Chapter 168: Escort Test

 

  Loh Noir paced around the balcony, she wrung her hands every few paces. She even stepped on Gete who was lying on the floor.

  “Ow,” he winced. Gete turned his back to the group and tried to get what little sleep he could.

  “How are they doing?” Loh glanced at Vayu Glaz.

  “The same as they have the last five times you asked me. The wagon and the students have barely entered the grove, none of the undead raiders have attacked,” Vayu said through closed eyes.

  Vayu’s hawk flew over the academy’s grove and mentally communicated the ongoings of the students’ exam back to him.

  “Loh, you gotta relax. Everything is going to be fine. Stryg can handle himself, and Freya and Clypeus are excellent students,” Tauri patted her best friend’s shoulder.

  “Yeah, I know,” Loh sighed.

  “There are four waves of undead though, a dozen each, and I made them quite sturdy,” Gete said.

  “Not helping,” Tauri said through clenched teeth. “Don’t worry about what he said, Loh. Remember, the goal of this exam is for the students to get the wagon and its occupants to safety at this tower. They aren’t supposed to fight the undead so much as defend against them and retreat to the tower. Plus, we secretly placed another professor inside the wagon in case things went bad. Everyone will be fine. Well, except for me, I might die of boredom up here.”

  “Maybe,” Loh chuckled.

  “The first group of undead is approaching the students,” Vayu said.

