(Clone Warrior) Chapter 44: Just a burn

Hewert forced his weakened arms to move up to fire a fire bolt, immediately hissing as the heat from the blue fire brushed his skin and cooked the tender meat below. Normally mages were taught to restrict the heat radiation and protect the skin with a thin insulation shield, it was the first thing that any mage that attends the Colleges get taught.

That wasn’t to say that he was a rogue wizard, a mage who is not aligned or affiliated with the Colleges, it’s just that the severity of the situation forced him to do so. Restricting the blue flames was easy, it was ingrained in him to do so, an instinct as strong as breathing. The protection part was the hitter and the one that made him self-damage, the magical shield that would border between him and his own fire was abandoned just for the purpose of firing more fire bolts.

It was always more fire bolts, there was never a time in this horrible fucking slaughter that he could cast the stronger spells, just because they were not needed. There were no big monsters near the dungeon, it was too young to spawn such a beast. That left fire bolt, the most mana efficient and cheapest spell he had in his arsenal. It was a novice spell, a children’s play toy, and it was designed against weak enemies like Glen Crows, Gremlins and hounds.

He wasn’t complaining, it was the skill that let them hold out for a long period of time. Angelica was having a field day, with blood in the air – literally considering the number of monsters they had killed – she was in her element. She had transformed fully to a blood chimera and undoubtedly her frenzy skills would only wear out when there wasn’t anything to kill.

Albert was perhaps the most miserable of them all. He was a student still, even though he had entered the Colleges before Hewert’s parents were even born. The reason for him not graduating was his lackluster Gift, and the below average talent in magic skills. The man was not useless, he was goddamned useful in everything but combat situations. A sharp mind and perseverance were good traits. His mana was gone, and whatever he regenerated was being spent frugally, touches of telekinesis here and there, a twist of a neck or a crush of wing bones.

Other mages didn’t have the same brutal efficiency that Albert possessed, making him contend with them even through his own magical deficiencies.

It was barely enough to hold though; twenty mages were insufficient against a dungeon this large. And even if they held, the dungeon could still launch more monsters into the city, leaving them with nothing but a ruin. The higher ups, the nobles with actual combat skills were gone, either dead from the initial strike or bunkering down, knowing full well that the Empire would send an extermination force in the near future.

How he would have loved to have that hope, but the extermination team was not going to come in any time in the following day or two. By then, they would already be just slurry in a monster’s stomach.

Hewert flared a bit of fire on a corpse, consuming it and gaining a slight increase in his mana. His eyes, red veins slowly etching their way to his iris, glowed a blue glow. The next moment he had a ball of plasma in hand, azure blue as his own Gift. He dropped the ball and kicked it towards the center of the most recent monster blob.

It exploded, engulfing a full fifth of the incoming horde and leaving only ash in its wake. It wasn’t without cost, his hands were smoking and the skin was burnt, showing the muscle underneath. His mage robe was torn from the claws and talons of the monster, and he could feel that he had lost a toe or two.

“Shouldn’t have done that.” He winced and uncorked a bottle, spraying the fluid all over his palms. It would suffice to numb the pain, he would need a doctor’s attention to ensure he would heal fully.

To his right a lightning mage sparked like a Mercy and unleashed a chain of strikes, then the man simply fell from the sky. Hewert caught him, gnashing his teeth from the ripples of lightning that was still coursing through the man’s body.

“Albert, launch this guy.” Hewert floated to his friend. “You see that church with the blue dome? I bet whatever priest is in there can deal with his injuries.”

“Mana insufficient.” Albert showed his hand, the mirage of strings he used to apply his telekinesis were frayed at the ends.

“I have some left.” Hewert concentrated and linked his mana with Albert, the connection forming easily from the familiarity between them and the training they had for this specific situation.

“Launch and protect.” The old man raised his arms, and with Hewert’s unrefined mana sense, he could feel the creation of a mana catapult – though it did not work like a traditional catapult – and the bubble that was enclosing the lighting mage. Hewert blasted a stray monster with a fire bolt and gave Albert the go ahead.

The lightning mage flew in an arc and passed through the church’s shield. Hewert’s attention was stolen by twelve monsters that came below, forcing him to dodge and weave, blast and kill for a minute. It was an agonizing experience; the fire burns were too much. He could feel it in his bones, the tiredness and the fleeting voice in his mind that told him to just give up, that the pain would stop.

Craven was the mind, and its pleas for release were ever so tempting. He honestly would have considered fleeing, and damn the consequences. May it be getting kicked from the colleges or exiled from the Empire, he would have flown out of this Skorn cursed city long ago.

Yet his friends were here, Angelica was too drunk on battle to retreat and Albert would sooner kill him than flee.

And surprisingly it paid out when down below a team of seven charged towards the dungeon like a bunch of hooligans. How foolhardy these people were was astonishing, forgoing death and running straight towards its face.

They were the light of hope in this dark situation.