Chương 44: A Moment of Silence

Explorer: A class based around discovering the unknown and uncovering secrets, Vin thought as he ran toward the snake large enough to devour him in a single gulp. This is not part of the job description! Despite Vin's speed, the snake managed to strike forward and impale another one of the defenders through the chest with its horn before he could reach them. This actually gave the surrounding fighters a brief window to strike back at the monster, and Vin was happy to see that they didn't let it go to waste.

Unfortunately, the snake quickly proved that it wasn't just its attack capabilities that made it an elite monster, and Vin's heart sank as all three of the fighters that were fast enough to attack the snake's extended body looked on in horror as their weapons bounced harmlessly off the gleaming silver scales.

"The one time I'm away from my magic sword," Vin muttered, finally getting close enough to try and help." Entangle!" Entangle was an interesting spell in that it was the only one in his arsenal that depended on his surroundings so heavily. The more vegetation he was surrounded by, the faster and stronger the spell was capable of binding things down. Within the Sacred Forest, Entangle was a force to be reckoned with, and only something with immense strength like the Trunkback would be able to break its way free.

Casting the spell in a location without any natural vegetation on the other hand, such as the desert fragment they'd quickly traveled through, resulted in nothing happening. Vin prayed the massive amount of mana he dumped into the spell after adjusting its runic structure would be enough to make the short grass all around them actually do something. Thankfully, it seemed he was in luck for once.

The moment he completed the spell the grass surrounding the snake exploded upwards with tremendous speed, catching the monster off guard and wrapping tightly around a third of the snake's lower body. Clearly caught off guard, the snake let loose a cry that sounded closer to a roar than a hiss, immediately beginning to jerk violently side to side in an attempt to free itself.

To Vin's horror, he watched as the sheer size of the snake proved to be too much for even his empowered spell as the snake continued tearing its way through the grass with every twist. Crap, the grass isn't strong enough! Panicking, Vin let loose another empowered cast of Entangle, trying to buy himself time to think of a way to take down the giant snake before it could kill them all.

For the first time since he'd discovered magic, he actually felt his mana reserves dip dangerously close to half empty; the sheer amount of mana he'd needed to dump into the grass to make it effective finally taking a toll on even his high magic attribute. With yet another thing to panic about, Vin was just about to start freaking out when he received help from an unexpected source. Just as panic was starting to set in, a heavy thwump came from behind him, and Vin flinched as something streaked past his head.

Whatever the mysterious projectile was, it missed him by mere inches before slamming into the upper body of the immobilized snake, causing Vin to leap back in surprise when it detonated in a small but powerful explosion of purple and red flame. As the resulting wave of heat washed over him, Vin turned to stare in shock at the source of the unique attack.

Standing just a few feet behind him, having only just caught up to him, was Lieutenant Myers, already loading a new odd-looking bolt into her equally odd-looking crossbow.

"What the hell was that?!" Vin exclaimed, staring at the lieutenant in a brand-new light.

"An explosive bolt I've been working on," Myers said, cranking back the new bolt and taking aim at the stunned snake once again.

"I don't have many bolts like that prepared, and crossbows are harder to aim than guns, so I didn't want to risk missing. Thanks for pinning it down." Vin watched in awe as Myers lined up her shot and fired a second bolt at the stunned snake, causing another miniaturized and colorful explosion. She was basically firing off the equivalent of a magical, medieval grenade launcher at the ensnared monster.

Before even checking to see how the snake was fairing, Myers began loading a third bolt, catching Vin's wide-eyed look and giving him a small smile.

"I'm a crafter," she explained, cranking her crossbow back yet again.

"... with a specialization in monsters. Seeing as we lost our guns, once we discovered those fox-like monsters that were capable of exploding, I thought building something like this would be a good project to start with." Only now did Vin recognize the purple shade of the bolts Myers was loading, and he immediately took a step back without thinking as soon as he realized what she was firing.

"No kidding," Vin muttered, peering at the body of the now charred and smoking snake. While it had managed to withstand the first explosion, the second one seemed to have been enough to put it down. Vin winced at the powerful crash as the snake finally slammed into the ground, the vibrations nearly knocking the nearby combat classes off their feet. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Vin remembered he had a job to do, and he immediately covered the last few feet between himself and the injured fighters.

He didn't exactly have any medical training besides the basic first aid he and every other member of Project Ark had gone through, but he did his best to triage on the spot as he went about healing people. Going down the line of fighters he found no lack of wounds in need of healing, and his already spent mana reserves began dipping dangerously low after only a few minutes of spellcasting. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do for the near dozen people the elite monster had already killed.

Instead, Vin swore to himself that nobody else would die on his watch so long as he had a speck of mana still inside his body. As the battle raged on and the minutes passed, Vin did his best to focus on what only he could do rather than worry about the hordes of monsters besieging them. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Heal a crying Swordsman's slashed open arm. Don't look at the angry monkey with blood drenched blades for hands.

Fix a ghostly white mace wielder's punctured stomach. Don't look at the three-foot-tall spider with feet like sharpened spearheads. Yank a few razor-sharp quills from a shaking Archer's shoulder. Don't look at the screeching bird firing sharpened quills from up above them.

