Chapter 52: Planning ahead
With Gus, Laurin and Tohrin it was really easy to coordinate our troups to mine the ores, the smeltery was easily managed aswell - every leprechaun knew how to use it. I don't know why they taught every one of them, but it comes in handy now, so I'm not complaining.
Our considerably highest issue was how to proceed from this point. We know that several demons will come back here in a few days, and we know their exact data aswell. The fight shouldn't be much of a problem, as most of them relied on their magic incanations and we had Cecilia... What bothers me is their secondary leader. His skills are vastly unknown, so I had no chance to adjust the fighters we needed. Was he a melee brute forcer? A projectile fighter? A mage? Dragon gods, he might even be an alchemist!
My plan was to reduce any risks - which meant: Gus magic might be really useful, if we are able to combine it with other spells. With that plan in mind, I instruct a few human mages and Gus to follow me. I could've chosen elves or leprechauns, but those two are better off dealing with the mining.
Our first step was to create an empty trap, or at least only filled with instructions. For that purpose I used up my energy to retract Arcana from my leg, this time I manage to stay awake for one hour after I did. Arcana's comment was:" Its kind of like a path through the woods, the more you walk it, the less obstacles lay in your way"
The next dialogue happened in my head. I can't really go ahead and talk to myself with all these people here.
Ce:" Arcana, did you hear what we were talking about?"
A:" Yes I did, and before you bother to ask: No. I have not seen that kind of magic before. But I DID see a similar kind, I might be able to guide you through the methods of controlling it. Don't expect it to work, though"
Ce:" Sure"
Cia:" Didn't everything you two ever worked on together go well? Sounds good to me"
Ce:" Oh right, the ritual. I forgot!"
Now that I had the Fairy King guiding me, I tried on leading Gus and the mages.
Ce:" Gus, do you have some kind of progress in making these traps? Like a certain rythm, a train of thought or anything?"
G:" I have to do several hand movements, why?"
Ce:" Do the circles appear before you are finished?"
G:" No, I always have to set all required information before they appear"
Ce:" Okay, now... Do the handsigns differ depending on what you choose to input?"
G:" For activation requirement, yes. For the spell that gets activated it doesn't, I have to chant it while doing the signs"
Ce:" Perfect. Next up... You... Ummm, Joel if I recall correctly. Try casting a fireball spell into the circle when Gus tells you to, okay?"
J:" O-Okay"
Gus worried look didn't bother me. I've seen some things work before, that should work even less than this one does. I signal Gus to start. His hands moved rather fast on the ground, leaving small traces of mana in a star shape and then circling it. At the end, he puts his hand right in the middle and says:" Now"
Joel hastily casts a... semi effective fireball at best - which was actually a good thing in this situation. He... Well, he missed the circle, so at least the damage he dealt was low. Guess I'll have to try this myself, it seems the others are too scared from the big friendly demon.
Ce:" Go ahead, I won't miss."
Like I thought, his circle absorbed the sword that I just summoned. I also added a movement: to go straight into the ground. We won't need more casualties than the two burned magicians we already had. The requirement set was a timer of ten seconds. After waiting that time, it activated and my sword reappeared, right in the ground. Mission success.
Ce:" What other kinds of activations do you know? We might even escape to fight at all, if we plan it right!"
G:" Nearby movement, usage of mana and on command."
Ce:" If we place nearby movement on the entrance and then fill several circles with stronger swords, with faster movements embedded, even demons would suffer harshly"
G:" I don't know if you have fought fighting oriented demons before, but normal swords-"
Ce:" I know, I know. Quit bragging! My swords have killed seven demons so far, some of them battle mages. My magic didn't get worse, so I think they should be able to."
G:" ...Do you have healing magic in your army?"
Ce:" Yes, but I don't like where this is going"
Gus raised his shoulders then asked me to go and get one of the healers. Yup. He wanted to try the effect of my swords on himself. I guess if it harmed him, it would have an easy time with lower grade demons...
As soon as the healer arrived, I told him to stay ready to heal Gus. Right after we started to make the circle we wanted to try. The swords I summoned where many lean and long ones, embued with really fast and straight forward movements. I also added a portion of my mana, so I could stop them from casting magic. I heard of this strategy once and thought it was interesting, so why shouldn't I try out on half dead enemies?
Our experiment was a full-on success. The swords pierced the arm Gus held over the circle easily, some even managed to fly through. I asked him to cast magic, with the sudden idea to use it on him. After he cast his ice nova, I flooded my little portion of mana into the spot he gathered his and crushed his spell before it even left his body. Wait. If I sent enough mana and concentrated it strongly, won't I be able to crush their core aswell? A demons core was their main source of energy, if I was able to destroy it, it was an easy fight!
Welp, right as the healer started to cast his spells, the exhaustions of retracting Arcana hit me. Lights out. Wait, I forgot to tell Gus about it - at least thats what his scream tells me... With my last strenght I send a message to Cecilia, asking her to explain it to him. Without leaving any details out.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone