The piercing sound of the horn tore through the calm afternoon like a claw. Panic spread instantly. The volunteers who had just been resting immediately grabbed their shovels and axes again, no longer as tools, but as makeshift weapons.
"To your positions!" Borin's voice thundered, cutting through the chaos. "Women and children to the village hall, NOW! Hunters, to the walls!"
His commands, shouted in the Tragam language, were incomprehensible to Kenzo, but their urgent tone was more than enough. He saw Elara swiftly gathering Lina and the other children, guiding them to the largest building in the center of the village. Lina's father, Kael, kissed his daughter's forehead quickly before grabbing his sturdy spear. His usually friendly eyes were now as sharp as a hawk's. He ran towards the defensive wall, his post on the front line.
Haelan did not move toward the wall. His face was grim and full of concentration. He walked to an open area in the middle of the village, far from the direct fighting, and planted his staff into the ground. He closed his eyes, beginning to murmur a long and complex incantation. He was the village's long-range artillery, needing time to "compile" his strongest spell.
Kenzo stood in the midst of it all, feeling awkward and utterly useless. He didn't understand Borin's orders. He didn't know their strategy. He could only watch what was happening and wait for his chance, his hands feeling empty and vulnerable.
A tremor in the ground was the first sign. Shortly after, they emerged from the edge of the forest. A horde of Stone Boars. There were dozens of them, far more than Kenzo had seen before. Led by a giant Stone Boar whose hide was as black as charcoal—the Alpha—they charged without hesitation.
The first wave hit the defensive line exactly as Kenzo had designed. The boars at the front, running at full speed, didn't see the deep trench until it was too late. Horrible squeals of pain echoed as the first few fell and were impaled by the sharpened wooden stakes at the bottom. A brief cheer erupted from the hunters on the wall. Kenzo's design worked.
However, the celebration was short-lived. The Alpha, showing a terrifying intelligence, stopped at the edge of the trench and let out a loud roar. The other boars stopped their blind charge. At their leader's command, a few smaller boars were pushed into the trench, their bodies forming a gruesome bridge over the sharp stakes. The defensive wall was now exposed.
"Focus on one point!" Borin yelled, pointing to the weakest-looking section of the wall.
The Alpha roared again, and the entire remaining horde slammed into that single point like a ferocious tidal wave. Arrows bounced harmlessly off their hard hides. Spears thrown from the wall could only wound, not kill. Borin and Kael fought desperately on the front line, thrusting their spears at any boar that tried to climb. But the wooden wall began to crack and splinter under the relentless assault.
Seeing this, Haelan finally completed his spell. But it wasn't a fire spell. True to his primary affinity, he slammed his staff into the ground. "Earth Wall!"
With a roar, two sturdy walls of earth rose from the ground on the left and right flanks of the horde, trapping them in a narrow path and slowing their charge. It was a brilliant crowd-control spell, isolating the Alpha and some of its strongest guards at the front.
Kenzo saw the Alpha was about to break through. He didn't have time for a complex formula. He just needed speed and efficiency.
"Prometheus, weakest point!"
[The eyes are the target with the highest probability of injury.]
That's when Kenzo moved. While Haelan was panting after casting one large spell, Kenzo began to execute his Fireball "program" repeatedly. He raised his hand, and one by one, basketball-sized spheres of bluish-white fire shot out with deadly precision.
One shot hit the Alpha's shoulder, making it roar in anger. A second shot hit its snout. The third—a direct hit to one of its eyes.
The Alpha shrieked in pain. Blind and enraged, it charged blindly and smashed into the already fragile remnant of the wall with its full force, shattering it to pieces. In its rampage, it stumbled over the debris, exposing the softer underside of its neck for a split second.
Kael, who had been waiting for this chance like a true hunter, did not waste it. "NOW!" he yelled. He leaped from the top of the ruined wall. With all his strength, he plunged his spear deep into that weak spot. The Alpha collapsed with a thunderous crash, dead.
With their leader slain, the rest of the Stone Boars trapped between Haelan's earth walls panicked and fled back into the forest. The village was safe.
A triumphant cheer erupted. The villagers lifted Kael onto their shoulders, celebrating their hero. Others crowded around Haelan, thanking him for his powerful magic. Kenzo also received a few slaps on the back and thumbs-ups. But in the midst of the celebration, he felt deeply isolated.
He was panting, not just from physical exertion, but from mental exhaustion. During the battle, he hadn't understood a single one of Borin's commands or the warning shouts from the hunters. He had almost been hit by a wild charge several times because he didn't know what was happening around him. He realized how helpless he was without the ability to communicate.
That night, after a brief victory celebration, Kenzo sat alone on the steps of Elara's hut, staring at the two moons in the sky. His frustration had reached its peak.
[Host, your frustration during the battle can be resolved,] Prometheus's voice broke his silence. [For the past 12 days, I have constructed a linguistic model of the Tragam language with a 94% predictive accuracy.]
Kenzo was silent, waiting for the rest.
[I can integrate this data directly into your auditory cortex and language center. This will allow you to understand and speak Tragam as if it were your native tongue. However, this procedure is untested. There is a 7% probability of causing severe temporary headaches, disorientation, or neurological damage. Do you wish to proceed?]
Kenzo remembered the chaos of the battle, the shouts he couldn't understand, and the look of horror on a young hunter's face when Kenzo was nearly gored because he hadn't heard his warning. Without a single shred of doubt, he gave his answer in his mind.
"Do it."