The remaining two kobolds trembled with fear after having seen four of their companions go down. They stood their ground, though, and kept their eyes trained on Dad and Graste. Maybe they sensed that they wouldn’t be able to escape from such powerful foes.
Then they came for us, probably prepared to die in the process. At the current moment, I was completely vulnerable. They approached me as my mana-timer ticked. I jumped back and Marie and Rose sprang forward in a perfect fighting formation. Their faces were gripped with a bold determination that masked their fear. They moved in front of me to take on the incoming kobolds.
One of the kobolds swung its weapon at Marie. She was ready for it and struck a firm fighting stance. She dodged the blow and swiped at the kobold’s legs.
Losing your stance could lead to instant defeat. Marie hardly left a wound on the kobold, but she slightly broke its stance. Not missing a beat, she instantly launched into a fresh offense. The kobold squirmed and tried to escape the reach of Marie’s sword.
“No chance!” she yelled.
Her sword swept down, and the kobold’s head flew up into the air. Marie drew a beautiful arc that led the kobold’s head straight into the dirt.
“Eww!” Its blood had splattered into my eyes.
Just as Marie’s kobold crumpled to the ground, Rose felled the other with a vicious stab to the neck. Its blood spewed everywhere as it collapsed to the ground and became motionless.
Gasping for air, Rose pulled her blade out of the kobold’s neck.
Was that all of them? I didn’t see any more kobolds around. Marie and Rose seemed to agree, and let their guards down. Then suddenly, the bushes shook, and from them leapt a concealed kobold.
“Garrrrgarrr!” The kobold snarled as it came brandishing its sword at the girls. They were defenseless, since they had already laid down their weapons. It seemed as though they couldn’t escape in time, and yet…
The kobold let out a shrill scream as a blue flame scorched its backside. It rolled on the ground, fighting the furious heat, until it stopped moving.
Introducing Twin Flare: a compound magic technique that combines compound mana with Flare. The moment I saw the brush shaking, I activated mana and cast it just in the nick of time.
“Th-thanks, Shion.”
“You saved us. Thank you.”
I saw the relief on their faces. That had been a close call, and I was relieved I had been fast enough. Thank goodness.
The three of us waited and kept an eye on our surroundings. Dad came over and confirmed that the kobolds were dead.
“You got them! Nice work, kids.”
We breathed sighs of relief at Dad’s words. It was over. Somehow, we had defeated the kobolds. It left me with an intense feeling of exhaustion. Although we had only fought six in all, my nerves had been pulled noodle-thin.
I had learned volumes from this battle. First, I discovered that magic took too long to activate. Second, that while each individual attack was powerful, I’d be left momentarily defenseless if I didn’t land a killing blow. Rose and Marie’s actions had covered up those weaknesses, but I would’ve been dead meat on my own.
“Thank you,” I said to them. “Thanks for rescuing me.”
“Of course we’d protect you,” Marie said. “Plus, the only reason I could fight in the first place was because you were here. I felt more confident with you around.”
“We would’ve been in bad shape without your magic,” said Rose. “Thank you so much, Shion.”
“It was a good effort for your first fight,” Dad said. “Marie faced her fears head on and kept her cool. Rose was able to actualize what she’s shown us in training—a fine fighting effort. And Shion demonstrated the power of magic. It’s clear now that magic is a stronger weapon than I could’ve ever imagined.”
“This magic stuff’s totally next level,” Graste said, shaking his head. “I wish I had the goods for it,” he added, sounding regretful.
I had never seen an adult with mana before, so I assumed Graste would never be able to use magic, unfortunately. Although, technically, no one besides me could use magic, as far as I knew.
Yes, Marie and Rose could a little, but without the Spark Gauntlet’s utility, magic had little practical application in a battle. As to whether anyone else in the world could use it, and whether such people were plentiful or few, I didn’t have a clue. It wasn’t worth thinking through the particulars of magical training or applications. For now, I had to stay focused on the moment.
I had learned so much from this one battle. This single experience of fighting monsters totally changed my outlook. I realized that there was a lot I needed to do to improve magic.
Before I could begin to think through those possibilities, I heard Dad speak.
“Once we finish gathering the ears, we’ll be off to the next kobold den.”
“Next?!”
The three of us all had the same thought. We fought a battle, our first one, so we all assumed we would be heading home after this. Dad seemed fired up for more.
“It’ll be hard for Graste or me to find time for quests, so you won’t have many chances. Let’s build up as much experience for you all while we can.”
It was a fair point. I wasn’t sure I was up for it, though. I was totally wiped out after the battle. The feeling that I wanted to go home was whacking me over the head like a hammer. A single look at Dad, however, made me abandon those feelings. It was clear that we were going to continue.
“Now, let’s get to it,” he said. “I’ve already found some more tracks!”
Bubbling with enthusiasm, Dad led the way. Behind me, Graste tapped my shoulder.
“Nothing you can do when he gets like this,” he said. “Best to just give in.”
Graste was Dad’s best friend. He knew our father a lot longer than we had, and I was sure they had been through a lot together. So I just sighed, smiled resignedly, and followed after Dad. That was all we could do.