The moment over, Dante retreated to the back of the formation. Aside from his crossbow, he couldn’t participate in the rest of the battle — though he did keep his eyes open for any other breath attacks. Instead, he reloaded his crossbow with regular bolts and his best to shoot down the smallest Ahsmati.
It wasn’t like his team needed his help anyway. Now that the larger threat had fled, they had fallen back into their old roles with practised ease. Ren did most of the work, resuming her laser attack. She resumed using her summoned lens to difract her beams, striking many of the Ahsmati at once. More resilient specimens received a greater share of the beams until they plummeted. Dante wasn’t quite sure how she managed it, Surely such a spell would require splitting your focus dozens of times?
Oftentimes, she was free to focus on the smaller ones as Varvi disposed of any problematic Ahsmati. The weasel-faced man fired crossbolt shots at a rate that put Dante to shame and he began to wonder just where Varvi was getting these bolts from. Each bolt seemed to strike with greater force than was natural and took impossible turns in the sky, obviously being directed by something. After striking their targets, the bolts remained in the sky and were directed by some force. Varvi was quickly growing a small cloud of bolts which he rammed through the Ahsmati ranks again and again.
Dante contributed where he could, aiming carefully and firing his dwindling supply of bolts. It was perhaps not his most intelligent decision, bringing only nine unenchated bolts to the battlefield. Dante had largely stopped firing at that point, saving his supply for critical moments.
I had all that money, bought the sports car equivalent of enchanted bolts, and forgot to buy a reload. Then only realized that when I used half of them up. Sometimes, I am so dumb.
The Ahsmati had closed the distance long ago, harrying the group in melee. This was where the rest of the squad came into play. Pauna was the most effective here, dashing between weak opponents with her superior speed and taking them down with a flurry of strikes. She would extract a few droplets of blood from each and use them to grow her armor, which now covered her shoulders. Svōl, by comparison, was a bastion of safety. One which the vulnerable members of the team anchored to, including Dante. Dressed in heavy plate, the man kept a watchful eye on the flow of the battle and interceded as need be. He used his shovel both offensively and defensively, using it as a mobile shield.
Perhaps the party member he knew the least about, Rēva, acted as a connection point between Pauwna and Svōl. Rēva favored a spear and buckler, which she used to cover Pauna’s blind spots and always kept an avenue of escape open. Throughout it all, Sūnva filled any gaps in their formation. With her unearthly star-filled armor, she was not afraid to take a hit. If anyone was flagging, she would hit them with an empowering spell. If any problems arose, she adeptly issued orders to address them.
Then it was over and they were surrounded by Ahsmati corpses. Aside from a scratch here and there, they were untouched. They all took a few seconds to take a breath and recover. Dante hadn’t know that you could get so exhaust in a few minutes. He hadn’t even done that much!
“I didn’t know that you take an attack like that, Dante,” Sūnva said to him in an even tone. “I would prefer to know what my soldiers can do before they hurdle themselves into danger.”
Dante winced.
“I didn’t know either,” he admitted. “I have been doing a lot of training at camp and wasn’t quite sure what my capabilities were.”
[Deception] has advanced to Level 2
“Honestly! What were you thinking? The rest of us would have survived that spell, should the worst happen, but you would have been reduced to ashes had you overestimated yourself!” She took a long sigh, seeming to reorder her thoughts, then continued in a more even tone, “That said, could you do that again in the future? It would be a useful addition to our capabilities.”
“I should be able to, but …” He paused, searching for the words. Then, a realization passed through him.
Don’t reveal unneeded details about your capabilities to people you are going to betray one day.
“Only certain kinds of attacks. Has to be spread out. Like fire, liquid, or a cloud. Strong, piercing attacks are no good.”
Sūnva pondered that for a moment while cleaning the viscera off her sword. “Hmm, it’s very specific but helpful nevertheless. The Ahsmati favor fire in their breath weapons, so it’s fortunate that you can counter this. However, I am reluctant to include you in anything complicated as you might mess up our formations. For now, if I call your name and point, then that means shield in that direction. No more of this jumping in front of us, Understood?”
“Yes, Sūnva, I understand.”
“Alright, let’s continue.”
