31. Black Forest (2)
The entrance to the Black Forest. What should have been a quiet forest was vibrating with the howls of beasts and the stench of blood.
"Graaah!"
"Maintain formation! We cannot let the defensive line break!"
Guard Captain Mason, swinging his blood-soaked sword, bellowed in fury. Around him, a dozen territory knights huddled in a tight circular formation with their shields pressed together, panting heavily. Encircling them in layers were dozens of Shadow Wolves.
"Captain! There are too many of them!"
"At this rate, we'll be wiped out...!"
Despair clouded the knights' faces. Even Mason gritted his teeth, steadying his trembling wrist. They were low-grade mana beasts, but in such overwhelming numbers, there was no answer. And these ones were even more frenzied than usual.
Is this as far as we go...?
Mason squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for one final strike.
But then.
Shwoooom!!
Something unidentified shot out from the forest's darkness. Yap! One Shadow Wolf took a hit and staggered back. The others hesitated, warily scanning their surroundings.
"Wh-what?!"
At that moment, someone burst through the thick underbrush.
"Seria! Battle stations!"
"Got it!"
At my shout, Seria launched from the treetops like a cannonball. I snapped my fingers right away.
Ice Field!
Fwaaah! The chill bursting from my fingertips hit the ground, and in an instant, the feet of the wolves surrounding the knights froze solid.
"Yap?!"
"Kyiiing!"
While the wolves panicked and flailed, their feet pinned to the ground, Seria landed at the perfect moment and drew the dark brown wooden sword from her waist.
"For daring to touch our territory's people."
Seria's red eyes flashed.
"Pay with your lives."
Bwaaack! Her wooden sword sliced through the air, and the skulls of the three nearest wolves shattered simultaneously, their heads flying off.
In the midst of the blood and flesh spraying across the battlefield, Seria—in her navy uniform—ruthlessly began smashing the wolves' heads.
"Thwack! Crunch! Bwak!"
"Hey, Seria! Watch out!"
I climbed a tree for a better view and yelled down.
"There's a rosemary patch down there! Don't step on it! That's all our shampoo ingredient!"
"I know! They're the ones dodging toward the bushes!"
"Then smash 'em before they dodge!"
"Talk is cheap, Young Master!"
Seria grumbled but weaved brilliantly around the herb patch with flawless footwork, slashing the wolves to pieces. Every swing of her wooden sword sent mana beasts tumbling down like dominoes.
Mason and the knights watched the overwhelming, grotesque massacre with their jaws on the floor.
"Y-Young Master?! Seria?!"
"What in the world..."
"Uncles! Stop gaping and get the wounded back!"
At my shout from the tree, the knights finally snapped to and hurriedly fell back.
In just three minutes, the pack of dozens of Shadow Wolves was halved by Seria's wooden sword beatdown. The survivors, terrified, tucked their tails and backed away.
"Hoo."
Seria shook the bloodstains off her sword and caught her breath lightly. Things seemed under control.
But then.
Thud.
Thud thud.
The ground began to rumble ominously. The fleeing Shadow Wolves heard it and whimpered, flattening themselves to the dirt.
From deep in the forest came a rotten blood stench and an immense pressure.
"...Young Master."
Seria regripped her sword and lowered her stance.
"Something's coming. Something huge."
"Yeah, I feel it too."
I narrowed my eyes from the treetop.
Crack! Boom!
Massive trees snapped like twigs, and a gigantic silhouette emerged from the darkness.
"Th-that's..."
Mason muttered, pale as a ghost.
House-sized bulk. Gray carapace like rock covering its body. And two eyes blazing blood-red.
It was the mutant leader, a variant Rock Bear, twisted by concentrated demonic energy.
"Groooaaarrr!!!"
Its roar made the entire forest quake. That's when it clicked for me.
"Aha. This dumb bear must've had a territory spat deep in the woods and chased the wolves to the edge."
"This isn't the time for analysis! It's charging!"
