Chapter 180: Simulated Explosions (1/2)
Sera dodged another series of small explosions in a panic, dropping her bow in the process. With the merciless fireballs descending on her in another wave, she didn't have the time to stop and grab it. Although they'd run through a few basic scenarios so far, this was crazy.
She had been running from the increasingly intense barrage of magical projectiles for close to ten minutes now, and it showed no signs of letting up. Throwing up her arms to protect her face as showers of dirt rained on her after a particular close blast, she couldn't help but feel a little singled out.
Tal, who was limited on what she could do without the ability to speak and therefore chant, had been quickly cornered and overwhelmed. The elf was currently encased in a solid block of earth leaving only her face visible. She was passively watching the proceedings with eyes that seemed a bit more emotionless than usual.
While Sera felt a small amount of pride in having lasted this long, the whole situation seemed unfair. Taking a moment to glance up at her attacker, who was lining up for his next shot from the top of his summoned stone pillar, she yelled her complaints, ”How is this in any way related to actual combat?!”
”This is simulating an airborne enemy capable of laying down a large volume of fire. It's testing your ability to respond to a threat from above while simultaneously avoid his or her attacks. I had thought it would be pretty straightforward. After all, didn't this exact thing happen to you just a few days ago?” Mike replied calmly, while halting the barrage.
Taking a moment to catch her breath, Sera glared up at him. ”Yeah, but Tal was able to handle it just fine without me.”
”And yet, there she is, unable to defend herself due to her current circumstances, forced to rely on her party member to somehow overturn the situation. However, you've done nothing besides run around in circles, occasionally firing poorly aimed arrows.”
She gritted her teeth, ”What do you expect? I'm weak! I can't fight someone like you, even if you are holding back. It's unfair!”
Mike's face was unreadable for a few moments, golden eyes staring down at her in an impassive manner, ”Life is unfair. Sometimes, you will be asked to face impossible odds.”
With a smooth motion, he stepped off of the pillar, landing easily on the ground below despite the nearly 10m drop. ”It is inevitable that you will face an overwhelming enemy someday, and I or Tal or Brenden may not be around to protect you. When that enemy comes to deliver the final blow, will you complain that is unfair? Will you simply give up?”
Sera swallowed. What he said made sense, but it wasn't something she was comfortable thinking about. A part of her had always accepted that she would be weaker than the others, someone that needed to be protected. While this gnawed on her and drove her to improve, she had, to some extent, internalized this rationale.
Challenging that assumption would require her to re-examine a fundamental piece of her own identity through a painful period of introspection, something she had unconsciously shied away from. However, this seemed to be exactly what Mike was aiming for in his strategy.
Some of her uncertainty must have shown on her face, since Mike's eyes softened, and he casually released Tal from her earthen prison. The elf continued to look emotionlessly listless, which was probably the closest she ever came to looking depressed.
”Perhaps a change of pace is needed.” Mike muttered as he cleared away his pillar with a wave of his hand.
”Rather than a single, difficult enemy, maybe something a bit closer to what you would see in warfare would be appropriate.” With that he broke into a muttered chant. It sounded oddly gravelly and guttural, very different from the usual flighty tones most mages used. Almost as if he were using a different chanting language. She noticed that Tal had snapped out of whatever depression she had been suffering from, and was watching Mike with a rapt, albeit expressionless, gaze.
When he finished the chant, and raised his arm, five figures rose from the ground as well. They appeared to be little more than humanoid outlines composed of packed earth, save for a strange, runic symbol carved in each of their foreheads.
”I call them Earth Golems. Pretty neat, huh? I hit upon the idea last night, but I hadn't had the chance to try it yet. Anyway, they should be a little faster and stronger than the average soldier. This should give you a chance to practice your skills against a more reasonable opponent, while I come up with something for Tal in her current state. Anyway, let's get started.” Mike commented cheerfully.
Sera, who was feeling slightly overwhelmed by all this, was about to voice her misgivings, when the closest golem turned towards her and leapt. Its arm transformed into a wickedly sharp battle axe in mid-air, and only a quick backwards hop prevented her from being split in two. A small crater formed under the power of the golem's attack, causing the ground to vibrate with its intensity.
”Eh?” Was all that she could muster.
[That's 'a little stronger than the average soldier'? is he insane?! These things are going to kill me!]
She was forced to continue evading, as another three stepped forward to do something similar, each of which formed their own weapons in the process. Seeing no other alternative, she turned tail and fled, narrowly dodging the attacks of the earthy monsters while screaming. ”I'm going to get you back for this, Mike!”
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”Hm, looks like I made them a bit too potent. Oh well, I'm sure she'll figure it out.” Mike muttered to himself as he watched his creations chase the Oracle around the training yard. He'd made sure to include an in-built limitation to the golems that would prevent them from actually harming Sera, but she didn't need to know that.
Satisfied, he turned to Tal, who was watching him expectantly. ”First of all, I would like to ask, how did your project go? Did you make a breakthrough?”
Mike thought he saw a hint of pride in her face, as she began writing on her chalkboard. ”I succeeded. Will need time to adjust and practice.”
”I see, is there anything I can do to help?” He asked, while successfully ignoring Sera's declarations of vengeance every time one she had a close call with one of the golems.
Tal paused, in thought, before shaking her head and scribbling her reply. ”Not right now. I just need time.”
”Fair enough. Anyway, I've been thinking over things we can all stand to improve on, and it seems to me that your biggest weakness is a lack of flexibility. You are arguably the most powerful in terms of sheer attack power, but you lack the variety of attack vectors that is the Elemental Mage's greatest power. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about Pact Magic to know for sure if this is a standard problem, or something unique to you.”