Journal Entry # 13
Why did I choose killing monsters for a living?
The witch keeps dragging me behind her on her hunts, forcing me to carry the dead carcasses of every god-cursed varmint through waist-deep swampland. As if that wasn’t enough, I’m also supposed to cook every single meal, do the laundry, inventory all the catches, hide the orc’s money from him so he doesn’t spend all his bucks on whores and liquor at the brothel, and somehow keep a lookout for incoming attacks.
If she doesn’t put out on teaching me magic soon, I’m leaving to join the army.
---
Arc
Windsday, the 1st of Ninethmonth
Erosathan River, Capital Agricultural Ring #5
ETA to Littlerock Fortress – 23 hours
Ah, the great outdoors… or at least the equivalent of the capital’s back yard, we’re still within the outermost walls. I could already feel the cabin fever that I totally didn’t have, ease away as my vision’s range kept extending foot by foot. Getting to ride a boat for the first time since my death was making me feel nostalgic as well, but not necessarily in a good way. The plan was to go canoeing that day…
I sighed mentally and tried to shake off the melancholy. No point dwelling in the forelife. You’ve got more important things to do, like enjoy watching Lancel getting peppered for questions by everyone, or giving a giant thumbs up to Travis as he sneakily acts as Mattius wingman.
“So, if I planted one of your family’s sugar beets on my dad’s farm, would it even survive?” Travis asked Treblana after her explanation of her family’s farming operations scared away everyone but him and Mattius.
The outer-ring noble wiggled her hand, “Yes, but the roots would be small and hardly worth the effort to harvest. Symphronian sugar beets have been selectively bred for eras now to not expand in volume without reaching a minimum level of mana density. You could counteract the lack of ambient mana in the soil by setting up an inscribed condensing array, but then you’d need to ramp up your mana daily for weeks to power the inscription and…”
Travis completed the thought, “Completely negate the purpose of growing a mana-rich vegetable to help calm your internal mana.”
She shrugged, “There’s always the old-fashioned method of constructing planter boxes out of monster bones, composting the rest of the inedible remains inside with soil so the mana gets trapped, and then planting your seeds, but that’s just a waste of good monster parts these days.”
“Hold on,” Mattius held up a hand, “plants aren’t sentient, so they don’t generate magical membranes to retain their mana. Couldn’t you just manually infuse the beet with lower-frequency mana then eat it later once your cultivated mana is ramped up to its peak? I’ve heard a story in church about Apheros feeding an entire army once by using his magic to quickly grow potatoes, surely a mere mortal could do the same with a single plant?”
Treblana started chuckling, “Yes, but you’d still end up only breaking even at best. To quote my dad, ‘unless you got an excess pile of monster meat lying around, or a ludicrous amount of regular food, you’re dismantling the west wall to repair the east, so just be patient, and grow them naturally.’” She paused to let the boys nod, “Oh, and don’t forget there’s also the risk of overtaxing the soil’s nutrients and moisture, a high chance of screwing up your mana control and killing the plant if you’re not trained, and… of course, the big one… forcibly infusing organic materials with anything but Wood Mana is about as hard as forcing Wind Mana into a rock.”
Travis shook his head, “So even if I did succeed with that method, my sugar beet in question would still have a pitiful concentration of Fire Mana compared to the ones your family raises.”
“Yep, that’s why Wood Mages usually just stick to infusing a handful of mundane medicinal plants and spices,” she let out a tired sigh, “or in my dad’s case, his stimleaf plant.”
That got the trio chuckling as they watched another strip of vibrant green fiberbrush pass by at a snail’s pace. So many ships had launched at the same time, and were continuing to launch, that the waterway was packed tightly enough to leap from ship to ship at times, forcing everyone to reduce speed lest they cause a collision.
There was still some time before formations drills were called, so Treblana continued talking about how different the farming practices in the capital were. The biggest being, that unlike villagers who care for the same plots and rotate crops nearly every year, farmers in the capital tend to specialize in a single crop and uproot their entire operations to a new field and worker outpost every year. It was quite the contrast from even my world.
