Liri's Blessing

Behind Commander Bela stood a huge figure, a man in shining golden armor. From the aura he radiated, it was immediately clear to everyone, that this man is a hero.

"This is the hero of the Charbeilian Empire, shouldn't he be in the south? Can anyone actually summon a hero? I mean, General Aslan mentioned it in class, but somehow I can't shake the feeling off, that we're going to meet more heroes." Adam asked.

"My father used to have frequent visits from a wandering priest and he once explained it to me. The incantation formula is simple and most priests know it, but the hard part is translating it into the language of Heaven. The language of heaven is very complicated and many misunderstandings can arise. For example, you want to say, that you want a *strong* hero, but get it wrong and the goddess understands *wise*. Then there are the offerings, what exactly is being sacrificed is kept top secret by the nations." Nym explained, sitting behind Jean on Nala's back.

"So, if I could translate the formula and had a sacrifice, could I summon my own hero?" Adam asked interested.

"HAHAHA, maybe it is possible, but I don't think it's that easy. But if you can, summon one for me too!" Laughed John, taking some potions, that they bought from the market once, from his enchanted pouch and slipping them into a pocket on his chest.

"The goddess favors no one, so she probably wouldn't allow a single person to summon a Hero." Jean replied, her gaze still fixed on the floating heroine.

She is right! Mom could have given me some cheat skills, but the only thing I got are these bracelets and the necklace.' Adam thought.

"Look ahead!" Liri said, standing between Mila's ears.

Even though Adam could see her, she still seemed to be invisible to the others.

Adam narrowed his eyes and stared in the direction, in which the little fairy was pointing. All Adam could see was a black mass, something like an army of ants marching over a small hill in the distance.

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"Haaaa... Haaaa... Haaaaa... Apparently there's nothing I can teach you!" General Aslan praised, out of breath.

"Well, where we come from, we fight for our lives every day. But it's good to know how fighting is done in this world." Tom slammed his fist against his chest to show respect to the lion man.

Akane, on the other hand, said nothing and bowed deeply to the man.

"Tomorrow morning, you will meet up with a group of my best warriors and set out for the south of the Charbeilian Empire. We moved the Charbeilian hero to the north, which will give false hope to those Kapapian bastards. When they attack, you will push them back with all your might. We'll meet at sunrise in the canteen for breakfast and then, the transport guild will teleport you." Aslan explained.

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The crowd, that came over the small hill, that stretched all the way from west to east, was getting closer and Adam recognized different-sized humanoid figures in it.

"Ogres, orcs, goblins, and a few humans!" Adam muttered to himself.

But he wasn't the only one, who noticed them, as James backed up behind Hector.

"It's only natural, that you normal folk, would meet the enemy first." James said, his voice shaking.

Adam could only roll his eyes when he heard the words of this young noble.

Jean kept an eye on the heroine, while Adam watched the army, John and Aldo were busy with their equipment.

As the army of monsters and Kapapian soldiers closed in, the support mages began casting Protection and Barrier spells. A transparent dome, shimmering slightly blue, appeared over the camp.

It all happened so fast, that Adam could hardly follow what was happening. The heroine disappeared and a huge cloud of dust was thrown up on the front line. Some men screamed while armor and body parts flew around. The enemy heroine slaughtered her way through the ranks! Panicking, the soldiers near the heroine tried to gain distance, since they didn't have the slightest chance against her.

"GO!" Commander Bela shouted.

BAAAAM!

Suddenly, a shock wave swept across the battlefield, nearly knocking Adam off Mila's back. Many of the soldiers were knocked over by the blast and the cloud of dust dispersed, so Adam could see it clearly. There they stood, the two heroes, fists still touching, in a crater created by the tremendous force.

"Stand up! Get ready, the enemy army is coming towards our camp! ATTACK MAGES, thin out the enemy lines! After the third volley, the Beast Riders take over!" Commander Bela yelled.

Only the clattering of marching enemy soldiers and the murmuring of the magicians could be heard. Adam clenched his fists, he was more excited than he had been in a long time. He would not hesitate to throw himself into an army of monsters or demons to protect those he loved. But this is a war between humans, something Adam has never had to do before. Adam's hands were sweating and it felt like everything was happening in slow motion.

„FIIIIIIRE!" Commander Bela yelled, as loud as she could.

Immediately, colorful balls and beams flew toward the approaching army. The various explosions and effects killed and injured many of the Goblins, Orcs, and Humans. However, already after the second volley, magical shields appeared over the Kapapian army and the third volley of magical attacks mostly ricocheted off.

"BEAST RIDERS! ATTACK!!!" Roared the commander.

With a grin on his face, John darted past Adam, followed by Jean and Aldo while Adam took a deep breath.

Adam put his sword back in his magic Bracelet and summoned his war scythe.

"Go, Mila!" Adam said determinedly.

