Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 203: Sabotage

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Stannard Berwick

I pulled the trigger on my crossbow, the recoil throwing me backward as the beast core within shot off with a streak of orange. I tumbled away from the blast, but Norgan caught me in time, keeping me from any further harm.

I watched as the beast core rocketed off toward the mass of beasts a ways away. The augmenters who'd worked to herd the monster together scattered, shouting for all to take cover.

Then my spell impacted. The core cracked, and I suddenly felt as my mana burst through the edges of the beast core. A few of the augmenters were sent flying back from the force of the explosion, the wind whipping at them. I felt the heat even from where I was.

A shard of rock flipped toward me, but Norgan leisurely batted it aside with his dagger. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on where the horde of beasts used to be. A ways in front of me, Darvus and Caria caught their breath, settling their nerves as the killshot was delivered. Tessia, ever the warrior, simply gave the whirling smoke a stern look, seeming entirely unphased by the pitched battle we'd been in just a minute ago.

When the smoke cleared, only the charred corpses of mana beasts remained to greet us. The common monster of this dungeon was a lizard-like creature with spiked clubs and a penchant for violence, but now there were none left alive.

I've gotten better at condensing fire mana, I thought, smirking at the results of my spell. There were at least half a dozen A-class beasts at the center, and now there's none.

Norgan whistled in appreciation as he stared at the result. "Impressive display," he said honestly. He helped me up with a solid arm, giving me a light punch on the shoulder in appreciation. "Do you always go flying whenever you shoot those?"

I laughed a bit nervously, working on reloading a low-power round into the chamber of my weapon. "Only with the high-power rounds," I said sheepishly. It felt good to be acknowledged. "The kickback is pretty absurd. It's because I use wind magic to help accelerate it, but that increases the recoil."

"And you've got, what?" Norgan said, his golden brow raised. "Ten that can do all that damage, stuffed into your little bag?"

I rubbed my chin. "Well, nine now," I said. "I need to be careful with my reserves, or else I'll run out. I'm one of the biggest damage dealers for this part of the Trailblazers, so I need to always have a backup."

Norgan flourished his dagger, flicking a bit of blood from the steel edge. A few of the mana beasts had managed to skirt around the back line, but they hadn't been a problem for him.

"Eugh," Caria said from nearby, grimacing at the soppy goop of innards that clung to her gauntlets. "It took me half a year to get the last bit of grime from my clothes."

Darvus snorted. "You should keep the grime in," he said, swinging one of his axes down and beheading a still-twitching lizard. "Tells everyone what you really are instead of that feisty little exterior."

"Little?" Caria hissed, sounding offended. "How many times do I need to say it? I'm not little; I'm petite!" she complained, stomping a foot.

"Saying it over and over again doesn't make it true," Darvus mocked, tossing an axe up and catching it again. "You should know better by now."

"Please, Darvus," Tessia said jovially, striding back from the point of our formation. "Keep talking like that and Caria will wash all that grime into your bedroll."

Darvus looked askance at Tessia. "But as our dear, dear leader," he said, adopting a simpering tone, "you wouldn't let that happen, would you?"

Tessia raised a single gray-silver brow, cocking her head as she stared down the arrogant axeman.