Back in Azralia, it had been a few days since Kuroki had obtained his True Arcanium. He still couldn't cut his hair, but it was no longer as big of a pain or obstructive as it had once been. Using some hairclips and bands, he now had most of it contained via a ponytail and bangs, and he was able to get dressed and go outside. His control over his mana and magic had also improved so he was no longer a threat to himself or others if he as so much as sneezed. In other words, it was officially safe for him to resume his training and doing quests.
"Alright, which quest should we take next? I have a whole bunch of spells I thought up that I need to field test".
Kuroki was clearly raring to go, as he was filled with energy. He probably was really eager to put his new staff to work, which made everyone a bit worried.
"He won't go out of control with his magic right?" Kaede asked.
"I don't think so..." Riku replied.
"The look in his eyes is scary" Ryuu commented.
Supported, or perhaps worrying, his party, Kuroki charged forward towards the guild. It did not take them long to reach it, as they were familiar with the trip there. And when they arrived, they saw the usual sight of Ozlo at the center counter, looking overworked and under appreciated. They made sure to approach his counter, knowing he could use a friendly face that wouldn't try to bullshit him.
"I see you are doing better, Kuroki".
"Yep! Which is why, I need to test out my spells and get an idea for my magic in the field. Using the training arena only lets me measure so much after all".
"In other words, you need a request that will net you some fights. Then you came to the right place. Truth is, I need some reliable E-Rank adventurers right now. We have had reports of a surge of Fang Wolves in the forest. Normally they would be considered F-Rank, but their numbers have me concerned, so I wanted E-Ranks at least to check it out. You guys up for it?"
"Yeah!"
"Fantastic. Just be careful of their varients, and dont get carried away and cause issues for others!"
Ozlo had to shout that last part as Kuroki practically rushed out the door. His three party members apologized for him, and then ran after him. Ozlo knew they were good kids, so it would probably be fine...but he also knew about Kuroki's passion for magic.
"It should be fine...probably...yeah. Just to be safe though, I will send a mini-dragon to keep an eye out on them".
Ozlo quickly summoned a small dragon no bigger then a basketball, and then had it fly after them once it turned invisible.
"There we go, that should do it".
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At the same time, Kuroki's group did not take long to get to the forest. Riku had become much faster and gained more stamina overall compared to the others, and the others had new boots that would help boost their speed and even could let them move incredibly fast for a few seconds, although it would take time between uses.
Their standard formation was Riku and Ryuu in the front, Kuroki and Kaede in the back. This was a reliable formation, since Kuroki could use magic to sense attackers, at least usually. There were occasionally those who were able to bypass his detection somehow, as if they had some sort of sneak or stealth skill, or some sort of immunity to detection based magic.
However, that did not discourage him at all.
It did not take long for them to encounter the Fang Wolves mentioned either. Usually they were in the forests south of the one they were in, but recently they had been pushed forward and were making more appearances in the northern forest.
However, the number they encountered was larger then expected. They were told scouting parties were only about five or six, but this was clearly at least ten.
"Kuroki?"
"Yeah, I got this".
Kuroki incanted a spell, and magical energy swirled through his staff. Its sheer power seemed to accelerate the incantation, and it was finished before it was even done. The raging whirlwind of frost and snow glistened for all to see, as it was unleashed upon the wolves before him.
"Racing Icewind!"
Unleashing the spell, waves and blades of frost emerged from his staff. They raged across the battlefield, and while the wolves tried to dodge, only four were able to successfully evade the spell. The rest were either turned into frozen statues, or cut to pieces. The ground became covered in frost and snow, and not a sound could be heard from any of the spell's victims. Fang Wolves were only an F-Rank threat, but for Kuroki to silence so many so easily was a testament to his increased ability.
"Looks like I better ramp up as well".
Riku got inspired from it as well, and quickly engaged his new technique.
"Blazing Hop!"
A varient of Brilliant Blaze, this covered shorter distances, but it let him quickly slash around multiple targets since he was able to do it rapidly, and with less strain. This let him behead two Fang Wolves instantly.
Kaede meanwhile cut through another one with her daggers, severing the vital points and leaving its corpse to collapse on the ground. It did not even feel pail as she had carefully dissected it cleanly and quickly. Ryuu meanwhile seemed to overrun with power, easily smashing through his wolf and ending it right then and there.
"Looks like I am not the only one who has been busy" Kuroki noted.
"We can't just leave it all to you. We are also improving after all!" Riku exclaimed.
"Yeah. I wont let you boys be the only ones to progress".
"I might be the youngest, but I wont fall behind either!"
As they all said their piece, Kuroki observed some of the trees. It was not consistent, but several of the trees were wilting already, and had their leaves changing color even though it was not even summer yet. Some of the branches were rotting, and others had already fallen off, with some rotted parts and some healthy parts.
"This forest looks almost...sickened".
"We should report this to Ozlo".
