Ambient Mage

At her words, a few of the people on the wall zipped off into the horde.

Mages began to release spell en masse.

The spells were large, but concise, making sure to only hit certain enemies.

I sat behind everyone, occasionally casting a spell to relieve some of the people in the horde.

We had defeated about 20 monsters before we needed to switch out the people down below, as exhastion was easier to heal than wounds.

All healers aside from Lauren and Aisha were on the wall, assisting people on the wall who were hurt.

And many were hurt.

Monsters, were ranked by destructive capability to beings, not versatility of damage.

For example the bile frog, a frog with two mouths, spits bile out from the one located near it's stomach, out to the target, up to 10 meters away.

The damage of the projectile, and the damage the acid does is added to the destructive capability, but overall the damage possible since the frog can shoot the projectile is not accounted for.

So many long range beasts had reared their heads and began to bombard the wall.

We started to focus some mages into creating a barrier.

We had another 50 monsters defeated before we had to change something.

The beasts were getting smarter.

They were attacking in waves now.

Every 30 to 40 minutes 20 or 30 would flood out, wearing us down.

Like this, 3 hours passed, many people were getting tired from guarding the walls.

We were starting to run thin on manpower, we knew it, and somehow the beasts did too.

"Claudia, we can't keep going like this."

"Do you think you and a select group could fend off an attack giving everyone an hour?"

"I think I could, an hour seems like enough rest, including our healers, who desperately need it."

"Great, who do you need?"

"Morgan, Ludwig, Anna, and Lewis."

"I can get this arranged, but isn't 5 of you too little?"

"As long as there is no 5th tier beast we'll be okay."

"Alright then, we'll get everything you 5 could use."

"Great I appreciate it. I swear when we get out of here I'll buy everyone in admin coffee for a month."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I won't say no to free Evenfold coffee."

"There's only three of you there anyways so it's okay."

"Right, so are you getting anywhere with Michael?"

She nudged my side with her shoulder.

"Rose."

I gave her the 'are you serious?' look.

"Sorry, sorry, you two just seem like you would be a fun couple if you were together."

I smiled.

I brang my mouth to her ear.

"Well, if you want to see it happen, keep him safe."

I backed away to see a bright pink face.

So she can lose her composure.

Well, now I have her weakpoint.

"Alright, Rose, get to it."

She nodded her head and walked away.

Cute.

"Hey Claudia, are you serious? I was totally ready to sleep."

"Sorry, Morgan, I need you."

"That's actually really nice of you considering I was joking and half expecting to be called."

"Oh."

Well that was far more heartfelt than it needed it to be.

"Ladies."

Ludwig joined me at the wall.

"Hi, I'm Ludwig, and you are?"

"Morgan."

"Nice to meet you."

Ludwig was a gentleman.

I had a feeling however, that he didn't like Morgan, despite his increased manner.

"Claudia, why are we here?"

"Why do you think I would know?"

"Because you're smart, and you have ties to the admin."

"Well, you'd be right, I requested for 4 of you guys."

"4?"

Morgan asked.

"Are you Claudia?"

"There we are."

I turned to the male voice I had heard.

"Yes, hello, Lewis."

I saw the other too.

"And Anna too."

"Do you know us?"

"Well, I was mostly overseeing the defense of the wall, and saw the two of you spear users down there."

"So you know of us?"

"Yes, that is quite the apt way to put it."

"So I assume we're all here while you do most of the damage to the monster wave this time?"

"You'd be correct."

"Alright so, what are we doing then?"

"You two will be together fighting on one side of the wall."

"Alright."

"Be careful to pace yourself, we have no healers this time around."

"As for you two Morgan, Ludwig, you two will be supplanting me, as I'll be taking on the other side of the wave."

"So, we'll be relieving whichever side?"

"No, you'll each be on one side."

I began.

"The wall is one continuous arc."

"But it has two parts, the north side and the south side."

"I'll take the north, Anna and Lewis will take the south."

"Morgan, Ludwig, figure out who's going where before the wave, because all the supplies are being delivered, here, to the center, and we need to move them to your respective location."

"Rose has informed me, that long distance massive magic message will not work due to the lack of anchors, since there are only 5 of us."

"Therefore, we will be using these."

I pulled out small centipede like things.

"Ew."

Anna said.

"I have to agree with Anna here, Claudia."

"These are the ear artifacts we will be wearing."

"In actuality there are 100, like the centipede it's modeled after."

"All you have to do is set it near your ear, and it will wrap itself around the ear near your mouth."

"Who even thought about bringing this?"

Lewis began questioning.

"The person three of the founders left to go save."

"Is he a clairvoyant?"

"Honestly, I don't know, but speculation on his abilities on my end to you guys is forbidden."

"Due to your oath?"

"Yes, due to my oath."

"Who is this guy?"

"A decently smart person, who is well prepared for any situation."

"We hope to last the night here, with minimal damages, since he will be taking back over once he wakes up."

"He's better at management than Rose?"

"He's a 3rd circle mage, and 4th tier swordsman, who under the threat of losing his 7 teammates, went toe to toe with a tyrant."

