BXBX NOVEL Chapter 52: Coalition
Linfel went back to Alvin. "So... this was not part of the exam?"
Alvin didn\'t even want to answer that. "Just shut up and listen to the soldiers."
Tarert didn\'t waste time and immediately took the group down the mountain again, quickly returning to the cover of the trees. At the same time, he and his companions tried to use their MCOMs to contact the Sky Island Headquarters. Yet, things didn\'t seem to be working. "How\'s your MCOMs?"
"Not working at all," one of Tarert\'s companions, a guy called Sian, answered. "The moment the airship came crashing down, the connection was lost."
"We are being jammed," Tarert spoke. He looked behind and saw that the Maguses and Familiars seemed quite nervous. First, they had spent a lot of their Magic Energy. Many were injured, too. Most of their group definitely wouldn\'t recover anytime soon.
*Zrummmmm!*
An airship suddenly passed above everyone\'s head. That didn\'t make Tarert any happier, though. "It\'s an Assault V-Wing from Volztain. That should not be flying inside our Heffal\'s airspace."
*Boom, boom, boom...*
Sounds of explosions came from far in the distance. Tarert immediately jumped on one of the tallest trees around and took a look in the sounds\' direction. There, he could see several more airships both from Volztain and Heffal, shooting at each other. After that, he came down. \'Is Volztain starting a war against us?\' He couldn\'t help but wonder.
"Tarert!" Sian called his attention and pointed at the students. "This is not a good idea."
Tarert understood. They were moving in a big group, which would only catch more attention. If the army from Volztain was truly invading, they had to move fast and not be seen. The best way was to spread. "Sian, Carlo, Nayli, Zuberg, take four students with you each. I\'ll take the last four.
We will separate here."
"Yes!" They all accepted the orders. In less than a minute, the groups of Maguses and Familiars were shared equally between the four guides.
Linfel, Alvin, Felia, Connor, and Tratil were left with Nayali, the only female soldier who was guiding them during this exam. Other than them, there was also one more Magus with his Familiar, a young man called Kafril.
Tarert saw that the division was made and nodded. "Alright, as you all can see, this is not training. I\'m still unaware if this is just a skirmish between Heffal and Volztain, which is quite rare but does happen from time to time, or if this is truly a full-scale invasion. Most likely, it\'s the first option. Regardless of which one, the danger of the situation has skyrocketed.
That\'s why we need to go our separate ways here. Stick to your guides, as we all know where the Magic Beasts\' Territories are located. We will try to avoid the worst areas as much as possible. Prioritize your own safety, and if the enemy appears, do not show mercy! They definitely won\'t!"
"Yes, sir!" All the Maguses and Familiars accepted the orders. Nonetheless, the tension was obvious. Until now, all they fought were Magic Beasts. Even those from big backgrounds didn\'t have to kill other people. Here, however, they might truly be put against other Maguses where life and death are on the table.
Tarert didn\'t give the students a chance to think much about it. "Good luck to us all. My group, follow me!"
Nayali wasn\'t any slower. "You three and your familiars, we are going in this direction."
Linfel\'s group quickly accepted the orders and followed the woman. In a few seconds, the groups had already disappeared from each other\'s sight.
---
Back on the Sky Island, the general in charge, Wunberdi Lotiden, had a terrible expression on his face. "What the hell is this? Why are we being invaded? How come there was no news about it until now?"
"Sir," a magus in the controlling room spoke. "We can\'t contact any of our guides or the students from the academy in that area. They are jamming all signals."
Wunberdi knew about the Academy Field Exam. It was brought to the north border so that the army could show their appeal for new Maguses and Familiars. However, he didn\'t pay much attention to it since he wouldn\'t be in charge of anything related to that. It would have been weird if a General like him was sent to guide or talk to the students. "One of the Academies...
Which one is it?" Heffal had a few Magus Academies in their Majors Cities, after all.
"Sastasha\'s City Academy." An answer quickly arrived.
Wunberdi thought about it. \'Was it just a coincidence? It has to be. Volztain doesn\'t have much to gain by attacking a bunch of students other than our country\'s wrath.\'
"Immediately dispatch the first and second Sky Legions. Also, inform the Army down on the ground to send some of their forces. There are students from the academies in the area, so make sure everyone knows to look out for them and bring them to safety. Otherwise, the government will be on our arses. What a fucking time for Volztain to start one of these skirmishes."
Suddenly, more information arrived. "Report! Sir, we aren\'t the only ones. The Steel Wall Army on the West and the Big Deep Army on the South Sea just contacted, saying that they are also under attack. The mortal armies from both sides have also been dispatched."
*Bang!*
Wunberdi smashed the armrest of his seat. "What the fuck?! Are they truly invading for real?!"
"Report!" More information continued appearing. "We have received some news from our spies on the Volztain side. All the Sky Woves Army from Volztain has been mobilized out of nowhere. The mortal armies are also invading with everything that they have. From what we heard, everything was normal until an hour ago.
Then, the Generals from Volztain came forward and announced the attacks; everything happened in a hurry."
Wunberdi didn\'t grow angrier with that news, though. Instead, his face turned cold, and his experience quicked in. "This is a coalition army. Contact the entire Sky Island and the mortal armies on the ground. Volztain, Porfate, and Xanzion countries are invading. Ignore the students from the academies.
We have no time to help them anymore."
