Chapter 169: Flamme's First Battle
"I understand!"
Flamme's eyes flew open. Though there was still a hint of nervousness in them, it was now overshadowed by a newfound resolve. She raised her staff and began to cast her spell. An invisible wave of mana, from the detection spell he had invented, spread out from her, and with it, she could sense the position of her target in the chaotic battlefield below.
Her gaze locked on to a flying monster that was in a dive, about to drop a fireball on a group of dwarven warriors. Now.
She pointed her staff, and a surge of mana flowed from it. The staff was one that Rhodes had had made for her. For an apprentice, a staff was an essential tool. One day, when she was as strong as Serie, she might not need it anymore. But for now, it was a vital part of her magic.
Three spears of light, faster and brighter than ever before, appeared in the air. They did not fly straight, but in a subtle arc, as if anticipating the monster's flight path, and with the guidance of her detection spell, they ignored all the other chaos of the battlefield and shot towards their target with unerring accuracy.
The monster, as if sensing the danger, let out a sharp cry and beat its wings, trying to dodge. But the spears were locked on. No matter which way it turned, they adjusted their own course. In that moment, the detection spell, the light spear, and the tracking spell... they all merged into one, a perfect fusion of magic.
Thump.
The sound of an arrow piercing flesh. The monster froze in mid-air, its chest and head now riddled with holes. It did not even have time to cry out before it fell from the sky like a broken kite, crashing into the horde of monsters below and causing a wave of confusion.
She had done it.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, so hard she could feel it in her throat. It was the first monster she had ever killed. And she did not feel sickened, only a sense of an exhausted elation, a disbelieving excitement. She had really done it.
"Well done, Flamme! Keep going," his praise came, timely and reassuring.
"Don't just stand there! Keep going," Serie's voice followed. She hadn't even looked back to see the result. She was already in motion, a small, white blur, streaking towards a massive breach in the city walls, where dozens of monsters were pouring in, clashing with the dwarven warriors.
She raised a slender finger and, with a flick of her wrist, a terrifying shockwave of pure magical energy, an invisible hammer, slammed into the tide of monsters.
BOOM—!!!
A deafening explosion that drowned out all other sound. The rubble and the dismembered bodies of the monsters were all swept away in the blast. The breach, which had been a bottleneck of writhing, screaming creatures, was now a gaping, empty hole, and all the monsters within a dozen or so meters of it were gone.
The dwarven warriors, who had been fighting for their lives just moments before, now stared in stunned silence at the small, white figure hovering in the air above them. They quickly snapped out of it and began to clean up the few remaining monsters that had managed to get through.
Flamme was also stunned by the sheer power of the blast. Is this... Teacher Serie's true power? It was a complete and utter rout. There was probably not a single monster in the world that could stand against her. As for the demons... she didn't know. She had never seen one.
And at the same time, she saw the faint smile on her teacher's face. She... enjoys this? She didn't dare to dwell on the thought and raised her own staff once more.
The fear was gone now. She quickly locked on to her next target, two flying monsters this time, and six spears of light shot from her staff, three for each, and they, too, fell from the sky.
She fell into a rhythm, her spells flowing from her, one after another, and the sky was filled with the rain of her light, a rain of death for the monsters. Her casting speed increased, and she did not let up. But the cost was a heavy one; her own face was now beginning to turn pale.
But her attack was working. The flying monsters were in a state of chaos, their own assault now a disorganized mess. The pressure on the dwarves on the walls was greatly reduced, and they, seeing the spears of light in the sky, and the small figure in the distance, began to cheer. "Well done, Lady Mage!" Their morale was now soaring.
She heard their cheers, and a new warmth spread through her. She was not alone. Her magic... it was really protecting people.
Just then, one of the larger flying monsters, as if enraged by her constant attacks, let out a deafening roar and, abandoning its original target, it beat its massive wings and shot towards her with a terrifying speed. It was a spellcaster. A ball of a highly-condensed green energy was forming in its gaping maw.
"Use your magic!" Serie shouted from the distance. She was busy with another group of monsters and couldn't get to her in time.
Flamme's pupils constricted. It was too fast. A wave of a primal, paralyzing fear washed over her. She couldn't cast her spell in time. Should I dodge? The thought was dismissed as soon as it came. She couldn't possibly outrun it. A barrier? But could a hastily-erected shield really stop such a powerful attack? She didn't think so.
Her mind went blank. She had even forgotten that he was right beside her, that she had nothing to fear.
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