[Maha Jwala]
My calamitous blaze ran through the forest in front of us and devoured the monsters completely, opening up a path for us to resume our journey.
"Charge!"
I ordered Jonah and Shanny.
We quickly ran through the forest, hurriedly making our way to the second row of hills.
Kraaaa….
Rain started to drizzle all over the forest.
Even so, the rain was not enough to put out the firewalls formed through my spell. Otherwise I would not dare call myself a fire elemental mage.
Kekeke!
Howl!
[Goblins Lv.3 x12] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x7] [Direwolves Lv.4 x3]
A few monsters broke through the firewall surrounding our path and formed a blockade right in front of us.
Understanding their roles, Jonah and Shanny ran ahead of me.
Ping! Ping!
Clang! Clang!
The goblins archers tried to shoot us with their crossbows but the arrow bolts were intercepted by Shanny's shield.
While the goblins were reloading, Jonah used this chance to grab his throwing spear and launched it, spearing three goblins at once.
['Jonah (★)'s Spear-throwing has levelled up to level 3!]
Using their tremendous power and overwhelming speed, the two broke through the monsters' blockade and wreaked havoc upon the enemies.
Slash!
Pierce!
Like trampling on twigs, Jonah and Shanny swiftly struck the monsters down.
These enemy numbers and strength were nothing to those two after clearing the lower floors many times.
Kekeke!
[Goblins Lv.3 x49] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x38] [Direwolves Lv.4 x23]
More monsters were approaching us from all corner of the forest.
Jonah, Shanny, and I picked up our pace running ahead.
We soon reached the end of the fiery trail.
It was time for me to cast another fire spell.
Crack! Boom!
A loud thunder resounded above us.
Right then, a heavy rain poured down on us, barraging the entire forest with pebble-sized droplets.
I wasted no time to cast my spell.
[Maha Jwala]
Boom!
My fire blasted through the thick screen of falling water and opened up another fiery path for us.
Due to the rain, the firewall was not as raging as before, causing more monsters to broke through.
[Goblins Lv.3 x24] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x16] [Direwolves Lv.4 x9]
Just like how they did it previously, Jonah and Shanny prepared to engage the next blockade.
But before they could charge toward the enemies, a loud roar distracted us.
Kraahhhhhh!
We looked back and found the hordes of ogres descending from the hills behind us.
The sight of these legion was not a welcomed one to Jonah and Shanny.
"They're coming!"
"Urgh, couldn't these bastards just stop chasing us?"
I turned my back toward the monsters ahead of us and casted a spell.
[Maha Agni]
A burst of flame weaker than my previous ones shot out from my palm and struck the blockade, tearing their formation apart.
"Don't bother fighting every monster! Focus on breaking through and advancing to the hills! I'll help out!"
I told my comrades.
"Alright!"
"Fine!"
We resumed our charge throughout the forest. All the while cutting down any enemies that tried to stop us.
Thrust!
Slash!
Boom!
Jonah and Shanny were leading at the forefront, striking down the monsters head on.
Meanwhile I stayed on the rear, dealing with goblin archers and other enemies approaching from afar.
Thanks to our haste, we soon reached the end of the fire trail.
Unlike before, we were only halfway to the second hill even after casting two fire spells.
Though the heavy downpour limited our vision around the forest, we could see more enemy reinforcements coming our way.
[Goblins Lv.3 x62] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x47] [Direwolves Lv.4 x33]
Kroahhhh!!!
Meanwhile, an army of ogres were still approaching us from behind.
[Ogres Lv.15 x5679]
"This is insane! This trial really wants us dead!"
Shanny shouted.
"The lower floors are nowhere near as difficult as this."
Jonah added.
"Save your energy for the monsters instead of complaining. I'll make the fire trail longer this time. We won't stop until we reach the hill, understand?"
With the sound of my command, Jonah and Shanny quickly quieted down and readied themselves for battle again.
They took position beside me, allowing me clear space to cast my spell.
If I wanted to create longer fire trail, I would need more fire. To create more fire, I would need to extract more mana from my vessel.
I closed my eyes and concentrated a steady flow of mana to my palms.
Whoosh…
I could feel my vessel opening up further, letting more streams of mana coursing through my veins to the tip of my fingers.
The pure magical energy was then converted to fire particle per particle on my palms.
Once the converted mana had formed into a spinning bundle of fire, I unleashed it.
[Maha Jwala]
A high pitch noise resounded before me as my fire collided against the air.
The ball of flame burst forth into a blazing trail and eradicated a portion of the forest in front of us.
"Move!"
Our three-membered party continued our charge through the forest.
[Goblins Lv.3 x29] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x23] [Direwolves Lv.4 x14]
There were many monsters blocking our path, but we did not falter in our advance.
Heeding my command, Jonah and Shanny stayed close side by side and focused on defeating the enemies that were right in front of them.
They did not bother to fight all the enemies that broke through the fire barricade, just the ones that were standing right on our path.
The monsters that were ignored and left behind tried to give pursuit.
But that was where I came in.
[Mana Shockwave]
A small translucent barrier appeared around us and it exploded into this forceful airwave, pushing back the monsters that were chasing us.
Due to this tactic, we were able to swiftly tread through the forest and reached the top of the second hill.
[Davah Shashanam]
I used telekinesis to create a steep cliff behind us once more. It provided us enough time to catch our breath.
I looked back to the hordes of ogres chasing us and saw them reaching halfway mark of the forest we just passed.
With the rain raging on even stronger, I turned my gaze forward again and examined our destination, looking to see how much farther did we need to go left to reach the shining object.
Three more hills to pass over.
Four more forests to cross over.
Hundreds of monsters more to fight over.
Thousands of giants to flee from.
An ordeal which was only a small thread of our tapestry of nightmare.