  Loh stared out at the trees below the tower and beyond, “You can do this, Stryg.”

~~~

  There were around two dozen students in the class. Clypeus Gale had split them into three groups to protect the wagon, a vanguard, a center guard, and a rear guard. Callum Veres and Nora Azol sat at the back of the wagon, next to the hooded volunteers they were tasked to keep safe.

  Callum was busy counting the potions inside his satchel. The professors had allowed Nora to bring a large water barrel onto the wagon, it sloshed with every bump on the grassy grove.

  Kegrog sat atop the wagon, his long green cloak covered the large bow in his arms. The orc notched an arrow and warily glanced at the trees all around. The red-head dwarf Kithina grumbled curses to herself as she was left to drive the wagon. The four centaurs pulling the wagon didn’t seem to mind her inexperience and silently kept trotting ahead.

  Stryg, Clypeus, and Freya Goldelm walked at the very front of the vanguard, weapons gripped tightly in hand.

  “It’s quiet, where are the animals?” One of the vanguard students asked.

  “This grove was created through green’s flora magic, there aren’t many animals around,” Clypeus said.

  “Idiots, if you don’t know that much don’t even bother taking the exam,” Freya shook her head.

  The vanguard student looked away in shame and took a few steps back.

  “Freya, being ignorant does not equate idiocy,” Clypeus said.

  “In dangerous situations it does,” she said.

  “Shh,” Stryg raised his hand.

  “What is it?” Clypeus whispered.

  “I smell the dead.” Stryg crouched low and placed his pointed ear to the ground, “They’re surrounding us.”

  “We need to get out of here before they catch the wagon,” Freya raised her shield and hammer.

  “She’s right,” Clypeus nodded.

  “Not a chance,” Stryg gripped his spear and dashed forward.

  “Ah, dammit,” he cursed.

  Stryg ran through the trees. He jumped high, his claws sank into the bark of a trunk. He flexed his arms and threw himself upwards and into a high branch. Stryg leaped through the canopy, the branches creaking under his weight. The goblin moved quickly. His legs remembered the feeling of climbing the ashen trees of Vulture Woods.

  After a few moments he spotted three undead below him. They were covered in light armor, an assortment of leather. Each one held a sword and shield in hand, two of them were clearly made from the corpses of orcs, their red, albeit now pale pink, skin gave them away. The last was difficult to tell, its pale grey skin could have been that of a drow or simply that of a dead man.

  Stryg didn’t care, he vaulted off the branch and hurled his spear. The sharp steel-head pierced the orc’s helmet and skull with a loud crack. The spear swam through the skull, out the other side, and sank into the grass in a gory mess. The orc crumpled to the floor as Stryg landed. 

  The other two undead charged Stryg with surprising speed. He pulled the spear out of grass and ducked low, dodging the swing of the undead’s blade. The goblin spun the spear behind him, the steel-head sliced through the ankle of the other orc, toppling it to the ground. Stryg flicked the pole shaft up, the spear’s blunt end smacked the last undead’s jaw, its body stumbled backward with a satisfying crack of bone.

  The orc pushed itself up with one good leg and swung its blade. Stryg jumped back, the iron sword missed, and sunk deep into the ground. Stryg’s body fell into a familiar set of stances as his body stepped forward. His spear sliced the orc’s hand off, spun back, and slipped under the orc’s jaw and into the brain.

  The last undead hopped to its feet and rushed at him. Stryg pulled his spear out, took a step back, and raised his spear. It swung with heavy strikes, Stryg parried each blow, the spear glancing off the sword and angling the blade away. It kept pushing forward, the goblin kept his distance, the long-range of the spear giving him the reach he needed.

  The undead lunged at him. The tip of Stryg’s slid off the creature’s blade and drove the sword into the ground. Stryg jumped back and stabbed the spear into the enemy’s chest. He flipped the pole shaft, the steel-head flicked up and cleaved the undead in two.

  He pulled the spear out, twirled it in his hands, and rested the pole shaft on his shoulders.

  “Simple enough,” Stryg smiled.

  Three more undead soldiers shambled out of the bushes, a human, an orc, and definitely a drow if the half ripped off pointed ear was any indicator. They spotted the goblin immediately and ran at him with more sheer strength than speed.

  Stryg curled his fingers around the spear and took a defensive stance. A hammer flew above him and slammed into the human corpse, crushing its face. Stryg turned in time to see Freya vault over him with a war cry. She raised her shield and blocked an oncoming swing. 

  Freya landed in a roll, her agility-enhanced legs propelled her forward. She smashed the edge of her shield into the orc’s leg, breaking the shin. The orc fell to one knee and tried grabbing her.

  Freya swiftly raised her shield and bashed the orc’s face. She kicked the orc backward, jumped on top of it, and slammed the edge of her shield down on its face like a blunt blade over and over, until its pale brains were scattered over the grass.

  The undead drow ignored her and ran at Stryg. Freya turned and threw her shield with accurate precision, it smacked into the corpse’s legs. The drow tumbled to the ground, the sword fell out of its grip. It reached out for the blade, but Stryg tossed the sword away with his spear.

  Freya ran over to the broken undead human and quickly grabbed her hammer. She jumped high in the air, the agility spell reducing her weight. Freya released the spell as she began to fall and spun in the air. The hammer slammed down on the drow’s skull with all the force she could muster.

  Stryg stared at Freya in surprise, “...I didn’t know you were so useful with a hammer. Or a shield for that matter.”

  Freya wiped the splattered blood off her cheek. “I am a daughter of House Goldelm. What did you expect from the inheritors of Oginum?”

  Now Stryg really wondered what the fabled hammer was truly capable of, did it even look like Freya’s weapon, or was it something far greater?

  Clypeus ran into the clearing, both short swords in hand. He glanced at the carnage around. He sheathed his blades.

  “I was too late, I couldn’t keep up,” Clypeus sighed.

  “You’re not an orange mage, we didn’t expect you to,” Freya picked up her shield.

  Stryg’s ear twitched, “The other undead have reached the wagon.”

  “We need to move,” Freya threw her shield on her back. “We can’t wait for this slow vampire.”

  Clypeus gritted his teeth, “She’s right. You two need to go, I’ll catch up.”

  Freya didn’t wait for Stryg’s answer, she dashed off into the woods.

  “She’s right, you’re too slow on your feet,” Stryg nodded. “Get on my back.”

  “What? What the hell are you saying?” Clypeus frowned.

  “Hold on to my spear for me,” Stryg tossed his weapon.

  Clypeus caught the spear with a deft hand, “You can’t be serious.”

  “I’m stronger than I look,” Stryg crouched low.

  “But our height difference is a bit… much,” Clypeus looked at him skeptically.

  “Just tuck in your feet.”

  “I don’t know about this.”

  “Cly, we don’t have time to waste. Our friends need us. Nora needs you.”

  “Agh, dammit,” Clypeus slowly got on the goblin’s back. “Don’t mention this to anyone.”

  “I really couldn’t care less,” Stryg stood up.

  “Aren’t I heavy?”

  “Not at all. I once lifted Rhian to see if I could, it was hard but possible. You're nothing in comparison.”

  “Won’t I slow you down though?”

  “Not really, besides, I haven’t casted any spells yet,” Stryg bent his knees and took a deep breath.

  The mana residing in his heart fluttered to life, orange mana flooded into his limbs. His veins darkened to a deep grey as the agility spell took hold.

  Stryg bolted away in a blur of speed.

~~~

  Callum and Nora sat at the back of the wagon, nervous yet unwilling to admit it to anyone, especially not the volunteers sitting next to them. Callum’s eyes widened, undead soldiers poured out of the trees and charged the wagon.

  “Over there!” Callum pointed.

  “Kegrog, Kitty, we’re under attack! Behind us!” Nora yelled.

  “Ah, fuck my life!” Kithina screamed and hurried the centaurs onward.

  Kegrog turned around from atop the wagon, “I see them. Five total.”

  The undead sprinted at them.

