Chapter 114: A Battle’s Beginning

AN: Extra long chapter today! Hope you enjoy :)

Astintash charged.

Of course the Dragon was the one to move first—not only was it easily the most confident and motivated of anyone involved in this fight, but it was also the only one not sustaining serious injuries.

Several soldiers fled the moment Astintash took a step toward them, some of them stood their ground, but most were still trying to dig themselves out of the rubble of the wall.

The two soldiers leading the defense—calling for everyone else to stand their ground—were the royal guards. Asmo had her bow drawn, arrow notched and ready to loose, and the axe-wielding woman, held her bloodied blade, prepared to strike.

I, on the other hand, felt not quite as ready to attack. There were probably fifty paces between me and the shattered wall, and that was a lot of paces to clear when up against enemies with ranged weaponry. I watched as Astintash took a dozen shots to the face from its bow-wielding opponents, uncaring of the twigs poking its scales, and wished I had the ability to just ignore things like that.

But at least Astintash made for a good distraction. I glanced over to Erani and—oh. Ainash had already dashed forward, right behind the rampaging Dragon and whip ablaze, ready to strike down her enemies.

“You stay back,” I said to Erani, “and use your last invisibility ring if you need to. Just try to stay safe.”

“You’re going in?”

“I don’t have much of a choice; Astintash’ll kill me if I don’t.”

She pursed her lips and nodded, and, with a couple stacks of Expedite on myself, I charged forward behind Ainash and her Dragon friend. Fortunately, Astintash’s body was so massive that, by running behind it, basically nobody ahead had sight of me, so I didn’t yet have to worry about being shot.

But as we approached the enemy forces, several Infernals circled around Astintash to come and attack me. There was a clear difference of interest between the Humans and Infernals here, since the Humans were the only ones risking their lives. As such, the Humans focused on surviving—either fleeing or trying to kill Astintash—and the Infernals focused on the primary objective—killing me.

So I was forced to slow down as the Infernals closed in to block my passage. They were all pretty severely damaged—as was I—but clearly they were ready to fight regardless.

A couple Firebolts flew out from behind me, Erani shooting at the crowd of Infernals to slow them down and thin them out before they could attack, which I was extremely grateful for.

Level 29 Draconiad has offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 27 Infernal.

Due to having a Bond with Draconiad, you have earned 4 XP. Your XP is 897.

I was suddenly distracted by a few notifications coming in about Ainash’s exploits in slaying her enemies. I tried to just ignore them as they came in, which was pretty easy, but I had to imagine Erani had a much harder time ignoring hers. She got so much more XP from Ainash’s killings that it was likely she’d randomly get Level-ups at some point, which would definitely be a distraction.

“Arlan, below!” Index’s voice snapped me out of my head.

Below? What could be below—

I felt a rumbling, one that reminded me of something.

Hellions! I’d completely forgotten that they also had Hellions crawling the ground beneath the wall!

As quickly as I could, I leapt backward just as a massive, toothy worm burst from the gravely dirt below me. I’d barely gotten out of the way in time to avoid the rows of spines lining its maw, bursting up right where I’d been.

In an instant, I raised my hand and shot it with as many Rays of Frost as I could before it burrowed back into the ground. Unfortunately, the total 200 damage I dealt to it didn’t seem to be enough to kill the monster before it could burrow back into the ground, hidden from my sight.

Spell casting speed was one of the stranger factors when it came to Magic-Types. For the other types of Classes, their limiting factor time-wise was the physical speed they could move their bodies at. Whether they were fighting normally or using Martial Arts to enhance their abilities, they could still only do one thing at a time, on a fundamental level. They couldn’t swing their sword twice at the same time, even if they had the Stamina available to activate a sword-swinging Martial Art twice.

As Magic-Types, we didn’t have those physical limitations. Theoretically it was possible for me to cast 1000 Mana’s worth of Spells in a split second. However, we did have mental limitations. And that was what prevented me from doing just that in a fight. When I cast a Spell, I had to mentally push the Mana in my body to form the Spell.

