The cloud of blue dust could be seen from afar.
And because of this, it became a beacon.
It acted as a beacon notifying others of the manite mine's location.
—----------------------
In Rusell, those closest to the border, namely the city of Dimir, had already spotted the cloud of blue dust.
It didn't take long for the Admiral of Dimir's Missionary to send a message to the Russellin King through their own method of communication.
Similar actions repeated themselves in the Iris Kingdoms.
It would take at least one day for Solace or Quartez to get such information from their neighbors
—-----------------------
Even before them, the Avillians, being closest to the explosion, had witnessed the blue cloud rising and so did their King.
It also didn't take the king long to figure out that the blue cloud had erupted just a bit away from the mountain that Master Kurt had been sent to.
Search parties had been dispatched to the location to bring back information, which would allow better understanding of the situation.
—-------------------------
Then you have Niton, where the incident had taken place.
Since Winston was at the site of the incident, he brought out the same type of artifact Loreta used and sent a message to his missionary.
It was also sighted from the city closest to Whittown, Nertisin, and the Admiral of the Nertisin Missionary also sent messages.
Only, he didn't send them to the Royal family alone, but also to a family of great nobles he was affiliated with.
These small actions that seem insignificant would have far reaching effects, because the great noble family he told would tell others, who would then do the same.
And, as if that wasn't enough, the Nertisin Admiral immediately got to his trusty steed and, with two of his best men, headed for the outpost on the excuse of "understanding the situation", and of course, to check on his rival.
And so, strings of fate that would sow the seed of a decade long war had begun to move.
—-----------------------
Within the Windless Peaks' forest of snakes, two horses were running side by side towards the fog of blue dust.
They were Grenald of Varent, and Cavarl of Evercroft.
Right behind them were the six people Cavarl had arrived with.
They had been sprinting forward when the sudden explosion disoriented their horses.
After a whole five minutes of calming them, they quickly got back to their race, only this time, rather than worrying about the possible third competitor and rushing for the mountain, they headed for the blue dust fog.
If their experience had taught them anything, it was that danger and opportunity go hand in hand.
Now, judging from the size and sound of the explosion, they immediately knew something big was happening.
And something big happening meant that a chaotic situation would occur.
And, in chaotic situations, there were bound to be plenty of opportunities. If the chaotic was as big as the blue cloud they were looking at, then it could potentially be something even the likes of Grandmasters would move to obtain.
So, the two masters marched towards it with haste.
In their haste, they bypassed Winston's group without bothering to notice them.
If they had noticed him, perhaps they would've learned that the mountain, their original goal, was the true gold mine.
And because of how fast they were sprinting, Winston decided to follow after them, while keeping a good distance, to see where they were headed.
Too many people he didn't know had been popping up.
While the others he had encountered were weak, the ones in front of him seemed at his level, Expert-rank.
He needed to know whether they were allies or enemies before he could plan his next move.
—--------------------------
Meanwhile, the site where Gibs had exploded was completely covered in a fog of blue dust. And the fog's range was still expanding.
Within this fog of blue, Kurt's body could be seen and, unlike what one would expect, he was utterly unscathed, except the pieces of flesh and blood on the body.
At this moment, he suddenly opened his eyes-
*Ugh!*
-and inhaled heavily, before raising himself into a sitting position as he recalled the events that happened before he blacked out.
'That's right, I was covered in that big ball of blue…how am I alive right now?'
As he looked over his body, he saw his body glowing blue. More precisely, it was his veins that were glowing as his skin sucked in the blue particles, which scared him at first, but he quickly realized that he wasn't hurt in the least.
Rather-
'I've never felt so alive'
-his whole body was brimming with strength and vitality that seemed endless.
He clenched his fists and wished his body could stay like this forever.
It was, if anything…blissful.
As he took a look around his surroundings, he subconsciously gasped in awe.
It was beautiful, no, it was utterly magnificent!
Kurt could swear that it was better than the view of the night sky.
The blue particles floated all around him like snowflakes in the winter as they made up a sort of large dome, veiling things from the outside.
The particles rested upon the trees like rain dew.
With a quick glance, he found his Acktan was lying on the floor a bit of a distance away.
He approached it with a smile as he hit his mount, expecting it to wake up just like he had.
Alas, he could only be disappointed when he found that the beast was dead.
It touched his heart a little as they had been through a lot together, but he quickly got his mind straightened.
Only then did he remember a crucial detail that made him get caught up in the explosion.
His face scrunched up like a man who just tasted shit as he wondered if he had gone mad for him to be appreciating the beauty of the fog.
A beauty created by-
'He destroyed the mana stone! That b#stard dared to…!'
-destroying a mana stone.
He only grew angry and very frustrated as he recalled the scene over and over again, before taking a deep breath to calm himself.
'Calm down, calm down, think…he destroyed the mana stone. But where did he find it in the first place?'
At this moment, the description of the mountain popped up in his mind.
'Could it be…within the mountain?'
It was an assumption, but Kurt didn't think a mana stone could come from anywhere but there.
And so, his destination was set.
Quickly, he removed his spear that was lodged in the tree.
The two bodies had exploded, so it was covered in blood and flesh, a minor inconvenience, so he shook his spear to get it off and then sucked it back into his space ring.
After that, he started running towards the mountain, having determined its location with one of his sound techniques. Locating it by sight didn't work as the range of the dome of mana dust was truly wide.
He was also able to pinpoint the location of Ulrik and their entourage, but didn't bother calling out to them as they were heading in the same direction as he.
With the Masters of Avilla and Niton coincidentally heading towards each other, their clash was inevitable.
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