Chapter 120 - Sniping

"What now, sir?" Zaos asked.

"Don't ask me," Verkan said. "We are in this bind because of your flash attacks."

"But you brought me here for them," Zaos frowned.

"Relax, I am joking," Verkan said. "Well, we can't retreat now. We are basically the core of our infantry. Can you hit them from here?"

"I don't know…" Zaos replied. "I never tried to hit a target so far away."

The enemy cavalry was five hundred meters away from them. It would be pretty impressive if Zaos's projectiles could cross that distance, never mention, hit them.

"Well, you should try. If anything, we need to make them think twice before dashing at us directly with their cavalry," Verkan said. "We defeated some of them yesterday, but only because they tried to protect their archers. In a direct confrontation, you and I can only do so much."

Even after hearing that, Zaos didn't feel that was a good idea. Revealing his skills while so many enemies could see him was insane. It was much different than using them in front of one hundred mercenaries while he knows that most of them will die and the survivors won't know how to explain what they saw. Still, despite that, Zaos didn't have any better idea… he had to fire his magic projectiles. However, to make sure that few people will realize what he did, he decided to fire the Wind Sword. It was nearly an invisible projectile, after all.

Zaos hid behind Verkan and then began to concentrate. For moments like those, it would be great if he had that bow that he obtained previously. It was a pity that he left the weapon behind, and it was burned down alongside the prisoner.

Before the enemies could finish their preparations, Zaos fired a Wind Sword at the leg of one of the horses. Although it hasn't been a while since he used his spells like that, the speed of the Wind Sword was more impressive than he recalled. However, since that was his magic projectile, he saw it losing speed and decreasing in size after it began to fly for two hundred or so meters. Despite that, the Wind Sword hit the leg of the horse he had aimed. The power couldn't even be compared when he hit targets close to him, but it had been just enough to cut half of the animal's leg and make the creature fall.

"I guess horses don't have much magic resistance," Zaos muttered.

The wounded horse began to scream, and that scared the others when a rider suddenly fell with his mount. They didn't notice any projectile approaching since they were focused on their formation, nor could they see any arrows on the ground.

"I thought your projectiles would have more power than that," Verkan said. "If your range is this big, you don't need to worry about being stealthy. Just focus on causing as much damage as possible."

"Wind Sword is the spell that has the longest range because it is made of wind. It can travel for larger distances thanks to it," Zaos explained. "Any other won't reach the enemies, the fire will lose its power due to the wind, water doesn't have the piercing power necessary, and earth is too heavy."

Aiming at the enemies' heads seemed the best option, but since they were higher than Zaos, his projectiles might miss and hit nobody. The same thing couldn't be said if he aimed at the horses' legs, and so he did it. The cavalry tried to protect themselves since they thought the first attack had been a fluke, but Zaos managed to wound horses with every single one of his attacks. At least half of the time he used magic, he hit an enemy in the first line. However, that didn't last for long. The enemies began to dash toward them again.

"Hold your positions!" Verkan shouted, and once again, the whole infantry obeyed him. "Attack at will, Zaos, and once they get close enough, do that again."

Zaos couldn't see his attacks making any difference in the big scale of the battle, but he obeyed his orders. As the horses dashed toward his company, he hit them with Fire Swords, and there was no need to worry about the range when they were running in a straight line toward him. Despite the armor protecting their head and vitals, Zaos still knocked down a horse with a single projectile whenever he fired. In the end, he broke a new record, and he fired ten Fire Swords and ten seconds… Zaos learned that there was nothing like a real battle to force a man or a boy to improve themselves.

When the riders were fifty meters away from him, Zaos drew his sword and stepped forward to greet them. When the riders pointed their weapons at him, Zaos swung his sword and fired in an arc a wave of flames that engulfed several riders and horses in flames.

"Now!" Verkan shouted.

Zaos didn't notice it, but the infantry was already ready to fight even before he attacked with that… whatever was that technique he used. While the riders were burning, Verkan and his men proceeded to finish them off. Meanwhile, the other riders were wondering if it was really wise to dash toward a boy who could bring down fifteen riders and their horses with a single swing of his sword.

Thanks to their hesitation, the morale of Zaos's allied increased and then dashed toward the enemies as if they were missing one hell of a party. Another massive melee started as Zaos was drinking a potion to recover his mana. In the end, it looked like the fighting style he envisioned a few years ago not only suited him, but it was also the most efficient when it comes to magic. Using half of his mana and firing projectiles, he took down ten horses. Using one-fourth of his mana and swinging his sword a single time, he completely incapacitated fifteen men and their horses.