Fallen Mage Regressor

In that split second where Mal could see what it was, he was able to make out that it was a humanoid. Large and white, covered in some sort of fur. A massive fist plowed into Mal's stomach and lifted him off the ground and into a wall. The air was knocked out of him in one great blast.

His body unpeeled from the wall and he collapsed to his knees.

That hurt.

"Master!"

"Oh, this is quite troublesome."

Savaly summoned an Arcane Sphere in front of her, body faced toward the white figure. Two daggers flashed into Lusia's hands, and she held them at a ready stance.

The figure was something in the imitation of a man, but the arms were too long and thick for the torso. The legs were short and stubby, and the white fur covered not just the waist or the arms, but the entire body, even the face. Sickly yellow eyes peered out from underneath the white fur and two black curling horns ascended from the head.

"A Snowson. I didn't think one would come after us."

"Perhaps this was its home?" Lusia said.

A Snowson? Mal had run across these creatures while searching for rare artifacts or ingredients in the upper mountains. A relatively common pest, a fully grown wizard was more than a match for it. But for first-year students, the mathematics of the calculation changed significantly.

Mal forced his body to take deep breaths, even while it screamed at him to wheeze and take them shorter. He stumbled to his feet and stuck his hand into his satchel.

And then he rushed forward.

Both Lusia and Savaly's eyes widened. The Snowson raised its arms up to attack him. Mal ducked underneath it, speeding up his body's reaction time and speed using mana circulation. He slammed his palm into the creature's stomach, and the Fireglove erupted immediately. Searing hot pain burned his hand and he pulled back. The Snowson stumbled in turn, clawing its massive palms against its sizzling, smoking chest.

"Savaly!" Mal shouted, gripping his burned hand.

"Got it."

She launched the Arcane Sphere forward. Thin ethereal spikes poked out from the edges and it rotated around in fast circles.

Distracted by the fire, the Snowson didn't stand a chance.

The spell cleaved straight through its stomach and came out the other end in a shower of gore. The monster looked down at its body, then fell over and hit the hard stone with a heavy thud.

Lusia slipped her weapons back into the hidden sheaths under her wrist—at least that's where Mal thought she hid it—and rushed over to Mal.

"How's your hand, master?" she asked.

Mal looked down at it.

"Bad," he said.

She looked down at his hand and followed his gaze.

After a beat of silence, her reply.

"Yes, bad."

He reached into his satchel and brought out a healing concoction he'd prepared a while ago. He dripped it onto his hand and hissed from the pain. Even so, he watched as the charred colors faded away, bit by bit. It would take time, but he suspected he'd be just fine.

"A rather foolhardy move," Savaly walked over to him. "Using your bare hand like that? Why didn't you just throw it into the air and hit it with an Arcane Sphere?"

"My casting time isn't fast enough for that," Mal said, not seeing the need to hide it. "This was the best I could do."

She hummed. "You need to improve that, my dear rival. You could seriously injure yourself, and that would be a great shame for everyone involved."

It was the closest thing to care that he'd ever seen the girl express. He almost wanted to congratulate her on it.

Then he smelled the air.

There were two types of mana emanating off of the Snowson. Blue water-type mana, and something else—a lighter cyan wafting into the air.

Ice, maybe? he thought.

But that wasn't the part that was worrying.

The part that was worrying was that he could see more of it building up from the outside, visible through the hole.

"I don't think that he came alone." Mal reached into his satchel and tensed his legs.

Savaly looked back at the doorway, her pupils narrowed into tiny pricks and her muscles tensed like a cat.

"How many? Can you tell?"

"No, but they're outside."

Lusia's daggers came back out.

"Master, please stay back."

"What kind of a Lord would I be if I allowed my servant to fight all on her own?"

"A typical one, master."

"Humor! Good job, Lusia, you're learning."

"I was being humorous?"

"Never mind."

Something padded through the snow.

Mal double-checked his options.

There were no plants in sight to manipulate, they were on a freaking mountain. All he had was his Air Boots and the Fireglove he'd collected.

Damn it, Mal thought. I got cocky. With how easily I took down that necromancer creature from before, I let it get to my head. But I'm only strong under the right circumstances, and this isn't one of them.

The rest of the wall caved in, and three Snowsons rushed toward them. Savaly shot out an Arcane Sphere and it went through the air and carved into the shoulder of one of the Snowsons. The monster roared and continued its run, only slowing down by a fraction of a second. The other went to engage Lusia. Lusia took the initiative and ran forward, dodged underneath the strike and sliced a long cut across its chest. It roared and tried to hit her. Lusia narrowed her eyes and pointed her dagger at the incoming blow. There was a flash of golden yellow light as mana burst out from the impact. The Snowson's hand stopped in midair. In the same instant, the dagger sliced through its arm at impossible speed, like a hot knife through butter.

Mal was about to monologue to himself about how clever Lusia had been to realize this particular aspect of her kinetic redirection, when he remembered that there was a third Snowson.

Mal dived underneath the fist and swiped his dagger across the extended arm. He'd moved on pure instinct, not a conscious thought in his mind. The Snowson screeched and threw its other fist forward at Mal. He dodged to the side of that attack and scored another quick cut.

He'd managed to pick up on the pattern at this point. He took another step, then slammed his air boots into the ground and got around the back of the Snowson in a heartbeat. He flipped his dagger into reverse grip, then swung down at the base of the spine. The Snowson's body seized up and it fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Mal had clocked their movements. He quickly rushed over to assist Lusia when he heard a startled cry.

Savaly stumbled backward, her school robes ripped around the thigh. The Snowson that was attacking her was different than the others. Larger. Its eyes were a different color, too. Bright red, not the pale yellow of the other Snowsons.

Mal rushed forward and activated his Airgrass boots. His speed increased, and he was at the backside of the strange Snowson. He brought his dagger up for another stab to the base of the spine.

The Snowson abruptly pivoted and slammed the back of its palm into Mal. At the last second, Mal managed to fall with the blow and avoid too much damage. The blow continued on past him and hit the wall hard enough to make the cave shake.

Had he been in the way of that, he would've been dead.

He rolled his shoulder around—bruised, but still usable. Lusia brought down her own opponent with a quick swipe of one of her knives. She quickly dashed over to Mal's side and faced down the Snowson, daggers extended.

"I'm going to distract it," Mal said. He reached for another batch of Fireglove in his satchel and paused.

"Actually, Lusia, I'm going to throw something into the air. Your job will be to hit it with your dagger, using a ranged throw."

Lusia nodded. "Understood."

Mal gripped his fingers around the Fireglove. He pulled it out, then threw it straight into the air and at the Snowson. The Snowson raised its hand to bat the Fireglove away.

"Lusia, now!"

Her dagger snapped forward and hit the Fireglove like a lightning bolt. An explosion ripped out, and a ball of flame expanded and burned the unusual Snowson's face. The Snowson stumbled backward and let out an unearthly scream. Mal activated his Airgrass boots and jumped up. His dagger pointed directly toward the skull and penetrated it with a crack. Mal's body landed onto the Snowson's skull, and the entire creature stumbled backward.

Before it fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Mal stumbled off of the creature's body, his hands stained with blood. He tugged his dagger out, wiped it on the fur, then sheathed it. He turned around.

Lusia stood at attention, her eyes focused on him.

Savaly, meanwhile, was on the ground, not moving.

Mal paled.

Then rushed to her side.

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