Chapter 25: Chapter 23 – Charmed I’m Sure

"Phillip?" Why was he here? I saw him with some of the boys from the group that fought the shrubbery in the forest. They stood off to the side and I had missed them until he spoke. He still had that 'I can take on anything' look he had in the forest. His magic, I later found out, was mainly plant based which was why he had taken the lead in the forest. I looked from him to Silvia the dryad and knew she was in for a bad day. An evil smile formed on my face at that thought. Well I like to think it was evil, but I was later informed that it just made me look more like an angry chipmunk.

William or Bill to his friends stood to the left of him. He was the idiot that ripped the poodle off of Phil's leg. He was a tank class and looked the part. He had broad shoulders and stood tall. The few scars that decorated his body showed he had seen battle in the past even though he was only seventeen. From the ribbing his friends gave him over the poodle incident I learned he could encase himself in a type of metal armor and that the stronger he gets the tougher his protection will be.

James and Lucas stood to his right. I did not get to see them fight, because I was busy healing others at the time, so I did not know what their magical affinities were. They both had that sleek swimmers body; muscled but not overly so. James had two short swords strapped to his hips. He never talked to me. I was not sure why, but he would stare at me until I looked at him and then he would look away. He was a strange kid. Lucas held a staff and was the group's leader. He was friendly, very outgoing and great at tactics. Everything a leader should be.

They were an ok group and it looked like they came to help me or Ben. Probably me though since Phil called out to me. It was not something I expected. Sure, I helped him a little and I talked with their group every couple of days during the trip here, but I have not seen them in months. It was really nice of them and I swore in my heart to remember this favor.

Team evil consisted of three girls, three boys, Silvia and a teacher. Our group was still outnumbered because of the teacher and the Dryad. I tried to size up the groups. I realized that I had no idea what anybody in their group could do and that I was the weakest link in ours.

"Boys you need to leave. Alice needs to come with us to be disciplined for something she has done." The teacher said with a commanding tone. He had a righteous look on his face as if I really did something that needed him to cart me away.

A chill ran down my back when he said that; I needed these people. "That's not …" I started but Lucas chimed in cutting me off, "That is not going to happen. Perhaps, you should leave now before we have to pull rank." The first thought I had was 'Am I ever going to be able to complete a sentence in a fight ever again?' but I realized that my denial was not needed after what he said registered. My following thought was 'Who were these guys if they could pull rank on a teacher'.

Being magnanimous and extremely relieved, I will forgive him this time for cutting me off.

The few other students that were still in the area had taken notice and began to leave so they were not implicated. Soon there was only one, that had backed as far away as he could, remaining. He held a red gem in hand like a camera and I wondered briefly if that was a recording device before I berated myself for getting distracted.

"So be it. Kill them." the teacher gave his order as if he was ordering a pizza and not our deaths. 'Jerk, see if I take any of your classes.' I was silently casting when he said it and soon my body began to glow from the golden armor protection spell, I just finished. That seemed to be the go sign because I heard others begin to cast right after my spell.

I saw some of the others pulling weapons. Since we were outdoors, I manifested my wings and flew upwards to get a better view of the overall battle and to avoid close combat.

Observing, I saw how the groups broke apart to engage their targets. The enemy's group had some overlap because they lacked a leader telling them which person to attack. I heard Lucas give his orders and the fight was on.

Lilly and her retainer were trying to get out of the combat while the youngest of the three girls had pulled a dagger and was chasing after them. The girl who was only around thirteen and had an innocent look right before the order, but now had a manic look on her face. Her eyes never leaving her party.

James had pulled his two short swords and was just observing. I saw a teen boy, with a crop-top haircut, casting something at him. It must be something powerful from the length of the casting. Still James looked on without a care showing on his face.

Lucas slammed his staff onto the ground while shouting "EARTH SPIRITS COME FORTH". Two, emaciated looking, kids crawled themselves out of the ground and just stood in front of him waiting for orders.

Bill had a grey metal creeping up his body. It started at his feet and had made its way up to his waist. Two girls, a blonde and a redhead, were trying to surround him while he was shouting perverted things to them. Things like "Oh beautiful Eva, I knew you loved me", "What? You brought your friend to play with me", "Two at once? Well I will try hard to satisfy" came out of his mouth without a care, angering the two girls even more.

