"I have always fought alone, I know nothing about formations or teamwork. And if I give orders, I can't cast any spell. I think it's better to have a skilled hunter, rather than a makeshift leader.
Anyone of you that has received military training, either as a strategist or a soldier, is much better suited for this than me."
- "Not to mention that I don't give a damn about any of you. I don't have any motivation for being a good leader. As long as I keep at least one of you standing, anything goes for me. The important is avoiding the wipe out." – He inwardly added.
Lith's teammates started talking to each other, honestly searching to determine who could best take charge, setting their pride and personal ambitions aside.
Reluctantly, he had to burst their bubble.
"Do you mind a simple advice?" Everyone turned towards him again.
"Whoever becomes the leader has a huge problem: we know each other's class, but not what we are capable of during a real fight. In a life and death situation, you can't give detailed explanations, only generic orders.
An order is good only if executed in a proper manner. You have experienced first-hand how easy is to freeze due to panic. In my case, I tend to let my bloodlust blind me. Both issues would cause any plan to crumble in the face of the enemy.
My suggestion is to put the leader matter aside, and just watch each other's back. Only by familiarizing with our skillsets and behaviours, a shoddy team like this has any chance of survival."
After the team agreed, Lith started explaining to everyone how to make use of first magic in the wilderness.
They had to use the darkness spell Concealment to hide their smell all the time, and never leave the cave on foot, but by using Flight or Float to not leave prints going in and out from the entrance. The same applied to hunting.
Coupling those spells was the best way to sneak up on a prey.
Lith, Mirna and Phloria left the cave, while Belia and Visen stayed behind. Visen decided to employ the time at hand to make the cave more stable, spacious and to solve what would be an inevitable hurdle.
Soon someone would be in need of a bathroom, and he doubted that anyone would consider the idea of going alone outside. Getting literally caught with your pants down was nightmare material.
Once on the outside, the hunting team relied on looks and hand gestures, trying to speak only as a last resort. Being a Mage Knight, Phloria decided to pair up with Mirna to protect her, while Lith would move on his own.
- "Sigh, I can't believe I have to babysit these kids."
"I know." Solus replied. "But it's the purpose of this whole exercise."
"Yeah, it took us a while to understand why during the second day Trasque didn't assign any points. It was because he wanted us to teach each other actively, not just beat the cr*p out of your opponent."
"And guess who do you have to thank for having understood the real nature of this test?" Solus giggled.
"And guess who do you have to thank for keeping me alive and avoiding you the trouble of finding another host?" Lith sarcastically replied.
"I'm sorry, your Ladyship…" He performed a mind-curtsy. "but while you enjoy the show in your front row seat, I'm the one in the Colosseum. So is not such an amazing result.
You can watch the bigger picture, but I must focus on teeth, claws and keeping my guts where they belong."
"Meanie! Like I don't worry all the time! A simple 'thank you' would suffice."
Lith felt like cr*p, snapping at her for no reason.
"I'm really sorry Solus. I know you were just trying to lighten the mood and cheer me up. It's just that I am already so stressed that I'd need some way to vent out. And thank you. You are the only one that knows all my flaws, yet still cares for me.
Thank you for all the help you give me every day, and for never stopping trying to make me into a better person." –
That was the first time his chatterbox mage tower had nothing so say. Her mind was blank as a slate. Lith preferred not to pry further, she was likely to be either angry at him or just too surprised to reply.
They often joked about it, but he had never earnestly thanked her before for meddling in his private life.
The woodlands were denser than the Trawn woods, despite all his experience Lith was at loss. They couldn't get too far away from the hill without risking of getting lost, nor they could split too much, in case something happened.
This time he couldn't cheat his way out with Life Vision and spirit magic. How could he possibly explain being able to spot animals underground on in tree trunks?
Mirna and Phloria weren't having better luck. Keeping two spells always active wasn't something they were used to. Double casting was demanding for their focus, and at the slightest slip up they had to cast them both again, consuming even more mana.