Kuroki nodded, when suddenly he got a signal on his magic senses. A lot of signals.
"Enemies, coming from all around us! They just showed up out of nowhere!"
As he announced that, countless arms began to spring out of the ground. That was, if they could be called arms. As other figures began to become appararent around them, the arms...no, the limbs of bone began to pull up their corpses from under the ground.
"No way...it can't be..."
"Goblin Zombies...shit!"
"Why? Why is it always us?!"
"AN undead attack!?"
Kuroki quickly took command.
"Everyone, we are pushing back towards the city! This is an ambush! We are not prepared for a lengthy encounter against undead, so we have to keep attacking as we move!"
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"Most of hte horde is betwene us and the direction of Azralia!"
"Are they being directed by some sort of intelligence?" Kaede questioned after hearing Riku's observation.
Kuroki meanwhile, was already working on a spell.
"A nimble light runs true and quick, it shines so bright unlike a flick. It radiates energy and life itself, it cuts through undead with no sense of self! Undead Slaying Light!"
With his incantation done, he cast a standard undead spell that magicians had at their disposal. It was easy to cast and generally everyone could cast it, although it was situation and a bit weak compared to others. It did however proceed to cut through a plethora of undead directly around them, but it only lasted for a few moments before fading away, and bought them just a brief moment of respite.
Kuroki quickly charged up a few lightning bolts, and unleashed them in the general direction of the city, hoping to weaken the undead horde. Meanwhile, Riku used his magic to wrap his sword in flames, and proceeded to cut through the undead goblins as best as he could. Several of them fired arrows at him, but Ryuu blocked them with his new shield, and Kaede intercepted a few others with her dagger techniques.
"Heroic Blaze!"
Ryuu used his strange special technique, which seemed to increase his abilities and reduce the abilities of all his opponents. Kuroki figured it was a good time to use it, as he whipped his staff around and sent a lightning bolt into an undead goblin.
"This many undead goblins...it has to be her!"
"You mean Chianthias, Kuroki?"
"Yeah Kaede. It has to be".
This had her work all over it. They knew she was still a threat and they were not done with her, but this was certainly unexpected. Kuroki raised several barriers as Goblin mages sent spells their way, and he raised ice walls to impede their process as the group was trying to flee from the forest.
It was only then that they noticed the left flank had not recieved any attacks at all. They looked over there, and saw a small dragon burning goblins like crazy, tearing through the undead horde on that side.
Kuroki let out a happy chuckle.
"Thank the gods that Ozlo is so cautious! Reinforcements should be heading our way, so we just need to keep pushing everyone!"
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At the same time, the guild was in an absolute panic.
"Undead hordes? In the northern forest? What? How!?"
Ozlo was questioning that as he was making various preparations for himself to go out into the field. He already had his armor on, and was about to head out.
"Vanessia, I will go handle the north. But if this is just a move to distract us..."
"Understood. I will keep the south gates safe, and the Guildmaster will handle the city itself?"
"Exactly. This has to be Chianthias' doing, but I have no idea why she would raise an undead hoard now of all times. Get Amyris to be on standby, we will need him ready as well. And get as many of our reserves as you can!"
"Several parties have already been dispatched to rescue and bring back Kuroki's group".
"Yeah, but I need to go myself to be safe. This might be part of her plan, but we should assume its far more complex then this".
Ozlo summoned another dragon through the gate he opened outside as he stepped out of the guild, and quickly mounted it.
"Just to be clear, you do know this is a trap right?"
"Yes, obviously".
"I just needed to confirm it again. Good luck".
"You too" Ozlo said, as he flew off and out of the city, riding his medium sized dragon.
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At the same time, Kuroki's group was still drenched in undead goblin horde. They seemed to have no end, which just went to show how many they killed during the previous battle. And yet, with this many, they were having a tough time. Zombies were weaker versions of the living creatures they used to be, which meant this mob was basically all numbers, but there were some stronger varients among them. And if they evolved at all, then Kuroki's group would have real trouble, so they had to be careful. Barriers were constantly formed and raised, and Kuroki used magic to coat the ground in ice behind them to reduce the effectiveness of the zombies ability to chase them.
Still, they came dwarming in like a swarm of insects, unstopping and unending. Riku cut through a dozen in a matter of seconds, but two dozen came to take their place.
"Twinning Mirror!"
Kuroki used his magic to double his output, understanding it was the only way he could clear them a path in time. He overcharged a lightning attack, and used Twinning to duplicate it, sending out chain lightning in two different directions at once to help open up a path.
"Why did the undead goblins come out now?"
"It must be part of some plan, but I just don't see why it would happen now. It doesn't make any sense".
"If someone is trying to get at us, wouldn't they have shown up by now?"
Indeed. The appearance of the undead so suddenly, it was clearly a directed force. It was also blatantly organized, and it was coming for them with extreme fury. No matter how many they downed, more took their place, and they would soon be overurn. They would have been already without Ozlo's dragon there, and Kuroki's True Arcanium.
