Senshinzako
—The fight is starting. Senshin, how are things in your end? — As I heard Nalfimiria's thoughts through the device, I could get a slight feel for things as they happened around her. My target had yet to leave her tent, so while I confirmed this status, I kept observing the development of the situation.
It wasn't long since the fight started that the nature of this engagement made itself clear, based on the brief glimpses I took of it from my comrade's eyes. With Nalfimiria being a riskier target, it seemed like the lines of Daokinyev initially sought to surround the sister and the knight accompanying her with the intent of making it easier to disarm the champion within our group, as Sowanarcistvir was currently their only realistic target. Even if capturing him proved too difficult, it was through pressuring him that it would be easier for them to reveal the position of more vulnerable targets, based on the instructions the soldiers exchanged among themselves. The speed at which they decided on their tactics and coordinated application of it demonstrated that despite this incident resulting from other kinds of inexperience, their martial skills were hardly representative of these faults. Even if the ones there mostly would be seen as supportive combatants, the discipline they demonstrated still inspired respect on watchers, as ones trained to stand tall on uneven battlefields.
Coordination by itself didn't erase all inequities, however. Perhaps if they were under the support of mages, or if some more among them were near the end of the apprentice stage more could be done, yet in the current arrangement the unfairness of this fight started showing itself as soon as they began moving. Just as they finished organizing themselves and started pressing their advance, Nalfimiria made the first demonstration of the gap in strength present. As their attempts at forming an encirclement became clearer, the sister simply responded with a thrust and slash from her own weapons, nearly destroying two shields in the process, staggering an entire line and likely damaging the arms of the warriors carrying those shields. There were attempts at responding to that attack, yet the gap in speed was just wide enough that by the time the attack was registered, Nalfimiria had already stepped out of their range, as unlikely as it was that their thrusts could damage her spirit veil. At that distance, it wouldn't take her a fifth of a second to accomplish that sort of maneuver, after all.
The Daokinyev organized their lines behind the advance of eight shieldbearers, so perhaps the sister thought demonstrating the frailty of that forward line was the easiest means of establishing her dominance over this battlefield. Their stoutest could easily be crushed, and the strikers covering for them could barely react to their main threat. Even if her goal wasn't to disable that group singlehandedly, allowing her to break their lines still would lead to issues when facing the rest of us. Simply relying on their ranged forces wasn't that wise a choice either. They made brief attempts at switching to those tactics, yet after the first volley it was clear that between the shields floating around Sowanarcistvir and ones Nalfimiria employed through her conjuration, covering themselves fully wasn't that hard. And at this range, the magical counterattacks thrown by the knight and sister were a disproportionate threat to the soldiers.
This led them to the conclusion that supporting their line's advance with preemptive projectiles was the closest thing to a solution to the situation, though even then, there still remained a thin margin for error at closing in through this method, one that led damage to continue accumulating in their forward line. Especially since, as threatening as the sister within our unit is, there still existed a significant gap in physical strength between Sowanarcistvir and the warriors, so keeping their eyes off of him also posed an issue. This dynamic enforced itself almost immediately, and with it the damage within the soldiers quickly started building up, while I remained in watch for my targets. All of this was communicated in less than a minute, and around that point I noticed the situation was shifting around the tent I had been watching.
—Target sighted. Seems to be struggling against her guards. I'll put her to sleep at the first opening. — I concluded, shaping my thoughts as a message.
The Daokinyev spellcaster initially had remained quietly within her tent, yet upon confirmation the battle had started, it seemed like she was temporarily stuck in an argument against her guards. As the words failed to accomplish much, it seemed like she opted to force her way to the fighting grounds. There was resistance from the guard's part, yet even while dragging them along with her, the mage was slowly making herself visible through the tent's exit. Hardly a surprising result, considering how even supportive infusing made overpowering ones from your own kind that much easier. Still, as she seemed to be trying to avoid harming her guards, the effort was slowed down slightly, and for most of it her guards unintentionally offered her coverage from my bow. A strange obstacle, given we shared the same goal. Still, just as this struggle seemed about done, I finished redying a conjured arrow, all the while dipping it in the poison meant to keep her unconscious. And just as she staggered after forcing back the last of her guards, I found an angle to her shoulder, just good enough for the poison to act almost immediately without risking excessive bleeding. "A pity all that awaits past that effort is a bolt", I couldn't help but think as I released the string.
