Vs the Plant Mage Professor
1580 Words
About an hour had passed since we started this… sparring session with Terranium, as our homeroom professor had called it. Now, whether it was some kind of rage, or maybe it was that their eyes were open to the truth, I did not know which it was. But…
"Flare Fist!"
"Thunderbolt!"
"Icicle Barrage!"
We were getting our butts handed to us! Horribly! As Terranium willed some vines to block Belle and Kyle's spells, and grab Leroy- whose fist is engulfed in his flames- by the leg, causing him to trip and fall on his face, therefore cancelling out his spell, and got tossed away from the older woman like a ragdoll.
You would think that in a class vs teacher situation- or in any group vs individual situation, for that matter- we, who are fully aware of how dangerous our homeroom professor can be with how she appeared, would have the advantage in numbers, especially as we are going all out on her. But unfortunately, she is more powerful than we thought.
... Now I wonder if this is how our peers felt when we surprised them with our strengths. Maybe even more so, since they had been looking down on us for a good long while.
“Where did all of that confidence go?!” Terranium shouted. “This can’t be all you have. I thought you said you want to prepare me for whatever danger comes my way. How can you teach me, if you can’t even hit me?!”
Some of us panted as we looked up at our professor, who may as well be some kind of tyrant from where we stand. For the past hour, we had tried to deal some kind of damage to our professor, however, as we tried to strike her down with our spells in some way, she constantly find ways to block or nullify them with her vines, making it impossible to hit her.
"We can't get anywhere like this!" Mindy exclaimed to me.
"I can see that!" I said. Turning to Ethan, who was drawing out a magic circle on the ground, I called, "How is that curse coming along?!"
"Not well!" the Curse Mage exclaimed. "I will tell you now, this spell is very delicate, and while I can cast this spell on a bigger magic circle, that takes a lot of time and precision to cast it well."
The curse/spell we were talking about was the very spell he used during the mock exam. The one that drains a person of their mana, having it get transferred to a different source. Unfortunately, for the spell to succeed, rather than only simply summoning out a magic circle, he also had to make the same exact circle from scratch, where the drained mana would be transferred to. And for Ethan, who often gifts his fiance a variety of artwork he made himself- rather than hire an artist of any form to do them for him- it would not take long for him to finish that magic circle. At least... Not too long. The only problem would be the circle being casted. In order for the spell to succeed, the casted circle has to be big enough for all of the host(s) to be inside of. That being said, even if Ethan got the drawn circle done, it was getting the casted one on Terranium that will be the problem. Still... that was something to worry about later.
"Levi! We can't keep stalling her for much longer!" Tem shouted in warning, feeling quite tired out from using his magic to make weapons for some of our classmates.
"Yeah, I hear you! Just keep trying!" I shouted, analyzing the battle before me.
'I know she said she is only staying on the defensive, but even then, her defense is too good,' I thought, watching as Taurus, Bruce, and Austin went to attack with their swords- forged by Tem's magic- only to be knocked away by Terranium's vines. Following up their attack attempt, both Philia, Flora, and Sheera leapt up at our professor from behind, attempting to get at her from her blind spot, only for another pair of vines to wrap themselves around their waists and toss them away from their owner. 'Even if we attack with multiple people at once, even if we try to get at her from her blind spot, she just has those vines stop us before our attacks can connect.' I looked up to the sky, where Mindy was soaring with Sheera in her claws.
"Tailwind!"
"Self-Enhancement: Strength!"
Mindy tossed Sheera down at Terranium, the shrew crossbreed falling at high speed thanks to the harpy's Tailwind spell, and gathering her mana in her right arm. Our homeroom professor simply summoned a plethora more of vines that time, causing them to gather around her and the flower she was on, forming some sort of thick, dome-like structure. Sheera threw her fist down at the dome, right at the center, and broke right through. Unfortunately, not long when she did that, the shrew crossbreed was suddenly tossed out of the dome.
"Sheera!" I called in worry.
"I got her!" Shaun shouted. "Wind Cushion!" Summoning out his magic circle, he unleashed a nice, strong breeze of wind from it, softening Sheera's fall.
"Whew... Thanks for the save," she thanked, as Mindy landed by my side.
"None of this is working!" the harpy exclaimed.
"Again, I can see that. She's definitely a staff member of this school for a reason," I said. "Any chance you think she will let this slide if we call it quit?"
"As much as I will respect that decision, I don't think all of us will agree," Mindy said, eyeing Taurus and Leroy, who practically started this mess in the first place.
I could only let out a sigh at this, knowing how true that was. Even though there were some people here who did not want this spar to happen, because of those two, we were at a point where just giving up was not an option. Not only that, but Professor Greenwood did say something along the lines of wanting to see our true potential in person; even if those two didn't cause this mess, there was a good chance our homeroom professor would want this spar to happen anyway.
A battle cry was heard, and I turned to see Leroy charging at the plant dome once more.
"Let's try this! Blazing Bouncer!" With a pair of magic circles appearing on the soles of his feet, flames shot out of the circle, and the Fire Mage commoner shot towards the dome, with his fist reeled back. "And... Flare Fist!" Once he got close enough, Leroy unleashed a fiery punch at the mound, attempting to burn it down. Rather than even scorching the thing, however, not a single mark was being made on it. "Come on! This is a plant, isn't it?! Surely, fire is supposed to work on this!"
"If you truly think that, then you truly don't know much of the real world after all," we all heard Terranium say. "Some plants are resistant to flames. As a Plant Mage, it is my job to know the major traits of these plants before applying such knowledge in combat. So you see, I am quite prepared for a situation where I would be facing a Fire Mage such as yourself."
Before Leroy could say anything to retort, the vines near him suddenly acted up, breaking away from the dome, and wrapped themselves around him, attempting to pull him in.
"s**t! Hey!"
I hastily rushed to his side, spear in hand. As soon as I was within a good distance, I swung my weapon at the vines pulling on him, breaking them off my classmate, and grabbed him, leading him away from the dome.
"Thanks for that..." he spoke. Turning to the dome, he then asked, "Please tell me you have an idea that can help us beat her."
"Well, we wouldn't have to be in this situation if you and Taurus acted more like mature grownups you should be," I had to say, causing my fellow commoner to grimace, clearly agreeing to my point. "As for the plan..." I looked around my whole surroundings, noticing how those capable of close combat were trying everything they could to at least break through the dome, while those incapable of close combat- or fighting in general even with their magic- did what they could to support the close combatants, mainly get the other vines off their tail.
'There has to be a way we can get through that dome,' I thought. 'Then again, even if we can break through, considering how she made her appearance here, there is a good chance she already slipped out of it. And therefore is trying to find a different way to get back at us. No but wait... She said she will only be defending against us. As such, even if she does appear outside the dome, she wouldn't do anything to us. But even so, I doubt she will allow herself to be still for Ethan to cast his Mana Drainage Spell on her. How do we win against her...?'
When I laid my eyes on a certain few individuals, though, an idea came to my mind. 'I got it!'
- Writer
