The [Sand Mage] walked towards her, his presence binding Jennifer in place. His Mark was overbearing, much more so than the first time she’d encountered him.

Jennifer pulled her own presence around her, fighting against the sinister aura of sand and desiccation, hungrily pulling at her magic and strength. There was no time for her to consider how he’d managed to slip into the city, or why he’d been present near this caravan.

“Gavril, run,” Jennifer said, forming a bolt of glass around her that she charged with as much mana as she could, shooting it at the mage. She turned to run, bumping into Gavril who still stood there, his eyes fixed on the approaching [Sand Mage].

“Run!” Jennifer screamed, dashing into the side alley without waiting to see if her strike landed or not. The boy stumbled for a moment, but a quick glance at her face had him bolting alongside her.

Jennifer felt her breathing turn heavy, a sinking cold in her gut. She kept a tight grip on her kill switch, ready to use the spell and end the reset at any moment. A slithering noise echoed through the alleys as sand started to seep through the ground.

“By the depths, what is chasing us, Jenn!” Gavril shouted, his feet thundering as he ran alongside her. Jennifer didn't reply, turning behind momentarily, as she poured a flood of glass mana through her hand. Still running, she launched Glass spike spells all over the alley.

A thin layer of glass covered the surfaces, thick hardened spikes of glass growing out of them as they blocked the pathway behind her. She doubted they'd slow the [Sand Mage] for more than a second, but it was better than nothing.

“A [Sand Mage]. Possibly above level 40. We need to get away quick,” Jennifer said in between breaths as she sharpened her senses to their limits. [Enhanced Mana Sense] fed her the presence of the Sand Mage swiftly making his way towards them.

“Sera take me, are you insane? You’re picking fights with Ranked plate level guys now?” Gavril exclaimed.

“Yes, no- just run!” Jennifer shouted, weaving a Glass storm spell as she threaded Agile Wind all along her body. Tiny shards of glass swirled in an unseen gust around her, as she sped even faster down the alley. As she caught back up to Gavril, she stretched the spell, extending it over him as well.

“[Nimble Feet]” Gavril intoned, touching her. She felt his skill extending to her, her feet finding footing more easily than they had a moment before.

A thread of light brown ran through the ground, exploding into a large spike in front of them.

“Jump!” Jennifer shouted, grabbing Gavril’s hand as she formed a gust of wind under their feet, lifting them into the air. The sand spike spun, forming into a hand that attempted to wrest her back down. Jennifer shot a pair of mana bolts at the arm of sand as she landed behind it, transitioning the motion into a sprint.

Jennifer felt her heart stop when the [Sand Mage’s] presence vanished, spreading all over. She felt her breath catch as she realised what he was doing.

Rotten rats, he can travel through his sand.

The walls in front of them collapsed, a section of the building crumbling as sand poured like a wave in stormy seas, flooding the alley. A man’s figure floated at the centre, a hardened armor of sand that covered his face and body, hiding his features. A wall of sand stood in front of her, moving in her direction as if to bury her in its depths.

Jennifer released her Glass storm spell. Her glass core pulsed at her will, as glass mana flooded her body. Her eyes turned reflective as she poured close to half her mana pool into the spell.

Screaming as her body was pushed to its limits, Jenn still continued building the spell. Hundreds of shards of glass manifested all around her in a swirling storm as her clothes were shredded by the unseen wind. Spinning at extreme velocities, the storm of glass rushed towards the sand mage, burrowing through the wall of sand as it tore chunks from the buildings and ground around her.

Jennifer dug into the tattered remains of where her pouch lay on the ground, her bloody fingers shaking as she drank a mana potion. Then as she waited for it to refill her reserves, she shot to the left.

“Elphion damn me. Remind me never to join you in your dumb shit,” Gavril cursed as he dug into his black shirt, pulling out a vial. Turning around, the runner threw the vial at where the [Sand Mage] floated, the vial exploding into a plume of pungent smoke.

Stumbling and gasping, Jennifer and Gavril ran through the alley. Bright light streamed in from ahead, the main streets visible from their position.

