CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Squires and Novices

  “Power Strike!” Chris roared.

  He swung his bastion-fed steel sword down at the beast with all the strength his right arm could muster—a nothing but air. This beast—a wer twice the size of a rge hare—fpped its wings and flew into the thick opy of leaves above before Chris’ strike could nd.

  ALERT! You have failed to cast [Power Strike]!“It didn’t work y’all!”

  from nearby, Bram thought Chris’ failure was a foreseeable oute. In his eyes, the attack, though executed as if the Texan was a natural at swordpy, had fumbled in its final step—the harnessing of magic to fuel his sorcery. Without it, the result was a clumsy attack that the wer could dodge with the barest of effort.

  “I got the steps down like the Loom gave it, but the darn thing just—”

  The wer dove down headfirst, its sharp antlers aimed at the Texan’s head.

  “Aw, shit!” Chris cursed.

  He raised his kite shield high in time to block the furry beast’s antlers from skewering his face, though the impact of the wer’s dive held such force that it pushed the rger man back a step or two.

  “This goddamned rabbit’s…a tough fel!” Chris pined, sounding a little out of breath.

  “Chris!” Bridget yelled. “Duck!”

  While the Texan did as she asked, Bridget pulled her b taut.

  “Let all dark things be pierced by light…” she ted under her breath.

  Brilliant golden sparks fred to life at the tip of the arrow notched to her short bow.

  “Fiery Arrow!”

  She let the arrow loose, and it flew across the forest floor to pierto the wer’s thick hide, causing the fur on its hindquarters to burst into fmes.

  “Yes!” Bridget whooped.

  The beast let loose an indignant screech of pain that was quickly silenced by Chris swinging his sword down on the distracted wer at a spht behind its long ears. It was a well-timed strike that sent the beast crashing into the forest floor where it y dazed and uo dodge the bde that stabbed its chest a sed ter.

  You have sin a [Wer]!“Doing it normally…gets the job dooo,” Chris said, sounding breathless.

  From ten paces behind him, Bridget raised a fist. “eamwork!”

  Since he was still trying to catch his breath, Chris’ only response was a thumbs up.

  “You alright?” Bridget asked.

  “Fatigue’s a little”—he raised his hand above his head—“up there…”

  “That’s because you keep yelling at the top of your lungs,” she teased. “You don’t have to call out your spell’s name, you know?”

  Chris straightened and stretched his back before replying, “It’s not that…it’s this pce. It feels too real… Besides, y’all do it too.”

  “That’s because it is real. We’re not inside a game,” Bridget reminded him. “And yeah, I yell it out too. Invoking the spell helps me trate.”

  “Good for you… It hasn’t helped me o,” Chris sighed.

  “You try again”—with this encement, Bram traihe light of the sunstone in his hand at a nearby bush—“on that one.”

  It stepped out of the shadows creeping at the edge of their vision and into the spotlight, a gray-furred beast whose red eyes shoh rabid hunger. Antlers protruded from a hare’s head, while a thick e muscuture rippled underh bristling fur.

  Written in bright yellow on the ag that briefly appeared over the beast’s head was [Wer].

  “At least it ain’t e anymore,” Chris said.

  From what the party’s learned of the Loom’s bat system—ohat had only bee avaible after they’d set out on their advehey now khat a yellow tag meant caution instead of the dahat an e tag foretold.

  “Don’t get smug… It still takes two of us to kill one of them,” Bridget warned.

  “I know…” Chris raised his shield. “But we’ve got this.”

  Bridget notched an arrow to her bow. “Yes, we do.”

  Bram, who remained a bystahroughout this enter, watched with a smile as Chris and Bridget stood their ground against a beast that had the strength to kill even trained soldiers of the Leyen barony. It roof that these two otherworlders had improved greatly in the six days siheir party ehe Red Forest.

  Six days…sidering the massive size of the woodnd realm, this was a quick pace of travel made possible only thanks to the ‘oint’ that the of Stargazers had established at certain locations of the forest during their failed expedition ten months ago. Each oint tained a ‘Door of Dimensions’—a powerful spell of the summoning arts that ected two points of varying distaransp Bram’s party from one oint to another, allowing them to reach the Red Forest’s western half in record time. The only drawback was that Bram had to leave Renfri and the other harts behind iargazers’ stables because the magic the expedition had used for their spell hadn’t been calibrated to allow non-humans to travel through.

  Moreover, these six days were a heavy price to pay. With flict brewing on the horizon, time was a luxury Bram had little of. He hadn’t fotten the deadline given to him by the Sn’s court for improving the Kingdom of Lotharin’s ditioe his misgivings though, Atn’s seventh prince reized the merits of accepting the very first quest the Loom had given them on Ravi Samal’s behalf. For with a show of petence, he would earn the loyalty of a capable enough to produce a ‘Door of Dimensions’ whose magic hadn’t withered even after months of .