Phil was under siege from two boys. One had a small cleaver and was charging forward while the other was hanging back casting. Roots had begun sprouting under his feet and I could not tell if that was him or the dryad. Silvia had jumped backward and was swallowed by the tree, so I could not tell what she was doing.

The teacher just looked at me… waiting. It made me nervous but I needed to do what I was good at and not get flustered. I pulled up everybody's health windows I was to heal to make it easier to keep track of them.

***

The young girl was catching up to Lilly's retainer who had fallen behind. The dagger raised to pierce her back. I could hear broken sobs coming from the retainer.

A flaming dragon began to manifest above the teen boy's hands. His chanting never slowing as the tiny dragon became larger by the second. With a casual look James began to stride toward the kid as if the dragon did not even exist.

Lucas tapped his staff onto the heads of the earth spirits. With a wave of his arm holding the staff they began to walk. One went toward the tree while the other went toward the teacher. Their emaciated look began to be replaced as they filled out and began to grow with every step they took.

The blonde girl had managed to get behind Bill and then leaped onto his back. Her nails had grown longer and dug into his chest where the metal was just about to cover. He grunted said something about her being 'Kinky' before grabbing her arms and throwing her into the redhead. As they tumbled, I saw a spell, the redhead just cast, hit the blonde that William threw into her. She did not even cry out and I could not tell what the spell was or if the blonde was even still alive. I checked Bill's health window and saw he was still in great shape. If I had time I would cast a light heal spell on him but he was not top priority.

The roots around Phil's feet weaved themselves into a wall blocking the man with the cleaver. The more the roots dung themselves out of the ground the more I could see that they oozed a black miasma. The boy chopped into them and the sap that came out was nauseating to look at. The other boy raised his hands up into the air and with a shout of "Mana Block". A blue globe appeared and shot into Phil and I saw his health window now had 'Magic Obstructed' appear in it.

With a tsk sound, the teacher snapped his finger and I felt the air begin to condense around me.

I needed to make hard choices fast. Save the retainer, add protection to Phil to minimize the damage from whatever that spell will do or try to save myself from the teacher's spell. I decided to save a life and hoped it was the right call. I cast 'Golden Armor' onto Lilly's retainer to block the knife. Then everybody slowed down to a crawl or I sped up. Looking around I saw Ben way off in the distance. He must have accelerated my speed.

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Not sure how long the effect would last, I quickly reached into my new cloak, pulled one of the smoke bombs I made months ago and tossed it down to where the teacher stood alone. I prayed it would block his sight long enough for me to get out of his spell area. Since most spells are 'line of sight' meaning they go to where you are looking, blocking his sight and moving should neutralize it. As I flew to the right, I saw the other combatants speeding back up and knew Ben's spell was at an end.

***

The young girl plunged the knife into the retainer's back. I saw a +1 XP as the 'the golden armor' cracked but stopped all but the tip. 'How strong was that kid?' I saw Lilly turn around when she heard the retainers cry of pain and I saw the girl's knife disappear. Lilly grunted in pain and I saw faded black lines beginning to appear on her. The retainer's health window showed she had a minor bleed affect and would need first aid or healing to stop it.

A flaming dragon grew to the size of a horse before flying into James. Flames danced about an inch above James' body leaving him untouched. With a soft chuckle, I heard him say my turn and then the blades in his hands began to move so fast that all I saw was a blur and then the boy fell to the ground.

The earth spirit hit the tree and instead of a cracking noise I was expecting, I heard a muffled cry of pain. In retaliation, branches slammed down onto the spirit's head driving it into the ground with every hit. It did not seem to notice as it kept hitting the trunk. The other golem entered into the smoke cloud and I heard thumping noises but could not see what was happening.

The redhead was standing next to the blonde girl when I looked again. I saw tears flowing down her face. The pain of what she was doing and had done was easy to see but she did not stop as she began to cast. Bill charged toward her and it was hard to tell which would be first to deliver a blow.

