Armaros gasped a bit as he ran away from the place of battle and deep into the forest as he used his mana to run away from the place and the town so that none of the adventurers or knights in the town would find him.
He felt haggard as he ran as his body was for the lack of a better word, exhausted from having his divine power stripped from him. Not to mention the mental exhaustion born from it.
And that isn't accounting to the fact that he had recently fought against the fucking demonic scabbard that had nestled inside of him which also took a good amount of his mental and magical reserves.
But he couldn't think about it as he has to get as far away from the town and the people as possible. He still has enough clarity of mind to realise that without his divine power, the demonic energy of the scabbard will be easily known by those of the church.
While he will be safe from adventurers, knights and normal people since they won't be able to sense the demonic power of the scabbard, they would probably feel some difference between him and themselves.
Though he has no true idea about that fact since he himself hasn't experienced it, not without his holy power still in his grasp so he is just speculating at this time.
Whatever the case, he knew that no matter what, he cannot let himself be found by people from the town, especially since there is a Church there and if any of its members were able to feel the demonic power in him, then it would be really bad for him.
Since he has lost his holy power, he isn't afforded the same protection due to being from his bloodline. They would either kill him outright for possessing an item which is against their very beliefs, or if he were lucky they would let him live and take the scabbard from him, though he has no idea if he would survive it.
He had no wish on testing his chances against the church or what they might do to him upon knowing about the scabbard. Even if Chelsea had been kind, he had no idea how she would act at the reveal of the scabbard.
Religious zealots are those he actively wished to avoid, and considering the fact that the Gods truly proven to exist in this world, he knew that zealots would probably exist in this world. And he has no wish to find out if the people of the Church in the town of Xerxia are religious zealots or not, he liked having his body in healthy condition, thank you very much.
And there was also the fact that his whole body has been in pain since he took back control of his body. Having his holy power stripped from him violently, and then having the demonic scabbard inside of him surge his entire body with demonic power was definitely not the ideal situation for his body.
Not only was his holy power taken from him which would have adverse effects on his entire body, it was also flooded with demonic power from the scabbard and also controlled, without letting his body have the rest it needed.
Every single part of his body was hurting and would've been a very big hindrance for most people. Fortunately for him, pain was an old friend, even since he had been reborn into this world and had first used his mana. Pain has been a constant companion everytime that he had used his mana, and due to the years of experiencing almost mind numbing pain everytime he used mana.
So even with the pain that he was experiencing he was able to run, even if he was physically and mentally drained from the things had happened to him. He stumbled and fell forward as he corrected himself midfall as he used his arms to desperately stop himself from falling as he used his arms on the ground as he ran like an animal for a few seconds before he pushed himself up and gasped and choked as he leaned on a tree and wheezed.
'Fuck. I'm exhausted from all of it, but I can't stay anywhere near there. There is no telling what might happen or who might find me. I can't risk it.' Armaros thought to himself as he felt his beating heart before he kept on running.
He used his mana again to stave of the physical exhaustion as he knew that he won't be able to stay conscious for long as he used more mana and increased his speed as he ran away from the place.
After running for at least 15 minutes as he felt sluggish, his mana reserves almost dry and his own body had already gone past it's limit. His vision was filled with blank spaces as he couldn't see clearly as he clicked his tongue and looked around to find someplace to hide.
"That tree..." Armaros muttered to himself as he looked at one of the taller trees in the forest.
He looked at it for a few moments before he climbed it and went towards the top as he found an almost flat space as he placed his hand on it.
He used his mana to create a stable platform with the tree as he laid on the place and curled as he started to let out more breaths as he felt his body relaxing and his eyes becoming heavy due to the exhaustion as he knew that his body and mind needed the rest.
"One more." Armaros muttered as he used his mana to manipulate the tree again.
He used the last dregs of his mana to create a cocoon using the tree around him to better camouflage him as he made sure that it would let him get air as he took more breaths as he felt himself slowly lose consciousness as he closed his eyss and fell asleep.
As he fainted there his body went slack as it relaxed as he fell asleep soon after as his exhaustion caught upto him as he laid on the tree and slept, hoping that he would be safe the next time he woke up.
Timeskip 18 hours
Armaros opened his eyes slowly as he blinked as he let out a yawn as he felt confused from the space as he saw the light as he looked around. But he remembered after a few seconds about what happened before he had fallen asleep. He let out a sigh as he used his mana to removed the wood around him as he streched his body as he groaned as felt quite good.
But then he froze as his eyes snapped open as he took a few seconds to process what he had just done. And then he immediately sat upright as he looked at himself in shock. He immediately touched his body every which way to make sure that there isn't anything suspicious on him, or that he isn't in his own body.
But after he checked he realised that he truly is in his own body as he looked at his hands with shock, wonder and disbelief.
"Is this..." Armaros muttered to himself as he called upon his mana.
He felt the energy surge through his arms as he felt them. But the most shocking thing about it was the fact that it didn't hurt him to do so, in fact he felt quite energized from having his mana flow through his arms. Just like how his family and trainers had said it felt when they channeled their mana in their own bodies.
But he didn't believe it, not after years of suffering from the pain of using Mana. So he decided to flood his entire body with Mana as he was sure that he would be feeling the pain like all the times before.
But to his shock he didn't feel any pain from the use of his mana, no feeling like his arms were being burned from the inside out, like lava was flowing through his flesh nor any of the pain that he felt when he flooded his body with mana like he had done before.
He instead felt pretty good at the use of mana, and was shocked at the fact that he is somehow able to use mana without feeling any pain.
"Is-Is this a dream? It has to be." Armaros said out loud as he looked at his hands, not being able to believe what is happening to him.
He called upon his mana and created a sphere of Mana in front of him as he didn't feel any of the pain he usually felt and instead felt powerful as he felt joy and elation at the feeling of his mana flowing through his body.
He felt his arms shake, his entire body shake as the realisation started to set in his mind as he looked at himself as he smiled unconsciously.
"Is... Is this what it feels like to have your mana flow through your body normally?" Armaros asked as if he was asking the most important question in the world, which to him it was.
He kept up the flow of Mana and for all this time he didn't feel a single shred of pain from the act. He laughed a little at first, before it grew as he laughed out loud feeling happy as he did so boisterously.
He couldn't control himself as he felt great joy at the realisation that he didn't have to feel the pain anymore. He didn't know how, why or what reason it stopped, he didn't care at the moment. Right now he only felt happiness at the fact that he was free of the pain.
He couldn't help himself as he let out joyous laughs. He laughed joyfully and in a way that he had never done so for a long time. At this moment, Armaros Dawnbringer, felt for the first in his life, freedom.
A/N: How is my book? I would like to know my readers thoughts about it.