Chapter 95

The girls dashed toward the outskirts of the camp after they fully activated the ward, covering the camp with a flickering dome of crimson energy, ready to destroy any creature that slams to it. Meanwhile, I climbed on top of a large rock, shadows around me erasing me from the view with the help of a nifty little trick I had embedded into the secondary wards, hiding me from the monsters and people alike.

And it immediately proved to be a good choice, because the first thing I had noticed was a huge horde of monster —several times bigger than the one I had taken down during our nighttime adventure with Cornelia— chasing Iomene and the rest of the students.

“Damn, she’s good,” I said even as I watched Iomene dashing fast enough to keep up with the other two students —one of the ranger students was absent— who had been using their fastest speed, their faces red with exertion, their weapons and backpacks abandoned. Iomene, on the other hand, not only still had her backpack and her weapons, but also she had her bow in hand, releasing an arrow smoothly whenever a flying monster pulled off from the group, either directly killing it if the monster was weak, or targeting a soft spot like an eye or a wing tendon to slow them down if it was a stronger monster.

She was impressive when she stretched her abilities to the limit. Also, I was finally seeing the magical features of her bow being displayed after she run out of arrows, sending glowing bolts of energy rather than physical arrows. “Interesting,” I murmured as I tried to decipher the magical nature of the arrows, but failed to do so. The distance was a factor in that of course, but still, I could have detected it easily if it was some kind of elemental or arcana trick.

“Interesting,” I murmured, my curiosity awakening. Unfortunately, as the monster horde closed in, I didn’t have time to pay attention to her, no matter how interesting her weapon was, my attention switching to the nature of the horde.

The horde was several times bigger than the one I had taken down before, the dust cloud they create threatening to drown the horizon. It was clear that, unlike the previous horde I had taken down, it had a chance to grow. Still, the sheer numbers weren’t exactly a threat to a well-fortified town.

Unfortunately, the real problem was the composition of the horde. As usual, most of the monsters were the low-class ones, but still, it had enough creatures above Class Ten —hundreds, as far as I could detect with a glance. The defensive structures of the town could probably hold them for a couple of days, but unless the high-level monsters were taken down quickly, they would eventually result in a breach.

It was a smart approach, I realized as I saw the presence of the horde. After our breach had told them their attack was no surprise anymore —while simultaneously destroying a majority of their cannon fodder in the process— apparently, they decided to follow an extended campaign. And monster hordes were the perfect weapon to be used for that, especially since they just triggered and directed the monsters, rather than actually commanding them.

I suspected that their initial aim was to use them as a blunt instrument against the defenses of the school before following up with their undead army, creating layered chaos, but honestly, their current strategy was better, forcing the school to disperse their forces to defend their supporting towns, exposing the high-level combatants in the process.

It was a sure bet that this horde wasn’t their only weapon.

“Such an interesting method of warfare,” I said even as I frowned. Humanity was already struggling to survive against the ever-growing threat of monsters, a careful reading of the history displaying the negative trend swallowing more and more cities, pushing humanity back despite all the advantages given by the System. And now, a bunch of nobles decided that the loss of even more cities was just an incidental loss in their struggle for power, potentially destroying the most important school for raising combatants in the process.

With a mentality like that, it was shocking that humanity had managed to survive until now.

“It seems that I need to take a more active role,” I murmured. I didn’t know just how many deadly threats we were facing, but I wanted to keep things under control. With that decision made, I started drawing a long string of runes around the ward structure, turning it into a bomb, even as I watched as Iomene and the students stepped into the protective area of Cornelia’s ward.

Only for the monsters to smash against the wards with their full strength, threatening to overwhelm them immediately.

Luckily, the assault triggered several fire spells at once, taking down a nice chunk of the horde, gifting Cornelia with a considerable amount of experience —particularly valuable since as the level difference between us dwindled, I was about to lose my ability to boost her level directly. Still, rather than focusing on the convenience of helping her farm experience, I turned my attention toward the single-minded focus the monsters were displaying to chase Iomene, something outside of their usual crazed behavior.

Just like the previous horde I had watched.

Very suspicious, I thought even as I expanded my senses, and caught the subtle aura of another magic gem, this time an air-natured one. It was on the bag of the surviving ranger, which I suspected that he was aware of. Now that I was examining him carefully, I could see that he was calmer than necessary, and moreover, I was able to recognize the signs of acting. He wasn’t as exhausted as he was showing.

It seemed that I misread the group composition. They weren’t just a bunch of random students, they were a bunch of random students with a spy mixed in.

That particular mystery didn’t take long to solve. “Anton, where is my fiancee,” asked the healer girl panickedly even as the ranger collapsed on the ground, making a show of his exhaustion. However, as he did so, he surreptitiously slipped a dagger into his hand, one with a subtle magical aura that I only noticed because I was focusing on it. And since it was subtle enough to challenge my detection capabilities, it was clearly a very dangerous weapon.

“I don’t know,” answered the ranger, who named Anton. “We split for scouting before the horde appeared...” he started explaining, his tone signaling that he was probably dead. Personally, I doubted it, not the ultimate fate, but the exact way he had died. If the bloody edge of his dagger was any indicator, our little spy seemingly used the opportunity to slip the dagger between his friend’s shoulder blades before baiting the horde. “But don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” he added even as he grabbed the hand of the girl, signaling a rather interesting motivation about killing the other ranger.

I shook my head in amusement, as I watched Anton’s responses, the illogical pattern of attack started to make more sense. It would have been much more logical to trigger the horde when they were closer to the camp, giving Anton the excuse to be the only survivor while threatening the city at the same time, but our spy turned out to be too ambitious. Not only he wanted to get rid of his rival, but also he wanted to do it in a way that would ensure his hold on the healer girl.

I would have called him an idiot, but frankly, I was the last person to blame anyone for trying to seduce someone during mortal danger. The only thing I could blame the idiot was the methods he had used, not to mention his misfortune of trying to employ the trick against someone I care about.

“Cease talking, and focus on recovering,” Iomene ordered even as she sent arrow after arrow outside the wards, while the monsters smashed against the wards repeatedly. “We’re going to move in a minute,” she added before turning to Cornelia. “Can the wards hold on?”

Strength: 41 Charisma: 53

Precision: 35 Perception: 37

Agility: 35 Manipulation: 40

Speed: 34 Intelligence: 44

Endurance: 34 Wisdom: 46

HP: 5370 / 5370 Mana: 5121 / 6600 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [97/100]

Master Arcana [95/100]

Expert Speech [70/75]

Advanced Craft [50/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 20/25]

[Helga - Level 17/21]