Chapter 56 - Michelle's Debut
Left behind by the faster trio, Michelle ran at her max speed toward the direction of the avalanche, sure she would find them at the end of that path.
The snow makes it much easier to track big bro. Still, I should prepare for the worst. If Uncle Lysander is anything like Uncle Jonas, he will let the magical beast beat us to a pulp as a lesson.
Still running at full speed, Michelle started to activate her core. The mana inside her flowed out majestically to her entire body. It created a thin layer that allowed her to increase her speed, but it also started to nurture her muscles, skin, and bones. It wasn't fast, but a constant gradient of energy that grew in her. As the concentration of mana inside her body reached levels close to her core's, her bow started to absorb the excedent energy, allowing her to keep accumulating mana slowly as her movements became sharper.
Her full speed had even surpassed Kwame's, approaching Luca and Daniel on their way to Thrain.
She heard a windstorm to her right as she approached the mountain's base. Adjusting her path, she could see the entrance of a clearing. Between the leaves and branches, she saw it. The bear roared as its level of mana increased beyond normal levels. Her instincts instantly kicked in. Pulling an arrow from her quiver, she drew her bow.
All the mana in her bow, body, and core channeled through her body at that moment. As the energy concentrated into the arrow, sparks started to appear. Quickly turning into bursts of lightning, Michelle focused all her energy on the tip of the arrow.
Remember what Father told you: this is a last resort and takes too long to charge. Remember to leave a bit of energy to aim. A strong attack is only helpful if it hits its target… She thought.
Looking at the developing situation, the bear finished its elemental armor and dashed toward Kwame.
"I can see you!" Michelle said as her fingers let loose of the bow strings. At that moment, the increasing lightning around the arrow suddenly became a thunderous roar. The arrow's speed transformed the roar into a cry that echoed around the mountain range. The light from the raging thunder arrow came at irregular intervals, creating a flickering effect in the shadows of the clearing.
From Michelle's perspective, she had already started to replenish her core and reposition, but she could see her brother as the only one instantly using her attack to their benefit. She smiled without realizing it, but that was not a moment to enjoy the situation. She ran to another position, preparing to cover the trio currently fighting that monster.
The cry sounded inside everyone's mind. Kwame's senses made him react quickly. It didn't matter if the incoming cry was friendly. All it mattered was that it took the grizzly's attention away from him. His spells started to be cast instantly, trying to create some delay in the bear's reach.
It took the blink of an eye. In those milliseconds, the sounds around the clearing had lost their effect, encompassed by the reverberating claps and thunders from an incoming flickering strike. The bear's stone armor shone blue, but not from the beast's mana.
The arrow hit the Grizzily's shoulder. The combination of lightning and strength behind that arrow eradicated the upper left portion of the bear's armor. The earth from the bear's armor helped dissipate some of the attack and remaining electricity, but some still found their way to the bear's body. Its fur burned as its synapses faltered.
The scene was out of Daniel's and Kwame's imagination, but there it was. The incoming attack had, for a second, stopped the Arcane Grizzily in its tracks and dealt much more damage than Kwame's wind Blade. As both stood there mesmerized by the result, Luca finished his approach. He didn't waste any time wondering why the creature had stopped. He recognized the attack as a more robust version of his sister's thunder arrow.
His blades danced on his hands as strikes aimed the portion of the arcane bear most damaged by Michelle's arrow. His eyes were similar to a predator's; his blades aimed for tendon regions, arteries, and joints. Previously, gray fur now exposed a cicatrizing skin easier to cut through. Luca's Blade found resistance only when going against the creature's bones.
Luca unleashed five attacks in the second it took the bear to regain consciousness. On the sixth, his side was met with the grizzly's paw. The strike sent Luca flying to the side, landing on the compacted snow. He used his swords to help minimize the distance he would travel.
Heavens, if just a slap from this creature is this strong, I'll surely die if it hits me at full strength. He thought as his left arm felt numb from the impact.
During that time, Kwame and Daniel could gain distance from the creature. Daniel's idea of attacking Luca disappeared as he saw the strike paralyzing the bear. It hadn't touched him in the slightest, but he was also paralyzed.
"What was that?!" Screamed Daniel.
"Michelle. But she probably spent all the mana she gathered on the way. She doesn't have a second one…" said Luca.
"Everyone, one more minute, and I can join you. The backlash from the fight with the bighorn is still in effect. Hang on!" said Thrain.
"Any ideas?" asked Kwame.
"If it hit us, we'll die… So strike and run… Let's use more ranged skills…" said Luca, touching his left arm as he moved it to see if it had broken.
This time, the bear didn't do anything, simply looking at the humans. It now identified most of them as threats to itself. Fixating its eyes on Daniel, it roared in challenge.
This time, the growl wasn't as deep as before. A sequence of spells started to activate near the bear. It couldn't adequately move since its tendons had been sliced, but spells had almost a life of their own.