At Seria's cry, the Rock Bear reared its forepaw and barreled forward. Getting hit by that would be like a dump truck slamming into you.
"Hyaap!"
But Seria didn't retreat—she leaped straight at it, swinging her wooden sword down.
Claaang!
It rang out like metal on rock. Her strike bounced off the carapace, and she used the recoil to land lightly behind it.
"It's tough! Normal hits won't break the bones!"
"Then we'll crack the shell!"
I jumped down from the tree, gathering mana in both hands. If physical defense was high, magic would do the trick.
"Seria! Keep its attention! Please!"
"Got it!"
Seria kicked off again, circling and striking the joints. As it swung its paw in irritation, I targeted its feet and deployed my spell.
Time to test the magic I'd recently developed: water attribute.
Stuffy mages in this world treat water magic like "miraculously creating water from thin air." But in a universe where the law of conservation of mass holds firm, you can't make something from nothing. The true essence of water magic is condensation and fluid dynamics.
The principle is simple. First, use mana to drop the temperature around me below the dew point. Instantly, the invisible water vapor in the air condenses into massive droplets. Next, force the water molecules' hydrogen bonds with mana to clump into a huge sphere. Finally, the launch: form an invisible mana barrel, cram the water in, compress to extremes, and fire. That's a Water Cannon.
"Take this!!"
Water Cannon!
Kwaaaah! A powerful jet soaked the Rock Bear's lower body. I wasn't fully used to water magic yet, so it was weak. But that's fine. It was wet now.
Next? Freeze it.
"Grurr?"
As it looked baffled, I chained the next spell without pause.
Absolute Freeze!
Crackle! Craaaack!
The water-soaked rocky carapace flash-froze. Its lower half was trapped in a massive ice block, movement sealed.
"Groooaaarrr!"
The Rock Bear thrashed, but I grinned and snapped my fingers. Basic science class principle: thermal expansion and contraction.
"Frozen? Time to roast it."
Thermal Shock Wave!!
Rumble!!
A superheated fireball slammed onto the frozen carapace. The instant shift from extreme cold to extreme heat made even the rock-hard mutant shell crack.
Craaaackle! Crunch!
"Groooaaarrr!!"
Finally, the carapace shattered off. Exposed flesh writhed in agony.
"Seria! Now! Smash its skull!"
"As you command!"
Seria kicked hard off the ground and soared into the air. Her red eyes locked on her prey, gleaming. At the same time, blue mana rose like haze from her dark wooden sword.
Aura Blade. The pinnacle of swordsmanship from a 14-year-old girl.
"Take thiiiis!!"
Fwaaaang!!
A massive crescent slash from Seria's wooden sword plunged straight into the Rock Bear's exposed crown.
Kuuaaaah!!!
The forest shook with the thunderous boom as dust billowed up like a mushroom cloud. The shockwave scattered the Shadow Wolves, yapping in all directions.
Moments later.
The acrid dust cleared, revealing...
"...Hah."
Mason muttered in a daze.
The gigantic Rock Bear lay bisected from head to chest. And atop its corpse stood Seria, her uniform fluttering triumphantly.
"Hoo."
Seria dispersed the aura from her sword and turned to me.
"Young Master, situation clear."
"Nice shot."
I gave her a thumbs-up and approached. Looking at the halved corpse, I smacked my lips.
"But will the bear bile be okay? Variant mana beast bile could fetch a fortune in the capital."
Seria chuckled at my materialistic comment.
"Don't worry. I've seen how money-hungry you are for years. I sliced clean around the bile."
"Oh! As expected of my Seria! You're the best!"
"Heehee. Then treat me right."
We giggled and high-fived atop the bloody mana beast corpse.
Behind us, Mason and the knights could only gape at the insane exploits of a 12-year-old mage and 14-year-old swordmaster.
"...Our territory's got solid protection, but... sometimes it's a bit scary."
Mason's mutter drifted away on the autumn breeze.
Anyway, thanks to our duo, Martel Barony's peace—and my precious shampoo herb patch—were safely preserved.