The Warden’s proclamation that Adamanrion wasn’t dead, resuscitated his dying church. (Though admittedly, many of his teachings were lost.) It would be many years before a Chosen would present themselves, so us dwarves were forced to make do with Warden’s parting words, “Do great works in the bearded’s name.”
And so, we did. We created greenhouses, built bunkers in the mountains that could ward off monsters, and used our minds to create new inventions and spells.
Now, here’s where things get muddled from a historian’s perspective. According to the records and journals left behind by some our most famous inventors, many of them began to receive blessings from Adamanrion, which helped reinforce the worship of the god, and has arguably caused the church of Titantuin to fall into irrelevancy.
Exactly what is a blessing? Well, it took a lot of pestering, but I was finally able to get a somewhat straight answer out of a paladin. According to the beardless, a blessing is a personal gift from a god that allows one to act as an extension of the god’s will. These can be temporary or long-term, usually dependent on the person’s faith, and allow a person to do something extraordinary.
For example, one talented glassmaker stated that they received a blessing that inspired them to float their planes of glass on molten tin, allowing for a smoother finish. Another stated that their blessing allowed them to quickly reforge their armor during battle, and another stated that they’d get a gut reaction whenever a math equation was wrong.
So, here’s the problem. Inspiration is famous for appearing out of seemingly nowhere, but it can happen to anyone. (Heck, I was inspired to write this book, but you don’t see me crediting a god in the acknowledgements.) Repairing armor in the field is a common high level Metal Mage skill nowadays, and every skilled mathematician can quickly review a problem for errors.
How do we know that a person is simply not lying?
---
Arc
Ugh, this is frustrating… What is going on? Am I finally going crazy?
I playback all three memories that I recall feeling Travis’ touch, but either my photographic memory doesn’t remember physical sensations or I’m going insane.
Ok, let’s assume that you’re not losing your marbles… which might be possible, since normally a person won’t have the presence of mind to question why they’re losing their grip on reality.
I try to think, what do all three instances have in common… The first happened right after I reassured Travis, the second was when Travis interrupted me before asking out loud the question that was forming in my head, and the third was when Travis gave my pommel a rub to try and comfort me.
Hmm, maybe my subconscious is creating the stimulus as a reward due to my lack of senses or glands creating dopamine? That could explain why I haven’t felt any of his scratches or rubs since, now that I’m taking active notice, but it feels too real…
Did something change? I didn’t physically feel anything this morning when Travis tried to comfort me before church… wait… Church!
Ugh, some asshole god is probably fucking with me right now. Likely Apheros, given where Travis just went. That man-whore must be laughing his ass off at me.
I bring my full attention back to Travis as he practices his Water, Air, and Fire spells in the spell range. He’s currently testing out a technique suggested by Jethro where he maintains a few Orb spells while reading or writing. He’s got that romance novel out, which I guess would make for a good training aide, since a spicy scene might pull too hard at his attention.
He keeps reading, occasionally stopping to fix his spell array alignments, but then pulls out a notebook and his pen to start taking notes.
Oh, Travis…, you shouldn’t be taking advice from those… Wait… why are you researching a romance novel?
Aww, does my apprentice have a crush on someone? I know the gang was joking about that orkish chef possibly flirting with him, was Travis interpreting the extra-large scoops as advances? Or is he pining for someone else? Oh, I bet he wants to exchange romantic letters with Caldia! Although, why hasn’t he told me?
Wait, duh… of course he’s not going to tell me. It’d be like telling your parent or older sibling. And let’s not forget that the last conversation we had about him getting intimate with someone left him completely flustered and embarrassed.
I patiently wait for him to finish his allotted time, then speak when he starts making his way to the library, “Hey, quick question. Did anything happen to you while you were at church? Well, outside of what you told your friends.”
Travis strained his face in contemplation, “Like what?”
“Like did anything strange happen when you prayed to an altar, or did the priest go off on a strange tangent during the service, or maybe someone bumped into you?”