  A bronze sheen covered Kegrog’s arms as brown mana flowed through him. The vigor spell began at his hands and spanned all the way up to his shoulders. Kegrog notched an arrow and pulled the incredibly taut bowstring back, the bow’s arc creaked from the force. His arms remained still despite the wagon’s tremors. 

  Kegrog narrowed his amber eyes, “Four total.”

  He let the arrow fly, the bow snapped with a loud crack. The arrow screeched through the air and blew through the undead’s throat, severing the neck entirely. The undead’s body flew backward from the blow.

  The prodigy archer notched another arrow, “Three total.”

  The wind screeched as another undead fell over, headless.

  Callum grabbed several potions from his satchel and threw them out. The bottles smashed into the ground and splattered their glowing contents. The grass turned a sickly purple. The undead stepped on the grass and found their boots adhering to the alchemy-affected ground.

  “It worked!” Callum threw his hands up in victory. “I knew potion magic wasn’t useless!”

  “That’s amazing! How many of those do you have left?” Nora asked.

  “Oh, um, I threw all of them…” Callum said sheepishly.

  One of the undead pulled its arm back and tossed its ax at the wagon. Nora raised her hands, blue mana coursed through her hands. The water barrel shook as a water whip shot out and smacked the ax away at the last moment. The ax’s blade sank into the wagon’s wooden frame next to Callum.

  “Not today!” Callum cupped his hands together. 

  White mana curled into the palm of his hands and formed a bright spell. 

  “Close your eyes everyone!” He shouted.

  Nora looked away, the volunteers covered their faces with their hoods. A blast of light shot out and slammed into the undead.

  Nora opened her eyes and stared at the unharmed enemies. “What the fuck was the supposed to do?!”

  “I don’t know, it usually works!” Callum frowned.

  “They aren’t vampires nor do they feel pain! Blinding them doesn’t do anything. What were you thinking?” Nora shook her head.

  “I’m not a bloody master, I can’t shoot concentrated light rays yet!”

  “Well, do something else, more of them are coming! I’ll try to deal with them with my torrent magic, but I only have so much blue mana,” Nora maneuvered the water whip around the wagon.

  “I’ll keep us safe from any projectiles, just keep the corpses out of arm's reach,” Callum began writing red arcane sigils in the air, forming a ward spell around them.

  Two undead orcs ran to the front of the wagan, at the centaurs, one on each side. The centaurs shouted in fear and tried running away, but their harnesses were attached to the wagon.

  Kithina threw her hands out to both sides and focused her yellow mana into two spells at once. Twin powerful gusts whirled out of her palms and blasted the orcs away.

  “I can’t keep this up forever, wind spells are horrible for dealing with undead!” Kithina yelled up at Kegrog.

  “I’m a little busy back here,” Kegrog fired off another arrow. “Just hold on a little longer!”

  “It’s not about me, it’s them!” Kithina pointed to the other students.

  Dozens of undead rushed out of the woods. The rest of the students tried fighting back, but their simple spells proved useless.

  “Why are they all so bad, dammit!” Kithina screamed.

  The students cried out in horror as the undead cut one boy’s arm off. The novice magi all quickly pulled out their necklaces and twisted the green gem from its socket. The gems turned red, indicating their owner’s resignation and failure of the exam. The undead ignored the ones with the red necklaces and chased after the wagon.

  The boy who had lost his arm lay on the floor, bleeding out, unable to pull out his necklace. One undead soldier shambled over to him and raised its blade. A bolt of lightning snapped out of the wagon’s wall and burned the undead soldier to ash.

  Callum stared at Nora in shock.

  “That wasn’t me,” Nora swallowed.

  “I don’t think there are any students who can cast storm spells,” Kegrog muttered.

  Nora stared suspiciously at the hooded volunteers in the wagon.

  Clypeus ran out of the trees and picked up the wounded student. The vampire dashed through the undead, fighting them off with one hand until he reached the wagon. He tossed the injured young man inside.

  “Take care of him!” Clypeus ran back into the fray without waiting for a reply.

  Callum released his ward spell and turned his attention to the student’s bleeding stump. The young man whimpered weakly.

  “Can you heal him?” Nora asked worriedly.

  “I can try to stop the bleeding, the master magi can heal the rest later,” Callum hovered his hands over the wound. A soft white glow covered the bloody stump.

  Another two undead rushed the centaurs. Kithina raised her hands to defend. A spear flew out of the woods and punctured the first undead’s chest and drove it to the ground. Freya jumped at the other undead and bashed its back with her hammer.

  Stryg came out of the trees, pulled out his spear, and ran next to Kithina. “Is everyone alright!?”

  “We’re holding on,” she nodded. “Took you all long enough.”

  A dozen more undead poured out of the fore trees.

  “Freya, with me!” Stryg ran ahead.

  “I know already!”