“Zero, head back and start preparing that spell,” Gyra ordered. “That hydra is still our priority.”
“I got it,” Yuki replied and she started jogging back to where her group was. “I’ll tell you when I can start.”
“And that plan!” Gyra yelled. Yuki could hear his grin.
“If I come up with one.”
Yuki reached Akira as the first monsters began to trickle out from the forest. The sound of soldiers drawing weapons and shouting orders at each other rang out over the battlefield as the first monsters slammed into the wall of shields the soldiers had made.
“Yuki, what’s the plan?” Akira asked, drawing her sword.
“You stay with me. Erica, go up and help the front,” Yuki said, locking eyes with her. She gave Yuki a small nod before running into the fray, her spear in her hands. “Yuna. You stay near us and protect when monsters come near.”
“Got it,” Yuna replied.
“What are you going to do?” Akira asked Yuki.
“I’ll need to prepare the spell,” she said. “The hydra isn’t going to be here for a few minutes, so every second matters.”
“Then I’ll make sure nothing interrupts you,” Akira said.
“Thanks.” Yuki turned to the mages that surrounded them and raised her voice. “Mages not with a squadron. Report to me. Now.”
The soldiers answered promptly, running over to where Yuki stood and making a rough line before her. Behind them, Yuki saw more monsters coming out of the forest, the trickle becoming an eruption. A line of ogres was the last thing she noticed before she refocused her attention.
‘I need to come up with something fast. If ogres are in the mix, then rank A’s will probably be appearing soon.’
“Alright, everyone,” Yuki said, clapping her hands. She spoke quickly, but made sure she enunciated each and every word. A lack of understanding from anyone could spell disaster. “I need you all to split into groups. The groups have already been detailed to you. When in your groups, I need you to form a heptagon where each group makes up a point. The order does not matter. Go.”
The soldiers saluted and began breaking off into groups defined by their individual elemental affinities. Yuki spaced each group apart from each other before standing in the middle of the rough heptagon they had formed.
“When the spell starts, I need each group to stand on the circle closest to them,” Yuki shouted, having to raise her voice over the sounds of the screams of both soldiers and monsters and the clangs of metal. “Don’t be worried if you’re confused now. It will be very clear in a minute. Dedicated supporters. Protect us.”
The soldiers acknowledge Yuki’s commands with shouts and nods. With that, Yuki shut her eyes and took in a few deep breaths, drowning out the sounds of the battle raging below the hill she stood on.
[Yuki. There are minotaurs. Plural,] Akira said to her.
‘Any ranged?’ Yuki asked.
[Goblin mages. Nothing worrying. Yet.]
‘Tell Yuna to look out for any ranged. I need you to help with this,’ she said.
[Alright.]
Akira went quiet and Yuki gathered herself.
‘Alright. Let’s do this,’ she thought.
She summoned her mana and lifted a hand, splaying it open. Her arm extended, like she was pushing the air. Then, she recited words in her head that she had practiced saying for days and months.
‘Control. Channel. Focus.’
With each rune she uttered, she drew the character in the air with her mana. In her mind, she pictured the spell. She pictured every line, every intersection, and every symbol. She imagined how the mana would flow within the circle. How it would come from the mages and channel through lines. How it would gather at the center where she stood.
And as she imagined what she needed, her mana answered her calls. It roared out from her, spreading through the air and ground as it followed her commands. She reined it in, stopping it before it ran loose.
Then she opened her eyes.
On the ground, giant glowing lines of mana sprouted out from where she stood, creating patterns on the earth. Surrounding her were seven smaller circles that had one rune emblazoned within them. The soldiers around her hurried to stand in them.
While they did that, Yuki turned her attention to the battle raging below her. Only a few minutes had passed from what she could tell, but chaos that had occurred during that time was immense. The ground was strewn with the bodies of both monsters and soldiers. The lesser monsters all seemed to have been dealt with. The lesser soldiers as well. Trolls, ogres, and minotaurs roamed the battlefield, roaring as they swung at the soldiers that stood below them.
Yuki located Erica immediately. She was fending off a group of trolls on her own, slashing and thrusting about with her spear. From the smile on her face, Yuki knew there was no need to worry about her.
Yuna stood closer to where Yuki was and stood in a small circle of dead monsters ranging from goblins to wolves. She looked ever vigilant, her head turning this way and that way as she looked for any threats coming toward Yuki and the mages.
As for Akira, Yuki always knew where she was.
“Yuki!” Yuna shouted. Yuki frowned, wondering what she had to say. “The hydra! It’s approaching!”
‘Oh. Thank god she can feel these things.’
“Hold your position!” Yuki yelled back. “Tell the Colonel to get his troops to round up the monsters as best as they can around the hydra. But when I do the spell, I need them to get away as fast as possible from the area.”
