TBATE Volume 7

by Divergence (epub)

  I launched a dozen fire arrows with a swing of an arm. The streaks of fire spread out before converging back into a single target directed at my bond.

  Before my attack landed, a shimmering barrier of light enveloped Sylvie, covering her in fire and dust from the ground around her.

  “Try to create individual panels to block each projectile,” I barked out, sending out another wave of fire arrows.

  Sylvie’s brows knit in concentration as she managed to conjure a large sphere of pure mana from her palm that separated into multiple panes to block my spells.

  By then, though, I had already closed the distance between us and had the broken blade of Dawn’s Ballad pressed against her arm.

  However, rather than flesh, my blade had met a patch of black scales that appeared from beneath her skin.

  Despite my attack’s failure, Sylvie seemed to have been genuinely surprised by my follow up.

  I sheathed my broken sword back into its scabbard and gave my evaluation. “Your control over pure mana is excellent and considering how dense your spells are, it seems your mana reserves are quite big. Your innate body provides good physical defense even if you are a bit slow.”

  Although Sylvie held in her smile, I could tell through our bond how proud she was feeling.

  “Still, I don’t think your attacks are strong enough to threaten retainers and scythes,” I continued. “What else have you noticed about this form compared to your draconic form?”

  Sylvie thought for a moment. “My innate defenses are a bit weaker in this form. You held that strike back but if you had attacked me seriously with Dawn’s Ballad, I would’ve lost a limb.”

  “Good to know.” I nodded. “Anything else?”

  “My control over mana is better in this form, but my dragon form allows me to utilize more of my mana in a single breath—albeit a more unrefined form,” my bond explained, twirling several orbs of mana around her hand as if to emphasize her point. 

  “I see,” I muttered taking a few steps back. “There are a couple more things I want to test out, Sylv. Can you conjure a square pane in front of me?”

  I could feel her curiosity flare up but I hid my intentions from my bond.

  With a twitch of her wrist, the spheres of mana that had been orbiting her hand shot out and converged into a bigger orb before flattening out into a flat square.

  “Keep it stable,” I ordered, reeling my fist back.

  I punched Sylvie’s panel of mana and while it trembled from the impact, it stayed where it was.

  “What about distance? How far can you conjure a spell and keep control over it?”

  She didn’t answer, instead, she stretched out a hand and willed the panel of mana that I had just punched away. The spell changed into a spherical form as it hurled toward the back wall of the room. Sylvie then closed her outstretched hand into a fist, suspending the orb in midair.

  “Move it left,” I ordered, concentrating on the shining orb.

  Upon Sylvie’s direction, the orb easily darted left and stopped just before it hit the wall.

  I gave another order. “Bring it back, change the shape of it into an arrow.”

  I led Sylvie into a series of exercises, gradually adding more orbs and having her manage them until there were ten orbs, five of which I had instructed Sylvie to change into a flat panel. By the end of the drill, Sylvie was sweating profusely, but I had a pretty good idea on how we were going to coordinate in battles.

  ***

  Four days had passed in the blink of an eye. I spent the majority of the day in the training grounds, drilling with Ellie and Sylvie until the two of them were mentally and physically drained. It was a great change of pace for myself as well and I felt my control over my white core steadily improve. While Sylvie had yet to ‘unlock’ more of her abilities hidden away in her core, and we hadn’t had the chance to attempt at any sort of coordinated fighting together, she and my sister had still improved greatly under my scrutinizing tutelage. After our morning drills of target hitting for my sister and multitasking with ten or more mana spheres for my bond, we took a break.

  Sylvie, Ellie, Boo and I rested near the grassy patch beside the pond, eating the sandwiches brought to us by a hulking woman that was apparently a chef inside the castle.

  “Hey, Art,” my sister called as she absentmindedly picked the vegetables off her sandwich. “What would you say are the biggest drawbacks of fighting using pure mana? From what I’ve seen while you and Sylvie were practicing these past few days, her spells seemed really versatile, even against all of your elemental attacks.”

