Run

Twenty of them ran straight towards Sorin and everyone else; some were using fire and earth, others wind and water to finish this as soon as possible. His eyes were darting to all these mages at once. He couldn't even figure out who was going for what. It was too much for him to deal with.

I don't know, I have to do something.

He pointed his staff towards the area in front of the carriage, concentrating his body's magic. The orange glow on his staff built a massive earth wall covering at least three meters across the entire main street. “Run already!” He turned back. They all followed, instantly disappearing into the alleyways.

Twenty mages are coming at me; I have to hold out until Ino gets here. She should be here any minute, hearing the commotion I'm causing, or maybe she's already watching like before and will save me just in the last moment.

Multiple light grey hooded men came from all sides, even the top of the earth wall, as they floated in the air, casting all elemental types straight at Sorin on top of the carriage,

Fire, water.

Just casting anything to counter the onslaught that he was receiving. He also noticed a simple fact: they were starting to surround him. His body was forced to rotate a lot more now. In just a couple of seconds, they were already advancing around him. He must keep spinning.

Water, water, earth, Wind, fire.

He kept casting as fast as he could. But it was impossible to keep up; a wind slash grazed him, just a slight burn from a passing fire. His clothes were somewhat frozen and dirty from the water and earth.

He darted off the carriage towards the bridge hub. A burst of fire and wind caused the acceleration to almost tear him apart, but in doing so he managed to tear apart the encirclement. Looking back towards the mages, they all moved to the sides, none giving chase.

What are they doing?

Sorin's answer was quickly met as his earth wall completely broke like crumbling dust as a massive fireball was heading straight towards him, covering the size of the street. It was that same attack that could take out a building.

move.

Sorin used both fire and wind again, bursting himself right out of the attack, managing to get only burned near his shoes.

Argh.

The pain was intense, but it was better than dying. His eyes also checked the bridge hub, but it was totally intact, meaning there was some protection spell. Or rather, the lack of cottages, which was why they got destroyed by this. He had to keep the thought away.

There is no way I can win this; I can barely survive.

Multiple mages were already back on his tail, his eyes catching Boyle just standing there in a steady position, not giving chase himself. He didn't need to. His men would handle an injured and cowardly traitor at this stage. Sorin boosted himself towards alleyways, the small corridors providing some cover as the men chased, but nothing was enough against twenty of them,

Earth.

He blocked off paths one by one, slowing down their advance; he was running and running. Still, there was always at least one of them present and aware of his whereabouts. He kept countering spells, but his magic couldn't last forever; after all, it was nearing half already from the spam he was emitting,

How?

Crossing a corner. He stared at an earth wall he made earlier; he was running in circles. He knew that, but to catch himself off guard like this was immature of him.

Trapping myself in, how immature!

Turning around, he saw a mage; his fire burst towards Sorin. He countered with water, causing a misty steam to envelope them. Under the cover of the mist, he dashed through it, getting out another water spell, but his eyes caught a shadowy figure already on top of the mage before a scream and silence followed. Crossing the mist. A lone robed figure appeared. Purple robes, dark purple hair, and purple eyes.

“Ino.” His eyes looked at the mage, his body crushed by earth. “You didn't have to kill him.”

She just smirked back. “They will come back for us sooner or later. Nice to pick off some when we can. Don't blame me for chasing back the chasers!”

Like I would expect anything else anyway, Ino’s moral compass isn't anywhere near mine; we fundamentally want to do things differently, but we must still work together. I did what I did without harming anyone; what she does shouldn't be blamed on me.

“I got food to all the commoners; they called it Sorin's gift. Now can we leave already”

She feigns thought, her arms crossing over as she stared at the sky. “You can leave, sure! You spread out this entire bunch, so I'm going to kill a couple.” She points over towards the east of the city. “There is an old lady there who has a seal. I already paid for her services. Just burst in and leave.”

Sorin stared at her, resigned, but a sudden tension appeared on her face before she stretched out her hand, a darker orange light as a huge fireball cast itself onto them, destroying the building next to them; a loud crash and dust filled the air. And Sorin knew there was only one person who could do this.

What is this magic? It's stopping Boyle's spell. I'm seeing two titans fight!

The spell was enveloping the fireball all around it like a bigger sphere eating a small sphere. Ino was struggling; however, her magic capacity was many times lower than Boyle's. Sorin quickly put his hand out towards Ino, concentrating his magic points to circulate towards her, but his magic was also being eaten down immensely. “Try to hurry!”

“Shut up, I'm trying!” The spell slowly died down.

They both stood frozen at the sudden attack before Ino issued her order, “Just get moving!”

“Fine, I also want to learn healing magic later." He pointed at his own legs, which were burned slightly and still ringing in pain but overwritten by adrenaline.

Ino just shoved him away. “Just run, I don't have time to heal you right now!” He nodded and jumped himself over the earth wall before heading out of the alleyway onto a side street.

An old lady. I need to sense someone with a low magic count, small stature. Just search around people's magic signatures. I can do that.

His amber eyes glowed slightly; walls lost meaning as he saw magic circulating around multiple people. Every magic point in their body until his eyes settled at a small cottage. Towards the east wall of the city, where there was a smaller-than-usual body with a low magic count, as a person of age should have.

He doesn't waste any time and runs towards the cottage before standing against a bright wooden door similar to an oak. It was the common tree type around the world called Qiuzi. But seeing it here in such good condition. This old lady tended to her door well.

Like I would ever bust into someone's house!

He knocked twice, waiting for a reply. The mages seemed to be nowhere near him as he heard distant spells being cast. Ino must have started having her fun. But just as his mind focused, the door swung open gently.