From her vantage point above the trees, Professor Farg was burning with envy.
"How the heck can someone so young already be an Awakened one? I dedicated my whole life to the Crown before I was chosen to be turned into a member of the Corpse. Still, I don"t understand why Lady Tyris is so worried about him.
He is just a stupid kid with more power than brain."
Lith"s companions didn"t share her outlook. On the contrary, they were amazed.
"That was Chasing Lightning!" Yurial couldn"t believe his own eyes.
"It"s a War Mage spell! Where the heck did you learn it?"
"From the library." During the past months, Lith had studied many different spells from the various specializations, searching for those that were the easiest for him to imitate.
He didn"t have the time to understand the fake magic principles underlying each magic cla.s.s, so he had focused on the spells that had something in common with his personal ones.
Chasing Lighting was simply the tier four air magic version of his Checkmate Spears spell. The real War Mage"s spell allowed one to mark their targets during the casting of the spell, something that Lith hadn"t been able to do reproduce.
However, being a true mage and making use of his heightened reflexes, he was able to alter the course of each thunderbolt at will.
"Dude, how did you find the time to learn another specialization? Self taught at that? You are crus.h.i.+ng my self esteem!" Yurial was only half joking.
Sometimes being so close to someone two years younger than him who was stronger, apparently more talented, and had a bottomless supply of suprises made him feel quite insecure.
"Less yapping and more spellcasting." Phloria scolded them both.
"You know the saying: "where there is a Clacker, expect to find a hundred more." We need to recharge our rings before they return."
Lith had not used any of his rings, so he just pretended to recharge them.
He used that time to think about the spiders" behavior.
"You are right. This doesn"t make sense. While fighting against me, I noticed they were able to think for themselves. They should have understood their strategy was pointless. Unless they were just buying time!" Lith said.
"d.a.m.n me and this stupid walk!" Phloria cursed at their bad luck.
"Let"s fly out of here." She had yet to finish talking when the ground below them turned into quicksand and tendrils made of earth wrapped around their limbs, pulling them into the ground.
The five reacted in unison, Blinking out of the quicksand. The tendrils were bisected as they pa.s.sed through the remnants of the dimensional spells. The detached tendrils turned back into mud as the spell animating them failed.
"Keep your distance!" Phloria ordered.
"If we group up before finding the enemy position, we will only offer them an easier target. Get ready to Blink again."
Lith activated Life Vision, turning his head around, above, and below before finding their answer. While the group was fighting the wave of small Clackers, a few fully developed monsters the size of bulls had burrowed underground their feet and turned the clearing into a death trap.
The Hatchlings" strength lied only in numbers, but Soldier Clackers were fully developed magical beasts and could use water and earth magic. Not only were they physically much stronger than a Hatchling, but they were also smart enough to not underestimate such dangerous enemies.
They had forced their underlings to act as cannon fodder while they prepared the field to ensure their victory. Even if reluctant to throw away their lives, the Hatchlings had no choice but to obey.
The Soldiers had received their authority from the Brood Mother and she was an absolute being to them. Defying her will meant becoming their brethren"s dinner along with the intruders
"It"s a trap!" Lith was unaware of the Soldiers" plan, but he could see them moving right below their feet.
"They are hiding underground. We need to get out of here!" Before Lith could finish warning his companions, new tendrils of earth erupted from the ground and seized him, Yurial, and Phloria. At the same time, Quylla and Friya fell into holes that opened up right below them.
Quylla screamed in surprise, but Friya had learned her lesson after the failed attempt on Yurial"s life. She kept her cool, Blinking to Quylla"s rescue and bringing her to safety on a nearby tree.
"There are four Clackers capable of using magic below the ground" Solus warned Lith that was still struggling to free his hands to Blink away.
"Their mana cores are only bright green, but their physical strength is on par with Protector when he was still a Ry. They only need one hit to kill a normal human."
Lith nodded, using brute strength to break free from the constraints. He used water magic to freeze the tendrils restricting his companions. The spell wasn"t powerful enough to completely block them, Lith couldn"t risk freezing his allies to death in the process.
Yet he managed to slow the tendrils enough for Phloria to cut them down, freeing herself and Yurial, allowing them to Blink away. Lith followed their lead, but the trees they had taken cover on started to tilt.
Two Soldiers were uprooting them with earth magic, while the other two generated a hail of ice shards as thick and long as an arm to prevent their prey from running away.
The group Blinked again to safety, but their mana was about to run out. They had gone all out during the previous fight and Blink was a very mana expensive spell.
"d.a.m.n! If we try to fly away the shards will skewer us, but if we keep hiding behind the trees, they"ll just uproot them again. How the heck can they see us from below the ground and how do you manage to do the same?"
Quylla was racking her brain to find a solution to their predicament, but there wasn"t much they could do while the enemy remained hidden. She used an earth spell, opening a hole in the ground and partially revealing one of the Clackers.
"On my mark attack my position with everything you have." Lith yelled jumping down the tree, near the now visible Soldier. His companions immediately understood his intentions and would have liked to curse at his madness or at least try to stop him.
However, their situation was desperate enough to force them to save their breath for chanting their spells.
"Mark!" Lith used Switch as soon as he touched the ground and was replaced by a stupefied Clacker.
The Soldier was still trying to make heads or tails of its situation when two lightning bolts struck it. Thanks to his natural affinity with earth magic, the creature had instinctively protected itself by using fusion magic, so it wasn"t fatally wounded.