Speaking of changes…
I zoomed away from Warden’s Hammer with my focus, wanting to get a closer look at one of the nearby fields getting harvested. According to Travis’ textbooks, the willowy and leafy import from the Elven Coast (that looked a lot like hemp to me) was by far the most valuable crop the capital produces, able to be turned into the low-to-high grade woodfiber used for creating military uniforms, arming jackets, and ropes with a higher tensile strength than mundane steel. It’s notoriously difficult to harvest if you don’t have the right equipment though, so I was very keen to observe the pair of old men sitting on the horse-drawn mower. One had both palms pressed down on the machine, focusing hard to power the inscribed cutting blades, while the other was eating an entire tray of mana-rich hotdish and making sure the horses kept the rows straight.
Hmm, wonder if they’re retired knights… or maybe centurions? Yeah, the later would make more sense, can’t imagine a noble would lower themself to do physical farmwork, but a soldier that triggered their mana after missing the cutoff?
“Excuse me sir. Would you like for me to help remove your armor and stow it?”
Back by my sword-body, Travis spun around to see the smiling corpsman saluting him and replied, “Yes, I’d appreciate it.” He then turned to Mattius and Treblana, told them he’d be right back, and headed to where the corpsmen had empty crates set out. A few minutes later, Travis had his chest, waist, neck, and shoulder armor removed; leaving just his gauntlets, greaves, and helmet.
I brought my focus back to jealously watch him get in a nice stretch and enjoy his lightened load but interrupted him with a [Message] spell before he could return to his friends, “Your plan worked, they’re chatting with each other now. I suggest just leaving the two be, I’ll keep an eye out if they need a third wheel to help re-steady themselves.”
Travis froze in place, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, and reminding me that even if bicycles have been invented, he still wouldn’t recognize the expression. His head eventually turned to see Mattius and Treblana leaning over the railing, then gave his shoulders a shrug before looking around and stopping his gaze on Vesril.
The young high elf was using the Shadow inscriptions in his eyebrow and nose piercings to create a pair of floating shades over his eyes and seemed perfectly content to ignore everyone onboard. This for some reason didn’t dissuade Travis as he approached to talk.
“Huh, maybe I should have gotten those extra piercings… Are those inscribed, or just enchantment bases?”
Vesril raised an eyebrow, causing the oval of Shadow Mana to stretch in unison, before speaking in an annoyed monotone, “They’re inscribed…”
“Neat.” Travis smiled, “Do they only work for that one spell, or is there other enchantments you can use with them?”
“Yes.”
Travis tilted his head, “Sorry, yes as in only for that spell? Or—”
“Travis,” Vesril interrupted, “I have no interest in entertaining my father’s attempt at making us ‘friends’. Now go away and find someone else to pester.”
Travis flinched, then cautiously did as asked.
Uff-da, going to take a while for that guy to warm up to Travis.
---
To my surprise, Elfy McBrooderson didn’t once complain during formation practices, even when told to stand shoulder to shoulder with Travis. Squads 1 & 2 spent four hours shuffling about on the open deck, the majority to shore up their naval defenses, but did practice a few ground configurations and were told what to do in the event of an amphibious assault on land. Practice eventually ended, and Staff Sergeant Julien stood near the fore deck with a crate of MREs and a sinister grin.
“Chow time!”
Collective groans from nearly everyone on board were soon made, not from the captains of course, but they certainly didn’t look excited as the wrapped packages were tossed to the two direct combat squads. Interestingly, Lancel quickly tapped Galehaut’s arm and whispered in his ear to tell the knights to watch Travis eat his meal the exact same time Varguk spoke to a nearby spartan, only difference being him whispering for everyone to watch Reidar instead. The game of telephone quickly traveled, leaving a very self-conscious looking Seleyna, Travis, and Reidar in the middle of a circle staring at them.
“Umm, why is everyone staring at us?” Travis whispered.
Seleyna drooped her shoulders, “They probably want to see if royalty will actually eat one of these horrid things.” She then gritted her teeth as she opened the waxed paper wrapper, then took her first bite of the mana dense block of “food”. Seleyna slowly consumed the bar as if it was her great aunt’s haggis, eventually swallowing the last bite, and washed it down with a pull from her hidden flask.
Audible gasps were soon heard from the crowd, causing Seleyna to sigh and raise her hand, “Yes, yes, I know… Even I think—” She stopped mid-sentence upon noticing Captain Adaline pointing behind her, making her spin around and drop her jaw in disbelief.
