John deflected a downward club swing with his shield before moving to his right to take advantage of an opening, and slashed a different ogre across the chest. Despite being an eight to one battle John was doing surprisingly well, and had now killed a total of three ogres. However even he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever, eventually he would reach his limit.

He turned his back to his defeated opponent, only to catch a direct hit with his shield and get sent stumbling back before he could regain his footing. He steadied himself and prepared to continue, when an ice spear flew right over his head and pierced through an ogres chest.

“John, are you ok?” He heard from behind.

“Sarah?!” John questioned in disbelief as he sidestepped a club and slashed across the ogres side. “What are you doing here?! Where’s Sam?”

Cold air and shards of ice swirled around Sarah as the crystal in her wand glowed from preparing her next spell.

“I sent him to the village. I couldn’t leave you like this,” she replied, then her spell shot forward. The ice shards peppered an ogre as ice formed on its body.

“Damn it Sarah!” John roared in frustration as he moved to a defensive position to act as a tank for Sarah as the ogres were now seeing her as a target as well.

Three ice arrows fired and struck an ogre in the left knee, causing it to lose use of that leg for now. Sarah was more than capable of using stronger spells, and had the mana pool to handle them, but her problem was time. It might have been the beginning of summer, but it was still hot, meaning it took longer to form ice spells in this weather.

“I won’t abandon you. Ten years ago you sacrificed everything for me. Even though I accepted your love you could have stayed back and performed your duty. Instead you were forced to abandon your family for me because of my choice.”

John swung his sword in a wide arc and took the head of the ogre Sarah brought down, slashed across the stomach of another, and severed the left leg of one that was moving slowly due to the Ice that formed on its body after being pelted with ice.

Thanks to Sarah’s arrival John had gotten some breathing room. Five ogres were now dead, leaving six for them to deal with. However the remaining six were fresh to this battle, while John was already getting tired.

“That’s right, it was my choice and I’d make it again. So honor my choice this time too and run!” He yelled as he raised his shield and readied his sword as two ogres were about to enter his range.

The two ogres raised their clubs to strike John, but three more ice arrows hit one in its left shoulder, causing it to drop its club. With only one remaining John prepared to take the attack and counter. However something unexpected happened, a sharpened stone cut through the air and struck the ogre in the throat, causing it to drop its club. 

The ogre grabbed at its throat and stumbled back upon being struck, so John took advantage of the opportunity and thrust his blade through its chest, then slashed the other’s head off.

“Sam?! What are you doing here! Run to the village!” Sarah yelled in a panic.

John took a moment to look at the wound Sam had inflicted. It struck right in the ogres windpipe, it was shallow but drew blood, and if not for the ogres tough skin then it definitely would have been a kill shot. 

“Sam!” John yelled back as the remaining four closed in. “Their skin is too tough, if you can do that again, try and aim for their eyes.”

“John?!” Sarah shouted back after hearing her husband give their five year old son battle instructions.

However John didn’t reply. In combat he only thought of how the ensure the enemy died while he and his allies made it out alive. Sarah was panicking and not thinking clearly, while John already understood that their son just performed an elemental spell that would have killed the average adult, and quite a few different types of monsters and magic beasts. As far as he was concerned Sam had already committed himself to this fight, and he wasn’t going to deny his decision.

“Will do,” Sam replied as he prepared to use his spell again.

——————————————————————-

Sam ran down the path as fast as he could, making sure to only use a little bit of aura to help ensure he didn’t wear himself out too fast. As his mother came back into view he could hear her and his father yelling back and forth to one another.

‘What’s this? Something about sacrificing and abandoning? Nevermind, I can dwell on that later, I’ve got something more important to worry about.’

Sam firmly planted his legs and raised his right arm in front of himself as he focused on his spell. A barrel of wind formed in front of his hand that aimed towards the ogres as a white magic circle formed in his palm and eyes also white green. A sharpened stone, about five inches long shot up from the ground and into the barrel as it began spinning rapidly. The wind smoothed the stone and sharpened the tip as he took aim.

‘Wind coming from the northwest, maybe ten miles an hour. Target at roughly three hundred feet. Average bullet speed for a sniper rifle is about three thousand feet per second when it leaves the barrel, no chance in hell I can do that, the mana consumption will be too high. Let’s see how much of a compromise I can make.’

