The group had gathered in a farm field. Ezra sat down and leaned against a well, his heart pounding from the stress of walking.
Charles crossed his arms.
“Right, we’ve spent a lot of time on individual training, but we haven’t discussed our plans going forward,” he said. “After much consultation with various group members, I’ve devised an ambitious new plan to take this creature down.”
Multiple people murmured in the background. No one seemed particularly excited by Charles’s grand plans.
“This is going to go great,” Ezra said under his breath.
Charles pointed to Ezra. “Thanks to the efforts of One-Eye, we’ve discovered its weakness. A mana core in the center. The only problem? It’s shielded by some kind of barrier. The plan is to use our mages to strip away the core.”
“How do we avoid getting killed and stabbed by icicles?” someone said.
“We’ve been working on counters to that with agility training. We’ll be spending five more days working on that to make sure we have the best chance possible.”
Someone shook their head. “I don’t think that we have the kind of firepower we need to take down that thing.”
Ezra tugged on his spiritual connection to Filamenta. Perhaps she might have some input?
She didn’t wake up.
He bit his lip and tugged on it again.
Still silent. His heart started to pound in his chest. Had she died, and he didn’t even know? The rest of the world faded. He gave one final tug on their connection and heard a weak presence respond. No words, just an icy feeling.
She was getting worse.
There was no way she’d make it to the end of the system disconnect.
The thought washed over him like a cold shower. What was he supposed to do?
“One-Eye?” Charles said. “Hello?”
Ezra started, then stared at Charles. “What is it?”
“I was just asking what you thought of the plan.”
Pete, facing toward Ezra, shook his head back and forth in a subtle motion.
Ezra shrugged. “Sure.”
Charles nodded. “Right then, Pete’s abilities will be exactly what we’re looking for.”
Pete’s head shot around, then he slumped over. “Fine…”
The rest of the meeting passed by without incident. The only thing Ezra could think of was Filamenta’s worsening condition.
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As soon as the meeting was over, Ezra went back to his room and opened up every single book he had. He spent hours, not stopping to eat or rest. He reconsulted every tome, every book, and over and over the solution became more apparent.
“Filamenta,” he whispered. “There’s only one way to save you.”
Her presence brushed by the edge of his consciousness. Her once crystal-clear speech had completely fragmented, replaced by vague emotions and thoughts.
Curiosity?
“The Dark Seal.”
Panic flooded the connection and an overwhelming sense of wrongness nearly knocked him over. He forced himself to remain standing.
“It’s the only way. There’s nothing else—nothing I can figure out in time. We’re going to head out there and steal the Dark Seal. I’ll use it, and then you’ll be all better,” he said.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The panic faded away, replaced by exhaustion. Her consciousness slipped away from his.
“Just hold on a little longer,” he murmured.
He looked out the window. The Snow King wouldn’t be defeated by their mid-tier mages. Ezra didn’t buy it. No, they needed something else, something stronger.
This was when a demon flew past his window and crashed into a house.
He blinked.
“Well, that’s not good,” he said.
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Ezra ran out of Old Joe’s and onto the street. A loud roar drew his attention.
It was a massive thing, with horns the size of swords and muscles thick as tree trunks. It breathed fire into the air and looked down at Ezra.
Greater Demon - Lv. 66
The Greater Demon held out its hand and the air shimmered in front of it. Ezra’s instincts screamed at him and he leapt to the side in a roll.
A purple wave of energy similar to Yuki’s dimensional attacks swept through the air, decimating a house. A woman screamed and ran out into the snow, a child in her hands.
Ezra faced back toward the Greater Demon and ran forward. He drew back his hand for a punch.
His fist bounced off a shimmering purple barrier. The Greater Demon swept his hand and another blast of energy flew out at Ezra.
Ezra brought his arms into a block, then flew backward from the force of the attack. Pain flooded his body as his HP dropped out of the corner of his eye.
