Touch of Fate

Chapter 197: Darts

"Looks like the Dragonknight is keeping them preoccupied. Have our artillery switch to anti-personnel rounds and focus on the assault force. Surely they can hit formations of that size." The 1st University Division commander was commenting. "Now we just need to keep an eye out for any secondary attacks, and we should have this one in the bag."

The first few scaling ladders were almost at the base of the wall, and the defenders were currently in the process of raining arrows, bullets, and various heavy objects on the approaching Tenundian soldiers. Every now and then, a few spells lit the sky with energy, however, they were all quickly intercepted. Typically, in this kind of conflict mages conserved their mana until there was a good opening, where they could launch a devastating attack.

Tal found the whole experience rather interesting. While this was not the first time she'd witnessed a battle, it was the first time she'd been able to watch it from such a commanding vantage. Seeing the tiny, insect-like dots moving around on the plains below made the conflict seem like something distant and inconsequential, even though she was well aware of how horrible things must be in the thick of it.

Thankfully, it seemed that the Tenundians weren't too interested in taking down the observation tower, at least for the time being. While Harnik did have to use the defense to deflect a few attacks from the siege weapons at first, that had largely abated when Mike started his attack.

"So, why am I here exactly? I feel like he left without really explaining anything." The Oracle commented from her seat at the work table Mike had created a little while ago. As is often the case with open, flat surfaces in a military command center, it had been quickly covered with piles of reports, maps and other miscellaneous documents.

"Safer." Tal muttered distractedly. Red had just taken off again, and had resumed his casual destruction of the Tenundian siege equipment.

[I suppose that means he's doing alright.]

"Yeah, because sitting within cannonball range of an ongoing siege is definitely safer than anywhere else." She commented dryly.

Tal knew Sera was just pouting. With Mike's abrupt departure, his seeming lack of concern for her, and his assumption that she needed protection, the girl was left feeling despondent and sulky. While this was certainly understandable, these kinds of emotions were troublesome in the midst of a battle.

[She could use something to take her mind off of things.]

"Have idea."

Sera, who was currently resting her chin on the surface of the table, rolled her head slightly to look up. "Oh?"

"Training." Tal used some of the mana stored in the bracer Mike had given her to summon a handful of tiny stone spears, roughly the size of a dart. With another application, she made a circular target board of relatively hard clay, and affixed it to one of the tower's interior walls.

As Sera looked on curiously, the elf flicked one of the spears at the board, hitting a point near the far left. It remained embedded, sticking straight out. Tal offered Sera the rest, "Do better?"

The Oracle grinned. "Just watch me."

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[Hm, that wasn't quite as effective as I hoped.]

The cone of chilled air had created a patch of frost on the ground in front of him, but it wasn't nearly as potent as he'd originally anticipated. The Shaman had managed to summon a barricade of earth in front of her at the last second, which seemed to have caught the brunt of his attack. The other three were effected to varying degrees.

Orin, the martial artist was coated in a fine layer of ice, and was moving stiffly, evidently in pain. Lorelia was grimacing while in a similar state, although it looked as if she would recover in the near future. The Pact Mage, Calian had wrapped himself in a pair of massive black feathered wings that had sprouted from his back at some point. As Mike watched, the wings vanished in a shower of feathers, revealing the unharmed Demon Binder.

Mike channeled his mana, and began another chant. He figured a wide area spell would keep them tied up while he took them down on a one on one basis. Besides, this was an excellent time to practice a variety of magic he hadn't much of a chance to use yet.

"Primal flame of the earth, whose origins lay in the unknowable past, lend to me the strength of creation. Bring forth the molten tears of the planet and shower them with the fury of Ea. [Volcanic Surge]."

The ground under Orin and Lorelia began to bulge and steam as the magically created heat and pressure warped the landscape.

"Shit!" The large woman cursed as a geyser of steam scalded one of her legs. Reacting quickly, she grabbed Orin and dived out of the area of effect.

In seconds, the earth erupted in an explosion of molten rock. A wash of intense heat filled the area, quickly melting any remaining frost. While globs of the superheated material were raining down on the now panicking Tenundian soldiers, Mike seized control of the lava with his will, and split it into four streams, directing one at each of his enemies.

Wren created another wall, this time made of mud, which protected her from the effect. Calian leapt into the air after summoning the black pair of wings again, however, he was forced to dodge and weave as the stream continued to follow.

The two non-mages had a bit more trouble. Orin was forced to sprint for cover, which caused the molten stream to wash over an entire squad of soldiers, eliciting horrifying screams as they were effectively melted by the river. He dodged behind one of the wagons, putting him far enough away that it was getting difficult for Mike to maintain his concentration the spell.

