CHAPTER 10 Part 2: A Great Plan

Just a few days ago, I finally asked Tiffany to teach me how to control dark magic, I explained everything from learning about my affinity and Ophelia teaching me about it. Tiffany said that she doesn’t know if Ophelia’s teachings were accurate since the only ones that can teach me are the ones who ‘actually’ practice dark magic just like how Clerics are taught, fortunately, she said that the Elementalist Academy in the Kingdom of Niru also teaches dark attribute.

“Maybe they could teach you there.”

***

As we exited the small forest we were in, I returned the dagger inside the dimensional rift storing it with the wand, while Yu-chan just woke up rubbing her eyes. I poke out my head through the covers and saw a sandy plain, mountains can be seen in the distance blending with the atmosphere, it was hot, the sun directly above.

Tiffany, Yuna, and I went hunting for lunch and dinner, scouting through the desert, we left Luke to take care of the horses in an oasis. Tiff said if we stayed instead of Luke, it could be dangerous to us if a monster suddenly appeared or rose from the ground.

White-yellowish sand annoyed me as it keeps getting inside my shoes, I could float over the ground or use Liquid Armor or Wind Gale to keep my shoes spotless of sand, but I learned that wasting mana is fatal, not only to me but to others as well, so I endured, stopping from time to time to get rid of the sand inside my shoes. Since Yuna and Tiff-sensei have larger mana pools, they used magic to prevent sand to get inside their shoes. I didn’t want to bother them to do it for me though.

We covered our bodies with thin robes that were made from the covers of the wagon, trying to keep our heads cool from the blazing hot sun. Thankfully there were no sandstorms present today, not wanting sand to get in my eyes.

Monsters were scarce, so we barely had anything to fight but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing, monsters were our only source of food in this place, sometimes cacti were present but other than that, monsters are the only things that will keep us from starving to death.

Tiffany noticed a Sand Elemental in the distance, magical monsters who personify the sand, they are classified as B-class monsters that kill unsuspecting veteran adventurers that travel through deserts. They usually have a female torso but they never had a lower body, they’re made out of the sand and can move through the desert floating.

Tiffany instructed us to beat the monster and stayed back monitoring both Yuna and me and our surroundings, ready to launch a spell that could leave a scar on the planet. I summoned my not-so-normal wand, opening a dimensional rift to reveal the stored weapons I kept, I reached for the wand and closed the multicolored rift.

Yuna and I sneaked around waiting for the chance to pounce and attack the monster. We first studied the Sand Elemental, not knowing its strengths and weaknesses, I remembered the principle of Mana Armor that Ophelia taught me, how there are 4 types of Mana Armor and that each one is effective against other elements, how Water Mana Armor can render Fire spells useless. I don’t know if they have the same principles but I hope that Elementals are weak to certain elements.

I struck a thinking pose, rubbing my chin and scratched my head, pondering about what element the Sand Elemental is made off.

[if it’s made of Air then Fire attribute spells would be effective. If it was Earth or both Air and Earth then no element at my disposal would be effective, plus if the Elemental is ethereal then Earth spells would be ineffective as well. Could we even use traps for it?] With those thoughts in mind, I asked Yuna what we should do.

“Yu-chan, if my Fire spells are useless against it that means it has a defense similar to Earth Mana Armor. If the Elemental is ethereal then your spells are also useless against it. What do you suggest we do?” I whispered.

“If fire and earth elements are useless against it, why not use water and ice? I distract the monster. You surround it with water and freeze it or just instantly freeze it… hm… maybe with this heat you already thought about it… if then I don’t know. It’s my first time seeing an Elemental let alone know the weaknesses of one.” She whispered, not wanting to let our opponent know of our presence, hand on her chin.

[Not having Aishita-nee here is a problem, she could think of a way to deal with this creature in seconds. Maybe freezing it would be a good idea… but with this heat, I don’t think I can freez…]

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“Yu-chan, can I ask you something.”

“What is it?” she asked tilting her head

I whispered to here a request of a plan I had in mind.

Her eyes widened, a mischievous smirk now forming on her face, understanding what I just said.

“I think… no ‘I can’’” she said firmly, confident in her abilities.

After confirming if she truly understood my strategy, we set out to hunt the B-class monster.

“Earth Style: Cannon mode”

Yuna began her assault with her familiar ‘Cannon mode’, sand gathered on her hands and arms before hardening to form 2 yellowish gauntlets, she pointed her arms towards our opponent, her hands opened as if grasping the air and 2 cannon ball-size hardened sand formed and launched towards the unsuspecting monster.

The attack passed through the ethereal monster, startling it. Now knowing Yuna’s existence, the elemental flew towards her with speed and when she was in the range of its attack, the monster stopped and cast a sand tornado which appeared out of nowhere, raging forth as it gathered more sand in the area.

