《Son of the Night》
Maps and pics
This is where I will be posting Maps and other pictures related to the story.
In the future, I might update the map and give it more detail But for now, I think it is good enough.
I Don''t have many pictures to post right now but will later on into the story.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
This map is of the continent Halrverold around Year 690 several years after the story starts.
Chapter 1: History.
Year 685.
The rain was pouring down, drenching everything outside. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the distance.
A middle-age knight stood under a tree, holding his soaked cloak over his head as he tried to keep himself dryer than the ground around him.
The cold wind had other ideas and blew the rain at him from all over. He gave up on holding his cloak over his head and tried to wring out the accumulated rain, then wrapped it around himself for added protection and warmth.
Faint howls of mourning wolves could be heard in the distance, making him shiver even more.
The second largest war in the history of the continent of Halrverold had just been decided less than a month ago in the largest battle he had ever seen. Hundreds of thousands of people had fought each other. Tens of thousands who fought were killed, and even more were wounded or maimed.
It would have been worse if they hadn''t received help from the demigods. No human could match their full strength, their immeasurable power rivaled only by other demigods.
He was waiting for a company of soldiers who had been sent out on a special mission to report back in. He waited miserably for a short while until he heard multiple horses galloping through large puddles of water.
He quietly watched as the cavalry drew closer until they came to a halt in front of him. The leader of the group walked his horse forward and quickly hopped off, onto the soggy ground.
¡°The mission was a success, Captain. The demigods were able to ambush them as planned. The targets were still extremely tough to beat. Three demigods were killed before they were able to kill the targets.¡± The soldier reported with a salute.
¡°That''s good news indeed. I will inform the commander of the results. I''m sure he will be more than happy to hear it. You can go and rejoin the main army,¡± said the captain.
¡°Sir, there is one more problem. We found a war orphan,¡± said the soldier as he walked to one of the horses and helped a young boy off the horse.
The captain looked at the young boy who had a messy mop of black hair plastered onto his head due to the rain. He had not responded to being picked up and placed on the ground. His eyes gave off the feeling that his soul was dead as he stared mutely into the distance.
Something horrible must have sent a shock through his system to have caused him to act in such a way.
¡°A pity for such a young child to experience things such as war,¡± said the captain.
¡°Well, we can''t have orphans wandering around. I can probably take him back to the outpost and see what the commander wants to do with him. You have fulfilled your duty so you may head back.¡± said the Captain.
After watching the soldiers turn around and ride off the way they had come, the captain turned to the young boy.
¡°Boy can you hear me?¡± asked the captain, but there was no response.
He hefted the boy up onto the horse.
¡°Damn, you¡¯re heavier than I expected,¡± muttered the captain.
The captain got up into the saddle behind the young boy.
The travel from the meeting spot to the Fort he was stationed at took only a few days of leisure horse riding. During that time the boy never said a single word.
After they arrived at the fort, he stabled the horse, then ushered the boy to the fort commanders office to give his report.
The Guards forced them to wait in front of the office until the commander was informed and called for them.
The commander greeted the captain briskly. He looked at the mute boy who the captain had led into the room behind him, puzzled at why he was brought to his office.
¡°Why did you bring this boy here? What''s wrong with him?¡± asked the commander of the fort.
The captain walked over to him and whispered something into the commander''s ear. While listening, his eyes lit up from the information.
¡°Have the blacksmith create a simple silver necklace bearing my crest, and tell the enchanter to use that spell on it. Bring it to me when it''s finished.¡± ordered the commander.
¡°As you wish,¡± said the Captain with a sharp salute, and left the office.
The commander waited an hour until the captain came back carrying the silver necklace. During that hour the boy had not moved, said a word, or do anything other than stare at the wall with a distant gaze.
The commander picked the necklace from the captain''s hand and walked over to the boy. He placed the necklace around the boy¡¯s neck and stepped back.
The young boy was startled out of his shell-shock daze. The reaction was not from the commander putting the necklace on him, but from an odd floating message window that popped up in front of his gaze slightly to the right of his face. It was not fully blocking his vision but was hard to miss.
-Implementing class job change.
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-Failed
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The message quickly disappeared, but now that he was aware of his surroundings, he looked around, wondering where he was. He finally looked a the middle-aged man in front of him.
The commander thought that the boy had been startled by him placing the necklace around his neck.
¡°So you aren''t an invalid. Good, listen up boy. From now on, I will be your guardian. You may call me Commander Brutus, or just Commander. You are to keep the necklace I have given you with you at all times. It is the crest of my noble house. It will let others know who you are,¡± said Brutus. He waited for a second but there was no response from the boy. ¡°Do you understand, boy?¡±
The young boy nodded but didn''t speak.
¡°You are to speak when asked a question, boy. A simple yes sir, or no sir, will suffice. Do you understand, boy?¡± Brutus asked again.
¡°Yes, sir.¡± replied the young boy in a quiet voice.
¡°That''s better. Do you have a name? Do you know your age?¡± Brutus queried.
¡°Yes sir, it''s Akira. I''m 5 years old,¡± replied the young Akira.
¡°Well, Akira, I''m quite busy, so I''ll leave the captain to show you around and take care of things for you,¡± said Brutus. He turned to the captain and said,¡° First, take him to get cleaned up, get rid of those rags he''s wearing, and find him some new clothes. Then go and inform the tutor that he will have one more student to teach.¡±
¡°It will be done,¡± said the captain with a salute.
The captain led Akira out of the office. They walked through the corridors to the servants-bathhouse.
When the door was opened, a gust of warm moist air hit Akira¡¯s face. He walked into the bathroom after the captain.
Looking around the room, Akira was able to see what he guessed was a magical fire due to its deep green color. It was crackling in the fire pit on the right wall, next to a large pool, keeping the room warm.
He swiftly undressed, dropping his clothes on the ground, and entered the pool.
The large pool bath was COLD! Akira gave a surprised yelp.
The captain laughed and said ¡°What did you expect? We aren''t rich enough to have heated baths.¡±
The captain picked up the dirty clothes and tossed them into the fire, where they vanished in seconds, giving off no smoke or smell.
Stolen novel; please report.
¡°I''ll be back with new clothes in a few minutes. Be sure to be done washing by the time I get back,¡± said the captain before leaving the room.
Akira took a sponge that had been provided for him and briskly started washing. After a few minutes of scrubbing, he immersed his body under water and ran his hands through his hair a few times.
Jumping out of the water, he grabbed a towel and dried off. Shivering from the cold, he sat down on a wooden stool next to the fire pit.
Akira stared at the fire, deep in thought. Just where was he? What was going on? He couldn''t remember much of anything before meeting the commander.
His chest started to bother him. Feeling itchy, he looked down and saw a small red rash where the necklace was resting. Picking it up and away from his skin, he put the towel between them.
The door opened up behind him, letting in colder air and making him shiver even more.
Akira turned his head around and saw that the Captain had returned with new clothes.
¡°Hurry and get dressed,¡± said the captain as he threw the clothes at him, before exiting the room.
Akira put the new undyed woolen shirt on, along with the black dyed wool pants. He tucked the shirt into his pants, tied the shirt strings near the neck, and fastened a leather belt to keep his pants up.
He made sure to pull the necklace out away from his skin, letting it rest on his shirt. Finished dressing, he walked out the door and joined the captain, who was waiting while tapping his foot impatiently.
¡°Let''s be going then. Don''t want to keep the tutor waiting now, do we?¡± said the captain.
They walked outside and passed many buildings before getting to their destination.
Without knocking, the captain slammed the door open and walked into the small building. Akira quietly walked in behind him, while scanning the room.
In front of him were two rows of desks with two people sitting in the seats, a boy somewhere around his age and a young teenager.
In front of the students was a large desk with a middle-height gray-bearded man standing behind it, glaring at the intruders. Akira assumed he was the tutor, behind him was a large blackboard on the wall with chalk on a ledge for writing.
¡°By the commander¡¯s orders, this boy will be your new student. He is to be treated the same as his own two sons,¡± said the captain.
¡°Well, this is all rather sudden. Nonetheless, I will do my best to teach him. You needn''t worry about that,¡± replied the tutor.
¡°Okay, my job¡¯s done here, so I''ll leave the rest to you. Oh yeah, his name is Akira, and he¡¯s the same age as Rodger,¡± said the captain who then left in a hurry, leaving the small building as loudly as he had entered, slamming the door behind him.
¡°Akira, hurry and sit next to Rodger. You can share the book with him until we get another for you. Since you¡¯re both the same age, there shouldn''t be a problem with you learning what he is being taught,¡± said the Tutor as he pointed at a desk next to the younger boy¡¯s desk.
Akira walked to the desk and sat down next to Rodger.
¡°Nice to meet you,¡± said Rodger with a large smile while grabbing onto Akira''s hand and shaking it vigorously.
¡°Ye... yeah, nice to meet you,¡± said Akira, shaken by the energetic Rodger.
¡°Ah yes, before we start, are you able to read, Akira?¡± asked the Tutor.
Akira nodded.
¡°Good, Now we can get back to our history lesson. Now, where were we?¡± asked the tutor.
¡°Chapter 1 page 1,¡± replied the older boy.
¡°Thank you, Marc. You¡¯re lucky, Akira. We were just going to start reading the new history book I acquired just the other day. It even has information on the war that just ended. Fascinating, isn''t it? I''ll let Marc read the first few pages, then Rodger, and lastly Akira.¡± said the Tutor.
Marc stood up and started reading out loud.
¡°The history of the kingdom of Beorin.
For many years the world was a bleak and colorless gray. There were few people, animals, or vegetation. Over time the creator blessed the land, giving color to everything. He gave birth to all types of humans, animals, plants, and our eternal enemy the Demon race, which includes many races other than humans like the beast race. This is known as the age of color and abundant life.
The populations exploded. This caused problems in some areas with the Demon race and human neighbors. The two factions started to fight over land and resources. The human race to this day is still fighting against them but less so than back then, more on that later.
Over time the human cities began to fight amongst themselves, due to petty squabbles or perceived slights against one''s honor. This was known as the bloody warring period.
No one city was strong enough to conquer another city. They distrusted everyone and did not form alliances.
This went on for hundreds of years until an unnamed group of magicians all from different cities decided to end the wars with a plan to summon a powerful demon to destroy every army.
Something went horribly wrong, resulting in the deaths of all the members. Before they died, the summoning they started took effect, which resulted in the first appearance of monsters.
The monsters rampaged for many years, destroying the smaller towns and forcing people to create larger cities with fortified walls to protect themselves.
During this time period, it became dangerous to even go out to the fields near the city where the majority of their food was grown and domestic animals grazed unless they had a large force of guards to kill the monsters that would attack.
Due to this, the population never rose above a certain point, as most deaths were from monster attacks instead of old age or sickness,¡± Marc finished the pages and sat down.
Rodger stood up to read and began to hurriedly mumble what sounded like gibberish.
A loud crack could be heard as the tutor hit the desk with his pointer stick.
¡°Read properly so we can hear and understand you,¡± ordered the tutor.
¡°All that changed when the current king¡¯s fourth great-grandfather Tiberius (180 years before) met with the first Divine Heroes who we now call demigods.
The demigod¡¯s power was shockingly many times more powerful than anyone in the large city of Bador, which is now the capital of Beorin.
Their power rose far quicker than that of any humans. They could receive several growths in days or weeks. Whereas it would take a year for a normal person to have their regular yearly growth.
The yearly Growth is different from your body growth in adolescence.
There were few demigods compared to the humans of Halrverold, but the power of their small groups rivaled a large army''s.
Tiberius made a deal with a group of demigods to help unify the cities around him while driving back the monsters.
Thus the age of conquest had started. In less than a month, the small kingdom Beorin was made with the help of the demigods.
There was a multitude of small kingdoms being created and destroyed all across the continent of Halrverold. Each was supported by a different group of demigods.
When the remaining new kingdoms had solidified their position, the demigods all came together and helped foster a non-aggression pact for the cities.
Together with their Demigod allies, the new kingdoms started the first major war against the Demon race¡¯s cities near them. Capturing the cities, expanding their own land, while killing off all the Demon race citizens or chasing them away.
The massive loss of cities and population forced the Demon race to migrate away from the humans and set up new cities far away from the human kingdoms.
With the demigod¡¯s help, the human kingdoms were able to advance in science and warfare in a way only demigods could conceive.
The demigods disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. Leaving the fledgling kingdoms they had help built to fend for themselves. Many were not strong or stable enough and were swallowed up by other kingdoms. This era lasted until just recently.
Many years had passed since King Titus the 4th¡¯s great-grandfather had last met with the demigods.¡± Rodger finished reading and sat down.
Akira stood and gazed at the book between him and Rodger before starting to read.
¡°Demigods abruptly appeared in the main capitals of the kingdoms, and again formed Guilds and joined the kingdoms they had appeared in, helping them expand the kingdoms. The fights condensed the kingdoms down to the seven kingdoms we have now.
The demigods turned their attention to the Demon race cities that had been settled far away from the small kingdoms which had grown and were now close to them again.
They started the second bloodiest war humans have ever been a part of even larger than the first against the Demon race cities. Killing Hundreds of thousands of them. Forcing them to escape even farther away from the kingdoms that had been steadily growing and getting closer to their Demon race¡¯s cities.
With the second appearance of the demigods, dungeons began to appear all over the land.
The demigods stayed for almost a month after the war. At the time of writing, they have started to disappear. This was longer than the period that history says they stayed after the first major war ended, with the fact that there were far more demigods in the second great war against the Demon race.
Before they disappeared, the demigods hunted many dungeons. They were able to find many rare items, things which were given to the kings of their choice as a precautionary measure to keep the kingdom in power when they left.
Thus the modern era of strength has started. Who knows how long it will last and when the demigods will come back and meddle in the affairs of human and Demon race alike.¡±
Akira finished reading and sat down.
¡°Good, good, very well done, everyone. You three, it is important to know the history of how our country came to be. Now seeing as it is noon I''ll allow you to go to the kitchen and get some food. Marc, take Akira along with you and show him the way,¡± said the tutor.
¡°YES! Lunch time!¡± shouted Rodger as he jumped up and ran out of the door.
¡°Damn it, Rodger! How many times do I have to tell you? No running in the classroom,¡± the tutor shouted after Rodger, who was already outside.
Marc and Akira exited the building and saw Rodger waiting for a little ways ahead of them. When they reached him Rodger began bombarding Akira with many questions.
¡°So where are you from? What are you doing here? Why do you have the crest of my father?¡±
¡°I don''t know,¡± replied Akira quietly.
¡°You don''t know?¡± asked Rodger, suspicious that Akira was lying.
¡°Stop pestering him, Rodger. Father probably has his reasons. He wouldn''t give the crest to any random person.¡± said Marc, trying to get the eager Rodger away from Akira.
¡°I would like to remember but everything before meeting commander Brutus is a blank. I only remember my name,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh,¡± said a disappointed Rodger. But he began to laugh and said, ¡°You¡¯re weird.¡±
Marc whacked him on the head.
¡°Ow, what you do that for?¡± whined Rodger.
¡°Stop laughing at him, it''s impolite,¡± said Marc with a smile on his face.
Thus Akira started living in the small fort city of Rockwich. The three of them were always together, going to classes, training with the sword, and playing in the fields and woods. The energetic Rodger, and Marc who tried to act like the cool older brother but was always nagging at them like an adult, both accepted the shy Akira as a brother.
Chapter 2: Capital City
Year 686.
Akira, Rodger, and Marc had been living in the capital city for a little over a month due to Brutus''s work during the fall months. The king had prepared luxurious guest rooms in the castle for them to stay in.
It was currently a cool early morning, which meant that the three boys were training alone with lead-filled wooden practice swords inside the elite guard training grounds.
Every other day the three young boys would train alongside the king¡¯s elite guards. It was brutal training for the young Akira and Rodger while Marc loved it, thriving off the joint training.
Akira was sweating from repeatedly swinging his practice sword, over and over again. Rodger and Marc were training next to him.
He had swung the practice sword nearly a thousand times today and nearly 40,000 in the last month. The exercise was for building strength and muscle memory. It was extremely tiring.
Their normal sword instructor was not in the capital city as he had to train the soldiers at the fort.
They were forced to train under Silias an old soldier who was the commander of the elite guard. He had been in many of the past wars including the second great war.
The training was a part of the process Rodger, and Marc had to go through, in order to be recognized as provincial nobles by the king.
Brutus was a high-ranked provincial noble. His family had earned the land they now owned during the first great war. Brutus had participated in the second great war and had earned more land due to the large number of battles he had commanded on the front lines without a single defeat.
Akira was allowed to train along with Rodger and Marc but due to the fact that he was not the son of Brutus, by law he was not eligible to be promoted to a provincial noble.
At the very most, if he worked hard he could be promoted to a knight and work under either Rodger or Marc.
In the kingdom of Beorin knights were divided into three classes.
The most common knights were the Imperial capital nobles. Most of them lived in the capital city and were paid a small yearly wage by the king to guard the city, take care of large-scale monster attacks on cities near the capital, and clear dungeons.
The second was the provincial nobles. Who were either old rich noble families with land and titles from ages past or capital city noble knights the king had recognized and promoted due to outstanding feats during battle.
These provincial nobles were loyal to the king but were not paid a yearly wage. Instead, they were allowed to keep what was left over after the tax was collected by the king. Many capital nobles prayed for extreme battles in order to earn the king¡¯s reward of land and people to rule over.
The third type of knights was the elite guard that were paid large amounts of money each year. Their only job was to protect the king and his family.
Silias was currently watching them swing their swords from the side of the training field.
¡°That''s enough for now, you can take a short rest. You all trained well in the various exercises I gave you over the last month. After you finish resting, we can start the second phase of training. I will spar with you and determine what weapon and fighting style best suits you,¡± said the hardy old man Silias.
Rodger, energetic as always, gave out a shout of happiness and ran over to the well to get some water. Marc and Akira both walked over casually and drank some water.
Akira splashed his face with some water and then poured the rest of the water over his head and onto his shoulders to cool down and wash some of the sweat away.
After a few minutes, Rodger stood up and walked over to the old man, eagerly waiting to be tested.
¡°Figures you would be the first to want to be tested. Very well, we can start whenever you''re ready,¡± said Silias.
Rodger swung his sword from the side with both hands as if he were trying to clobber Silias to death. With each of his attacks, he put all his strength into them, using brute force while swinging his sword like a madman. Each of his attacks were skillfully blocked by the old man.
¡°That''s Enough,¡± said Silias after a minute of fighting. But Rodger wasn''t listening and continued to swing his sword, trying to hit the old man.
In a flash, the old man''s sword leaped out and knocked the sword out of Rodger¡¯s hands and quickly smacked him a few times on the shin, leg, and arm, before finally coming to a rest on his shoulder next to his neck.
¡°I said that was enough. Let me warn you now that fighting like a berserker and ignoring everything around you is a good way to get yourself killed. You will do well to remember not to lose yourself in battle,¡± said the stern old man.
¡°Sorry,¡± said Rodger as his face turned red with embarrassment.
This wasn''t the first time Rodger had been scolded. Akira still remembered the first day of training. The two had been dueling when Rodger threw his sword at Akira''s head, which ended up bouncing off his helmet after stunning him.
This led to Silias yelling at Rodger for a long period of time, telling him in many different ways with colorful words that only idiots threw away their weapons in the middle of a battle.
¡°Now, as for what weapon and fighting style you should train in. Hmm... I would have to say a two-handed sword would be best suited to your fighting style. I will get you a larger two-handed practice sword for you to use in training from now on. So you can get used to it, and build up your strength. Next person, hurry up,¡± commanded Silias.
Marc was the next person to walk forward and be tested. Both Akira and Rodger admired Marc, not only because he was the oldest at the age of 15, but also because he was the strongest of the three. He was even able to duel the adult soldiers at the fort that were far older than him and sometimes win or have it end in a draw.
¡°I have already been training in the sword for many years. What will change from just a spar?¡± asked Marc.
¡°Everything. If you train in something that you¡¯re mediocre at for 10 years that''s 10 years wasted. I''m trusted by the king to judge the qualities of a soldier and train the elite guard of the king¡¯s army. I''m ready when you are.¡±
Where Rodger had been using brute force Marc was using his sword to strike quickly and skillfully. Left, right, up, down each attack was blocked with a loud crack of the wooden practice swords.
¡°Enough,¡± ordered Silias. Marc immediately stopped, ¡°Yes, I was right. You would be better suited to using two one-handed swords. You need precise movement and good timing to use two swords at once. Unfortunately, your left arm will probably be weaker than your right. To remedy that you will have to start using a second heavier practice sword to build up the muscle in that arm. Akira, you¡¯re the last one. Get over here so we can finish training for today.¡±
Akira kept muttering to himself ''Don''t mess up, don''t mess up'' and then began the match by thrusting his sword forward as if to stab a hole through the old man. The old man blocked it, causing a loud thwack. The force of the thrust surprised the old man.
Akira tried to swing the practice sword to the left and hacked at the Silias'' calf and was immediately blocked. He repeatedly tried to thrust and swing the sword at certain vulnerable areas of a warrior, which were each blocked by Silias.
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¡°Enough, hmm, yes. You seem to be suited for one-handed sword and shield. I will acquire a shield for you to use during the next training. Training is finished for today. Clean up and go to the classroom for your lessons,¡± ordered Silias.
Rodger gave a groan. Of the three of them, he hated the lessons the most. They quickly rinsed themselves off and used some towels near the well to dry off.
Marc led the way to the classroom. When they entered the room, their regular classmates were already in the room with their own tutor who was an old female tutor.
The other classmates were the king¡¯s two daughters. Jezebel was the youngest at the age of six, the same age as Akira and Rodger, while Ruth the oldest was 10 years old.
The three boys sat down and waited for their own tutor to start class. He was currently sorting through papers, which turned out to be tests.
The boys spent the rest of the early morning working on a test for all their subjects.
After all the tests had finished, they had to wait until their tests were swiftly graded and handed back.
¡°UGGGHHH, I''m dead,¡± said Rodger as he sprawled himself on top of his desk after looking at his test.
¡°I saw it all happen, sir. The cause of death was Math,¡± replied Akira and flopped onto his desk too.
A few seconds later, Akira and Rodger decided to compete to see who had the worst test score, showing each other their test for each subject. Some of the scores were so bad they were in the single digits.
Marc, who was watching the two idiots show off their test as if they were trophies sighed while watching them.
¡°What? Did you get a worse score than us?¡± asked Rodger.
Both Akira and Rodger looked at Marc''s test which were even harder than theirs. They saw he had almost 100% or near it on his first try.
¡°What am I going to do with you two? You''re always failing your test. You¡¯re just going to have to do more makeup tests until you get a decent passing score,¡± said the tutor who gave an exasperated sigh while looking at the two troublemakers.
¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough for today, but your make up test will start tomorrow. You can have lunch and the rest of the afternoon to do as you like,¡± said the tutor.
The princesses¡¯ tutor also finished the girls¡¯ lessons and released them at the same time.
Over the past month, Akira and Rodger had spent their afternoons playing games and wandering the castle and its gardens with the two princesses. Marc always said he didn''t have time for childish games and went off to do more training.
Jezebel the youngest was always quiet and followed her older sister around, while Ruth was the bossy type who ordered Akira, Rodger, and Jezebel around to play whatever she wanted.
As the group walked through the gardens to the kitchens to receive lunch, they met the king and queen, who greeted them. The king was of a sturdy build and had fire-red hair and beard, while the Queen''s hair was pink.
Ruth''s pink hair took after her mother¡¯s, and Jezebel¡¯s fire-red hair rivaled her father¡¯s.
¡°You all are not going off to cause trouble, are you?¡± asked King Titus with a laugh while fiddling with his beard.
¡°You''re not funny!¡± Ruth shouted at her father.
¡°Leave the children alone. We have other duties to take care of. Like making a younger brother for our daughters,¡± the queen joked.
¡°You¡¯re worse than father,¡± shouted Ruth as she ran away from the two embarrassing adults.
The three boys hurriedly bowed to the king and queen before running after her with Jezebel following slightly behind them.
After they had grabbed something to eat Marc stood up.
¡°I¡¯m going to train some more,¡± said Marc, before separating from the group.
¡°Boring,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Let''s go to the city!¡± shouted Ruth, pointing in the direction of the city while tearing through her sandwich. The other three followed her outside the castle with four bodyguard escorts.
Ruth led them from one shop to another, weaving her way through the large crowds and past tight alleyways.
¡°Slow down, your highness!¡± shouted one of the guards that were falling behind.
Ruth picked up the pace and after a few minutes succeeded in escaping the bodyguards as they were unable to keep track and lost the kids in the crowded streets.
¡°Good, now what should we do since we lost our nannies?¡± asked Ruth.
¡°Won''t we get in trouble for leaving them behind?¡± Akira asked.
¡°Don''t worry, I do it all the time,¡± said Ruth.¡°I have decided. Let''s all go to the park. There should be other people to play with there.¡±
Ruth led them through the maze of streets and alleyways which finally ended at the park.
The park was a large open area with a few trees to give shade to the people who came to picnic, watch actors perform plays and listen to the bards singing songs and telling stories.
It was a favorite place for the children as they could hear many stories of adventure and love.
As they walked closer to the main stage, someone called out to them.
¡°Well, look who it is. The Musclehead and crybaby princesses,¡± said a young boy in a mocking voice.
Akira looked to find two well-dressed boys whose age seemed to be close to his and Rodger¡¯s.
¡°Hmph, pay no attention to them, they''re just sons of low-rank imperial knights.¡± scoffed Ruth.
¡°So what if we''re sons of imperial knights? We are still nobles. Don''t look down on us!¡± shouted the second boy.
¡°Yeah, whatever,¡± said Ruth dismissively,¡° It''s annoying here, let''s go find a better spot.¡±
One of the boys threw a tomato at Akira. It missed his head.
Splat!
¡°Wahhhhhh!¡± Jezebel''s crying voice rang out.
Akira turned around and saw Jezebels'' face was covered in tomato juice and bits which had been thrown at her. It wasn''t hard to figure out who the culprits were as the two boys laughed while pointing.
¡°What are you doing, throwing stuff at her!¡± shouted Ruth as her temper exploded. With a shout, she charged at them, punching and kicking them repeatedly.
As they were losing the fight, they pulled wooden training swords from their scabbards and swung at Ruth.
Crack! Thunk!
Both Akira, and Rodger intercepted the two boys with their own wooden training swords they carried around with them.
By now, there was a crowd gathered around them, whispering to each other and questioning what was going on, while staring at the still crying Jezebel. They did not recognize the princesses as they were in regular clothes for playing.
Rodger was trading blows with his sword, protecting Ruth from the first boy who was the bigger of the two.
¡°So annoying, will you shut up, you crybaby,¡± shouted the boy Akira had blocked. He tried sidestepping Akira to swing his sword at Jezebel causing her to wail even louder.
Akira blocked his attack while asking, ¡°What are you attacking her for? Don''t worry, Jezebel, I will protect you.¡±
¡°Because it might shut her up,¡± he spat out while swinging his sword at Akira¡¯s head.
Akira ducked under the swing and counterattacked, landing a hit on his arm.
¡°What is going on here? Move out of the way,¡± ordered a captain of the city guard as a large group of city guards pushed through the crowd.
¡°The princesses are over here! They seem to be safe,¡± shouted a guard.
Akira and Rodger were to busy fighting the other boys to notice the guards approaching them until they were all yanked apart from each other by the guards.
¡°What do you boys think you''re doing? Causing a ruckus in the middle of the park and in front of the princesses. Lord Brutus won''t be pleased at all,¡± said the captain of the guards.
¡°It¡¯s not their fault,¡± protested Ruth.
¡°We were protecting the princesses,¡± said Akira, trying to plead their innocence.
They were taken back to the castle to stand in front of the king and Brutus, who were waiting for them.
¡°What were you doing, escaping from your escorts and getting into fights? Your escorts are there for this very reason, to protect you and make sure you don''t get into any trouble,¡± the king scolded them.
After both Akira and Rodger hurriedly explained why they had been fighting with the other boys, the king became enraged and ordered for the fathers of the boys that had been fighting with them to be brought to him immediately.
¡°You boys should have stopped the princesses from this foolish behavior, letting them do this put them in danger, it''s your duty as future nobles to serve and protect the royal family. You are to go to the training grounds and train with Marc for the rest of the day. So you don''t cause any more trouble for me,¡± said Brutus sternly while looking at both Akira and Rodger.
As they left the room, two flustered middle-aged imperial nobles who had been in a meeting at the castle, where escorted into the room they had left.
The enraged shouting of the king could be heard through the thick doors.
When they reached the training ground, Silias motioned them towards him.
¡°I heard what you did from the captain of the guards. I''m glad my training isn''t going to waste. You acted correctly in protecting the princesses. You can be proud of that. Lord Brutus is also right that your duty is to also make sure you don''t have to fight. Now let us start the second round of training today,¡± said Silias with a warm smile on his face.
Thus they began the hellish training for the rest of the day as part of their punishment.
Chapter 3: Life lessons
¡°Don''t misbehave, and listen to your tutor while you''re out in the city. This is also a part of your lessons, not for you to play around. Marc, you are the oldest so you are to help out and make sure everyone behaves,¡± Brutus ordered.
It was early morning. The three boys and their tutor stood at the front gate waiting for the two princesses to arrive, along with their bodyguards.
Brutus left for the great hall once he saw the princesses and their bodyguards arrive.
¡°Well, now that everyone is here, I can explain today''s lesson. We''re going to the shops and the marketplace throughout the city. This way you can see the cost of items and learn the value of money and not waste it when you have some. Let''s get going,¡± the tutor said while adjusting his glasses.
The first store they entered was a clothing store that was nearest to the castle.
¡°Welcome! Please feel free to look around!¡± They were warmly greeted by the male shop clerk standing behind the counter when they entered the store.
¡°Oh! Look at this hat, it looks so good,¡± shouted Ruth as she ran over to a shelf that had a different variety of frilly hats.
¡°Miss, you have a good eye for hats,¡± said the shop clerk.
¡°Look at the price. Each of you has one gold crown to spend,¡± said the tutor.
¡°Aww, but I really wanted it,¡± said Ruth. After checking the price, she put the hat with a four-gold crown price tag back onto the shelf.
They spent ten more minutes in the store looking at the prices before leaving. Everything in the store was over three gold crowns, the cheapest item being some wool socks.
They went from store to store and as they went farther away from the castle, the prices of items began to sharply fall.
They were currently sitting on a bench at the park, eating the ice cream and candy they had bought at the last store for a few copper crown coins.
¡°I think we have gone to enough of the regular stores. After you finish with your snacks we can go and check out the magic guild¡¯s shop,¡± said the tutor.
They followed the tutor. A short while later, they stopped in front of a large three-story brick building before entering.
¡°You can look, but don''t touch anything inside as everything is expensive, your parents wouldn''t want you breaking things,¡± said the tutor before leading them inside.
A female clerk came over to greet them. ¡°Hello, welcome to the magic guild¡¯s shop. Is there anything you need?¡± she asked.
¡°Nothing for today. Truly sorry but I am teaching the princesses and my other students the value of money and the cost of certain items,¡± replied the tutor with a bow.
¡°Oh my, a class trip to our store. It''s an honor to have the princesses come to our shop. The least I can do for you is show you around. Especially when you have such cuties with you,¡± she said with a weird smile on her face while she patted Akira on his head.
Smack! Her hand was hit away from his head by Jezebel who was standing next to him. This was a shock for those who knew the shy personality of the princess.
¡°Don''t touch Akira,¡± said Jezebel as she pulled him away from the shop clerk.
¡°My, my, jealous are we?¡± teased the clerk.
*cough*
¡°If you please, could you begin the tour?¡± asked the tutor.
¡°Yes, of course. Right this way,¡± said the clerk, leading them to multiple shelves full of potions.
The group was led to rows of massive sturdy wooden shelves which held many potions crammed on the shelf.
The shop clerk walked between the shelves, picking up three different potions and then walked back to the group to place them on a table nearby.
She picked up and showed them a small vial, the contents inside was a transparent light red liquid.
¡°This is a [Minor health potion] The cheapest we have at the cost of 50 silver crowns. It''s one of the main potions we sell. It can only heal minor cuts, bruises, sprains, fevers, and other non-life-threatening illnesses,¡± the shop clerk explained.
She shoved it back onto a nearby shelf and then showed the group a small round glass container with a cork stopper. The small potion fit snugly in her palm, the inside was a murky opaque red liquid.
¡°Here is a [Medium health potion]. Its cost is 1 gold crown. It can heal larger and deeper cuts, while also being able to mend broken bones, and cure minor poisons.¡±
She switched the small potion in her hands with a larger and deep solid red potion.
¡°Last of the potions that we have at this store, is the [Large health potions]. With a minimum cost of 10 gold crowns. This can heal any non-fatal wounds, stop up to medium poison. The main reason it costs so much is because it can repair your internal organs if they are damaged, and can even regrow a hand or foot if it was cut off. Of course, to grow them back you have to use the potion before 24 hours pass.¡±
¡°Amazing,¡± both Akira and Rodger said in awe of the potions.
¡°The magic guild has many other potions, but they are all sold at the main store in the capital of Freeopia the country of merchants. Now if you would like, I can show you the main attraction of our shop, the [Magic Gems]. If you will wait at the counter, I will go to the back and bring some out to show you,¡± said the clerk.
She disappeared behind a door for a few minutes. When she came back, she was holding a wooden case with a glass lid. She placed it in front of them so they could all look inside.
Multiple gems of multiple sizes and colors were all resting on a cushion inside the locked box.
Pointing at each gem, the clerk started to explain, ¡°These are [Magic Gems] the magic guild was able to start creating two years ago after many years of failure. The main purpose for creating them is they are able to give you many different types of buffs, some make you able to take more damage, hit harder, or faster, just to name a few. The size of the buff depends on the size of the [Magic Stone] they use when creating the magic gem. The larger it is, the higher the boost is. This also goes for the price. The cheapest we sell starts at 10 silver crowns. We also sell the sockets for weapons and armor which allow the gem to be combined with said items. They require a skilled blacksmith to install. Any questions?¡±
¡°What is the difference between the different colors?¡± asked Marc.
¡°As far as I know, there is no difference in what color they are, as in the end, it''s just the color of the [Magic Stone] they used when creating the gem,¡± replied the clerk.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
¡°Why don''t you guys sell any magic stuff here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Well, humans can''t use spells like some of the Demon race and monsters can. From the magic guild¡¯s studies, it seems we lack what they call mana. Although there are uncommon cases of humans being born with special skills that they can use during battle, but that''s a minority. I can tell you a semi-secret that the magic guild headquarters has been studying many of these special skills. They are now working on gems that can replicate those skills, which would allow normal people to use them,¡± said the clerk.
¡°Thank you for the tour. We should be heading back to the castle before the king gets worried,¡± said the tutor with a bow to the shop clerk.
¡°It was my pleasure. Please do think about buying from us if you ever need potions or magic gems,¡± said the shop clerk as they exited the door.
They began the tiring walk back to the castle quietly. When they were passing the warehouse district, in a surprise attack one of the guards escorting them hit the tutor on the head the, knocking him out.
Everyone''s attention was on the attacker and unconscious tutor.
¡°What are you waiting for? Hurry up and capture the kids,¡± shouted the guard who had attacked the tutor.
The other guards began to move. They were able to subdue and knock out the children, all but Marc who had evaded the surprise attacks.
The guards who were not tying up the unconscious children ran after Marc, shouting curses after him.
***
Akira woke up, his arms were numb. Looking at them he saw that they were chained to a ring on a large pillar. His head hurt from a headache caused by the surprise attack, from the escort that was supposed to have been protecting them.
Looking around, he could only see shadows as there were no windows to let light in. The only light came from a closed door in front of them.
No sound came from the other side of the door.
¡°Hey, anyone else awake?¡± asked Akira, his voice echoing in what was probably a large room.
¡°Shh...,¡± hissed a voice beside him on his left.
¡°Lower your voice. If they hear you, they''ll come in and hit you,¡± whispered Rodger on his right.
¡°How did we end up like this?¡± asked Akira in a quiet voice.
¡°It''s absurd that the capital¡¯s guards would turn on us but indeed they did, and thus we have been kidnapped,¡± came the tutor¡¯s voice behind Akira.
It seemed everyone had been chained to the same pillar.
BAM!
The door was kicked wide open and a bright light was shone on them, blinding their vision.
¡°You better not be talking in here, or I''ll close your mouths for you,¡± threatened a voice behind the bright light. A few seconds later, the light and person holding it left through the door, closing it but not all the way.
Akira could hear a conversation happening in the other room and thanks to the door not being fully closed, he was able to hear the words being exchanged between two people.
¡°How much are we going to get in ransom?¡± asked one male voice.
¡°You idiot. Do you have a brain in your head? Do you really think we can kidnap the king''s daughters and then ask him for money? That would just let him know who did it. We''re going to sell them to the slavers that are coming over tonight,¡± a haughty voice replied.
The conversation turned to gossip, the voices growing quieter as they walked away.
¡°This is bad. Hopefully, Marc was able to escape and warn someone for us,¡± Akira muttered to himself.
***
Marc had indeed escaped his pursuers and had reached the castle. Not knowing if the other guards were in on the kidnapping scheme. He decided to not mention anything to them as he entered the castle and went in search of someone he could trust.
He found who he was looking for lounging in his rocking chair at the training field. It was Silias, the commander of the elite guard.
Seeing the flustered, Marc he stood up and walked to him.
¡°What''s the matter?¡± Silias asked, worried.
¡°Everyone was attacked and knocked out by the guards that were supposed to be escorting us. I was the only one able to escape them,¡± replied the winded Marc.
¡°Where did this happen?¡± asked Silias, whose face had changed from worry to rage.
¡°The warehouse district.¡±
¡°Good, you have done well in escaping and informing me, Marc.¡±
Silias picked up a whistle on a necklace he was wearing and blew it. Moments later, a large dog came running to him, its tail wagging furiously.
¡°Barksalot go get the other members that are here right now. We have to save the princesses.¡±
¡°Bark!¡± said Barksalot. He ran off to gather the other members of the elite guards in the castle at the moment.
Within five minutes, a group of ten people led by Barksalot had returned and gathered around Silias.
¡°Marc, lead the way to where you were attacked, then we¡¯ll have Barksalot find the trail,¡± said Silias.
¡°Bark,¡± agreed Barksalot.
The sun had started to set as Marc led them back to the spot where the attack happened, He had taken a few wrong turns causing them to lose time.
¡°Alright Barksalot now it''s your turn to shine,¡± said Silias.
Barksalot walked forward slowly and began sniffing the whole area for any familiar trace of the princesses.
With a snort and a bark, he started running after finding what he was looking for.
***
Clang! Crack!
¡°Ahhhh!!! spare m...¡±
Slice.
Akira and the others could hear the screams, shouts and the sound of a large battle taking place somewhere else in the building. That noise was getting louder as the fight drew closer to the door.
There was a loud bark on the other side of the door, followed by a growl.
¡°Get it off me! Someone get it o... gurgle,¡± the sound of a body slumping onto the floor next to the door could be heard.
On the other side of the door, something started to claw at the door and bark.
¡°Alright, move aside Barksalot, I''ll open the door,¡± said the familiar voice of Silias.
The door was opened and a large dog with blood on his face charged in and ran past Akira.
Akira heard the dog licking something.
¡°Eww, stop licking me Barksalot you¡¯re gross, and you have blood all over you,¡± shouted Ruth.
More licking.
¡°Don''t switch to me,¡± complained Jezebel.
¡°Bark!¡± said Barksalot offended that they didn''t want his kisses.
Silias bent over, picking a ring of keys off the ground next to a body with his neck and face chewed off.
¡°These should be the keys to free you,¡± said Silias to no one in particular.
While unlocking everyone''s hands from the shackles, a soldier entered the room and saluted Silias.
¡°The culprits have all been killed, sir. The group was a bunch of low-rank nobles that were dissatisfied with things the king has done recently. The ringleaders are the two nobles that were demoted yesterday. They have been captured. We have them alive and tied up for the king to pass judgment,¡± shouted the soldier.
¡°Good work. You can take them to the king immediately. The princesses will be safe with me and Barksalot escorting them back to the castle,¡± ordered Silias as he finished freeing everyone.
***
Akira, along with Marc, Rodger and the two princesses, looked down at the crowd in the park below them.
The park was jammed with thousands of people who had all come to the park on the announcement from the king that an event was going to happen.
Akira and the others were on a balcony of a high-class restaurant near the park where they could see the stage better than if they had been on the ground.
The king and elite guards were not taking any chances and had cleared the restaurant of people.
On the stage, two ropes were tied to the thick beams of the stage¡¯s roof. Each had a noose at the end.
Two stools were brought onto the stage and placed under the ropes.
The crowd that had been loud with questions on what the event would be had all grown quiet.
Four people walked onto the stage. The king, a man with a black leather hood covering his face except for his eyes, and the two nobles who were the fathers of the troublemakers Akira had fought the other day.
Their arms tied behind their back, they were led to the stools. Although they struggled, the muscular executioner overpowered them and forced them into the noose, which was immediately tightened.
The king stepped forward. He raised his arm and began to speak, ¡°For acts of treason, and attempted kidnapping of royalty. I Titus the first, sentence the nobles Nubbe, and Reid to death by hanging. May your souls rot forevermore.¡±
With that he jerked his arm down, signaling for the hanging to proceed.
¡°Do not look away, those who pass judgment on others should see it carried out. It is even better if you use your own two hands,¡± said Brutus¡¯s voice from behind them.
The stools were kicked out from underneath the two criminals. The rope went taut and the two struggled for a short time before they grew still.
Jezebel was crying loudly beside Akira. Obviously, it wasn''t a pleasant sight.
¡°Remember, this is what will happen to you if you ever betray the king or country,¡± said Brutus coldly.
Chapter 4: Last day at the capital
Due to the kidnapping the incident, everyone was confined to staying inside the castle. Most of their time was either spent training, in class or watching the nobles debate with each other in the great hall. There was also the rare chance to freely play in the castle¡¯s gardens.
Akira, Rodger, Marc, along with the two princesses, were sitting in a private box overlooking the great hall. Earlier in the morning, the king had held an open court for all citizens in the capital city.
The open court allowed the common folk to bring their grievances to the king, and it required a judge to give a verdict.
Not just anyone could bring their cases in front of the king, if that was the case then he would be swamped with never-ending disputes.
Most of the cases were handled by judges appointed by the king. The cases he did rule over were cases that interested him.
As such, there were only a few cases in today''s open court, which were swiftly taken care of.
Half of the people leaving the great hall were furiously and unhappy, when the king had ruled against them. The other half were smiling and singing the king¡¯s praises of how smart and just he was.
Akira and the others since then had been watching the imperial capital and provincial nobles debate for most of the morning as part of their class for today, learning more about local politics, and more importantly, the politics of other kingdoms.
Capital city knights tended to be more cunning and slippery with their words when they practiced politics, hoping to get into the king¡¯s good graces and get promoted. While the provincial nobles were away from the capital most of the year, which caused them to be more focused on running their cities and villages and less on the political intrigue of the capital.
The current subject being debated between the imperial capital and provincial nobles was over whether or not to raise taxes.
¡°We need to increase the tax! The costs of running the government is increasing,¡± shouted the leading imperial capital noble. He was a skinny man who wore an odd hairstyle that was supposed to be the latest fad in the capital city.
¡°What you need to do is start spending the money more wisely and stop wasting the tax taken from us on stupid things. Are you trying to turn our country into a hellhole like Vussia?¡± asked Brutus, who was the leader of the provincial noble party.
¡°You just don''t want to hand over any more of your gold crowns. You''re greedy, and want to horde it all for yourself.¡±
There were shouts of agreements from the imperial nobles¡¯ side of the hall, while boos were shouted from the provincial nobles¡¯ side.
¡°Unlike you, I know how to use the money I make. You raising taxes does nothing but hurt the villagers under my charge. Our country is doing just fine! The facts show that the average person makes 12 gold crowns a year compared to those who live in Vussia who make the equivalent of 6 gold crowns, which is barely enough to live on.¡±
¡°So what''s your point? You said it yourself, they have enough money to live. I say we need to be more like the kingdom of Vussia and raise tax even more. Then we will have more money to spend.¡±
¡°My point is that it''s just enough to live but that is no way to live life. The common folk in our country have double what the vussians have yearly, allowing them to save and spend more money on things they want, which helps business grow. Which means more taxes.
Your point on being like the nobles of Vussia I disagree with you wholeheartedly, because the nobles of Vussia keep raising the taxes that they say are for the benefit of the people they rule over, but for some odd reason the common folk are even worse off and never see a benefit from the increase.¡±
After that the nobles started shouting at each other, arguing over this and that. It turned into a mess.
¡°Man this is boring,¡± Ruth said as she yawned
Thud!
¡°Quiet!¡± shouted the king.
The nobles quit arguing and their attention was drawn to the King after he hit his chair¡¯s armrest with his fist.
¡°That''s enough for today, it is already noon. Let us resume the debate some other time,¡± said the king in a booming voice.
¡°We''re free!¡± shouted Rodger.
¡°No, you''re not. You boys are to go to the training grounds. The princesses are to head to your tutor for your etiquette class,¡± said the tutor, pouring cold water on their happiness.
With a moan, the boys and girls split up and went their separate ways.
When the boys reached the training grounds, instead of training with the sword, they were told to sit down and listen.
They ate the lunch that silias had provided. After finishing lunch, most of the afternoon, they were forced to listen to a lecture by Silias, on what it meant to be a noble and a knight.
¡°Swearing an oath is very sacred. Those who break it are shunned and treated with scorn. The smaller offenses will result in ademotion for an action or inaction that violates the oath. The more serious offenses are handled like the recent incident of nobles and knights who betrayed their oaths.
Well, that sums up the lesson. Don''t forget it. You can have the rest of the time until dinner to do as you like,¡± said Silias.
After leaving the training grounds, they were able to meet with the princesses again, who had just been let out of their etiquette class.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
¡°Let¡¯s go to the gardens,¡± said Ruth.
They took off running towards the gardens on Ruth¡¯s orders. As they ran she was deciding, what game they would play.
Marc, as usual, had stayed behind at the training grounds to practice even more.
While they were running through one of the Royal gardens, they met the king and queen, who were on a leisurely walk.
¡°Ah you girls are always out playing with the boys, you make mother worry what might happen,¡± said the queen jokingly.
¡°Okay,¡± replied Ruth, not paying any attention to her mother''s words as the group ran past them.
¡°Don''t get into trouble,¡± the queen shouted after the children.
The first game that Ruth had picked to play was tag. They played it for a short while until everyone was tired of running around, and decided to rest at the large oak tree they normally played other games, under its shade.
The sun had set. The pathway of the gardens was now lit by magic lanterns, which were casting a green glow.
¡°Let''s play hide and seek,¡± Ruth suggested only after a few minutes of rest.
After they all agreed, Ruth held out four sticks in her hand. Everyone picked one to see who drew the short stick. Whoever did would be the seeker.
It was Jezebel who drew the shortest stick.
¡°Make sure you count to 100,¡± shouted Ruth, as she ran away.
Akira and Rodger, both ran off in opposite directions, looking for a place to hide that they hadn''t used in their other games.
''Where am I supposed to hide?¡¯ Akira thought to himself while panicking when he heard Jezebel had almost counted to 100.
After his eyes landed on some large bushes surrounding a statue, he hurriedly crawled into one of the bushes to hide under them.
There was movement from the bush next to him, which startled him.
¡°What are you doing here? This is my hiding spot,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Ready or not here I come,¡± shouted Jezebel.
¡°Can''t move now,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s your fault if we both get caught,¡± said Rodger.
After a few minutes of waiting, Jezebel walked by, searching for them. She came close to the bushes but continued walking past.
Both Akira and Rodger let out sighs.
In the distance, Akira could hear multiple people talking. They were coming this way.
¡°Rodger, someone''s coming,¡± said Akira in a hushed voice.
¡°What? I can''t hear anyone,¡° said Rodger in a voice loud enough to give away their position.
¡°Shh, there, getting closer,¡± Akira hushed Rodger.
He could hear three different voices in the distance, but couldn''t tell who they belonged to.
Akira listened intently, trying to figure out who it was. The voices moved a little closer and then stopped.
The group was not on the garden path, so they were shrouded in darkness, but for a moment the moonlight was able to escape the prison of the clouds and shine down on them.
It was the king, Silias, and Brutus who were talking.
Akira focused his attention on listening again. He could only get bits and pieces of the conversation.
¡°How is...¡±
¡°No problem. Just have to...¡±
¡°Everything is normal during...¡±
¡°Good ¡ I... goodnight.¡±
One of the three left the other two, that person was most likely the king. Brutus and Silias started walking towards the statue while still taking.
¡°Ah! I hear someone now,¡± said Rodger.
Again Akira shushed him.
¡°So, how have they been doing in the last month of training?¡± asked Brutus.
¡°They all show great promise. Although it''s a shame I was unable to detect any hint of a [Skill] in any of them. Granted it''s a one in 50,000 chance for someone to be born with a [Skill] or so the Magic guild says.
Still, that doesn''t mean they have no talent. Marc is a true prodigy, his handling of the sword is superb along with his footwork. He has trained very hard and even more so after learning the art of dual wielding. He puts in the most work out of the three and it shows. He would make any father proud.
Rodger, he uses brute force for most of his attacks. Although he has the fire and passion for swordplay, he is still young and with youth there are problems. He tends to go into a frenzy and ignores all other things around him. If he can fix that, and continue on his current training. Then he will be a great two-handed swordsman.
Lastly, Akira has trained diligently in the use of a shield and sword. He will make a fine frontline knight if he continues to train properly,¡± said Silias.
¡°Didn''t Jezebel say the boys were supposed to still be out here playing? If you will excuse me, I have other businesses to take care of. So I''ll leave it to you to sort them out and get them back to their rooms,¡± said Brutus, as the two of them passed by the bushes hiding Akira and Rodger.
¡°Jeez, why does he have to tell father that, and make such a big deal about that,¡± huffed Rodger after they were gone, ¡°it was only that one time.¡±
It was more than once. It was, in fact, a bad habit of Rodger¡¯s. Whenever he had to do something or he seriously dueled Marc and Akira, he always focused on the task single-mindedly and ignoring everything else.
¡°Now''s not the time to be complaining. Let''s get back to our room before we get in trouble,¡± hissed Akira.
They quietly crawled out of the bushes and hurriedly took off their shoes to run silently barefoot back to their room.
When they returned to their room they took off their dirty clothes and threw them into the basket in the corner of the room.
They hurriedly wiped themselves down with a washcloth that a servant had placed next to a basin of water, which had gone cold. They then changed into their bedclothes.
After eating the dinner that was left for them, two large sandwiches made out of a miniature loaf of bread, with melted cheese and ham stuffed inside. They hopped into their own beds and blew out the burning candles.
It wasn¡¯t a second too soon as the door opened just then. Silias looked at both their beds, checking to see if they were in their room. Seeing that they were, he quietly closed the door.
¡°That was close,¡± whispered Rodger.
Akira didn''t reply and just let out adeep breath he had been holding.
Minutes later, they heard repeated quiet knocks coming from the door.
Akira got out of bed and opened the door to find the two princesses standing in the hallway, both in their sleeping gowns.
¡°What are you guys doing here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I heard from father that you will be leaving tomorrow, so I decided that we will have a sleepover tonight,¡± said Ruth.
Jezebel, who was standing next to her, nodded her head in agreement.
¡°I don''t mind but we only have the two beds,¡± said Rodger, who was sitting up in his bed.
¡°That''s okay. I can share yours and Jezebel can share Akira''s bed,¡± replied Ruth.
¡°If you guys are okay with that, that''s fine,¡± Akira agreed.
They talked late into the night, falling asleep early the next morning.
The maids and servants, who upon noticing the missing princesses, were tearing the castle apart, trying to find them, while the princesses slept peacefully in the boy¡¯s room.
Chapter: 5 Army training
Akira was riding a horse along with Rodger and Marc by his side. They were following behind Brutus, who was leading them to their destination. Their tutor trailed behind them.
They had left the capital city and had started traveling since early morning. Rodger and Akira were tired and slouched in their saddles as they had little sleep the night before.
They were headed to the yearly fall joint knight and army training. The training was always held at this time of the year after all the harvest was brought in. It was also the time of the year that most if any, wars or skirmishes happened.
This year, Akira and Rodger were allowed to take part in the training.
It was an exciting and happy event for both Akira and Rodger, but even the energetic Rodger along with Akira was too tired to talk much. So they spent the rest of the day in silence as they traveled.
The next day, while traveling along the road, just after they had finished eating lunch, they met up with a mismatched group of hunters, knights, shopkeepers, and many other people of multiple professions all heading to where the fall training was to be held this year.
Brutus immediately took control of the group and sorted everyone out into an orderly marching formation. Brutus and the three boys were in the front, the common soldiers in the middle, and the knights that had been mixed with the group were placed in the back as the rear guard.
Two days later, they finally reached the designated training ground. There was already a large tent city set up, as tens of thousands of people had already arrived before them.
¡°Alright, you lot go and find a spot to set up your tents, I have businesses to attend to elsewhere. Until we next meet,¡± Brutus said briskly to the soldiers and knights that had followed him, before leaving the group behind.
The three boys and their tutor followed Brutus.
¡°Take the boys to my tent. It should be set up in the usual area, make sure they don''t get into any trouble while I''m at the headquarters,¡± Brutus ordered the tutor, before riding off towards a large tent in the middle of the tent city.
Following the tutor, they went down a road that was created between the orderly tents that were set up like they would normally be on a war campaign.
As they passed by the tents, they could see all sorts of people moving about. Some looked as if they were on important missions, while others looked bored.
There were many campfires lit. People were sitting around them, cooking all sorts of mouthwatering food while drinking and loudly singing.
They walked past a roped-off open area were a medium-sized crowd had gathered to watch multiple fights happening inside.
Knights were dueling each other with wooden swords, two muscular men without their shirts were wrestling each other, while another pair of men who were less muscular than the others but able to move quicker were throwing punches at each other with odd-looking leather-padded mittens.
Akira and the others were quickly ushered away from it by their tutor. A short time later, they reached a large tent that was a different color than the hundreds of tents they had passed to get here.
They all dismounted and tied their horses to the post next to a water trough.
¡°Did you see those guys fighting? Amazing! This place is so cool,¡± said Rodger, hopping with excitement.
¡°It''s nothing much,¡± said Marc, who had seen it many times before.
¡°Hurry up and bring your stuff inside the tent. Then we will start your lessons for today,¡± ordered the tutor.
¡°What? Why can''t we go and watch the fights and check the rest of the campout?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°You heard your father. I am to keep you out of trouble. Those places are exactly what he meant. Nothing but trouble awaits you there. Just a bunch of no good gamblers betting and wasting money on fights. You''re not planning on becoming a gambler who can''t handle his own money, wasting it as soon as you get a little change in your pocket are you?¡± asked the tutor who was staring at Rodger like a hawk at a rodent who was trying to run away.
¡°N ..No... It''s just...¡± mumbled Rodger.
¡°Good, then we should hurry up and start today''s lesson,¡± said the tutor, whose face quickly changed into a bright smile.
They spent the rest of the day being tortured with Math.
Brutus did not come to the tent until early morning the next day. When he did, it was to wake them up.
¡°Get up, no time to be lazy. Training starts in thirty minutes. If you''re going to eat something, do it now then go to the training grounds. Silias will be waiting for you. You will be joining the people he is in charge of today,¡± said Brutus.
After cooking some eggs with melted cheese over a campfire, they walked down the makeshift road and out of the tent city onto a wide open plain where the common soldiers and all tiers of knights were waiting. Some were in cheap chainmail others were inexpensive full plate armor.
Mixed in were the citizens of the country, a large majority were hunters or farmers. A few overweight merchants and shopkeepers stuck out like sore thumbs.
While looking at the mass of people gathered, a voice called out to them.
¡°Boys, over here!¡± shouted the familiar voice of Silias.
Akira and the other two ran over to Silias, stopping in front of him.
¡°Well, now that you''re here, we can start today''s training,¡± said Silias.
The only people standing around silias was Akira, Rodger, and Marc, no one else.
¡°Aren''t there other people going to join us?¡± asked Akira, looking around to see if anyone else was late.
¡°No, it''s just you three. I was put in charge of taking care of you for today. Don''t worry, you will still be doing the same training as everyone else, just under my command. Today''s training will be marching, running, and charging at an enemy. The first day of training is always filled with the basics. Now follow me and let''s have fun!¡± shouted Silias, with a wicked smile appearing on his face.
A few minutes later, they had taken aposition in the back of the army along with other less fit people who were participating for the first time. At the front of the army, formation were the knights and other older veterans of previous wars.
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The formation was set up as to not have the unfit and inexperienced squadrons get in the way of the veterans.
The rest of the morning was spent walking back and forth to the army''s drum beats.
In the first hour, the marching was a mess, as it was just a mass of bodies walking but as time passed, the army took shape as people got into sync with the rhythm of the drum beats and stayed in formation. The drums would every once in a while speed up a little, forcing everyone to start running.
All through the morning, Akira saw many people fall over from exhaustion or stop moving and start throwing up their breakfast due to the extreme exercise.
After a quick lunch of hard and dry army rations, they were forced to stand back up on their sore feet and start the true training of the day.
The army was split in two and then marched to opposite sides of the training grounds and turned to face each other.
At the sound of the war horns, the drum beats began a very fast tempo, ordering them to charge at each other at full speed.
The front line of each side all held massive shields meant to protect themselves and those behind them while shoving or plow through the enemy.
The two sides clashed again and again with loud metallic clangs for many hours. No weapons were used as they were not trying to kill each other.
There were still many injuries from the training. Many people were knocked over and then trampled upon by the unstoppable tide of people either in front or behind them. Luckily, no one died.
Before the sun set, everyone was allowed to limp back to their tents and sleep until the next day¡¯s early start.
Over the next week Akira, Rodger and, Marc learned what was expected of them to become soldiers of the country through the harsh training.
They were drilled using the bow, which Akira and Rodger could barely use. When they were able to shoot the blunted arrows they almost always hit another person instead of the target.
This made the ones getting hit think they were doing it on purpose and gave them a few choice words for a long time until they noticed Silias, the commander of the elite guard, staring at them with a murderous gaze from behind the children, not saying a word.
Marc was the only one able to hit the target every time he let an arrow loose, he was a good shot and also a great swordsman.
¡®How enviable. I wish I could be as good as him,¡¯ thought Akira.
On another day, they were learning how to scout and read the signs on the road, along with navigating maps and looking at the surrounding landmarks.
They were also forced to take night lessons from their tutor. That night, they learned that most kingdoms did not allow any type of maps to be created for personal use. The only maps that were created were used by the army and even they were not that detailed.
This was a way to combat the enemy from knowing everything about the kingdom¡¯s landscape, which prevented them from having an easy time invading.
There was only one truly detailed map and that was inside the king''s castle where only he and his top officials could see it.
On the eighth day, the day the army was dueling with swords, the first death happened. Someone had gotten too heated in their duel and had hit his opponent in the head with too much force, instantly killing him. Even with the swords only being wooden, it was still enough for a fatal blow.
The guilty person was barred from training and punished with cleaning the latrines for the remainder of the scheduled training.
As they finished the first two weeks of training, the army packed up the tents along with all their gear and supplies. The army was then moved to a nearby dungeon that looked like a small cave.
Akira and Rodger were sitting inside the large tent that was set up for Brutus, who was actually for a change using it and getting his gear ready for leading the army into the dungeon.
¡°Wow, a dungeon! I can''t wait to go inside and see what it''s like!¡± exclaimed Rodger, full of excitement.
¡°I want to go too,¡± said Akira in a quieter voice.
Akira was also looking forward to going inside and seeing the monsters he had been hearing about all through training from the knights and soldiers who had cleared dungeons before.
¡°You and Akira are not going inside. You''re too young,¡± said Brutus causing Rodger¡¯s face to change from a smile to a pout.
¡°What? Why does Marc get to go and not us? That''s not fair,¡± whined Rodger.
Akira was also disappointed that he couldn''t accompany the army into the dungeon.
¡°This is the first year I¡¯m allowing him to go inside. You have to wait until you¡¯re older just like he did. This dungeon shouldn''t take us too long to clear. The scouts say it''s a fairly new one so it¡¯s perfect for training those without experience. If it was an older dungeon then I wouldn''t let him go, as they are far more dangerous,¡± explained Brutus.
¡°It''s not fair...¡± mumbled Rodger just barely loud enough to be heard.
¡°You will be staying here at camp with your tutor. So I better not hear you were goofing off while I''m gone. Otherwise, you won''t like it when I get back,¡± said Brutus sternly.
¡°Yes, sir!¡± said both Akira and Rodger.
¡°We will be back sooner than you think. It shouldn''t take us to long to clear it, then we can all head home,¡± said Brutus in a softer tone.
After lunch was over, the army had finished its preparations and entered the dungeon, leaving only the injured and noncombatants behind, including Akira and Rodger.
***
¡°Quit your sulking and pay attention, you two,¡± scolded the tutor. ¡°As I was saying, demigods differ from humans mainly because they have what they call mana, which allows them to use special powers and skills that can wipe out armies if they are strong enough.¡±
¡°We know this already,¡± said Rodger, rudely interrupting the tutor.
¡°It''s always good to review things. With the memory power between you and Akira, I would be surprised if you could remember what you ate for lunch the other day,¡± said the tutor, staring at Rodger.
¡°Ha! I can do anything I want. I just forget stuff that I don''t want to remember,¡± said Rodger haughtily.
¡°Bean Soup,¡± said Akira, who could remember what they had eaten the other day.
¡°Okay, so the next topic, since we''re near a dungeon, will be on the dungeons, monsters, and the ranking system the kingdom has given them,¡± the tutor raised his glasses and looked at his notes again.
¡°Dungeons first started to appear along with the first demigods showing up. It is unknown why but only when the demigods show up are new dungeons found.
The Beorin kingdom and other countries are forced to clear them or face the consequences of an overflow. Which is a mass wave of monsters that swarm out of the dungeons, and wreak havoc on the surrounding area.
Once a dungeon is cleared, it will start to collapse a short time later. It''s advisable to pick up anything of value, and quickly leave the dungeon before it collapses,¡± tutor took a drink of water before continuing.
¡°One of the knight¡¯s main jobs other than fighting during a war is to help local hunters with clearing dungeons when they are found.
Hunters are always out killing monsters near their villages and towns. They are often the first to discover the dungeons. You will find different monsters everywhere if you ever decide to travel later in life.
The kingdom¡¯s official rank of the monsters from the weakest to strongest are: [Rank: F]. Followed by [Rank: E, D, C, B, A] and the strongest even demigods have trouble with are [Rank: S, and SS].
The dungeons follow the same ranking system based on what monsters are inside.
The dungeon that is currently being cleared with the army led by Brutus is [Rank: F],¡± said the tutor.
The rest of the day was spent learning interesting facts about certain monsters that inhabited the country.
It had been three days since the army had entered the dungeon when they came out.
Akira and Rodger both ran to the entrance of the camp, to watch the returning soldiers.
They were all dirty with mixtures of blood caked on their armor and weapons (whether it was theirs or the monsters), mixed with dirt. They all looked extremely tired. At the end of the column of soldiers was a large number of makeshift stretchers held by tired soldiers carrying the wounded who could not walk.
A wagon behind them was being pulled by horses which contained the bodies and body parts of those who were unlucky and had died.
With the end of the training, a party was held for everyone that night with lots of drinking, fights, gambling, and great food. The party lasted late into the night.
Akira and Rodger spent most of the night asking Marc to describe everything that happened inside the dungeon.
Marc only gave vague answers before heading to sleep.
The next day, the whole camp was woken up around noon and began their departure after saying their goodbyes to new and old friends.
Chapter 6: Message
Year 690.
For the last three years, Brutus had taken the three boys on an annual trip to the capital where they would stay as guests in the royal castle for a month or two. There, they were trained by Silias, while learning in the classroom alongside the princesses, and playing with them during their free time.
They continued to go to the army''s annual fall training each year, but they still had yet to participate in clearing any dungeon.
It was now the fourth year that they were traveling to the capital. This year was a little different because Marc was not with them.