Travis and Reidar were both happily munching on their rations, ignoring everyone’s shocked faces, and commenting on the taste like a pair of wine critics.
“Mine’s got hints of pickled radishes, apple cider, turkey bacon, and… I think cilantro?”
Reidar broke off a piece of his bar, “Want to try mine? It’s got pineapple, garlic, oregano, tomato, mozzarella cheese, and butter-fried bread in its flavor profile.”
“Sure.” Travis broke off a chunk of his remaining bar and passed it to the spartan to try.
“I believe that’s parsley. It’s missing the citrus twist.”
“Oh, you might be right. By the way, this one you got is really good, we should see if your squad-brother can make it into a real dish.”
---
Travis
I leaned against the railing on the corner of the aft deck, facing away from the sunset and my fellow mages so I could see Nightsun shining its reflected light over the approaching forest, then tried to take in a deep breath to calm my excitement before it was my turn to get some shuteye below deck.
Trees! A whole forest of them. And not the strategically placed ones I’d see passing by the Ashmen residential blocks or parks, but wild-grown ones that made me yearn to go hunting once more with Pippen’s crossbow for rabbits or the occasional varmint. Also, hills! How could I forget about hills? Yes, I know the dwarves leveled off the entire capital’s terrain to make infrastructure planning easier, but having the horizon broken up by a nearby hill or forest instead of a row of buildings felt more… enticing.
“Hey now, don’t get any ideas, I can see your legs twitching.”
Feeling embarrassed over being so easy to read, I sighed once more and adjusted my arms so I could cover my mouth, “You’ve been quite talkative today, I thought your vision’s range getting drastically extended would overtax your mind?”
“I forgot to consider the number of people in my vision’s range not increasing though. I’m still hearing less simultaneous conversations than I did in Aelder Creek, especially with most of the other boats pulling ashore for the night. As of now, I probably won’t have to worry until we reach a fortress.”
“Great, so much for me getting a few days of quiet…”
Arc chuckled, “That reminds me, you should put your new earring in. It was a lot safer to whisper to you on campus when there was a constant flow of Message spells flying around, but now that there’s only a handful of people in your battalion capable of casting it… plus, you’ll want to save your private channel on your helmet for your friends.”
I blew a raspberry as I reached into my valuables pouch, pushing aside the Master Message Stone I received from the queen, and digging out the earring Seleyna gifted to me for my birthday. It took a few embarrassingly long minutes to get the thing secured, but at last, the tiny artifice was ready for use.
Hmm… maybe I should test it out?
My mana began to sync with the dense silver, raising the pulse rate to match my internal mana, then felt the crystalized Air Mana come into my control. My hand returned to my belt, and a few heartbeats later, I was synced to the private channel I shared with Royal Knight… umm… It was…
“Tracy”
Right, Royal Knight Tracy, and shaped an input array for me to speak into, “Sir Tracy, are you available to talk?”
The Royal Knight’s casual tone came in crisp and clear, “Travis? Huh, wasn’t expecting to hear from you tonight, figured boredom wouldn’t have set in quite yet. But yes, I can talk. Glad you did actually, now I have an excuse to step out of court.”
I chuckled, “Sounds like you’re the one who’s bored.”
“Well… more like having to endure listening to people spout vitriol over the crown’s handling of matters for hours on end erodes your banks.”
That shocked me, I couldn’t imagine anyone storming into the palace to publicly criticize the queen. I darted my head around to ensure no one was listening in on me, then leaned forward to whisper into my spell.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“What were they complaining about?”
It was Tracy’s turn to chuckle, “Oh, just the usual. The High Elven ambassadors are furious over the lack of progress in the investigation of those mutated elves that attacked your village, the dwarves think the kingdom is growing too lax in its enforcement of magical secrecy, Sea Elven merchants are upset that environmentalists are slowing down the construction of the southern shipping channel, and the royalists are accusing the nationalists of stoking anarchy.”
“Anarchy?”