This left Lorelia on her own with no clear means of defense, something that should have led to her demise. However, it seemed that she had some back up resources. Pulling a crystal from a pocket, she crushed it in one fist, creating a transparent bubble of force that surrounded her. The lava flowed over this sphere, quickly burying both it and the woman.

[Well that's nostalgic. That really takes me back to my demon slaying days. Speaking of which.]

Mike released his control over the spell, and launched himself forward at the embattled Pact Mage, who was starting to look a little worse for wear. With a quick chant, he fired a barrage of wind blades at Calian, forcing him to defend with his wings. As the young man started losing altitude, Mike summoned a stone javelin, allowing it to fall into his hand. He channeled mana into his arm, causing it to ignite in a fiery aura, before rearing back and throwing it.

With a hiss of displaced air, the weapon cut through the sky, punching directly through both Calian's defending wings, and the Pact Mage himself. Mike took a moment to watch as his enemy fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, before nodding and turning to face Orin, who had managed to make his way back to the fight. The martial artist had launched himself into the air in a textbook flying jump kick, which was easy enough to dodge.

As Mike slid to the side and readied the Fang of the Primal to make his next attack, he was caught by surprise when a strong blow impacted his shoulder. Orin had spun in mid-air, converting his kick into a heel drop. While painful, the blow had left the fighter exposed to a counter, and Mike was quick to take advantage of it.

He grabbed Orin's leg, spun to his right, and hurled the warrior towards a patch of cooling lava. It had lost is angry red hue, but the heat haze coming off of the stone was still very much visible. Orin rolled across the surface, and groaned in pain as his skin came in contact with the scorching rock, before finally scrambling to safety. Red welts and burns had appeared on his arms, legs, and back.

[Must have some impressive endurance. I don't think many humans could get away with a few burns after being thrown onto lava, cooling though it might have been.] Mike thought, slightly impressed while he took a moment to survey the battle field.

Wren was still holed up behind her defenses, but judging from her attitude during the fight, he figured she wouldn't be much of a threat. Lorelia was either dead or trapped inside a force sphere, and Orin was in bad shape. As far as he could tell, there were no other enemies nearby besides a few Tenundian soldiers who were a little too busy trying to survive.

The martial artist wasn't the type to let a little pain slow him down, evidently, and he quickly launched into another series of attacks. Mike noticed that his moves had gotten faster and more fluid. In fact, he was having a hard time even defending, let alone counterattacking.

[Was he holding back initially, or is this some kind of enhancement effect he's been keeping in reserve?] Mike thought to himself, as he channeled mana into his limbs, creating swirling air currents that surrounded his body. With the resulting increase in agility, he found himself more than a match for the warrior.

Grimacing, the man jumped back and stared at Mike while taking up an aggressive stance. "It seems we have underestimated you. I had not lent credence to the claim that you were truly on the cusp of Tier 4 power, but it appears that I was wrong."

Mike shrugged, "Happens to the best of us." He looked at the panting man. "Do you need a minute?"

Orin chuckled, but shook his head. "Nay, I will not ask for succor from an opponent."

"Suit yourself. I'll be starting off strong, then." Mike commented while channeling mana into another stone javelin spell. If things worked well, he could use it as a distraction for his following blow.

"Very well, let's see if you can handle the might of one of my schools greatest techniques." The warrior started concentrating. His body began to shed a silver light, which slowly coated his skin, giving him the appearance of living metal.

[That's pretty cool.] Mike thought as he launched his spell in an exploratory manner. Contrary to his expectations, the man didn't even try to block it or dodge. It seemed he didn't need to.

The spear exploded on contact with the man's chest leaving no appreciable damage.

"The Steel Body Technique allows for a practitioner's inner strength to manifest in his flesh. The more focused his will is, the more potent the ability becomes. Now that I have achieved this state, your spells won't be able to do me any harm." Orin commented with a hint of victory in his voice.

"Not bad, but I think you are forgetting one thing."

The martial artist cocked his head. "Oh?"

"I don't need to harm you to beat you." With a wave of his hand, the enveloping wall of darkness he'd been slowly building behind the man engulfed him. Raising his arm, Mike lifted the now struggling bundle into the air. The darkness formed into a massive arm nearly 15m in length.

Cocking back his own arm, Mike threw his hand forward, directing his spell to do likewise. The martial artist was released at the apex, launching him at fantastic speeds in the direction of the Tenundian camp. It was a little hard to tell, but Mike thought he saw a look of confusion on the man's face as he flew away.

[Maybe he'll survive that with his endurance. I wouldn't mind, since he didn't seem like the bad sort. Now what else should I do while I wait for Red to finish?] Mike considered interrogating the shaman, since she seemed likely to give up information rather easily.

A crack resounded through the air as a massive impact struck the inside of the bubble of cooling lava. From the sounds of it, Lorelia was still alive and kicking.

[I guess I'm not done just yet.]