  “Power Strike!” Chris roared.

  This quest also provided Bram and Rowan with the perfect opportunity to train their new panions in Aarde’s ways of bat. However, it was clear from the way Chris filed around that there was still mu for improvement.

  “Goddamn it!” the Texan cursed. “I still ’t get this spell to work!”

  Perhaps I should bring out the lute, Bram thought, and inspire Chris with a song…?

  Itchy fingers rose to grasp the harness of the lute strapped to his back, but they withdrew just as quickly.

  Yes, he’d brought his lute with him, but he only used it during nights when they camped underh the forest’s red opy. Bram wasn’t a bard on this adventure, and he’d been trained well enough not tet that itting to an act was the key to a successful disguise.

  Besides, there were other ways to ence Chris.

  From his observations of the Texan’s fight, Bram deduced that the squire’s failure to wield sorcery had nothing to do with his swordpy. Chris’ ‘Athleticism’ passive helped him effortlessly perform the three-step movement Ser Anthony had taught him during his brief training with the seneschal back wheherworlders had first visited Bastille.

  “You’re so focused on correg the sword’s path that you’re fetting to el yito the attack… trate!” Bram instructed.

  “It’s a little hard to focus on the inside when”—Chris just blocked the wer’s cws with his shield—“this bastard’s going all berserker on me!”

  “Don’t let it rattle you,” Bram insisted, adding, “trol your breathing — and with every breath, imagine a sword rising from inside you.”

  In his mind’s eye, Bram recalled his st spar with Ser Anthony—remembering with crity what it meant to csh bdes with a swordmaster—and then expihat feeling to Chris as well as he could.

  “Within every warrior’s heart is a bde that seeks release. Draw this bde out with your breath, el it with yic, let it flow out to the tips of your fio sharpen your sword — and then strike with the desire for a killing blow!”

  “Sounds like you wao”—Again, Chris blocked another cw with his shield, saving his ne the process—“create a mental image of a sword while I’m fighting!”

  “Just try it!” Bridget yelled.

  She’d moved to stand beside Bram, leaving Chris to face the wer alone.

  “Alright!” Chris breathed in, but then, “Goddamn it!”

  The wer refused to give him the time. It attacked with reckless abandon, f Chris to stay on the defensive as if it instinctively khat giving him room to breathe would be dangerous.

  Worriedly, Bridget notched another arrow to her short bow. “Should I…?”

  Bram shook his head. “Give him the ce to learn what you already uand.”

  More than simply being skilled with her short sword, Bridget’s talent with a bow—a on she’d never used before ing to Aarde—was so incredible that Ser Anthony had suggested she use it as often as she could. Bridget readily accepted his proposal while admitting that she’d always wao, in her words, “Cospy a Katnize,” which Hajime ter revealed to Bram was the name of the heroine et’s favorite novel.

  “And what is cospy?” Bram had asked.

  “It’s something like putting on a disguise,” Hajime had expined.

  “So, in your terms, does it mean I cospy a bard when I switch disguises?” Bram had crified.

  “Eto,” Hajime smiled sheepishly, “sure, I guess…”

  “Cospy,” Bram had smiled, “I like it. Perhaps I’ll use it myself.”

  “e at me, Rabbit!” Chris roared, drawing Bram out of his musings.

  It took many more attempts and several cerations to his arms and legs before Chris finally mao properly cast his spell. He dodged to the left just as the wer’s aried to pierce the padded leather proteg his chest. Then, with his lead foot sliding forward, Chris raised his sword high, and with butt ched, the Texan roared, “Power Strike!”

  With the help of his new mental image of a sword rising from inside him, Chris didn’t fet to weave the magi his veins onto the tips of his fingers, and the result ectacur finish. Glowing slivers of magic ed around the edges of his sword’s bde just as Chris swung it down on the wer’s head.

  ‘Wham!’

  It was a blow that crushed the beast, sending it crashing into the ground that cracked from the impact of an empowered strike. Blood spurted upward, spshing against Chris’ clothes and his face as if he were a man in the middle of a warrior’s baptism.

  You have sin a [Wer]!“Yippee-ki-yay, mother—”

  “Chris!” Bridget yelled. “Watch out!”

  The Texan had been so distracted by his achievement that he failed to notice the threat ing at him from behind. He had just enough time to look over his shoulder before a third wer struck his back. Or it would have had Bram not arrived in time to save Chris from suddeh. With a single mighty swing of his new bastion-fed steel longsword, the pri down the wer that attacked Chris, sending the beast’s severed head flying into the thick foliage above while its body fell lifeless onto the forest floor.

  You have sin a [Wer]!You earned 30 EXP.ALERT! [Administrator Lv. 1] prevents you from earning job EXP.Bram had seen this message so many times these past six days that it no longer irked him. Besides, he knew he could increase his attributes another way.

