[Chapter 6: First Battle (1)] 

'Waw. These guys have no manors!' Fiona remarked, a little sarcastically. 'At the very least, they could attack us for a reason. We didn't do anything, did we?'

She looked over my shoulder at me. The little hybrid was clinging to my shirt so she wouldn't fry off. 

 

'No, I don't think so,' I replied, 'perhaps they are mistaking us for someone else, or maybe they have seen me before. In any case, it's clear they're not going to let us leave. So the best course of action is-'

'It's to kill the bitches!' Fiona cut me off with a wide grin. 'I told you we should have gotten a fire affinity. If we did, we could have burned those brutes and cremated that water bitch!'

'Tone down your colorful vocabulary a few shades, jeez,' I sighed. 'We need to find you some alternative words.'

'No, it's perfectly fine. I like how I speak—brutes on the way!' Fiona forewarned.

The three men dashed forward, spears in hand, while the woman remained behind, most likely planning an attack to support them from the sidelines. 

The shortest, who also appeared to be the fastest of the three, was the first to approach me. Because of our height difference, he thrust his spear down, aiming for my chest.

My left leg slid off the ground slightly, while my right remained firmly planted. I shifted my weight sideways, barely avoiding the spear.

I would have had a spear through my chest if I had been any later. Mana augmentation also aided in increasing my speed and reaction time.

All of this, combined with my mana-enhanced senses, allowed me to outclass his speed by a hair. 

I couldn't match any of them in physical strength no matter how much mana I sent into my body, so making up for it with my speed was the way to go. In this fight, I would also have to rely heavily on magic.

My body also appeared to have some fighting experience, which I had already guessed, but I was still shit. I had no technique, whereas I'm sure these guys have been practicing since they jumped out of the bloody womb.

I took a step back as the man retracted his weapon in preparation for another strick. The dirt beneath his feet had spread to his feet and up to his ankles, immobilizing him.

While Fiona was doing that, I took advantage of the opportunity to shape the dirt into a small pillar half my height and shoot it at his chest. It wasn't meant to cause harm, just to put some space between us.

We were compacting the dirt as tightly as we could to increase its effectiveness. The man was thrown back a twenty yards away, but he quickly recovered and landed on his feet.

'Oh! I still can't believe that worked. We need to keep that guy as far away from us as possible.' Fiona regained her composure after seeing that we had won that little exchange.

I agreed he is far too fast for us to handle at close range, so keeping him at a safe distance would be the first step. I'm afraid I can't say the same for the other two.

I was taking several steps back, attempting to avoid all of the strikes thrown at me by the biggest guy. I had a few scratches, but nothing major. This guy was the epitome of a musclehead.

His movements weren't as precise as the first, but he was the strongest of the bunch. He'd just break through any wall I put up. I tried to bind him, but he broke through them as well.

'We can't keep going like this,' Fiona said, looking around for something we could do.

The second man soon joined in, and it quickly devolved into a cat and mouse game. I ran around the place, using Earth Magic to put distance between us. Granted, it was gradually eroding their stamina, but I couldn't say the same for that woman.

As the man smashed his fist into the ground, I jumped back. Fiona's face was green from trying not to vomit all the fruit she had eaten.

The constant movement and use of her Mana Sense was making her sike. She was a m

Magical Beast, but she was only two weeks old.

My gaze darted between the men, catching something. They were no longer charging forward. In a matter of seconds, a sudden realization struck me; I looked up and saw a ton of water in the form of three blades. 

'I didn't even notice her making it,' Fiona exclaimed. 'I'm sorry! I should have paid-'

'It's all right. There's no need to apologize for something like that,' I reassured her while gathering dirt near us to form some sort of projection. 'You made a mistake. I don't blame you for making a blunder. Now we know that when we come out of this, we'll have a lot of ideas for how to improve.'

Our conversation lasted only a second. When the water blades fell, I shifted the dirt beneath my feet to get us away from them. It sort of worked, but the end result wasn't great.

The blast from the blades colliding with the ground was enough to send us both flying away from the main battle.

Everything was excruciatingly painful. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a broken bone, no wait, I definitely did. My vision was blurry, and a ringing sound irritated my ears. My first thought was to check on Fiona.

She was right next to me, front paws on my shoulder, back paws on the ground.

'Austin! Are you okay?! I'm trying to use mana to help you, but I don't know exactly how to-'

'Don't waste it.' Then there was a groan. I sat up straight and took her onto my shoulder. My feet shook as I stood. 'How is she not out of mana? I'm at forty percent right now. So, how about you?'

'Fifty. Perhaps she has a way to refill her core while using magic.' Fiona reflected on her own words. I noticed the brutes charging towards us with satisfied expressions. 

I'm glad four grown adults are enjoying this! I hope you enjoy it when I kill your asses! Okay, now it's time to relax. I need to stay as calm as possible right now.

Spikes shot up from the ground as I waved my hand. Unfortunately, they jumped up and escaped with only minor injuries. Why are these guys so freaking strong?! Is it just me, or are they not human?

Fiona appeared conflicted. Since we jumped out of the tree, she has been analyzing everything. We couldn't keep going like this.

We weren't going to last much longer. We would have been defeated by now if it hadn't been for our surprisingly good teamwork.

Fiona tapped on my shoulder, capturing the majority of my attention. She began by saying, 'Austin, I have a stupid idea. However, I am confident that it will be extremely beneficial to us.'

'I'm all ears.' I said between panting. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out if things keep going like this. I need to get rid of at least two of those guys in order to stand a chance against that mage. 

'Good. We need stone,' Fiona explained. 'If we can use stone instead of dirt and mud, we'll be much better off.'

'Well, obviously, no? What exactly do you want me to do? Begin digging until we reach stone? I'm sure they'll let that happen.' I snapped a bit there. 'I'm sorry, I'm just tired.'

'It's alright, and I wasn't saying that. Take a look in the river.'

For a few seconds, my gaze was drawn away from the battle. I laughed as I realized what she was talking about. As I tasted the iron in my own blood, blood flowed from my mouth.

'I can't believe we're actually doing this.' I almost laughed at how absurd this situation was. It was all a shambles, a really shambles. All because some cretins acted rashly.

Fiona expressed my thoughts and, unlike me, allowed herself to laugh at them.

''It's better than nothing, isn't it?' She said with a chuckle. 'Once again, I'll concentrate on supporting you. Keep a safe distance from the river. Take out the brutes first because they wouldn't let us get close to their mage.'

I returned to the battleground with a metal nod. My mana surged and poured into the river. Small rocks rose from the water and floated all around me in the next second.

It was definitely better than dirt. The mud beneath my feet began to pile up, lifting me up. When my opponents saw my display, their faces darkened. 

For obvious reasons, Earth Mages dislike fighting with dirt; they begin to shin when they use any stone. If my control was strong enough, I'd be able to pull stone from the ground, but it isn't.

I had to either win or persuade these brainless idiots to stop trying to kill me for no reason. At the very least, find a reason to kill me.