“Umm, nothing I can recall, I didn’t even pray at an altar, I went up to a painting of Apheros instead.”
Hmm, maybe that was it?
“If you don’t mind me asking, what did you pray for?”
Travis started tapping the side of his leg, taking his time to answer, “Just the usual, and an extra one for a friend.”
Ah, he probably means me. He did seem worried about me this morning. Well, it’s a bit of a stretch, but I suppose a god could give a minor blessing that way. I’ll have to wait and see if it wears off after a few days.
But first, a test.
“Hey, could you please scratch my pommel?”
Travis hovered his hand over me cautiously but acquiesced after a second.
Ok, don’t feel anything. Now for the scary part, I just need to emotionally connect to Travis.
“Ok, sorry for acting strange, something happened… and umm… actually, it would probably be best if I waited to tell you. Suffice it to say, I thought I might have gone crazy for a bit there.”
Travis raised an eyebrow and made a shit-eating grin, “Might have?”
Ugh, I walked right into that one.
Travis chuckled at his joke while I groaned in his ear, and he gave my pommel a rub.
It felt nice.
---
Travis
Rainsday, the 23rd of Fifthmonth
Adrian and I set down our trays after morning drill, and I had to stop him from face-planting into his lunch when his hand slipped while sitting.
“You ok?”
Adrian shook his head, then turned it to show me his tired blue eyes, “Yeah, umm, thanks. Just tired again.”
I gave his shoulder a rub, “Don’t worry, you’ll catch up eventually. Even with mana reinforcement, your body can only recover so fast.”
Bridget sat down on the other side of Adrian, “Exactly, the only reason I’m not dead on the ground is because I was able to train at my family’s estate during the travel ban.”
“His muscular and skeletal systems have the lowest mana density in his body, the kid’s a bookworm trying to compete with athletes.”
I gave Arc’s pommel a rub, thanking him for the extra insight, then began to dig into my food.
“Oh, not sure if you care or not, but Drozuk is eating by himself a few tables over. I think it’s official that his friends have ditched him, I haven’t seen him sitting with or talking to anyone.”
I looked up, then turned my head towards the right area after Arc prompted me, and I oddly gave out a sigh. The table saw me and turned to catch the same sight.
Mattius shook his head, “Why is he still here? Isn’t he just piling on the debt?”
Jethro started to chuckle, “Maybe he’s worried that Bridget’s dad will ensure that he doesn’t share anything he learned here.”
Bridget gave Jethro a glare, “For the last time, not every Ashman girl has a commando for a father.”
The two kept teasing or glaring at each other while Adrian kept looking at Drozuk, “He probably can’t go home…”
I turn to face Adrian, “What do you mean?”
Adrian gave out a sigh and drooped his head, mostly out of exhaustion, but probably also out of empathy, “Most monster hunters are former soldiers that turned down the opportunity to become a knight or didn’t make the cutoff before they turned 31. The rest are the children of merchants or hunters that couldn’t pass the entrance exam for this school.”
Mattius rubbed his chin, “Is there a stigma for applying to the academy?”
“Not really, if anything it’s almost a rite of passage. Those that get in do get teased, but I don’t think it’s truly malicious. Most witches like to joke that they’d do anything to simply sit in on a few of our classes.”
I took in the insight that Adrian had, and it clicked into place, “If Drozuk returns, not only will he have a debt to the kingdom to pay, but he’ll get ridiculed by the witch hunters for wasting his opportunity.”
“Exactly.” Adrian lowered his head, then snapped back awake, “Ok, I’m going to go take a nap. Have fun at classes.”
I waved goodbye to Adrian as he dragged his feet back to the dorm, then glanced back towards Drozuk. He didn’t look outwardly depressed, though I’ll admit that his orkish features might be muddling my read of him.
Hmm, do I actually care? The guy was a huge jerk to me, and like Arc told me when I was little, actions have consequences.
