Three heads emerged from the pond. Zach managed to drag both Dayana and Mathias into the pond, fleeing themselves from a potential long-range ambush. He kept his head the lowest, watching the Sommerlains scampering in fear. The one frozen in fear knelt and hid behind the shield, cowering.
“Who is it?” Dayana asked. Her eyes scattered between the trees.
“It’s not who, it’s what,” Zach said. The screams of other Sommerlains echoed from within the trees, hinting that they* had got them.
Zach kept his cool. His eyes kept moving from one part of the forest to another, searching for a possible safe way out. Then a loud clang grabbed his attention. The Sommerlain who hid behind the shield fell on his back with a dark purple stinger laying on the ground beside him. Then it dawned on him.
“We need to help them,” Dayana said. Treading towards the edge of the pond. But a grip held her back. She glanced with a frown. “What are you doing?”
“Hold your shield high and front,” Zach said.
“What?” Dayana asked, confused.
“The shield is enough to block against those stingers,” Zach said. “And unless you want one of them poking through your skin, I advise you to do as I say.”
She gritted through her teeth and headed back to the edge. This time, her shield rose high, guarding her head. At the same time, Zach shouted at the Sommerlain on the ground to raise his guard, but fear was a scary thing.
The Sommerlain couldn’t hear what Zach said. Even when they were this close in proximity. The Sommerlain trembled in fear, eyes quivering. His eyes could not leave the shades of the trees, fearing the one that ambushed them, and the cries of his fellow countrymen only made it worse. Zach’s words finally reached him. His eyes frantically searched for his wooden shield, and it was right beside him. He reached out to it, hands shivering. But it was too late. A stinger rammed right into the middle of his chest, boring right through his back. He fell. Lifeless. It was the end of his short tenure in this new cruel world.
“Fuck,” Zach said. Lowering his head back into the water with his eyes right above the surface. Unknowingly, someone by the side followed his action without fault. It was Mathias.
Zach kept his eyes on Dayana, who managed to escape the pond with her stance low, and shield guarding most parts of her body. She rushed behind a boulder as a lass and a boy were quaking in fear. It seemed the daughter of Weisebraun was soothing the fear out of those Sommerlains.
Zach turned to Mathias. “Shouldn’t you be the one doing that?” Zach asked.
“I’m afraid foolish bravery isn’t one of my strongest traits,” Mathias said.
Zach heard rumors about this Solskjaer, and one of them might be true. It was either plain cowardice or Mathias saw things differently.
“Then could you at least tell me what your class is?” Zach asked. Popping the big question right in the middle of a fight.
“I may not be brave, but I’m no fool, Gardwin,” Mathias said. “Some things are best to hide rather out in the open, and I think you and I are on the same page.”
“Sorry, but I’m no mage, and I don’t care if you are one,” Zach said. “But right now, the chance of survival perhaps rests upon what class you have, and I’m not going to die here in a fucking pond in the middle of nowhere. So are you in or not?”
Zach stared at Mathias as the latter did the same. Then Mathias broke a smile. “Fuck it then,” Mathias said. “If I want to die, I prefer burying my head between two tits rather than in a wet pond with an ugly Gardwin. And yes, I am a mage.”
Zach felt it was unnecessary mentioning the ugly part, but at least he got Mathias to agree. He questioned the Solskjaer on his skill set, and he made his move. Zach drew closer to the edge while Mathias took out a thin crooked branch from within his clothes.
The blonde-haired young man pointed his wand at the forest. His lips moved. His mana converged, and the existence of a small ball of flame floated right at the point of his wand. Zach waited for the right time as he too counted down in his heart for five full minutes. Five minutes that felt like an hour.
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Indeed, he discovered another drawback of a mage class. Something that wasn’t said in the text. The long casting time. Five full minutes was an exact death sentence for a mage, if, he fought alone of course.
Five minutes were up. A nail size flame flew above Zach’s head, growing bigger until it was as big as an adult boar. It smashed against a tree, raising flames like a bonfire. It was a random target instructed by Zach. The Gardwin assumed where the enemies were according to where the stingers were flying from. Thankfully, he noticed something big jumping to the other trees beside the burning one.
“Prepare for another one,” Zach shouted. He came out from the pond, drenched, and ran towards the shield of the dead Sommerlain. Zach grabbed it and rolled on the ground. The moment his feet found the ground, his shield rose to guard his front side. Zach peeked a bit to the side, trying to locate the hidden enemies.
