I could hear the confusion and hesitation among the students on the other side of the hillock, at the instructor's warning, but unfortunately it didn't last long. Fitting for his position, Lucan acknowledged his instruction and was quick to take control of the situation and order the other prefects to spread out and search. Fortunately they didn't yet have any indication for where to look, and judging from the noise that they were making the forest itself seemed likely to buy us time, but of course such mundane means weren't the only option at their disposal.
"One of them has started to cast a spell, probably in order to find us. If you can keep them from interrupting me for long enough, I'll be able to ward them off from affecting the rift."
I handed Sahra back what gemstones remained from her bag, whilst giving her such a vague warning. She seemed to still be taking my words at face value, and nodded whilst picked out a few of the gems in preparation. It would have been nice if I had thought of preparing for such an eventuality, but it was too late for that. I couldn't spare the attention from my task to analyze the spell that I felt starting to take form, much less to come up with a countermeasure to stop it from finding us, so I just had to rely on Sahra.
As Sahra turned to face in the direction where our adversaries were likely to approach from, I turned my full attention back to my own spell. I was rather amazed at my own adaptability. After just discovering that spirits could be used to maintain spells, it seemed that I'd indeed been successful at adapting the concept for a different use on the spot. Yet the precise method of intervention that I had chosen still took my full attention, as I had to react to each change in the flow of the spell that the three instructors continued to cast.
After less than a minute, my concentration was almost disturbed by a sudden and loud cracking sound nearby, but as I heard Sahra calmly starting to pronounce a chant afterwards I trusted that she had things under control. When I dared to spare the time to look, I saw someone sprawled on the ground, appearing stunned look. I briefly noted the shine of gemstone on the ground next to him, before the very earth and the plants started to shift to entangle him, as mana flowed through them to the rhythm of Sahra's words, before he could start to regain his senses.
Sahra had evidently chosen to take the initiative, instead of waiting for us to be found. Within seconds, she had already incapacitated one of our opponents, and seemingly without causing any serious injury. I was doubtful of whether she could repeat it, as shouts from nearby told that the loud sound had lost her the advantage of surprise, but Sahra's speed and efficiency with two subsequent spells was rather impressive. Maybe I'd even have said as much, if she didn't show me a proud grin when she noticed that I was looking over.
From there on things moved quickly. Sahra didn't stay to wait for the enemy to home in on us, and instead moved towards the direction of the shouting, until she disappeared from sight. Even as I tried to focus on my own duty, I couldn't help but listen with anxiety when the sounds of a fight started in that direction, and got closer and more numerous as Lucan's group closed in on her.
Yet compared to the agitated shouts from her opponents, Sahra's brief chants sounded out clear and self-assured. It made sense that chants were part of proper combat magic, being one of the most spontaneous ways to create spell arrays, but it was still impressive that Sahra was able to maintain, in the middle of a fight, the level of control over her own voice that was required for magic.
The words in chants were only a small part of what was required to create a spell array. The structure of the words themselves played a part, but they had to by supplemented by the correct rhythm, cadence and volume. Thus spell chants often ended up sounding like poetry, as both a systematic pace and rhyming helped create the necessary structure for the array.
The result was usually not as coherent as a poem however, particularly with the quick and spontaneous sort of chants that Sahra was constructing in the midst of a fight. She could not have been using solely spells that she'd learned beforehand, but must have been coming up with chants on the spot to match the situation she was in.
In theory there was nothing stopping one from creating chants with languages that one didn't understand, or even without any proper words at all, as the meanings of words didn't translate over to a spell array's structure. But using words and meanings one understood naturally made things easier, not only for learning or coming up with a chant, but also to have a sort logic on which to build a pattern in the spell, that the mage herself could easily follow, even if it had nothing to do with the actual function of the spell.
Sahra's chants were additionally punctuated by the occasional clap of her hands or a snap of her fingers, and other such simple sounds that somehow managed to stand out through the tumult that was caused by the fight moving through the forest. Oftentimes music was a preferred accompaniment to chants, which could even take the form of song if attention was paid to aesthetic aspects, but that was probably just not practical in a fight.
