Chương 205

The wind on the lower slopes of the Silvermount wasn't as harsh as the howling gales the flying army had to face during their return to the Sanctum, but without Asteria there to shield him from its bite, it remained a significant obstacle. It was a powerful force, filled with ice crystals that quickly made any exposed skin raw. Even with standard thermal regulation charms woven into their cloaks, Dorian and Luna were shivering, their breath forming thick white clouds in the cold air.

Orion, however, walked at the head of the formation, his lab coat fluttering aggressively in the wind, seemingly unbothered by the cold.

"How are you doing that?" Dorian chattered, huddled behind his tower shield as if it could block the cold.

"The basic warming charm we were taught doesn't do anything against the wind."

"I've told you, it's thermodynamics," Orion sing-songed without looking back.

"I've created a boundary layer of static air around my skin to retain the heat. Air is an excellent insulator if you stop it from moving." He'd gotten the idea from his mother's shield, but there was no need to mention that. Let them think science is a much better tool. Maybe that way I won't have to poke and prod them to keep their training up. He paused, turning around to face his shivering friends. Selene, standing slightly to the side, looked unconcerned, blending into the snowy landscape with her grey cloak.

Since she was a tier two caster, she easily managed to overpower the warming charm enough to make it work, but he still gave her a look to show he didn't think much of it. She huffed, but he knew she understood his point.

"This is as good a place as any," Orion decided.

"Before we engage the herd, we need to set our strategy, especially since you have to take them on using only spells based on Knowledge." Luna groaned, rubbing her arms.

"Can't we work on that after we kill the fuzzy monsters and get paid?"

"No," Orion said firmly.

"Because if you fight Yetis the way the Sanctum taught you, you won't learn much of anything, and in any case, there is a reason why no other witch took up this mission. Their fur is resistant to basic magic, so you wouldn't be able to sit back and shoot them down anyway." Before they could rally, he pointed to Dorian.

"Show me your [Light Shield], and I'll demonstrate." Dorian frowned but obeyed. He planted his feet, muttered a prayer to the Lunar Goddess, and flared his mana. A golden, translucent barrier appeared before his physical shield. It felt warm and reassuring, radiating a sense of protection; an ideal example of the spell, which was to be expected since Dorian specialized in this type of magic.

Now, as you can imagine, a yeti is a big, muscular beast, one perfectly capable of punching through stone and most fleshy beings. So what do you think will happen when you pit your faith-based shield against a creature that you can instinctively know should overpower you?" Orion asked, observing the gears turning in their heads.

"Isn't it just a matter of mindset, then?" Luna asked.

"I mean, if we think we are weaker, it makes our magic weaker; we just need to convince ourselves we are stronger to make it stronger." Orion wiggled his hand.

"Technically, that is correct, and I'm not saying intent-based magic is lesser, but I can assure you, it is not easy to keep your cool when a monster is barreling your way." He forestalled their objections by raising his hand.

"I know, you already fought in the Horned Lake. But that was from a distance, and with Pauline watching over us. This is different, believe me."

"So what do I do?" Dorian asked, looking pensive. Orion tapped the golden shield, "Light isn't just a metaphor for safety, Dorian; we talked about this. It's particles and waves. If you arrange them in a structured way, you can increase surface resilience exponentially. Don't just make the light protect you and hope it'll be enough; build something capable of taking a hit. I've seen you do it before; it's just a matter of bypassing your instinct and casting with your Knowledge."

Rounding on Luna, he began the same process with her, encouraging her to demonstrate her favorite spell, [Holy Fire], and explaining how she should approach it. By the time he looked at Selene, her eyes had gone distant.

"They are coming," she murmured as she regained herself.

"Six juveniles, and a bigger one." Orion considered it before deciding he could still use this as a learning opportunity.

"I'll take that last one; you guys focus on the juveniles." It wasn't long before the herd revealed itself, with a roar that shook the snow off the surrounding pine trees. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Six massive shapes burst from the treeline, moving at terrifying speed for creatures that stood eight feet tall. They were covered in thick, matted white fur, and their eyes burned with predatory hunger.

Their features were vaguely ape-like, though it was hard to tell with the amount of fur and ice crusted on them. It was clear that life hadn't been easy since they were expelled from the main herd, and the fact that some humans dared enter their territory while they were weak would only make them fight harder. Behind them, a seventh figure appeared. That guy must be the reason they were expelled.

Failing to win a leadership contest means everyone associated with you is doomed, just as it was in Valderun, and the same applies here. It was quite a bit larger, easily ten feet tall, its fur matted with ice forming crude, natural armor plates over its chest and shoulders. It also bore a nasty scar patched with ice running across its torso, likely from its challenge.

[Alpha Juvenile Yeti - Failed Leader] Class: [Alpha Yeti] [C-rank] Level: 72 Mind: 21 Attunement: 150 Body: 341 Traits: Internal Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Cryo-Armor [C-rank]; Magic Resistance [C-rank] What a big beast. Still, he's not even halfway through tier two, and since yetis can reach tier three at the highest, it's not surprising that it lost. More surprising is that it was left alive, but then again, the actual alpha probably saw it as too weak to bother.

Considering its size, Orion couldn't imagine how big that stronger yeti must have been. That would have been a serious problem. But for this guy, it would be enough, even with the level difference.

