Chapter 55: Ch 55: Master Theus.
"You know what rank," August drawled. "Don’t even think about sixth rank."
"But—"
"If you lose control of it, then you’re as likely to take out the fortress as the enemy army. You’re still tired from the demonic invasion. Plus, there are two Champions in the enemy army, and an enemy sorcerer. They’ll detect your spell and may counter it. Don’t waste time on high rank spells until you’re more talented." August bonked her on the head. "Or else you’ll end up like this sorcerer is going to."
Sen grumbled and cast a supercharged fourth rank spell. A meteor shot down from the sky within seconds.
The sorcerer reacted quickly, dropping his own spell. The magic users behind him weren’t as fast. While the Federation sorcerer threw up a glowing barrier, his subordinates stared at him like idiots.
Then most of them died, as the meteor hit the ground and turned their formation into a crater. The sorcerer’s barrier held, although he looked winded. He dropped to his knees. A handful of magic users remained. They stared at the remains of their comrades, stupefied.
Sen flung bolts of fire at the sorcerer. He protected himself with a wall of earth. It shattered after a few hits, and superheated chunks of earth exploded everywhere. The few remaining magic users went down screaming from the shrapnel.
"He got away," Sen said, lowering her hands.
A tunnel lay where the sorcerer had been. He had dug his way out during the commotion.
"The magic users were expendable to him," August said. "We’ll need to get him in the battle. I doubt he’ll expose himself like that again."
Rain fell that night. August kept an eye on the Federation from his office.
He had supplies to last a month. If the Federation took too long, then Leopold would arrive and break the siege. Or maybe the Federation would send reinforcements. He didn’t know.
But he did know that he gained more strength with each passing day. The binding stone’s power restored itself from the leylines, and August became a fighting force again. The Federation couldn’t starve him out, and they likely knew it.
But what he really wanted from this battle was to capture Sunstorm. He didn’t know who the amethyst monogem was, and he didn’t care. She was a Champion that he would defeat in order to win this battle.
But he would capture Sunstorm.
Two more uneventful days passed. The enemy built ladders in their camp. A large battering ram slowly formed into being, with a huge steel cap waiting nearby. The Federation soldiers had brought it through the pass with them, but were busy harvesting the wood for the frame from the nearby forest.
The ditch prevented rams from getting close to the walls, but the main gate had flat land in front of it for obvious reasons. It remained one of the few weak points in the fortress.
Eventually, the mud cleared after that single night of rain. The sun beamed down. The Federation army lined up outside the fortress. Ladders, trebuchets, and the enormous steel-capped battering ram menaced from a distance.
August stood in a tower on the outer wall. Sen and Fei were next to him. His defenders took up positions across the walls, manning ballistae and mangonels. This was a conventional siege, so their training would be of far more use here.
Many of the ladders would reach the walls. The soldiers would fight them off and protect the civilians.
Anna holed up in the keep. Kuda and a handful of hoplites protected her.
The rest of the hoplites protected the keep. Initially, August had planned to send them out and harass the enemy army as they charged. But he didn’t have the numbers, and two enemy Champions would make short work of his summons.
Instead, he wanted a defensive force for the keep. Sunstorm might try to sneak in and assassinate Anna, or try something related to the binding stone or portal.
As a precaution, August had sealed the gate to the portal with an additional spell. The entrance to the lower levels had been sealed as well. Only he, Fei, and Sen could get down there now. Not even the summons had access, as he worried that Sunstorm would just carry one down there by force.
Rocks crashed into the barrier. August’s thoughts returned to the battlefield.
The Federation soldiers jeered from a distance. Minutes passed. Rock after useless rock exploded on the barrier.
"Fei, would you join Vera on the walls," August said.
"Eh? Why?" she asked.
"There’s two enemy Champions. There’s a good chance they’ll try to pick us off one by one," he explained. "It’s better if we’re in pairs. You can hold them back long enough if they both attack Vera, at least until me and Sen arrive."
Fei smiled and gave an enthusiastic nod. "Of course. I’ll be off then." She darted in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then leaped out of the tower.
Sen grumbled at the show of affection. "You let her get away with so much."
"You can do the same, you know." August tugged at his gloves. Nothing much was happening yet, so he kept himself entertained with small talk.
"I’m beginning to realize I have to," Sen said. "She may as well not even have her own bedroom, given she spends every night in yours. Does she even use her own clothes?"
"Her uniform?" August offered.
"Sure, but other than that? She steals your worn clothes to wear when off-duty and to sleep in." Sen grumbled.
"You seem upset."
"Not really." Sen crossed her arms. "Maybe a little. We sparred last night, to see who got to wake you up each morning. I lost every round, and she took pity on me and let me share anyway."
August ran a hand over his face to hide his grin. "That wasn’t smart."
"I know that now," Sen grumbled. "She’s so damn fast. And those flames of hers consume my magic. They’re so unfair! What kind of monogem ability are they?"
"The sort that lasts about five to ten minutes under heavy use?" August explained.
Sen blinked.
"Fei’s ability is more of a bodyguard ability," August said. "If she’s away from me for too long, she’ll become less useful. Most Champions have abilities that are less power hungry, so they can operate away from their Bastion or a binding stone for long periods of time."
"So there’s a trade-off to some gem abilities," Sen said.
"There’s a trade-off to everything a Champion gets from a gem. Fei has a powerful gem ability, but she’s weaker than most monogem Champions when not actively using it. And an amethyst or diamond Champion can fight several battles without needing to refill their gem."
In truth, August had misgivings about Fei’s sapphire. But he had told himself not to worry about who she had been in his timeline, so he let things go.
He told himself that he could adjust her sapphire if necessary.
She was going to become a trigem Champion, so there was plenty of room to tweak her future abilities to make her well-rounded.
Shouts rippled along the walls.
August looked down to see the mangonels and ballistae begin firing. The Federation soldiers crossed the field.
They pushed large wooden shields in front of them, and the frames were mounted on wheels—these were known as mantlets.
Behind them came the ram and companies of soldiers carrying ladders.
August scratched his chin. It all seemed like a lot of work for the Federation to put in.
"Sen, light them up," he ordered.
"Seems a bit mean, doesn’t it," she said, but raised her arms anyway.
"Last time I checked, they’re invading us. They didn’t even pay the toll."
"Rude," Sen chirped. A pair of squares hovered in front of her palms.
This was why August didn’t worry too much about the siege weapons.
In a battle between Champions and Bastions, a conventional army didn’t matter.
Sen’s spells would light the field ablaze. Some ladders would make it to the walls, probably because of the interference of the Federation sorcerer. But not enough to let the Federation’s numerical advantage matter.
August felt something in the corner of the tower. He spun and spotted the ball of shadow.
"Down," he yelled. He tackled Sen.
Sunstorm burst into the room. Her eyes screamed murder at August. She looked around wildly, searching for something.
Or someone.
"She’s not here," she muttered. Her gaze fixed on August, who stood back up.
"You’ll do," Sunstorm said. She pointed her sword at him. "It won’t matter if Lilac gets the catgirl’s head, if I can give yours to Master Theus."
