Reborn With a Magic System

After Phil set off in search of the Breach and Ronald's gear, Damion passed him a ration pack and a spare canteen with some water. He did not ask, but Damion had the feeling Inara had not shared any of her supplies with the Wood mage. With the young man's ragged appearance, he felt it was a safe bet.

Once everyone was rested and fed, the group set out with Inara leading the way. Phil had not yet returned, but that did not bother Damion. He knew the Snow Hawk could take care of itself and would return when it found Ronald's lost bag.

Inara did not appear to be a chatty person, and Thomas and his group preferred to whisper amongst themselves, which left Ronald as the self-appointed chatterbox to break the awkward silence that fell on the group as they were walking.

"Did Phil eat that entire green snake himself? I saw the remains outside your camp. That is pretty impressive, to be able to eat that much. Unless you shared it? Did it taste good? I've always wondered what Ferocious Beast meat tasted like. Some students claim they serve us beast meat at the school, but I don't think so. It all tastes too normal. I think Ferocious Beast meat would taste more exotic."

No one bothered to answer any of Ronald's questions. The group was too busy keeping a lookout for Ferocious Beasts that might be lurking in the trees, waiting to pounce, to even listen to what he was yammering on about. With Ronald's help, they were certainly making enough noise to attract every beast in the area.

What only Damion realized, though he was still being cautious, was that, since Phil had flown over not too long ago, most the Ferocious Beasts had either hidden or fled. The presence of a C Rank predator passing overhead would have been more than enough to frighten any Ferocious Beasts in the area.

After nearly two hours of walking through the forest, Phil reappeared, carrying a bag. The Snow Hawk dropped that bag at Ronald's feet and chirped triumphantly.

"Good job Phil," Damion praised. "Did you see anything else out there."

'No prey,' Phil replied back through their bond.

"Phil says there were no signs of any Demonic Beasts. Must mean the Breach has not spit any out yet, or they had already moved on."

"You can understand him?" Ronald asked amazed. "I sometimes think I can understand trees. I wonder if I could make a tree my…"

Before Ronald could go off on another tangent, Inara cut him off.

"That is good. If the area is still clear we can maybe figure out a way to probe it, see if we can figure out what Rank the Breach is. We are almost there, lets hurry."

While Ronald was struggling to get his pack on, Inara picked up the pace, leaving the Wood mage running after the group to catch up. A short time later, the group of six reached the pond where the Breach was.

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This was the first Breach Damion had looked at with True Sight since the spell reached B Rank. Previously, he could see just the Rank of a Breach, but now, he could see the type of Breach as well. True Sight showed him that this was a B Rank Unstable Breach, which would mean this Breach, was beyond what any of them could contend with. It also meant that at some point, the Breach would collapse and all the Demonic Beasts inside, ranging from F Rank to B Rank, would be spewed out of the Breach.

"This is a B Rank Unstable Breach," Damion told the group. "It is too dangerous for any of us to enter."

"How do you know what kind of Breach it is, or even how strong it is?" Thomas questioned.

"I know. If you believe me, you believe me. If you don't you don't. If you want to go inside and get yourself killed, go right ahead."

"Do you know how long it will be until it collapses?" Inara asked.

"No. It could be days, hours, or just minutes, but eventually it will collapse."

"And all the Demonic Beasts inside will be tossed out here with us?" Ronald asked worriedly.

"Most likely," Damion told him.

"The way I see it, there are two options," Inara spoke up. "We either run like hell and get as far away from here as we can, before Demonic Beasts start popping out. Or we can prepare."

"Prepare for what?" Thomas asked.

"To fight them," Inara said, getting worried looks from everyone except Damion. "It isn't as much of a stretch as you seem to think. We have two C Ranks on our side and three D Ranks. Plus, me and Ronald at E Rank."

"Do you even know how many Demonic Beasts there are in the Breach?" Yuri asked. "It could be hundreds. Thousands. This is an unknown Breach. There could be who knows what in there."

"I agree with Yuri," Thomas said, not surprising anyone. "The moment that Breach collapses, we'll be overwhelmed. If the Demonic Beasts came out slowly, a few at a time, maybe one at a time for the stronger ones, sure, we could probably hold our own for a while. But Breaches don't work that way."

"That's why I said we need to prepare. We can set traps, adjust the landscape, build defenses."

"Unless you can build something that can contain a B Rank Demonic Beast, it doesn't matter," Geoffrey said. "Mage Wells, you have experience with Breaches and beast waves, and you are the one that says this is a B Rank Breach, explain to her why she is wrong."

Damion took in a breath and considered the situation for a long moment before he spoke.

"When the Breach collapses, all the Demonic Beasts inside will flood the area. Since we know nothing about this Breach, as they said, that could be dozens, hundreds or even thousands of Demonic Beasts. No amount of preparations on our part will be able to overcome that onslaught."

"So, what do you propose? Run and hide?"

"No. Since the professors watching us aren't coming to clear this Breach, it means they are waiting for us to do something and letting it become part of our exam."

"What do you mean watching? I thought they were just tracking us to make sure we don't die?" Ronald asked.

"They have reconnaissance drones all over the test area, keeping an eye on all of us. If you pay attention you can spot them. They are smaller than most, but they've been following you the entire time."

Ronald and the others suddenly started looking around trying to spot if Damion was right. None of them could see the drones, but they thought it quite likely he was telling the truth.

"What does the school watching us have to do with the Breach?" Yuri asked.

"It means they know it is here. It would be one thing if they overlooked it when they were making sure there weren't any high Rank Ferocious Beasts in the area. But if they for sure know the Breach is here and still do nothing. They are waiting to see what we do about it."

"You said no to running and hiding and that no amount of prep will be enough to let us hold the area. So, what is your plan?" Inara asked.

"We go in."