One's True Self (5)
Reinforcements were not coming.
Before them stood a colossal dome resembling an overgrown primeval jungle, trapping dozens of students within its thick, sprawling briars. Watching it from the outside were only two people. With just the pair of them against the massive botanical barrier, they had to breach the interior and mount a rescue. In other words, it was an utterly absurd race against time.
"Aris. Tell me everything you've learned so far."
The foremost priority was an operational debrief. Information could only be gleaned from Aris, who had arrived first on the scene. Yet Aris offered no answer. Looking closer, Junon saw her lips parting and trembling, struggling desperately to shape words that refused to emerge.
"Can't you speak?"
She nodded.
A simple bob of her head was the only answer she could manage. It would have been convenient to pick up a twig and scratch words into the earth, but the ground beneath their boots was an unbroken expanse of splashing mud and murky puddles. The intelligence Aris had gathered on her own was substantial, making her sudden loss of voice a devastating setback.
"We still need that information," Junon said calmly. "Can you answer yes-or-no questions? Just nod or shake your head."
She immediately dipped her chin in agreement.
To every rapid question Junon posed, Aris answered without exception with a nod. There had been nothing to deny. She worried that some of his inquiries were too broad or lacking in crucial nuance, but he merely shook his head dismissively, piecing the puzzle together on his own.
"Hm?"
"..."
"Oh, the cuts on my shoulder and arm?" Junon asked, catching the direction of her gaze. "It's nothing, just a few burst capillaries. You don't need to worry about it. It won't interfere with combat."
After stanching the sluggish bleeding with a handful of common hemostatic herbs, he gestured for her to follow and began scaling the massive tangle of the dome. Following in his footsteps, Aris reached a vantage point where he abruptly halted, unhooking his canteen and offering it to her so she could wet her throat. Evidently, clear communication was going to be essential after all.
"Ah... ah."
"Can you speak now?"
"Not... yet," she rasped, her throat scraping like coarse sand. "If I want to speak... properly, we have to wait... a little longer."
"Just how loudly were you screaming earlier...? Whatever, I get it."
Why is he being so relaxed? the thought flashed through Aris's mind. Not that she doubted his judgment. However, it was only natural to question whether they truly possessed the luxury of waiting until her vocal cords recovered before making their move.
"Aren't we... in a hurry?"
"Why would we be?"
"Because..."
"Don't get impatient. It's not like they're completely helpless in there. You said yourself they're equipped with weapons and armor, and they can cast a modest amount of magic." Junon gave her a measured look. "Besides, they'll hold out firmly because they genuinely believe someone is on the way to save them. We're not as starved for time as you think."
Hearing that he intended to breach the barrier the very instant her voice returned, Aris clamped her mouth shut. She had let anxiety cloud her judgment.
"Ah. Come to think of it, I forgot to mention something," Junon said, scratching the back of his head as he considered how best to frame it. "Want to listen while your throat heals? First of all, you remember the threat classification tiers for individual specimens, distinct from regular letter ranks, right?"
Having once worked as a mercenary in another party, there was no way she could forget.
The standard, predictable monster classification was designated as Normal. Because Normal monsters rarely deviated from established ecological data, their strength was measured through simple alphabetical ranks. What Junon referred to, however, were specimens possessing abnormal attack patterns and unique variations, divided into five distinct danger tiers beyond the baseline.
There was Unnormal, monsters breaking conventional biological rules to launch irregular assaults. Next came Elite, specimens sharing base traits with their kind but boasting vastly superior mass, volume, and raw stats. Beyond that lay Champion, calamities dangerous enough to wipe out an entire settlement and demand an emergency mobilization raid. Above them was the Lord tier, sovereign monarchs of a species whose emergence prompted province-wide evacuations. And at the apex were Named entities, catastrophic horrors threatening the survival of an entire realm, infamous enough to be granted proper names in state chronicles.
"Reading your lips... let's see. Normal, Unnormal, Elite, Champion, Lord, Named," Junon murmured, watching her mouth move silently. "That's what you recited, right? Good, you know the breakdown."
When Aris nodded, Junon immediately threw out his next question. "Then what tier do you think this dome in front of us falls under?"
What tier is this dome...?
'...Don't tell me.'
Having fixated solely on what was visible on the surface, the question struck Aris like a physical blow. She covered her mouth, her eyes widening in realization. She had never even considered that this dome wasn't a rampart erected by a swarm of monsters, but was itself a single living entity.
