The Runic Alchemist

Damian had tuned out by now, busy thinking of ways to improve his invisible box spell. It had proven quite useful recently, if just he could find a way to use that single unbreakable wall of the four in the box separately, nothing could ever touch him. Suddenly, all heads turned towards him.

For a moment, he thought he was being ordered to do something, but then he saw Lady Vidalia's uninterested face and realized that wasn't the case.

"That is insane," Aramis protested immediately.

"I don't see any problem with it. The pros far outweigh the cons," said the old veteran female knight. The other veterans nodded in agreement. Many knights and second-rankers considered the suggestion and found it plausible.

Were they really going with his idea? Were they seriously preparing for war here? At least bring a good tactician or something—were only the powerful worthy of attending this ultra-important, dumb meeting?

"Their speed leaves us with no choice. We will set up the royal runic defense mechanisms and block the entrance," the commander suddenly declared. It hadn't even been a full hour, and just like Damian, everyone was stunned. She had barely commented on any other suggestion—was it really that good of an idea? Damian had come up with it in less than ten seconds without giving it another thought.

Surely these battle veterans could come up with something better?

The commander stood up, and everyone followed suit, some still holding glasses. Things were moving just too quickly.

"Any objections?" she asked.

Everyone gave it one last thought, and one by one, they shook their heads, giving their full support. Lord Tristan smiled at Damian, making him feel uncomfortable on many levels. Who was this crazy guy?

"Aramis and Percival(Old male veteran), ready all the troops. You're responsible for the ground charge if the blockage breaks. Lysandre(Old female veteran) and Esme(Foreigner knight), prepare the defensive measures against their excessive use of waygates that will follow the blockage and set up the mechanism. I'll activate it when the time comes.

Send word to all your scouts to focus on the approaching army and staying near the passage. Lord Tristan and Lord Ashford(Mage knight), gather all the mages. We have a passage to fill."

________

"So... how long is it?" asked Lord Tristan to a group of knights responsible for mapping the full distance between the two mountain ranges formerly known as Wraith's Passage.

"Seventeen and a half kilometers, sir," answered the captain responsible for mapping the valley entrance with a kilometer-long rope that they had prepared by joining several together.

Tristan nodded, and the captain, along with his team and the huge rope, left them in the big tent that had been hurriedly built right at the entrance of the passage, a kilometer away from the camp. All the major second-ranker mages and spellswords were present, each leading their own group of second-rankers who in turn managed a larger group of first-ranker mages or spellswords.

More than 45 people were present in the tent, including the elf commander and Lord Tristan with Lord Ashford. Damian had been dragged along for her convenience. Everyone who saw him standing on the side with his hands tied up by magically enchanted vines in a lazy posture like a he was the most random thing there. People gave him odd looks before turning away.

"So, all of you present know the task at hand, and you heard the man—seventeen and a half kilometers," Lord Tristan began as Lady Vidalia sat imposingly behind him on her padded throne-like chair.

"One first-rankers could make a [Defense Wall] two meters thick and five meters in length before they feels the signs of mana drain," stated one middle-aged mage, playing with his beard.

Damian was sure he had seen the guy in one of his physics books.

"How many do we have, Chief Clark?" Tristan asked a middle-aged, mundane man who held a stack of papers in his hands.

"We have 1,000 mages and 1,850 spellswords, sir. Two hundred of the mages are second-rank, and 500 of the spellswords are second-rank," he reported, looking into his documents.

"That's how much...? Over 100 kilometers of defense wall?" estimated another veteran mage.

"You're forgetting the height. We'll need to stack up at least five kilometers upwards too, adding to the seventeen and a half straight," added another second-ranker, this one a beastman. They were rare to see, but once in a while, Damian noticed one roaming the camp as they traveled here.

"And that's just one flimsy layer of a two-meter thick [Defense Wall]. I'd be surprised if the wind here doesn't blow it away," the first bearded, sage-like man remarked.

"For it to be tough enough not to break even after days, we need to fill at least ten kilometers up into Wraith's Passage," Lord Ashford added.

"Is there any other spell more efficient than the [Defense Wall]?" one of the mages from the back asked, or more like thought aloud, his voice barely audible.

"No, nothing that all the first-rankers would know and is easy enough to learn," another replied.

They discussed the schematics some more, but it was more or less confirmed to use [Defense Wall] on a large scale. Damian, finding the discussion amusing, was listening with interest when he noticed a piercing gaze boring into his skull, accompanied by a small amount of mana coming his way through the link by the commander. It was as if the mana was a bribe for his time.

They had kind of reached a truce, where she sent mana his way before his ran out, leaving their minds open to each other. However, this was something else. Damian removed the small box a bit out of the link and asked:

'What?'

'Can you teach them your strange spell?'

'Assuming if I could, would you really just let me waste your time like that?'

'No, but it would be easier to deal with you if you agreed, and capitalized on an opportunity to waste my time...'

'Has anyone ever told you that you're one devious piece of work?'