Kat’s Point of View

  A blast of chaotic mana flashes just to the side of Ash as she fires off multiple embers at the small demonic monster our team has been tracking for a weak now. Somehow, it slipped through our bases perimeters and the clan sent Katrina’s team, Rising Embers, to investigate it. Thankfully, Ash was able to fly over the forest clearings and eventually we caught its trail, but this hunt, more than any other, was difficult because the abomination’s mana control made it extremely hard to track.

  I have to remain focused, even a second of distraction could cost me or any of my companions their lives as I coordinate the assault. Ash always serves as the best source of distraction for the enemy, while I provide orders to the team and cast support spells—as a beast tamer class, most of my skills are specific to Ash, but thankfully the heritage of my clan leans more support and there were some nice general spells that fit my affinities in our library.

  I quickly jump back as a weak mana fluctuation below me is the only warning I have before an abysmal, black spike pierces where I just stood. A fire blast from Ash, pushes the demon off balance and I finally see an opening for my team to fell our target.

  “Beltran, shield rush it from its left flank, Tatiana throw an ice spike at it center mass so Crissy can finish it off!” I yell out as I cast Fire Effigy on the figure hidden in Beltran’s shadow, boosting Crissy’s damage for a single blow.

  Everyone follows my orders to perfection and the chaotic beast strikes a resounding blow on Beltran’s shield as he rushes forward, throwing him off balance. For the first time in the battle, the beast’s tail lashes out at the opening and my heart catches in my throat as it bears down on my defenseless colleague, but Tatiana has already started casting her ice spike and she adjusts her aim to squarely hit the tail—changing its trajectory to widely miss Beltran. Just as the beast is about to recover from the rush, Crissy appears around the shield, just behind the beasts right shoulder. It tries to lash out with its left hand to block the lethal stab, but it’s restricted by a quasi-manifested shadow and Crissy’s long dagger pierces the monster’s throat, a persistent sizzle from Fire Effigy burns through the silence. After just a second the abomination’s eyes glaze over and it slumps to the ground.

  A heavy sigh escapes me as the battle adrenaline starts to fade. Our coordination was excellent, but this beast was a lot stronger than we were expecting, and even though the plan went accordingly, Beltran was in a pretty bad spot if Tatiana didn’t adjust her aim to intercept the tail. I force myself to memorize every aspect of the battle so I can replay it later—the only way I can keep growing is by pushing through my mistakes.

  We quickly harvest the devil core, to prove we completed our mission and make our way back to the base’s barracks. Since the mission was within the alliance’s borders we will actually be able to sleep in a bed tonight rather than camping out, which is quite the luxury. We also won’t have to accept another mission for a week or two since the contribution points exceeded our weekly quota by quite a bit.

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  As we are walking back, I increase my pace so I can walk by Tatiana’s side. An annoyed huff from my shoulder tells me Ash isn’t happy with the bumpy ride disturbing her rest after a long battle, but this conversation is more important.

  Tatiana nods to me as I catch up. “The plan was good Pyrathis. None of us were expecting its tail to be a weapon—it hadn’t shown that as an option the entire battle.”

  The words give me pause, am I really that easy to read? “Just call me Kat, or at least Katrina. Also I can’t ignore that my order almost cost Beltran. It’s my job is to try to read the battlefield and expect the unexpected. Demonic beasts don’t evolve and survive with inefficiencies—if it has a tail then it can use the tail somehow. I should have at least factored in the possibility the tail was a weapon.”

  She sighs, but also nods with some agreement. “Then do better next time. We made it out of that battle unscathed, and sometimes a relative defeat like that is needed to grow stronger. Don’t make that mistake again, and you might actually save one of our lives in the future because of this experience.”

  I nod, but before I can say anything else Tatiana continues. “Just don’t let this experience make you hesitate. In our line of work, sometimes it’s better to make the wrong choice than to make no choice at all.”

  I let that sink in as I slowly fall back to my place in the formation. She’s right, I can’t overthink every battle. At our level, every second counts and if I don’t coordinate the team quick enough it could leave everyone else in more danger than before.

  We finally make it back to the border camp and see a group of soldiers coming from the lost portals, wounds marking their bodies and carrying momentos of their lost companions. That future is unfortunately coming closer and closer for our team. Originally it was only High Tier Twos and up that were called to the front, but now that bar has been dropped all the way to Low Tier Two. It’s not that we are losing battles, but now that we have lost multiple portals there are just too many demonic beasts coming through at a time. The only way we can stop from being overwhelmed is if we keep throwing more and more bodies at the battle. A lot of our soldiers are coming out of this tempered and seeing unprecedented growth, but even more are not coming out of this at all.

  I look to the cloud of smoke in the distance where Verdance once stood. We thought we were all in the clear after the first few days of the Devil Incursion passed and most of the portals were secured. That all changed when a Peak Tier Three Devil stepped through and our strongest had to go all out just to give us enough time to retreat. My dad lost an arm in that battle and probably would’ve died if Cam’s master didn’t come back just in time to push the battle into a stalemate. Eventually the Devil retreated sporting some nasty wounds, but at that point Verdance was overrun and we lost access to all of the royal portals. Since our retreat, we haven’t been able to get in contact with any of the other kingdoms to know how they are faring, and Camden hasn’t returned since his master took him into that portal months ago. Mallorc said he is fine and will come back stronger than ever, but who knows with everything that is going on.

  I dismiss my team to go eat and relax in the barracks as I take the devil core to the mission hall to mark our mission as a success. I receive our teams contribution points after handing over the core, but before I can leave the hall, the attendant sadly hands me a missive. It’s a call for Rising Embers, to support on the front line for one week, starting in three days. It is one of the safer zones, but there will only be one Low Tier Two supporting the whole operation.

  The war has officially moved into the stage where even Tier Ones will either grow quickly or become cannon fodder.

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