Chapter 509 It Worked

Chapter 509 It Worked

Thunderstorm quickly put out the grass fire, and Karl sighed in relief that the skill creation process had actually worked.

"That is absolutely ridiculous. Why was it splitting? Is it supposed to do that?" Dana asked.

"There were Earth Mice. The spell used Chain Lightning to stabilize it, but that made it arc to nearby targets. I think that it's overall a success. The system didn't call it an Epic Grade skill or anything, but if the energy cost is reasonable, it should be one of the most powerful area attack spells that I have." Karl explained.

"Well, it will make Hawk happy, anyhow. Wait, he can use it, right?"

Karl smiled at the panicked look on Dana's face. "Yeah, he can use it. So can Remi."

Ophelia began to laugh, and everyone turned to see what was so amusing.

"I can see it now. Just fire tornadoes all over the battlefield, randomly duplicating every time they get too close to something. It will be utter chaos. Nowhere will be safe, and we won't even be able to work with allies without risking them getting a fire cyclone to the face.

It's both the greatest and most horrific spell that I've ever seen. It doesn't even spare the grass. When you cast a normal fire magic spell, it doesn't target the ground unless it actually lights the target on fire, but those things leave a burnt path as they wander." She explained between giggles.

"I might need a bit of practice with the targeting." Karl admitted.

"But are you even in control of the additional ones? The first one that you created sat in one spot, but the rest didn't."

"Minor technical difficulty. But it's an effective group combat spell. Besides, if there are no extra targets, I can just create the vortex on top of the enemy and make them fight their way out."

Tessa shook her head and began to hang a silk sheet between the wagon and the large boulder beside them, so she could set up a fire pit underneath. It didn't seem like it was going to rain naturally tonight, but the tarp would keep the light contained, in case something was watching.

Lotus grew the firewood to warm the area, while Ophelia and Dana strung out the hammock nets for the evening.

"More slime monsters? They might be mimicking things that they've seen recently." Tessa suggested.

"That is a possibility. Or it might be some sort of spectre. They don't have an internal temperature, but they're much more uncommon." Ophelia added.

Dana looked around in the dark, unable to see much of anything beyond the radius of the firelight.

"There is one more thing that they could be." She whispered.

"The Undead."

Karl looked out at the variety of species, the way they didn't seem to have any animosity for each other or any urge to gather. Combined with the fact that they had just appeared at midnight, but didn't take any proactive actions to do anything but slowly walk in random directions, and it did look like a setup from a horror movie set.

It was too soon to say for certain, but if they were stuck in a zombie spawn, he would no longer be surprised. They had encountered enough abnormal activity since joining the Academy that he wasn't putting anything outside the realm of possibility.

Even if they had been told by those in charge that it wouldn't happen.

The fire had burnt down to embers, but it wouldn't be easy for the creatures to sense anyhow, being surrounded by the tarps to keep the light in.

"I need to check the other side of the rock and make certain that there isn't anything sneaking up on us. Then we can start planning for how to deal with whatever spawn we're stuck in." Karl whispered.

"Fighting in the dark is going to suck." Ophelia sighed.

"If we need to, we can make light. It's better than risking a mistake in the dark. I'll be back in a few seconds."

Karl moved around the boulder to scout the area. If there were monsters close enough to be a real threat, Rae would have sensed them by now, but Karl wanted to see with his own eyes, so he had a clear grasp of the situation.

In the distance, there were hundreds of the same assorted monsters and humans with no heat signature, all wandering aimlessly in the dark. At least nothing had appeared right on top of their group this time. They weren't going to get much sleep tonight, but they weren't in immediate danger.