Chapter 3: Battle Mage
"――I'm going."
With those words, Grace stepped forward. With just that one step, the ground exploded beneath her feet.
She flew forward with the force of a bullet, swinging her axe in parallel with the road. Ants' bodies were cleanly severed from their abdomens and danced high in the air.
The sight of the slender Grace fighting in this way was surreal. Her fighting style was simple and straightforward, relying on her incredible strength.
Although her swinging motion was linear and easy to read, her initial speed was anything but ordinary. Whether it was a weapon or a shield, if it was hit head-on, it would be crushed to pieces.
She crushed the ants' heads with her foot, and effortlessly tore off their heads with one hand. Swinging her double-headed axe horizontally and vertically, she threw and spun it, crushing the ants to literal dust.
It was said that her strength was even more enhanced at night or indoors, so it was quite frightening. This was a good example of how incredible brute strength alone can be a formidable threat.
Her blood-red eyes narrowed.
Fangs were visible in Grace's mouth as she swung her axe as she pleased, and even a smile appeared on her face. The Gardner family had tested her patience quite a bit, and since the opponent was ants, she could rampage to her heart's content today.
In reality, she didn't need to worry about ants as opponents. They had decided to watch each other's backs, but to be honest, they weren't even that strong of an opponent.
As for me, since this was my first actual combat experience, I wouldn't let my guard down while observing the situation.
I held a magic wand longer than my height and scooped up the approaching ants with it before deploying magic. I shot a fireball at the ants flying in the air, and in an instant, their whole bodies were engulfed in flames and turned to ashes.
When I swept the ants away with a tornado magic wrapped around my wand, the ants' line that was approaching was reduced to the same extent as our attack range... and disappeared.
With the distance widened, I stuck my wand into the ground. A magic circle spread from my feet, and countless spears of earth flew out of the ground at a distance, skewering the group of ants.
"... It's a bit of overkill for ants."
I was only using beginner-level magic that didn't require any charging.
I unsheathed my wand like a sword and sliced through the swarm of ants with a blade of wind.
As a battle mage, my specialty is fighting with magic in close combat, using wand techniques and physical combat.
There are mainly two benefits of the special skill "Magic Circulation": strengthening my own physical abilities and increasing the firepower of my magic.
However, in order to increase firepower using the circulation of magic power generated within my body, I sacrifice range. That's why it's necessary to also train in martial arts that can be unleashed through the strengthening of physical abilities, and to refine techniques for close combat.
High firepower and paper armor. It's definitely a skill that requires a lot of player skill.
I can also perform artillery like a normal magic profession, but in that case, I can't activate circulation. If it's a straight-up fight, other magic professions who have learned skills for long-range combat will have the advantage.
Even so... ants are just right for getting used to it.
They attack without fear, relying only on their numbers, but that's all they have. They don't coordinate with each other, so as long as I have enough firepower to take them out from wherever they touch me, it's actually easier to fight.
"Monica! They're coming your way!"
"I know!"
The Forest Birds are also using defense barriers to strategically defeat the ants that are slowed down as they try to invade the barriers. If things continue like this, we should be able to repel them without too much trouble.
"Alright, we're done--"
The swarm of ants that emerged from the forest becomes sporadic, and finally there is only one left.
I stabbed the long sword into its head and stop it from moving. The Forest Birds sat down on the ground.
Grace and I were still relaxed.
I'm strengthened by circulation, and I have a way to convert magic power into physical strength. As long as I don't run out of magic power, I won't run out of physical strength. The magic I used for attacks was only of a relatively low rank.
The strategy we devised was simple and straightforward. Grace and I would step forward to crush the ants while Forestbird would protect the horses from the ants that escaped from the sides. We couldn't afford to have the horses eaten, even if we managed to get through the situation. We wanted to avoid any issues that might arise during our travels.
To accomplish this, we split into an offensive and defensive team using a magic spell called Defense Field, a hemispherical defense barrier, which is a seventh-class light magic. This spell was used to obstruct the ants' movements and to divide our roles as attackers and defenders.
The seventh-class spell was a kind of intermediate magic between middle and high-level spells. I used this spell to demonstrate my strength and convince everyone that I was capable of being the offensive player.