“Damn the depths, guess I’m doing it. I have an idea,” Gavril said, rushing towards the main streets. Jennifer ran behind him, dodging and deflecting the spikes of sand that blasted toward them.

The light from further ahead grew in intensity, and soon they crashed out into the bustling city. Fruit rained down around them as they charged through a poor merchant's stall as the crowd parted around them.

“Pull up a spell Jenn! We need to break those monsters out!” Gavril shouted, dashing as he tackled the guard standing nearby. Jennifer didn’t have time to argue, following his words as she shot her mana bolts at the gate of the cage.

Her spells collided with the cage, the monsters within shrieking from the tremors. But her spell didn’t break it open. Shit, anti magic enchantment.

She jumped forward as Gavril was tackled into the cage by the guards, causing the animals within to roar again. The rest of the burly guards moved towards her with weapons drawn. Jennifer poured her mana into a Twin glass blade spell, weaving the spell matrix with practiced ease she let the howling blades shoot towards the cage. The structure shuddered, as a crack ran through the bars. The Beast inside roared, slamming into the cage causing the bars to buckle and found itself free of its restraints.

The guards hurried to restrain the monster, as Gavril broke free. The two of them dashed to the side as screams broke out as people raced to escape. Sand exploded from the alleyway as mayhem spread through the streets.

She heard the mage shouting something in anger as a wave of sand shot towards the two of them. Using a blast of wind she propelled herself ahead, pulling Gavril with her as both of them snuck back into the alleys.

Hopefully the guards can keep him contained for a while.

She plucked a stamina potion from her pouch, cursing as she only found one. She drank half the potion inside, handing the other half to Gavril.

I need to look into the spell on those people. Something's wrong. If that Mark is already in the city, with that caravan, then something important has to be in there. This could be how they breached the walls.

Jennifer turned towards Gavril, his face scrunched up in a scowl.

“Gavril. You need to run. I… have to stay. There's something I need to know.”

“You’re mad. Do you want to die?” the boy shouted, heat filling his voice. “Those guards will be all over you in a second after what we did. Unless that sand freak kills them all.”

“You don’t understand I- Listen. I can't die."

Gavril's face turned red, as he leaned forward and said "Jenn, this is no time for messin around."

Jenn shook her head, laying her hands on his shoulder. "This isn't a joke Gavril. I can’t die. I won’t. Trust me. I know you’ll be alright the moment I go back but I don’t want to see you die. Please.”

The boy stared at her, his frown dissolving. Then the sound of sand shifting filled the alley. She didn’t have time to escape. Jennifer pushed Gavril as she started to channel her spells, but her luck had run out.

A massive wave of sand burst from beneath them, a thick spike impaling her left leg as she cried out. The sand twisted and climbed over her body and Jennifer fought back with her Mark, flooding her body with mana as she started to form glass in the sand.

A shove of the sand pushed her and Gavril against a wall, pinning them in place. Gavril's scream filled the alley as a spike of sand slammed into him, the sound making her gut tremble.

“Stop it! Leave him alone!” she screamed as the man’s aura descended into the alley. The mage rose from the blanket of sand that smothered everything, his eyes peeking through his helm of sand. Green and cold orbs met her own. She found no mercy in them.

The dark brown hand grabbed her neck, the man muttering something in his language as his aura started to choke her while his hand did the same. His aura pushed against her, squeezing the air out of her lungs. It was as if she was buried under layers of sand, being crushed and suffocating under a heavy blanket.

She heard Gavril’s struggling, fighting against the man as he thrashed his limbs. Jennifer tried to pull on her aura, yet her glass core shuddered under the strain of the [Sand Mage]’s, her budding abilities thoroughly crushed.

“Please…” she croaked out, keeping a tight grip on her kill switch. I can end this anytime. I’m in control. This isn't like last time.

Jennifer opened her eyes, blinking away the tears as she stared into the mage’s cold gaze. She flooded her body with mana, pushing against his overbearing presence.

“What do you know?” the man said, a growling drawl as he pronounced each word slowly.