---
1-3 Monster Anatomy 1
Bridget and I finished taking our notes and were beginning to pack up when I received a [Message] from the instructor.
“Travis, if you have a break before your next class, I’d like to take a moment of your time.”
I looked up to see the professor telling the students lining up that he wouldn’t be able to answer any questions today, then sent a return spell to let them know that I’d be right down.
“Sorry, can’t go over notes with you. The professor just called me down.”
Bridget looked a bit downcast for some reason, but suddenly perked up, “You’re usually in the library late at night, right? How about we meet there?”
“Umm, yeah. That should work.” I smile back at her, getting entranced by her eyes for a few seconds before she turns to leave. Finally remembering what I was supposed to be doing, I headed down, then followed the professor out of the room.
I scratched Arc’s cross guard to get professor Ulaphine’s name while they brought me over to one of the research labs in the basement, “We’ve been studying the corpses of the creatures you and Lancel fought, and I was hoping to get some clarification from you.”
“On what exactly?” They brought me into the lab and led me past a few graduate students towards a row of containers.
“For starters, I’d like for you to confirm that these are the creatures that you killed.” He gestured down, drawing my gaze through the glass top of the coffin.
Inside was a charred corpse of an elf, the same as the ones that attacked my village. I felt a shiver run down my spine, not just from the cold radiating from it, but because those things nearly killed Lancel and everyone else in the village.
“Just finished comparing them to my last set of memories, all of the injuries and mana signatures match.”
I gave Arc a friendly rub to help keep myself calm as I walked from casket to casket, until I fond one that only had what looked like a broken piece of a melon left for a head.
“I killed this one…”
Professor Ulaphine moved next to me, and set a hand on my shoulder, “We’ve analyzed the bodies, they were elves, but became mindless monsters by the time they attacked your village.” He grabbed a clipboard from a different coffin, then flipped to a page before showing me, “This one is the same as the others, parts of the brain were undergoing atrophy for an unknown amount of time. Even if we captured them alive and removed the implanted mana gems, they would have remained feral for the rest of their lives. Now come, there was something else I wanted to confirm.”
I stared at the corpse for a little longer, trying to get a read on the foreign emotion I was feeling. It reminded me of the time that one of the cows shattered their legs after tripping over a gopher hole while out grazing. Dad took me out into the pasture with a sad look in his eyes and did everything he could to calm her down as he slit her throat, but it was the first and only time that I’ve ever seen Dad unable to pacify an animal.
Dad’s hand, however, did work on me as he rested it on my shoulder while we walked back, I only wish I could have done the same for him back then.
Mom spent the night yelling at Dad for letting me see that.
“Travis, are you ok?”
I gave Arc a rub on his pommel, “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
I then turned around to join the professor, who decided not to bring up my behavior, and instead led me out of the lab and towards another.
“You and Lancel stated that you weren’t familiar with elven anatomy, correct?” I nodded my head to confirm. “Then you may not know that us elves do not sweat like you humans.”
“That, I actually did know, if I remember right, I think my textbook said that elves have more glands for producing oil on their skin as a trade off?”
“More like counterproductive for our survival strategies. Sea Elves secrete an oil that’s hydrophobic, allowing them to glide through the water effortlessly, and us High Elves can change our scent to match the foliage around us by simply eating it.”
“Those sound like handy adaptations, I used to go through a lot of trouble walking downwind or taking extra care to reduce my scent when hunting.”
He gave a small chuckle while we entered a different lab, “That they are, especially when you pair them with our center lungs… oh, that reminds me, did any of those attackers breathe fire?”
Hmm, I’m pretty sure I would have remembered that… Just to be sure though, I give Arc’s pommel a scratch.
“Checking… Checking… ok, nope. Just double checked, none of them breathed fire. The spellcaster held up his hand both times.”
“Nope, I’m pretty sure I would have remembered that.”
