During one of the many days they spent on the roads, the one they waited for came during their journey through a narrow passage on a mountain. At least that's what Felix saw when the bandits lifted the veil a bit to give them their food and water.
Still, the day began painfully normal, nothing hinting towards what would happen. Felix sat cross-legged on his side of the cage, manipulating mana in his body as best as he could, and as much as those accursed chain would allow. He was now at least a bit proficient in magic, yet he still couldn't do anything useful to or with it. He felt like a missing piece was needed, and when he finally got it, it would all make sense.
He had still not found that piece, but he felt close to it.
Opposite him, Aysha was also preparing. They were both ready to execute their plan the moment an opportunity arised. Every time they changed paths, the nature would also change, and so they had to keep their plan as malleable as possible. They had also considered overpowering their captors, however they still couldn't overwhelm them. That was a last minute measure, if a distraction did not appear at all.
In the evening however, their preparations finally bore fruit, even if accidentally.
At some point, a stray beast had appeared on a wider portion of the road.
Felix and Aysha learned about it thanks to the bandits' curses.
They looked at each other, then nodded. This plan was by no means fool-proof, yet he trusted in its effectiveness.
Felix moved towards the cage's door, inching closer and closer while the bandits prepared to deal with the obstacle.
Reaching it, he extended his arm towards the door and touched it...
Suddenly, bright blue strings emerged from his hand, invisible to anyone but himself. They entered the lock, clashing with the magic seal inside it, before eventually breaking it.
Felix felt more than a bit tired, as this took a lot of his mana reserves to break it. Thankfully, the seal wasn't that complicated, because if it was, he would have surely died from exhausting all his mana.
Turning to Aysha, she was dealing with the chain bounding then to the carriage. She had much more success with magic during these weeks, which made him a little disheartened, but right now that couldn't bother him. Her green mana was tightening on the chain, a hint of blue mixed within it. Soon enough, the chain broke, finally allowing them to get out. Aysha had already separated the chains bounding their arms and legs, so all that remained were the remnants, dangling behind them.
Leaving the carriage, they glanced back at the bandits, now battling a dozen or so monsters. Half of the beasts were already dead, but the bandits were getting more and more tired.
Felix didn't let that affect his judgement though, atherwise he might've thought on how to save them.
'No, they kidnapped us and we're transporting us to who knows where. They deserve whatever's coming to them.'
Turning back, he returned to Aysha.
Not getting within 20 spaces of the carriage however, they noticed movements between the rocks in front of them.
Suddenly, behind one of them, two of the same beasts that attacked had stayed behind in case of a retreat or if they had to support their pack. Felix couldn't think about that at the moment though, as their attention was currently focused on the two escapees. And while they could managed to escape, the food they were given wasn't enough to give them the energy they needed to confront anything. Frozen in place, the two needed to figure out something, and fast.
In front of thembwas a pair of beasts, each sporting sharp claws in their limbs, as well as fangs that shined like metal. It was clear that just one of them would be enough to deal with Felix and Aysha.
On their right was the mountain. They were just about at the end of the summit, so climbing up would get harder and harder, without any guarantee they would reach safety any time soon.
And behind them...were the two bandits. They had apparently dealt with the beasts, and while battered and tired, they still noticed and approached them. Every second they were closer and closer,.and soon they would be next to them, foiling their escape.
Their last option was to the left, where the mountain steepily went down, a layer of fog covering the ground. Yet strangely, Felix knew that there was a body of water below, and while not big, he felt it was pretty deep.
"This might sound crazy, but our best shot at not dying is jumping off."
Aysha looked at him like he was a madman, which he probably was, at that moment. Still, she decided not to say anything and just nodded solemnly, as if accepting her fate to die in the unknown below.
Their time was running thinner and thinner, and with a choice between being ripped apart by wild beasts or getting thrown back in the cage for gods know how long, Felix grabbed Aysha by the hand and jumped.
While falling down, Felix thought things through. He had decided on this because of an unknown sense within him, and while hese senses were pretty accurate, he had also learned they were innate, so they were bound to be wrong at some point. He just had to hope that time wasn't now.
Thankfully, it wasn't. After falling for what felt like a while, which also put in perspective the gargantuan size of the mountain, he could finally see the ground. Indeed, there was a lake under them. However, how would they land in it, without breaking every bone in their body and rupturing every organ.
Nevertheless, Felix grabbed onto Aysha, hugging her tightly so he could take the brunt of the force.
When they were just a couple dozen meters off of the calm surface of the water, a flurry of his blue mana strings appeared all around him, this time corporeal. Some of them shot downwards, disturbing the surface to soften their landing, while the others warped all around their bodies, strengthening into an impenetrable shell.
And just that moment, Felix made contact with the water, Aysha still in his arms. They landed in the water, and began sinking, those strings however, didn't disappear just yet, though. They dragged their barely conscious bodies out of the water, the force of the landing still having done a score on their bodies. And yet...
'We're alive!'
With that thought, Felix fully lost consciousness, now free from the worries of the world.