Chapter 437 – Siege Magic.

‘So this is it? Reminds me of my first dungeon, but it’s even larger.’

Roland looked out into the distance where he saw a somewhat gloomy scenery. They had followed a wide set of stairs down and arrived below ground where the air felt cooler and the atmosphere thicker. The entrance led them to a vast expanse filled with gloomy trees, fog, and gloomy swamplands. The swamp area seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions with twisted trees and murky water making it difficult to discern any clear path. The low visibility and eerie silence added an unsettling vibe to the surroundings.

Professor Ulfine took the lead and confidently guided the group towards the entrance of this large dungeon. While it was hard to see an ending to these swamps, they were still underground and surrounded by rocky walls. This place was quite large but it was not endless. However, the low visibility could cause people to lose direction and end up wandering for many days.

‘Those blue lights in the distance, those must be the will-o’-wisps.’

While the students were taking in the sights and shivering from the drop in temperature he took his time to look around. This place was apparently filled with low-level spectral monsters like the will-o’-wisp. The Spiritualist Professor that he was looking for resided in this place and he needed to find them before the advancement classes were over.

The monsters here were rather trivial and there was no reason to even fear specters. There was a good reason why a mage academy was built near this particular dungeon. While people with regular battle classes would find it hard to damage these beings without special weapons, this wasn’t the case for mages. These specters were quite susceptible to spells and other attacks backed by mana.

‘Hm… I wonder if the weakness to mana has anything to do with the mana phantom and why I can see it with my skill? Maybe the mana can disrupt it in some way?’

Roland pondered mana theory and the students descended into the dungeon. The excitement and chatter that had accompanied them on the surface began to dwindle. Soon the oppressive atmosphere of the swamp seemed to weigh on their shoulders and the occasional croaking of unseen creatures added to the tension.

“Did you hear that? What was that?”

Lucienne asked one of her friends while the strange monster sounds echoed from a distance. Atasuna’s ears curled up slightly as the two girls looked around in fear.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it here…”

“What are you two scared about, there is nothing to be scared about!”

Replied Marlein in a braver tone but her two roommates quickly noticed that something wasn’t right.

“Say that after you stop shaking like a little baby.”

“I’m just cold!”

“Sure you are!”

The talk between the three girls stopped him from thinking about mana and instead focused on the problem at hand. After leaving the inn they stayed in they met up with some adventurers from the city. They came along with them and would act as a second layer of protection for the kids here.

There should be no way of anything going wrong but he still needed to watch out for potential danger. Any of these people could have been hired by their enemies or others could already be waiting for them inside of this dungeon. This place was quite large, almost the size of the underground portion of the Albrook dungeon. With all the fog, water, and strange sounds it was quite difficult to maneuver through here, for anyone without a mapping device that is.

‘They are all kind of… weak’

His eyes scanned for potential threats but everyone that was with them would not pose much of a threat. This dungeon might have looked intimidating to new adventurers and the students, but it was filled with tier 1 monsters. They would not pose a threat to tier 2 class holders and the tier 3 people like Roland weren’t even expected to do anything. Their role was to keep everything civil and scare away potential threats from outside, like possible assassins or kidnappers.

They had children of some rich merchants and lesser nobility here, and they were also mages who were quite rare. In this world where classes mattered the most, they were an important human resource. During times of war, they were moving siege weapons that could produce devastating spells and tip the scales in the country’s favor. This was enough to make some of them a target for slavery and many countries salivated over the prospect of having a battalion of slave mages.

While a single powerful mage could produce devastating magical power, their true worth lay in combination spells. Just like with runic creations, it was possible to enhance and enlarge existing magic. It was simply named war magic or siege magic and could only function when multiple mages worked together. These spells were slow but allowed even lesser mages to produce spells that were comparable to spells of higher tiers.

The kingdom put a lot of importance on these mages learning these spells. Even his sister was already trained in the theory and had been probably practicing the chants with the others. Today’s Advancement Classes weren’t only about gaining levels but also to give the youngsters moving targets to practice on.

“Everyone get ready, after the adventurers lure in the monsters you will perform the Lesser Mana Burst spell, remember to concentrate on the markers.”

After they had gathered at the entrance to the first dungeon floor, Professor Ernas gave a little speech to the students. They were to perform the simplest siege spell together. There wasn’t really a limit to the number of casters, so all of them would do it together. They would all channel their magic towards a conduit, which was, in a sense, the most important part of the spell.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Well then, who should we choose as the conduit… any volunteers?”

Professor Ernas asked the forty or so students but no one dared to reply. All of them knew that this was quite a taxing role and fumbling at this role would potentially make them into a laughing stock.

“No one? Then how about one of you three? You were being quite chatty during the trip here.”

“Ah…”

Roland raised his eyebrow and started wondering if this choice had something to do with his sister. For some reason, Ernas decided to point in the direction of the trio of Lucienne, Atasuna, and Marlein. It could have been a coincidence as the three were somewhat louder than the other kids in their groups, something that could have caught the ire of this professor.

“Quickly make a decision, if not then…”

“I’ll do it, Professor!”

“Good, step forward. What’s your name?”