Shroomkid Gonbee: From Forest to Sorcery

Chapter 8 Mana Vs Aura

I stood alone, a lone girl facing off against ten identical Gonbees in our mock battle. The odds were against me, but I was done holding back. I unleashed my Aura - a force that was capable of rivaling the mana that mages used - letting it pulse within my body, greatly amplifying my strength and speed.

"Hey, little bro," I called out to the new friend, my voice cutting through the tension like a blade. "Have you ever heard of Aura?" I asked not knowing if he did or not, since one would usually focus on one and not the other.

"Not much," replied one of the Gonbees, stepping cautiously into view. He didn't seem to realize that I knew that his other copies were lurking just out of sight. "I've focused more on magic than anything else. I am a mage afterall."

"Not surprising, Magic does take a lot of study," I said, keeping my tone casual and my eyes focused on the Gonbee in front of me. But I could feel the subtle shift in the air with my Aura as one of the Gonbees snuck into position behind me, ready to strike. "Want big sis to give you a quick lesson?"

"Uh, no need. I'll just beat you with mana," the Gonbee in front proclaimed hesitantly. Raising his staff high, and with a sharp cry of "Ice Shot!". Several shards of ice appeared in the air around the tip of his staff glistening in the light, before being sent flying at me with tremendous force.

Well-casted, fast and formidable-enough to overwhelm many opponents. But not me. I channeled a sliver of mana into the lightning crystal embedded in my gauntlet, summoning a tiny crackling arc of electricity before imbuing my aura into it. With a swift right hook, I punched through the incoming ice shards, the power of my aura amplifying the power of my strike. As I completed my punch, I spun to face the Gonbee sneaking up behind me. He had thought he could capture me once more with that spell, but I caught it as I swung around stunning him in surprise.

The vines would have been a clever ambush, if not for me detecting it with my Aura abilities.

Gripping the vine tightly, I used some of the tiny amount of Mana in my body to activate the lightning Mana crystal in my gauntlet. The amplified it with my Aura sending a jolt straight to the vines castor on the other side.

"GAH," The Gonbee cried out before going POOF, vanishing in a cloud of smoke. The vines soon followed suit, crumbling into dust.

I didn't hesitate to continue my foray of offense. Throwing out my opposite hand combining mana to activate the crystal in my other gauntlet and Aura to strengthen it, I unleashed a small blast of water at the Gonbee from earlier.

It seems he wasn't expecting my counter to be so swift after my last attack as this one just took the blast straight to his face. I didn't add much Aura into the attack, it was only to be used to set up my next lightning attack.

Surprisingly this Gonbee also went POOF into thin air as well. I didn't expect that, which means his copy spell still had room for improvement.

"Your copies are more fragile than I thought," I called out, my voice echoing through the clearing. "Are you sure you don't want that Aura lesson? It's how I know there are still eight of you hiding."

*****

She just took out two of my copies effortlessly, and she knows that I have seven left. Is this still part of the test? I wish master told me I'd have to fight, I wouldn't have gotten so close to miss Fivim.

Maybe Mr. Orio was right, maybe I shouldn't be allowed to join the adventurers guild? But it's not like I could actually grow up either due to my race.

"It's not over yet!" My copies called out, "There are still more of us than there are of her." "CHARGE!"

The copies started a charge toward Miss Fivim, "No, don't go!" I called out to them in vain, but it seems I lost control over them in my emotional state. All I could do was grab hold of one of them, preventing him from heading to disaster.