Published at 16th of February 2024 2:21 pm

Chapter 45. Trialing A Vanguard

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Professor Wolfhammer increased the number of wolves on the floor from three to five. Fortunately, the canines were about the same size as their ordinary counterparts. However, Nox saw almost human intelligence in their eyes. Meanwhile, the summoned man in wolf skin appeared most threatening of all. He looked like the barbarian raiders from the snowy wastes north of the Imperium’s lands.

When the man’s eyes moved, scanning the opposing party, the wolves’ gazes followed. Nox worried they’d have much greater coordination than a hunter with his dogs. He knew at a glance that their fight would be a challenging one. Going up against them with an unstable vanguard who they barely knew or had fought with before especially concerned him.

“So, how are we doing this?” Annabelle asked. “Is there any point in me going up front now?”

“No,” Ernest replied. Despite his club’s size, he held it in one hand, wielding the weapon like it was a child’s toy. His test swings caused loud whooshing sounds. “My attacks aren’t particularly precise. I’d rather not hurt any of you.”

“You’re not exactly filling us with confidence, Ernest,” Nox said. “You’re an intimidating figure. That much is true, but are you sure—”

“I’ll be fine.” Ernest cut him off. He pointed at a woman on the sidelines using his club. “We’ve got a personal healer if things go wrong.” He looked at Lillin. “You don’t have to hold back with me acting as your vanguard. I have stability wards and spells to resist controlling effects.”

“Are you sure?” Lillin raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been holding back in class. My spells are a lot more potent than you think.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”

They spent a handful of minutes discussing their battle plan and formation. Lillin needed no protection. Her gravity magic made her light and mobile. It also gave her adequate control of the battlefield. The foe would struggle to reach her, and if they did, she’d have little trouble running away. Her attacks were devastating, too. She needed no protection and could function independently on the battlefield, fighting at whatever range the situation demanded.

Meanwhile, Nox—with or without injury—was the most vulnerable of the group. He’d struggle to react if nimble foes like the wolves got close. His defensive spells were useless against physical attacks. He lacked the speed and reaction time to deal with the canines too. He didn’t know what to expect of the hammer-wielding man, but he was undoubtedly dangerous.

Annabelle would need to stick close to Nox, serving as the rearguard. Thanks to her weapons, spells, and sigils, she had the means to combat the wolves from afar or up close. Nox trusted her to watch his back while he sniped their foes and weaponized his stock of essence glass.

The party had no choice but to trust Ernest to serve as the vanguard. He had the size to fill the role. However, the lack of mana signature concerned Nox. However, Ernest was one of the few people in Intermediate Dungeon Studies with delving experience. All of his companions had returned from the expedition alive. Something about him made them want to part ways, but the party had no other melee fighters. It meant the man had done his job well.

Once all party members were in position and ready, the practice battle began. The summoned man raised his hammer and whooped. The wolves surrounding him broke into two groups and ran along the terrace’s edges. Meanwhile, the man raised his hammer and charged at the vanguard.

Lillin targeted the pair of wolves approaching from the right. She released a pair of gravity orbs. They met in the canines’ path, a couple of feet in front of the wolves, and exploded. A humming boom filled the terrace, and the air rippled around the point of collision. It sucked both wolves forward. One somersaulted and landed on its back while the other was yanked sideways. It disappeared over the terrace’s edge.

Targeting the summoned man proved impossible. Ernest’s wide frame kept Nox from getting a clear shot. By the time Nox changed position to get a better angle, Ernest and the enemy leader were too close to safely fire without hitting the wrong person. So, he attacked the wolf Annabelle had already stunned.

Even though the canines appeared ordinary, they were far from it. Nox’s normal mana arrow failed to penetrate deep enough to inflict sufficient damage. The wolf recovered from the gravity orb’s effects and leaped away before the second projectile could hit it. The three wolves approaching from the left were getting close. As a result, Nox had no choice but to change targets while Lillin continued to protect the right.

Without a usable Shaping planet, essence glass fragments proved more useful in Annabelle’s hands. Her slingshot infused them with mana, destabilizing the projectiles as they flew toward their target. Annabelle started with Louis’ fae fire. Nox had it in surplus. The essence inflicted no damage in its raw form. However, the explosion of pink flames sufficiently frightened the wolves and sent them into a panic. Their disorientation made it easy to strike one with several arrows empowered with essence glass. The arrow only pierced the creature, but the conjured shards shredded hide and dug deep into the flesh.

A second charged projectile from Annabelle’s slingshot struck the wolf. It inflicted little damage but created a little shockwave. The force pushed it off the terrace while knocking the other two down.

An angry scream demanded Nox rip his attention away from the remaining wolves on the left. Unfortunately, the pair had already recovered and were speeding toward him. As a result, he couldn’t afford to look away and support Lillin. He knew that a solitary wolf would struggle to inflict more than surface wounds. She likely suffered a passing scratch or a minor bite. Lillin’s dimensional storage had a surplus of healing pills in her dimensional pocket. If the situation turned dire, she could also use her stored mimic biomass to patch major damage and claim it was an extra potent regenerative elixir. They needed to be careful with such excuses, of course. Overuse would make it too suspicious, and Lillin’s secret would be out.

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The following two arrows missed their mark. The wolves moved in erratic patterns and faster than their ordinary counterparts. Nox had no choice but to create his usual defense. Instead of infusing with Crystallize Essence, Nox used Slow. He first created a square sheet of mana infused with the cantrip. Then he folded it into an almost transparent pyramid.

Instead of firing projectiles through the pyramid, Annabelle drew her bladed weapon and extended it into its spear form. She adopted a defensive stance and prepared for the approaching beasts.

