Foreword: This chap is one of the longest I've made so far, so more grammatical errors may be seen here compared to the others that I have previously made. I will edit them sooner or later, so please enjoy my first battle chap :)

A cloud of dust enveloped the entrance of the shrine, after the segmented door suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

The expressionless mage followed by his four underlings could then be seen as the surrounding dust began to settle.

“So its 5 against 1 huh ….”

I muttered as I prepared myself for anything that might possibly happen at any given moment.

Three out of the four robed priests slowly walked in front of the group and began to chant three different magical incantations.

Intermediate Conjuration magic: Summon Ethereal Sword

Intermediate Conjuration magic: Summon Ethereal Axe

Intermediate Conjuration magic: Summon Ethereal Scythe

Weapons emitting ghostly aura made by manipulating spiritual energy, began to materialize at the hands of the three robed priests.

Brandishing their semitransparent weapons, the three began to charge straight at me, not even giving a hint of hesitation to kill.

In response with their actions, I immediately casted Intermediate Restoration magic: Mana shield using all fingers of my left hand. Producing a 5 layered transparent barrier that enveloped my body from head to toe.

*Hack*

*Slash*

*Thrust*

The trio relentlessly attacked me, swinging their weapons with an unbelievable amount of dexterity and strength contrary to their current appearances.

Although summoned ethereal weapons assume the appearances of weapons that can deal physical damage such as swords spears and axes, they could only deal magical damage since the primary composition of ethereal matter was spiritual energy combined with mana.

Making the mana shield a perfect choice of defense as it can reflect enormous amounts of magical damage in expense of the caster’s mana.

But physical attacks are a different story as a simple sword slash can easily penetrate mana shields since normal swords are composed of solid matter instead of mana.

Even so, the unending attacks of the trio couldn’t be taken as a joke as I am being slowly pushed back due to the sheer force from each of their blows.

I need to retaliate here fast!

Deactivating the barrier for a split second, I launched a counter attack with all fingers on my right hand invoking the Intermediate destruction magic: Lightning spark

*Zap* *Zap*

The medium ranged burst of electricity surged from my fingers and began to flow through the surrounding air.

Sensing the incoming attack, the trio immediately retreated back a considerable distance and readied themselves once again to unleash another wave of attacks.

I gritted my teeth in frustration as I am currently at a dead end on how to deal with this annoying bunch. Fights against experienced individuals couldn’t be compared to the one sided battles with the orcs since the difference of intelligence between them is too much.

Regaining my composure after reanalyzing the situation, I suddenly remembered.

“There’s four of them right?”

*fwoooooooosh*

The sound of air being cleaved could be heard as I reflexively turned my head to the source of the noise.

An ethereal arrow soared through the air at a tremendous speed from the position of the fourth who seems to have casted the Intermediate Conjuration magic: Summon Ethereal bow and arrow.

“Oh Shit!”

I barely blocked the flying projectile as I redeployed the multilayered mana shield while in a state of panic.

The ethereal arrow then dispersed into fine crystals of mana upon contact with the reinforced barrier.

Phew that was close!

I heaved a breath of relief after surviving through that unexpected attack.

The level of teamwork these guys are showing right now was in a whole different level. It may be caused by the years of them working together, enabling them to attack synchronously with body language as their only means of communication.

But then it’s really not the right time to praise their skills.

Giving me no choice but to go all out, I readied my stance as I have already thought of plan to counterattack, switching the spells on all of my fingers in the process.

10 earth golems materialized from the ground as I finished the casting of the magic.

8 feet tall monsters with bulky bodies seemingly made out of a durable type of stone that can be only be found in the world of Aegoria.

“Attack!”

Gwaaarrghh!

After issuing my orders, the golems roared in unison as if expressing their absolute obedience and started to charge at the enemies before them.

*Kling* *Klang*

Sounds of weapons hitting stone can be heard as the golems took the offensive using their oversized earthen fist and began relentlessly attacking the three..

However, the archer seems to be unaffected by the sudden appearance of the golems and continued to nock arrows, repeatedly releasing arrows with deadly aim and precision.

You little prick!

I angrily shifted my gaze to the source of the attacks, and once again deactivated the mana shield for a very short period of time.

I simultaneously released 5 fireballs aiming at the direction of the fourth.

Not expecting an attack from me, the archer was caught off guard by the fire balls and was unable to deploy his mana shield in time causing all 5 fireballs to directly hit his body.

For an average magician, switching spells usually takes up half a minute for the substitution to complete. However, with increasing mastery of the arcane arts, a skilled caster could decrease the duration of the switch for as low as 10 seconds. During that 10 seconds, the magician would be left defenseless from all kinds of attacks that may be thrown at him.

Rapid switching of spells, which is my specialty, that takes only two to five seconds for it to be completed could only be considered as a special case or in other words a cheat from a gamer’s perspective.