"Dorian, hold the line!" he shouted.

"Luna, target the joints! Selene, keep them off the flanks!" He didn't wait to see if they listened, engaging [Flight] and launching himself directly at the Alpha. The beast saw him approaching and roared, slamming its fists into the ground. A wave of jagged ice spikes erupted from the earth, shooting toward Orion in a crude display of elemental power that would have nonetheless forced him to abandon the maneuver if he had been a regular mage of his level. He wasn't, so he simply flicked his fingers.

"[-g]" he intoned, and shot straight up, missing the spikes by inches. He hovered twenty feet in the air, looking down at the Alpha.

"Let's see how you handle pressure." Raising his hand, he cast [Gravity Cannon], stabilizing the matrix to convert the effect into a steady pulse. WHAM. The Alpha roared in confusion as its weight suddenly tripled, causing its knees to buckle and crack the ice beneath it. It swiped at the air, trying to crush the flying gnat, but it was moving through invisible molasses. That finally gave Orion a moment to turn [Hypotheticism] on its armor. Some kind of self-grown permafrost?

Melting it would require too much energy, especially considering its resistance. Better to break through it. He extended his index finger, pulling up the equation for his [Infinite Laser] and working to incorporate some of the insights he'd gained with [Null Laser]. The two spells had completely different results, but their method of delivery was very similar, and he was pretty sure that if he could just alter some of the values…

A thin beam of purple light, no wider than a pencil, shot from his fingertip, hissing through the cold air and hitting the Alpha's shoulder plate. A typical [Infinite Laser] would have failed then and there, since its energy output was simply too low to break through, but the spell was very adaptable, as its name suggested, and could take a lot of stretching, so Orion did exactly that, holding the beam and alternating pulses through it.

The magical ice couldn't withstand the rapid temperature changes, as it was built to resist heat and blunt force, not such an unnatural condition. The shoulder plate cracked loudly, shattering into pieces, and the Alpha howled, clutching its exposed shoulder where the wound inflicted by its kin was now exposed to the elements. +10, 200 Exp"A bit too slow, but it has potential," Orion muttered to himself as he tracked his target, which was retreating and trying to gather enough ice to cover its wound.

He could have ended it then and there, but he took a moment to check on the others first.

"Solids! Think of solids!" Dorian shouted, bracing himself as a juvenile Yeti pounded against his shield. The golden light flickered, and the Yeti's fist drove into the barrier, shoving Dorian back through the snow. His boots gouged deep marks in the ground.

"It's not working!" he grunted, sweat beading on his forehead despite the freezing cold.

"I can't make it solid enough!"

"It stopped it, didn't it!" Orion's voice drifted down from above.

"You need to counterattack to make it work!" To her left, Luna was facing her own issues. She cast a bolt of [Holy Fire], but she tried to compress it too much without the right mental setup, and the spell fizzled in mid-air, turning into a spray of sparks that harmlessly washed over the yetis' armor. Two of the monsters lunged, sensing weakness.

"Get back!" Selene warned, stepping forward. She pointed her wand at them, releasing a wave of silver force—a [Repulsion] spell timed perfectly to hit when the Yetis were off-balance—knocking them back.

"Focus!" she snapped, her eyes glowing silver.

"I can see the path, but you have to walk it! Luna, stop worrying about producing the fire, and just cast! You already know you can do it!" One of the Yetis recovered from Selene's blast and lunged at Dorian's exposed side, who was too busy dealing with his own opponent to react in time. Orion sent another pulse of gravity against the Alpha, slowing its efforts to rebuild its armor.

In the same motion, it forced the attacking yeti to trip over its own feet, as they suddenly became much heavier, causing it to face-plant just inches from Dorian.

"Don't look at it!" he barked.

"Focus on the shield! Visualize the structure, and give it the power it needs!" Dorian clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, abandoning any prayer to the Goddess. His mana burst forth, bright and golden, and gradually surged back into his active shield, causing its soft, rounded edges to sharpen. A pattern of interlocking hexagons materialized, transforming the barrier from translucent gold to blinding, solid white.

The Yeti in front of him roared and swung both fists with a hammer blow intended to crush him into paste, but the shield didn't flex or buckle, standing as unmoving as a mountain. The monster howled, recoiling and clutching its hands. The impact against the unyielding surface had broken its finger bones.

"Ha!" Dorian shouted, "take that!"

"Now, Luna!" Selene directed.

"Cast it!" Clearly frustrated with herself but still unwilling to give up, Luna thrust her wand forward and growled out an incoherent scream. That wasn't the best mindset to use when relying on Knowledge, but she must have done something right because a white-hot fireball exploded into existence, hitting the yeti and burning it alive. Above them, Orion smiled to himself and turned to focus on the alpha, releasing the gravity field and letting it stand without effort.

It bellowed, clearly believing it had defeated his magic, and ice started gathering around it again, but from the glint in its eyes, it was about to try something more than just reforming its armor. Unfortunately for it, Orion had no intention of giving it a clear shot. He summoned as much mana as he safely could from the Field and channeled it into his new variation of [Infinite Laser], which he tinkered with again until it felt stable enough.

"[Coherent Light Lance]," he murmured, watching as a javelin of purple light pierced the yeti's eyes and went through its skull.