The More the Merrier (1)

"Hold the line!" I shout. A small squad of goblins has blocked our way out of the dungeon. While holding back the enemy on one side, we're suddenly ambushed from the rear.

"Current wave!" Shinobu releases a powerful blast of electricity towards an approaching Acriporcos. It falls to the side and spasms, but five more are still closing in on us.

"Josh, buy us some time by disrupting the footing of the Acriporcos. I'll hold the front!" Josh wordlessly moves to the side, leaving only a small space between me and the squad of goblins. I pull the spell rod from my belt and shoot two fireballs to break their formation. The wall of shields staggers for a moment, and I leap at the opportunity.

"Flash Step!" Using my increased speed, I drive the tip of my spear through the chest of one goblin and elbow another in the nose. I feel the bones in its face crumble from the force of the impact. The goblin falls to the ground while clutching its face, and I back off. I glance behind me to check on the kids and see the threat we're really worried about; the silhouette of a giant spider in the distance. It's been sitting at the rear since the beginning of the battle, presumably waiting for a chance to strike.

It's been two weeks since Jezabel met Inari in the cave, and we've been diving into the dungeon almost every day since. The smaller monsters aren't much of a problem anymore, but we've yet to encounter anything like the giant spider in the distance. My mind races as I try to think of what it could be, but nothing comes to mind. I drop the distracting thoughts and turn back to the threat in front of me. There were originally twelve goblins in the squad, but their numbers have been whittled down to just five. I removed two from the fight with my last attack, and two more were struck by fireballs. The remaining three were all dispatched by Josh.

The problem is that I'm running low on stamina. We've had a handful of battles up to this point, and I can feel everyone getting tired. Waiting for Josh to clean up his side is one option, but I can't afford to give the spider more time to pick its spot. I quickly chug a strengthening and stamina potion.

"Liquefaction!" Josh uses his Friction Magic and creates a moat of liquid soil to slow down the hog monsters.

[Let's end this quickly.]

"Ironflesh!" I leap into the group of goblins with a shout. Having just composed themselves from my last attack, their formation swiftly crumbles. I stab my spear into the first goblin before releasing it. Relying on my bare hands, I swing my arms around and crush what's left of the squad. The few remaining Goblins crumble to the ground. Technique becomes meaningless in the face of overwhelming force.

I have virtually no hand-to-hand combat skills, but I manage nonetheless. I retrieve my spear and stab the Goblins that are still writhing around. The heat of battle behind me is also settling down. The Acriporcos have all been eliminated, which only leaves the spider. I had the four fairies keep an eye on it while we were fighting in case it charged. Now that the battle has ended, it begins to make its move. The beast crawls towards us at a steady pace making it all the more intimidating. It's as if it doesn't even consider us a threat. We form up and retreat to the defeated goblin squad. The spider monster moves on top of the Acriporcos and winds them up in its web.

"It looks like it's just scavenging. Let's grab what we can and get out of here." I say. We pick up some of the equipment dropped by the goblins and speedily make our way back to the surface. We run into a group of Polyporta just before my strengthening potion wears off. The fairies blast them with magic while we defend, and the fight is over almost instantly. We drag their remains to the mouth of the dungeon and sit down outside.

"What the hell was that!?" Sakura cries.

"I don't know. We'll have to ask someone at the guild when we unload." I put the corpse I'm holding in my magic bag and lie down. The trees are smaller and sparser near the dungeon, so I can tell it's still early afternoon. Warm rays of light fight through the leaves to find a few spots on the ground. Every muscle in my body screams at me after pulling that little stunt. I'm almost out of stamina, and my HP is running dangerously low as well.

[Why's it gotta be spiders?]

I catch my breath as the lactic acid begins draining from my legs.

"This isn't a safe spot to rest; we need to keep moving," Rom speaks up with a warning. Considering he's normally silent, this must be pretty urgent.

"Got it, let's go," I say as I stumble to my feet.

"Nick, are you okay?" Shinobu runs over to support me.

"I'll be fine. Let's get moving."

"You need to rest." She asserts.

"We can't afford to stay here."

"You can come to our village." Hai breaks the tension with a suggestion. "It's not too far, and I'm sure the leader wouldn't mind."

"Fairy village it is? Let's go." I give my assessment, and we steadily make our way through the dense foliage.

[I can see why they set up their village here. Only a fairy could move through this thick brush without any issues.]

It takes nearly an hour before the plants begin to thin. The light streaming in from the leaves overhead is replaced by the technicolor glow of the fungus. Virtually no sunlight shines past the dense vegetation above us, leaving the village in perpetual twilight. I close my eyes for a moment to prevent my head from spinning.

"Nick, you can sit down now," Shinobu urges.

"Thanks." I sit on a nearby log and adjust to the near psychedelic experience. Sakura springs to life and runs around the village. There are a handful of magic lamps of various colors hanging from the trees and what appear to be small houses on the branches. I didn't really think about it last time I was here, but even fairies must need a place to live. The homes look to be made of branches and sap to keep the rain out. I can see some straw sticking out of the openings, which they likely use for bedding.

[I wonder if they'd like some fabric to sleep on. I'll have to ask Inari.]

"Look what the cat dragged in."

"Who's the cat in this metaphor?"

"Whatever kicked your ass, of course."

"Nice to see you too, Inari." I greet the leader of the fairies currently hovering above me.

"Who gave you permission to come here?"

"Hai said you wouldn't give us permission." She scowls as I raise my eyebrows at her.

"Fine. Just don't interrupt. We're training."

"Training?" I say, half under my breath.

"Yes, we need to do everything we can to prepare while we have time." I frown as I see the anachronistic drills being run on the makeshift parade ground. It seems Inari has decided on a strategy of line fire where the fairies line up and all cast magic simultaneously.

"Let me guess; you want to maximize firepower and control of the unit movement, is that right?"

"Yes, I'd like to win this war after all."

"The problem is that you're giving up most of your advantages with this strategy. This is no different than lining up a bunch of human magicians, no?"

"And?"

"Your biggest advantages are your ability to fly and small size, which is perfect for 'guerrilla' or 'hit and run' tactics."

"That's what we're doing now." She says as she folds her arms.

"Well, not exactly. You can definitely hit and run with line fire, but it's fairly simple to construct countermeasures against it, and it's also inflexible."

"All the defenses can be concentrated in one spot, and it's difficult to coordinate simultaneous attacks." Inari finishes my thought for me. It seems she's picking up on what I'm getting at.

"Exactly. The best option would be to create small squads for attacking and scouting. The attacking squads can look for weaknesses in the defensive line or pick off individuals that separate from the group. The scouting force can then focus on gathering information to better position the squads or plan a large-scale assault if necessary."

"I'm not sure I can trust my fairies to act on their own like that."

"Don't you already do this when you send out groups of fairies to go hunting?"

"True, but this time the mistakes will carry much greater consequences."

"And make mistakes they will, but they'll get better. The important thing to keep in mind is that having someone at the scene making decisions is more effective than any amount of planning." I've made my point, so now it's time to let her decide. I desperately want to keep as many fairies alive as possible, so I'm really hoping she goes with my strategy.

"We'll need to begin practicing immediately," I smirk as it seems she's taken me up on my idea.