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Ulaphine nodded their head, then led me to a covered cage in the room of students studying live monsters, “To answer your unasked question, we’ve noticed a shared trait among the specimens brought in, namely that their oil glands have been modified to produce a flammable substance.”
He pulled the sheet covering the glass cage, revealing a huge salamander that dripped with oil. Upon seeing us, it snapped its jaws, causing its entire body to envelope itself in flames. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I noticed that I even moved back a step once the shock wore off.
“Yep, exactly like that.”
The professor tossed the sheet back over the monster, then let out a deep sigh, “Well, I guess that confirms it. Someone is trying to create a new species. The trace amount of oils that we extracted from the corpses match the properties of this inflamadar. We haven’t covered it in class yet, but the primary method for a monster to mutate into a chimera classification is by consuming the cysts of another monster.”
“Dear gods and God, that means…”
I finished Arc’s thought, “Someone implanted Fire Gems into an elf to induce Stage 4 Mana Sickness, then fed them unprocessed inflamadar to replicate its ability to light itself on fire.”
---
Arc
4-6 Water Spells 1 – Classroom Component
Travis sat down at his desk, visibly happy having a new class to distract him from his previous, but let out a dark chuckle, “Think this professor will drown a kitten in front of us?”
“Hmm, maybe… I think the consistent theme has been warning of what your role during a flood will be. Wind Mages kill wall-breakers, Fire Mages kill the swarms and invigorate the troops, and Earth Mages repair and modify the defenses.”
“So, what do Water Mages do?”
“Good question. Lancel never really mentioned Water Mages when he told us about his experiences.”
As if on cue, a cloud of utter blackness flooded into the classroom, drifting closely to the ground, and sending long tendrils up the walls and onto the ceiling before shrouding over the lights. I watched Travis and many of the other students stiffen up, some even looking downright frightened of the display of Shadow Mana.
Sadly, the effectiveness was lost on me, but years of going to haunted houses as a kid (oh, who am I kidding, I still went as an adult as well) allowed me to easily imagine the black smoke moving about the room. Feeling childish, I played some classic spooky organ music into Travis’ ear, causing the poor kid to jolt upright and dart his head around.
The students seated next to Travis all shot him glances, causing him to realize that I pranked him. He quickly sat back down and gave me a firm rapping with his knuckles.
Oww, oww, oww… “Ok, ok, I’m sorry! I couldn’t help myself.”
Travis sat there scowling, but I was oddly swimming in the enjoyment of feeling his angry strikes. Maybe Apheros wasn’t being a complete asshole when he gave Travis a blessing, though I am still concerned about how he was able to receive one. I mean, a soul can’t affect the physical plane without something to act as a connection, and I’m not sure if Travis is religious enough to form one with a god.
My train of thought was pulled to the front of the room, where a mass of swirling Shadow Mana was forming, before it suddenly lowered to the ground, revealing a hooded figure.
“Welcome students… to Water Spells 1…” The specter spoke in a grizzly edge-lord tone, “This class will instruct you in the fundamentals of Water Mana, and allow you to advance into… darker spellcraft, should you prove diligent. As a Water Mage, you will be given the most gruesome of tasks, venturing into the shadowy underground of the city, combat both the sun and rain, and purifying the filth that comes from the North every Spring.”
The whole classroom was silent, everyone not daring to move as they were entranced by the words of the wannabe warlock. I’ll admit he had a presence, and it probably would have been more effective if I wasn’t positive that the professor entered the room by sliding down the walkway on his belly to keep himself hidden by the Shadow Mana.
“Now, open your textbooks, we shall begin by learning how the sewer system in the city works, and its similarities to the flushing system used to clear the ditches of monster corpses.”
Travis cracked open his freshly given textbook and wasn’t the only student to make a strange face of confusion once he began to read. I of course understood why.
Water Mages get the shitty job of clean up during the flood.
---
We joined Adrian and Jethro for supper, the latter looking quite happy to see Travis, “Travis, help me convince Adrian to tutor me in history. I already convinced Mattius to help me with math, and I think I’ll be able to convince Bridget to help me with science.”