Back when I was first lost in the woods, I’d struggled to figure out how to do that with Noxious Grasp, leading to me taking full seconds just to toggle the Spell on and off, but at this point, I’d gotten quite adept at doing that, both with Noxious Grasp and generally with any new Spell I got. It took a bit of time to learn any new Spell’s form, but I could figure it out pretty quickly, with my practice.

But still, I could fundamentally only form one Spell at a time with my mind. So, when I went to cast several Rays of Frost at a time, it wasn’t as easy as just thinking “I would like to cast ten of this Spell, please,” and it would happen. It was going through and manually, one-by-one, forming and casting each Spell.

This limitation could be sped up in a few ways, though. As I mentioned before, there was always practice. The more I cast Ray of Frost—or practiced my Spellcasting in general, for that matter—the more  quickly I’d be able to push my Mana into that familiar pattern. However, just like how increasing my physical Stats could make my body move faster, increasing Conjuration could help my mind move faster when shaping Mana.

At its new value of 100, my Conjuration was certainly helping me cast my Spells at record speed, but it didn’t seem to be enough to cast enough Rays of Frost to kill a Hellion in the little time they stayed above-ground.

At least, it wasn’t enough to kill them without me putting in some effort to keep them above-ground against their wills.

With Erani still helping to hold back the Infernals, I could focus for a bit more time on fighting off these Hellions below me.

And there were multiple below me. I didn’t need Index to inform me of that. Even after the initial attacker burrowed under the ground, I could still feel a few more, each moving upward toward my feet.

“Now!” Index shouted, and I leapt out of the way just in time to avoid another monster bursting from the ground. It was obviously a new Hellion, without the frost coating of the one I’d just damaged and let go. But for this one, I wanted to kill it while it was vulnerable.

The moment it reached the peak of its arc midair, I activated Gravity Well on the monster, completely ruining its angled attempt to burrow straight back into the dirt. Instead, it fell with a flop onto the gravel, writhing in an attempt to burrow back into the ground under its newly-enhanced gravitational pull.

I didn’t let it escape this time, though. I tackled it, wrapping my arms around the surprisingly-rough skin of the monster, at least as wide as my own waist, and activated Noxious Grasp while also pumping as many Rays of Frost as my mind allowed point-blank into its body.

You have struck Level 17 Hellion for 62 damage using Ray of Frost.

You have cursed Level 17 Hellion with Ray of Frost. For the next 5 seconds, its Dexterity score is lowered by 7.77.

14.2 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 971.

You have slain Level 17 Hellion.

You have earned 94 XP. Your XP is 1.01k.

The moment the Hellion was dead, I backed away from its limp corpse, aware that staying still in any area would only invite more of them to attack. Sure, I could handle one at a time, but the moment several attacked at the same time—or they started coming for me when I was in the middle of fighting off the Infernals—I’d start having issues.

And speaking of Infernals, a few of them were finally approaching. Off ahead of me, I could see Ainash and Astintash rampaging through the main rubble of the wall, killing indiscriminately—whether someone was fighting back or running away, they died all the same, it seemed. But that didn’t prevent some of the Infernals from getting to me, despite Erani’s best efforts.

Trying to split my attention between the approaching Infernals and the Hellions below me—Index’s warnings helped a lot with that—I cast Crippling Chill on any of the Demons that got near and prepared to start using Rays of Frost to focus them down. From what I’d seen with Erani’s Firebolts, it seemed like the Infernals had taken quite a bit of damage already from Astintash’s landing, so they wouldn’t be quite as tanky as I knew them to be.

There were about six Infernals all coming at me that I needed to deal with here, and so I picked one at random to try and kill first. The one closest to me, I decided, was going to die. I raised my hand and shot off Ray of Frost after Ray of Frost at the monster as I backed away, trying to keep my distance between me and the group.

That distance could only last so long, though, and soon enough the Infernals caught up to me. With a crowd of so many of them, there wasn’t much I could do to delay them from reaching me while also dealing damage to them. Gravity Well could’ve worked, sure, but keeping it active on six separate enemies would drain my Mana fast—even with Ethereal Armor’s discount.

