"Jonah, give me your throwing spears!"
I told him while we were preparing to descend the second hill.
"Why do you need them?"
He asked while unstrapping them from his back.
I took the short spears, four of them, and laid them on the ground. The shepherd thankfully managed to retrieve every spear he threw and not lose a single one.
I proceeded to put my hands over the weapons and casted a spell.
[Akarshanam]
Rays of crimson mana started seeping into the spears. The weapons trembled as the magical energy penetrated their surface.
After a few seconds, the mana flow stopped and the spears became static once more.
Slight heat was emanating from the sharp iron cylinders.
"What did you do to them?"
My comrade asked while examining the weapons.
"I transferred my Second Circle fire spell into your throwing spears. The moment they struck the enemy, the spear would explode. Use it wisely to break through the enemy formation, don't ever use them for close-ranged combat."
"Incredible… But is it okay for you to do this? You said you were reaching your limit earlier."
"Don't worry about that. Just focus on doing your own role."
There was indeed the risk of me experiencing mana overflow if I casted too many spells.
But that was no excuse for me to stop supporting my comrades.
As a responsible mage, it was my duty to allocate my mana efficiently throughout battle to prevent myself from experiencing mana overflow before we completed the trial.
Crack! Boom!
The storm was getting fiercer and fiercer.
The raging rain had started to flood the forest and turned the ground to thick mud.
Meanwhile, the dark clouds in the sky had blocked most of the daylight it almost turned the time into evening.
Our path had definitely become more treacherous even without accounting the monsters.
But there was no way we would stop advancing.
"I will open up a trail till halfway mark to the third hill. We won't take a break until we reach there, alright? Focus on moving forward, don't waste your energy engaging all the enemies."
"Understood!"
After giving out the instruction, we quickly descended down the hill.
As if it was preordained, goblins and wolves were lying in wait for us.
[Goblins Lv.3 x68] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x59] [Direwolves Lv.4 x43]
Their number might be many, but it only meant more sacrifice there was for my fire to devour.
[Maha Jwala]
The intense blaze which shot out from my palms cut through the raging storm and eradicated the forest landscape in front of us.
"Let's go!"
We charged through the blazing trail.
The heavy rain could still not put out the firewalls my spell raised.
Even so, the monsters kept breaking through and blocked our path.
[Goblins Lv.3 x35] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x27] [Direwolves Lv.4 x21]
Seeing this, Jonah reached for one of his throwing spears and threw it at the monsters.
Boom!
The moment its sharp steel tip pierced against a goblin right at the center, the spear's entire surface fragmented and exploded wildly, forming a tiny crater at the blast epicenter.
The monsters were reduced to half due to the explosion and got scattered throughout the field.
Shanny used this chance to rush ahead and strike down the ones that were standing in our path, providing us a clear passage forward.
Kroahhh!!!
When we were at midpoint inside the fire trail, a three quarter distance left to the third hill, the ogres had reached the second hill and began descending down upon us.
They were gaining grounds fast.
"Let's pick up the pace even more! Move!"
We ran through the fire trail as fast as we could.
Even though we had not reached the end of the path yet, more enemies were already emerging from all parts of the forest.
[Goblins Lv.3 x81] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x64] [Direwolves Lv.4 x47]
The monsters quickly poured into the fire trail and tried to stop us.
Boom!
Jonah launched another spear and spread the monsters apart.
He only had two more throwing spears at his disposal.
Shanny made haste to take down any remaining monsters standing before us.
We repeated the same tactic and eventually reached the end of the fire trail.
[Maha Jwala]
I swiftly casted another fire spell to create another burning path that reached the third hill.
Even without my order, Jonah and Shanny immediately rushed ahead to clear the path.
Boom!
Pierce!
Slash!
The monsters kept on coming, but we managed to fend them off till we made it to the slope.
Like before, I caused a landslide to our trail to impede the monsters giving chase to us.
Meanwhile, the ogres were already past halfway mark through the forest.
It would not take very long for them to reach us on the hill.
I looked to my comrades. Unfortunately, fatigue started to get to them after running and fighting monsters continuously.
I had to admit that even though I had done numerous subjugation quests back home, I had never run this much on a single outing.
Since mostly I rode a horse or airship whenever I needed to get somewhere.
Adding the load of casting a number of spells, my physique was starting to tire down from all the strenuous activities.
I needed to include physical exercise in my training regimen once we returned. If we returned.
No. We would definitely return.
I also noticed Jonah had run out of throwing spears. He had used the last two on our previous charge.
Jonah's exploding spears were important to clear our path whenever the monsters broke through the firewall.
It would be too risky to proceed with the mission without them.
Seeing we also needed a small break, I began waving my hands around, weaving silver threads of mana through the tips of my fingers.
['Serafina (★★★★)' is opening a dimensional portal!]
[Establishing connection to the storage!]
Once an intricate symbol was formed through the mana threads, a colorful circular portal emerged.
[A dimensional portal has been created!]
[You can summon equipment and weapons in the storage through dimensional portal.]
Jonah and Shanny were surprised to see the portal that appeared in front of them.
"What is this?"
"It's a dimensional portal I told you about."
"A portal? Can that thing get us out of here?"
"I wish. This portal can't transport living thing. But the warden told me we can get items that we need from the storage."
Considering what we were experiencing in this trial, I needed to deepen my study on dimensional magic in order to make passable portals and casting teleportation magic.
"So then, can this portal get me more throwing spears from the storage? Because I've just run out."
Jonah asked.
"Why do you think I created this in the first place?"
I told him with a slight smile.
A window suddenly appeared in front of us. Though it did not seem Jonah and Shanny could perceive it.
[Jonah (★) is requesting 'Throwing Spears (C)' x4!]
[Summon 'Throwing Spears (C)' x4?]
[Yes(selected)/No]
The window presented an option, but without me doing anything, it was selected by itself.
I supposed the window was actually presented to master and that master was the one who determined the decision.
Right when master approved the request, four small spears gently fell out from the portals.
Seeing this, Jonah quickly belted them to his back strap.
I then looked over to Jonah's main spear as well as Shanny's shield and sword.
All of them were still in perfect condition despite having been used to cut down many monsters already.
This great durability was thanks to Gerrits's craftsmanship as well as the reinforcement enchantments put on the weapons.
Seeing we did not need to summon more items, I waved my hand and closed the portal. I proceeded to enchant Jonah's throwing spears with my fire spell.
Krooahhh!!!
As I was enchanting the weapons, the ogres were approaching the hill we were on. Thankfully the triggered landslide had made it difficult for them to immediately climb to our spot.
"Alright! Break's over! Let's move on!"
I instructed my comrades as I finished enchanting Jonah's spears.
We descended the third hill and looked toward the shining object in the distance.
Two more hills to pass over.
Three more forests to cross over.
Hundreds of monsters more to fight over still.
Thousands of giants to flee from still.