“Earth Style: Launch mode”

Yuna was quick on her feet, as she saw through the intention of our opponent, launching herself to safety, barely avoiding the spell of the Elemental.

“Earth Style: Grab mode”

Yuna tried to use the sand to grab hold of the Elemental as she noticed my Ignis spell approaching our opponent, trying to prevent my spell from missing, but that too was ineffective as both our spells passed through it. With nothing else in mind, we looked at each other and nodded, knowing that there was only one thing left we haven’t tried.

“Earth Style: Construct mode”

A large dome of sand encased the three of us, the Elemental looked amazed by Yuna’s spell, I too was left amazed, mouth agape as I observe the sand slowly form into a dome. Sand fell from the roof of the dome as Yuna tired herself from forming the structure and hardening the sand, the heat was no longer a problem as I cool down the air within.

With no Sun to heat the sandy ground, I conjured both Sheer Cold and Gelus, while a C tier spell, Gelus helps the situation by flooding the side where the Elemental was, pushing it towards the walls of the dome, and together with Sheer Cold, our opponent was frozen solid within minutes, freezing air now dominated the heat, patches of snow decorated the sand and snowflakes fell from the ceiling of the large dome. Yuna looked tired from making and maintaining the large construct, now on her limit.

“Did… we defeat it?” the tired Yuna asked, heavily breathing.

“I think so? Do you still have mana?” I asked now confident that we defeated our opponent.

“Yeah, but maintaining this dome is taking a lot of my mana… I don’t think I can hold it much longer, Can I stop now?”

“Yes…” I said, knowing that with each second her mana is dangerously draining away.

As I said yes, the dome crumbled down fast and sand came rushing down, I shielded both myself and her from the large chunks of sand that were falling using wind magic.

As the last spec of sand withered away, the ice encasing the Elemental weakened from the intense heat and the Elemental shattered it effortlessly, freeing itself, the shards of ice glimmered from the blazing sun. It roared and cast 4 sand tornadoes which surrounded us within a blink of an eye, angry from being trapped, the Elemental displayed its strength as it controlled the tornadoes towards us.

I covered my eyes from the sand that was swept away. The tornadoes was fast approaching, our clothes were slowly getting shredded, the sand that it carried inflicted damage on our skin us, which cut our skin as if it was paper.

But suddenly the sand tornadoes disappeared, the Sand Elemental’s expression paled as it felt Tiffany’s pressure, it knows that even fleeing away won’t stop her, so the Elemental could only do is tremble in fear.

My overprotective aunt displayed her strength once again, immobilizing our opponent the moment she stepped in battle. I saw her tattered robes again swaying violently from the pressure of her mana, the sandy plain quaked from her steps, her hood came off revealing her black straight hair as it danced around her alluring face and pointed ears, her face was sweaty and her red lips were visibly trembling. She took a deep breath before looking at us.

“I’m glad both of you are safe…” a soft smile was evident on her face

“You’ve made me worry.” she continued

After she uttered those words of concern, she let out a sigh and faced the Elemental, striking her pose, feet shoulder-width apart, right hand lifted, index finger pointed, head now tilted. Ice magic starting to emit from her body, a cool breeze froze our sweat, snow slowly forming beneath her feet. If I just close my eyes I wouldn’t even think that I was in a desert with how cool it was.

“Sheer Cold”

Her spell came rushing from her fingertip hitting the elemental directly and immediately encasing it in a cage of dense ice, denser than my combined spell, now unable to move.

I was amazed at the potential of the B-tier spell that I conjured moments ago, perplexed at how she managed to freeze her opponent in this hot weather, and wondering how much time and effort she spent to get that strong that even high ranking monsters quiver just from her alone.

Still striking her pose she said.

“Icicle Spear”

A spear of ice manifested in front of her fingertip, aiming at the Sand Elemental’s chest. She launched her spell, piercing the dense block of ice, I heard a sound similar to shattering glass.

The Sand Elemental let out a shriek from the block of ice as it withered away, now defeated. Our opponent deformed into sand, revealing a black orb that split into 2.

Tiffany rushed towards us, wrapping her slender arms around our necks. I felt her body shivering.

[I have an awesome aunt…]

“You had a great plan… I can see that. But defeating Elementals requires shattering its core, which you two never knew but I’m proud that you two are thinking of ways to defeat an opponent unknown to you.

“Remember to save as much of your mana as you can, observe your opponents, and expose their weaknesses, these are the keys to victory,” Tiffany said hugging both Yuna and me, her body still trembling, worried for our safety.

Yuna brightly smiled from Tiffany’s praise, I also smiled hiding the heaviness of my heart, again we were defeated, having to rely on my aunt to save us.

[One day you won’t have to worry about us…]

“Come on let’s get something to eat.” Tiffany said having the same smile she always had.