Kharon looked at the crater with a bewildered expression, thinking about just how powerful the Solar Ring was and thinking about the destruction it could cause if used by someone with more Aether than him.
There was suddenly a huge pulling force as a dark portal had appeared above the crater, pulling several mystic constructs into itself while drawing in Kharon with terrifying power.
He tried fighting against the force but it was to no avail. He tried running for the dark grimiore; if he was going to be transported into the outside world then he would need to have as much information about it as possible. Asking the grimiore about it would have been futile due to it not having valid information about the outside world, especially if it had been over a century since it was sealed in here with him.
But before Kharon would get hold of the grimiore, he slipped and fell due to the exhaustion caused from using the Purging Flames. He was completely drained of Aether and was struggling to not get pulled by the spatial rift, but once he lost his balance he knew it was over.
The power seemed to be amplified by several fold as Kharon was lifted off into the air and was just a few feet away from the rift. He couldn't even muster enough energy to attempt pulling the dark grimiore with Hidden Hand. It would have been a futile and possibly dangerous attempt due to his severe lack of Aether.
Kharon was only able to look around the open space of the mauseleum one last time before he was pulled into the rift and everything turned dark...
When Kharon came to, he realised that he was lying on soft, moist soil. He quickly shot up and scanned his surroundings before being surprised by how much Aether he had recovered and how refreshed he felt. As if he had just woken from a long, pleasant slumber.
He didn't know how long he had been out for but was sure that he wasn't safe. If his hypothesis was correct, then the outside world was filled to the brim with dangerous creatures which further puzzled him as to why he was still alive and unharmed.
There was a sudden cold breeze and the smell of blood suddenly hit Kharon like a tidal wave.
His senses had been greatly augmented after becoming an Arcane Weilder but he hadn't been able to gauge how much his senses such as his hearing or smell had improved due to being sealed in the mauseleum.
He decided to try and find cover incase there was a dangerous predator lurking in the corner. Seeing a large tree in the corner, Kharon slowly crept towards it and hide behind it's wide trunk before taking a peek at his surroundings again.
There was nothing unusual and the smell of blood was becoming more faint as time went by until he couldn't smell it anymore. Now all he could smell was the wet ground and a strangely pleasant odour coming from the tree he was hiding behind.
As he looked up at the tree to see if it had any flowers or fruits, when a vine lunged at him before he could even react and wrapped itself on his right arm. Another one quickly followed and this time it wrapped around his torso. He struggled against the restraints but was unable to break free.
He though about using the Solar Ring but quickly dismissed the idea. If he was to use the Purging Flames ability then he might end up burning himself and damage his soul in the process. Using the Tombkeeper's Ring was out of the question as well. He hadn't even tested out it's ability and was unsure of how much Aether it would take. He didn't even know the prerequisites to using the ability. Did there have to be a corpse close to him, did someone have to have died recently? There were too many unknown variables.
More vines continued to encase him as he let out a scream before his mouth was covered by another vine. He was completely blind and was being slowly suffocated when he felt the vines around him becoming more and more loose, until they suddenly fell off him.
He looked around and noticed that there were vines on the floor, they had been cutted by something very sharp like a sword, due to how clean the cuts looked. But strangely enough, the cuts also seemed to have been made by fire as parts of the vines had been charred black.
Taking another look at the now motionless vines hanging on the tree, he quickly stepped away from it and made sure to maintain his distance from all other trees. Who knew what types of strange abilities they each possessed. Maybe the one a few feet away with the red leaves would burn if alive or the one with the blossoming flowers covering it's trunk could release a toxic gas.
The whole forest was now like one big predator, bidding it's time and waiting for him to let down his guard before pouncing and effortlessly tearing him apart.
He suddenly heard a rustle and decided not to linger around anymore. He noticed a silhouette behind a tree and started going towards it. The faint shadow quickly vanished out of sight but Kharon could still here it stepping on the ground as he broke into a sprint.
The silhouette seemed to notice his change in pace and sped up as well. Kharon continued to chase after it despite the fact that it could be a dangerous creature trying to lure him into a trap.
But he was hopeful that the silhouette was actually a human. Though he was unsure of why they would be running away from him especially if they had been the ones to save him from the vines of the tree.
The silhouette was incredibly fast, maybe even faster than the creature he had fought in the mauseleum, but Kharon was still able to keep up until there was a sudden burst of light and the silhouette completely vanished from sight.
Kharon was perplexed as to where the shadow had gone but he was sure that it had used a type of Arcane ability. Possibly from the path of radiance but he couldn't be sure.
Not knowing what to do Kharon continued to run straight ahead until he slowed down and continued at an even pace. He didn't know how to escape this forest, and he was sure that he would soon encounter a dangerous creature but he didn't have any other choice but to continue walking until he found a way out.
After walking for almost an hour Kharon started to feel hungry. He didn't know why he hadn't been hungry before while in the mauseleum. Especially because he had been in there was over a century but he guessed that it may have been an effect on the mauseleum. If he could get hungry in there, then he would have died of starvation while in his slumber.
Looking around for anything edible Kharon stumbled on some berries. They were big, multi-coloured berries that grew on a bush. As he approached the bush he suddenly became alert as he heard a rustle coming from it.
Getting ready to fight, Kharon took on a fighting stance. Atleast he thought it was one but seriously doubted it.
A shadow suddenly lunged from the bush as a boar-looking creature charged towards Kharon. He was able to jump up in time and avoid getting rammed into.
The boar creature had black hair trailing it's back, it's whole body was covered with a suit of arm which seemed to be connected to the creature. The smalls tusks on it's face didn't look very menacing but Kharon was reluctant to underestimate a beast only because of it's looks. As he had just learned with the tree and it's vines; looks could be deceiving.
It's red eyes made Kharon shiver as it once again began charging at him as soon as he touched the ground. This time though he couldn't jump as he was suddenly pinned down by a powerful force. It was like gravity had been amplified around him by several hundred-fold.
The boar ended up colliding with his body, it's felt like he had just been hit by a boulder. His ribs cracked but somehow didn't break. He was throwed hard through the air as his back collided with a tree.
Kharon tried getting up but was unable to, instead he started coughing violently and spat out a lot of blood. He was barely able to stand up with the support of the tree when he felt the same, crushing force on himself yet again.
This time, it felt much worse as his bones seemed to be on the verge of breaking under the pressure. He used his ability Silent Craft to create a wide shield while using Hidden Hand to make it float. Hopefully it would buy him enough time to heal himself, but to his dismay the shield was broken by the boar with little difficulty. Though it seemed to be surprised by the invisible object which bought him some time to breath.
Before the boar could make another charge, a faint silhouette seemed to pass through Kharon's vision before a tall, hooded figure appeared infront of him. It was the silhouette that he had chased down before being shaken off...