---
Nayala ran nonstop, making it difficult for Linfel\'s group to follow. Fortunately, no one had to care about the Magic Energy Receptors anymore. Otherwise, Alvin and Felia definitely wouldn\'t be able to keep up with Nayala\'s speed. Not only is she used to the terrain, but she is also a Level Two Magus, after all.
"Senior Nayala, what about your Familiar?" Connor couldn\'t help but ask.
Nayala reached into her backpack and pulled out a Core. "Here."
"He is inactive?" Connor got puzzled.
Linfel understood and looked behind. "Felia, Tratil, you two should also deactivate yourselves and let Connor and Alvin carry you."
"Alright," Felia and Tratil didn\'t ask anything and followed Linfel\'s orders. Connor and Alvin received their cores, even more confused.
Nayala nodded, satisfied. "Good job. I would have to ask them to do that if you hadn\'t noticed." She then explained to Alvin and Connor. "Patrolling is all about scouting without being noticed. Familiars have their ethereal bodies, which aren\'t exactly easy to hide. Only when they are inactive can we keep them hidden, like inside my bag.
Of course, they are still hearing us, so they can activate and come out at any moment. But for now, keep Felia and Tratil inactive."
Right after, she was going to ask Linfel to do the same. However, when she looked at him, all she saw was a floating core with an extremely feeble amount of Magic Energy coming from it. "This..."
Linfel knew what she was going to say. "You don\'t need to ask me the same thing. I can keep this state and still follow you all. I should be even harder to notice than the three of you in this state."
"Since when can Familiars continue working like that?" Nayala couldn\'t help but ask.
"Let\'s just say I\'m a little special," Linfel answered.
Connor didn\'t even feel surprised anymore. Linfel had always been a weird Familiar. As for Alvin, well, he knew that Linfel wasn\'t a Familiar to start with.
Nayala decided to put those thoughts on the back of her head and just nodded. "Whatever. It is indeed hard to notice you if you keep close to the ground. Just keep following me with Alvin and Connor. Alvin, Connor, stay alert. If anything suspicious happens, immediately call your Familiars out and connect to them."
"Understood!" Alvin and Connor nodded.
*Zush, zush, zush...*
As they ran through the trees of the Magic Beast Forest, more and more airships passed by them in the skies, shooting into the distance. By now, even Nayala had her doubts if this was another one of those skirmishes. When the Volztain sends its troops to attack, they never send that many.
*Zuuuuu...*
Suddenly, one of the airships above stopped and came down, landing a few hundred meters from them.
"Fuck, they noticed us." Connor cursed.
Nayala wasn\'t surprised, though. "Obviously. They have equipment to scan the forest, but we didn\'t bring any equipment to hide us from them. Let alone that ship. Most likely, all the airships that passed close to us noticed our presence but simply ignored us due to our small numbers."
The sound of steps moving through the trees was soon heard even though Nayala\'s group hadn\'t stopped running for even a moment. In the end, Nayala was holding back since she had to protect Linfel\'s group. The pursuers were in tip-top condition, while Alvin and Connor were sore due to the end of the exam earlier.
"Stop. We will make a stand here," Nayala made her decision while her Familiar activated. Red Magic Energy spread from the core as the little Familiar took form. Obviously, a Level Two Familiar as well. The Familiar connected to Nayala without saying anything, taking the form of a belt and attaching himself to her waist.
Felia and Tratil naturally activated as well and connected to Alvin and Connor.
Not long after, ten people appeared from behind the trees, all pointing their weapons at Nayala and the others. However, they didn\'t shoot. Instead, a man who seemed to be the leader stepped forward and spoke. "Kids? Why are there kids here? Whatever.
Surrender now and come with u-"
"Sir!" Suddenly, one of the soldiers on the side spoke. "Message from the headquarters."
"Uh?" The man quickly took the message and narrowed his eyes. "Are they serious?"
The soldier nodded. "Yes. It seems like we are in it for real this time."
The man sighed while looking at Nayala\'s group. "I\'m sorry. Fire!"
Nayala quickly jumped in front of Alvin and Connor. Her Red Magic Energy spread, creating a Barrier that reflected the shoots.
Alvin and Connor used their Magic Energy to support the barrier with Felia and Tratil as well. At the same time, Alvin whispered with his magic energy so that only Nayala and Connor would hear. \'Senior Nayala, we can hold for a moment.\'
Nayala gritted her teeth and didn\'t move. They didn\'t know, but those weapons were made to deal with Maguses. She had to go all out to deflect the shots. If she left, Alvin and Connor would become full of holes in a matter of seconds. Their Magic Energy at level one wasn\'t making much difference in her efforts. All she could do was resist and try to think of a plan to escape.
The leader wasn\'t surprised and immediately gathered his Magic Energy. The Brown Magic Energy color of a Level Three Magus suddenly appeared while a ring on his finger shined brightly with the same color. That was his Familiar\'s form during the Master Familiar Connection. "This truly doesn\'t feel good..."
Nayala went pale. She didn\'t expect the very first enemy she would find was a Level Three Magus.
In the next moment, several spears of Brown Magic Energy appeared over his head while his subordinates kept shooting. Finally, he pointed forward, and the spears shot! With the difference in level between them, Nayala simply had no chance to resist.
However, Nayala suddenly noticed something. Linfel... had disappeared.