“I might be exaggerating a little, the royalists are trying to justify the removal of elected jarls for crown assigned governors from the noble caste, claiming that the kingdom needs loyal servants that can be trusted. Your former jarl being sentenced for execution, along with a dozen fortress clerks for cooking mana users, isn’t helping the nationalists’ counter arguments.” He sighed, “At least we determined that Eisaiah wasn’t the one practicing necromancy. Although, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, we still have no clue where those corrupted elves you fought came from. None of the bodies have been identified, the implanted mana gems had no distinguishing cuts, and as far as all the trackers can tell, they popped up out of the ground a few miles from your village.”
“That’s… unsettling…”
“You’re telling me.” He leaked a tired laugh, “Sorry to unload the kingdom’s woes onto you.”
I grinned, hoping my reassurance would get heard over the channel, “That’s alright, I’m not well informed when it comes to national politics, or international affairs, or… well, news in general.”
“Glad to be of service then. Oh, was there a reason you originally Messaged me?”
“Umm… to be honest, I just wanted to test out the earring artifice Seleyna gifted me.”
He chuckled once more, “Good as any other reason. That reminds me, I filed the ownership cards on that and the stone for you, so when you get back I’ll hand you the printed copies.”
“What are you? My personal assistant now?” I teased.
A deep bellied laugh sounded over the channel, “Kind of, when I asked for clarification on my duties regarding you, I was told to always give you top priority, and essentially take on the role of bodyguard, minus the physically looming over you part.”
That threw me for a loop, and even Arc was muttering in confusion before I finally collected my thoughts.
“Not to sound ungrateful, but why am I being given special treatment by the queen?”
“You know… when I was assigned, I was told it was because you’re a high-profile individual… but after asking around, I’ve got the impression that this is way out of the ordinary. Not to be rude, you are the kingdom’s first Elementalist Mage, but you’re still just a commoner-born farm-kid from one of the poorest regions in Lakeland and… uh… oh!”
Sir Tracy started to laugh, first with a pair of huffs, then a trio of spasms, before belting out into raucous laughter. I had to wait a full minute for him to finally calm down before I could ask what was so funny.
“Care to let me in?”
“Sorry,” he leaked another handful of chuckles, “it’s just… so obvious in hindsight.” He finally calmed his breathing and cleared his throat, “I think what’s going on is that the queen is secretly pressing her finger on the scale to help put you into the running for Seleyna’s future husband.”
My elbow slipped from the rail, nearly causing my jaw to crash into it. One of the twins shouted to ask if I was ok, but I waved them off and stated I was just tired, then tried to recenter myself as I recast my disrupted input formation.
“You okay bud? Your spell cut out.”
“I’m fine… just… uh, startled, is all.”
“I bet. Though, fair warning, this is just speculation on my part, so I could be wrong.”
“I hope you are. Eh… not that marrying Seleyna would be dreadful, but… umm, I’m not sure I could handle the stress.”
“Bah, a little pomp and circumstance is good for ya, makes the private moments with your family all the more special. Plus, she’s only third in line for the crown, and her second oldest sister is pregnant with a girl, I don’t think you need to worry about becoming the Mage King if you do marry.”
I yawned, finally feeling exhaustion settle in, “Well, on that note, I think I’m going to call it a night. My turn in the hammock should be up soon.”
“May Morpheremone lull you into a peaceful sleep.”
“And to you as well.”
I completed the prayer to the minor god of dreams, then nudged the frequency in my earring up a notch to desync it, though that didn’t stop Arc from speaking through it.
“This thing works like a charm, it’s even smaller than the spell I cast. Should be safe for me to talk to you all the time now.”
An aggravated sigh escaped me, “Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll introduce you to Lancel once we find ourselves alone.” I peered around, making sure no one overheard me whispering, then added, “Any suggestions on how to tell him?”
“Maybe sprinkle some hints along the way before you fully break the news? If he suspects something is going on, he won’t necessarily get completely blindsided when I say hello to him.”
Nodding along, I gave Arc a scratch right where his cross-guard meets the grip, then smiled as Lancel conveniently climbed up the access hatch with a dozen other people.
He caught me looking, then gave me a wave, “Hammock’s all yours.”
I joined him down on the main deck, then unclipped Arc from my belt, “Perfect. Here, hang onto my sword for me, he’ll keep me up all night if I’m not careful.”
Lancel raised an eyebrow at me, but I didn’t give him a chance to reply before I clambered below deck.
