The Chair, Under Fire

With my conversation partner having a breakdown, I had nothing to do. Normally, I would practice using my mana; however, with Ai concentrating, Rufus and Aster resting, and Emma’s brain being fried, I couldn’t risk it. The only thing left was to look at the scenery.

The yellow swamplands were interesting when you first saw them, but now they were like any old swamp. The heat of the circling suns warmed up the acid, making the body sweat before those droplets dissolved. The humidity singed the skin. The sickly yellow made me imagine the smell of vomit, making it hard to hold down the cereal from this morning. Personally, I would’ve liked to skip this, but it made for a quick and easy testing ground.

The mental strain on the party continued to rise, but they were still too lackadaisical. There were no beasts around, but there were plenty of other ways we could be attacked. With the poor visibility from the rainstorm, anything could happen.

Actually, there was an obstacle ahead of us. It was only an F-rank threat, but it would serve as a good reminder. Though currently, Emma was in danger, especially from an accidental attack from these things. I naturally circled around to her left side before sitting down.

The shot was on collision course with Emma. None of the others had noticed yet, but it would hit in a few seconds. Though, just to make doubly sure, I coated my rags with another thin layer of mana.

“Get down–” Ai was the first to notice the projectile coming towards us, but she was too late.

“PHOOSH!” The projectile, a ball of acid, broke around me, knocking me onto Emma. There was a bit of an impact, but I could’ve resisted it. A hissing sound started emanating from behind me, probably from the acid interacting with the vines. I kept myself over Emma as panic quickly ensued.

“I thought there weren’t supposed to be any beasts out right now!” Rufus looked around, but couldn’t tell what was happening; the visibility was just too low. He tried to run over and grab me.

“Rufus, stay back! He’s covered in acid!” Ai wasn’t panicking as much as Rufus, but she was trying to figure out the situation as well.

“But where did the acid come from?”

“No mana.” Aster spread out her mana using Mana Sense, but she wasn’t able to sense any. The rainstorm was still blocking her skill from being useful, but she still kept it going anyway.

“Ai, what direction did the attack come from?”

“It should be on the back left side!” Rufus looked over in direction, causing his face to drop.

“See anything?”

“A burst violet.” I glanced in the direction Ai had indicated. Yellow vines wrapped around the trunk of a tree, absorbing the layers sloshing off. Hanging off the vines were brown pods the size of a small child. One of the pods had burst, revealing an empty husk.

“If there are violets bursting, it must be time for them to spread their seeds. Why are they wrapped in acid though?!”

Emma flipped the pages in her notebook as she laid pinned underneath me. She was doing her best not to move. “The violets use their environment to shield the seed, so it’s probably using the acid as a shield.”

“This is the worst time…” Rufus muttered as he kept his attention on the surroundings. We were moving through a violet colony, but since they could shoot so far, nobody could see them all.

I was getting tired of lying down, so I used my excellent acting skills. “Wha! That hurt!”

“…”

“…”

Okay, that was the worst bit of acting I ever did. Rufus looked at me puzzled, but Aster and Ai clearly weren’t buying that I was hurt. Wait, was that the reason neither of them checked on me?

“Emma, you okay?” And they completely ignored me.

“Yeah… I think I’m fine.” Emma grabbed Rufus’s hand before wobbling to her feet. As expected, there wasn’t a scratch on her body – only her clothes were slightly disheveled. After making sure Emma was fine, Aster came over and grabbed my rag. She patted the places the acid touched, but her hands remained undissolved.

“Why haven’t you melted?”

“Well, that’s a blunt way to put it. My rags have acid repelling properties.” It was technically true, but that was mainly because of my mana. Aster didn’t believe me at all. Ai rolled her eyes, but her attention was focused on the violets. More seeds were being shot around us, some closer than others.

“Do we know how big the violet colony is?”

“No.”

“Then we don’t know whether we’re avoiding them or going towards them by taking a detour. Keep heading straight. I can use my Wind Magic to deflect the bullets.”

“Okay then.”

“Ugh, fine. But you better not let a single shot get past you!”

“Aster, let me know which direction I have to punch.” Huh, so Rufus could be a competent leader.

“Right!” “PHOOSH! BOOOMM!”

“Back left!” “PHOOSH! BOOOMM!”

With every seed he had to block, he grew visibly exhausted once again. He hadn’t learned to hold back his power at all, swinging with all of his strength. Aster remained expressionless as she kept an eye out for other incoming seeds. Emma’s hands clenched for a moment. However, after a small slap on her cheeks, she looked determined once again.

Emma rummaged through her rucksack before pulling out two rain covers, handing one to me. “I know they won’t do much in this rainstorm, but it should be able to protect us from a few attacks.” I accepted the rain cover and protected the opposite side, maximizing our defense. It would normally give Rufus a bit more leeway, but life wasn’t that easy.

The rainstorm began to taper off, which meant we also had to deal with beasts while watching for violet seeds. There was no time to rest.

“Tch, got no choice.” There were numerous balls of acid closing in on us, a few beasts directly behind them. Aster could take out the beasts easily, but there wasn’t enough time to take out all the seeds. “Emma, I need a fire crystal!”

“Right!” Emma reached inside the rucksack and pulled out a fire crystal. We had used one last night to light the campfire, but what use was it going to have here? If he was planning on combining it with his Wind Magic, it wouldn’t be enough to stop the acid. Emma tossed him over the crystal, which almost went sailing past him. However, Rufus moved out of the way, before swinging a punch…directly at the crystal?! Was he crazy?!?

Rufus shattered the crystal directly towards the incoming enemies.

At first, nothing happened. There was nothing climatic about this moment, nor was it interesting to watch. The tension, on the other hand, was palpable. No one should ever break a crystal. Depending on the circumstances, the results could be catastrophic. Luckily, since this area wasn’t high in mana density, it wouldn’t be that bad.

The next moment, rushing winds came, blowing back the beasts while slowing the violet seeds. The winds didn’t do enough damage to the beasts to stop them from advancing. They also didn’t have the power to stop multiple incoming balls, even when he put his full strength behind his punch. In this case, though, he didn’t need to.

Finally came the fire, trailing along the path the wind scattered. The beasts caught fire, turning to ash in a matter of seconds. The balls of acid evaporated almost instantaneously, along with the violet seeds they were protecting. The forest behind us didn’t escape unscathed either. Some trees burned down and crashed into the sea of acid. The sea evaporated slightly, but it looked roughly the same, so it was difficult to tell.

The recoil of the flames heavily burned the tips of Rufus’s fingers. He could probably only use one or two more of those attacks before his fingers completely turned to ash. Even then, it seemed like he wasn’t able to move his hand that well – his subsequent punches were a bit weaker. It was rather foolish, but at least he was resolved to suffer the consequences.

We were given a bit of a reprieve after Rufus’s reckless attack. There were no more violet seeds shooting at us, meaning we had probably left their colony. The beasts were weak enough for Aster to handle alone, giving Rufus time to recuperate. He drank another healing potion, causing the char on his fingertips to fall away. It wasn’t long before he was back in the thick of it.

Aster remained expressionless, as expected, but I could see sweat dripping down her face. The constant battles were slowly taking their toll. I was a bit surprised that Aster hadn’t charged in recklessly yet. Based on her fight with the C-rank, I thought she would’ve let the beast bite her body to get a clean blow. However, I was sure it was only a matter of time before a piece was ripped off her. I wasn’t sure how exhaustion affected assassins, but this would give me a good chance to learn.