“No, Gwen!”
Astrella shouted as she watched her friend fly through the air. She tried to order one of her fairies to summon a gust of wind and pull Gwen back, but the roof of the wagon continued to shake and sway as the bats hurled themselves against the icy barrier.
One of her fairies shot forward, its tiny wings beating furiously as it gathered wind mana. A swirling gust formed around its hands, but before it could release the spell, another collision rocked the wagon.
Students tumbled across the roof, and Quinten slammed a hand against his own ice to keep himself upright. His Ice Elemental reinforced the barrier that encased the entire roof of the wagon. The wall of ice expanded just as Astrella tried to leap over the edge to save her friend. Instead, she was met with a sheet of ice striking her in the face.
“N-no, Professor! Gwen fell off! We need to save her!”
The teacher's head snapped toward the direction his student had been thrown, but it was already too late. The speed of the carriage, combined with the chaos surrounding them, made any immediate rescue impossible.
For a brief moment, Quinten's expression tightened. It was clear he was weighing his options, but the hesitation vanished almost instantly as he made his decision.
“Everyone, remain in position!”
His voice thundered across the roof and echoed through the wagon.
“We are still under attack. If this barrier falls, more students could be harmed.”
Astrella stared at him in disbelief.
“But Gwen...!”
“I know. We will return for her after we reach the waypoint.”
The teacher's words made sense, but Astrella still protested.
“By then, she could be hurt or worse…dead!”
Quinten, who usually maintained a neutral expression, frowned.
“And if I weaken our defenses now, all of you could join her. I cannot endanger all of you for one student.”
Another impact rattled the wagon. The icy shell covering the roof groaned as dozens of Hell Bats exploded against it in bursts of black flame. Astrella wanted to argue. She wanted to scream. But deep down, she knew he was right.
The convoy could not stop. Not here. Not while they were surrounded on both sides. Hundreds of monsters were trying to tear them apart, and beyond the road waited a deadly plunge into the gorge below.
“Gwen... stay safe...”
Astrella could do nothing but stare into the distance where her friend had fallen. The sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon, and shadows were steadily swallowing the mountains. Still, she held on to hope. Someone had gone with Gwen. Someone who had always managed to pull her through even the most desperate situations.
******
The world became a blur. Wind howled past Rusty's helmet as he plummeted through open air. Below him stretched a seemingly endless drop. Above, the wagon was already racing away along the mountain road. He caught a glimpse of the flaming rams continuing their charge, but quickly turned his attention to the more immediate problem of cushioning his summoner's fall.
“Rusty!”
“Don't worry, I got you!”
His body expanded as he assumed his Goliath form. With his increased size, he wrapped one hand around his summoner and held her close against his shoulder. His other hand shot toward the mountainside.
At first, his fingers scraped uselessly across the rock. Then, after adding more strength, his fingers sank in. Stone cracked beneath his grip as he drove his hand deep into the cliff face. The force of the fall pushed his arm back, but he held firm. Chunks of rock tore free and scattered into the abyss below as his hand carved a deep trench through the mountainside, steadily halting their momentum.
The stone ground between his fingers. Rusty's metal hand carved a deep trench into the mountainside as sparks erupted around him. The force of their fall dragged him downward despite his efforts. Chunks of rock broke free and tumbled into the darkness below. His arm shook violently from the strain while Gwen clung to his shoulder.
It was a difficult task. His summoner was rather delicate, and even though her physical stats had reached E-Rank, he did his utmost to reduce the vibrations. His body was made of hard metal and was not very good at dispersing shocks, causing clear discomfort to Gwen as they slid down into the chasm below.
"Try to bear the pain, Gwen. I think I see some trees. We're probably close to the bottom."
"I... I'm f-fine."
Gwen closed her eyes and clung to his chest and arm as he tried to make the fall as gentle as possible. The darkness below began to thin as the ground came into view. At this point, Rusty could tell they were starting to slow down. The rocks continued to crumble as he drove his fingers deeper into the mountainside. Eventually, just as they came within a meter of the ground, they stopped.
