The siege against the Emerald Tree Boa remained over a day away. Louis did not plan to waste that precious time. Unlike everyone else in the area, Louis had no circles, an unformed spiritual palace and no equipment. Not the best position to fight a pseudo-dragon, so Louis aimed to play a healer role instead. Healers, of any kind, were always lacking.

After treating his three party members, it was well into the afternoon. Louis wandered about in the forest, not just for lifeblood and mana like before, but also simpler cures and food. Dropping off everything but his lifeblood materials, Louis stayed for a meal before retreating back into the darkness.

Louis once again slept in a random tree, in a sphere of earth. This time, the blood he drew actually formed a proper alarm perimeter. Nothing like a nearby pseudo-dragon to motivate some careful attention in that aspect.

Once morning rolled around, Louis tucked away into a different tree with a full belly. No signs of mana poisoning spiritually or physically this time around. So Louis began creating his mage circles. Normally, the process was slow, especially when trying to specialize it towards a specific deity, but Louis choose more generalized circles: fire and water. While weaker than those specialized to a specific deity, their improvement on control remained even after leaving those boundaries.

Louis already experienced such limitations when he was exiled from Efrye the first time around. Not the worst result in hindsight. The precipitous drop in strength he experienced forced Louis to learn basic elemental spellcasting and a serious reeducation on the use of equipment, which was necessary to enter the Desolation, where most Divine Magics did not quite reach.

Not that Louis had to enter the Desolation to find a Flower of Resurrection, but most nations and territories did not have one, having lost them one way or another. Since Efrye’s current national boundaries encompasses as far as the six elemental Divine Magics could reach in the Mainland, Louis would have had to restart from scratch anyway. And, having just escaped from one political conflict, starting a whole another one for his second flower was too exhausting and unrewarding for his tastes.

Louis figured he could avoid both situations this time around. Within his mana core, Louis began attuning mana to water, to form the shape of a circle. Creating the circle alone was standard practice everywhere. However, what was used to create the circle, its use and its symbolism varied too greatly for any single person to properly categorize. Sylvarent had tried, but redirected her attention to Divine Magic classification after understanding the sheer scope of that goal.

The first time around, Louis used crushed gems to form his three fire circles and mana loti leaves for his three water circles. While mana loti were no longer considered the pinnacle of healing anymore, early days of healing relied more on mana capacity than medical knowledge to power ‘Zet Imaru’ and mana loti turned even a humble amount of mana into something grand. Even nowadays, their symbolism remained important for mages building water circles.

Not seeking to appease any deity dropped such requirements but required much finer elemental control. It also removed any benefits to ‘Zet Xandra’ and ‘Zet Imaru’ any circles may have, but more medical knowledge and practice could compensate for that.

Beyond the basic circular shape, Louis formed a hexagram within the circle last to honor the six deities in the Faith of Six, despite hardly using some elemental Divine Magics. For while any one human may only have time to truly learn one elemental Divine Magics, all six deities deserved their reverence. This time, Louis sought a hexagram because it had one of the most stable structures.

In addition to the enclosed hexagram, Louis left behind a single drop of the water element at the center of the hexagram. All nine circles would share the same center. Leaving a bit of the element there would force him to harmonize the elements early, rather than later. Perhaps it might even provide some unknown benefit. Either way, this would make fusing all nine circles together to become an archmage much easier later on.

It was mid-afternoon that Louis finished creating his first two mage circles. The fire and water elemental drops fused harmoniously in the center, still a bit lacking in the balance but their sum was much greater than them separated. Perhaps he could have continued with wind and earth – that would establish the basic elemental balance – but that could be dangerous. Louis had only just recovered from his previous escapade. While his limbs were unlikely to relapse, the smaller meridians near his mana core were clogged, looking like the next prime targets.

His mana core had increased in size due to the mage circles. Louis will only find out exactly how much once he refilled it. While his mana core rested right below his navel, it was less a physical organ and more a spiritual one. Its size could grow indefinitely and its appearance could be deceiving.

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The encampment and covers had transformed into a series of barricades surrounding the cave. The barricades seemed arranged in a fashion structured more for quick retreats if they had underestimated the boa. Not impossible, as the boa was still sleeping despite all the commotion like a cute little bear in hibernation. The closest barricade stood thirty, forty feet away from the cave’s entrance, with many people

The time for the battle had been set: early the following morning, when the air would be coldest and the boa would be slowest, of body and mind. Hopefully, its transformation into a dragon did not change its reliance for heat on the sun too much.

Louis ate an early dinner then set off for more lifeblood plants this time. His life core may had been completely filled by the life crystals and lifeblood plants he ate, but Louis was now more interested in the second use of lifeblood: overfilling the life core could strengthen one’s soul.

The peculiars on why such a phenomenon happened was not clear, but it was the primary reason why information about Divine Magic Movita was scarce. ‘Cal Movita’ was the most common spell and its effects painted a completely different of Divine Magic Movita. ‘Zet Movita’ could absorb life, but its benefits were not readily clear without many uses nor was using the Divine Magic without a target helpful in understanding what it did.

After a few more lifeblood plants, his soul undulated that meant his soul increased by about a percent in size. Not a lot, but every bit counts – and the size of his soul seemed to be the only thing that transferred through the rebirth intact. Satisfied with that benchmark, Louis went to bed early.

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Pre-dawn was cold. Enough for Louis to use ‘Cal Xandra’ to warm himself. This was not an entirely natural happenstance either, since the barricades now had a layer of frost on the side against the boa. A few mages moved about while Louis prepared some breakfast, some even going to sleep after spending a good portion of the day and night using ‘Cal Xandra’, ‘En Imaru’ or ‘En Aether’ to freeze the cave.

