Chapter 65: Forget It!
When they left the tents, three rays of green light passed over their heads, disappearing in the distance. "What was that?"
Claus began to run as they followed him. "Our battalion has three Level Four Maguses and Familiars; those lights were them."
"I saw some nice armor on their bodies. Now that I think about it, Principal Xalafel used one as well back then," Linfel thought about it. "Are those armors the reason they can fly?"
Falagita nodded. "I don\'t know much about this Principal Xalafel you talked about, but you were right about your first question. Those armors are the reason they can fly. Forget about acquiring one, though. They are extremely expensive and regulated. Besides, they are useless if you aren\'t at Level Four at least."
Linfel was pretty interested in those, although they wouldn\'t be of much use for a Wisp like him. "I see..."
After a while, they arrived at the gathering field, where various other platoons waited. Naturally, their platoon was pretty empty compared to the others since it hadn\'t received its reinforcements yet. No one paid attention to them, though.
"Stand in line," Claus warned them. "Stay silent and let the commander speak."
Soon, one of those Level Four Maguses appeared above everyone and spoke in a loud voice. "Xanzion is advancing, so we are moving out. Our battalion will join the 11th and 4th battalions in the Selevas area. Let\'s go!"
Without saying anything else, the man flew away without looking back. The entire battalion moved out instantly with serious expressions.
As they did, Milia took the chance to ask Claus a few things. "Is this battalion of ours made of Maguses and Familiars only? I don\'t see any normal soldiers here."
"That\'s correct," Claus confirmed. "But don\'t think we are safer because of it. If anything, we would be a primary target instead. And we are going to the Selevas area, which is very big. The various platoons will be forced to separate to cover the entire extent of that place. We are on our own."
"But we don\'t have a full platoon yet..." Alvin couldn\'t help but mention it.
"Don\'t worry, I already checked the assigment," Claus said and showed his MCOM to his group. "We will join a platoon of the 4th battalion once we get there for the time being."
Linfel and the others nodded and entered a few vehicles that drove away. After no more than a few tens of minutes, Linfel\'s group began to hear the sound of explosions while several airships passed above their heads. More of those vehicles with soldiers joined their battalion, all making their way to the same frontline.
At some point, the vehicles separated into various groups that headed in different directions. Linfel\'s own was on the leftmost side of those groups. In the distance, they noticed some small hills with a few trees. It was quite an open area with few places to hide.
*Boom!*
Suddenly, an explosion happened on the right side of Linfel\'s group, causing one of the vehicles to break down.
"Everyone, out now!" Claus shouted and jumped out of the vehicle. Linfel and the others quickly followed Claus, who headed to one of the small hills. After taking cover behind it, more Maguses and Familiars joined them in there.
"Are you Claus?" One of the Maguses there asked with urgency.
"That is me!" Claus nodded, showing his ID.
The man nodded and showed his ID as well. "I\'m Tubian, the captain of the 43rd platoon of the 4th battalion. I\'m taking the command of your platoon as per the assignment."
"Yes, sir!" Claus quickly accepted. Orders were absolute.
Tubian was aware Claus\' platoon had few members already. Otherwise, he would be asked to merge with them for this battle. "Here\'s the plan. The enemy forces are mostly concentrated north-northwest from here. The headquarters wants us to attack it from the south with a few other platoons and make our way up."
"From the south?!" Claus was taken aback. "But that area is completely open. We will be sitting ducks!"
"Do you think I don\'t know that?" Tubian asked back with a dark expression. "Nonetheless, those are our orders. Most likely, we are just a distraction so that the real attack can take the enemy by surprise. Anyway, that\'s it. Let\'s go."
Tubian turned around and shot a flare signal upwards. Several other flares filled the sky, signalizing the start of the plan. Immediately, the various platoons moved through the south side of the Selevas area while keeping their distance from each other, just like Claus mentioned earlier.
Alvin was nervous as he stepped out with Milia and the others. In the next minute, they were already in the open field, which obviously caught the attention of the enemy.
"Here they come!" Tubian spoke as he looked ahead and to the sky.
The fire began to rain down on the various platoons while everyone protected themselves with their Magic Energy.
There was a good thing about a group made solely of Maguses and Familiars. They could create a very sturdy Magic Barrier, and that allowed them to defend against the projectiles as they advanced. Besides, they could move several faster than normal soldiers with their Magic Energy, so they were hard to target properly.
*Boom!*
*Ahhhhhh!*
Unfortunately, the enemy head artillery made to deal with Maguses and Familiars as well. In the first minute, two platoons were hit, causing quite a few casualties. The Maguses and Familiars tried to aim at the shells coming their way before they hit the ground, but it was easier said than done. Nonetheless, everyone continued to advance.
*Ziuuuuu!*
"Fuck!"
The sound of one of the shells came in their direction. It was already dark, and hard to see things coming from the sky. Tubian and his ground all used their Magic Energy to shoot in the sky\'s direction, trying to destroy whatever was coming for them.
