Chapter 11: Elven Defensive Magic
"I see."
Rhodes didn't feel any particular sense of regret. He had only asked on a whim; blacksmithing was hardly his goal in life.
"Though, perhaps I could create a spell with a similar effect, like a temporary weapon enchantment..."
Only Serie heard Rhodes's quiet musing, and the corners of her lips turned up slightly. She was quite looking forward to seeing what kind of magic this man would create. For now, however, she needed to defeat the arrogant dwarf standing before her.
In a clearing not far from the village, Rhodes held aloft a ball of light, illuminating the area. He had already scanned the surroundings with his detection spell and confirmed there were no magical beasts nearby, so he didn't have to worry about the light attracting unwanted attention.
Amuro eyed the orb of light in Rhodes's hand. It was far more practical than a bonfire, and the sight of it made him itch with envy. But alas, dwarves couldn't learn magic. No matter how much he might want to, it was impossible.
A short distance away, Serie stood casually, seemingly without a care in the world. Yet, the sight of her made her opponent, Somme, tense and cautious. He took a deep breath, adjusting his grip on his axe. The silvery weapon gleamed under the magical light.
"Are you ready?"
Somme was about to reply when Serie attacked. With a simple raise of her hand, she launched a massive volley of light arrows.
"Be careful!" Rhodes shouted in alarm. If she accidentally killed him, it would cause a huge problem.
Serie didn't answer. In truth, she was holding back. The power of the arrows was greatly reduced; at most, they would only leave him bedridden for a week or two. Besides, if this dwarf truly intended to go adventuring in the Age of Myth, he needed to be able to handle a surprise attack. If he couldn't, he was better off staying safely in the village.
Startled by Serie's sudden attack, Somme's instincts took over, and he immediately began to dodge. But as soon as he evaded one wave, another followed right behind it. Unable to dodge them all, Somme swung his battle-axe, batting the light arrows away, but the force of the impacts still knocked him back several steps.
"Let's see how long you can last," Serie said, a taunting smile on her face.
Somme took another deep breath. He knew he couldn't hold out for long by just defending. He had to go on the offensive to have any chance of victory. He knew the elf before him was a powerful mage; he had witnessed the strength of her magic during the battle earlier that day. But he wouldn't give up so easily. He had to go adventuring. It was the only way to earn the respect of his village.
With a powerful push off his front foot, he charged forward, his battle-axe carving a silver arc through the air.
"Too slow."
Serie didn't even move her feet. She simply raised a hand.
A translucent barrier of mana materialized in front of her. The axe struck it with a loud CLANG, and the reverberating force made Somme's hands go numb.
Such an unfair advantage, elven defensive magic, Somme complained inwardly.
"If that's all you have, I advise you to give up," Serie said, raising an eyebrow. His strength was insufficient, his agility was average at best, though his physical constitution was decent. His fighting technique was crude, but it contained a hint of seasoned experience, likely learned from Amuro, which explained the familiar style. But ultimately, he was too green. His only combat experience had probably been against the monsters that attacked his village.
Goaded by Serie's taunt, Somme grit his teeth and abruptly changed his tactics. He retreated a few steps, throwing his battle-axe in a spinning trajectory. At the same time, he quickly circled around and pulled two smaller hand axes from his back, flinging them from a different angle.
He has a lot of weapons. Clever, though. Rhodes nodded to himself as he watched. Serie's mana barrier only covered the area directly in front of her. By attacking from two directions at once, the dwarf was preventing her from defending against everything.
"Oh?" A flicker of surprise crossed Serie's eyes. A magic circle flashed into existence in her hand, and she unleashed another wide-ranging volley of light arrows.
The mana barrier blocked the spinning battle-axe, while the thrown hand axes were shot down by the arrow rain. Some of the arrows also landed on the ground in front of Somme, forcing him to a screeching halt.
"A good reaction," Serie commented. "But too many openings."
Throughout the entire exchange, she hadn't moved an inch. The disparity in their power was obvious.
Somme raised his hand, and his thrown axe flew back into his grasp. The familiar sight reminded Rhodes of a certain hammer-wielding hero from another world.
"Is that the effect of an enchantment?" he asked Amuro, who was also watching from the sidelines.
"Yes. And it has one other effect besides that."
"What effect?"
"Explosion!"
Before Rhodes could ask for details, Somme attacked again. He used the same motion, and his attack was again blocked by Serie's mana barrier. But this time, something was different.
Somme grinned, and the runes on his axe began to glow with a blinding red light. Then, with a deafening BOOM, it exploded.
The shockwave tore up the surrounding turf. If Amuro hadn't already spoken to the other villagers, they would all be rushing over right now.
Amidst the settling dust, Serie's golden hair swayed gently. The mana barrier in front of her was gone.
"That was far too reckless!" Rhodes exclaimed, finally letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when he saw that Serie was unharmed. He shot a displeased look at Amuro.
Amuro looked rather embarrassed himself, scratching his head. "Ahem, I didn't expect the rebellious brat to actually do that. I'm glad Miss Serie is alright."
The force of the explosion had sent Somme flying. He now lay unconscious on the ground. Besides some charring on his armor, he seemed to be largely unharmed.
"Are you okay?" Rhodes hurried over to Serie, his voice filled with concern.
"I am fine. I just didn't expect him to be able to break my mana barrier."
She didn't dislike Somme's desperate, all-or-nothing fighting style. And ever since her embarrassing defeat at the hands of Rhodes's light arrows, she had made it a habit to keep two layers of defensive magic on herself at all times. As a result, she was completely unharmed, having only lost a bit of mana.
"But he must have poured all of his strength into destroying the barrier. Otherwise, it would be impossible to break an elven mana shield."
The elven mana shield was arguably the most powerful defensive magic in the world. The fact that Somme had managed to break through it with brute force alone, even with the help of an enchantment, earned him a measure of respect from Serie. It was the first time she had seen such a thing.
"You have to teach me that next," Rhodes said, his eyes green with envy at the sight of Serie's mana barrier.
"I will."
Amuro walked over. "My apologies, Miss Serie."
"He has great talent. With time, he will surely become a powerful warrior."
To be able to shatter an elven defensive spell with brute force, even with assistance, was something Serie had never encountered before. Her tone was flat, but her words were enough to fill Amuro with surprise and delight. If she weren't a mage, he would have begged her on the spot to take his son as her apprentice.
He was unaware that, on the ground nearby, the ears of the unconscious Somme twitched slightly.