– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 214, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 46 –

Terry noticed the link between his and Siling’s Guardian card flash. The time had come. He silently sneaked towards the edge of the ledge and leaped over it.

Terry used his spell and the metal gymnastic rings to position himself directly on top of his target. He retrieved the prepared dart as well as a cloth drenched with anesthetic from his storage bracelet.

Afterwards, Terry used his mana to interrupt and cancel the Immovable Object spell. In order to avoid spending some of his focus on interacting with the storage bracelet during the fall, he pushed his arm forward so that the ring would remain at his elbow.

As soon as he made contact with the man’s back, Terry used his left hand to press the cloth on the target’s mouth and used his right hand to inject the dart in the target’s neck. After a few muffled sounds, everything was silent.

Terry quickly carried the man away from the entrance. Only then did he take the time to examine the man’s face. It matched one of the sketches. Terry exhaled sharply. He heard ruffling near him and immediately spun around to identify the source of the noise.

“Good job,” whispered Miguel.

“Tunnel is still clear,” added Siling in a whisper.

“What do we do with him?” asked Calam while pointing at the unconscious man.

“…”

“If you feel squeamish, we can just tie him up and continue gagging him with the cloth,” said Miguel. “Given his weight and the dose in the dart, he will be out for at least one hour anyway. Even afterwards, he will feel woozy for some hours.”

“Alright, Gellath and I will prepare to block the entrance,” informed Lori. “Send us a signal as soon as you are ready at the northern entrance.”

“I will have Grumpy give a call in case someone is approaching through the tunnel,” said Siling. “Number of calls in quick succession to indicate the number of targets.”

“I figure if only a single person approaches, you can handle that on your own,” said Miguel. “Here, those could help.” He handed over a few more darts as well as a bottle of anesthetic for preparing more cloth.

“Thanks.” Lori received the items and handed some to Gellath. “Even a small group is manageable, especially with life sense assistance.” She patted the daggers at her hips. “Now off with you, we will meet again in the cavern.”

Terry, Siling, Calam, and Miguel hurried to the northern entrance.

“This may be more troublesome,” whispered Siling. “Five targets at the northern entrance.”

“Noise doesn’t matter after the explosion, does it?” Miguel pointed out. “All four of us can let loose.”

“But we still need to quickly seal up the entrance,” stressed Terry. “This time, I will have to do that first.”

“And we need to make sure none of them escapes,” added Siling. “Calam?”

“I can keep a Kinetic Pull primed to prevent any runners, but fighting like that is like having one hand tied behind my back.”

“Then, I guess the competition for first blood will be between the lady of the group and myself,” joked Miguel. He raised his chin at Siling. “Taking bets?”

“Pff, don’t call me lady if you want to swindle me out of coins.”

“Who is talking about coins?” Miguel gave a toothy grin. “I want to go hunting with the noble soul bird.”

Miguel’s expression turned serious again. “Depending on their placement and equipment, I should be able to quickly incapacitate two or three. However, if they’re standing too close to the entrance, then I have to be careful with coldfire or Terry might catch some.”

“If they’re standing too close to the entrance, I can kick them in before I seal it,” said Terry.

“Alright, seal the entrance. Keep them from getting close to any of us. Prevent them from running. Take them out. How hard can that be?”

Miguel summoned his bow from the storage bracelet and gripped it with his right hand. “I will keep an arrow ready and nocked. You should do your air crawler thing.”

“Good news,” announced Siling. “At the western entrance most of the targets moved inside the cavern. Only a single lookout remains. Eastern entrance is still in control as well.”

“Good to hear,” said Terry. “I will move into position.”

This time, Terry hid in a tall tree close to the entrance and waited with a primed spell.

“BOOM. Boom. Boom.” Three explosions reverberated through the area in quick succession.

Terry burst his mana and leaped down to the entrance. On the ground he found himself face to face with one man that was still standing inside the tunnel. Without pause, Terry summoned a tertium slab that had two handles. Terry blocked the entrance. A cloud badger might still wiggle through at the edges, but no adult folk would be able to squeeze through the gaps.

One out of the fight.

A bandit was about to pull her weapon on Terry. Before she finished her first step, an arrow had already penetrated her chest. Another bandit was immobilized by roots growing from the ground.

