C50: Preparations for Battle

The following day, Cera immediately headed for the mages’ guild again, intent on talking with Ann and seeing if she could do anything else to improve her chances in the conflict.  She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be allowed to join the healers, unfortunately.

As expected, upon asking Ann, the woman told her it was almost certain she’d be called upon to provide defenses to the command group, as Ann would have to focus on the offensive, given the vast difference in numbers.  Further questioning revealed that the opposing force was over ten times as large as what they would be able to field.  On the plus side, they had a number of extremely skilled or otherwise potent individuals, plus the combat golems that would be difficult to stop.

Their enemy, however, had more standard forces, mostly peasants with spears and gambesons if anything.  The large number of archers was a threat, but Ann seemed confident they wouldn’t remain one for long.

When Cera asked if it was possible to avoid having to fight entirely, Ann shook her head, remarking, “One of the few downsides of being part of a guild is that you are required to join any defensive battle at your location, if it includes a guild you’re a part of at least.  Admittedly, we should inform people beforehand, but if we did that, far fewer would join the guilds, so almost no one does.”

Cera couldn’t help but scowl at that statement, feeling somewhat betrayed, though she couldn’t do anything about it now.  Ann further explained that attempting to leave after the call went out would result in banishment from all guilds, even those not involved with combat, and potentially being branded a traitor to the kingdom, depending on how strong you were.

Ann did have more information today, however, explaining, “It appears I know all three of the mages the duke sent here, and they are reasonably good.  They’ll probably see through your illusion, but I’ve made sure to contact each already and told them that I trust you, and you’ve done your best to aid others, so they shouldn’t do anything against you.  And since I know them, I can inform you that even if all three work together, your barriers are better; the three of them are focused on breaking enchantments, disrupting incoming spells, and their own offensive spells.”

Thinking about the potential situation, Cera remarked that she could probably outrange nearly anyone, if she had a short while to design another mana construct, basically rediscovering one she’d used early in her past life, before she’d advanced beyond the need for it.  Though she wasn’t looking forward to it, she decided to admit that she could probably snipe enemies even through magical shields.  Disrupting the enemy would do a lot to improve their chances, after all.

Almost immediately, Ann decided they were going to practice to make sure she could do just that, and dragged her back down to the basement, grabbing the crystal off her desk as they went.  Cera shook her head, thinking it pointless since she’d just be designing things for a while rather than casting, but she decided she might as well ask some more questions she had while working.

“Why is it that I always see you here, no matter what time of day, or which day?” she asked, having been wondering about it for quite some time.

Ann laughed for a moment before responding, “Oh, I couldn’t stand it at the capital; people kept bothering me.  So I decided to leave and go somewhere calmer.  I also can’t stand the idea of someone else having more control over me than absolutely required, so I bought the guild building in this city for myself, kicked the old leader out since he was a bit of an ass, then made one of the basement levels my home.  I have to be aware of the place and able to respond at all times, however.  That’s why I have this crystal; it lets me monitor the status of the guild remotely.”

She paused a moment before adding, “Also, I spend most of my time working on enchantments, designing them on paper while being around for anyone who needs me.  That’s what I’m normally doing at my desk.”

Cera nodded, the explanation making sense to her, as she also didn’t like being bothered, and could see herself doing the same in the same situation.  She then decided to ask about the upcoming battle more.

“So when the enemy gets here, what are we expecting on each side?” she inquired, hoping things weren’t as bad as Ann had said at first—being outnumbered more than ten to one was a bit absurd, especially when the ‘wall’ the city had was simply a fence you could punch a hole in.

Unfortunately, Ann verified the number was accurate.  “We can likely put out two to three hundred people, plus my golems.  Around seventy of those are the duke’s forces, who are professionals.  A decent chunk of the rest are from the various guilds.  Our lovely count has neglected to train and equip the expected number of soldiers, like with everything else, so we’ll barely get any help there.  On the plus side, that means on average, each of our people is significantly more skilled than the opposing force.”