Travis grinned, “What does Adrian get in return?”
Jethro, looking abashed, muttered quietly, “That’s why I need your help. This guy doesn’t seem to want anything.”
Attention was shifted to Adrian, who let out a sigh into his supper, the poor teen must have been getting pestered for a while now or was still exhausted, “Can’t you just study on your own?”
Jethro frowned, “I’ve tried, and failed. Hence why I need help. Simply having someone help to keep me on task would make a huge difference.”
“Ah, I used to have that problem. Had to study in a group or at a specific location free of outside influences to stay focused.”
Travis rubbed his chin, “Hmm, if you just need help staying focused, how about you join me at the library at night? I’ve been going there every night once my spell range time is over. In fact, Bridget was going to join me tonight, we could make it a regular study group.”
I don’t think Travis noticed Adrian’s head perk up at the mention of Bridget, so I decided to keep note of that for future reference. Jethro did look excited, “That’s perfect! I only have one class that ends at 9. I’m meeting Mattius at the spell range after this, so I’ll invite him to join also.”
---
9-11 Study Group – Library
Bridget smiled at Travis when he came around the corner to join her at the table. The two pulled out their Monster Biology notes and were about to start when the other three showed up, and I caught Bridget’s hands clench underneath the table.
“Sorry, hope you don’t mind that I invited the others. I was hoping we could make this a regular thing; it feels like the only time we get to hang out is around lunch and breakfast.”
The drop in enthusiasm was probably only detectable by me, “No, it’s alright, I’m glad they’re here.”
Jethro plopped down on the other side of Bridget, “Hey Bridget, I was wondering if you’d be willing to help tutor me in science?”
Bridget let out an irritated exhale.
---
Snowsday, the 24th of Fifthmonth
Morning drill the next morning was a departure from the normal routine. The entire battalion went on a run fully equipped, joined by not only Hector and the other assistant knights, but the logistics corps team that did equipment checks and first aid.
The run sent them across the entire campus, ending in a stadium that I foolishly thought was for sporting events. Hector led us inside and sat us down in one of the sections.
“Every Snowsday, you’ll be tested in combat with live monsters. Sir Felicity and I will be splitting you into groups of twelve and assigning one of you as squad leader. The squad leader will be allowed to choose their own second. Spellcasting is allowed, but only spells that you have learned in class. Also, you are asked to not kill the monsters if possible. Wood Mages and Field Medics will be using our battles to improve their skills, though do keep in mind that your safety comes first.”
Sir Felicity began to split the battalion into 4 squads. Adrian, Bridget, and Drozuk were placed in the first squad and Travis, Jethro, and Mattius were placed into the third. The newly formed squads were then told to sit together so they could strategize before the first match began.
Travis’ battalion wasn’t first in the arena, that distinction belonged to Princess Seleyna’s squad. Sir Asher was, of course, on standby, sword drawn and focused intensely on the princess. She looked determined, but her hands were shaking a bit out of anticipation or nervousness.
A loud clunking noise echoed into the arena, putting the squad on high alert. They darted their eyes around, and a few even attempted to use mana sight, but they likely wouldn’t be able to pierce through the reinforced walls to see the varmints running towards a hidden door. A few tiles slid up, allowing the squirrel-like creatures to swarm out, nearly catching the group unaware.
The princess’ squad leader called out the formation, and a shield wall was formed, causing the tiny monsters to scurry up the team’s shields.
Travis was watching with his squad, then spoke out loud while scratching my pommel, “I think those are shadetails.”
“Correct, their favorite habitat is wooded areas. They’re classified as varmints, despite their high Shadow Mana concentrations, due to being unable to cast spells. They can however enhance themselves to increase their speed, making them excellent climbers. Your hunter logs recommend not using shields, since they’ll use them to climb, and you’ll need speed to cut them down before they bite down on exposed flesh.”