---
Voltsday, the second of Ninethmonth
Erosathan River, Shipper’s County.
ETA to Littlerock Fortress – Four Hours
Drozuk peered over my shoulder as I finished drawing the spell formation on my bracers, “Forgot to ask, did you manage to get that spell to work?”
“Somewhat, I keep having problems stopping it from drifting.” I gave the tiny package of wax a wiggle, “I’m hoping this will help.”
He gave me one of his toothy grins, “Nice, I’ve been wanting to see how yours compares to mine in function.” Drozuk weaved through the other members of Squad 1 on the aft deck so he could extend his long arm over the ship’s wake, “Shall we?”
Catching his infectious grin, I hastily slipped my gauntlets on, tightened the straps, and reached to do the same. The Water Mana clinging to my membrane shifted to envelope my bracers once attuned, and the formation lines slipped into position like a wagon wheel into a well-worn rut. Water droplets in the air then flew up to collect inside my forearms then streamed across the outside to complete the [Water Bracer] enchantment.
My grin grew even wider as I flexed, causing the flowing Water to speed up, I hadn’t been able to get that advanced portion to work at all. No wonder knights are so dependent on inscriptions, if a simple set of guidelines was that big of an assistance, then having a full inscription…
My joy immediately capsized upon looking up and seeing the insane latticework covering Drozuk’s arm. I’d sneaked a peak at the spell diagram he’d been studying for the past couple months but seeing the [Water Gauntlet] enchantment come to life was something else. There had to be quadruple the number of lines in just the bracer portion, and that was before you included the additional arrays on his elbow couters, backhand plates, and knuckle guards.
He grunted out a deep giggle at my face, then demonstrated his enchantment’s functions by effortlessly forming a [Water Orb] in his palm, firing it as a Blast spell when he made a fist, then launching what looked like an additional [Water Blast] when he punched the air over the water. His very punch-able face smirked at me when turning back towards me and the small audience we gathered, and of course, he had to gloat.
“Still just the most basic version, the refill rate for the [Water Strike] is about six seconds, so until I can up my capacity enough to add additional gathering arrays, I’ll have to keep the punches to a minimum.”
Up his capacity? The orc already had triple the amount of cultivated Water Mana compared to me, allowing him to not only entertain using an expendable enchantment, but compress his formation lines significantly smaller than mine. How much more does he need?
My shoulders slumped as I sighed in defeat. I didn’t even blanch at the thought of not specializing in a basic mana type, so there’s no point complaining now.
A hand I swear was bigger than a frying pan clapped me on the shoulder, and I looked up to see… (I gave Arc’s cross-guard a scratch) Galehaut commiserating with me.
“I know how you feel, my baby brother is a Water Mage. My advice is to focus on what you’re good at.” He looked down at the enchantment on my vambraces, “But I think you might already be doing that. That spell will pair nicely in combat when you’re wielding your bastard sword two-handed or…” He narrowed his eyes at my poleaxe resting with my gear against the guard rail, “whatever the rot that thing is.”
I rolled my eyes, “It’s a poleaxe. It combines the slashing power of an axe, the brute force bludgeoning of a warhammer, and the piercing thrust of a spear.”
Lancel groaned nearby and facepalmed as his goliath friend started laughing, “Well… if that was your goal, you should have just crafted a sword!” He reached behind his back with one hand to grasp his massive two-handed sword and shooed away our squad mates to make room. “Everyone and their horse already know that swords are excellent cutting weapons…” He demonstrated an overhand slash, then ended his swing by bringing the blade to rest behind him, “but they can also rattle the armor of opponents…” He thrust the pommel of his zweihander forward, “and with skill can run-through the heart of dragons.” He finished the kata by raising his sword into a high guard and thrusted.
Sunlight sparkled across the highly polished blade as he returned it, but my lingering mana sight caught a flash of violet before the clamshell opening on the scabbard snapped back shut. Before I could inquire about the blade, Lancel stepped forth, and gave the broad-shouldered knight a friendly pat.
“Maybe keep the weapon demonstration of the kingdom’s preferred backup weapon to the lower deck?” Lancel grinned, completely ignoring the glowering look from Galehaut, “We don’t want to upset Knight Captain Adaline now do we?”
