Aya shoved more of her dwindling mana into another [Fire Lance], the Apprentice level spell burning its way through another of seemingly endless monstrosities that assailed them. She barely paid attention to the results of her magic though as her eyes flickered to the still form of her friend next to her.

Her skin was pale, far more than usual, and covered in blood. Michael was already kneeling next to her pumping what healing magic he could into her. But from the way he cursed, it wasn't going well. As much as she wished she could help, she wasn't a healer. All she could do was keep fighting and hope that Michael or maybe the other team's Paladin advisor could heal her. If they survived.

Early into the fight something had taken Jun down, but she recovered temporarily, long enough to cast a spell she'd rarely seen Jun use: [Piercing Missile].

She knew her friend had issues with violence and much preferred defensive and control spells, and always figured Jun simply wasn't capable of using offensive magic well. Not like her normal spells which could control a fight from the start.

Then Jun used that spell to push back the horde. Dozens of small darts had coalesced and shot out, shredding the monsters that surrounded them and pushed them back, at least for a time.

As Aya flicked her eyes away from her friend and back out into the Forest, she started forming another spell, aiming at another of the mutated goblins as it stepped over the ring of corpses left from Jun's attack. She hoped Jun got back up again. If they survived this, there was a lot they needed to talk about.

Lana gritted her teeth as the team of Golds she led made progress deeper into the Forest.

The first few hours after leaving the city had been easy enough, her team of powerful adventurers making short work of the Bronze and Iron ranked goblins without slowing. But things changed as they got deeper in. Strange black marks on goblins that took slightly more effort to kill than they should for their low ranks.

Then they started finding the mutated a few hours after night fell.

The strange markings became pulsating growths and warts. Then like a cancer spreading through all of the goblins in the area at once, those growths grew worse and worse. Warts became extra mouths, eyes, or the stubs of new limbs. Arms and legs warped and twisted into chitin-covered claws and tentacles. Only Irons, but their bodies had been twisted and mutated into something else.

The light of malicious intelligence so common in a goblin's eyes was gone, replaced with bestial fury. Their bodies were far stronger than any Iron had a right to be, her longsword facing surprising resistance as she cleaved through the first. Her Platinum strength should've been enough to punch through it without skills or mana, but her sword got stuck in bone half way through. She'd been forced to channel mana into a skill she hadn't had to touch in years, one honed in battle against such monsters. [Void Cleaving Strike].

The sizzle of mana burning away corrupted blood unleashed a familiar scent, one that briefly transported her to the ruins of cities and nations on the other side of the world. Shaking it off, she went to work, hurriedly chopping through the mutated goblins.

"What are these things?!" one of the Golds onto her team yelled, the man struggling to free his sword as another void touched rushed him.

A bar of white flame incinerated the abomination before it could reach the man.

"Whatever they are they burn as easily as any other monster," yelled the team's battle mage as he swept the bar of flames across the Forest, burning through warped limbs and torsos and filling the air with even more of the stench of burning corruption.

Few in this part of the world would recognize the signs of void touched and an incursion, but the scent of corrupted blood in the twisted goblins they'd put down was impossible to mistake for those who were part of the IAG's suppression teams. Forest's Edge was supposed to be an easy posting. Corral some drunk adventurers, the occasional scouting trip or deeper delve into the continent-sized Forest of Kresh, and fighting off a dungeon break once every decade or so. Not fighting void touched.

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There wasn't supposed to be an incursion here. This was one of the stable continents. But the signs of one nearby were obvious.

As the Golds carved their way through the monsters a series of bright flashes came through the trees, followed close behind by screams and war cries. The missing teams were close, and they were fighting!

"Fuck!" Lana cursed. They didn't have time for this, they needed to get to the students now. [Shadow Thorns]! Lana pumped hundreds of mana into the spell through her Shadow affinity, coalescing into a black ball that exploded into dozens of spikes that peppered the mutated goblins pressing in. As she let her spell fade, dozens of void touched goblins fell dead, hitting the ground with wet thumps.

Before the last of the warped corpses could even hit the ground, Lana was already moving, the Gold team chasing after her as she followed the sounds of battle. It didn't take long for her to get in range with her aura senses, and what she felt disturbed her. Two Golds, clearly exhausted and flagging, and Seventeen Irons, the exact number of missing Academy students, all of them exhausted and wounded. Surrounded by void touched.

Channeling her mana again, Lana pumped it into [Shadow Thorns], charging the spell with a full quarter of her reserves as she fully unveiled her aura, the Platinum ranked pressure sending a ripple through the void touched as they turned to face the much tastier target presented to them. As the first of the void touched stepped in her direction, Lana burst through the trees, her spell manifesting in her hand and shredding through the assembled void touched.

Seconds later, the Gold team with her charged into the clearing, spells and attacks flying as they finished off the surviving void touched.

"See to the wounded," Lana ordered as she blanketed the area in her aura, her mind working quickly to note everything going on. Brava and Ghorro were exhausted, and most concerning was that Arwen was nowhere to be found. Though the elf's assigned students were mixed in with the other students. Clearly something happened with the elf, but she didn't have time to investigate right now. With void touched in the area, getting everyone here out was the priority. She'd track down Arwen later, after she could question Brava and Ghorro from the safety of the city.

Through her aura, Lana watched as the Gold ranked healer she brought with her methodically cast healing spells, quickly stabilizing everyone before she turned her attention to the worst injured, a purple-haired girl laying in a puddle of blood.

The girl was in rough shape, the Gold ranked healer's stabilization spell only barely helping. As the Gold ranked healer started to channel a more powerful heal, Lana couldn't help but stare at the unconscious girl laying in a puddle of her own blood, covered in thousands of weeping wounds that slowly closed under a high level healer's attention. Just what happened to cause this?

Ivar panted for breath as he finally let his weapon sag to the ground, too tired to do more than stare at the pile of corpses in front of him as he watched a team of Golds arrive and finish off the horde.

Fifteen, he thought to himself proudly. Fifteen of the monstrous beings lay dead by his hand. Far more than any of the other students could claim from what he saw of the battle, though far less than the Advisors. He wished he could have watched what true men as strong as them were capable of, but he'd been busy anchoring his side of the line, making up for his classmates' weakness.

The stupid mages had been next to useless, barely contributing to the fight from what he saw. The most impact had been from whatever spell it was that shredded dozens of monsters at once, something he assumed the other advisor had done with his magic.

Then the other Gold rankers arrived and stole the rest of the glory, finishing off the horde after they weakened it. As much as the glory thieves infuriated him, there wasn't much he could do. After all, even though he was clearly the strongest of the students there, he was still just an Iron. He knew when to acknowledge true power like the Advisors and the high rankers that showed up.

Not like his classmates who struggled to kill half as many as he did, or the pathetic mages who barely contributed. Even more pathetic was the girl that the Gold ranked healer was preoccupied saving. He watched her pass out at the start of the fight just trying to restrain a couple of the monsters.

Ivar narrowed his eyes behind the visor of his helmet as he watched the Gold ranker continue casting spells, wasting healing and attention on the weakling when the mana would have been better spent healing the true warriors. Anger welled up inside of him as even Ghorro watched the unconscious girl with a concerned frown on his face, ignoring the true hero amongst the students. Pathetic weakling stealing the attention, he thought.

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