out of ten times against an academic mage. The advantage of an academic mage lies in their study of magic as their spells tend the more powerful and more potent than the average mage.

After catching a creature which looked like a rabbit with the tail of a rat as his meal, he continued his journey as he came across a trail in the forest upon which he followed. After a while, of following the trail, he emerged from the forest to came upon a vast grassland with a few trees and hills then and there. His mind calmed down as he dazed at the tranquil sight in front of him.

Sounds echoed behind him as he realized that a group of goblins is once again at his heels. Being chased by barbaric goblins means only one thing: he may have accidentally killed an important goblin before for them to chase him relentlessly. He tossed a Fireball-Explosion combination spell behind him as he ran towards the grassland.

As he ran across the grassland, a slight miss is slowly filling his surroundings as he stopped and examined the grass around him. The grass are less than one meter in height and they have pointed ends like a spear. His hands clutched a bunch of grass as he tugged and uprooted one to further examine the grass as the roots revealed a reddish brown tubber emitting white smoke that disperses into mist.

Spear Mist Grass are what these grasses are called. After making sure that no goblins are on his tail, he uprooted a few more Spear Mist Grass, removed the roots and grass from the tuber as he kept the tubers at his storage items. Back in his home planet, these grass are rare grass that grow near Moisture Cloud shrubs. Spear Mist Grass are widely used for making alchemical smoke grenades while Moisture Cloud Shrub are used as a source of water. if both of these are mixed and combined with the proper ration, one may be able to create a catalyst needed for a Rain Calling Potion, a potion that once used, can call upon a drizzle and if lucky, a rain towards a certain area.

After searching and foraging for a while, he found a shrub devoid of any mist and with leaves filled with drops of water. He immediately searched the shrub and found a few blue-colored round fruits about ten to fifteen centimeters in size which seemed to be filled with water. Soon one of his storage items is filled with both tubers and fruit of these grasses as he settled on a lone tree in the grassland and made a fire. Slowly but surely, he roasted each tubers one by one as the tubers shrunk in size. previously each tubers are around half a foot in size and now the roasted tubers are about three centimeters in diameter. Next is he took the fruits of the Moisture Cloud Shrubs as he twisted its top and brought it to his mouth for a drink. A refreshing feeling came upon him as he let out a sigh of satisfaction. These past few days he has been drinking the same tasteless water conjured by magic and now he was rejoicing as he drank the sweet tasting water from the fruit.

As night passed by, he contemplated about his previous world as he thought about his friends. He grew up as an orphan and as soon as they found out he has the aptitude for magic, the orphanage sent him to the nearest state-owned magic academy for magical lessons and to be nurtures into a magician. Of course as a state-sponsored magician, he has no choice but to comply and contribute to the state. He entered the academy when he was about five years old and graduated at twenty. The purpose of the academy is to cultivate young magician wannabes into real magicians and weed out the trash among them. Those with exceptional results can got to the state-owned magic university while those with average results are sent to the military academy in preparation for their 15 years of conscription. The state nurtured and educated them and it is just right for the state to demand something from them.

A magician's lifespan is longer than the average man and as they grow more powerful, so do their lifespan. He remembered his principal in the military academy which is a millennium old magician with white hair, wrinkled skin but teeming with youthful vigour as he often played magical pranks on the students and teachers alike

He made no friends and only and old unrequited love for a beautiful female swordsman in the military academy. She is no genius nor she is powerful, but she is the most cunning among them all. She passed with the highest grade not because of her wisdom nor power but because of her methods never before seen by the instructors. She often would argue with her instructors often saying that "Cheating is honest and rightful until it is proven so". She was sent as a spy from what he heard and from then on he was a lone mage.

As memories of the past flashed by in front of him, he let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and climbed the tree for a rest.