Chapter 157: The Power of an S Rank Adventurer
At a distance of about one hundred meters from the Sea Emperor Turtle, two ships lined up, spaced thirty meters apart. Since these humans had never formed a party before, it was impossible for them to coordinate on the fly, so each was left to unleash their preferred magic. However, they had agreed to focus their attacks on a single target.
“Hmph. You all can just watch from there,” Rex said, still unconvinced by the situation.
It was clear that simply watching wouldn’t suffice. They needed to perform their tasks diligently. But perhaps observing the others at first could be beneficial.
Rex drew his staff from his waist and fixed his gaze on the distant Sea Emperor Turtle. He began to chant quietly, channeling his magic power.
Come to think of it, casting spells required both incantations and command words. While it was possible to omit them, doing so would reduce the spell’s potency.
“Not bad at all,” Saskia remarked, seemingly impressed. For Rex to earn such praise from an A Rank Adventurer, he must have some skill.
“Fireball!”
As the magic power concentrated at the tip of his staff, a two-meter sphere of flame materialized and shot toward the Sea Emperor Turtle, exploding with a thunderous roar upon impact.
“Hmph.” Rex turned back, as if to say, “How’s that?” But judging by the turtle’s shell, it likely hadn’t sustained a scratch.
“Stone Cannon!”
From the other B Rank Adventurers, chunks of rock and more fireballs hurtled toward the turtle, creating a cacophony of explosions. Then, Saskia raised her left hand, summoning a gust of wind that cleared the smoke around the turtle’s shell, improving visibility.
That must be a remote activation of Wind Magic. It had taken us quite some time to master it, but it seemed Saskia had already done so.
“It doesn’t look like it’s having much effect,” she muttered, causing Rex and the others to tense up. Ice and rock projectiles were also being launched from the other ship, but the results appeared similarly unimpressive.
“Alright, it’s my turn now,” Saskia declared.
With both hands outstretched and her eyes closed, she began to concentrate. Rex and the others could see magic power gathering at her palms. It seemed she was casting without incantation, and the rate of accumulation was on a whole different level compared to Rex. Truly, she was an A Rank Adventurer.
“Aerial Cannon!”
An invisible force distorted the air as it shot forth, soaring toward the Sea Emperor Turtle. The speed was incomparable to the previous spells. In an instant, it struck, leaving a small crack in the turtle’s shell, and the shockwave reverberated back toward them.
“Whoa, amazing!” Rio exclaimed, genuinely impressed. I felt the same. It seemed to be Wind Magic, but it had a unique application of striking with a mass of air rather than just slicing through.
From the other ship, a five-meter boulder was launched. Contrary to its appearance, Adelie’s magic was quite formidable.
“Just as expected from you, Saskia!” Rex and the others cheered, but Saskia appeared unfazed by their praise.
“Enough of that. Let’s keep unleashing our magic!” she urged.
“Y-Yes!”
Even if their efforts seemed futile, they had no choice but to keep casting spells. If they could change the turtle’s course, it would be a victory for them. It seemed Linford was also gearing up on the other ship, channeling his magic power. He grasped his right wrist with his left hand, aiming his right palm at the target. They could see magic power forming into a slender, two-meter-long tube extending from his palm.
Once it was sufficiently formed, he released his left hand, allowing a mass created by Earth Magic to materialize atop his palm. It grew from the size of a fist to that of a basketball.
“It’s like a gun barrel and a bullet,” Rio murmured, and I nodded in agreement. The vague feeling I had of déjà vu faded away.
“I see. Earth Needle and other spells that launch created objects likely include the effect of ‘projecting an object’ within the magic itself, but he’s deliberately constructing it with a different spell,” I realized.
“Exactly. That should increase its speed,” she replied.
Constructing a barrel with magic… If he could concentrate the explosive power into the projectile, the velocity would indeed increase. But there seemed to be more to it than that.
It appeared Linford was ready, focusing intently on the turtle. He set the projectile into the tube, and with a deafening crack, the bullet was fired. In the blink of an eye, it struck its target.
“Whoa, incredible!”
“That barrel acts like an accelerator… How is he doing that?”
If they could utilize such a technique, our spells would surely gain a significant boost in power. Simply pouring magic power into spells might not be effective against that turtle.
Looking at Linford’s results, they could see a crack had formed in the turtle’s shell. However, the projectile seemed to have vanished, likely deflected.
“Hey, you all! Stop just standing there and get to work!”
Saskia’s sharp words broke through our daze as we had become mere spectators. It was surprising, given her earlier demeanor, but she was right; we needed to pull our weight. If we simply followed her order to “watch from there,” our evaluations would surely suffer.
“Ah, yes, sorry!”
“Since we’ve been recommended, let’s give it our all!”
“Right!”
With renewed determination, we turned our focus back to the Sea Emperor Turtle.