Travis relayed my info dump, and after watching the princess’ squad getting swarmed, his group began to critique.
“Shield walls apparently don’t work on ankle high creatures.”
“She’s right, they should drop them and space out.”
“Honestly, they should drop their swords also. It’d be easier to pluck them off your allies.”
The princess’ squad lost their cohesion, and a few smartly broke formation to drop their shields and begin crushing the tiny monsters with their fists. The princess had three shadetails climb up on her, so she smartly jumped to the ground and rolled around, catching a couple more underneath her while she crushed them using the weight of her armor.
Travis began to chuckle, “Huh, I guess that works too.”
That got some laughs, and the squad began to cheer for the princess.
A few minutes later, all of the varmints were eliminated, and the embarrassed squad went to get checked over by the logistics corps. Wanting to listen to the post-match banter, I sent my focus to listen in.
Princess Seleyna had to get hosed off by the helpers, one even had to scrape a chunk of wedged-in flesh off her back-plate and wow, did she look pissed. She turned to her squad leader and glared at him, “That was embarrassing.”
The squad leader turned to her while his arm was being checked, “That entire battle was a farce. Not allowing us to use spells? We’re mages!”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that you needed to be coddled so much.” The squad’s Drill Instructor interjected while walking in. The group froze in place, and the squad leader began to tremble under the knight’s stare, “Shall I ask the monsters to go easy on you as well? I’m sure they’ll patiently wait for your mana to discharge enough to cast.”
The squad leader visibly gulped, unsure of what to say. The Drill Instructor shook their head, “This battle was far from meaningless, mana can only take you so far, a squad of fresh-trained commoner soldiers could have easily dispatched four times the number of monsters. The princess is correct, ‘that was embarrassing’. How are you to be expected to lead soldiers into battle if you cannot handle something that a 10-year-old can kill with their bare hands?”
The room went quiet, and everyone’s heads were drooped. The Drill Instructor, looking pleased with their demoralizing of the squad, barked an order to snap them into motion, “Finish cleaning up. The next group will be in soon, and the lot of you need to learn from your more competent betters.”
Huh, I wonder if they put that group of inner-ring nobles first on purpose?
---
A few rounds went by, Travis group was constantly discussing tactics during the matches so that they wouldn’t repeat any mistakes that the others made, and it was soon Adrian’s squad’s turn.
They looked just as nervous as the other squads, but Adrian seemed to be shaking extra hard. Bridget moved to stand on his left, and Drozuk ended up on the other side of the circle the squad formed.
The familiar noise of the pen gates rang, pumping up the anticipation in the air. The largest gate quickly opened, and a lumbering monster slowly walked in.
“Honeybadger, a greater varmint. Its skin produces a sweet-smelling adhesive substance that lures in insects and smaller varmints, trapping them in the monster’s fur so that they can be easily consumed. Hunter logs recommend using hit and run tactics with ranged weapons. The monster is slow moving, but hits hard, and can restrain you by brushing its fur against you.”
Travis relayed my info to the group, though I’m pretty sure he already knew most of it. He actually killed one while hunting once, though that one was about the size of a golden retriever. This specimen was much larger, coming up above the waists of the defending squad.
Travis and I both winced as the squad leader ordered the group into an arrow formation. The honeybadger didn’t care and began to charge at the squad. It veered to the side, and slammed into Adrian and another student’s shields, knocking them over. Bridget tried to slash the monster with her sword, but it only slid down the side a short way before stopping. The honeybadger swung its hips, wrenching the sword from her, making her open to a heavy paw strike to her side.
The monster then rolled over Adrian, who let out screams as it thrashed about. The other students tried to drive the creature away, but it kept stomping on Adrian (he would have been crushed had he not been wearing armor).
By now the entire formation was a mess, the squad leader wasn’t shouting commands, and no one knew how to attack a monster that was immune to sword strikes or how to draw it away from Adrian.
