Chương 231: Slash Rats Part 2

"Geoffrey, you cast first," Damion told the Fire mage.

"Then I'll send in my Ice Clone, while you retreat."

"What about me?" Yuri asked.

"Cast Driving Rain once my Ice Clone gets there. Then just use Water Blast to knock any that come towards us back towards the middle."

"Okay."

"Geoffrey, go," Damion said. The Fire mage released the spell he had ready and in the middle of the depression, where the Slash Rats were the thickest, rose a swirling pillar of fire. At first the pillar was thin, only half a meter wide, but it grew. As the burning pillar expanded, the Slash Rats caught in the flames were killed almost instantly. Unfortunately, as the column of fire continued to grow wider, it began to lose power.

At its widest, about five meters, it was barely able to ignite the fur of the Slash Rats before Fire Storm burned itself out. Even before Geoffrey's spell was over, Damion's Ice Clone was on the move. A number of Slash Rats were fleeing Geoffrey's flames in the direction of their group, but once they spotted the Ice Clone, they homed in on it to take their anger out. The Ice Clone, being made of solid ice and a tier 4 spell, was not easily damaged by the E Rank Slash Rats.

If the construct just waded into the middle of the Demonic Beasts, it is likely they would have soon ignored it, since despite, biting, slashing and jumping on it, there was no satisfying spillage of blood. All they got in return for their attacks were hurt claws and teeth. However, the Ice Clone fought back. It slashed its sword and swatted leaping Slash Rats out of the air with its shield. With the Ice Clone fighting back against the Slash Rats, the Demonic Beasts became focused on it.

"Driving Rain," Damion said as Yuri had frozen, watching the gore Damion's Ice Clone was making of the Slash Rats. Geoffrey's spell had managed to burn out a sizeable number of the Demonic Beasts, but looking down the hill at their nesting grounds, one could not tell. More Slash Rats were pouring to the surface and now they could see at least twice as many as there were before. A moment later Yuri cast his spell.

The heavy rain created by the Water mage put out the remnants of Geoffrey's fires, be they on the dead underbrush or the fur of the Slash Rats. But the rain did not stop there. The water continued to fall, turning the small valley into a mudhole. Most of the water was actually seeping down into the Slash Rats' nests. Driving even more of them to the surface. While Yuri's spell continued dropping water on the Slash Rats, Phil was flying back and forth across the battlefield.

On each pass the Snow Hawk would spew out its Ice Breath. Any Slash Rat caught in the blast of cold air would be flash frozen. Phil made five passes over the battlefield while Yuri's spell poured water into the area. On the ground were frozen strips where the Snow Hawk has passed over. Once the Water mage's spell ended, Damion called to Phil through their bond to focus on Slash Rats that were trying to escape the area.

When Phil was no longer flying over the mass of Slash Rats, Damion began channeling his mana to cast the next round of spells. In front of Damion appeared a meter and a half cube of ice. As he willed the spell, the ice block began to split. First into a dozen pieces, then they split again and again. Each time Damion split the ice chunks, the remaining pieces became smaller, but sharper. Once he had close to a hundred shards of ice, Damion released his spell, sending the barrage of ice at the Slash Rats.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Yuri watched as Damion's simple block of ice turned into a deadly hailstorm of icicles. He did not know when the Ice mage had learned such a deadly spell, but he was glad the young man did not know it at the start of school year. Even back then, Damion had been strong, but now… now he was a monster.

"What spell was that?" Yuri asked as Damion was channeling another spell.

"Summon Ice, I got it from the Blanche family," Damion said, lying about the source of his spell. Yuri would not know the terms of his deal with them and as far as Damion was aware, only Mage Teft and the Blanche family was.

"I thought that spell just made a big block of ice. How are you turning into a hailstorm?"

"The spell allows you to completely control the ice conjured. I will it to split and sharpen and split and sharpen. It is mana and time consuming, but I don't know a specific spell to do the same effect."

"It is very impressive," Yuri said as Damion sent another flurry of ice at the Slash Rats.

"I've never seen anyone below A Rank manipulate a spell like that."

"Incoming," Damion said in response. Several Slash Rats had broken off from the pack's mad attack against the Ice Clone to charge toward Damion and Yuri. In response to the charging Demonic Beasts, Yuri cast Torrent. The tier 2 spell sent a high-pressure stream of water at three of the closing Slash Rats, sending each of them flying backwards from the impact. Damion was surprised to see Yuri send out three jets of water at once.

He may not have access to Silver Spire's Repository of magic seals, but he had still read up on various magic spells. Torrent would send a blast of water at a target, often capable of knocking the target backwards. With each Rank increase of the spell, a caster was able to launch a simultaneous stream of water. With Yuri sending out three jets at once, it meant he had reached D Rank mastery of the spell.

"You didn't mention you knew Torrent before," Damion said. Not that he was upset. Water Blast was useful, but as it increased in mastery it only increased damage dealt and the size of the blast. A talented mage could split the water into multiple attacks, just like Damion did with Summon Ice or Manager Halsey had with Fireball. But doing so required concentration, which was not always easy to achieve in the midst of battle.

Torrent offered a precision multitargeted attack, as long as the mage could learn and master a tier 2 spell.

"You didn't ask," Yuri smiled back as he cast another Torrent, knocking another three Slash Rats back into the furball attacking Damion's Ice Clone. In response to Yuri's attack, Damion cast another Summon Ice and pelted the Slash Rat horde. Between the ice attacks, the attacks of the Ice Clone and Geoffrey's Fire Storm, well over a thousand Slash Rats had been killed. As Damion was readying another barrage of icicles, the Slash Rats managed to topple the Ice Clone.

By continuously attacking the construct's legs, they had managed to break the leg and caused the Ice Clone to fall to the ground. Yuri and Damion could still see the Ice Clone swinging its sword and even smashing Slash Rats into the ground with its shield, but it would not be long before the construct was completely destroyed.

"Start casting another Driving rain," Damion told Yuri.

"Target the slope leading towards the horde, so the water runs downhill and keeps pushing them back down and then join the others."

"Right," Yuri said as he started channeling his mana. Damion summoned his Ice Sword in flying configuration and hopped on. A moment later he was hovering just a few meters above the horde of Slash Rats that were now starting to jump up at the target flying above them.

"Driving Rain," Yuri called out as he cast his spell. The rainstorm that Yuri started created a deluge of water running down the hill. The Slash Rats that had been trying to climb the hill towards the Water mage were washed downstream towards where Damion waited. As water began to accumulate in the area Damion cast Frost Over. If you are reading this novel anywhere except Royal Road you are reading a pirated copy. Support authors and their mediums by reading on the original hosting site.