She thought a moment before continuing, “They’ve got probably a dozen knights, a dozen mages or so, a few hundred archers, a few hundred proper soldiers, and the other couple thousand are just farmers pulled into the army.  The mages and archers are the biggest threat; we have a number of knights of our own, plus my golems to hold back the melee combatants.  I will be dealing with the archers, so they won’t last long.  The problem is if they decide to use our smaller numbers to try to envelop us, or simply go for the city itself.”

Ann shook her head before adding, “I doubt they’ll do that last one.  The whole point of the attack is to try to take the city due to its economic potential, and attacking it would make it less valuable.  I also expect their mages to be fairly weak; they don’t force the guilds to participate in offensive battles, much like us, so they’re limited to those they can pay or who have obligations to the individuals involved.  There are a few nobles backing up the Marquess of Iwald, so it’s more than just his forces we’re facing.  If we can hold out, the duke is likely to turn around and invade his lands, once we’ve thinned out his troops.”

By this point, Cera believed she had properly managed her first bit of design, and remarked, “I believe I now have a way to keep a spell running on its own for a fair amount of time with no connection to me.  If that works, I should be able to hit much further away than anyone expects.  When I was testing ones still connected to me, I used simple light spells, so I’ll do that here too, just without leaving it connected to myself.  One moment, please.”

As she spoke, she wove the new mana construct into her spell, then moved it to sit beside the two of them and broke her connection to it.  Just as expected, it continued to remain lit, though it began acting oddly after a few seconds.  They both remained focused on it until it completely sputtered out nearly thirty seconds later.

“Well, that’s certainly impressive, Cera,” Ann remarked before pausing a moment and continuing, “Given the speed of a properly launched spell, I’m certain you could hit a target at a similar range as an archer, if not further.  Quite an unexpected distance for magic to reach for most mages, especially at the level of power you used.  Unfortunately, that means I’m going to have to report that, and you’re guaranteed to be called up as a mage rather than a healer.”

Cera sighed, then stated, “I was pretty sure that would be the case either way at this point.  The next thing I can do is try to make my spells penetrate shields.  Since that last construct drew in chaotic ambient mana, I can repurpose it to create a lance of energy ahead of the spell, which should disrupt any shield it comes into contact with, creating a gap an ice spike could pass through.”

“Well, that would certainly be handy, Cera.  If you could take out the command group and unit leaders, it would throw the approaching army into disarray, making it much easier to deal with.  Hmm…  If you can do that for us, I’ll see if I can use my influence to help you out afterward,” Ann responded, focused on her own thoughts.

She then continued, “I heard from Laura that you’re worried about getting in touch with the higher-ups at the academy.  She didn’t specify why, but I can guess.  I can attempt to help with that.”

It only took a few moments for Cera to modify her prior construct, and a quick test showed that it worked exactly as expected.  It couldn’t pierce Cera’s own defenses due to her design, and Ann’s were too powerful for it to punch through entirely, but she was confident it would work against mages similar to her students.

On the subject of her students, only four showed up today, the braggart having apparently decided that being kicked out was enough to not return.  Ann added that he’d tried to claim she’d attacked him and ought to be banished from the guild and jailed, but Ann had seen it from her desk and wasn’t pleased with his conduct herself.

As she’d done yesterday, Cera focused on combat today as well, double-checking that those present were comfortable with her design of shield, and could maintain it even when surprised or pressured.  The first time she suddenly launched an ice spike at a student without any warning had them scrambling and diving to the side, but their shield did catch it.  She’d aimed beyond their shoulder, anyway, so it wouldn’t have hit them even if they hadn’t moved, but she was pleased with the result.

The others took note and kept their shields stable, and didn’t try to dive away when she attempted to surprise them.  In the end, Cera decided she was pleased with their progress, though she did try breaking the shields with chaotic mana as well.  One of them failed the test, barely, but it was much better than if they’d used the shields they’d had before she began teaching them.

By the time they had to leave, Cera was feeling more confident in their chances of remaining safe in the upcoming battle.  And fortunately, there were no issues with getting back home and eating.  It appeared most people were still unaware of the approaching threat.