He had joined the king''s army as a low-ranking knight the year before. In a little under a year, he was promoted to an officer in charge of leading a small company of soldiers as part of the king''s elite guard, by recommendation of the king himself.
Brutus had been very proud when he heard the news. Marc was the heir and next in line to take over the fort city when Brutus retired or died.
His achievements in the military would help him later in his political life as a provincial noble.
Rodger was always getting nagged at by his father and the captain who trained everyone at the fort for being lazy and not working as hard as Marc. They didn''t say much to Akira as it didn''t really matter what he did.
The previous day of the trip was torture for Akira. It was due to the yearly [Growth] everyone went through. The day before your birthday, you would experience extreme tiredness where your muscles would be extremely sore, making it hard to even move for the day, but the next day you would wake up refreshed and feeling even stronger than the year before.
Akira hated his birthday because he had to go through the pain and tiredness, and to make matters worse he was riding on a horse, which made everything hurt even more.
He was just glad it was over now as he was getting back in the saddle of his horse. Rodger galloped over to him and shouted out to Akira with a smile.
¡°You''re finally the same age as me,¡± said Rodger, who had turned ten a few months before Akira.
¡°Don''t remind me. I want to forget about yesterday,¡± groaned Akira as they both began to trail after Brutus, who was already on the move talking with their tutor over future lessons.
¡°You¡¯re such a wuss. It''s over now, so you should feel good today. Anyway, father said we''re almost at the capital, so we have to be on our best behavior,¡± chided Rodger.
They reached the capital city before the sun had fully risen to its noonday position.
While riding through the city it seemed that everything was in an uproar. There was more activity happening around them than they had seen in their last visits, with people shouting and others running to and fro.
Rodger and Akira followed Brutus as he led them to a nearby guards¡¯ barracks.
¡°Wait here, I''ll be back shortly,¡± ordered Brutus as he got off his horse and walked inside the building.
He came back with a troubled face, jumping onto his horse and turned to Akira and Rodger.
¡°The demigods have come back. It seems they have been urging the king to start another war with the Demon race. We are going to the castle immediately,¡± commanded Brutus.
When they reached the castle and were permitted to enter, Brutus spoke to them before leaving to meet with the nobles and the king, ¡°Don''t go getting into trouble, this isn''t the time to be playing around. You are to go to the classroom for your lesson today.¡±
After leaving their horses in the stable, Akira and Rodger slowly walked to the now familiar classroom.
When they arrived, the two princesses were already inside, busy with their own lesson.
Both Akira and Rodger greeted the princesses with the Beorin kingdom¡¯s noble greeting they had learned the year before, which was a slight bow with their right hand over their heart, then sat down in their regular chairs.
¡°Something big is going to happen. You heard it too, right? It might be a war! Do you think we''ll be allowed to join?¡± asked Rodger a short time later.
¡°We might, we have been training with the army,¡± said Akira.
¡°You two, stop talking and concentrate on the lesson,¡± scolded the tutor.
When their classes finished, both princesses joined them under the large tree where they continued their conversation regarding the appearance of the demigods.
¡°I''m sure father will let us join and fight!¡± said Rodger with conviction.
¡°So cool! I wish I could go too. I would show them how to fight for real,¡± said Ruth, as she jumped up and started punching the air.
¡°You won¡¯t get hurt, will you?¡± Jezebel asked Akira.
¡°I don''t think we would be fighting on the front line, and I''m not even sure if I want to fight in such a big war,¡± said Akira.
¡°Didn''t I tell you earlier to stop being a wuss? If father lets us join then I can tease Marc with how we got to fight at a younger age. Maybe father and the captain will stop nagging me. You have it easy because they don''t bother you,¡± said Rodger.
¡°They wouldn''t nag you so much if you would just go to practice and train normally,¡± replied Akira.
¡°Training''s no fun,¡± said Rodger in a huff.
¡°Yeah, I like doing anything else other than the etiquette classes that mother forces us to go to,¡± said Ruth.
A few moments later, they were interrupted by a castle servant who came and informed them that they were to go and meet with Brutus in the strategy room.
¡°See what did I tell you? We¡¯re going to fight,¡± said Rodger, with a thumbs up and a smile towards Ruth.
Rodger turned and ran off with Akira following behind him. When they reached the strategy room, Rodger burst into the room with Akira entering behind him more quietly.
Brutus was with a handful of other people looking at a map on the round table in the middle of the room. It showed six kingdoms with many red pins placed over certain villages and cities in the kingdom of Beorin.
Brutus looked up from the desk, ¡°Where are your manners? How many time have I told you to enter a room after knocking?¡± asked Brutus, glaring at the two.
¡°Are we going to fight, father?¡± asked Rodger, through gasps while trying to regain his breath from running.
¡°Put that foolish nonsense out of your head. You¡¯re too young to be on the frontlines and fight. War is not fun and games. Real enemies will be on the battlefield, and they will try to kill you without a second thought, many people will die. So no, you will not be fighting. Instead, you and Akira will be my squire, and if need be you will help with delivering messages,¡± Brutus scolded Rodger.
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¡°Aww, but...¡± said the dissatisfied Rodger, before his father walked over to him and started grinding his fist on top of his head.
¡°Stop complaining. The reason why I called you here was to tell you that and also for you to go to Silias and have him pick out some armor and weapons from the armory. So you''re not naked so close to the battlefield. Now hurry and get that finished, we will be leaving tomorrow with the vanguard of the army,¡± ordered Brutus.
¡°Okay!¡± shouted Rodger, who seemed to get a second wind at the mention of receiving a real weapon and armor.
When they reached the training grounds, they found Silias lazily smoking a long pipe while resting in a rocking chair under the shade of a tree.
¡°Oh, it''s you little squirts. Is it that time of year again? You''ve come for more training have you?¡± asked Silias.
¡°No, father told us to come to you, to get armor and weapons ready for tomorrow. We are going to be squires,¡± said Rodger, proudly puffing out his chest.
¡°Uh huh, did he now? I won''t just hand over weapons and armor to you if you can''t handle it properly,¡± said Silias.
¡°Don''t worry, I¡¯ll make sure he takes care of them,¡± said Akira, the more responsible of the two.
They were led to the armory, which was inside the elite guards¡¯ barracks in the castle. Silias rummaged around, picking up pieces of armor, looking at Rodger and Akira, then back at the armor, and then throwing it back into the pile until he had two full sets of medium armor.
¡°These should fit you,¡± said Silias, as he handed them both a set of chain mail sewed onto the leather armor.
They both pulled the chain-mail over their heads. It weighed a lot, but Akira was still able to move around freely with it on. Rodger was a little slower.
¡°They fit you well enough. Keep it on for the rest of the day to get used to it. Now onto the weapons,¡± said Silias as he walked over to the shelves with hundreds of weapons.
He picked out a two-handed longsword and handed it over to Rodger.
¡°Swing it at the target over there,¡± said Silias, pointing at a target in the corner of the room.
After watching, he took the sword away and had Rodger try other two-handed swords before he gave a satisfied grunt.
He then started to rummage around, looking for something and found a medium-sized shield and a one-handed sword and had Akira try them out. It took Akira fewer tries to find the right sword and shield.
¡°Let''s go to the training yard, I''ll help you get comfortable with your new armor and weapons. If you haven''t been slacking off on your training, you both shouldn''t have any problem adjusting to them,¡± said Silias.
They spent the rest of the afternoon doing exercises fully equipped with the new armor and sparring with Silias.
Akira and Rodger were tired after the hard day¡¯s training. They had a light dinner and went to bed as soon as they could, too tired to be excited for the next day.
***
A few weeks had passed. The army''s campaign assisted by demigods had been able to successfully kill or push out the demon race from their villages that had been far away from the ever-expanding kingdom.
Akira and Rodger had not been able to see any of the battles. They could only hear the roar of battle from the far-off distance.
They were stuck sitting in Brutus¡¯ large tent, being watched over by their tutor. They were sometimes forced to do exercises and swing their swords while wearing armor, to keep them busy and out of trouble.
In all the time they had spent with the army, they had only met one demigod. He was immediately noticeable as different from everyone else not by his looks, which were on the average side, but by an odd aura that emitted from his body.
Akira wasn''t too impressed by the demigod after seeing him. He was too cocky and treated others poorly.
Rodger thought differently and was amazed and in awe of him.
After being pestered with questions, Brutus had told the curious Rodger that there were around ten or eleven who were constantly fighting alongside the army, with others joining for a few battles and then going off to do other things.
Rodger and Akira were currently training with their swords when the horns of the soldiers guarding the camp blew the signal, notifying everyone in the camp that the army was returning soon.
The two boys waited ten minutes for the captain to reach the tent.
They were able to quickly and quietly help him out of his grimy armor. Rodger brought him some food and drinks.
Meanwhile, Akira started cleaning the armor and sword wiping off the blood, flesh, and dirt that had coated the armor and sword.
Brutus ate the food quickly and washed it down with the ale handed to him by Rodger.
¡°I''ll be in the command tent if you need me,¡± said Brutus, before leaving in a hurry.
¡°This is no fun. I want to fight,¡± complained Rodger, only after Brutus had left.
¡°Stop complaining and go feed and water your father''s horse,¡± ordered the tutor.
After Akira finished cleaning the sword and armor, he used a whetstone to sharpen the sword. He polished the armor and then oiled both before putting the sword into its scabbard and placing the polished armor on a T shaped post to keep it from getting dirty.
When both Rodger and Akira were finished, they were allowed to rest.
Not more then five minutes had passed when a servant had come into the tent ordering Akira to go to the command tent.
He walked through the familiar neatly ordered tents until he got to the heart of the camp where a large gray tent was erected.
The entrance to the tent was closed and was being guarded by two stern-looking knights in full plate armor. They were familiar with Akira as he was often called to the tent to deliver messages for Brutus.
Akira waited until the guards announced his presence to the officers inside the tent.
¡°Let him in,¡± barked the unusually agitated voice of Brutus.
Akira walked through the closed flaps and into the dark tent. The only source of light was a magical green fire dancing in a glass orb that hung from the ceiling of the tent.
Akira glanced at all the officers around the table in the middle of the tent and saw that their faces all had a grim look.
He felt a presence in the tent and noticed a demigod standing in a corner of the tent, who looked like he was trying not to fidget. His eyes were darting around as if searching for an enemy that was lurking in unseen shadows.
¡°Are you sure it''s okay to send the message with this boy?¡± asked the demigod.
¡°Yes, he has delivered multiple messages for us already. With the content of this message, the receiver might not believe it if it was delivered to them by someone they do not know,¡± replied Brutus.
¡°If you say so,¡± said the demigod as he licked his lips nervously.
¡°Akira, get over here,¡± commanded Brutus. ¡°You are to take this message as fast as you can to Marc. He is a few days behind us with his unit of soldiers. Tell him that he is to stop any tasks he was given and follow the new orders written in this scroll, no matter what. You are to accompany him through the mission until it is completed and you both return. This is urgent, a horse and supplies should be ready for you. Oh, another thing. Don''t let Rodger know that you''re leaving or he''ll start complaining again.¡±
Akira was handed a rolled-up piece of paper that was sealed by wax and imprinted with Brutus''s noble house seal. He saluted the commanders in the tent and then gave a short bow as he backed out of the tent.
He ran quickly to the messenger outpost in the back of the army''s mass of tents. After showing the message to the soldier on duty and informing him of the urgency, he was given a horse and a few days¡¯ worth of rations.
Akira left the camp and only stopped when nature called and to feed and water his horse. He slept on his horse instead of stopping and losing time he could spend moving.
The two days passed quickly, passing through the areas he had already passed while he had traveled with the army. When he reached the top of the hill, he saw a small group of tents clustered a distance away from where the main army had been only days before.
He sounded his horn that was given to him to alert allied troops that he was a messenger as he drew closer to the camp. He was only a hundred yards away when two horsemen rode out to meet him.
¡°Akira, what are you doing here?¡± asked Marc, one of the horsemen who had come out to meet him.
¡°Commander Brutus ordered me to deliver this to you as fast as I could. You''re to stop whatever your previous orders were and follow the new set of orders. I''m supposed to accompany you back to the army after the new order is finished,¡± replied Akira, handing over the scroll containing the orders.
Marc tore the wax seal after making sure it was the real thing.
¡°It must be urgent if father sent you all the way here,¡± said Marc.
He read the orders and as he finished reading, his face had grown grim. He turned to his second-in-command next to him.
¡°Order the troops to get ready to move in twenty minutes. We have to hurry,¡± commanded Marc.
¡°Why the rush?¡± asked the second-in-command officer.
¡°Someone found out that the king has left the capital and is traveling toward the main army. The enemy got the leaked info and have set an ambush on one of the routes. We have to warn the king. We are to join the elite guard that is already with him and safely escort him through a different route to the main army,¡± replied Marc.
Chapter 7: Ambush?
Akira rode on his horse next to Marc at the front of 300 soldiers. They had been marching for two days, as fast as they could as they headed towards the route the king was supposed to be taking.
Akira''s gaze kept staring at Marc''s two swords. Red gems glinted in the sunlight, on each sword. The gems reminded him of the time he had visited the magic guild shop and saw similar [Magic gems].
Judging by the size, the cost must have been extremely expensive.
Akira finally built up enough courage and decided to ask Marc about the swords, ¡°I can''t help but notice the swords you have, Marc. Where did you get them?¡±
¡°Father had them commissioned when I was promoted. The gems have a buff [Double critical strike],¡± said Marc proudly with a smile on his face.
¡°Wow, it must have cost a lot,¡± said Akira, in awe of the swords.
Just then the second-in-command Aaron galloped up next to Marc, interrupting their conversation.
¡°We should be reaching the king''s group soon. Should we send out a messenger to inform the king of our arrival?¡± asked Aaron.
Marc thought for a moment and then looked over at Akira.
¡°Akira, go ahead of us and inform the king that we are on our way to escort him. If he needs more information, tell him I will give him all the details when I get there,¡± Marc ordered Akira.
Akira spurred his horse to its top speed, heading ahead of Marc. After an hour had passed, he was able to see a small trail of dust from the king''s small escort.
He picked up his horn and blew out a signal, letting them know of his presence and that he was an ally.
As the king drew near, he was able to see that the escort numbered 60 or 70 of the king''s elite guards. They stopped a small distance away from where Akira was waiting.
A knight in full plate armor separated from the group and stopped in front of Akira.
¡°What are you doing here, Akira?¡± a familiar voice called out to him from under the helmet.
¡°I have come to give you a message,¡± said Akira calmly.
¡°What message? How did you find the king? Only a few know we have left the capital and the route we''re taking,¡± asked Silias, the commander of the elite guard.
¡°I am here to let you know in a few hours officer Marc of the king''s elite guard, along with the soldiers under his command, will soon meet up with you to escort the king safely to the main army,¡± Akira replied.
¡°Marc? Why is he coming to us? He''ll just bring attention to the king if he moves around with a large group.¡±
¡°He is acting on urgent orders from the commanders of the main army. I was told to tell you, that he would explain everything to you when he meets up with you in a short while.¡±
Another hour and a half of riding passed until they met up with Marc''s group.
Both groups halted to allow both the horses and soldiers some rest.
¡°Marc, the king wishes to speak with you,¡± said Silias, before escorting him to the king.
Akira was allowed to follow them into a makeshift tent that had been hurriedly erected for the king.
¡°Marc, can you please explain why you were sent to escort us?¡± asked the king.
After saluting the king, Marc silently handed over the orders he had received just days before.
After he read the orders, the king with shaking hands handed it to Silias.
¡°Are you sure this is true?¡± asked Silias after he finished reading.
¡°Akira delivered it to me directly from my father at the headquarters of the main army. It says that the information was given to them by a demigod. I know no reason for them to lie about this. It was decided that it is better to be cautious and escort your majesty to the main army safely than risk assuming that the information is false. We should deviate from the previously planned route and escort you using a different route that has the lowest chance of being ambushed,¡± replied Marc.
¡°Well, this is troubling. It is good that Command acted swiftly. It''s also reassuring that the young star of the Elite guard is with us. Who knows, one day you might take my spot as commander when I retire,¡± laughed Silias as he slapped Marc on the back a few times.
¡°I am honored that you think so highly of me, Commander,¡± said Marc with a short bow.
¡°Go tend to your men. I will call you back when the king and I have worked out a new route. Then we will move out. It will be your duty to keep any enemy as far away from his majesty as possible,¡± said Silias.
Akira and Marc exited the tent and walked back to the 300 men, where they rested for more than a half hour before being called back.
¡°Akira, stay here as this involves our strategy and only Marc can hear it,¡± said Silias.
A short time later, Marc came back and started giving out orders to his men.
¡°Everyone will divide into four groups of 75. Each group will be placed around the king. One to protect the front, left, right, and the last protecting the rear. Aaron the second-in-command will take charge of the vanguard, while I command the rear guard, get to your positions.¡±
After sorting out the formation around the king''s 70 guards, a now larger and more alert escort moved out.
The original route they were going to take would have led them through a wide and short but densely packed hunting trail not used by many travelers. The new route that was decided on was to take a detour left and go around the woods.
A few days passed and they were already halfway to their destination while traveling on the outskirts of the forest. Luckily there had been no signs of enemies showing up.
They had set up camp for the night far enough away from the forest, to make sure they would not be surprised by an enemy suddenly appearing.
Akira was on sentry duty along with a handful of others. He was drowsily staring at the woods and rubbing his eyes, trying to stay awake.
His left arm was tired from the heavy shield he had been holding for most of the night.
It was a peaceful night, stars shining, the moon was bright.
Until multiple arrows flew out from the forest and struck the soldier next to Akira in the neck and chest, killing him instantly.
¡°Ambush!!¡± shouted another soldier on watch somewhere to the right of Akira.
Akira was jarred awake from his drowsiness and from the death of the soldier in front of his eyes. He crouched down and hid behind his shield before he began to blow on his horn as loud as he could, warning the group of the enemy attack. All thought of sleep was cleared from his head as he ran to find cover.
Another wave of arrows rained down upon them. Cries of pain could be heard as a dozen more soldiers were wounded.
With a shout, the enemy charged forward from the forest screaming their war cries.
¡°Everyone, form up! We are to protect the king!¡± shouted Marc.
It took less than a minute for the seasoned veterans to get into a protective semicircle formation around the king and his own elite bodyguards.
With Marc''s quick commands, they were able to stop the enemy''s advance towards the king and keep them at bay.
Akira was hiding behind a large rock, watching in shock at the first battle he had ever seen. It was horrifying.
The sight of men having their body parts chopped off, their heads bashed in, bodies being stabbed or sliced open, spilling the owners¡¯ intestines out onto the ground.
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The smell of battle was even worse when the wind brought the smell of blood and human waste over to Akira''s hiding spot.
From what Akira could see, Marc was fighting in the center of the battle along with his troops. They were able to hold off the enemy while suffering fewer losses than them.
The enemy was, in fact, being slowly pushed back, largely thanks to Marc''s fighting prowess.
The battle was swift and brutal. The enemy''s forces were already halved from what they had started with.
A loud voice boomed over the din of battle.
¡°You guys are useless! Why can''t you take care of a few guards? So what if there''s a few more then we planned for. Making me have to join the fight... how annoying,¡± Someone stepped out of the Forest and started running towards the fight.
Akira could tell he was a male from the voice but the face was covered by a black half-face mask that only showed his mouth. He was lightly armored and was carrying a one-hand sword.
Akira was stunned not by his odd choice of equipment but the aura that he could feel emitting from him across the battlefield. Others noticed it, some cheered, others groaned.
A demigod had joined the fight!
The enemy soldiers opened up a path to let the demigod reach the front line of the fight.
¡°Akira, inform the commander there''s a change of plans. He needs to escape with the king. We will try to hold the enemy off,¡± shouted Marc before charging forward and intercepting the demigod who was killing soldiers left and right with swift movements of his sword.
It took a few seconds for the words to register in Akira''s brain before he ran off to the center where Silias and the king were stationed.
¡°Marc, says you need to escape with his majesty right away, the enemy has a demigod with them! He will try and hold them off long enough for you to escape. The main army should be only a day or two ahead of you,¡± Akira blurted out while gasping for air.
¡°May the creator be with him,¡± said Silias solemnly, ¡°Everyone, form up. Let''s not waste any time, we''re leaving immediately.¡±
The king''s guards quickly surrounded the king and when given the order a few seconds later, they escaped the fight.
Akira ran back to his hiding spot to watch the rest of the battle.
There were cries of alarm from the enemy when they saw the king and his guards escaping on horses.
The demigod who was fighting Marc tried to disengage and chase after the king, but he was being blocked by Marc''s attacks, allowing the king to get farther and farther away.
The demigod was getting frustrated at being blocked and let out a roar of anger before shouting, ¡°Get out of my way.¡±
¡°Your battle is with me,¡± Marc shouted back and again blocked the demigod¡¯s attempt to chase after the king.
¡°I''ve had enough of you! Fine if you want to die so badly, I''ll deal with you first, then I''ll kill your king,¡± roared the angry demigod.
He immediately launched a flurry of attacks at Marc. The attacks were either reflected or dodged by Marc, who was able to counterattack.
One of Marc''s swords landed a hit, causing a gash on the demigod¡¯s left arm. The gems on Marc''s sword shone, indicating it had been a critical strike and allowing the [Double critical strike] buff to take effect, dealing double the damage.
This only enraged the demigod even more, and he started to swing his sword even faster. Marc was able to evade most of the attacks while giving the demigod more minor wounds. But instead of weakening, the demigod seemed to be getting stronger and wilder the more wounds he received.
Marc was being pushed back due to the increased flurry of attacks. The attacks were coming in so fast it was all he could do to block them and was unable to counterattack.
Other soldiers tried to jump in and help him but they were either wounded or killed by the demigod before they could offer much help. Marc was being pushed back towards the large rock Akira was hiding behind.
Marc''s breathing was getting ragged and he was receiving a large number of small wounds. He decided to gather his strength for one last desperate attack.
When the next attack came, he blocked it and shot forward, putting all his strength behind his thrust and stabbed at the demigod.
The sword pierced the demigods light armor piercing his stomach. The sword pushed all the way to the hilt.
The demigod stopped his attacks and fell to one knee while a discomforted grunt escaped his lips. Akira and all the allied soldiers who had been watching the battle all gave a sigh of relief.
Marc changed his stance and tried to pull his sword out of the demigod¡¯s body.
Like a snapping turtle, the demigod''s hand shot out and grabbed onto Marc''s hand, not allowing him to escape, his grip tightened when Marc tried to pull away.
¡°Here let''s be twins,¡± said the demigod. Before Marc could do anything, the demigod¡¯s sword stabbed into and went all the way through his stomach and out his back. Marc gave off a pained expression and slumped forward.
The demigod pushed Marc off of him and slowly and shakily stood up. He pulled the sword out of his stomach, blood gushing everywhere and threw it onto the ground.
His shaky hands reached into a bag on his back and pulled out a potion which he splashed over his wound, it stopped the bleeding and slowly began the process of healing.
Now there were groans from the allied soldiers and cheers from the few enemy soldiers that had managed to stay alive.
Akira was in shock as he stared at Marc who he and Rodger idolized because he was the smartest and strongest of the three.
He was still alive but was having a hard time breathing only ten feet away from his hiding place. Blood was dripping from his mouth every time he gasped for breath.
¡°HA, HA, HA. Is that the best you got! You guys are nothing,¡± said the demigod as he coughed and spat out a large amount of blood from his mouth. He was leaning on his sword, breathing hard while looking at the remaining soldiers.
¡°I''ll make sure you all die. As soon as I catch my breath,¡± said the demigod. ¡°I guess I should take my reward for defeating you.¡±
The demigod reached over to take the sword from Marc''s hand but was unable to pry it from his grasp. The demigod cursed him and kicked Marc''s side, causing Marc to let out a groan.
¡°You''re dead already so just give it to me, die already,¡± shouted the angry demigod, trying to wrestle the sword out of Marc''s grip with kicks and punches.
Something broke inside Akira, waking him up from his daze. Akira was now burning with hatred of the demigod and decided that he would kill him even if it meant he would also have to die to save Marc or at the very least get revenge for Marc.
The demigod¡¯s back was towards Akira and was bent over while still trying to take Marc''s treasured swords.
Akira waited for a second to gather his courage and then he leaped out of his hiding spot and swung his sword at the taller man¡¯s unprotected legs, slicing through the leg muscle.
The demigod gave a surprised shout of pain and he fell onto his face as his legs could no longer support his body.
Before the demigod could prop himself up with his hands, Akira jumped onto his back, pushing him back onto the ground with his feet. With tears in his eyes, Akira repeatedly stabbed at the demigod¡¯s back piercing him over a dozen times.
The demigod stopped breathing. A bright light appeared, covering his body, which slowly disappeared along with his body like dust in the wind.
¡°I''ll remember you, boy! You think you can kill me and get away with it?. I''ll be back for I am a demigod. Next time I''ll have the whole Osma kingdom¡¯s army with me!¡± boomed the demigod¡¯s voice, which was full of pain and anger.
The voice echoed for a few seconds and slowly faded away. There was a cheer from the rest of the allied soldiers who gained a second wind and were able to kill all but ten of the enemy soldiers, who threw down their weapons and surrendered.
Akira ran over to Marc to see what he could do to help him or even if he was alive.
When he reached Marc, a field medic had just finished applying a potion to his wounds. Marc was barely breathing and was very pale due to large blood loss from the many minor cuts and massive wound in his stomach.
¡°We did it, Marc. Thanks to you we were able to win this battle,¡± said Akira with tears and snot falling from his face.
¡°Eww... get away from me... with your snot. It wasn''t me ...that killed him... it was you. I ¡ got careless and let my guard down,¡± said Marc as he gave a pained expression and gasped in between words and began to cough up blood.
¡°Enough. Stop talking, you need to save your strength for the ride to the main army, where we can get you fully fixed up,¡± Commanded Aaron.
It took only ten minutes to bandage everyone and place Marc on a makeshift straw bed in one of the wagons the king''s escort had left behind. They cleared more room and hoisted the other heavily wounded onto the wagon. The prisoners were chained together and placed onto another special caged wagon made for prisoners.
¡°Form up and let¡¯s move out,¡± shouted Aaron.
It took them three long days due to the wounded before they finally saw the large sea of tents belonging to the main army. All through the travel, Akira had ridden next to the wagon Marc was on to keep him company.
They did not sleep for fear of another enemy attack, causing them to be expressionless and extremely tired from being constantly alert, reacting to the slightest sound.
When they got closer to the camp, Akira was ordered to sound the warhorn to let the camp know it was allied troops that were returning. After a few failures, he was able to do it successfully.
He could see many people gathering at the entrance to see who was returning.
The convoy stopped before entering the camp.
Nine expressionless elite guards, including Akira, walked to the side of the wagon with the wounded soldiers. Two of the wounded soldiers inside the wagon helped picked up Marc, and placed him onto the raised shields of the other Nine.
Akira was in the front, and because shorter than the other eight, he held his shield above his head, supporting Marc''s feet while the other eight elite guards placed their shields flat on their shoulder, interlocked with the other shields to support the rest of Marc''s body and head.
¡°Forward march,¡± shouted Aaron who was also one of the nine people supporting Marc with his shield on the right side.
The Nine men moved forward, marching slowly through the gates and then down the main road between the tents leading to the commanding tent.
There was now a large crowd gathered around them, staring as they passed by.
When they finally reached the command tent, they all knelt down, still supporting Marc on their shields. The faces of the guards in charge of guarding the tent paled.
¡°Commander Brutus, your son...¡± said one of the guards.
¡°Ah! Marc''s back!¡± shouted Brutus''s happy voice from inside the tent. He came out holding a cup of wine and a smile on his face.
Then he saw Marc on top of the shields. The smile only lasted for a second.
¡°NOOO!!!¡± he shouted and threw his glass at the ground in anger, where it shattered spilling its contents all over the ground.
He stormed back into the command tent where Akira could hear things being thrown, tables and chairs being overturned.
The voice of the king could be head ¡°Someone restrain him. Have you gone mad, Brutus? Silias go find out what the problem is.¡±
Silias exited the tent and after seeing the body of Marc, all he said was ¡°Oh.¡±
Chapter 8: Retaliation
Akira and Aaron the second in command were kneeling on the ground in front of the king and the commanding officers. They had both just finished giving their detailed reports to the group.
There were low mummers as the officers talked amongst themselves.
Akira raised his hand to ask a question.
¡°What is it?¡° asked the king.
¡°The demigod said he would be back but how can that be when he was killed?¡± asked the puzzled Akira.
¡°The reason why demigods are feared is not because of their fast-paced growth, which allows them to get as strong or stronger than those who have trained for many years in a fraction of the time. The true reason they are feared is that after 24 hours of being killed, they are revived back in the cities they first appeared in. No one knows if they can change the place they revive. Those are the main reasons why they are known as demigods,¡± answered Silias commander of the Elite guard.
¡°You¡¯re sure you heard him say he was allied with the Osma kingdom, and that an army was on its way here?¡± asked the king.
¡°I give my word that what we have told you is the truth. You can ask any of the other soldiers who were present. We all heard it,¡± said Aaron.
¡°This is troubling. To think that the demigods would try and set up such a trap. Are we sure the ones following us are loyal?¡± asked the king.
¡°I know most of them from fighting in battles with them over the last few weeks. They do not harbor any ill will towards us,¡± replied one of the commanders.
¡°I demand justice,¡± shouted Brutus.
¡°Quiet, you fool. When all is said and done, you will have proper recompense,¡± said the king.
¡°Your majesty, I suggest you hold a meeting with the demigods currently here at camp and see where their loyalty lies,¡± Silias proposed.
¡°So be it,¡± said the king.
It only took a short time to gather the allied demigods of the army. They were all standing outside the tent which had the flap open so they could have a conversation with the people inside.
¡°We have called you here because some demigods have conspired to kill the king. We would like to know where your loyalty is. If you know any information about the plot then it would be beneficial to hear about it,¡± said Silias.
¡°I am the clan leader and speak for everyone gathered here,¡± said a demigod, walking forward a little ways from the rest of the group.
¡°Speak then,¡± said the king.
¡°Everyone here has no desire to harm you or your country. We are a party that fights together and have decided to help you and your people. But there was is a new member in our clan. I believe he is the one who gave away your information used for the assassination. It recently came to our attention that he was allied to the other kingdom. So as a sign of loyalty we took care of him for you,¡± said the demigod leader, as he put his hand over his heart and bowed to the king.
¡°The demigods that oppose us will be bringing an army from the kingdom of Osma. What will you do when they show up?¡± asked the king.
¡°We will fight alongside you. If there is any other task you need, we can do it. If need be we can come up with a plan to help you win the coming battle,¡± replied the demigod.
¡°Any help we can get will be welcome,¡± said the king.
¡°Then I will get back to you when we have figured out something,¡± said the demigod.
¡°You''re dismissed for now but be warned that you''re under watch, so don''t cause any problems,¡± said the king.
After the demigods left, the commanders started talking strategy for several hours.
¡°We all need a break so let''s call it a day. Brutus take care of your son''s remains before the Osma army gets here,¡± ordered the king.
¡°Thank you, sir, for allowing me the time to grieve,¡± replied Brutus.
The night was fast approaching them. Akira accompanied Brutus back to the tent they were staying in and where the body of Marc had been sent to rest until his funeral.
Brutus stared at his eldest son¡¯s dead body, not speaking.
¡°Marc died only hours away from reaching the camp. He instructed me in his last words to tell you not to be mad. He wished you would understand that he had a duty to protect the king and he fulfilled it. His last request was for you would keep the swords and not sell them,¡± said Akira, breaking the silence.
¡°Get a pyre made for his body. Make sure it''s downwind and outside the camp,¡± ordered Brutus in a rough voice.
Rodger was standing next to his father, also looking at his brother, stunned and not saying a word.
Akira and several other servants were tasked with hauling the wood to a suitable open area away from the camp where they built the Pyre.
After it was completely built, Akira smashed a few jars of oil over the wood to make it burn more easily.
He returned to Brutus and reported that it was ready. On Brutus''s command, the servants picked up Marc''s body and began carrying it on a stretcher.
Drums began to beat as Brutus and Rodger walked in front, leading the body of Marc out of the camp and to the pyre.
Akira followed behind them while a large group of soldiers was drawn to the drum beats, following them and wondering what was happening.
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The crowd of people stopped at the pyre where Brutus lifted his son¡¯s body out of the stretcher and placed it on top of the oiled wood.
His body was calm and face was expressionless but tears were falling down his face. He cursed at the people staring at him.
It was the first time either Rodger or Akira had seen him cry. It only lasted for a few seconds.
Rodger gave a few farewell words and then stepped back.
Brutus took hold of a torch that had been brought to him and used it to light the wood in multiple places. The wood caught on fire quickly and started to burn fiercely, soon covering Marc''s body with flames.
The Pyre lit up the dark night and gave off a massive amount of heat.
¡°Why did you come back alive and not Marc?¡± Brutus asked Akira, who was next to him.
Before Akira could answer, he was interrupted, ¡°All of you leave us, so I may grieve my son alone. That includes you too, Akira.¡± said Brutus.
Rodger and Brutus did not return to the tent until late in the night when the fire had finally died and there were only ashes left.
***
A day later, the army''s scouts confirmed that the army of the Osma Kingdom was on its way towards their position, leaving no doubt that they intended to do battle with them.
¡°Have the demigods offered up any sort of plan to help win the battle?¡± asked the king.
¡°Yes... but I''m unsure if it will work as planned. They want to be allowed to leave the camp the night before the enemy attacks, so they can take care of the Osma kingdom¡¯s commanders,¡± replied Silias.
¡°What if that is just a trick, and they intend to join up with the enemy? What would we do then? It would be extremely difficult to win the coming battle, maybe even impossible,¡± said a short man who was in command of the scouts.
¡°What other plans do we have? Our men are worn out from constant fighting over the last few weeks. They are resting now but the enemy''s army is fresh and most likely have more men then we do,¡± retorted another commander.
The debate continued for over an hour before the king slammed his fist on the table, silencing them.
¡°I have listened to both sides of your arguments and have decided we will take the risky gamble and trust that they will do as they say. If they are successful then we will have an easier time battling the Osma kingdom if the commanders are dead. That is my final verdict,¡± commanded the king.
¡°Very well, sir. I will send someone to inform them that they are to go ahead as planned,¡± replied Silias.
He quickly wrote down the orders on a piece of paper, sealed it with wax and stamped it with the king''s crest. He then left the tent for a moment and came back after handing the orders to a messenger.
¡°The enemy''s army should reach us in one to two days. Have the engineers strengthen the camp¡¯s defenses and then let the soldiers rest until the enemy shows up,¡± ordered the king.
The camp was in a frenzy as they prepared for Osma''s army. They would be marching out to meet them. If they needed to, they would fall back to the camp¡¯s fortifications.
The following day, after noon had passed, they could see in the distance of the open field that the enemy army had arrived and was setting up their own campsite.
When night fell, the demigods quietly slipped out of the camp as per the orders of the king and quietly went to the enemy''s camp.
The king and his commanders waited impatiently in the command tent. They quietly talked to each other, making final strategies for the battle to come in the morning.
As the hours passed, they nervously waited, wondering what the outcome would be. A few hours past midnight, a messenger ran to the tent with to inform them that the demigods had returned.
A few minutes later, the demigod''s clan leader appeared with three bloody bags in his hands.
¡°What have you brought us?¡± asked the king.
Without a word, the bags were thrown onto the table. Silias opened them, each contained a head, one of the heads was from an older man while the other two were younger males.
A few curses came out of the shocked commanders¡¯ mouths. They all knew who the heads belonged to.
¡°The plan was even more successful than we planned. Who knew the king of Osma and his sons would be staying with their army. Now you are all but assured to be victorious in the morning''s battle,¡± said the demigod with a bow.
¡°You help will not go unnoticed,¡± replied the King with a sour expression on his face.
¡°My thanks,¡± said the demigod before he left the tent.
¡°To kill a king and his sons and act like it was nothing. These demigods are not people to take lightly,¡± said Silias.
¡°I intend not to anger them and have them as allies as long as they are useful,¡± said the king.
***
During the night, a rumor had spread in the enemy''s camp that the king and his sons had died.
In the early morning, the army of Osma was woken early and placed into formation for battle. When they were ready, the army moved forward when the sun had just started to rise, lighting up the grassy plains that would become the battlefield.
The enemy''s army was waiting for them just outside of their own camp.
As they came closer, they noticed that the army was not even a tenth of what it was only half a day ago. The camp looked empty, leaving many to guess that the soldiers had deserted after hearing of the king and his sons¡¯ death.
They were still cautious for a trap and kept a wary eye out just in case the enemy had something fishy planed.
When the two armies met, the battle was over in less than an hour. The demigods took care of the remaining demigods still helping the enemy army. It was a total victory for the troops of Beorin.
Scouts were sent to the enemy camp to check if there was anything suspicious, or anyone hiding inside. They came back and reported that the camp was empty.
The troops of Beorin had won the battle with hardly any loss on their side.
They looted all the items worth any value in the camp and went back to their own camp.
After hearing of the success, the king ordered the army to break camp and march to the capital city of Osma.
They reached the capital city after a week of traveling. Word had already reached the city of their king''s death along with his two sons.
They fully accepted the king and pledged fealty. Thus the kingdom of Osma ceased to exist, as it merged with the kingdom of Beorin.
With this, the third great war that was started again by the demigods meddling was over.
The Demon race was pushed out of the kingdom. The majority that had escaped were forced to travel deep into the south country where no humans lived due to the crappy environment.
The ones that managed to evade the army, not wanting to leave the country went and hid in the mountains, creating new cities. Some made villages deep in the Forest while others made dungeons underground to live in.
The king awarded Brutus with the job of commanding all the forts and castle along the new border with the mountains and the Freeopia kingdom of free cities.
The demigods stayed longer than the two previous times in history. They spent most of their time growing stronger by hunting monsters and on the rare occasion the demon race.
While a small number went out and explored the world, traveling to other countries, even fewer acted as merchants, traveling from one kingdom to another to trade items.
But just like before they all started to disappear after three months had passed. Before leaving they bestowed powerful and rare artifacts to each of the four kingdoms that had survived the third great war.
They were told there were most likely more items like them to be discovered in the dungeons that appeared.
After the last of the demigods left, the four kingdoms held a meeting, sending delegates to work out a nonaggression pact. The contents stated that even if the demigods came back and tried to start trouble they would not bend to their will and would refuse them.
All four delegates agreed and signed it.
Chapter 9: You cant always get what you want
Year 696.
With the non-aggression pact between the four kingdoms who managed to survive the third great war in place, each kingdom was able to solidify their power.
The last war had left many with a bitter taste in their mouths. After the demigods disappeared, there were many groups of dissatisfied people voicing their dissent.
It was due to the demigods¡¯ habit of always meddling in people''s business, and starting trouble. Namely the three great wars that saw the rise and the fall of many kingdoms.
The demigods always demanded rewards for doing simple tasks, expecting large amounts of money from poor farmers. When the reward was not to their liking, they cursed and some even got violent and looted the houses of the people they were supposed to be helping.
There had been a few who had gone on rampages, killing many people for no reason.
That didn''t mean they were all bad apples. It was just that the bad apples outshone the demigods who did good deeds, creating a bad reputation for themselves among the common folk.
There were those who said they should look at the silver lining of the wars. There were no demon race villages near the four kingdoms and the monster population had decreased.
Brutus''s hatred burned even as the years passed wishing for vengeance on the demigod who had killed Marc. He had become very bitter after Marc''s death and was less talkative, brief, and some might even go as far to say rude when speaking to others.
He had become even more protective of Rodger, who was now the only heir left to Brutus. This made him even stricter with Rodger, forcing him to train even harder to make sure he wouldn''t end up dying like his brother.
This caused Rodger to hate the demigods even more. Due to being forced to train for long hours, he had less and less free time to do what he wanted.
However, if there was a benefit, it was that Brutus had bought him the best armor and broadsword without caring about the cost. The sword and armor were always checked by the local blacksmith and kept in good shape.
Akira already had a gut feeling telling him that the demigods were not good people, his dislike of them only grew from watching the demigod kill Marc and from the words said during the fight.
He trained just as hard alongside Rodger. Akira had made a personal vow to get stronger so that when he needed to, he could protect those he called friends along with any future family he might have.
Akira also had little to no free time as he had to do odd jobs around the fort when not training. Any free time he had was spent hunting or prospecting items in the forest to sell in the nearby town.
Unlike Rodger, he had to buy all of his equipment with his own money.
He hoarded every copper coin he could get his hands on. It all added up if you kept saving, even if it was only a few small coins at a time.
The constant training and rare free time meant that Akira and Rodger were rarely ever allowed to go to the capital. It was partly also due to the fact that they had moved to the far borders of the kingdom.
It had been six years since Akira and Rodger had been to the capital. Thus it had been a while since they had seen their childhood friends, the princesses. Rodger had been lucky two years ago when he was invited to a party in the capital and allowed to go.
But that all changed when Brutus received a rare letter from the king, ordering him to come to the capital for an important announcement.
It had taken them nearly two weeks to travel to the capital city.
Such a fast speed was thanks to the king creating a new system of large roads that connected all the new cities that had been merged within the new borders of the kingdom, along with being able to get fresh horses along the way.
The new roads also had the side effect of boosting the growth of traveling merchants as they were able to travel much easier and faster. This helped the kingdom grow and prosper, the king did not meddle too much or create outrageous laws. There was only a small tax on the sales merchants made and charges at the gates to sell items in the city.
When they arrived at the castle, a large party was happening.
¡°Don''t get into trouble,¡± warned Brutus before he left both Akira and Rodger to search for the king.
¡°Well, where should we go?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°I''m not that interested in talking with the nobles at the party. We might be able to see the princesses if we check out the classroom. It has been a while since I last saw them,¡± said Akira after searching the crowd and finding no trace of the two girls.
Akira and Rodger leisurely walked to the classroom they had spent many months learning during their past visits many years ago.
Akira knocked on the open door before entering the room with Rodger. The two girls inside looked up from the books they were reading when they saw who it was interrupting their lesson.
¡°Did you miss us?¡± asked Rodger with a large smile.
¡°Rodger! Akira! It''s good to see you. Yeah, it has been a long time since we last saw each other,¡± shouted Ruth.
¡°Hey...Akira. It''s been a while,¡± said Jezebel, her face reddening.
¡°Uh yeah, nice to see you too,¡± said Akira, a bit flustered, looking away and scratching behind his ear.
While looking at the two princesses, Akira thought to himself that both Ruth and Jezebel had grown frighteningly beautiful.
¡°*Sigh*...I guess classes are finished for today,¡± said the female tutor standing at the front of the room.
¡°Thank you,¡± said both the girls, who stood up and bowed to her.
Leaving the classroom, the four childhood friends wandered through the gardens. They still looked the same as they were when Akira had last visited.
They settled down under the shade of the large tree they had used as a meeting point when they were children.
¡°What¡¯s up with the party?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It has been going for over a week now in celebration of the big news that father is supposed to be delivering today,¡± said Ruth.
¡°Yeah,¡± said Jezebel, whose face turned into a frown at the mention of the news.
¡°You guys really cut it close, getting here so late,¡± said Ruth.
¡°We can''t help it since we live so far away now,¡± said Rodger.
They talked for several hours about life on the border, and the new trends and fashion in the capital.
A few hours after they had eaten lunch, Akira noticed that the King was approaching them at a brisk pace with a few elite guards trailing behind him. As he drew closer, the others noticed the king.
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¡°Father, over here!¡± shouted Ruth.
When the king stopped in front of them, his face was tinged a bright angry red. It made him look like a tomato when you added in his red hair and beard.
His face kept twitching as he tried to keep his smile in place.
¡°Rodger, your father is looking for the two of you,¡± said the king briskly.
¡°Umm...ah... thank you, your majesty, for personally delivering the message. We will go to father at once. It was nice meeting you again, your majesty,¡± said Rodger as he and Akira both stood and bowed to the king.
¡°Yes, if you say so.¡± said the disinterested king.
¡°It was nice to catch up with you guys. I guess we will see you later hopefully,¡± said Akira.
As both Rodger and Akira started to leave, the king put his hand up, signaling two of the guards, who blocked Akira from leaving.
¡°You can go ahead, Rodger. I have something to say to Akira,¡± said the king.
Rodger gave Akira a worried look, but Akira shook his head, signaling for him not to cause any problems and just go. Rodger sighed and after one last glance at the king, he walked past the guards.
When Rodger could not be seen anymore, the king grabbed Akira''s shoulder and yanked him closer so that the king¡¯s face was next to his. His face had lost all pretense of trying to smile and was scowling at Akira.
¡°I will not allow your kind to be seen with my daughters anymore. Do you understand me?¡± shouted the king angrily, his breath smelling of alcohol.
¡°But father, we''ve known each other since we were children,¡± protested Ruth.
¡°You be quiet, girl!¡± shouted the king while pointing a finger at Ruth.
Turing back to Akira he started to talk again, ¡°It was fine while you were children. Now it is different. Rodger is a noble so it is somewhat bearable. But you are neither a noble, rich nor are you someone famous. I will not allow you near them again and have rumors spring up, causing me problems. There are plans already in place and I will not have you ruin them.¡±
¡°But father, I told you I don''t want to,¡± shouted Jezebel.
¡°Will you two shut up? You are both adults now. It''s time you act like it. We can¡¯t have everything the way we want it. Such is life,¡± shouted the king, who was in such a rage that spit was flying from his mouth.
¡°Now leave us, and remember this friendly warning. No need to tell anyone else about it,¡± warned the king, as he loosened his vice-like grip on Akira''s shoulder and shoved him towards the garden¡¯s exit.
Akira walked in a daze toward the guest room Rodger and Akira were sharing while in the capital.
Brutus was waiting along with Rodger in front of the room. He seemed to be in no better mood than the king had been.
¡°Get your stuff, we''re leaving the capital,¡± He coldly said to Akira.
¡°But why, father? It''s been less than half a day since we arrived,¡± whined Rodger.
¡°You don''t need to know why. Just be at the gates in ten minutes,¡± said Brutus before he left the room.
Akira and Rodger were able to pack quickly as they had only brought a few items and clothes for the trip to the capital.
They walked to the castle¡¯s stables and found that their horses had already been saddled and were waiting for them. They tied their bags onto the saddles and joined Brutus at the gates to begin their long journey back to the border castle.
***
A month after they had returned, two letters came from the capital, one addressed to Rodger and the other to Brutus.
It was an invitation to the wedding of Jezebel, who was to be wedded to the firstborn son of the kingdom of Vussia in the far northeast.
The letter caused Brutus to rage for days.
¡°What''s wrong, father? Are we going to the wedding?¡± asked Rodger when Brutus had calmed down. He didn''t know why he was so mad.
¡°His Majesty broke the promise he made to me after the last war. You were to marry Jezebel. Neither you nor I will go to that sham of a wedding and be mocked. Something has come up for the good of the kingdom. Bah!¡± shouted Brutus as he got fired up again.
The time for the wedding came and Brutus sent an excuse in the form of a letter, saying he was sorry that he and his son could not make it as they were too busy with the border.
***
Akira, who didn''t know of the events happening in the capital, was leisurely walking through a small thicket of trees in the hilly woods an hour or so ride from the fort.
The woods had a small rocky river that animals normally came to drink from. It was the area he did most of his clumsy hunting with a bow.
Whenever he caught something, he was able to take it back to the border castle where he would be paid for the meat and hide. It was a good way to earn extra silver if he got something large. That was if'' he did, more often than not he went back with nothing to show for the time spent hunting.
He was stalking a herd of deer that was currently resting and drinking from the shallow river.
He was getting ready to use his bow as he slowly crept closer to get in range. But before he could, there was a loud shout of surprise.
The commotion startled the deer. They dashed off in the opposite direction of Akira. He cursed his ill luck.
Looking to where the shouts had come from, he noticed someone had fallen down the hill on the opposite side of the river from him. He could see that it was a girl near his age.
Akira began to walk over to the girl who was sitting in the river while holding her leg. As he got closer and could see her more clearly, it dawned on him that this person was different from anyone he could remember seeing before. Mostly because of her wet sky-blue hair and the odd type of clothing she was wearing.
She noticed Akira, who was noisily getting closer to her. She looked frightened and tried to stand and run away, but her injured leg wouldn''t allow her to stand, causing her to collapse again with a splash.
¡°Uh... hey you don''t have to worry. I don''t plan to harm you,¡± said Akira slowly.
At his words, the girl stopped trying to stand and stared at him.
¡±It looks like you''re injured. I have a potion that can heal your leg,¡± said Akira as he held out a small red [Minor health potion].
Akira had started to carry one of them wherever he went after watching the battle of Marc and the demigod.
He didn''t want to be without a potion when he needed one. The only problem was the expiration date set by the magic guild. The cost piled up when he had to replace them whenever it expired.
Drinking expired potions could poison you. Luckily he had learned that detail from their tutor in one of their classes a few years ago, otherwise, he might have tried to save some money and just keep the expired portion and drink it when he needed one.
He moved close enough to the girl so that he could gently toss it to her without breaking it.
¡°Here, catch it,¡± said Akira as he tossed the potion to the girl.
She fumbled with it, nearly dropping it into the river. With shaky hands, she managed to open the small bottle and drank all of the potion in one gulp. She gagged from the bad taste of the potion.
¡°Yeah, I don''t like the taste either. Although I heard that a [Major health potion] that cost 10 gold each has a nice flavor,¡± said Akira, trying to make small talk.
The girl''s face looked more at ease and her hands stopped shaking as the potion took effect. The visible cuts and wounds on her body began to stop bleeding as they healed.
A short time later, she was able to stand up and walked out of the water onto the opposite side of the river from him.
¡°What is your name?¡± she asked in a voice that sounded sleepy.
¡°A...Akira,¡± he stuttered.
¡°I will remember your name,¡± she said while rubbing one of her eyes, trying to stay awake.
When she finished talking, a cold fog settled around them, blocking Akira''s vision.
¡°What is this?¡± asked the startled Akira.
He tried to blindly stumble out of the river to escape the fog. He didn''t have to worry for long as the fog disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
He turned around to search for the girl but she was nowhere to be found.
¡°Hey, what''s your name?¡± he shouted but he received no answer.
While still in the river, he turned around and nearly tripped on a large slippery rock, almost falling all the way into the river.
While he was flailing around trying to catch his balance, he noticed a large gleaming rock in the river.
Curious, he walked over to it and tried to pick it up. It was extremely heavy. He exerted more power and it slowly was released from the suction of the muddy riverbed. He dragged it out of the water and tossed it onto the ground.
He was able to inspect it closer now that it was on land. It was a large chunk of iron ore.
¡°Ja...Jackpot!¡± shouted Akira, jumping up and down and pumped his fist in victory!
With this amount of ore, he could finally have his own sword made!
He was currently using the blunt training swords until he could afford his own. The problem was the cost of iron wasn''t cheap and you had to also add the cost of making the sword.
He opened the leather bag he normally used to carry things he picked up when in the woods and put the iron ore inside.
It barely fit, carrying it out of the woods took him a while until he reached his horse, which was tied to a tree.
The horse was none too pleased with the extra weight.
When Akira returned to the castle, he immediately went to the blacksmith and handed him the iron ore while paying the cost for a sword.
He could now have his own sword!
Chapter 10: Caravan
Year 700.
Little to no news came from other kingdoms, but even then, what did come was available only to nobles, and it was troubling news.
There was a massive riot in the kingdom of Vussia due to the questionable death of the old king. His son who inherited the crown had quickly ordered the city guards to gather up the rioters and executed them all.
Thus Jezebel became the queen of the Vussia kingdom at the young age of twenty.
There were rumors that the new king was a weak-willed man who was completely controlled and ordered around by Jezebel.
After the coronation, there were mass purges of nobles and common people, for the weakest of reasons.
***
Akira was currently staying at the small city of Swinford. He had been sent ahead of the caravan in order to purchase everything needed for the border castle¡¯s monthly needs and to make sure everything was ready by the time the caravan reached the city so it could load the supplies and leave the same day.
Akira was able to purchase everything on the first day and used the money he had been given to rent a warehouse to store the supplies for the time being until the caravan arrived.
Akira wandered around the town until he came upon a forge connected to a blacksmith shop. The heat was pouring out of the building.
The forge had an open wall so he could see everything happening inside. Akira watched the metal get heated and then hammered into shape. The blacksmith repeated this process over and over again.
Akira had always been interested in blacksmithing. He had no time to learn it due to his hectic life of training and earning money with odd jobs when not on duty at the castle, so it was rare to even get a day off for a short vacation.
When the burly blacksmith finished working on a sword and placed the hammer on a shelf, Akira spoke to draw the attention of the blacksmith.
¡°Hello, would you by chance need any help?¡±
¡°Do you have any experience working with metal?¡± asked the blacksmith.
¡°Um...well, no. I don''t have any experience, but I have been really interested in it for a long time,¡± replied Akira.
¡°Hahaha, you want to help but you don''t know how to. Your help isn''t needed, you would be too much of a burden. I ain''t no teacher and have no time to time to fix the mistakes of others. Go take your hobby obsession somewhere else,¡± said the blacksmith with a cold smile, while laughing at Akira.
Akira couldn''t deny it was a hobby to him. Now that he was a common knight stationed at the border castle, he had even less time for hobbies.
This trip to the city was like a vacation to him. His short time off would end tomorrow as the escort and caravan were due to show up.
***
Akira was napping under a tree in the quiet woods not far from the city. It was where he had spent most of his time while staying in the village. The shade, along with the slight wind, was a perfect spot to be lazy.
He was woken up by his horse that was tied to a nearby tree, whinnying.
Akira yawned and stretching as he stood up.
He looked at the sky to see the sun was already setting. He had slept longer then he had planned to. It was just too peaceful a place, that he hadn''t woken up earlier.
The city gates would soon close if he didn''t hurry. He jumped up onto his horse and began moving quickly so he wouldn''t be forced to camp outside for the night.
Akira was unaware that he was being watched from afar by two figures silently hiding in the trees. The silent figures leaped from branch to branch, trailing after him with inhuman speed and nimbleness.
They nearly caught up to him but were forced to stop when they reached the edge of the woods.
They watched silently as Akira moved farther away, heading in the direction of the nearby village.
¡°Is that the guy?¡± asked one of the silent figures.
"Most likely. There aren''t that many people who fit the description we were given," replied the second.
¡°Well, we were too late in finding him today. Trying to catch him without being noticed will be near impossible now. I guess we''ll just have to wait for another chance,¡± said the first.
When Akira got closer to the city, he saw that the gates were still open. Pulling back on the reins, he slowed his movement to a trot, and then came to a complete stop at the city gate, which was being guarded by two familiar people he had gotten to know over the past few days.
¡°Cutting it close, are we?¡± asked one of the guards.
¡°Well, I sorta fell asleep,¡± replied Akira.
¡°You can pass,¡± said the second guard, waving for Akira to hurry so they could close the gates.
Akira went to the inn he was staying at and ordered some food and a drink from the grumpy landlord.
He sat down at a table in one of the corners where he waited for his food and drink.
An old man entered the inn and looked around the room, searching for someone. When he saw Akira, his expression changed into a smile. He walked over to Akira and boldly sat down at the same table.
¡°Uh.. hello. Do I know you?¡± asked Akira, who had no clue who he was.
¡°Sorry for the intrusion, I thought now would be a good time to introduce myself. My name is Grand. I am the new scribe that commander Brutus has hired to help manage paperwork. I will be joining you and the caravan tomorrow for the trip to the border castle,¡± said Grand.
¡°Nice to meet you, my name is Akira,¡± he said, not sure what else to say.
Akira''s food was delivered and Grand ordered food from the landlord before he left the table.
The two did not talk and just ate quietly. Akira listened to the conversations of the other customers. Some rowdy people were talking loudly about unknown creatures roaming the borders.
¡°Is it true that there are those types of things at the border?¡± asked Grand.
¡°No, I haven''t gone out with any of the border patrol squads, but if some creatures with that description were out there, the castle would have already gathered a small army to subjugate them. The border patrol helps keep the monsters in the forest and mountains at a low population. It''s most likely just tall tales of a drunkard,¡± said Akira.
¡°For a second, I was worried that I was moving to a dangerous place,¡± said Grand with a laugh.
¡°Trust me, it is a really boring place. Nothing has happened in the nearly ten years I have lived there. It could use a bit of monsters to liven up the place,¡± said Akira with a smile.
They continued to eat their food while exchanging small talk. Akira parted ways with Grand after he finished eating and left for the room he rented to sleep.
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***
¡°Good morning, Grand,¡± said Akira as he sat down at the table Grand was sitting at.
¡°Good morning, young sir.¡±
¡°That''s a weird way to greet someone.¡±
¡°So when will the escort and wagons get here?¡± asked Grand.
¡°They should be here a few hours after the gates open. I know the person leading the escort for the caravan. He is normally on time, give or take a few hours,¡± replied Akira.
They both ate a quick breakfast and walked to the gates to wait for the arrival of the caravan.
When Akira and Grand reached the gate, there was already a small trickle of travelers entering and leaving the city. The streets were getting noisy as the traveling merchants set up shop on the side of the road.
Akira looked through the crowd, searching for any familiar faces and was unable to recognize anyone.
After two hours of waiting, the caravan could be seen in the distance, it was slowly moving along the road.
The escorts consisted of knights on horseback carrying lances and swords, while archers rode on the wagons to give support to the knights.
Thirty minutes passed until the caravan reached the gate.
¡°Halt, what is your businesses here?¡± asked one of the gate guards, blocking the caravan from entering.
¡°We¡¯re from the border castle and have come to receive and escort the supplies bought ahead of our arrival,¡± a familiar voice came from behind a knight¡¯s helmet.
¡°Ah, you must be the people he has been waiting for,¡± said the second guard while pointing at Akira.
The knight pulled off his helmet and grinned at Akira.
¡°Did we make you wait long?¡± asked Rodger.
Rodger had been promoted a few times in the short period of time he had been in the army, but he was not able to rise as fast as Marc had.
The king had still offered a spot in the elite guard which Rodger refused and instead decided to work for his father at the border castle.
¡°Late as usual, I see,¡± replied Akira with a smile of his own.
¡°Are you the newly hired scribe?¡± asked Rodger while looking at Grand.
¡°That I am. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Grand.¡±
Turning back to Akira, Rodger asked, ¡°Did you manage to get everything?¡±
¡°Yes, if you will follow me, we can start loading it onto the wagons and leave,¡± said Akira.
When they reached the warehouse, it took them a short time to load everything into the wagons with the escort knights all helping.
¡°Mount up,¡± shouted Rodger.
The knights had gotten back onto their horses. Grand joined the archers on the wagons. Akira moved his horse to stand next to Rodger.
¡±We leave for Marsen Castle. We will use the same formation as before. Let''s all return alive with the wagons and supplies intact,¡± ordered Rodger.
The caravan exited the city. When they were outside, they moved to get into a diamond formation around the wagons before they started the journey back to the border castle, where their warm beds awaited them.
Around the time noon arrived, the caravan stopped to have lunch, as well as to water and feed their horses. Akira was listening to the gossip and events that had happened in the capital during Rodger¡¯s last trip.
¡°When I was in the capital, I was able to see a new army the king was training. Once they are finished training, there will be two armies under the king''s control,¡± said Rodger.
¡°That must cost a lot to keep both of them fully funded,¡± replied Akira.
¡°It''s nothing, I was also able to see Ruth when I was there. She seems to have mellowed out and isn''t as bossy anymore. She was actually quite nice when I was talking to her. It was a bit weird. There were some rumors I heard from other nobles about Jezebel. They didn''t paint her in a good light, calling her a bloodthirsty tyrant queen, saying she is the one who''s the real person that is in control of the Vussia kingdom.¡±
¡°That sounds nothing like Jezebel, she was always so nice and shy. If I didn''t know any better, it would sound like their personalities had switched. It''s just probably rumors being spread around by unhappy people.¡±
Rodger and Akira continued talking until they finished lunch. The caravan began its march again. Akira rode next to the wagon Grand was sitting on, listening to old stories that the scribe knew.
Rodger was commanding the army from the middle of the rear diamond formation. During a break in Grand¡¯s story, Akira glanced back and saw a scout galloping up to Rodger to say a few words. Afterwards, Rodger started moving from wagon to wagon, speaking to each of the drivers before moving to the next one.
When he finally arrived at the wagon Akira was next to, he was able to hear what was said, ¡°We have uninvited guests following us. So there might be a fight. You need to be ready for it. For now, please pick up the pace.¡±
Everyone was now on alert, scanning the area as they continued to move, trying to find the hidden enemy.
Their pursuers did not show themselves for over an hour as they continued to travel. This lasted until the woods they were passing by had ended.
The enemy showed themselves and started shooting arrows after the caravan, clearly announcing their hostility.
The arrows rained down on the escorting soldiers. Most missed their mark or bounced off the knights¡¯ armor and shields, while the rest of the arrows had embedded themselves into the wagons. Only a few people were lightly wounded by the attack.
A horn was sounded from one of the enemy horsemen, who looked to be well equipped along with the others following him. At the sound of the horn, they began their charge after the caravan and its escorts with their weapons drawn.
¡°Wagons, keep moving forward, archers shoot them down!¡± shouted Rodger.
The enemy horsemen split into three groups when the arrows started to come after them. The horses they rode were a strong breed, allowing them to slowly catch up to the caravan.
When they finally caught up to them, the enemy horsemen kept clashing with the knights, attacking from three sides, the left, right, and on the rear.
They were like a pack of wolves biting at an escaping deer''s legs.
Again a battle horn sounded slightly further away from the fighting. Everyone''s attention was drawn to the sound, there was a horseman who was shouting something and pointing in the general direction near Akira.
Akira turned his head to look behind him and saw only the wagons full of supplies.
Then the enemy surprised them and disengaged from the fight, escaping back into the woods. The archers on top of the wagons sent arrows after them until they were out of their bow¡¯s range, and they managed to kill a few of the enemy soldiers and their horses.
Rodger did not order them to chase after the fleeing enemy. He feared they were trying to lure them into a trap. His mission was to protect and transport the wagons to the castle, not chase bandits.
The knights returned to their diamond formation and continued traveling at a quick pace. Rodger galloped over to Akira, joining him next to the wagon Grand was riding.
¡°Do you know who they were?¡± Akira asked.
¡°I have no clue but they seemed too well-equipped to be bandits. They wore no mark or emblem linking them to a noble or faction, so I can''t be sure. For some reason they seem interested in this wagon and its contents,¡± said Rodger, pointing at the wagon.
¡°That''s odd, there''s nothing of importance in it, just food and other common items.¡±
¡°Then I have no idea what they want but we will have to keep an eye out for them. That probably wasn''t the last time we¡¯ll have to deal with them.¡±
¡°Well, at least no one died in the fight. We should be able to handle them since only a few were wounded,¡± said Akira.
¡°That last attack wasn''t all too hard to repel. I''m sure if they really wanted to fight, they would have done more damage to us. It''s troublesome, but we will soon reach one of the outpost fort. We can rest there for the night. We won''t have to worry too much once we get there,¡± said Rodger.
They continued to travel to the outpost fort.
They were surprised again when the enemy appeared two hours later, and this time they had managed to get ahead of the caravan. The enemy horsemen started to charge at them from the front, causing the wagons to slow to a halt.
¡°Akira, I''ll leave you in command of a few soldiers to protect the wagons,¡± said Rodger quickly.
¡°I will see that they are protected,¡± said Akira.
Rodger took a horn from his saddle and blew out a tune.
¡°Knights, charge the enemy!¡± Rodger ordered with a shout.
Rodger led the knights in a charge to intercept the oncoming enemy horsemen. The two forces clashed with the sound of metal clanging against shield and armor.
The cries of pain from both men and horses alike could be heard from those who had been wounded.
Every time one of the enemy horsemen escaped the fight around Rodger, they continued charging towards the wagons that Akira was guarding.
But instead of trying to loot the supplies from the wagons, all of the attacks were focused on Akira and the soldiers around him.
With the help of the archers on the wagons and the soldiers, Akira was able to easily kill the enemies as they all came in small groups.
Rodger and the knights fighting against the main enemy raiding force were not having a difficult time fighting and were driving the enemy back.
The battle only lasted for another ten minutes until the last enemy that was unable to escape was killed.
