Path of the Pioneers

After a week and a half of traveling with Adeline and sparring with her every evening, I was beginning to understand two things: One, I was capable of improving when it came to fighting. And two, Adeline Cirix was a monster beyond reckoning.

Though I hadn’t acquired any skills since she began teaching me, I felt as if I had gotten better at utilizing the skills and stats that I did have. Regardless of however much I felt I had improved, however, Adeline constantly matched my pace. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that she would be more than capable of keeping that up for quite some time.

However, her brutal spars with me had increased the rank of one of my skills: [Barrier.] One fortunate night, I happened to conjure the barrier at a smaller size than normal, just barely blocking the scabbard of her sword with my hand. That incident taught me an important thing about the skill: Its strength is dependent on its size. A smaller barrier, in this case, is tougher. Personally, I assumed that it had something to do with the compactness of the mana. After all, it cost the same amount regardless.

Using that knowledge, I began making an active effort to practice the skill on a smaller scale. Unfortunately, it required such an amount of preciseness that it would take far more practice in order to truly master it. As much as your mind may tell you to try parrying a sword with your bare hands, your body isn’t usually so willing, even if it knows a magical shield will appear.

The few times I did manage to deflect her blows, however, I acquired a good chunk of skill experience. Thus, the [Barrier] skill had progressed from Rank F to E. Its description had been updated along with the improvement.

Barrier [20]

Creates a wall of force with strength proportionate to scale.

(14%)

It hadn’t mentioned how large or small the barrier could be, but for the time being I didn’t think making it larger would be worth it. After all, if I scaled it up to the size of a barn door, it may just shatter from the breeze. But perhaps that would change, with improvement.

Though we had spent each night sparring and meditating, we were making quick progress in our journey. In fact, the tall spires of Grymgate, and the mountains behind it were in plain view on the horizon. With one more day of travel after this one, we would be within the bounds of the city.

I had never visited Grymgate. In fact, Gallwold had been the farthest point to the east I had gone within the kingdom in my life, until I met Adeline. I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of it. Snow capped peaks were off in the distance, the ones further off were dyed a pale blue from being so far away. Next to those mountains sat the city of Grymgate. Tall, stone buildings were clumped together in a way that was plain to see even from miles away. The most eye-catching part of it all was a building that looked as if it were built into the side of the mountain itself. A massive gate with two even taller towers flanking it on either side.

I had been impressed by some of the places I visited in my life, but this was on a level beyond what I had seen before.

“Hey.” Adeline turned to face me, putting her hands on the back of her head as she began to speak. “Do you want to do something special for dinner tonight? I had an idea, if you’ll hear me out on it.”

Her asking me to hear her out had me slightly worried, to say the least. “What did you have in mind?”

She smiled, “I want to hunt another deer! Except, this time, I want to show you something that we cook up in my territory. I think you’ll like it.” 

I nodded, “Alright.” Though we had spent the last couple of weeks subsisting on small hares, it wouldn’t be impossible to find a deer out in these parts if we took the time. I had even spotted a few wandering the grassy fields throughout our journey.

Adeline clapped her hands together, quickly looking all around us before settling on a spot slightly to the west. The only thing there that I could make out was a gathering of trees. She began making her way towards it, creeping through the grass with a level of silence that alarmed me somewhat. It truly did impress me how skilled a swordsman was at sneaking about.

After walking for half a mile or so, we made it close to the trees. Adeline was crouched down, and indicated that I should do the same. Eventually, the two of us were going no further forward, and Adeline was just staring at the trees, waiting for something to show its head. She clicked her tongue quietly, whispering over to me. “Hunting deer takes a long time, but this time it’s going to be well worth it.”

We waited there for about ten minutes before Adeline raised her shoulders slightly. She raised a finger, trying to point out something within the trees. “There.” It took me a moment, but I finally saw. About thirty meters out, a deer was eating something off of the ground. A fruit that had fallen from the tree, perhaps?