The shot connected clearly, and the target toppled over almost immediately. As the arrow I conjured vanished, I made sure to check if the bleeding was sufficiently shallow, no longer trying to hide my presence. If I had accidentally hit a more dangerous spot, I had been asked to treat the foe with a potion, even if this meant I had to invade their camp, but my aim hadn't failed, and it seemed like the small wound I caused was already being pressured by one of her guards. Knowing I likely had already been spotted and somewhat counting on that, I didn't bother being silent as I left my shooting spot. Providing a distraction was also part of my tasks, after all. According to Finarkzir, one briefly warned a different colleague on camp of what happened, before returning with a fifth and taking to pursuing me. One of the guards had stayed to assist my former target as well, so it seemed this confirmed the pursuers' numbers.
"Five of them, then. Most of them likely were standing as reserves, but better to handle them here than allow them to regroup." I observed my pursuers while strolling down my route calmly. Escaping them wouldn't have been difficult were it necessary, so keeping myself in their sight implied slowly down my usual pace. "I'm a separate target from their most threatening opposition, so if I take too long the odds of even more reserves appearing aren't null. Not that it particularly matters exactly. The results won't change too much for us, regardless of which side wins… Regardless, the pretense of this situation is a test. Holding back on them would be disrespectful to the resolve they've demonstrated to their leader. Then let me serve as your trial, training warriors." After arriving at this conclusion, I asked Finarkzir not to interfere, before transforming part of my veil into split reflections of my arms, all the while restoring the veil in question through my spirit essence. With one of the side arms, I held a sheathed sword, while my true arms maintained their hold on my bow as I turned to face them.
"They are closing in fast. Not that it particularly matters." My first move was to shape a blast of light within the empty hands of a reflection of mine. Other than being loaded with slight detonation capacity, there were a small number of constructs merged into the making of that blast. Once fired and part way through its path, the light arrow detonated, yet the explosion itself hardly could be called dangerous. Instead, it was the fragments of pebbles and smoke within it that accomplished their goal. Launched by the small explosion, the grains weren't fast enough to harm, yet more than enough to make a normal foe stagger, a process aided by the fact I blinded them for an instant through the smoke within the shot. In that moment, by applying a small barrier as a step within a leap, I managed to reach the sturdy branch of one of the trees surrounding me, aiding in that landing through the empty reflection and one of the hands tending to the bow.
I then drew the string while conjuring an arrow with the properties of light magic merged within, all the while already shaping the shell to my following shots. If my first blast had been aimed at granting me the time to earn space, this second one was the opening to the true attack. It was fired in the middle of my pursuers, causing them to spread around it and guard themselves, likely expecting it to explode again. That it did, just with a very different effect. Almost all the effort I placed within that blast had been directed at increasing the luminosity it generated upon its rupture. As watchful of it as my opponents were, this made it easier to temporarily blind them.
Thus, another salvo followed shortly. This time, the conjured arrows had no point, aiming to knock them down through a different means. Other than the fact that acting as vehicles for light magic made it faster for me to produce the blasts, the goal was to center the effects of the blast directly into those stricken by it, thus making it less like an explosion and more akin to a targeted shock wave. Three arrows as such were produced and fired in quick succession, being that the first two pushed their stunned targets down. The third narrowly moved their torso out of the way from the shot, yet still was hit on the lower arm, being thus mostly incapacitated instead of simply knocked out. The shots stopped at three because I noticed two foes managed to avoid being stunned by the blinding shot, though, thus I opted to strike them in a way that was less reliant on their own reactions not wounding them. If either target had dodged my blasts through the wrong method, it wasn't that unlikely that the impact with the ground would break a bone or knock it out of place, after all.
Hence, I determined that for their safety, it would be easier to bring down the final foes in a spout of direct fighting. Not that I intended to offer them an even affair, mind you. With all that time I had been given to shape my spirit essence, by that point I had been ready to take on tens of normal opponents single handedly. Thus, I leaped off the branch I had a brief stay on, jumping in the direction of my first target. Predicting an opening upon my landing, it seemed both tried positioning themselves to counter that motion. Unfortunately, I had already drawn my route to the ground, which is all to say multiple steps were already waiting for my feet. The first barrier served to stop me from developing any excessive downwards momentum, and also a jumping point within the air. With it, I leaped from a direction that would leave me landing in front of my foes to grant me a shot at their backs, which I didn't miss. The sheathed sword I carried in a reflection swung downwards over this motion, toppling my fourth target to their knees.
