My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror - Chapter 288 (Patreon)

People begun arriving a few minutes later, popping into the clearing through Dredd’s portals. Sylph, Gaves, and the other close combat fights were the first to arrive, followed after by Delph. All of them were haggard and, other than Sylph, were all covered in small cuts and wounds. Carson brushed a thin layer of dirt off his blonde hair and waggled his fingers at Yui, who grinned and waved in response.

Even Delph looked a little more tired than normal. He had small bags under his eyes and his stubble was thicker than normal. It was only a few days away from becoming a scruffy beard. The professor chewed on a small twig and spat it onto the ground, nodding in greeting at Dredd and Damien.

The other students all arrived shortly afterward. Everyone looked exhausted and worn to the bone, but not a single one of them looked like they were ready to give up. Determination ruled everyone’s expressions, mixed in with the weariness and sweat that had built up from days of work.

Kat and Aven were the last to arrive. Of everyone in the clearing, the two of them looked like they’d had it the worst. Kat’s clothes were torn up and her eyebrows scorched. Aven’s hair stuck out in every direction as if she’d been struck by a bolt of lightning and she had more wounds than any of the others.

Damien couldn’t help but notice that Quinlan hadn’t returned with the others. Everyone else, including Bella and Viv, had gotten back and none of them looked concerned, so he figured it likely wasn’t anything to worry about.

“What happened to all of you?” Elania asked, her eyes going wide. “Did you forget to bring healing water?”

“Of course not,” Delph said irritably. “We just ran out. What have you lot been doing? Dredd taking it easy on you?”

“I never go easy,” Dredd said. “I just have enough foresight to pack sufficient supplies.”

He dug several flasks of healing water out of a portal and distributed them amongst the students, pointedly not handing one to Delph. Everyone gratefully accepted them, draining the flasks within seconds.

“Babying the children won’t get them ready for the field,” Delph said. “It’s not realistic.”

“They can train harder when they aren’t broken.”

“Don’t start this now, boys,” Kat said, stepping between them. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. Or have you forgotten?”

Dredd grunted. “True enough. Let’s get to the point then. I trust all your students have gathered the reason why we’ve reconvened?”

“We aren’t strong enough to take on the Corruption alone,” Xil said. “We need to work in teams, so we’re going to pair up.”

“Correct,” Delph said, clapping his hands once. “Every team needs one person that can hold the Corruption’s attention and one person who can seal its powers off. Ideally, we’d have more than that. Probably two to hold the monsters back, one to seal it, and a support. Unfortunately, we don’t have the manpower for that. So, for the time being, you’ll be working with a single partner.”

“Please pair up with a student. Ranged with close combat,” Kat said. “No pairing with supports. They’ll have their own roles. Feel free to spend some time thinking this through. It’s important that you are able to fight well together with your teammate. Your life will depend on it.”

Damien and Sylph walked over to each other. Mark and Elania decided in an equally short time, but the other students walked around for a little longer, talking amongst themselves to determine what the best pairings would be.

In the end, to nobody’s surprise, Carson ended up paired with Yui. That left Gaves, Xil, and Venus without a partner. Damien caught Gaves glancing in Bella’s direction, but the boy just turned his attention to the teachers instead of saying anything.

“I’ll be pairing with one of you,” Aven said. “The other two will be assigned to the support team to make sure their jobs aren’t interrupted during any large fights.”

“I’ll go with the support team,” Gaves said immediately.

“As will I,” Xil volunteered.

“Very well. Then Aven will be working with Venus. These teams are still up for change. If any of you feel like you have chosen poorly, move quickly to either solve the issue or swap partners. Do we have any complaints with the current assignments?”

Nobody said anything. Dredd and Delph waited a few more moments before continuing.

“Then we can begin the next, and most important, stage. The first thing you’ll need to learn is how to fight as one. You need to understand the way your partner fights perfectly. If you don’t, you’ll get in each other’s way.”

“What about us?” Viv asked.

“And Quinlan?” Damien added. “Where is she?”

“Quinlan is getting some personal training from another teacher,” Delph said. “She’ll be joining the support team as a second guard once she’s done. It shouldn’t be too much longer. And, as for the support team, they’ll be watching all of you to spot flaws in the way you fight as well as see how they’ll be able to best aid all of you while on the field.”

“Let’s just get started with the exercise,” Aven suggested, not looking excited in the slightest.

“Agreed,” Dredd said. “You will start by getting to know each other. Intimately.”

They all stared at him.

“Not like that,” Dredd snapped. “Normally, relationships are forged through suffering. It takes years to build that level of trust, but we can skip a few steps if you open yourself to your partner. Share secrets. Do whatever you want to if it lets you know them better.

Damien and Sylph exchanged an amused glance. Delph caught it and rolled his eyes.

“Yes, some of you are already very well acquaintance. Don’t give me that look. Do you like being unique? Maybe I should pick some flowers for both of you to put in your hair so you can stand out even more.”

“Ignore Delph,” Dredd said. “He’s just jealous that others can have a relationship without making the other person hate them within the span of a few weeks.”

“I am nothing of the sort.”

“Just go talk with your partners,” Dredd said, waving his hand dismissively. “We’ll reconvene tomorrow. I want to stress this – do not treat this as a joke. Get to know your teammate. It might be awkward now, but you aren’t marrying them. And, if you don’t, it could end up costing you your lives later. Dredd, Aven, come with me and the support team. We should start preparing. Everyone else is dismissed until daybreak tomorrow.”