If Vin had any reservations about missing out from not taking a combat class upon arriving in this new world, they were thoroughly squashed after spending most of his remaining mana running around their defensive line, doing what he could to save as many lives as possible and get people back in the fight. More than one person he healed seemed shell shocked, unwilling to get back up and dive back into the horrors attacking them. Thankfully, Spur had expected that, and he already had a solution in place."

Fight," Patty commanded yet again, actually coughing up a few specks of blood after using her power so many times in a row. Just like the last few times she'd done it, Vin watched as the warrior he'd just saved from certain death from a horrific slash across his throat heard the order. Immediately, the warrior stopped shaking, his eyes somehow both glazing over and igniting as color returned to his pale face.

Leaping to his feet, the man grabbed his fallen sword and charged back to the defensive line with a furious cry, his recent near-death experience completely forgotten for the moment. Before he had even left, Patty's thin frame was wracked with a horrific cough, and Vin helped her take a deep swig from his waterskin.

"I can only do that one, maybe two more times," Patty rasped in between coughs, her voice raw as though she'd spent the last hour screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Every person you can get back in the fight matters," Vin said, trying to squash down the feeling that they were doing something horrible. He couldn't help but think that forcing people who didn't want to fight anymore to put their lives on the line had to be some sort of crime, but he had to admit Spur had a solid argument. When Spur had originally explained his plans for Patty during the battle and Vin had voiced his initial concerns, Spur's defense had been rather clear.

"Project Ark is technically a branch of the military, and a specialized one at that," the colonel had shrugged.

"If I order someone to hold a line, and they disobey orders, I technically have every right to execute them on the spot. Obviously, I wouldn't do something like that without reason, but if we're planning to hold out against who knows how many monsters with less than a hundred men, we're going to need every able-bodied person with a weapon in hand manning the line." Vin wasn't sure if the colonel had still been a bit upset about forcefully being put to sleep, but regardless, he had a good point.

They didn't have the luxury of letting people step back from the fight right now.

"This is not how I imagined I'd be using my powers," Patty chuckled weakly, a few more drops of blood trickling down her lips from her ruined throat. Vin briefly thought about healing her before deciding against it. His mana was down to the last dregs, and he wanted to save it for any actual life-threatening injuries he encountered. It had nothing to do with Patty being a terrible person. Nothing at all.

"Don't forget, once your power is used up, you'll be throwing javelins with the rest of the support classes," Vin said, trying to keep the weariness from his voice as he scanned the defensive line for anyone who was desperately in need of healing. He'd lost track of how long they'd been fighting for, but it couldn't have been more than half an hour at most, and already everywhere he looked he saw countless superficial wounds that he just couldn't spare the mana for right now.

He had no idea that being trapped in the thick of things on a life or death battlefield would make every minute feel like an eternity.

"Ah yes, how could I forget the orders of our esteemed leader," Patty croaked, rolling her eyes.

"Honestly, I doubt I could hit the side of a barn with one of those things. We'd be better off if I-" A sickening, wet crunch cut Patty off, and Vin turned to stare at the horrifying scene before him in shock. While just moments before Patty had been making snarky comments and nursing her throat, Vin now found himself looking at a corpse lying crumpled on the ground. A crossbow bolt had sunk deep into Patty's eye, killing the woman instantly and preventing him from having any chance at healing her with Renewal.

For a few seconds, Vin just stared at the body of the woman he'd been speaking with mere moments ago, unable to grasp what had just happened.

"Patty?" He said aimlessly, somehow expecting the woman to yank the bolt out of her eye and give him a scathing remark like he'd come to expect. Instead, the only response he received was silence. Silence that somehow overpowered the constant screams and sounds of tearing flesh that had surrounded him since the battle had begun. Vin tried to turn and look for whoever had shot the bolt, but his body refused to move.

His feet were rooted to the spot, and try as he might, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the fresh corpse of the fallen woman. Taking a shaky breath, Vin forced his eyes shut and tried to focus on taking large, deep breaths as the sounds of battle raged around him. He knew he should be looking around for the person who had shot Patty. He knew he should be running around healing people as best he could.

Hell, he knew if nothing else, he should join the defensive line and start hurling wooden javelins at the monsters still threatening to destroy their camp and kill them all. Instead, he stood there with his eyes closed and counted. Ten seconds, he thought to himself, ignoring the screams and snarls seeming to come from every angle. That's all I need. In ten seconds, I'll get back to everything I have to do.

Steadying his breathing, Vin took his time, slowly counting to ten as he did his best to let the weight of the world slip off his shoulders for just a single, fleeting moment. He had to resist the urge to slip into his Meditation skill, knowing that if he did that there was a real risk of him just deciding it wasn't worth coming back out until the end of the battle. After what felt like no time at all, his ten seconds were up.

Showing the greatest display of willpower in his entire life, Vin opened his eyes, grimacing one final time at Patty's corpse before turning to scan his surroundings. Unsurprisingly, especially after he'd waited ten whole seconds, there was no sign of anyone holding a crossbow over their head and sprinting away in a suspicious manner. Putting that matter of Patty's murder aside for the moment, Vin started heading back to the defensive line when a few screams broke out in a familiar direction.

Rushing toward that section of the wall Vin's legs froze, nearly sending him tumbling to the ground as he spotted the cause of the fresh panic.

"You have got to be kidding me." Roaring in front of him, currently churning its way through their already weakened defensive line, was a familiar giant snake. Back from the dead and angrier than ever.