Yet the shock had been strong enough to debilitate it, leaving the Soldier paralyzed. Phloria and Friya exploited the opening to jump on its back swords first, piercing the Clacker"s head and body with their blades until the hilts bounced on its keratinous exoskeleton.
The Soldier fell on its side, its long legs scratched the air in agony until the creature stilled.
Meanwhile underground, Lith could see thee nearest Soldier"s eyes glow in the dark, all eight of them.
"It"s channeling earth magic, so it must have achieved some kind of Earth Vision. Maybe they can track their prey by following the vibrations produced when they move along the ground." Solus pondered.
"I don"t know and don"t care!" Lith replied. He could finally go all out, making Solus turn into her glove form. Her stone claws boosted by fusion magic allowed him to easily pierce through the Soldiers" magically hardened bodies.
The Clacker barely had the time to notice its companion"s disappearance when it spotted a small figure bolting at it in the darkness. His eyes were glowing with the yellow energy characteristic of air magic, all seven of them.
Lith"s head had become a black slate with seven eyes burning with rage and mana. Two new pairs of eyes had appeared, one above and the other below were humans" eyes were supposed to be.
The seventh was a vertical slit opened in the middle of his forehead.
The Clacker was forced to change the target of its spell. It had been conjuring a stone pillar to uproot the tree its prey was hiding behind, but now he used it to try and stop its attacker. Lith sneered in the dark. He could see the spell"s mana flow and only needed a side step to avoid it.
The stone pillar crashed into the ceiling of the cave, filling the air with dust.
The Clacker was shocked, but it kept the presence of mind to avoid casting another spell, Lith was already too close. It spat acid in front of itself instead. The enemy was too close to dodge it, so the Soldier charged forward infusing itself with earth magic to exploit the opening that was about to be created.
However, Lith had seen that trick countless times and was ready for it. He froze the acid while it was still in mid air, making it harmless before slapping it aside. Lith shoved his right hand into the Clacker"s still opened maw, releasing a fireball.
The explosion emitted only a m.u.f.fled sound. The Soldier"s exoskeleton buffed by earth magic was strong enough to withstand the hit. Alas, its internal organs were not.
The creature collapsed without making a sound, leaving the last two Soldiers standing almost scared witless. One decided to run away to alert the rest of the Brood of the impending menace, while the other stood its ground, to buy as much time as it could against the incoming monstrosity.
It decided to make use of the confined s.p.a.ce combined with its superior physical prowess to charge at the enemy with its own body hardened to the extreme, giving him no s.p.a.ce to dodge.
Lith did the same, leaving spells aside and willing to test his body against a magical beast. The two clashed at full speed, Lith"s arms against the Soldier"s frontal legs. The spider was bigger and heavier, but Lith was empowered by more than one element.
The Clacker found itself sliding backward, using the remaining six legs to hold on the ground to avoid tumbling while the frontal ones cracked. Its exoskeleton shattered in multiple points.
Lith was forced to stop and his arms cracked too, but they started to heal the same moment they were damaged. He gritted his teeth and ignored the pain, charging again with renewed fury.
Lith grabbed the injured frontal legs, ripping them off and driving the creature insane with pain. Its head was now exposed, so the Clacker used earth magic to conjure tendrils of earth to protect itself.
Before they were fully formed, Lith had already grabbed the Soldier"s head with both hands, flooding it with darkness magic that weakened it until it popped like a balloon. Lith threw the carca.s.s aside, chasing after the last enemy.
Once outside, he saw that the Soldier hadn"t gone far. Even if they were running of fumes, his companions knew that if the magical beast managed to escape it was likely to come back with reinforcements.
They had surrounded the Clacker and were slowly wearing it down with their teamwork. None of their attacks were strong enough to kill it, but they prevented it from escaping or focusing on a single target.
Whenever the Soldier attempted to attack, those at its back and sides would strike it with spells or swords, interrupting its spellcasting or making it stumble. The creature was already mad with fury. Its retreat was cut off and all of its attacks were mercilessly foiled one after the other.
When the Clacker perceived Lith closing in via Earth Vision, desperation forced its hand. The Soldier infused itself with earth magic to the brim and charged forward disregarding its safety.
Phloria chopped off one of its legs, Friya opened a gaping wound on its back, while Yurial released all the spells left in his rings blowing away two of its legs and making the Clacker lose momentum.
Only thanks to the combined a.s.sault did Quylla manage to avoid being pierced through her heart and instead took a front leg through her shoulder. The Clacker was mortally wounded, but it refused to surrender.
It threw away Quylla"s body and tried to recover its balance to continue escaping. A b.e.s.t.i.a.l roar resounded, shaking the forest.
"Not another one!" Phloria cursed. "Is our bad luck never going to end?"
She turned towards the source of the sound, discovering that there was no new enemy incoming, only a blur that she managed to identify as Lith thanks to her training.
The sight of blood, seeing one of his companions apparently mortally injured had brought him back to the night Protector had died. The sun was still high, so the shadows surrounding his body were reduced to a thin fog.
Lith was surrounded by a red glow, like there was a fire inside him ready to set everything ablaze. Despite his killing intent wasn"t aimed at his companions, it was strong enough to make them feel a cold s.h.i.+ver running down their spines.
Yurial and Friya ignored the feeling, rus.h.i.+ng to Quylla"s side. The former checked she wasn"t poisoned while the latter treated the wound.
Phloria realized that despite having fought side by side several times, this was her first time witnessing a truly enraged Lith. During the second exam or the ambush, he had always remained calm and collected.
Between the fog, the red glow and his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with unknown power, Lith looked scarier than anything she had ever fought.