The bandit inside the tunnel called for his comrades and started to bang on the metal slab. Terry had finished the Immovable Object spell and had charged it with enough mana so that he could join the battle.

Terry used his barrier spear to finish off the bandit that had been wounded previously by the arrow.

One down.

Terry activated the barrier imprint when he noticed one of the remaining bandits taking aim with a crossbow. Before the bandit could loosen the bolt, he was hit by an arrow. Shortly after the impact, a light blue fire started to sprout and envelop the man. The bandit screamed hauntingly and his face grew pale. A moment later, his skin took on a blueish purple shade and he collapsed.

Two.

The immobilized bandit was hit by an Ice Spike. The spike did not penetrate the armor, but hurt nonetheless. Siling cast another Ice Spike and Miguel took aim as well.

The last remaining bandit decided to make a run for it. Unfortunately for him, he did not run more than ten steps before an attraction force pulled him back to the fight.

Miguel changed his target and hit the bandit with an unaspected arrow. In one fluid motion he summoned another arrow from his storage bracelet into his left hand and shot again. This time, the arrow was aspected.

Three.

Siling’s second Ice Spike managed to hit a weaker point in the bandit’s armor and caused a bleeding injury.

*BAM* Terry examined the metal slab. Apparently, someone stronger had arrived. Terry’s mana sense told him that the person currently engaging the Immovable Object spell was a mana user. He judged that the last bandit would not require his assistance and moved back to the metal slab. In theory, the transfixed slab should not yield to power alone and it should also not affect the mana consumption, but just in case.

It was at this moment that Terry realized that they had overlooked something very important. If the mana user among the bandits was capable of a disruption discharge or Dispel, then their whole plan at the northern entrance would fall to pieces. Terry cursed inwardly, but there was little to do about it now.

“Does the slab mind coldfire?” whispered Miguel, who had stepped next to Terry.

“It shouldn’t, not when under my spell.”

“Perfect.” Miguel nocked an arrow and laid down on the floor and looked through the gap between the metal slab and the ground. He aimed for the feet of the mana user banging against the slab.

“ARRHG YOU WASTED—”

“Hehehe.” Miguel was pleased with his idea. Terry had to agree. This was one way to ease his worries.

“Careful on the left,” shouted Siling from the distance. Terry and Miguel checked what she was talking about and then noticed the eye of a bandit peeking through the gap.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Terry stabbed forward with his spear. Unfortunately, he was not fast enough to make contact.

“Down,” shouted Siling.

Miguel responded immediately. He let himself drop to the ground with a nocked arrow and when he saw the bandit, he immediately loosened it from the bow. The arrow was unaspected and failed to kill the bandit, but it was enough to wound him.

Siling’s latest Ice Spike finally put an end to the last bandit outside their entrance. She and Calam joined Miguel and Terry at the transfixed tertium slab.

After a few hand signals from Siling, they all stepped away for a moment so that they would not be overheard.

“Overall, we are doing fine. The bandits remain scattered. Some are investigating the eastern entrance and some are still inside the cavern. Our tunnel currently has eight.”

“I guess we were lucky that the bandit inside called for help,” remarked Terry in a whisper. “Western entrance?”

“Still in position at the entrance. It seems that they managed to kill the lookout without drawing attention. There are only two bandits walking through the western tunnel. I have already had Grumpy inform them.”

“Please inform us immediately as soon as Lori and Gellath have joined up with the others.”

“Sure thing,” whispered Siling. “When that happens, I will also switch souls to Furball.”

“Aww boo,” uttered Miguel. Siling rolled her eyes in response.

“Anyway, we should go and cause some trouble,” said Miguel. “Don’t want them to lose interest in our tunnel, do we?”

The group returned to the entrance.

“Someone’s at the left,” whispered Siling.

“On it.” Terry readied his barrier spear.

Siling indicated the height. Terry walked up to the entrance with his spear aimed according to Siling’s guidance. He quickly turned around the corner and stabbed forward. He managed to hit the shoulder of a woman that was peeking through the gap.

“They are distancing themselves from the slab,” informed Siling.

“Time for some provocation,” declared Miguel. He glanced through one of the gaps to check for bandits with long-range weapons.

Terry nodded. “Calam?”

“Ready.”