The wolves flanked the pair, and one leaped at Nox’s exposed right side. It almost froze mid-jump, moving at a twentieth of its ordinary speed through the air. Annabelle wasted no time and thrust her weapon at the beast. The spearhead shone with a silver light as it pierced its collar and disappeared into her chest.

The second wolf ceased its charge. It hesitated, eyes darting between the human pair and its fallen comrade. The brief pause was all the time Nox needed. He dispelled the remainder of his defensive spell, absorbing whatever mana he could, and channeled it into Ratra’s Bow. The arrow contained his cantrip’s essence while crystalline mana spiraled around the head and upper shaft.

Then Nox released his projectile. The arrow struck the wolf’s lower jaw and ripped it free of the skull. Then the crystal shards shredded exposed flesh, bone, and the underside. Instead of spraying blood, the creature exploded into a cloud of smoke.

When Nox and Annabelle returned their attention to their companions, only the summoned man remained. Ernest dealt with him with surprising nimbleness. He ducked and sidestepped swift hammer swings, and the frost collecting on his armor appeared to have no effect. Unfortunately, his club failed to hit its mark too. Nox couldn’t tell which of the two melee combatants had filled the terrace with cracks and craters.

Much to the party’s surprise, Lillin’s gravity orbs did not affect the summoned man. His hammer swings changed the trajectory of the approaching black spheres, making them strike the ground far from him or fly off the terrace. Beads of sweat covered her forehead. It was too early for Lillin to run out of mana, but Nox guessed she was pushing her Manipulation planet to its limits. The discipline demanded a lot more intent-driven casting and likely also drained her mentally.

The tide turned when Annabelle rushed into melee range, and Nox provided support using only Slow-infused arrows. Since the hammer swings didn’t redirect them, he guessed the weapon interfered with Manipulation magic. They barely inflicted any damage or deterred the beast, but Nox refused to waste essence glass. Instead, he focused on interrupting their opponent’s swings and gave his companions opportunities to attack.

Much to Nox’s surprise, Annabelle’s precise strikes and spear thrusts inflicted more damage to the creature than anyone else’s attacks. She struck at gaps in the fur armor. Instead of blood, faint smoke streams rose from the wounds. The summoned man staggered and stumbled just as much as Ernest. Best of all, he slowed. As a result, their temporary vanguard successfully struck his opponent with his monstrous club.

Each strike drove the hammer wielder back a couple of steps or more. As Ernest gained ground, his attacks became surer and swifter. Meanwhile, Annabelle continued her hit-and-run tactics. When Lillin used her gravity orbs, the hammer failed to redirect them. However, she had to use them sparingly to avoid hurting Annabelle. Finally, the Slow cantrip’s effects found a home. The weakened summon lost the power to resist them. It slowed to the point where dodging and redirecting blows was no longer possible.

A spearhead to the knee and leg sweep was enough to drop the beast. Then Ernest ended it by bringing his giant club down in a two-handed swing. The sickening crunch caused no blood splatter. Instead, the skull turned almost gelatinous for a moment, turning into a pile of mush. Then it reformed a couple of minutes later. However, the creature didn’t rise.

“That was impressive,” Nox stated. He offered Ernest a hand to shake. “I’m sorry. I underestimated your capabilities.”

“We work well together,” Ernest replied. “What do you think? Would you be interested in merging parties?”

Nox glanced at his companions. “I have no qualms as long as everyone else is fine with it.”

“No complaints from me,” Lillin said. She had a curious look on her face as she studied the giant man. Nox struggled to read her expression. “You made the fight significantly easier. I doubt we could’ve managed this fight without you.”

“You reduced my load significantly.” Annabelle smiled. “I wasn’t sure at first since we’ve never interacted before, but what better way to know someone besides a fight, right?” She checked with her companions and got approving nods. “Although, I’m curious about your magic. I think it's important we be comfortable with one another. You don’t appear to use any standard spells or auras during combat. My spells are also struggling to get a read on you, which makes me uncomfortable.”

“My star is based around the Minimize spell, and I’ve expanded it to things beyond size and weight,” Ernest replied. His giant club shrank until it was no bigger than a pinkie finger. He hooked a finger under his collar and pulled out a chain necklace, and attached the miniaturized weapon to it. Ernest had a small arsenal around his neck. Nox saw spears, halberds, axes, greatswords, and something that oddly resembled an old airship cannon. “The spell doesn’t work with living entities. However, modified elements of it to function differently on my body.” Ernest looked at Lillin. “That includes how gravity affects me. Moving around with my bulk and weapons is challenging enough already. However, I don’t know how your clustered attack spells will affect me. I hope to extend the minimization to essence effects which deter my movement.”

“That sounds amazing,” Nox stated. “The applications are endless. What—”

“Your explanations don’t help with my concerns,” Annabelle said, cutting Nox off. “Neither my Danger Sense nor Positive Vibe can tell me anything about you. There’s more to you, and I’m afraid we can’t work together unless you elaborate.”

Nox glanced at Lillin for her input. The woman only nodded. He caught a glimpse of Ernest’s eyes as he studied the trio. The man had one blue iris and one golden yellow. Annabelle was right. There was something off about Ernest.

“She’s right. You’re hiding something, and it looked like your former party was glad to see you go. We need to know why.”

“Fine.” Ernest sighed. “Professor Kris said we’d need to be upfront before you agreed to work with us. Let's go somewhere more private. Then we can talk. We believe partying up would be mutually beneficial for all of us.”

“But we’ve got more than three hours of class left,” Annabelle stated, looking for their teacher.

“Professor Wolfhammer will expect us to disappear for a bit. He won’t mind.” Ernest waved them towards the rooftop path leading away from the terrace. “Please. Come."

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