Chapter 420: The Tide of Beasts
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He said that he was going to teach them magic, but he only taught them some basic knowledge and tossed them some spells and a simple Law of Meditation, then sent them off to train by themselves.
It was not like Benjamin was trying to slack off or anything, but it was extremely easy to be an apprentice. As long as you were able to utter a spell and cast some extremely minor magic, you are good to go. This process still mainly depended on the talents of an individual; if one was talented, he would be able to pass within the first try, otherwise it would take him a good amount of practice and training. No outside help could speed up that process.
These two was discovered by Benjamin because they were born with spiritual energy. Thus, after they were given different branches of magic to try, they did not take long to finally cast out the Flame Spell and Breeze Spell. Now, they have officially stepped into the castle of magic.
"S-Sir! I.... I’ve succeeded!"
In a flash, all the graziers squeezed into Benjamin’s tent. They pointed at the flickering flame dancing on the person’s palm and chatted excitedly. Their faces were filled with wonder and surprise, just like when men started fire unintentionally for the first time.
Benjamin did not say anything. Instead, he just nodded and smiled.
Now, there were no longer fear in their eyes when they looked at magic. No matter how many times Benjamin explained magic to them, it will no longer be as effective as when they witnessed someone of their own wielding it.
Once again, he realized the true meaning behind the wide spread of magical knowledge. If the number of mages continued to increase and their backgrounds became more diverse, no one would ever believe the church’s claim that mages were ‘fallen’ and ‘devils’, if the church ever decided to do so.
After all, the mages were one of the people; everyone knew everyone, what evil were they even claiming?
Jealousy was evident in the eyes of the other graziers when they looked at the delighted expressions of the two. "Sir, are they the only ones that could learn magic? We wanted to learn too." Someone asked.
"You can try, but this matter does require talent." Benjamin answered with a shrug.
It is incredibly difficult for a non-gifted person to learn magic. Even if he trained his spiritual energy and affinity to elements using the Law of Meditation, his progress would be as slow as a snail’s. However, since his aim was to make magic commonplace, he should ensure that everyone had the equal opportunity to at least try.
He would not lose anything if he allowed them to try, anyways. Might as well.
The graziers left just like that, bursting with excitement. Soon, waves and waves of badly pronounced spells were heard from their resting spots.
Benjamin quirked an amused smile. Suddenly, his head snapped to look at the South.
"....Here already?"
The stench of blood laced the wind. Knee-high grass danced in the wind like waves in the sea. At the horizon where the endless plains touched the night sky, countless black spots surfaced at the plains.
From afar, the spots looked like an army of ants crossing the jungle. They blanketed the sky and the earth, as if they wanted to swallow everything alive. It was unbelievable how dense they were. Benjamin could not help but frown at the sight.
This was the Tide of Beasts?
Although he could not clearly discern how many magical beasts there were, but it felt like thousands and thousands of them came. If such a staggering amount of beasts would drop by the plains on a seasonal basis, the graziers would not be able to inhabit the plains long before this. How would the magic-ignorant graziers be able to defend themselves from so many magical creatures?
Thus, Benjamin felt that something was off.
"Oh my God! Here... Here comes the Tide of Beasts!"
Meanwhile, the graziers who were happily learning magic just moments ago shrieked in collective horror at the sight. The other mages all left their camps to look at the huge wave of magical creature piling into the fields. Their faces were filled with shock.
They had experience fighting magical creatures; most of them even made a living out of the art. However, even the seasoned hunters of magical beasts looked baffled at the massive number of the magical beasts.
How.... How many wolves are here?
"Prepare for battle!" Benjamin leaped to his feet and yelled at the mages. Then, he walked towards the graziers and asked, "Was this the usual scale of the Tide?"
The grazier was trembling as he shook his head.
"It was only a few hundred in the years before this. We had no idea what happened this year, but it was impossible to kill them all. At that time, over a thousand of us gathered and attempted to defend ourselves like how we did in the previous years, but our formation was crushed by the Tide. We were the ones that managed to escape quickly.... We had no idea how many of us survived that."
Benjamin heard and nodded, not speaking.
So.... This year was a bumper year of a sort, huh?
Benjamin suddenly felt immensely sad. He just came into Carretas to come face-to-face to the Tide of Beasts in the plains, coincidentally a gigantic one that was never seen before in the previous years. What luck is this?
He could only comfort himself by explaining that this was Heaven giving him a great responsibility to bear.
Soon, the black spots approached and Benjamin could finally see them clearly. These wolf-like magical beasts were unlike the ordinary beasts. Their eyes were gleaming red, their fur prickly like spikes, and their rotting flesh could be detected from miles away. It seemed to have mutated.
Benjamin had no choice but to take this very seriously.
Under his orders, the mages quickly assembled into rows and chanted their spells. The tens of mages that were familiar with the Earth Magic chanted the Quagmire Spell. With the camp as the center, they turned the fields around their camp into quagmire to prevent the wolves from getting too close.
At the same time, the mages that were good with Water Magic stood out and worked together with Benjamin. They summoned layers and layers of ice walls outside the safety center, forming a fortress within.
The rest of the mages continued to chant, their cloaks puffing up. They summoned the wind elements swirling around them, already prepared to attack using Wind Magic.
Finally, those who were good in Fire Magic could only restrict themselves to only deploy Wind Blades to prevent a clash between a Fire Wall and an Ice Wall. The only three mages that could use High-Level Magic were also at standby, waiting for Benjamin’s orders. On Benjamin’s mark, they would start to chant their powerful spells.
In summary, the mages did not panic even though they were faced with an attack from an overwhelming amount of creatures. Instead, they worked efficiently under Benjamin’s command, not a person out of place. Their coordination were much more polished, too.
That was the fruit of Benjamin’s efforts.
The team was no longer too difficult to command after the population shrunk to approximately a hundred mages. Thus, while they were on their journey, Benjamin spent time to train their battle coordination. Grouping, strategies, simple training.... Although they do not have much hands-on experience in the battlefield, the mages were very experienced in the battle training. As a result, their first cooperation seemed to be....acceptable?
At this moment, the graziers were protected by quagmire and ice walls. They stared in wonder at the mages who were separated into groups and casting spells methodologically. It was instinct for their eyes to be filled with envy.
Their hearts yearned to be the person who were focused and grounded in spell-casting, as if every moment were done in full confidence.
Magic.... Magic is incredible!
The two who just became apprentices were even more impressed. Their fear towards the Tide of Beasts forgotten, they were shaking in excitement, as if they could already see the future where they themselves would become real mages that were as great as these people.
During that time, the sea of beasts advanced at an alarming speed. The mages just finished their preparation when the beasts came crashing towards the camp alongside the wind blades and fireballs that they spat. Under the soft glow of the moon, their attack looked much like locusts swarming a city.