The wind barrel began to collapse from the end at his hand, and began to push the stone forward. With a “thump” the barrel completely collapsed and fired off the stone bullet close to three hundred feet per second. Sam wasn’t entirely pleased with the mana consumption, but he doubted any slower would have enough penetration power. 

‘Damn that’s a tough hide, and off target too. Well atleast it hit a good spot, and it seems to have atleast hurt it,’ Sam thought as his bullet hit the Ogre in the throat, not the chest like he was aiming.

“Sam?!” Sarah shouted in disbelief as she turned and saw him. “What are you doing here? Run to the village!”

‘Seriously? That’s your first thought?’

Unlike Sarah, John was quick to capitalize on the opening Sam created and took down the two closets ogres.

“Sam! Their skin is too tough, if you can do that again, try and aim for their eyes.” John shouted to him.

‘Now that’s a seasoned soldier. Taking advantage of every advantage you can get.’ “Will do!”

Sam adjusted the angle of his arm as the magic circle adjusted. The circle was not being used to create the wind barrel, but was instead acting like a scope and linked with another circle he formed over his right eye. Through the magic circle Sam was able to line up his shots more accurately than if he just used his eyes.

Another wind barrel formed and a second stone bullet shot up out of the ground as he adjusted his aim, and worked to increase his bullet speed a bit. 

Thump

The second stone bullet fired, and this time it was significantly more successful. Sam was confident this time he would at least get a headshot, and as he fired the stone at the targeted ogre as it opened its mouth to roar. This allowed the stone bullet to enter its mouth, and because of its angle thanks to Sam height the bullet had an upward angle causing it to go through the roof of its mouth. The bullet then went through its brain before shattering on the inside of the ogre's skull, sending small stone shards throughout its skull and shredding its brain. The ogre almost immediately fell to the ground with blood pouring from its mouth.

Thanks to this the remaining three ogres now saw Sam as a threat, and two redirected to him.

“Oh no you don’t!” John shouted as he moved to intercept the first one that was trying to bypass him. Unfortunately another decided to attack him instead. 

“On your right!” Sarah shouted as she quickly formed three ice arrows.

An ogre swung its club down at John, causing him to be forced to jump back to dodge it. The ogre then quickly followed up to swing its club sideways as John regained his footing. Instead of dodging again he raised his shield, and as the shield and club collided John allowed it to push him back as he redirected the force of the club downward. Once free of the attack he pushed off and lept forward and slashed at the ogres arm, severing it at the elbow. The ogre’s balance was completely off, and fell to the ground. John quickly jumped onto its back as he used his aura to form a blade along the bottom of his shield while raising it up, then thrusting it down into the back of its neck.

——————————————————————-

With John focused on the ogre that attacked him the remaining two continued for Sam, who was already forming another wind barrel.

“Stay away from my son!” Sarah yelled, as she cried out as she fired her three ice arrows into the knee of the lead ogre.

The ogre went down immediately as she quickly began forming two ice spears. She technically was capable of forming ice spears all along, but to create them quickly would have been inefficient for a longer battle. To increase the rate at which a mage can form a spell they would have to use more mana. If it were winter or maybe even autumn the mana cost wouldn’t have been much of a difference, but with it being summer she would have run out of mana well before the ogres were defeated. But now with her son being targeted mana consumption was the last thing on her mind.

With the spears formed in seconds she prepared to fire at the other ogre which was starting to pass the first. However she didn’t get the chance. Blood spurted from one of its eyes and it collapsed dead as Sam fired his third shot, this time going through the ogre’s eye before shattering inside its skull and shredding its brain to bits. Sarah was taken back for a second, then sent both spears into the wounded ogres chest.

She looked at Sam to see him standing up straight and proud as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a satisfied smile on his face. Seeing that he was ok she looked to John, and finally allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief as he pulled his shield out from the back of the ogres neck. 

With the threat gone her mind finally spun back to the fact that her five year old son just performed magic. And not just any magic, but elemental magic. She turned back to Sam and her eyes widened with fear. 

“SAM MOVE!”