Seeing Magic Again

As we progressed closer to the mountains, I could hear other people talking in their groups.

"Who would have thought you could kill a windripper that way."

"We've always lost at least one person on every training mission since they are way too quick, but that old man was able to kill it by himself. It doesn't feel real."

That would definitely explain why Kieran was so scared before then. He was almost certain that one of the people of our group was going to die. I still found it a bit strange that nobody thought of that method before though. I guess it was one thing to observe that the bird prefers going for targets that aren't paying attention and another still to actually put yourself at risk trying to bait it into a trap.

The whole group continued on and found many different types of monsters on the way. It was actually quite enjoyable being a simple spectator to the various fights. I learned a lot about different initial stage monsters and was able to see firsthand just how a warrior was supposed to fight.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find that Kieran had warmed up to me quite a bit after what I did back there. It was a bit strange actually having somewhat friendly conversations with a person in this world, but I wasn't about to complain.

After many fights, we eventually came across a monster that looked quite a bit like a bear. Although it resembled a bear, it also looked incredibly strange by my standards. Instead of having fur over its body, it was covered by rocks. It looked as if a bear had been coated in mud and then left to dry.

Like usual, Bruno activated his artifact to trap the creature and then proceeded to tell us about it.

"Much like its look implies, this one is called an earth bear. It has very basic access to earth magic which it uses to maintain a sort of armor around itself. However, its body is also fairly strong. There are definitely creatures out there that outclass the earth bear, but nonetheless it is among the strongest initial stage monsters."

Everybody took some time to digest the new information. Whoever was required to fight that bear would probably have a really hard time.

"We'll take it on."

I looked over to see the people in Alex's group stand out to volunteer. He was with two of the more senior trainees and one of the other mages. Now that I think about, after seeing Alex's team composition I couldn't help but feel like Bruno was playing favorites. With the exception of Alex because of how new he was to everything, I could see that team being the strongest out of everyone here.

Bruno had a bit of a frown seeing who it was.

"Better late than never. Go ahead, show us your worth."

Following Bruno's consent, the group stepped forward towards the bear. I could see that Alex looked pretty scared which was contrasted by the solemn determination of his other group members.

They took a second to discuss their battle plans and then got in formation. The two senior trainees stood at the front. One had a great sword and the other wielded a sword and shield combo. It was quite surprising seeing the shield since the vast majority of all the trainees only wielded a sword. Finishing their formation, Alex stood next to the mage in the back.

A few moments later, Bruno warned them and then released the bear. I was quite excited to see how the fight was going to take place.

Probably enraged because of being trapped in a cage, the bear immediately charged forward on release. I could feel the earth shake slightly despite my distance from the battlefield. That bear probably weighed an unreasonable amount especially with all of the rock covering its body.

Despite the bear's charge though, the trainees were also on the move. The sword and shield guy moved a little towards the bear probably in an attempt to prevent the bear from building momentum and then raised his shield to brace for an impact. The great sword user followed behind ready for a counter attack.

It looked like the fight could go either way at this point, but then all my attention was stolen by the mage. I looked over and saw a small magic circle hovering in front of his outstretched arm. The complexity seemed hopelessly simple in comparison to the magic circles in my head, but all the same it ignited my passion for magic once more.

He seemed to be concentrating extremely hard as various runes started to appear within his magic circle. With each new rune the circle got closer to being filled up and I found myself strangely cheering him on in my mind. In that moment I didn't care about anything else. I just wanted to see what kind of magic he would produce.

Moments later, the magic circle was filled at which point it disappeared while being replaced by a small ice spear. It was pretty obvious that this was weak magic and something that a beginner would start out with, but all the same I was amazed. That man just willed something into existence and that was the true fantasy element of this world.

The man moved his arm and the ice spear responded. He went through the motions of throwing an actual spear and even though he never physically touched his magic at all, it responded accordingly.

I watched as the ice spear soared through the air until eventually hitting its target. It landed on the shoulder of the charging earth bear and actually caused it to stumble. Some rock exploded off of the creature's body on impact and it was forced to slow down greatly. That was when it made contact with the shield of the warrior.

The impact sounded quite impressive, but with all of the lost momentum, the shield warrior was able to hold on and stop the bear completely. Following the impact, the great sword warrior took the opportunity to get a clean hit in. It looked like he aimed for the spot that the ice spear hit previously and then used all of his strength for a downward swing.

His sword became a blur in the air and soon dug deep into the bear's body. After the successful hit, the two warriors backed off and prepared themselves for the same strategy again. A pained roar filled the area, but there wasn't much the bear could do at that point. It was already crippled before it could get a hit on anybody.

The rest of the fight was rather boring, well except for the part that the mage casted another ice spear. I swear I would never get tired of simply seeing people cast magic and observing the effects.

Soon the bear was riddled with wounds and fell down never to stand again. Alex's group had secured a decisive victory even though Alex himself had done basically nothing the entire time.

As they were walking back to the larger group, I could hear one of the warriors talking with Alex.

"Don't worry about being useful for now. This is your first time fighting anything in your whole life. Your goal should be to carefully observe those more experienced than you so that you will be prepared when your time eventually comes."

It seems like Alex was pretty bothered that he was only a burden to his party. If that were me, I would just be happy with strong teammates and enjoy being carried through everything. I guess that's just a difference in perspective though.

After they rejoined our group, Bruno spoke once again.

"Alright, everybody that should have fought has had a chance at this point. We will now be heading back towards the capital as an entire group. If we meet anymore monsters on the way, people will fight on a volunteer basis."

It felt like everybody took a collective sigh at that point. At least I was happy that I wouldn't have to risk my life anymore. Overall, I would say that my time out here was fairly successful. Sure, I had a very close call with my secret being exposed, but that was over with now and on the bright side, I think I ranked fairly high. At least none of the other heroes were able to kill a monster on their own.

Soon we started following Bruno back to the capital in a much livelier atmosphere. There were many conversations going on discussing the fights that we saw today. I was even able to hear people discussing my own fight with the windripper. It was a very strange thing having others talk about and praise my past actions. I couldn't remember the last time I was praised by anybody.

We continued retracing our steps until we reached the spot that I fought the other trainees before. Seeing what lay before us, everybody shut their mouths with that lively atmosphere completely erased. I was similarly shocked by what I saw.

Before us was the wasteland of a battlefield. Dozens of soldiers laid on the ground in pieces. Blood and gore decorated the road and surrounding trees. And standing in the middle of it all like the king of its own little hill stood the t-rex monster that was with the spies before.

My heart tightened and adrenaline started pumping in my veins. Did those spies decide to go back on everything? I stood in complete uncertainty while on the verge of running for my life until Bruno stepped forward.

"I guess this will be a training mission for me as well."

He pulled out his sword and prepared to fight.