Birth of the Legendary Battle Mage

Chapter 22

The next day, the adventuring team that was made up of 5 people and Ashia set off into the forest just as Ashia had suggested. Originally, they wanted to catch the mana beasts and take out important parts so that they could sell it and make some money. They started their group that consists of only them about two years ago, but it’s hard to climb the ladders. There are plenty more other adventuring groups that are way stronger than theirs; only one member of the top groups can body their small time group, so with that it’s hard to make a living. To bring in some money, they have to hunt mana beasts and sell the profitable parts to the market brokers. So Ashia being a soft hearted person decided to help them hunt higher tier beasts. 

After going pretty deep into the forest, they decided to expand the search area by separating themselves, but not to far apart, so that they would easily be able to come to each other’s aid if needed.

“Alright, this is deep enough. Let’s slit up here.” The leader of the group said while signalling with his hands.

“Yes!” they answered, while others nodded.

The plan was that if anybody kills a beast, they would bring it to the rendezvous point, and one person will stay behind because the dead beasts that would be gathered at that point will also work as a trap. If a beast tries to steal the dead beasts, then the person keeping watch will add its body to the dead beasts that are there already, and if the beast is a strong one that cannot be handled alone, the others will return to help. With the plan on ground, they all set out while one person remained behind. After a while of smooth hunting, they had almost 20 dead beasts all together, with Ashia contributing the most. Although the number of beasts was good, there were only low tier beasts, so the profit that would be made off them wouldn’t be much, only enough for a couple of gold coins each for everybody except Ashia. Because of that, Ashia suggested that they go a little deeper into the forest.

Due to the fact that the adventurers weren’t high class mages, the highest was just a middle stage Heaven class, with one other being a first stage Heaven class, while the rest were Earth class. They could only go so far into the forest, any further and they’d die under the pressure of the River of Ends. Only Ashia could enter deeper. After reaching a point where they had started to feel the pressure more, they stopped and set some traps since it would be problematic for them to fight under such pressure. When the traps were set, Ashia volunteered to go do a little hunt by herself while they deal with their part. She had thought to leave them behind when they finished hunting the low tier beasts, but when she suggested it to them, they immediately declined saying that they would go deeper in with her if that was the case. ‘Heh, I think I might have hurt their pride a little. Although they just shrugged it off with smiles, I’m pretty sure they will be a little pissed.’ She thought to herself as she casually killed a beast without even looking at it.

Within a short span of time, Ashia had already killed about 10 beasts effortlessly even though she was being selective, picking only ones she thought would be profitable. “Hmm, this should be ok for now. I should go back and check on the team.” ‘I wonder how brother is doing. Since it’s the assassin’s hideout, he might not have found it yet, or maybe he has. It is him anyway..’ on her way back, she saw something that picked her interest. There were foot prints on the ground, and it seemed like the person was running, probably away from a beast or something. Ashia wasn’t an adventurer, but her curiosity made her want to follow the footprints deeper into the forest, if the person was dead, she would be able to loot the body then bring it back, and if the person survived, even better, she would help them back. The foot prints look like it was made just a few days ago, so the person who left them should still be alive if they encounter no beasts.

After a while of following the foot prints, they started to fade in an awkward way, almost as if someone was trying to cover them. Some moments later, it was quite visible that the person was trying to cover their tracks, because the tacks completely disappeared, exactly as if no one used that route. Hitting a dead end, Ashia started using a search magic spell. Seconds after she started using her search magic, she sensed something that shocked her a bit. ‘What?’ “This mana energy. It’s undeniable. This is brother’s mana! But there are no foot prints. Was he chasing the person with the foot prints? Or was he the one being chased?” ‘I have to go deeper into the forest. They couldn’t have gone too deep.’ But just as she was about to proceed, she had another thought. ‘I have to check on the adventurers first. I was carried away following the foot prints. I hope there’s no problem.’ “Let’s hurry back.”

“Has something happened to miss Ashia? She has stayed long.”

“Yeah, longer than planned.”

“Come on two of you, focus! Seems like Jake has arrived with our next prey.”

The adventurers hiding in wait for their next prey readied themselves to attack. Jake popped out from a little bush just in front. Everyone waited for the signal to attack from their leader, when they heard Jake shout, “Run! Everybody Run!!” This threw everyone in confusion.

Before they could react, a 2 metres tall, bull looking mana beast burst out through the bush in front of them, tackling Jake viciously just before it crashed into the tree in front of it. At that same time, Ahsia was on her way back, after discovering that her brother might be deeper in the forest.

Ashia had an unsettling feeling as she thought of the situation at the place the adventurers were. The chances of running into a beast more powerful than they can handle is slim, but not impossible. ‘But what is this uneasy feeling I’m having? I need to increase my speed.’ She thought as she substituted the hastening magic she was using for a more powerful one, blazing through the forest almost three times as fast as she was running before.

“What kind of shitty luck is this? Just why?” One of the team’s member was injured now. If he wasn’t a magician, it would be tougher for them to face the beast. At least even with the injuries, he can still cast magic. But before long, he would be healed by his team, so that was aside.

Being adventurers, they need not be told about the beast’s possible properties. A beast that looks like a bull will definitely have high defensive properties, and a little attack power to booth. But as the saying goes, a strong defence is a good offence. To them who are weak, this beast can be considered strong, so it would be easy for it to completely dominate them.

Just as practiced, they jump into formation immediately, forming an arrow shaped formation. Three people attacked, one took care of defence, while the last person provided support and healing.

The fight was though, and the beast dominated the battle for a greater portion of the time. Any minor injuries sustained were healed, if they would affect performance, and the one providing defence was doing a great job as well. The only problem was that, no matter how good their formation and team work were, their attacks could barely even reach the beast, not even scratches could be found on its skin.

“This is insane! We’ve been attacking this thing for tens of minutes now, but we can’t even deal a single damage!”

“I’m starting to run out of mana. I only have a little left.”

“Yeah, I think that applies for everyone too. We should find a way to escape instead of continuing the fight.”

“Yes. Everyone pay attention! We’ll make a run for it immediately after it attacks. When it charges at us next, everyone should dash towards those trees over there.” He said while looking at the direction of the trees. “With its size, it should not be able to pass in between the trees easily, and if we are lucky, it might get stuck.”

“Yea, since it’s a low intelligence beast, it won’t think of going around.”

The bull like beast waited for a while, standing as if it was preparing some big attack. With two stomps on the ground with one of its front legs, a blue wave of mana erupted from its body. With a pressured puff of breath escaping through it’s nostrils, it dashed forward with a newly found speed, charging head first at the adventurers. ‘So sudden!’  the leader thought to himself in his mind loudly.

“Everyone, Now!!” their leader shouted, with a hint of fear behind his voice, it came out louder than he intended, but it was good because it shook everyone into action. As everyone broke formation, dashing towards the space between the two trees, they realised something, one of them hadn’t moved at all. She was the youngest of them all, as well as the team’s healer. The beast’s imposing presence that caused even their leader to fear must have invaded her mind more due to her age and inexperience in such intense battles. She only ever had to play the healer’s role, and they have never dealt with such a powerful monster before. She was completely paralyzed and unable to move a muscle. It was too late for anyone to intervene, they could only look back at her helplessly, being unable to even react on time even as they tried to.

There were sure it was over, the young lady had already gone through her life and all her regrets, and all the things she could have done in the future. She was so scared that she even pissed on herself. Surely, it was over... Out of nowhere, a gush of wind tore through the forest leaves, meeting the bull beast’s shoulder part, offsetting it’s trajectory, enough for it to miss the girl.