Calen was silent for a while. It was difficult to process that kind of information, granted his situation wasn't as bad as it could be.
He didn't know anyone outside of Asharil, and the whole place was frozen in time so his friends were fine, but it was still a bit disorienting to learn half a millennium flew by, while for him it has only been few moments.
Koravel stared at him, his eyes asking a silent question, so he quickly answered:
"I didn't really lose anyone, I've rarely left the town and I have no real family. I'm more worried about those who are still in stasis back there"
"That is... good to know, I suppose. People of Asharil are in fact the next topic I wanted to bring up.
While the power of the divine flame is a force to be reckoned with, it cannot do everything, and to remedy that I have prepared something for you"
He reached into his robe once again and pulled out three pieces of parchment as well as a small pebble, all of the items were glistening with ink that formed a complicated patterns of runes on their surface.
"These are displacement siglis" He said holding up the scrolls.
"they are commonly used when someone is stuck somewhere, be it physically or magically. Each of them can transport exactly one person to the location of the beacon and can be only used once.
You can choose three people to accompany you on your journey, simply attach the sigil to their body, leave the barrier and infuse your magic into this stone."
Calen took the items and studied the runes for a while. There were some familiar ones, but most were far more complex than anything he had ever seen, Koravel clearly wasn't joking when he said he used to be an Archmage.
"That sounds too simple, I just go in stick some paper to a few people and go out?"
"What you have to do is simple in theory, the problem lies with the barrier itself. While you are currently somewhat resistant to it's effect, it will still slow you down significantly and you cannot linger inside for too long.
I advise you choose companions beforehand and plan your route carefully"
Calen knew quite a lot of people, but only a few of them were fit for the task at hand.
The mist obvious choice, his teacher, was out of question since he was the one acting as an anchor for the spell, and who knew what would happen if he forcefully removed him.
His swordsmanship tutor wasn't a viable choice either since he has fallen ill the day before the disaster.
Calen shook his head, he would pick his companions on the way to the city, he had a few more questions for Koravel.
"How far are we from Asharil anyway?"
"Only a few hours to the south, it is the closest safe location I know of. If you make haste you might be able to get your companions and come back before dusk.
If you want a weapon, you should be able to find something on the rack next to the door."
Koravel sighed heavily and looked Calen in the eye
"I have a favour to ask of you, but I will understand if you deny. I have held on to my sanity while allowing the rot to change my body for centuries, but I will not last much longer.
I want you to burn my body with the divine flame before I became a Withered."
Calen was stunned, he understood that the giant did not have long to live, but he didn't expect him to ask for a quick death.
"I know I have told you very little of the world's situation but worry not, I have compiled everything you should know in a temple nearby.
When you come back here with your companions seek the putrid grove to the south, you will find everything you need there."
Calen knew that fulfilling Koravel's wish would be beneficial to him as well, and now he confirmed that he wouldn't lose any knowledge either, but it still didn't sit well with him.
He has never killed a person and didn't want to start now, but he was also aware that he might not have a choice in the coming days.
He thought long and hard, but he finally decided. Holding onto morals in a corrupted world was important, but not as important as survival.
"Fine. I'll do it."
Koravel looked relieved.
"Thank you"
Calen walked up to the hunched figure and placed his hand on it's shoulder.
He focused on the flame and ordered it to engulf the old man, simultaneously willing the fire to be painless and quick, but he didn't know if it had any actual effect.
A soft radiance spread from beneath his fingers, enveloping the giant and moments later... he simply turned to dust.
The next thing he felt was that something has left the pile of ash and flew into the lantern, making the flame ever so slightly brighter.
He stood silently for a while, not sure whether he was honouring Koravel's death or absorbing all the information that the former Archmage imparted on him.
'Well, I feel like shit, and this is just the beginning...'
The situation was far from ideal, he had to traverse many miles to reach Asharil, and he had to do it fast.
Still partially lost in thought he wandered over to the weapon rack Koravel mentioned, to see if there was anything usable there.
The weapons were in a surprisingly good condition for something that was most likely centuries old, they must have been enchanted in some way because the blades didn't show any signs of rusting.
Calen decided on a longsword - it was a very simple one - a leather wrapped handle with a small metal pommel leading to a broad, unadorned guard and a long, straight blade.
After swinging it a few times he nodded to himself satisfied and secured the sheathed sword to his belt.
'I think it might be better than the one I have at home, actually.' he smiled to himself.
He wasn't very keen on going outside but he didn't have much choice, after a quick look around the storage to see if he didn't miss anything useful, he steeled himself and finally opened the door.
What greeted him was a desolate landscape of ash and dirt, there was no plants or animals and everything was eerily silent, to the point he could hear his own heartbeat.
What immediately stood out to him was how dark it was, and when he looked up to see the sky he almost stumbled - instead of it's usual peaceful blue, it was vibrant read, with a ball of crimson flame glowing dimly slightly above the horizon.
'...Ominous.'
Another thing he noticed was that the ground was covered in a net of vine like growths, twisting and curling, spreading wherever they could, some were even climbing the walls of the building he was in.
They were black in colour and varied in thickness, some were as big as his thigh, while others were smaller than his pinkie finger.
They appeared rotten and dead but upon closer inspection one could see brown veins on the surface, pulsating faintly.
While he has never seen anything even remotely resembling the strange growth, it didn't take a genius to guess that it was one of the manifestations of the corruption that invaded the world.
He took out his sword and then slowly and cautiously, careful to avoid stepping on any of the vines, he began making his way north.
