Chapter 3 – Battle Mage

“—Here I go.”

With those words, Grace stepped forward. That single step alone caused the ground to explode beneath her.

Moving almost parallel to the road with bullet-like momentum, she swung her axe, and an ant’s body was cleanly severed in two, soaring high into the air.

Combined with Grace’s slender figure, it was quite an otherworldly sight.

Grace’s fighting style was simple and straightforward. Overwhelming force backed by her monstrous strength.

The trajectory of her weapon swings was linear and easy to read, but their initial speed was anything but ordinary. Whether it was a weapon or a shield, anything that took a direct hit would likely be crushed along with its wielder.

She crushed an ant’s head underfoot, effortlessly tore off another’s head with one hand. Swinging her twin axes horizontally and vertically, throwing them, spinning them—with each movement, ants were literally pulverized.

And to think her strength was supposedly even greater at night or indoors—truly terrifying. This was a perfect example of how sheer brute force alone could be a fearsome threat.

Her blood-red eyes narrowed.

As Grace swung her axes freely, her fangs peeked out from her lips—and she even wore a smile. The Gartner House had forced her to exercise considerable restraint, and since her opponents were just ants, today she could rampage to her heart’s content.

Honestly, against ants, there was no need to worry about her. We’d agreed to watch each other’s backs, but these opponents didn’t even warrant that much concern.

As for me, since this was technically my first real combat, I decided to observe the situation carefully while staying alert.

I raised my magic staff, which was taller than me, scooped up an approaching ant, and sent it spinning into the air. At the same time, I deployed magic. I shot a fireball at the ant tumbling through the air. Its entire body burst into flames in an instant, leaving behind nothing but charcoal.

When I wrapped tornado magic around my staff and swept it horizontally, the approaching line of ants vanished, reduced by exactly the extent of my attack range.

With some distance now between us, I plunged my staff into the ground. A magic array spread from my feet, and countless earthen spears shot out from the ground a short distance away, skewering a group of ants.

“……Against ants, this feels a bit like overkill.”

And I was only using beginner-level magic that required no charging time.

I drew my staff like an iai strike, freely bisecting the ant swarm with wind blades.

The selling point of a Battle Mage is fighting by unleashing magic during close-quarters combat using staff martial arts and martial arts.

The benefits gained from learning and activating the exclusive skill “Magical Power Circulation” are primarily two: enhancing one’s physical abilities and amplifying magic’s destructive power.

However—by using the magical power refined within the body through circulation to increase destructive power, range is sacrificed in return. That’s why it’s necessary to also train in combat skills unlocked by enhanced physical abilities and hone close-quarters combat techniques.

High firepower but paper-thin armor. It’s certainly a peaky role that tests a player’s skill.

While capable of serving as an artillery unit like regular magic classes, in that case, circulation cannot be activated. In a straightforward shootout, other magic classes with skills specialized for long-range combat would have the advantage.

Still… these ants are perfect for a warm-up.

They know no fear and attack relying solely on numbers, but that’s all they have. They don’t even coordinate with each other, so as long as you have enough firepower to take them out as they approach, they’re actually easy to fight.

“Monica! They’ve broken through on your side!”

“I know!”

The Forestbird members were also skillfully using the defense barrier, picking off ants one by one as they tried to force their way through the barrier and slowed down. At this rate, we shouldn’t struggle much and should be able to repel them soon.

“Oh, it’s over—”

The swarm of ants emerging from the forest became sporadic, intermittent, and finally dwindled to the last one.

As Forestbird drove a longsword through its head, stopping its movement, they slumped to the ground.

Grace and I still had energy to spare.

In my case, I was enhanced by circulation and had means to convert magical power into vitality. As long as my magical power didn’t run out, my vitality wouldn’t either. The magic I’d used for attacks wasn’t particularly high-ranked anyway.

The plan we’d devised was simple and straightforward. Grace and I would take the front and crush the ants, while Forestbird would handle any that slipped past to the barrier and protect the horses. That was it.

Even if we could cut our way through, it would be a problem if the horses got eaten. We wanted to avoid any hindrances to our future travels.

That’s why we used the seventh-tier light magic, Defense Field—a hemispherical defense barrier—to hinder the approaching ants’ movements while splitting into offensive and defensive roles to handle them.

Seventh-tier magic is roughly intermediate to high-tier. I used it simply to demonstrate my capabilities and convince everyone that I should take the offensive role.

