038 | Flank

My name is Asher.

Following from my right side is Rudif, the Half-Beast.

Lisha, whom I recently discovered was also from another world, is on my left.

The three of us were dashing at a rapid pace through the small spaces between the tall trees of the forest.

After Pen sent us out so that we could flank the Grim Reaper's army, we entered through the back of Yanalia into the forest, avoiding the eyes of any potential spy.

It's practically confirmed that all this is no mere coincidence. Even I had such thoughts while Pen was telling us the whole story. Someone, or something, is controlling everything from the shadows. Some sort of puppetmaster pulling the strings.

We didn't encounter anything since we started running.

Another one of many loud noises was heard in the distance.

"It's the wall...Sounds of the wall taking a heavy hit..."

According to Rudif's hearing and my previous experience from being on the battlefield, the Grim Reaper began his attack.

"Lisha, do you know anything about the Grim Reaper?"

I thought she would be the most suited person to answer that question. Given that she told me before that most of her knowledge was learned from reading books back at her home.

I'm relieved that at least her neglecting family at least lets her stay literate. Otherwise, communicating would be quite a hassle.

"Hm, sorry Asher, there's nothing I can recall. I only know of the Grim Reaper's appearance, but Pen already mentioned it."

"That's fine. I wasn't expecting much information on him either way. What about you, Rudif?"

The mutt shook his head in denial.

"I don't-"

He ran straight through a tree branch, snapping it in half as if he was an unstoppable force. He shook his head again to get the twigs and leaves out of his hair.

"Pleh, that tasted so woody."

"Continue."

"I mean, I don't think Patricia mentioned anything about a Grim Reaper."

"Hm. Lisha, have you ever gone to another country?"

Lisha also shook her head. I'm getting a lot of head shaking tonight it seems.

"Aside from my mother sending me on a road trip to Yanalia to get RID of me, I was never allowed out the estate. I'm the quote-on-quote embarrassment of the oh so noble bloodline."

"That sounds rough," Rudif added.

Not sure if that comforted Lisha at all.

"Well, thanks. What's YOUR story?"

"My parents and I were caught by slave traders and I was the only one of my family to make it out alive. I met Asher and then we stayed together for a number of years with a few crazy Dark Elves."

"Sheesh, if I ever see another slave trader, I'll f*ck them up for you."

"Y-you will?!"

"You bet I will."

Rudif and Lisha devilishly smiled and did a quick handshake behind me.

I sighed, "Let's not get too off-topic on the current situation. Who knows how long they can stall for."

Lisha glanced in the direction of where the loud noises came from.

"For now, there's a few sources of strong magical energy coming from the direction of the battle. Ever since I felt the appearance of those signals, there haven't been any more sounds coming from the wall."

I'm proud that Lisha can already sense magic power. Though, she can't do much with Raw Energy yet.

Rudif is the opposite, still a disappointment.

He can sense Raw Energy but has trouble with Magic.

"You can feel their energy from this distance?"

"Mhm! You can do it too if you keep trying, Rudif."

"Eh, I don't know. Maybe?"

I could also feel that there are three sources of magical energy. Though, I also sense the Captain of the Knight's presence. Given that he's a Raw Energy user and doesn't specialize in magic, that would mean there is another individual that's just around the level of a Captain in terms of magic power.

Pen indirectly stated that he will probably lose against the Grim Reaper. However, now that there are four more competent individuals, Yanalia still has some hope.

"Let's pick up the pace. Their mana won't last forever."

The two nodded and followed closely behind me as I sped up.

* * *

An hour has passed.

The magic power I sensed initially has now weakened. It's about 70% of the original power that was first displayed. Seems like we ARE running on a strict schedule.

"Rudif, Lisha, I'll have to leave you guys for now."

They both understood the circumstances and nodded.

I smiled, "Thanks."

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, allowing myself to conjure a light physical enhancement.

This reminded me that I should teach Lisha and the mutt how to use this spell. It's something I altered from the "original" physical enhancement spell that was recorded in the textbooks. I think it was something like "The Sorcerer's Guild's Book of Magic, Volume 3."

To summarize, it's a very versatile spell in terms of increasing your physical capabilities. The light version of the spell mostly prioritizes speed, agility, and stamina while its counterpart, the heavy version, aims more with strength and durability.

Needless to say, I easily left those two behind without much effort. I mean, I could have done that without using a spell but for the moment, I should probably fulfill Pen's request.

I ran through the tight pathways that the tall trees of the forest gave me. It quickly guided me to a pretty steep cliff which was the exit out of the forest.