“Got it!”
“Mages!” Yuki continued. “Channel your elemental mana into the circle. Now!
Yuki took a step back and thrusted her hand out. At her command, the mages around her began to summon their mana and blasted it towards the circles they stood on. The circles absorbed the mana like a hungry sponge and directed the mana into the lines that led to the center of the spell.
“Alter,” Yuki whispered, taking off her necklace and tossing at the center.
The gem that hung on the silver chain of the necklace stopped abruptly in the air, floating a few feet above the ground. The jewel had changed dramatically from the last time Yuki had to use it. Instead of being a swirl of vibrant red and golden brown, it had become a kaleidoscope of colors. Flecks of greens, blues, browns, reds, and yellows were embedded within a case of grey crystal. When the sun touched the jewel, it set off a dazzling display of light.
From Yuki’s investigations, it seemed that the jewel had absorbed the other elemental jewels inside the laser cannon that she had destroyed. She wasn’t sure what it was now, but all she knew was that it could be used to focus elemental magic to a point. That was all she cared about right now.
Below the jewel, a holographic altar made of mana arose from the ground. The rectangular box had intricate designs engraved into its sides with too-perfect edges that lined it.
The altar rested at the center where the channels all intersected at. Yuki watched as the mana being fed by the mages around her gathered in the altar, the designs of the altar lighting up brighter and brighter as more mana was fed into it.
Yuki shut her eyes again and focused on the altar. The mana within it was filling quickly, but she wasn’t certain if it would be enough to kill the hydra. A familiar roar coming from the forest reached her ears. The hydra had arrived.
Wasting no time, she began to usher the mana into the jewel that hovered above the altar. The mana tried to resist, but the jewel absorbed it greedily. With the mana in the jewel, Yuki analyzed it, trying to balance it the best she could. If she messed this part up, then everyone in the battlefield would most likely die from the blast.
‘That would kill the monsters though,’ she thought.
She added mana here and there as the mages continued pouring what they had into the spell. The majority of the mana Yuki had went into maintaining the spell. She used the energy stored within the jewel to help alleviate the stress the balancing and the spell did on her.
Then the mana from the mages slowed to a halt. They had given her everything they had.
With one last check, she opened her eyes to locate where the hydra was on the battlefield. It wasn’t a difficult task to do, finding a giant seven headed serpent that constantly roared and blasted beams from its mouths.
‘The monsters aren’t as close together as I would have liked,’ she thought. The soldiers seemed to have tried their best, but pushing back rank A monsters was never an easy task, especially when the presence of the hydra scared the monsters away. ‘I’ll need to widen the area.’
She locked her gaze onto the hydra and pointed two fingers at it.
“Target,” she whispered.
Mana drained out from her as it rushed to complete her order. The ground underneath the hydra began to glow a soft gold as runes wrote themselves, following the image Yuki held in her mind. The area expanded out until it reached a fourth of the battlefield.
The hydra noticed the magic immediately, its heads whipping about as it tried to locate the source of the spell.
“FALL BACK!” she thundered.
The soldiers scrambled to get out of the golden circle, Yuki holding onto the spell the best she could. But soon the hydra found Yuki, its heads locking onto her. It loosed a roar that echoed through the battlefield, a roar that could only mean one thing.
‘A challenge.’
The sound awoke something in Yuki’s soul, a primal urge to roar back. She bared her teeth in a grin, knowing the hydra could see it. A soft whisper filled her ears, urging her. Telling her to destroy the creature that dared challenged her. And Yuki complied gladly.
“Die you bastard,”1It's italicized since she said it in the runic language. She didn't put any mana into it, so it works just like another language she said, her words coming out in a soft growl.
Then she slashed down with her hand. The sky erupted as a giant beam of mana shot downward like the heavens falling to the earth. The beam struck the entire area of the gold circle, stopping right at the outline, but it couldn’t stop the shockwave that followed that threw every soldier around it violently away.
And the beam kept going. And going. It kept going until all the mana that had been given to the altar had been used.
‘Let’s see how you look, you seven headed lizard,’ Yuki thought.
She released the spells, the altar fading away, the golden circle disappearing, and what was left of the beam of energy dissipating into the air. When the beam was gone, the area that it had struck was a barren wasteland. A wasteland except for one thing that stood upright in the center of it all.
The hydra staggered as it shook its heads. It’s armor had been destroyed in multiple places, its back completely melted. But it was still alive.
It roared again, the sound raspy but defiant. And Yuki grinned.
‘Oh, you still want to play?’ she thought, her blood racing. She flicked her wrists, drawing her daggers. ‘Then let’s play.’
Then, without a second thought, she shot forward, the monster holding its ground as it waited to meet her.
