“Thorin, you’re up first!’ Iver yelled when the surge of mana reached its height, as the central spell array spilled thick and dense milky fog. “Be careful.”

  Thorin popped his joints and cracked his neck walking to his post. The beginning of the second wave of raids already promised more than the peak of the first. From the get-go, a flock of Wailing Bats and a nest of Metal Ants stormed his exit. Despite the threat they posed to each other, even with some ants dying to the screeches of the bats, they assaulted the exit together.

  Perfect. They were the best test subject. Thorin unleashed the new spell he’d learned. The bats rushed in. The scraping rustle of the ants inched closer. They were a mere stone’s throw away now, but Thorin traced his spell model with a steady breath. He felt the worried stare of his brothers on his back as well as the glare of Casper and Wolf. Even the busy Iver threw him a concerned glance from time to time. Nonetheless, with his enemies finally at his throat, he completed the spell model. It had sapped almost all his mana, but that only raised his expectation of the spell.

  Ailment!

  An eerie green spell circle flickered in the area that he targeted. Since his mastery of the spell was non-existent, the area-of-effect and the range of the spell was at its lowest. But it was enough for now.

  The spell circle closed over the flock of bats and the vanguard ants. The familiar wall of mud rose and sealed them in. Before another second could pass, their suffering began. The Wailing Bats wobbled in the air, and their screeches resulted in vomit. On the ground, pus-filled pustules cracked the ants’ metallic skin and reared their heads out. They’d barely walked a few steps before the boils popped one after another. They all toppled over with twitching limbs, covered in yellow goo. The vanguards hushed down. To accompany the corpses of the ants carpeting the earth, the bats too fell to their deaths under a minute.

  Though the spell was to be a control-type, its lethality was enough to put some enemies down on its own.

  “Nice!” Quin yelled from behind then smirked at Casper and Wolf.

  “Start meditating already.” Thorin hurled the comment and focused on his enemies. After all, what he’d killed wasn’t the end of the wave.

  As another batch of Faes rushed in at him, Thorin deployed his chained blades. They hovered around him like his limbs, connected to his thoughts and mana. The first attack of was his test of the spell. He never intended to let it be his only weapon. So, when his vessel recovered enough mana, he triggered his spells.

  Another cast of covered the center of the tunnel and trapped a chunk of the incoming Faes, pushing them towards a slow and gruesome death. For those that skirted around the mud wall and dodged the green spell circle, Thorin cast

  and let the threads of burning paper embrace them in a hug of death. The blazing filaments didn’t have any stopping power, but they seared the skin of their targets. Even the metallic surface of the Metal Ants suffered from the wrath of burning paper.

  The rest that survived met the intense assault of the chained blades. None came even close to touching Thorin in this wave. And such, it ended with a hill of corpses and an intact protective array.

  “Thorin, you’re done,” Iver said. “Wolf, it’s your turn now!”

  ……

  Thorin sat back in his meditation position, but he didn’t start cultivating. The sheer number of Faes that they’d hunted so far topped the capacity of his inventory. So, he took the downtime to create a few more space bubbles that could store the Faes’ corpses safely without letting them rot outside. He could increase the space inside his main inventory, but that would take longer than creating more space bubbles. The major flaw this way though was that they crowded his shadow that he kept them in and were a headache to organize.

  While he compressed the space before him into an enclosed bubble, his glance went outside the spell array. He looked at the Ghost that lingered outside and was staring at him. When their eyes had met for over a minute, it ran back and hid behind the corner again.

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  Thorin thought of doing something about this Ghost. It had helped him out before when he was in a pinch. Its intentions seemed harmless so far. But regardless of whether they were or not, Thorin could brand it as his own with his spell. Either by force or through willing submission. It was a unique enough Ghost with a distinct personality. A rare case. So, even though it was still at the mortal-level, he wished to own it. Just that he lacked the core that the spell needed to bloom in its full glory. If he used it in his current situation, he would get the Ghost but would lack the ‘cradle’.

  However, if he didn’t, this shy Ghost who was so considerate towards Thorin might not survive the onslaught of the Faes outside the protective array. Especially if it kept assisting him in his close calls. Despite the fangs that it bared or its threatening growl at Thorin, he was still fond of the guy. Letting it die a pointless death here would be such a pity.

  “Iver,” Thorin called the man after giving his idea some thought. “Can we take that Ghost in?”

  “What do you mean?” Iver asked, a layer of sheen from sweat glimmering on his deep frown. “Do you want to bring him in? A wild Ghost-type Fae?”

  “I can control it,” Thorin said. “Even though it’s only a mortal-level Ghost, it can be helpful at times.”

  “No,” Iver said. “I won't take that risk, especially with an untrained wild Fae. If you want to control it, do it when it’s your turn to defend the exit, and keep it outside the array regardless. I won't have it stay inside.”

  “Alright,” Thorin said and backed off. They were guests here, after all. All that he and his brothers had gained here was by the courtesy of the Haden cousins. He wasn’t brazen enough to overstep his limits. But he wouldn’t give up on his idea. That Ghost was his, even if he had to find ways to keep it alive outside the spell array. If only his inventory could store animated beings…

  ? Living or dead, the space bubbles were fragile enough to smother anyone and snap their existence.

  ……

  Casper fought after Wolf, then Quin bashed the crawling Mud Millipedes. Muddy-brown blood splattered on him as the biting edge of his axe thrashed the Faes, carving the walls whenever he missed. His skin sizzled and smoked from the corrosive blood and the bites of the worms. But his and spells kicked in once he could cast them. The blood he shed carried his strength beyond his limits, and the next spell kept him alive while he rampaged. He threw a healing spellcard at himself when things got dicey and hurled the controlling-types at the Faes when he couldn’t handle the number.

  Finally, as the last batch of millipedes along with a flock of Wailing Bats fell to his axe and claymore, Iver called him back and sent Clay out.

  Clay had his pebbles ready along with his Onyx Shot. For his enemy, he also met a new type like his brothers—the Wind Hornet. Even their shadows trailed a beat behind their bodies when they zipped through the air. The deafening buzz of the swarm threw the cave into chaos. Casper and Wolf both stopped meditating and squinted at Clay’s back. Their muscles had tensed and contracted. They were ready to burst into action if the hornets broke through the protective barrier. Iver too kept an eye on this exit.

  Unlike them, however, Thorin and Quin trusted their brother’s prudence. They remained in the depth of their meditation because Clay hadn’t asked for help yet. It meant he could handle it. And he didn’t betray their confidence.

  “Slowdown,” Clay aimed at the swarm and muttered. A shockwave exploded from him and surged through the hornets. His spell was of the Mind Arcana, and it forced the command into the target’s soul. The swarm decelerated in the air. Their shadows caught up; their wings barely completed their flaps. Some who were to shoot their stingers couldn’t even let it out of their sacks.

  ?Because the spell only affected their mind and not the physical matter, the hornets plopped to the ground one after another. The delayed wings couldn’t keep them afloat anymore. When they twitched on the earth and tried to resist the mental command, Clay rained his pebbles on them. They were sitting ducks, and he shredded them apart within a minute.

  Quin and Thorin both smiled as Clay stood a victor over the corpses, while Casper and Wolf calmed down and went back to meditation. Iver did too.

  Before long, it was Thorin’s turn again to man his exit. But instead of a horde or a swarm that he’d come to expect from these raids, he met a lone enemy that towered over him. An enemy he’d only heard of till now. Casper used its example especially when he boasted. The fabled species of Fae that could regenerate even a chopped head. The Golem.

  ?

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