These stupid Rats!!!

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not angry over the fact that Edir got hurt. I've barely known her for a week and our relationship is more professional than intimate. If I needed to, I would not hesitate to sacrifice her to ensure the safety of everyone else.

What? Did you think I would prioritise someone I just met over Odeta and Katsuki? Not a chance.

I was definitely upset that Katsuki got hurt by that stupid Rat though, but the real reason why I was upset wasn't the fact that they hurt my companions but the fact that this meant that we would most probably have to stop our advance today since everyone would need to to recuperate after this.

I have a bunch of potions stored in my Pack of Folding plus I've already gone ahead to cast some healing magic on them the moment they were hit too so their lives aren't in danger right now.

Hey, that's what I'm supposed to do as the one with Iatromancy magic isn't it? Otherwise I would be on the frontlines with them as well!

Ugh… I'd hate to have to miss another week of lessons because of this…

What? I actually like going to school, ok? It's a magic school, remember? It's way more interesting than just learning about maths.

Well, putting that aside, we still have these two Rats to deal with.

I immediately called out a whole bunch of Shadow Summons and directed them to attack the two Rat Shadow Stalkers.

Both of them were obviously startled by the sudden increase in enemies and I took advantage of their surprise by making my summons swarm them from all directions.

The first Rat was easily overwhelmed since it also had Odeta to deal with.

Odeta was quite upset that half of our members were taken down by this one and was relentless in her punches, forcing it to be unable to do anything except throw up its arms to defend itself.

That presented the perfect opportunity for my Shadow Summons to descend upon it from all around it and hack away at it with their shadow weapons.

The Rat Shadow Stalker gave out a pathetic wail as several blades were thrust into its body before Odeta raised her right arm into the air dramatically.

"Let energy flow through my veins and give me strength. I ask for the strength to surpass limits and go beyond boundaries, may those that stand before me tremble from my might! [Body Current]!!"

There was a spark that appeared on her arm and the muscles on them seemed to bulge for a brief moment before she punched her fist forward.

There was a loud 'crack' as her fist smashed into the monster's face, its snout caving in and its head collapsing into itself from the blow. Its eyeballs popped out of their sockets while brain matter mixed with bone came flying out from the other side of its head.

I'm pretty sure that one is dead as it can be.

As for the other one, it managed to hold its ground for a while longer as it saw my summons coming towards it from where I was.

It even had time to cast some Umbramancy spell on itself which I recognised to be [Shadow Glide] as the Rat suddenly moved faster than before after retreating to the darker parts of the chamber.

The first summon that reached it tried to stab it with a conjured spear, only to have the spear yanked out of her grip before the Rat used it to impale her torso with it.

Ah… That summon only had half my stats. Perhaps I should have summoned those that were as strong as I was?

The other summons leapt towards it but it showed incredible cunning as the Rat chose not to engage and retreated away from them instead.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Another of my Summons tried to attack it with a mace, swinging the blunt weapon at the Rat's head.

It simply ducked underneath the blow to close the distance, allowing it to slash its claw at her throat and ripping it open.

It then retreated away once again using its increased speed before the others could swarm it, making sure it stayed ahead of my horde and attacking only one at a time when it saw an opening.

Well… Two can play at that game.

I casted [Shadow Glide] as well as [Shadow Wall] on myself, circling around the chamber from the otherside to try and cut off the Rat's direction of retreat.

With its attention on my Shadow Summons chasing after it, it did not notice me sneak up behind it with my sword held in a thrusting position.

The moment it got within range, I poured my magic into the blade and activated its enchantment of coating the blade with an aura of light.

The light from the sword dispersed the darkness which also negated the Rat's spell of increasing its speed, slowing it down considerably.

It noticed my presence too late as I thrusted the sword out in front of me, piercing the sword right through its chest at where I guessed its heart to be.

The monster let out a screech of pain right before the rest of my Shadow Summons caught up with it, impaling it with their own weapons of choice.

It gurgled once before it went limp, the light leaving its eyes as all the life in its body bled out.

I pulled out my blade before dismissing my summons, letting the dead Rat drop onto the ground to join its partner.

As I was cleaning my blade, Odeta came up to me with her eyes looking at the ground.

"Sister Aster… I'm sorry…"

I was surprised by her apology, "Eh? What for?"

"For not being strong enough to protect you…"

I blinked at her, "What do you mean, Odeta? Didn't you save me from that monster that was trying to kill me earlier?"

"But I put everyone else at risk because of that… If I had just been stronger, we would not have struggled so much against them…"

"Unn… In that case, don't I share the blame too? I wasn't strong enough to avoid that monster lunging at me which made you rush to me, right?"

"No! If I was just a bit faster, I could have stopped that monster from attacking sister Aster in the first place!"

Huh? But it's not like she could… Wait a minute…

I frowned at her, "Odeta… Don't tell me you were watching me instead of concentrating on your fight with the monster that was in front of you?"

She thumped her chest with a fist, "Of course! How else would I be able to rush to Sister Aster's aid if I wasn't paying attention to you?"

This girl really was just fighting that monster half-heartedly the entire time?!

I reached up and flicked her on the forehead.

"Owww! What was that for?" Odeta cried.

"Did sister Ardi not teach you to focus on the enemy in front of you at all?! How could your attention be elsewhere when you're fighting someone else, especially when your opponent is stronger than you?!"

"But it's not that strong?"

"What do you mean? It's strength is… Oh…"

I keep forgetting they can't see the stats…

Odeta knew it was a threat, but not how big of a threat it was. With Katsuki backing her, that perceived threat was reduced even more…

I sighed, "That still doesn't mean you can take your attention away from it…"

"Ehhh… But that's fine isn't it?"

"No it's not! Katsuki and Edir got attacked because of that, didn't they?"

Odeta tilted her head at me, "But Sister Aster is able to save them right?"

I can't exactly save them, I can only heal them… But I guess if you're counting on the fact that I could have just called up my Shadow Summons to deal with the monsters, it could technically be seen as me saving them…

Ugh… Now I know… Odeta feels that I would be able to solve any crisis anyway so she doesn't need to be that concerned as long as I was safe… Thus, she prioritises my safety above everything else…

"Odeta… I'm actually not omnipotent, you know? If someone were to die, I can't bring them back to life… My Iatromancy is still at tier one, you know?"

"Then sister Aster can bring people back to life in the future?"

I hesitated, "Umm… I don't know? I'm not sure if I would be training my Iatromancy that far…"

It's still stuck at tier one after so long, you know? How long would it even take for me to bring it up to a level where it can revive the dead?

I suppose that could be an eventual goal but I don't see that happening in the next few weeks at least…

Odeta thumped her chest, "Then that just means I need to get even stronger,sister Aster! Could you help me?"

Erm… You're already stronger than me so I'll need to find someone else for that…

I turned to look at Katsuki and Edir, both of them having been moved to lay on the side earlier by Odeta after she defeated her opponent.

Right now in this party, Katsuki's obviously the scout and assassin while Odeta is the tank and brawler. That's why I've been occupying the role of a backline all this while since both of them could be considered vanguards.

Perhaps I should concentrate my skills to further enhance my capability as a backline instead? I could be the support for this party and help adapt my party to whatever situation might arise.

Hmm… Maybe it's too early to think about this for now.

Even though I'm comfortable with the role of a mage and healer in this party, I'm not sure if I want to make this my permanent role yet.

One thing's for sure though… I'm going to need to ask Sebastian to help train Odeta a little more after we get back…