Scared By A Child

We encountered some trouble.

The typical, big, green trouble in fantasy novels.

The orcs.

Fighting elves, however!

And in accordance with the cool line 'Magician should always be prepared', I utilized my hidden ace.

"Mana shield!"

Shouting the name of the skill so Natri won't be surprised, I had us surrounded by a translucent, slightly yellow barrier.

You can get this by having <Barrier magic (level 5)> and <Mana force (level 9)>.

Barrier magic enables me to create all kind of shapes and effects, while mana force converts my mana into a force defending me against the damage, pumping it into the shield.

Currently, I can convert my mana with nine times the efficiency, absorbing 441 points in damage - while my barrier magic does 25% damage reduction before that.

It was what I was working on back then.

Riding the cat, we managed to come to the tent of the elven commander like this.

Natri became the center of the attention.

In her own words, there were suddenly a lot of green halflings fighting normal halflings who all had long hair and pointy ears.

As for the long hair, it's probably due to the culture of the elves.

The commander was clad in silver armor, having white hair, purple eyes, and was holding a japanese naginata. If you can call it japanese here.

He was your perfect cosplayer, adding a slightly cold expression to his words:

"Please state your business here."

"I don't know how halflings should speak, so you do it."

"..."

And so I told him how we are searching for a cure for a giant who became mad and let thousands of goblins enter his town to get sacrifices for a bloody altar.

I think he understood from my nonverbal gestures that I am speaking like this in consideration of Natri being a child.

Once his expression softened, and he got an even more of an elven look, he let us stay with him.

The orcs were losing anyway, and actually withdrew soon after they saw Natri riding a cat plus being surrounded by a defensive spell.