“Zero, head back and start preparing that spell,” Gyra ordered. “That hydra is still our priority.”
“I got it,” Yuki replied and she started jogging back to where her group was. “I’ll tell you when I can start.”
“And that plan!” Gyra yelled. Yuki could hear his grin.
“If I come up with one.”
Yuki reached Akira as the first monsters began to trickle out from the forest. The sound of soldiers drawing weapons and shouting orders at each other rang out over the battlefield as the first monsters slammed into the wall of shields the soldiers had made.
“Yuki, what’s the plan?” Akira asked, drawing her sword.
“You stay with me. Erica, go up and help the front,” Yuki said, locking eyes with her. She gave Yuki a small nod before running into the fray, her spear in her hands. “Yuna. You stay near us and protect when monsters come near.”
“Got it,” Yuna replied.
“What are you going to do?” Akira asked Yuki.
“I’ll need to prepare the spell,” she said. “The hydra isn’t going to be here for a few minutes, so every second matters.”
“Then I’ll make sure nothing interrupts you,” Akira said.
“Thanks.” Yuki turned to the mages that surrounded them and raised her voice. “Mages not with a squadron. Report to me. Now.”
The soldiers answered promptly, running over to where Yuki stood and making a rough line before her. Behind them, Yuki saw more monsters coming out of the forest, the trickle becoming an eruption. A line of ogres was the last thing she noticed before she refocused her attention.
‘I need to come up with something fast. If ogres are in the mix, then rank A’s will probably be appearing soon.’
“Alright, everyone,” Yuki said, clapping her hands. She spoke quickly, but made sure she enunciated each and every word. A lack of understanding from anyone could spell disaster. “I need you all to split into groups. The groups have already been detailed to you. When in your groups, I need you to form a heptagon where each group makes up a point. The order does not matter. Go.”
The soldiers saluted and began breaking off into groups defined by their individual elemental affinities. Yuki spaced each group apart from each other before standing in the middle of the rough heptagon they had formed.
“When the spell starts, I need each group to stand on the circle closest to them,” Yuki shouted, having to raise her voice over the sounds of the screams of both soldiers and monsters and the clangs of metal. “Don’t be worried if you’re confused now. It will be very clear in a minute. Dedicated supporters. Protect us.”
The soldiers acknowledge Yuki’s commands with shouts and nods. With that, Yuki shut her eyes and took in a few deep breaths, drowning out the sounds of the battle raging below the hill she stood on.
[Yuki. There are minotaurs. Plural,] Akira said to her.
‘Any ranged?’ Yuki asked.
[Goblin mages. Nothing worrying. Yet.]
‘Tell Yuna to look out for any ranged. I need you to help with this,’ she said.
[Alright.]
Akira went quiet and Yuki gathered herself.
‘Alright. Let’s do this,’ she thought.
She summoned her mana and lifted a hand, splaying it open. Her arm extended, like she was pushing the air. Then, she recited words in her head that she had practiced saying for days and months.
‘Control. Channel. Focus.’
With each rune she uttered, she drew the character in the air with her mana. In her mind, she pictured the spell. She pictured every line, every intersection, and every symbol. She imagined how the mana would flow within the circle. How it would come from the mages and channel through lines. How it would gather at the center where she stood.
And as she imagined what she needed, her mana answered her calls. It roared out from her, spreading through the air and ground as it followed her commands. She reined it in, stopping it before it ran loose.
Then she opened her eyes.
On the ground, giant glowing lines of mana sprouted out from where she stood, creating patterns on the earth. Surrounding her were seven smaller circles that had one rune emblazoned within them. The soldiers around her hurried to stand in them.
While they did that, Yuki turned her attention to the battle raging below her. Only a few minutes had passed from what she could tell, but chaos that had occurred during that time was immense. The ground was strewn with the bodies of both monsters and soldiers. The lesser monsters all seemed to have been dealt with. The lesser soldiers as well. Trolls, ogres, and minotaurs roamed the battlefield, roaring as they swung at the soldiers that stood below them.
Yuki located Erica immediately. She was fending off a group of trolls on her own, slashing and thrusting about with her spear. From the smile on her face, Yuki knew there was no need to worry about her.
Yuna stood closer to where Yuki was and stood in a small circle of dead monsters ranging from goblins to wolves. She looked ever vigilant, her head turning this way and that way as she looked for any threats coming toward Yuki and the mages.
As for Akira, Yuki always knew where she was.
“Yuki!” Yuna shouted. Yuki frowned, wondering what she had to say. “The hydra! It’s approaching!”
‘Oh. Thank god she can feel these things.’
“Hold your position!” Yuki yelled back. “Tell the Colonel to get his troops to round up the monsters as best as they can around the hydra. But when I do the spell, I need them to get away as fast as possible from the area.”