There were many of the knights who were wounded but they used their own potions they had been carrying to heal themselves. Although the potions cured the wounds, it did not get rid of the fatigue they felt from the two fights.
Rodger ordered the knights to resume their positions around the caravan and they once again continued their march to the outpost fort.
¡°I knew it,¡± said Grand, who had fought next to Akira.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Ah, did I say that out loud? It''s nothing much, I was just thinking that my suspicions were correct,¡± replied Grand.
Chapter 11: Nighttime fun
The sun had already started setting when the caravan and escorting soldiers crossed a small river that was at the bottom of a large hill.
At the top of the hill sat the outpost fort. The torches held by the guards walking on the fort¡¯s walls shone like beacons in the night, guiding the caravan in the correct direction.
They quickly ascended the hill and when they reached the fort, they stopped in front of the gates.
The outpost was stationed with a small unit of guards to keep the fort in working order for use by the army or any noble that was traveling by.
The fort wasn''t made for military use. It was only built as a rest stop, so its stone walls were only six feet high and its entrance was a sturdy enough double wooden gate. This was enough to keep out unwanted guests or animals.
¡°Who goes there? Why is it that you''re showing up here so late?¡± shouted a guard from the top of the wall, while looking down at the people below.
¡°I am Rodger, the commanding officer of the escort for this caravan. We are heading to the Marsen Castle. Can we stay the night?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°I suppose. Open the gate!¡± shouted the soldier.
The gate was unlocked and slowly opened just wide enough to allow Akira and the rest of the caravan to enter the fort and seek refuge for the night.
There were only a few buildings inside the fort. They were built as part of the wall. The rest of the space was open ground available for use by visitors to put up tents.
After Rodger had sorted out where to place the tents for everyone, he left to talk to the commander of the outpost.
Akira sat down next to Grand, who was starting a fire to cook their dinner.
After the fire was started, Akira asked, ¡°Do you mind if I cook the rations?¡±
¡°Go right ahead, not much you can do with the stuff we were given,¡± said Grand.
Akira began to prepare the meal and a short time later, he had a tasty smelling soup bubbling in the iron pot that hung over the fire.
Rodger came back to the campfire after he had finished talking with the fort commander.
¡°Sorry, Akira, but later tonight you and a few others have to join the late night watch on the walls. It seems like the fort garrison wanted a night off, so they agreed to not bother us if we take over the late night shift,¡± said Rodger.
¡°It really doesn''t matter. I''m not that tired right now so I can handle it,¡± said Akira.
¡°If you would like, I can join you,¡± said Rodger.
¡°No, you''re the commanding officer now. You need your rest so you can make decisions clearly,¡± said Akira.
¡°Well, I hope you won''t deny this old man from keeping you company,¡± said Grand.
¡°Don''t you also need sleep, old timer?¡± joked Akira.
¡°I''m not that old to the extent that I need to sleep half the day away,¡± retorted Grand.
¡°Well, if you excuse me, I¡¯ll go and do as you suggested and get some rest. The night shift starts in a few hours. So get some rest while you can,¡± said Rodger before leaving.
¡°I guess, I too will get some rest. I''ll see you in a few hours,¡± said Grand.
Akira stayed seated and stared into the bright fire. He became lost in his thoughts about the day¡¯s wild events.
Time passed by quickly without Akira noticing it.
Akira looked up from the fire due to the fort being extremely quiet. Looking around, he noticed he was the only one awake among the tired soldiers. The only people awake were those patrolling the walls.
Akira stood up and began to stretch out his sore body in order to be ready for the night watch. He slowly walked up the stairs to the top of the fort¡¯s walls.
The sound of wolves'' howls could be heard in the distance. Loud snarls and yelps of pain could occasionally be heard in the distance.
Akira noticed Grand was already here looking off into the dark, where the sounds of the wolves¡¯ fight was coming from.
¡°How long have they been fighting out there?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Twenty to thirty minutes. The fight seems to be getting closer, the sounds have gotten fiercer and louder as they get closer,¡± said Grand, still staring intently into the darkness.
As soon as he finished talking, a loud howl could be heard. The sound of the wolves'' battle abruptly ended, causing a chill to run down Akira''s back.
¡°How unfortunate. It seems whatever they were fighting was able to cause them to retreat. It looks like we will be entertaining some unwanted guests tonight,¡± said Grand.
Another soldier on watch noticed movement in the distance. Akira watched as the soldier pulled out his bow and an arrow with a rag tied onto the front. He lit the rag with a nearby torch and with swift, practiced hands, nocked the burning arrow and pulled the string back and then sent the arrow flying.
The arrow lit up the surroundings outside the fort as it flew in an arc through the dark sky.
Akira was able to see a group of wolves that were running away from something as the light passed over them. In the brief glimpse, he was able to notice that the wolves were far larger than any normal wolf he had ever seen before.
As the arrow continued its flight, another large group of slow-moving bodies of different races, including some monsters of different shapes and sizes.
A few skeletons could be seen walking alongside them before the arrow passed and landed into the river, extinguishing the fire.
The guard who was stationed near the fort¡¯s alarm bell began to pull the rope to sound the alarm warning of the approaching enemy.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
¡°Enemy forces have appeared near the woods!¡± shouted the soldier while pulling bell¡¯s rope.
The people inside the fort were all groggily scrambling to put on their armor and weapons.
¡°Secure the gates. Man the walls,¡± shouted the commander of the fort, while buckling his sword belt as he walked up the steps to the top of the wall.
He joined Akira and Grand on the wall. Rodger was only a few seconds behind him.
¡°What the hell is going on?¡± asked the fort commander.
***
¡°Those damned mutts causing me problems. When I''m finished here, I''ll go hunt them down,¡± said a male voice that came from a hidden figure in a long flowing black robe.
¡°Our orders were not to go and play with them, master Bonestringer. We have to crush the target now before it''s too late,¡± said a young female voice from a figure who was dressed in a similar robe.
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¡°Still, why do I have to waste a large portion of my forces that I have been growing for over a few years? Those bastards, who do they think...¡± complained Bonestringer before being cut off.
¡°I wouldn''t talk badly about the heads, if I were you, Master. They have ways of knowing. It would be better to keep it to yourself,¡± said the young female.
A second flaming arrow flew over the front of the undead army, lighting up the undead in the front of the army for a few seconds.
Bonstringer and his Apprentice were controlling the undead army from the rear.
¡°You sure are rude, Tibia. Since when is it ok to back talk to your master? Anyway, if those damned mutts hadn''t interfered, we would have taken them by surprise,¡± complained Bonestringer.
¡°Well, there''s no use crying over spilled milk. They may know we are here but they won''t be able to do anything about it,¡± said Tibia, causing Bonestringer to laugh with glee.
¡°Right you are. There is no way they will beat us. When we finish, we¡¯ll be able to move up in rank, you might be able to become a low-rank officer,¡± said Bonestringer.
¡°Let''s get this over with. FORWARD, ATTACK THAT FORT LEAVE NONE ALIVE!¡± shouted Tibia, commanding the forces to start the attack.
***
¡°Quickly! I need two people to go and alert any nearby allies and warn the Marsen Castle of the attack. We will try to hold out until the reinforcements arrive,¡± said the fort commander, while looking at Rodger.
Rodger picked out two soldiers for the job. They normally worked as scouts so they were perfect for the job.
After receiving their orders, they quickly rode through the gates while urging their horses to go faster to escape the oncoming undead army.
¡°Everyone, to your assigned positions. Archer, send another fire arrow over the undead to get their position,¡± ordered the fort commander.
An arrow quickly flew into the distance and revealed the undead for a few seconds before landing into the river. In the brief moment, they were able to see the position of the enemy and see that they had started to move faster towards the fort.
¡°Light the campfires!¡± ordered the commander. Archers on each of the four walls lit an arrow and shot it towards fire pits in front of the fort. The wood immediately started to burn without releasing any smoke.
The area around the fort was lit up like it was the middle of the day.
¡°This is crazy, why are there so many undead here?¡± asked Rodger before leaving to go take command of the west wall.
Akira and Grand had been ordered to take command of the right wall after Rodger suggested the idea to the fort commander. The fort commander was controlling the fight from the front wall above the gates.
¡°Well, at least we''ll be able to see things clearly for a few hours,¡± said Akira, looking at the bright side of things.
When Akira reached the middle of the right side¡¯s fort wall, he gathered the attention of everyone around him.
¡°It seems that an undead army wants to fight us for some unknown reason. I know most of us already fought a few battles today. But we have to hold out until either we kill them all or reinforcements can reach us. Archers, you are to shoot them as soon as you can see a target. Everyone else, we are to keep them off the walls and out of the fort. Ready yourself men! The enemy is coming,¡± shouted Akira.
The soldiers and archers near him gave a shout, ¡°For the kingdom!¡±
Not long after Akira¡¯s speech, the enemy hurtled out of the darkness, charging towards the walls of the fort.
Arrows started flying through the air, hitting the undead. The arrows seemed ineffective, just wounding the undead and not slowing them down. Some arrows succeeded in critical hits to the heads of skeletons, causing them to instantly die.
From what Akira could see, the undead army was made up of a majority of skeletons and few monster zombies.
Some of the undead at the front of the charging mass was either pushed or fell into the fire pits in the front of the fort walls. They began burning fiercely.
¡°See if you can light them on fire with burning arrows,¡± Akira shouted to the archers.
The undead were nearly at the wall. With quick fingers, the archers were able to get off two volleys of burning arrows, hitting the dry undead causing them to light up like torches.
The burning undead still moved forward as if nothing happened, bumping into other undead and causing a chain reaction of fire, causing the fire to leap from one undead to another.
The fire was slowly draining away their vitality until the charred black bodies and bones of the undead that were on fire collapsed from being completely cooked well done.
It was only a small portion that had been lit on fire but it was effective.
Seconds later, the undead swarm reached the wall and started to bang on the wall with their fists, while others climbed on top of other undead to reach for the people on top of the short wall.
¡°Swordsman and spearmen, it''s our turn to hold them back. Do not let them get over the wall! Archers, thin out as many as you can with burning arrows,¡± commanded Akira.
Akira stepped forward while unsheathing his sword. He swung his sword to the left and crushed the skeleton¡¯s head that had appeared in front of him, causing the rest of its bones to rain down on the undead under it.
In the first few minutes of the fight, some of the soldiers were dragged off the wall and killed.
¡°Support each other. Don''t get too close to the edge where they will be able to pull you off the wall,¡± shouted Akira.
The fight on top of wall continued for over an hour.
The large mass of moving undead seemed to be less than before.
***
¡°Damn them. Why are they forcing me to use everything? This will put a large dent in my future plans,¡± complained Bonestringer.
¡°It can''t be helped. They seem to be stronger than we had expected,¡± said Tibia.
Bonstringer and Tibia both turned to look at two giant undead zombies standing behind them.
¡°Cheh...such a waste. You two go and tear down the fort''s walls,¡± ordered Bonestringer.
***
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sound of something large could be heard heading towards the wall Akira was standing on.
¡°Everyone, something is coming. Get ready for it!¡± shouted Akira.
Two large undead giants entered the light of the dying fire, moving across a large distance quickly with their long legs. One of the Giants ran off towards the front gate while the other was headed for the wall Akira was on.
As the giant undead moved towards the walls, they kicked and stepped on any undead that was in their way, killing them instantly.
Smash!
The wall under Akira¡¯s feet shook from the giant slamming its body into the wall, causing many people to lose their footing and fall down. Akira watched as an unlucky archer fell off the wall and into the mob of undead at the bottom of the wall, instantly being torn apart.
¡°Regroup! Focus on keeping the undead off the wall! I''ll take care of the Giant,¡± ordered Akira.
He ran towards the giant that was slowly tearing the wall apart little by little. Grand followed behind him, ready to support him as he had all night.
When Akira reached the Giant, he was at the same height while standing on the wall.
Akira stabbed his sword at the giant¡¯s left eye to get its attention. The attack landed and sank deep into the large eye. He quickly pulled out his sword along with a good chunk of the giant¡¯s eye.
¡°GWAARRRR!¡± roared the enraged giant as he looked with his one good eye to find the culprit that had attacked him.
When he found Akira standing near him, he swung his large fist at Akira.
Whump!
The fist was blocked by Akira''s shield. The force of the attack shook his body to the core and forced him down as if it was trying to flatten him.
Grand leaped forward for a counterattack from the other side of the giant and stabbed his only remaining eye, and then quickly retreated.
¡°GWAARRRRR!¡± the blinded undead giant began to go on a rampage, blindly swinging his arms around and kicking wildly, killing anything it hit whether it was friend or foe.
Akira nimbly jumped onto the giant¡¯s shoulder and began repeatedly stabbing at the giant¡¯s neck, trying to hack off its head.
Then both giant''s arms came swinging towards Akira, he dodged a fist by jumping off the shoulder of the giant to retreat back to the wall. But he was hit by the giant¡¯s second fist while he was still in the air, which sent him flying into the fort and falling onto one of the wagons.
Grand threw a torch at the giant and he began to burn.
The undead giant continued to go on its rampage but now its attacks were doing more damage to its undead allies than to the soldiers or the wall.
It finally stopped moving a few minutes later and fell forward, crushing undead under its completely charred black body.
***
¡°It will be dawn soon. We have to leave and go report our failure to the heads,¡± said Tibia.
¡°These damned undead can''t even do a simple job. This has all been a big waste of time. My army has all gone up in smoke, damn them all,¡± complained Bonestringer as they swiftly retreated, fading into the darkness.
***
The fight against the undead was slowly dying down as the sun began to rise. It was partly due to the sun weakening the undead, making them easier to kill and the endless swarm finally stopped.
Akira killed the last undead that was trying to get onto the broken remains of the wall he was standing on.
Looking around, he saw the number of soldiers had dwindled greatly. Many had been either killed or wounded from the night¡¯s battle.
Akira sat down and let out a loud, tired sigh, he was exhausted.
¡°Finally, the fight is done,¡± said Akira.
¡°You fought well,¡± said Grand, sitting down next to him.
¡°For an old scribe, you aren''t too bad yourself,¡± replied Akira.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
¡°What now?¡± asked Akira as both he and Grand stood back up on their tired legs.
¡°Something is heading our way! It''s kicking up a large amount of dust. Unknown if it is friend or foe,¡± shouted a voice from the watchtower.
Chapter 12: Why me?
As the unknown army drew closer, Akira and Rodger were able to see the familiar flags of the border castle waving in the wind.
Everyone gave a sigh of relief. The small army marching towards them was friendly, the messenger must have been able to get in touch with one of the patrol squads.
When the allied army reached the fort, the commanding officer asked for an explanation of what happened, to which Rodger gave a quick explanation describing what happened.
With help from the medics of the rescue force, everyone injured was patched up and placed on wagons and horses, depending on their wounds severity.
A small portion of the troops from the border patrol were stationed at the outpost to fix the small fort, and while they were at it, they planned to add a few upgrades.
They would stay at the fort and keep watch in case another unread army tried to move through the area again.
The soldiers staying behind numbered far more than the original escort of the caravan. So there was no fear of them getting overrun.
The rest of the uninjured joined the small border patrol. Rodger, Akira, and the other survivors were positioned in the middle and the border patrol soldiers were stationed on the outside.
With the combined forces as an escort, the caravan of wagons began moving again towards the destination, the border castle.
Akira fell asleep on his horse while traveling, along with many of the soldiers who had fought through the night, including Rodger.
Their movement speed was slow due to the wagons being full of supplies and injured soldiers.
The enemy that had harassed them the day before did not attack the caravan or show themselves. Akira did not know if it was due to the larger forces guarding the wagons, or if they just didn''t want to or couldn''t attack for some reason.
The sun was setting when Akira rode through the gates of the castle along with the rest of the caravan and escort.
¡°Everyone, let¡¯s get the supplies unloaded and the injured to the infirmary. The faster it¡¯s done the faster we can eat some food and get some rest in our own beds,¡± commanded the patrol officer.
With everyone helping, they were able to swiftly unload, sort, and deliver the new supplies to their proper destinations, and send the wounded to the infirmary.
Alan the second in command walked over to Akira and Rodger when they had finished unloading a wagon.
¡°I was told to find you and bring you back as soon as I could. Your father wants you both to report to him in person, on what happened to you during the escort mission,¡± said Alan.
¡°Can¡¯t he just listen to the report I already gave to the commander of the patrol unit?¡± whined Rodger.
¡°He wants to hear it directly from you. Now stop stalling and let''s get going,¡± said the captain forcefully.
Both Akira, and Rodger followed behind Alan who was keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn''t try to run off.
After a short walk, they reached Brutus''s office and were forced to wait outside the doors as the guards informed the commander of their presence.
¡°Let them in,¡± Brutus commanded, his voice was loud enough to pass through the closed doors.
The doors opened and they were ushered in by Alan who immediately left the room after Akira and Rodger entered the room, closing the door behind them quietly.
¡°I''m relieved you made it back unharmed, Rodger,¡± said Brutus, while ignoring Akira.
¡°It was due to the soldiers under my command and the help from Akira that I was able to make it back. Unfortunately, some of them did not make it back,¡± replied Rodger solemnly.
¡°You¡¯re alive and that''s what matters most to me as your father. Did all the supplies get here undamaged or will we be forced to go back and buy something?¡± asked Brutus.
¡°There was no major damage to the wagons or the supplies, we were able to deliver everything to the castle successfully,¡± said Rodger proudly.
¡°Good, good. You did a fine job. Now give me a report on what happened, both while traveling and at the rest stop,¡± ordered Brutus.
Rodger explained in great detail how they had been attacked the day before while escorting the caravan, along with the results of the skirmishes.
He went into an even more heated explanation of how they had fought all types of undead and the unending waves that hadn''t stopped until the sun had started to rise.
¡°Stop, I have heard enough. From what you have told me, it sounds like you have been truly tested in battle. I will have to find something larger for you to command, maybe one of the border patrol units.
It won''t be official for some time but when it happens, you will also get promotion in rank, after the king approves it. You both can leave now. I have other business to take care of,¡± said Brutus, dismissing the two with a wave of his hand.
¡°Um father, what about Akira? He also helped a great deal during the siege. Without his help there would have been far more casualties at the wall he was commanding, and a large portion of our supplies could have been lost,¡± asked Rodger, uncomfortable with all the praise and rewards being given only to him while standing next to Akira who had not been asked to talk.
¡°What about him? You were the commander were you not? Akira is just one soldier out of many under your command. Don''t let the time you two spent growing up together cloud your judgment. Now leave. I''m busy,¡± said Brutus, whose voice had become sharper while he stared coldly at Akira daring him to object.
The two left the room together. When they had walked out of the command wing of the castle. Rodger spoke up, trying to console Akira.
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¡°Akira, I''m sorry for father¡¯s attitude. It''s not that he hates you that he is tough on you. At least I don''t think he does. He just has high standards. Anyway, don''t worry about it too much. Everyone knows that you were a great help and part of the reason we were able to survive the night. I''m sure if you keep at it, you will be able to get promoted soon.¡±
With those words, Rodger separated from Akira and walked down a hallway leading to the officers¡¯ rooms.
After Akira took his armor off and placed it back in the armory, he continued to walk down the hallway that led to the dorms of the common enlisted soldiers. He looked out a window as he passed by. It was now dark outside. The moon was shining, lighting up the castle grounds outside.
¡°A few more days and it will be a full moon,¡± Akira muttered to himself.
The full moon was a big help whenever he was on guard duty at night as he could see better than just with a torch and it freed him from having to hold the torch. That¡¯s only if the clouds didn''t cover it.
He finally reached the door to his room and stopped, puzzled. The torches in the hallway were not lit and the door to his room was slightly open, meaning someone had gone into his room during the time he had been away.
He pushed the door open and tried to see if anyone was inside. As it was a small room with no window, it was quite dark and he could not see anything.
He felt the hair on his neck rise. Something was off but he didn''t know what it was.
Akira silently used his right hand to unsheathe his dagger on his hip, before cautiously entering the room with the dagger held at the ready in front of him.
Thunk!
As soon as he stepped through the door, the sound of a crossbow firing could be heard. The crossbow bolt flew past his face, cutting his left cheek and thudded into the wall behind him.
Akira ignored the searing pain of his cheek and focused on the sound of metal being unsheathed from his right.
Light footsteps could be heard running towards him, quickly covering the short distance. Out of the darkness, someone clothed in black baggy clothing jumped at him, wielding two long daggers.
Swoosh!
Akira was able to dodge the attack of the first dagger aimed at his head while blocking the second with his own.
He shifted his weight and kicked the assassin with his left foot, catching him in the gut and pushing him away.
The assassin skillfully rolled on the ground and stood back up with the momentum and again charged at Akira with both daggers swinging crazily, trying to stab or slice him.
¡°Why are you attacking me?¡± asked Akira. There was only silence from the assassin.
Akira was forced to dodge or block the attacks, he only received a few small cuts, but the ferocity of attacks made it so he had to focus on defense and was unable to counterattack.
He tried to kick the assassin away, but his leg was stopped by the assassin¡¯s own leg, blocking the kick.
While Akira was still unsteady from the failed kick, the assassin lunged forward, attacking Akira with a flurry of swipes, which were all blocked by Akira.
Then it happened. The assassin skillfully used both of his daggers to wrench the dagger out of Akira''s hand and sent it clattering and skidding across the floor. Akira was now weaponless.
Time slowed as Akira watched the two daggers aimed at his neck, thirsting to slice it open, they slowly descended while he tried to get out of their reach.
The daggers stopped moving as there were multiple thud sounds, followed by the assassin being thrown backward by the force of whatever had hit him.
The assassin lay lifeless on the ground, with blood flowing out of his pierced body.
Akira whirled around and then crouched down, looking into the hallway for the new attacker.
Nothing happened, the hallway just outside his door was empty. He decided to try to look out the door but before he could, a cold projectile flew past his face and sank into the door.
Thunk.
Akira pulled back his head and hid in the corner of the room next to the door.
He looked at the projectile that had sunk into the door, it looked like it was some sort of icicle. It was quickly melting away.
From what little he could see in the room, there were three or four such projectiles in the assassin¡¯s body and head.
Akira quietly waited, listened intently for any sound outside the door, for any sign whether or not the new attacker was moving closer.
He waited for over a half hour but there was nothing. The cut on his face had stopped bleeding a while ago, but it still stung.
Slowly he inched his way to the door so he could peek out into what he hoped was the empty hallway.
Nothing happened as he peeked through the doorway, he took a quick look down both hallways and found they were both empty.
Akira decided the best thing to do was inform Brutus of the assassination attempt, and to have the assassin that was lying dead on the floor of his room taken care of.
He quickly ran towards the commander''s office. He startled the guards with his appearance of smeared dry blood all over his face and shirt.
¡°I must speak with the commander! An assassin tried to kill me in my room, but he is dead now,¡± Akira blurted out while catching his breath.
¡°Wait here a moment, I will inform the commander,¡± replied one of the guards.
Akira stood in the hallway under the gaze of the second guard until the first exited the room and held the door open for him, motioning for him to enter.
After he entered the office, the door was closed behind him quietly.
The commander stared at Akira¡¯s face and then looked at the blood on his clothes, and the small wounds he had received from the assassin.
¡°What''s this I hear about an assassin in your room?¡± asked the commander.
¡°After I left you earlier, I went to my room. Something felt off and when I entered I was nearly killed by a crossbow bolt and then an assassin with dual daggers attacked, someone from the hallway shot some type of projectiles at him, which killed him. I wasn''t sure who it was, so I waited to see what they would do but it seems they escaped while I was waiting,¡± replied Akira.
¡°So the body will be in your room, so we can corroborate your claims?¡± Brutus asked Akira.
¡°Yes sir, I did not move the body and came here as fast as I could when the danger was gone. There is quite a lot of blood in the room now,¡± said Akira.
The commander looked at Alan and gave him a nod to which he nodded back and exited the room to go and investigate the scene of the crime.
Akira stood in front of the commander¡¯s desk, neither of them talking for over ten minutes. Brutus just stared at him the whole time, until Alan returned after his inspection.
Alan walked up to the commander, bent over and whispered a few sentences into his ear. When he was done, he stood straight and walked out of the room again.
Brutus stood up and said, ¡°By the power given to me by king Titus, I hereby arrest you for luring a soldier into your room and murdering him.¡±
¡°What are you talking about! I told you, he is the one that tried to kill me. I didn''t even kill him myself. Someone else did,¡± shouted Akira.
The doors slammed open behind him and the two guards and Alan entered the room with their weapons drawn.
¡°You will stay in the brig until you are tried for your crime of murder. Your crime, should you be found guilty, is punishable by death. Guards, take him away,¡± commanded Brutus coldly.
Alan placed iron shackles onto Akira''s arms and then shoved him towards the two guards, who grabbed his arms and half dragged the stunned Akira out of the office.
After a few minutes of walking, they reached the brig. One of the guards unlocked the shackles binding his hands and feet and without another word, he was thrown into the brig.
The iron door slammed shut behind him. There was a loud click as the key turned, locking the door.
Akira was left alone in silence to await his trial.
Chapter 13: Son of the night
Akira sat on the ground, staring at the closed door, stunned at what had just happened.
Movement from the corner of the room caught his attention. He turned his head to see that it was a rat scurrying away from him, it escaped through a small hole into the room next to his.
Akira thought to himself, ''There¡¯s nothing I can do right now. I guess I''ll just sleep for now.''
The next morning he was woken up by the sound of the door being slammed open.
Akira looked to see who it was that came to see him.
It was Rodger standing in the doorway, along with two guards that had troubled looks on their faces.
Rodger threw two thick blankets at Akira before talking.
¡°I heard the news only a few minutes ago. I broughtyou some extra blankets to keep you warm. You shouldn''t worry about staying here in the brig, at least it¡¯s better than the prison cells. I know you wouldn''t have killed someone without a reason. So I''ll go and talk to father as soon as he''s awake. I''ll try to get him to see reason. Well, I have to get back to my daily duties. Don''t worry, you''ll be out soon after I talk to father,¡± said Rodger in a cheerful voice.
¡°Thanks, Rodger, as always you''re a big help,¡± said Akira with a sad smile.
Rodger left the brig as quickly as he had entered.
The rest of the morning was uneventful unless you count eating some weird slop that was called food for breakfast.
The hours passed as he waited for Rodger to come back and get him out of the Brig.
The door opened just after he had finished eating the mystery food he had received for lunch.
Instead of Rodger showing up, it was a guard escorting Grand., who was shoved into the room, with the door closing behind him.
¡°Hello, Akira, we meet again. Sadly it''s in such a bad situation,¡± greeted Grand, as if he was out for a stroll in the city market and not locked up in the brig.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked the Akira, puzzled at his appearance instead of Rodger showing up.
¡°Unfortunately, I angered the commander when I disagreed with all of the things that he was doing. I think it was just some minor disagreements, but he disagreed and ordered me to spend some time in the brig. From what I''ve heard from the gossip of other soldiers, it seems you are in deep trouble. What happened?¡± Grand asked Akira.
¡°I was almost killed by an assassin, but he was killed by someone else with some sort of ice daggers. I''m being blamed for his murder,¡± lamented Akira.
¡°Ah, now I see. Well, it really doesn''t matter as we will both be out of here tonight,¡± said Grand confidently as if it were a matter of fact.
¡°So that means Rodger was able to get the commander to agree to let me out, right?¡± asked Akira.
Grand shook his head, ¡°No, Rodger was sent out to lead one of the border patrols. It seems the commander didn''t want him here constantly nagging him.¡±
¡°This is just too weird, what''s going on? Wait a second, you said that we would both be out of the brig tonight, but if not with the help of Rodger then how?¡±
¡°With the help of an acquaintance of mine. That is if you want to escape with us. You¡¯re more than welcome to stay here, but don''t try to fool yourself. You will be tried, found guilty, and executed tomorrow. I suggest that if you want to keep your head, you should come with us.¡±
¡°Brutus wouldn''t do that. How do you know all this? Just who are you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Don''t forget I was acting as the commander¡¯s scribe, so I was able to see important documents. While he was making all the plans on what to do with you, I was able to overhear it all. As to who I am, that''s not important right now. Although I will tell you that the clan chief I work for heard some astonishing rumors a year ago from my acquaintance who you will be able to meet tonight. After hearing the rumor, I was ordered to go along with them and see if the rumor was true or not,¡± said Grand.
¡°So did you figure out if it was true?¡± asked Akira.
¡°That''s still unknown, but if I had to guess from what I have seen and heard while on my journey I would say it''s leaning towards being true,¡± said Grand.
¡°Why would you want to help me?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Because it''s beneficial for both of us. You seem like you can fight so you should join us. Don''t worry, you have all day to think about it. But I will be leaving tonight so you should make up your mind before then. I''m going to get some rest so I can be fully awake tonight. You might want to do it too,¡± replied Grand.
Grand quickly fell asleep on one of the cots near the wall with his back turned towards Akira. A few hours passed as Akira wrestled with the thoughts and new information he had received.
In the end, he couldn''t decide so he laid down on one of the cots with the extra blankets to sleep as there was nothing else to do inside the room, plus if he was going to escape he might as well be alert.
***
Akira woke up to a soft female voice calling Grand''s name. The room had grown even darker as it was now nighttime.
¡°Ah, you¡¯re here right on time. I''m inside here with another person named Akira,¡± said Grand.
Akira stood up and shook himself to get rid of his sleepiness. He was curious to see who it was that had come to rescue them.
¡°Okay, I''m opening the door so you better get out of the way,¡± said the female voice.
Grand threw some of the blankets onto the floor by the door and joined Akira to stand next to the wall where they waited for the door to be opened.
The temperature in the room became colder for some reason. The sound of ice freezing metal could be heard coming from the door. The sound of metal cracking followed after a few seconds and the door fell forward onto the blankets, which slightly muffled the sound.
The hallway torch was not lit but Akira was still able to see the female in the dim light that came from a window. After seeing her face, he was reminded of the girl he had met some years ago at the river.
She sleepily rubbed her eyes. While yawning, she bowed to Akira and said, ¡°Hello, I am Yuki, nice to meet you.¡±
¡°Ah, so you''re that girl from four years ago!¡± shouted Akira in surprise.
¡°Yeah, I am,¡± yawned Yuki.
¡°So you two know each other?¡± Grand asked.
¡°I only met her once years ago,¡± replied Akira.
¡°Did you talk to him about coming with us?¡± asked Yuki.
¡°Yes, I believe he wants to come. Am I right?¡± Grand asked while looking at Akira.
¡°I have decided to go with you,¡± Akira confirmed.
¡°Well, now''s not the time to be dilly-dallying, let¡¯s escape,¡± said Grand, urging them to get moving.
They quietly sneaked through the dark and eerily empty hallways.
Before they reached the door leading outside, they heard the unexpected sound of keys jingling on the other side as a guard was sorting through his keys to get to the one that would open the door.
The old man pointed to an opened window next to them, gesturing for them to escape out of it. Both Yuki and Grand jumped out the window before Akira.
Just as Akira jumped down from the window onto the ground, the door to the hallway opened.
Grand tapped Akira''s shoulder and pointed to Yuki, who was already moving, suggesting that they follow her.
They stuck to the dark alleyways and shadows created by the buildings and the moon, making sure to avoid the areas lit by torches and candles. They were able to quickly sneak their way over to one of the castle''s walls.
They quickly ran up the stairs and crouched down when they reached the top of the wall that was empty of guards for the moment.
Yuki grabbed onto a rope that was secured to the wall by a hook and quickly climbed down. Akira and Grand followed after her.
When they reached the ground, Yuki retrieved the rope and pointed to a clump of trees a short distance away. They ran to the destination.
Three horses were waiting for them. There was a set of armor and weapons for both Akira and Grand. In the pile for Akira, there was also a shield as if they already knew Akira used a shield.
¡°Let¡¯s get as far away as we can. We have to meet up with our allies before the commander decides to start sending a search party outside of the castle,¡± said Grand while putting on the armor and placing his sword in its sheath on his belt.
Akira put his armor on as well and got onto his horse.
Without another word, Akira followed Yuki as they urged their horses to go as fast as they could in the direction of the Frul mountains.
As they galloped away, the sound of the alarm bell ringing could be heard coming from the castle, informing everyone inside that something had happened.
***
The guards who had informed Brutus of Akira''s escape bore the brunt of his rage and were badly beaten in a fit of rage.
After ten minutes of searching, they were unable to find him anywhere inside or near the castle.
Roaring with anger, Brutus commandeered a border patrol unit that was getting ready to head out for a night patrol. He ordered them to search for any sign or trail and to find and capture him.
Before Brutus left the castle, he had multiple message birds sent to the border patrol units that were already out on patrol, warning them to be on the lookout for Akira and anyone he might be with.
***
After thirty minutes of riding on the open plains, Yuki led them into a densely packed wooded area. They had their horses carefully walk for a short time through the trees for a short distance.
Yuki motioned for them to stop when a small group of people walked out from behind the trees with their weapons drawn.
The people stared at them for a few seconds, but upon recognizing Yuki and Grand, they relaxed.
¡°It''s all clear, just Yuki and Grand returning,¡± shouted a large muscular man wearing leather armor. He was holding a large two-handed sword that was wider than most men''s arms and almost as tall.
A larger group of rugged-looking people, some of which had a few fresh wounds on their bodies and faces, started to come out of hiding behind the trees and gathered around Akira and the others. They all had smiles on their faces.
Akira noticed that they all had tattoos on their faces and the parts of their arms that he could see.
¡°Welcome back Yuki, Grand, and who is this person with you?¡± asked the muscular man in a loud and gruff voice.
¡°More importantly, can he be trusted?¡± asked a female, who was looking just as wild as the male warrior.
¡°I believe we can trust him. Now is not the time to talk, we can test him later. We need to leave immediately. The enemy will be looking for us by now, and if we are unlucky they are already on our trail,¡± said Grand worriedly.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Well, I can''t doubt what you say, elder, we will test him later. I suggest we not bother our little friends in the mountains and quickly go through the mountain pass,¡± suggested the gruff male.
¡°Agreed. Let us be off then. The sooner we leave this kingdom the better. Do not let your guard down,¡± said Grand.
The gruff man offered Akira his hand to shake, which he took. His hand felt like it was going to break from the gruff man''s grasp.
¡°My name¡¯s Erok. If you betray us, I will kill you,¡± said Erok with a smile.
It took only a few minutes for everyone to pack up their gear and get onto their horses.
They left the trees in double file with Yuki and Erok both in the front leading the group, while Akira and Grand were in the middle.
They rode for most of the night while taking measures to avoid the rare small villages. It was nearing dawn when they were able to finally reach the border of Beorin, which stopped at the Frul mountains.
They stopped their movement and hid in the trees at the base of the mountains while scouts were sent ahead to see if the mountain pass was blocked or not.
They came back and signaled the path was clear.
¡°Everyone, be careful. The path ahead may be clear but the enemy will most likely be chasing us from behind. Let¡¯s move out,¡± shouted Erok.
The small group began moving, they ate and slept while riding and only stopped for a short while to water and feed the horses. Some people took that time to take care of the call of nature.
Like so, two days passed with no sight of the enemy chasing after them, they were a little over halfway through the mountain pass.
Like the days before, a scout was sent ahead to make sure there were no enemies in an ambush ahead of them.
This time, when the scout came back and reported his findings, Akira could hear the curses coming from Erok.
A moment later Erok galloped up to Grand and Akira.
¡°The enemy somehow has a small group of twelve or more soldiers blocking the path ahead of us. I have no clue how they were able to get ahead of us. Unfortunately, the scout was noticed and the enemy sent a messenger bird that flew in this direction. Most likely it has already reached their allies behind us, requesting backup. We need to smash through them now before help arrives,¡± said Erok quickly.
¡°I had hoped we would be able to escape without fighting, wishful thinking I know. Very well, let''s carve our way through them and get out of this mess,¡± said Grand with a sigh.
Everyone had been waiting on their horses and at the order from Erok they drew their weapons and rode forward until a short while later when they saw the enemy blocking the road.
¡°I thought you said it was only 12 people,¡± said Grand, as they looked at the enemy that numbered over twenty people. There was a makeshift fence that had been erected to hinder anyone from getting past.
¡°It doesn''t matter, we''ll just break through them. Everyone, charge!¡± commanded Erok with a shout.
Akira urged his horse forward, matching the speed of the others as they charged towards the enemy blocking their path.
CRASH!
The enemy soldiers met them halfway with a charge of their own.
The fight raged on as each side stabbed and hacked at the other. Akira and his allies tried to break through but the enemy kept blocking their escape.
The battle was harder than they had thought it would be. They were not losing as they were able to kill the enemies, but the enemy was stalling for time by using their own lives to block them.
A battle horn was sounded a short distance behind Akira. More enemies would be arriving soon.
¡°Push harder, men!¡± shouted Grand.
Everyone fought even harder. They were able to push the enemy back as more and more of them were killed or received a mortal wound.
Within a few minutes, the sound of enemy reinforcements could be heard as the cavalry charged at them from behind. There were still a few soldiers blocking their path in front.
¡°AKIRA, YOU WRETCH GET BACK OVER HERE!¡± shouted Brutus, his voice coming from behind Akira.
¡°Keep the enemy off in the rear!¡± ordered Erok.
Akira and a portion of the soldiers fighting the enemy in the front turned around to face Brutus and his group of ten horsemen.
Brutus and Akira clashed with each other trading blow after blow. Akira blocked the attacks with his shield, while Brutus blocked any attack with his sword.
Akira and his allies had the numerical advantage but it would most likely not last that long if fresh enemy reinforcements kept showing up.
Akira was having a hard time dealing any damage to Brutus, he was by no means weak but Brutus did not get the position as the commander of the border castle by being weak and fat.
His attacks hammered down on Akira''s shield, the force and skillful swordsmanship used was evidence of his countless years of experience on the battlefield.
¡°Why are you trying to escape, boy!?¡± asked Brutus, shouting to be heard over the sound of battle.
Without waiting for a reply, his sword slashed at Akira''s left side.
¡°Why are you trying to kill me!¡± Akira shouted back, blocking the attack with his shield. His arm that held the shield was beginning to go numb from blocking the powerful attacks.
¡°HA! You''re my hostage, why would I want to kill you? You''re no use to me dead,¡± said Brutus.
¡°Hostage?¡± asked the Akira, confused at the direction the conversation was going. He counterattacked by stabbing at Brutus¡¯s head.
¡°Fifteen years ago when the second great war had just finished, the demigods were slowly disappearing. Before they left, I contracted a small but powerful guild to kill the leaders of the rebel demihuman army that had formed. To my surprise, Alan came back with great news. Not only were the leaders killed, but their young son had also been captured,¡± shouted Brutus with a wicked grin on his face.
¡°You''re the reason my parents were killed?¡± asked the stunned Akira.
¡°Ha, it was easy for the demigods or so I was told. Compared to the demigods, your parents weren''t that strong,¡± said Brutus.
Time slowed for Akira as memories flooded back of when he was four years old, of him being hidden in bushes by his mother whose face he couldn''t recall, who had told him to be a good boy and not to make any sound.
He had watched as they fought for their lives, killing a few of the attackers before dying at the hands of a nameless demigod who wore a black half-face mask, which only showed his mouth.
Brutus seized the chance to attack the stunned Akira, swinging his sword at his chest.
Akira''s leather armor received a large hole where the sword had hit. The attack did not reach deep enough to cut his skin.
Akira was jerked from his memory, he saw the necklace Brutus had given him when they first met flying into the air from the string being cut and flung away by the sword.
With the bright moon shining down on him, his mind went blank.
Implementing class job change.
¡
Success
Class job changed to:
Son of the Night.
-You will keep your current stats but your current level will be reset.
- Your current Level is now 1
- You can no longer receive free EXP level growth.
|
Multiple windows of information popped up in Akira¡¯s view. Before he could look at them and understand what was going on, a dark light began to emit from his body.
He fell from his horse from the massive wave of pain. His muscles and bones were squirming around under his skin, growing and changing shape. His fingernails began to quickly grow longer into sharp claws, his teeth transformed into sharp daggers used for tearing any foe apart. Hair black as coal started to cover his whole body.
The transformation took a less than a minute, but for Akira the pain made it feel like an eternity.
The fight around Akira had slowed as they noticed something abnormal was happening.
Akira had transformed into a werewolf, he felt far more powerful than before. His mind was now clear, all was left was anger, he ignored everyone else and set his sight on Brutus.
In a flash, Akira leaped off the ground and tackled Brutus, knocking him off his horse. As they tumbled onto the ground, Akira bit into Brutus¡¯s left wrist, his teeth piercing the armor, flesh, and bone. With another powerful bite, he tore the hand right off, sending blood splattering everywhere.
Akira let out a loud howl, voicing his anger.
¡°GHAAAA!¡± Brutus shouted in pain.
¡°Save the commander! He''s being attacked by a monster!¡± shouted one of the enemy soldiers whose horse had been killed and was now fighting on the ground.
Three soldiers charged at Akira, forcing him to retreat by jumping back a short distance and run a short distance away from Brutus.
Akira noticed that one of the soldiers was, in fact, Rodger, who continued to chase after Akira while the other two supported Brutus and helped him fall back.
Akira stopped running and leaped straight at Rodger, who was swinging his sword that now weighed nothing more than a twig, trying to get past him to kill Brutus.
¡°Get out of my way!¡± shouted Akira in a voice that was now more muscular and gravelly.
¡°Brother or not, I will not let you kill father, Akira!¡± shouted Rodger as he intercepted Akira''s attacks, blocked him from chasing Brutus.
Akira gave a howl of anguish as he struggled against Rodger in order to get to Brutus. He did not want to fight or kill Rodger but he was blocking his way.
They both knew each other¡¯s fighting style well due to the many years of dueling and training together. Not much changed over the years even if Akira''s body changed a bit.
Akira switched his sword to his other hand and slashed at Rodgers'' face with his sharp claws, surprising Rodger and causing the attack to land, causing three cuts to open on his cheek.
Rodger stumbled backward, holding his cheek, stunned by that attack.
Akira¡¯s hearing had been strengthened, allowing him to hear better and more clearly after his transformation. He could hear Erok across the battlefield shouting to Grand, ¡°That confirms it. You three need to escape and head back to the clan chief, we will hold them off as long as we can.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± said Grand.
At an unheard signal, two of the allies that were fighting near Akira transformed into werewolves, and attacked Rodger, forcing him to back away from Akira.
¡°Akira, we are leaving. Get on your horse and let¡¯s go,¡± shouted Grand.
Akira searched for his horse and found him standing near the makeshift fence. He had to fight his way through two soldiers that tried to block him.
They quickly died, the first from his neck being bit open and the second¡¯s heart was pierced by Akira''s sword. He jumped onto his horse and landed awkwardly as his body was slowly reverting back to his human form, messing with his movement.
Yuki and Grand both rode up next to him. They urged their horses to jump over the fence, breaking free from the massed mob of melee behind them.
¡°Don''t let them escape!¡± shouted the pained voice of Brutus. They were unable to follow as the enemy soldiers were all being attacked by the werewolves.
Akira kept looking back as they continued to flee, checking to see if anyone was following them and saw no one.
¡°Akira, you should eat some food. The awakening always uses a large amount of energy. It will be easier to transform as time goes on and you get used to it. But nothing will change about the large amount of energy needed to stay transformed as a werewolf,¡± said Grand.
After those few words, they rode in silence for the next two days until the night of the second day of fleeing.
They stopped to rest when Grand found a small hidden crevasse in the side of the mountain just large enough for them to fit along with the horses.
Yuki fell asleep as soon as she laid down on the ground, her head resting on a bag for a pillow.
Akira got off his horse and flopped down onto the sandy floor. His body was tired and sore as his muscles and bones were still groaning as they continued to slowly stretch and grow.
¡°Why is my body still changing? when will it stop?¡± groaned Akira.
¡°The awakening of the power of the Earth tribe is not such a simple thing to end quickly. It takes many days for your body to grow and strengthen itself so you can transform without any problems,¡± said Grand, who was just as tired as Akira.
¡°What''s the Earth tribe?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You and I, along with every werewolf, belong to the Earth tribe. Just like humans are humans and monsters are monsters. Now stop asking questions. We only have a few hours for sleep and I rather not waste it talking,¡± grumbled Grand grumpily.
***
Another day had passed and it was now night again when they were reaching the end of the mountain pass.
Grand was riding his horse between Yuki and Akira, hammering out strategies in case they were attacked or separated.
¡°If we somehow are tracked down and attacked, we will each have to fend for ourselves from here on out. I do not bring the whole party down trying to save someone. We will wait for the person who was separated for a short time at one of the cities of the dwarves if that happens. That may be cold but we must get news back to the clan chief. Ah, that cave looks good enough. Let''s rest here,¡± said Grand, pointing at a small cave on the right.
Akira was put on the first watch to let the other two sleep. The fatigue of the constant fleeing with only a few hours of sleep a day was catching up with him.
Akira was thinking over all the information Grand had told him over the past few days.
His body still pained him as it was still changing, making his body sturdier and stronger even while he wasn''t transformed.
According to Grand, Akira was just a pup who had only awakened. He was told he had not truly transformed during the last fight, it was just part of the processes of the awakening of the power of the Earth tribe. A half transformation to help the body judge and measure what it needed to change and mold his body so he could transform and use his power to its max.
Akira had forgotten and ignored the odd things that had popped up in his vision during the battle. He had forced them to the side with just a thought. Even if he had remembered, he had no time to worry about it while they were tirelessly fleeing the enemy.
Akira¡¯s ears that had gotten even stronger at hearing things picked up the sound of weapons being unsheathed quite a distance away, along with quiet footsteps that were getting closer.
Akira quietly woke up Yuki and Grand and signaled in that the enemy was near, and pointed to the back of the cave where a small exit was.
They nodded back and gathered the blankets and hurriedly stuffed them into the bags on the horses and climbed onto their saddles.
Yuki and Grand both exited the rear entrance, not looking back and racing away.
Akira was following behind them but was thrown off his horse as multiple crossbow bolts slammed into his horse, killing it.
The enemy was on top of him by the time he was able to stand back up.
Three people stabbed at Akira with swords. He dodged them and counterattacked, swinging his sword at the person¡¯s sword arm on his left.
The sword was blocked. Akira fiercely fought against them, keeping them at bay.
With the sound of a battle behind them, Yuki and Grand had stopped and looked back.
¡°Leave! I will catch up with you later!¡± shouted Akira as he willed himself to transform into his incomplete werewolf form.
A tear ran down Grand¡¯s eye as he looked on helplessly for just a moment more.
He turned around and escaped with Yuki, who was waiting further ahead.
***
Akira collapsed onto the ground in a pool of his own blood mixed along with the blood from the dead bodies of the five enemies he had fought.
With the last of his strength, Akira reached for a potion in his bag and poured it down his throat, causing him to cough up even more blood.
''Am I really going to die?'' Thought Akira before he lost consciousness from the loss of blood, pain from his wounds, and the fatigue piled up over the last week.
Chapter 14: Broken
When Akira opened his eyes the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. The bed he was laying in was quite comfortable.
''I''m still alive, but how?'' Akira asked himself.
He slowly moved his head and looked around the room. It was empty save for the fireplace, a small wooden desk with a chair, and a mirror hanging on the wall.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The sound of a large bell being struck came through the open window next to his bed. Akira tried to sit up a few times, and finally succeeded. Turning his head, he looked out the window for a few seconds.
There was a large group of men in brown robes and partly shaved heads, walking to the building where the sound of the bell was coming from.
He slumped back down onto his bed due to the pain signals his body was sending him.
Akira threw off his blankets, only to see bloody bandages wrapped around most of his body.
The door opened on the opposite side of the room, startling Akira.
A man, dressed similarly to those he had seen outside his window just moments before, entered the room.
He quickly walked over to Akira and began looking at him, inspecting his wounds, poking them here and there, causing Akira to shout in pain.
¡°Would you stop that? What do you think you''re doing and who the hell are you?¡± asked Akira, his voice hoarse from being dry.
The robed man ignored Akira''s questions and continued checking his wounds. When he finished his inspection he turned to look at Akira before answering.
¡°It''s good that you''re awake. You''ve been sleeping like a log for nearly a week. Your wounds seem to be healing amazingly fast, even without one of the magic guild¡¯s potions. Sorry, but we don''t have any potions like that here. The best I can do is have Brother Asher come and change your bandages later. My name is Brother Freid,¡± said Freid.
¡°Where is this place and how did I get here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°This place is a monastery I oversee. Brother Asher can explain in more detail on how you got here when you see him later. Right now you''re probably hungry as we could only feed you honeyed water while you were unconscious. I''ll have something prepared for you. Looking at your wounds, I should make you something light to eat for now. I guess some oatmeal should do just fine,¡± said Freid as he tucked the blanket around Akira a little too tightly.
With that Freid left the room without another word, closing the door behind him.
''It''s a good thing I am not dead, but I may have gotten myself into something worse. I have no clue what''s going on. At least my body seems to have settled down and stopped growing,'' thought Akira.
The recent events came rushing back and overwhelmed him. He was having a hard time processing everything that had happened.
Rodger who was like a brother to him and all of his friends he met and grown up with were now his enemies. From a young age, all he could remember about the demon race was about all the bad things they were supposed to have done in the past and what type of horrible beings they currently were.
Now that he was saved by them, you could say they were now his allies.
His whole view of the world and how he should live his life was thrown into the air, and he didn''t know where it would land.
''No use worrying about everything right now. I''ll think about it later,'' thought Akira.
His eyes wandered around the room out of boredom, trying to keep himself from thinking of the past events. While looking of the far right of his vision he could see multiple blinking images.
Akira kept turning his head around to try and get a better view of them, but the images followed his head, always staying on the far right of his vision just enough to not get in the way.
¡°What is this? Ah, that reminds me there was that weird message that popped up before I awakened. Something about a class job change to ''Son of the Night'',¡± Akira muttered to himself, deep in thought, all other troubling thoughts had disappeared.
Akira stopped moving his head and just laid still and stared at one of the blinking images, which looked like a human body.
He let out a yelp of surprise when the blinking image expanded to fill a large portion of his view.
Character Name
|
Akira
|
Race
|
Werewolf
|
Fame
|
0
|
Level
|
1: 0.00%
|
Profession
|
Son Of The Night
|
Title
|
None
|
Health
|
100
|
Mana
|
100
|
Strength
|
13
|
Vitality
|
10
|
Stamina
|
12
|
Agility
|
10
|
Intelligence
|
8
|
Wisdom
|
10
|
Attack
|
3
|
Defense
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
|
0
|
|
+ 5% Buff to Stamina and strength at night.
|
¡°What does this mean?¡± Akira asked himself.
Ding! a ''?'' lit up and began blinking. Akira looked at it, causing two more windows to pop up into his vision.
Stats Info:
Strength: Effects damage of melee attacks, and how much weight you can carry. Some equipment may require a certain amount of strength to equip.
Vitality: Amount of health points. Also helps HP regen
Stamina: Affects how long you can run/ how many physical attack skills you can use before getting tired.
Agility:affects your movement speed and how good you are at avoiding enemy attacks.
Intelligence: Amount of damage magic attacks do.
Wisdom: Amount of mana and how fast it will regen.
|
Son of the night: ( Novice Lvl: 1 | 0%):
-This is a special class meant for tanking.
Tanking: The tank is always on the front line of a fight shielding and protecting allies, friends, and family from any major threat.
-Main weapons used are swords, one-handed spears, and a shield that may vary in size.
-Armor used is mainly heavy armor to protect oneself and allow you to take more damage while on the front lines.
-Can only use Werewolf form at night.
+10% buff at night addedto stamina and strength when transformed.
|
¡°I''m not sure what''s going on. Is it saying that these numbers next to the stats show the strength of my body? I guess this really means I am a werewolf and it wasn''t a dream,¡± muttered Akira.
The door opened again for the second time of the day, jerking him out of his thoughts. The information windows closed as he looked over at the door to see a different monk walking in carrying in a bowl of oatmeal. He handed Akira the bowl and a spoon before speaking.
¡°You''re still awake, that''s good. My name is Brother Asher. Freid let me know you were awake so I thought I would answer some of your questions he passed on to me. I travel the roads and deliver messages and news to the numerous monasteries, and sometimes use my skill in medicine to help patients. While on my way to this monastery, I noticed your bloody body on the ground. You looked to be dead and not breathing from what looked like multiple fatal stab wounds. When I checked to see if you were truly dead, I could just barely sense your breathing,¡± said Asher.
¡°What about the other people that were near me?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No chance of them being alive. They had missing limbs and horrible wounds from bites and claw marks on their bodies, that looked to have come from some strong monster. How frightening it must have been to do so much damage to them. It was only you that was alive. After I patched you up, I decided to bring you along with me so you could get a chance to properly heal and rest. I know Brother Freid well enough so he agreed to allow you to stay. Whatever you fought sure did a number on your body. You''re lucky I was passing by to be able to save you,¡± said Asher.
¡°Thank you for helping me. I''m sorry to say but I have no money to pay you or Freid for your kindness or my stay here,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t worry about that. I''m sure Brother Freid will have work for you to do when you recover. You can pay it off that way later,¡± said Asher.
After Akira finished eating the oatmeal, Asher walked over to the desk where a basin of water sat along with a few rolls of clean bandages and brought the bandages back over to Akira''s bed.
¡°Now that we have all that sorted out, If you would allow me, I will get to changing these old bandages and help clean your wounds. It might hurt a bit, but I''m sure you can handle it,¡± said Asher, waiting for Akira to give the okay.
Akira nodded his head. With the help of Asher, he was able to sit up. The bandages were swiftly removed. Some of them were caked with dried blood and made Akira grit his teeth due to the pain, as they were pulled off like an old scab.
Before putting on the new bandages, the wounds were lightly washed, with Asher inspected them to see if the stitches were still holding up.
¡°You seem to be healing at an incredible pace, you should be healed sooner then I had expected. You must have some good genes,¡± said Asher while applying the new bandages.
After finishing, he let Akira lay back down and threw the dirty bandages into to the fireplace where they began to quickly burn.
He rinsed his hands in the basin of water and wiped them off with the hand towel next to it.
¡°You can take this herb medicine, it should help you sleep,¡± Asher said and handed over a small vial with murky green liquid inside.
¡°I''ll be back to check on you tomorrow,¡± said Asher, leaving the room with the bowl and spoon and the bowl the oatmeal had been in.
Akira watched as he left, then opened the vial and sniffed the liquid, curious at what it was.
¡°Well, I don''t think he would go through all the trouble of helping me out to poison me. Bottoms up,¡± said Akira as he dumped the contents into his mouth.
The taste was neither good nor bad, just bland. Slowly, as he laid in the bed, his body began to tingle and wipe away any of the pain he had been feeling. All thoughts slipped away as he drifted off to sleep.
***
¡°What do you mean you can''t find his body?¡± asked Brutus, who was holding his stump of a hand.
It was unfortunate and infuriating that he had been unable to reattach the hand that Akira had bitten off before the 24-hour time limit had passed.
Rodger sat on a horse next to Brutus, his face still had the scar left from Akira claw.
¡°Sir, the only bodies we could find at the scene of the fight all belonged to the scouts that had been sent ahead. None of them survived. But for some odd reason, the scouts were all buried in their own graves. He couldn''t have gotten far because his horse was killed. A large amount of blood that did not belong to the dead scouts was found so it looks like he was badly wounded in the fight,¡± said Alan.
¡°Hurry up and find him! We can''t let him escape,¡± shouted Brutus.
***
Akira woke up the next morning with his body still feeling a little numb from the potion.
The sun was shining outside, lighting up the room.
''I feel much better now,'' thought Akira. ¡®I should take a look in the mirror and see what''s changed since my body and muscles stopped growing.¡¯
He felt his body crying out in pain as he sat up. But due to the effects of the potion still taking effect, the pain was lessened.
As he tried to stand up, he fell back onto his bed, holding his head as the world spun around him in dizziness.
After resting for a minute to let his head clear, he stood up again. He stepped towards the mirror.
Thud! He fell forward onto his face.
¡°Crap, that hurt! What''s wrong with my body?¡± Akira asked out loud.
His legs worked but it was like he had swapped bodies with someone else and he hadn''t learned how to use the body yet.
¡°Must be from the effects of the awakening. I hope I can get back into shape and have this not affect me too much.¡±
After the pain lessened, he stood back up, using the bed to keep from falling. After regaining his balance, he began to move towards the mirror with the slow and wobbly steps of a baby that was just starting learning how to walk.
When he finally reached the mirror, he caught his breath and looked at his body.
¡°I look like something from a child''s nightmare,¡± muttered Akira as he moved his arms and legs around while twisting and turning to get a full view of himself in the mirror.
His body was all bandaged up, and there was hardly any skin showing.
¡°I look taller than I remember. My arms and the rest of my body seems thicker and heavier. This is troublesome. It''s like all my training for the last twenty years has been thrown out the window.¡±
Akira noticed that he could not see the floating icons on his right reflected in the mirror. How odd. He looked at the icons that were not blinking anymore. Above the icons was his name and a red and a blue bar, the red bar was labeled HP, the blue bar MP.
The HP bar was nearly half empty with the numbers showing 63/100. Weird, what is that measuring?
The door opened unexpectedly, almost hitting Akira and startling him.
It was Asher who had come check up on him. Who was staring at Akira in horror.
¡°What the hell do you think you''re doing? Get back to bed! You''re only worsening your wounds. Here I am worried about helping you heal and you''re causing the wounds to reopen. Just because you can walk doesn''t mean you should,¡± scolded Asher.
Akira looked back at his bandages and saw that there were a few places where blood seemed to be fresh.
¡°Umm... sorry?¡± said Akira, not sure what to say.
With the help of Asher, he was able to get back to his bed and sat down. Asher quickly took off the dirtied bandages and cleansed the wounds with a salve and then wrapped clean bandages around his entire body.
¡°I will be back later to check on you. Don''t get out of bed until your wounds are fully healed,¡± commanded Asher before leaving the room.
Ding!
Quest: Stay in bed.
You are to stay in bed until you are fully recovered.
Difficulty: F
Reward:
Skill: Rest
Will you accept?:
Yes | No
|
¡°Damn it, what is going on with my life? I have no clue, and these damn messages keep bothering me. Fine! Yes, I accept. Now go away, damn it,¡± shouted Akira.
The window disappeared after he answered. After Akira finally cooled down, he started to think of the past events, along with not knowing what else to do with his life right now.
''One thing I do know is, not only do I need to get back my mobility after I''m fully healed, but I also need to get stronger. Otherwise, I will end up in someplace like this again or if I am unlucky, dead. If I don''t, I won''t be able to protect any friends or future family I may have. Should I start a new chapter in my life and come up with a new motto to live by?''
For half of the day, he thought long and hard on this one subject.
''I''ve got it! Hmm, this seems to be a good motto,'' thought Akira.
¡°An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Those who stab you in the back will pay the price.
Honor those who honor you,¡± said Akira out loud.
Chapter 15: Relearn
It had taken Akira a little over a week to fully recover from wounds that, without using any potions, would have bedridden others for months.
His fast recovery astounded Asher who had checked up on him every day.
Akira sat in his bed as Asher was inspecting his wounds one last time.
¡°Well, your wounds seem to be fully healed. You''re quite the enigma, with that amazing healing ability you have. You are now fit enough to move around without any major problems. If you would like to exercise, the courtyard has a corner where you can train. If you go there you won''t be getting in anyone''s way,¡± said Asher as he washed his hands.
After giving Akira a clean bill of health, Asher left the room to carry out his other duties.
Ding!
Quest complete!
You have learned a new skill:
Rest (Beginner Lvl 1 | 0.00% ):
When you sit down and take a short rest, your Stamina and MP will regenerate at a faster pace.
After a long rest (sleep) your HP will be restored to its max.
Unable to add bonus points to this skill.
|
¡°Hmm, so this is the reward it was talking about. I have no clue if it will actually work, I guess I can test it out later,¡± muttered Akira.
Akira moved his legs so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. With a bit of effort, he slowly put on a new pair of pants and a shirt, before standing up and waiting for the lightheaded dizziness to lessen.
His steps were wobbly as he slowly walked towards the door, and exited his room. Using the wall as support, he continued walking down the hallway, exiting the building and stepping out into the courtyard.
Whenever he passed monks who were busily walking to and fro between buildings, he greeted them. They acknowledged him with a smile and a slight bow and continued on their way.
''Maybe a bit of exercise will help loosen up my stiff body,'' thought Akira as he reached the training corner that Asher had mentioned.
He spent a large amount of time stretching all of his muscles and doing other exercises. After the workout, he felt much better. It had been torture for him, having to stay in bed for over a week.
''It will probably take some time to get back my full mobility.'' Akira thought to himself as he sat down to rest.
It was only a short while later that he felt he had fully recovered his stamina and started exercising again.
He kept repeating this routine for the rest of the afternoon and continued doing it for another two days before he felt he had fully adapted and regained control of his body''s movements.
Before going to sleep, he looked at the blinking ¡°!¡± icon that he had been ignoring for the past few days and saw that his stats had risen slightly from the workout.
''Odd. I did feel somewhat stronger after the workout over the last three days, but I thought that was due to getting back my full mobility. It seems I can get stronger by training.''
***
Yuki and Grand had waited for Akira for over a week, Grand was agitated since he had not shown up.
¡°Do you think he was unable to escape?¡± asked Grand with a worried frown on his face.
¡°He should have been able to fight them off with the strength he showed in the last fight,¡± said Yuki.
¡°We''ve waited long enough here. We need to get moving. As much as I hate to leave, we can''t stay here forever. We can check the area where we last saw him and see if there is any sign of whether or not he survived or died,¡± said Grand.
They had not left earlier due to fear of the enemy setting a trap.
They both carefully took their time traveling from the dwarf town in the mountain to a spot overlooking the area they had last seen him.
There were no bodies out in the open, the ground around the area looked to have been dug up many times, probably graves for the deceased.
Grand sniffed the air but he could not catch any traces of Akira. The only thing he could smell was a mixture of multiple people¡¯s old dry blood. When the wind started to blow, it brought other smells of bodies that did not belong to Akira.
¡°There was definitely four or five people who died here. I am unable to tell who they were, only that Akira''s body is not buried here. We have to get back to the clan chief and give our report. If he is alive and reaches the city, then the message we left behind with our little friend should reach him. That''s all we can do for now,¡± said Grand before leaving the area with Yuki.
***
Akira stood in the room he had been staying at for the past few weeks, looking at the items in the wooden chest at the end of his bed. Inside where his tarted leather chest armor, his worn-out sword, and a well-used shield.
He had been lost in thought while staring at them for some time thinking of what to do with them.
Ding!
You have learned a new skill:
Inspection (Beginner Lvl 1 | 0.00% ):
You are able to see basic stats of items and living beings.
Unable to add bonus points to this skill.
|
Rusty sword(Trash):
Durability: 3/10 | Damage: 2-3
Tarted leather chest armor(Trash):
Durability: 4/11 | Defense: 5
Broken shield(Trash):
Durability: 2/15 | Defense: 7
|
¡°That''s a bit harsh, calling my sword and shield trash. They¡¯re just a bit old and have been well worn. Nothing a little sharpening and polish can''t take care of,¡± said Akira with determination.
Akira pulled out the sword and sat down on his bed and began to work on sharpening his sword. When he was sure it was as good as he could make it with his skill, he used a bit of special oil to polish it. Placing it back into its scabbard, he set it down on the bed right next to him.
Reaching into the chest, he pulled out the shield and started to sand down the rough edges, splinters, and cuts it had received in his previous battles. When it was as smooth as he could get it, he added a coating of paint. The paint had been given to him by one of the monks who controlled such supplies in the monastery.
He set it aside to let the paint dry quickly, and reached back into the chest to pull out the tattered leather chest armor.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
After examining the armor, he began stitching up some of the smaller cuts and patched the larger cuts with leather scraps he had been able to get for free. He cursed a few times as he poked his fingers with the needle.
All of this had taken him a few hours to fully repair his equipment. With a sigh of relief, he inspected his equipment again to see if anything had changed.
Slightly rusty sword(Trash):
Durability: 9/9 | Damage: 5-6
Patched leather chest armor(Trash):
Durability: 10/10 | Defense: 7
Weak shield(Trash):
Durability: 14/14 | Defense: 10
|
¡°It''s still calling them trash. Well, at least the stats seem to have risen slightly. But the durability seems to have gone down. At least now I can get back to training,¡± said Akira as he equipped himself with the leather chest armor, sword, and shield.