At that Lewis simmered down.

"It's true, I can't speak of his condition currently, but he saved the 7 of us."

Morgan began.

"I am part of the 7, we never really revealed who was who until it was necessary."

"Obviously the princesses were, and so was the merchant leader, Rose, but Aisha, myself, and Claudia were the people to hold down and create this camp."

"If you want to get technical about it there was an 8th, but he never set up the camp, he simply helped those who did."

"Where is he?"

"He's out in the labyrinth, bringing back maps and monster details."

"Woah."

"The regular transmissions we recieve about the north and west side of the dungeon are his doing, along with vital monster information."

"Why is he doing this?"

"Honestly, we didn't even think he could make it, so tried to stop him, but around the 3 hour mark he left without word, and surprised us by communicating parts of the dungeon."

"From there we had to accept it, and ever since then from hour 3 to now, hour 15, he's been sending back reliable map and monster data."

"And you're telling me the other guy is more talented?"

"Trust me when I say, even all three of the 5th tier fighters here, couldn't pull off what he did in the colosseum."

"That's also why there's an information gap there."

"So this traveler then, who's he?"

"Harry, someone who was a simple support, and helpful guide, many treated him before as a deadweight, but he trained him, not in combat, but support where his skills shined."

"Who's he?"

"Lucas."

I said.

"The person we need awake more than ever."

"So if he's so great why aren't materials being focused onto him?"

"He's already got two of the 5th tier beings here watching over him."

"And two dedicated healers."

"Wow."

Anna said.

"So who is he?"

Ludwig responded on my behalf.

"The knight of the Dual lady."

Lewis and Anna's jaws dropped.

"You're telling me, the duchy has a knight in training, that can casually take on a tyrant at 18?"

"You sure he's not their secret child or experiment?"

"I can assure you, he is not."

"Please refrain from any speculation about him, the duchy does not take kindly to it."

"On top of that, he wasn't even part of the duchy until he was 12."

"Was he a swordsman or mage before?"

"A farmhand."

They all looked stupified.

"He's a genius indeed."

Ludwig spoke.

"Has the imperial family tried to recruit him yet?"

Anna spoke if only to hear my gossip.

"I cannot say, as I am sworn to secrecy."

"Morgan is as well."

"I am."

"Alright enough about Lucas, let's grab the gear you two need, and move out."

"Yes, ma'am."

***

*Morgan's Pov*

Claudia is ever the spartan leader.

Sometimes I feel like she is too uptight about topics pertaining to Charlotte and Lucas.

She has no problems disclosing Aurelia's and Lucas' relationship, but not Charlotte's, it's almost like not giving her a chance.

Anyways, that boy Lewis, is a little aggressive, but he's not overly rude, he's just not as mannerly as everyone else.

As for me although I have no formal training, in order to avoid being bullied, I learned how to properly greet and talk to nobles.

It was a pain to learn, and they're quite roundabout in their speech.

It's so posh, and annoying, thankfully, Lucas and co. don't do that.

***

*Claudia's Pov*

Morgan probably thinks I'm too close to the chest with the details about the princess.

It's not that I don't think Charlotte has a chance, but she should be able to keep her relationship with Lucas secret if she wants to.

Few people know about him being allowed to be her knight, and even fewer know of her affections for him.

On top of her right to privacy, I need to think about her reputation, and the school.

How would she, and by extension the Royal family be hit by this information, if used against them.

For example what if a rumor about how she stole Aurelia's knight came up?

I'm sure Aurelia would move to deny it, but Charlotte would still have her reputation destroyed.

Unfortunately high society is a far crueler mistress than any of the ladies on the floor.

We are as afraid of high society as we are eager to participate, it is always a delicate balance.

"Alright that's all the equipment."

"Times out at 34 minutes."

"We have about 6 left at maximum before the wave begins again."

With that I left to my post.

I watched as the monsters once again lined the corridors, waiting, watching us.

Then like a fireball was launched in a horse stable, the monsters poured out.

I jumped down, casting a mana barrier surrounding my entire body.

I began to cast 3rd tier spells, to knock the monsters down and back.

I wasn't above using 4th circle spells however so I began to launch them as well.

My mana pool was large considering the fact I was a 5th circle mage.

The 3rd tier beasts had nothing on me.

I launched spell after spell, tearing apart the monsters, pushing them back, pounding them into a fine pulp.

And then it began again, they filled my area once more.

Tear, push, pound.

I was almost there to removing the monsters on my side of the field.

Possible 15 minutes had passed since the monster wave.

">"

The 5th circle magic ripped into reality, tearing space, rock, and monster alike, leaving nothing behind in it's wake.

Cataclysm, was a standard 5th tier spell.

It can be infused with 3 elements, and is considered a non attribute spell.

The first is my specialty, space.

The second is the black magic variant, including eldritch type and other oddball magic.

The last is the pure elements, fire, earth, water, and air.

So not a universal spell, but a strong one.

"Hey Claudia, could you help out those two?"

"Yes."

I moved towards Lewis and Anna.