Drozuk, was the exception. He began to gather Water around his fists, dropped his shield and sword, and charged at the honeybadger. His entire fist was engulfed in accumulated Water, so when his mana reinforced strike hit the monster, it was knocked back due to Drozuk’s fist not sticking to the creature. He rushed forward, stepping over Adrian, and like a trained boxer, kept pummeling the monster until it fell over and stayed down.
Hector called the match, and a small team of Wood Mages rushed out to secure the monster and ensure that Adrian was ok. I knew he was fine, though likely heavily bruised, but I did feel relief when the mages gave the aching teen the go ahead to stand up.
Travis breathed out a sigh, and idly gave my pommel a rub, “That was scary.”
Physically feeling Travis’ touch, I confirmed, “It was. We’ll have to thank Drozuk, I think Sir Felicity was about to rush in.”
I followed the squad into the post-fight lobby, where Adrian was quickly undressed and told to lie down on one of the cots. Bridget and a few others soon joined him, leaving Drozuk looking a bit aimless.
Hector walked in, and slapped a hand on Drozuk’s shoulder, “Nice teamwork, you saved your fellow squad-mate with that maneuver.” Drozuk then winced in pain from his shoulder being squeezed, “You disobeyed orders to only use spells that you learned in class though.”
Drozuk could only nod his head in response, which satisfied Hector, “Once everyone’s fully cleared by the medics, we’re having a chat with your squad.”
---
Travis
I watched the next few matches, but it was hard to focus. Especially after the uninjured squad members returned to the stands. Drozuk moved to take a seat, but caught me glancing at him, “Your friends are fine, just being told to lie down for an hour to speed up recovery.”
“Thank you, and for rescuing Adrian earlier as well.”
Drozuk looked uneasy but managed a nod before sitting down by himself.
Mattius bumped my arm and leaned close to whisper, “He reminds me of a wounded wolf begging the camp for table scraps.”
“Not a bad analogy. The question now is, ‘do we trust it not to bite our hand?’”
I definitely didn’t know what to do and was oddly eager when it was my turn in the arena.
Jethro led us down and gave out a few preliminary orders, “Circle formation to start. Travis, you’re my second. I expect you to rattle off the monster’s information. If I call a bad formation, belay my order.”
I swiveled my head around, surprised that Jethro didn’t choose Mattius, but everyone was nodding their heads in agreement. I nervously gulped, happy that my helmet was hiding most of my face and adjusted my positioning so that I’d be opposite of Jethro in the squad formation.
We walked into the arena, the sand coating the hard rock underneath forced my feet to steady my gait as we circled up in the middle. My eyes scanned the walls once the sound of a gear began to echo loudly in our ears, but the numerous gates and movable tiles made guessing the point of ingress impossible.
A tile slides open, making me immediately shout, “Contact!”
Three more shouts follow, signaling to the group that we were about to become surrounded. Jethro shouts to maintain formation the same moment the monsters crawl out of their hole in the wall.
They look like small pigs, about knee-high, but their skin is a grassy green color, and their bodies look almost spherical. The monsters begin gathering at the wall, sniffling the ground before their faces jerk up towards my squad. Their large eyes with tiny black irises creep me out, especially with how they seem to bounce around whenever the creature moves.
“Tumblepigs. DO NOT SET ON FIRE! THEY EXPLODE.”
I shout out Arc’s warning, mentally thanking Torbolt that Arc immediately warned me right away, then prepared to repeat Arc’s words.
“Despite their adorable looks, these lesser dual-element monsters can be dangerous if not countered properly. Their skin is reinforced with Wood Mana, allowing them to inflate themselves with methane. While inflated, they can float and propel themselves forwards with Wind Mana, then explode at will to injure their prey and implant spores to reproduce.”
The first group runs up and I brace my shield to block. Half ways towards us, they inflate and float up in the air, propelled by their earlier charge. I keep my eyes darting between them, then one makes a loud farting noise, and it flies towards me quickly.