"Multi-laser symphony!"
Suddenly, countless beams of light shot out of his staff, occasionally bending in hard turns as they pierced through countless goblins. Kuroki was panting now, as the spell had way more power then was needed.
Damnit. This was supposed to be an easy test run. My control isn't good enough yet, I am exhausting myself way too fast.
Kuroki thought this as he unleashed another Frozen Earth, covering the ground in ice and frost to hinder their chasers as they headed towards the forest edge. Riku used Blazing Hope to let loose a furry of flaming slashes, and some of those slashes even flew farther then the blade, incinerating the undead goblins in its wake.
Kaede was doing her best, but zombies were far less affected by vital attacks, so she was focusing on defense and support, keeping attack waves off of hte others so they could focus on area and multi-target attacks. If Riku went too far into the horde, she would help push back a few and give him an escape route to rejoin the group.
Ryuu's indimidation also didn't work all that well on the undead, but his own abilities were still enhanced, which mattered. However, despite him heroically blitzing into the fray, the enemy showed no signs of slowing down to give him a breather. As the youngest, even as a Starfallen and a Vanguard, he was still vulnerable to this, especially given how overeager he could get.
"Ryuu, pull back! Riku, cover the right! Kaede, support his six!" Kuroki shouted, as he then finished incanting his spell. Soon after, his Frozen Guardians spell was cast, but it wasn't at the same level of power as in the Spirit World. Instead, only about three Guardians were formed. Kuroki this time and underpowered the spell, a sign of his worsening control, especially in this situation.
Still, even three Frozen Guardians had a nice effect, as they helped shore up their weak points and keep more of the horde's advances in check. With tangible enemies to fight, the undead horde even seemed to break off a bit, but nowhere near enough as Kuroki had hoped. The sheer numbers heading towards them were still gigantic, and they were including some of the higher varients of goblins that became Zombies, including Hobgoblins.
And that was when Riku decided to try something new.
"Here, lets try this out! Manifest, Flare Chains!"
Riku decided to use a new magical ability he picked up, which caused flaming chains to errupt out of the ground and ensnare targets. It seemed he had trained a bit in magic as well, but he seemed to be better at quickcasts then long incantations. The chains wrapped themselves around the stronger and more dangerous targets, holding them back for a moment and giving them just a bit more time.
Kuroki made ice spikes shoot out of the ground, skewering several goblins as he raised barriers to help protect his friends. Kaede meanwhile displayed a new ability as well, as her daggers were bathed in golden light and cut right through some of the magic attacks heading their way, causing the attacks to be deflected into other opponents or in some cases reflected right back at the casters. It seemed like something she couldn't use in rapid succession however, but it was clear that she had been learning some new skills as well.
Ryuu meanwhile seemed to perform some interesting techniques with his sword, often cleaving multiple enemies in two. It was clear he had practiced his swings to take on multiple targets at once, and he recognized the origin of that technique. Kuroki had seen Riza use that very same slash back when he had been pretending to be lower ranked adventurer. It made sense, Ryuu was under Riza's care, so naturally Riza would teach him about some techniques.
Kuroki meanwhile shielded against another attack, as a group of Goblin mages began bombarding them from afar. The small dragon went to deal with them, but they were quickly getting overwhelmed and fast. Their endurance was fading, and they were being mentally taxed as well as physically. They had adrenaline pumping through their veins, basically the only thing keeping them up and powered, but it would not last forever.
Ryuu unleashed another golden aura, and this one did seem to affect the undead a bit...somehow. It was some sort of heroic aura, but Kuroki couldn't even remotely guess how it worked. Some weird Starfallen wish magic stuff, which none of them could remotely figure out or explain. But it let Starfallen have very out of hte norm powers and abilities sometimes.
As they raced through the woods, the goblin horde ahead of them just seemed to get thicker and thicker. They were quickly running out of hope, but Kuroki refused to accept that. He had learned his friends were alive and well recently, and he wouldn't let anything get in his way. His hand began to glow with power, and his staff and grimoire resonated with it.
His eyes seemed to glow blue with power, as he unleashed yet another spell.
"Perpetual Distortion!"
At this spell, it was almost as if space itself temporarily fell apart. From these gaps, a countless barrage of magical lasers seemed to pour out and pierce through countless enemies, clearing the way forward if only for a moment. They ran and ran as they saw the front close up, entrapping them within the horde once more, but they had made significant distance. Kuroki wasn't even sure what spell he had just pulled off, it felt almost like it came from something inside of him rather than him himself, like it had been planted inside of him for the future to take advantage, but it didn't seem like something he could do often. The goblin horde was already dwarming them, the frozen guardians had fallen, and their numbers seemed endless. And they were running low on stamina, and out of new tricks that could help them out of this situation.
And yet, it had been just enough, as they heard a voice they had trully wanted to hear.
"Blaze, Dragonfyre!"