Everyone resumed their positions and Dante heaved himself up, groaning. His skin felt raw, as if he had spilt boiling water over the front of his body. There was another feeling too, a new one. It was like a portion of his pain was being … held off. Like he had taken pain killers that only applied to part of his pain. This, he was certain, was the effect of [Mana Body Fortification]. Focusing on it, he could tell instinctively that it was about half full and that he could … release some of it. He likened the feeling to a faucet that you could adjust.
Can’t say I am pleased that it’s already so full. Without some way of recovery, I effectively can’t remove it unless I find a healer. Wonder if I at least, managed to level it when I tanked that attack. Let’s check the notifications.
Dante had never dismissed a system message mid-battle before and saw that there was no longer a notification for them. I wonder if there is a way to … ah there it was. In fact, it seemed like the system had recorded every single one of his notifications. He scrolled to the bottom.
[Mana Body Fortification] Acquired
Trait unlocked!
[Mana Ascetic]
[Mana Body Fortification] has increased to Level 2
So, he had increased its level in that last exchange. It was a good consolation prize, at the very least. But what was this about a new trait? Dante had started with a few of them but had never acquired one before. With a thought, he opened it.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 80%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 99.0385%; text-align: center">Mana Ascetic</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 99.0385%; text-align: left">You have sworn off all magic, having reserved all of your mana. No longer able to cast anything that requires it, you are free to dedicate yourself to inward perfection. Moderately increases capabilities of abilities that reserve a portion of your mana.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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This was a disaster.
All of his excitement, all of his hope of one day mastering magic, was crushed by a single message. It had to have been [Mana Body Fortification], it was the only possible recent thing that could have caused this. It did say ‘Dedicate a portion of your mana’ in its description, but that was only part of his mana. Not all of it. There had to be some other ability that also reserved some of his mana. Perhaps [Overload Warding Flesh]?
How was I supposed to know that this would happen?
It felt like the system had screwed him over, what with it constantly giving him no information. It was no wonder that he had eventually screwed up. Now, one of his only pleasures in this world had been stolen from him.
There has to be a way to correct this, right? Some kind of reselection or workaround. I want to ask Pauna, but there is no way I can do that here, in the middle of our team. The instant we are alone however, I intend on getting some answers out of her. Whether that reveals more of my past or not.
Dante forced his attention back to the present as the squad moved ever closer to the first and foremost trenches. On their way, they came across many scenes of battle. Dead Ahsmati littered the ground so thickly in place that it was difficult to find a clear spot to step. Which was not to say that the Empire had not taken casualties; they frequently passed impromptu medical stations filled with many groaning wounded. To say nothing of the dead, layed out in the back of those camps in respectful rows. More were being brought in all the time. By this point, they had moved beyond the dust cloud caused by their initial assault and Dante saw the sky for the first time since coming here.
Above them all lay the massive rent in the barrier. It had grown much larger since Dante had last seen it. the Black Wind wouldn’t struggle to fit through it anymore. Scores and scores of Ahsmati streamed through it like a locust swarm.
They were met with flying ships and a small cloud of soldiers. At least he thought they were ships, they had no sails. Instead, several large fins protruded from their side. They undulated rhythmically like the fins on a fish, propelling the crafts forward. They seemed to have some kind of lightning weapon that would chain between swarms, laying dozens of Ahsmati waste with each shot.
While the ships were far outnumbered, they displayed organization and tactics beyond their adversaries. Even as he watched, one ship was harried by several large drake-like Ahsmati. Two neighboring ships immediately responded by diving towards their beleaguered brethren and provided fire support. Something reacted as all three ships drew together. A hitherto invisible purple barrier around each ship became visible as they overlapped. Each was absolutely stuffed with sigils. They merged, expanded, then detonated, clearing a large space around each craft.
Dante was finding it hard to concentrate on the battlefield with that happening overhead.
Every time I think I have a handle on what the Empire can do, I am forced to reevaluate. I had some inkling when Sūnva didn’t seem too surprised by my descriptions of America, but I never expected something like this! This military technology is so much more advanced than any other aspect of their society. It’s kind of odd, really.
“You have noticed it too, haven’t you Sūnva?”
It was Svōl who spoke, distracting Dante from his inspections of the sky above. He frowned in confusion. Noticed what exactly?