Daniel ran for his life. He had trained with Bryn more than Luca, and his level was also higher, making the ice spears and rock spikes thrown by the bear possible to evade. As Luca got near once again, some of the attacks started to aim at him as well. The creature was using all it could to survive.
Kwame prepared another spell, calling the attention of the bear also. Three targets were impossible to stop at the same time. Every time Kwame started to cast, a portion of the spells aimed at Luca and Daniel would be retargeted, allowing them to gain distance over the creature. The party didn't have to talk anymore. The strategy had presented itself for them.
Repeating the process a few more times, the backlash from activating Berserker's Frenzy finished, and Thrain joined the fray. With the fourth element attacking from an even new direction, the bear started to unleash attacks everywhere. The distance between it and the rest kept diminishing until a critical moment. Another loud cry echoed from the trees.
Everyone understood what it meant, and all of them attacked. The arcane bear didn't have to change its position this time. The attack wasn't coming from its side. The arrow aimed straight at him and dared his defenses. In a proud effort to at least conquer that attack, the Arcane Grizzly used its mana to raise his front legs. With its left paw not responding, the monster focused all its mana on his right arm, leaving the rest of his body unprotected. The arrow arrived faster than any other attack from the party. The creature roared as its right claws instantly crushed the arrow. If the bear could smirk, its face would reflect that. But so did Michelle's.
The moment the claws used an immense amount of mana to destroy the arrow, there was no resistance. The attack did not weigh it. Michelle had focused her magic on making the noise and lightning effects of the first arrow, but it had nothing behind it. When the bear found no resistance, it stumbled forward, finding a wind blade on its face. Luca, Thrain, and Daniel also didn't lose the opportunity to slash everything they could find.
As all four found their mark, the creature had too many wounds to continue fighting. Its eyes looked at all the humans surrounding it as it tried to find the origin of those arrows but couldn't. The bleeding made its senses falter as it lost consciousness.
All five screamed at the same time.
Kwame fell backward on the snow. Daniel hugged Thrain. Luca stored his blades on the spatial ring as he ran to the woods to find Michelle.
"Good job, kids, you are finally learning to fight as a group…" said Lysander.
The remaining party members arrived not much after, finding the groups still separated by the battle as the body of the arcane grizzly lay between them. Amelia, Zara, and Kaelar looked at each other, trying to imagine what had happened.
"Daniel!" Screamed Amelia as she ran to his embrace.
"I'm fine, Amelia. You should see Thrain," he answered, blushing as he turned his face to the opposite side.
Luca and Michelle walked out of the forest toward the group.
Kwame knew. His life had been saved by the girl they had mocked before.
He rose to his feet, ignoring the others and kneeling toward her. "Michelle… I have no words to thank you. I owe you my life."
"Don't worry, mister Kwame. The important thing is we won!! And also, Uncle Lysander now has an Arcane Bear for us to eat!!" The little girl's goggling eyes made Kwame realize that she might not even understand how relevant her actions were.
"You are right… How can I help?" he asked.
"Big bro?"
"We must clean both magical beasts… Gather the materials and butcher them for dinner."
"You heard my big bro!" said Michelle, looking at Kwame seriously.
"Everyone, we won our first encounter! Let's finish up and celebrate!"
The groups divided themselves, taking apart every vital resource from the magical beasts. Lysander guided them through the process so they wouldn't lose anything important and to keep the beasts' core intact. As they finished, Lysander stored everything on his spatial ring.
"Now that we are finished, let's leave the area to create a camp. I'll help you this time," said Lysander.
The group walked about half an hour before finding a place to rest. Lysander used magic to create a perfect camp for them. Made primarily of stones, both the design and foundations were much better than the one the group had prepared on the previous days. Everyone exchanged information about their day and the battle as he prepared dinner.
Thrain recounted how the bear and Lysander had facilitated for him to kill the bighorn. The others told the encounter with the arcane grizzly and again thanked Michelle for saving Kwame. This time, she felt embarrassed. The three who didn't engage in any battles felt a weight on their conscience. They were part of the party but, at the same time, not part of those stories and experiences. Each thought about it differently, but all reforged their commitment.
A different situation happened while the group rejoiced an arcane bear stew around the fire.
"Is this all Gabriel taught you?! You can't use magic properly. Come on, two more boars!" said Jonas, throwing two more creatures at Bryn.
"I've been fighting nonstop for the past 10 hours, Sr. Jonas! Can't we take a break?!"
"You should think that fighting these weak animals is like taking a break! Come on, two more!"
As the creatures flew toward Bryn, they landed smoothly on the floor, finding the faun in front of them. Both looked at each other and rushed at him.
His arms and legs barely responded, but he still moved. Bryn concentrated mana on his body and used Akusashi to slice both creatures.
"Four more…" said Jonas.
"AH!" Screamed Bryn as he slaughtered boar after boar.