Only now did she understand why her magic hadn't managed to leave so much as a scratch upon its surface. Controlling dozens of Stumps beneath its canopy, this dome could not be treated as an ordinary individual monster.
'It's a composite entity formed by a collective swarm. Such creatures channel the vital energy of the subordinates they command, transforming their outer shell into an impregnable, rapidly regenerating fortress...'
Indeed. The Jungle Dome before them had to be classified under a collective hierarchy. It consisted of a core specimen acting as the hub and an entire swarm under its command. There was a clear reason it had shrugged off so much destructive firepower without yielding an inch.
"You said you spotted roughly ten to twenty of them wandering around, which means we're dealing with a Decurion rank," Junon explained, his voice flat. "Keep in mind that's the scale of what we're going up against."
Scaling toward the dome's highest point had been calculated for that exact purpose. Even an ironclad fortress could not remain entirely impervious to hailstorms or lightning descending from the open sky; its ceiling and central core were inherently softer than its heavily reinforced flanks. With the structure's identity and tactical vulnerabilities exposed, their preparations for the breach were complete.
"When I give the order, follow my lead immediately," Junon instructed. "How's your voice?"
"Ah, ah. I think I can manage now."
"Then take this."
"It... fell off, didn't it?"
In his open palm rested the small floral hair ornament the students had given her as a gift. It must have come loose when she recklessly overextended her mana earlier.
"Just so you know," Junon added, turning toward the thick boughs, "you promised to grant whatever request I make. Don't try to wiggle out of it later."
"...I know."
"Here we go. Move according to the plan."
Watching his broad back, a strange emotion welled up in Aris's chest. On the surface, his words sounded like a cold, calculating warning. But was that truly the face of a man issuing a threat? If anything, Junon looked like someone carrying a far heavier burden of internal conflict than anyone else on this field.
Deep within the gloom of the Jungle Dome, chaos reigned supreme.
Yet even as monstrous Stumps closed in from every blind angle, the trapped students clung desperately to their ground. The sole thread holding their shattered morale together was the absolute conviction that someone outside was coming to their rescue.
"Hold out just a little longer! Professor Aris will be here any second!"
Aris McKenhaim of the Tembris Party. The mere knowledge that she was fighting to breach the barrier from the outside served as their bedrock. Even so, their combat skills were far too unrefined.
"Gah! My ribs...!"
"Where did that attack come from?! Fire! Someone light a flame!"
"I can't! If I switch spells now, the enhancement on the vanguard will collapse!"
"We're barely maintaining that as it is! Everyone's running on empty—we're completely out of mana! You frontline guys have to buy us some time!"
"How are we supposed to do that—aargh! I'm tangled! Somebody cut these roots off me!"
Before anyone could react, the terrified screams of an entrapped student faded into the encroaching darkness.
"I-Intercept them! Don't we have any Mages or Sorcerers who can provide covering fire?!"
"I told you we don't have the mana! If we force any more casting, we'll pass out from exhaustion!"
"Aaaargh!"
It was not just one student. As if operating under calculated commands, the Stumps systematically began picking off and separating the clustered students one by one. The youths had no inkling of how to effectively counter the converging horde, collapsing into terrified confusion as their defensive pocket disintegrated.
Regret flooded their minds like a poisonous tide.
'If only we had listened when our instructor tried to teach us.'
'If only we hadn't slacked off, we wouldn't be flailing like helpless children.'
How should mana be partitioned within a pitch-black, enclosed dome? What specific formations should each role adopt? Which spells held immediate tactical priority, and which ones had to be strictly forbidden to avoid friendly fire or environmental hazards? Which magic should be discarded based on plant-type biology, and what was the most efficient mana-cycling protocol under severe terrain disadvantages?
They knew none of it. They had never cared to learn. Even when genuine instruction had been placed before them, they had rejected it out of pride and indolence, rendering themselves utterly helpless when real crisis struck.
As more of their peers crumpled to the muddy ground bleeding, not a single student possessed the skill or courage to turn the tide.
'It's over... If we get scattered like this...'
'We're all going to be devoured alive...!'
'I'm sorry, Professor... We couldn't hold on...'
Just as the cold terror of encroaching death began to drown out their remaining reason, a sudden beam of dazzling light pierced straight down through the ceiling.
"Light...?"
"Wait... is something dropping from above?"
"That pink... hair...!"
In that instant, every throat tore open in a single collective shout.
"Did I keep you waiting?"
"Professor Aris—!"
Living up to their desperate hopes, Aris descended through the newly carved opening in the dome's crown, her vibrant presence illuminating the terrified crowd below.