Ding!
An Icon of a human body started to flash and opened. It showed the equipment he had just equipped and their stats.
Save as Equipment slot 1?
Yes | No
|
¡°Yes!¡± said Akira, who had no clue what he was agreeing to. The message and equipment window closed immediately after he answered.
¡°Time to get started, I can''t waste any more time,¡± said Akira.
He walked back to the usual training spot he had been at for the last few days. He cleared his mind of all thoughts and began his training to familiarize himself with the sword, using his new body and its strength.
He trained by swinging the sword at full power towards a straw target and stopping before the sword could hit the target. He lost count of the number of swings he had done as time passed.
Ding!
Strength rises by 1 point. (+1 STR)
Agility rises by 1 point. (+1 AGI)
|
This was not the first time he had seen the message throughout the days he had been training. His vitality, strength, and agility had been painstakingly slow at rising.
New Skill learned:
Sword mastery (Beginner lvl 1| 0.00%):
You know how to hold a sword and swing it properly.
Good for you!
+1% to Attack while using swords.
+3% Attack speed.
Unable to add bonus points to this skill.
|
¡°This is amazing! Just by training, my body really has been getting stronger, and now my attacks will even grow stronger!¡± Akira shouted out loud. Luckily no one was around him or they might think he had gone mad from the wounds he had received.
He continued to train with his sword for the rest of the day, only taking breaks when his stamina was spent, and almost ready to fall down from exhaustion.
The breaks were short as his [Rest] skill helped him to fully charge up, allowing him to swing his sword again while bursting with energy.
He continued to do this for a week until the stats he was gaining from training and his skills leveling up slowed down. He had not seen a message announcing an improvement since two days before.
The monks that passed him every day over the past week praised him for his diligent hard-working attitude when they saw him doing the same training every day from dusk till dawn.
As he sat down for what felt like the millionth time to rest, a new window popped open.
Ding!
New Stat has been created:
Endurance:
Lowers stamina usage of everything including melee attacks and skills.
|
¡°Nice! This should help me out a lot,¡± said Akira with a big grin.
Akira now felt that he had fully gained control of his body. He was able to use his sword good enough, if not even better than before. Since the stat gains he had been receiving from training was next to nonexistent now, he began to think about what he should do next.
''Now that everything''s back to normal, I guess the least I can do is see if the monks need any help doing things around the monastery. Ah! That''s right, Asher said that Freid would probably have some things for me to do so that I can do to repay their kindness.''
Akira stood up after regaining his stamina and walked off to find Freid.
After a few minutes of searching, he finally found him.
Fried was sitting behind a desk in his office with the door wide open to let in fresh air.
Akira knocked on the open door, alerting Freid of his presence. Freid, who was deep in thought while writing on some papers on top of his desk, looked up to see Akira standing in the doorway.
¡°Ah, Akira, a pleasure to meet you this fine day. Come in, come in, you may sit in either chair,¡± said Freid with a bright smile while pointing to the chairs in front of his desk.
Akira entered the room and sat down on one of the nice leather chairs.
¡°What brings you to this dreary office? Is there anything I can help you with?¡± asked Freid after Akira was seated.
¡°Well, it''s the opposite. I have stayed here for nearly a month now, eating and sleeping without paying you. I am very thankful you have helped support me during this time. Now that I feel as though I have regained my past strength, I would like to pay you back. Is there anything that you need to be done, that I can do as payment?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Oh my, such a noble attitude paired with your hard-working attitude you showed the last few weeks leads me to think of you as a fine young man. Let me think ¡ ah yes, as a matter of fact, we do have several things that need fixing. We just haven''t had the time to take care of it all and there are a few other problems we could use your help with. It would be a blessing if you could take care of them for us,¡± said Freid.
Akira was slightly distracted as he noticed the words [Freid Lvl: 30] floating above Freid''s head. He hadn''t noticed it before on any of the other monks he had interacted with before since he received the inspection skill, mainly due to his thoughts only revolving around training and regaining his strength. He guessed they would have something similar above their heads if he looked hard enough and paid close attention.
¡°Certainly, if it is within my power, I will try to complete it to the best of my ability,¡± said Akira after a few seconds of silence.
¡°Well, let''s start you with something easy. You may have noticed the main wall around the monastery has some cracks, and in some areas, the bricks have fallen or been knocked off. There is also the problem with some of the roofs that have been leaking. I am unsure whether the cause is a rotting roof or the shingles need to be replaced. If you could fix the walls and the leaking roofs it would take a load off my mind,¡± said Freid.
Ding!
Quest: Fix the walls and Roofs.
Brother Freid has asked you to help the monastery by fixing the outer walls and the roofs, as payment for eating their food and sleeping in a room for over a month for free.
Difficulty: F
Reward:
Unknown
Will you accept?:
Yes | No
|
¡°I accept,¡± Akira agreed.
¡°Wonderful! The materials you will need to complete your tasks can be found in the supply warehouse. I have a few other minor tasks we could use your help with when you are finished,¡± said Freid.
Akira left the office and walked to the warehouse, where he informed the monk on duty of his mission and what he needed to begin his work.
Thirty minutes later, he had all the supplies ready and began to work on fixing the wall. He quickly and efficiently filled the holes and cracks. He then began replacing the old and broken bricks over the course of three days.
While he was doing this, the stats that had almost all but stopped had again started to appear as he labored over the wall carrying the heavy bricks.
Ding!
Strength rises by 1 point. (+1 STR)
|
''I wonder what is the reason behind it stopping and starting again.'' thought Akira, as he moved on to his next task and began working on replacing the parts of a rotten roof, and replacing the old shingles with new ones.
''Maybe there is a diminishing return. Something like when you do something over and over again it gets harder and takes longer to get more out of it. So it might be that doing new things keeps it fresh.''
After a week of working on the projects, he went back to Freid''s office to report that the task he had been given was finally complete.
¡°Excellent! Truly you have helped us out with this. I have a small reward for you. You seem to be an adventurer of some sort, but I was told by Brother Asher that you did not have a bag to carry your items in. So I found a spare one that was not being used in the warehouse the other day. I hope you can put it to good use,¡± said Freid as he handed Akira a small leather bag.
Ding!
Quest Complete: Fix the monastery walls and Roofs.
Reward:
Small leather bag.
|
¡°Thank you, I''ll make sure it gets used a lot,¡± said Akira.
¡°Since it''s late today, please come back to my office tomorrow morning. Be sure that you are well rested when you come. I have a few more minor things that need to be taken care of,¡± said Freid with a warm smile.
¡°Certainly. If you will excuse me, I will take my leave,¡± said Akira.
Freid nodded and went back to working on his never-ending paperwork piled up all around his office.
Akira returned to his room, and after washing and eating a light dinner, he got into his bed and fell asleep quickly, due to the hard work he had done during the day.
Chapter 16: Rats
Chapter 16: Rats
After Akira finished his morning exercises, he washed the sweat off his body with a hand towel he retrieved from the basin of water.
After cleaning himself, he put on his clothes and then equipped his chest armor, sword, and his shield.
¡°Alright! I''m ready for whatever today''s quest is!¡± said Akira, fist pumping the air before leaving his room.
It was still early in the morning, so the hallways were empty because most of the monks were doing their morning devotionals. After that, a short prayer period followed before starting the day''s activities.
During his meal breaks over the last week, Akira watched the monks copy precious books by hand word for word. Some of the monks were pretty good at art, so they created or copied extremely detailed paintings that rich nobles would kill to have.
Akira continued his walk until he reached Freid''s office. He then knocked on the door just loud enough to announce his presence.
¡°Come in, the doors unlocked,¡± said Freid, his muffled voice coming from behind the door.
Akira opened the door and entered the room.
¡°Ah! It''s you, Akira. I hope you had a good night¡¯s sleep and are fully rested. That would be for the best because you can use your full strength in taking care of this problem for me,¡± said Freid.
¡°Don''t worry, I made sure to go to sleep early when I got back to my room last night. I''m in great shape thanks to your hospitality. Just let me know what you need and I can fix it for you,¡± replied Akira.
¡°Ah, there is no need for you to fix anything today. What I need your help with this time is clearing the basements of all the buildings that have been overrun by rats. It should be an easy task for you with your strength,¡± said Freid with a warm smile.
Akira felt a little put off by the task. Freid just wanted to use him for a simple rat extermination. He was wondering what kind of task he had to do. He thought that it would have been harder though. Oh well.
Quest: Rat Exterminator
Brother Freid has asked you to clear out all the [Rats] hiding in the basements of the monastery buildings.
Difficulty: F
Quest Requirement: Failure upon death
Reward: Experience
Will you accept?:
Yes | No
|
¡°I will complete this task to the best of my abilities,¡± said Akira, accepting the quest.
¡°Good! Good! You will need these keys to unlock the doors so that you can enter the basements. Be sure to remember that you must lock the doors behind you after you enter so that the rats are unable to escape. If they did, it would just cause trouble for everyone else. It would also complicate things for you because they would make the whole building their nests. Right now, they are trapped in the basement, so please keep it that way and take care of them before they cause too much trouble,¡° said Freid, while handing Akira a key ring with large brass keys.
¡°Got it, close the door behind me after I enter,¡± repeated Akira while placing the key ring on a loop of his belt.
Freid gave Akira one last bit of information before excusing him from his office, ¡°The keys also have the names of the buildings on them so that you can easily know which one to use.¡±
Akira walked down the hallway while quietly muttering to himself, ¡°What a letdown. I guess the sooner I start, the sooner it will be finished.¡±
He decided to clear out the basement of the office building first since he was already here and close to the warehouse. After a short walk to the warehouse to grab a few supplies, he returned to the office building and walked around for a bit until he found a small stairwell leading down to the basement.
Sorting through the keys, Akira found the one labeled [Office Building] and inserted it into the lock on the door.
With a click, the door unlocked and Akira hurriedly entered the room while carrying a torch to light the basements¡¯ lamps.
Ding!
Entering Hunting Ground: Office Basement.
Earn XP by fighting enemies in order to lvl up.
|
Along with the message, an image popped up on the top left side of his vision with the words [Office Basement]. Most of the top down image was grayed out, but there was a revealed area that showed a blue dot labeled with his name. The blue dot moved on the image when he moved.
¡°What kind of magic is this? It seems to be some sort of magical map,¡± Akira said in amazement.
After closing the door behind him, he quickly found and lit the lamp that was hanging from the ceiling. He then placed the torch into one of the brackets on the wall.
Looking at the map, he could see that the dark gray areas disappeared as he moved around the basement and revealed the surrounding area.
With the basement now partially lit up, he scanned the room to look for any signs of the little rats.
The basement was quite large with two rooms, but they were crammed full with shelves of boxes, books, and other important documents all over the place. This left only small isles to walk through, making the room seem small and cramped.
As Akira walked through the narrow aisles with the makeshift wooden trap he made, he noticed that most of the boxes had large holes in them that looked to have been caused by large teeth.
There was also a large circle in the middle of the first room where all the aisles and exits met together. Akira then placed his makeshift trap on the ground and added some leftover food inside it as bait.
As he stood up, he heard the sound of something moving to his right. He then walked a short distance away from the trap as quietly as he could until he could just barely see it. He was hoping that he was far enough away to not scare the rats.
Squeak!
He heard the sound of a rat, but no matter how long he waited. it didn¡¯t appear near the trap.
After wasting ten minutes, Akira finally decided to leave and go place the other traps in the rest of the basements and come back later.
He then turned around and took a few steps before he heard a loud *crunch* sound of something chewing and eating wood.
Akira turned around and looked at the trap. A rat the size of a medium-sized dog was biting on the trap that Akira had just set up. The trap was quickly being torn apart and eaten by the giant rat as it showed up as a red dot on his map with the name [Rat].
¡°What the hell!? That''s no rat!,¡± shouted Akira in surprise.
The rat was so startled by Akira''s shout, it stopped eating and stared at him from head to toe as if it was sizing him up.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
SKREEEEEE!!
The giant rat then shot towards Akira while covering a large amount of distance. Akira finally regained his senses and was just able to barely ready his shield and block the charging rat. It slammed into his shield, causing Akira to take a step backward.
¡°What the crap has this thing been eating to get so big!? Its strength isn''t normal either. Damn it, Fried said this was supposed to be a simple task,¡± complained Akira, as he used his shield to push the giant rat back a few feet.
He was then able to unsheathe his sword before the rat was able to get back up on its feet and charge at him again. This time, it aimed for his ankles.
Akira jumped back a few feet and counterattacked with his sword, stabbing the rat in front of him. It quickly dodged to the side, only receiving a small cut from the sword.
The cut seemed to make it even angrier though, as it let out a defiant screech before bolting towards Akira again, who successfully blocked the attack, but was then knocked back into a shelf. This caused a large amount of boxes to fall down behind him.
The giant rat was relentless in its storm of attacks. After slamming into Akira, it clawed at his chest clawing and unprotected legs. It then started biting his shield to try and rip it from his hands. Its sharp claws created multiple small cuts on his legs as it kicked and wrestled with Akira.
Akira took his chance while it was trying to eat his shield to counterattack. He clumsily stabbed it twice before it let go and jumped away due to the massive damage it received.
The last attacks had damaged it greatly, so sensing its doom, it tried to run away. Its unsteady legs couldn¡¯t support it due to losing too much blood though.
Akira jumped forward, nearly tripping over a box that had fallen in the fight. When Akira was in front of the rat, he slashed downwards with his sword to end its life with a final attack.
SCREEE! It gave a loud cry and continued to squirm.
''Okay, this is the final attack!...''
Not dead yet¡
''I know that this one will be the final attack...''
Still alive...
''When will this thing die?!''
Critical hit!
|
Level Up: Sword Mastery (Beginner Lv: 3 | 0%):
Increases Attack Power with a sword +3%
Increases Attack Speed with a sword +9%
|
¡Finally! After stabbing it in the head, the giant rat slumped lifelessly onto the floor, blood flowing from its wounds and creating a large pool on the ground.
The giant rats¡¯ cries of pain made him feel bad for attacking it.
Akira then bent over to catch his breath before wiping the sweat from his forehead, only to smear the blood that had gotten all over him.
His heart was racing from the unexpected fierce battle.
¡°Damn, that was tougher than I thought it would be. That must have been the leader of the rats around here. It took over ten percent of my HP. I must have gained a ton of XP from killing It,¡± said Akira.
He then looked at the new notification on the right to confirm it.
You have earned 3 XP!
|
You have also gained minor knowledge of the mob [Rat].
The more knowledge you have about a mob, the easier it is to kill, along with there being a greater chance that it will drop an item.
You can gain more knowledge by repeatedly killing the said mob.
|
He then quickly checked his stat window to see the percentage he received from killing the giant rat.
He was only 3% of the way to Lvl 2! He rubbed his eyes in disbelief before looking at the window again to make sure that the number was correct. No matter how long he stared at it, it was still only 3%.
¡°That''s insane! Giving me only three percent for such a large thing. Shouldn''t it have been more?¡± Akira asked out loud to no one in particular.
He then concentrated his gaze on the giant rat until its name and level appeared above its dead body. [Rat Lvl 1]
¡°That thing was only level one? Damn, this leveling up thing is no joke. How am I supposed to find enough of these things to level up?¡±
Squeak! Squeak!
Before he could think about anything else though, two more rats appeared that were the same size as the first one.
¡°Crap you got to be kidding me! You''re telling me that this is their normal size and not an abnormality?¡± Complained Akira, as he hastily readied his sword and shield for another fight.
Ten minutes later, he earned 6 more XP after defeating the two giant rats.
Akira then sat down on one of the shelves that toppled over in the struggle with the two giant rats.
He then read the new blinking notification.
New Skill learned:
Shield Mastery (Beginner Lv: 1 | 0%):
You know how to hold your shield to somewhat block enemy attacks.
+10% to Defense while a shield is equipped.
Unable to add bonus points into this skill.
|
After reading the notification, he heard multiple squeaks.
Sigh.
¡°This is going to take longer than I expected. At least I don¡¯t have to worry about actively seeking more of them to kill in order to farm XP and level up. Even if they aren''t the easiest things to fight.¡±
After he killed his thirty-fourth giant rat, a message window popped up along with a wonderful and giddy feeling. He felt a warm energy travel through his body causing him to feel fully refreshed, it was as if he just woke up from a long rest. All of the wounds he received from his previous fights disappeared.
Ding!
Level up! You are now Level 2.
|
Received bonus points:
Upon leveling up, all of your stats will receive one point.
You will also gain 5 free bonus points to add to whatever stats you choose.
|
Another blinking image appeared, so Akira pressed the ¡°+¡± to open it. A simplified stat window appeared, showing him the stats he could add points into and the number of points he had left to spend.
¡°I don''t know what stats to choose,¡± muttered Akira.
Ding!
Son of the Night is a class meant for defending your companions. You can also use its special skills to attack and defend at higher levels.
|
After reading the description, Akira went over all the other stat descriptions in his head and thought about the best ones that fit his fighting style and matched his class.
¡°I guess the stats I should be putting my points into are...hmm. Let''s put two into Strength to raise my attack power, then let¡¯s put two points into Vitality so it raises my HP and allows me to take more hits. The last point should be for stamina. I think that¡¯s good and should help me out the most,¡± muttered Akira, as he entered the numbers and accepted the change.
Akira then spent a few more minutes trying to find any more giant rats, but he had no such luck. He was able to see the rats as red dots on the areas of the map that he uncovered. Right now though, only his blue dot was on the map.
¡°I guess this room is cleared,¡± said Akira, with a satisfied expression on his face.
He then turned and left the basement that had almost all of its shelves knocked over. The metallic smell of the rat''s blood was starting to override the smell of old books and paper.
He continued fighting the giant rats in other basements of each of the buildings. The basement entrances for each building were all in different places because each one was built a different way. For example, the building where the monks worked on books and art had an outside entrance.
When Akira entered the basement in the building where he had been sleeping for the past week, he was shocked to see the sheer number of giant rats that were hiding under his own room. It took him all day to clear out each basement, with each one having its contents knocked over and trampled on. Blood was also splattered everywhere due to the intense fighting.
He exited the last basement that he cleared covered in sweat, blood, and dust. The sun was setting and the moon was rising. After a full day of fighting, he regained most of the fighting skill that he previously had, so that near the end of the day, he was able to defeat the giant rats without taking any damage.
He was both mentally and physically exhausted though. His rest skill could easily take care of his physical fatigue, but it couldn¡¯t get rid of his mental.
He then slowly walked to Freid''s office, hoping that he was still there so he could report to him that he completed his mission.
When he reached his office, the door was open and a light was shining from it. He walked in without knocking.
¡°That was no simple task,¡± complained Akira.
Freid smiled, ¡°Well, it looks like you¡¯re still alive. There is no need for you to worry about such small details. I¡¯m very grateful for your help in ridding us of these pests, as we monks are unable to enter the basement for some time.¡±
Ding!
Quest: Rat Exterminator Complete!
You have gained a level. You are now Lvl 4!
|
New Title: Vermin Killer! +5 Fame
One would think that you were a cat and not a Werewolf because of all the time you have spent playing with Rodents.
|
¡°You should go and clean up, you smell horrible. I''ll give you the last task I need your help in the morning. Be sure to get a good night''s sleep,¡± said Freid.
Akira was too tired to reply, so he just nodded to what Freid suggested before leaving his office and walking back to his room. Once he was there, he washed the blood off his body and made sure that he cleaned his equipment before sharpening his sword. Before jumping into bed and falling asleep, he added the bonus points he received from leveling up into strength, vitality, and stamina.
Chapter 17: Nest
Akira was eating his breakfast in his room while sitting at the desk next to his bed when he heard a knock on the door.
¡°You can come in,¡± said Akira, after quickly swallowing a mouthful of food.
The person who entered the room was Freid.
¡°Sorry to bother you so early, but I have other things to do this morning. So I decided to come over and give you the last mission before I go,¡± said Freid.
¡°It''s no problem it saves me from having to walk to your office,¡± replied Akira.
¡°There have been troubling reports from both travelers and merchants that have passed by the monastery. The reports say that the travelers have been attacked on the roads and in the surrounding areas, and the culprits seem to be the giant rats. I suspect that the rats have a nest somewhere around there. Your task is to find the nest and if there is one, you are to destroy it, along with everything inside so that there will no longer cause any more problems for our monastery and those who use the road. Since you were able to take care of the ones in the basement, you should have no problem with this mission,¡± said Freid.
Quest: Search for Rat''s nest.
You have been asked to find the nest of the [Rats] causing problems for both the monastery, travelers, and merchants.
Difficulty: F
Quest requirement: none.
Reward:
Experience
Will you accept?:
Yes | No
|
¡°I''ll do my best. If you can tell me the exact area that they have been seeing the rats, it would help me in my search for the nest,¡± said Akira.
Freid reached into his robes and pulled out a medium-sized scroll of paper and unrolled it to reveal a well-drawn map of the surrounding area. Laying it down on the desk, he pointed to a spot in the upper right corner above the monastery on the map.
¡°The most reports we have had indicate that it should be somewhere here in these hills. That''s all the information I know as of now. We have only started to receive the reports of the sightings this last week. You can keep the map, as we have plenty of them,¡± replied Freid.
¡°Thank you. I''ll get started when I finish eating,¡± said Akira.
Freid nodded his head and left the room without saying another word.
Akira studied the map, taking in the all the markings, villages, and environment. It only showed the west part of the Kingdom of Freeopia. Even so, it was a precious thing to have and he wondered where the original copy had come from.
When he finishing eating, he equipped his leather chest piece, sword, and shield, before heading out to the gates of the monastery.
As there were no guards currently at the gates, he had to open and close them himself.
Surveying the area in front of him, he could see the vast plains that went on and on to the east and the south. The hills he was looking for were to the north of the monastery.
After gaining his bearings Akira set off on a quick paced walk towards the small hills rising in the distance.
It only took him an hour to reach the first of the hills. He began searching each hill as he passed looking for any sign of the rats.
Another hour of searching passed, Akira was nearing what seemed to be the middle of the hills when he found the ruins of an old building. After a short and cautious search inside, he found nothing of interest. There was no nest inside, nor was there any trace of the giant rats.
As he walked back out, he noticed footprints on the ground leading to the backyard of the house. Akira followed the footprints to a small hill with wildly grown bushes and large rocks.
The footprints disappeared into the bushes.
He walked up to the bushes and unsheathed his sword and started hacking away at the bushes. After removing the obstacles in his way a small hole in the ground just big enough for a human to enter that had been hidden by the rocks and the bushes could now be seen.
Akira gave a fist pump and said,¡°Jackpot. Found the nest. It didn''t take that long to find it either.¡±
As Akira walked closer to the hole, a message popped into his vision.
Quest updated: Search for Rat''s nest.
You have found the newly formed dungeon [Rat''s nest Rank F] This dungeon has been causing problems in the area. Clear the dungeon to complete the quest.
Difficulty: E
Quest requirement: Failed if you are killed.
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''What, a dungeon? This is not good! If it''s not taken care of, it could lead to an overflow. I don''t know if I can clear this on my own although the dungeon is quite new. I better go back and see if I can get some help. At the very least, I need to get some more supplies before attempting to clear it,'' Akira thought to himself.
He memorized a few of the area¡¯s features so he could find it again and left quickly backtracking to the monastery and reaching his destination after an hour and a half.
Akira went to Freid¡¯s office to see if he had returned from whatever business he had to do in the morning, so he could ask for help and supplies.
Freid was busily working on paperwork and gave short answers to Akira''s request. He refused any help as the monastery needed the only two guards it had. Instead, he agreed to let Akira take the supplies he needed for the mission.
Akira left the office and went to his room to get the small bag he had not had a chance to use yet, and then walked to the warehouse where he piled up a large amount of food and herbs for healing.
He filled up a few water skins at the well and began to place everything into the small bag.
As he was doing this a window appeared with a Ding! The name at the top of the window was [Small bag inventory]. There were five rows of ten slots and the food and water were taking up two of the slots. There was a number next to each of the images of the food and water, it was the exact amount he had put into the bag.
Small bag:
This is a common small bag. There are 50 slots to hold the user''s items. Multiple of the same item will stack and only take up 1 slot. Each slot is able to stack up to 100 of the same item.
Foods and other perishable items are able to stay fresh for a longer period of time while in the bag.
|
¡°What? This bag is magical!? I thought Freid said it was just an old spare?¡± Akira shouted in surprise at the amazing magical bag in his hands.
Akira put his hand into the bag and rummaged around inside. The space inside seemed to be enormously larger then what the actual size of the small bag. It was so big his full arm was swallowed up by the bag and he still couldn''t touch the bottom.
¡°This is too weird, I should go and check in with Freid, to see if this bag was given to me by accident,¡± said Akira.
After reaching the office, he knocked on the door and entered after hearing Freid''s voice.
Not wasting any time, Akira asked about the small bag, ¡°I thought you said this was an old surplus bag, but it seems to be a magical bag. I have a lot of items in it right now and it can still hold a lot more.¡±
¡°What? Let me see,¡± said Freid.
Akira handed over the bag that was still as light as it was before he had added the food water and herbs inside.
Freid opened the bag his hand felt the inside of the bag and then he looked inside.
¡°The bag is empty. I''m not sure why you''re fooling around here when you have to take care of that dungeon. If that''s all you wanted to say, then I need to get back to my paperwork, which doubled because someone had to go and get large amounts of blood on old documents that were in storage,¡± said Freid with a stern look at Akira.
¡°Huh? ...Um, sorry for bothering you,¡± said Akira confused while he received the bag back from Freid and exited the room.
He looked inside the bag and saw everything was still inside. ''Can no one other than me see the items inside the bag?'' thought Akira as he walked through the courtyard and out gates heading back towards the Rat nest dungeon.
***
Akira was able to easily find the dungeon again. He sat down outside the dungeon to rest and eat lunch before entering the dungeon.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°Got to be at full power when I enter, otherwise it might cause me problems,¡± said Akira as he closed his eyes and rested for a few minutes until he felt fully recharged and ready to fight.
Standing up he drew his sword and readied his shield. After making one last check over his equipment, he jumped into the hole. It was a short enough fall that he did not receive any damage.
Ding!
You Are the first to discover and enter the [Rat''s nest] Dungeon.
Fame: +10
XP and loot drops have increased by 50% for 24 hrs.
|
¡°Sweet, more XP for just being the first to enter. I wonder what it means by loot drop,¡± said Akira.
The air seemed to be thicker and harder to breathe, and it took Akira a few minutes to fully adjust to it.
In the top left of his vision, he could see a grayed out map of the dungeon. He really did love the magical map as it made it so much easier to navigate the areas he had already discovered and not get lost.
As Akira''s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he scanned the area around him for any danger. The room he was in was empty. On the stone walls, he could see an odd type of moss was growing. It was giving off a dim light that was lighting up the room.
¡°Well, this moss sure makes everything easier for me, no need to fumble around with a torch.¡±
Akira readied his sword and shield and started walking forward. Leaving the room he dropped down into, he entered a small dimly lit pathway that led to another open door further ahead. While moving forward, the grayed out map began to reveal itself.
As he drew nearer to the room''s entrance, he began to hear many screeches coming from the inside of the room alerting him to the presence of his enemy.
Just outside of the entrance, Akira took a few deep breaths and readied himself before running into the room. With a quick scan as he entered, he was able to count five giant rats.
Continuing his charge at the surprised giant rats, he jumped forward and used a powerful swing to cut at the nearest giant rat¡¯s head.
The attack was able to cleanly cut off the head before it or any of the others could react.
A message popped up with the XP earned. He ignored it. turning and again he charged forward to attack the remaining four left enemies in the room.
Skreeeeeeeee! x4.
The giant rats enraged at being attacked by an intruder and seeing one of their own getting killed so easily, all jumped at Akira in a joint attack.
Akira who already had a large amount of experience fighting the giant rats due to killing hundreds of them the other day, was now able to dodge the initial attacks by rolling out of the way and leaping back to his feet. He readied his shield just in time to block the wild attacks of the giant rats.
Needing to buy himself a bit of breathing room, he swung his shield in front of him. It the shield slammed into the giant rats, knocking them back and causing them to be stunned for a short period.
Ding!
A new skill has been created!
Shield Bash (Beginner: Lvl 1 | 0.00%)
A skill used to knock back enemies while doing minor damage(10) and stunning them for a short period depending on the enemy''s size.
Skill usage cost: 20 Mana.
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¡°What''s this shield bash? Did I just created a new skill?¡± asked Akira.
As soon as he said the name of the skill, his shield arm began to move on its own. A dim light emitted from his shield and smashed into one of the giant rats that had regained its feet and was about to attack him.
''Whoa, what was that? Was that the skill? I only said the name and it activated.'' thought Akira while he blocked another attack. He quickly killed the attacking rat by stabbing his sword through its eye into its brain.
¡°Shield Bash,¡± said Akira testing out if the skill would activate again. It did, smashing into two of the three rats trying to attack him.
He parried the third rats bite with his sword. The giant rat bit down onto the sword trying to break it with its powerful teeth.
Akira''s muscles bulged as he used all his strength to pull his sword out of the jaws of the giant rat. He succeeded and in the process killed the rat by sliced off the top half of its head.
Akira ran towards the last two giant rats that were just now recovering from being stunned and attacked twice cutting one of them in half.
¡°Shield Bash!¡± shouted Akira swinging his shield that was emitting a dim light and smashing it into the last giant rat.
He continued to use skill Shield Bash to see how many times he could use it until he received a message alerting him that he did not have enough stamina to use the skill.
¡°Interesting,¡± said Akira. He then quickly killed the last giant rat that had been nearly bludgeoned to death from Akira using the skill [Shield Bash] multiple times.
Akira quickly scanned the room to see if there were any more giant rats, waiting to jump out at him, he also checking the map in the top left corner of his vision before sitting down with a sigh of relief.
''The dungeon air is much harder to breath making fighting even harder.'' Akira thought while drinking some water from a waterskin, he continued resting to regain his stamina.
A short time later, he got up and moved to the other side of the room where the exit was and looked through the doorway. Just another hallway leading to a room at the end.
He followed the path cautiously until the hallway began to open up and he could see steps leading down to a platform at the bottom of the large domed room.
Akira gasped and his breath stopped for a moment as he saw what was standing on the platform at the bottom of the room.
Staring at the creature brought up its name and level.[Mother Rat: Lvl 5]
The mother rat was the size of three giant rats combined. Its back was filled with odd-looking ancient runes.
¡°That must be the root of the problem,¡± muttered Akira quietly.
Apparently, it wasn''t quiet enough as the giant mother rat turned its head to look at Akira.
The mother rat let out a loud Skreeee! As if communicating orders three giant rats that Akira had not noticed before started to run up the stairs towards him.
He intercepted them and was able to kill each of them in under a minute, receiving the small amount of XP that they gave.
Seeing this the mother rat became enraged and started to stomp the ground repeatedly in rage casing the ground to vibrate. Turning her body towards Akira, she started to swiftly run up the stairs, loud thuds sounded out each time it moved a foot.
Akira stood at the top of the wide stairs to keep his advantage of the high ground. Before the mother rat reached the top Akira shouted out, ¡°Shield Bash!¡±
His shield slammed into the face of the mother rat, knocked her down a few steps. Immediately, she got back up and ran forward her eyes set on Akira, now even more enraged.
''So I guess this monster is too big to stun,'' Akira quickly thought.
He readied his shield and blocked the charge, but instead of standing firm, he was thrown off his feet into the wall behind him and had the wind knocked out of him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the HP bar had gone down slightly from being slammed into the wall.
''That was a stupid idea,'' thought Akira as he tried to regain his feet and breath. The mother rat did not allow it, using its tail, it knocked Akira of his unsteady feet and back onto the ground. He was forced to roll forward down the steps in order to escape the oncoming claw attack of the mother rat.
With an angry cry, she turned around and followed right behind him as fast as her legs would allow.
Akira reached the bottom of the steps and dizzily rolled into a stance allowing him to stand up with the momentum and dash a few more feet away from the bottom of the stairs.
The mother rat lunged at him from the middle of the stairs, its mouth wide open intending to bite off his head with its large teeth.
Akira sidestepped and stabbed his sword into its side with his full strength. He quickly jumped back to distance himself, using the motion to pull his sword out of the wound, causing a large amount of blood to spill out continuously.
The mother rat spun around its eyes flashing with rage in the dim light. Slashing out with its claws, it swiped at Akira''s sword arm.
¡°Shield Bash!¡±
Akira''s shield intercepted the oncoming paw and knocked it away unbalancing the mother rat for a few seconds.
Akira took the chance to attack and stabbed near its heart twice and then distancing himself.
The large body of the rat mother was leaking blood at an extremely fast rate. Its legs quivered for a moment as it tried to stay standing but it fell to the ground and did not move again.
¡°Phew that was tough,¡± said Akira. He turned around to check and see if there were any other enemies in the area and found nothing else.
He looked at the map and saw a red dot moving towards him it almost on top of him. Before he could fully react, his back was attacked by a large claw piercing his leather armor and causing four shallow wounds on his back.
He was knocked forward by a second swipe from a claw behind him, sending him rolling a few times before he could regain his feet to see what had attacked him.
It was the mother rat. It was still standing although heavily wounded. With a screech, it charged after him again.
''Damn it! I have gotten a little too rusty, to keep making so many mistakes. Get ahold of yourself,'' Akira berated himself.
Sidestepping the rampaging mother rat, he swung his sword down, aiming to cut open its side but the attack missed its intended mark and ended up slicing off half of the tail.
The mother rat whirled around in a frenzy and attacked him with its sharp claw. Gritting his teeth from the pain in his back, Akira managed to block the attack with his shield and a moment later, jabbed his sword out successfully piercing the mother rats right eye and sinking deep into its brain.
Ding!
You have killed the dungeon''s boss [Mother rat].
Level up! You are now Lvl 5!
Fame+5
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Quest Complete: Search for Rat''s nest.
You have cleared the dungeon.
Level up you are now Lvl 6!
Fame +15
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¡°I guess I should learn from this and not let my guard down until the XP rolls in,¡± said Akira falling to the ground with the heavy dead body of the mother rat while breathing heavily.
Akira''s breathing quickly returned to normal he felt a deep warmth washing over the pain as his wounds were healed from leveling up, along with his energy being restored to its max.
The mother rats body began to disappear like dust in the wind. In its place, a small colorful stone was left on the ground along with what looked to be a small pile of copper coins.
Standing up, he walked over to the items on the ground taking a closer look at them.
''Where did these come from? I''m sure I would have noticed them laying on the ground during the fight,'' thought Akira. He reached down and picked up the stone to inspect it.
When he touched it a window appeared.
A Magic stone. Has a rare chance of dropping from enemies that you kill.
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The floor began to shake reminding Akira that since the dungeon had been cleared, it would soon collapse in on itself.
''I can inspect it later but I need to get out of here.''
Stuffing the magic stone into his bag he started to hurriedly pick up the copper coins. With the last coin thrown into his bag, he took one last look around the large domed room scanning for any other valuables but found nothing.
He ran back up the stairs and towards the entrance, through the short hallway and into the room where the giant rats had first attacked him. He noticed that the bodies had disappeared from the room only blood remained and that to was slowly being absorbed by the walls and the ground.
Upon reaching the entrance, Akira quickly grabbed onto some vines and climbed out of the hole.
The wind blew against his sweaty face the air around him became much less dense and became easier to breathe.
After a few minutes of rest on a nearby stone along with a drink of water and eating a bit of food, he began his walk back to the Monastery.
He could hear the sound of the collapsing dungeon behind him as he continued onward.
Chapter 18: Hop along
While Akira was walking back to the monastery he quickly put his bonus points into Strength, Stamina, and Vitality.
Akira opened his stat window to check his current condition.
Character Name
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Akira
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Race
|
Werewolf
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Fame
|
30
|
Level
|
6: 0.00%
|
Profession
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Son Of The Night
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Title
|
Vermin killer
|
Health
|
280
|
Mana
|
160
|
Strength
|
31
|
Vitality
|
28
|
Stamina
|
24
|
Agility
|
16
|
Intelligence
|
14
|
Wisdom
|
16
|
Attack
|
5-6(+3)
|
Defense
|
17
|
Endurance
|
7
|
|
|
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+ 5% Buff to Stamina and strength at night.
|
¡°Wow! The numbers of all the stats have moved up a lot rather quickly. I did feel like I was getting stronger, but now that I can see it in numbers I can really tell,¡± said Akira while studying the stats.
Closing the window, he continued walking, thinking of what he should do now that he had gained his full strength back and repaid the monks for their help.
''Ah! I need to go and meet with Yuki and Grand,'' Akira thought to himself. ''How could I have forgotten about that? I guess I was too wound up in gaining more strength and leveling up.''
***
After sitting in Freid''s office and listening to his long speech thanking him for his help, Akira returned to his room for one last night before leaving the next day.
He packed the small number of belongings he had acquired over the short period of his stay into the small bag. It was mainly just a few new pairs of clothes and other mundane items.
Akira looked at his leather chest armor that was once again in tatters from the fight with the giant rats and the largest problem was the large slash on the back.
¡°This is just becoming a mess I really need to get something better when I get some more money. It won''t last forever, I can¡¯t keep patching it up,¡± said Akira with a sigh as he began mending the leather armor.
After sharpening his sword and fixing his shield, he ate a small dinner and went to sleep.
***
Akira waved goodbye to the monks of the monastery, who were standing at the gate waving back and wished him luck on his journey, hoping that it would be safe and successful.
He was very thankful for all the help he had received from them, the food and a place to sleep that allowed him to regain his strength again in such a short time.
Turning around, he began walking north following the road that would lead him towards the dwarven cities, carrying all of his belongings inside his small bag.
¡°I was too careless with my time. Hopefully Yuki and Grand will still be waiting when I reach the meeting place,¡± said Akira.
He continued walking for a week, camping near the roadside each night. He had little problem with food or water as he had stocked up on an extremely large amount at the monastery.
There was so much food and water that it would have needed a wagon to carry if he did not have his small magic bag, without even feeling the slightest bit heavy. It was truly a magnificent magical item. Even if Brother Freid claimed it was just a normal bag.
At night, while sitting next to the campfire, he worked on creating a crude wooden spoon and fork with a small carving knife. The following nights after he created a plate, soup bowl, and a cup. All of it was carved from dry dead wood he found while traveling during the day.
While traveling on the road, he did not meet another person during the day nor did he meet any monsters at night.
¡°Now that I have everything I need, I can stop eating with my bare hands. With these I can have more of a variety in the things I eat,¡± said Akira nodding his head with a happy smile. He looked as if he had found a rare artifact while he gazed at his crudely carved items laid out in front of him, each catching the light of the small fire.
He placed his new treasures back into his bag and pulled out his map. Studying the map for a while with the help of the dimming firelight, he had a rough estimate of where he was. If his calculations were correct, he would be arriving at a small farming city within a day or two.
He would be able to replenish some of his supplies, with the meager amount of money that brother Freid had given him as a bonus for clearing the dungeon along with the copper, he found in the dungeon. His current money amounted to 37 silver and 50 copper. Along with supplies, there might be some news of Rodger and Brutus or the kingdoms reaction to his escape. Although the chance of that would be rare for such news to reach such a small remote town.
Stuffing the map back into the bag and carrying the bag back into his tent to go to sleep.
By late afternoon the next day, Akira could see the fields of wheat and vegetables. Farmers were out tilling the ground with farm animals, weeding the vegetables, and finishing up the days work.
As he walked closer to the city, the field workers began to notice him and stopped their work to stare at him seeing his armor and sword at his hip, sizing him up as he passed to see if he would start to cause trouble for them.
A few younger teens ran off to the town to report to the town leaders that a traveler had appeared and would soon arrive.
When Akira reached the small town¡¯s gate, which was little more than a large wooden fence, a few men with leather armor that was even shabbier than his, stood in front of the gate hands resting on slightly rusty swords.
An old man with a gray beard stepped forward.
¡°Greetings traveler. I am the village chief here. May I ask where you''re coming from and where you''re headed?¡± asked the old man coughing at the end of his sentence.
¡°I have come from the monastery a little over a weeks travel from here. I''m headed for the dwarf mountains. May I ask what''s with all the unusual security measures?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The monastery you say. Sorry to trouble you but there has been news of a group of foreign mercenaries terrorizing towns. The reports do not paint them in a good light. They have been using questionable tactics while looking for someone. Lucky they haven''t come this far south yet. We have enough of our own problems to deal with, let alone having to add them on top of our other worries. You should be careful while traveling farther north as they might stop you and cause problems,¡± said the old man. He was still staring at Akira along with the other guards behind him who still had their hands on their weapons ready to take action if Akira made any aggressive move.
¡°Thank you for the information elder. I was wondering if I could restock a few of my supply''s that are low at the general shop in your town? Is there an inn that I can stay at for the night?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I am sorry if it is food you are looking for, we are unable to offer any up as we have been having problems with the harvest. We have little for ourselves as most of what we had, has already gone to the capital as payment for taxes,¡± replied the old man.
A young girl shyly poked her head around the narrowly opened gate and stared at Akira a second before running up to the old man trying to hide behind him. She looked to be almost skin and bones.
¡°Grandpa, Grandma wanted me to ask you what was the cause of all the fuss outside. She told me to bring you back,¡± said the shy little girl.
¡°Tell grandma I''ll be back when I''m back,¡± said the old man with a dismissive tone putting on a show for the others around.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°Really?¡± asked the girl whispering to the old man.
¡°No, grandpa might get in trouble if you said that. Just tell her that I''ll back soon,¡± he whispered back.
Akira with his heightened hearing was able to hear the whispers while the others could not.
The old man turned back the Akira after the girl ran off, ¡°We do not have an inn here as our town is too small and rarely have any travelers other than the fall merchants. I have a small guest room that you can stay the night in and have a meal provided for a three silver,¡± said the old man.
Akira pulled out three silver coins from his bag reluctantly and handed them over to the elderly man. The guards loosened their grips on their weapons as they deemed Akira was not a threat.
¡°Many thanks. Every little bit helps during the hard times. I can show you around our small town and show you to the shops,¡± said the old man giving a small bow to Akira.
Being led to the shops Akira was able to buy what he needed. He was then brought to a medium sized one-story house in the middle of the city.
Akira followed the village chief up a short stone pathway and into the house. He was led down a hallway and into a small room furnished with the basics, a bed, table with a washbasin, and a chest.
¡°This is the room you will be using for the night. Dinner will be ready soon, you need to wash up before you come to the dinner table, otherwise, you''ll get yelled at by my wife,¡± said the chief before leaving the room.
Akira stored his bag in the chest after taking out some clean clothes.
When he finished washing and was putting on new clothes he heard a knock at the door.
¡°Just a minute,¡± shouted Akira.
¡°Grandmother told me to tell you that dinner is ready,¡± came the voice of the village chief''s granddaughter that could just barely be heard through the door even with his good hearing. A second later, he heard feet running away before he could answer.
Akira freshly washed, joined the village chief, his wife, and granddaughter at the table, sitting in the empty chair next to the village chief.
The family gave a short prayer of thanks for the food before the elderly grandmother ladled out a vegetable soup to go along with a thick slice of freshly baked potato bread.
¡°Sorry that there''s no meat. Like I said before, we haven''t had a good year with the harvest and taxes don''t help,¡± apologized the chief.
¡°Don''t worry about it, this is more than enough,¡± said Akira as he put a spoonful of the soup into his mouth, the flavor and warmth seeped into his body causing him to relax slightly. ¡°It tastes really good ma''am.¡±
¡°Oh, you flatter. You sure know how to compliment an old lady,¡± said the grandmother with a smile.
¡°I hope I am not intruding on the towns personal business, but I''m curious about what is the cause of your problems with the recently failed crops you mentioned before?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s those damned bunnies. They have been eating everything that grows and is not guarded over every second of the day,¡± grumbled the chief stabbing his spoon into his soup angrily.
¡°Oh so that''s how it is, animals causing problems. Have you tried to hunt them to lessen the numbers?¡±
¡°We have. But it has done nothing but caused more problems. We can''t find their burrow, and they seem to breed like crazy. They are nearly overrunning the field, eating everything they can get their teeth on.¡±
¡°Well, I do have a little bit of experience with exterminating unwanted pest. If you like I could try and take care of the problem.¡±
¡°Really? We don''t have much money or food to repay you though. The bunnies are truly vicious. One of the hunting dogs went into a group of them to try and chase them away but he was immediately eaten alive. The sight and sounds still haunt me. There was nothing left of him but a small puddle of blood and gnawed bones on the ground. It happened to fast to do anything. Since then we have been trying to keeping our distance.¡±
Ding! A quest window popped up.
Quest: Clear the fields of Bunnies.
You have learned of the hardships the village chief has had due to [Blood Bunnies] Find and clear them from the fields.
Difficulty: E
Quest requirement: Failed if you are killed.
Reward:
Experience
Will you accept?:
Yes | No
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¡°Trust me, I think I can handle something like this for you. Just show me where they are and I can clear them from the fields and destroy their burrow,¡± said Akira.
¡°Wonderful! Then I will show you tomorrow where the mass of the bunnies has been for the last few days,¡± said the chief slapping Akira hard on the back, causing him to spill some of his soup on his spoon.
***
Akira stood in a vegetable patch, fully equipped with his shield sword and leather chest armor.
All around him were vegetables that had been gnawed on and half eaten by the bunnies. He could see the small culprits were the cause of all the villages problems 30 to 40 ft ahead of where he stood.
¡°They don''t look so violent, they actually seem pretty cute,¡± said Akira quietly to himself while inching closer to them.
As he neared them, the ears of one of the bunnies he was watching began twitching, its head popped up and looked over to where Akira was standing.
Akira entered the staring contest with the bunny, slowly placing his hand on his sword. Above its head, he could see its name and level. [Blood bunny lvl 4]
Its black eyes were staring at him for a less a ten seconds before it began creating a thump with its hind legs and started screaming. Its eyes changed from a dark black into a deep blood red.
Multiple bunnies from the nearby surroundings were alerted by the thumps and scream. Soon there was a swarm of bunnies surrounding him all screaming and thumping their hind legs, looking at Akira with their eyes flashing red.
¡°This seems A bit harder then I imagined,¡± said Akira under his breath.
As if his voice was a command, the bunnies burst forward with their strong legs hopping forward at an extremely fast speed.
Trying to clear a path out of the swarm, he used a [Shield bash] against the mob in front of him, killing a small number with the skill and knocking the rest away wounding them.
''Their defense seems to be weaker than the rats from before but they make up for with the numbers.''
The area he had just cleared was soon filled again with more bunnies, Crouching down, he leaped forward, flying over the heads of the sea of blood bunnies trying to escape the encirclement.
Landing on the outside of the group, he ran a few steps forward before turning around and continually slashed his sword in front of him where the majority of the bunnies were swarming towards him in a wave of cute but bloodthirsty fur balls.
Slicing multiple enemies each time, while continuously retreating, trying to keep a distance, lest he is surrounded again.
Ding!
New skill created!
Sword Slash (Beginner: LvL 1 | 0.00%)
A simple skill that sends the sword slashing in the direction it is pointed. Deals a small amount of damage.
Able to hit multiple foes with a single attack dealing the same damage to each.
Skill usage cost: 20 mana.
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''Sweet!'' thought Akira. Almost forgetting he was being chased by a bunch of rabid bunnies.
A few of the blood bunnies had caught up to him and latched onto his shield, and started chewing on the edges and falling off when they bit all the way through. Few others tried to bite his legs and other unprotected body parts.
Using [Shield bash] while retreating Akira was able to knock off the one that was still clinging to his shield.
''Let''s try out this new skill.''
[Sword slash!] A bright light flew from the tip of the sword and traveled forward in a short arc slicing a large number bunnies in half.
''Damn this skill is powerful!''
Akira continued to fight with the mass of bunnies slowly whittling down their numbers. Looking at his mana bar, he could see that it would be empty soon. There were only a few blood bunnies left that he could see.
He quickly killed the remaining enemies with regular swings from his sword.
Ding!
Level up! Current level is 7.
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Quest updated: Clear the blood bunnies burrows.
Now that you have cleared the field of the [Blood Bunnies], you must search for and destroy their burrows to stop them from breeding and retaking the fields.
Difficulty: E
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After resting for a short time to regain his mana and stamina, Akira began his search to search for any and bunny holes in the ground. After an hour of searching, he found the burrows in a nearby small wooded area.
Ding
Entered hunting ground: Blood Bunny''s domain.
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Akira was able to easily find all of the holes once the area of his search was narrowed down. He began to gather twigs, pieces of dried wood, and leaves from the ground and began filling the holes and lighting them on fire leaving only one hole as an exit.
The blood bunnies inside of the burrow were frightened by the fire and smoke, causing them to all try to escape through the one hole that was not blocked by fire.
Although there was a large number of blood bunnies inside the burrow the narrow hole they were escaping from cause it to be an easy slaughter for Akira who was waiting for them.
***
It was getting dark when Akira finished gathering all the spoils of war into a large pile. He started to walk to the town to report to the village chief and show the results of the fight.
Ding!
Quest complete!
Level up! Current level is 8.
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¡°Sorry, we are unable to offer you any money or food. But we can give you a few other items that may help you in your travels. If you can wait here for a short while, I can find something,¡± said the village chief after Akira finished reporting the success of the task given.
A short time later, he came back carrying two items.
¡°I noticed your clothes and armor aren''t in the best shape so I asked around and was able to get a pair of leather armor pants and a metal headband. They may not seem like much but I am sure they will come in handy for you,¡± said the village chief handing over the leather armor pants and metal headband.
Leather pants(common):
Durability: 22/23 | Defense 5
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Metal headband(common):
Durability: 20/20 | Defense 2
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¡°Thank you! I gladly receive these gifts you have given me,¡± replied Akira with a short bow.
Ding!
New title gained!
Cute Bunny Slaughter
You must not like cute bunnies with the amount you have killed.
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¡°What is up with these titles?¡±
¡°Pardon me?¡± asked the village chief puzzled at the question.
¡°Ah, nothing. Just talking to myself. What do you want to do with the meat and the fur?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Well, unfortunately, there isn''t much we can do with the fur as most of its been ruined from being cut in half. We might be able to figure out something unless you want to take it yourself?¡± asked the chief looking at Akira questioningly.
¡°I have no need for any of it. So you can use it however you see fit. It may help you get out of the rut you guys are in.¡±
¡°Thank you so much!¡± said the village chief as he bowed lowly.
¡°Do you mind if I spend another night at your house. I can pay another 3 silver if it is needed,¡± asked Akira.
¡°Of course you can! I would be delighted to have you for another night. There''s no need to pay for all the help you have done for us, it''s the least bit I can do,¡± said the chief while leading him back to his house.
Chapter 19: Paranoia and Exotic Cooking
Akira left the village at dawn the next morning, getting up along with the farmers who went out into the fields to begin their daily work.
Even though they had more work to do now that the fields were free of the Blood bunnies, They moved about with more energy and high spirits as they worked.
The people cheered and waved him goodbye wishing him a safe journey as he passed them.
He picked up his walking speed as he left the fields and could no longer see the small village.
He hoped that they would like the surprise he had left them. Looking at his nearly empty inventory the large amount of food he had packed had dwindled down to only a weeks worth of food. The rest had gone to a good cause.
Akira opened the stat window and quickly added his bonus points to the proper stats. Before closing the window he looked at the new title he had been given the day before.
¡°I wonder how this thing works and why it gives out these weird titles. Maybe there''s someone watching me and using some sort of magic,¡± said Akira while trying to stealthily look around to see if anyone was near him or looking at him. He failed at being stealthy and ended up looking like he had a bad twitch.
Nothing there just an empty road and wide plains.
Ding!
Would you like to add the Paranoia stat?
Paranoia: affects the users'' mind. The higher the stat is the more they see and hear things that are not there.
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¡°What the #$%^! No, I do not want that stat. How does it know what I am doing all the time? You could at least come up with better titles,¡± shouted Akira to no one but the air, and continued to quietly grumble about the subject.
If anyone had been walking near him they would have tried to get as far away from the guy who had lost his marbles, shouting crazily into the air and arguing with himself.
Akira traveled north staying the night at the small villages he passed, always asking for and receiving the most up to date news sometimes hearing the whereabouts of Brutus and Rodger.
Nighttime.
Akira sat at his campfire watching the meat of a land bird he had caught slowly cook.
He could still smell the blood of the bird coming from a small hole he made to toss the innards, unused material, and other trash.
The bush behind Akira began to shake causing Akira to turn around take a cautious look to see what was causing the bush to move. Two small glowing red eyes stared back at him. A little above the red eyes a name appeared.
[Lvl 8: Tricky Red Fox]
Akira slowly stood and garbed his shield and sword that had been resting beside him.
Seeing his movement four more sets of eyes appeared in the bush. Five [Tricky Red Foxes] leaped out of the bush heading straight for Akira two flanked him on his left and two on his right they continued to lunge at him. While the fifth fox ran past him not attacking.
The foxes nimbly evaded his attacks, jumped at him and then quickly retreating out of his reach. One of the foxes slipped up and jumped too far forward, Akira taking this chance to land an attack was able to lop off its head with a swift swing of the sword using [Sword Slash].
After seeing this one of the foxes out of his reach let out a loud scream multiple times, then turned around running into the bushes with the other two that had been attacking and escaped.
Akira whipped around quickly scanning the area to see where the fifth fox was, but he was unable to find it.
Akira cautiously checked his surroundings for a few more minutes making sure the foxes had really left for good, before picking up the dead [Tricky Red Fox''s] body and returning to the campfire.
When he sat back down he looked at the campfire to see the bird that had been cooking over the fire was missing.
¡°Those damn Fox stole my food!¡± said Akira to amazed at what had happened to be too mad. Four of them had distracted him while the fifth stole the cooking bird.
Looking around to see if anything else was missing he discovered that his bag had been opened, but after a quick look at his inventory, it seemed nothing had been taken.
Akira stomach grumbled. He looked at the dead fox that was laying next to him.
¡°I don''t know if you can eat monsters, I''ve never heard any stories saying you can''t. I guess I could see if I can cook it. This will be a new experience I wonder how it will taste,¡± said Akira mouth drooling at the thought of eating a new type of roasted meat.
Akira dismantled the red fox, separating the fur from its body andthen processed the meat. After placing the waste into the trash hole he buried it. He quickly placed the meat on the stick hanging over the fire. Every few minutes he turned the meat to evenly cook it.
As it was slowly cooking the aroma escaped the meat and filled the surrounding air with a scent that could make anyone''s mouth water. The meat was almost done turning a dark gold. The fire was creating sizzling sounds as the juices of the meat dripped down from above.
¡°I think it''s done, it at least looks and smells good enough to eat,¡± said Akira as he carefully pulled the piping hot meat off the stick and onto his plate to let it cool down, licking his hands that had a bit of grease on it.
After waiting a few seconds he sliced a piece of meat off and stabbed it with his fork bringing the steaming meat to his mouth, after blowing on it a twice he shoved it in his mouth and chewed it.
¡°Hmm, it''s an interesting taste. Don''t know what it is, but it has a bit of a spicy flavor to it, even with nothing special added.¡±
He was able to finish eating the meat in no time, licking his fingers and rubbing his stomach in satisfaction.
He cleaned his tools and utensils before putting them away.
Burrrp!
¡°Ugghhh my stomach feels a bit upset. Maybe it wasn''t such a good idea to eat that me...¡±
Bleagh!!
After his stomach stopped heaving Akira weakly crawled to his tent with the last bit of strength he had and passed out falling onto his bedroll.
***
Akira woke up with his head pounding and body aching. The fading sunlight was shining through the open tent flap, agitating his eyes. The sound of a nearby chirping bird was torture to his ears.
His empty stomach growled as if to demand that it be fed.
¡°Note to self, don''t eat [Tricky Red Fox],¡± grumbled Akira as he sat up holding his aching head in his hands.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
When his blurry eyes cleared he noticed a few message windows had popped up.
New skill created:
Exotic cooking (Beginner: Lvl 1 | 0.00%):
Allows the unique cooking of parts of monsters and other plants to make various foods that may give stat buffs.
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Warning!
Eating food and drinks created with this skill may be dangerous unless you have the proper poison resistance.
What do you expect when eating the meat from monsters.
|
Lesser poison resistance gained :
Able to withstand lesser poison the effects of stronger minor poison are lessened by 10%.
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¡°That explains it all. Stupid thing for me to do! I could have died. Looking on the bright side of things, if the description is right it should be safe to eat things like the [Tricky Red Fox] now. Well, let''s leave it as a last resort.¡±
Reaching for his bag he pulled out a small loaf of bread and some water to fill his stomach and quench his thirst.
¡°Ah.. that feels better,¡± said Akira as he stood up with a full belly and began to exercise and stretch his sore body.
Looking outside the tent the sun was setting indicating he had slept through the night and most of the day.
''Might as well travel a bit tonight,'' thought Akira. He put his belongings into his bag and took down the tent also storing it inside.
While getting ready an idea popped into his head.
''I haven''t used my werewolf form since the last time I was forced to fight against those scouts. The main reason is due to the restriction of only being able to use it at night and being around other people. There is also the problem with it using a lot of stamina to fast. I want to try transforming again, but I''m not too sure on how to do it. The last two times it just happened. Like an instinct, a gut feeling,'' thought Akira while trying to remember the sensation and pleading with himself to transform.
It happened immediately his body quickly began to change growing taller. The muscles on his body, legs, and arms began expanding and growing thicker, stretching his leather armor. Black fur covered his body the moonlight shined down on it giving off a dark luster. His teeth and fingernails became sharp tools useful for slicing and tearing.
The transformation only took a few seconds to complete. He felt no pain as his body grew, unlike during his first two transformations.
Akira could feel his body was now quickly clearing the lingering aftereffects of the poison, causing all his discomfort to go away.
''I must have a higher regeneration while in this form,'' thought Akira.
The strength running through his body made him feel like he could jump to the moon.
Akira arched his back and left out a loud howl of pleasure into the night. Any person passing by would have been scared stiff by the sound.
Just to test his strength he crouched down and jumped into the air launching himself 50ft into the air. He clumsily crashed landed face first on the ground, quickly standing up as if nothing happened.
¡°Yeah I might want to work on the landings, can''t look stupid in front of other people,¡± said Akira.
Akira began checking his body looking at everything and feeling his fur. It was extremely soft. He noticed the fur was protected him from nights chilly air. Turning his upper body and head to look behind him he was able to see a bushy black tail.
''Sweet! I have a cool tail!''
He tried to grab his tail but ended up turning I circles chasing after it. After a short time of chasing and realizing what he was doing, he gave a short cough and acted like he had not just been chasing after his tail. All the while glaring at his tail if it was all the tails fault.
''Good thing no one saw that, if Grand had seen me do that I would for sure get scolded for acting like a pup.''
Akira tried experimented on how to move his tail. It was hard to do at first as he did not normally have a tail which required him to use muscles he did not have while in his human form. After a short time practicing he was able to move it in multiple directions.
''It feels odd to have a tail, and it''s not that easy to use. I''m not that sure how useful it is to have.''
A new information window had been waiting for him to read while he was joyfully prancing around and feeling himself.
Werewolf novice:
+5% buff to stamina and strength when transformed
-Able to maintain transformation for 30 minutes.
Werewolf Basic Skills to use while transformed:
-Able to speak to dogs, wolves, and werewolves.
-Increased senses(eyesight, hearing, smell, taste, touch)
- Bite - able to tear through things with more force than normal
- Swipe - slash at the enemy using the paws, dagger-like nails
- Jump -using the muscles of your legs allows you to jump higher than normal.
- Pounce- launch your self at the enemy with extreme speed knocking enemy/s to the ground and stunning them if same or lower level.
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He was still able to use his sword and shield along with his skills such as [Shield Bash], and [Sword Slash]. But these new skills required him to be transformed in order to be used.
Looking around Akira decided to leave the road. It would be bad if he was seen by other humans, as it might cause problems and they might get crazy ideas like trying to kill him. He needed to keep a low profile especially with Brutus and Rodger still searching for him.
With his heightened senses, he picked up traces of monsters in the area.
''Let''s follow one of these and see if I can earn some XP along with testing skills. It should also help me gain more experience with combat and how to properly control my transformed body.''
Akira ran off chasing after the multiple smells of monsters. After picking one his nose sniffing the air and then running off following the faint scent. With each step, he took the scent grew stronger.
The speed of his running was as fast as a horse running. After a few minutes of following the scent of a familiar monster, his ears twitched as heard the movement of monsters between a few hills in the distance.
¡°I will have my revenge for you stealing my food and poisoning me with your meat,¡± said Akira.
Not that far ahead of him was a group of four [Tricky Red Fox].
Using the skill [Pounce], Akira launched forward with his sword out in front of him, slicing through and killing one of the red foxes before they could react.
While he was regaining his balance the three remaining [Tricky Red Fox] growled at him. Slamming their bodies into his they tried to bite through his leather armor, and steel like fur.
Akira ignored them long enough to let out a ferocious howl. Which caused the three to pause their attacks only for a moment, allowing Akira to shake them off.
[Sword Slash!] A fox on his left was cut in two. His strength while transformed was really something.
The remaining two fox both gave yelps of fright and tried to run away. Akira dove after one managing to grab its tail. He stood back up holding the red fox while brushing the dirt off chest armor.
¡°What did you guys expect when you stole my food! I''m not easy prey. I was hungry and really looking forward to eating the bird,¡± growled Akira in his deep werewolf voice.
The captured fox continued squirming in his hands trying to bight through the fur on his arms.
Quickly breaking its neck he looked in the direction the last fox had escaped. As he was about to chase after it he felt a tingling all over his body. It didn''t take long before his body shrunk and his black fur disappeared.
¡°Its already been 30 minutes? That time limit is to so short. Man, I''m so hungry, I don''t think bread will be able to get rid of this hunger. Guess I have no choice but to cook these guys,¡± said Akira as he sat down and immediately started creating a fire. When he finished dismantled the Foxes, he placed them over the fire and started to slowly roast them.
As soon as he deemed them to be somewhat cooked he tore into the meat and devoured it like a starving carnivore tasting meat for the first time.
Although the meat still had a spiciness that he now knew was the lesser poison in the meat, he didn''t care and continued eating. Luckily he did not throw up and was able to eat every bit of the three foxes.
Akira finished his meal by drinking some water to wash it all down.
¡°Ah! That was good! I feel better now. Now all I need to do is rest for a bit and then I can try transforming again. Maybe I can hunt some more monsters tonight. Who knows I might even be able to get another level or two if I''m lucky.¡±
Chapter 20: New Friend?
¡°Huff, huff,¡± Akira kept running forward breathing hard. He kept looking behind his shoulder every few minutes to check and see if he was still being followed, causing him to almost trip over his feet.
Why was he running?
Because he had gone slightly insane and lost his mind last night. He had felt invincible, the power he had while he was transformed along with the refreshing giddy feeling when he had leveled up after a few hrs of hunting. The power had all gone to his head causing him to be so overconfident that he attacked anything he came across.
While in that state of insanity he managed to find a large boar just as tall as him.
He had attacked it without stopping for even a second, to check and see what level it was.
The Boar angry at being disturbed, headbutted Akira right in his gut sending him flying backward several meters crashing through two trees before stopping after slamming into a third tree.
The pain he received from the attack and crashing through the trees had woken him up from his short-lived insanity. His hp bar had lost over a third of its health with that one attack. His leather chest armor had been torn and shredded into a state that no amount of patching and sewing would be able to fix it. You really could not call it armor anymore.
He had checked to see its level only to find that it was level 15 with a skull icon next to its name.
[?? Enraged Boar lvl 15] a message window popped up and helpfully explained that the skull meant the [Enraged Boar] was a field boss.
The [Enraged Boar] was far too strong for him with his current strength even while he was transformed. He had to retreat or face being headbutted and gored to death! He was not running away, it was just a tactical retreat.
Akira had lost track of how many hours had passed since then, as he was to busy running trying to escape the damn [Enraged Boar]. Currently, he was in his human form and was extremely tired and hungry. But he was forcing himself to keep running or the head start he had gained would be lost.
Reaching into his bag he took out a piece of bread and began to stuff it into his mouth eating it while on the move.