With a small hop, he lowered himself the rest of the way and quickly turned to Gwen to make sure she was alright. The silence after the descent felt heavier than the fall itself. For a moment, neither of them moved. The mountain air was cold and filled with strange, distant echoes. Among them, he could hear the chase continuing above. At the same time, unfamiliar sounds drifted from deep within the forest.
'So... this is the true start of this mission.'
Rusty had expected something like this, but he wished he had reacted faster and prevented Gwen's fall. He also wondered if things might have turned out differently had he been more honest and cautious. Maybe if he had told Gwen the truth and convinced her to remain in the wagon with Syber and the other students, none of this would have happened.
"I'm sorry, Gwen. This is all my fault..."
Rusty finally decided to come clean about the situation and apologize for keeping what he had discovered a few days ago to himself.
"What are you talking about, Rusty? You saved my life."
"Yes, but... this might never have happened if I had told you about the attack that night."
"The attack that night?"
She was clearly confused, having slept through the entire incident. At the time, he had not wanted to upset her. He believed he could find the culprit himself, but that decision had ultimately led to this disaster.
Gwen stared at him for a moment, still catching her breath as the weight of everything that had happened slowly settled in. The cold mountain air clung to her skin, and she was clearly freezing, but Rusty had to get this off his chest.
"Yes. At the first waystation, while you were sleeping, someone sent a venomous snake into your room."
"A venomous snake?"
She flinched at the mention of snakes and immediately connected the dots.
"So that's why your body was like that..."
"Yes. I fought the snake off and ended up in that condition."
He lowered his head in shame, finally realizing how badly he had handled the situation. He expected to be scolded, but Gwen was not that kind of person.
"Silly Rusty, you should have told me... I know I'm not always reliable, but..."
It seemed Gwen had taken it differently than he expected, blaming herself for not being trustworthy or worthy enough.
"Uh... I didn't mean it like that. I just thought I could take care of things myself along the way. If I had told you sooner, maybe it wouldn't have come to this..."
Rusty was truly ashamed of himself for dismissing his summoner. He had convinced himself that it was enough for him alone to know the truth and that he could handle whatever came his way without involving her.
"Don't blame yourself, Rusty. You meant well!"
Gwen immediately tried to cheer him up, which only made him feel even more foolish than before. Before they could continue the conversation, he heard a strange sound coming from somewhere nearby.
"W-what was that?"
"I don't know, but it wasn't far away. Let's continue this once we're out of here. Gwen, do you know where the next waypoint is?"
This place was still dangerous. The strange monsters that had been pursuing them and the bats traveled in large groups, and some might still be roaming the cliffside forest they were trapped in. Their priority was getting through this area safely, and heading toward the waypoint, which was also a fortified stronghold, offered their best chance of survival.
"I actually do!"
Gwen nodded and pulled an item from her spatial bag, one of the few things that had survived the fall. From inside, she retrieved a magical device that Rusty immediately recognized.
"Is that a compass?"
"It is, but it's a special one. Look."
Rusty leaned closer as Gwen tilted the device in her palm. The compass was unlike any ordinary tool. Instead of a single needle, several thin luminous lines floated inside a glass casing, each shifting slightly as though reacting to unseen currents.
"It reacts to mana flow."
Gwen explained, steadying her breathing.
"This one was designed for situations like this. See these mana lines? The purple one points to the nearest waypoint or major waystation. The blue one points to Teacher Quinten."
"And the third one? The yellow one pointing in the other direction?"
"That one points back to the academy. It's there to help us return if we ever get lost."
Rusty nodded as he studied the magical compass. The purple and blue lines were pointing in nearly the same direction, clearly indicating where they needed to go.
"So we need to head this way... but that's pointing straight at the mountain."
There was one problem. The compass only pointed in straight lines. There was no clear path from where they stood, and climbing up to rejoin the road, which was probably infested with ram monsters, seemed like a terrible idea.
"Don't worry, Rusty. I came prepared."
