Noah And James’ First Battle

Growl!

A bear-like monster appeared in front of Asher's group of five. It had a huge frame with large claws and brown-black fur. Although it had a similar physique to that of a bear, the monster's face looked like a lizard's instead, but one with two tusks at the edge of its lips.

"A monster!" Luna, the girl who was invited to the team by Melissa, exclaimed in horror.

Most of the students of the First Dawn academy grew up in exquisite environments where they had all their needs provided for them. Going into the wild, much less sighting monsters was a new activity for them. Although their training in the academy was meant to prepare them for such, seeing it was different.

"So, who wants to have a go at it?" Asher suddenly asked.

"I'll skip. It's too weak." Owen shook his head after which he squatted on the floor.

"James?" Asher turned towards him.

"That beast is a lot bigger than I am." James stared nervously at the monster that was about ten metres away.

"Haha. Strength isn't always about size. You're both first-stage Guardians but with the training you have had, this should be no biggie."

"True but…"

"You know what, why don't both you and Noah take it?" Melissa suggested.

"Right." Asher clapped both hands as he agreed to the suggestion.

"Wait, what? Me?"

"We don't have much time to talk this out so go." Asher hurried them after noticing that the monster was dashing at them.

Noah gritted his teeth and then went forward to face it.

"I hold its attention while you look for a weakness." Noah said out loud.

"Alright."

James lunged towards the side while Noah attacked head-on.

"Ah!"

A red light wrapped around Noah's hands before turning into a red fiery blade.

"Take this. Fire Blade."

Noah swung the five feet blade at the monster.

"Growl!"

The tusked monster, standing upright, swiped a clawed paw at Noah's blade, intent on not only stopping it but also counterattacking.

Whoosh.

The flaming sword was snuffed out by the claw of the beast but had managed to implode at the very last second to stop the claw from moving any further.

'Not enough.'

Noah glanced at the paw of the monster and noticed a huge burnt patch on it with the smell of roasted flesh drifting through the air, but he still felt his attacking power wasn't enough. Clashing with the monster had forced him back two steps and to Noah, who expected to contend with it head-on, this was a problem.

"Roar."

The tusked creature glared at Noah as its eyes turned red in anger. While Noah might have found the damage to be lacking, the monster was visibly pained by it.

"Hehe. You forgot there are two of us."

James appeared behind the monster with a ten inches dagger that was glowing with an azure green colour.

Without batting an eyelid, he slashed the weapon at the hind leg of the monster, right where its knee joint would be.

"Roar!"

The blade smoothly cut through the monster's fur and then its skin, but was slightly impeded when it struck a bone. However, James channelled in more mana and tried to cut through it, but the monster had already responded.

Swatting its right arm to the back, the monster struck James with enough force to turn a coconut to powder sending his figure flying back with immense potential.

"Ah!" Luna screamed.

"James!" Melissa yelled.

Even Owen had a frown on his face.

'Wait, something's wrong.'

"Ouch. So much noise. Calm down and focus on the fight." Asher picked his ear pretentiously.

"What do you mean, can't you see-" Luna suddenly stopped talking when she saw that 'James' had exploded into a burst of mist.

"How?"

"Mist magic spell, foggy substitution.

The real James appeared above the grisly monster with his dagger pointed at the monster's skull. With the assistance of gravity, he managed to make it atop the creature's head before it detected his presence above it.

The dagger sunk into its head, albeit not completely, as the monster widened its eyes in shock.

'Damn it. Its skull is much tougher than I expected it.' James grimaced.

"Noah!" James called out as the monster tried to retaliate.

He couldn't leave yet as it meant abandoning his weapon and in a way, staying atop the monster's head was much safer than trying to make a run for it.

"Here." Noah answered.

When the monster was occupied by James, Noah retreated a couple of steps and began channelling a spell. The spell was now complete and it just so happened that James needed his assistance right at that moment.

"Ignis Hasta."

A red magic circle, about the size of a basketball, appeared in front of Noah with two smaller circles the size of tennis balls beside it.

At the other side of the main circle, a red tip protruded out of the circle and began to exit it exposing a longer end.

Whoosh.

The entire object abruptly shot out from the circle and struck the monster right in its chest.

Boom.

Whoosh.

The flaming spear imploded at the point of contact, flaring up just a bit before burning out a palm-sized hole in the creature's chest.

"Roa, roar."

The tusked monster gave out its last roar before its eight feet long body thudded to the ground from its upright stance. Just when it was about to reach the ground, James jumped away to prevent getting buried under it.

"Huff, huff. That was risky." James sighed with relief.

"That was alright, but you could have ended that quicker." Asher reprimanded.

"The mist clone also wouldn't have been needed if you were on alert at all times. Unlike humans, beasts are more sensitive to attacks. You can hence expect their reactions to be quick. Also, this is a large monster with thick fur, you should have also expected its bones to be strong and sturdy. This is a beast not some farm animal. Your attempt at its joints would have been successful if you kept this in mind. What's more, you had already experienced this but still went for the head when you lacked sufficient strength. If you ask me, I would say you wanted to die just then."

"You're right." James lowered his head like a child who got yelled at by their parents.

"And you," Asher faced Noah. "You pretty much let James handle everything himself. Since you had intentions for him to be the main damage dealer, you should have provided cover, and not just sit still after attacking once. I understand you were prepping for the finishing spell, but what if something went wrong during that period? Would you have been able to handle the results?"

Noah's back began to sweat as he thought of the consequences.

The monster might have looked harmless from how they had taken it down easily but Noah knew how strong it truly was, after all, he had clashed head-on with it. If not for the implosion from his first attack, he would have been tossed far away by that palm with a few broken ribs. Even with the implosion, he was still forced back by two steps.

"If you had both attacked in tandem, you would have spent less mana than you just did. Remember this, whenever possible, use as less mana as can in a fight. You're Guardian mages and first-stage ones at that; your mana capacity is only just above that of a Human mage. If you happened to face an opponent stronger than you, even if it's only by a small margin, you are toast without mana. You should focus on managing consumption rather than blasting flashy spells. Only when you have no choice or you find it the best choice of action, then you can use your mana freely. But this doesn't mean that you should underestimate your enemy, understand?"

"Yes." Both Noah and James answered.

'What the heck is wrong with these guys?' Luna had her eyes wide open in shock.

'They just took down a first-stage Guardian monster in under sixty seconds flawlessly with no injury, but he's not even satisfied!'

To Luna, who had never been outdoors or in practical combat with a chance of death, this was already an impressive achievement. Although the students are on the same strength level as the monsters, this was only theoretical.

In truth, the students lacked real combat battles, something monsters experienced daily. Apart from that, monsters had their strength in physical abilities and were not like students who had to level the playing field with mana and spells. This meant that monsters were generally faster and physically stronger than students with some even having an astonishing level of defence.

Normally, it would take a student about two minutes to take down a first-stage Guardian mage alone and even if they had the assistance of another student, it would still take a minute and a half or so. This information came from her instructor in the academy who had once simulated such a battle. However, Noah and James broke this record by defeating the monster in just slightly under a minute.

'If they are this strong, then how strong are those two?'

Luna glanced at the lecturing Asher and the seated Owen.

'Freaks.'