Instead it seemed that Sahra's magic was extremely expedient, utilizing whatever means were available in the range of motion of her own body, to weave together an array faster than she could have by utilizing just a simple array from a chant, in spite of the added complexity that resulted from such. It seemed that the pragmatic nature of the girl's magic, that I'd noticed in class before, resulted from the Loen family's focus on combat magic.
Soon, to my distress, I started to see the combatants moving behind the trees. As I was struggling to block every approach of the three instructors on Mary's spell, Sahra was similarly pressed from multiple sides after her opponents had congregated. It seemed like her opponents weren't using much magic against her, as I instead saw a few improvised melee weapons being swung around.
The difficult situation seemed to only help Sahra showcase her skill further however, as she was able to make a slow retreat through the thick undergrowth that was causing her opponents a lot of difficulty, all the while weaving her spells. I saw her not only dodge attacks, but then convert a few choice motions into yet another piece of a spell array, finishing with a stomp that made the earth under her foot burst up explosively. As her opponents' steps were further unsettled, and their vision obscured, she found her chance to retreat another few steps whilst preparing the next chant.
In principle the arrays that Sahra was creating were quite limited in structure, and straightforward in their effects, especially if one was to compare them to the sort of magic that I specialized in, that I was casting right in that moment. But she was still creating composite arrays, arrays that were far more short-lived compared to the sort that I could create through my magic, requiring her to direct the flow of her man along with every motion of her own body, every sound she created, in order to weave them into her spells.
All of that would have made for an impressive performance even if it was a rehearsed stage play, and Sahra was instead dealing with multiple opponents attempting to disrupt her at every turn. Watching her dedicated effort with one eye, I couldn't help but be impressed by how reliable Sahra appeared in that moment. It was quite a difference compared to the somewhat scatterbrained impression that she gave at times.
But as impressive a display as she was putting up, it seemed that simply slowing down her opponents took Sahra's whole attention. Still with four people scrambling after her, it seemed that at most she had managed to remove one more opponent from the fight, in addition to the first one that she'd ambushed. Or worse, the last one of the six students, that had been accompanying the instructors, just wasn't accounted for, and I couldn't even spare the concentration to look for their mana.
"Over there! It's the Tannel!"
Finally the fight had come so close that one of them spotted my crouched form through the undergrowth that I'd tried to hide behind. I wished I could have spared the time to retort that I had my own name as well, even if it really wasn't quite my own, but in that moment I had far bigger concerns, such as finishing my spell before they could interrupt me.
Sahra made good use of the moment when her opponents stopped and looked in the direction that their fellow was pointing. From a pocket she pulled out what looked like a deck of oversized playing cards, which she quickly flipped through to find a card that suited her needs. By pouring mana into the card she activated a spell array formed by the pattern drawn onto the card, and in an instant a powerful blast of air threw a pair of her distracted opponents off their feet, down onto the hard roots and entangling brushes of the forest floor.
With the new trick, Sahra seemed to seize back the initiative, giving her opponents no chance to care about what I was doing. Sahra knew that her objective was simply to buy me time. She was able to cast spells even faster than previously, by including the spells on the cards into the mix, though their effects seemed rather minor. The cards were handy for their size, but that size also meant that they couldn't hold anything but the most simplistic spells.
A simple pattern on a level surface could only hold so much detail, especially as it couldn't be very miniaturized too much, without making it too difficult to guide mana through it. Inscriptions, as a closely related practice, at least had the added element of depth, though that in turn made them more laborious to prepare. Both were relatively inefficient on their own, compounded by the difficulty of making them interface with other components if one wanted to use them in composite arrays. One needed patterns large enough to cover every wall in a room for truly complex spells utilizing solely such pattern.
Of course the advantage of being able to prepare complete spell arrays, as Sahra had done, could be significant. Their activation was so fast because she only needed to flow her mana through a prepared pattern, and it was much easier than putting in the effort of creating the array on the spot. Yet that also meant that the ones she was carrying were inevitably rather generalized in purpose, since it wasn't possible to adapt them to the situation in combat, as even adding other components would have required changing the patterns to allow for combining with them.