Rather than running away and being stingy with our abilities, we decided to fight and push through the situation. There was no reason to turn our backs on the Killer Ants, even if they were in a group.
"I saw a lot of things today that I couldn't believe..."
"Genius really exists, huh..."
I'll tolerate the looks of disbelief directed at me.
"Theodore-sama."
Grace called my name, and I turned around.
"I am glad to see that you are fine."
"Yep."
I took her hand and touched the ring, releasing the restriction. Grace staggered a bit, and I instinctively supported her body.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. Since our opponents were ants, I didn't feel dizzy, and I managed to avoid showing any unsightly behavior. I don't feel hungry either."
Grace nodded a little embarrassedly, pressed her chest, and exhaled deeply.
When Grace is free from the restriction, she tends to get dizzy from the scent of the creature's blood, apparently. Even though she smiled a little during the battle, she was leaning a little towards the side of the vampires during the fight.
Grace calls this "vile" and doesn't seem to like it herself. Her vampiric impulse is suppressed by the magic tools, but if it is tilted towards the human side, the impulse is converted into human senses, namely hunger.
I watched Grace's condition carefully. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but that was probably due to the movement. The ax, which she had swung lightly until a moment ago, looked heavy now.
There didn't seem to be any injuries that could cause a problem, and hunger didn't seem to be severe, so I thought there was no problem with Grace. In that case, the next thing we needed to do was...
"Today... I guess we'll be camping out," I said, looking up at the sky. It looked like it wasn't going to rain, so that was a relief.
"Huh? If we hurry, we can make it to the next town..."
But there was a reason we couldn't do that. I told them as much.
"After we rest... let's strip them for materials."
Behind me were piles of dead ants, their bodies strewn about like a mountain of corpses.
Monsters stored magical power in specific parts of their bodies, which could be processed into materials and sold for money.
In other words, we had to recover the mandibles of the Killer Ants, right?
"Don't worry. We'll split the loot evenly. You can trust us," they said, nodding happily despite their strained smiles. There were no objections, which just proved that they were adventurers after all.
We managed to collect the mandibles before the sun set and burned the ant corpses to clean up the area.
Since the probability of encountering evil monsters like Wisps or Ghosts increased at night, we decided to set up a barrier and wait until morning instead of pushing ourselves to keep going.
We didn't want to camp where we had just fought, so we went a little further down the road to an open area where we could make camp.
However, even with the barrier, it was necessary to stand guard as it would have no effect on thieves at night.
Today, as a special occasion, I, who had some spare energy, volunteered to take the first watch, and the others were allowed to rest.
Anyway, we could relax in the carriage during the day, so this wasn't a problem.
Actually, I wanted to check the state of my magic wand thoroughly tonight. It made an unpleasant sound during the battle...
"Hmm..."
A fine crack runs through it. It seems it couldn't withstand the overload of circulated magic.
...This happened after just one battle. It seems that even with a new wand, it won't be enough.
"Is there something wrong?"
As I groaned while shadowed by the light of the bonfire, Grace tilted her head and asked me.
"Here, this."
"...There's a crack in it. This was new, wasn't it?"
"It seems that the wand couldn't withstand it."
However, it was the best among the items that could be easily obtained in the earl's territory.
There is a need to replace it, but even with the same quality, it might break with one shot of intermediate or advanced magic shot in a circular state.
I can fight bare-handed, but I originally focused on wand-based skills...I really want a better wand.
"It's okay. You'll surely get a good one in Termwills."
"Yeah, I hope so."
"I'm here too. Please don't overdo it until then."
"...Grace, are you okay with frequently releasing magic? Don't hold back or hide your discomfort."
"You don't have to worry about that. The only burden on me is the recoil when it's released, and even if the recoil is severe, it's only temporary and doesn't last long."
Grace said with a slightly tilted head.
"Today...I felt a little uneasy, I guess."
"Uneasy?"
"No, it's already settled. I didn't feel uncomfortable, so I think it's okay. I've been living with this constitution for a long time."
Hmm... I'll keep an eye on Grace's condition in the future for that matter.
As I gazed at her dignified profile illuminated by the flickering of the fire, she gave me a happy smile.