I've Got A Mana Processor In A Magic World

They had been running non stop, and Zephyr was behind. He would’ve long left everyone ahead of him in the dust if he was in top shape, but he wasn’t. In fact it was a miracle he was able to run at all. He’d turned off his pain receptors after the pain from moving so quickly had gotten too intense, distracting him from focusing on the mana barrier spell that prevented them from going crazy like every other living thing around them. "ARRGGH!" A scream of pain came from the front as someone was snatched by a mad beast lost to mana deviation. Every other person switched directions to evade before continuing straight ahead. Jet was spearheading their dash, along with Kathelyn and a few others they had met along the way. Everyone was running to higher grounds out of the forest. Even beasts had put aside their natural instinct to attack, choosing to run for survival. It was only the weaker beasts that devolved into madness relatively quickly, attacking anyone and any moving thing within sight, including their kin.

The current situation was so unbelievable that it wouldn’t even pass as a drunk man’s tale if recounted to anyone outside. The recruits were running right alongside beasts at the top of the food chain. Beasts that could mow them down within seconds. Alpha Skarnids with their midnight black carapace were eating ground as they ran in formation around their queen. Most of the lesser Skarnids— the workers, had devolved into frenzied beasts, cannibalizing on each other. It was only the higher tiered beasts like the Alphas and the Queen that were still sane. Instinctively, they moved toward a safer area, oblivious to the multitude of other predators and humans around them. Even the solitary Clydrax, with their centipede-like anatomy, fled alongside their sworn enemies. Other high tiered beasts like Cragfoots and Grimfangs were also running to safety. They were occasionally stopped by herds of insane low tier beasts along the way, but they got rid of them relatively quickly.

The chaos among the beasts inadvertently facilitated the recruits’ escape, with only the stragglers— those evading the Alpha beasts ahead— posing any significant delay.

There were about twenty three recruits running within this group, asides Jet and Kathelyn who were frontrunners, Zeke and his makeshift team were also running right behind the two prodigies, with the injured girl he carried previously nowhere to be found. Asides them, the rest of the recruits were a mishmash of two node, four node and eight node awakeneds. Some were here still alive and kicking because of their talent, some just their skill, some because of their ability to hide, while most were just lucky.

A lot of the recruits had lost their lives, and it was safe to say anyone who wasn’t here was either dead, or soon to be dead, unless another group equally fortunate and equally desperate was fleeing elsewhere.

Cedric and Anna were nowhere to be found, but Zephyr had spotted Helga running ahead some ways away. She had a blank look on her face as she ran. Zephyr hoped for the best, trying not to think negatively about Cedric and Anna’s fates. His main focus at the moment was simply to survive.

"We’re out!" someone ahead shouted as they finally emerged from the forest, beginning the steep climb up the hill they had descended earlier. The beasts running alongside them suddenly veered off in another direction, causing a ripple of panic among the fleeing recruits. Should they continue on their own path or follow the creatures who likely knew the rift world better than they did?

The hesitant ones glanced toward the front, seeking guidance from Jet and Kathelyn. But they showed no signs of stopping.