The raid didn't stay idle. Fighters surged forward to meet the charge. Mages unleashed spells. Summons poured into the gap between the two forces.

Ember Rift-Sprites detonated against the plant creatures, flames consuming dried vegetation. Spectral Knights swung blades, cutting through vine limbs. The Thorn-Lashers got slowed down but still advanced, their damaged bodies regenerating as new vines sprouted from severed stumps.

One of the creatures reached Helga's line. An Ironside met it with his shield; the impact drove him back several meters. But he moved his sword, severing the creature's vine-like limb. The limb fell, twitching, but new vines immediately began forming to replace it.

"Target the cores!" the Ironside shouted. His next strike punched through the creature's chest, piercing the sphere at its center. The Thorn-Lasher collapsed as the controlling mass was destroyed.

The quest's progress finally started to rise.

Jake threw himself into combat. His sword cut through vine limbs with clean strikes. He'd gotten better; his movements were more controlled, his positioning smarter, and his fear was less pronounced. That was all thanks to Reidar.

Lena went through the battlefield, bringing death to anything that dared to bar her way.

She targeted the spheres only, wasting no energy on limbs that would regenerate. One strike, one kill. That was all she needed and was all she made.

The problem was that her exhaustion showed in the slight delays between attacks. Her technique remained flawless, but she clearly had less control than she usually did.

Reidar kept his distance from the front line. The battle was too fast and brutal for him, and so it was for all those focusing on magic. In the meantime, he kept summoning and desummoning the Feral Packs. The itch he had at the back of his mind intensified. It was like there was someone or something trying to tell him something was wrong, and the itch to increase his proficiency surged even more.

Jake and Lena decided to help, but they were not going to do that much; the least they wanted was for their rewards to get severely decreased. Although Jake also wanted to be better at fighting.

Of course, they were helping now since it wasn't like they could stay with the raid and do nothing; not only that, but the raid had far fewer numbers than the enemy.

Based on what was happening, based on what they were seeing, most of the Thorn-Lashers the quest asked them to kill were in this town, so there were dozens of hundreds of enemies here, and there was a limit to what the summons could do considering the monsters were mostly higher-leveled than the survivors, although the gap was not that great, and it kept decreasing as more and more people leveled up.

Another Feral pack got summoned. The wolves materialized, six spectral forms that immediately rushed forward to harry the Thorn-Lashers. They tore at vine limbs, distracted targets, and created openings for the fighters. Then Reidar recalled them and cast again.

Nothing; the number was still stuck at 49%.

<Shit…>

The battle spread. Thorn-lashers poured from every direction, their numbers seemingly endless. But despite how higher-level they were compared to the raid party, they were rather predictable. Their attacks were straightforward; their defenses were weak, which exposed their cores to the raid attacks.

Seraphine's fighters pierced through the cores and gave rhythm to the rest of the party. They mostly targeted the monsters that the summoned creatures or the raid members couldn't target but that were almost there to injure or kill someone.

Seraphine prevented that.

Aldric's survivors acted on the front lines and on the backs. Most of his soldiers were spearmen and sword fighters, but the mages were there too.

Lightning bolts fried vine matter, making it brittle and easy to shatter. Fire spells consumed entire creatures, turning them to ash.

Ice froze the spheres, making them vulnerable to shattering strikes. Aldric himself was wielding his spear as if he were a dragon, and his melee fighters, all looking like paladins, weren't less deadly than him.

The Spectral Knights, the raid party summoned, took heavy damage. Their purpose was to aggro the enemy, anyway.

The Thorn-Lashers ripped through the Spectral Knights' armor, but every time one went down, the raiders Reidar had shared his skills with just summoned more. They worked like living shields, diving in front of attacks meant for their allies and which Seraphine's people couldn't kill on time. That constant sacrifice bought the fighters just enough time to strike back and kill more monsters.

The Ember Rift-Sprites continued their explosive assaults. Each fireball injured a monster that was then taken care of by either a Spectral Knight or someone from the survivor groups.

The flames also spread across the spongy ground, igniting the organic matter beneath. Smoke began to fill the air, mixing with spores and ash. The Thorn-Lashers tried to keep the flames in check.

Reidar cast a Summon Feral Pack again. Another pack appeared.

<Nothing; it seems like the proficiency doesn't want to budge.>

The wolves appeared, rushed forward, and engaged. He watched them tear at the Thorn-Lasher's legs, bringing it down so a fighter could finish it. Then he recalled them.

His mana sat at 5400. It was dropping. The constant casting was expensive despite his regeneration. He'd need to use Arcane Leech soon to recover some.

A Thorn-Lasher broke through the defensive line and charged straight at him. Jake noticed and intercepted.

He stabbed through its core before it could even get two meters from Reidar. The sphere burst, and the monster died.

"Thanks," Reidar said.

Jake nodded and returned to the fight.

Lena cut down three more Thorn-Lashers. Her movements were slower now. Her fatigue was taking its toll on her.

Reidar's focus was split between the churning battle and the stubborn skill proficiency bar in his vision that was still stuck at 49%.

He saw Lena carve a path through the monsters. But her exhaustion betrayed her. She didn't notice a heavy vine-limb, thick as a man's thigh, that swung from the doorway she had just passed.

<Lena!>

The blow caught her on the side. It didn't pierce her armor, but the force lifted her off her feet and sent her hurtling backward. She crashed onto a large, moss-covered boulder that stood near the edge of the fighting area.

The blow knocked a fragile flower loose from a crack in the boulder. It was a pale, ghostly thing, completely different from the violent red plants choking the forest.

Lena's impact on the boulder crushed the fragile thing. A cloud of golden pollen burst into the air.

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