The Gremlins weren't just rushing at me as I had expected them to do so but instead they were forming ranks in a line then moving forward. Interesting it seems that there might be a commander nearby for them to behave this way. This complicated things a little when I was thinking of the tactics to use to fight them with three untrained girls until I realised one important fact namely I had magic!

Virginnia, Fran and Annabeth had finished killing the monsters and I told them to check them to see if they could find any loot but they had no such luck. A quick glance down the corridor showed at least thirty to forty Gremlins moving towards us with more streaming out of the classrooms every second. They were being joined by more reinforcements further down the block. Damn just how many of them were there?

 "Ok remember when I said you guys could only come with me if you could keep a secret? Well we are going to have to test out your integrity about now."

I swung round the corner to face the Gremlins and while I hadn't noticed Fran told me later that I had a sadistic smile of my face with eyes blazing with battle lust. Apparently she was quiet turned on by it which caused me to sigh and roll my eyes discreetly. One of those types of people. Who would have thought this beauty would be a hidden pervert and an M?

I unleashed my Burning Hands spell down the corridor with as much force and power as I could manage in one cast. It decimated the first few ranks and took out twenty of the little buggers with easy. Nothing was left but charred corpses where they once stood.

Well that was easy I thought I walked further down the corridor towards the next group laughing manically at the destruction I had wrought. This is a lot of fun.

I advanced close to the new front ranks and cast again wiping out the second batch of twenty monsters and then the reinforcements arrived and I pulled back a bit. The girls were standing there staring at me completely stupefied with eyes as wide as saucers and in Annabeth's case her jaw doing its level best to reach the ground.

This caused the creatures to break ranks and spread out to minimize the damage while trying to rush at me. It was a good tactic as this was currently the only AoE spell I had and even then its use is limited as it can only go in a straight line in front of me. It seems there commander is still alive or maybe another one? Was it the boss type like the Kobald's shaman was or do they have ranks like a modern day army does and there is an officer or NCO hanging around somewhere?

An Ice Bolt here to freeze a leg or a  Shock spell to an enemy incapable while they twitch slowed the charging horde down and the ones I had cast upon the girls finished off. Unfortunately there is only so long  that will work for before they change tactics so we ducked into the nearest classroom so they would only have one place to get to us and would be bottled up on entry.

It worked like a charm as the dull monsters charged in truly enraged by this point and as two entered the doorway together they got stuck together for an instant but that was all the girls needed as they bludgeoned them to death then fell back so I could start casting. 

Eventually the numbers started to dwindle which I was truly relieved about as I was completely exhausted after so much casting. My mana supply was completely drained. I suspect that a lot of my tiredness has to do with the mental aspect of focussing and casting spells as well as the energy to supply it. With no other choice but to wade into the thick of things as my mana was gone I lifted my sword and advanced to the melee.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I remembered that I was meant to be helping the girls power level and while they had undoubtedly gained some levels I had done most of the killing with my AoE spells earlier so I swept one of the Gremlin's arms off followed by the other and with a thrust of my dagger I blinded another creature. Two down only who knows how many more to go.

Fran had been throwing amorous gazes at me in-between kills though I don't know why. I was drenched in sweat like I had run a marathon after the casting and fighting and completely caked in blood and gore from head to toe so I can't imagine I looked a pretty sight. Probably had some brain matter added in too I suspect. I really wish she would focus on the matter at hand rather then me cutting through things like a whirlwind but she seemed completely focused when engaged in battle so I won't pull her up on it. It would only cause misunderstandings.

After cutting the legs off on one so that Virginnia could bash its brains in I crushed the skull of the last one that Annabeth had knocked down under my heel. After that I heard silence only interrupted by our heavy breathing and ventured towards the door and saw that the coast was clear.

"Everyone alright?" I asked.

"Y-Yeah somehow. I have no wounds but my nerves are a little frayed. It was hectic for a bit there" came from Virginnia.

"Just grand over here. That was a lot of fun lets do it again. Also I loved seeing you in action so heroic and manly don't suppose you are single are you?" As expected from Fran at least her morale is high.

I didn't have any chance to reply to that as Annabeth who had been a mix of green and white for a while now suddenly voided the contents of her stomach all over my shoes.

"Great thanks for that. I like receiving presents from a beautiful girl as much as the next guy but that is not exactly what I had in mind nor terribly romantic" I said to her jokingly. She had been through a lot as we all had. Having to fight for our lives and kill thing like we had I am surprised that we had held up as well as we had for as long as we had. We weren't soldiers or anything and nobody can train for this. Some things can only be gained through experience, harsh experience.

"I am ok and really, really sorry about that. I just need a rest, some water and some fresh air but that can come later as we have a job to do for now. If anything I am mortified that I have shown such an unladylike action in front of a man" Annabeth weakly smiled at me.

"Well not sure about the fresh air as I do not want to leave and let them regroup but I do have some water for you to drink and at least wash the taste out. We can also rest for a few minutes as well. If any of you have had enough for one day and want to go back say so now. In the meantime I will look over the bodies and see if there is anything salvageable that we can use."

They indicated that they would all like to continue after a short break so I proceeded to looting corpses.