While Mirna's ego seemed to have recovered quickly, regaining her confident attitude, Phloria had never felt so ashamed in her whole life.
She was the most promising descendant in a bloodline of Mage Knights, yet she kept stumbling through her specialization course.
Her father had taught her personally both magic up to tier three and swordplay. He even made her fight wild beasts to give her real enemies. But now she realized that all her confidence was built on a lie.
She was so used always having him by her side that she never took any challenge seriously. Her father would always help her, if something went wrong.
At the academy, instead, she was alone.
The Professor was tough and demanding, the competition so fierce that her so-called friends were too busy fixing their own mistakes to pay her any attention. When the Headmaster had announced the mock exam, she had rejoiced, thinking it was her time to shine.
But she had never seen something so big like a magical beast. At the moment of truth, her nerves had failed her, turning her into a burden for everyone.
Despite Phloria's earlier brave façade, she was still scared out of her mind, trembling at any noise, her hand clutching the hilt of her sword so tight that it was white. Phloria could not help but envy Mirna.
She was so pretty compared to her, and despite all that she had went through, her will was rock-solid.
Mirna, on the other hand, reciprocated such feelings in full. She was jealous of Phloria, so tall and strong, she was bound to have lots of admirers. The reason why Mirna appeared so confident, was because she believed not having any more face to lose.
She had already gone below and beyond the bottom of the barrel, in her mind she could only rise up.
"Stop squirming like that, you are making me nervous too!" Mirna whispered. She couldn't bear anymore her guardian's twists and turns.
"Sorry. But I have an eerie feeling about this."
"This whole forest is an eerie feeling. Where the f*ck are the animals? I can hear animal's calls, but we still have to meet a single soul."
The minutes quickly turned into hours, and the only creatures they spotted where too far and fast to get any shot at them.
The sun had reached the zenith, so they decided to give up and check if Lith's luck had been any better. A few dozen meters away, Lith had come to the same conclusion.
Even using all the tricks in his book, his preys would amount to a poor meal for one person. He had never learned how to follow tracks or use traps, he had always been reliant on true magic. But while he was observed, those abilities were sealed.
Suddenly, an odd chirping resounded. The three of them listened carefully, hoping for a last-minute big catch. The more they listened to it, the less it sounded like birds.
It was more of a mix of a rhythmic cricket's chirruping and a mouse's high-pitched squeaking.
- "Solus, this sounds a lot like bats, but it makes no sense. They are mostly nocturnal animals. Not to mention it doesn't explain why all the other animals have gone silent."
"Definitely close, but not bats." She replied. "It's not squeaking, more like joints clicking." –
The noise kept growing in intensity, until it was all around them. Expecting another magical beast to attack right after announcing its presence, they tried to regroup as fast as they could.
The moment they lowered their guard, looking for each other's position, was the beginning of the end. From the treetops and countless holes in the ground, well hidden by the thick vegetation, countless spiders attacked them from all directions.
Some of them where small and round, their body size close to a basketball, while others were as big as a Labrador. Their black bodies were covered in long bristles, with red dots all over.
"Watch out! Those are Clackers!" Mirna yelled, but her words fell on deaf ears.
Neither of her teammates had ever heard of them.
- "F*ck me sideways!" Lith cursed. "None of the books in Soluspedia ever mentioned that insects or arachnids can turn in magical beasts. I have no idea what these things are capable of!" –
The attack had been too sudden, the clicking noise wasn't a warning, it was how the Clackers had coordinated their attack, leaving them no escape routes.
The spells in Lith's rings were useless. Checkmate Spears was a finisher against big opponents, against a small army it had no effect. The tier two ring held a healing spell, while the tier one was a simple blinding spell.
Sure, no one beside him knew what his rings contained, but that still left him with just three true magic spells. After that, Lith had either to accept the loss or blow up his cover.
He had no real weapon outside first magic, he had been caught completely unprepared.