All through the night and most of the day every time he thought he had lost the [Enraged Boar] and slowed down, minutes later in the distance he could hear the sound of the boar running after him grunting in anger.
Earlier in the day he had run into a small forest and climbed up a tree to try and escape the boar. It was a success and allowed him to regain his breath and rest for a short time.
When he climbed back down and started his escape from the woods, he was struck with rotten luck. He ran right into the [Enraged Boar] he was trying to run away from.
Thus the game of cat and mouse continued until he ended up in the current situation of running for his life.
He was currently far enough ahead of the [Enraged Boar] that he was searching for a suitable tree to climb up and escape. Most of the trees around him were too small and would break if he tried to climb them.
He spotted a large tree a few hundred feet ahead of him and urged his tired body towards the tree. As he neared it he took a running jump and grabbed onto one of the trees lower branches. After pulling himself up he began climbing up the trunk with the help of the branches until he was nearly at the top and began waiting.
Five minutes later the [Enraged Boar] could be heard running towards the large tree he had climbed. It stopped under the tree and began grunting and sniffing the ground where Akira had jumped from.
The [Enraged Boar] spent several minutes searching the area for more signs of Akira. With a loud grunt, it finally ran off when it was unable to find anything.
Akira let out a huge sigh of relief releasing his breath he had been holding. With the dumb [Enraged Boar] gone a great weight was now off his shoulders.
He decided to wait for a longer period this time to regain his mana and stamina that were empty, and also let the boar move farther away.
Akira''s dry throat and empty stomach slowly returning to normal as he stuffed his face with the meat he had cooked the night before while gulping down some water nearly choking.
After finishing eating he grabbed for a thick vine hanging from a branch above him, to help support himself so he could move around and get into a better position to rest.
He checked the strength of the vine by tugging on it only for the long vine fall into his lap.
¡°Hissssssss!¡±
¡°Crap!¡± shouted Akira as he began wrestling with what he thought had been a vine. It was, in fact, a large green tree snake.
He avoided the bite attacks of the snake, while also trying to keep his balance and stop the snake from wrapping its body around him, which would lead to him being suffocated and his bones broken.
The fight with the snake would not have been a challenge for him if he were not so tired. After a few minutes of struggling with the snake, he was able to grab a hold of most of its body, he quickly threw it over the side of the tree out, this high up it would die from the fall.
As he was tossing the snake it launched a last-ditch attack and successfully bit his arm.
Grabbing onto the neck of the snake he pried its jaws off his arm. While in his rage Akira ripped the head off the tree snakes body defeating it.
You have been poisoned.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
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The poison from the snake''s fangs began to take effect causing him to see twos and threes of everything. All in different ever-changing colors, making him feel as if he was going insane.
Although he had lesser poison resistance it did not stop all of the effects.
The poison along with his tiredness caused him to faint, slouching down on the tree branch sitting with his back to the tree trunk.
***
Night time.
Smoke floated up the tree waking Akira, his throat raw and drying from breathing it in.
''Why''s there so much smoke?'' thought Akira, still groggy from the unrestful sleep he had due to the small amount of poison from the tree snake.
¡°Wait... smoke?... Fire! Damn is the tree on fire?¡± said Akira. His head quickly cleared up due to the potential crisis of sitting in a burning tree.
He quickly looked down at the bottom of the tree to find it was not on fire.
The light of a fire along with the smoke was coming from a place not too far away from the tree.
''Ah, thank goodness the tree''s not on fire.''
Now that he was fully awake he could hear the humming of someone at the base of the tree.
''Ah most likely a hunter, better get down and introduce myself and warn him about the boar.'' thought Akira.
He did a few stretches before slowly descending the tree. Nearing the bottom of the tree his foot slipped on a branch, causing him to lose his balance and fall.
¡°Ufff...Owww,¡± said Akira as he landed on his back.
¡°Huh, would you look at that, humans falling from the sky. Never seen that before,¡± said a male voice right next to Akira.
Akira slowly sat up holding his back, quickly checking to see if anything was broken.
Nope, nothing was broken. His body was still sore from the poison, the endless running, and now also from falling.
Akira looked over at the person who had spoken to him. It was a short male Dwarf.
¡°Sorry to drop in on you like this. I was hiding in this tree earlier and fell asleep. Ah! I almost forgot you should be careful there is a large boar that was chasing me all day. It might still be around here,¡± warned Akira.
¡°That won''t be a problem,¡± said the dwarf as he turned a large piece of meat over the fire. Making sure the other side was evenly cooked.
¡°I''m serious he''s a dangerous monster,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s already dead,¡± said the dwarf, pointing at the meat cooking over the fire.
¡°How did you kill it? It nearly killed me with one of its attacks, two more an I would have died,¡± asked Akira amazed just then noticing the smell of roasting pork.
¡°Three hits? You must be stronger than you look. I didn''t kill it. I hired some adventures to hunt for some monsters in order to get some decent leather. They''ve already gone back to the town with the leather and other materials hours ago,¡± said the dwarf.
¡°Ah! So I''m close to the dwarf villages,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh, what brings you to the mountain city''s?¡± asked the dwarf staring at Akira intently, judging whether or not he was going to cause trouble.
¡°I''m supposed to meet up with some companions, but I forgot the city''s name,¡± said Akira sheepishly.
¡°I''ll be traveling back to my hometown soon. If you would like we could travel together and check the city''s for your companions as we pass, I can also make sure you don''t cause any problems,¡± said the dwarf. The last part was said just loud enough for Akira to hear.
¡°Thank you that would be a great help if you would lead the way. Since we will be traveling together it would be best we know each other''s name. My name is Akira, and your name is?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Delgar,¡± said the Dwarf before turning his attention back to the cooking meat, ignoring Akira and taking a large gulp of what smelled like ale from a waterskin.
¡°I''d offer you some of the meat but it has a bit of poison in it. Since you''re human you would probably die,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Don''t worry I''m able to eat the meat of monsters that only have lesser poison in it,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmm, you''re an interesting human, you can take a few good hits and you also have poison resistance. You must be one lucky guy,¡± said Delgar as he passed Akira a stick, with a portion of the greasy boar meat.
''I never said I was a human,'' thought Akira, as he ate the spicy boar meat.
***
In a castle near the borders of Beorin and Freeopia, Brutus was reading the reports handed to him by his second in command.
¡°Still nothing? He couldn''t have gotten that far. Even if his wounds have healed by now, the troops should be ahead of him. This is turning into a big waste of money. It''s been over a month and not even a whiff of news pointing to where he could have gone,¡± shouted Brutus as he tore the paper up and threw the bits into the fire.
¡°The soldiers have gone through most of the villages in the surrounding area. I have also sent messengers out to the larger cities adding him to the wanted list with a sizable amount of gold as a reward for his capture. It is more than enough to find him he won''t be able to escape. If you would like we can call the troops back,¡± said Alan.
¡°This is vexing, but I have other things to worry about now that the king has regained his senses, and is trying to repair the burnt bridges. To think that after all this time Rodger is actually getting engaged to a princess. Granted it''s not the one promised but nonetheless once the king dies Rodger will be king!¡± said Brutus shouted with glee while slamming his fist on his desk.
¡°How is Rodger doing? With all this happening just after losing Akira who he viewed as a brother?¡± asked Alan.
¡°Forget about Akira. In his last letter, he wrote that he had arrived at the capital without any problems. The engagement party is set to be held in a few months. The invitations have been sent out giving all the nobles plenty of time to travel to the capital. I''ll be leaving soon as well to head to the capital. The castle will be under your authority while I am gone, send out the orders for the soldiers to return,¡± ordered Brutus.
¡°As you command, it will be done,¡± said Alan bowing and exiting the room.
¡°Don''t think you have gotten away from me Akira. When I find you, you''ll be back in chains. This time for good,¡± said Brutus with a sinister smile.
***
Akira and Delgar slowly traveled making their way through the rough roads of the mountains, making sure to stop at each town and check for Grand and Yuki.
¡°Well, we have arrived at my town it''s one of the farthest towns that allows other races to enter, so I doubt they would be waiting at the others cites. If they aren''t here I guess you can call it bad luck that you missed them,¡± said Delgar.
Mustering the last bit of hope at finding them, Akira quickened his pace to reach the town''s inn.
¡°Where you going?¡± asked Delgar from behind.
¡°Oh yeah, I don''t know where the inn is. If you could lead the way,¡± said Akira as he slowed his steps back down and followed Delgar.
They soon reached a building that was built into the side of the mountain with a sign marking it as the [Forgotten Inn]. Akira went inside and asked around if Yuki and Grand were staying at the inn.
After giving their descriptions to the male dwarf behind the front desk. The inn owner thought for a moment before replying.
¡°No one with those descriptions is staying here. But I do think some weeks ago, people matching your description stayed here for a week or two. I guess you missed them,¡± said the dwarf.
¡°Did they say anything about where they were headed?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Not that I can remember, and if they did I don''t think I would have remembered it anyway as it''s not of any importance to me,¡± said the dwarf.
Akira sighed, he was back to square one. He left the inn meeting back up with Delgar who waiting for him outside.
¡°No luck huh. Well, don''t dwell on it too much. I know a good tavern we can go to and get some food and have a good drink. You can worry about it later after you have a full belly and a night''s rest,¡± said Delgar, after Seeing the dejected Akira.
Delgar gave Akira a few ¡°gentle¡± pats on the back, which were strong enough to nearly knock Akira off his feet.
¡°Let''s go drink!¡± shouted an energized Delgar, happy at the thought of drinking some of the tavern''s ale.
Chapter 21: Hammer and anvil
Akira and Delgar sat at a table in a dim corner of the tavern quietly drinking.
After multiple large gulps, Delgar slammed his now emptied glass onto the table and let out a loud belch.
The table was cluttered with multiple empty plates, most of which had been emptied by Delgar.
¡°What did I tell you? This place sure can fill you up and the drinks aren''t all that bad either,¡± said Delgar.
¡°You know, I''m somewhat interested in what type of work you do. What profession would require you to hunt such dangerous monsters?¡± asked Akira whose cheeks had a slight red tint from drinking the ale Delgar insisted he drink. This was a local special which was five times as potent as any other alcoholic drink he had tasted before.
¡°My job? I have a small general weapon and armor shop with a smithy in the back. But mainly I get requests to repair things, sometimes I get a rare request for a personalized sword or a set of armor so I do that type of work also. You could say I do a bit of everything. When business is slow I usually make cheaper weapons, armor, shields and other trinkets to sell in my shop,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Oooo, I really do admire those how can create weapons and armor from lumps of metal with just the use of a hammer, some muscle, and a fire,¡± said Akira with stars in his eyes.
¡°BARMAID MORE ALE!,¡± shouted Delgar holding up his wooden mug and shouting.
¡°How many times do I have to tell you? I have a name use it!¡± a female dwarf shouted back at him.
¡°Glola, more ale!¡± shouted Delgar.
A few seconds later the female dwarf Glola walked up to the table with two new mugs of freshly poured ale and slammed them onto the table in front of Delgar, causing some of the liquid to splash onto the table.
¡°Honestly, you''re always such a handful,¡± said Glola with a frown, turning towards Akira her frown turned into a warm smile, ¡°Is there anything I can get you?¡±
¡°No thank you. I''m quite full,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''m glad you enjoyed the meal. I''ll take the dishes now that you''re all done with them,¡± said Glola picking up the empty plates and silverware before leaving.
¡°Jeez she''s always like that,¡± grumbled Delgar.
¡°Is she your wife?¡± Akira asked curiously.
¡°Pffft...,¡± ale flew out of Delgar''s mouth and he began violently coughing.
After Delgar stopped coughing he cleared his throat and hurriedly asked, ¡°What nonsense are you spouting?¡±
¡°You guys seem close so I thought I''d ask,¡± said Akira wiping off the ale that spat onto his face.
¡°No, we''re not married. We have known each other since we were kids since our fathers used to hang out and drink a lot and would tell us to go play together. That''s all there is to it,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Ah, I see,¡± said Akira.
At that moment the tavern door slammed open drawing Akira and Delgar''s attention as three shabbily armored middle-aged men walked in complaining loudly to each other.
¡°Why did we have to be sent all the way out to this backwoods midget town? It seems company leader has it in for us giving us this task,¡± whined one of the three men.
¡°At least all we were ordered to do was look for some guy and capture him. If it weren''t for the 500 gold crown bounty on his head I would cuss out the leader and tell him to go search for himself,¡± said the second one.
Upon hearing them talking about searching for someone and a bounty, Akira''s ears perked up as his full attention zeroed in on their conversation.
¡°Whoever that guy is he must have pissed someone off for them to pay 500 gold crowns for his capture,¡± said the third.
¡°Might as well eat and drink a lot while we''re here not like the person was looking for is going to be in this town when we haven''t seen him in any of the rest,¡± said the first leading the group over to where Glola was standing behind a counter.
After a saying a few words to Glola that Akira and Delgar couldn''t hear. They must have said something to piss her off because she began shouting at the top of her lungs sending curses towards them, to which the three men shouted back enraging Glola even more.
¡°Um, should we go help her take care of those guys?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Not if you don''t want to get beaten up along with them,¡± said Delgar as he watched Glola start to beat up the helpless trio.
The three bounty hunters hurriedly ran out the building with their tails between their legs with Glola sending curses after them.
¡°She''s always like this way to easy to anger,¡± said Delgar looking at her.
As if sensing someone was talking about her Glola glared at Delgar for a few seconds before resuming her work behind the counter.
¡°Now what were we talking about again?¡± asked Delgar stealthily trying to changing the topic.
¡°You were telling me about your shop,¡± Akira reminded him with a smile.
¡°Ah yes, the shop. I inherited it from my father and he from his own father. It is quite an old shop. I learned everything I know from my father in that shop. My grandfather was a well know weaponsmith back in his time the shop was always busy unlike how it is now. I have been trying to perfect my skill for over a hundred years. I''m not that bad if I do say so myself but nowhere near the masterpieces that my grandfather created. My main goal in life is to create at least one thing that can surpass his greatest work!¡± said Delgar slamming his fist on the table.
¡°Oh are the things he created that famous?¡±
¡°Extremely! His greatest creation was a war hammer he made which was gifted to the dwarven king at the time. That very same war hammer is still used as the main weapon by the current king!¡±
¡°You''ve set yourself a huge challenge. I wish I could learn blacksmithing.¡±
¡°This challenge is only the first step. I want to be able to make my family name recognized again and in doing so receive many apprentices,¡± said Delgar staring off into the distance seeing a future where all his dreams were achieved.
¡°Enough about that since it''s getting late we better leave before mean Glola throws us out. You seem to be a good enough person and seeing as this is your first time in this town you can stay at my place and save a few coins since the inn isn''t that cheap here,¡± said Delgar before chugging down the last of his ale.
¡°Thanks! That would be great as I don''t have that much money on me,¡± said Akira.
Delgar stood up and went to pay for their food and drinks.
After a few words with Glola, Delgar and Akira exited the tavern and began walking towards Delgar''s house with slightly unsteady feet.
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Delgar''s house was located above the shop he had mentioned earlier. The shop was like most dwarven architecture in the other towns carved from the mountain.
They stumbled up the stairs in into the living area where Delgar took Akira to the guest room. After Delgar left he quickly took off his shoes and sank into the small bed with his feet hanging off the edge, and immediately fell asleep.
***
Bang! Clang!
Akira was awakened by the loud noises coming from somewhere under his room. His mouth was dry and his head throbbed letting him know had a slight hangover left from the night before.
Sitting up he found a glass of water on the bedside table, he grabbed the glass and began to chug down the water. The throbbing in his head was more noticeable for a few minutes and then began to lessen after a short while.
Exiting the guest room he walked down the stairs and entered the shop. The noise that had woken him up was coming from the back of the shop.
Upon opening the door that led to where all the noise was coming from, Akira felt a blast of heat hit him all at once.
Inside the room was Delgar, wearing protective gear while hammering on a cherry red piece of metal.
He continued to hit the metal until it cooled down and lost its malleability, which he then placed it deep into the furnaces burning coals to heat it back up.
¡°Good morning. Sorry about the noise, but I have to get a few orders and other things done today,¡± shouted an energetic Delgar who turned towards Akira greet him before turning his gaze back to the metal watching it as the fire''s temperature began to rise as he used a large pair of old bellows to pump air into the burning coals.
¡°Yeah, morning. Mind if I watch?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Help yourself, there''s some bread and cheese on the table if you want something to eat. And if you''re brave enough there''s some of the leftover dried meat from the boar we roasted a while ago,¡± replied Delgar before picking up the piece of metal with a sturdy pair of tongs checking to see if it was hot enough to start hammering again.
Judging that it was the right temperature he swiftly brought the metal over to his anvil a few feet away, where he began to use his hammer to expertly mold the metal into the shape he wanted. From what Akira could see it looked to be a short-sword that Delgar was currently making.
Akira slowly munched on the food offered, while he watched Delgar finish hammering the sword into the desired shape. When he finished inspecting the short-sword he once again placed it into the fire, constantly moving it around to make sure the sword was evenly heated.
Once the short-sword was again at the right temperature of a bright cherry red he pulled it out and quenched the short-sword in a medium sized stone trough full of a special oil sending flares of fire to dance around the sword while the short sword was quickly cooled to the room temperature.
After the sword had fully cooled Delgar placed the sword on top of the bed of burning coals to temper the sword. Slowly moving it back and forth through the fire keeping a sharp eye on the color of the sword on both of its sides. When the sword''s coloron the outer edge became a light straw color with the middle being a plum purple he took it out and again quenched it in the oil.
After the sword was fully cooled down the sword was placed on a rack with a few other tempered swords that were waiting to be filled and polished.
All through the morning, Delgar worked on a few more swords and a helmet, only putting his tools aside in the early afternoon.
He walked over to a wash basin to washed his face, neck, and arms before talking to Akira.
¡°How ''bout we go and get us some food from Glola, I''m starved,¡± suggested Delgar.
***
¡°You seem to be mightily interested in blacksmithing, watching my boring work. If I remember correctly you did say something about your interest in it last night. I have the afternoon free so if you like I could try and teach you some of the basics. Along with properly repairing and sharpening your sword,¡± Delgar spoke between eating a spoonful of stew.
¡°Really? I would be very grateful for whatever you could teach me. I hope it is not asking for too much,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s no big deal. This is just a small task. If I want to revive my family''s name and take in apprentices I need to know how to teach also. We can take a look at your sword when we get back to the shop,¡± said Delgar.
***
Back at the shops forge Akira handed his sword over to Delgar to inspect.
¡°Hmm...this poor sword, just look at how bad he''s been mistreated. Although an untrained eye can not see the damage,I can tell that your sword has many hairline fractures. Good thing you have me to look over it otherwise most likely in the next battle you would have tried to use it, it would have ended up shattering into numerous pieces,¡± grumbled Delgar as he continued to inspect it.
Placing the sword on the anvil he used his hammer to break the sword into multiple pieces.
¡°Ahh! Why are you breaking it?¡± asked Akira shocked.
¡°The sword was already broken. There''s no other way to fix it but to completely reforge it,¡± said Delgar as he gathered the pieces and stacked them in a tower-like structure, and again hammered the larger pieces into smaller ones and adding them to the small tower. He placed them to the side on the table, and then walked over to a box full of scrap iron and brought it back to Akira.
¡°Before we start the reforging of your sword, you should get some experience on how to do everything. Put these on,¡± said Delgar picking up and throwing a pair of thick leather gloves along with a heavy leather apron towards Akira.
Over the next two hours, Akira was taught the basics of controlling the fire in the furnace. How to tell when the metal was ready to be hammered, and how to use the hammer properly, along with learning how to use a file properly.
Akira was given a rusty piece of iron to practice on until Delgar deemed his work decent enough.
¡°I think we can start working on your sword now. You''ll be in charge of keeping the fire going while the pieces are being smelted into an ingot. After the smelting, you and I will both work on hammering the ingot folding it a few times. After that I will control the movement of the iron and instruct you when to hit the iron to start shaping the sword,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Are you sure I''m ready for something like this?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s either now or never. Better to learn by doing now when you have a such a great teacher like me, so you can understand how it all works and get some muscle memory. Enough talk, let us begin! Keep the fire roaring,¡± ordered Delgar switching into a serious mode.
Throughout the rest of the day and into the early night they worked on reforging Akira''s sword. Heating the iron and then hammering it with full strength. Akira tried to be as quick as he could be, while still being accurate before the metal had a chance to cool down and would be required to be put back into the furnace and reheated.
¡°I think that''s good enough for today. Let''s get something to eat and then sleep. We can work on the filing, sharpening, and polish tomorrow,¡± said Delgar after they finished filing, quenching and tempering Akira''s sword.
After washing they both ate a simple soup with hard bread, before heading to sleep.
***
Akira was listening to Delgar and watching him as he demonstrated again how to properly file the sword and sharpen its edges.
After a full morning of shaping the edge with the file and grinding the excess off of the rest of the sword. Delgar checked it again before instructed him on using a large whetstone to polish the sword and putting a proper edge on the sword.
Delgar took over the rest letting Akira watch as he worked on the hilt, adding the cross-guard, grip, and pommel.
The finished reforged short-sword was finally handed over to Akira after Delgar had sheathed the sword.
Akira unsheathed the sword and swung it a few times. The feeling the sword gave was different from before, if I had to describe it he would say it felt less crude. Now the sword was a better fit for his hand, the weight of the sword felt more balanced. Overall it was a large improvement from the old sword.
Sword stats:
Durability: 18/18
Attack: 13-16
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¡°Amazing,¡± said Akira.
¡°Eh, it''s not that great I''ve done better,¡± said Delgar.
Ding!
Do you wish to add blacksmithing as your subclass?
Yes | No
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¡°Yes!¡± said Akira without taking another second to decide whether or not he should accept or even what he was accepting.
Ding!
Blacksmith Sub-Class Quest Part 1:
In order to receive the blacksmith subclass, you will be required to create a shield with Aorium ore in order to prove your skill as a blacksmith.
First goal: Acquire twenty pieces of Aorium ore.
Difficulty: Unknown
Reward: Blacksmith subclass and its related stat.
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¡°Hey Delgar do you know where Aorium ore can be found?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Aorium? I''m surprised you would ask about that. There''s an old mine in this village that has it. Although It has been blocked off for longer then I can remember, due to it being overrun by some nasty monsters long ago. Many a dwarf before have tried to clear the mine but each and everyone has never walked back out of the mine once entering. Forcing it to be abandoned,¡± said Delgar.
Chapter 22: Mine your manners
¡°Is it really that dangerous?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I don''t know how dangerous it is, because I have never gone inside. The only thing I know is that no one has exited the mine after entering. So the mayor had it blocked in order to stop people from entering. I myself have often wished to enter the mine in order to search for the rare ore. If I ever went in and my luck was good enough I might be able to find some and use it forcreating a masterpiece. Many a dwarf in this town has thought the same exact thing,¡± said Delgar.
¡°If the ore is so valuable then why has no one cleared the mine in order to get it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The ore is not common this is true, comparing it with iron and copper it''s less common and stronger as well. But it''s not rare enough to warrant sending warriors in to die, along with the possibility of them being unable to clear the mine of all the monsters inhabiting it.¡±
¡°Can you show me where the mine is?¡±
¡°I can, but I would suggest not to go inside with the pitiful armor you have,¡± said Delgar pointing at Akira''s tattered chest armor he had not taken off since the fight with the enraged boar.
Akira was led outside and followed behind Delgar for a few minutes until they had passed the last house and exited the town. They continued walking until stopping in front of a run-down wooden shack not too far away from the town.
¡°This is the entrance to the mine. The shabby building in front is the guard post that was built for additional security,¡± said Delgar.
Akira walked forward and tried to look through the only window. He couldn''t see anything due to the dust and dirt that was covering the window.
¡°No need to worry about anyone being inside. It would be a waste of gold to post a permanent guard here. The multiple layers of locks are only checked once or twice a month,¡± said Delgar as he watched Akira inspecting the small shack.
Akira reached for the door and was surprised when it opened easily. He cautiously poked his head inside the small one-room shack, scanning the area. There was nothing inside unless you count the thick layer of dust that coated everything. On the wall opposite the entrance was a thick metal door with multiple chains, locks, and thick metal bars covering it.
Closing the door Akira gave a sigh and said, ¡°Even if I did want to enter the mine I can''t break through all that.¡±
¡°Well I might know the person who has the keys,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Really? Who? Would they be willing to open the door?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Well, they might. As for who has the keys...that would be me,¡± said Delgar his thumb pointing at his chest.
¡°Why did you say so before? So, can you open the mine for me?¡±
¡°I''m not supposed to, if I did I would get in trouble. Plus I''m not sure if you''re strong enough to enter.¡±
¡°I''m plenty strong enough! I have killed many monsters and I''ve even cleared a dungeon by myself!¡± said Akira.
¡°Really what rank was the dungeon? How old was it?¡± asked Delgar who seemed to perk up at the mention of clearing a dungeon solo.
¡°Um... well it was a Rank F dungeon. It was probably only a week or two old. But that doesn''t mean it was easy to clear just because it was new and a low rank. The boss was quite tough. Since then I have become even stronger and I''m sure It would be far easier now if I were to try and clear it again,¡± said Akira.
¡°I don''t know...¡± said Delgar not convinced.
Akira though for a short moment trying to think of a way to get Delgar to open the locks.
¡°Would you...would you like to also come with me? We would be killing two birds with one clearing the mine while also searching for the Aorium ore,¡± Akira asked hopefully.
¡°Okay! It''s a deal, with the two of us there should be no problem,¡± said Delgar immediately agreeing as soon as Akira finished suggesting the idea.
''I knew it, he was waiting for me to invite him,'' thought Akira.
¡°We should go back and get some supplies ready. I think I have some armor that would fit you so you can replace the scraps you''re wearing. You can pay for it with some of the Aorium ore. You should keep this quiet from everyone else otherwise we might get stopped,¡± said Delgar.
Ding!
Quest: Reopen the Aorium mine.
Delgar has shared information with you on the [Spotted Spiders] that have taken over the Aorium mine. Kill all the [Spotted Spiders] inside.
Difficulty: E+
Quest requirement: Failure upon death.
Reward: Experience, a chance to find and mine Aorium ore
Time-based reward: If the quest is cleared within three days the dungeon will not collapse and will return back to a regular mine.
Will you accept?:
Yes | No
|
¡°Yes,¡± said Akira accepting the quest and agreeing with Delgar at the same time.
***
Back at the forge workshop, Delgar was sorting through a pile of armor that had been tossed into a large wooden box in one of the corners in the room.
¡°Don''t have many sizes for humans...Ah, this should fit! Try this one on,¡± said Delgar carelessly throwing the hauberk in his hands towards Akira.
Akira''s old tattered chest armor had already been replaced with a gambeson that Delgar had given him to wear under the hauberk.
He quickly equipped the baggy hauberk and fastened his sword belt, taking the weight off of his shoulders and placing it on his hips where the belt was.
Ding!
Equipment updated!:
Reforged sword(Common):
Durability: 18/18 | Damage: 13-16
Gambeson and Hauberk(Common):
Durability: 30/30 | Defense: 27
Weak shield(Trash):
Durability: 10/14 | Defense: 10
Leather pants(common): Durability: 22/23 | Defense 5
Metal headband(common): Durability:20/20 | Defense 2
|
Delgar inspected the armor for a few seconds while walking around him a number of times.
¡°It looks good on you. Now you don''t look like a bum or a highway thief anymore with your tattered armor,¡± said Delgar.
When the gambeson and hauberk were both added together the weight was heavier than his old leather armor, but not to the point that his movements would be hindered. The best part of the new armor was his total defense stat had nearly tripled.
Ding!
New passive skill learned:
Heavy Armor Mastery (Beginner lvl 1| 0.00%):
Wearing heavy armor requires great strength.
You must block attacks with heavy armor equipped in order to level up the skill.
Higher levels of this skill will help unlock requirements for certain heavy armors.
+10 % to defense when wearing heavy armor
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
+10% when a full set is worn.
Unable to add points into the skill.
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¡°This is great!¡± exclaimed Akira after reading the new skill.
¡°I''m glad you like it,¡± said Delgar smiling, thinking Akira was talking about the new armor.
¡°Just wait here for a sec and I''ll go equip my armor and weapons,¡± said Delgar before leaving the room.
When he returned he was fully equipped with two throwing axes, a large warhammer, and a smaller gambeson and hauberk.
¡°Did you pack the food and water?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°Yep,¡± said Akira patting the small bag on his hip.
¡°Well then, let''s do this while everyone is getting ready to go to sleep and not paying attention,¡± said Delgar.
***
Akira stood beside Delgar inside the dusty shack as Delgar fiddled with the keys looking for the correct key for each lock. After what seemed to be an eternity the last lock was removed from the large metal door.
¡°I''m probably going to need your help opening the door since it might be stuck due to it not being opened in such a long time,¡± said Delgar.
Akira stepped forward and grabbed the handle near the top of the door while Delgar grabbed onto one that was near the bottom of the door.
¡°On the count of three, start pulling,¡± said Delgar pausing for both of them to get ready.¡°One, two, three!¡±
Akira began pulling with all his might, but the large metal door continued to stay still until a slight movement caused the door to move forward only an inch before stopping again.
¡°Again!¡± said Delgar after they had rested and regained their breath for a few seconds.
Putting all his strength into legs and arms Akira along with Delgar pulled on the door, which slowly began to open. When the door was opened wide enough to let Akira and Delgar enter, they stopped pulling and leaned against the wall breathing hard trying to catch their breath.
Akira could feel the damp musty air that was flowing out of the mine.
¡°Let''s go,¡± said Delgar as he picked up the torch that had been lighting the shack before passing through the small gap they had opened, with Akira following after him.
Ding!
You have entered the [Spotted Spiders] Dungeon.
Warning!
Due to the fact that the dungeon was locked for many years the [Spotted Spiders] population has increased to a dangerous point. A dungeon break may happen at any moment.
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¡°Delgar, we should be careful seeing as this place has been locked up for a long time the enemies are most likely too numerous to count,¡± said Akira.The message popping up startled Akira who was intently scanning the surroundings as he entered the mine.
Delgar just gave a grunt in acknowledgment before walking forward a short distance until he found a hand car with a small mine cart connected to the rear.
Jumping up onto the handcar he used the torch to light the lamp that was hanging from a pole and then placed the burning torch n a socket on the mine cart.
¡°We should partially close thedoor so that nothing can get out while we''re in here otherwise we''ll be in even bigger trouble then we are now if we get caught,¡± said Delgar.
Akira turned back towards the thick metal door with the light from the lantern shining off the door revealing large dents on the back of the door that had not shown up on the front.
It seemed whatever was in this dungeon had tried to unsuccessfully force its way out of the mine. Whatever it was had to have the monstrous strength to be able to damage the door to this extent.
Akira and Delgar were able to pull the door almost all the way shut, it was much easier to do than trying to pull it open.
Akira noticed some scrapes on the door that after inspecting them turned out to be words someone had carved onto the door.
¡°Delgar,looksomeone wrote a message on the door,¡± said Akira before reading it.
''For anyone who might come looking for me. I was locked inside after sneaking into the mine for rare ore. Since the door has been locked, I will search for another exit.'' -Bigtoe Groont
Under the first message was another more hastily carved message.
''I''ve just escaped near death. Don''t come into this mine! There are too many spotted spiders although they are not extremely strong they make up for it with numbers. The real threat is¡''
The message stopped there where a large scrape was as if the person writing had been messed up. Next to it was a large dent with what looked like red rust.
¡°Well, that''s nice to know,¡± muttered Akira.
¡°Well we already knew about the large numbers but apparently there is something else in here that we have to be careful of,¡± Delgar after he finished reading the two messages.
Leaving the large metal door they both walked back to the handcar that was sitting on some tracks that led deeper into the mine.
Delgar gave a brief explanation on how the handcar worked before they jumped up onto the handcar each on one side of the large double-sided lever. They started to pump the lever up and down causing the handcar to move forward slowly picking up speed as they move further into the mine.
Only a few minutes had passed as they continued down the track when Delgar let out a curse and pressed his foot down onto the break which immediately slowed down the handcar.
Akira turned his head to look behind him to see what had caused Delgar to curse.
It was a large spider web that was covering the whole passage.
Akira hopped off the handcar and unsheathing his sword but after hacking at the web for a minute he gave up due to doing little to no damage.
¡°Stand back, let me try this,¡± said Delgar who was carrying a torch.
As soon as the fire from the torch touched the wall of spider webs, it quickly disappeared due to it burning faster than anything Akira had ever seen before.
With the wall gone, he could now see three large sacks made from spider webs hanging from the ceiling. The spider thread looked to be thinner than the thread used on the wall. Walking forward Akira swung his sword easily slicing open one of the sacks.
A short skeleton still equipped in old rusted armor and holding onto a battle ax fell to the floor causing Akira to shout in surprise and to jump back.
Delgar gave a few choice curses when he saw that the skeleton and realized it was probably one of his kinsmen.
After cutting down the other two sacks and moving the skeletons of the tracks Delgar and Akira continued to travel deeper into the mine they had yet to see any of the [Spotted Spiders].
They traveled for five minutes before they entered a large round room that was full of spiderwebs. The tracks abruptly stopped a short distance ahead of them, causing Delgar to stamp his foot down onto the brakes to slow the handcar down.
Looking around Akira could see there were five different passages in the room each went in a different direction.
¡°So do you know which passage we should choose?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The ones on the left should be the oldest passages, and will be the longest, while the ones on the right are newer, so they should be shorter. We should check the newer ones before we go to the older passages¡± said Delgar.
Just as Delgar finished speaking a sound of movement could be heard coming from all five passages.
Quickly Akira and Delgar readied their weapons. Akira held his shield out in front of him ready for whatever was coming for them.
What appeared from the tunnels in large numbers were black Spiders the size of cats with large gray and white spots on their backs. Akira looked at one of the spiders to inspect it and see its level. [Spotted Spider lvl 10]
¡°It seems we''re an unwelcome guest here,¡± said Akira.
¡°We''ll just have to crush and destroy them all,¡± said Delgar with a smile.
Once the fastest of the swarm of spiders had reached the pair the fighting began.
Delgar used his war-hammer to smash any spiders that were unlucky to come near him into pancakes causing their green blood and other body parts to cover the surrounding area.
Akira concentrated on fighting the swarm of [Spotted Spiders] in front of him using his sword to slice the spiders in half.
He would use a [Shield Bash] or [Sword Slash] when the spiders began to bunch up in front of him allowing him to kill multiple of them at a time while clearing the area in front of him for a short time.
The spotted spiders continued to pour into the circular room for over ten minutes. When Akira and Delgar finished killing the last spider over fifteen minutes had passed.
¡°This place is no joke,¡± huffed Akira.
¡°Hopefully it''s not as bad as this the farther in we go,¡± said Delgar who was drenched in blood.
When they had finished resting for a short time the search for the Aorium ore began starting with the shorter tunnels. As the traveled there were multiple multiple branching paths which they just picked on at random and continued to walk down the path. All of this was recorded on Akira''s map, when they reached a dead end Akira would lead the way back to the last branching path.
¡°I''m impressed with your memory. Most humans would become utterly lost in these mines,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Haha... It''s nothing much,¡± laughed Akira guiltily as kept looking at the map in the top left of his vision.
They continued to search each tunnel and all the branching paths and were forced to fight multiple waves of [Spotted Spiders] along the way.
When they had cleared all the tunnels but the one farthest to the left, both Akira and Delgar''s moods were dark. They had only found normal iron and copper so far, there was not even a trace of Aorium ore.
Akira and Delgar were resting to regain their stamina and eating near a fire in the main circular room Delgar had started using coal found inside the mine.
Although they were resting they were still alert in case any of the [Spotted Spider] came from the last tunnel that was not cleared yet.
¡°I''m glad the armor seems to be working properly for you,¡± said Delgar who had seen Akira fighting throughout the night. He was quite impressed at his battle sense and fighting power.
¡°So am I. It''s so much better than the leather armor I was using before,¡± replied Akira.
During the search and fighting, Akira had gained a lot of experience points. In the last battle, multiple popup messages had appeared but they were ignored.
Now that he was resting he checked the popup messages.
You have leveled up! Current level is now 10.
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Son of the Night has changed from Novice to [Rank F] Beginner!
- (-5%) reduced stamina usage
- Strength +5% boost while transformed as a Werewolf.
-Max amount of time able to stay transformed has been raised to 1 hour.
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New class skill has been learned!
Call of the Wolf Pack - Summon Shadow-wolf 1:
-A skill that allows the summoning of a Shadow wolf companion to fight alongside the skill user.
-Shadow wolf will stay summoned until it''s HP is depleted.
-Skill can be used a maximum of three times a day.
-Shadow Wolf has its own level and must be summoned in order to gain XP from kills.
-When summoned XP is split between the master and the shadow-wolf.
Skill cost: 100 mana
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Akira was shocked speechless by this new skill. He desperately wanted to test it out but he was not alone. He did not want to shock Delgar and cause him to become suspicious of his true identity.
¡°Well, we only have one more tunnel left to search. Hopefully, we find something there,¡± said Delgar as he stood up ready to continue the search.
Akira nodded in agreement before quickly adding the bonus points he had received from leveling up to the Strength, Vitality, and Stamina stats, before standing up and entering the last tunnel with Delgar.
Chapter 23: Mine Your Manners II
It was still night time when Delgar and Akira finally cleared all but one of the branches in the last tunnel.
They had been unsuccessful at finding any Aorium ore so far. There was an abundance of iron and copper ore which was nice but not exactly what they were looking for.
¡°This is our last chance to find some Aorium,¡± said Akira as he readied his shield and walked forward entering the last unexplored part of the mine.
Delgar was for once following behind Akira carrying the lantern in one hand and his large warhammer in the other.
As they walked down the dimly lit passageway the ground began to slowly slope downwards taking them deeper underground. After ten minutes of walking a dim light could be seen in the distance.
¡°What could that be? Do you know Delgar?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It means we''re lucky! The Aorium ore gives off a dim glow often lighting up the area where there is a decent amount of the ore. Judging from the amount of light coming from up ahead I think we''ve hit the mother load,¡± said Delgar excitedly. He closed the shutters of the lamp in order not to alert any of the [Spotted Spiders] that might be ahead of them.
When they reached the end of the tunnel it opened up into a large cavernous room. Akira was stunned by the amount of Aorium ore in the room. There were small piles of it everywhere just lying on the floor as well as some still on the wall waiting to be mined.
Then Akira noticed a large presence of the [Spotted Spiders] gathered around the piles of Aorium. It looked like they had been gathering the ore for some reason.
''No wonder the rest of the mine was empty,'' thought Akira.
There were a small number of [Spotted Spiders] near a small sea of white spider eggs which were being moved around and taking care of.
Delgar cursed in a low voice beside Akira after seeing a large number of spiders and their eggs all blocking their way to the Aorium.
¡°Looks like we have to take care of the rest of these blasted spiders before we can safely get to the Aorium ore. On the bright side of things it looks like there''s no boss here to fight,¡± said Akira.
¡°Which do you want to take care of first the spiders near the piles of ore or the eggs?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°Let''s take care of the ones by the ore first. That way we can take care of the eggs fast with no interruptions. Hopefully, when we are finished with this the mine will be free of the [Spotted Spiders] presence and be allowed to reopen,¡± said Akira.
¡°Alright let''s hit them so hard that they won''t know what killed them,¡± said Delgar readying his war hammer.
With no place to hide in the large room, it was decided not to try and sneak up on them and just rush the enemy. They both looked at each other for a sec and gave a slight nod, signaling they were ready, both ran out into the cavernous room at top speed heading towards the swarm of [Spotted Spiders] near the Aorium.
They were both noticed by the [Spotted Spiders] before they were even halfway across the cave.
One after another the spiders started to make a low hissing sound alerting others near them.
Soon the whole cave was filled will the sound of the spiders hissing. The hissing abruptly stopped and just as fast as it had begun when one of the [Spotted Spiders] jumped towards Delgar and Akira.
Tens, no maybe a hundred of the [Spotted Spiders] started to quickly follow after the first, running and jumping with their hairy legs towards the intruders.
¡°Let''s do this!¡± shouted Akira as he ran forward to meet the oncoming flow of enemies with Delgar beside him.
Akira slammed into the wave of [Spotted Spiders] and began slicing, stabbing, and bashing all who appeared before him.
Akira made sure to check on Delgar every few seconds to make sure he wasn''t in danger. There was was no need to worry after seeing the blood splatter every time Delgar swung his hammer letting out a mixed thud and squishing sound.
Reassured that Delgar could take care of himself, Akira refocused on the enemies in front of him that had started to amass into a large group.
¡°Sword Slash!¡±
Ding!
Skill Level Up: Sword Slash (Beginner: Lvl 3 | 3.00%)
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Akira cheered in his heart and continued to fight. After ten minutes of intense battling and decreasing the [Spotted Spiders] down by nearly half of the original number, Akira felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise alerting him to danger coming from behind.
Without thinking he jumped to the left and rolled a few times towards the direction Delgar was fighting.
Just after dodging, the area he had been standing just a moment ago was covered with multiple white shards that looked to be made out of a spider web. Some of the [Spotted Spiders] that had been surrounding Akira had been killed instantly by the attack.
He hurriedly stood up and looked behind him.
A spider at least for or five times bigger than the other [Spotted Spiders] they had been fighting the whole night, was slowly descending from the ceiling on a thick rope of spider thread.
Spotted Spider Queen Lvl 14
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¡°Delgar! I think we have a big problem!¡± shouted Akira, causing Delgar to glance in the direction Akira was looking.
Delgar cursed a few times while slamming his hammer into a group of spiders near him sending blood and spider parts flying everywhere.
¡°Can you stall that big one while I take care of the smaller ones?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°I''ll try, but I''m not sure how long I can last against that thing,¡± shouted Akira before running towards the large spider that had just landed on the ground.
Before Akira could move any closer the [Spotted Spider Queen] spat out another wave of sharp projectiles from its mouth forcing him to dodge to the right.
He slowly inched his way closer, keeping the [Spotted Spider Queen] attention on him, all the while focusing on dodging the projectiles that were sent towards him.
As he neared the [Spotted Spider Queen] dodging the projectiles became much harder due to having less time to react. He was forced to block a few of the shards with his shield when he was unable to dodge one of the attacks.
The force of the shards hitting his shield almost made him fall backward. Luckily the shield did its job and stopped the shards but it had been greatly damaged.
After successfully blocked the shards a few more times the spider stopped shooting them and rushed forward to use a physical attack against Akira.
As it neared Akira he could see it''s size more accurately Its height only reached his stomach but its width was just as wide as it was tall.
Bracing himself Akira skillfully blocked the onslaught of attacks from [Spotted Spider Queens] razor-sharp front legs as they continued to stab at him.
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His shield was taking a real beating, the attacks were making it look like Swiss cheese. One of the attacks that punctured through the shield also sliced into his arm piercing the hauberk. Luckily it did not fully pierce the gambeson.
Using his sword he stabbed back at the spider but to his dismay the sword only caused a white line to appear on is hard carapace as it bounced off.
The wooden shield finally gave out and completely shattered into splintered fragments after a few more rounds of blocking attacks from the [Spotted Spider Queen].
Throwing the remaining pieces at the spider''s small face he jumped backward trying to create distance between him and the [Spotted Spider Queen].
''Damn it! I should have made sure to have a backup shield just in case,'' though Akira.
¡°Delgar are you finished yet? My shield just broke I don''t know how much longer I can dodge its attacks,¡± asked Akira with a shout.
¡°Almost finished! Just a few more to go!¡± replied Delgar.
The [Spotted Spider Queen] continued to charge after Akira swinging its two pinpoint sharp front legs. Akira dodged to the left but was a little slow and was hit in the side and sent rolling away from the [Spotted Spider Queen].
The attack had pierced both layers of his armor and caused a small wound to start leaking blood.
Grimacing from the wound he hurriedly leaped back onto his feet and started to try and keep some distance from the [Spotted Spider Queen].
Ding!
New stat created!
Gained from the experience of blocking many dangerous attacks and receiving numerous wounds.
Toughness: measures how much damage you can resist.
This stat receives points from receiving damage while in combat.
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Akira didn''t know whether to laugh or cry earning such a skill because he was getting beat up. The fact hadn''t changed that the [Spotted Spider Queen] still needed to be defeated. He was hurriedly trying to think of a way he could defeat it without letting Delgar know he was a werewolf.
Taking a risk he decided to use 100 of his mana to activate the skill [Call of the Wolf Pack].
Immediately after using the skill a howl sounded from near his feet, a large black wolf leaped out of his shadow and landed near Akira scanning the area for enemies.
After inspecting the shadow wolf Akira could see its name and Lvl [Nox Lvl 1].
¡°Nox Attack that [Spotted Spider Queen]!¡± Akira ordered while pointing towards the [Spotted Spider Queen] that was chasing him.
''Oi, what a worthless master I have been bonded with. To be running from a bug how shameful,'' said a growling voice in Akira''s head.
¡°Holy crap you can talk!¡± said Akira shocked.
''Great he''s an idiot too! Of course, I can speak with you telepathically. Why are you running around in this weak form and not transforming? Judging by your power you could at least fend off the bug chasing you,'' said Nox.
¡°You''re also running away from it! Plus I''m not alone, there''s someone else here fighting with me,¡± said Akira as he continued to run.
''So what! Are you going to be so shy that you get yourself killed? Transform you idiot and defeat this bug so I can return to my nap.'' growled Nox.
Akira grumbled to himself ¡°I can''t tell who''s the master here.¡±
After a few more seconds of thinking, he decided to stop running and transform in order to take on the boss.
In a split second his body began to transform his muscles bulging and his height growing slightly along with a tail sprouting from his lower back. Dark black fur covered his entire body. His teeth and fingernails turning into deadly weapons.
With a snarl, Akira leaped forward and stabbed his sword at the [Spotted Spider Queen]. Bright yellow sparks shone as his sword skidded off its body. There was a small crack in the hard carapace where his attack had first landed.
Seeing that Akira let out a satisfied grunt.
''Yawn,'' said Nox, as he also began his attack on the [Spotted Spider Queen] ramming into its side biting its legs, causing the [Spotted Spider Queen] to be enraged and split its attention between the two.
A short time later after attacking the [Spotted Spider Queen] multiple times and receiving a few blows as well. Akira heard the roar of Delgar before seeing the small dwarf charging towards the [Spotted Spider Queen] from behind, sending his warhammer to slam into one of its eight legs with enough power to crippling the leg.
With the three of them attacking they were able to slowly damaged the [Spotted Spider Queen]. Its movements keep slowing down every time Delgar managed to land a blow onto one of its legs.
Akira continued to attack the one spot he had priced through the thick carapace causing green blood to continuously flow out of the wound along with the pained screeches of the [Spotted Spider Queen].
After the fifth leg was crippled, Delgar with the help of Nox attacked the side of the [Spotted Spider Queen] causing it to lose its balance and roll over onto its back.
Taking this chance Akira leaped into the air and landed on the lightly armored belly of the [Spotted Spider Queen].
Grabbing his sword with both hands he raised his sword over his head and brought it down with all his might piercing into the underbelly all the way to the hilt of the sword.
Quickly pulling his sword out he continued to attack while the spider jerked and screeched in pain trying to remove Akira and get off its back.
Delgar''s used his warhammer and repeatedly bashed the [Spotted Spider Queens] head.
its movements began to slow down until Akira stabbed his sword deep into the underbelly one last time and it ceased to struggle.
Ding!
You have defeated Spotted Spider Queen.
+10 Fame
You have leveled up! Current level is now 11.
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New title received!
Fame +5
One who runs from spiders: It is said that great warriors have great power and few weaknesses. It seems your weakness is spiders.
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Quest ''Clear Aorium mine'' has been completed.
Aorium Mine will not be destroyed.
You have leveled up! Current level is now 12.
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Akira felt slightly annoyed after reading the new title.
¡°Finally its dead,¡± said Delgar with a sigh.
¡°I think so,¡± said in a gravelly voiced Akira as he hopped off the body of the [Spotted Spider Queen].
A few seconds later the body of all the spiders in the room began to disappear turning into a blizzard of light particles before scattering and disappearing.
¡°Huh never seen that happen before. So uh... you''re a werewolf huh? Makes sense now that a think about it, with all your weirdness,¡± said Delgar looking over Akira and Nox.
Akira quickly ended his transformations and reverted back to his normal human form.
¡°Sorry I kept it a secret but there are too many people out there searching for me and I didn''t want anyone to know lest it might bring them trouble or give someone the chance to inform the ones looking for me,¡± said Akira worried that Delgar''s attitude might change now he knew that he was a werewolf.
¡°HAHAHA, don''t worry about it. I know what it is like. You may not know this but we dwarves are not humans either but we are not entirely part of the demon race either. The only reason we have not been hunted down like the rest of the demon race is the demigods and humans through history have forced us to make things that they are unable to. Some of our ancestors were forced by the demigods to create weapons and armor with our secret runes during the first great war. It has not been a nice relationship but at least they only threaten us and don''t actually attack. You don''t have to worry most dwarfs are very friendly to every demon race that hasn''t lost their minds,¡± said Delgar with a chuckle.
¡°That''s good to know,¡± said Akira letting out a sigh his worries quickly fading.
¡°No need to think about all that gloomy stuff we''re rich! Look at all this Aorium ore! I better look around and see If I can get something to haul it all back to the handcar,¡± said Delgar as he ran off to search the large cavernous room.
''If you don''t need my help any more let me go back and sleep,'' said Nox.
Akira was shocked to see that Nox had already leveled up to Lvl 3 from just the split XP from killing the Lvl 14 boss.
Akira canceled the skill Allowing Nox to jump back into Akira''s shadow and disappear.
Scanning the ground where the [Spotted Spider Queens] body had been Akira saw that there were a few items laying on the ground quickly walked over and picked them up.
There was a blue magic stone, 1 gold coin, and an odd-looking dark brown soft metallic ore. It was extremely warm to the touch but was slowly growing colder and harder.
''What is this?'' thought Akira.
Ding!
Puminium ore:
A rare type of ore, you don''t want to know more about it trust me.
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¡°That''s a weird description, guess it fits this odd metal,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 24: Aorium Shield
After adding the new bonus skill points to his stats, Akira opened the stat and skill windows to see how far along he had progressed.
Character Name
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Akira
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Race
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Werewolf
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Fame
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50
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Level
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12: 6.90%
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Profession
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Son Of The Night
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Title
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One who runs from spiders
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Health
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460
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Mana
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220
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Strength
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49
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Vitality
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46
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Stamina
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36
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Agility
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22
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Intelligence
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20
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Wisdom
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22
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Attack
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13-16
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Defense
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48
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Endurance
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13
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Toughness
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1
|
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+ 5% Buff to Stamina and strength at night.
+ 10% Lesser poison resistance
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Skills:
Sword Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 5 | 20%)
Heavy Armor Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 1 | 64%)
Shield mastery (Beginner lvl 4| 0.00%):
Shield Bash: (Beginner Lv: 4 | 9%)
Sword Slash: (Beginner Lv: 3 | 33%)
Exotic Cooking: (Beginner Lv: 1 | 25%)
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Son of the night class skills:
Call of the Wolf Pack - Summon Shadow-Wolf 1
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With a pleased smile after seeing the numbers, Akira closed both of the windows.
As he took a quick glance around the room he was able to see all the Aorium ore scattered around the room. He was still amazed at the amount of ore that was in just this one room.
His gaze landed on spider eggs for a second, then continued on looking at the other ore piles.
''Wait a second!'' shouted Akira in his mind. Looking back to where the pile of eggs were. There were still hundreds of eggs undamaged, just sitting on the ground. They were ticking time bombs.
He scanned the room for Delgar, but he had already left the boss room in search of a cart to transport the ore.
''Jeez can he not be so blinded by the Aorium ore, that he forgets about finishing up the job of destroying the spider''s eggs before they hatch and cause us trouble again,'' thought Akira.
He hurriedly walked into the tunnel where they had left the shuttered lantern with its fire still burning, he used the fire from the lantern to light a new torch.
Quickly walking over to the eggs, he used the torch to set multiple eggs on fire. The eggs that caught on fire began to burn fiercely as if they were old dry wood. The flames leaped from one egg to another the smoke that was emitted from the burning eggs was an acrid and very unpleasant smell.
The smoke slowly rose up to the ceiling and began to escape through a small unnatural hole in the ceiling.
When Akira was finished checking the whole area for any eggs he may have missed, Delgar finally returned pulling the mine cart that had been behind the handcar.
¡°What are you starting fires for? Don''t you know it''s not smart to start large fires in mines because you''ll suffocate? Not to mention you''ll die from breathing in all the smoke,¡± said Delgar.
¡°I was taking care of the spider eggs that you forgot about in your hurry to collect all the ore. There seems to be a hole in the ceiling where the smoke is escaping through, I can barely see it because it''s so far up. Come to think of it I think that was the spot that the Queen spider descended down from,¡± said Akira pointing to the faraway spot on the ceiling.
¡°A hole in the ceiling?¡± Asked Delgar.
He looked to where Akira''s hand was pointing and with trained eyes, he looked at the small hole and the area around it. His face turned grim after studying it for a few moments, beads of sweat fell from his wrinkled forehead.
¡°Whew, not only are we lucky in finding all of this Aorium ore, but we also stopped an outbreak. That hole and the area around it were not formed naturally, it seems that the Queen spider was slowly mining towards the surface trying to escape this dungeon. If we had not come here to search for the Aorium ore, clearing out the Spotted spiders as we went then they would have escaped the mine a few months from now,¡± said Delgar wiping the sweat off his forehead.
¡°Damn, that was close call,¡± said Akira with a stunned look on his face.
¡°To close for my liking. I hope this doesn''t affect our luck later in life,¡± said Delgar.
They both continued to stare at the hole in the ceiling for a short while until Akira coughed and said, ¡°Well, we better get to work on loading the Aorium ore into the cart so we can take it back to the forge.¡±
¡°Right you are! Let''s pick it all up and if there is still some room we can mine the rest on the walls,¡± Delgar agreed.
While gathering the Aorium ore Akira found a pile of the Rare Puminium in one corner of the large cavernous room.
¡°Hey Delgar do you know what type of metal this is or its rarity?¡± asked Akira holding up a few pieces of the ore.
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Delgar looked at it before answering, ¡°Never seen it before, Must be uncommon or rare. Better make sure to put some of that into minecart so we can test it out when we get back to the forge. We might be able to make something nice with it.¡±
It took over twenty minutes to fill the large mine cart, judging by the amount of ore left it would take them at least five more trips to transport all of the ore back to the forge. It was unknown if they could even do that without getting caught by the other townspeople.
Delgar and Akira slowly pushed the heavy minecart through the long tunnels, pulled it back onto the tracks, and connected it to the back of the handcar.
¡°Damn that thing is heavy with all that ore I don''t know if I have five more trips in me after a full night of fighting,¡± said Delgar.
¡°You can always come back for the rests at a later time,¡± said Akira.
They began pumping the lever of the handcar quickly picking up speed and traveling through the tunnels at a faster pace than before. They only stopped to pick up the bones of the deceased dwarfs and lay them on top of the ore to transport them out of the mine.
When they reached the entrance Akira pressed his foot down on the break and along with Delgar hopped off the handcar and pushed open the large metal door after a few tries.
It was early morning outside, the sun was slowly rising lighting up the shack through the dusty window.
¡°Damn it we took too long guess this will be the only load we can do today. Let''s hurry up and take this to the forge. Then we can divide our spoils and have some fun with it,¡± said Delgar.
They were able to reach Delgar''s shop and unload the ore without anyone noticing. After they returned the mine cart and locked up the mine, they exited the shack and were shocked to be coldly greeted by a trio of old dwarfs.
¡°What do you think you''re doing messing around here? Don''t you know how dangerous that mine is?¡± asked an elderly female dwarf.
¡°I knew it had to be the problem child causing trouble,¡± said the dwarf in the middle who had a long braided gray beard.
The last of the group an old male dwarf was silent and looking at Delgar as if asking for an explanation.
¡°We weren''t messing around, and it''s been over a hundred years since I was a child. How did you guys know we were here?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°You would have to not have a nose in order to ignore the awful smoke coming from this direction. Were you trying to wake the dead because if that was your plan I''m sure you could,¡± scolded the gray-bearded dwarf.
¡°Hey you should be thankful, the two of us entered the dungeon we stopped an outbreak,¡± said Delgar.
¡°What were you burning to cause such a stench?¡± asked the old lady ignoring Delgar''s last statement.
¡°The spotted spider eggs,¡± said Akira Quickly.
¡°Spotted spider eggs?¡± asked the gray-bearded dwarf.
Finally, the third old dwarf that had been quite the whole time spoke asking Delgar and Akira, ¡°Do you mean to tell me that the two of you entered the mine and cleared out all the monsters that were breeding in the mine for many years?¡±
¡°Yes mayor, my friend needed some Aorium ore, and after telling him about the problem with the mine he offered to help clear it. With the reward for clearing it being some of the ore,¡± said Delgar.
¡°So it has been fully cleared? That''s pretty amazing! To be able to clear this mine when many have failed in doing it,¡± said the mayor smiling at Akira.
¡°It was nothing I had Delgar''s help. If it weren''t for his help I wouldn''t have been able to defeat the Queen spotted the spiders,¡± said Akira.
¡°I have things to do, so are we free to go? ¡± asked Delgar.
¡°Always a rude child talking that way to your elders,¡± said the old lady.
¡°Yes, you may go. I''ll have a few people come to your shop later to get the keys to the mine so that they can do a thorough search. If everything checks out we can open the mine back up to the public,¡± said the mayor.
***
Back at the forge Akira and Delgar split the ore evenly between them. Akira gave a few extra pieces to Delgar as payment for the armor that Delgar had given him yesterday.
¡°With this ore, I can save some of it to create a great masterpiece that will bring my family''s name back out into the open,¡± said Delgar as he thought of the many items he could create with all the ore he managed to get a hold of.
¡°I look forward to the day when that happens,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''ll be busy for the next few hours sleeping so don''t bother me. You can use the forge and my tools while I sleep. Now if you''ll excuse me my bed is calling me,¡± said Delgar swiftly exiting the forge.
''I''m still fully awake so it''s best to get this quest done so I can continue my search for Yuki and Grand,'' thought Akira.
Picking up 20 pieces of the Aorium ore he placed them all into a pile onto the large wooden table.
Ding!
Quest update! Blacksmith Sub-Class Quest Part 2:
In order to receive the blacksmith subclass, you will be required to create a shield with Aorium ore in order to prove your skill as a blacksmith.
Second goal: Smelt the ore, follow the instructions on the blueprint.
Difficulty: Unknown
Reward: Blacksmith subclass and its related stat.
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Multiple images flashed through his mind showing him all the detailed steps to properly create the shield.
Akira slapped his cheeks with both of his hands to get pumped up and said, ¡°LET''S DO THIS!¡±
He began to follow the instructions, exiting the forge and walked to a separate room where the coal was stored. He quickly filled a large wooden bucket with the coal he would need and went back to the forge where he threw a large portion of the coal into the furnace. The furnace''s fire from the night before was nearly out and was soon brought back to a roaring blaze after Akira poked the coal around letting it catch on fire.
After building up the fire to the right temperature, Akira added all twenty pieces of the ore into the furnace and began to pump air into the furnace increasing the heat. After an hour of tirelessly pumping air into the furnace, he wiped the sweat off his face and drank a full glass of water.
He opened the small door at the bottom of the furnace and began to poke at the ash and burning coal until the molten ore began to flow out.
Once the ore was slightly solidified he used a pair of tongs to take the large chunk over to the anvil where he lightly tapped at the ore with his hammer, having the slag fall away leaving the pure Aorium ore.
While he let it cool down Akira decided to see if he could also smelt the Puminium. Placing the ore into the fire he began to raise the temperature until he received a message window.
Ding!
Unable to refine Puminium ore need to be at least an Intermediate blacksmith.
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¡°Well that sucks,¡± said Akira. He took out the ore which was surprisingly still cool to the touch.
When the Aorium fully cooled he again placed the large chunk of ore back into the furnace heating it up so he could start hammering it into the shield that was shown in the blueprint.
An hour of hammering and reheating the lump of Aorium ore had passed, turning it into a decent sized round medium shield.
After quenching and tempering the shield he began polishing it. Following the blueprints instructions, he began to drill holes into the shield and fasten three different leather straps onto the inside of the shield.
Ding!
Blacksmith Sub-Class Quest Complete!:
Reward: Blacksmith subclass and stat Dexterity.
Blacksmith: Able to make weapons and armor with different ores when requirements are met.
Enchant:A special skill of blacksmith subclass that allows the merging of magic stones with items created depending on the rank of the crafted item.
Dexterity: Measures how nimble your fingers/hands are with crafting professions. Also helps with accuracy when attacking.
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Useful Aorium shield was created +35xp
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Useful Aorium shield (common):
Durability: 40/40
Defense: 20
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¡°Yes!¡± shouted Akira. He felt a sense of pure happiness after completing the shield and looking at the defense stats
Ding!
Able to enchant ¡°Useful Aorium shield¡± with 1 magic stone.
Choose a magic stone compatible with the shield.
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Akira was stunned for a moment after reading the message but soon recovered and opened his bag and pulled out the two magic stones he had received from the two different bosses.
The large blue magic stone he had just received only a few hours ago began glowing while the red magic stone that dropped from the mother rat did not react.
Following the instructions, he placed the blue magic stone onto the finished shield.
Akira gasped as the magic stone began to melt into the shield and slowly started to change the color of the shield into a light blue. The shield let off a blue light for five short seconds before it slowly faded.
Critical success!
+5 Defense
Unknown effect unlocked at lvl 15.
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Useful Aorium shield (common):
Durability: 40/40
Defense: 25
+Unknown effect Unlock at lvl 15
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¡°Jackpot!¡± shouted Akira.
He eagerly equipped the blue shield and moved his arm around testing the weight and getting a feel for it. It was a lot heavier than his old wooden shield, but to make up for that it could withstand much stronger attacks.
Akira was stupidly gazing at his new shield Delgar walked into the forge.
¡°Ah, so you were able to make it after all. I was worried I would wake up and find you making a mess of my shop and ruining the ore. Here Let me take a look at that,¡± said Delgar.
After inspecting it he let out a grunt.
¡°It''s not bad for your first time. But it''s no masterpiece,¡± said Delgar handing it back to Akira.
¡°Well I need to go and get some sleep, creating this has made me extremely happy but also very sleepy,¡± said Akira before leaving the forge and walking to the guest room and falling fast asleep.
Chapter 25: Escort
¡°You''re leaving?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°Yes, I have to keep searching for my companions. For now, I''ll probably go to Fregoldawae the capital city of merchants. Since it''s such a large city I might get lucky and meet them or discover some information that can help me find them,¡± said Akira.
¡°But you only just got here,¡± said Delgar standing up from a wooden stool, ¡°Wait here, I have something to give you before you leave.¡±
Delgar left the room leaving Akira alone in the room. He walked over to the wooden work table and looked at the large two-handed sword laying on the table that Delgar had been working on before Akira had interrupted him.
There were multiple crude and exotic carvings all along the middle of the sword. They looked to be letters forming a word, he was unable to understand it as this was the first time he had seen something like this.
Delgar returned a short while later, his breathing heavily from running while carrying a small box. He found Akira intently studying the two-handed sword.
¡°Is this your first time seeing dwarven runes?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°Yeah, they look really interesting. Is it hard to learn them? Is this the type of thing that the demigods wanted the dwarven race to make for them?¡± asked Akira.
Delgar''s face stiffened at the questions but answered, ¡°Yes the demigods forced some of my kin to create weapons and armor, engraving them with our dwarven runes. You are lucky to be able to see the runes. Just to let you know we dwarfs do not teach other races how to use the runes, nor do we give weapons and armor with runes to people who are not of our same race. Only on rare occasions where someone from another race has helped the dwarven race with a great deed and earned their trust, will they get a personalized weapon or armor piece, so to be forced by the demigods to do such things is a great shame.¡±
¡°I hope I''m not digging too deep into sensitive information. But I was wondering how many of these runes an armor or weapon can have,¡± asked Akira.