“Gardwin!” Dayana called. Waving her shield at him. “What in the bloody hell was that?” the confusion and fear in her eyes showed the strangeness of the arcane.
Rather than saying it was magic, Zach said something else. “It’s one of Mathias’ alchemist skills.”
“Alchemist?” she questioned. Trying to recall whether she remembered the list of classes available.
Zach waddled like a duck. Coming closer to where Dayana and the Sommerlains were with only a shield protecting his life. Stingers came crashing at him, deflected away by the grace of the wooden shield protection. It seemed whatever that attacked them finally focused their target on Zach. Soon, he reached Dayana. His arm was sore as he did well not to tumble over against a barrage of stingers.
“You’re telling me an alchemist could do such things?” Dayana asked as she was quick to question what she saw. Despite trying to recall, her memory only remembered the part of taking in the title of a knight under her claim, and to be fair, she turned rather deaf to the rest of the classes.
“Later,” Zach said. Putting the matter on hold as there were bigger matters at hand. “What I need you to do is to explain to me what kind of skill you have.”
“Skill?” the dumbfounded look on her told Zach that she had no clue on what he was talking about. Unlike Mathias, she was a bit slow adapting to new things. He explained to her as he did to Mathias. She read to him the sole skill under her arsenal.
Guard Stance. A skill to hide one’s body behind a shield, focusing solely on defense. It was a skill to endure, and it was quite a disappointment for Zach. It paled in comparison to the likes of the fireball of Mathias. Yet it did have its own purpose.
“Hey, what’s your name?” Zach asked. Gazing at the frightened lass. She looked younger than him who was seventeen. Chestnut hair, and deep dark brown eyes. Her flushed cheeks overwhelmed her pale skin, a rather unique trait as most Sommerlains were rather tanned, being so close to the sea with a hobby of basking under the sun.
“Teena,” she feebly said. Not realizing the mistake of addressing Zach properly. Her hands grasped tightly over the wooden bow with no intention of letting go.
“Do you know how to use it?” Zach asked. Pointing at the bow.
She nodded. But there was no confidence behind those eyes. Not when death crept up on them.
“Good. Then please help me,” Zach said. The word help caught Teena off guard, breaking her from the terrifying situation they were in. Soon she realized, a noble just asked for her hand to help. Something impossible to happen as she knew how these nobles behaved as if asking for help from them was beneath them.
“My lord, I—”
“Teena,” Zach said her name. Giving his full attention to the lass. “We’re in a situation where our lives are at stake here, and to escape safely, we need your help. So can you do this for us?”
Seeing how sincere the light behind those gray eyes, Teena didn’t have much of a choice but to agree. She nodded, and for once her trembling lessened to a degree.
Zach rallied the one next to Teena. A boy around her age, with a shield on his left and a sword on his right. The lad chose the most predictable class. Zach convinced him to fight alongside him and he laid out the plans for what they were about to do.
“This is crazy,” Dayana said. Glaring at Zach.
“It’s either this, or we’ll take our chance running with enemies on our backs,” Zach said.
She reluctantly yielded, and they waited.
Another explosion was cast upon a tree as it burned brightly under the sun. Mathias did his job, and now it was their turn. Zach, Dayana, and the boy stood in line with their shields lined beside one another. They crouched low and approached the burning trees as Zach peeked in between the round shields. He eyed on top of the tree branches, searching for those pesky ambushers.
“We’re close enough,” Dayana said. Growing intensely worried over this stupid plan.
They slammed their swords against the shields. Zach hollered at the one hiding, taunting them to come out and play. Shadows moved in between the leaves, and then they came. Stingers rained on them, clashing against their shields. Dayana and the boy faltered a bit, but they employed Guard Stance, and their defense went up a notch with their footing remaining stable. But Zach didn’t have the luxury of a skill. He faced them head-on with the pure strength of his body.
But the enemies were not stupid. Stingers aimed at their exposed lower halves as they could not properly maintain their low stance. Cuts were made, and yelps of pain rang close in their ears.
Then an arrow flew above them. Striking at the unseen as the sharp pointed end found its mark and something fell off from the treetop. It fell with a thud, and the three of them saw the creature that had been tormenting them.
‘A wingless hornet?’ he thought. The labrador-sized hornet was unlike the norm he was used to. It wasn’t orange or yellow as it was closer to the hue of dark color moss. One thing was for sure, he was grateful it did not have wings as he did not want to imagine how hellish it would be if they were able to fly.
But at that moment, something else greeted him.
[You have leveled up.]