71 End Of Day One

"I have always fought alone, I know nothing about formations or teamwork. And if I give orders, I can't cast any spell. I think it's better to have a skilled hunter, rather than a makeshift leader.

"Any one of you who has received military training, either as a strategist or a soldier, is much better suited for this than me."

'Not to mention that I don't give a damn about any of you. I don't have any motivation to be a good leader. As long as I keep at least one of you standing, anything goes for me. The important thing is to avoid the wipe out.' He inwardly added.

Lith's teammates started talking to each other, honestly evaluating themselves to determine who could best take charge, setting their pride and personal ambitions aside.

Reluctantly, he had to burst their bubble.

"Do you mind a simple bit of advice?" Everyone turned towards him again.

"Whoever becomes the leader has a huge problem: we know each other's class, but not what we are capable of during a real fight. In a life and death situation, you can't give detailed explanations, only generic orders.

"An order is good only if executed in a proper manner. You have experienced first-hand how easy it is to freeze due to panic. In my case, I tend to let my bloodlust blind me. Both issues would cause any plan to crumble in the face of the enemy.

"My suggestion is to put the matter of selecting the leader aside, and just watch each other's backs. Only by familiarizing ourselves with each other's skillsets and behaviours, will a shoddy team like this ours have any chance of survival."

After the team agreed, Lith started explaining to everyone how to make use of first magic in the wilderness.

They had to use the darkness spell Concealment to hide their smell all the time, and never leave the cave on foot, but only by using Flight or Float to ensure that they didn't leave ant footprints that could give away the entrance to their cave.

The same applied to hunting. Coupling those spells was the best way to sneak up on prey.

Lith, Mirna and Phloria left the cave, while Belia and Visen stayed behind. Visen decided to employ the time at hand to make the cave more stable, spacious and to solve what would be an inevitable hurdle.

Soon someone would be in need of a bathroom, and he doubted that anyone would ever consider the idea of going alone outside. Getting literally caught with your pants down was nightmare material.

Once on the outside, the hunting team relied on looks and hand gestures, trying to speak only as a last resort. Being a Mage Knight, Phloria decided to pair up with Mirna to protect her, while Lith would move on his own.

'Sigh, I can't believe I have to babysit these kids.'

'I know.' Solus replied. 'But it's the purpose of this whole exercise.'

'Yeah, it took us a while to understand why during the second day Trasque didn't assign any points. It was because he wanted us to teach each other actively, not just beat the cr*p out of your opponent.'

'And guess who you have to thank for finally understanding the real nature of this test?' Solus giggled.

'And guess who you have to thank for keeping me alive and you from having to go through the trouble of finding another host?' Lith sarcastically replied.

'I'm sorry, your Ladyship…' He performed a mind-curtsy. 'but while you enjoy the show in your front row seat, I'm the one in the Colosseum. So it's not such an amazing result.

'You can watch the bigger picture, but I must focus on teeth, claws and keeping my guts where they belong.'

'Meanie! Like I don't worry all the time! A simple 'thank you' would suffice.'

Lith felt like cr*p, snapping at her for no reason.

'I'm really sorry Solus. I know you were just trying to lighten the mood and cheer me up. It's just that I am already so stressed that I needed some way to vent my frustration.

'And thank you. You are the only one that knows all my flaws, yet still cares for me. Thank you for all the help you give me every day, and for always trying to make me into a better person.'

That was the first time his chatterbox mage tower had nothing to say. Her mind was as blank as a slate. Lith preferred to not pry any further. It was just as likely that she was angry at him as it was that she was just too surprised to reply.

They often joked about it, but he had never earnestly thanked her before for meddling in his private life.

The woodlands were denser than the Trawn woods, despite all his experience Lith was at a loss. They couldn't get too far away from the hill without the risk of becoming lost, nor could Lith go too far away on his own, in case something happened.

This time he couldn't cheat his way out with Life Vision and spirit magic. How could he possibly explain that he was able to spot animals moving underground or in tree trunks?

