Chapter 11 | The Assassin Tests a Killing Move
Dia, Tarte, and I were headed off on our excursion. Tarte was walking cheerfully while carrying a basket full of food. She must have been looking forward to this, as she had woken up very early to prepare our lunch.
Conversely, Dia was in the middle of an exhausted yawn.
“You really stayed up late last night,” I observed.
“Yeah, but I was finally able to finish it. I found the final piece I needed in a book I borrowed from the library… I’m so tired,” Dia replied.
“Is this for a new spell?” I asked.
“Yeah. One you’ve been asking for. I’ve been working on complex and powerful spells for a while, but I’ve also been toying with the idea of creating magic that prioritizes speed. I compressed information as much as I could to create the shortest formulas possible. They aren’t powerful, and they’re pretty inaccurate, but they’re quite quick and easy to use,” Dia explained.
“That sounds helpful. Magic can be difficult to use in combat,” I said.
When casting a spell, you needed to utter an incantation. Finding time to do that when someone was trying to kill you could be difficult. Outside of Wind Armor, there weren’t many spells that were usable in a direct fight.
Wind Armor was one of Tarte’s favorite bits of magic to use. The defensive enchantment would last for a while, so you could cast it before you ever engaged an enemy. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with most other spells. Typically, sorcerers worked on incantations while a vanguard of infantry protected them.
I wanted to see if something could be done about that drawback, though. As such, Dia and I had been conducting some research. These shortened spells were the result.
I analyzed Dia’s formula. The way she was able to compress the recipe down to such a small size was nothing short of art. She had such an incredible sense for magic. I never would’ve come up with something this brilliant.
“This is a good formula. I’ll go ahead and use Spell Weaver to make it a new spell,” I said.
“Hmm-hmm, it’s only three lines. It shouldn’t take more than a second to cast,” Dia responded.
“For sure.”
Dia and I regularly exercised our tongues to perform incantations at high speeds, and as such, we were capable of chanting much faster than the average person. A three-line recitation would only take us a single second. Perhaps even less.
“It’s too bad it’s a fire spell. That means I can’t use it,” Tarte admitted with dejection.
“You have Wind Armor, Tarte. Isn’t that good enough?” I asked.
“I can use that in combat if I whisper the incantation beforehand, but after it wears off, I have no way of casting it again.”
She had a point. Wind Armor was a powerful spell, and its necessary chant was proportionally long.
Tarte looked at Dia pleadingly.
“Okay fine, I’ll make a wind formula for you. But in exchange, you have to bake another cake… I don’t know how your cakes end up so delicious despite not using any expensive ingredients. You’re not any more skilled than my pastry chef,” said Dia.
“Um, maybe it’s because I bake them with love?” Tarte posited.
“Why do you sound so unsure of that?” Dia questioned. She and Tarte both laughed. “Anyway, this mountain makes for a nice stroll. It’s perfect for a picnic.”
“Yes, the roads are maintained very well,” agreed Tarte.
“That’s because the army often marches through this area. It’s taken good care of,” I explained.
Climbing an undeveloped mountain was very difficult. I was grateful we had a clear path to follow.
“It gets a bit rough up ahead,” I cautioned. “People don’t often go beyond this point. There’s a good spot through this forest trail.”
“So that’s why you said I shouldn’t wear my servant clothes. If I were wearing that outfit, my skirt would get caught on everything.”
“Yeah. What we’ve got on now is much easier to move in.”
The three of us were wearing Tuatha Dé combat clothes with robes over them.
The garb didn’t bare much skin, and it hugged tightly to the body. It was the perfect sort of thing to wear when hiking. After folding up our robes, we ventured into the forest.
I led, cutting down obtrusive branches along the way, and we arrived at our destination before long.
“Wow, that riverbed is so pretty. This place is spacious, and the sound of the water is relaxing,” Tarte remarked.
“We can make as much noise as we want here,” Dia observed.
“Yeah, that’s why I chose it. How about we eat first?” I said.
“Okay, I’ll take out the food.” Tarte spread out a sheet and opened the basket.
Our entrée was a large meat pie. When we cut into it, ample, creamy meat sauce with ground beef spilled out. It looked delicious.
Lunch had ended. Tarte’s cooking had been just as tasty as it had looked.
“Oh yeah, Lugh. Is it okay that you’re not watching her today?”
Dia was talking about Epona. I’d told both her and Tarte about the assassin.
“You saw our mock battle, right? There’s no way anyone is even capable of killing her. Also, I asked Naoise to look after her. Epona doesn’t really need a protector, but my leaving the academy today is actually a trap. If all goes according to plan, I’ll have the assassin.”
I’d been investigating ever since I’d learned that someone was aiming for Epona’s life. I’d managed to catch traces of the assassin’s presence here and there, but they’d seemed content to observe from a distance thus far. They were cautious. Hopefully, by presenting them with an opportunity, I could lure them into pouncing.
“If you’re sure you’ve thought it all out, then I guess that’s okay,” Dia said.
“Of course.”
As I’d already made clear, there was no reason to think Epona would die.