Jennifer glared at the man, finding his grip tightening as his presence beared down on her even harder. Jennifer found her mind starting to drift as the edges of her vision turned dark. Her hand trembled, as she almost sent a pulse of mana to her neck, ending it.

Not this time. Not again.

[Class: Resourceful Enchanter] has reached level 18!

[Skill: Aura of Glass] obtained!

The world was dark for a brief moment, as she heard the voice of the system whisper in her head. Blood filled her mouth as Jennnifer bit the inside of her cheek. She stared at the green eyes that had torn her life away. That had thrown her into this mess.

And for the first time, she pushed back.

A white aura rose around her, forming a second layer to her being. A new layer of magic. Blood dripped from the wounds on her body, turning into glass as her core shuddered, pulsating. Wave after wave of glass mana started to overflow.

The world was white around Jennifer, her eyes glowing with blue light as a new sensation built up. She pushed, forming a razor blade as she stabbed against the slithering aura of sand. Glass spread around her, small crystals like a layer of snow freezing the world as they glinted in the sunlight. The sand mixed with the glass, her aura stabbing as it pushed against the vast aura of the mage.

Glass tinted red by her blood, swirled around her hand. A dagger of blood glass formed in her hand, a razor thin edge running along both sides. She pushed against the [Sand Mage]’s attacks, shooting mana bolts as the flood of glass mana began converting his sand to glass. She stabbed at the mage with her blood glass, the dagger, managing to pierce partway through the armor of sand.

Jennifer formed a large gust of wind, blowing the mage away before turning to free Gavril. The moment he was free, he slumped to the ground. A groan reassured her he was just unconscious. She turned around as the [Sand Mage] recovered, his voice thick as he used a skill.

“[A Grave of Sand]”

The sand covered everything around her, blotting out the sky as she felt it draining her life. The mark of the man burned like a sun in the heated desert, as it pulled at her soul.

“[Void Arrows]!” a shout came, arrows of darkness shooting through the world as a sphere of darkness swallowed the [Sand Mage]. Jenn turned, pushing back to her feet as Anghul ran down the streets, darkness flooding around her.

“First Ostiri slavers, then fucking demons of all things, and now a mad Mage on the rampage,” Anghul growled as she drew her massive bow, an equally massive arrow of pure dark forming on it.

“[Triple Shot] [Abyssal Shot]” the woman said, her words ringing with power as the world plunged into darkness. Arrows of howling emptiness screeched towards the sand mage, sucking everything towards them.

“Get the fuck away kid, unless you want to die!” Anghul shouted as a wave of sand poured towards her. Jennifer stared at Gavril for a moment, he was unconscious but alive. Her heart trembled for a moment as she clenched her teeth.

He’ll be fine, he’ll be fine, he’ll be fine. He’ll be back. I can bring him back. I can just bring him back.

Despite telling herself this, she grabbed him. But he was heavy. With the mage distracted, she stumbled into the streets, pausing as she felt a spell forming. The crazed ostiri abominations ran rampant around the streets as adventurers flooded the area, fighting back. Screams and shouts filled the plaza as demons tore through the crowd, attacking everyone on sight.

Spotting an abandoned cart, Jenn trudged toward it, dumping Gavril atop it. Grabbing the handles, Jenn inspected the spell as she jostled the cart along the street. She tried to trace down the linking spell that ran among the demons. [Lesser Spell Analysis] thrummed as the spell components started to shift around. Jennifer kept moving, wrestling to keep the cart from getting stuck as she spread her senses thin, trying to pick up on the little line that spread through the streets.

Her eyes turned wide in surprise when she sensed the mana threads plunging into the ground, and running into the dungeon. They covered the entire section of the city she stood in. Jennifer stumbled, the cart spinning to the side as a strong headache arose as she tried to analyse the spell, her skill breaking in between.

A hissing noise came from behind Jennifer and she turned. A dark wraith leapt, screeching as a clawed hand shot at her neck. Drawing blood. A single pulse of mana went towards her neck, as Jennifer activated the spell embedded there.

The world turned dark.