*Boom!*
They didn\'t hit the projectile, but it didn\'t hit their group either. It fell just a few meters to the side, and their Magic Energy was enough to bar the explosion. Nonetheless, their platoon was forced several meters to the right before they could stabilize.
"Keep moving!" Tubian shouted and resumed their run.
*Ziuuuuu!*
*Ziuuuuu!*
*Ziuuuuu!*
More explosions came all around while bullets also hit their Magic Energy Barrier nonstop.
Suddenly, another one headed in their direction, but it was still impossible to see anything. When it finally got close enough to be seen with their eyes, the shell was already in front of them. It was going to easily pierce their Magic Energy Barrier and explode right in the middle of their platoon. There was simply no time to target it and cast any Magic Attack.
*Boom!*
However, out of nowhere, a Lightning Bolt left their platoon, striking the artillery shell right in the middle. An explosion of both Fire and Magic Energy spread around, but it was too far to cause trouble to their Magic Energy barrier.
Tubian and Claus sighed in relief before looking in the direction the Lightning Bolt came from. There, Linfel was connected with Alvin while Felia waited on the side.
Milia, too, looked at them, surprised. However, she wasn\'t surprised by the fact they hit the shell when no one else could see it. Instead, what caught her attention was the Red Magic Energy coming from Alvin and Linfel. \'Since when are they Level Two?\'
There was a reason for Linfel to ask Alvin and Felia to wait one week before coming out. He wanted to use the Red Magic Stones they got to bring Alvin, Felia, and himself to Level Two before departing. His ability to clean the Magic Energy improved a lot as time passed, which made their group\'s training even faster.
On the sixth day after they returned to the academy, Linfel\'s group finally reached Level Two together.
However, one thing made Milia confused. Linfel and Felia were both Familiars. The color of the Magic Energy of a Familiar\'s Ethereal body showed what level they were. Both Linfel and Felia were yellow, which should have meant they were still Level One Familiars. And yet, Linfel and Felia both had Red Colors now. \'Did the three of them just level up?
All three of them at the same time?\' Milia found it hard to believe.
Naturally, similar questions popped on Claus and the others\' heads. It was just that it didn\'t matter now.
"Well done, you two," Tubian spoke.
Alvin nodded. "Sir, focus on running ahead. Linfel, Felia and I will deal with any artillery shell coming from the skies."
"Wait, what?!" Tubian and the others were taken aback. They thought Alvin was just lucky enough to have prepared an attack as soon as the shell appeared. That\'s why he hit it at the last moment... or so they believed. "Are you saying you can tell when and where the shells will appear?"
"Yes!" Alvin nodded. "We don\'t have time. Let\'s keep going."
Tubian narrowed his eyes. "Gondo, Hetie, Leandro, you three also pay attention to the skies and try to shoot anything coming down."
"But," Alvin wanted to speak.
"I know what you said, but I can\'t believe you alone. They will be your support," Tubian explained. "Now, let\'s get moving."
Alvin nodded.
Milia got to Alvin and Linfel\'s side and spoke with her Magic Energy. \'It was Linfel again, wasn\'t it?\'
Linfel and Alvin faintly smiled. \'Yes.\'
\'Alright, I will also give you my support,\' Milia took a deep breath. There wasn\'t enough time for Linfel to speak to her and then to shoot the shells. However, she could simply imitate their movements, and she was very confident in her abilities with Nori\'s help.
The artillery shells were made to deal with Maguses. So, obviously, they were also made with Magic Energy inside. That was basically telling Linfel where they all are located when they enter his Magic Sense Range. Not only that, after Linfel reached Level Two, his Magic Sense increased several times. He had a full picture of the Magic Energy in the surroundings fifty or so meters.
That\'s why he was able to identify the shell and hit it perfectly with Alvin\'s help.
*Boom, boom, boom...*
As other platoons fell or got their numbers reduced, Tubian was among the few that hadn\'t got a single injury yet. Every time one of the shells entered Linfel\'s Magic Energy sense, he and Alvin shot it perfectly. Linfel\'s Magic Energy Control was indeed flawless.
The even more impressive thing was that Milia truly managed to follow their movements. She was very talented and could cast her attacks even faster than Alvin. So, with her precision and speed, she managed to release her Magic Energy attacks at the same time as Alvin and Linfel. She wasn\'t as perfect as Linfel with Magic Energy control, but she definitely wasn\'t bad.
At some point, Tubian told Gondo, Hetie, and Leandro to simply join the rest of the group that was keeping the Magic Energy Barrier up. If he didn\'t believe Alvin and Milia could do it before, now he had absolutely no doubt.
As they advanced, Tubian looked to his side. "Claus-"
"Forget it!" Claus instantly cut his words.
"I haven\'t said anything yet," Tubian complained.
"Hmph!" Yet, Claus was well aware of what Tubian wanted. "They are MY soldiers. Like hell I would give them to you."
"Tch..." Tubian clicked his tongue. That was indeed what he intended to ask.