“All right, let’s get started. I wrote down that spell, Dia. Go ahead and try to use it,” I instructed.
“Okay. This is a rapid-fire spell that can be used from point-blank range… Watch this.”
Dia spoke the incantation.
“Instant Flame!”
Fire burst forth less than a second after she began chanting. The blaze was extremely hot thanks to the powerful mana she’d cast it with. The heat was easily intense enough to kill.
“Okay, so it just shoots a jet of fire. It diffuses quickly, though, because the flames don’t converge, but you can use it almost immediately. Its force also increases the more mana you use,” explained Dia.
“It looks convenient. You could use it from any position,” I remarked.
It was perfect for when you’d lost your balance in a sword fight and didn’t have time to avoid the next oncoming attack. No opponent would expect such a quick spell. There was no limit to the kind of situations you could use it in, provided your opponent was unaware of the maneuver, of course.
“You’ve created something exceedingly useful, Dia,” I complimented.
I tested Instant Flame for myself. Not only was it simple to utilize, but it could also create quite the blaze if you put all your mana into it. While its short range was a definite hindrance, the spell’s versatility more than made up for that.
“Seeing you both use it makes me want magic like that even more. If this were a wind spell, I’d be able to blow away my opponent, gather myself, and then accelerate instantly. It would be even more useful than fire,” Tarte stated.
I agreed with her. While a wind version would share some overlap with Wind Armor, the instant casting time would make a huge difference.
“All right, I’ll make you a wind one. I won’t be able to use it, but it sounds like it would serve you and Lugh well,” Dia acknowledged. “That’s all I have to reveal today. You’re up next, Lugh.”
“Okay. Time to unveil a new killing move… I’ve thought a lot about how to make use of my Leather Crane Bag. In the end, I kept coming back to the idea that it lets me carry around as many weapons as I want. As an example, think about Gun Strike. Forming the gun, loading it with bullets, and casting the explosion spell takes a long time,” I began.
“Yeah, if you use that bag, you can carry around a pre-prepared gun. That will cut down on the casting time. That’s kinda boring for you, though,” Dia said.
“If that were all, it would be. But like I said, I can carry as many weapons as I want. Which means I can do this.”
I severed the mana flowing into the magic bag. The alternate space within the bag immediately collapsed, and all of the contents burst out at once.
What erupted out of the bag were twenty guns as large as tank cannons, the kind I used not for Gun Strike, but Cannon Strike. If I didn’t have to worry about each one’s size, I could make them as big and powerful as I wanted. By increasing the number of them, I could also crank up the force of the attack.
Each barrel was loaded with bullets and shards of Fahr Stones. I’d adjusted the stones’ size because the cannon cylinders weren’t able to handle full-size ones. Every Fahr Stone was filled to the brim with mana and rang with the sound that signaled they were about to explode.
I then finished the incantation I’d been performing.
“Arrange!”
Using a magnetic force field, I shifted the direction of all twenty cannons. They all began to rumble, fixed in place in midair. Dia and Tarte knew by now to cover their ears and open their mouths.
“Cannon Volley!”
All of the weapons discharged simultaneously, reducing the shore by the river to ash. A single Cannon Strike couldn’t compare to this level of destruction.
It was a successful test.
I had made one miscalculation, however. After the cannons fired in midair, the recoil proved too much for them to stay in place, and they were all sent flying backward.
The attack was definitely too dangerous to use in a situation where there were allies behind me. I needed to either set the cannons in the ground or somehow configure them to fire without any recoil. That was a problem for later, however.
“This is the killing move I’ve devised by experimenting with the Leather Crane Bag. With it, I can fire dozens of Cannon Strikes at the same time. I call it Cannon Volley,” I said.
It was a bombardment of shots; every one of them held the power of a tank behind it. Best of all, it hardly took any time to cast. It was a worthy addition to my deadly arsenal.
“What the hell are you planning on using this for?! You wouldn’t need this much firepower to kill a dragon!” Dia exclaimed.
“It really doesn’t seem to be a spell meant for people,” Tarte added.
“If I ever end up having to fight the hero, even this wouldn’t be enough to kill her. I’d like to use Gungnir, but that’s not reliable in a fight. I came up with this as another option.”
My quest for a powerful spell that was still usable in combat had led me to Cannon Volley.
“This is going too far!” Dia insisted.
“Like I said, even this isn’t strong enough… I fought her, so I know,” I explained.
The hero was stupidly powerful.
“All right, I’m done with testing my new killing move. Let’s move on to practice. We haven’t had a wide field like this to use in a long time. Show me the fruits of your labors.”
“Sounds good. I’ll show you how much I’ve grown,” declared Dia.
“I’m still getting stronger, too!” Tarte asserted.
I gave them both a thorough training session. Perhaps because of the good food and open space, the workout seemed to go better than usual. By the end, Dia was so exhausted, I had to carry her back to the academy.
“Lord Lugh, today was a lot of fun,” Tarte said.
“Yeah, it was. Spending time outside is fun,” I replied.
The day had made for a good break from the normal.
I have to check on my trap when I get back. Catching that assassin was the one thing that could make the day better.
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