Aether Engineering

Chapter 28

Maston Academy

The Town of Maston in the Candis East District

There was tension in the air. Myles was surrounded by all of his dormmates as they left Maston through its wooden gate. This was the first time any of them except for Kate and Seth who went outside for their monster hunting class had left the town since they came back from their exams.

As they left, Myles couldn’t help but remember the shape they had come back in after that. The only thing that kept Myles moving forward was the knowledge that this was a calculated risk. They would have to face even more danger in this month’s exam. If they wanted any chance of passing, they would need to do very well. Primrose hadn’t shared any information with them about their scores, but she had been clear that if their performance didn’t improve this month, they would be in serious trouble.

Myles felt like he was learning more about aether engineering every day. Getting kicked out of the academy was simply not an option.

The platoon came equipped for the hunt. Myles and Jane had learned their lesson about lack of preparation well. Seth had managed to scrounge up a number of thick branches that Jane had carved into spear shafts. Myles had made the spear tips, forging in the runes to make a sleeve of pure mana for the wood. He would have preferred the entire spear to be made of basium. It would have allowed him more space for rune work and mana storage. Regardless though, he and Jane had infused the spear tips with more than enough mana to keep the spears in one piece for the duration of the fight.

In addition to the spears, Silas and Seth had been given shields. They had originally been made from old barrels that Mercy had somehow convinced one of the local merchants to give them. Myles and Jane had spent all of their time between creating the spears and the measurement construct to turn the barrels into effective shields. While the shields were largely made up of the wood from the barrels, they had used the last of their basium allowance to attach a front plate. The rune work for the shields had been fairly complex. While the spears had to be manually recharged, the shields allowed for the attachment of batteries.

Myles and Jane hadn’t had too much trouble convincing the others to help infuse the batteries with their mana. The result was that Silas and Seth’s shields should be solid enough to hold off any attacks the cinderwolves had.

The plan was to have the two shield wielders act as a barrier and kill point against the pack of cinderwolves. They would each be paired up with the other two members of their squad who would cover any other angles of approach, keeping the rest of the pack at bay while helping the shield wielder to quickly take care of any cinderwolves that attacked from the front. The squad of nobles that Silas had managed to recruit would be a crucial part of the operation. They were acting as a reserve force that could support either squad as the need arose.

They met the nobles right outside the gate. Kate, Silas, and Mercy had met with the nobles a few times before to solidify their strategy. The introductions were kept brief, but Myles had already heard everything they had learned about the nobles.

The tallest of the nobles was Jerald Straff. His family ran a medium-sized town west of Candis called Ventore that served as a hub for merchants to trade or safely spend a night on their way to deliver their merchandise. Apparently, Jerald was the first of his family to formally enter into the service of the province though that was largely because protecting Ventore from monsters took up a great deal of time. The straff family had been blessed with enough children to send one to the army though, so, when he had been offered a spot at the academy, it had been the perfect opportunity.

Alfred Gazole was from a line of nobles that had very distinguished service records in the province’s army. His family didn’t have any lands, but they were counted among the ranks of the lesser nobility regardless. Alfred might have been a little shorter than Jerald, but years of martial training had made him very strong. Myles could see the ease of which he manuevered around with his spear, a far less crude weapon than he carried. It told of long hours of training over the course of years. It reminded Myles of how some of the more experienced men at his old job had looked while wielding their hammers.

Vance Boreal was the first son of a noble who controlled a small mining town called Lugrave to the west of Candis. The town had strong ties with Ventore and much of the ore that was pulled from Lugrave’s mines made its way through the town. Lugrave had been in control of the Lu family until they had all been killed defending the mines from a horde of monsters a few years back. Because of their sacrifice, the town had been saved. The citizens had renamed the town to honor the fallen nobles. When Vance’s dad had taken over, he had happily kept the new name.

The group followed the tracks of the cinderwolves. Kate and Seth had both been able to confirm that there were six wolves in total. Even as they moved, they kept to their formations. Myles and Silas watched out for any signs of monsters even as Kate led them forward.

It took them about an hour of searching before Mercy raised a cry of alarm. The cinderwolves had sensed them long before they had spotted them and had sprung an ambush. Despite that though, all nine members of the group remained calm.

Kate had told them to expect an ambush. It was the reason they had stayed in formation the entire trip here.

If the cinderwolves were surprised to find their enemies organized and ready, they didn’t show it. They charged in from all sides. Three of them targeted the squad of Jane, Mercy, and Seth. One of them ran straight for the nobles. The remaining two cinderwolves came towards Myles’ squad.

The beasts were exactly as Kate had described them. Intense flames spewed out nearly a foot around them. In some ways, it resembled the pure armor that Myles commuted around his own body. The difference was that their flames were intended entirely for offense.

The first of the wolves that rushed at them launched a fireball. Silas managed to move his shield into its path, and Myles was happy to see that the shield withstood the blow. Silas’ commuted armor was able to snuff out the few embers that got past the shield.

Myles didn’t have much time to admire his handiwork though. The second cinderwolf moved around to the side of their formation, into Myles’ territory. Myles had to trust Kate to help Silas fight the first cinderwolf. It was Myles’ job to keep the second one at bay.