But still, with Expedite active on me, I wasn’t as helpless in close-quarters combat as I used to be. The Infernals swung open-handed at me, trying to catch me in a grab, but I bobbed and weaved between their strikes, angering them further.

And the moment I saw an opening in the posture of the one I was targeting, I struck. Diving straight into it, using by boosted Dexterity and the natural Strength I got from Recursive Growth to drive my body straight into its and push it to the ground, where I lay on top of it.

In the little time I had, I activated Noxious Grasp and cast Rays of Frost right up against its face, trying to take away as much of its Health as possible.

You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 24 Infernal.

You have earned 199 XP. Your XP is 1.22k.

Within a few seconds, it was dead, and I instantly moved on to my next target. I spun around and leapt at the next-closest Infernal that was just then reaching down to try and drag me off of its now-dead ally.

While I normally only ever saw Infernals with facial expressions showing some form of rage, malice, or hatred, this was the rare time I saw an Infernal look at me with some other form of emotion. In the moment when I pounced on it like a predator to its prey, arms out and ready to keep Noxious Grasp draining away Health, my new victim looked at me with fear.

It made sense, I supposed—while the Demons as a whole were an oppressive group of dictators, treating the Overworld like their playground where there were no consequences, the individuals probably felt a decent bit of fear when a Dragon crashed through their secure based and now there were a couple of ravenous Humans tearing through their soldiers alongside a couple of bloodthirsty monsters. Even if the Infernals could survive death up here, I had no doubt they’d rather avoid it. Really, it almost made me feel bad for them.

Almost.

I crashed into the Infernal’s body and threw it to the ground, too, with the help of a pulse of Gravity Well to throw it off balance. Its head slammed into the rocky path below us, and I turned around while straddling its muscly, deformed body to shoot Rays of Frost at the other few Infernals that were still trying to kill me.

The bright Rays impacted their faces and temporarily blinded them with a flash of icy pain across their faces, buying me a bit more time with my primary target.

“Arlan, another Hellion!” I heard Index shout.

I was still atop the Infernal’s body, so for a second I was confused.

Index must’ve picked up on that, though, because it continued, “Judging from the trajectory, it looks like the Hellion’s gonna come up straight through that Demon’s chest to try and hit you from below.”

Ouch. Sacrificing their own soldiers just at a chance at killing me? Seemed like they didn’t like this one’s chances at surviving being pinned down by me. Not that I disagreed with the assessment. But yeah, maybe now it was appropriate to feel bad for the poor Infernal.

“Three, two, one…” Index counted, “now!”

I leapt off of the Infernal’s chest just in time to be splattered with a warm, sticky liquid all across my back—along with a healthy number of chunks.

You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 27 Infernal.

You have earned 213 XP. Your XP is 1.44k.

I turned around and saw just about what I’d have expected from what I’d just felt. A Hellion was in the process of bursting through the ground, straight through the corpse of my now-dead enemy. It was still in its arc, headed toward the direction I’d dodged in, so I stepped back to avoid the blood-and-guts-covered beast from landing with its mouth around my head.

But in trying to dodge out of the way of the Hellion, I also opened myself up to attack from one of the Infernals—it was getting difficult to keep track of where they all were, at this point—and it swung its fist at me from behind, catching me by surprise and knocking me across the battlefield.

You have been slammed into something. 20 damage.

Your Health is 61.

Coughing, I moved as quickly as I could to get back to my feet. Damned Infernals, always outnumbering me. I felt like I really thrived in battle when it was one-on-one. Since when did they just get to throw as many Demons as they wanted at me? Wasn’t fair at all.

Well, I supposed I was the one who brought a Dragon into the fight, so maybe I wasn’t playing totally fair, either. Not to mention Ainash, who still seemed to consider it her sole purpose in life to kill the “bad guys.” I was constantly getting notifications from her slaying random enemies—2 XP here, 3 XP there—which was good. At least, it was good she was still alive and well enough to keep killing things.