Taking advantage of this fact, I have successfully formulated a plan in dealing with this type of enemies.

*Aaaaarrghh!*

The robed man writhed in agony as the flames slowly evaporated all of his body fluids and eventually laid on the ground unmoving.

First blood huh …

I’ve done it, staining my hands with the blood of a fellow human being. But I didn’t really felt anything peculiar about it since surviving is my topmost priority right now.

And as I’ve said before: It’s either to kill or be killed. Such action was justifiable since it’s a form of self-defense, safeguarding my intrinsic right to life in the process.

After successfully cutting the number of enemies, a strong sense of accomplishment could be felt as I repeatedly clenched my fists.

I then returned my sight to the ongoing battle between the golems and the 3 remaining robed priests.

The effectiveness of the earth golems could be seen as they’re holding up quite well against the trio.

Well 10 versus 3 isn’t really that fair of a fight….

But there was a major flaw with summoned beings, and that was the limited duration of the spells. It’s only a matter of minutes before the conjuration magic loses its effects.

And after a minute or two, the large earthen bodies of the golems began to crumble into tiny marble sized pebbles that eventually fused with the ground where it originally belonged to.

With that as a cue, I once again switched spells and began to process the magical formula for the Intermediate Destruction magic: Ice Spear on all of my fingers.

“Take this and this and this and thiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssss!”

I repeatedly screamed in ecstasy as the endless barrage of ice spears rained upon the three, not giving them any room to dodge.

I didn’t stop in casting and continually released 10 ice spears with every second that passed.

The trio deployed their individual mana shields in time, but the barriers were shattered at the midst of the unending series of attacks.

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

Their bodies dropped lifelessly onto the ground with their corpses pierced with numerous icicle spears making them look like human pin cushions.

Only one more to go!

I then surveyed the surroundings and found the grand mage just standing there unmoving, watching his underlings ruthlessly killed.

What’s up with this old man?

Failing to understand such weird behavior, I subconsciously wrinkled my eyebrows with my lips curling up.

Then suddenly, the old man stretched both his arms with his mouth opening and closing and started to chant his first spell.

Intermediate Conjuration Magic: Summon Undead - allows the resurrection of nearby corpses into undead that will obey every command of the conjurer. The dead body must be at a considerable lower level compared to the caster for the spell to take effect.

The corpses of the four robed priests began to rise from the ground, ready to fight another round. Their faces deprived with the color of blood, walking unsteadily with drool leaking from their mouths.

*Gwaaaahhh…….Uguuhhh*

Creepy groans similar from zombies in B rated horror movies could be heard from their mouths.

“Tsk…..”

I clicked my tongue in vexation seeing the whole situation repeating all over again.

Seriously! All of the work that I’ve put up until this point was all for nothing!

If that’s the case then ….

I switched all spells yet again to summon my dependable pawns, the earth golems.

“Attack!”

The battle started once again as the opposing forces began to fight to the death.

The grand mage remained at his original position and chanting his next spell with an unusually long magical incantation.

“In the name of Qasnir the God of Magic, I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand!”

A miniaturized version of the sun floated in front of his hands, generating a heat haze around him that produced a blurred shimmering effect.

Is he trying to finish me off with that?

Fear invaded my mind as a direct hit from a spell of that magnitude was enough to reduce my body into nothingness.

Shaking my head vigorously, I regained my composure and instructed the summoned beings that were currently on a heated battle against the undead.

“Cover me quickly!”

The golems hurriedly formed a line in front of me after hearing my orders, shielding my body from the beam of incinerating flames that is coming to our direction.

Fffshssssssssssssssh!

The intense heat slowly melted the bodies of the golem one by one. Turning their large earthen bodies into small chunks of molten magma.

“Ohhhhhhhhh!”

I unintentionally let out an amazed voice as the force created from the spell was so powerful that the ground that it passed through was turned into a pitch black color

.

Not wasting any time on idling, I started casting my trump card Advanced Destruction magic: Lightning burst using all of my ten fingers to achieve ten times the normal magical output.

Waiting for his spell to end, I prayed with all my might that the golems would at least hold up until I finished materializing the magic.

Fffffffffffffssssssssssssssshhh

After the channeling of the spell had stopped, the whole place was covered by a thick layer of smoke that easily obscured my vision, making me lose sight of the target. And as the smoke began to fade the silhouette of the old man could be seen at the corner of my eyes.

There you are you old geezer!

“Diiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!”

With an ear shattering scream, I released the compressed version of lightning burst into the direction of the target.

The beam of lightning cruised through the air at break neck speed, spreading shocks of electricity wherever it leads to.

The old mage stared wide eyed as he hadn’t predicted such an outcome.

He tried to block my ultimate attack by deploying his mana shield but it was all for naught, as the burst of lightning easily penetrated the barrier and disintegrated his body into a pile of ashes.