  “Stop picking them out and just eat it,” I chided, gently slapping her hand. “And to answer your question, I can think of three big reasons why most mages prefer to use magic of their elemental affinity rather than just pure mana spells. First reason is that it uses up a lot of your mana reserves.”

  “More so than elemental spells?” Ellie interrupted.

  “Pure mana can only come from your mana core, which—as you know from experience—is often time consuming to gather and purify. Elemental magic also uses mana from your core but it’s also powered by the ambient mana that consists of all of the elements,” I explained.

  Ellie’s brows furrowed as she tried to wrap her head around the concept. “I’m not sure I follow.”

  I thought for a moment, trying to come up with an appropriate analogy. “Ah, so it’s kind of like this. Imagine I’m on top of a snowy hill and I’m trying to hit you, who’s at the bottom, with a snowball.”

  “Why am I the one getting hit?” she frowned.

  I looked at her with a deadpan expression. Sylvie chuckled beside me as she tossed a sandwich to Ellie’s drooling bond.

  “Okay, okay. Please continue.”

  “A mage using elemental magic would first make a snowball with his hands but instead of just throwing it, he would roll it down the hill so that the snowball picks up more snow from the ground. By the time it hits you, we’ll say the snowball turned into the size of Boo,” I continued.

  Boo let out grunt upon hearing his name but quickly turned his attention back to Sylvie, who was the only one feeding him.

  “Now, a mage using a pure mana spell of the same ‘power’ will have to make the snowball and pack it with more and more snow until it’s the size of Boo before throwing it down at you. See the difference?”

  “That sounds like a lot of work,” Ellie admitted. “Okay, what are the other reasons?”

  “It’s harder to effectively control pure mana once it’s been expelled from your body, and”—deciding it’d be easier to just show her the last reason, I willed a field of stone spikes to shoot out from the ground a few dozen yards from where we were—“unlike what I did just now, pure mana spells must originate from the caster.”

  Just by looking at my sister, I could see that the proverbial light seemed to have lit up in her head.

  “Anyway, since we’ve taken a break, why not continue a little longer?” I suggested, getting up.

  “Yes!” Ellie agreed, bolting up as well. “Hey Sylvie, can you do what you did earlier and make those moving panels? I want to try to hit them!”

  “Sure,” My bond smiled. “Shoot some mana arrows off course so I can practice reacting as well!”

  A smile escaped my lips as I watched the two run off when the doors to the training room opened once more. A single guard came running in, and just by his expression, I knew it wasn’t good.

  Sylvie and Ellie’s eyes followed the guard that stopped in front of me and saluted before speaking.

  “General Arthur! News of a massive corrupted beast horde has come from the Wall. Commander Virion is currently waiting for you in the dock with a team of mages to go with you as back up.”

   

  Chapter 208: Enemy Territory II

  CIRCE MILVIEW

  Alacryan

  “Please… Maeve! I need a break,” I begged the caster in between ragged breaths.

  Loo
king behind me, I saw Cole just a few paces away running desperately to keep up with us. Suddenly, Maeve, who had been pulling me by the arm, stopped. I barely managed to avoid colliding with her when she let go of me and pointed up at large tree. “Let’s take cover here.”

  Fatigue weighing down my body, Maeve hoisted me up the tree while Cole barely managed to push himself up onto the lowest branch. The strenuous task of climbing up high enough on the tree to stay hidden took the better half of an hour.

  Finally satisfied, Cole leaned back against the trunk of the tree, her legs dangling in the air. I peeled out of Fane’s oversized silver breastplate so that my sweat-drenched shirt could dry off a little.

  The three of us remained silent, each doing whatever task they deemed more important to them. After eating a few strips of dried meat, Cole immediately set a barrier around us while Maeve cycled mana.

