He turned towards a soldier near the other camps and asked about the commander. But the soldier, facing away from him, didn't answer. He repeated his question several times in shock, but the soldier remained silent.
He grew angry but suddenly stopped and muttered, "Okay, I see." After a brief pause, he took a deep breath and, in disappointment, began to move closer to the soldier.
He looked at the soldier's ears, which were bleeding. "They didn't notice, or what are they trying to accomplish? Never mind. I need to fix this message quickly, and then I'll be on my way to you, Julicious."
He raised his right hand to the sky, and his energy began to rise. The ground beneath him began to shake, and when his power reached a certain level, the ground surrendered and cracked, forming a crater.
Luckily, the earth remained intact. In his palm, a black substance began to form. Within a fraction of a second, it solidified, the strange liquid turning into a solid, sphere-like structure.
"Heal them all!" Xenthoiur shouted, but none of them could hear a thing. The sphere blasted into the sky and exploded at a great height, releasing a blackish fog that covered the entire area.
"Soon, this message will be cleared, but it will take some time. And for me, let's fix things fast. I have a little hunting to do. I think two people to hunt, I guess."
He touched his ears, and the strange liquid flowed into them. He repeated the process with his other ear. After a few moments, he heard a scream coming from behind him. He turned and saw Zaren shouting.
He charged towards Zaren, who, covered in fear, began to run but was soon immobilized by Xenthoiur. He used the same method on Zaren, but this time, the strange substance was more liquid, while the one Xenthoiur used on himself was more semi-liquid or semi-solid.
After waiting for a minute or so, Zaren began to hear screams and noises and looked towards Xenthoiur for an answer. "Just follow me... we have hunting to do," he said to Zaren.
Xenthoiur began muttering as he headed towards Julicious's cage, "I see the fly has turned into a bee, which does have power but cannot use it." He smiled and then moved towards his destination.
Meanwhile
Neil, after traveling for two to three hours, reached a dead end. He held a torch that barely lit the area. He searched the area and found some frozen substances on the rock blocking his path. He also saw that both sides of the rock were made of the same material.
In between, there was a crack in both walls, nearly identical to each other. But after observing, Neil found that it was a very fine cut that couldn't be natural, though he couldn't be entirely sure.
Neil moved closer to the wall and found nothing extraordinary; it was just a normal wall. But Neil was confused. He looked towards the left and right walls, both of which were releasing water that disappeared into the ground. "Something is strange here, but what is it?" Neil said aloud, looking at everything he could find.
"This is not working; I need more light." Neil opened a vial filled with golden sand. He spread the sand around the area, and when the particles came into contact with the air, they began to glow, illuminating the entire space.
Neil looked at the vial, which was also glowing, but its glow was dimmer than the glow of the other particles. The vial was about two-thirds full. Neil gently pressed the top of the vial. As soon as he did, the light began to dim, and before it completely disappeared, Neil put it back into his pocket.
Neil then looked towards the wall in front of him. The frozen substances on the wall were also glowing in the sand's light. He moved towards the left wall and began analyzing the cut from where the water was coming.
After a while, Neil moved to the right wall and started analyzing it. He grew increasingly confused and, in that state, grabbed his sword to calm himself.
His blade began to glow with a bluish light, and the energy gathered around it. Neil stabbed the energy part into the wall, but before the metal part of the blade could touch it, he stopped.
Neil retrieved his blade and was shocked to see that the energy covering it had completely disappeared into the wall, except for the energy near the tip of the blade, which remained as before.
Neil, now curious, began striking the wall, but each time, the result was the same: the wall didn't have a scratch on it. Neil landed thousands of strikes, but there wasn't even a scratch.
Neil began to doubt his skills and moved towards the left wall. He formed a bluish energy blade and slowly stabbed it into the cracked area. The energy wrapped around the blade was so sharp it cut like butter.
Neil had done this in frustration, but when he realized his mistake, it was too late. The new cut began to crack, and within seconds, the crack grew larger each moment.
Neil's blade was still inside the wall. Suddenly, Neil moved a few steps back, and his sword was flung away by the water pressure. The crack turned into a big hole, and the water volume began to rise significantly. The water's speed was too fast for it to disappear as it had been earlier.
Neil's feet were soon covered in water. The pressure was pushing him back, but it wasn't enough, at least not yet. Neil tried to find his sword but couldn't. "I have to push it like the earlier one; that's my guess." "At least I have to do something," Neil added to himself.
Neil pushed against the rock wall, but it didn't move even a bit.