  “Sweet Christmas,” Chris said, his mouth agape.

  It wasn’t just the Texan. Bridget also noticed that Bram slew a beast she and Chris had trouble defeating together with a single swing of his bde and that he’d do without sorcery too.

  “A one-shot kill.” Bridget nodded appreciatively. “Remind me…why do you need us again?”

  Bram couldn’t help smiling at the rare pliment. It wasn’t lost on him that he’d beeing more of them since meeting Rowan than he’d ever received in his entire life.

  “Anyone who diligently trains with their sword sy a beast,” he insisted.

  Bram o the east, where, through the space betweerees, they caught sight of the other half of their party. The thick opy above kept the forest floor dark even uhe watchful gre of the midday sun, but the telltale sparks of magic fshing yave them light to see.

  “But against sorcery,” the prince couldn’t help chug wryly, “even a diligent man is little more than a beast with dull fangs…”

  Rowan had been instrug Hajime in the elemental arts of sorcery. However, sihe are novice wasn’t yet profit with his aim, the trickster thought it best to separate him from the others so they could avoid…acts.

  “Form into a fist, o rumblih,” Hajime ted, “and strike down my foe with hardened dirt!”

  Rod dirt flew up to form a rge fist that floated o Hajime’s outstretched wand.

  “Shatterstone!”

  With a flourish of his wand, the boulder-sized fist shot forward and smashed into a wer that had been diving toward him antlers-first.

  The collision didn’t end well for the beast.

  There came the sound of crushing bones and smashed innards, and then Hajime pumped his fists into the air.

  “Yosh!” he yelled.

  Ba Bram’s group, Bridget said, “I might have been hasty choosing to be a squire.”

  “Ain’t that the truth,” Chris weighed in.

  Envy fshed on both their faces.

  “I disagree.” Bram was ing his longsword’s bde with a cloth he’d pulled out of his pack. “Hajime’s spell might be more devastating than yours, but the time it takes him to cast Shatterstone pared to Fiery Arrow or Power Strike makes a world of differen a fight.”

  With his authority as the Loom’s chief administrator, Bram pulled up the status of Hajime’s spell so he could show it to the two squires.

  ABILITY:ShatterstoYPE:Elemental Magic (Earth)TIER:1RANGE:50 FeetCOST:100 MPCASTING TIME:10 sedsDESCRIPTIOe a boulder-sized fist of stone and smash it into your target, inflig elemental earth damage while possibly shattering enemies with brittle forms.BOONS:200% on Damage, a ce to stagger enemies within 2 meters of impact, weakens target’s defense by 10% for 5 seds.COOLDOWN:10 seds“Without Roroteg him, a wer would have killed Hajime before he could plete his intation,” Bram expined. “Also…”

  The prince poio the four small craters close to where Hajime’s wer had fallen.

  “So long as you’re qui your feet and keep Hajime from finishing his invocation,” Bram put the cloth bato his pack, “he would lose in a duel agaiher of you four times out of five.”

  Of course, there were plenty of exceptions to this rule of quick attacks being dominant in a fight like how the armor of a knight of the White Rose had raised a ‘Barrier’ to repel Bram’s attaents before the prince had injured Jasper von Galen with an ented arrow to the neck. Truthfully though, Bram was biased. He favored the squire job more because it rerequisite to advanced professions that he wished to take if only his role as an administrator didn’t bind him to the job.

  The sound of rustling leaves caused the three panions to turn to their left.

  Bridget’s eyes squi the shadows beyond the light of Bram’s sunstone. “What is that…?”

  “I think it’s a tail,” Chris replied uainly.

  They saw a wagging tail with a tip coated ihough its light did nothing to disperse the shadows around it.

  “Seems like we’re doh wers,” Bridget reported.

  The two otherworlders stepped back at the sight of the thick bushes parting to aodate the beast pushing past them. The opy above swayed, causing a great many leaves to fall around the trio.

  “I see…” Bram gnced down at the wer’s carcass and the blood pooling underh it. “You caught the st of lingerih.”

  He gazed forward just as a pair e eyes stared back at him.

  “But these dead belong to us,” Bram insisted.

  The beast stepped forward, allowing the sunstone’s light to reveal its full form. It was a feline of a size that could rival Renfri. There were e spots around its yellow fur, and these spots seemed to sprout with fmes every time the beast took a lumbering step forward.

  Above the giant cat appeared a ag of a bright e color, [Fmetail Leopard].

  Fmes sprouted at the tips of the feline face whose growling mouth was filled with sharp fangs. In respoo its growl, Bram flipped the fmetail leopard the middle finger. He would not be intimidated. Not by any man or beast.

  “Um, Prince…” Beside him, Bridget’s brows were knotting together. “…How are we supposed to fight this monster?”

  “Together.” The prince brandished his sword forward. “We’ll sy this thing together.”

  GD_Cruz