Terry and Miguel took point, behind them was Siling and then Calam.

Siling activated the barrier in her shield. Miguel nocked an aspected arrow and then he, too, activated the barrier spell imprinted in his bracer.

Terry lifted three fingers and then took one down every second. After Terry finished his silent countdown, he returned the metal slab to his storage bracelet and activated the barrier imprint in his spear.

Miguel had to deactivate his barrier in order to shoot. He took a moment to scan the bandits to make sure that none of them was ready to counterattack at long range. Next, he took aim at one of the bandits that was carrying a shortbow. Miguel deactivated the barrier, shot, and activated the barrier again.

The arrow found its mark and some of the coldfire even spilled onto the next bandit. The impact jolted the remaining targets from their daze. When they realized that the metal slab was gone, they charged at Terry and the others.

Terry paid close attention to any bandits that could pose a threat from a distance. Fortunately, the few bandits with long-range weapons seemed hesitant to use them while their comrades were charging ahead.

“Calam, your turn.”

Calam moved from behind the barrier provided by Siling and stepped next to Terry who was already preparing his own spell.

When they judged that the bandits had gotten close enough, Calam unleashed a Kinetic Push to force them right back into the tunnel. The bandits were taken off guard by the spell. Some lost hold of their weapons. Others were pushed straight into the weapons of their comrades.

Calam stepped back and Miguel took another shot. Afterwards, Terry resummoned the tertium slab and activated Immovable Object.

On their second iteration, Calam and Terry ran forward. Calam pushed the bandits further into the tunnel so that the group as a whole could move ahead some more. Then, Terry transfixed the tertium slab again.

“Hold on a moment. I will summon Furball.”

“Everything alright over there?” inquired Terry.

“As of now, yes,” replied Siling. “We will have to push in further before I will be able to sense them again.”

Miguel and the others stopped their provocations and prepared themselves to activate their barrier imprints in case of trouble. Fortunately, Siling’s soul exchange finished without incident and a white bear soul spirit with purple markings joined their group.

“So far so good,” muttered Terry. “Speed up until the others are in range for life sense again?”

Everyone nodded in agreement and they did as planned. After two more rounds of pushing into the tunnel, Siling noticed something was amiss.

“Wait,” instructed Siling. “Five of them, but staying at a distance. Out of reach for Calam.”

“Archers and Arbalists?” Miguel tried to take a look around the tertium slab, but the gaps were too narrow and the tunnel shaped too irregular for him to get a good look. “Hmph. I could take a shot with Siling directing me.”

“Or we could just move ahead without putting away the slab,” suggested Terry. “Assuming they have similar weapons to those we have seen with the other bandits, would their projectiles manage to damage or penetrate the slab?”

“Ugh. This feels like one of those questions from my old school books,” complained Miguel. “What kind of person would ever think to make armor from tertium?”

“Puh-blblbl…” Miguel forced air through his closed lips, which caused them to noisily vibrate. “The closest metal used for armor would be quintum and by ‘used’ I mean used several eras ago.”

Miguel used his fingers to feel how thick the slab was. “If we are talking full penetration, then I would say we should be fine approaching at least half of the way. Avoiding any kind of damage? Perhaps half that again.”

“Good enough. Siling, please inform us as soon as any one of them moves towards us.”

“Understood.”

Terry prepared a primed Immovable Object spell. Afterwards, he deactivated the spell transfixing the tertium slab. He grabbed the slab’s two handles and walked forward.

*Ting* It did not take long until the first projectiles impacted on the slab. None of them caused significant damage. The group proceeded like this until Siling gave a warning and Terry ignited his primed spell to transfix the metal slab again.

The group settled into a new routine. If the bandits attacked the slab, they would wait. If the bandits distanced themselves while remaining in reach for Calam, they would use Kinetic Push. If the bandits were out of reach, the group would either temporarily block with barriers and have Miguel take a shot or they would move forward with the tertium slab.

“Something’s wrong,” said Siling.

Reflexively, Terry sunk his consciousness into his Guardian card to feel for the registered links with their companions. “What do you mean? The links still indicate that the situation is under control.”

“Yes, but…” Siling looked pensive. “Let’s do one or two more rounds. Hopefully, your mana sense will be able to alleviate my concerns.”