Immediately after a second floating step, I reached the ground, and while my fifth opponent tried regaining their footing, my empty handed reflection landed a punch against their chin, despite my still being some Fyetrij away from them. Arms created through reflection spells are hardly limited to the reach of the limbs they imitate, ultimately. The third opponent, the only one that hadn't been knocked out, quietly observed the exchange, still trying to maintain their grip on its sword. As a sign of respect to the gesture, I conjured a throwable and used it to knock the weapon out of their grasp, before dragging my foes closer together and placing markings around that area to indicate their position, for once the battle was over. I also made sure to verify if none of them had serious injuries, before turning towards the main battle. From the moment I turned to face my foes, the exchange just barely reached the mark of twelve seconds.
—I'm getting in position. How goes the front? — I warned them in regards to my arrival, targeting mainly Fasnilthar with the thought. She was the one mainly in charge of communication and observation by that point, after all.
—Their front line has been battered. Very little of it remains, and the supporting lines are getting weakened at each attempt as well. — Even as I found a good vantage point for my following task, another soldier nearly toppled after being grazed by a strike from Sowanarcistvir, having barely managed to evade. It seemed the Daokinyev soldiers had been attempting to continue that encirclement over the time I had described, yet at the end of each try their numbers and strength would diminish. Nalfimiria had been the one handling removing those two exhausted from the battlefield as well, however that burden didn't make matters any more even. It didn't look like things would last much longer, even without the participation of the rest of the unit.
—I'm ready. Should I? — Chiaisei warned us. It seemed that particular message was something all of us heard. Hearing her thoughts, I looked around in her position. It wasn't so blatant that one would notice it just from being around the battlefield, yet it was clear the wind was acting more erratically around her. That and the fact the wind was currently blowing against the opposing projectiles made it somewhat clear she was ready to attack, if one would pay enough attention to our surroundings.
—In my end as well. Give the signal any time. — And Finarkzir issued her own warning just a moment afterward. Around her, the air wasn't as agitated, yet that was to be expected. Reaching the level of speed necessary for their attacks to launch away a target of that size likely wouldn't have been that hard for Finarkzir in the first place.
—Okay. I'll force them all together. — As Nalfimiria answered, there was a shift in her stance. All the while, the spirit veil surrounding her took the shape of many fold reflections of her arms, the very same she had been using to drag our wounded foes out of her path.
Shortly after that small shift, the tactics Nalfimiria had been using were swiftly abandoned. Instead of counteracting the opponent's advance and breaking it slowly, she crashed atop them in full aggression, throwing a few out of the battleground almost immediately as a result. The same speed and overwhelming power she had been using to dismantle any attacks were being applied offensively, and the shock from this radical shift to the situation seemingly left the warriors paralyzed for a moment. Some tried mounting a counterattack, given how quickly Nalfimiria had infiltrated their lines, yet Sowanarcistvir had been there to cover for such openings, as unlikely as they were to result in much. What remained of their battered frontline was being broken down in a matter of seconds, so before trying anything else, the soldiers still standing regrouped around their backlines. Considering both the trimming of their numbers and this sudden increase in pressure, those still standing were standing side by side while expecting the offensive to continue. And yet, all they could see from the sister were her reflected arms rapidly placing some type of tissue around their standing ground.
—Do it! — That was hardly the only oddity taking shape within that clearing, though. Any mage already deep enough into the craft to detect the activation of magic would have already realized a lot of the air in that area had been under the influence of another sorcerer. The very same girl who had remained hidden near a flank of our opponents, since the very beginning of that small battle.
In the time it took Nalfimiria to drive the warriors into the same spot, most of the air around that clearing swirled towards the same point. Having reached it, the air under her control briefly seemed to move more violently, before being compressed into a sphere barely bigger than a grape. As small as it was, the wind within it was dense enough to be visible, and at the edges of it, this temporary confinement seemed about ready to snap for a moment. And yet, as it briefly flew above the battleground, it maintained a fixed form, as the breeze around Chiaisei continued to sway fiercely. Between the cushioning created surrounding them and this extreme shift, some of the soldiers realized what was going on, yet ironically that only made it easier for my colleague to find an ideal location for her blast. Even if far from her limit in potency, if Chiaisei's magic was placed at a bad angle or too close to the target the odds of serious injury were simply too high, so their attempt at spreading out made it far easier for her to find this ideal distance.
This detonation caught most of the warriors, and even many of those not directly affected were hit by their launched comrades. Most were promptly caught within Nalfimiria's cushioning however, which appeared to serve the function of keeping them still as well. It seemed other than their weight and controlled stickiness, the cushioning could change shape well enough to find ways of tying down the ones landing on them. An impressive display of control over her constructs from Nalfimiria's part, as even when in this number and from a distance, she could still alter their shapes at will.
