The beast in the clearing, the origin of the chilling vacuum, suddenly unleashed a challenging snarl.
This sound belonged to a hunter who was allowing its victim one final moment of dread.
'Elwin, fall back fifty paces. Establish a defensive line. Use the surrounding area,' Richard commanded, firm despite the adrenaline surging through him. He did not extend Elwin the opportunity to object.
Gareth instantly drew his greatsword. 'Young Master, that creature is obviously enormous. We must retreat together.'
'No. We cannot run,' Richard asserted, assessing the monster's speed and bulk. 'If we run, we lose coherence, and the beast will pick us off one by one eventually. We have to fight.'
Richard produced the sturdy dagger Lucien had secured for him.
He focused some of his mana, channeling it exclusively for speed and strength augmentation.
'Gareth, hold the center. Engage, avoid fighting deep,' Richard instructed, stepping from the cover of the trees, dagger held near the ground. 'I shall distract it toward the edges. Elwin's shield will secure our withdrawal.'
'You'll distract it? "YOUNG MASTER, THAT'S SUICIDE!"' Gareth yelled, utterly horrified.
'No, Commander,' Richard stated. 'It is our single chance to wound it and pull back together.'
Richard disregarded the Commander's distress and sprinted toward the clearing's edge. His Haste-enhanced legs devoured the distance. The creature charged, exposing itself as a massive Gorefang Bear!
Its hide tough and covered in bone-white spikes.
The Gorefang bear, having revealed itself, instantly lunged at Richard's position.
The pressure from the beast's charge was prodigious. Richard evaded the attack with uncanny speed. Since he lacked the strength for a direct confrontation, he employed strategy. As the beast turned its massive head, Richard drove his dagger, now enhanced by wind magic for penetration, right into the Gorefang's eye.
The blade plunged deep. The Bear wailed, a terrifying sound of agony and raw fury. It thrashed blindly.
"NOW, GARETH!" Richard bellowed, scrambling back to avoid the flailing claws.
Gareth, astonished by the youth's bold strike, acted without delay and struck the monster's resilient hide with his greatsword.
CLANG!
A dull, metallic jolt.
The greatsword, designed to cleave steel, only bit a few inches deep into the bear's jagged hide before grinding to a stop. The blow drew blood, but it was trivial. It was a minor scratch to the immense creature.
The wounded Gorefang, now enraged, barely registered the attack.
It immediately spun, its ruined eye leaking black ichor, and swiped at Gareth.
The knight raised his sword defensively, yet the momentum of the attack was too great. Gareth was lifted from his feet and slammed into a thick pine tree.
"YOU PITBORN-FILTH," Richard cursed. He was struggling against the debilitating weakness from the fading Haste Spell, recognizing the battle was about to turn disastrous.
The Gorefang Bear ignored the downed knight and redirected its fury entirely toward Elwin, the weaker target retreating toward the defensive line.
The mage was frantically trying to collect mana for an attack spell, but his hands shook too violently from the backlash of the tremendous mana required for the defensive barrier.
Richard knew he couldn't let the bear reach Elwin, or the mage would be crushed. He concentrated most of his remaining mana into an emergency spell: Repulsion.
A vast, invisible wall of force erupted from Richard's hands, striking the Gorefang's already injured flank. The spell required the power of a 5th circle mage, a level which Richard had not yet reached.
K-RAK!
The Gorefang's massive body was thrown sideways, interrupting its charge.
On the other hand, the reckless attack nearly shattered Richard's arms and shoulders. He stumbled backward. He felt a searing, sharp surge of pain through his chest: the clear indication of mana depletion and physical strain damaging his core a little.
The bear roared, shaking off the blow, but the interruption bought Elwin the vital seconds he needed. The mage's eyes snapped wide, glowing with a sudden, fierce light.
"GLORY TO FROSTPEAK!" Elwin roared, abandoning his defensive preparation. He gathered all his remaining power and launched a searing, volatile Volcanic Burst. An incantation capable of turning a person to ash.
The massive, shimmering sphere of fire and rock slammed into the Gorefang's chest. The impact was imperfect, yet the fierce heat proved devastating. The beast's hide sizzled and smoked, and it stumbled backward. Its vitality was slowly decreasing.
Gareth, recovering from the blow, rolled onto his knees and saw his opportunity. He disregarded the injury in his body, grabbed his greatsword, and launched into a short run. He perceived the exact location for the final strike.
Richard, bracing himself against a tree and fighting the waves of crushing exhaustion, was still left with a bit of mana. He raised a trembling hand and articulated a concluding, indistinct spell: Wind Augmentation. He concentrated the minuscule mana on the area between the Gorefang's ribs, creating a momentary, tiny vacuum.