¡°Well, we are friends. So I''ll answer that question, the max is three runic words. Most items can only hold one word, but if the ore that is used by an expert blacksmith is extremely rare then there is a chance for up to three words being able to be added.¡±
¡°What happens if more is added to ones that can only hold one?¡±
¡°The item breaks. Sometimes into big pieces where you can just reforge the weapon or armor. If the person that is engraving the weapon or armor is unskilled and tries to push them over the limit they have a chance of turning into dust due to the power held within the runes. That''s all I can say about the runes anymore and I would be violating the dwarven laws,¡± said Delgar as he shoved a small box into Akira''s hand.
¡°What''s this?¡± asked Akira slightly puzzled as he looked at the ring inside of the box.
¡°It''s a ring that will let other dwarves know you are a friend of the race. If you ever meet them on your travels they should not be too hostile, and they may help you. It''s the least I can do for the help you have given our town in clearing the mine and stopping the overflow,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Would you mind buying the remaining Aorium ore I haven''t used?¡± asked Akira.
Since Akira needed money to fund his future travels he decided to sell the rest of the Aorium ore.
¡°Sure! What about that rare Puminium ore? Do you also want to sell it?¡± Delgar asked hopefully.
¡°No, I''ll keep it for later I may be able to create something good with it when I become more experienced. I just need some money for my travels, that''s why I''m selling the Aorium ore.¡±
¡°Ah, what a shame,¡± said Delgar as he reached for his coin pouch and pulled out 30 gold. ¡°Is this good enough price for the Aorium ore.¡±
Akira looked at Delgar in shock. He had pulled out an amount that was almost threes years worth of wages of a normal person living in the Beorin kingdom like it was nothing.
¡°What are you staring at me for I''m not trying to rip you off,¡± said Delgar handing Akira the gold.
¡°No, that''s not it. I was just surprised at the amount of money,¡± said Akira looking at the gold in his hand. He didn''t expect to receive so much. He was currently holding more money then he had ever had at one time in his short life so far.
¡°With that, all things have been settled so I should be going now. I hope we will have a chance to meet each other in the future where we can work on more things together,¡± said Akira.
¡°As do I,¡± said Delgar with a smile.
***
Three days had passed. Delgar was sitting at the counter in the front of his shop. He was searching the drawers for some fresh paper to draw up a plan for a new masterpiece. While looking for the clean paper he found a letter in one of the drawers.
Looking at the letter he felt like a lightning bolt had hit him as he remembered the letter was given to him from an old friend he was supposed to give it to a young man who was supposed to be a werewolf. They were in such a hurry he was never told the name of the person he was supposed to give it to.
Hitting his forehead with his hand he sighed in exasperation. How could he have missed something so obvious? That''s right he had been too occupied with clearing the mine and then with the massive amount of ore that he had received after, that he forgot all about the letter.
The person the letter was most likely for was Akira, who was a young male and also a werewolf searching for his friends. Unfortunately, Akira would be long gone and the message in the letter was far too sensitive to send with a courier to the capital city.
¡°I''m sorry old friend, but if Akira returns in the future I''ll be sure to give it to him,¡± said Delgar speaking out loud to himself.
***
Akira spent most of his time hunting monsters with Nox the shadow wolf while traveling towards the merchant capital on the long dirt roads, vast open plains, and numerous farmlands. He was learning how to properly use his full power in his werewolf form during the night hunts which were slightly easier now that he had the help of Nox and the fact that he could stay transformed longer helped a lot.
He was now level 14. Leveling up was slightly slower now due to sharing the XP with Nox who had also leveled up to lvl 6.
Nox had not been too friendly for the first few days of the trip. He was always complaining and bad mouthing Akira for every little thing he disliked. But now that over a week had passed with both of them hunting nonstop while they traveled he was slowly warming up to Akira.
¡°Why did I have to be paired with such a useless master?¡± asked Nox.
Or maybe not. At least he had stopped bad mouthing him every second of the day.
The sun was slowly rising high into the sky allowing Akira to see a town just ahead.
¡°Nox you can go back now since I can''t have you causing problems for me in the town,¡± said Akira.
¡°Like I would want to interact with stupid humans,¡± said Nox while yawning opening his mouth wide enough to show off the sharp teeth inside, before jumping back into the shadow near Akira''s feet and completely disappearing.
Akira was able to enter the small town without any problems. He entered the only inn in the town and paid for a room and then walked through a small hallway that connected the tavern to the inn.
Tavern only had a few other people eating their breakfast.
As he was eating a light breakfast of vegetable soup with a hard loaf of bread with a chunk of cheese, a man with a balding head of gray hair matching his gray armor, walked over to his table and started a conversation with Akira.
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¡°Hello, traveler you seem to be a strong warrior. I''m putting together a hunting team to kill a dangerous monster that was seen by some farmers late last night, not too far away from this town, would you be interested in joining?¡± asked the balding man.
¡°What type of monster did they see?¡± asked Akira, needing more details before he could make a decision.
¡°Umm...I believe they said it was taller than your average man, had extremely large muscles, it was covered in black fur, the weirdest part about it is they said it stood on two feet. They witnessed it fighting with other monsters last night. Probably some mutation of a wolf. If we don''t take care of it soon it might attack one of the farmers,¡± said the balding man.
*Cough* *Cough*
Akira choked on the soup that he had been eating. This guy was talking about him! That old man wanted to recruit Akira to hunt himself!
''I have to get out of this town the sooner the better. I wanted to sleep in a bed for a few hours but it seems I messed up, they shouldn''t know it was me, but it''s better to be safe than sorry,'' though Akira.
¡°I''m sorry, but I''m just passing by. I need to get to the capital city as fast as I can,¡± said Akira on alert to see if the man suspected him.
¡°Ah, that''s a shame. Sorry to bother you, please enjoy your stay while you are here,¡± said the balding man with a smile before leaving the tavern.
Akira watched him closely as he left, letting out a long sigh when the bald man exited the tavern.
''It seems he doesn''t suspect me and just wanted my help. I''ll think I can leave after a short nap. Getting some food in my stomach has made me tired,'' though Akira.
He finished eating the rest of his food before returning to the room he rented and fell asleep.
***
Akira walked through the towns gates only a few short hours after he had entered.
He began stretching his muscles loosening himself up before the day journey.
¡°Sir, Help! Please help me! These men are trying to rob me,¡± shouted a fat man who was carrying multiple bags on his back.
Akira stared at the comical sight in front of him. There were four men chasing after the fat man but were unable to catch him. All of them looked to be more fit than the fat man who was sweating profusely while staying just out of the reach of the four men.
¡°Don''t think one person can stop us from taking your items pig. You''re just a small-time merchant. No one will care about us helping ourselves to your stuff,¡± shouted one of the men chasing after him.
Not needing any more info on what was happening Akira ran forward and easily knocked out the four people chasing the fat merchant.
The city guards who had heard all the shouting ran outside to see what the problem was.
The merchant next to Akira quickly explained to the guards what happened. After which the guards hauled off the four criminals to the town''s jail.
Turning to Akira the merchant asked, ¡°Are you by any chance heading to the capital city?¡±
¡°Uhh... yeah, I am,¡± said Akira not saying anything more.
¡°Those men were supposed to be my bodyguards for the trip but they seemed to be unsatisfied with waiting for the payment and decided they wanted to take everything I had. Since I am in need of a new bodyguard will you take the job? I can pay you when we get to the city and sell everything,¡± the merchant asked while breathing heavily.
Ding!
Escort mission!
Owin has asked you to protect him as he goes to the Capital city of Fregoldawae.
Difficulty: Unknown
Reward: Payment and Owin''s friendship.
Will you accept?
Yes / No
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Akira thought for a moment before coming to a decision.
¡°I don''t mind since we are going in the same direction. But don''t expect any special treatment,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ah! Thank you! No need for special treatment among friends. My name is Owin Bigbottom. if you don''t mind I need a few moments to catch my breath,¡± said Owin sitting down on the ground with a huff.
After ten minutes of sitting Owin finished eating some food and watering it down with a large quantity of water, he stood back up again.
¡°Thank you for waiting,¡± said Owin.
Akira nodded and turned around and began walking with Owin following him.
***
The days of traveling with Owin were far different then what Akira was used to. Mainly due to him being alone so there were long days of silence unless he summoned Nox to go hunting. But now there was hardly ever any silence, the day was filled with Owin constantly talking! He never shut up, always talking about whatever popped up into his head.
He was only quiet while he was eating or sleeping.
Akira was slightly bummed out that he could not hunt while escorting Owin. Every night before sleeping he summoned Nox to act as a sentry and keep an eye out to make sure nothing got near them.
Akira was able to leach some of the XP Nox gained from killing monsters while he slept which was nice.
***
It was early morning and they had just started the days travel not even ten minutes ago when three shabbily dressed people jumped up from the ditches on the side of the road to block the road.
¡°We are the Super deadly all-powerful three-man bandit Brothers!¡± shouted the three bandits at the same time while pointing at Akira and Owin.
¡°We own this road if you want to pass you have to pay 5 gold!¡± said the tallest bandit.
¡°Yeah, what he said if you want to pass pay us 20 gold!¡± said the youngest bandit.
¡°Yup, Yup, what they said give us all your items and you can pass,¡± said the third.
¡°You idiot that''s not what I said,¡± said the tall bandit hitting the youngest on the head.
¡°Ow! Why''d you hit me and not him?¡± shouted the youngest bandit.
The three started arguing and fighting amongst themselves forgetting about Akira and Owin.
''What a bunch of idiots!'' thought Akira.
He wanted to leave but running was not possible since he was supposed to be protecting Owin. Thinking quickly he started to form a plan on how to escape this predicament.
¡°Excuse me gentlemen you require payment for us to pass?¡± asked Akira, stopping the three from hitting each other.
¡°Yes that''s right!¡± said the tall bandit.
¡°I have something that is worth a lot of gold. Would you like to see it?¡± Akira asked.
The three bandits looked at each other with greedy looks on their faces.
¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡± all three of them answered at the same time.
Akira turned around, his back facing the bandits and reached into his small bag finding a piece of paper and an ink pen.
He quickly wrote a few words onto the paper and then turned around.
¡°This is worth 1000 gold! It is my most expensive item. All you have to do is take it to a bank and hand it to the teller and tell them to give you 1000 gold,¡± said Akira holding out the piece of paper.
¡°Really?¡± asked the youngest bandit.
¡°Yes, I am only doing this because I respect how smart and strong you three are,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hehehe, he said were strong and smart,¡± said the third bandit.
The tall bandit snatched the paper from Akira and the three bandits looked at it for a long time.
¡°How do we know that that''s what this paper says?¡± asked the oldest bandit.
¡°What you can''t read the simple words on it?¡± asked Akira with a shocked face.
¡°Of course we can! Were smart enough to read it. I was just making sure,¡± said the tall bandit.
¡°Since you have paid we''ll let you pass,¡± said the youngest.
A second later the three bandits started running towards the nearest city to receive the 1000 gold.
¡°Thank goodness you were here and there was no fighting. Did you really give them something worth 1000 gold?¡± asked Owin.
Akira laughed out loud.
¡°No! I don''t have anywhere near 1000 gold, nor do I have anything that is worth 1000 gold,¡± said Akira.
¡°Then what was written on the paper?¡± asked Owin.
¡°Oh nothing much,¡± said Akira as he started to hum while walking forward again.
***
The three bandits stood inside the bank panting. It had taken them four hours to run to this bank.
The leader of the group handed the piece of paper to the smiling female bank teller behind the desk.
¡°1000 gold please,¡± said the tall bandit.
¡°Yeah hurry up and give it to us,¡± said the third bandit.
The bank tellers'' face changed into a frown after reading the paper but quickly changed it back to a smile.
¡°One moment please,¡± said the teller, ¡°Guards!¡±
¡°Look at that! They''re calling the guards to personally escort us to the vault to get the gold,¡± said the youngest bandit.
Ten guards appeared swiftly surrounding the three bandits. The teller handed the piece of paper the guard captain for him to quickly read.
¡°Arrest these men!¡± ordered the guard captain.
Without another word, the guards restrained the struggling bandits.
¡°What are you doing? We just want you to give us 1000 gold,¡± shouted the third bandit.
¡°Quiet, you idiot! Have you lot lost your brains, coming here and causing trouble for us?¡± asked the guard captain as he and the other guards beat the bandits up knocking them out and dragged them off to the city''s dungeon.
The guard captain sighed and threw the paper into a nearby garbage bin where the words on the paper could still be seen.
Give us 1000 gold or we''ll kill you and everyone else here.
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Chapter 26: Fregoldawae capital
Akira and Owin stood behind a wagon full of vegetables. They had been standing in the long line waiting to enter the city since early dawn when they had reached the capital city of Fregoldawae.
Fregoldawae was known as the merchant city due to it being controlled mainly by the large merchant Guild that was made up of multiple merchant companies big and small.
It was also where the magic guilds main headquarters was located.
The city only had two gates one on each side of the city, the tall stone walls and Iron gates were guarded by the city''s elite guards all who were employed full time by the merchant guild.
All of this combined to make the lines to enter the city extremely long and time-consuming.
Looking at the sun Akira guessed it was nearly noon. He walked forward a few steps with Owin as the line continued to move forward at a snail''s pace.
¡°Ah, I hate coming to the capital. But I have to do it because of the profits that I can make is just too good,¡± said Owin.
¡°Don''t worry we''re almost at the gates,¡± said Akira.
¡°My feet hurt,¡± complained Owin.
Ten minutes later the cart in front of them reached the gate after a short pause was finally allowed to pass through gate making Akira and Owin first in line.
Akira and Owin walked up to the guards and stopped when the guards lowered their spears and asked, ¡°What have you come to this city for?¡±
A third guard was holding a piece of paper looking at it and then back at Akira and Owin''s face. It seemed they were looking for someone.
¡°I am but a simple merchant. I have come to this fine city to sell the goods that I have brought from far away,¡± said Owin.
¡°And him?¡± asked the guard pointing at Akira who did not speak.
¡°He is my bodyguard for this trip,¡± said Owin.
¡°You need to pay the entrance tax of 10 silver to enter the city,¡± said the guard his hand stretched out.
¡°Why is there such strict security? Has something happened?¡± asked Owin as he handed over the 10 silver coins.
The two guards ignored Owin''s question and looked to the third who had finished comparing Akira and Owin''s face with the paper. The third guard shook his head.
¡°Alright, you two may pass. Don''t go causing any trouble or you''ll get arrested and thrown in jail,¡± said one of the guards lifting his spear allowing Akira and Owin to pass.
¡°I can assure you he won''t cause any trouble,¡± said Owin as the two passed the guards and walked through the large opened iron gates.
They continued to walk down the main street which was bustling with activity, wagons, horses, animals, and people all moving in different directions and different speeds.
Ding!
Escort mission 2!
Owin still needs protection in the Capital city of Fregoldawae protect him until all his items have been sold.
Difficulty: Unknown
Reward: Payment and Owin''s friendship.
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¡°Out of my four trips to this city, this is the first time that it has taken so long to get through the gates. It''s nearly lunchtime and we haven''t even sold one thing yet. I wonder what caused them to tighten security so much. No time to think about useless stuff we need to get to the market and find a spot to set up shop so I can sell my merchandise so I can pay you your commission. On second thought I should do that after I check the local news bulletin boards. You always need to keep up to date on news as a traveling merchant,¡± said Owin stopping in front of a large wooden bulletin board with the important city news on a large piece of paper.
There were two other sections of the Bulletin board both had pictures drawn, one was for missing people who relatives and friends were looking for. The last was for wanted people who had a bounty under their picture and name.
Quickly scanning the pictures Akira stopped on one of the wanted pictures. It was a picture of a young male that looked a lot like him before his face and body was slightly changed by the awakening. Luckily he had also started to grow a beard which altered his face even more and made him look older.
Sure enough, after reading his name under the picture there was no doubt left. Under his name was a bounty of 500 gold crowns. With the words next to it ''Paid to whoever captures the traitor alive.''
So my suspicions were correct those people were looking for me. 500 gold for my capture! Why are they willing to pay so much? This is more than most small villages make in a year!
¡°Alright, nothing important in the news let''s go get a good spot. Since this is the city of merchants the competition is fierce so you need to not only have good items but have a decent spot to show of your items,¡± said Owin teaching Akira a few tips on being a merchant.
The capital city of Fregoldawae was far larger, stinkier, and louder, than any other city Akira had visited before. It was quite shocking to repeatedly be bombarded with new sights and smells.
A few minutes of hurried walking brought them to the central market where Owin immediately started his search for an open spot that was of his liking.
When he finally picked a spot it was next to a large tree which blocked the sun. He opened one of his bags and pulled out a colorful rug and laid it down in the trees shade and then sat down.
Owin opened his bags and began placing the items gently on the rug in front of him. When he was finished he began bellowing out the name of his items and the prices in order to entice customers to come and have a look.
Akira stood behind him leaning on the rough bark of the tree eating some greasy meat on a stick he had bought from a food stall all the while keeping an eye out for anyone who might cause trouble for Owin.
Business was slow for Owin he only sold his first item after an hour of shouting, but it soon picked up during in the second hour.
Akira watched as a mangy dog who was sniffing the ground ignoring everyone around him came closer and closer the where Owin and Akira were.
The dog ran forward after catching the smell it was tracking and bolted towards Akira and stopped right in front of him. Its hair on its back was raised as it started to growl at Akira.
¡°Bark! Bark! Bark!¡± said the dog.
¡°Go away you mangy dog! You''re going to ruining my businesses,¡± Owin shouted at the dog.
The dog ignored him and continued to bark and growl at Akira who was getting annoyed at the dog.
Akira stood up and sent an intense glare towards the dog and unconsciously let out a low growl of his own.
¡°Yipe! Yipe! Yipe! Yipe!¡±
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The scared dog ran away with his tail between his legs scared for his life.
¡°Ha! I sure showed that dog who was boss,¡± said Owin with a satisfied smile.
Akira chuckled Owin''s words.
When the time for the market to close Owin had sold over half of his merchandise.
¡°Looks like we''ll need to sell the rest tomorrow. I hope that''s okay with you if you''re not in a hurry to leave the city. I can pay for your room at the same inn I plan to stay at. So don''t worry about that,¡± said Owin.
¡°It''s fine we made a deal. So until It''s finished I will help you,¡± said Akira and he then followed Owin to a shabby looking Inn near the city walls where Owin paid for two rooms to stay the night in.
***
Akira had been sitting next to Owin all morning in the market.
During that time there were three other stray dogs today that had come sniffing over to Akira and started to back at him but after he glared at them they all ran away yipping.
A man stood a short distance away from the two men, hidden in the shadows of multiple large food stalls his face hidden inside his black hooded robe. A crest with one large triangle and seven triangles surrounding it was on his chest pocket.
¡°This is too suspicious to not report to the 3rd Head,¡± muttered the black-robed man. He quickly walked away blending into the shadows and disappearing.
¡°Damn this mirror is ruined,¡± said Owin with a pained look as he stared at a slightly bent metal mirror with a few scratch marks.
Akira looked at a mirror and then asked, ¡°Would you like me to help fix it?¡±
¡°You''re able to work with metal?¡± asked Owin.
¡°Yes, I was taught the basics by a good friend. I''m sure I can fix your mirror,¡± said Akira.
¡°Aren''t you full of surprises,¡± said Owin as he handed Akira the Mirror.
Akira reached into his small bag and pulled out his hammer he had received from Delgar and quickly repaired the bent mirror. He took out some of his special oil and wiped the mirror until it was ten times shinier and eye-catching than before.
Ding!
Repair bent Mirror!
Blacksmith subclass receives +5 XP
Blacksmithing lvl up! Current lvl 2.
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Akira had been receiving small amounts of experience every time he repaired his armor, shield, or weapon ever since he received the subclass.
¡°Amazing,¡± said Owin who received the repaired mirror and stared at it. After placing it down on the rug it only stayed there for a few minutes before being sold for a large price.
Akira decided since he had already repaired the mirror he might as well look over his own equipment and see if It needed any repairs. After finishing his repairs and sharpening his sword he oiled everything making them all shine brightly and received a small amount of XP.
A few people who were passing by noticed him repairing things and asked him to repair their items offering up silver as payment. Akira agreed and spent the rest of the morning repairing items for people.
After selling the last item Owin stood up and paid Akira. It was now noon time for lunch.
Ding!
Escort mission Complete!
Reward: Payment and Owin''s friendship.
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¡°Let''s go eat at a nice place I know my treat,¡± said Owin with a smile.
Akira had no reason to not accept and followed Owin to a small humble looking restaurant.
The inside of the restaurant was bright and cheery lots of plants were all over each giving of different fragrances.
The waiter showed them to a table that was near a window where they could get a nice breeze from the outside.
Akira also ordered the same thing as Owin since he was unsure of what was good at the restaurant.
¡°Owin, since the city doesn''t have any nobles ruling over it who controls the money from the taxes? Pays for the army that guards the city and all the other cost of things needed to keep a city running?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Why of course that would be the merchant guild. They take care of anything to do with the spending of the money. The Magic guild also has a say but they are more focused on researching and creating things to equip the city guards for a hefty price that is. Those are the two major powers of the city that have control over everything,¡± said Owin.
While waiting for their food Akira could not help but notice a loud discussion from the table next to him.
¡°Have you heard about what''s his face new character he came up with for his new story? Get this he calls it a vampire,¡± said an older gentleman with glasses.
¡°Vampire? Never heard of them,¡± said a second equally old gentleman.
¡°Supposedly they are weak to the sun and only come out in the night they suck peoples blood instead of eating food, and they live for 1000s of years,¡± said the old man wearing glasses.
¡°They sound like a dumb sort of creature, I mean how can they be so weak to the sun? Next thing you''re going to tell me is that what''s his face is going to write a love story where this whatchamacallit vompeer and a young girl fall in love. What a crap love story!¡± said the second old man heatedly.
¡°Wow, how did you know? He has already finished writing it, the story is called moonlight and it seems the young ladies of all classes have fallen for the love story and these odd fictional creatures he created,¡± said the old man wearing glasses.
¡°Bah! A story about cows mating is a far better story than that crap,¡± said the second old man.
The old man looked over to Akira''s table, ¡°Ah it''s the merchant and the young man that sold me such good ink pens. I''m sorry if we were a little too loud. I''m curious about a young males opinion on the subject as my friend and I are both writers and part of this city''s writers guild.¡±
¡°You want my opinion on these made up creatures?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes please do tell us,¡± said the old writer with glasses.
¡°Hmm... I would have to read it in order to understand more, but from what you have said it sounds to be a crappy story, with a really weak creature that kills people for their blood. Overall it doesn''t sound like a good love story could ever be made from it and it would probably have too much drama,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hear, Hear! I agree,¡± said the second old writer.
¡°What brings you to this fine city? Hopefully, it''s not to bejust another normal merchant in the sea of merchants that have already drowned the city,¡± asked the glasses writer taking a side glance at Owin.
¡°No, I am not a merchant. I was just helping Guard my friend sitting with me for the trip to the capital. My true reason for coming here is to search for my companions that I was separated from quite some time ago. Plus it''s not cheap to be constantly traveling with all the supplies and other things needed. So If I can I need to find someplace to earn some extra money,¡± said Akira.
¡°Right you are traveling is expensive, I don''t know of any way to help you find your companions. How much fighting experience do you have?¡± asked the old writer with glasses.
¡°I have cleared two dungeons so far one was a Rank F and the other was a Rank E,¡± said Akira.
¡°I know some people at the magic guild that I''m sure would love to have you do some jobs for them. They can pay you well for a job well done. I can introduce you to them if you''re interested,¡± said the old Writer with glasses.
¡°Really? How soon?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Are you free after you eat lunch?¡± asked the old man.
Akira looked over at Owin who nodded and said, ¡°You don''t need to help guard me anymore now that all my items have been sold.¡±
¡°It seems that I am,¡± said Akira.
¡°Good! I''ll wait for you to finish your lunch and then we can head on over the magic guild,¡± said the old writer with glasses.
After finishing eating Owin and Akira said their goodbyes and then old author introduced himself as Lue one of the leading authors in the city.
***
Bador, the capital city of Beorin.
The city was full of festivities in celebration of the engagement of Rodger and Princess Ruth.
The castle was bustling with activity as the servants hurried to and fro making sure everything was ready for the party that would start any moment now.
In a small changing room attached to the large ballroom, two people were checking their clothes and appearance in a mirror to make sure they looked like royalty should.
Ruth began smoothing out a few wrinkles in Rodgers black suit and helped comb his hair with some oil to make him look more presentable.
While combing his hair she looked at the three large scars on his left cheek he had received a few months ago.
¡°Why don''t you let the castles healers try to get rid of the scars?¡± Ruth asked.
¡°I just don''t want to get rid of it, It''s a reminder for me of how messed up the world is. How is Queen Jezebel doing?¡± asked Rodger changing the subject.
¡°She hasn''t answered any of my letters for over a year now, I''m worried something might have happened you know how kind and shy she was before she was sending a letter every few months,¡± said Ruth.
¡°I''m sure it''s nothing big she probably has her hands full being the queen, that she doesn''t have the time to send letters,¡± said Rodger trying to reassure Ruth.
¡°Alright that''s finished,¡± said Ruth after putting the finishing touches on Rodgers'' hair, ¡°Let''s do our best during the party.¡±
Rodger grabbed Ruth''s hand and the two of them put on their best smiles and opened the door to the ballroom letting in multiple sounds from the sound of the band playing to the loud chatter of the many nobles who had been invited to the party.
¡°Introducing Princesses Ruth and her fiance Prince Rodger!¡± the royal crier shouted as soon as they entered the ballroom forcing everyone''s attention to zero in on the two.
Rodger lightly squeezed Ruth''s hand and they walked forward to begin their job as the host of the party greeting and receiving the complements of the numerous nobles who had come to see them.
Chapter 27: Auction house
¡°This is the Magic Guilds headquarters!¡± said Lue while pointing at the building in front of him.
¡°Wow it''s big,¡± said Akira as he stared at the building in front of him. The magic guild headquarters was four stories high and built with black stone.
Most buildings if not all the buildings he had ever seen were I story high and on the rare occasion there was a two-story restaurant or house. But four stories? That''s huge!
¡°Shall we head inside?¡± asked Lue before walking through the front doors past two burly guards who stood on either side of the entrance to the building.
Akira followed him through the lobby until they stopped in front of a reception desk.
¡°Ah! Mr. Lue, are you here to see the Grand Masters?¡± asked the young female receptionist with a warm smile as if she was used to greeting him often.
¡°Yes, if you could inform them that I have brought someone to introduce them to. I''ll be showing my new friend around the lower floors while we wait for those old geezers to finish with whatever they are working on,¡± said Lue, ¡°Follow me Akira.¡±
Lue walked to the left of the front desk, towards a set of stairs that led to the lower floors, with Akira following.
The air began to change as they descended the steps it had an unpleasant chemical taste and smell to it.
Lue walked off the stairs and into a hallway stopping in front of a door with a sign that read ''HQ store'', making sure Akira had followed him, before opening the door and entering the shop.
¡°To my knowledge, there is no other store like this one. In this store, the magic guild sells everything that they have released to the public. That includes things like the highly sought after Magic gems, the one-time use items such as the healing potions and special one time use skill scrolls. If you have the money they just recently started to produce more of their new skill gems. They cost nearly 100 times more than the one-time use skill scrolls, but that''s because the new skill gems can be used over and over again,¡± said Lue.
There were only a few other people inside the shop each of them were wearing expensive looking clothes.
Akira walked around the store drooling over all the Magic gems that were just laying on shelves, not in a case like the ones he had seen as a kid. The prices in the shop caused his head to hurt. The prices were too extreme he only had 31 gold and could not use most of it because he needed it for his traveling expenses, he could at the most buy a few of the cheaper potions and maybe a Magic gem if he wanted to, but not much else.
¡°Would you like to see the Skill gems also?¡± asked Lue.
¡°Yes! Very much so!¡± said Akira even though he knew he wouldn''t be able to buy one.
Lue called the shop assistant to the counter and asked him to bring out the new skills gems.
¡°Although the magic guild does not practice or teach magic they do have a special technique to put a [Skill] inside a magic stone. Allowing the user to use the skill as many times as their body can handle it,¡± Lue explained while they waited.
After a few minutes, a wooden box with a glass window on top like the one he had seen in the previous shop was brought out from the back room.
Akira stared at each skill gem soaking in all of their features. They were about two times larger than the magic gems but similar in that they were in all types of colors. What was most interesting and different between the two was the odd carving of a rune on each of the skill gems. They looked very similar to the runes he had seen Delgar carve swords and shields.
After looking at the price he felt a sharp stab in his heart. The cheapest skill gem was in the low 100s of gold. Who could afford something so expensive?
¡°Everything here is so expensive,¡± mumbled Akira.
¡°Well from what I hear it''s not so cheap to create them. They first have to buy the large magic stones from merchants or mercenaries selling them. They then have to add on the price for whatever method they use to place the skill inside. The main cost is the having to buy the even rare large magic stones. I''m sure if you were ever to find a magic stone of the correct size they would buy it from you or they could probably cut the price down for you. Who knows you might even receive one as a reward for helping them complete the job that needs to be done,¡± said Lue.
¡°I wonder how they make the skill gems it must be a fascinating, and mind-bogglingly technique,¡± said Akira while inspecting a blue skill gemthrough the glass.
¡°That''s a trade secret. If I told you I would have to kill you,¡± said a voice jokingly behind the two.
Akira and Lue both turned around to see two old men one wearing a red robe and glasses the other with wearing a blue robe and he had a long white beard. They both had large smiles on their faces.
¡°Lue, good to see you. Is this the person you brought to meet us?¡± asked the old man wearing the blue robes.
Lue nodded his head. The two old men turned to Akira and introduced themselves.
¡°My name is Deve Hobs,¡± said the old man in the blue robes.
¡°Hello my name is Beel Geets,¡± said the old man in the red robes.
¡°I''m sorry to have interrupted your busy day,¡± said Lue.
¡°No need to apologize. If anything we should thank you for freeing us from the boredom of going through all the paperwork needed to keep this place and all our branches in other cities running properly,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°You know our name so may we know your name?¡± asked Deve Hobs.
¡°My name is Akira, It''s a pleasure to meet you,¡± said Akira.
¡°You look familiar have we met before?¡± asked Deve Hobs as he stared at Akira''s face.
¡°No, this is my first time in this city as well as meeting you,¡± answered Akira.
¡°Lue, could you tell me why you''re introducing young Akira to us? It''s not like you to do something like this,¡± asked Beel Geets.
¡°He is here to complete the task you mentioned last week,¡± said Lue.
Beel Geets and Deve Hobs looked at each other for a few seconds, unspoken words passing between the two of them with just a look.
¡°Ah that, this is not a place to talk about such things. I suggest we return to our office for more privacy,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°But of course we can get into more detail on the subject in your office,¡± said Lue.
***
The four of them were now sitting in uncomfortable wood chairs around a large rectangular wooden table.
¡°Lue what makes you think that young Akira can help us?¡± asked Beel Geets.
¡°Although I have not been able to verify everything, he says that he has cleared two dungeons before,¡± said Lue.
¡°Is this true?¡± Deve Hobs asked Akira.
¡°Yes, although they were both on the lower difficulty,¡± said Akira.
Both Deve Hobs and Beel Geets quietly whispered to each other for a minute discussing what to do.
¡°We will allow you to join but under one condition...¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°You must complete a simple test for us to prove your skill and other quality''s,¡± said Deve Hobs completing the other''s sentence.
¡°Come back tomorrow, and we will have the test ready for you,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°Since this is your first time in the city you should check out the Auction house. You might find something useful there. Although I doubt it, it won''t hurt to look,¡± said Deve Hobs.
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¡°Do you need any help in finding it? If not I''ll be staying here to talk with my old friends,¡± said Lue.
¡°No need for you to trouble yourself anymore then you already have. I can find it on my own, thank you for the introduction and the chance to complete the job,¡± said Akira as he stood up from the hard chair and swiftly left the Magic guild''s headquarters.
Akira spent a few minutes walking around the streets looking for any sign boards that had a map of the city. When he finally found one he saw that the auction house was in the opposite direction he had been walking.
The auction house was located at the center of the city. It only took him fifteen minutes to walk to the auction house due to the large crowds that filled the street as he drew closer to the center of the large city.
The auction house was an extremely wide, two-story, white building. The only entrance into the building was at the front placed between a row of pillars.
Akira lined up behind the large crowd that was slowly moving forward through the path of pillars leading to the entrance.
The line flowed forward quickly allowing Akira to enter through the large oak double doors.
As he entered the small lobby he was greeted by the male receptionist behind the desk.
¡°Hello, sir is this your first time visiting? Would you like a flyer that explains everything about the auction house and how it functions?¡± asked the receptionist.
¡°Ah, yes, I suppose I should get one,¡± Akira agreed.
¡°That will be 50 copper, ¡° said the assistant after handing Akira the flyer.
Akira was caught off guard but paid the price for the flyer with a silver coin and received 50 copper back as change.
¡°Thank you for coming, we hope you''ll be able to find that special something that is just for you,¡± said the assistant with a smile.
¡°This place is such a rip-off. Charging 50 copper for a small piece of paper, that money could have bought a few cheap meals,¡± mumbled Akira as he passed through the door on the right labeled first-floor open auction room.
Akira began to read the expensive piece of paper he had just paid for.
Welcome to the NoFreGold auction house:
The first floor of our auction house is open every day for quick bidding on items under the rare rank.
Items of uncommon and lower rank can be placed in the main bidding room for a week, if said item is not sold within a week you will either have to pay for an additional week or retrieve your item.
There are two bidding periods each day. Opening-noon. Then a break for an hour. The second period is from one-five.
If you plan on bidding ask one of the staff at the claimant desk for a set of biding stickers.
The bidding stickers will have a number registered to your name. To bid on an item you must write down the price you want onto the sticker and place it on the information card next to the item.
If you are the winning bidder do not try to pick up the item. You are to go to the claimant desk and pay for the item before you can receive your item.
The second floor is only opened once a week and auctions off the items that are rare or of an even greater rank. All items will be auctioned off by our professional staff.
To have an item auctioned off you need to let the receptionist inspect the item. If it''s a rare or higher rank will you have the option to wait until the next day the second floor is opened to receive a higher price.
The NofreGold auction house will take a 10% tax on the final bidding price as payment.
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¡°Well hopefully I can find something good in all of this mess,¡± said Akira as he looked around the large room.
There where thousands of items cluttered on hundreds of tables and shelves. The room could be mistaken for a junk shop, everything had the appearance that it had been carelessly thrown onto the tables and shelves with multiple things cluttered together.
A few hundred people that Akira could see were already weaving through the maze of tables and shelves looking for something good.
The auction house had their staff members standing behind every other table watching the people as they passed making sure that no one tried to steal anything.
Akira started to walk from table to table looking for anything interesting that was cheap enough to not break the bank.
When he found something interesting he would use his inspection skill and check the items information most turned out to be junk or nothing he needed at the moment.
After an hour of searching for something he could use, he reached the 69th table in his search. The table was empty except for an old looking black hooded cloak laying on the table.
Bored he decided to inspect the hooded robe.
Hooded Cloak of Secrecy (Rare):
It takes a good eye to be able to understand the greatness of this cloak.
-Unknown effect requires lvl 15 to unlock.
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¡°Jackpot!¡± Akira happily muttered to himself, ¡°But what is something like this doing on the first floor?¡±
Akira pondered this for a few moments before heading to the claimant desk registering his name (a fake one that is) and receiving a set of stickers for bidding with the number twenty-three on them.
He walked back to the cloak and looked at the starting price of 5 silver. The price was extremely cheap for a rare rare item. He wrote down 6 silver on his sticker and added it to the cloak''s information card.
There was only an hour left until the current bidding period finished. Instead of waiting next to the cloak Akira decided to look for other hidden gems in the piles of junk.
After searching around some more and not finding anything he walked back over to the table with the cloak to see if anyone else had bid on it. There was another sticker on it with the price of 10 silver.
Akira hurriedly wrote down 15 silver on a new sticker and placed it ontop of the sticker for ten silver.
A table over a middle-aged man watched as Akira raised the price on the useless looking cloak.
''So he is the one who bid on the cloak. Is it worth it to keep biding to see how badly he wants it?'' thought the man as he watching Akira.
With ten minutes left he walked up next to Akira and raised the price again to 25 silver.
Akira looked at the man next to him, ''Why is he bidding on this? It looks like crap. If I didn''t know it was a rare item, I would have ignored it. Does he also know the cloaks rank?''
The two of them each stared at one another sizing the other up.
Then they both started a bidding war the price steadily rising 35, 45, 65, up and up it went.
Just as Akira placed a new bid, a loud gong was heard signaling the end of the afternoon biding.
The final price was 1 gold and 10 silver.
¡°How shameful spending a gold and 10 silver for that old ratty cloak,¡± said the man who had been in a bidding war with Akira. He was looking at Akira with disdain.
¡°Then why were you also bidding on it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Hmph!¡± the middle-aged man harrumphed and left Akira.
Akira left the table and lined up behind one of the three the growing lines in front of the claimant desk. It took some time for all the staff to bring the information cards of the items that had been bidden on to the claimant desk.
When it was Akira''s turn he handed the remaining stickers back to the female clerk.
After searching the cards for his number she spoke in a bored voice, ¡°Your final bid was 1 gold and 10 silver.¡±
Akira nodded his head and handed over the owed money.
After placing the money into a drawer and slamming it shut again. The clerk swiftly with practiced hands took a rubber stamp and pressed it into an ink pad before slamming it down on the information card and handed it to Akira.
¡°Next!¡± she shouted signaling Akira to get out of the way.
As he walked back to the table with the cloak he quickly looked at the stamp which said paid in large thick red letters.
Before Akira could take the cloak off the table he was stopped by a staff member standing behind the behind the table.
¡°Don''t touch that! You must first hand over the information card showing you have paid for this item,¡± said the strict looking burly man.
¡°Ah, sorry. This is my first time here,¡± said Akira as he handed over the card to the man who glanced it before handing the cloak to Akira.
¡°Thank you for coming to the Nofregold auction house. If you come again please be sure to follow the rules. We wouldn''t want to have a misunderstanding and brand you as a thief now would we,¡± said the burly man.
¡°I understand sir,¡° said Akira as he giddily placed the cloak into his small bag and left the auction house.
When Akira had made it back to his room he was renting he let out a shout of joy. He had been able to get a rare piece of equipment for such a cheap price.
¡°Well I don''t know exactly what it does but it''s rare so it can''t be all that bad can it?¡± Akira asked himself out loud.
***
In an alleynear the auction house, a hooded figure was talking to the man who been in a bidding war with Akira.
The man looked at the large triangle surrounded by seven smaller ones on the chest of the hooded figure. He shivered knowing who he worked for.
¡°You say a young male like I describe was he only an hour ago?¡± asked the hooded figure with a hiss.
¡°Y...yes, I swear I wouldn''t lie to you. Do you think I would risk offending you and the...¡± he was interrupted before he couldcontinue talking.
¡°Enough! Tell me, where is he now?¡±
¡°H...how should I know that? I just sent a message to you to inform you like you said to. So is my debt cleared now?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°So can I leave now?¡±
¡°Yes...Oh, wait I almost forgot I need something else from you.¡±
¡°What is it?¡± asked the middle-aged man.
¡°Your silence,¡± said the hooded figure his hand shooting out and stabbing at themiddle-aged man with a dagger piercing all the way through his heart.
¡°I can''t have loose ends. I must inform headquarters of this,¡± mumbled the hooded man as he cleaned his dagger on the dead man''s clothes.
Chapter 28: Discovery
Akira was sitting in the same hard chairs as yesterday while waiting for the two grandmasters to arrive.
''I wonder what type of test they have planned for me,'' thought Akira while tapping his finger on the long wooden table.
A half hour passed before the door to the office opened with both Deve Hobs and Beel Geets walking in.
¡°Sorry, we''re a little late. We had to set up the test along with taking care of a few other minor things to keep the magic guild running smoothly,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°No time for pleasant talk. We have little free time in our busy day, so follow us and we''ll explain everything to you when we get to the testing room,¡± said Deve Hobs in a brisk manner.
The two left the office just as fast as they had entered, leaving Akira to hurriedly stand up and run after them.
Akira walked behind the grandmasters as they descended down the stairs passing many floors underneath the main floor.
The two abruptly turned left and walked off the stairs and into a maze of hallways.
After what felt like an extremely long walk they finally arrived at a large underground room which had its doors already wide open. As Akira walked into the room he looked at the sign above the doors which read [Experimental Training room].
¡°Sorry about the long walk but this is the only safe area that we can test out our new inventions and other secret items safely,¡± said Beel Geets.
Beel Geets pointed at a pair of sturdy metal doors inside the room.
¡°Beyond those doors is a small mock dungeon. We want to test you on three things; your ability to get to a destination, your fighting ability, and again how well you are at retracing your steps. This test is quite simple. The test will show us if you are both mentally and physically fit enough to handle the job. You can only use the sword and shield you''re carrying right now,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°That sounds easy enough. So when do you want me to start?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Right now, and please do hurry as we have a busy day ahead of us. We''ll watch your progress from above the mock dungeon,¡± said Deve Hobs.
Without another word, Akira walked forward past the numerous other training equipment inside the room. When he stepped in front of the large metal doors a the loud clunk as the metallic doors locks were opened. The doors soundlessly slid opened without anyone touching them, allowing him to pass through before they closed behind him.
Ding!
You have entered the Magic Guild''s Experimental Training dungeon!
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Akira scanned his surroundings, he was now in a small gray passageway only wide enough for one person to walk through. It was dimly lit by lamps that had the magical green fire burning inside.
The lamps were hanging from the ceiling that was made of some type of special glass.
He finished inspecting his surroundings he cautiously began to walk forward with both his shield and sword ready to be used.
The first passageway was short, once he reached the end of the passageway it split into a branching Y with two paths to choose from. Akira made a split second decision and began walking down the right path.
As he continued forward there were multiple other branches in the path, which he only took a few seconds to decide on which one to take.
After ten or so branches he walked into a small box-like room. Inside the room, there were three gelatinous looking monster slowly moving around leaving a trail of slime behind them.
Akira stared at one of the monsters trying to inspect it. A second later the name and level popped up. [Slime lvl: 10]
¡°This should be easy,¡± said Akira.
He walked forward and attacked with his sword hitting the slime closest to him.
Instead of dealing a large amount of damage to the slime it instead split into two identical slimes that both looked unharmed.
Akira gripped his sword even harder and used his full strength to attack the two new slimes. Each time he attacked with his sword the slimes multiplied. There was now a total of six slimes in the room.
''Something''s not right. Why do they keep splitting?'' Akira thought to himself.
He didn''t want to use his special skills while he was being watched. Plus there was a chance that if he used [Sword slash] he might end up with twelve slimes instead of six.
''If slicing and stabbing won''t work, I guess I can try using my shield as a blunt weapon.''
Walking over to one of the slimes he used his shield to attack it.
The slime was hit and sent flying into the wall in front of Akira where it burst open sending its acidic body fluid everywhere. A drop of the acid flew onto Akira''s cheek where it started to feel a burning pain. He quickly wiped it off his face with his sleeve, looking at his sleeve he could see the acid had eaten a hole in the fabric.
''I have to keep my distance that acid is some nasty stuff,'' thought Akira.
Now that he had figured out how to kill the slimes it was easy to take care of the rest. The hard part was avoiding the acid splash created by the slimes when they burst open from the blunt force attacks.
When all six of the slimes were defeated the dim light from the green magical fire flared up and the voice of Beel Geets could be heard from above the ceiling.
¡°You have completed the first two parts of the test. The last part is to find your way back to the entrance.¡±
***
The two grandmasters stood in a room above the dungeon maze. They were watching Akira through the glass floor of the room that revealed everything in the mock dungeon.
¡°He seems to be good at making quick judgments when choosing a path. His memory is not bad either, so he won''t be getting lost, and he reached the room with the slimes rather quickly,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°Yes, his fighting strength is nothing to look down on. Although he is young, so there are many people far stronger than him,¡± said Deve Hobs.
¡°Overall I would have to say he is very impressive. Give him a few more years and he might even be able to enter the annual Caidia strength tournament,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°Keep dreaming! He still has a long way before he can enter a tournament like that,¡± said Beel Geets.
***
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Akira stood in front of the two grandmasters waiting for their assessment.
He had been able to return to the entrance quickly without getting lost due to the map that had tracked all of his steps. It wasn''t cheating! The functions of his class ''Son of the Night'' was a part of him!
¡°Young man I have to say after watching many people attempt the maze dungeon you are the first to have been able to finish it so quickly,¡± said Deve Hobs.
¡°Yes, quite an impressive feat. We have decided that you will be allowed to do the job. But first, before we inform you on the details you should stock up on healing potions and other items at the guilds store. Make sure you have everything ready,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°Do you need us to show you the way to the store or do you remember where it is?¡± asked Deve Hobs.
¡°I think I remember where it was, so there''s no need to take any more time out of your busy day to show me,¡± said Akira.
¡°When you are finished preparing for a fierce fight, go back to the front desk and inform the receptionist that you are ready. We will try to get back to you as fast as we can,¡± said Beel Geets.
Akira and the two grandmasters left the Experimental training room and headed in different directions.
***
Akira walked through the hallways and up and down the stairs trying to remember which floor the store was on.
¡°Um...where am I?¡± Akira asked himself.
During his search for the store, he had gotten lost. So he did what anyone would do and started opening every door that was unlocked, trying to find someone who could help him.
Almost all doors were locked, the ones that were unlocked were all empty and had no one inside.
He walked to the last door in the corridor labeled [Workroom 42] and tried to open it. The door opened without a problem allowing Akira to walk inside and close the door behind him.
The large room was dimly lit by candles that were placed on the walls and stone pillars.
¡°Uuuuhhhh...¡±
Startled from the sound, Akira whirled around and looked in the direction the sound had come from. A set of large cages came into view. Each of the cages had several people inside of them.
Male, female, adults, and children were all inside the cages. He walked over to one of the cages to get a better look.
¡°Hey, can you guys hear me? Who put you in here, and for what reason?¡± asked Akira.
Silence. There were no replies only low moaning coming from a few people. The others all looked to be on death''s doorstep and were too weak to even make a sound.
While searching for a way to open the cage Akira recognized one of the faces of a man in the cage. His face was one he had seen a few days prior on the towns message board for missing people.
''Why are these people caged inside the magic guild?'' Akira pondered.
His thoughts were broken when he started to hear footsteps and the voices of three different people stopping outside the door to the room.
Before the door could open all the way, Akira dived behind some boxes next to the cages without a second thought. Making sure not to make too much sound.
¡°Who left the door unlocked? If the grandmasters find out you could get us all killed. Make sure to lock it next time,¡± came a voice from the open door.
¡°What''s the big deal? Just look at them they can''t escape even if they wanted to,¡± another voice replied and then laughed.
Akira peeked between two of the boxes he was hiding behind to see three men in long white lab coats that scientist and researchers liked to wear.
They walked up to one of the cages quickly unlocking it. One of the researchers reached inside the cage and dragged out a middle-aged man by his arm. A second researcher grabbed onto the man''s other arm and the two of them dragged the man to the center of the room out of Akira''s view.
Akira moved as quietly as he could and found a spot where he could see the center of the room.
The prisoner was laying in the middle of a large circle of crude carvings.
Akira''s heart froze as he continued to look at the crude carvings on the ground. He had seen similar crude carvings over a month ago. The carvings on the ground were Dwarven Runes.
There were hundreds of runes carved into the ground creating a large circle with three layers. Three lines of runes led away from the large circle and connected to three smaller circles made from the runic words. One researcher stood in each of the smaller circles.
At the far end of the circle, there was a line of runes that led to a small knee high stone altar covered in runes.
The lead researcher walked up to the altar carrying a small bag which he opened and pulled out multiple magic stones of various colors and sizes. He quickly but neatly laid them out on top of the altar. When finished he returned to the small circle he had been standing in before.
After a few moments of silence, the three researchers began a dark and grim sounding chant in a language Akira had never heard before, the chant caused the hairs on his arm to rise.
The runes of the small circle began glowing, growing brighter and brighter. The runes leading from the small circles to the larger circle began to light up as well causing a chain reaction were one rune after another started glowing.
This continued for over ten minutes until the last of the runes on the altar were glowing brightly.
The male prisoner''s body in the middle of the circle began to rise into the air and stopped a few feet above the ground.
The researchers continued their chanting fully focused on the body in front of them. A minute later what sounded like a loud sigh was heard and bright misty light began escaping from the male prisoner''s mouth.
When the misty light stopped growing it was the size of a head. The researchers chanting changed slightly and the misty light began floating over to the altar.
After five minutes the misty light reached the altar and began covering the magic stones laid out on top.
The chanting of the researchers began to speed up to an extremely fast pace. Akira guessed that this was not there first time doing this as they did not mess up their chanting even at such a fast speed.
A suction sound could be heard as the misty light began to be sucked into the magic stones. In less then a minute the misty light was gone and the researchers chanting stopped.
Akira looked at the magic stones on the altar to see they had morphed into magic gems with runes engraved on top of each one.
Akira gasped, luckily there was no one close enough to notice it. Those magic gems were the Magic guilds new skill gems!
''This is how they make the skill gems? What am to do with this information? I have to do something,'' Akira quickly though but couldn''t think of anything.
Now that he knew how they were made, he felt appalled that he had thought of trying to learn the method the day before.
Akira watched as the lead researcher collected the magic skill gems from the altar and placed them back into the bag they had come from.
¡°Is he dead?¡± asked one of the assistant researchers.
¡°Nope, just unconscious,¡± said the second after checking the pulse of the male prisoner.
The two researchers again grab the prisoner''s arms and dragged him to his cage and lock it. They open another cage and dragged out a young girl who Akira guessed was probably in her early teens.
She was dragged into the middle of the large rune circle. The processes was repeated all over again, but this time the altar had a large stack of empty scrolls.
After placing the completed consumable skill scrolls into a small bag they looked at the young girl.
¡°The young ones die too quickly,¡± said the lead researcher.
He watched as the other two carelessly dragged the limp body of the young girl over to a large hole in the ground and tossed the body into it.
Loud snarls could be heard coming from the pit, along with the sound of flesh being torn, bones being broken.
¡°How many did she make for us?¡± asked the lead researcher.
¡°Umm...three sets I think,¡± said one of the assistants.
¡°This formation is too brutal, tearing out their souls and using their life force to create these new type of gems and scrolls,¡± said the second assistant.
¡°It wouldn''t matter if the formation was too brutal if the people that we have to use were normal. But we have to capture people with rare natural ability in order to copy and imprint the skills into the gems and scrolls,¡± said the first assistant.
¡°This method was created by those crazy bastards of the..¡± said the first assistant only to be interrupted.
¡°Don''t say their name so casually,¡± said the lead researcher, ¡°We can leave, now that we''ve got what we needed. The grandmasters don''t like having to wait.¡±
Akira waited five minutes after they had left the room and quietly walked out from behind the boxes he looked at the people still stuck inside.
Sadly he could not help them right now. The decision was painful but they could not even move on their own and he could not carry them out of the Magic Guild. All he could do was leave the Magic guild and inform the city guards.
The door had not been locked even after getting a warning from the lead researcher, which allowed Akira to open the door
As he opened the door he looked at the back and saw an odd carving of a large triangle surrounded by Seven other small triangles three on both the right and the left and one at the top above all the others including the large triangle.
Akira paid it not attention and exited the research room and started to run down the corridor. Reaching a corner he continued to run.
¡°Ahh!¡±
¡°Uff..¡± Akira was knocked onto his butt from running into another person.
¡°Sorry, I wasn''t looking where I was go...¡± said Akira his voice stopping when he saw who it was he had bumped into.
Chapter 29: Magic guild quest
¡°Ah!¡± shouted Akira when he saw who it was that he had bumped into.
¡°Akira, what are you doing down here? You''re supposed to be at the shop getting ready for the job,¡± said Beel Geets while helping Deve Hobs stand back up.
¡°You''re not poking your head into places that you''re not supposed to be are you?¡± asked Deve Hobs, his face was flushed red from anger at being knocked to the ground due to Akira''s carelessness.
¡°N...no, sir! I got lost while trying to find the store, and I couldn''t find anyone to help me find the store. It''s a good thing that I ran into you guys. Oh yeah, sorry about the running into you part,¡± said Akira hurriedly, trying not to look suspicious.
The two grandmasters looked at each other for a few seconds and then back at Akira trying to tell if what he said was the truth.
After a long nerve-wracking silence, Beel Geets spoke, ¡°You should have just let us guide you to the shop in the first place. I thought with the skill you showed during the test you would be able to do something as simple as walking to the guild store.¡±
¡°Come on follow us. I don''t like being made to waste time. You better not fall behind or get curious and start looking at places where your eyes shouldn''t look,¡± said Deve Hobs turning around and walking down the hallway they had just come from.
¡°Right, I''ll only keep my eyes looking forward,¡± said Akira as he followed the two grandmasters.
They were able to easily navigate through the maze of hallways due to the Grandmasters memorizing the path many years ago. Upon reaching the stairs they ascended near a hundred steps, before reaching the floor with the main shop.
When Akira arrived in front of the shop Beel Geets opened the door for him.
¡°Hurry up and get what you need. We''ll wait outside while you finish your shopping. Once you''re ready we can give you all the details on the job,¡± said Deve Hobs.
¡°Sure sounds good,¡± said Akira as he walked between the two in order to enter the shop.
¡°Don''t take all day,¡± shouted Deve Hobs before the doors were shut.
Akira tried to remember where everything that he needed was at as he moved around the shop. He moved with quick feet gathering things he thought would be helpful. He kept in mind that he needed to keep the cost low since the whole point of this to was to earn money not spend it.
He brought everything to the counter where a young male clerk with red hair was waiting.
After quickly looking over everything and calculating the price the clerk said in a bored voice, ¡°The total is 5 gold sovereigns and 22 silver.¡±
Akira knew the price would be high due to it being the main shop of the magic guild, but his heart hurt as he pulled the money out of his coin purse and paid for the items.
He quickly put everything he had bought into his small bag that still had plenty of room and exited the store.
¡°Hurry up and follow us,¡± said Beel Geets who without another word started to walk back down the stairs.
Akira was led even deeper under the magic guild. They were forced to stop at a wooden door blocking the path which was being guarded by two stern-looking guards.
Deve Hobs waved for them to move away from the door and took out a set of keys, which he used to unlock the door.
Beel Geets picked up one of the green fire lanterns off of a hook on the wall, before walking through the unlocked door.
The stairwell was dark with no light but the green glow from the lantern that Beel Geets held in front of him.
They continued walking down the stairs stopping only when they reached the end of the stairs that lead into a small round room carved from stone.
On the far side of the room was a metallic trap door that Akira guessed led to someplace even deeper beneath both the magic guild and the city.
Close to the entrance of the room was a large vault with two keyholes and a large horizontal metal handlebar sticking out.
Beel Geets and Deve Hobs walked up to the vault and pulled out two large keys on chains that were hanging from their neck. They inserted them into the locks and turned their keys at the same time in a swift but well-versed motion.
Two loud clicks could be heard. They left the keys inserted and grabbed onto the metal bar with Beel Geets pulling and Deve Hobs pushing, they were able to slowly rotate the bar clockwise until the loud clunk of the deadbolt was heard as it was fully pulled back.
The vault door swung wide open revealing a large amount of glittering gold and other wondrous treasures inside.
Akira quickly started to identify the items inside the Vault and was stunned due to the number of items and their ranks. Everything inside that he could see was a rare item. They were all heaped in piles like they were just common junk.
Both Beel Geets and Deve Hobs both had satisfied expressions on their faces when saw Akira reaction who had his mouth hanging open due to the shock of seeing the items inside the vault.
The vault was open for only a few moments before the two grandmasters closed it and set the deadbolt back into place. They turned their keys at the same time locking it and placing the keys back around their necks.
¡°This is the rewards vault. We put the items we have bought from the auction house in here. Only a select few know of this area and even fewer are able to receive an item from within the vault. If you are able to successfully complete the job within a decent amount of time not only will you receive the payment for the job but we will also allow you to take one item from the vault. Now that you know what the reward is. Grandmaster Deve will tell you what we want to be done,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°First, I need you to know that any information you hear is confidential. If we learn that you have told others this information it will not end well. Do you understand?¡± asked Deve Hobs.
Akira vigorously nodded his head.
¡°Good. The magic guild has been experimenting on monsters and creating new species. For every success, we have hundreds of failures. Those failures need someplace to go. That place is the sewers that can be accessed by the trap door over there,¡± said Deve Hobs pointing at the metal trap door on the opposite side of the room.
¡°The failed experiments that we have been putting down there have somehow further evolved and mutated while we were not paying attention. We want you to clear them out before they start to get to numerous and uncontrollable. If you find any resources including magic stones then you are to give them to us. We''ll be sure to pay you for them. Does this sound like something you to take care of ?¡± asked Deve Hobs.
¡°Yes, I have enough experience in killing monsters. I have cleared two dungeons already so I think I can take care of this problem for you,¡± answered Akira.
¡°One moment, please. I have something I need to talk to Grandmaster Beel about,¡± said Deve Hobs.
The two of them walked out of Akira''s hearing range and began whispering. For some reason, he could not hear the conversation even with his enhanced hearing.
A few minutes passed before the conversation was finished and they walked back over to Akira.
¡°Since the dungeon may be dangerous and we don''t want you to die while you try to clear it, we have decided to hire two others to join you. We will go and send for the other two adventures. You can wait here until they arrive in a few hours,¡± said Beel Geets before leaving with Deve Hobs.
Ding!
Exterminate the mutated experiments!
The two grandmasters have tasked you to clean the sewers below the Magic guild of any and all mutated experiments.
They believe the task will be difficult. So you are to wait until help arrives.
Difficulty: E+
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Reward: Payment and one item from the Reward vault.
Will you accept?
Yes / No
|
¡°Yes,¡± said Akira accepting the quest.
***
''The quest sounds too easy, and now with the help of two more adventures, I should be able to complete it even quicker. If only they would hurry up and get here. I wonder which rare item I should choose,'' Akira thought to himself.
He had been waiting for several hours and had already eaten lunch an hour before. As time continued to pass by he was getting restless from waiting.
He stopped pacing when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Two nearly identical males entered the small underground room.
They walked up to Akira and held out their hands to for Akira to shake, which he firmly shook one after the other.
¡°My name is Glen and he''s my twin brother Neal,¡± said Glen introducing himself and his brother.
¡°I''m Akira. I hope we can get along and finish this job quickly without receiving toomuch damage. Now onto details for fighting together as a team. I use a shield and a one-handed sword and I tend to fight on the front line. What are your specialties?¡± asked Akira.
¡°That''s great! My brother and I are both damage dealers. We both have a magic skill stone from the guild,¡± said Neal.
¡°If you can keep the monsters away from us, then we''ll be able to kill them faster and this job will be easier for everyone involved,¡± said Glen.
At the mention of the magic skill gems, Akira''s face winced for only a second as he remembered the ritual that was used to create them.
¡°Well if you''re ready then we can begin,¡± said Akira who was tired of waiting.
¡°We''re ready. You should lead the way since you are our meat-shield,¡± joked Neal with a large grin.
Akira smiled back and opened the heavy trap door revealing a metal ladder attached to the wall descending into the darkness.
Before he started the descent he picked up the lantern that the grandmasters had left behind and fastened it to his belt with some spare cloth he took from his bag.
The two brothers followed After Akira down the ladder. The air was becoming cold and extremely unpleasant smelling as they descended the ladder.
¡°This might be a pain later,¡± said Akira who had stopped and was looking at the ground which was over ten feet away from the last rung of the ladder.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Glen who was above him.
¡°Something melted or dissolved a large portion of the ladder. Getting down is a simple task but reaching the ladder once we are finished will be hard due to the distance from the ground,¡± said Akira.
¡°Then aren''t we in luck it just so happens I have some rope. You should always bring rope with you. You never know when you might need it,¡± said Neal.
¡°Jeez, you and your fetish for rope,¡± said Glen shaking his head.
¡°It''s not a fetish. It''s called being prepared,¡± retorted Neal.
¡°Could you pass it down to me,¡± asked Akira.
After a few seconds, Neal was able to find the rope and pull it out of his bag. He handed it to Glen who then passed it to Akira. The rope was swiftly secured to two of the ladder''s rungs with two knots, one on each rung. This way if one of the rungs failed they still had the other.
Akira jumped from the ladder and landing on the ground with a splash. The ground around him was covered in a small layer of filthy water that was giving of the smell of raw sewage.
Ding!
You have entered the hunting ground Magic guild sewers.
|
Two more splashes behind him indicated that Glen and Neal had joined him.
¡°This place reeks,¡± complained Neal.
¡°Of course it''s a sewer, you idiot. Did you think it was going smell like roses?¡± asked Glen.
¡°Which direction should we take,¡± asked Akira as he looked to the left and then the right of the sewer tunnel they were standing in. It was barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
¡°Let''s take the right, I think I remember the grandmasters saying that the left passage has a locked door blocking the path to the main sewers,¡± said Glen.
Akira nodded his head, then readied his shield and sword before walking forward leading the way with Glen and Neal following behind him.
After walking for six minutes they had still not seen anything.
¡°Weren''t there supposed to be a lot of their failed experiments down here?¡± asked Neal.
¡°That''s what they told me. But who knows what''s really happened down here,¡± said Akira.
¡°Quit talking you two, I see something moving up ahead of us,¡± said Glen.
Akira refocused his attention in front of him and was able to see the movement in front of them.
It was only two [Mutated Slime: Lvl 15]. They looked like the ones he had fought for the guilds test but with a different name.
¡°It''s just some slimes. Can your skills be used from a distance or are they close ranged attacks? ¡° asked Akira.
¡°We can attack from a distance watch this,¡± said Neal as if he was trying to show off.
Akira watched as both Neal and Glen held their fist out and each concentrated on one of the slimes.
A glow was emitted from their hands as the skill in the magic gem was activated.
The skill attacks shot out from their hands. The skill Neal used was a green light of wind blades that flew past Akira and slammed the slime into the wall causing it to burst open and leaving large cuts into the stone wall.
Glen''s attack was a red fireball that caused the air around Akira to grow hotter as it passed him and turned the slime into a toxic mist.
Both attacks were quite amazing and looked very powerful.
¡°See, this job will be easy,¡± said Neal with a laugh.
¡°Shut up,¡± said Glen.
The three of them continued to easily hunt the slimes of all colors as they appeared. It was a little boring for Akira. As the slimes were not like other monsters they had not ears to hear, no nose to smell, and no eyes to see. So they did not take the initiative and attack the group. They did have a 6th sense to know where an attack was coming from but the slimes were quickly killed whenever they appeared before they could even retaliate.
***
Several hours had passed while they walked through the maze that was the sewers. He didn''t know why the builders had to create such a complicated network of tunnels that were supposed to be used as part of the sewer system.
Glen and Neal needed to rest after using their skill gems so much so Akira agreed to take a short break.
Akira guessed that it was now night time outside. The three of them picked one of the nearby tunnels that was drier than the rest and ate a quick dinner.
¡°I thought they said that this place was supposed to have multiple other experiments, but all we''ve found so far is slimes,¡± said Akira, trying to think of the cause for this.
¡°You don''t think that the others were somehow able to escape?¡± asked Glen.
¡°Or maybe something else ate them! I saw bones and other body parts back in one of the tunnels,¡± said Neal.
¡°Let''s get back to work. By my estimation we should be reaching the main room on this side of the sewer,¡± said Glen ignoring Neal.
Both Akira and Neal shoved the rest of their food into their mouths and drank some water to wash it down.
¡°Ready,¡± said Akira standing up.
¡°Same,¡± said Neal.
¡°Why don''t you give me the lantern so you can focus on defending us,¡± said Glen.
¡°Thanks,¡± said Akira as he handed the lamp over to Glen.
The three of them continued forward until reaching a medium-sized rectangular room that had multiple pillars holding up the ceiling.
Neal whistled in amazement at the sight inside the room. The room was filled with slimes everywhere.
¡°Let''s do this,¡± shouted Neal using his skill several times before they could even come up with a plan.
His skill hit multiple slimes not killing them but alerting them of an enemies presence. The slimes may be easy to kill, but a large amount of them would turn into a pain in the butt.
¡°You should have waited until we figured out a plan,¡± shouted Akira as he ran forward to block the slimes path into the tunnel where the two brothers were.