As the opponents had already fallen under a third of their original numbers, normally you would expect the battle to be over by this point, yet given its non lethal nature and the circumstances, it seemed the soldiers still had a will to resist. Thus, the final wave of attacks followed shortly after Chiaisei's explosion hit their forces, who still were trying to remain organized. The first part of this wave came from Finarkzir. Swooping down on the battlefield, she caused a gust that knocked even more of the remaining foes from their footing, often disarming them in the process or launching them towards Nalfimiria's sticky cushioning. From this attack, little more than a handful of standing warriors remained. While observing this, Fasnilthar asked me through the thought communicator for us to increase the senses shared in our end. Through this means, I could see which of the remaining she had picked while Finarkzir finished her gust, prompting me to choose my own. With three targets, I fired my bow in a short volley, and while checking if they were properly knocked out, I realized all of Fasnilthar's target had simultaneously been hit as well. Spheres of ice crashed into each, pushing them down and making the clearing silent once more. Her goal likely had been to match our timing as to reduce their time to dodge either strike.
With no soldier left standing, it looked as if the battle was done, yet we remained on guard for a moment longer, watching some of them try to get up once more. Whether or not the fighting had been tense on our end, to remain alert until confirmation things were over was hardly an uncommon practice to those following a similar path, to the point even novices like myself or Chiaisei would have embraced those cautions simply due to their repetition. Thus, the six of us carefully headed to the same position, as we had all been revealed regardless. As we followed through those motions, a voice cut off any soldier attempting to rise, however.
—You don't need to get up. This test is already over, and trying to prolong it won't change much of its results. The decision is mine, hence. — Their leader spoke, before stepping forward and briefly heading towards Nalfimiria.
—Sister, for my request. Whatever end I might face, I simply wish not to be followed right now. Are there other means or…?
—Yes, but they aren't something I could easily show. Their feasibility lies beyond our eyes or location. What would follow them relies entirely on perception. — Her words seemed oddly cryptic suddenly, and her voice was somewhat quieter as well. Whatever she meant, it likely wouldn't be easy to explain, or possible to accomplish.
—Perception, then… Let me choose the reliable path, then. Leave my weakness exposed clearly, Path Tracer. But allow me to leave this role with my weapon in hands. — As he said as much, he took out what appeared to be a club from his back and standing guard. It had the same shape as a greatsword, yet with no edge, it likely had been built to crush, not to cut. I couldn't quite say I understood this one's interest in death, though at least I could acknowledge the wish to test himself before it. What led one to treat their life so lightly, that was something I assumed I didn't have the context to guess.
—What an odd choice of words. But I suppose this will leave no room to follow you. We will make sure this wish won't be defied, at least. — Nalfimiria's voice resonated more loudly as she declared such, all the while removing her sword from its scabbard.
After declaring as much, the flow of magical energy surrounding the sister rose far beyond any we had seen up to that point. The spirit reflections she used to control her constructs all took shape around her, as those very same creations vanished, so that her full concentration could be centered in this final bout. From this effort, two effects immediately took notice. From her back and sides, a total of eight reflections of her arms took shape, all of which were far longer than any I could produce. Their shape was far more solid as well, likely an indication of how much more essence she could devote to each. And surrounding her body, her veil took a visible shape within a mantle she conjured, likely also involving the effects of several types of barriers. Weapons akin to her sword were shaped at the hand of each reflection, and as her spirit solidified, the occasional flashes of color moved through it.
The entire process would have looked striking to any observer, yet for one who could sense magic, it was all the harder to take your eyes off of her over this process. Her stance was one from the minor style known as The Endless Fronts, with the drawn blade held on one hand and the quarterstaff pointing forward, being entirely covered with her veil. It was likely her declaration of having no intent to hold back.
This display being done, both combatants glanced at each other for a moment. Then, the chief started moving, seeking to close in the distance. Almost immediately, from the tip of Nalfimiria's staff a small blast of light began taking shape. Based on its crystal-like external qualities, it seemed to employ Nairsylvir alongside Iscathnerin. The first step was barely done when the blast was fired. Were it to miss, it likely would have immediately been followed by lunges and slashes from all directions, given the many reflections standing in position to strike, yet it did reach its mark, as it wouldn't have offered enough time even for one of us to avoid at that distance. The blast detonated on contact, briefly blinding all watchers due to the explosion. Not that the result of it had been a mystery to any watcher there, seeing as the chief of that group of Daokinyev had been violently launched from the point of impact of that blast. Even after landing, the momentum kept his body rolling for many Fyetrij, due to how powerful that shock must have been. No one doubted the attack had killed him, yet after a subordinate of his verified the fact, it hadn't taken long for this to be confirmed.
