Chapter 342: Let’s Build a Protective Barrier
“By the way, you two are quite skilled in magic, aren’t you?”
As I entered the Adventurer’s Guild as usual, the Guild Master greeted me with those words right off the bat.
“We’re not exactly unskilled,” I replied.
When I thought about it, the only person who could use magic better than us was probably our mentor.
“I tend to be more proficient in magic,” Rio chimed in.
While she was indeed better at magic than I was, if I asked her if she enjoyed it, I’d probably get a response that suggested otherwise.
“I was actually considering where to position you two when the Stampede occurs. I think you’ll be in a skirmishing role, but…”
I imagined the scene of monsters pouring out from the Forest of Enchantment. If I recalled correctly, the estimated number was around one hundred thousand. It seemed that Red Ants made up about half of that number, and given their nature, their sheer numbers were indeed a threat. It was hard to believe they would attack all at once; I figured they would come in waves, starting off sporadically.
“Shall we unleash a big attack right at the start?”
I envisioned launching an attack against the approaching horde. But now that I thought about it, I might not have ever executed a wide area attack. I could probably manage to some extent, but I had never tested how far I could expand the range of my attack.
“Hmm. Is it possible to build another protective barrier beyond the one we’re currently constructing?”
“Yes, but how large do you want the wall to be?”
Since I often built houses using Earth Magic, creating just a wall should be relatively easy. The real question was its height and thickness.
“This time, we won’t be facing particularly large monsters, so a height of about five meters should suffice. As for thickness, it depends on the strength, but we at least need enough space on top for a person to walk.”
“Understood. I’ll set it to about two meters then.”
“I’m counting on you.”
When we arrived at the front lines of the Forest of Enchantment, we found construction underway about a hundred meters from the northern gate of the city. Magic users were using Earth Magic to create the wall, while others were building stairs and making adjustments to allow access to the top. A wall was taking shape, stretching approximately one kilometer east and west directly in front of the northern gate. There were gaps of about two meters every two hundred meters, serving as gates to funnel the attacking monsters into smaller groups.
“Is this wall about seven meters high?”
Looking up as Rio suggested, it certainly seemed to be that tall. Our wall would be built even further out, and it might not need to be as sturdy as this one.
“Since it’s just the two of us, a wide barrier might be better than focusing on quality.”
“Being flanked would be troublesome, wouldn’t it?”
As we walked past the busy workers constructing the wall, a voice called out to us.
“Ha ha, finally gracing us with the presence of an S Rank Adventurer, are we?”
The voice belonged to a woman with yellow hair, a scar on her cheek, and a massive halberd slung across her back. There was a familiar, somewhat sarcastic tone to her words.
“Is it… Mei-chan?” I asked.
“Yep, that’s me,” she replied.
“Don’t get too familiar with me,” she added, her face slightly flushed as she complained, perhaps embarrassed.
“I just thought it was about time you showed up for the important task of building the front line wall.”
With that, she turned back to the wall construction, seemingly having come just to throw shade.
“What was that about…?” Rio muttered, visibly annoyed.
“I feel like she’s softened a bit since our first meeting,” I said, trying to calm her down as we paused for a moment.
“Is this spot good?” I asked.
“Looks good to me,” she replied.
We turned back after moving about a hundred meters from the construction site.
“Let’s give it a shot.”
Imagining a five-meter tall wall with a moat around it, I began to use Earth Magic. It needed to be sturdy enough to withstand bites from ants and Rock Dragons.
“How’s this?”
A five-meter wide wall took shape, and I knocked on it to test its strength. It seemed reasonably solid, but I wasn’t quite sure how to gauge its durability.
“Ah ha ha! Shuu, the top of your wall is all bumpy!”
“Eh?”
As I was checking the wall, Rio’s voice came from above, prompting me to scramble up and confirm that indeed, it was uneven. Perhaps I had focused too much on height and thickness while neglecting the surface.
“I’ll give it a try too,” Rio said.
She descended to the ground and crafted a wall similar to mine. Unlike mine, hers was smooth and free of bumps. Even when I lightly struck it, her wall didn’t budge.
“Ugh, I can’t lose!”
Fueled by a competitive spirit, I poured more effort into my wall. This time, it looked quite good.
“How about this?”
“Looks good. Should we leave gaps every two hundred meters too?”
“Yeah, let’s stagger them.”
“Then I’ll continue building the wall towards the east.”
“Thanks!”
And so, we began constructing another wall even further out from the front lines. At first, we extended the wall westward while walking, but as we grew accustomed to it, we found we could build while running. By leaving gaps every two hundred meters, before we knew it, the wall stretched far enough that the city was no longer visible.