1222/1500
Ezra was really glad that he’d invested so much into his Constitution. He turned back toward the monster. He had to find a way past that shimmering barrier. If he was alone, then he’d just use his fission bomb attack and overpower it directly, but he was surrounded by too many people who’d have too many questions for him afterward.
A clang rang out and cracks spread across the barrier. Charles pulled back, his straight razor in his hand.
“I need a mage to dispel this barrier, now!” he said.
The Greater Demon sneered at Charles, then sent a wave of purple energy at him. Charles pulled back his weapon and sliced through the arc of mana, dissipating it on contact.
A blast of blue mana slammed into the Greater Demon’s barrier. For a second, the whole thing turned into a spider web of cracks. Then it all disappeared, back to normal in an instant. The mage who’d cast the spell stared in abject shock. A moment later, a demon crashed into him and threw him into the ground.
Ezra’s stomach flew out of his chest as something hit him from behind. He stumbled forward and turned on a dime, facing down a Demon. The Demon jumped at him, its fists ready to attack.
Ezra smoothly ducked under the attack and threw the demon into the ground by grabbing its arms. Ezra pulled his other fist back and slammed it into the monster’s face four times in a row. The Demon evaporated into dust.
Ezra turned back to the Greater Demon. Yuki and Pete could be seen in the distance, working together to fight on the other side of the town. Perhaps she would be able to break through this thing’s barrier?
A moment later, he saw a stray shot hit Yuki and she went down. Pete grabbed her and got her out of the way.
Well, looked like that wouldn’t work.
A wave of energy flew toward Old Joe’s, blowing it to bits. Inside, Joe was shielding his daughter.
The Greater Demon spotted the two of them and pointed its finger.
Ezra ran forward and quietly summoned Filamenta to his hand. She was in her small needle form, not the dagger form.
He stabbed out with the needle. At the same time, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar face blast out a bolt of mana. The pressure concentrated at the tip and shattered the barrier like glass. Ezra flew backward from the recoil while the Greater Demon stumbled. A bolt of purple energy shot out from it and flew into the sky.
A moment later, Charles swooped in and sliced a deep cut across its chest. Mana flared from the razor’s tip and the Demon fell to the ground.
[You have leveled up!]
Ezra fell onto the ground with a loud thump. His heart was pounding so hard that it hurt.
His eyes searched for the figure who’d shot the attack at the barrier. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened.
Sen?
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[Please select your class immediately! If you don’t select it within the next 27 days, the system will be forced to disconnect to prevent your death!]
“We can’t thank you enough. Really. I was wrong about you.”
Old Joe bowed his head toward Ezra. Ezra cringed and tried to shrink into his bed. Miss Marnie had been generous enough to convert her back into a hospital area. He was still recovering from his injuries along with Yuki and a few other students.
“Dad, I want an eyepatch!”
“Perhaps, one day, Jess.”
Oh, Jess? Ezra hadn’t known that was her name. He idly made note of it. The two left soon after.
Within a day, he was well enough to stand. The first thing he did was march right up to the Guild Hall.
Sen looked up. “Oh, mister One-Eye—“
“You’re a wizard.”
Sen’s mouth opened. For a few seconds, his jaw flapped up and down.
“The, uh… the technical term is [Sorcerer]. I know I shouldn’t have hidden it, but we aren’t treated well by the townsfolk—“
“Don’t care. What was that spell you used to defeat the monster?”
Sen rubbed the back of his head.
“[Dispel]. It’s the basic one that most magic users have.”
“How high-level is it?”
“Uh…
Ezra leaned in closer.
“Well,” Sen said. “Level 100.”
Ezra’s jaw dropped.
“How?” he said. “Why?”
“I only have about four basic spells. The rest were locked because I couldn’t get any EXP due to my job. I decided that I might as well spend all my time getting them as strong as possible.”
“Sen,” Ezra said. “How would you feel about helping to kill a boss monster?”