CH:23
The monster had the form of a massive bear.
At a glance, it could have been mistaken for an unusually large bear, but its blood-red, unfocused eyes, grotesquely twisted limbs, and protruding fangs clearly marked it as something else.
“Is there only one?”
“For now, it seems so. I don’t sense any others nearby.”
“Then we need to take it down before more show up. We have to find the core. Ready the bows!”
Nils gave the command with seasoned confidence. Monsters each possessed a core—something akin to a human heart.
The core was usually located within the body, and unless it was destroyed, the monster would not fall. Even if it lost limbs or was crippled, it would slowly regenerate.
To finish a monster off completely, one had to locate its core and focus attacks on the surrounding area until the core was exposed and then hit it with great force.
Monster cores were extremely weak to heat, especially intense heat. Ordinary fire arrows would take too long to destroy it, but the highly concentrated flames generated by a mage could melt a solid core in an instant.
This was why Ferdinand insisted on always having fire-type mages.
It wasn’t that knights couldn’t take down monsters themselves, but to reduce casualties, the battle needed to end quickly—and for that, a mage was necessary.
The larger the number of monsters, the more critical the mage’s role became.
To avoid provoking them, monsters had to be dealt with using as few people as possible. But with small teams fighting multiple monsters and needing to melt their cores one by one, the task became incredibly taxing.
KRAAAARGH!
The monster rose on its hind legs and roared, its maw wide open. From its wolf-like fangs, thick black venom dripped.
“Fire!”
With a thunderous shout, a storm of arrows rained down. The monster swung its thick arms to block the attack. Some arrows hit their mark, but most bounced off its thick hide.
‘Damn. We’ve got a tough one.’
Kaon narrowed his eyes. Monsters came in all shapes and sizes, and the difficulty of dealing with them varied accordingly.
Those resembling small animals like deer or raccoons were easier to manage. Pack-based wolf-types were harder. But bears—bears were among the worst. Their endurance made them incredibly hard to subdue.
Fortunately, this one appeared to be alone, and while large for a bear, it was still on the smaller side among monsters.
“Aim for the eyes!”
Even so, it was a formidable enemy. But the knights of Ferdinand had fought these beasts for generations. Their knowledge—built on centuries of trial and error—had been carefully recorded and passed down.
From experience and records, they knew the core was most likely located in the most grotesquely deformed part of the body. And for large monsters, the eyes—being most vulnerable—were the first to be targeted.
As arrows continued to fly relentlessly, the monster flailed wildly, swinging at empty air. Then suddenly, it let out a different kind of shriek.
“Its eye’s been hit!”
“Keep going! Team One, prepare to engage!”
“Yes, sir!”
Kaon, keeping watch around Alessia, gently placed a hand on her shoulder as she stood frozen, staring blankly at the battle.
“Alessia.”
“…Huh? Oh, Kaon.”
“You have to focus. We’re going to need your help soon.”
Her red eyes trembled. Fear was clearly written across her face.
It was a common reaction among mages who had only ever learned magic in a classroom. Now, thrown into live combat, they struggled to adapt and lost their composure.
This was why people said no amount of training could substitute for real experience. It was the same for both knights and mages.
“Listen closely, Alessia.”
Kaon knelt down to meet her eyes. He had hoped she wouldn’t face this situation so soon, but now that it had come, there was no turning back.
If Alessia wanted to stay in Ferdinand for the long term, she had to prove herself.
Wasn’t she the one who said she wanted to be acknowledged here? That she wanted to fulfill her role?
Kaon intended to help her do just that—with everything he had. For her sake. And for his own, because he wanted her to stay.
“The knights will soon locate the core. Once they call out its location, focus your flames and aim there. While you concentrate, I’ll make sure nothing touches you.”
“…Okay. Got it.”
“It’s okay to fail. You can always try again. Don’t be afraid.”
At his deliberately firm words, Alessia’s eyes widened slightly—as if surprised to hear that from him.
“You can do this.”
Kaon repeated. He truly believed she could.
“Yeah. I have to.”
Alessia closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. When she opened them again, they no longer wavered. She looked back at the monster with steady eyes.
“Cease fire in five seconds! Team One, move in as soon as fire stops!”
“Prepare to engage!”
“Ready!”
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
The volley of arrows stopped. Several elite knights rushed in, scaling the monster’s huge body like a wall and slashing with their swords.
They struck the sunken area beneath its twisted arm and the protruding fangs. Though its thick, fur-covered hide wasn’t easy to cut, repeated blows to the same spot made the monster thrash violently.
“Tend to the wounded!”
Knights thrown by its wild swipes were retrieved by those on standby. Fallen were replaced immediately. The unit moved like a single, perfectly coordinated organism.
GRAAAUUUGH!
The monster thrashed so violently it shook the forest. Kaon, closely observing, spotted something unnatural near its shoulder. Beneath the flowing blood, something shiny caught his eye.
“Everyone back! The core’s exposed! Right shoulder!”
At Kaon’s shout, everyone focused on the monster’s shoulder. Now, it was Alessia’s turn. She and Kaon locked eyes. She nodded.
“Nils! Shout when you see an opening! Alessia will strike the core!”
“Yes! Fall back and resume fire! Go!”
As Nils ordered, the melee knights retreated and the archers resumed their barrage. The monster staggered, as if ready to charge, but was held back.
And then, just as it raised its massive paw to strike—
“Now!”
Nils shouted. Alessia, who had been chanting softly all along, stretched out her hand.
A column of fire shot straight from her fingertips toward the monster’s shoulder. The swirling flame struck the core dead center. Thick black smoke billowed from the creature.
BOOM.
After withstanding countless arrows and blades, the monster collapsed like a toppled wall.
“It’s dead.”
Nils approached to confirm the kill, prompting a cheer from the troops.
“We got it!”
“Lady Alessia, you were incredible!”
“A brilliant shot!”
Cheers erupted around Alessia for her finishing blow. Flushed and dazed, she didn’t protest the praise.
As everyone celebrated and chanted her name, Kaon alone stood stiff and quiet.
‘What was that?’
Now standing under cold water, Kaon was deep in thought, replaying the moment.
At the end, while everyone else had their eyes on the monster, he had been watching Alessia.
Elite knights guarded mages from behind to let them cast freely. Since mages were the most vital assets, only the strongest knights were assigned to protect them.
Kaon had poured every ounce of focus into protecting Alessia from harm.
‘There was no mana at all.’
The first sign something was wrong was when she began chanting. Mages typically used spells or magic circles to cast.
The method differed, but both required channeling mana through one’s innate magical energy to trigger a reaction from the surrounding natural mana—this was how magic worked.
In Alessia’s case, she used chants. That meant her magical energy should have visibly stirred around her, and Kaon would have been able to see it.
He possessed a rare ability to distinguish between natural mana and a mage’s unique magical energy.
This was how he alone knew the mana along the eastern wall and the mana composing the first barrier belonged to the same mage.
‘But with her… there was nothing.’
While she chanted, there should’ve been distortions in the air, a shimmering of magic. But around Alessia, nothing stirred.
At first, Kaon assumed she was too nervous to cast properly. It was a plausible explanation, so he calmly began preparing the next step in the plan.
‘But then the fire came.’
The moment Nils shouted, Alessia cast her magic. That should have been impossible.
Kaon had seen many mages cast spells. None of them had ever cast without first generating magical energy.
But Alessia had. Fire had erupted from her fingertips, rushing straight at the monster.
It was unmistakably magic.
‘How…?’
Kaon’s eyes darkened, lost in thought.