"Behind you, Professor! Look out!"
"Never mind me—get down, everyone!"
A massive wooden appendage whipped toward Aris as she plummeted, perfectly targeting her blind spot from behind. But before the strike could connect, the monstrous limb shattered into splinters with a deafening crack under the impact of a single bare fist. Standing immediately at her rear was a man with hair darker than the enclosing gloom.
"Wait, isn't that man from our academy...?"
"He's the Student Teaching Intern who replaced Professor Jirbeng after he got fired!"
"Now isn't the time to stand around gaping, you idiots," Junon barked, flicking his wrist. "Keep your heads down!"
Several concealed throwing weapons shot through the air, embedding themselves into the surrounding roots with precise thuds.
"Aris!"
"On it!"
The lotus sigils pre-inscribed onto the throwing blades flared to life, detonating in a synchronized chain of concussive pink blasts. The shockwaves severed the creeping vines and shattered the surrounding monsters, followed by the frantic splashing of human footsteps rushing back toward the center.
"W-We're saved...!"
"I really thought we were going to die..."
The students who had been dragged into the shadows were retrieved in a single stroke. Through the seamless coordination of Aris and Junon, the scattered survivors were pulled back into a cohesive unit.
"Is anyone missing?" Junon demanded.
"No, sir! Everyone's accounted for!"
Yet there was zero room for relief. Assessing their current combat capability took precedence above all else.
"Sound off your roster," Junon ordered sharply.
"R-Roster...?"
"Does he mean attendance...?"
"Not attendance, you morons! He's asking for our headcount by combat role!"
Most of the students were so fundamentally ignorant of standard field terminology that every concept required translation. But with the Stumps already reforming their assault lines, Junon had neither the time nor the patience to hand-hold them through basic vocabulary.
This was Aris's moment to take command.
"Twelve Vanguards!" Aris called out, her voice cutting clearly through the damp air. "Eight Defense Wizards! Five Offense Wizards! And five Buffers, Mages, and Sorcerers each!"
"No wonder it's pitch-black in here," Junon muttered without missing a beat. "Drop Recovery immediately. Have the Buffers take over Bright Sight."
"H-Huh? Recovery? Bright Sight? What does that mean...?"
"Dispel all enhancement buffs currently applied to the vanguards and take over illumination duty from the Sorcerers!" Aris barked, translating Junon's tactical jargon in real time. "Move, now!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"Sorcerers, stay," Junon commanded next. "Wizards, log the Stumps and maintain rotation. Vanguards, align right angles only against incoming strikes."
"Sorcerers, halt spellcasting and focus on recovering mana!" Aris echoed instantly. "Wizards, divide targets so two of you engage each Stump, then rotate out the moment your mana drops! Vanguards, set your weapons at a ninety-degree right angle to parry enemy blows instead of absorbing them head-on!"
Whenever Junon issued a terse, highly specialized battlefield directive, Aris translated it without a heartbeat's delay into terminology the novices could comprehend. Within mere moments of this seamless relay, the overwhelming pressure threatening to crush the perimeter diminished drastically.
A single thought crossed the minds of every student watching the pair.
'So this is what real professionals look like.'
In less than three minutes, the erratic chaos had been forged into a disciplined, stable formation. Having broken through the inner encirclement, they anchored their backs against one side of the dome's interior wall, reducing the angle of incoming attacks from a full thirty-six-degree siege to a narrow frontal bottleneck.
Breathing room emerged.
Instead of everyone flailing in panic simultaneously, they could now execute orderly rotations, allowing exhausted casters to cycle to the rear and replenish their mana. With the arrival of merely two individuals, the exact same group of students was producing an entirely different battlefield outcome.
The movements of the two leading from the front were even more astonishing.
"The Stumps..."
"They're falling like timber..."
Fighting back-to-back, Junon and Aris operated with an effortless, fluid synergy. Junon drew aggro and held the frontline to buy time until Aris's explosive sigils reached full charge; conversely, whenever Aris completed a cast, she blasted away any encroaching wooden limbs before they could overwhelm Junon's flank.
Seamlessly alternating between offense and defense, they covered each other's vulnerabilities with machine-like precision. To students who had barely managed to fend off a single beast through desperate flailing, the manner in which the two dismantled the swarm appeared nothing short of miraculous.
This was the true power of proper learning.
This was the insurmountable chasm separating unguided novices from seasoned veterans.
Standing behind them, the students felt as though they were watching two figures existing on the far side of an unreachable wall, a realm entirely distinct from their own terrified struggle for survival.