Myles moved to intercept it, but it was faster. It launched a fireball. Myles reached into his aether space and evoked a patch of pure mana. Between the evoked mana and his commuted armor, the fireball ran out of energy. Myles felt the heat of the monster as it charged forward, following its fireball. Myles gave a thrust with his spear and the beast shied away, circling around their formation.

Myles risked a glance over his shoulder and found that Silas and Kate had managed to hurt the first cinderwolf. One of them had hit it with a spear thrust, but it was still limping along.

For a brief window, the cinderwolves padded around their formation, keeping them trapped and looking for an opening to strike. Myles remained vigilant, keeping a solid grip on his spear and commuting his armor through his body.

The training that Primrose had insisted on seemed to be working. Despite the danger they were facing, Myles’ concentration didn’t falter, and his armor kept commuting through him.

The fight had gone well so far, but Myles was running low on mana. Blocking that fireball had taken a lot of mana. He wished that he could have made battery powered shields for everyone, but they hadn’t had the time or enough metal to work with.

The non-injured monster charged towards Kate. Myles moved as soon as he recognized the attack. Kate and Silas both moved as well, rotating their formation so that the monster charged straight into Silas’ shield. Myles dashed forward and speared the beast. The pure mana surrounding the wooden shaft of his spear was just enough to prevent it from catching on fire as he thrust it through the cinderwolf’s flames and into its side.

Myles could hear Kate fending off the second cinderwolf behind him, but he kept his attention on the monster in front of him. Silas was forced to drop his spear and hold the shield with both hands as the cinderwolf launched a vicious assault.

Myles ripped his spear free from the monster and stabbed again. The creature grabbed the shaft of the spear with its fangs and tore it in two. Thrown off balance by the beast’s strength, Myles stumbled backward. Silas battled forward and bashed the monster with his shield, putting it off-balance. Without pausing, Silas flowed into the second step, tripping the already off-balance monster. Silas’ armor saved him from the burns he would have had to endure otherwise.

Myles quickly recovered from his stumble, turning his momentum into a jump and delivering a falling javelin kick into the fallen cinderwolf. His blow hit with impact, stilling the creature. It came at a cost though. The fierce fire that he had avoided with his spear burned at his leg. His commuted armor was able to stop the worst of it and his uniform the rest, but Myles could feel the mana burning away.

In death, the monster’s flames burned out and Myles stumbled back. He started commuting all of his remaining pure mana, but he could feel that his armor was noticeably thinner.

Myles turned to help Kate, but the second cinderwolf had already fallen back again. Kate bore a small scratch on her. Her armor seemed almost as thin a Myles’ was. Other than that, though, she appeared unharmed.

Silas picked up his dropped spear. “We need to finish this monster off then go help the others.”

Kate and Myles nodded, and the three charged towards the cinderwolf. With its injuries, it couldn’t avoid their charge and Silas was able to end it with a spear, blocking its last attack with the shield. Silas noticed the mana running low and rapidly grabbed his spare battery from his belt, attaching it to the shield. Pure mana began rippling around it again.

Myles looked up to see the rest of the battlefield. The nobles had killed the cinderwolf that had charged them then ran to backup their other squad. With the support the nobles had given, it seemed that they had been able to kill one of the cinderwolves.

The remaining two bore light injuries as they repeatedly rushed in to attack. As he watched, Myles saw one of the beasts attack Vance who was supporting Mercy. She seemed to have a leg wound of some kind. Seth remained steady as he fended off the second beast with help from Jane whose mana looked thinnest of the group.

Alfred and Jerald tried to catch the rebuffed monster in a pincer attack, but it somehow managed to dance through their blows.

Kate dashed forward and managed to land a blow. It hadn’t noticed her in its haste to escape the others, but it seemed to escape the worst of the thrust anyway.

Seth spun around to help Vance with the beast that assaulted him, just in time to block a fireball with his shield. Myles moved into action even as his friends fought. Without much mana left and with his spear shattered, Myles ran for Mercy, allowing Vance to advance under the cover of Seth’s shield.

Myles stayed ready to defend Mercy from further attack, but it proved unnecessary. Between the combined efforts of Kate, Silas, Jane, Jerald, and Alfred, their monster fell quickly. The last cinderwolf found itself impaled on Vance’s spear, unable to get past Seth’s defense.

With all the monsters dead, Jane joined Myles to check on Mercy. She appeared not to be heavily injured. Apparently, Mercy had stepped in for Jane, seeing that her mana was running dangerously low. Seth had done his best to keep the others safe with his shield, but he had been forced to engage one of the monsters. Mercy had taken a claw to her leg. Jane repelled the beast, but their formation would have collapsed if the nobles hadn’t been able to rush to their rescue.

Myles shuddered, glad that Silas had been able to recruit the nobles. Without them, the group would have almost certainly suffered casualties.

With Mercy’s injury proving to be minor, the entire group let out a breath of relief. They had managed to get through the fight relatively unscathed.

Kate had set herself to carving out the monster cores the moment the last cinderwolf had perished. Myles noticed that Jane wandered over and began helping her. The two seemed to exchange a few words and Myles felt himself smiling. He had been unsure if the two of them would ever be able to make up, but it seemed that they were well on their way to being friends now.

The trip back was thankfully uneventful. The moment they stepped back into Maston, the serious atmosphere vanished, and the nobles insisted that the entire group throw a celebration.

No one opposed the idea. After their first mission, they had all been dreading what might happen.