Chapter 536: Teleportation
Adam continued to fall from the sky, completely unaware of his impending doom. He was still in a state of trance, comprehending the insights he had received about the art of
teleportation.
His eyes were unfocused and in a daze, but if one looked closely, one would find the faint outline of lotuses on his dark pupils.
The Way can be understood as the fundamental principle that underlies and unifies the universe, he thought.
Teleportation, on the other hand, within the context of the arcane arts, can be seen as the magical ability to instantaneously travel from one place to another...
To transcend physical barriers and limitations!
The Way of Effortless Action means to act in a manner that is perfectly aligned with the natural order of the world... without forcing or striving.
Then what truly is teleportation? He wondered.
Isn't a master of teleportation someone who has achieved the Way of Effortless Action in the realm of movement?
A master of teleportation is able to shift their presence from one location to another without the friction of physical travel... I see...
By moving in perfect harmony with the flow of the Way!
The ground below got closer and closer, yet Adam had still not woken up from his state of epiphany.
If he collided against the ground without any protective mana cover around his body, he would surely die. No matter how powerful his physical body was, it would not be able to survive such a great fall.
Another concept of the Way is Balanced Duality, he continued to ponder.
It represents the dualistic nature of existence... the duality of everything!
The art of teleportation symbolically represents the balance between stillness and movement, allowing the caster to transcend ordinary limitations...
So does that mean the art of teleportation in the arcane sense cannot be viewed merely as a technical skill?
What if it is the embodiment of one's pursuit of harmony with the cosmos?
If the duality represents stillness and movement, can it also not represent the Spirit World and the material world?
I see...
Become one with the Way!
Transcend the limitations of the Spirit World and the material world through Effortless Action!
Embody the Balanced Duality between stillness and movement!
At that moment, when Adam was only mere seconds from crashing against the ground, his eyes glowed with a blinding white light.
The white lotuses imprinted on his pupils radiated an otherwordly energy that caused the space around him to distort.
Adam's lips curled up into a smirk and just before his body was about to touch the ground... He disappeared!
"WHAT?!" Stratford, who was standing on a block of ice hovering in mid-air, was suddenly filled with utter disbelief when he saw Adam vanish.
"Did he just...." He found it extremely difficult to speak what had just transpired.
"Did he just teleport without utilizing any magical components?! Impossible!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly, Stratford turned his head to the side and saw a dozen weeping trees getting destroyed in a straight line.
He instantly realized the cause of this.
As he willed the block of ice to slowly descend, his expression darkened and he muttered to himself, "It would appear that at the last moment, he teleported and changed the direction of his fall. Instead of falling straight to the ground, he 'fell' through those trees..."
The block of ice dissipated and he landed on the ground, looking in the direction of the destroyed weeping trees.
"Those trees may have cushioned his fall," he said. "But I'm sure he won't come out of it unscathed."
He began walking in that direction, his eyes oozing bloodlust. "No matter. All you've managed to do is buy time. One way or another, you will die by my hands!"
"Gaaahhh!!" Adam gazed at the thick piece of wood that had pierced his back and come out of his chest in anguish.
Although I was able to change the direction of my fall through teleportation, I wasn't able to stop the momentum of my fall...
He thought in agony, unable to mutter a word out of his mouth.
He looked around and saw splintered weeping trees in the vicinity. Damn it, where the hell am
I?
The following moment, without even using his Sphere of Resonance, he was able to locate where he was. Because of the familiar bond he shared with Valerian, he knew he was very close
to the young dragon.
Of all places... I had to arrive here...
Then, he looked in the direction of Valerian and the rest of his squad members as well as the townsfolk.
The white lotuses in his eyes blazed with radiance and he disappeared once again.
...
"What was that?!"
"Did you hear that?!"
The townsfolk who were being led by the Magi away from town suddenly heard the consecutive sound of explosions.
They couldn't help but wonder in fear if the battle happening in Stratford had somehow shifted to where they currently were.
"I have a bad feeling about this," said Kenley as he looked in the direction that Adam had
landed.
"Could it be..." Wagner was afraid of finishing his sentence, but the Magi around him understood what he was trying to say.
Meanwhile, Valerian had his eyes wide open in disbelief as he gazed in the direction of the explosions. Of course, if Adam could sense him through the bond, he could also do the same.
"It's brother!" He exclaimed.
WHOOSH!
Right at that moment, without any indication or warning, the space in front of the young dragon distorted ever so slightly, and a bruised and bloodied Adam appeared!
"Brother!"
"Professor!"
"Lord Constantine!"
His squad members were thunderstruck seeing him appear out of nowhere. There also wasn't the usual gray smoke that materialized when a Rank 2 Magus used the teleportation spell.
Adam had appeared as silent as the graveyard!
"Take... it... out!" Adam spoke with great difficulty.
While the children were horrified to see the thick wooden stake jutting out from Adam's chest, Kenley stepped forward and unhesitatingly grabbed the stake, yanking it out in one go. "AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!" Adam screamed at the top of his lungs. He glared at Kenley and spat, "That hurt, you bastard!!"
"S-Sorry!" Kenley apologized nervously. "Y-You asked for it."
The next moment, a warm and vibrant light enveloped Adam's body, healing his injuries at a rapid pace. However, the injury to the right side of his chest regenerated at an extremely slow
speed.
Just as Adam found a moment of respite, the weeping trees in the distance parted and a
towering white werewolf emerged.
"There you are."