Rock Collection

A cascade of rocks moved around them all at once. They had found themselves at the bottom of the valley, a large clearing where it was obviously the central part of the quarry. Now, it was the prime nest for rock golems.

“Looks like the whole family reunion’s here to play,” Ferdinand laughed, but even he had a slight shiver in his chuckle.

It wouldn’t have been a surprise if he had come here last with a proper adventuring party, not one that had been put together in just two weeks. But a vetted party cost big bucks, something that would greatly cut into his gains. Regardless, they had a sound strategy for tackling one. They moved forward in hopes that it would work on a group.

Ferdinand took the lead, but instead of charging, he reared back with his shield and threw it like a discus. It bounced right into the head of the nearest golem, attracting its attention.

“Return!”

Ferdinand’s cry activated an aura around him, and moments later, the shield that spun through the air started to change direction, coming back to him like a boomerang.

“Oh neat! I’m gonna call you Captain Ferdy from now on!” Gideon shouted, seeing that another golem had turned and started to follow as well. He ran over and smacked it on the shin, causing its leg to shoot backwards from the powerful blow. It spun and hobbled around, trying to regain its balance. Damage from any part of a golem’s body would recover quickly, but it had bought enough time to isolate the first target.

Catching the returned shield, Ferdinand charged forward and took out the legs. Milipitas blew a column of wind that sailed over the blacksmith’s head and caught the golem in the butt. They all watched as the giant being flipped itself over as a result, landing with its head on the ground.

With the head in reach, Gideon slid behind it where no one could see before making light speed tappity-taps before circling around to the back to avoid the spray. All at once, the head shattered and golem pieces went slack.

They took down the next one in a similar way, while Roze stood back, wand extended up but frozen.

What am I even doing? I can’t stop anything that big!

She had cast Tardis on one of the golems near them, but its massive weight made the effect of the spell negligible. Her magic simply didn’t have enough power to hold one back at all.

Our ancestors moved mountains and shifted day to night. They decided life and death, and brought humanity to light.

The parable from her parents about their lineage was still fresh on her mind. Yet, Roze was unable to hold back a single rock golem on her own. It was like trying to slow down a house falling from a cliff. It was too much for a normal girl who had denied her powers for most of her life.

A heavy crash shook the area. She turned to see several golems starting to work together, smashing the ground where Ferdinand once stood. Even with his impressive shield, he couldn’t take on multiple foes from different directions.

An updraft of wind carried Milipitas high, where she stayed out of reach from the golems. She was trying to hinder them with barriers of wind. However, rock could easily weather gusts that were weakened due to a wider area of effect, rather than focused as a jet.

Even Gideon, who had been playing it safe with his ability, had stopped trying to disguise his movements before dispelling frozen time. She watched as he blipped from place to place, bowling over golems that got too close to the group. His movements were getting sluggish as well, no doubt expending a lot of his countdown in frozen time.

She had taken peeks at the numbers on his sleeve. There was a whole nine months left on the clock, but he had burnt through almost three months after two weeks of travel. It worried her that he had to pick up the slack so often. No one could move at his pace. Neither could he afford to maintain it on his own.

She held her wand up and aimed it at Ferdinand, but then, she shook her head.

Casting Accelerare wouldn’t give the intended effect that she hoped for. The movements of a person could be sped up, but their cognitive perception didn’t change to match it. The result was a disconnect between thought and movement that would disrupt rather than aid.

Roze had a thought as her gaze flashed to a golem. Did they have cognitive functions? Curiosity instantly brought the chant to her lips.

“Accelerare!”

The lumbering charge of a golem was suddenly sped up. It moved so fast that it went right by Ferdinand and crashed into the wall ahead, sending a quake through the whole area. The effect was far more impactful than the spell to slow one down.

She cast it again, this time on a golem that was swinging its fist at Milipitas. The entire arm rotated so quickly that the golem spun like a top, comically crashing to the ground afterward.

Why would Accelerare work when Tardis didn’t? She had no time to ponder the result, putting everything into disrupting the timing of the golem’s attacks. After they stumbled from uncontrollably accelerated movement, Gideon followed up with a smash to the head, completing the job.

By the time the last one fell and shattered, she was running out of breath and a headache struck her due to mana exhaustion. A hand patted her on the back, giving the signal for her to relax.

“There you go, using elementary physics to mess them up. I knew you could do it.”

Roze eyed Gideon, who looked like a smug instructor that had proctored a passing student.

“I have no idea what this concept is that you are speaking of. Care to explain?”

Gideon let out a large sigh, looking off in the distance like trying to recall a distant past. As he had been out of school for quite some time, he vaguely recalled the principles but not the actual theorems.

“Well, you applied your magic to push a huge enemy in the same direction as their momentum, so you didn’t have to fight against all the force they had. Sometimes, a fight is not about might against might but working out a way to mess with the rhythm of your opponent.”

Roze’s eyes widen. Gideon may be overpowered due to having the ability to act during stopped time, but that didn’t mean he resorted to force every time. He had one ability, but multiple applications spawning from it. Proper technique for the right occasion.

Just like with medicine, there was a proper dose and technique in its application. And not all medicines were given in the same manner.

Roze had been applying her magic to people and objects directly, not thinking so deeply about the ramifications. She could slow down and speed up at will, but she had been focused too much on the target and not the environment.

Suddenly, the prospect of dabbling with her Time magic seemed far more interesting.

“We hit the mother lode!” Ferdinand yelled from afar. While Roze had been lost in her self-evaluation, he had ducked into some caverns to find what he came for.

The others followed into the shallow recesses of the walls, where rich deposits had been guarded by the nest of golems. Even with the scant amount of sunlight filtering in, the entire area was glimmering with precious materials.

Roze gasped at the wondrous sight. Even though she didn’t particularly care for the materials themselves, it was like discovering a hidden garden full of rarities for her to examine.

She picked up a stray blue rock, imagining what it would look like when polished and cut. Such a large gem would fetch a considerable profit from the shops. But then, she spotted Gideon picking up two chunks of white metal before smacking them together.

A slight ringing echoed in the cavern like a struck chime. Gideon set the pieces down, where they shook in place.

“You know your stuff, Gideon, my boy! That’s the Oscillium we’re looking for. Strike this metal all you like. It naturally transfers the impact back and forth through the material, causing it to oscillate like that. I’ve yet to see anything break the stuff.”

“That means they must be hell to hold onto after striking, right?” Gideon laughed.

“Sure is! I can’t even use my hammer to shape it normally. It just trembles on my anvil. But there are other ways of molding it to the right shape. Just have to crank up the heat!”

“Great, we can head back and craft the perfect weapon for me!”

“Hold up!” Ferdinand grabbed Gideon’s collar, who looked like he was trying to escape. Several bags were tossed to each member of the party.

“No point leaving without the spoils. We earned as much as we can carry. I expect you to lift what you can hit, so at least a thousand kilos for the strong man of the party!”

Gideon let out a squeak before he blipped out of sight. He reappeared near the exit of the cavern, belting out his disapproval.

“I’m just a weak boy, no strength to carry, all I want in life is gallavan-try~~~”

Ferdinand’s face fell into shock at seeing Gideon disappear like that for the first time. However, it didn’t take long for him to recover and question Gideon’s true strengths. He dashed after him.

“You, will, not, go!”

“Let me go~~~”

The sound of their chase echoed across the valley. Roze and Millipitas stared blankly as Ferdinand hurled his shield at the unwilling Gideon. Somehow, Ferdinand would make sure that his estimated spoils would make it home. A blacksmith’s desire to forage didn’t lose out to an apothecary.