By comparison the other spells that Sahra continued to create on the spot, through her chants and motions, were adapted to the opportunities provided by the forest in which she was fighting, showing a great deal of situational awareness. Though I couldn't help but think that not all of the odd motion of the earth and plants, that continued to obstruct her opposition, were her doing. Sometimes the forest seemed to strike without needing to be prompted.
Even without focusing my mana sense, I could tell that the creatures filling the forest were clustering around the fight, and perhaps taking their chance to add a few complications in the way of the prefects that Sahra was fighting. If so, they seemed to have got the message from Chiffon, as they didn't appear to be hindering Sahra. Or, worse, distracting me.
Unfortunately there was someone else, who was looking to interrupt me. He was only a few meters away, when I realized that sound of a branch cracking under someone's foot came from a different direction from where Sahra was fighting. Turning my head around, I saw the sixth one, the one missing from the fight with Sahra, trying to creep up on me. I was getting close defusing the spell that the instructors were casting, but in just a moment the situation turned desperate.
The prefect didn't look like the fighting sort at all, a thin man with glasses, and his grip on the spear that he was carrying wasn't exactly steady. But for all that he might have been struggling with the weight of his weapon, which, oddly, seemed to be made entirely of metal, he didn't appear to have any hesitation about pointing its sharp end directly at a defenseless girl. No, I didn't want to think of myself that way, but it was terrifyingly clear that he was quite willing to kill me, as he lunged at me without hesitation when he saw that I'd noticed him.
In order to avoid being skewered, I had no option to but to hastily stumble away from my array. With my heart hammering against my chest, I barely had the presence of mind to maintain the spell, which fortunately wasn't reliant on me staying entirely stationary. I was surprised that I'd even managed to get out of the way in time. I couldn't tell if it was the desperation of mortal danger, or if Mela's reflexes were better than mine had been as Tannel, but I'd reacted almost without thought.
I was afforded a single anxious moment of consideration, as the young man struggled to recover his posture, after nearly lurching to the ground due to the weight of his weapon. I had no weapon of my own and, even if I wasn't already focusing on a spell, I certainly didn't have the ability to use magic in combat like Sahra did. Sahra herself was still occupied by the her own opponents. And if I ran, if I even could, there was no way for me to continue maintaining the spell. Nor could I give my opponent a chance to trample the physical arrangement of the array.
With my lack of options I resolved on a desperate one. I simply charged him, putting all my weight, little as it was, into tackling him. With his poor posture in the moment, I thought I could perhaps somehow push him to the ground, or at least stop him from using his weapon. And perhaps I could have pushed him down, as he did stumble from the initial impact, but my push lost its momentum immediately, as I instinctively recoiled away from a feeling of searing pain across my hands and forearms. Blisters were instantly forming where bare skin touched against the spear, and I barely managed to grit my teeth to stop myself from crying out in pain.
It was iron. Of course, no other reason he'd have been lugging around a spear made entirely of metal. It was the Faewood after all. And worse than the pain was the immediate disruption that I felt in my mana flow. I did not know why my mana recoiled from the metal, but it very nearly ended the spell that I was trying to cast.
It took me an entirely unreasonable effort of concentration to consciously separate the part of my mana that was native to our world rather than the Faerie, and use only it to fuel my spell, once I identified a distinct difference in how they reacted to the metal. If I'd had the presence of mind in that moment, I'd have wondered if that effect explained why iron was so dangerous to the fae. I surely could never have managed the deed, in pain or not, if I hadn't already previously learned to exercise such will, when serving as a conduit for the Fae rift.
I would have liked to claim that the pain in that moment wasn't anything compared to the suffering of withering away from an overflow of mana, but in the moment it certainly felt quite comparable. Whatever tolerance to pain I might have developed, it wasn't towards this feeling of having my skin and flesh boil, nor did it belong to the body that I newly inhabited. I did not think such extreme sensations were something that I ever could get used to.
