For The Greater Good-World 1: A Corrupted Cove || World//Zero ||

37. Getting Out

All of the adventurers looked around with confusion on their faces, unsure of what to do. Alec was among those that tried to think of a possible solution, but going off of what he could see, he felt extremely doubtful despite Symphony's (and his own) attempts as being hopeful for escape. The translucent, pink-tinted globe that kept them in appeared thin in width, but even then the swordmaster knew that it could not be broken. It was, after all, created by the magic of a summoner, and he could only guess that it wasn't the usual magic that mages like Symphony were used to.

From where he stood on the pedestal, he noticed that some of the adventurers were already trying to figure out how to escape. A group of young defenders started slashing at the orb with their axes, but to their surprise it didn't break through, let alone leave scratches on the surface of it. Some other adventurers had the same idea, using their fists and punching and kicking at the forcefield, but it didn't budge. He saw some of the mages tapping the butts of their staffs on the ground, attempting to teleport away, but nothing happened. And even though they saw the blue teleporter and the Waystones being drained of their power by Lucille, people still rushed over to them to test them, but of course, it didn't do anything.

It seemed like they were absolutely trapped with no way of escaping. Alec started to believe it, too: they were stuck here, and the world would collapse and they would all die.

But when he glanced at Symphony, her face was full of thoughtfulness, as was Elliot's mentor. Feste scrambled up to the pedestal toward them suddenly and looked at them. "Do you have any ideas of how we can get out of here?"

Alec stayed silent and waited to see if Symphony would respond. She didn't for a moment, making the boy more scared.

Finally, she spoke her thoughts. "Well," she began quietly. "If a summoner is basically a powerful mage, then maybe a lot of mages would match the same power as they do."

Feste raised his brows. "So you're saying..."

"Gather the mages all together and have them try and break the forcefield," Elliot's mentor finished. "That might just work."

Alec blew out a sigh of relief. While he wasn't sure if Symphony's idea would work, it was a start.

Elliot's mentor raised his voice, silencing the crowd almost instantly. "Everybody, we've thought of an idea! But we will need all of the mages!"

Some of the crowd started murmuring to each other, suspicious of what was happening.

"We will need all of the mages and elementalists to help each other! We're going to try and break the barrier!" Symphony shouted.

Now some of the adventurers were worried, and some even said that it seemed impossible. A large group of mages could never match the power of a summoner. It seemed ridiculous. But what else were they supposed to do?

The mages dispersed themselves from the big crowd of adventurers and went toward the glass-like globe. Symphony and Feste hopped off the pedestal and pooled into their group. "Come here, kid," Elliot's mentor told Alec. "We better stand back. We don't know what might happen next."

Alec reluctantly followed the berserker back to Elliot and Cal, who stood in awe at the gathering of mages. From among the crowd, the young swordmaster spotted Sean's green wizard hat. A commotion amongst the adventurers was still going strong until it was suddenly drowned out by the sudden sounds of magic being skewed. Fire, ice, and lightning from the elementalists, green auras and fireballs from arcane mages, and the celestial orbs of mages of light shook the globe, popping against the glass and flashing like an obscene firework show. The bright lights forced Alec and the others to squint their eyes and shield their faces, putting all of their weight on their feet to keep them from flying away. Alec felt the arm of his mentor around his shoulders, keeping him close so as to not lose him in the tumult.

Finally, the globe had cracked.

The combining of magic continued for what seemed like forever. It was only until the entire side of the barrier was full of cracks when the ruckus started to calm down. The last few strikes of elemental magic was enough to break the barrier completely, and like a bubble and contact with a sharp object, the forcefield disappeared from existence. At once, everyone jumped and cheered with joy, throwing their arms in the air with their weapons up high in celebration. Cal was smiling widely and shook Alec; words couldn't form his excitement and pride for what he just witnessed.

It didn't take long for them all to hit the road, following the path toward the Snake Fields. The boarwolves stood there in silence and observed as the crowd went through the rocky overpass and into farmland. Cobras hid in the shade of the grass and under trees, too discomforted by the breaking sky to attack the passing multitude of adventurers. Somehow, the bridge supported the crowd as they went across the sea and toward the Gravetower. Once they reached this point though, they stopped in their tracks and looked out in fear at what they saw.

The sky was the darkest that they've ever seen, and it was the most corrupted land, too. This was their first time seeing such a sight, but to the few who knew, all they could do was look out in sadness for the dying land.

Alec peered up at his mentor to see his face pale white. His eyes shook and watered, but he didn't cry. The young boy felt a pang in his heart, knowing how Cal must've felt seeing what he remembered being torn apart by what could only be a terrible parasite.

"Hey!"

The swordmaster and the paladin turned to see that Elliot was facing the people behind them, and they both turned to see what was going on. The group, scared and shaking, started to slowly retreat up the bridge. That was when Elliot's mentor rushed toward them, demanding them to stop. "Where do you all think you're going?!" he shouted. "Don't you all realize that we have to go in there to help the elites?!"

"You must be crazy for thinking that we would even survive that!" a dual wielder argued.

"Did you not see how the mages broke the barrier?" Elliot's mentor argued back. "If we stick together, we can combine our strength to be more powerful! That is the only way!"

The adventurers looked at each other, still backing away.

Elliot's mentor's face grew red and he tightened his grip on his axes. "Fine! Retreat like cowards!" he spat. "Live the rest of your lives in resentment! Resentment that you didn't help when your hand was needed most!"

No one responded to him. As the lot left the others that lingered behind, it was Melody who finally said something to the berserker. "Some can't help being scared," she said carefully. "Sometimes they're not in their right mind, so perhaps it is for the best that they leave."

Elliot's mentor spat again, but didn't argue with her. Alec turned to look at who was left. Some of the group that was with them in the third dungeon, like Aris and Mindy, were still on their side of the bridge, as well as Feste, Danny, Melody, Symphony, and Elliot and his mentor. There were some other adventurers too, some with their mentors while others simply by themselves. Still, there are fewer now than there was before.

Alec turned to face the tall dark tower, black clouds circulating the top of it. His heartbeat was slow but loud in his ears, anticipating what came next.

Symphony walked over to him. Her owl was perched on her shoulder, burying its face in his feathered coat. Her eyes were fearful, but her stance was determined and resilient.

"Someone needs to take the next step," she said to him. She gripped her staff and forced a smile. "Want to take one with me?"