Adeline began creeping over, even quieter than before, and I followed suit. She whispered to me as we walked. “Just like in combat, you want to be on the balls of your feet if you’re trying to be quiet.” I already knew that much, it was something I assumed most children learned as soon as they learned they needed to step quietly to avoid getting caught doing something they shouldn’t be.

“Feel out what’s beneath you, very carefully. If you feel a branch or dry grass under your feet, then you absolutely can’t shift your weight onto it.” I nodded, and she continued. “And slowly, deliberately lower your heel down, while putting as little pressure on it as you need to support yourself.”

I tried taking what she said into account, stepping very carefully. It was hard to tell what exactly I was stepping onto, but there were certain giveaways. It was something that was very much based on feel. Fortunately, I heard Adeline whisper “Good.” once I started, which seemed like a good enough indicator that I was improving.

Before long, we were only six or so meters away from the deer. It wasn’t a very large one, but it would have enough for us to eat our fill and then some. Adeline suddenly stopped, turning over to look at me. “Cast that spell at its head: that lance one that you used on the tree a while back.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. We were a good distance away, and I wasn’t exactly sure if I could be all that accurate, especially when aiming specifically for its head. Though, it didn’t need to be as large as the one I used on that oversized goblin. Something the size of a nail would surely be enough to incapacitate the animal. All I needed to focus on was speed, accuracy would come with it.

With great care, I began pointing my finger towards the deer’s head. I squinted with one eye, lining it up to the best of my ability. Adeline looked me up and down, even getting behind me to take a look at the shot’s trajectory. She made a small satisfied sound from behind.

That indicator was all I needed. I took a deep breath, holding it as I coalesced mana in my hand.  [Energy Missile] was, essentially, just a burst of energy shaped like a bolt being fired out. The mana at its tail was consumed in order to propel it further along, while the mana at the tip would pierce through its target.

I had spent the last couple of weeks theorizing on how to make this process more efficient. If one could send out the missile at a higher speed, less mana would be burned up from maintaining that. In doing so, there would be more mana for its durability and structure.

My solution was a simple one. As a mage, you can control how mana flows within your body rather freely. Or at least, that’s how it seemed to me. Mana was an energy that could be moved about with great ease within you. Though it would require some experimentation, it didn’t seem to expend much physical energy to do so. So, to send out the missile with more speed, you would need to move the mana faster before it leaves your body.

The mana in my hand began spinning around in a loop. The back of my hand softly glowed with a blue circle of light. It felt tingly, having mana rush around in me so quickly. It was an odd, almost uncomfortable feeling. It didn’t take long before I was positive it wouldn’t grow any faster. It took all of my concentration to maintain that speed, visualizing the raw mana rushing around in circles. I imagined my finger like a lightning rod, directing all of the mana to it as I cast [Energy Missile.]

My hand flew back as a bolt of energy burst out, a loud crack splitting through the air like distant thunder. The deer raised its head, alerted by the sound, but the motion was immediately stopped by the thin bolt drilling through its head with a visceral ease.

Adeline laughed behind me. “Good gods, Sybil, you’ll be firing off shots stronger than cannons before long.” I heard the sound of Adeline raising up behind me, patting me on the back. Then, I was struck by a sudden pain. I clutched my hand as my pointer finger began to severely ache. I bit the inside of my mouth, trying not to let a pained sound slip, but she had already noticed me clutching my hand.

“Looks like the force was a bit much for your finger to take.” Adeline crouched down in front of me, offering out her hand. “Let me see it.” A bit hesitant, I put out my finger, shaking just the slightest bit. “It doesn’t look sprained, it might just need a good old fashioned..” She grabbed onto my finger, which drew a small pained noise from me, and then looked up into my eyes. “This should fix it.” She pulled on it lightly, resetting the joint. Immediately, the pain faded away. The finger was simply jammed, something I should have realized immediately. A minor, very solvable issue. Adeline just took solving the issue into her own hands, literally.

And then we were left there. Staring into each other’s eyes. I choked out a few words as a sudden heat rushed to my cheeks. “Thank you.” I cleared my throat, “U-um. We should get the deer, right..?”