The Royal Knight stood nearby with her arms crossed, “No, you do not. Now if you’re done showing off how big your sword is, I suggest planning what to do once it’s our turn on the main deck for training.”
“Yes sir.” Galehaut half-saluted, then turned back to point at my arms, “Would you be willing to teach me that enchantment? I can give you sword lessons in return.”
I did my best to hold back my grimace. I’d already promised Lancel that I’d help him learn [Message] and a few Fire cantrips. My mouth opened to turn down the offer, but before I could reply, Lancel cut me off.
“Yes, he will.” Lancel narrowed his eyes at me in a look I hadn’t seen since I was a child. (I think it was the time I lied about hiding a rotten egg in the guard barracks?) Taking the hint, I figured I should at least warn my potential instructor.
“Umm… just a heads up, I’m a complete amateur with my sword.”
Lancel scoffed, “Travis, Galehaut is a Mistguard, everyone on this ship is an amateur compared to him.”
Galehaut nodded along matter-of-factually, “Yep, I may be the runt of the family, but that doesn’t mean I’m not well-versed in my family’s traditions.”
My head snapped back to the largest member of our squad (and maybe the battalion, both him and the spartan captain had arms as thick as their heads). How was this guy considered a runt?
---
Pelican Lake
ETA to Littlerock Fortress – 2 Hours
Our ship finally veered off the Grand River and began sailing upstream before arriving in a z-shaped lake. Considering that Littlerock Lake connects to it via a short mile-long stream, we were making great time according to the sailors onboard.
Sadly, that good news didn’t extend to me as Galehaut gave me my first sword lesson.
“No, no, you’re way too stiff, and you’ve got your sword’s hilt in a death-grip.” He grabbed me by the shoulders and tried to manually shake out some of my tension, “Sword stances are just like dance steps, you need to let the rhythm of battle guide you as you grasp onto your lover. Now, stop trying to strangle her, and become one with your partner.”
Galehaut’s style of teaching was vastly different from Hector’s, who had me practice simple cadences that I could execute depending on the circumstance. Instead, he oddly reminded me more of Mildred when she tried to teach me how to dance for the Fall Festival, since he started lessons off by showing me a half dozen poses, then told me to string them together in whatever order I saw fit. His equating of swordsmanship to dancing only reinforced the comparison.
Arc was dead silent as I forced out a deep breath and tried to relax. I assume he was doing it to be polite, but his lack of quips allowed my mind to conjure images of people laughing at my repeated failures.
Shifting my position into a forward guard, I was about to begin sparring again when Arc shouted, “Travis! Get down!”
My body hits the deck with a hard thud, echoing only a heartbeat before swooshing sounds fly overhead, and a loud scream of pain cries out. Keeping low, I look around, and see one of the bent-over corpsmen clutching their arm as it gushes out blood from the stump that used to be his hand. Horror paralyses me as I see the corpsman begin to hyperventilate, then begin to look pale as more and more blood oozes out of his wound.
Muffled shouts and the stomping of boots snap me out of my torpor, and I crawl over to the corpsman to put pressure on the wound.
“Medic!”
My eyes catch the corpsman’s, the look of pure terror in them grips my very soul until someone presses up against me and pushes my hand aside. They place a palm on the upper arm of the corpsman, who screams once more when the fabric of his uniform suddenly tightens into a tourniquet. I look up from the striped gauntlet, then to the emblazoned pauldron depicting a red feather surrounded by a pair of green antlers, and finally up to Reidar’s face as he shouts at me.
“Travis, put your helmet on!”
My fingers fumble multiple times but manage to unclip my helmet from my belt and slide it on.
“Mages, keep low and set up blast spells a yard from the starboard hull. Knights, shout when they come into range.”
“Commandos, patient is stable, requesting extraction.”
Reidar taps my shoulder, “Do you know where his hand went?”
I dumbly look around, not remembering even seeing it, but Arc’s calming voice points me in the right direction.
“Seven o’clock, one yard away.”
I spin around, reach to grab the severed appendage, then twist back in time to see a pair of commandos sliding the corpsman onto a stretcher. Not exactly sure what to do, I place the hand on top, then turn my head in time to see Reidar’s head nod.
