Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Nati - Ch. 116

Dust and pollen gathered over my hand.

Opposed to the name, an air cannon wasn't just air hurled at the enemy or a cannonball propelled by the winds. It was a complex spell for what it did, arguably weak against armored opponents, but there was no easy way to defend against it with magic.

I learned about magic with my crystal and found it worked on a similar principle as the game Rock Paper Scissors. Some spells like lightning bolts were devastating and easy to cast, but trivial to defend against. A practiced wizard only needed a split second or a magic-resistant armor with the right runes to alter, deflect, or cancel it.

Those were relatively weak against physical attacks though, and this spell perfectly exploited that fact. Instead of using magicules to strike an opponent directly, it gathered the particles abundant in the air, crystallized them into tiny but tough pellets, gave them an electric charge, then boosted by the winds, propelled them like a rail gun at the target.

The result was a barrage of magically fired particles, like a shotgun blast, but the damage itself wasn't done by the magicules, so defending against it was difficult. They needed strong armor, a solid wall, or a whirlwind to stop them, but these all took time, while the pellets traveled at hypersonic speeds, resulting in a loud crack when firing.

The beholder opposing us had no such armor, or chance to react. Its squishy-looking main body, a literal eyeball ended in a visceral burst on contact before the crack even reached it. Could I have reached the same result with my crossbow, without using any magic? Probably, but I was here to push my limits, and practice my spells, and this was the perfect opportunity. Vanishing a strange monster like that didn't make me feel bad.

"Woah, Nati, when did you learn that spell?" Omerta asked with her eyes wide open. The team seemed to forget about the plan of taking out all enemies at once, and instead of attacking simultaneously, they were looking for their fallen jaws after my demonstration.

The rest of the roadblock was hidden behind a barricade, but my attack didn't go unnoticed. First, a harpy took to the sky with loud screeching, then multiple bull-faced creatures appeared growling.

The latter brandished enormous double-headed axes, their muscles rippling as they swung them over their heads, but none seemed to have any ranged weapons. They foolishly exposed themselves to our magician's barrages, and while Ember took the harpy down with fire, Omerta sent a chain lighting against the brutes.

"Aww, they were actual minotaurs." The Fire Witch complained, walking up to the smoldering corpses. The battle ended before I could blink. "I hope they're not distant relatives of Bullhead."

"I thought Gorgon got his name from a different type of bull," Omerta argued, examining the roadblock. "I mean, his name is Gorgon and not Minotaur. And he looks more like a gnoll anyway."

"A gnoll? Whoa. That's rude, and they don't even have horns." Ember protested, but their conversation flew right over my head. Gitaut came to the rescue, explaining what a gnoll is.

"It's a hyena-like creature, but it can use tools, and before more intelligent Lesser Races became widespread, humans often used them as thralls or battle slaves." The shaman said, leaning close to my ears. His closeness surprised me, his breath brushing against my cat ears, and made me shiver, but when he noticed my eyes widen, he must have thought I had questions and continued. "I mean they had the intelligence of a dog."

"Wait, are there even dogs in this world?" Emi asked, oblivious to the situation, but it made the orc pull back a little. "Like what's up with that, I haven't seen one so far. Or cats. Only catgirls."

"They exist," Gitaut confirmed curtly, and I quickly increased the distance between us. "They were more common before the Collapse, but for some reason, cats and dogs don't mix well with the beastmen or orcs and the Lesser Races in general, and the humans had their hands full."