Kathy opened her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Wasn’t supposed to tell you guys, but now that it’s out in the open, yup. That’s part of your test.”
“So, who are they?” Patrick asked.
Kathy blinked. “I’m…obviously not going to just answer that.”
It seemed like a silly question, but Kathy’s eyes shifted when she responded, just for a moment.
I didn’t see where she was looking.
But maybe Patrick had?
Not a bad move, Patrick. Hope you got something.
“Okay, but why? They broke some of our crates, but most of the contents seem intact. Were they just expecting the fire to burn longer?”
“The horses,” Jin answered. “And, if they are particularly clever, a trap for whoever runs after the horses.”
I took just an instant to process that.
Patrick responded first. “Marissa! She’s in danger! We need to go after her.”
Kyra shook her head. “Marissa might be able to keep up with a horse, but she’s a Guardian. None of us are going to be able to catch them any time soon.”
“Actually, that’s not quite true.” I glanced from side to side. “I’ll be right back.”
Haste.
A field of transference mana manifested around my legs.
I broke into a run, ignoring the shouts from the people behind me.
I could clear my name later.
For now, I had a friend to save.
I still wasn’t particularly adept at running with the Haste spell active. Even practicing for weeks, I was still stumbling any time I hit a particularly large bump or a root. Twice, I nearly fell flat on my face.
But the speed boost was significant. I hadn’t measured it, but I guessed I was running at about twice my normal speed. Maybe a little less, after accounting for necessary slowdowns to avoid taking a tumble.
With that kind of speed, it only took me about two minutes to find Marissa, surrounded by half a dozen monsters.
The road ahead of her was blocked by a tremendous boulder — and a single figure in a hooded cloak stood atop it, glimmering with magical energy.
Two more humanoid figures in similar garb stood at the edge of the forest, simply watching.
No sign of the horses.
As I approached, a wolf-like beast with metallic blades protruding from its back leapt at Marissa.
She ducked, grabbed its legs while it was still airborne, and then spun and hurled it at another monster — an animated suit of armor.
The monsters collided and tumbled to the ground, but I knew they wouldn’t be down for long.
Still, I had greater concerns.
One of the figures in the forest raised a hand and pointed it straight at Marissa’s back. A halo of fire appeared around his hand.
He’s a heart-marked, and he’s charging a stronger spell.
I ran straight at him.
I was too unsteady on my feet to draw my sword while I was running.
I settled for something else.
One.
Two.
Three.
He turned toward my running footsteps. His hood fell backward, exposing a student’s face with almost comically wide eyes.
He shifted his hand toward me, still glowing with fire.
Four.
Good enough.
I slammed my fist into his chest, discharging the transference energy I’d been storing inside.
He flew backward, slammed into a tree, and then fell still.
I…might have hit him too hard.
Marissa turned toward the sound, absently backhanded a blast of lightning that came at her from the other direction, and then waved at me. “Oh, hey, Corin!”
Then a bear monster jumped on top of her, slamming her to the ground.
“Ack!” I managed, rushing toward her.
The bear-thing reared up to take a bite.
In that moment, Marissa rolled over. “Rude!” She punched it in the face.
The bear fell backward, looking stunned, and Marissa sprung to her feet, throwing a backward kick at the animated suit of armor that had just dislodged itself from the wolf.
Another blast of lightning came from the student on the other side, this time connecting. Marissa winced, falling back, and I saw her shield crack just slightly. It wasn’t the first crack, though.
A quick inspection with my attunement showed that she’d projected her shroud to outside of her shield, just like she had in the arena. That shroud was soaking up most of the damage she was taking, but not all of it.
And if her barrier broke, she’d be out, regardless of whether or not she could keep fighting.
I kept running toward her, but another monster got in my way. It looked mostly like a human, but with a neutral mask instead of a face.
Oh, that’s a—
The figure’s body stretched and distorted, flesh transmuting as it formed a school uniform. Black hair burst from the back of its head. A sword formed in its hand.
Then I was staring at an exceptionally creepy copy of myself, the only distinction being the neutral mask remaining in place of a face.
It raised a sword that matched my own, including with the transference aura surrounding it. I didn’t know how it managed that one.
But I knew what I was fighting. This was a charade, a type of magical construct that could copy the general appearance and capabilities of humans. It wasn’t quite as dangerous as a doppelganger, but it was still considered a Sunstone-level threat.
And it was coming at me fast.
I raised my own sword to parry its first strike, but another strike came at me almost instantly.
With my attunement still active, I understood why. His whole body was glowing with an aura of transference mana.
The charade had copied my Haste spell.
And it was better at using it than I was.
That strike only clipped my coat.
I stepped back, taking a defensive stance, but he struck again and connected this time, leaving a gash along my ribs. My phoenix sigil took the brunt of the damage, but it hit hard.
Not only had it left a gash along my side, the pure force of the blow left me staggering backward and coughing.
Now I know what being hit with a sword with a transference aura feels like.
While the charade continued to harry me, Marissa was still surrounded by five other monsters.
She was doing a great job at defending herself and redirecting their attacks into each other, but she wasn’t doing much real damage, and they were wearing her down.
I need to help her.
I tried to sweep the charade’s legs, but it hopped back, surprisingly nimble.
I wasn’t particularly used to fighting intelligent monsters. Humans usually had an advantage in finesse against the more bestial creatures, like that blade-wolf-thing.
In this case, I had fewer advantages. It was faster than me, and if the moments our blades had met were any indication, probably stronger.
I made a few probing strikes. It responded with expert precision, deflecting my blows without effort.
I had no noticeable skill advantage to exploit. At least not when taking the creature’s enhanced speed into account.
Haste.
I stretched the aura across my entire body, enhancing my speed for both my movements and my attacks.