Gareth, fortunately, saw this move by Richard. His greatsword, driven by an undying will, plunged into the Gorefang's side. The blade passed through the heat-softened hide and, guided by Richard's unseen gap, drove deep into the beast's vital organs.
The gigantic Gorefang Bear let out one final, desolate, shaking breath. Its legs failed, and it collapsed onto the frozen ground with a bone-jarring thud.
Peace returned to the area.
The stench of burnt fur, and metallic gore hung thick in the cold air.
Richard slid down the pine tree, resting on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.
They had won, but the cost was extreme.
Richard, in particular, had pushed his young body far past its safe limit, and the raw, burning agony in his body from total mana exhaustion was a penalty he had not fully faced in his past life.
Gareth limped over and planted his bloodied greatsword in the snow. He looked at the fallen giant, then the spent mage, and at Richard.
'Young Master,' Gareth stated. 'You...you were magnificent.'
Richard remained motionless. He merely stared at the sky, a thin smile on his visage as he acknowledged the hard-won victory.
With a smile on his face, Richard finally lost consciousness.
Gareth immediately rushed over to Richard's side and checked his pulse, which was weak and inconsistent. "ELWIN! QUICK! GET OVER HERE!"
Elwin dragged himself nearer. He placed a trembling hand over the boy's chest. His eyes expanded in shock.
'His core...it's almost completely destroyed. He forced a 5th circle spell on his 4th circle body and then... divines, he cast another one with the very little mana he was left with.'
Elwin hardened with grim understanding. 'He is experiencing "Mana Shock". It's a thing mages experience when they use too much mana. It may lead to the mage becoming paralyzed for several months.'
'Can you fix it, even a little?' Gareth demanded.
'I can stabilize the flow of the mana, but the damage is mainly in the core. We must transport him to the Duchy's healers,' Elwin responded somberly. 'We cannot delay. The Gorefang's scent will attract predators.'
'Let's make haste, then,' Gareth stated, as he charged himself up from the ground.
--
They spent the subsequent hour working under duress. The urgency of their situation overshadowed their injuries, compelling them to focus on securing their survival. Gareth, despite being injured as well, managed to partially butcher the massive carcass, securing the cranium and large hide samples as proof. Then, they built a sturdy gurney from fresh pine branches. They didn't need anything else. They just wanted to leave.
--
The journey back required nearly five agonizing days. The need for safety forced them to take an extended, protected route avoiding the mountain passes entirely. Gareth hauled the gurney and the Gorefang materials, while Elwin maintained a constant, minimal restorative charm on Richard, keeping the boy's life signs stable.
As they ultimately approached the outer walls of the Frostpeak Manor late on the fifth night, they met a border patrol conducting their routine rounds. The two guards who saw them halted, staring first at the huge, bloodied Gorefang cranium attached to the carriage, and then at the Young Master unconscious on a gurney.
The patrol promptly sent a rider ahead to notify the Duke.
News of the disastrous but successful mission spread faster than wildfire.
Within the hour, Richard was moved into the sterile, high-walled Healing Chamber.
And Gareth and Elwin, refusing any aid for their own injuries, were instantly summoned to Duke Voltair's study.
--
[In the Duke's Office]
The Duke sat behind his oak desk. His face was inscrutable as he examined the Gorefang's cranium displayed temporarily in the courtyard beneath.
'The reports were accurate,' Voltair observed. 'Now, give me the full account. Every piece of information.'
Gareth and Elwin narrated the entire fight: Richard's command, his desperate flank attack, the destructive dagger strike to the eye, his urgent use of Fifth-Circle magic, and the resulting Mana Shock. They omitted nothing.
Voltair heard the account without speaking. When they finished, he finally looked up. 'You said he fought like a veteran. And then he drove his body to ruin?'
'Your Grace, the damage is profound. He will survive, yet for the next three months, his core will be unable to access anything beyond rudimentary, First-Circle mana. Any forced physical activity could risk permanent damage. He requires specialized, non-magical care and time for full recovery.' Elwin responded.
Voltair rose. His power pulsed in the air. He regarded Gareth and Elwin. 'Very well, you may seek rest until your own wounds are treated but take that day's lesson as a reality check. You two are far too weak. Both of you are experienced, yet you say that you performed exceptionally worse than a fourteen-year old boy who has never fought in his entire damn life. Go now.'
Gareth and Elwin bowed respectfully. They exchanged a look of seriousness before turning and exiting the study.
--
Richard was still impatient and reckless. He didn't need to use that 5th circle spell. There were many other ways to solve the immediate problem, yet he chose the worst one out of them.
This was because he never had proper guidance, and Voltair knew exactly who could give him exactly that. 'It's about time he made an appearance,' Voltair thought to himself.
--