¡°Sorry...¡± said Neal. He didn''t seem all too sorry at all, as he continued to use his skill to aggro the other mobs in the room one by one.
¡°Just hold them off and I will gather enough power for the skill to kill them all in one go,¡± said Glen.
Akira grumbled a complaint as he readied his shield to push back the slimes that were slowly inching towards him.
When the slimes had gotten close enough he used his skill Shield bash, popping several slimes and pushing dozens more backward into other slimes.
¡°Whoa you never said you had a skill gem from the guild,¡± said a surprised Neal after seeing the shining light from the skill.
¡°Oh yeah sorry, I forgot about it,¡± Akira lied since it was not a skill gem he was using.
After a few more minutes knocking the slimes backward, Akira asked, ¡°How long is it going to take for you to have the skill ready?¡±
¡°It shouldn''t take to long. It has more to do with gathering all the slimes into a group and then releasing the fireball,¡± replied Glen from behind Akira.
Akira used Shield Bash again knocking the slimes away from him and clearing the area in front of him only for a few seconds.
¡°I''ve hit everything I could see. I''ll also ready an attack to help take them out in one go,¡± said Neal.
Another two minutes passed with Akira getting a little overwhelmed by all the slimes his mana was almost depleted.
That''s when a change happened in front of him. The slimes stopped advancing and started to gather together and began fusing with each other.
A few moments later a large blue Slime as tall as Akira and three times as wide was fully formed. Akira inspected the large slime and a snort of laughter escaped him as he read the name. [Ted the Mutated Slime Lvl 17].
What Akira found interesting was Ted had two eyeballs floating inside his large body it was the first time he had seen a slime with them.
It started to move towards them again but even slower this time.
¡°This should make things easier for you guys. Are you ready?¡± asked Akira.
There was no answer. Not wanting to take his attention off of the large slime that was coming towards him he asked again, ¡°Hey answer me, are you ready?¡±
There was still no answer the slime was getting closer by the second. He quickly pivoted around to see if something had happened to them but found the two brothers were still there with grim faces.
At that moment both of their skills shot forward at full power.
The only problem was the two attacks weren''t headed for Ted, but for Akira.
Chapter 30: Failure
All Akira could do was raise his shield to try and block the attack before both the skills hit him.
The attacks slammed into Akira''s shield creating a large explosion that enveloped Akira, blocking him from Neal and Glen''s vision.
The shock wave from the explosion sent Akira flying backward out of the two brothers view.
The fire from the explosion was so strong that it vaporized poor Ted who had only been a few feet behind Akira.
Akira''s laid on the ground in agony. His exposed face and hands were cut and burnt the hair on his head was gone, the leather armor covering his legs had been burnt to ashes, allowing his legs to receive serious burns.
His Hauberk was scorching hot but was still fine and was quickly cooling down. His shield had taken the most abuse but was still looking good most likely due to the Aorium ore that had been used.
The excruciating pain only lasted for a few seconds as he heard the sound of a message window opening and felt the soothing feeling from leveling up.
¡°That''s too bad. He died fighting the boss valiantly,¡± said Neal laughing at his own words.
¡°You always talk too much, with this our job for the magic guild is complete,¡± said Glen.
¡°Ughhh, I''m exhausted using the Skill gems suck. Can''t the magic guild make using them not take so much energy? I wonder what the poor bastard did to make the grand masters angry enough to give us an assassination contract,¡± said Neal.
¡°I don''t know and I don''t care. Now shut up and go check to see if he really is dead,¡± ordered Glen.
¡°Why do I have to? I''m too exhausted from using the skill gems. Why can''t the magic guild make using them not take so much energy,¡± whined Neal who received a punch in the gut from Glen.
¡°Fine well both do it, so quit your whining,¡± said Glen picking up the lantern from the ground and walked into the room.
Akira''s wounds had fully healed due to the regeneration he received upon leveling up. But the shock and memory of the pain still stayed with him for some time.
He had been thrown far into the room where the light did not reach. It was lucky he had not been thrown against one of the pillars or he might have been snapped in two and killed from the impact.
Akira had been conscious through the brother''s conversation. After hearing that they had were hired to kill him he slowly got to his feet and walked further into the shadows of the room hiding behind one of the large pillars.
¡°Where is he? He should be here somewhere or was the explosion so powerful that it blew him to bits?¡± asked Glen.
The sound of a blood-chilling howl rang out from one of the dark corners of the room.
¡°What was that?¡± asked a sacred Neal.
¡°How should I know,¡± shouted Glen who was just as scared.
The sound of swift running footsteps reached the two brothers ears.
Two dark figures were running towards them. As they came closer the light from the lantern revealed a humanoid wolf with black fur which was at least a good head taller than them, at its side a large shimmering black wolf was running on all fours legs.
¡°You take the one on the left I''ll take the one on the right,¡± said Akira in his gravelly voice.
''Finally, I get to have some fun,'' said Nox, who sounded like he was truly pleased.
¡°De..demon race! No one said anything about there being someone of the demon race down here,¡± stuttered Neal as the two brothers turned and started to run away.
Akira and Nox were far to fast for the likes of them to be able to escape. As Akira caught up to Neal he pounced forward slamming into Neal''s back knocking him to the ground.
¡°Neal!¡± shouted Glen with worry, but his voice soon turned into a cry of pain as he was attacked by Nox who he had carelessly ignored.
Akira grabbed onto the dazed Neal''s arms and pulled them behind his back with all his strength creating loud snaps as the ones broke. One of Neal''s arms were torn off on accident.
The room was filled with screams as both brothers were mauled. Silence returned to the sewers a few seconds later when both brothers last breath escaped their mouths.
Akira looked over to see Glen had his throat torn out and his stomach ripped open.
The full meaning of everything that had happened so fast hit him all at once.
''Holy fook that old geezer wasn''t joking when he said he would have to kill me if I found out about their secret. How am I supposed to escape?''
***
Back in the office of the grandmasters both Deve and Beel were quietly talking between themselves.
¡°It''s such a shame that a fine young warrior like Akira had to be killed,¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°I warned him, that if he learned of our secrets we would have to kill him. Such talent, if only he had a few more years to hone it he would be fierce indeed,¡± said Deve Hobs.
¡°We shouldn''t worry about it too much what''s done is done.¡±
¡°You''re right. What''s taking the twins so long?¡±
¡°Patience the sewers are extremely hard to navigate even with the map we gave them. If they aren''t back by morning then we can send in another group to look for them.¡±
***
Akira rummaged through the twin brothers pockets to see if they had anything worth taking.
The only things they were carrying other than food and water was rope and the two magic skill gems.
Akira picked up the magic skill gems studying them closely. He tried to get them to work but after failing to produce any results, he put them into his bag for later, when he might be able to figure out how they work or find a use for them.
Akira looked at his naked legs, he looked quite odd now only wearing his hauberk without any pants or leg armor that had been burnt to crisps.
Akira looked at the armor both Neal and Glen were wearing. Akira guessed that the leather-armored pants Neal was wearing were about the right size for him.
He stripped the armor off of Neal and equipped it. It felt odd wearing the armor of a dead person.
Akira was finally able to take the time to add the bonus points from leveling up to his stats and look at the message windows that had appeared while he had been in agony from the twins surprise attacks.
Lvl Up! Current level is now Lvl 16.
You now meet the level requirement for two of your equipment.
|
Shield mastery Lvl up!
Shield mastery:(Beginner lvl 5| 11.00%)
Heavy Armor Mastery Lvl up!
Heavy Armor Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 2 | 53%)
Gained 10 points in Toughness Stat.
|
New Title received: Roasted Potato
Fame +5
You now know what it is like to be cooked over a fire.
|
Character Name
|
Akira
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Race
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
|
Werewolf
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Fame
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55
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Level
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16: 9.69%
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Profession
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Son Of The Night
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Title
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Roasted Potato
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Health
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580
|
Mana
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260
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Strength
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71(+10)
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Vitality
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58
|
Stamina
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44
|
Agility
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26
|
Intelligence
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24
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Wisdom
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26
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Attack
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13-16
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Defense
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70
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Endurance
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15
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Toughness
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11
|
|
+ 5% Buff to Stamina and strength at night.
+ 10% Lesser poison resistance
|
Useful Aorium shield (common):
Durability: 40/40
Defense: 25
+10 Strength
|
Hooded Cloak of Secrecy (Rare):
It takes a good eye to be able to understand the greatness of this cloak.
-The user is able to stay hidden from others view for ten minutes
-The effect can only be used once a week.
|
¡°Holy cow this is great! This should be able to help me escape this city. But first I have to get out of these sewers, come on Nox we''re leaving,¡± said Akira.
When they reached the spot that Ted had died Akira picked up 1 gold coin and a red magic stone that had dropped.
¡°At least I got something out of this,¡± said Akira.
Nox who had also leveled up to level 8, continued to complain while Akira led the way back through the sewers towards the ladder.
When he reached the rope he set fire to it and then continued walking down the left side of the tunnel.
The door that was blocking the path to the main sewers was easily knocked down with Akira''s strength in his werewolf form combined with the help of Nox.
Akira stepped over the broken door and walked into the main sewer tunnel the murky water reached just under his knees. The smell assaulted his nostrils it was even worse than the smell from the tunnels under the under the magic guild due to a large amount of flowing raw sewage.
''You know it''s not easy to get this smell out of my fur,'' complained Nox.
¡°Let''s split up and search for an exit. If you find one let me know,¡± said Akira.
Nox ran off down one end of the tunnel without saying anything, while Akira went in the opposite direction.
After searching for an exit for over an hour Akira finally found one. The light from the moon could beseen shining through the metal bars blocking the entrance and exit of people or animals from entering.
''Nox I found the exit you can come back,'' said Akira through the mental link they shared.
He waited a short while for Nox to reach him. Without saying another word he jumped back into Akira''s shadow and disappeared.
Akira grabbed onto the thin rusted bars and used his strength to slowly bend them just wide enough that he could pass through. He canceled his werewolf form before exiting the sewers.
He looked around to get his bearings and recognized some of the buildings. He was nowin the outskirts of the city slums near the city walls.
Akira thought for a moment about what to do. The gates would be closed since it was late at night so he would be forced to escape over the tall city walls which had guards patrolling it.
¡°Better put this to good use,¡± said Akira as he took the Hooded Cloak of Secrecy out of his bag and put on using its skill to get walk through the rest of the slums and reach the stairs to the wall unnoticed.
Akira walked on top of the wall searched for something sturdy enough to attach the rope to.
As he was fastening the rope to a large metal flag pole connected to the wall two guards appeared a short distance away on their nightly patrol.
As they were passing Akira who was standing still one of the guards stopped.
¡°Do you smell that? It smells horrendous, like the sewers. Where is it coming from?¡± asked the guard.
He raised his torch he was carrying and walked forward closer to Akira lighting up the area.
¡°It''s probably just a rat from the sewers. We don''t have the time to be chasing after them,¡± said his patrol partner.
The guard with the torch looked around one last time before returning to his partner and continuing the patrol.
Akira let out the breath he had been holding, gulping in fresh air.
The Cloak was the real deal the guards had not been able to see him but they sure were able to smell him.
Akira threw the rope over the side and started climbing down it. When he reached the end of the rope there was still a large drop. He let go of the rope and fell to the ground where he completed a messy landing but was overall not hurt too badly.
Ding!
Exterminate the mutated experiments Failed!
You have left the city of Fregoldawae. While the Quest was still underway.
-No rewards will be received
-The grandmasters will now view you in a negative light.
|
¡°Who cares about those old geezers,¡± said Akira under his breath as he began running away from the city.
***
Next morning.
¡°This is bad! They''re both dead! What do we do?¡± asked Beel Geets.
¡°I don''t know!¡± said Deve Hobs.
¡°Right, we need to calm down. It doesn''t appear he is coming after us, but instead, he is most likely trying to escape. We must send word to the guards at the gates and order them to close them and to not let anyone exit the city,¡± said a fretful Beel Geets.
Just as they were making plans on how to fix the situation a knock on the office door interrupted them.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Beel Geets briskly.
The door opened and the new young female secretary that had just been hired the day before entered the room bowing to both of them.
¡°There is someone in the hallway. They demanded to be brought to see you,¡± said the secretary.
¡°What''s his name?¡± asked Beel Geets.
¡°He didn''t say, sir,¡± said the secretary.
¡°Tell him we don''t have time to talk to him. If he wants to talk to us he can make an appointment like everyone else out time is too important. Now leave us,¡± said Deve Hobs.
The secretary exited the room and closed the door behind her. A few mummers came through the door as the secretary informed the person of their decision.
The door was slammed open, and a burly man of medium height with short gold hair and a golden beard walked into the room. He was dressed in fine golden clothing showing he was not a commoner.
¡°Sir you can''t go in there!¡± said the young secretary.
¡°Who do you think you are? Telling ME to make an appointment?¡± shouted the man glaring daggers at the at the two grandmasters. His sharp eyes and overall look made the two grandmasters feel like a lion was staring at food it planned to kill and eat.
¡°Who the hell are you to be barging in on us! Do you know who you are angering?¡± shouted Beel Geets ignoring the bad vibes he was getting from the man.
In anger the golden-haired man slammed his fist onto the table in front of him, causing a large hole to appear. He didn''t say a word instead he started to roll up his right sleeve as far as it could go and then turned and showed the tattoo on his shoulder.
The faces of the grandmasters immediately went white when they saw it. Theyknew far too well what the tattoo meant only people of that group would be allowed to use it.
It was suicide to try and fake membership if they did and were found out they would be killed.
The tattoo on his shoulder was one large triangle with 7 smaller triangles surrounding it. Inside the large triangle was the number three.
''Holy fuck why is someone like him here?'' Deve Hobs thought. Trying to think of a reason why but his mind was blank, too much was happening and he couldn''t think straight.
Lucky he didn''t have to keep guessing because Beel asked the question he was thinking.
¡°May I ask what was so important that it required such an esteemed and high-rank person as you the third head to personally travel to our humble magic guild,¡± asked Beel Geets meekly.
¡°Wait you mean he is the one they call the golden lion?'' asked Deve Hobs
The Golden lion snorted at the two''s sudden change of attitude.
¡°You want to know why? I''ll tell you why. Because there were two reports about a person we are looking for was seen here in this city. But two certain idiots tried and failed to kill him allowing him to escape.¡±
¡°He learned about the magic skill gem creation method that your group gave us! We had no choice but to kill him to keep the secret!¡± said Beel Geets.
¡°Sir the scouts you sent have come back, here is the report,¡± said the female secretary walking into the room and interrupting them.
Before she could hand it to one of the grand masters the golden lion snatched it from her hands.
¡°Leave us and don''t interrupt again,¡± said Deve Hobs to the female secretary.
The Golden lion began reading the piece of paper.
¡°Itlooks like he is headed towards the Ugabuhga mountains where those detestable things live. You two are quite lucky that I already had a group of Head Hunters stationed in this city. With this information all is not lost we have a good chance of getting what we want,¡± said the Golden Lion.
¡°Thank you for letting us live, you are truly a wise and merciful person,¡± said Beel Geets with a sigh of relief.
The golden third head looked atBeel Geets like he has said something extremely stupid.
¡°Whoever said anything about letting you live, I said you were lucky. The reason why is because I won''t torture you,¡± said the golden lion.
A flash of gold light which was his hand shot forward and slicedBeel Geets head in half horizontally leaving only his lower jaw. The rest of the body fell to the floor spurting blood and gore all over the room.
Deve Hobs gave a shout of horror.
¡°Failures must be punished,¡± said the Golden Lion.
Chapter 31: Trespasser
Akira had been traveling for over two weeks without stopping for more than a few hours of sleep due to the fear of people following him.
The few days both Akira and Nox were still unable to sense anyone following them so it was decided to rest for a while.
Akira stood next to the small fire where half of his lunch was still cooking. He held his hands high above his head.
He had grown careless after reaching the base of the Uhgabuhga Mountains, letting his guard down, only to be interrupted while halfway through eating his lunch.
A small group of warriors surrounded him, their weapons all pointed at him ready to attack if he made the wrong move.
They were not the people that had been chasing after him for the past weeks. They were not like any normal warriors he had ever seen before. The reason why was they were Orc warriors.
Akira had little to no knowledge of the Orc race only that they were fierce warriors and were also part of the demon race.
Akira glanced over the twenty warriors that were surrounding him. Most of them were as tall as he was, the armor they wore was a mixture of fur leather armor and chainmail to combat the cold climate in the mountains. It made them look like a bunch of barbarians.
Their skin was a light red and had upturned noses that were a mixture between a humans nose and a pig''s snout. A pair large tusk protruded from their mouths giving them an even more fierce look. Their ears were more pointy than a humans round ear.
Every one of the warriors wore their hair in a long ponytail that started at the top of their head, each ponytail was a different size.
All but three of the Orcs had large bulging stomachs.
The three different Orcs were at least a head and a half taller then Akira and the rest of the Orcs, with skin that was a deeper red, each of their bodies was rippling with muscles. They all wore shiny chain mail for armor.
One of the three tall Orcs stepped forward and pointed his Quarterstaff the looked more like a club with a long handle at Akira before speaking, ¡°I Varbu, will ask you again. What are you doing here human? This land that you are trespassing on belongs to the Orc Race. If you are here to try and start trouble we will kill you, either way, you are under arrest for trespassing.¡±
Ding!
Choose between choice 1 or 2:
1: Try to escape.
2: Try to persuade Varbu that you are not an enemy.
|
¡°Whoa, whoa, hold your horses! Who said anything about me being a spy? I''m just traveling through this area. Trust me the last thing I need is to anger you guys and cause more problems for myself,¡± said Akira, choosing not to run.
¡°Good choice human. Then does this mean you agree to allow us to peacefully arrest you and take you back to our capital city and be tried by the elders?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Hey! First of all, I''m not a human spy. I''m a werewolf! Secondly, I''m sorry for trespassing so why do you have to arrest me? Can''t you just let me pass through?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Oh, a werewolf? That makes things easier. If you''re a werewolf then show us by transforming. If you do then we will let you go,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Well...there is a slight problem with that I can''t do it right now. If you wait...,¡± Akira was interrupted by Varbu.
¡°Enough, I have never heard of a werewolf who couldn''t transform on will. We don''t need to hear any more of your lies you will be going to the capital with us to be judged. Arrest him and search his bag to see if there is any evidence of his spying,¡± commanded Varbu with a snort escaped his snout.
Ding!
You have failed to persuade Varbu.
|
The two muscular Orc warriors standing next to Varbu walked over to Akira.
¡°We''ll hold on to these for you,¡± said the first Orc warrior, as he grabbed Akira''s sword and shield.
The second Orc grabbed Akira''s hands and placed them into a pair of crude iron handcuffs, and forced him to sit down and wait while his bag was searched.
¡°Well what''s inside?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°It''s empty,¡± said the Orc searching the bag.
¡°Are you sure? How can he be traveling with so little supplies,¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Yes, there is nothing inside.¡±
¡°Fine, extinguish the fire then let''s take him with us,¡± ordered Varbu.
Akira was yanked to his feet.
One of the Orc warriors standing on the outer edge quickly stepped forward and kicked some dirt into the fire and then stomped it out.
Akira watched as the Orcs picked up what remained of Akira''s lunch and quickly ate it. When he returned to his position the Orcs next to him looked angry that he had eaten the food. They both gave him a punch, one in the head and the other in the gut.
¡°Break it up you three,¡± shouted Varbu. ¡°We don''t have time for petty squabbles. Now let''s head back home.¡±
The Orcs all gave loud grunts of approval wanting to return home.
The Orc guarding Akira gave him a rough shove forward using the shaft of his spear. Forcing him to follow the rest of the marching Orcs.
***
¡°It''s been nearly three weeks and yet no reports have come back. What are they doing taking so long?¡± asked Golden Lion, slamming his fist onto the long conference table that now had many holes in it.
¡°I''m sure they will find him and complete the mission successfully,¡± said Beel Geets who was sitting across from the terrifying man.
¡°Don''t talk nonsense thinking it will please me. You''re lucky I need you to keep the skill gem production running smoothly. Otherwise, I would have killed you along with that other worthless person,¡± said Golden Lion.
Beel Geets closed his mouth and stayed quite not daring to say anything fearful that it might anger him.
¡°Have you been able to gather the Skill gems I asked for?¡± asked Golden Lion.
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¡°Yes! The last one was created today,¡± said Beel Geets.
Picking up a medium-sized leather bag from the ground he placed it on the table in front of Golden Lion.
Golden Lion glanced inside the bag for a second before closing it and placing it inside his one of his hidden pockets inside his robes.
¡°I will be going now, as I have other things that need to be done. I''ve already wasted far to much time in this city all thanks to you and your dead companion for letting my target escape. I hope you have learned and understand what happens to those who fail me. You are to keep producing the skill gems and the skill scrolls. We are still in need of thousands more. If you find any information about the whereabouts of our target you are to inform me immediately. If you try anything stupid again like before, I will not give you a swift death like your companion,¡± warned Golden Lion as he stood up from his chair.
Before Beel Geets could answer Golden Lion walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
¡°What have I gotten myself into! I''m too old for this crap. We should have never made a deal with those devils,¡± muttered Beel Geets.
He felt remorse as he looked at the carpet covering the floor which still had stains from the blood that had gushed out of DeveHobs dead body.
***
The sun had finally set leaving only the sliver of moonlight to show the orcs where they were going.
¡°We''ll stop here for the night!¡± shouted Varbu with a grunt.
The nineteen other Orcs all spread out and started unpacking their gear, raising tents, and in no time at all started a fire to cook dinner.
Akira was placed next to the main fire where Varbu stood.
After a short time of waiting for the meat roasting over the fire finished cooking.
¡°I''m going to take the iron handcuffs off so you can eat if you promise that you won''t do anything stupid like trying to attack me or escape,¡± said Varbu waiting for Akira''s response.
¡°Don''t worry, as I said before I don''t want any problems with your race,¡± said Akira.
Varbu walked behind Akira and took out the pins that were holding the handcuffs together.
¡°Thanks,¡± said Akira as he rubbed his sore wrists.
¡°Here,¡± said Varbu, shoving a wooden plate with a large chunk of greasy meat into Akira''s hands.
Akira''s stomach had been growling from hunger for a while. With the meat right in front of him, he couldn''t resist and bit into the meat tearing a large chunk off with his teeth.
The Orcs that had been guarding him all day were now ignoring him and only focused on eating their food.
¡°Halt! Who goes...gurgle,¡± shouted one of the Orc sentries.
¡°Enemy attack!¡± shouted a second sentry followed by the sound of metal clanging together as attacks were exchanged.
Everyone stopped eating and stood up, quickly finding the area the enemy was attacking from due to the sound of the sword fight.
¡°Kill the enemy! Show no mercy!¡± shouted Varbu.
All the Orcs Quickly drew their weapons and charged towards the fight grunting and shouting obscene words at their unseen enemies.
Akira was left alone next to the fire. With no one to watch him, he quickly finished eating the meat in his hands and began searching for his shield and sword.
¡°Ah! There they are!¡± said Akira.
He walked over to Varbu''s tent where his shield and sword laid on top of some of Varbu''s luggage.
¡°Better to be safe than sorry,¡± Akira muttered to himself as he equipped them both.
He would not try escape as he had given his word to Varbu.
Before he could sit back down near the fire, he heard the sound of multiple footsteps running towards him from what was supposed to be an empty part of the camp.
Akira readied his sword and shield. Multiple crossbow bolts shot out from the darkness between two tents, two bounced off his shield and the third flew high over his head missing him completely.
Three people clothed all in black stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the fire.
They threw away their hand crossbows the had just used and pulled out a different assortment of weapons from short swords to daggers. There three attackers began inching towards Akira from three directions.
¡°Who are you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Come with us quietly or we''ll have to cut off a few of your limbs. Don''t worry we don''t want to kill you,¡± said the dark figure in the middle ignoring Akira''s question.
Above his head, a name and level appeared [Headhunter 1: Lvl 14]
¡°Sorry I''ll have to decline,¡± said Akira as he transformed and then summoned Nox.
¡°You want these guys dead?¡± asked Nox after jumping out of Akira''s shadow.
¡°Yes,¡± said Akira with a gravelly voice.
¡°It is him! We must capture him!¡± said [Head hunter 2: Lvl 10].
Nox ran forward intercepting [Head hunter 3: Lvl 12] who was on the left.
Akira charged forward towards [Headhunter 1] who was in front of him guessing that he was the leader of the group.
He swung his sword at the headhunter''s neck using his full power behind the attack. The attack was parried by the short sword in the headhunter''s hands and was forced back multiple steps due to the force of the attack.
Not wanting to be forgotten [Head hunter 2] attacked Akira with dual daggers turning the fight into a two on one.
Using his shield Akira was able to successfully block the daggers and activated the skill, Shield Bash. His shield swung out and landed a heavy blow to his attackers face breaking his nose, causing a cry of pain and blood to spurt out.
Akira couldn''t finish him off due to being forced to step back and dodge a new attack from the short sword of [Head hunter 1].
Akira stabbed forward aiming for the leaders gut but only managed to cut his arm, as his sword was again parried and pushed to the side.
[Head hunter 3] who Nox was fighting let out a scream causing [Head hunter 1] to jump back and look in the direction of their fight, right then Akira heard a loud yipe from Nox and glanced over to see what had happened.
Nox had taken an attack and was knocked off his feet, but was able to quickly jump back to his feet letting out a chilling snarl, before launching an attack.
His opponent who had let out the scream was holding onto a bloody stump where his hand had been bitten and torn off.
Not wasting any more time Akira used his skill sword slash to send the bright attack towards [Head hunter 2] who was still disoriented from the shield bash to his face.
The attack caused a deep wound to appear across [Head hunter 2''s] chest spurting a large amount of blood into the air. Akira rushed forward and stabbed his sword into the man''s heart.
He dropped to the ground after Akira pulled his sword from the lifeless body.
At that moment a shout from behind Akira caught the attention of the two remaining attackers.
¡°I heard fighting back here, are you okay?¡± Varbu shouted as he ran to Akira.
¡°Retreat!¡± shouted [Headhunter 1].
¡°Like I''m going to let you,¡± growled Akira sending an attack towards him.
The attack was dodged [Headhunter 1] threw a small ball in his hands onto the ground causing a bang and a large cloud of black smoke rose up to block his vision.
Akira cautiously walked forward trying to sense the enemy but was unable to.
As the smoke cleared the last two enemies had both escaped.
The fighting at the edge of the camp had also stopped just as quickly as they had begun.
Akira looked at a message he had received while fighting.
Sword Mastery Lvl up!
Sword Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 6| 3%)
|
¡°Be on guard for another sneak attack, they might be trying to trick us into letting our guard down,¡± Varbu the Orc warriors that had started to walk back to the main fire.
Varbu looked at Akira and Nox studying each of them.
¡°So you were telling the truth. Although this is my first time hearing about a werewolf not being able to change when he wants to,¡± said Varbu.
¡°You are probably more informed on werewolves then me. I only learned I was one a few months ago. There''s a lot I don''t know,¡± said Akira.
Varbu watched as Akira pick up the two daggers from the corpse of the enemy he had killed and placed them in his small bag.
¡°Find anything on who they are,¡± Varbu asked.
¡°No, but before I attacked, they said something about being sent to capture me alive.¡±
¡°You are no longer a prisoner now that we know you''re not a human spy, but I would like you to come to our city and report on what you know.¡±
¡°That''s fine, you should know that they might attack you again,¡± said Akira.
¡°If they do we might be able to capture one of them and find out who they are working for. They have some nerve to trespass on our land and even attack my kin,¡± said Varbu.
Akira switched back into his human form his stomach growled loudly.
¡°Uhg, this fighting made me hungry again,¡± said Akira.
¡°No worries we still have plenty of food. It''s not a true fight if it doesn''t make you hungry,¡± Varbu said as he laughed.
Chapter 32: Orcrock
Akira sat by the large fire in front of Varbu''s tent eating a large portion of freshly roasted meat.
Varbu sat next to him listening to the reports of his officers detailing who was hurt and who had died.
After they finished their reports they left without being ordered to.
¡°Thankfully the warriors that were wounded will not die. I Varbu thank you for giving them some of your mysterious magical water,¡± said Varbu with a grim face.
¡°It''s nothing, I had some spare health potions from when I was at the capital city of Fregoldawae,¡± said Akira brushing it off as if it was nothing.
¡°Damn those attackers. They trespass on our land and then kill four of my brethren, and wound two others,¡± said Varbu angrily biting into meat he was holding onto.
¡°What are you going to do?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I want to send out a scouting party to find them and then kill them! But I know that is a foolish idea. The scouts would be killed, further decreasing the strength under my command. The warrior chief will not be happy with the results of tonight''s fight. We will continue onward towards the city of Orcrock which is the capital. It should take us three to four days to get there,¡± said Varbu.
The two quietly chewed on their meat in silence for a short time to mull over the recent events.
¡°Are you sure you don''t know anyone who would want to capture you?¡± asked Varbu breaking the silence.
¡°Now that I think about it there are two groups that would want to capture me, but different reasons for each of them. One wants me alive I think, while the other group wants to kill me to keep their secrets unknown,¡± said Akira.
¡°What hornet''s nest did you hit to anger so many people? This might be troublesome if they keep trying to capture you while you''re with us. Please try and not cause any more troubles for us.¡±
¡°Sorry about causing trouble for you. So...I have been wondering why you are so tall and muscular.¡±
¡°It is just the way I was born. When I was younger, I was just like all my fellow kin until I started to mature into an adult. It is a rare thing to become a blood warrior the name comes from our deep red skin. Blood Warriors are born from parents of all walks of life. I have been told that we have a better understanding of tactics and that is why we blood warriors are the officers and generals in all of the orc tribes,¡± said Varbu.
Varbu looked over to his left to see the two guards that had been in charge of guarding Akira. They had arrived a short time ago and were standing a short distance away waiting for Varbu to call them forward.
¡°Come, what is it that you have to say?¡± asked Varbu.
The two Orcs walked forward and knelt down onto one knee in front of both Akira and Varbu.
¡°Thank you, captain,¡± said the first guard.
¡°We have come to apologize to Akira for any rudeness we may have shown earlier,¡± said the second.
¡°If you don''t mind we would like to share a drink together in friendship,¡± said the first.
Varbu looked over to Akira to see what he would do. Akira was shocked by the sudden turn of unusual events but quickly regained his composure.
¡°Don''t worry about it. I will gladly share a drink with you,¡± said Akira.
¡°Thank you for honoring our request,¡± said the second.
The second Orc guard took out three small wooden cups that could at the most only hold a sip or two. While the first orc guard retrieved a wineskin from his own bag and poured a small portion of it into the each of the wooden cups.
When Akira was handed one of the cups out of curiosity he smelt the liquid inside, due to its strong smell he involuntarily made an odd face. Before he could inspect it further he was interrupted by Varbu''s cough.
¡°It is considered rude to smell and inspect the drink given during a friendship oath. It signifies you do not trust the other person to be honorable and thus wounds the other parties honor,¡± said Varbu.
¡°AH! Sorry, I didn''t know about that. This is my first time doing something like this,¡± said Akira quickly trying to smooth over any misunderstandings he may have caused.
¡°It''s Okay, we know you did not do it out of malice,¡± said the first Orc guard.
¡°Let us toast to an honorable friendship,¡± said the second Orc.
The three of them raised their cups and lightly taped them together before they drunk the pungent alcohol. Akira thought it tasted just as bad as it smelt if not even worse.
Akira handed the cup back to the second Orc guard.
¡°Thank you, honorable friend. We will leave you now as it has been a long night for us all,¡± said the first Orc.
After the two Orcs left Akira turned to see Varbu pull out a set of small cups of his own along with his own wineskin.
They both repeated the ritual together.
***
In a dark cave of the Uhgabuhga mountains, several dark figures sat attending their wounds.
¡°What''s with the difficulty of this job?¡± asked one of the headhunters.
¡°I thought this mission was just to capture some young punk. But he''s a freaking werewolf of the demon race,¡± complained another.
¡°That''s nothing we can take care of a mere werewolf. The real problem is because he''s surrounded by Orc warriors! There was no mention of that either,¡± a third person complained.
¡°Shut up you fools. We have already lost one person we need to be careful to not let that happen again. You know what will happen if we don''t get this job done and bring him back alive. It will mean we''ve failed and will have to face a punishment worse than death,¡± said the lead headhunter.
¡°But..¡±
¡°Quit your complaining. We need to figure out a new plan to capture him otherwise we''re all dead,¡± said the leader cutting off all other complaints.
***
During the travel to the capital, multiple other Orcs had asked to share drinks of friendship with him.
It seemed the group of warriors had warmed up to him after the fight with the unknown assassins.
Along the way they passed many small hunting and farming villages which Varbu stopped and talked to the village chiefs to make sure nothing was wrong in the area.
Akira had seen many light red skinned Orc farmers gathering the last of the season''s crop a variety of rugged grain, potatoes, carrots, and beets. All of the farms he had seen so far were small and looked like it was hard to grow much of anything due to the soil and cold temperature.
As they traveled further into the mountainous territory of the Orcs the temperature was getting colder every day.
Traveling to the capital city of Orcrock was as fast as Varbu had said it would be.
From afar Akira looked at the city which was built in a flat area in the deepest part of the mountains and used the giant mountains to guard the city''s back. The city''s large gray stone walls looked as if they had grown out of the side of the mountain wrapping around Orcrock forming a semicircle ensuring protection all around.
The walls gave off an ancient and barbaric feeling as if they had been sitting there for 1000s of years. The city was large but nowhere near the size of Fregoldawae.
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A small dry moat filled with sharp spikes ran from one end of the wall to the other. It was slightly wider in the area near the front of the gate.
A pair of tan flags with two black great axes crossing each other hung from the gatehouse. The wooden bridge with crude iron covering the bottom of it was raised since it was still early in the morning.
¡°Open the gates a patrol part has returned!¡± shouted one of the guards on top of the guardhouse.
The sound of large chains moving could be heard as the drawbridge was slowly lowered. With a loud thump, it finally came to a rest after hitting the ground, creating a small path across the dry moat.
Varbu led the scouting party across the drawbridge. Each Orc hurried as they wanted to return to their homes and families.
When the scouting party had all passed through the gatehouse a loud thunk was heard behind them as the portcullis was let down. The heavy chains of the drawbridge began clinking as it was again lifted up closing the entrance.
The Orc warriors of Varbu party waited silently for him to dismiss them, after saying a few words to the warriors they were finally allowed to leave.
Looking around Akira noticed multiple Orcs walking to and fro all of them had different short hairstyles.
¡°Varbu, what is with all the different hairstyles? I thought all Orcs wore long hair since everyone in your party has the same hairstyle,¡± said Akira.
¡°I see how you could think that. It is a rule that only Orc warriors wear their hair in a ponytail. The length of the ponytail is a sign of power and shows one''s status as a warrior. There are only ever two reasons a warriors ponytail would be cut. The most common is when a warrior retires from the life of a warrior. The second is when a warrior has done something extremely dishonorable. The ponytail is then cut to show repentance and the rank and status of the warrior is set back to that of a recruit,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I''ll keep that in mind when I meet other Orc warrior,¡± said Akira.
¡°The only other hairstyle you have to worry about is the elders of the Orc tribes. They all have long beards, only elders allowed to grow beards so if you see someone with a beard be very careful in what you say and how you talk to them as they are the leaders of our race. All other styles are that of normal Orcs,¡± explained Varbu.
¡°I''m glad you told me this now or I might have gotten myself into a bad situation. What am I supposed to do now that we''re here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I must go to the council of elders and inform them and the Warrior chief who governs the city and all Orc tribes, about the trespassers in our land and the deaths they have caused. You should follow me to the meeting hall to answer any questions they have,¡± said Varbu.
They walked through the city following the busy main street which was paved with stone.
Akira drew many astonished and suspicious gazes from all who saw him. Many opened a wide path in the crowded street when they saw him for fear of coming in contact with him.
Akira was to busy looking at the buildings and shops to notice the stares. The only major differences he saw between the other cities he had been to before was the buildings were more rugged and the trinkets and other things the shops sold all looked a bit weird.
A short time later they reached the center of the city where a small wall with guards pacing back and forth on top. The wall was protecting a long and old one-story wooden hut.
The wooden hut looked nothing like Akira had imaged when he was told they would be going to the main government building.
Varbu walked up to the guards at the small gates. The guards were on full alert due to Akira an unknown person walking beside Varbu.
¡°Why have you brought an outsider inside the city? Even worse a human!¡± asked one of the guards blocking the path with his greataxe.
¡°He is not our enemy. We have both come to report important news to the warrior chief and the elders it can not wait,¡± said Varbu.
¡°You may pass, but he must stay here where we can watch him,¡± said the second guard.
¡°He needs to be let through since the elders will want to talk to him,¡± said Varbu.
¡°If the elders want to talk to him they can send a messenger letting us know and we will escort him in. Otherwise, we are not letting an outsider near them for their protection,¡± said the first guard.
Varbu looked at Akira and gave him a shrug, ¡°It shouldn''t take to long just wait here while I give them the report,¡± said Varbu before passing through the gates and into the wooden hut.
Akira stood outside the walls for over ten minutes with the guards watching him like a hawk as if their eyes were glued to him.
Akira attention was drawn to the door of the hut as it was opened. A small chubby Orc child dashed out and run up to the guards. He whispered a few sentences before running back inside the hut.
¡°Outsider, come with me. If you make any wrong moves I will chop your head off,¡± said the guard.
Akira remained silent and was escorted into the building by the two guards. When he stepped through the door he looked around the small lobby, there were a few chairs for people to sit and not much else.
On the far side of the room, there were four more Orc warriors guarding the door that lead to the great hall. Upon seeing Akira being escorted by the gate guards. The captain of the four guards loudly knocked on the door leading to the great hall and quickly opened it.
Akira walked into the great hall which was dimly lit and smokey.
A large fire pit was set in the middle of the great hall on either side there were multiple rows of stone benches. The benches on the left were filled with elderly gray and white-bearded Orcs. While the benches on the right were empty.
There was a large crude stone chair situated at the far end of the room. It sat in between the two separate rows of benches.
An Orc warrior who looked to be in his 40s or 50s sat in the stone chair, his long ponytail had a few flecks of gray in his black hair. Varbu was standing to the right of the chair.
Akira was led up next to the burning fire pit where the light was the brightest. The guards backed away a few steps.
¡°Chief we have brought you the outsider that you requested to see,¡± said one of the Orc guards slamming his fist to his chest in salute to the warrior chief.
¡°Good, you may go back to your post if something comes up I will call for the guards in the lobby,¡± said the warrior chief dismissing the guards.
The guards were not too happy about leaving Akira unguarded but followed orders and left the room.
The chief stood up from his chair and walked up to the fire pit. He inspected Akira from the opposite side with Varbu only a few steps behind him.
¡°I am Tornok the warrior chieftain of this city and all tribes of the Orc race. Outsider, why did you enter our land? Were you trying to force us into a fight with those who were chasing you? Now that they have tasted defeat they will surely cause more trouble for us in the future. If that was your plan you have succeeded and we will deal with you accordingly. Answer truly for your future depends on what you say,¡± said Tornok.
¡°Uh, sir I had no idea that this area belonged to you Orcs. I had no idea the there were people chasing me so I was just as surprised when we were attacked by them,¡± said Akira.
¡°You want us to believe that you''re an idiot? Anyone who has a brain knows this area is where we Orcs have lived for centuries even through the wars with the Demigods,¡± came a shout from one of the elders sitting on the benches.
The village chief raised his hand signaling for him to be quiet.
¡°What elder Gron says is true every race should know this fact. We have lived here for many years,¡± said Tornok.
¡°I have not traveled from a nearby town nor am I a native of the country of Freeopia. I have lived most of my life in the country of Beorin so I could not have know that I was trespassing,¡± said Akira.
¡°Why are you so far away from your homeland?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°I was chased out by some people. During my escape, I was separated from the people that were supposed to lead me back to someplace I have no clue where. I have been searching for them ever since.¡±
¡°Are these the same people that attacked some nights ago?¡±
¡°No, I think those were different people. I don''t believe they have anything to do with the person in Beorin who is looking for me.¡±
¡°Why would they be so interested in searching for you,¡± asked Tornok.
¡°I have no clue why, but it could have something to do with me being a werewolf,¡± said Akira.
¡°Chief as I reported he is a werewolf. I saw him transformed with my own eyes,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Quiet boy!¡± said Tornok sternly.
¡°Father I''m not a boy I''m a captain now with my own squad of soldiers,¡± said Varbu angrily.
¡°Yes, and you foolishly lost a fifth of your warriors in one fight. If you keep up with those losses you will have no one to command,¡± barked Tornok silencing Varbu. He turned his attention back to Akira.
¡°What clan do you belong to?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°I don''t know. I only found out I was a werewolf a few months ago. I was told something about the Earth tribe,¡± said Akira trying to remember what Grand had said.
There were loud harrumphs and coughs from the elders as if the answer was unsatisfactory.
¡°All werewolves are part of the Earth tribe. I''m asking for the name of the clan you were born into. Never mind take your armor and shirt off. Elder Gron you are the most knowledgeable on clan tattoos so please come and see who he belongs to,¡± ordered chief Tornok.
¡°What? Why do you want me to take off my armor? I have no tattoos,¡± said Akira.
¡°Take it off or I will do it for you,¡± ordered Tornok.
Elder Gron stood next to Akira, while he reluctantly took off his armor and shirt shivering a little due to the cold air even with the fire in front of him.
Gron inspected Akira''s arms, chest, and back but could find no trace of a clan tattoo.
¡°It is strange for a werewolf who is an adult to not have a clan Tattoo. Who did you say was leading you back to your clan?¡± asked elder Gron.
¡°There were two people. One was a female named Yuki but she was not a werewolf, the other person''s name was Grand he is the head adviser to the chief of the clan,¡± answered Akira.
¡°Grand...I have knowledge on all the werewolf clan leaders and their advisers but there is no one named Grand that I know of,¡± said Gron.
¡°Ah! That''s right I also have a ring from a friend to show I''m not an enemy of the demon race,¡± said Akira reaching into his bag and pulling out the ring he had received from Delgar.
Gron took the ring with his dry old hands and looked it over.
¡°I haven''t seen one of these in ages,¡± said Gron.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°It is a ring that is rarely ever given out by the dwarven race to show a deep friendship between the owner and a certain clan,¡± said Gron.
¡°Outsider do you have anything else to say?¡± asked Tornok.
Akira shook his head and saying, ¡°I have told you all that I know.¡±
¡°Varbu you and the outsider are to wait outside while the elders and I decide on what to do with him and this situation he has forced upon us,¡± ordered Tornok.
Akira put his shirt and armor back on and then left the grand hall with Varbu.
Chapter 33: Mining Skill
¡°What should we do with him?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°He''s an outsider. I say we should do what we always do,¡± shouted an elder from the middle of the group.
¡°I disagree, he is a friend to the dwarves you all saw the ring. We might hurt our relations with them if we did something like that,¡± said Gron.
¡°Since when did we care about what the small dwarves think?¡± asked another elder.
¡°Maybe in your old age you have forgotten about what happened a little over ten years ago, but I still remember. If it were not for the help of the dwarves we would not have had enough weapons and armor to properly defend our cities from the invasion of the human kingdoms helped by the demigods. The damage done to our tribe would have been far greater if it were not for their friendship,¡± said Gron.
Many elders agreed with Gron that It would have been far worse if not for their help.
¡°But that was in the past this is now. Chief your son has brought someone troublesome. It seems someone powerful wants to capture him. They were willing to kill four young warriors in order to capture him. They will not stop in their mission and they most likely know he is here. They will come for him again,¡± shouted an elder.
¡°Where is your honor as an Orc? Would you have us cower and lose allies due to this minor thing?¡± asked Gron.
¡°I agree with elder Gron. If we are to have allies when the next war with the humans and demigods starts, it would be best if we do not offend them. Although we have not had much contact or meetings with the werewolf clans I believe it would be better to help the young pup and in doing so we can have a stronger relationship with his and other clans of the werewolves,¡± said Vold the oldest elder of the tribe.
Vold was greatly respected by all even if they disagreed with him at times.
The debate continued but after Vold spoke, not many spoke out against letting him stay and helping Akira with the enemies following him.
¡°Alright, I think we have discussed this matter long enough. Everyone has given their thoughts and concerns on the subject. It is now time to vote on whether we will help Akira or not,¡± said Tornok standing next to the fire pit.
¡°Raise your hands if you think we should not help him,¡± said Tornok. He counted the hands quickly.
¡°Next, raise your hand if we should help him,¡± the hands were again counted. ¡°Bring Akira and Varbu back I will inform them of our decision.¡±
Akira and Varbu were sitting on wooden chairs that had been brought by the guards for them to sit in.
¡°Don''t worry everything should be fine,¡± said Varbu for the hundredth time.
The doors opened and after a few words from the messenger, the guards waved for Akira and Varbu to enter the room again.
They both stood up and walked into the room walking to the opposite side of the fire pit where chief Tornok stood.
¡°The council of elders has come to a decision on what to do with you,¡± said chief Tornok pausing for a short moment while looking at Akira.
¡°We have decided to help you with any group of people that may be hunting you under two condition. First, you must help us with our current problem and secondly when you return to your clan you are to tell them that we want to create an alliance with them. This alliance would be to protect each other against any future threats with the demigods and humans. Do you agree with these terms?¡±
¡°I am grateful that you have decided to help me. But won''t this hurt your tribe?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes, a few deaths are to be expected. But we are not a weak race like humans. We Orcs can give birth to many young warriors at a faster pace than humans can. This is nothing new. It is the way it has always been including the last three major wars when we were hunted by demigods,¡± said Tornok.
¡°What is it that you need me to do?¡± asked Akira wary that it might be another trap similar to what the Magic guild tried to pull.
¡°We have been getting reports recently about goblin raiding parties appearing near our territory. In a few days, we will be sending out a large scouting party to find and destroy them. We have not had a good relationship with the goblins ever since the first time our races met each other hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The reason why the conflict started between our two races has been forgotten long ago. All that remains is the fact that they are our enemies. Even during the last three wars, they decided to attack us thinking we were weak from the damage we received from the demigods and humans and lost. Normally we both keep to our sides of the mountains goblins in the north Orcs in the south. We only ask that you help us in clearing them from our land and send them back to their own villages,¡± said Tornok.
Ding!
Join the Orcs in hunting the Goblin raiders!
Chief Tornok has asked you to help clear the goblin raiders that are up to no good.
Difficulty: E+
Reward: Unkown
Will you accept?
Yes / No
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¡°I have no problem with that. I can lend you my strength to complete this task,¡± Akira agreed.
¡°Then you should wait until the group is fully formed and ready to depart in a few days. Varbu can show you around the city if you are interested. Is there anything else you would like to know?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°Does your city have a mine and forge that I can use? My equipment has been damaged a little and I need to repair it and I want to make a few new pieces of armor,¡± Akira asked.
¡°Yes, we do. I can allow you to mine a small amount of the ore from the city mine. I''ll warn you now mining Its not our specialty, so our mines and forge are not the best if you are used to dwarven mines and such. If that is all you two may leave the council has other matters to discuss,¡± said Tornok.
Akira copied Varbu by thumping his chest in salute to chief before exiting the room.
Outside Varbu turned to Akira and asked, ¡°Since you want to mine I can take you to the mine now or we can go after the tour of the city.¡±
¡°I think it would be better if I don''t waste any time and get the ore I need so I can work on the repairs and create the armor before the scouting party leaves,¡± said Akira.
¡°You''re right, I guess there is no time to play when we''ll be leaving soon ?,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Oh, so you''re going on the mission also?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes, I will be one of the warrior captains leading it with a few others. All of us are young so I guess this is to give us more experience in commanding our units. I''ll show you the way to the mine,¡± said Varbu.
They quickly walked down the main street leading to the rear of the city where the mountain rose high into the sky.
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When they stopped at the entrance of the mine Akira could hear the ringing sound of pickaxes clanging against the walls and minerals inside the mine. The sign above the mine entrance read [Minor Miners Mine 1]
¡°I don''t know much about mining but Digrr the head miner should be on duty today. He can show you the ropes if you need to learn anything. I have other duties I have to take care of so I will be leaving now,¡± said Varbu.
The entrance was wide open so Akira entered the mine. He could see what the Tornok had said was true the mine looked more like a crude cave then something that was mined and shaped by an Orcs pickaxe. It was a far cry from the smooth and even floors and walls of the dwarven mines.
He continued walking through the crude tunnels. The lamps placed along the path gave off just enough light for him to see where he was going.
Akira followed the sound of the pickaxes hitting the wall the sound led him to a small room where four Orcs were mining ore.
When Akira entered the room the four Orcs inside were greatly shocked to see a human so far inside the main city no less the mine. It took them some time to recover.
¡°Who are you?¡± asked the oldest Orc in the room. He was holding onto his pickax ready to use it as a weapon.
¡°I am Akira. Are you by chance Digrr?¡± asked Akira.
¡°How do you know my name? What''s an outsider like you doing in our city?¡± asked Digrr.
¡°Don''t worry I''m not an enemy. The chief Tornok said that I could mine some ore here. I was told by Varbu that you were the person to talk to about it,¡± said Akira.
¡°Is that so,¡± said Digrr looking at Akira suspiciously, ¡°Then where is your pickaxe?¡±
¡°I don''t have one,¡± said Akira sheepishly.
¡°There''s a spare pickax near the minecart. You can go mine over there,¡± said Digrr pointing at the wall farthest away from the four Orcs.
¡°Thanks,¡± said Akira.
He walked over the minecart that was already half filled with ore and found the spare pickax leaning against the minecart. Grabbing it he walked over to the area designated as his spot.
Akira spent a few seconds searching the wall until before he found a few nodes of ore. He got into a good stance in order to use his full power before swinging the pickaxe.
Clang!
Upon hitting the wall the pickax bounced and skidded off the wall. The pickax nearly flew out of his hands.
¡°Whoa! Whoa! What are you doing? Are you trying to break the pickaxe? Do you even know how to use it?¡± asked Digrr who had been watching Akira from behind.
¡°It''s my first time, but don''t worry it''s just something simple as swinging the pickaxe. So I can do it,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t treat mining like its a game. It''s not something you can do properly without at least knowing the basics. Otherwise, you won''t get anywhere and you may end up hurting yourself or one of us,¡± said one of the younger Orc miners who had also stopped to watch Akira.
¡°You do it like this. Not like this, otherwise you will end up breaking the pickax instead of the stone,¡± said Digrr repeatedly showing Akira how to properly hold onto and swing the pickaxe.
Akira followed the motions that Digrr had shown and instead of scraping and bouncing off the wall there was a loud ''thump!'' as the pickax pierced the stone creating a small hole in the wall the size of his pinkie.
Satisfied that Akira would not break the pickax the others returned to their work of gathering ore.
Mining the ore that was hidden inside of the stone walls was an extremely hard task. Sweat was pouring down Akira''s face and back. He had long ago taken off his armor and put them in his bag in order not to die from overheating.
With a swing of his pickax, a small chunk of ore fell from the wall landing in a pile of stone bits at his feet.
Ding!
You have learned the skill Mining!
The mining skill is part of the Blacksmith subclass skill tree.
The higher the level of the mining skill is the easier it will be to mine certain ore. Certain levels are required for rare ores.
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Akira was happy with the new skill and continued to mine the Oreium ore.
Mining skill has Leveled up!
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Mining skill has Leveled up!
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Mining skill has Leveled up!
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Akira checked the pile of Oreium ore he had mined over the last few hours to see if it was enough for what he needed.
¡°This should be enough,¡± muttered Akira after counting the ore.
He looked around the room while wiping the sweat from his face with his shirt. The four Orcs had already left the mine without him noticing.
He bent over and began picking up all the ore and putting it into his bag.
After making sure he had picked up all the ore he walked out of the mine and headed towards the forge that was located a little way down the street from the mine.
The Orcs forge was built into the mountain with the front of it wide open to let the heat generated from the multiple large furnaces escape outside.
Akira counted 10 different furnaces all crudely built along with an equal amount of anvils.
Although the Orcs inside were surprised at Akira entering the forge word had gotten out that there was a werewolf ally in the city. It was probably spread by the miners who had dropped off the ore earlier.
The head blacksmith of the forge walked over to Akira to greet him.
¡°Hello, my name is Gong. You''re here to use one of our furnaces? ¡° asked Gong.
¡°Yes, I need it to repair and create some new armor,¡± said Akira.
¡°Number six is open so feel free to use it,¡± said Gong.
Akira thanked him and walked over to the forge marked with a red six.
He placed the Oreium ore on top of the anvil and then began poking and moving the coals around inside the furnace.
Akira grabbed a bucket of coal next to the furnace and poured it on top of the nearly dead flames bring it back to life. Using the bellows he pumped more air into the furnaces coals to further increase the heat.
When he judged the heat was just right he tossed in all the Oreium ore to begin the process of smelting.
An hour passed before he finished processing all of the ore and began heating and hammering into the shape he wanted.
After a long afternoon of hammering and reheating, Akira was finally able to set down his hammer and looked at the two new pieces of armor he had created.
There were multiple message windows that had popped up while working on the armor.
Hard Oreium helmet (common):
Defense: 6
Durability: 25/25
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Oreium greaves (common):
Defense: 10
Durability: 30/30
Strength requirement: 60
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Blacksmithing level up!
The blueprint for Hard Oreium helmet andOreium greaveshasbeen added to your list of know blueprints.
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Akira realized after experiencing the fire attacks of Glen that he needed to have better protection or he would be forced to experience the same pain again so he had created the helmet and greaves in hopes that they could provide better protection.
It had been a lot harder to create the helmet and grieves without the help of a blueprint manual he had used when creating the Useful Aorium shield.
The helmet he had created looked more like a bowl turned upside down with a nose guard. It was not the nice looking helmet but he was stuck with it due to his lack of knowledge on how to create anything more complex.
The greaves were not anything special either. What was interesting and new about them was, they had a strength requirement in order to be able to use them.
Luckily Akira''s strength already met the requirements.
He equipped both pieces of armor. The helmet fit snugly on top of his head, and the greaves were strapped on over his leather armor pants further increasing the defense of his legs and head.
As he was testing out his new armor his name was called from outside the forge.
¡°Akira where are you?¡±
¡°Ah, there you are. Hurry up and finish whatever you were doing we have been summoned to a meeting with the elders,¡± said Varbu.
Akira put his tools and the remaining refined Oreium ore into his bag before walking over to Varbu and heading off towards the grand meeting hall.
Chapter 34: Your plans and my plans
Varbu and Akira stood inside the meeting halls small lobby waiting to be allowed to enter the main room where a meeting was currently being held.
¡°Do you know what the meeting is about?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No, I was only told to bring you here and wait,¡± replied Varbu.
¡°That quarterstaff that you use is there a reason you use it?¡±
¡°Ah, this thing? Growing up whenever I used a sword or ax they would always break after only a few uses. So to keep from having to buying new swords or ax I was given this. It suits my style. It''s more like a club, that I can use to attack and deal blunt damage while keeping the enemy away from me.¡±
¡°Yeah, with your long arms and the long reach of your quarterstaff, I can see how it would be hard to fight you with a weapon that has a short reach.¡±
¡°It is as you say. I have beaten many foes just like that, sometimes I also use a spear,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Although I''m a beginner blacksmith, I think I could make a sword or something else for you. It would be a nice challenge to figure out how to make one sturdy enough that it doesn''t break when you use it.,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ehh, I''m not much of a sword person.¡±
¡°Well, it could be another type of close range weapon. You should think about it. I could make it along with anything I need in the future.¡±
Since there was nothing else to talk about they both became silent.
Minutes passed by until the doors were opened and they were ushered into the main room.
Upon entering the dimly lit room Akira noticed that the benches on both sides of the room were filled with Orcs. The elders sat on the left and the commanding officers of the orc warriors sat on the right with Chief Tornok standing by the fire in the middle of the room.
¡°Akira as you are the ambassador of your clan in a sign of goodwill we will allow you to join this meeting. Both of you, go take your seats with the other officers,¡± ordered chief Tornok.
Akira walked to the benches with Varbu. Seeing the front row had fewer people and had more open spots Akira went to go sit in one of them but was quickly stopped by Varbu.
¡°The front row is only for the leaders of the military and city defense. We have to sit in the back row,¡± whispered Varbu urging Akira to follow him.
They walked up the steps on the right side of the benches all the way to the top and squeezed into the cramped bench filled with other low ranking officers.
¡°Now that everyone is here I would like to take the time to update everyone on current events. The main purpose of today''s meeting is to create a solid plan for exterminating the scouting Goblins and any other enemies that may appear during that time. It should be a fairly simple task to defeat them as they aren''t the brightest creatures.
For those of you who don''t know Akira is a special guest from one of the werewolf clans he will be helping us with the goblins and will also bring the news of our offer for an alliance to his clan when he returns to them.
There are a few people that are chasing after him. The elders have agreed to help defend him against those people. So Druul as commander of Orcrock''s defenses, you need to increase the number of warriors patrolling the walls along with more guards at the gate,¡± said chief Tornok.
¡°It shall be done chief!¡± said Druul nodding his head to the chief.
¡°Now that that is all sorted, I call for patrol commander Gwak to give us the details on what he has planned for the mission and what everyone is expected to do,¡± said chief Tornok before returning to his chair.
Commander Gwak stood up and walked to the fire and began his speech.
Akira listened for over a half hour, as Gwak explained everything in great detail. His eyes were getting sleepy due to the hard workout he had done earlier in the day.
As he was about to doze off the sound of a war horn reverberated throughout the city and in the meeting hall. The loud sound was coming from the city walls.
Ding!
Quest received!
The city of Orcrock has been infiltrated by enemies! Help defend the city of Orcrock and rid it of all enemies!
|
Akira was now fully awake due to the warhorn that was continuously sounding, and the message window he had received giving him a new quest.
The room that had been mostly silent moments before with many of the Orcs sleeping was now in a frenzy as the Orcs from both sides of the room started shouting asking questions.
¡°Why have the guards sounded the alarm?¡±
¡°Are we under attack?¡±
¡°By who?¡±
¡°Was it the goblin raiders that had been sighted the day before?¡±
¡°Quiet!... I said Quiet!¡± shouted Tornok over everyone that was talking, ¡°The meeting is finished. Send someone to the wall to find out what is going on. Officers go ready your men and send them to their designated position to defend the city wall. Go now!¡±
Akira raced outside along with the crowd of officers. The sky above was now dark except for the moon and stars that were shining. He stopped in his tracks when he realized he had no idea where to go and began to search for Varbu, he found not too far behind him struggling to exit the crowded entrance.
¡°Varbu, where am I supposed to go?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Just follow me!¡± Varbu shouted. ¡°I have to gather the people under my command first then we can head towards the wall.¡±
Varbu ran to each person''s house informing them that they needed to head to the designated meeting place near the central market with their armor and weapons. It was only a short wait until all 18 of the Orc warriors under Varbu''s command showed up.
Some of them were still putting on their armor and readying their weapons. Two of the 18 warriors were new additions to the unit due to the loss they had received fighting the headhunters.
When everyone was ready Varbu shouted, ¡°Let''s head out to our designated spot on the wall. If we find any enemies on our way to the wall we must kill them all. Move it!¡±
With a shout, the Orc warriors including Akira ran down the dark deserted streets that looked far different and empty at night.
¡°We are positioned near the gates. So we have the important job of making sure they are secure and that no one is able to get access to them,¡± said Varbu as they ran.
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A short time later they reached the front gates. As they walked forward the bodies of the two gate guards were found sprawled out on the ground they had both been stabbed in the back multiple times.
¡°Everyone be careful and watch your backs. It looks like the enemy has already infiltrated the city. It looks like they are skilled in the cowardly attacks from behind,¡± said Varbu.
Everyone''s vigilance was heightened. Akira took the time to transform into a werewolf. Causing the Battle hardened Orcs around him to take a few steps away in shock.
The sound of a fight could be heard for a few moments coming from inside the gatehouse. The gatehouse had a small Guards barracks along with the mechanics for opening the gate.
¡°Sound the alarm, the enemy is attempting to open the gates! We must stop them. Forward!¡± ordered Varbu.
The Orc warrior that carried the units war horn blew out a few notes to let the rest of the gathering warriors in the city know where the enemy was.
Akira was running in the front with his shield and sword ready beside Varbu. The door had been already broken down by the intruding enemy allowing them to run into the gatehouse unhindered.
The small room was only wide enough to allow four or five people to stand across which caused them to create four rows as they entered the gatehouse.
The tables and chairs inside were overturned. Food and drink mixed with blood was scattered all over the floor and walls. A guard that had been eating lay dead on the floor.
¡°Row four protect the entrance, row three check the other rooms of the first floor. Row one and two follow me,¡± ordered Varbu.
Akira who was in the first row along with Varbu carefully lead the way up the stairs hiding behind his shield.
He cautiously walked out of the stairwell and into the second-floor room that held the winch for the gate. There was someone in black clothing trying to release the large lever that would lower the gate.
¡°Stop!¡± shouted Akira taking a few steps forward to confront the enemy in front of him. He used the skill [Sword Slash] and sent a glowing slash of light towards the unknown enemy. The attack was narrowly dodged and hit the wall where the intruders head was a second before.
Before Akira could get any closer, the intruder whipped around and threw two daggers at Akira with lightning speed.
They bounced off Akira''s shield harmlessly. Akira had been so focused on the enemy in front of him that he did not have the time to search the room for any other enemies, so when an intruder fell from the ceiling he received a sharp pain in his back as he was jabbed by two daggers.
The intruder gave a disappointed sigh. The sneak attack was not as fatal as he had been hoping for. He had only caused slight wounds. It would hurt but his target wouldn''t die from it.
Varbu who came into the room right behind him swung his club like quarterstaff at the assassins head.
The intruder ducked and rolled to the left and kicked off the wall jumping towards his companion.
¡°We must not let them get away,¡± shouted Varbu.
Akira and the rest of the warriors followed after the intruders who had escaped using the stairs that led to the roof of the gatehouse.
Before rushing out onto the roof Akira held up his hand to stop Varbu.
¡°I''ll go first. They could have another ambush set up. I''ll take the attacks and the rest of you should charge them,¡± said Akira quickly.
When Akira walked out onto the roof the enemies gazes all zeroed in on him. Seconds later the sounds of multiple medium ranged weapons being thrown and the firing of hand crossbows could be heard.
He immediately crouched down and covered most of his upper body with his shield blocking the majority of the attacks.
One of the crossbow bolts slammed into his newly made helmet creating sparks as it bounced off creating a ring sound in Akira''s ears stunning him for a few seconds.
After recovering Akira made sure to check for any other hidden surprises and only found five other similarly dressed intruders that were spread out on top of the roof.
Akira gave a signal to the Orcs who were waiting in the stairwell letting them know they could attack. Akira ran forward keeping the enemies attention on him, receiving multiple attacks from the five people. Only a few of the attacks managed to wound him the rest were blocked.
Varbu fearlessly ran out with the rest of the Orcs following shouting war cries. He charged towards the closest enemy, swinging his quarterstaff at the helpless intruder that was still trying to reload his hand crossbow with only one hand.
The strength behind the attack knocked the intruder off of his feet and pushed him several feet backward where he laid still.
The roof was filling up with even more Orcs as the third group of orcs had finished their search of the first floor and hearing the fighting from above had come to reinforce them.
Outnumbered the assassins slowly backed to the edge of the wall skillfully fending off the attacks made by the Orcs.
In a blink of an eye, one of the intruders threw out multiple small balls in front of their group. When they hit the ground a small explosion erupted creating multiple bright flashes blinding the orcs and Akira and robbing them of what little night vision they had.
¡°Don''t think you have won, we''ll be back,¡± came a voice from one of the escaping intruders.
When Akira regained his vision the enemies were gone. They had jumped off the roof and escaped to the vast mountain range outside of the city.
Only the person who Varbu had knocked out was still laying on the ground.
¡°Send a message to the cavalry to send a unit after them!¡± commanded Varbu.
One of the orcs at the rear ran down the stairs to give the orders he had received.
Akira walked over to the body of the Intruder in order to question him. He noticed that one of his hands looked to have been recently torn off and was still bandaged.
