The beginning of the subjugation was signaled by Atila.

Usually, if there are mages with high-output spells or individuals capable of long-range attacks, one would start by striking from a distance, but our team lacked such abilities, so Atila took the lead.

– Thump!

As we emerged from the densely vegetated forest, Atila stepped into a clearing, slightly away from the palisade.

“Kek? Ke, kek!”

Incongruously stationed atop the watchtower, a Green Goblin caught sight of Atila and bulged its eyes. Making a ‘kek kek’ noise, it alerted the others to the intruder.

– Thump!

Atila’s foot slammed down onto the earth. Cracks like spiderwebs appeared on the ground. The power of her step dug into the earth, and her next step violently hit the ground again.

– Thump! Thump!

Atila was in what could be considered a heavily armored state. Not drenched in metal like a medieval knight, perhaps, but still clad in markedly thick armor.

After around five running starts, Atila’s eyes shone with brilliance. Her mana surged through her entire body.

– Kwoong!

A different sound from before. Not mere cracks this time; a portion of the earth outright caved in. Atila, shield raised, stamped on the ground once more.

Debris from the earth sprayed backward. Her mana-fueled legs pushed her forward at an accelerated rate.

And it wasn’t just that. The raised shield became enveloped in mana, cloaking it in a sinister blood-red Qi.

“Kek!?”

Sensing the ominous aura, the Green Goblin’s cry grew frantic. The Goblins of the village, too, started moving about hurriedly, grabbing whatever weapons they could find.

Before they could properly react, Atila’s swiftly advancing form slammed into the thick wooden palisade.

– Kwaang!

“Kek!”

At the moment of impact, the palisade Atila struck burst apart. What sounded almost like an explosion was followed by the screams of the Goblins.

Wood fragments scattered in all directions. Some Green Goblins were disoriented by the wooden splinters, and with a thump! another tremor shook the ground.

The palisade was breached in a single blow. Yet Atila did not stop there. Maintaining her momentum from the break, she trampled the ground repeatedly, leading with her shield.

“Kek! Kekeek!”
“Kek! Keruk!”

Surrounded by the Qi-wrapped shield and using her whole body for the Qi, Atila, now an embodiment of a human tank, burst through the village.

Goblins in her path exploded. Some were shattered into pieces, others were flung far, their limbs torn apart.

“Kek…”

But not all Green Goblins were dead. Those that narrowly avoided the collision clutched their crude weapons and began surrounding Atila—right then, a Green Goblin’s throat was pierced by a chilling spear.

– Kwajik! Puk─!

“Entry complete.”

The spear that followed Atila through the destroyed palisade belonged to Nam Yeon-jung. His spear, too, was surrounded by a cyan Qi, easily piercing through Green Goblin flesh and bone.

Following Atila’s lead, Nam Yeon-jung relentlessly thrust his spear forward. Goblins attempting to surround Atila quickly found their necks skewered by the incoming spear.

Atila unhinged their formation, while Nam Yeon-jung ensured the disrupted Green Goblins could not regroup, steadily reducing their numbers.

“He’s really enjoying this.”

Aidan, observing from the side, grumbled as he swung his arm. His neatly executed sword strike drew a clean line.

– Swish

“Kek…!”

A sneaking Green Goblin’s head fell to the ground. With a thud, Aidan nonchalantly kicked aside a Goblin’s body to clear the way, and I inwardly nodded.

The trajectory was certainly cleaner than what I’d seen during sparring. No doubt he had improved since then, but the experience during that fight likely played a part.

Atila and Nam Yeon-jung, the vanguard, were wreaking havoc in the village center, while Elia and I, placed in the middle, blocked the broken palisade, preventing any Green Goblins from escaping and supporting the vanguard.

The entrance to the village was already shattered, so blocking escape was easily manageable.

“─, ─.”

That’s when Elia’s lips moved.

Incantation. A form of self-suggestion for controlling mana. The easiest and most common method to cast magic.

– Voom!

The mana released from Elia formed complex patterns. Once arranged, the patterns wailed for a moment before flying toward Atila and Nam Yeon-jung, who were leaping about in the center.

Bang! A Goblin hit by the shield exploded messily. Atila flinched as a Goblin’s eyeball flew past her face, but quickly comprehending the situation, she grinned savagely and stamped on the ground once more.

‘Is that a reinforcement spell?’

Elia’s unique ability was healing, formally called [Recovery Melody].

It designated a target for ‘Immediate Recovery’ and ‘Recovery Amplification’ effects. Elia could also adjust the ratio between the two effects, which both came along with a mild enhancement effect while active.

Due to the minor impact of the enhancement effect, Elia had sought to learn reinforcement magic separately, as she had mentioned at the café a few hours earlier.

Having an enhancement component within her unique ability meant she learned it more conveniently than expected.

I assessed the general situation. About half of the Green Goblins had already been turned into by-products.

I knew that for students of Shio-ram, handling the 8th-tier was as easy as eating cold porridge, but actually witnessing it was chilling.

If Atila were to charge at me, I, too, would likely become a scatterable by-product…

I had pegged three 7th-tier individuals beforehand. Unlike the rest, these Goblins were heftier, and the mana they wielded was several times greater than that of the 8th-tiers.

One had already become a by-product. The other two had managed to hang on to their precarious lives, using 8th-tier Goblins as shields in the back, barely maintaining their lifelines.

But this was just a stopgap. It seemed likely that they would be cleared out soon enough.

‘Hmm…’

The vanguard seemed to have no issues. The Green Goblins were being blitzed like ingredients in a blender.

