Cale let the strange structure, that visually look like a cloud of smoke, make some movements before the creatures stretched his upper body forward and came with his body eerily after the spectators. You could literally feel the smoke, which dripped on their bodies and then disappeared, giving the guests goosebumps.
"If this were a real Elosien, the creature would be in quite a problem right now. But for the purposes of the demonstration, let's now assume that Sir Heriog and I are the only ones present. However, to abide by my own rules, I would ask the ladies back there to assist us in the fight against the creature," Cale said calmly, pointing to the unassuming woman he had spotted earlier. Suddenly the attention was focused on her, which is why the stranger became nervous and pointed her finger at herself, as if asking Cale if he really meant her.
"Would you be so kind?", Cale confirmed politely, so the woman hesitantly stood up and nodded. Cale carefully lifted her into the air using his magic, but the lady remained still as if she was wordlessly transported to the center of the arena. Gently, he let her slide to the ground before she could gain a foothold and come to a stop a good meter beside him. Miguel had joined him as well, which is why it wasn't until now that the really realized that the stranger was quite small. "What's your name?"
"Romy Jax is my name. However, I am not a mage or an Anuxer, but a normal human, High-Magician Leuen", the woman replied politely as Cale led the creatures to the edge of the arena.
"It doesn't matter", Cale raised calmly and stood next to the woman along with Miguel so that they were in a line facing the creature. "The reason an Elosien is so deadly is that you usually can't see it when it's attacking someone."
With those words, Cale made the creatures disappear, causing the woman to be a little surprised.
"So the first step against this creature is to determine where it is in the first place. It doesn't matter if you have combat experience. Anyone who is a little sensitive to mana can sense where the invisible Elosien is right now," Cale explained, instructing Romy to point to the spot where the creature was currently located. She recognized without much trouble that Cale had let the figure move a few feet to the right. "Wonderful. It's important from now on not to let the Elosien get out of your sight. The creature will have trouble maintaining his disguise if he is observed doing so. The first thing we notice, therefore, is the ground."
Cale pointed his finger at the floor, where black soot had settled.
"The illusion is starting to crumble, which is why it's essential throughout the fight that at least one maintain eye contact with this creature," Cale explained, paying attention to what the woman at his side was doing. When she blinked, he shot forward with the creature, causing her to yelp in surprise and take a step back. In a split second, the creature had covered a distance of two meters. "This is exactly why you need several people to do well against this creature. You can't expect one person to be able to stop the reflex of blinking, let alone not even look away briefly in a fight. Therefore, it is best to assign two people to merely look at the creature, while the third, at best the strongest, takes care of the creature itself."
At the emphasis on the third person, Cale pointed to Miguel, who was already standing with sword in hand.
"Lady Jax and I will take the role of observers, while Sir Heriog will be the actual attacker", Cale explained, moving the creature quickly, which is why the woman immediately followed the invisible source and pointed her finger at it. The marks on the ground made it clear that the creature were moving in circles around them, trying again and again to get close to the observers.
"Miguel, you can try to attack", Cale softly announced, so the Frignez swordmaster nodded in confirmation and shot at the creature. His sense of mana made it clear where the creature was, but when he lunged to strike, he hit nothing but air. Irritated, he tracked the creature and tried a few times, while occasionally the real body would appear, but he hit nothing.
"Sir Heriog is showing us the third problem very well right now", Cale exclaimed, holding his hair aside as the swordsman pushed aside the wind with his strokes. "It's a pure test of patience. The body of the Elosien, which you had seen at the beginning, is special. The creature disguises its appearance to avoid discovering its real body. Those who were attentive will have noticed that he had not shown a special spot despite all the attacks."
Miguel shot past the two observers, aiming for the upper chest area, while Cale and the woman took a step to the side. Miguel hit and abruptly the black body was visible. His sword pierced what appeared to be the creature's chest, which is why the smoke slowly cleared to reveal a small figure, only a good 30 centimeters tall.
"The Elosien uses not one, but two tricks to disguise its appearance. The first is its invisibility and the second is its black body. Never underestimate the mana control this creature displays. Its body can hide anywhere in the black mass, it might as well have been the head or the foot. Outwardly, it is simply impossible to tell where in his camouflage the Elosien is hiding. It distributes its mana so evenly that even we High-Magicians can't tell for sure where the center is."
Miguel came back to Cale with the small, stretched dead creature in his hand, as if he were merely bringing back a rabbit from the hunt. Cale thanked Miguel and reached into the creature, only to pull a small, broken mana crystal from within it.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
"Elosiens generally only attack when they are carrying prey. They collect mana crystals for a yet unknown reason. If you ever come across a small pile of such crystals, beware, for it may be the nest of an Elosien", Cale clarified, tossing the crystal up and down a few times before twisting the dead creature's body slightly to reveal a long, proboscis-like contraption. "And one more thing. If the creature remains unseen and is able to attack, it initiates a powerful nerve toxin through this proboscis that immobilizes humans within 30 seconds. There is currently no antidote for this poison, so the person is forced to hope for help from others for the next two hours."