I’d decided it was better to fight and push through than hold back and run away. Even against a swarm, there was no reason to turn my back on mere Killer Ants.

“Today… I saw all sorts of unbelievable things…”

“I guess geniuses really do exist…”

…I’d have to accept being looked at like that.

“Theodore-sama.”

I turned when Grace called my name.

“Please take care of it.”

“Yeah.”

I took her hand, touched the ring, and restored the restrictions. Grace staggered slightly. I instinctively supported her body.

“Are you okay?”

“—Yes. Since our opponents were ants, I didn’t get too… intoxicated, so I was able to avoid showing an unsightly appearance. I don’t feel hungry either.”

Looking slightly embarrassed, Grace nodded, pressed a hand to her chest, and let out a deep breath.

…Apparently, when the restrictions are lifted, the smell of living creatures’ blood makes Grace intoxicated. She smiled a little during the fight today too, so she must have leaned somewhat toward her vampire side during combat.

Grace calls this “shameful” and doesn’t seem to like it herself.

Her vampiric urges as a dhampir can be suppressed this way with a cursed tool, but leaning toward her human side apparently converts those urges directly into human sensations—like hunger.

I carefully observed Grace’s condition. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but that was probably from all the movement. The axe she’d been swinging effortlessly earlier now seemed heavy.

…She didn’t seem seriously injured, and if her hunger wasn’t too bad, then Grace should be fine, right? In that case, what remained to be done was—

“Tonight—looks like we’re camping out.”

I looked up at the sky as I said it. At least it didn’t look like rain.

“Huh? If we hurry, we could make it to the next town—”

There was a reason we couldn’t do that. I told them.

“After we rest—let’s do some harvesting.”

Behind me, ant corpses were piled up like a mountain.

Monsters accumulate magical power in specific body parts, so they can be processed as materials and sold for money.

In other words—we have to collect the Killer Ant mandibles, right?

It’s fine. We’ll split them evenly. You can rest assured about that.

Though they wore strained smiles, they nodded looking somewhat happy. The fact that there were no objections at all showed they were adventurers through and through.

We managed to collect the mandibles before sunset, then burned the ant corpses and finished cleaning up.

Since the probability of encountering relatively troublesome monsters like Wisps and Ghosts increases at night, we decided it was better to set up barriers and wait until morning rather than push on.

I didn’t like the idea of camping right where the battle happened either, so we proceeded a bit further down the road and set up camp in an open area.

However, even with barriers, they’re ineffective against bandits and the like, so we couldn’t skip setting up watch.

Given today’s special circumstances, we decided that those of us with vitality to spare would take the first watch, letting them rest.

After all, they could travel comfortably by carriage during the day, so this much shouldn’t be a problem.

Or rather, personally, I wanted to thoroughly inspect my magic staff tonight. It made an unpleasant sound during combat…

“Hmm.”

There were fine cracks running through it. Apparently, it couldn’t withstand the overload of circulated magical power.

…Just one real battle and this happens. I guess makeshift equipment just won’t cut it, even if it’s new.

“Is something wrong?”

When I groaned while examining it against the campfire’s light, Grace tilted her head and asked.

“Look, this.”

“…There are cracks. This was supposed to be new, right?”

“Seems the staff couldn’t handle it.”

Still, among what was readily available in the Count’s territory, this was the best option.

I’d probably need to replace it, but with similar quality, if I fired intermediate or high-tier magic while circulating, it wouldn’t be surprising if it shattered in one shot.

I can fight bare-handed too, but I originally specialized in staff-based skills… I really wish I had a better staff.

“It’s alright. I’m sure you’ll find a good one in Termwills.”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

“I’ll be with you too. Until then, please don’t push yourself too hard.”

“…What about you, Grace? Is it okay to lift the restrictions so frequently? Don’t hold back and hide any discomfort, okay?”

“There’s no need to worry about that. The only burden on me is the recoil when they’re restored, and even if the recoil is severe, it’s only temporary and doesn’t linger.”

Grace tilted her head slightly and said.

“Today… I just felt a little unsettled, that’s all.”

“Unsettled?”

“No. It’s already passed. Since it didn’t feel unpleasant, I think I’m fine. I’ve lived with this constitution for a long time.”

Hmm… I’ll probably have to keep observing Grace’s condition regarding such matters going forward.

As I watched her refined profile illuminated by the flickering flames, she turned a somewhat happy smile toward me.