“Got it!”
“Mages!” Yuki continued. “Channel your elemental mana into the circle. Now!
Yuki took a step back and thrusted her hand out. At her command, the mages around her began to summon their mana and blasted it towards the circles they stood on. The circles absorbed the mana like a hungry sponge and directed the mana into the lines that led to the center of the spell.
“Alter,” Yuki whispered, taking off her necklace and tossing at the center.
The gem that hung on the silver chain of the necklace stopped abruptly in the air, floating a few feet above the ground. The jewel had changed dramatically from the last time Yuki had to use it. Instead of being a swirl of vibrant red and golden brown, it had become a kaleidoscope of colors. Flecks of greens, blues, browns, reds, and yellows were embedded within a case of grey crystal. When the sun touched the jewel, it set off a dazzling display of light.
From Yuki’s investigations, it seemed that the jewel had absorbed the other elemental jewels inside the laser cannon that she had destroyed. She wasn’t sure what it was now, but all she knew was that it could be used to focus elemental magic to a point. That was all she cared about right now.
Below the jewel, a holographic altar made of mana arose from the ground. The rectangular box had intricate designs engraved into its sides with too-perfect edges that lined it.
The altar rested at the center where the channels all intersected at. Yuki watched as the mana being fed by the mages around her gathered in the altar, the designs of the altar lighting up brighter and brighter as more mana was fed into it.
Yuki shut her eyes again and focused on the altar. The mana within it was filling quickly, but she wasn’t certain if it would be enough to kill the hydra. A familiar roar coming from the forest reached her ears. The hydra had arrived.
Wasting no time, she began to usher the mana into the jewel that hovered above the altar. The mana tried to resist, but the jewel absorbed it greedily. With the mana in the jewel, Yuki analyzed it, trying to balance it the best she could. If she messed this part up, then everyone in the battlefield would most likely die from the blast.
‘That would kill the monsters though,’ she thought.
She added mana here and there as the mages continued pouring what they had into the spell. The majority of the mana Yuki had went into maintaining the spell. She used the energy stored within the jewel to help alleviate the stress the balancing and the spell did on her.
Then the mana from the mages slowed to a halt. They had given her everything they had.
With one last check, she opened her eyes to locate where the hydra was on the battlefield. It wasn’t a difficult task to do, finding a giant seven headed serpent that constantly roared and blasted beams from its mouths.
‘The monsters aren’t as close together as I would have liked,’ she thought. The soldiers seemed to have tried their best, but pushing back rank A monsters was never an easy task, especially when the presence of the hydra scared the monsters away. ‘I’ll need to widen the area.’
She locked her gaze onto the hydra and pointed two fingers at it.
“Target,” she whispered.
Mana drained out from her as it rushed to complete her order. The ground underneath the hydra began to glow a soft gold as runes wrote themselves, following the image Yuki held in her mind. The area expanded out until it reached a fourth of the battlefield.
The hydra noticed the magic immediately, its heads whipping about as it tried to locate the source of the spell.
“FALL BACK!” she thundered.
The soldiers scrambled to get out of the golden circle, Yuki holding onto the spell the best she could. But soon the hydra found Yuki, its heads locking onto her. It loosed a roar that echoed through the battlefield, a roar that could only mean one thing.
‘A challenge.’
The sound awoke something in Yuki’s soul, a primal urge to roar back. She bared her teeth in a grin, knowing the hydra could see it. A soft whisper filled her ears, urging her. Telling her to destroy the creature that dared challenged her. And Yuki complied gladly.
“Die you bastard,”1It's italicized since she said it in the runic language. She didn't put any mana into it, so it works just like another language she said, her words coming out in a soft growl.
Then she slashed down with her hand. The sky erupted as a giant beam of mana shot downward like the heavens falling to the earth. The beam struck the entire area of the gold circle, stopping right at the outline, but it couldn’t stop the shockwave that followed that threw every soldier around it violently away.
And the beam kept going. And going. It kept going until all the mana that had been given to the altar had been used.
‘Let’s see how you look, you seven headed lizard,’ Yuki thought.
She released the spells, the altar fading away, the golden circle disappearing, and what was left of the beam of energy dissipating into the air. When the beam was gone, the area that it had struck was a barren wasteland. A wasteland except for one thing that stood upright in the center of it all.
The hydra staggered as it shook its heads. It’s armor had been destroyed in multiple places, its back completely melted. But it was still alive.
It roared again, the sound raspy but defiant. And Yuki grinned.
‘Oh, you still want to play?’ she thought, her blood racing. She flicked her wrists, drawing her daggers. ‘Then let’s play.’
Then, without a second thought, she shot forward, the monster holding its ground as it waited to meet her.
