What It Takes

Jeanne covered her mouth, trying not to throw up, while a bead of sweat ran down Leon’s temple as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

"Jeanne, I need you to pull yourself together. This is the time to show what you're capable of," Bernar murmured seriously.

"Y-yeah... I’m sorry."

Jeanne mustered her strength and did her best to recover. She drew an arrow from her quiver and pulled back her bowstring.

Whoosh!

The shot was precise and powerful, aimed straight at the head of one of the small creatures.

Swish!

The creature dodged at the last moment by ducking down. Three pairs of eyes immediately locked onto the adventurers.

"Iron Call!" Bernar shouted as he charged forward, striking his large shield with his sword.

It wasn’t always exactly like this, but usually, mages relied on 'spells', martial artists specialized in various 'arts', and weapon fighters focused on 'techniques'.

The skill Bernar had just activated belonged to that last category, and its purpose was to draw the monsters’ attention.

Clonk! Clonk! Clonk!

The party’s muscular leader braced himself under the assault of the horrific creatures, whose claws slammed against his shield with heavy, metallic thuds, like hammers striking an anvil.

However, Bernar’s skill hadn’t worked perfectly. Only two of the idis had been drawn in. A third had slipped around the side and would have torn off his leg if Tiron hadn’t landed a precise stab that threw the monster off balance.

The idi staggered briefly from the hit but quickly launched into a frenzied attack against Tiron, who could barely dodge its claws.

"We’ve got to do something!" Leon shouted. "Are all monsters in this world like this?! I thought they were just a bit stronger than goblins!"

"A starving, chained goblin!" Jeanne shot back as she tried to reposition herself. "I can’t aim when they’re moving this fast!"

"Fireball!"

The spell, spoken in the common tongue, conjured a fireball that surged up behind the two and struck near the idi attacking Tiron.

A deafening explosion erupted. Even Jeanne and Leon could feel the heat spreading around them.

The blast scorched half of the creature’s body, leaving it writhing in pain. But the flames also reached Tiron, burning part of his face.

Even so, he didn’t flinch and drove one of his daggers into the creature’s neck. The monster finally collapsed, choking on its own blood.

"Move!" Olenda shouted from behind them, already focusing on another spell.

"R-right!" Leon replied, rushing toward one of the monsters that had Bernar pinned down.

Jeanne pulled a potion from her leather pouch and ran to Tiron, who had dropped to his knees. It wasn’t just the burn. The idi had also torn into his flesh in several places.

"Leon! You know what to do!" Bernar called as he saw the boy approaching.

"What?! Oh! Right!"

With a powerful strike from his dented shield, Bernar knocked the two idis back, then quickly moved opposite to Leon, forcing the monsters to stay between them.

"Now!" Bernar shouted.

"Echo Blade!" Leon roared, raising his sword.

But that was all Jeanne could see from a distance, because when Leon lowered it, the blade moved so fast it left a lingering reverberation in the air, like a ghostly echo of its own slash.

The idi had no time to react. It was cut cleanly in two, and both halves hit the ground, scattering black organs across the stone.

"Wheeeew..."

Tiron, still recovering nearby, let out a whistle of amazement, while Jeanne sighed in relief.

But after using his skill, Leon dropped to his knees, driving his sword into the ground to support himself. It could have been dangerous if Bernar hadn’t acted in time.

Shield Bash!

What remained of the party leader’s shield began to glow, and with a powerful strike, the last idi was sent flying, crashing into the ground several meters away.

Fireball!

A second fireball came immediately after. This time, it was a direct hit, and the last of the idis perished in a burst of flames.

***

"I never imagined Leon had such a powerful skill at his age," Olenda said once they’d all caught their breath. "Now I get why you took him in so quickly, Bernar."

"Miss Olenda, what are you saying?!" Leon replied, still a little out of breath but cheerful as ever. "My Echo Blade is nothing compared to your fire attacks!"

"Not at all. The power and speed of my spells are nowhere near even a Bronze-ranked adventurer’s." Olenda glanced at Tiron, her expression uneasy, as he was being smeared with herbs and bandaged by Jeanne. "Besides, I don’t have anything that works for precise strikes... You, on the other hand, just need to build up your stamina so your skill can become a truly powerful weapon."

"The boy’s skill really is impressive," Bernar added, laughing proudly at his choice to invite him to the party. "But Olenda, don’t underestimate yourself. All you need is the delines to get a proper spellbook, not to mention a grimoire."

"And you need a real set of equipment," Tiron said as he got up with Jeanne’s help. "You could do way more with just that. You’ve got that Bronze rank for a reason."

"That’s true, we need funds for a lot of things," Bernar agreed, crossing his arms, then letting them drop to his hips as he burst into laughter. "And we’ll get them! We’ve proven we can handle the idis. The goblins near Dastion don’t stand a chance. Bernar Party has what it takes to become big!"

The others smiled at his words. Only Jeanne wore a somber expression.

"I’m sorry... I couldn’t be of much help."

"Not at all. Without you, Tiron would’ve bled out in seconds. And it was my call not to have you use your skill unless I gave the signal," Bernar said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I didn’t want you running out of stamina at the start of the fight. But your shot was flawless. This time, luck just happened to be on the idis’ side. That’s all."

"Jeanne has a skill too?!" Olenda asked, surprised.

"And it’s stronger than mine," Leon added, lifting his chin proudly, as if he were talking about himself.

"Why didn’t you say anything, Bernar? These kids are golden eggs..." Olenda muttered, holding her head with one hand.

"Because I wanted it to be a surprise," Bernar said, leaning against a tree. "Just kidding! I’m kidding! Don’t look at me like that. That’d be irresponsible of me... I didn’t want you or them to unconsciously rely too much on those skills. They’d never used them in a real fight."

"That makes a lot of sense," Jeanne said, handing him a stamina potion.

The party leader took the potion she offered... but never got to drink it.

From the treetop above him came a bloodcurdling scream that froze everyone in place.

Before anyone could react, a fourth idi came crashing down on Bernar.

While still falling, with a swift motion of its hand, the creature tore his throat open in one clean, vicious strike.