As the flock of birds approached, they showed no signs of avoiding the camp, so Wolfe and his Witches gathered together outside the bunker where they could see the whole camp in order to set the perimeter of the [Lightning Storm Barrier].
The defenders had all pulled back from the edges of the camp in case the group couldn’t make a large enough barrier on their own, so Wolfe got to work visualizing the extent of the camp and setting the barrier within the confines of the disguise ward.
They only wanted to test the barrier if the undead birds attacked, not lure them in, but the birds didn’t seem to be affected by the deterrence spell at all.
They flew straight into the Lightning Storm Array, with hundreds being fried by the electricity in a second, drawing a surge of mana through Wolfe that even the five of them could not keep up with.
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But Wolfe’s mana had almost recovered before the flock circled and came at them again.
This time they were met with waves of magic from the Sylvan Army, destroying thousands of birds before the flock hit the boundary of the Barrier, killing most of their numbers instantly with the Lightning damage.
Wolfe’s mana took another plunge and was recovered by the Witches, but the frail nature of the birds’ bodies made the difference today. Despite being undead, charging the [Lightning Storm Barrier] was suicide for them, and the Sylvan Patrol had already begun making sure they were all truly dead.
“Excellent work, everyone. The barrier really makes things easy. How was it? Did you have to deplete your amulets to keep it active?” Priya asked.
“No, but it made a pretty serious dent in my storage. The problem is that there isn’t any scaling to the barrier. It launches a full-scale Lightning Bolt at every enemy that hits it. Against a few big enemies, the damage would be negligible, but against a flock of birds, both the damage and the mana cost were quite high.” Wolfe explained.
“Then we will have others assist you the next time there are so many enemies. The barrier itself will need more mana as well if it is taking real damage.” She sighed.
“We are getting stronger as well. Eventually, we will be able to hold the camp without issues.” Wolfe assured her, making the Witch laugh.
“I’m sure you will, even if it usually takes everyone working together. Though this group might not have any problems with that, thanks to you.”
“I just hope that leadership doesn’t break up your team when they find out. We would have to do it all over again, and who knows if we would get as many talents next time as we have in this group.”
Priya nodded in understanding. “A valid concern, but the Sylvan army is understanding most of the time. They prefer to keep a group together for the duration of their service instead of spreading them through other units to maintain numbers, so we will likely only get some recruits at our next stop.
The team is supposed to have two hundred fifty members. We were down by forty when we made it here. Most of us in this unit are lifers, professional soldiers, but some are still intending to go home when their six months of combat are up.”
“Six months? Morgana requires two years, no matter the service. Or, in this case, for the entire duration of the state of emergency.” Reiko told her.
“No wonder they had to institute the draft to get Witches to the battlefield. In Sylvan, graduates’ job placements in the city are for five years after graduation, but combat is only six months, and the pay is good, so a lot of us choose it on our own.
Plus, there are additional benefits that come with military service, like the dating service. Since we outnumber men by ten to one, the military helps us find dates when we want to start a family and retire.”
Beth chuckled at that. “We used to run one of them at the black market.”
“I think she means something very different than the service at the black market, and not just because the genders are reversed.” Wolfe laughed.
“I don’t know what you two are talking about, but they arrange a date that meets your physical preferences from their pool of talent, and if you approve of them, the military covers the stud fee, and you go to the clinic for insemination,” Priya explained.
“Yeah, that sounds way less fun than the way the black market did it. Probably less profitable as well.” Beth agreed.
“If Sylvan requires six months of service, it looks like we will be in your care for a while, Lieutenant. Please take good care of us.” Reiko said politely, changing the topic away from the illegal underground of their city, just in case the Lieutenant changed her mind about taking them in.
“I look forward to seeing what you all can do in six months’ time. Memorize that book of combat spells well. They’ll save your lives.
Beth, I know you can’t use magic but don’t fret. We can teach you to use a sword as well as any soldier. I will inform the trainers that you need a bit of help to catch up, and they’ll have you up to standard in no time.” Priya replied.
“Really? One is those uniforms is for me? I thought, you know, it was for Wolfe and the Witches.” Beth asked, startled.
“Why would we have a men’s uniform with us? There are no men in our unit. Just be on time for training. You’re not a Witch, so you need to learn to fight. The army will recognize your time served even though you’re underage.”
“You’ve got it, Lieutenant. I’ll be there for sure.”
“Wake us up if anything happens. Keeping the barrier up was a lot of work.” Wolfe instructed their youngest member before dismissing his armour and crawling into bed between Ella and Cassie.
“Sure thing. I’ll be outside.” Beth agreed while Priya muttered something about shamelessness.