Chapter 25: Found

From a comfortable chair in a small hut on the edge of the Academy Grounds, the old mage watched the scene in the training grounds in a crystal ball. "That new leader is sneaky. I like the way that he thinks, but he might be too afraid of combat." He noted. Sergeant Rita snorted and shook her head. "No, he's just avoiding any extra work. See the Hawk he's got up in the trees? The two of them can communicate. He's playing cat and mouse with the other team because he knows there is a timer, and they won't double back on an area they've just searched. If they don't catch the trick, the time is going to run out with his people just sitting in the swamp." She explained. The younger mage nodded. "His task was to protect the flag for the duration of the match, not eliminate the attackers. It is a valid strategy. It reminds me of when we collected that Grimoire from the Thalian Temple, and then just sat on the beach for a week drinking margaritas until the search teams moved on." The older mage laughed softly at the memory. Their world had a rich history of magic to go along with the dangers of the magical beasts that lived in it, but as cultures shifted, the magically adept had gathered into their own enclaves, and left large parts of the world to rely on developing technology to survive. When they did survive, that was. Many of the magical societies in the ancient past had believed that the human population shouldn't exceed a few million for the entire planet, in order to keep the game preserves and rare species that they used as hunting grounds and reagents for their spells intact. So, when those left behind with no magic and insufficient weapons were eliminated, they didn't take any action to prevent the disasters. That bit got glossed over in the history books, described as a failure of allied nations, rather than magic users banding together to the exclusion of everyone else, but that was mostly because the few powerful magic users who stayed in places like the Golden Dragon Nation were instrumental to helping the civilization survive while they developed enough technology to stand on their own. Karl led his team south through the swamp, hiding behind trees as the attackers moved through the fog, and then waited as Hawk relayed their efforts to double-check the area, as the foggy area in the swamp was not only suspicious, it was the perfect hiding place for a group of warriors who didn't want to engage in ranged combat. Among the four attackers, there were two group leaders, who were both warriors with ranged attacks, and two first year mages. It was a well-balanced group of survivors, but they were outnumbered by the defenders and couldn't afford to be caught from behind if they missed someone. "They've moved. I don't sense any life here larger than a bird." One of the leaders whispered. "If your skill says so, then we can keep going. But I think that they will return once they believe that we are gone, so let's circle back." The other agreed. The mages weren't particularly happy about wading through swamp water all morning, but they got extra credit for just being part of the special training program, a reward for top-performing students, so they weren't going to complain and risk getting switched out. The attacking group headed north to check for the hiding spot of the last defenders, and Karl prepared to give the order to move again. "There are only fifteen minutes left." One of the warriors whispered. "In that case, we wait right here. Hawk says they're going north, so they're not likely to find us at all." The group silently waited as the attackers moved north, then with ten minutes left in the match, they turned back south, moving more quickly and searching for the last defenders. "They're coming back. Hawk says they're almost to the fog now." Karl relayed as their scout explained the change. They were deep in the fog when one of the two leaders noticed the disturbed roots and groaned in frustration. "They hid here at the start, but they must have heard us coming and moved. They're not north or east, this is almost at the western edge, so they have to be south." He whispered to his team. "So, we search for them in the fog again?" One of the Mages asked. "No, they should be outside of it, the fog hasn't spread that far. Just don't let them ambush us because they might have split up to set a trap instead of being in a tight formation." The attack group moved cautiously, but they were moving directly toward the spot where Karl had hidden the defenders. Unlike the first spot in the swamp, they were not in the water here, they were lying among the thick foliage on relatively dry ground, counting on Hawk's warning to prevent them from being caught in a disadvantageous position. [Hawk, once the fight begins, you attack with Rend from above, but keep your distance. They can attack back, and I don't want you getting hit.] Then Karl whispered to his team. "Once we spot them, everyone to their feet, turtle formation. Dana, prepare your attack spell, and I will as well. Go for the leaders first, they're the real threat. We will leave the mages to Hawk, since they likely can't take a hit." The warriors smirked. They hadn't seen Karl in action yet, but he had to have something going for him if he had been picked as a substitute team leader for the day. The attackers came into sight, and the defence group rose to their feet, forming up and lifting their shields. "They're in a full circle formation. It looks like they're on to your tricks." One of the warriors quietly joked. The other had managed to master a movement technique that would allow him to move with incredible speed for a few seconds, so he could attack from unexpected angles. Karl, of course, had no idea. He had set the turtle shell in case the mages had tricks up their sleeves so that the team could create a full dome of protection with [Guard].