Erani shot a Firebolt from behind the Infernals—who were now effectively sandwiched between us, unable to fully focus on one or the other—and blasted a couple of them off their feet. She had enemies of her own to deal with—Infernals that decided she’d be a nice and squishy target, or Hellions that strayed from the main battlefield to track her down—but it seemed like she found the time to assist my side of the battle every now and then.

In the Infernals’ moment of weakness, I charged forward with a barrage of Rays of Frost to accompany me. The Spells beamed into them, flooding my mind with damage notifications about all four of the remaining enemies as they were riddled with freezing patches of ice covering their skin.

My Mana was beginning to feel the effects of the fight so far, threatening to pass below 500 as I shot Ray after Ray at them, but with the group of Infernals only growing weaker by the second—and with them already having lost a third of their numbers—I was able to take down one more, then another, until there were just two Infernals left.

You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 22 Infernal.

You have earned 178 XP. Your XP is 1.63k.

You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 26 Infernal.

You have earned 207 XP. Your XP is 1.84k.

I stood against the two, now close enough that I couldn’t safely focus on just casting Rays of Frost.

Just as they prepared to attack, I heard Index’s voice again, “Two more Hellions on their way.”

Ducking under the left Infernal’s swipe, I tried to catch my footing and figure out how I’d do this. I felt for the rumbling of the first Hellion, and…

Just in time, I leapt forward, leaving the monster biting nothing but air as it burst from the ground. I wouldn’t have the time—or Mana—to retaliate against it for now, but for now I was just trying to focus on taking down these Infernals.

Which would involve the second Hellion.

When I’d leapt forward to dodge the first one’s attack, I landed right next to the left Infernal’s leg. That was by design. In the follow-through of its previous attack at me, it didn’t quite have enough time to grab me while I was close to it.

And so, right when I began to feel the rumbling of the second Hellion, I leapt away from the Infernal’s leg, leaving it alone to take the brunt of the Hellion’s attack.

The monster bit off a chunk of my enemy’s calf, leaving it roaring in agony as the Hellion took off with its meal—could it even tell the difference?

Either way, I backed away and shot a few Rays at the injured Infernal to finish it off.

You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 29 Infernal.

You have earned 241 XP. Your XP is 2.08k.

Threshold reached. 1.90k XP.

Your Level has increased to 18.

Due to achieving Level 18 in the Minute Mage Class, you have been granted the following benefits:

-You have gained 1 Endurance.

-You have gained 2 Conjuration.

-You have gained 1 Intelligence.

-You have gained 3 Stat Points.

-Recursive Growth has activated. You have gained 1 Dexterity, 2 Conjuration, and 1 Intelligence.

-Soft Cap has increased to Rank 10.

-Time Loop Talent Rank has increased to 18.

-You may choose a Spell to learn.

I tried to push down the excitement of the new Level down and focus on the task at hand. More Stats, an increased Soft Cap, and a whole new Spell were great and all, but I couldn’t use them if I died. I still had one more Infernal left.

It looked at me with a look of anger, like it was ready to tear my limbs from my body just for fun. Its eyes met mine.

And then it looked up, over my head, at something behind me. What was—

“Arlan! Duck!” Index shouted.

I did so without thinking, and a split-second later, a glowing arrow flew over my head, impaling the Infernal straight through the chest.

You have offered minor contribution toward the slaying of Level 21 Infernal.

You have earned 84 XP. Your XP is 267.

I turned to look behind me, and saw the exact person I wished hadn’t shot that arrow.

“That gave me more XP than expected,” Asmo said, bow in hand. She was standing just a couple dozen paces away, with the familiar axe-wielding woman standing next to her. “Do you have some sort of Talent that increases the XP drops of monsters you fight?”

The axe-wielding woman said nothing, simply wearing a snarl like the Infernals I’d seen before. Except the snarl seemed strange—almost fake. Like she was trying to force herself to be angry at me, or maybe she was just conflicted about how to feel. But whatever her emotions were, she wielded her axe all the same, ready to strike me down.

And I was ready to keep them from doing so.

I’d fled from these royal guards long enough. It was time for a rematch.