“Pack it in ice, we can save the limb.”
The commandos silently return the nod, then pull the corpsman across the deck and through the secure doors of the infirmary. Reidar grabs my helmet, then speaks over my private channel, “He’ll be fine for now, but I can’t perform surgery until the battlefield is secure.”
Right. I need to fight.
Reidar pulls his shield from his back, then quickly flicks it in time to slam into a fast-flying fish coated in Water. The monster fish spins out of control, until it’s pierced by an arrow, and plants itself into the wall of the foredeck.
Now able to see what the rot is attacking the ship, I immediately swear.
Lakeland Pike, a single element monster. By utilizing the dense Water Mana in their bones and spear-like protrusions from their heads, they can swim at extreme speeds while underwater, and will occasionally attack targets above the surface, launching themselves like a [Water Arrow]. They’re highly sought after by hunters, not just for their bones that can easily be turned into mid-grade bowfishing arrows, but because their meat is extremely tasty and dense with Water Mana.
I take cover behind Reidar and his shield as we move towards an open spot on the guard rail of the main deck. He draws his hammer from his belt as I cast Wind, Fire, and Water Orbs, then move them into position.
Painfully long seconds pass, and my anxiety keeps rising as the sounds of shouts and spell detonations surround me, but I manage to keep my nerves steady enough to react when Reidar shouts over our private channel.
“Now!”
I detonate all three spells, unable to see if they hit, but can see Reidar as he flicks his shield once more, sending a Lakeland Pike flying high into the air, then slams his hammer into the face of another, creating a red cloud of viscera.
Feeling confident with the plan of attack now, I cast another trio of spells, and even catch Arc sneaking out a few spells, then wait for Reidar to call the attack. Three more waves of monsters arrive, and just as I’m starting to get a grip on the battle lust surging in my veins, the swarm of Lakeland Pikes stop attacking the ship.
Confused, I swiveled my head around, then felt a strange urge to laugh overcome me right before I heard Captain Adaline’s voice screaming over the squad’s channel.
“Acolyte Vesril, get back on the ship this instant!”
Arc soon started giggling in my ear, “Oh, you’re going to want to see this…”
Cautiously standing at my full height now, I was able to see everyone’s heads all pointed in the same direction and trace their gazes to see an amazing sight out over the lake water.
Vesril was standing on top his shield, zipping across the water, and carving a small trench while the remaining swarm of Lakeland Pike tried to attack him. He kept fishtailing, making tiny [Ice Walls] with his wake that slowed down his pursuers, but seemed to be more focused on the spell he was crafting in his hands.
A [Water Orb] twice the size of his head began to form, and as I narrowed my eyes to trigger my mana sight, I could see a lattice weave of Air Mana surround the entire thing. He eventually stopped fussing over it, but held onto the spell until he carved a large circle, then used his own wake to become airborne as he dropped it.
The swarm of Lakeland Pikes tried to follow, but Vesril pulled his legs up to protect himself with his shield right as the Burst spell detonated.
Water erupted from the center, turning into sharp icicles once they passed through the Air formation that either blended the monsters into small chunks or severely wounded them. The concussive force made Vesril flip in the air, but he managed to recover and surf back towards the ship before hopping over the rail and come to a running stop.
Captain Adaline marched over to him like a tornado, and immediately began dressing down the elven Ice Mage in front of the entire battalion. I couldn’t easily see due to everyone having their helmets on, but given the way people were shifting uncomfortably, I could tell I wasn’t the only one unsure of what to make of the situation. On one hand, he violated a direct order, but on the other, he singlehandedly countered the monsters by going on the offense.
I turned to see what Reidar thought, and almost had to step back in fright upon seeing his scowl. He caught me out of the corner of his eye, then whispered over our private channel, “That was reckless, his showboating could have gotten himself and everyone onboard killed.”
Showboating? I thought over the battle tactically, and immediately realized that there was nothing stopping Vesril from casting that same Burst spell from cover. Given that he’s a second-year mage, freecasting the spell to exclude the boat and allies should have been of little difficulty.
I sighed, then nodded to fully agree with Reidar, “At least the battle’s over now, I assume you need to—”
“Travis! Why would you—”
The entire world shook as something collided with the hull.