Mila bowed her head slightly, only to rush like an arrow toward the enemy army, and elegantly dodged the craters created by the magical attacks. In no time, the two had overtaken Aldo and were now riding alongside Jean. John, riding just ahead of them, swung his war scythe and struck down the first goblin, decapitating it.

"Finish him, you two!" John called back, as he chopped off an ogre's leg.

The huge green ogre staggered and Adam motioned for Mila to run faster. When Adam right passed the ogre, he cut off his second leg and Jean severed his neck. Aldo shot single goblins and orcs from behind with his bow to prevent the group from being encircled.

Out of nowhere, a giant cheetah swept past Adam and crashed into a group of goblins. Immediately, the big cat began tearing the small and ugly green humanoids to pieces, and the rider used her bow to finish off any approaching goblins. An orc ran towards her from behind and came dangerously close to her. When the human-sized orc was only a few steps away from Tamika, its head exploded like a dropped watermelon.

"And that was number six!" Nym exclaimed proudly, while he still pointed a finger in the orc's direction.

Adam had completely forgotten, that Nym the attack mage, actually shouldn't be here.

"Pukaaaaak!" With a loud yell, Hector landed next to Adam and mauled an orc with his sharp claws.

"ADAM! Hurry up! John has strayed too far from us! You have to follow him, Hector is very mobile, but we'll never catch up with Shredder!" Aldo shouted, pointing to the hill in the north.

Giant chickens are fast and extremely agile, but Hector couldn't compete with a wolf-like Shredder.

"Huh? That hothead!" Adam looked around and realized, that he couldn't see John anymore.

"Follow me, he is over there! They're circling him!" Yelled Cody, circling his griffin over the group.

Mila ran faster and overtook Jean and Nym, who were fighting a group of orcs and goblins. When suddenly, two people in black armor with a gold border appeared. They had a crest on their chests, a sword in front of a shield with a halo.

"Kapapian soldiers!" Adam remarked.

Suddenly, Cody shot down and his griffin's mighty jaw grabbed and pulled a soldier up in the air, the second suddenly started screaming loudly and rolled on the ground in agony.

"HAHAHA! I am Liri Treeroot, Guardian of the Divine Garden, do not challenge me, here you will only find pain and death!" Yelled the little fairy, proudly raising her bow in the air.

More and more orcs and humans stood in Adam's way and he made slower progress. Cody did his best to eliminate as many enemies as possible or distract them from Adam.

"CODY! Where is John?" Adam called up, as he was slashing open an orc.

"About 200 meters north, right behind the hill! Ogres and orcs have surrounded him. I don't know how long he can keep this up." Cody replied in a worried voice.

A huge red ogre accompanied by a group of orcs stood in Adam's way. Without thinking, Adam reached out and cast a spell. Adam actually wanted to try out his magic on his own, so that he wouldn't draw attention to himself, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself so far.

"I don't think I have any other choice! With a bit of luck, Mom gave me some extra power!" Adam mumbled, as a small golden ball formed on his fingertips.

The golden ball shot so fast toward an orc, that you could only see a golden beam. The spell ripped through the orc's chest, causing him to collapse. A new golden ball immediately formed and Adam shot again. This time, the spell struck the head of an unfortunate orc, raining down his blood and brains on his comrades. Adam summoned his war scythe again since the magic was taking too much energy.

"Too bad, no cheat abilities after all! In my Homeworld, with the help of the system I could spam magic attacks like this one!" Adam murmured, as he got ready.

Two orcs, armed with rusty two-handed swords ran towards him, and Adam braced himself to repel the attack.

Suddenly, Cody's griffin lunged at one of the attackers, its powerful beak grabbing the orc's neck and dragging it into the air.

"Come on, you have to keep going! I'll take on the orcs and the ogre!" Yelled Cody!

Another orc was hit by an arrow, just before Tamika appeared next to Adam and immediately launched herself at a group of goblins with her cheetah, which was stained in red and green blood.

Now, that Tamika was here too, Adam had no more qualms and told Mila telepathically to ignore the ogre and the remaining orcs, Adam gave Cody a nod, before Mila sped off. Adam quickly reached a group of ogres and orcs, who had gathered around something. Adam gritted his teeth and his eyes began to faintly glow blue, before circling the ogres and attacking the legs with his war scythe.

"John! JOHN!" Adam yelled while dodging a falling ogre.

"Attack them with magic, it's much faster!" Liri called out to him while clutching onto one of Mila's ears.

"I don't have enough magic!"

"Leave that to me!" Liri answered confidently.

As soon as Liri said it, a warm feeling began to spread inside Adam's body.

"Mana!" He said incredulously.

"That's the blessing of a fairy! It won't last long so hurry up, just focus on the ogres, I'll do the rest!" The little blonde warrior yelled as she flew away, bow in hand.