Brutally, Cale squeezed the bladder with the liquid, which is why a yellowish secretion sprayed out of the mouth and shot up into the sky like a fountain. Before the drops could fall to the ground, however, Cale dissolved all parts of the creature again.
For a brief moment there was silence, which is why Cale looked up at the sky and noticed that it was already getting dark. As the first began to clap, he thanked the woman next to him for her help and returned her to her seat before patting Miguel on the shoulder with thanks as well.
"I think we lack the time to address one more creature, unfortunately, so we will postpone this until tomorrow," he finally lifted. He had a few more creatures he wanted to tell, but today he had been a little too slow and precise with his lessons. Maybe he shouldn't have taken such a long break, either. "Are there any questions I can answer?"
People started talking to each other before some hands went up in the air. One by one he called on the curious and answered their questions, mostly they were ideas on how to fight such creatures with your own resources. The topic drifted to the Novarens, and to Cale's surprise, Theorik spoke up. He asked the High-Magician if it would be possible to take advantage of the spikes' regeneration time to attack the exposed area with his spear. Cale explained that he could not really give an answer to that, since he had never tried such a thing. Therefore, he merely gave Theorik the hint not to try it, as he would only put himself in the line of fire of the other spikes, so the young man nodded in understanding.
When the bulk of the questions revolved around the Novaren, a man who was an Anuxer by his build also spoke up.
"Excuse me for asking, but I have a question regarding your abilities, High-Magician Leuen."
"Go ahead," Cale replied, curious as to what the stranger might want to ask him.
"I heard that it was you who protected the city during the attack of the creatures with the great shield. So I would be interested to know... can the sting of a Novaren break through your shield?"
"No", Cale replied without much thought, which is why the man seemed surprised.
"What makes you say that, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I tested it, the spikes bounce off my shield."
"Would it mean that your shield is as powerful as Sir Heriog's legendary sword?", the stranger finally added, causing Cale to turn to the blond-haired man. He, like the rest of the arena, had heard the statement and seemed to be considering it. If Cale hadn't tested the limits of his Igrikum, he probably wouldn't know the answer to that question. But since he had already had duels with Miguel in his past lives and had used his Igrikum, he could answer this question.
"To be very precise, my shield is more powerful than Zurakekama. You should not mix this up with an ordinary shield, which you may have seen from other mages. My shield draws on a completely different source of mana that allows me to completely block all physical and magical attacks", Cale explained calmly, causing Miguel to look at him with wide eyes. He seemed to question the statement, because to him the sword was considered a miracle weapon that could cut through anything. But he seemed to hold back on commenting in public, which is why Cale is grateful to him.
"What about an attack by the dragons?", the stranger suddenly gave voice, which is why the arena abruptly fell silent and Cale also flinched in surprise. His gaze landed unintentionally on his group of friends, where Fengari was currently staying, before turning to the adventurer.
<"Fengari, hypothetically speaking... would that be possible?">
<"Funny that the question came up. I had talked to Palaios about that topic too, after what happened in the plains. We assume that you should be able to stop our attacks, both fire and abilities, as well. However, I wouldn't be sure about Lofonus' gift. His ability is what we call the flames of doom. He can use it to dissolve anything that comes in contact with his fire into nothingness. So anything he attacks disappears as if it never existed. I can't tell if your ability or his would have the upper hand here.">
Cale was visibly puzzled that a dragon would assume that a human was stronger than them. The thought gave him a sense of power, but at the same time a strange kind of respect. Respect for himself, to never let it get this far with his Igrikum.
"Let's put it this way, I wouldn't push it. I pretty much know there's a dragon that could become a problem even for me. But since I've never tried it, I'm afraid I can't answer that in general", Cale finally replied, despite Fengari's explanation. He was afraid that people would find out that he was the dragon rider. If Katarina's family had been paying attention, they would surely have seen the barrier that had warded off the dragons' flames. If he admitted now that his barriers could withstand a dragon, he would hang himself.
"I understand, please excuse my direct questions."
"Don't mention it. That's exactly why I'm here", Cale replied calmly, watching as the stranger nodded and took his seat again. Cale let his gaze slide over the hushed crowd, but no one seemed to have any further questions. After half a minute, therefore, he asked again if there were any unresolved matters, but after no one stirred, he ended the meeting.
People only slowly began to rise from their seats as Cale approached Miguel, who was still standing on the sidelines. Just as he was about to tell Miguel that they could now leave, the swordmaster spoke up.
"Caleb, just so I understand this correctly... you know I would lose in a fight against you?"
Jerking to a halt, the High-Magician looked silently at the blond, tall man. By saying that he had never tried to block a dragon's attack, he had caused an entirely different problem. He was indirectly claiming that he had definitely already tested it on a swordmaster. While Miguel was one of the few people who knew that he was a swordmaster, but he was certain that he would still stand a chance against him if he used Zurakekama.
Miguel Heriog doubted that Cale had used the legendary lost sword against his own barriers, so a question burned on his mind: Who was the swordmaster that Cale had fought and won against?