The professors walked over to join the support team, while everyone else slowly broke off in pairs and walked off to put some distance between themselves and everyone else. Damien and Sylph sat down in the center of the clearing. Neither of them had any further secrets or hidden truths to bare clean, so they gossiped instead.

“What was Delph’s training this time?” Damien asked.

“He had a Corrupted Monster. Dredd too?”

“Yeah. Dredd trained against us himself for a while before we got to that, though. I got to see his battle manifestation, and Henry beat him while he was using it. The Corrupted monster wasn’t all that much stronger than the other ones we’ve fought, but it was a bit harder to deal with without Henry’s help.”

“Sounds about the same as the one I fought,” Sylph said. “Ours was on the weaker side, but it was pretty fast.”

“As fast as you?”

A tiny grin flickered across her face. “Not even close. I just cut it apart and then stole the Ether from it while it was trying to draw it in. Technically doesn’t count as cutting it off since it was still connected, I was just drawing all the energy out before it reached it, but it still works.”

“What about the others?”

Sylph grimaced. “Not quite as good. Mark was the closest. He couldn’t actually stop the monster from connecting to the Ether, but he did manage to damage faster than it could recover, so basically a tie in his favor. The others weren’t able to beat it. They got closer, but nobody could gut it off from the Ether while it was attacking them.”

“We had the same issue.”

They fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments, both looking around the clearing to see how things were going for the others. Henry stretched out from Damien’s shadow, peeling away from the ground just enough to be noticeable.

“You think they’re sharing anything fun? I want to listen.”

“No,” Damien said. “Imagine what would happen if someone saw you. Everyone would feel too uncomfortable to share things about themselves and the entire exercise would be ruined.”

“I could share things about myself. Here, watch: Hi guys, I’m Henry. Extraplanar monster with an appreciation for goats and the finer things in life. My favorite book is Love Making for the Uninitiated and Lustful and this is my first time attending these meetings.”

Sylph snickered and Damien glared at her.

“Don’t encourage him.”

“You can’t blame Sylph, Damien,” Henry said. “After all the novels I read in Blackmist’s library, I am now an expert on what the female gender finds attractive. Male gender too, actually. Spent a bit checking those out.”

“Do you ever think the Faceless looks at you and wonders where it went wrong?”

Henry scoffed. “Knowledge is knowledge, and this is your human spark’s fault. I can’t say it’s been particularly useful, but it’s quite amusing.”

“I’ve got a question,” Sylph said, raising a finger as her brow furrowed. “Jokes aside… do you actually understand the concept of romance or attraction? It’s not something native to you, is it?”

Henry’s grins fell off. “No, it isn’t. And… I’m not sure, honestly. Logically, sure. I know what lust is, and it’s what enables mortal beings such as yourselves to continue their existence on the Mortal Plane without all dying off.”

“That’s not romance, though. That’s just breeding.”

“So it is.” Henry grunted. “I know what romance is, but no. It’s not a concept that works for me. But… I think I understand friendship.”

He slipped back into Damien’s shadow and went silent. Damien’s eyebrows rose slightly and Sylph gave him a half-shrug. She leaned against him and craned her head back, looking up into the sky. A few minutes passed in silence.

“Have you made any progress on finding the Corruption Seed?” Sylph asked.

“Yeah. The spell is ready. We’re just waiting until training is done to make sure we’re as ready as we possibly can be.”

“And there’s no way it can sprout or whatever beforehand?”

“Not as far as Delph and Dredd seem to believe. Henry and Herald didn’t object either, so that shouldn’t be an issue. We just need to make sure we take care of it when we go.”

Sylph murmured her understanding. “After we take the Seed out, we’re going to need to go fight the Void, aren’t we?”

“Yeah. The balance might get thrown off too hard if we don’t.”

It was another minute before Sylph spoke again.

“Do you think we’ll ever be done with this? Or are we going to be fighting the rest of our lives?”

“I don’t know,” Damien said softly. His hand tightened around the grass next to him, digging through the dirt and pulling it up. “But I’d like to believe that it’ll be done soon.”

Sylph nodded, and they both fell silent. They remained seated for the rest of the day, watching the sun move through the sky and make its descent toward the horizon. When night fell, the professors wordlessly distributed tents for everyone. The last hushed whispers faded away into the dark sky as everyone retired for the night. Damien and Sylph slid into their tent and fell asleep, nothing left to be said.

The following morning arrived before anyone wanted it to, and before long, everyone was standing in a small semicircle around the professors.

“I trust you all know each other more than you did yesterday,” Dredd said. “Does anyone have a request to swap teams before we continue?”

Nobody said anything. A few students exchanged embarrassed glances, but that was the extent of it. Dredd gave them an approving nod.

“Good. In that case, we’ll get started in a moment. One more instructor and Quinlan will be joining us, as she’s finished her training.”

He tapped the butt of his staff on the ground and a red portal yawned open beside him. Its surface rippled as Quinlan emerged from within it, followed by a short woman wearing old, polished armor. It was slim fitting, covering vital areas while making sure she had more than enough room to move.

Glimmering white light wrapped around her, filling in the open spaces around the armor and forming a helm over her head. The helm faded away, revealing a kind smile and brown eyes.

“This is Hilla,” Dredd said. “She’s a retired mage from the front lines and an incredibly powerful light magic user.”

Hilla smiled, waving to all of them. Her gaze fell on Damien and her grin grew even larger as she walked up to him, raising her arms for a hug.

“Damien! How have you been? I’m sorry to spring things on you, but Dredd asked me to come help train you and your friends.”

“I’m sorry,” Damien said, a frown stretching across his face as he took a step backward. “Do I know you?”