My shield intercepts the head bash, the tumblepig ricochets off from the impact, then it suddenly swells up even larger and bursts with a thunderous Pop! More explosions go off behind me, making my heart race, but I focus my attention forward. I can’t see the remainder through the forming spore cloud, so I focus on my hearing to listen for the telltale farting sound.
Another pops out of the cloud, and I’m able to sneak in a slash with Arc before hiding behind my shield. It squeals just like a pig and flies away, leaving behind even more spore clouds. Mattius on my left manages to block one, sending it flying directly upwards, but when we don’t hear it explode, I grow nervous.
“Behind you!”
I spin around in time to see the tumblepig from earlier flying downward and freeze. It’s already too far down to block with my shield, and it’ll blow up or knock someone over if I attack. Mattius apparently knew what to do though, because he leapt towards the tumblepig, holding his shield with both hands, then slammed it down on the monster. The tumblepig exploded, but Mattius’ shield trapped it underneath, only allowing a wave of air, inches off the ground, to escape.
Realizing that I had my back turned, and that Mattius left a hole in our shield wall, I about-face in time to block another attacking tumblepig. It bounces away, and didn’t explode either, likely looking for a different angle of attack. I try activating my mana sight but cancel it due to the smoke screen being dense with Wood and Air Mana.
Dammit, these aren’t that hard to fend off, but their mana makeup is nearly the same as the clouds they create, if one catches us unawares… think… you need to get rid of this spore cloud…
An idea sparks in my head, and I amp up my Air Mana, “Jethro! [Wind Aura]!”
I detach my accumulated mana into the air behind me, making three distinct lines that hopefully… yes! Jethro with his considerably larger Wind Mana supply compliments the three lines that I create with a pair of his, plus an additional three above. Together we create a combined [Wind Aura] formation that creates a giant downdraft that both blows away the spore cloud and prevents the tumblepigs from floating upwards.
Our squad gets a second wind, and we keep slashing and blocking the incoming tumblepigs until all the ones in front of me are disposed. I shout out a “Clear!”, and soon two more people shout the same. Jethro calls out a reverse “V” formation, and we march forward to trap the remaining tumblepigs.
Hector calls the match, and I can finally hear the cheers erupt from the stands. I dumbly look around, confused about where that crowd was earlier, but Mattius slaps me on the shoulder pad to pull my attention back to the celebrating squad.
“Great work bud! You even got the princess cheering for you.”
The blood in my veins finally stopped throbbing, allowing me to smile. We followed Hector into the post-match lobby for a debrief and wellness check. Everyone was mostly injury free, Mattius’ ears were still ringing, and after getting washed off and checked for spores in our lungs, Hector began to speak.
“So, what did we learn today?”
Before I could answer, one of the Fire Mages in the squad spoke, “Next time, wear your dust filter.”
I turned to see that the Fire Mage must have gotten a lung-full of the spores, due to him hacking up gunk into a bucket.
Hector nodded, “Not a bad habit to get into, especially if you don’t need the extra discharge rate.”
Jethro spoke next, “Travis and I should have positioned ourselves in the center. A single tumblepig nearly toppled our formation, and if mine or Travis’ concentration was broken, we would have lost the [Wind Aura].”
I nodded, “Our shared arrays were a bad idea also, we should have created individual arrays instead, then connected them to form a spell formation.”
Hector rubbed his beard in thought, “I agree on the squad formation, since standard practice is to have mages in the center of the squad, but I disagree on the shared arrays in the spell formation. You two had to create one from scratch, so Travis’ half-completed one allowed Jethro to fill in the blanks and even improve the spell formation. You would have lost precious time trying to collaborate.”
We kept going over what we did wrong, until Hector finally called an end to the debriefing, “I’ll be honest, your squad has performed the best so far. As a reward, I’m going to authorize the early petition of utility inscriptions. We’re starting additional weapons training for spears, polearms, bows, and other weapons tomorrow, so I assume that many of you will want an easier way to carry your equipment.”