Elia had her mana at the ready and drew her prepared sword to watch the surroundings.

Aidan had crushed a few Goblins trying to escape through the shattered palisade and was now guarding Elia and me.

In short, there was a bit of leeway. I nodded to myself and gripped my staff.

Over the weekend, I had dabbled a bit in magic. With assistance from Professor Liana, and scribbling notes in the library.

Entering the world of magic in just a few days was a thieving mentality, but thanks to the synergy between Mana Affinity, Spatial Awareness, and being a jack-of-all-trades, I was able to touch upon several lowest-grade spells.

– Voom

I drew mana out and infused it into the staff. My staff matched the typical image one might conjure when thinking of a wizard’s staff.

A body made of deep brown wood and, at the tip, a blue crystal orb.

The body was carved from mana-infused wood, and the crystal orb was a processed manastone.

In this world, there are two main roles of staves for mages.

The first is the storage of mana.

As a significant amount of mana is typically required for magic, mages often struggle with mana shortages. Hence, they carry these auxiliary batteries.

The second is as an aid in calculations.

Magic is often compared to computations. While it’s not a flawless comparison due to factors like emotional influence, there are similarities in the usage of mana with precise accuracy.

Therefore, mages need a higher level of mana manipulation ability than vanguard types. Moreover, no matter how adept one is, having an aid always makes it easier. A staff serves both roles of mana storage and calculation assistance.

However, this staff is lacking in the second, the calculation assistance feature.

There was no need for intricate calculations with merely lowest-grade spells, and Professor Liana had advised that relying too much on aid could hinder the development of one’s true skill.

More than anything, thanks to Mana Affinity, I had not yet encountered a wall challenging enough to require calculations.

Therefore, this staff is an auxiliary battery tailored for mana storage.

I calmly regulated my breathing and lifted the staff.

The most straightforward and iconic method to cast magic is incantation, reciting words aloud—effectively a powerful form of self-suggestion.

But I am incapable of that. The damned curse of silence seals my lips shut.

Thus, there are no incantations for me. I could undertake sign language, but the magic I was casting didn’t require such extents.

– Voom

Mana released from me seeped into the staff, tapping on the orb at its tip.

It was similar to the training with Professor Liana last time. Striking the mana within the crystal orb, then drawing it out to use as a material for casting the spell.

Mana drawn from the crystal by my own mana bubbled up. Having stored ample mana, only a meager amount was needed.

But this was sufficient. I took a deep breath and manipulated the mana.

The mana converged at the tip of the staff. Focusing my thoughts calmly, I arranged the mana.

I had practiced this a few times. My inherent mana was scarce, so I would deplete after just a few tries, but I never failed those few times.

Mana swiftly concentrated at the tip of the staff, forming a bulky mass of energy. The preparation for ignition was complete. Maintaining my willpower, I aimed the staff at a 7th-tier Green Goblin.

The completed formula was triggered simultaneously.

[Mana Blade Slash]

A spell more akin to mana manipulation than magic—among the lowest-grade and perceived as such.

It’s not an elemental spell like a fireball or lightning discharge, nor is it complex in composition.

It simply sharpens mana into a blade and launches it. There are basic structural formulas involved, but no accuracy enhancement.

True to its name, the spell fully embodies slinging a mana blade. It’s exceedingly straightforward, hence even I succeeded on my very first attempt.

I had practiced over the weekend. A small, thin blade of mana—tinier than a Green Goblin—was ejected and dissolved into thin air after traveling around 10 meters.

The aim of using this wasn’t really to reduce the enemy’s numbers but to give it a try, since there was slack. If I managed to kill a Goblin with it, wouldn’t that be quite an accomplishment? Just a thought.

I activated the spell.

Lowest-Grade Magic
[Mana Blade Slash]

– Kwaaaak!

“!?”

A blade slash burst forth from the tip of the staff—a huge blue blade slash, at least double my height, fluttered my clothes like a rough breeze.

Soil flew in all directions as the blade slash tore through the ground. Several Green Goblins, turning their heads at the sudden roar, were bisected vertically.

“What!?”

“What’s that?”

It didn’t stop there. 20m, 30m, 40m… Disregarding its usual range, the trajectory of the massive slash dissected Green Goblins and sheared off limbs one by one.

The slash eventually reached the 7th-tier Green Goblin.

A Goblin, wielding a crudely fashioned longsword, used its elongated arms to swing wildly but bulged its eyes in disbelief at the incoming slash.

– Swish!

“Keeaaagh─!”

With relatively swift reflexes, it twisted its body, but one hand was caught in the slash’s path. The creature’s horrible scream accompanied an arm tumbling across the ground.

The [Mana Blade Slash], after claiming the lives of about ten 8th-tier Goblins and one arm of a 7th-tier Goblin, finally slammed into the palisade on the opposite side. Swish! Only after slicing through the palisade did the slash dissipate, as if it had been wiped from the air.

A long groove carved into the soil. Rising dust swirled around. One side of the now-unbalanced palisade collapsed like dominoes. As the dust settled…

The few Green Goblins that had survived, Atila—who had been joyously slaying Goblins, Nam Yeon-jung—who had been inserting his spear to support her,

Elia beside me preparing her reinforcement magic, and Aidan who was watching the surroundings…

Everyone looked this way. Their eyes were full of shock and puzzlement.

‘…?’

I had no answer for their bewilderment. I didn’t understand the reasons myself.

– Patter, clatter…

Now only the sound of soil lumps falling to the ground echoed around us.