___________________________
Two hours later Calen was laying flat on a small hill overlooking the ashen plains. The good news was that he could see Asharil in the distance, the bad news was that it wasn't the only thing he was seeing.
Every now and then something moved swiftly from one place to another, sometimes it was just a single dot, but other times it would be an entire group of them.
He was lucky to have not encountered any monsters so far, but it seemed like he might not be able to avoid them any longer.
His biggest problem was that the plain was almost entirely flat, with the only exception being the ruins of a small village situated halfway between where he was and Asharil.
He didn't know anything about the entities inhabiting the space between him and his destination, but it was reasonable to assume they could perceive the world in a similar way to animals or humans.
This meant that if he could make himself invisible and odourless he could traverse the plain unnoticed.
Of course he was still an apprentice mage, so casting a spell that would perfectly hide him was completely out of question.
He could however, cover himself in dirt and ash, and then cast a minor illusion that would muddle his presence. Hopefully that would be enough.
A minute later he was thoroughly covered in ash, his skin and clothes completely gray, hopefully it would mask his smell as well.
The next step was casting the spell, he has done it many times but it was much more nerve-wracking when his life was at stake, not just a grade from his teacher.
He spoke the words quietly but firmly, the familiar yet alien language in which all spells were spoken flowing out of his mouth like a song as he was ordering the world around him to conceal him from others.
'Please work, please work, please work...' he thought in silent prayer
Then he felt a subtle change around him, it was as if a translucent bubble formed around him, cutting him off from the rest of the world.
That was when he knew the spell has worked as intended. It wasn't perfect of course, if someone was to stand close and look directly at him they would see his partially see-through, distorted figure.
It was fine though, as long as he doesn't move to quickly and keeps his distance form the monsters he should be safe.
Calen took a deep breath and descended the hill, half-crouching he began steadily making his way towards the ruined village.
As he was walking something moved in the distance to his right, so he stopped and slowly turned his head.
The creature was a good distance from him, but close enough that he could make out most details - It looked like a crossbreed between an alligator and a wolf but much larger than either of those, almost the size of a horse.
It was covered in thick brown scales that were almost stone-like in texture, it's head was crowned with three curved horns that looked like cut from obsidian.
The large body was finished off with a massive tail ended with a spike covered in a glistening substance, most likely poison. It didn't seem like it noticed him though, as it was calmly walking in the opposite direction.
'That thing looks like it could bite me in half, I have no idea what it is, but I'm not going anywhere near it'
Calen would have loved to observe it from afar, but he didn't want to push his luck and moved on.
He was passing a fourth beast of the same species when something snapped under his boot-
The instantly monster perked up, turned it's head and looked straight at him. He froze as the massive creature walked up to him, and stopped merely a few paces away from him.
From up close, the beast looked even more terrifying, with it's maw covered in dried blood and chunks of meat stuck between it's enormous fangs.
What was also noticeable was the smell, the beast stank like rot and sulphur, most likely due to the mucus that was seeping from beneath every scale on it's body. It was like a rotten body of a crazy alchemist's experiment brought to life.
Calen was standing perfectly still, and as the abomination sniffed the air around him, it became clear that it's eyesight wasn't the best.
The monster looked around once more clearly confused. Then, it let out a growl, and left.
Once it was out of sight Calen released a breath he didn't know he was holding, calmed himself down and continued.
'Note to self, watch where I step more carefully'
On the way to the ruined village he run into two more types of bizzare monsters:
The first one was a small biped, barely reaching him to the hip. It had grey skin and was vaguely humanoid in shape, but the proportions were all wrong.
It's two arms that were too long and thin ended with three sharp claws, it's legs were short and stubby with no distinct feet. It had a large protruding belly, and it's head was attached directly to the torso.
The head itself was devoid of most sensory organs, there were no eyes, ears or nose, what there was instead, was a large mouth set in a grotesque grin, full of needle-sharp teeth, it's long tongue running over them from time to time.
It looked dumb, silly even, dragging it's long arms behind it. The problem was however that it didn't travel alone, but in groups of ten to twenty creatures.
Calen has seen them rip apart the significantly larger wolf monster in seconds.
A small blessing was that the creatures seemed to rely solely on vibrations to find their prey, which meant that he could remain invisible to them as long as he stood still.
The other creature was even stranger, but no less dangerous
It looked like a glob of thick mucus rolled into a ball, with a magnificent and vibrant fungal growth on its back.
It used it's countless tentacle-like appendages as legs and arms while it roamed the plain without any clear purpose.
It didn't hunt, instead it grabbed any living creature that it would cross paths with and shoved it directly into the gelatinous substance it's body consisted of, upon which the slow process of digestion would begin.
The creature was enormous, easily three stories tall, but as far as he could tell there was only one in the vicinity, and it's wandering nature made it very easy to avoid.
Seeing the monsters created by the corruption made him glad he didn't face one of the invaders that brought the destructive force to this world. He had a feeling he wouldn't have survived such an encounter.
He also noticed that the vines covering the ground seemed to fulfill a couple of crucial roles in this bizarre approximation of an ecosystem.
In places where a few thick vines met, a brown bulb the size of a shed grew, those were hollowed out and made into nests by the small gray creatures.
Some of the wolf monsters actually ate the vines, or more accurately bit them, and consumed the stinking substance released by the growth.
The mucus creature also seemed to consume the vine juice from time to time, albeit on a much larger scale.
Calen was so busy was so busy observing the strange new world around him, that he almost didn't notice that he has finally arrived in the ruined village.