The main attacking force had a few more than thirty people, split evenly between mages and fighters. Another twelve people, healers, stood nearby. The support staff and people who had been working all night rested within the camp furthest away from the cave.

Calm and collected, the runes demarking the start of the campaign flashed into the sky, created by equipment – easier and cheaper than an ‘En Uta’. Slowly and quietly, the ground began shaking. As more and more mages kneeled near the cave – casting ‘Zet Myr’ when they could or create boulders to weigh above it when they could not – soon the cave began shuddering as its roof became unable to support its own weight, let alone all the mass being piled upon it.

The attempt took quite a bit longer than anyone expected, for the boa began stirred before the initial bombardment was completed. Luckily, being awake was not quite the same as being ready, for the boa did not quite leave the cave yet. Or perhaps it never considered its precarious situation the same way. The cave soon collapsed, crushing the boa within, sparking a series of muffled cheers. It should have been harder, many said.

They were right. Within moments, piles of earth, dirt and move blasted away from the mound as a shriek as loud as the heavens roared. A gust of wind blew mages huddling in front of the barricade in the midst of celebration, but there was no time to treat the injured.

The first initial bombardment began. Mages threw their strongest spells. A blaze of fire, strengthened by the wind. Shards of ice that fell like hail. Rocks of various sizes and hardness. Even, Louis threw his three ‘Zet Aether’ at the boa.

The fastest few spells slammed into the boa, knocking it back into the ground just as it took off from the ground. However, quite a few of the slower shots missed because of this, allowing the boa a moment to create a mana veil so dense it looked like water – visible without mage sight.

The veil dispersed into the surroundings as another gust of wind. People huddled behind the barricades much quicker this time around, though a few zealous fighters near Louis were launched away with the gust. The barricades slanted upward and over, preventing any gust from simply sliding over the barricade to hurt them. However, the barricades were unable to protect people further back, those who were now resting within the encampment. This, more than anything else, redoubled the efforts against the boa.

Fighters charged out once the gust of wind subsided, covered with a second salvo of bombardment that was prepared amidst the first, to be stronger and true. The mana veil faded considerably for the boa’s attack. The second salvo gnawed away whatever was left. Attacks made of mana dissipated a similar amount of the mana veil while physical attacks smashed into the boa with less force than intended.

The boa did not take all of this laying down. It slithered into the air with grace, its wings almost as big as it was allowed it to move much faster something that big had any right to. A hundred feet of mass was not to be underestimated. But as it sought physical confrontation, so did the fighters. They climbed upon it, avoiding its mouth was simplicity itself. The only other physical weapon it had was to move around, as is mana veil was being torn apart by the mages.

It took moments for the boa to spin around to throw the fighters off. Precious moments fighters used to smash a spike into their scales. Some fighters were not so easily removed, moving with strength and grace no mortal could. Their weapons sliced the boa’s scales, sending it into a frenzy. The fallen fighters bounced back quickly as well, getting another opportunity to attack before the boa could create another gust.

The next stage of the fight was a seizing opportunities to attack. If there was a gust of wind, then retreat and hide. Boa recharging its mana veil? Stop it, and sneak in a couple of attacks if possible. Like a dance, the battle of attrition rose to a finale. Louis paid enough attention to ensure no sudden gusts would break out and end his life, but spent a great deal of his attention healing the fighters who retreated to be healed before rejoining the battle. While each person did not require much lifeblood to heal, the frequency was rather appalling and his mana core was beginning to run low on mana.

Hours passed and exhaustion began to sink in as the dawn came. The boa, bathing within the sunlight, grew stronger, even as its blood poured out of big chunks of missing flesh. Its mana core, heart and head remained intact, so it lived. Perhaps stronger now than at the beginning of the fight. Its speed had most certainly increased, both in reaction and attacks. There was a few people who rotated in and out of the fight, but not enough as the adventurer numbers grew thin, pushed on by a sense of adrenaline and being just a few inches from the finish line.

But as victory drew near, almost close enough for Louis to taste, and the boa shrieked one more pronouncement of anger. Fighters retreated, mage hid. Yet, the gust of wind did not appear. Silence hung onto the battlefield for moments as everyone stared at the boa, waiting for an attack. But all it did was fall to the ground. Victory, but not one that they could accept, for the battle had not ended.

A horde of beasts appeared, kicking up a storm behind the adventurers, charging in from their backline. Not all of them had transformed or had even begun their transformation, but the sheer number was daunting. Monkeys. Snakes. Rabbits. Deer. Toads. Leopards.

The larger beasts ran past the adventurers, charging straight for the boa. The smaller beasts lacked such distinction and attacked whatever human they got close to. Louis killed every beast he passed, but that slowed his retreat to his original party. The amount of mana cores he left behind saddened him but there was simply no time. In the background, he could see the larger animals, even herbivores now devouring the fallen boa.

The fight devolved from a careful siege into an all-out brawl. A few adventurers committed to fighting the boa, perhaps to steal its mana core, but Louis hoped it was not his party. The chances of success would be slim.

Fighters had an easier time navigating through the mess. Although it seemed like some of the mages here had dealt with a Beast Tide before, too many froze to all the beasts charging at them to form a proper defensive line. Their robes was ill-equipped to face such head on collision, instead more for the occasional attack that slipped past the fighters. As such, these beasts some made quick work of a few mages.

Louis formed a wall of fire around them with ‘En Xandra’, hoping to elicit a fear of fire and redirect them to the boa through a different path – preferably one that did not rampage through their group. It worked better than he had hoped – the larger animals had already passed him, while the smaller animals were either much more hesitant or avoided him entirely.

The brief respite gave the fighters nearby to kill the beasts that had already passed the flames, while the remaining mages could finally stabilize. Some even extended the wall of flame to create a path back to the encampment. Things had taken a turn for the worst, but all was not lost.