  As for me, I knew what I had to do, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead I turned to where Cole and Maeve were and asked hesitantly. “D-Do you think Fane made it out?”

  Maeve opened one eye—just one eye—but the anger that exuded out of that eye made me wince. Cole shuffled over and sat between Maeve and I so we weren’t in direct eye contact of each other. “Circe. Focus on the mission. Can you use True Sense yet?”

  Cole’s voice was soft and gentle, yet his expression had hardened to a point where he looked like a different person compared to when I had first met him back in Alacrya. 

  I nodded my head and prepared myself, but when I closed my eyes, the scene from earlier today still flashed like it was still happening right now.

  It was all my fault. If I hadn’t gone off from the camp.

  There was no one there when I checked. I just wanted to wash my clothes in the stream.

  I rattled on more reasons in my head. The stream we had passed by was less than a hundred yards from where we were hiding. I double—no, triple—checked using my crest to make sure there was no one within my heightened range of awareness. Throughout our journey, our whole group made extra precautions to hide our trail. We had even dug holes into the ground every time we did our ‘business’ and covered it back up with dirt and foliage.

  So, how? How did I get caught on my way back to the camp?

  If I hadn’t kept my crest active, I would’ve led the elves straight to where the rest of the group was hiding.

  I thought that I was in the clear after throwing them off. I ran for over an hour in the opposite direction before circling back to where Fane, Maeve, and Cole were.

  Still, by the expression on everyone’s expression after I had told them what happened, I knew it wasn’t as simple as that.

  Fane immediately ripped off my outer robe and gave me his silver chestplate for me to wear. Maeve cursed and turned away while Cole slumped, crestfallen.

  I didn’t know what was happening back then. It was only Fane that gave me a gentle smile and said goodbye. The same Fane that had the personality of a poked snake tousled my hair and told Maeve and Cole to protect me.

  Draping my robe over his shoulders, he dropped down from the tree we were hiding in and ran off.

  Confused, I had almost called out after the veteran striker of our team, only to have Maeve cover my mouth with her hand. ‘We can’t have the elves suspecting that someone is out there. Do you understand? That’s why Fane has to go pretend to be you,’ Maeve had hissed into my ear.

  ***

  I snapped back to reality when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Cole mustered a smile and mouthed for me to hurry.

  Gritting my teeth and praying that Fane would survive, I closed my eyes again and ignited my emblem. For a split second, as I felt my consciousness leaving my body, I was tempted to focus my limited time in this form to search for Fane.

  Snap out of it, Circe. The mission. Focus on the mission.

  I navigated through the perception-debilitating fog that was native to this area using True Sense and locked in on multiple elements this time.

  My heart thumped at the sight of the rich ambient mana particles in the distance.

  We’re almost there!

  Unable to keep True Sense active for much longer, I released the spell and let out a deep breath. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw both Cole and Maeve staring at me intently.

  Despite the guilt and fatigue pressing down on me, I allowed a small grin. “We’re almost there. Just a few more days away at our pace now.”

  With my words boosting the overall morale of our small team, we decided to make haste. I put Fane’s silver chestplate back on despite its weight restricting my speed. Without Fane with us as our vanguard, I knew I’d need every advantage I can get. After all, I’ve been drilled enough by my team members to know that everything we’ve done so far would’ve been for naught if I were to die.

  Still, dangerous thoughts of assuming that another sentry would succeed invaded my mind. I wasn’t a hero. I wasn’t like Fane or Maeve that had trained for years to handle these sort of situations. Even Cole, while only a few years older than me, had quite a bit of experience hunting beasts in the scouting teams back in Alacrya.

  Me? I had barely graduated before I was recruited for this mission. A few weeks ago, before stepping through that highly unstable portal into this continent, I was still packing up my belongings in my assigned school housing so I could go back home to my blood.

  Stumbling on a tree root snapped me out of my thoughts. Thankfully, Maeve was able to grab my arm and stop me from actually falling flat on my face on the ground.