“Sounds ominous,” murmured Miguel.

The group went back to their routine.

“Can you sense mana over there?” Siling pointed towards the wall and Terry understood that she was pointing towards a location inside the other tunnel.

While Terry was trying to focus his mana sense, Siling voiced her concerns. “I can sense two separate clusters of life signatures. If Jorg’s group were moving as planned, then there should only be a single place of confrontation. However, the second cluster seems too active for it to consist of only bandits.”

“Infighting among the bandits?” speculated Calam.

“…” Siling closely watched Terry.

“Crap. We need to hurry.” Terry’s eyes went wide and then he frowned. “The mana signature in front seems to be blood aspected.”

“The berserker?” asked Miguel.

“That’s my guess, yes.”

“Tse. Waste it,” grumbled Miguel. “The berserker lost control? Never heard that one before.”

“No point in complaining now, is there?” retorted Siling. “We need to get going.”

“Right,” agreed Terry. “We need to join up with her before things get ugly.”

“Let’s hope the berserker still has enough sense left to distinguish friend from foe,” murmured Miguel.

The group sped up their routine. They stopped waiting when the bandits attacked the metal slab. Instead, Calam would throw his spell directly at the slab after Terry had deactivated Immovable Object. Terry followed with a short burst to catch up with the slab and transfix it again. The slab received more damage than before, but their group also advanced more quickly.

To mix it up, they occasionally put the tertium slab away and pushed forward with summoned barriers instead. Additionally, Miguel got in a few more shots with coldfire-aspected arrows.

“Siling, are there any others in our tunnel?” asked Terry. “Or just the ones right in front of us?”

“No others. Why?”

“So if we take them out, the path is clear all the way to where our tunnels join together?”

“Unless others step into it, yeah.”

“Miguel, how many aspected arrows do you have left?”

“Enough, why?”

“We could go with the icicle echidna solution again.”

“Ah.” “The what now?”

“Next time they are all within range, transfix a few arrows in the air and then have Calam prepare a Kinetic Pull instead of a push.”

“So you do have a bit of the assassin type in you,” exclaimed Miguel and pictured the result. “Devious. I like it.”

“What do you call that?” asked Siling. “Inverse archer?”

It did not take long before the group got a chance for the experiment. Terry absorbed some mana from a mana container and then transfixed nine aspected arrows at regular intervals into the air. Terry himself crouched into a corner – one hand on the metal slab and the other holding his barrier spear.

“Ready,” announced Calam.

Terry put the tertium slab back into his storage bracelet and ducked behind the activated barrier imprint of his spear. Miguel and Siling had activated their barriers as well with Calam between them. Calam held out his hand from behind the barrier and cast Kinetic Pull.

Habitually, the bandits had started charging ahead as soon as they saw the metal slab disappear. The arrows aspected with coldfire were difficult to see in the dark tunnel to begin with and the backdrop illumination provided by the activated barriers made it even more difficult to notice the trap.

The Kinetic Pull caught the charging bandits completely by surprise. Three bandits died outright when their bodies impacted on the arrows and their bodies were engulfed by coldfire. One more bandit caught the coldfire from the others and suffered a similar fate. The last bandit reacted quickly enough to try and use the back from his companion as a jump point to gain some distance. Unfortunately for him, the arrow shot by Miguel was faster.

“Huh.” Miguel looked over the result of their experiment. “Not bad. Why didn’t we do that from the beginning?”

“Distraction? Tying down the targets, remember?” retorted Siling.

“Still. If they can be mopped up that quickly, then no point in distracting them.”

“Except if there isn’t anyone left to call for help, then we would have done a poor job at drawing attention,” reminded Siling.

Meanwhile, Terry summoned the tertium slab again. He transfixed the slab horizontally on top of the bodies.

“No need to wait for the coldfire to stop,” said Terry. “After you.”

“Aww, is this the gentleman putting down the jacket so that the lady does not have to step in the puddle?” joked Siling.

“I’m touched,” teased Miguel.

“Bearded ladies first,” declared Siling.

“Why couldn’t a lady simply step around the puddle?” asked Calam. “This makes no sense.”

Once they had all safely stepped beyond the reach of the coldfire, Terry collected the tertium slab into his storage bracelet.

***