"What a pathetic army."

I looked over the cliff and saw the slow approach of thousands of marching skeletons. Each wielding a random mix of armor while some held weapons.

What I saw was just the frontlines, somewhere in the middle was the true monster.

"Grim Reaper~ Where are you?"

I fixated my vision to look near the area where I felt the large amounts of magic power.

It's unfortunate but at my current level of magic sensitivity, I can't locate someone's EXACT position just from feeling their magic power. A relative or general location is obviously doable.

I amassed a thin layer of Raw Energy into my eyes. They turned into bright flaming red pupils instead of my regular silver eyes.

I like to think that Raw Energy is more practical in amplifying your body and your senses.

Magic and spells are more circumstantial as many different types of magic exist.

Now that I had used Raw Energy, I was able to track down the Grim Reaper easily as it greatly improved my sense of vision.

"Found you~"

Eerie as expected. Donned in a black hooded robe with equally black bones as well as wielding a scythe with an even darker blade. His eye sockets had blue flames, were those his eyes?

"Don't know how I missed you. It's like finding a four-leaf clover."

I released my Raw Energy and I ran further down the forest. If I were to flank the Grim Reaper, I'd do it closer. It would be a waste to merely clear away the frontlines.

"I have no information on how he managed to gather an army of this size, better to take him out in the case that he's able to produce more skeletons."

Upon reaching a farther side of the cliff, I was now in line with the Grim Reaper. For now, he hasn't noticed me just yet.

Or perhaps he did but chose not to do anything because I'm suppressing my magic power.

I smiled, "Let's try this out, Patricia. You did give me a few bottles, it's a shame if I didn't get to try them out."

I reached into my Inventory with my left hand and pulled out a small glass bottle the size of my palm. Inside contained a transparent blue substance. It crashed around the bottle even without me shaking it.

"It's like water but on steroids."

I popped the lid off and chugged the entire bottle. I released the spell that suppressed my magic power and I felt the amount of mana I have going up exponentially.

"Mana Amplifier sure is interesting. Who knew such a strange liquid could perform such phenomenons?"

I looked up into the sky, raising my hand with my palms facing upwards. My hands were clawed and I was fully concentrated on forming a huge rock.

Small crumbles of dark brown Earth gathered into one point.

Patricia showed me her meteor spell when we first met, and she also taught me how to use it before. However, the mana it consumes and the control you need are simply too much of a stretch for someone like me.

I needed to lower the standards, by a LOT.

Slightly larger-sized rocks started to form around and squeeze the chunk of Earth into a ball.

At best, I copied her meteor skill but made some changes so that it will work for my level. It's only exhibiting a small fraction of its true power and it takes way longer to charge and build.

As I slowly stretched my hands outwards, flexing my entire body, especially my back. It was like I was looking up and asking the sky to give me a hug.

The ball of Earth was now about ten meters in diameter. A perfect sphere...Kind of...Not really...

"Looks like I need to practice more. I'm nowhere near Calamno or Patricia's level."

The Grim Reaper seemed to have fired off a few blades of dark-colored magic towards me.

"Ha, no doubt anyone would have noticed this by now. By the way, you guys are late."

Lisha came in and started chanting.

For those who don't know, it's basically imbuing your words with magic power as a guide to help form your spell.

"Gather around me and form a wall. Protect me and the people I desire. Earth Wall."

The area in front of me vibrated slightly before a small Earth Wall came up from the ground and blocked the first two blades of magic.

There was still one more coming any second now. I moved out the way, being careful not to disrupt my miniature meteor spell.

"Duck!" I yelled.

Lisha ran off but the poor mutt had the audacity to talk.

"Where?! Don't lie to-"

A small splatter of blood tainted the ground. Rudif dashed but was cut on the side of his leg. It wasn't a deep cut but it was bleeding a lot for such a minor injury.

"Damn it, why won't it stop bleeding already? I poured Raw Energy to close up the wound."

Lisha bent down to apply Rejuvenating Magic to quickly heal Rudif. But, that wasn't going to do anything.

"Don't bother Lisha, I'll take care of him in a minute. The mutt isn't dying anytime soon."

Plus, I just figured out the Grim Reaper's magic type. That alone makes it way easier to plan and strategize how to fight against him.

"Death Magic, huh? How fun!"

I threw my hands towards the Grim Reaper, hurling the meteor that came crashing down, aiming right in the middle of his army. Hopefully, the collateral damage would get rid of most of the skeletons.