Fortunately, he was not alone. Gwen reached into her bag again and pulled out a parchment. It was not particularly large, roughly the size of two book pages placed side by side. At first glance, it looked like nothing more than an old yellowed sheet of parchment. However, the moment she infused it with a small amount of mana, something began to change.
"This... is it a map?"
"Yes!"
A map of their surroundings slowly formed before his visor. Rusty was instantly fascinated by the item and wondered if he could recreate something similar in his soul forge. Normally, he relied on Aburdon's memories when it came to navigation, but if he could create something like this, it would be a game-changer.
The mountain range continued to reveal itself across the parchment. Thin glowing lines marked the roads that wound through the peaks, while clusters of symbols denoted forests, caves, and steep ravines. A faint point of purple light pulsed near the center of the map.
"There. This is where we are, and the waypoint we have to reach is here."
Gwen pointed to their current location on the map. They needed to make their way through a large forested area. While climbing onto higher ground would be difficult, there seemed to be a path that would bring them closer to their destination.
"Hm... perhaps if we make it here, the teacher will pick us up."
Gwen mumbled to herself as she traced a finger across the map. Rusty was not entirely sure how things worked here, but his summoner was still a noble. The teacher would probably come looking for them and likely had a compass of his own to track any students who got lost along the way.
"That sounds plausible. You're really great, Gwen!"
Gwen blinked twice before immediately turning red.
"I am not."
"You are."
"I'm really not."
"You have a magical map, a magical compass, and now, thanks to that, we have a proper plan!"
Rusty began praising his summoner after his earlier blunder. He had come up with a plan of his own, but it had not worked out particularly well. His approach was simple. Even if things did not go his way, as long as he hit the problem hard enough, it would usually go away. That strategy often worked in his favor because, when it came to battle tactics, he was remarkably effective.
"Hehe."
Gwen chuckled, but after a moment, her body shivered as the cold air around them intensified.
"Now that we have a path, let's get moving. How about you guide us, Gwen, and I'll keep us safe?"
"I'll do that, but I can do more than just guide us, Rusty!"
Gwen proclaimed before dropping to one knee. She pulled out something resembling a wand with several gems embedded at its tip. It began to glow as she chanted a summoning ritual. Within moments, several living armor constructs appeared around them, along with two flying imps.
"This way, you won't have to worry about me getting attacked, Rusty."
She said, and he nodded. Soon, the two of them began moving forward. The night air was cold, but Gwen's uniform carried an enchantment that kept her warm. It seemed the magical academy was well prepared for students getting lost.
The path ahead wound between towering, spiky trees whose branches blocked most of the moonlight. Shadows stretched across the forest floor, broken only by the faint glow of Gwen's magical map and compass. Rusty walked at the front while the summoned armors spread out around them in a protective formation. The two imps fluttered overhead, their small eyes scanning the darkness.
The area reminded him somewhat of the snowy Yeti Peaks he had once visited with that necromancer. Fortunately, the snow had only accumulated atop the trees while the ground remained mostly clear. The colder weather had also hardened the earth beneath them, which worked in his favor since his metal boots no longer sank into soft terrain.
Yet, while the trip started well, after around five minutes, they encountered their first obstacle. A ram with a flaming head stood before them, along with several others that had fortunately perished in a fall.
“Be careful, Gwen. These monsters must have fallen during the chase. There could be more of them around here!”
For the time being, Rusty assumed his smaller form, as the larger one would have struggled to move between the densely packed trees. Before them stood a lone Ashram, one of the monsters that had previously pursued their wagon. An entire stampede had chased them earlier, and the path ahead seemed littered with those that had tumbled down the mountainside. Some had fallen to their deaths, but many still remained alive, and Rusty could sense their life signatures through his skill.
The creature before them was quite large. Its head resembled that of a skeletal ram, wreathed in flames, while its body was covered in gray scales, just as they had seen from atop the wagon. Up close, however, the creature looked far more imposing than it had from a distance. Nevertheless, there was no turning back now.