Pullulate
Nova, Anastasia, and Katherin stood a good portion ahead of the class.
Nova had a longsword, Anastasia had her signature rapier, then Katherin had a spear that was similar to Jade's- save for there only being one point.
『So… I'm a support class, so I will stay in the back!』[Katherin]
Nova nodded.
『Sure. Then, leave the big brownling to me.』[Nova]
In the distance, the brownling the size of a tree was surrounded by brownlings about 4 feet tall with a head where its 3rd arm was- about the size of a watermelon.
『Those are rank 2?』[Thomas]
Marn shook his head rapidly while covering his eyes.
『They're god damn terrifying is what they are.』[Marn]
『Nope. They're third circle, about 125 units of mana.』[Reagan]
『Wait. Then, what about the second circles? Where are they?』[Marn]
『You've been fighting them. What's the point if you're fighting a 1st circle? They're literal infants.』[Reagan]
『Huh?! Then, what do they look like- also.. That means the big one is a fourth circle?! Didn't you just say the second circles were first circles?!』[Marn]
『Yeah? I was lying.』[Reagan]
Reagan shrugged as everyone watched in wordless silence.
『Wouldn't it be scary to jump straight into fighting second circle creatures? I'll step in if they need it. They'll probably take out the third circles at best.』[Reagan]
『...I really don't know if they will be okay.』[Thomas]
『Against that 4th circle? No way. 』[Sophia]
Reagan stared and directed his next answer to Marn.
『Also, to answer your question- first circle brownlings are the size of a lemon and have no red eyes or back arm.』[Reagan]
『...Oh. That doesn't sound so bad.』[Marn]
『Not at all. There is quite a market for plush brownlings.』[Reagan]
『...Plush?』[Marn]
『Eh, don't worry about it.』[Reagan]
Jenny pointed toward Nova and the others.
『Oh, look! They're starting!』[Jenny]
The group at the front began to fight against the brownlings.
Anastasia dashed around the battlefield and left behind a bunch of monster dust.
『Woah! Isn't she.. Really strong?!』[Jenny]
『Huh..? You all know that she is probably stronger than Nova, right?』[Reagan]
『What?! That's impossible!』[Marn]
『Nah. Her mana is almost on par with that rank 4. However, not all rank 4's are the same. I'd say that the brownling over there is a little stronger than normal.』[Reagan]
『Then.. Nova ISN'T the strongest in our class?!』[Thomas]
『Depends on what you mean. Is he the most battle ready? Yeah. The most amount of mana? No.』[Reagan]
『...So, how long would it take to catch up to him?』[Thomas]
『Eh… a month or two. But, he'll probably be at a whole other level by then.』[Reagan]
『Wow..』[Jenny]
Suddenly, Marn screamed and pointed toward Nova.
『WHAT?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!』[Marn]
When they looked at the direction he pointed at, they saw a giant explosion..
『..What?』[Reagan]
....
Nova stood with Anastasia and Katherin as the brownlings came toward them.
『So, what does your seed ability do, Katherin?』[Nova]
『I can multiply projectiles and abilities! If you're casting a spell, I can cast my seed ability to multiply the effective range as long as you're still casting.』[Katherin]
『Okay. Then… let me cast my Inferno Purgatory, and during the cast, you can amp up the range. Then, we'll get the rest of them. Anastasia, please cover us in the meantime.』[Nova]
Anastasia nodded, and prepared her rapier.
『Then.. Let's go!』[Nova]
The moment he said this, Anastasia ran at an extremely fast speed and began to cut down wave after wave of brownlings.
『..Geez. She's really strong, after all.』[Katherin]
『...Yeah. Let's begin!』[Nova]
He raised his hands up and began to form a circle with flames inside.
『Birthed from the stars, Burnt to ashes, burn my enemies into nothingness... 』[Nova]
In the middle of his chant, Katherin raised her hand and began to focus on Nova.
『Pullulate!』[Katherin]
After she shouted the word, a yellow triangle formed on Nova's magical circle.
『Anastasia! Fall back!』[Katherin]
She nodded and jumped back, until she was close to them.
『...From ashes to ashes, to stardust and nothing, incinerate the enemy into eternal night!』[Nova]
An explosion of red flames suddenly engulfed the entire battlefield briefly, before the flames lifted.
『...You're actually really strong, aren't you Katherin?』[Nova]
『..I haven't used it with other people before..』[Katherin]
『...Anyway, looks like we're not quite done yet.』[Nova]
The battlefield was littered with tiny crystals. However, in the back were the third and fourth circle brownlings.
『They survived?!』[Katherin]
『Oh.. I didn't want to risk breaking the crystals.』[Nova]
She looked at him a moment, before taking his reasoning into consideration.
『..Okay. So, how are you going to beat him?』[Katherin]
The large brownling began to stomp around for a moment, in a rush of anger.
They began to lumber toward the group.
『How is your mana doing?』[Nova]
『Nope! That spell took way too much mana compared to normal. I can cast a few Wind Cutters, but I'll have to leave it to you two.』[Katherin]
Anastasia nodded.
『Can you take care of the small ones? I want to try fighting the large one.』[Nova]
『Sure. Then, are you ready?』[Anastasia]
『Yeah. Brace yourself, we're gonna drop in.』[Nova]
She nodded her head.
He snapped his fingers and a hole appeared below the two of them.
『Area!』[Nova]
They appeared straight on top of the massive brownling.
『Let's do it!』[Nova]
Anastasia nodded, then jumped off of the creature and engaged the small ones.
He pushed his blade into the tree sized creature.
『...What?!』[Nova]
His blade was intercepted by a pair of teeth from the brownling's 2nd head.
『...That's nasty.』[Nova]
He immediately jumped off, right before the brownling smashed the location he was previously at with his arm.
He looked at Anastasia, to see how she was doing.
She was being surrounded by about 6 of them, but she had dispatched about 3 of them already.
Nova was about to give her some help before she noticed his gaze and yelled at him.
『...Focus on your fight!』[Anastasia]
Nova realized that the 4th circle wasn't waiting for him when he saw a large disfigured head coming at him.
『..?! Area!』[Nova]