“Yes, it’s strange. I thought we were just getting lucky, but after seeing that,” she gestured at the sky above, “I am now certain. This is far too easy. Most of their number is low ranks.”
This was easy? They had easily passed hundreds of their dead on the way here. Dante watched as one of the sky ships above fell through the air, consumed in flames and smoke, then detonated somewhere behind enemy lines.
If this was what they considered easy, then normal must be borderline apocalyptic.
They turned the corner and came upon a battle. The oh so familiar trench in front of them was packed with a press of bodies. W?lian soldiers stood abrest with shields raised, jabbing between the cracks in the shield wall into a slathering horde of serpentine bodies. Behind them, was a row of mages who were struggling to cast into the fray without hitting their allies. A screaming soldier was dragged out of the fray, coated in a green acid that was rapidly eating away at him to a single healer in the back.
“Dante, treat that man!”
Sūnva barked before dashing forward and shouting empowering spells at the press of soldiers. She was quickly followed by Svōl and Pauwna, who shouldered their way to the front. The rest of the party integrated into the mage group and contributed where they could. Leaving him alone to follow his orders.
Dante hurried over to the suffering man, paused, then approached from a different direction. He didn’t want the acid to fly into the healer or onto another soldier. As the man entered the radius of [Overloaded Warding Flesh], Dante expended a charge and watched as the acid was flung from the man into the side of the trench. In a moment, nearly all of it was gone. The healer gave him a grateful look, poured water over the few still affected areas, then got to healing. Meanwhile, Dante had returned his attention back to the battle.
He was relieved to see no new types of Ahsmati, just the same ones that he had fought in the past. Through sheer, accumulated mass, they slowly push back the soldiers. At least, they did until his squad arrived.
Svōl lept through the air and was empowered by a shouted [Empire’s Decree: Indomitable] from Sūnva. He easily cleared the press to land amongst the Ahsmati horde, creating a chorus of snapping bones. As Svōl landed, he plunged his shovel into the ground and a ripple passed through the stone of the trench. Ahsmati close to the impact were flung back and the others sunk into the stone. Then, Pauwna was among them. She clawed at joints and at the gaps between scales, amassing even more blood into her regalia. It was beautifully coordinated and must have been the result of countless hours of training. The maneuver bought the space needed for the rest of the soldiers to pile on, decisively turning the battle in their favor.
I always suspected that my team wasn’t normal
He watched the blood armor solidifying a chestplate over Pauwna. With its sharp edges, jutting horns, and literally being made of blood, the overall effect was quite demonic. By comparison, the rest of the soldiers looked quite ordinary.
They are stronger than most of the soldiers we have run across. I wonder why I was put with them?
Dante, for his part, helped out where he could. He did not attempt to join the primary battle, even the regular jostling between the W?lian Soldiers was libel to snap his bones. Instead, he focused on dragging injured soldiers out of the fray. Several times, he found himself using [Overloading Warding Flesh] to extinguish various elemental effects from the Ahsmati breath weapons, most of which was fire.
Before he even realized it, the fight was over. The remaining wounded Ahsmati fled over the lip of the trench and towards the gap in the great barrier. The mages and archers, who had been useless up until this point, savaged them as the creatures ran across the open plain. In the end, none of them made it out.
A tired cheer was raised and Dante joined in. He was surprised that he felt pure, heart-pounding exhilaration at the victory. It was the kind of high you felt after your favorite team won a particularly fraught match. Except more … primal. In that moment, he could understand the joy that he had seen on Pauwna’s face during these fights.
And it scared him.
Dante didn’t want to become the type of person who enjoyed bloodshed, yet here he was. Besides, it looked more and more like he was not on the correct side of this war. That some of the Ahsmati were … not adults. After that stark reminder, he felt sick and the enthusiasm was dampened. Yet the thrill still remained.
He was distracted from those thoughts when a second sun detonated far up in the sky. It was pure white and was framed by a corona of ghostly flames. It should have been terrifying, but instead, it filled his heart with courage and buoyed his flagging mood. Shielding his eyes, he could see a figure hovering in the middle of an elemental explosion. There was only one person he knew who could do that.
Princess Ahzi.