  The caster shot me a glare but didn’t say anything. We weren’t running particularly fast and the sun had yet to go down so she knew I just wasn’t paying attention.

  Gnashing my teeth together, I did my best to push away any useless thoughts as we hastened our pace in the direction I was leading them.

  I have to survive. For my younger brother.

  I repeated those words in my mind like a mantra. The great Vritra will be able to save my brother and bless him with magic so that he could lead a prosperous life if I succeed.

  A mental ring that notified me whenever a new presence entered my range of perception roused me out of my reverie. I stopped in my tracks and held out an arm with two fingers to stop Maeve and Cole as well.

  They immediately understood the signal and we immediately climbed up the closest tree. Unable to strengthen my body like Cole and Maeve, I scrambled for the lowest branch. In my rush, my foot slipped on a moss-covered root.

  My head hit the trunk with a dull thud that sounded like an explosion within this quiet forest. I didn’t even care about the pain. The huge blunder that I had caused made my heart drop.

  Did they hear that? Is it over?

  A thousand more thoughts flashed through my mind until I finally noticed the translucent tint around me and the blurred view on the other side of Cole’s barrier.

  Great Vritra, that was close! I breathed, making a mental note to thank Cole for the nice save.

  “Hurry!” Maeve urged while Cole focused on reinforcing his barrier.

  I quickly grabbed the caster’s outstretched hand and used her help to pull myself up onto the branch. My heart felt as if it were about to break out of my ribcage as my breathing grew more erratic, but I didn’t have the time or luxury to gather myself.

  Maeve had already climbed up a few feet higher. I followed close, using the same handholds and footholds she had used to climb up the tree while Cole took the rear.

  The three of us had to be extra careful as we traversed up the giant tree. Going too fast meant that we might shake leaves off the branches which might give away our position.

  My arms ached and my legs trembled, half out of fatigue and half out of fear. I desperately wished my mark had allowed some form of body enhancement but I knew hoping for that now was stupid.

  Finally, Maeve stopped at a particular branch and helped me up. The branches this high up were too thin for all of us to be on one altogether, so we each sat on our own
tree limb and hugged the trunk in order to lessen the burden on our seats.

  Cole, who was about to strengthen his barrier stopped on my signal.

  “I’ll tell you when they’re close enough,” I whispered. We needed his barrier at its full power if they got near.

  The two presences were heading toward us but were still a few hundred feet away. I narrowed the focus of my second crest and with it, I was able to faintly hear the two elves talking.

  “We should head back, Albold. We’ve already strayed far enough from our survey route,” one voice said.

  “Just a second,” the second voice, Albold, replied lightheartedly.

  “You probably just heard a forest hare or something,” the first voice said. 

  “It wasn’t really a sound,” the elf named Albold said as he continued approaching where we were hiding. “It was more like an inkling.”

  “I swear, if you weren’t a Chaffer, I would’ve just left,” the first said. “Either way, it’s good to have you back—quirks and all.”

  “Thanks. Double thanks for promising not to tell our head about this little ‘detour’,” Albold said with a soft chuckle as he continued to lead his partner closer to our location.

  “We can only afford a little detour,” the partner stressed. “That damned Alacryan is still on the loose. How are they even this far up north, anyway?”

  I bit down on my lips but a smile still managed to escape. He’s alive!

  “If I knew, we wouldn’t be out here like this,” Albold scoffed.

  Prying myself away from the perceptions of my crest, I turned to Cole and nodded. He nodded back and tightened his veiling barrier to barely encompass the three of us. Tightening the area of effect strengthened his magic allowed him the spare mana to add two more layers of barriers

  I ignited my crest once more and focused my entire magic on the two elves approaching. They were less than fifty feet away now.

  Please, Vritra, let them just pass like the other scouts.

  I wiped away the sweat rolling down my face every several seconds in fear that the drops might fall down and wet the ground.