Now with what is possibly Rover mages becoming involved in this battle, I may get the chance to fulfil what was asked of me.

If they’re committing mages to the battlefield then summons shouldn’t be too far behind.

I’m still a bit confused about how it all works, what is the hierarchy in terms of magic users?

Are summoners more powerful but also more rare, if so then that would explain why there weren’t any summons being sent alongside me to disrupt the Rover advance but there were mages engaging in combat.

Or are battlemages more rare and the only reason they’re so active in warfare is that they’ll able to utilise magic consistently unlike summoners who need a period of time to recover?

My creator right now for instance is suffering immensely because of how much she’s summoned me in the last couple of days, if we hadn’t gone through the ritual she might even have lost her mind by now.

I wonder who’s more powerful between a summoner and a battlemage?

That mage who cast the lightning bolt was able to easily kill me but I’m nowhere near being the most powerful summon.

I don’t think lone individuals can even summon the more powerful ones, instead mass sacrifices have to be conducted and the souls used to bring them forth into reality.

How would that work for Coralet?

Would she be able to summon one of those creatures alone since she’s not using her mana and soul to do it or would the effort kill her?

Am I actually doomed to have to stagnate or risk causing my creator harm?

Things to worry about when I actually become powerful I guess.

Am I even growing more powerful? Not in terms of techniques and experience but in actual physical prowess and mana capacity.

I’m rather confident I’ve been sinking further into the ocean lately, I don’t know what exactly that means though so maybe I’m actually weaker than when I was during my first summoning.

I went through some sort of evolution a while ago which made me see better and caused our link to become stronger but ever since then I haven’t evolved once.

Can I even evolve now that I’ve gone through that ritual?

How did I even evolve the first time?

Did I even evolve or was it more like a realisation of my abilities that had naturally been growing since my first summoning?

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A sudden crossbow bolt bouncing off my hard eyelid rouses me from my musings, I’ve been keeping track of the incoming Rovers of course but I haven’t been fully focused, I’ve just been looking out for any magical spells getting cast.

And it’s a good thing that I did because just a few seconds later I discover a subtle spell being cast which I may have missed if not for that bolt which snapped me out of being idle.

It’s a weird feeling, sort of like the aura of an enchanted item but still different, somehow.

It's a small, controlled slice, of immaterial reality, being molded into whichever spell its creator wishes to cast.

I don’t stick around to figure out what the spell is, retreating quickly instead of risking a sudden death.

The surrounding Empire troops look at me with mild confusion but I couldn’t care less, my jobs to fight any Rover summons not just to stand still and be blasted by some spell.

Even after waiting for a minute nothing happens, there’s no fireball that gets flung up at the battlements, or some sort of ice spear.

Did they cancel the spell?

Or did they cast some sort of support spell to do something like reinvigorate everyone?

Moving forward I retake my place at the battlement, observing the shield wall as it gets closer and closer.

One of the mages uses me as cover and peaks out at them from behind me, I’m assuming this mage is also a battlemage otherwise her being up here doesn’t make much sense.

My assumption is proven correct when not even half a minute later she waves her hand and sends what looks like a plate made out of golden light flying at the Rover formation.

Rather than bounce off the metal shields or slice through them and the Rovers holding them, the golden plate just vanishes into a cluster of sparkles, shattering against an invisible wall.

It’s bizarre because even as I watch the plate dissipate I see two arrows ping off of the Rovers shields.

Was the spell that the mage cast earlier a protective one or was this shield formed by another mage?

Or maybe that plate was meant to be harmless?

Looking over at the battlemage beside me doesn’t reassure me about that later theory of mine, she’s pale and shaking slightly in what looks like rage, or possibly fear.

Swiftly turning around she storms towards her comrades and yells out something at them, whatever she said must have been shocking because all of them snap their heads around to look at her, completely forgetting their current conversation.

Hurrying over a new mage takes her place and just like her he waves his hands and casts an arcane spell, unlike her plate of golden light, he creates a small fist sized fireball, then hurls it at the enemy.

It’s a bright blue fireball, almost the same colour as the sea during dusk, so it should be incredibly hot and have had a lot of power pumped into it contrary to its size, maybe that’s why it was able to get through the mystical barrier and slam cleanly through two Rovers, burning a hole straight through them and their armour.

I barely manage to protect the battlemage from the return fire but after sacrificing a whole tendril and a solid chunk of a tentacle I’m able to protect him from the deadly crossbow bolt that would have gone straight into his skull.

I wonder if this was the same sharpshooter that hit me in the eye with a bolt? Or that got the previous battlemage?

Hopefully, all these attacks are from one sharpshooter, it’s going to be difficult to protect my creator if these types of troops are common place now.

The battlemages reaction is beyond slow, he takes a full second to flinch backwards after I’ve already caught the bolt.

Turning to me he bows his head slightly and mutters something, then he goes back to focusing on the Rover advance, preparing to cast another spell.