Mirna and Phloria weren't having much better luck. Keeping two spells continuously active wasn't something they were used to. Double casting was very demanding on their focus, and at the slightest slip up they had to quickly cast them both again, consuming even more mana.

While Mirna's ego seemed to have recovered quickly, regaining her confident attitude, Phloria had never felt so ashamed in her whole life.

She was the most promising descendant in a bloodline of Mage Knights, yet she kept stumbling through her specialization course.

Her father had taught her personally both magic up to tier three and swordplay. He even made her fight wild beasts to give her real enemies. But now she realized that all her confidence was built on a lie.

She was so used to always having him by her side that she never took any challenge seriously. Her father would always be there to help her, if something went wrong.

At the academy, instead, she was alone.

The Professors were tough and demanding, the competition so fierce that her so-called friends were too busy fixing their own mistakes to pay her any attention. When the Headmaster had announced the mock exam, she had rejoiced, thinking it was her time to shine.

But she had never seen something as big as a magical beast. At the moment of truth, her nerves had failed her, turning her into a burden for everyone.

Despite Phloria's earlier brave façade, she was still scared out of her mind, trembling at any noise, her hand clutching the hilt of her sword so tight that it was white. Phloria could not help but envy Mirna.

She was so pretty compared to her, and despite all that she had went through, her will was rock-solid.

Mirna, on the other hand, reciprocated Phloria's feelings in full. She was jealous of Phloria, so tall and strong, she was bound to have lots of admirers. The reason why Mirna appeared so confident, was because she believed that she didn't have any more face to lose.

She had already gone below and beyond the bottom of the barrel. In her mind, she could only rise up.

"Stop squirming like that, you are making me nervous too!" Mirna whispered. She couldn't bear her guardian's twists and turns anymore.

"Sorry. But I have an eerie feeling about this."

"The whole forest is an eerie feeling. Where the f*ck are all the animals? I can hear animals' calls, but we have yet to meet a single soul."

The minutes quickly turned into hours, and the only creatures they spotted were too far away and too fast to get a shot at them.

The sun had reached the zenith, so they decided to give up and check with Lith to see if his luck had been any better. A few dozen meters away, Lith had come to the same conclusion.

Even using all the tricks in his book, his prey would amount to a poor meal for one person. He had never learned how to follow tracks or use traps, he had always been reliant on true magic. But while he was observed, those abilities were sealed.

Suddenly, an odd chirping resounded. The three of them listened carefully, hoping for a last-minute big catch. The more they listened to it, the less it sounded like birds.

It was more of a mix of a rhythmic cricket's chirruping and a mouse's high-pitched squeaking.

'Solus, this sounds a lot like bats, but it makes no sense. They are mostly nocturnal animals. Not only that, but it doesn't explain why all the other animals have gone silent.'

'Definitely close, but not bats.' She replied. 'It's not squeaking, more like joints clicking.'

The noise kept growing in intensity, until it was all around them. Expecting another magical beast to attack right after announcing its presence, they tried to regroup as fast as they could.

The moment they lowered their guard, looking around for each other's positions, was the beginning of the end. From the treetops and countless holes in the ground, well hidden by the thick vegetation, countless spiders attacked them from all directions.

Some of them where small and round, their body size close to a basketball, while others were as big as a Labrador. Their black bodies were covered in long bristles, with red dots all over.

"Watch out! Those are Clackers!" Mirna yelled, but her words fell on deaf ears.

Neither of her teammates had ever heard of them.

'F*ck me sideways!' Lith cursed. 'None of the books in Soluspedia ever mentioned that insects or arachnids can turn into magical beasts. I have no idea what these things are capable of!'

The attack had been too sudden, the clicking noise wasn't a warning, it was how the Clackers had coordinated their attack, leaving the group no escape routes.

The spells in Lith's rings were useless. Checkmate Spears was a finisher against big opponents, against a small army it had no effect. The tier two ring held a healing spell, while the tier one was a simple blinding spell.

Sure, no one beside him knew what his rings contained, but that still left him with just three true magic spells. After that, Lith had to either accept the loss or blow his cover.

 He had no real weapon outside first magic. The enemy had caught him completely unprepared.