*****
From there, things moved on quickly. First, Nalfimiria called in the sisters that had been waiting for us to be done. It took a few minutes between her summoning the rest of them and that group appearing, and in that time the five of us helped gather the knockout and hurt combatants inside of their encampment (Finarkzir couldn't help with this part of the process because she doesn't have arms). During it, we also made sure to pick up my pursuers and the caster I had poisoned. Nalfimiria then started glancing through the state of each Daokinyev, so that we could decide the ones who needed healing most urgently. The rest of us aided in this process, although Sowanarccistvir and Fasnilthar were clearly better used to the process than Chiaisei and I, another factor I concluded showed the gap in experience between us at that time. Through this process, Nalfimiria also asked some of the Daokinyev who were intact or at least relatively so to begin setting up the pyre for their leader.
Before long, the sisters waiting for us appeared. As soon as they arrived, Nalfimiria greeted them, and they had a conversation in private. It seemed part of it concerned one of the Daokinyev we had fought, but I couldn't gather much else about it. It was around that point that the mage I had paralyzed through poison reached our group as well. Apparently, the poison normally would have lasted somewhat longer, yet the girl had managed to remain awake and heal herself through purity magic. She had a brief exchange of words with Nalfimiria, and though the contents of it reached no one else, the matter discussed hardly seemed surprising. By the end of their talk, the girl in question hid her face behind a ceremonial mask of sorts, which had remained on for the remaining tasks we all fulfilled.
With the help of additional sisters, going through each of our opponents was much easier. This was also the point where Sowanar and I - alongside many of their already healed warriors - were chosen to help prepare this group for their trip back to their homeland, as well as lighting the pyre that was on the making for their leader. The motions of the act were hastened due to the need for the Daokinyev to start their journey shortly thereafter, though I still tried aiding with the procedure accurately. Until the fires had been lit, the other spellcaster had been the one tending to the body. Sowanar and I had been selected both due to our fitting build for the nature of the task as well as the fact neither of us could do much to aid with the mending, or at least not anywhere near as much as the others.
During this process, one of the sisters also announced the chief hadn't been the only Daokinyev to die during the fight. To be specific, the one that Nalfimiria had pointed out to them once she found him, he had already died for some time, from a broken neck after an attack launched him against a tree. They didn't announce the cause of death in detail as well. And although Chiaisei questioned them about it they didn't bring up the likely killer either, since according to Nalfimiria herself an accident like that wouldn't be affecting our evaluation too heavily regardless, and that knowing this wouldn't be helpful to either of us rookies.
I had a suspicion that Chiaisei had been the cause of death, though. Nalfimiria had been especially mindful of where she hit her foes during the entire fight, and everytime a blow of hers threw one of them off their feet, she directed their movement intentionally. Sowanar had been doing something similar, and both Fasnilthar and I remembered the moment we landed each hit well enough to know neither of our targets had collisions against any tree in that fashion post being attacked. This left Chiaisei and Finarkzir as the remaining possibilities, and while it was true that both had only attacked once while using the same type of magic, the nature of their attacks was very different. Finarkzir had merely generated a gust to launch our opposition around, whereas Chiaisei used it to cause a small explosion. And while that explosion likely didn't have a quarter of the total power Chiaisei could compress into a blast, it was the most likely attack dealt by any of us to result in an accidental death. Based on her reaction to the news, it seemed she had been interpreting it the same way, despite the fact our unintended culprit was not revealed by any of the sisters present. Still, it was clear to me that this line of thinking had been accompanying her, even as we finished helping that group prepare themselves to move once more.
In either case, with the battle done, I have finished most of the things I planned on reporting directly. Not to say this was all for this job, seeing as we still had to return to the town, report there our completion of the job, return to Zainlastris and then write a general report of the job to the association. Or in the case of Sowanar and Nalfimiria, to the knight orders and the sisterhood as well. This, and before we fully left the forest in which our first task was accomplished, we went through a conversation that even I could tell was important. However, the one to describe such will be Fasnilthar, not me. At that point in time, she would have had far more to comment in regards to this event than I would have, despite it having been my first time experiencing actual combat. To keep my first experience with it brief, nothing about it felt unexpected. My many years of training had prepared me for every aspect of what I had lived through. Hence why I believe our biggest interest should lie with the words of my fellow rookie at that time, and I believe the topic that took shape as a result should be mostly reported by Fasnilthar. That being said, I'll still elaborate my thoughts in more detail during it. Which is also to say, until then.