The kid with the cleaver kept on chopping away. He could have easily moved around the wall making Phil expend magical energy to move it but he did not. The caster seemed to be contemplating his next spell and I realized that while these kids were following orders they were doing it reluctantly. Making mistakes on purpose to give us openings. Sadly that didn't help Phil. A blue glow aura outlined him and I saw his magic go out of control.  The roots he formed into a shield, untangled themselves and then began to slither toward him followed by the cleaver weaving boy.

I did not know what was going on in the smoke cloud, but I saw multiple amber globes appearing in the sky starting from where I was before and appearing to fill the sky. I weaved my way around them while trying to keep everybody in sight. Even as careful as I was, I lost some feathers, and if the pain was any indication, maybe a bit more, as I flew to close to one of them. The globes dissolved anything they touch in seconds as if they never existed.

Ignoring the teacher for now, I focused on Phil. I cast 'Coat of Arms' onto him and saw the emblem form. Again it was different, the emblem had a plant at the center of it with a sun and a bird behind it and a little weasel in front of the plant. Then it shrank itself and affixed itself to his shirt. I did not speed up again so it was all I had time for. I just hoped it was enough to keep him in the fight.

***

Seeing her knife vanish, she paused for a second and then balled her little hands up into fists and began to hit the retainer for all she was worth. The cracks in the armor began to expand but it did not shatter yet. With it, the retainer was spared most of the damage the girl would have done to her. Lilly just stood there trying to get through the pain and I saw the lines fading quicker than when she saved the potion. I did not see the knife so I am unsure what she did but it seemed to be easier than the spell she used before.

James ran past Lucas to get to Phil trying to lend him help but stopped when a beam of pure light surrounded Phil. As the roots slammed against light, it left the roots scorched with some of them even turning to ash. I saw +1 xp flash from time to time as the roots kept getting repelled. I saw the golden clasp fade with every hit. Damn that spell was overpowered. I just wished I knew what the symbols meant. The boy with the cleaver stalled his charge to avoid the beam and looked around for somebody else to attack. It was obvious he did not want to fight Phil anymore. Seeing Lucas, and probably thinking he stood a better chance against swords verses giant beams of white light, the boy charged in Phil's direction.

I saw Bill's body finally finish being covered by metal as he charged into her. I saw her hesitate right before he slammed into her, sending her flying like a kite without a string. She hit the ground and rolled a few times. She did not move after that. It probably felt like a metal wall ran into you and I hoped she was ok. While she was trying to kill us I saw her fighting the charm affects with all she had. Possibly better than I would have.

I heard a woman's scream every time the roots hit the beam of light. The branches that were hitting the earth spirit slowed and were not hitting it as hard. It slammed its big hands into the trunk without slowing down even though half its body was now beaten into the ground. More cries followed every hit and I saw the bark shatter and fall away; exposing Silvia nestled into a hollow area the bark had hidden. She just laid there unmoving. I pulled up her health window:

Silvia:

Soul Poison

Charmed

Critical Damage Received

The critical damage was colored blood-red and flickered as if it had a heartbeat. She probably needed immediate medical attention if she was to live.

A loud explosion came from the smoke cloud followed by a fierce wind that pushed the cloud away. There was now a crater where the teacher still stood. The spirit was nowhere in sight. The teach looked at me, looked at the other students, then looked in the direction of where some of the students had run off to. "Another time then." He muttered and then a black door appeared and he walked though it leaving the kids to fight it out.

With the teacher gone the rest did not last long. The fight between the cleaver wielding boy and Lucas was almost comical. Lucas was so far above his skill level that he could smack him wherever he wanted without fail. Without healing I was not sure the kid would be able to sit for a week.

I checked out the fallen kids to see if they were alive and if they had anything of interest. The boys had the golden roses and vials of liquid so I took those away. The Blonde girl was barely alive when I finally got to her and I cast my weakest healing magic on her so she would be stable but unable to fight. I quickly moved away just in case. There was no reason to risk myself.

It was not long after that that I saw a bunch of men in some type of uniforms come rushing to us. They did not seem to be looking for a fight nor were they wearing school attire. They just asked us some questions, carted off the kids we beat up and then left. They were going to question us longer but Lucas chimed in that we were busy. Who were they?

"So Alice, what the hell is going on?" Lucas asked once it was just us.

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