Worse, my opponent had a chance to recover during my struggle, and, before I could even think of trying to retreat, he was already pushing back. I could only try to stand my ground, even as the iron continued to sear my flesh, in order to not to lose my footing, but it was clear that he was overpowering me. I wasn't sure if I would have fared significantly better in the circumstance if I was in my previous body, but at least I might have had some more confidence if I didn't feel so small and weak in that moment, when he put his entire body weight up against mine.
When he suddenly stumbled, I was brought to the ground myself, from my already precarious position. From down there I saw the small green form of Chiffon darting past my opponents legs, disrupting him with the same gust of wind that carried her small body. I almost wanted to answer Chiffon's cheeky grin in that moment, if not for the fact that I had to immediately take my chance to refocus on the spell that was almost driven to disarray by the past few hectic moments.
Though the prefect managed to recover his footing before he also fell, he was fortunately momentarily too distracted by the spirit to attack me again. With a frustrated snarl he swung his spear at the spirit's small form. He didn't get anywhere near hitting her, but Chiffon still took more distance until she was past his reach, whether she was afraid of the iron like the fae, or just concerned of the tip cutting the cloth of her form. I was too focused to even stand up, instead crawling on my back to take some distance, whilst trying to ignore the pain from the blisters pressing against the rough forest floor. Turning back to me, he fortunately took a moment to gawk at my injuries, which he apparently just noticed.
"Huh? Well, isn't that a surprise! We knew you were working with the fae, but to think that we were dealing with one of the cursed creatures themselves!"
I recognized the voice, which had ordered the rest of the group around in a commanding tone. It seemed like Lucan Trymne had given himself the role that avoided facing Sahra in a fight, sneaking up on me. He was looking between me and Chiffon, whom he apparently also took to be fae, as he spoke in an incredulous tone. He was mostly wrong on both counts, but luckily his surprise gave me precious time to focus on the spell.
"You sure have a lot to complain about the fae, for someone trying to open the rift even further."
I responded, as steadily as I could in such a situation, thinking that I'd try to keep him talking for as long as I could. And it was my honest sentiment as well. I didn't understand why anyone, who appeared to hold such distaste for the fair folk, wanted to let their domain expand even further into our world. Lucan sneered in disgust, but it seemed like I was surprisingly successful, as he actually responded.
"The worst thing about both the fae and the Tannels are all the secrets. There will be nothing to fear once we tear down that veil of mystery."
Before I could quite parse his pompous words, there was a loud crack and a tearing sound. Lucan heard it as well, unfortunately just in time to turn his head to have a large branch, torn from a nearby tree, bash into his face. The head prefect collapsed, stunned, if not unconscious, after halting the branch's momentum before it could hit me. I saw Sahra rushing over, having apparently found a chance to extricate herself from her own fight.
I was very happy that I'd just managed to finish my spell, leaving an additional layer of protection on top of Mary's spell, because the branch dropped right in the middle of my carefully prepared spell array. As timely as Sahra's intervention was, the way she dispatched the head prefect was rather more brutal than how she'd been fighting previously. She rushed over, looking understandably alarmed when she saw my injuries.
"Are you alright? Oh no, those burns!"
"It's alright, I finished my spell. Just help me up. "
It probably wasn't quite as bad as it looked. Or felt. The pain had dulled once I was no longer touching iron, but my arms felt incredibly sore when I tried to use them to push myself up from the ground. I tried to not to let Sahra think about it too much, hoping that she hadn't actually heard Lucan accusing me of being a fae, though she didn't seem to want to let me brush it off, taking care to not to touch the blisters as she dragged me up by the shoulders
But there was another reason why we didn't have time to worry about it. Sahra's opponents were still cautiously closing in after her, whilst also trying to free the one that Sahra had entangled at the start of the fight. I could also feel the mana of three more people closing in on us, and I did not know if Sahra would be able to handle them as well, especially with me burdening her. The instructors had changed their objective after I managed to successfully stop their spell, and I feared that some of their expertise could extend to combat as well, unlike the students.
