Under the canopy of fresh brush, I stood facing a monstrous boar.
My eyes were locked on it while I simultaneously observed the stag to my left with my mirror-shield, and the wolf to my right from the polished sheen of my spear head.
Adopting a solid stance with my feet planted, spear leveled at chest height, and mirror-shield angled toward the boar's expected path, I calmly stepped towards the slowly encroaching boar.
Based on my prior teachings, this wasn't something I should've done—engaging immediately against coordinated enemies, rather than attempting to break their formation.
However, I deviated.
With my powers, I had a swift method to possibly quickly neutralize a target, thus I chose to decisively act upon it.
Holding deliberate eye contact with the boar, I lowered my spear while dragging my feet. A scape sounded, echoing in the quiet forest, breaking the silence that had raptured the forest.
In response, the boar let out a deep rumble before lowering its head. Its tusks were aimed forward, shoulders hunched, body coiled like a spring ready to launch.
I smiled. This was the exact situation I hoped for.
I had picked the boar as my first target for a very specific reason: once it begins charging, it is committed. A charge is not a feint, inertia and all that.
Then, when it meets me, or rather my mirror-shield, the entirety of its fearsome momentum will be reflected back on itself, weakening its defenses.
Immediately after, I can unleash the stored attack to grievously injure or even outright kill it.
And hopefully, with the boar instantly down, the other monsters will flee in fear as I believe the boar's the strongest out of them. That was another reason why I decided to select it as my first target.
Taking steady deep breaths, I slightly crouched to ensure I block at the correct angle with my shield as the monstrous boar began its charge.
At the same time, I made sure to keep notice of my surroundings.
The wolf was to my right flank, opportunistically awaiting a chance to strike after the collision.
On my rear view mirror, I saw the stag closing in. I wasn't too worried about it for possible attacks—their role was likely to control space and deny escape with the long reach of its jagged antlers, not directly striking me. The antlers would prove bothersome to its allies as well.
When my focus snapped back to the boar, it was already moving, faster than it had any right to be.
I gulped. If not for my Foresight, I might've been caught off guard. This boar was definitely the strongest.
With a sharp exhale, I braced for the impact, but there was none.
The moment the boar's tusks and head with its terrifying momentum collided with my mirror-shield, the full brunt of the force reflected back at it while I stood unmoving like a monolith.
It was a strange feeling, having a hundred kg battering ram collide into you, yet you feel nothing. In a way, it reminded me of when I stepped through portals to/from the mirror realm—something so extraordinary yet feeling like nothing.
But while I stood untouched, along with my pristine mirror, the same could not be said for the boar.
Its tusks were shattered, ribs driven inward, and organs ruptured. The previously fearsome boar now collapsed like a dying dog.
The extent of the damage stunned me.
I had expected to momentarily cripple it at best, leave it reeling long enough to follow up with Reverberant Release, not end the fight outright.
But on deeper thought, it made sense.
The boar was built for reckless, full-force charges, and the mirror had returned every ounce of that power throughout its body. It was like a head-on collision between cars, if one of them were also indestructible—provided I had enough essence of course.
Speaking of essence, the amount that was consumed to block and reflect that attack allowed me to make a confirmation.
Previously, I was unsure of how the essence consumption of that ability worked.
Does the reflection cost always mirror the cost of the attack?
No… That wouldn't have been balanced.
Against physical types, I could reflect hundreds of their attacks as they use very little essence in their strikes. Typically, they spent it on enhancement spells or channeling it into their weapons rather than directly using it to channel attack spells.
Reflecting that ram from the boar took around one twelve of my essence, so I can say for sure now that my conjecture was right.
Though there posed another question now: was essence consumption based on force for all attacks, or just physical ones?
If it were only based on force, I'd be able to return many times of magic spells with ease.
For example, take a blizzard or fire storm spell; they were deadly and had a high essence cost, but there was little actual force behind them. The danger came from its heat/frigidness.
Thus, I would be able to reflect them at little cost, which leads me to believe reflection consumption likely strikes a balance between force and essence expenditure.
The testing of my hypothesis had to come later though.
Focusing my attention back to the fight, I swiftly observed the other monsters.
They were at a standstill, frozen in shock at my instant prevail against the boar, who they likely recognized as the strongest among them.
Then, in a split second, I made the decision to shift target and attack the stag.
Retreating now may invite pursuit. If I backed off, they might write my victory over the boar off as a fluke, a trick that worked once. I needed to keep the pressure on and drive them out.
Actually… 'chase them away' may be cutting it too soft, I was going for the kill. Extra food for the journey ahead.
Confidence had rooted itself in me while fear took place in theirs. Not to mention, even if I failed to land a killing blow, they'd be too focused on fleeing to retaliate, so I risked nothing.
And like I expected, the moment I turned on my heel to face the stag, it began to turn tail and the wolf followed suit.
With a deft lunge, I cut the distance between us in half before tossing my shield at the stag.
That was because I quickly realized I'd never catch the stag with its swift acceleration, especially burdened by a spear and shield in my hands, so I made the calculated decision to lunge and throw my shield instead.
Right as it slipped toward the edge of my range, I activated Reverberent Release!