Those were the Times, Part I

Two years ago.

With a stomp of her foot, Betta raised a crest of sharp stalagmites in front of her. It pierced over fifteen of the approaching Cursed, but just as many crossed over the corpses, all headed in her direction.

Well, more specifically, they were going toward the cavity in the valley, the place where Jacks and I held the last line of defense for the convoy.

The shallow river was tainted blue from the blood. Steep walls on both sides of the valley meant that Betta could continually collapse parts of them to take out Cursed by the double digits.

One managed to crawl right next to her. She ripped it in two with her own hands thanks to the physical enhancements of her magic.

Yet the flood of new bodies crossing over the mountain of dead ones seemed endless.

A Cursed slipped past Betta. Before it could get any closer, Jacks pierced its head with a lead pebble. Not as impressive as Betta's display—but more efficient, and within the capabilities of Temperance's lesser Punishing magic.

"Another one of those is coming," Jacks said.

"Are you shitting me?" Betta grumbled from the front, then dragged her arms from left to right, like she'd grabbed the air itself and was pulling it. With her motion, the mountain of corpses and debris in front—alongside a few Cursed climbing on top—got dragged and swept past both her and us, down the waterfall a few meters downstream.

That cleared the path, revealing the rest of the river. A flowing current of brown critters filled the channel, the water underneath barely visible. A particularly big one stood out like a crooked plank. The size of a bear, its figure was long and thick in contrast with the round and flat one of its brethren, and the claws of its pincers looked like they could snap a man in two.

A medium tier Cursed.

Although by itself not a threat to full-fledged Paladins, this was the fifth one Betta had to face today, on top of the hundreds of lesser ones.

"Jacks, do what you do and buy me time," she said.

"On it." Energy had been gathering around the veteran for a few seconds now. He stepped forward and swept his arms, the water under his feet hardening with the motion. The effect expanded through the river, like it was freezing, but in fact the stiffening would only last for as long as Jacks held the spell. Betta jumped from the water in time to land over the solid version, but all the Cursed in front got their legs stuck, including the bigger one.

It started striking the solid water with its pincers, cracking it—but before it could set itself free, Betta had already closed the distance and began punching like the monster had done something to offend her.

A grunt escaped Jacks. Some sections of the river were starting to liquify again. I took a deep breath, focusing on my desire to help both him and Betta; then lowered to my knees and placed my hands on the river, reinforcing the spell.

That was the beauty of Aid magic. Whatever idea you had in mind to conjure, it would be more powerful the more it "aided" your allies according to both their interpretation and yours. And in certain scenarios like this one, it straight up allowed you to enhance someone else's spell.

Punish, Protection and Recovery magic worked under similar principles, but their more grounded definitions meant they weren't as versatile as Aid magic. Naturally, my proficiency was only of the medium tier, as this type was Temperance's specialty.

The big Cursed fell down, dead. Jacks and I dropped the spell as Betta went back to fighting with wide sweeps of earth—but as she threw the first attack, she groaned and interrupted it mid-swing.

"Crap, that thing busted my arm when I blocked it."

Jacks raised one brow. "Betta, how many times have I told you? Deflect, not block."

"I'm sorry, okay? I messed up. We've been fighting for too long and I'm exhausted."

I was about to rush to her but Jacks grabbed me by the shoulder. "Her injury isn't that serious. I'll go."

"Why? It's my role to—"

"You stay with the convoy. If they overwhelm us I want you to abandon the cargo and get everyone to safety."

"And leave you behind?"

"Temperance and Fortitude, remember. The two of us together can turtle up and survive the weight of a mountain if needed. We ain't dying, I promise."

He took off running without wasting another second.

Right, I was Prudence. My job was to stay level-headed and make wise choices, not jump straight into danger.

The Cursed were getting to Betta faster than Jacks, so she grit her teeth and raised her hands while shouting in pain. A wall of vines grew out of the ground and the critters got tangled in it.

"Heh." She was panting. "That's how you prevent them from hurting you and your friends." Despite playing it tough, through the cracks of her armor I could see a purple patch growing in her arm.

Jacks kneeled to treat her wound with his medium Recovery magic. "Creating living matter like that was a major waste of stamina."

"Oh, come on," in spite of her complaining, she smiled.

Jack interrupted his healing and turned toward the Cursed.

"Why you stopping?" She asked. "This still hurts like curses."

"He's coming."

"Finally. About time he—"

"Run to cover! Now!"

Betta seemed about to protest, but instead nodded and the two of them sprinted back. I threw a few minor spells to grow some additional vines as the Cursed were starting to get free from the trap.

Then I felt it—a growing rumble. The ground itself trembling. Right as Jacks and Betta got in the crevice, a tsunami as tall as the borders of the valley appeared on the horizon.