He slapped the unconscious males face a few times until he woke up. Upon seeing Akira''s face a look of horror appeared. It was quickly replaced with determination and disgust.
¡°Why are you trying to kill me? Who are you working for?¡± asked Akira.
The man opened his mouth slightly as if to say something but violently shut it biting down on something inside his mouth.
It took only seconds before his body began to convulse and started to foam at the mouth. In less than a minute his body lay dead before Akira.
¡°Coward,¡± said Varbu who had been watching. ¡°These people have no honor, from the way they fight to being scared into taking their own life''s.¡±
The other orcs standing near the dead man all cursed him and spit on the ground.
Akira looked through dead man''s belongings and found nothing of use. During his search, he noticed on the man''s clothing there was a picture of 7 triangles surrounding one large triangle sewn onto them.
It looked familiar but as hard as he tried to remember where he had seen it before nothing came to mind.
¡°We''ll take his body back to the meeting hall for the elders to see if they can figure out who they were. The rest of you stay here and guard the gatehouse,¡± Varbu ordered.
Ding!
Quest complete!
The city of Orcrock has was successfully defended.
-Positive reputation gained
-The leaders of the city will think more highly of you now.
|
***
¡°Heh, heh, heh, all too easy. With this, the first part of the plan has been completed successfully. They should now be on high alert,¡± said the captain of the headhunters.
¡°How are we supposed to complete the second part what if he doesn''t go where we need him to go?¡± asked a headhunter.
¡°You idiot we won''t just have one but multiple ways to trap him,¡± said the captain.
¡°We lost Fred. What are we going to do when we have to tell them we lost another member of the group?¡± asked one of the headhunters.
¡°We will deal with that when we have completed the mission the good news will make that bad news not matter,¡± said the captain.
The captain looked at one of the headhunters who had lured Akira and the orcs to the roof.
¡°I''ll be reporting to the Seven heads that you were a bit overzealous and tried to kill him. Didn''t I tell you all that our orders are to capture him alive?¡± said the captain sternly.
¡°Ah! That was a mistake!¡±
¡°Save your excuses for the Seven heads.¡±
***
Akira and Varbu both sat on the benches listening to the elders'' debate with the officers on what should be done.
¡°I agree that we need a stronger force to protect the city so tomorrow I will send an order to the surrounding villages calling for more men to bolster our city guard and then order the patrols to find where these enemies have hidden,¡± said Tornok.
¡°A wise decision sir. We must show them our strength and power¡± said the general of the city''s army.
¡°The night has been long and hard for those of you who have fought, the original large patrol group will be put on a hold in order to help with defending the city until we have gathered enough warriors to take over for them. Everyone is dismissed.¡±
Chapter 35: Trouble
Although everyone had been dismissed, Akira and Varbu stayed seated while the lower ranking officers left the grand meeting hall.
The only people left in the room were the elders and only the general and the commanding officers of each position in the city stayed sitting. A majority of the elders were sleeping where they sat.
¡°Varbu, you and Akira fought with the enemy and were able to kill one of them. Was there anything in his possession to tell us who he was working for?¡± asked Tornok after the last low-rank officer exited the room.
¡°We didn''t kill him. We actually captured him alive. But the coward used something that was in his mouth to commit suicide before answering our questions,¡± said Varbu. There were loud grunts and snorts of disgust at the dishonorable enemy from everyone in the room.
¡°There was nothing on him that I could see that indicated who he worked for. The body is being guarded in the lobby if you would like to check it yourself. There was nothing in his possession but the clothes he wore and the weapons he used,¡± said Varbu.
Chief Tornok nodded his head and waved for one of the messengers next to the door to retrieve the body to see if the elders could find anything of interest.
A minute later two guards walked through the open doors carrying the body and weapons of the dead man.
The body was placed on the ground a few feet away from the burning fire pit. In the firelight, Akira could see the skin of the body was already started to turn black from the poison that had killed the man.
¡°Elders, wake up! Your expertise is needed,¡± Tornok shouted loudly waking the sleeping elders.
¡°It''s rude to shout when others are sleeping,¡± grumbled one of the elders.
¡°Anyone with the knowledge on human factions can you please come and check the body?¡± asked Tornok.
Three elderly orcs stood up and slowly walked to the body.
The elders inspected the weapons and ammunition along with the clothing and the dead body.
Ten minutes passed as the three elderly quietly talked between themselves as they looked at everything.
When they were finished they turned to Tornok to give him the results of their inspection.
¡°Did you find out who he is or who he is working for?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°We were unable to find out who he was working for but we noticed the wood used in his weapons along with the style come from the capital city of Fregoldawae. The symbol on his clothing is from a faction we have no knowledge of. It could be that it has nothing to do with a faction and is just a design on his clothing,¡± said the leading elder who was standing in the middle of the other two.
¡°Just in case make sure you record it down as an unknown enemy faction. We have a lot of things we need to do in the morning. We will discuss our plans to secure the city and hunt down the trespassers tomorrow so everyone should get some rest,¡± said Tornok.
***
Akira walked to the only Inn that was in the city of Orcrock. He was staying in the inns best room which was being paid for by Tornok himself.
He had no trouble falling asleep in a large bed that had a thick fur blanket made from local monsters that lived in the mountains.
***
Akira was able to sleep late into the morning. He didn''t need to get up early because the meeting was only for the elders and top commanding warrior generals.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
¡°Akira get off your lazy butt and get dressed. My unit has been ordered to relieve the guards at the gatehouse in an hour,¡± shouted Varbu while slamming his fist into the door.
¡°Why do I have to go?¡± asked Akira hiding under the warm covers with the pillow over his head in order to block out the loud banging.
¡°The chief has put you under my command for as long as you stay here,¡± Varbu replied.
¡°Just give me a few minutes to get dressed,¡± said Akira sleepily.
¡°It better only be a few minutes or I''m coming in there and dragging you out,¡± warned Varbu.
Akira groaned as he got out of bed. After a few stretches, he hopped into his clothes and equipped his armor.
Picking up his shield slung it onto his back using the new sling he had attached to it yesterday so he didn''t have to always carry it in his hands. He walked out of the room while buckling his sword belt.
¡°You''re worse at getting up then my warriors the morning after they get paid,¡± said Varbu with a grunt while smiling at Akira.
¡°Why do we have to be up now? There is still an hour until we have to switch with them,¡± asked Akira.
¡°Are all werewolves this lazy?¡±
¡°I''m not lazy. Last nights events were just too exhausting.¡±
¡°After you eat come to the training grounds near the barracks to warm up.¡±
¡°Where is that?¡±
¡°On the right side of the city near the wall, I have to go and continue the morning training,¡± said Varbu.
The two of them separated and Akira began to walk the streets looking for someone selling food, since the Inn he was staying at did not include food as a service.
It only took a few minutes of searching to find a street vendor selling freshly cooked juicy meat with a few pieces of cooked onions between the meat all stacked on a long stick.
He didn''t know what type of meat it was but he was hungry. The vendor was surprised to see an outsider but was happy when Akira paid for three sticks of the meat.
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Akira began to eat the greasy mystery meat as he walked through the market checking out the interesting trinkets and the prices of normal items the Orcs were selling.
He didn''t notice the large group of young Orc females that had been out doing their morning shopping and were now following him and quietly gossiping with each other.
If Akira were to be honest, the Orc females were not the most beautiful of females, they were all very plump.
After finishing the last of the cooked meat and onions, Akira walked to the Training grounds where Varbu was waiting for him.
The crowd of young female orcs that had followed behind him disappeared as he passed the guards who were guarding the entrance to the training grounds.
¡°Akira, you''re just in time to join me in a duel. Let''s use it to warm up before we head to the gates,¡± said Varbu who was standing in the middle of the training ground.
¡°Let me digest my breakfast first while I do some stretches,¡± said Akira as he walked over to Varbu who was leading the Orc warriors under his command in the morning exercises and sparring matches.
Akira followed the Orcs morning exercise routine for ten minutes.
¡°You should be ready by now. How about we test each other''s power?¡± asked Varbu.
The orc warriors standing around them cheered at the idea. They stopped their exercises and cleared a space for Varbu and Akira to spar, creating a ring around the two.
¡°Let''s not go full power and wear ourselves out so we don''t have to stand guard for the rest of the afternoon exhausted,¡± said Akira.
¡°Of course,¡± said Varbu agreeing quickly.
Without another word, Varbu charged forward and swung his quarterstaff club aiming for Akira''s chest.
Akira turned his body slightly to get a better stance and raised his shield to catch the heavy blow.
BANG!
The sound of the quarterstaff hitting the shield rang out. Akira''s arm tingled from the attack and was pushed back a few steps due to Varbu''s great strength.
¡°Hey, I thought you agreed to not use your full power,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''m not,¡± said Varbu.
A few breaths later Akira counter-attacked with a stab of his sword and was blocked by Varbu''s quarterstaff.
He sent half a dozen quick attacks towards Varbu a few which lightly touched Varbu but was made sure not to cause damage to him or his armor.
¡°My turn!¡± shouted Varbu.
He leaped forward and started to hammer Akira with blows which were blocked by the Aorium shield.
The force from the multiple attacks caused Akira to be forced onto one knee while he held the shield in front of him weathering the hail of strong attacks slamming into the shield.
Varbu stepped back a few paces in order to allow Akira to stand back up.
¡°Your good with your shield. I see that it has some battle scars on it. I always say if your shield looks new, beautiful, and undamaged then it''s not being used properly. Now let''s finish this duel,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Alright! Here I come,¡± said Akira energized by the vigorous spar.
The two exchanged ¡°light attacks¡± back and forth for over ten minutes until Akira was knocked backward onto his butt by a powerful swing from Varbu''s weapon.
A cheer went up in the crowd of Orc warriors as the duel ended.
¡°My win,¡± said Varbu who was breathing heavily due to the tough duel.
¡°It is. Your attacks are extremely strong my shield arm is almost completely numb,¡± said Akira who didn''t get up from the cold ground and just sat still breathing in large amounts air.
¡°You''re hard to get any hits in with that shield almost always blocking my attacks,¡± said Varbu as he accepted a waterskin from one of the Orc warriors. After taking a few large gulps he passed it to Akira who took a few gulps to satisfy his thirst.
¡°In the end, we went all out while sparing. Let''s rest for now until we have to go and relived the guards at the gate,¡± suggested Akira while smiling.
¡°Fine with me,¡± said Varbu with a chuckle as he sat down next to Akira.
Varbu continued to instruct the warriors under his command for the rest of the hour while sitting on the ground.
***
Akira let a long yawn escape his mouth as he stood at the entrance of the gate along with Varbu and three other orc warriors.
Six warriors were in the guardhouse to operate the heavy drawbridge and portcullis, while the remaining ten were on the top of the gatehouse with bows and spears ready to fight off any enemy who dared to come across the bridge.
¡°I don''t envy the gate guards who do this for a living this is boring,¡± said Akira.
¡°I dislike it also, but with the recent attack by the enemy this is necessary to keep our city secured,¡± said Varbu.
Another hour passed with hardly anyone coming to the city and only a few people leaving.
It was at that time that Akira saw a large mass of people moving towards the city. Due to the distance, he couldn''t tell if they were friend or foe.
As they came closer he could see that the massed group was made up of Orcs of all different varieties, young children and their parents, old grandparents, and everyone in between. They were all carrying bags and other belongings with them.
¡°The orders for gathering more people to defend the city haven''t gone out yet have they,¡± asked Akira. Confused at seeing the large group as they drew nearer to the city gates.
¡°No, I got word a few minutes ago that the messenger would be leaving the city in less than an hour,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Then what''s with all these people coming here? Is this normal?¡±
¡°It''s not normal, by the looks on their faces they seem to have experienced some event that has caused them to rush to the capital.¡±
Upon further inspection of the individual Orcs in the group, Akira could see a look of desperation on their faces as they started to run the last bit of the short distance to the bridge.
Some of the younger children had to be picked up and carried otherwise they would be trampled in the confusion.
¡°Be on guard everyone. We must not let anyone pass without first knowing what has brought them here. Try not to use any violence,¡± ordered Varbu.
As the massed group of Orcs crossed the bridge they came to a stop when their path was blocked by Varbu, Akira, and the three other Orc warriors.
Some of the Orcs in the front of the group gasped and made snorts and grunts of surprise upon seeing Akira and tried to back away but were blocked by the others behind them.
¡°Fellow kinsmen what brings you here in such poor shape?¡± asked Varbu.
An elderly Orc with a long beard and a walking stick hobbled forward.
¡°I am the village chief Hob, we are from the village of Orcchop near the border. The problem is those damn goblins. Two days ago we were attacked by a small group we thought was just a small raiding party. We were able to repel them but after sending a few scouts to follow them they discovered that there was a mediums sized army of goblins that set up camp not far from our village we do not have enough fighting power to stop such a force so we were forced to grab our valuables and walk here hoping for protection. Will the warrior chief Tornok let us say here? We hope that he is able to wipe out the goblins so we can return to our homes,¡± said Hob.
¡°It would bring great dishonor to my ancestors if I did not help fellow kinsmen in trouble. What could have caused the Goblins to do such a stupid thing as start a war with us?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Thank you, young warrior. Your ancestors would be proud you are indeed an honorable warrior, as for the thinking of Goblins I have no idea they are half mad anyways,¡± said Hob.
¡°Elder Hob the warrior chief needs to hear of these events from your own mouth please follow me and I will lead you to him,¡± said Varbu.
Elder Hob nodded his head in agreement. Varbu turned to Akira and gave him an order before leaving with Elder Hob, ¡°You are in command of the gates until I return. If any other groups of people arrive to send the village chiefs or the leader of the group to the grand meeting hall.¡±
Akira was stunned at being handed command of the gates but properly took over the task.
Through the rest of the morning and into the afternoon multiple groups of Orc refugees came to the city of Orcrock looking for protection.
All through the day news of Goblin terrorizing the border towns was heard. Some orcs claimed that the goblins had even been able to capture some towns and took orcs as prisoners.
Chapter 36: The goblins are coming!
Akira stood with Varbu inside the grand hall, standing at attention in front of the large fire pit.
They were waiting for Tornok to give them orders on what to do with the current crisis.
¡°We''re not prepared for a war. It normally takes us at the most a month in order to gather our full power. With these sneak attacks we have little time for that, at most we can gather all the forces from the towns and villages within a few days travel from Orcrock.
Varbu, You will take command of the scouting party and its 100 warriors. You are to go to the villages that are farthest out and warn them of the goblins possible attack. Inform the warriors of each of the villages to be fully equipped and ready for war. They are to escort the villagers to the safety of Orcrock and join the main army when they arrive.
Akira you are to help Varbu with this task. If you see any goblins along the way you are to kill them without mercy.
After you have completed this task head back to fort Hard Stone to help guard the Gnakad pass. It is vital that you get there and reinforce the garrison. You are to hold off any enemy forces that try to pass through while the army is gathered,¡± ordered Tornok.
¡°It will be done chief,¡± said Varbu saluting Tornok with a loud thump of his fist hitting his chest.
¡°I will join you with the main army in a week or two. We can make plans to retake the captured villages at that time. Leave now, this is an important matter that you must complete quickly,¡± said Tornok.
Ding!
Quest updated!
''Join the Orcs in hunting the Goblin raiders!''
Has been changed to
Warn the Villagers and defend Gnakad pass.
Chief Tornok has ordered you to warn the villages in the outskirts of the orcs territories killing any Goblins you see.
You are to defend the Gnakad pass which blocks the main path to Orcrock
Difficulty: D
Reward: Unknown
Will you accept?
Yes / No
|
Akira accepted the quest as he walked out of the grand hall with Varbu.
¡°The order to mobilize the scouting party was sent out a half hour ago they should have gathered all their equipment by now all that''s left is for the both of us to go and prepare anything we''ll need for the next few weeks,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I only have a few belongings on me right now I will be ready soon after I buy some food and water,¡± said Akira.
¡°Alright in ten minutes go to the gates and wait for me,¡± said Varbu as he parted ways with Akira.
***
Near the gates, Akira and Varbu checked their equipment and made sure that the 100 warriors were all ready and fully equipped.
All the orc warriors were wearing light fur coats over their leather and chain armor to combat the cold that would only get worse as the early mountain winter was fast approaching.
Akira had decided to also buy a coat as well. It was more noticeable over the last few days that ever since he had awoken as a werewolf his body gave off more heat and was warmer than it had been before.
He wasn''t too afraid of the current cold air due to his bodies heat generation, but according to one of the elders who knew all about the weather in the mountains, it was likely to get colder and snow in the near future. So Akira had decided to be cautious since he did not want to get sick during the small-scale war between the Goblins and Orcs. Which would most likely cause problems for Varbu and Tornok.
Unfortunately, the coat was a little baggy in some areas as it was made for an orc with their big bodies and round bellies. He used his sword belt to keep the large coat tightly wrapped around him.
¡°Alright warriors, the towns and the villages near here have had messengers sent to them already. Our task it to warn the villages on the outer edges and then fall back to the Hardstone fort guarding the Gnakad pass. We will continue to move through night and day until we reach the border towns in order to lessen the time it takes to be able to warn them. Let''s move out,¡± shouted Varbu pointing forward.
The 100 Orc warriors gave loud shouts and snorts before marching through the opened gates and across the drawbridge.
***
They were able to cut the three to four-day travel down to two days of nonstop grueling marching.
As they marched they met a few small groups of Orcs that were fleeing from goblin attacks and after Varbu gathered all they knew of the movements of the goblins the villagers were told to head to Orcrock where the main army was forming.
It was late at night when they passed by Fort Hard stone while traveling through the Gnakad pass. They had only rested for a few minutes while a messenger was sent to inform the orc warrior in command, to make arrangements for them when they returned to reinforce the fort, after a warning about the possibility of a goblin attack they continued their march to the outer villages.
Early in the morning of the third day when it was still dark out Varbu stopped the scouting party and ordered everyone to set up a quick camp on a well defendable hill.
¡°We''ll rest here for a few hours to regain our strength before we head out and inform the five villages that haven''t been attacked yet,¡± shouted Varbu before he walked back to his own tent.
¡°I was wondering, why are there so few horses at Orcrock?¡± asked Akira when Varbu returned to the fire in front of his tent.
¡°There are many reasons but mainly it is because they''re nothing but a waste of money. The ones that can carry a fully armored warrior are to slow to be of any use in battle. The mountainous terrain is not suitable for them and lastly, they eat too much which cost a lot of money to keep them healthy,¡± replied Varbu.
Akira nodded his head. What Varbu said made sense. He did not know of many warhorse breeds that could carry orcs who were quite heavy even without their armor.
Four hours later after the short rest, everyone was awakened by the sun rising slightly warming the cold air.
When everyone had finished eating a quick meal Varbu gathered the four officers under his command, who each commanded twenty orc warriors.
¡°From here we will split up into five groups to save time. 1 will lead one unit and head to the village farthest west. Each of you will take the warriors under your command and go to one of the remaining four villages. Be sure to scout the area around the villages for any sign of goblins. If you find a large group do not attack them. We will take care of them later. Everyone will be expected to return here before night falls with the villagers and your scouting reports,¡± ordered Varbu.
After a few more words they separated and each officer gathered their troops and hurried off in different directions towards one of the five border villages.
***
Akira and Varbu were able to reach the village Fram without running into or seeing any goblins. It was unknown if that was a good thing or bad.
Varbu headed to the village chiefs house to warn him of the possibility of goblins attacking the village while Akira and the orc warriors stood near the villages wooden gates.
A short time later Varbu returned to the small group.
¡°Four of you go check the surrounding area, for any signs of goblins. The rest of you will continue to guard the village gates with me,¡± ordered Varbu.
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While they waited outside the village guarding the gate Akira could see the villagers running around in a panic while trying to gather their belongings.
Before noon arrived the four scouts returned and reported to Varbu, that there were no signs of goblins in the surrounding area near the small village of Fram.
The Orc warriors stood guard for over another hour until the villagers were ready to leave led by their elderly village chief.
Varbu took control of the villages fifty warriors and added it to his own twenty tripling their strength. He arranged the seventy warriors into positions on the outside of the group of villagers in order to protect them from any attacks.
¡°Move out!¡± shouted Varbu, when the last person had finally moved into their proper spot in the formation.
They began the march back to the campsite they had quickly built in the early morning. Where they would wait for the other villagers to arrive before escorting them past fort Hardstone.
When they reached the campsite late in the afternoon there was already one group that had already returned before them.
¡°Did you run into any trouble?¡± Varbu asked the officer who came over to greet him.
¡°Nothing much we only found a few goblins along the way which we were able to eliminate easily,¡± replied the officer.
¡°Good, we''ll talk more when the others get back,¡± said Varbu.
The villagers were led over to join the ones that had already settled down in the camp to rest for a while.
While the warriors of each village helped guard the camp.
Over the next two hours, the other groups of villagers led by the or warriors were escorted to the camp.
When the last officer came to Varbu''s tent the meeting began.
¡°Give me your scouting reports,¡± ordered Varbu.
Three officers quickly reported not seeing anything they could not handle.
¡°I went to the village of Gruud, the scouts I sent out found a group of at least 90 or more goblins that had set up camp a few miles away from the village. It could be one of the raiding parties that have been terrorizing and looting the other villages,¡± said the fourth officer.
¡°We need to take care of them quickly before any more join them and create a larger problem. Luckily with the added power of the 268 warriors from the five villages, our current strength has nearly tripled. Using them all to kill such a small number would be overkill. But just in case there are more than when you last counted we will have 100 of the village warriors join us in the fight. While the other 168 warriors are to safely escort the villagers to Orcrock. We''ll leave in a half hour for a night attack,¡± said Varbu.
The officers nodded their heads showing they understood the orders and then left Varbu''s tent.
***
From the darkness of the thinly wooded hill, Akira watched the little green goblins at the edge of the village raiding one of the houses. While a few were dancing about in the street looking at items they had looted and still more were fighting over certain items they had stolen from a house.
The goblins that he could see had a level range from 13-16. He was not exactly sure how strong they were.
Three units of Orc warriors were hidden on the rocky hill next to Akira. The group had been assigned to fight under Akira''s command.
Varbu had given them the task to kill the goblins that were raiding the village while he led the main force and attacked the large number of goblins at their camp.
Not wanting to take any chances they decided to go full out with their attacks wanting to kill the enemy as quickly as they could with as little casualties as possible.
¡°There are only a few near the outer edges of the village. The main group in the village is near the center of the city. They are right now walking into the village chiefs house. Now is probably your best chance to catch them almost all in one area,¡± said Nox through the telepathic link they shared.
Akira had sent Nox into the village to act as a scout to see how many goblins were inside.
Akira looked over at the two officers next to him and gave them a silent signal. They nodded and the orc warriors swiftly and quietly descended the hill running towards the village following the plan that had been formed an hour ago.
The thirty warriors split up and entered the village on three different sides trying to box the goblins in before they became aware of the Orcs.
Akira stood in the dark shadows of a crude log house that blocked the moonlight looking around the corner. Nox jumped down from the roof and stopped next to Akira.
¡°There are only a few goblins in the street from here to the center of the city if you kill them fast then you can surprise the ones in the villages chiefs house,¡± said Nox.
Akira led the group around the building where they found a sole goblin sitting in the middle of the road drinking some wine he had taken from a nearby house.
Upon seeing Akira his eyes grew wide and opened his mouth to scream and alert the other goblins.
Without a second thought, Akira swung his sword using the skill [Sword Slash] the bright light traveled swiftly towards the goblins neck decapitating him cleanly while keeping the silence.
They spent another five minutes quietly killing lone goblins in the streets and houses as they made their way towards the center of the village doing everything they could to not alert the rest of the goblins.
The silence was abruptly shattered when a loud war horn sounded off in the distance. It was coming from in the direction of the main goblin camp calling for the raiding goblins to return.
Over thirty goblins exited the nearby village chiefs house talking to each other wondering what was going on.
One of the goblins looked around and noticed Akira''s group near them and started to panic and screech out in a gibberish language warning the other goblins.
¡°Gi gi giiiiii!¡±
They had been discovered and the element of surprise was now gone.
¡°Kill them all! We need to push them out of the village,¡± shouted Akira.
The goblins reacted to the charging Orcs by readying their crude weapons and taunted them before they also started running towards the orcs shouting curses in their gibberish language.
When the two groups clashed a few of the Goblins were flung backward due to the size and strength of the orcs.
Akira gave a roar and used [Sword slash] to kill two goblins that were in front of him scaring away the others for a few seconds.
Some of the less stupid goblins now realized it had been a dumb idea to attack the orcs and turned to run away while a small number of goblins unaware of the few running away continued to blocked Akira and the orcs path.
Three goblins decided to gang up on Akira and took turns attacking him and then taunting him by sticking out their tongues.
Akira was able to easily block their attacks and with a smooth motion he used the skill [Shield Bash] on the goblin sticking his tongue out bashing his head in and quickly stabbed the unprotected bellies of the other two goblins killing them.
Nox was by his side happily causing mayhem tearing large chunks of flesh from nearby goblins causing them to scream out in pain before their voices were silenced with his powerful jaws tearing out their voice box.
The goblins that had continued to attack Akira and the Orcs warriors were all killed within a few minutes. It was surprising how easy it was since they had little to no armor and were weaker then he thought they would be.
The sound of fighting could be heard a short distance ahead, It seemed the goblins that were trying to run away had run into one of the other two Orc units.
¡°Chase after the ones trying to run away. Let''s make sure no other goblins are left in the village,¡± shouted Akira running forward with Nox by his side.
After searching the village for another 10 minutes they had killed 27 of the goblins while three had managed to escape. They dragged the bodies outside of the villages and dumped them into a ditch.
¡°It can''t be helped that a few escaped. Our job is done here, let''s hurry up and join Varbu,¡± ordered Akira.
While they ran towards the direction that Varbu was fighting. Akira looked at the two message windows that had popped up.
He quickly added his extra points into the usual stats and then closed the window.
***
When they reached the goblins main camp a short distance away from the village, Akira saw Varbu and the last goblin standing goblin fighting. With a great swing of his staff, Varbu managed to land a killing blow ending the fight.
¡°I see you didn''t need our help,¡± said Akira as he walked up to Varbu.
¡°We were able to easily surround them and take care of them. They normally rely on mob tactics, so it''s not hard to kill them when they have crap weapons and no armor,¡± said Varbu.
¡°At least three of the goblins in the village were able to escape,¡± said Akira looking ashamed.
¡°That''s fine, I''ll just send a few scouts to track them and see where they go. If we''re lucky they might lead us to another group that we can clear without to much hassle,¡± said Varbu and sent a messenger to see that his orders were followed.
After confirming that no one had died the orc warriors began to self-treat their wounds.
When they were finished they walked back to the village that was safer than the open camp to wait for the scouts to return with their reports.
The next day around noon the scouts came back with a troubling report.
¡°What did you find out?¡± asked Varbu sitting in a rocking chair on the villages chiefs front porch.
¡°We followed them to here,¡± said the scout pointing to a spot on the map in front of Varbu.
¡°The group that we attacked was just a small scouting party for the main goblin army which is gathered at that location. I was able to count at least two thousand goblins. The number was changing as there were many that came and went but I think the number is near total 3000. They are not all like the weak ones we fought last night. There were some hundreds of goblin riders that were paroling the goblin camp on their wild boar mounts. Along with a large number of foot soldiers and archers,¡± reported another scout.
¡°This is bad news indeed. The chief was right to suspect them to try and come through the Gnakad pass. They probably know of our small force and will want to get rid of us now that they know where we are,¡± said Varbu while looking at a map.
¡°What do you plan on having us do?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We must retreat to fort Hard stone immediately and hope that the main orc army arrives before the Goblins do,¡± said Varbu.
Chapter 37: Defend the pass!
Fort Hardstone was built into the left side of the mountain in the Gnakad pass. The three slightly rounded walls that it had were built out of stone mined from the mountain itself.
The walls were over ten feet tall and five feet wide. It was tall enough that nothing could jump over it especially the short goblins, and it was wide enough for the defenders on top to have enough standing room. On top of the walls, there were six small ballistas, three for each wall. The ballistas were a thing of great interest to Akira since they could shoot farther than the arrows that were shot from orc longbows.
The only gate of the fort was facing the right side of the mountain pass so that the warriors in the fort could easily exit and attack any Army that tried to pass by the fort.
The place where the fort had been built wasn''t that wide. With the fort also taking up space it created a bottleneck where there was only room left for ninety to a hundred orc warriors to stand shoulder to shoulder from the fort to the mountain wall.
The reason Fort Hardstone was built was due to the fact that the Gnakad Pass was the safest and easiest route to reach the inner orc cities. So Fort Hardstone was tasked with the job of protecting the main cities from any invading forces or at least to stall the enemy until the orc army was able to arrive.
Akira was outside the large fort helping the orcs dig a shallow trench in the rocky dirt that started from the forts north wall all the way to the mountain on the right. It had been decided that they would have to add some extra defenses in order to help them stop the large numbers of the goblins from pushing through the Gnakad Pass.
The orcs who were not digging were hammering freshly cut logs diagonally into the ground or sharpening the ends of the logs creating a crude palisade that was different from normal due to its diagonal slant forward.
Akira tossed the last shovel full of rocky dirt onto a pile behind the shallow trench and then climbed out of the trench.
With a sigh of relief, he sat down on the cold hard ground. The air was cold enough that he could see his breath every time he exhaled a breath.
The ground still had a light frost on it in which had made the ground even harder making it a pain in the ass to dig, causing it to take most of the morning in order to dig the shallow trench where the palisade was being built.
Varbu stood next to Akira and hammered the last log into place completing the palisade and completely blocking the Gnakad pass.
The dirt was then shoved back into the trench around the log and packed down to further support the wooden logs at the base.
¡°It sure is getting colder. The snow should be arriving soon,¡± said Varbu sitting down next to Akira.
¡°Winter here sure does come early compared to where I used to live,¡± said Akira.
¡°They last even longer here.¡±
¡°With the garrison force, how many warriors do we have to defend against goblin army?¡±
¡°The total is 568. We have been given the hard task of holding off the 3000+ goblin army. It will not be an easy task since they outnumber us 5 to 1, but we will defend the Gnakad pass. Let''s head back to the fort before we start talking about anything else.¡±
***
Varbu had taken over command of the fort when he had arrived the day before. Murb the fort commander was not hostile about it nor was their any arguments. He instead had been helping Varbu and Akira with anything needed.
Varbu was given a small office to use which was next to Murb''s own office. When they had first entered the room the day before it had been filled with boxes of supplies and other junk that they had to find a spot to move it to.
As Varbu and Akira sat down in the uncomfortable wooden chairs a knock on the door was heard.
¡°Come in,¡± said Varbu.
A messenger from the unit Varbu normally commanded entered the room and saluted Varbu.
¡°The scout has come back and has given the report that the goblin army has begun its march towards the Gnakad pass. They will be here within a day at the earliest and three at the latest. His estimate confirmed our earlier count, the army heading here should be somewhere around 3000+ strong,¡± said the orc messenger.
¡°One second let me write a letter,¡± said Varbu pulling out a piece of tan paper an and an ink pen from a drawer of the desk.
After dipping the ink pen into the inkwell he began scribbling down crude words in the Orcish language. When he finishing writing the message he threw a bit of sand onto the page to soak the excess ink and then shook it off onto the ground.
¡°Send this message with the fastest messenger bird to Orcrock, and please inform Murb that I need to speak with him,¡± said Varbu handing the folded and sealed message over.
The messenger bowed and left the room immediately.
Murb entered the office a short while later.
¡°Good, now that you''re here we need to go over our plan on how we''re going to stop the goblins long enough to for the main army to reach us,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I will try to help in whatever way I can,¡± said Murb.
¡°A report came before you got here, we now know the Goblin army will be here tomorrow at the earliest. It will probably be a small scouting force. While the main force will be a day or two behind it. It will take some time for the Orc army to get here I''m guessing it will be three to four days at the earliest. We must have extra guards on the walls at all times now. Murb how is the gathering of the arrows and other supplies for the city defense coming along? We need to do it now while we can before the enemy to show up,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Everything is going smoothly we should have everything in order by tomorrow afternoon before the enemy vanguard appears. The fort''s ballistas are loaded and have enough ammunition to last them for a while. If they bring any artillery we will be ready to deal with it,¡± said Murb.
¡°Good,¡± said Varbu.
The three of them finalized their plans on what to do if something unexpected happened.
***
Next day.
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Akira walked back and forth on top of the northern fort wall trying to keep warm as he and the other Orcs on watch kept their eyes opened for any sign of the goblin vanguard.
He had just eaten a warm soup for lunch so he was not to bothered by the cold wind that was blowing. His body felt like it was able to adapt to the cold more than before he had awakened. He still felt the cold but he was now able to withstand it better than before.
Akira looked off into the distance a slight movement caught his attention.
He continued to watch the spot for some time and the speck of movement in the far distance slowly grew bigger, turning into multiple green blobs.
Ding!
Quest updated!
Survive the wave of goblin attacks
You have been tasked to defend the Gnakad pass. Stop the goblins from breaking through.
Difficulty: D+
Reward: Unknown
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He grabbed the warhorn around his neck and blew it alerting everyone in the fort about the approaching enemy.
A large commotion was created behind him as the orcs hurriedly finished eating their lunches, grabbed their weapons and ran to their positions on the wall.
A short time later Varbu and Murb were standing next to him on the north wall looking into the distance.
¡°You sure have good eyesight. They''re still far away,¡± said Varbu.
¡°It''s nothing much,¡± said Akira.
¡°As we planned Akira you will be in charge of the north wall. I will command the forces at the gate and the ground forces. Murb you will be in charge of the south wall as reinforcements to make sure that anyone that gets past us will be taken care of,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I will make sure that none shall escape,¡± said Murb.
The three waited for the goblins to move closer. As the enemy drew nearer they were able to see two or three goblins were sitting on top of a few hundred wild Boars.
The goblin riders stopped out of the range of the orcs bows and studied the fort and the Orcs on the walls who were staring right back at them.
Varbu picked up a cone-shaped horn and brought it to his lips.
¡°You Goblins who have invaded Orc lands go back to your own lands now, or we will take you up on your offer of an all-out war!¡± shouted Varbu, the cone-shaped horn helped boost his voice so that the goblins could hear him from a long distance away.
Varbu waited for a few seconds before the goblins started to hop up and down screeching gibbering nonsense while shaking their fists at the orcs and pointing their weapons at them.
¡°It was worth a try. Ballistas are they in range?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Yes! We can still hit them from this distance,¡± replied the leader of the three ballista groups.
¡°Fire to kill!¡± said Varbu.
The Orcs controlling the Wall mounted ballistas adjusted the aim before pulling the lever.
Fwoosh!
Three large spear-like arrows were loosed and sent flying swiftly towards the dancing goblins.
The ballista bolts reached the goblins in seconds and skewered multiple goblins and even a wild boar creating three gruesome looking shish kabobs.
With the use of the ballistas the prancing goblins cried in shock at seeing a few goblins suddenly die. The goblins hurriedly fled farther down the path until they reached a safe distance. Where they again began to taunt the orcs.
¡°These are our enemy?¡± asked Akira stunned at their childish actions.
¡°Yes it is shameful to have to fight such foolish creatures, but we must guard the pass and not allow even one of them to pass,¡± said Murb who had been silent most of the morning.
The orcs were on full alert as they watched the nearly 700 goblins set up a camp outside the range of the forts ballista.
A few hours passed when a small group of goblins separated from the camp and started to walk towards the fort. They were regular goblin infantry that had ridden with the goblin riders.
¡°Archers ready your bows,¡± ordered Akira watching the approaching goblins.
The goblins seeing the orcs readying their bows began running towards the wooden barricades.
¡°Release,¡± shouted Akira as the goblins came within shooting distance.
Multiple arrows flew into the air and rained down onto the rushing goblins killing and wounding a number of them.
As if spurred on by a fear greater then the arrows the goblins continued to run towards the wooden palisade. By the time the goblins were able reached the palisade there was only two alive and both were wounded.
They tried kicking pulling and punching the wooden stakes to try and move them but were too weak to do much of anything to the stakes that had been hammered into the ground which had a light frost that hardened the ground. They were shot full of arrows before they could do anything more.
Throughout the rest of the day goblins tried to send small groups to damage or remove part of the defenses, but after three failed attempts where there was no surviving goblin and little to no damage they stopped for the day as the sun sank down behind the mountains.
After switching Guard duty on top of the wall the Orcs continued to watch all through the night on high alert for any signs of a goblin night attack but nothing happened.
***
Inside the goblin camp.
A group of goblin officers sat in one of the larger tents talking heatedly over what they should do in order to get past the defenses of the fort.
¡°Gi gi giiii giiiii?(What are we to do?),¡± asked one of the goblins.
¡°Giiii gii giiiiiii giiiiiiiiiiiiii!( Smash them! Kill them all!),¡± shouted another.
¡°Giii giii giii giiiiiii.(Hide from them and just push through with the main forces),¡± said a third.
The fourth goblin officer punch the third in the head. ¡°Gi giii? Giiii giiii giiiiiii? Gi gi giiiii giiiggii gi giii giii giiiiii. (Are you stupid? How are we supposed to hide from them? What we need is to pretend to be their friend with presents and when they let us pass the defenses we can attack them.)
¡°gi gii giiii giiiii. (I''m not stupid you are),¡± said the third officer punching him back.
The talk had been going on all night and they could not decide on what to do.
¡°Gii giii giiii giiiiiii gigigi. ( Fine, I will just think of something when we attack in a few hours.),¡± said the vanguard commander.
***
¡°Looks like they are trying something different today,¡± said Murb who was standing next to Akira and Varbu on the north wall.
¡°No need to worry about it we will be able to defeat them no matter what they try,¡± said Varbu.
The goblins were running forward with crude shields held above their heads to try and stop any arrows from hitting them.
They stopped just on the outer edges of the forts bows and Quickly drew their own bows and started firing them towards the fort.
They failed miserably, their aim was everywhere but the fort. All the arrows fell short of the fort and even the palisade.
With a wave of Akira''s hand, the Orc archers let their arrows fly towards the archers who were frantically firing arrows everywhere their aim becoming even worse.
After only a few volleys of arrows from the orc archers, the surviving Goblins quickly retreated.
The orcs were able to relax until after they had eaten lunch when the war horns sounded warning that the Goblins were launching another attack.
A group of 50 war pig riders charged towards the defenses moving at a fast pace to not be able to be hit by many arrows.
¡°Wow! Look they''re not stopping! They plan on trying to jump over the wooden stakes. Are they stupid?¡± asked Akira shocked.
It was a fascinating but sickening thing to watch.
Over twenty bodies were skewered onto the sharp ends of the logs. Blood gushing and splattering everywhere. The cries of pain from the goblins and squeals of the boars were mixed together.
A few of the goblins had been lucky enough to be thrown from their makeshift saddles over the stakes. They quickly rose to their feet and clawed at the wood trying to escape back to the other side.
Arrows quickly pierced them through the back killing them.
Out of the 50 Riders that had charged the defenses only 15 managed to escape back to their camp.
¡°If they keep this up we won''t have to fight them they will just kill themselves for us,¡± said Varbu with a laugh.
Chapter 38: Defend the pass! 2
The sun had already been up for a few hours when Akira was woken up to replace the orc captain commanding the north wall. He was only able to get four hours of sleep, but it was much better than nothing at all.
Yawning, he walked over to a large fire where a pot of soup was simmering. A few orcs were gathered near the fire while eating a late breakfast.
Akira grabbed his wooden bowl from his bag and ladled a moderate portion of the mystery soup into his bowl, and then walked over to the orcs that were talking while eating.
¡°Ah! It''s you the werewolf! How are you this fine cold morning?¡± asked Murb who had noticed Akira first.
¡°I''m good. Since I wasn''t woken up earlier I''m guessing the goblins haven''t attacked yet?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yeah, they are a weird bunch of creatures. They give everyone in the demon race a bad name due to their stupidity and lack of honor,¡± said Murb.
There were snorts and grunts of agreements from the other orcs nearby who were messily eating their soups.
¡°Why would they even think of attacking?¡±
¡°I don''t know why but it was a stupid decision for them to have attacked us for no apparent reason. There was no drought this year so the crops should be enough to last winter. It may just be that they have a new king that wants to show his power. Whatever the reason it was a stupid idea to attack us. Once the warrior chief arrives with the main army there will be little chance of them winning and the will either be wiped out or pushed back like every war before.¡±
Akira finished eating and walked to the north wall to take command of the defenders and start his watch. He spent the rest of the morning watching the Goblin camp from atop the wall looking for any sign of an attack.
When Akira left to eat a quick lunch the goblins had still not moved one inch closer to the fort. He was beginning to believe that they were too frightened to attack because of the defeats they had suffered the last two days.
When he finished eating a bowl of mystery soup #2 he was about to head back to the north wall when he heard Varbu calling his name.
¡°Great news Akira, I just received a reply from the main army. They will be here sometime tomorrow. Its sooner then I had hoped. They should get here around the time the main goblin army arrives. We won''t have to hold out for much longer,¡± said Varbu with a smile.
Dooooruuu!
The sound of the war-horn was a familiar sound but it still caused a sense of excitement and anticipation, since it meant the enemy was preparing for an attack.
Both Akira and Varbu rushed off to their designated spot to take command of the disordered Orcs who had been resting and were now running to the walls and the gate sleep gone from their eyes.
Akira walked up the stone steps and stepped onto the top of the north wall he hurriedly walked over to the Orc officer that had been covering for him while he ate lunch.
¡°What are they up to?¡± asked Akira while looking towards the goblin camp.
¡°It looks like this time is the real deal. They''re gathering their full force this time. It will be harder to stop them from getting through,¡± said Murb.
¡°We''ll just have to do what we can. Make sure everyone has enough arrows,¡± said Akira he picked up a spare bow and grabbed a few dozen arrows.
The Goblins took a long time to mobilize their forces. Akira watched as the goblin riders helped goblin archers up onto the boars back to sit behind them. It looked like they planned to make the archers mobile thus harder to kill.
The rest of the large attacking force was on foot. With a shout from the vanguard commander, the goblins rushed forward.
The goblin riders ran ahead of the slower foot soldiers and let the archers shoot burning arrows towards the wooden stakes to try and start them burning.
Out of all the archers shooting only twelve arrows were able to hit the sharp logs and only three managed to start a fire. But that was enough as the fire leaped to a few of the nearby logs on either of its sides. The fire stopped spreading after a few logs.
Akira watched as one of the goblin archers made a horrible mistake while he was shooting fire arrows. While he was lighting an arrow on fire he accidentally caused the fire to start burning the goblin''s armor in front of him the fire roared to life engulfing the goblin, the boar and then the archer he had made the mistake.
The fire burned brightly while cooking them all. The smell of roasted pork mixed with the smell of burning goblins could be smelled on the wind that was blowing through the pass.
¡°Archers, ballista, shoot as many as you can. We have to hold them back!¡± shouted Akira.
Loud thunks were heard as the ballistas sent their bolts flying towards the approaching enemy.
The twangs of the bows shooting their arrows followed after as the orcs that were crammed onto the wall shot their bows.
The bolts flew through the air and pieced many Goblins before they lost momentum and stopped.
The arrows rained down onto the fast approaching goblins killing and wounding many of them.
Akira joined the orc archers shooting arrow after arrow he couldn''t tell if he hit anything.
But the goblins still kept charging forward no matter how many were killed in front or next to them.
The boar riders reached the spots where the sharpened logs were burning and started to uses axes on the weakened logs.
¡°Shoot the goblins with the Axes,¡± ordered Akira also trying to shoot at the goblins attacking the wall but missing miserably.
As soon as one of the goblins attacking the log was killed another would pick up the ax and mindlessly attack the wall.
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There was really no tactics to the goblins attack they were just trying to use their numbers to overwhelm the orcs defenses.
A war horn from the east wall sounded out a few tunes. Akira turned to the messenger next to him who could understand what it meant.
¡°Commander Varbu is taking some warriors outside to stop the goblins that may breakthrough,¡± said the messenger quickly.
¡°Go now ask Varbu if he needs me to help him,¡± ordered Akira.
The orc messenger ran off to the east wall while the sound of gates could be heard as they were slowly opened.
A minute later the messenger was back breathing hard from running.
¡°Commander Varbu said that you are an ambassador so you should not be sent to the front lines. He also said....¡± said the messenger pausing and looking away in embarrassment not wanting to say the last bit of what Varbu had said.
¡°What?¡± asked forcing the orc messenger to speak.
¡°He said he saw you shooting arrows and said you suck at it, so you should just focus on commanding so no accident of you shooting him or any of the other orcs happen,¡± said the messenger not looking at Akira in the face.
¡°I''ve been trying to get better since I was young the damn arrows just won''t go where I want them to,¡± said Akira the messenger did not respond.
The war cries could be heard as the forts gates were fully opened. It was only a few moments before Akira saw Varbu and the orc warriors rushing forward towards the Goblins that had just managed to hack their way through two of the burning logs and were roughly pushing each other through the small opening in the wall.
Akira summoned Nox who leaped out of his shadow and stood next to him.
¡°Go help Varbu and keep him alive,¡± said Akira pointing at the goblins squeezing through the wall.
¡°So bossy you''re lucky I like fighting,¡± said Nox before jumping off the wall and landing on the ground skillfully.
¡°Archers, Support Varbu, Ballistas be on the lookout for any goblins that are giving orders be sure to take care of them,¡± ordered Akira.
Varbu''s force of two hundred Orc warriors reached the opening in the palisade and clashed with the goblins that had managed to get through.
With Varbu and the orcs under his command surrounding the small force of goblins that trickled through the goblins were unable to get a better foothold.
With the goblins forward momentum stopped by Varbu a few of the goblins behind still tried to push forward trying to push the Orcs out of the way.
It was no use they could not use their numbers due to the choke point in the palisade.
¡°Giiii Giiii Gii Giiii Giiiii(Make another hole in the wall!),¡± ordered the vanguard commander.
Akira watched as the large Goblin army split into two groups one that was still trying to push through the opened hole while the other started to hack at a new section in the defenses away from the first hole.
¡°Shoot the goblins trying to break through,¡± shouted Akira.
He knew with the crazy determination the goblins were showing that they could only slow them down until Varbu could send a group of orcs to defend the new hole in the wall.
The goblins were receiving massive damage to their forces due to the forts arrows and ballistas and the orcs led by Varbu.
Varbu reorganized his warriors and sent half of them under command of a trusted officer to move to the section of the palisade the goblins were attacking and stop their advance.
They were able to get there just in time to block the path of the goblins, causing the goblins to screech in anger at being blocked again.
¡°Gi gi gi gi! (Bad words that can not be described),¡± shouted the vanguard leader while shaking his fist at Varbu. The goblin commander was then hit in the shoulder by an arrow knocking him off his feet multiple goblin warriors surrounded him and dragged him back to safety.
The battle wore on for the rest of the day with the goblins trying multiple times to rush the openings but failing each time.
As the time for dinner was approaching the attacking goblins decided to give up and retreated back to their camp with only 2/3''s of the forces they had had in the morning.
Varbu and his warriors stood guard at the gaps in the defenses for some time while the fort''s engineers came forward and nailed some wooden boards to the logs at the gaps creating a weak fence.
The wounded orcs were helped back to the fort where they would receive treatment, and the dead were carried back on stretchers to receive a warriors burial.
The few warriors not guarding the two gaps in the palisades were ordered to gather the arrows they could find to replenish the ones they had shot most of what they found were the crappy arrows made by the Goblins.
Dooooruuuu!
¡°What is it now?¡± Varbu asked himself, ¡°Grom, you have the command, for now, I''ll go see what the problem is.¡±
¡°I shall defend this spot with honor!¡± replied Grom with an Orc salute.
Varbu ran towards the gates of the fort which were opened to let the wounded to enter and the dead to be carried inside.
When he arrived on top of the north wall and stood next to Akira before he could he ask what was wrong Akira spoke.
¡°Look,¡± was all Akira said while pointing to a place far behind the goblins camp.
Varbu groaned after staring at the spot Akira was pointing at.
He could see in the fading light a large force of goblins headed this way.
The main goblin army had arrived before the orc army.
***
Akira, Murb, and Varbu sat in the main office of the fort discussing today''s battle and what would most likely happen tomorrow.
¡°So far it looks like the goblins will not attack tonight but just to be sure we will have to be vigilant. We can not afford to make a mistake now. With their numbers far outnumbering us, we will have no way to hold them off forever. All we have to do is hope that they don''t attack before the Orc army is able to arrive,¡± said Varbu.
¡°How many warriors were killed today defending the gaps in the defenses?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Somewhere around 30 killed and 20 wounded, it is a severe blow to our already low number of warriors. It could have been worse bit Nox your companion helped a lot. What about the both of you?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°None were killed or wounded under my command,¡± said Murb.
¡°Only ten archers received wounds from arrows shot by the goblins no deaths. They really suck at shooting them,¡± said Akira.
Varbu laughed since he knew Akira was just as bad as the goblins with the bow.
¡°Akira and Murb you both will continue to command the fort walls. Be on alert tonight just in case they try a night attack. I''ll head back out and command the forces protecting the openings in the palisade. Akira you have first watch. Murb you''ll have it next,¡± ordered Varbu.
¡°Understood,¡± both Akira and Murb said at the same time.
***
Akira''s eyes were getting tired even while he was walking around half asleep on top of the wall the cold air biting at his exposed skin.
A long yawn escaped his mouth as he looked up into the dark sky only lit by the stars and a sliver of the moon.
Falling white specs caught his eye. After a short time, one of the white speck fell onto his hand.
Cold.
It was snowing. The first snow of the mountains winter had started to fall lightly blanketing everything in a cold white layer.
''The snow sure comes early here. It''s nearly two months before the snow normally starts in Beorin.'' thought Akira as he watched the snow falling down from the sky.
A sound of in the distance brought Akira back to full alert. It was the sound of a large group of warriors marching.
Alarmed Akira swept his gaze over the Goblins main camp that had grown six times as much as it had been earlier today. There was no movement that he could see.
Akira was puzzled but listened to the sound again as it was getting slightly louder allowing him to figure out where it was coming from.
Turning around he looked to the opposite side of the Gnakad pass. To see hundreds of torches off in the distance.
As they drew closer Akira was relieved to see who they were.
It was that main orc army with Tornok leading them from the front.
Chapter 39: Defend the pass! 3
Ding!
Quest Complete!
Survive the wave of goblin attacks.
|
Defeat the Goblin army!
Follow Tornok''s orders and help defeat the goblins army and bring peace to the Orc lands.
|
Akira felt happiness at the completion of the quest and leveling up to Lvl 18. He quickly put the bonus points into the usual stats and turned his attention back to the orc army that had just arrived.
From atop the fort wall he watched as Varbu and two other Orc officers rushed over to greet Tornok after noticing the approaching Orc army only a few moments before.
Varbu stopped in front of Tornok and saluted him. After a gesture from Tornok Varbu continued to walk next to him trading a few words while they walked towards the fort.
With the Orc army setting up camp near the rear of the fort both Varbu and Tornok walked towards the fort which had started to open its gate to allow them to quickly pass through.
Akira ran on top of the wall towards the gate and was able to descend the stairs to be just in time to greet Tornok as he walked through the gates.
¡°I''m glad you were able to make it so soon. You saved us a lot of worrying. The main goblin army arrived late yesterday,¡± said Akira.
¡°Glad to see you''re not dead. That would have put a wrench in our future plans. Now''s not the time to be talking in the open so let''s go to one of the offices,¡± said Tornok.
***
¡°I''m glad you were able to hold them off until I arrived with the army. I read your report you sent a few days ago. Do you believe the numbers are still the same as you reported?¡± asked Tornok, while sitting down behind the rugged wooden desk of the office.
¡°When they arrived yesterday, I could not see all of their forces so I was unable to get an accurate count. I still think from what we can see their army should still be around 3000. It might be less due to the fights we have had with the vanguard over the last few days,¡± replied Varbu.
¡°How many goblins were you able to kill?¡±
¡°It is somewhere in 300s give or take few,¡± said Akira who was standing next to Varbu.
¡°How many casualties did you sustain in ordered to get such a high number?¡±
¡°35, they all died yesterday when the goblins tried to swarm our defenses. We were forced to stop them from breaking through,¡± replied Varbu.
¡°From your fights the last few days, how strong do you think they are this time around? Anything we should look out for?¡± asked Tornok.
Varbu looked over at Akira questioningly to see if he had noticed anything unusual. Akira shook his head since he was unfamiliar with the goblins he could not tell what was normal and what was not.
¡°Their strength and strategy is the same as normal. Always relying on numbers instead of power and precision. There is nothing else to report,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Good, the army will start our attack at first light. The army will take over the job of protecting the palisade. You two and the troops under your command will stay in the fort and provide support for the army. You can rest while we push the goblins out of our mountains.¡±
***
Akira and Varbu watched from the wall of the fort as the Orc army prepared for the battle that would start in a few hours.
The tents were already placed down clinging to the sides of the mountain leaving only a small a path through the middle for the soldiers to travel easily. Snow was already covering the tents helping disguise them.
Two large catapults were being half dragged half pulled down the path towards the front line of defenses in order to get into a better spot to shoot the enemy.
Wagons full of stones of all sizes followed behind the catapults ready to be used as ammunition.
The catapults looked very crude. Akira was afraid they might break down after only a few uses.
The wooden palisade that had been protecting the fort so well was being opened up more in order to allow for the Orcs to easily pass through.
***
When dawn''s early light reached the mountain pass the goblins that were forming up to begin a massed assault on the fort''s defenses, could see the large force of Orcs moving on the opposite side of the battlefield. They started to screech in anger, they had missed their chance to push through easily and were now going to have to face a hard fight.
Their chatter soon changed into to screeches of pain as stones from the two catapults started to rain down on them.
Akira watched the large stones fly through the air and create a horrible sight of mangled goblin bodies as the stones plowed through multiple goblins. Some of the stones bounced off the ground a few times causing more death before coming to a stop somewhere in the crowded goblin army dying the snow red.
Instead of giving them a chance to organize Tornok ordered the catapults to continue firing as he ordered the 2000+ orc warriors who had already gotten into formation into a forward charge.
Akira and Varbu were unable to do anything but watch due to the goblins distance from the fort.
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The goblins gave up on trying to get into any type of formation and just ran forward as a mob to attack the fast approaching army. As Akira watched he could not help but see how different each of the armies were.
The goblin riders separated themselves from the main army due to their speed and raced forward. They slammed into the large orcs at the front of the line causing both goblin and Orc to fall to the ground.
A few unlucky Orcs were gored from the boar''s tusk and then stabbed by the goblin riders.
A well-aimed stone from one of the catapults flew through the air and opened a large bloody gap behind it after decapitating a few goblin riders.
The goblin riders continued to run away and then charge forward, again and again, slowing the Orc army''s advance only slightly.
The goblins and Orc archers started to shoot arrows into the air creating a deadly hail that wounded many on both sides, even with the goblins poor aiming there were too many warriors in the large mountain pass to not hit something. The mountain pass looked so small and cramped with the thousands of warriors from both sides rushing towards each other.
It only took a few minutes before the two armies finally clashed but it felt like he had been waiting for hours.
Although the Orcs were outnumbered by close to a thousand they were able to show their strength by plowing through the goblins that step in front of them.
The goblins were not immediately pushed back and were able to hold the Orcs off by fighting crazily as if they were insane and cared not for their lives.
It did not last for long as the catapults and arrows continued to wreak havoc in the back lines of the goblin mob. The Orcs were able to slice their way through the first few front ranks of the goblins. Forcing them to retreat a few steps at a time in order to not be split.
Akira was amazed at Tornok who was easily killing anyone that got in front of him. But that was not what shocked him it was that he was the leader of the orcs and was fighting on the front lines along with the other orc warriors.
He was used to kings and high ranking generals giving orders from the rear and not fighting if they didn''t have to.
Due to the overwhelming power shown by the orc warriors the goblin army who had been near the middle of the mountain pass between the fort and their camp, were now being continuously pushed back. The rate of their retreat was starting to happen faster and faster.
When the goblins were forced back into their camp the orcs did not stop pushing forwards and continued to push the goblins past their own tents and supplies.
The orcs in the rear began to destroy the tents and other equipment the goblins had left. Thus crippling the goblin army.
King Gobgob saw what was happening and ordered a full retreat he made sure to quickly leave the battlefield first while under the protection of his royal guards.
***
The orc army did not immediately follow the retreating goblins. They were resting for a short time while the officers were at the fort talking strategy.
¡°Warrior chief Tornok, if you can take care of the main goblin army then I should have no problem protecting the pass from any stray goblin force that may try to sneak around you,¡± said Murb.
¡°Very well, I''ll leave Varbu and Akira here as an added support just in case,¡± said Tornok.
Knock! Knock!
Without warning the door to the meeting room was open after the hurried knocks. Tornok''s personal aide rushed into the room.
¡°Urgent news! We just received a message that a small goblin army of 400 was sighted near the exit of the Deeth pass. The reports say they looked a little ragged from passing through the dangerous pass. It seems their intended target is the capital of Orcrock. What are your orders chief?¡± asked the aide.
¡°Send a message to the city guard that they are to keep on high alert and hold them off until reinforcements arrive,¡± said Tornok.
¡°Right away sir!¡± said the Aide before exiting the room just as quickly as he had entered.
¡°Change of plans. Murb, you will have to hold the fort with your 300 + warriors. Varbu and Akira, you are to take 200 orcs with you and march nonstop until you are able to reach the city. The goblins will most likely reach it first. There is no need to worry about the city as it has strong defenses. I left a sizable number of warriors to defend against any such attack. With your help, the small goblin army will be destroyed easily. It should be less dangerous there than chasing the main army,¡± said Tornok.
Ding!
Reinforce Orcrock:
Chief Tornok has given you an order to head to Orcrock and destroy the small goblin army attacking it.
Difficulty: D
Reward: Unknown
Will you accept?
Yes / No
|
¡°I will not fail you,¡± said Varbu thumping his chest in a salute.
¡°I will do my best to support Varbu,¡± said Akira.
¡°Good, I must chase down the ignorant King Gobgob and force him out of our lands. Now go every moment counts,¡± ordered Tornok.
***
¡°Gi! Giiii giiiigiii giiigii!,¡± screamed an angry goblin commander of the small army that was heading towards the city of Orcrock.
His anger was directed at the small group of unknown powerful people wearing black clothes. King Gobgob had ordered him to follow their orders as it was an important mission for the goblin race.
The strong people ignored the small goblin and continued to talk amongst themselves. Even if they wanted to listen to the goblin, they did not speak gibberish. So how could they know what the goblin was saying?
¡°Why the crap were there so many damn dangerous monsters living in the Deeth pass? Didn''t you say that it would be easy to pass through?¡± asked the leader of the group.
¡°The map shows that it is the shortest route to the capital other than the main passage. How was I supposed to know it was infested with so many monsters?¡± said one of the strong people defensively pointing at the pass on the map.
¡°Due to your blunder, we lost 200 goblins. We only have just under 400 left some of them are wounded, and Knute died as well weakening our forces again. This is not going well for us,¡± said the leader angrily.
¡°We can still complete our plan with the number we have.¡±
¡°We need him alive, can we do it with the numbers we have?¡±
¡°He will be alive, sorta.¡±
¡°You better be right, or we will all wish we had died.¡±
***
Akira could see the small Goblin army that was camped in front of the city of Orcrock from his hiding place behind a large rock.
The nonstop march from fort Hardstone to Orcrock was cold and exhausting. The orc warriors were currently resting while hidden from the small goblin army.
¡°Is it me or does the number of goblins look smaller than the reports said?¡± Varbu asked Akira while watching the goblin camp.
¡°I only counted around 100 and they look like they were all wounded,¡± said Akira.
¡°The scouts were unable to find any traces of another group nearby. I think we should be able to destroy the goblins in front of us and join the warriors in the city before more are able to return,¡± said Varbu.
¡°When will we attack?¡± asked Akira while gazing at the goblins who were cooking food drinking and entertaining themselves.
¡°About another hour when the sun fully sets, we''ll be able to more easily approach them unnoticed. Everyone should be rested enough by then,¡± replied Varbu.
***
The moon was slowly rising into the sky above the warriors who were still hidden from view.
¡°Everyone you know what to do. We need to hit hard and fast to defeat the few goblins in front of us before reinforcements arrive,¡± whispered Varbu to officers that stood near him.
Each of them nodded their heads and hurried back to the warriors they were to command.
¡°Forward!¡± ordered Varbu.
As one they started to swiftly move from their hiding spots and started running towards the goblins camp.
Chapter 40: Surprise!
The moonlight broke free from the clouds high in the sky illuminating the area around them.
Akira leaped from his hiding spot and charged forward with Nox running by his side.
They were halfway towards the goblin camp before one of the goblins noticed the 200 orc warriors charging towards them and raised the alarm.
¡°Gi gi giii giiiiiiii,¡± shouted the commanding goblin.
With the orders given the ragtag group of goblins hurriedly gathered together and formed a defensive stance near the edge of their camp.
Seconds later the two groups clashed but unlike the previous battles with the goblins, the ones they were fighting now were holding their ground.
Nox reached the goblins ahead of Akira and pounced onto the nearest sending both of their bodies tumbling to the ground.
The goblins nearest Nox stabbed their swords towards him in well-trained motions forcing him to jump back out of the reach of their short swords.
When Akira reached the goblins Nox again launched an attack aimed at a goblins legs causing the goblin to fall. Nox used his agility to repeatedly jump in and then escape from the goblin''s attacks. Akira stepped forward and quickly stabbed the goblin warrior that was still on the ground right in the chest killing him in one fatal attack.
He was forced to step back and hide behind his shield when multiple coordinated attacks came towards him.
Clang! Bang!
Akira was surprised at how ferocious the goblins were fighting even when they were already wounded and maimed before the fight had started. Looking at their eyes they seemed to have a fanatical desperation gushing out.
He looked at their level that was shown above their head [Veteran guards Lvl 20].
''No wonder they are so tough,'' thought Akira.
¡°They are no match for us! Crush them!¡± shouted Varbu further energizing the orc warriors.
Akira glanced around him to see the other Orcs in fierce fights trying to slowly push forward. The orcs that were able to fight on the front line were trying to flank the goblins on the edges causing the goblins to pull back in order to not get surrounded.
Step by step they were pushing them forward towards the city walls where the orc archers on the walls could help whittle down the goblin force with arrows.
Burrooooooo! Burrooooooo! Burrooooooo!
At that moment three war horns that had a different sound than the Orc war horns sounded from behind Akira and the Orc warriors.
Akira looked behind him after successfully blocking an attack and killing the attacker with a stab in the head. Three large groups of goblins could be seen charging from different directions all headed towards the Orcs who were in the middle of an intense fight.
Within moments the goblins had formed a large net that surrounded the Orcs including Akira.
The slow push forward ground to a halt as the orcs that were pressuring the goblins turned around after seeing the goblins rushing towards them they gave a war cry and charged towards the oncoming goblins.
Akira could hear Varbu cursing himself nearby for not being more cautious.
¡°Everyone stay together! Be careful this is not like the normal goblins tactics. Something or someone is ordering them,¡± shouted Varbu.
The Orcs got closer and bunched up next to each other while fighting to better defend each other.
After sending a [Sword Slash] and cutting down multiple goblins in front of him Akira scanned the goblins behind him but could see no other being other than goblins.
¡°Warriors we must push forward now before it''s too late. Breakthrough the goblins and get to the walls of the city,¡± shouted Varbu over the sound of battle.
The orcs focused all their power on pushing through the wounded goblins blocking their path with each swing of the sword a goblin lost a limb or his life. Step by step the momentum they had lost was building back up due to the orcs renewed fighting spirit.
Akira helped using his shield and sword to plow through the enemy along with Nox to open a large gap. The orcs nearest to him saw the opening and ran forward to fill it up and try to make it even larger.
With Akira''s help, they managed to break through the enclosure. Akira and a few other Orcs held the small gap open letting Varbu lead the rest of the orcs out of the encirclement.
Two of the Orc warriors near Akira helping hold the wave of goblins back were killed while everyone was escaping.
¡°To the wall!¡± shouted Varbu.
When the last orc was free from the encirclement Akira and the small group of warriors that had blocked the goblins began to retreat.
¡°Stop them!¡± shouted a voice from the darkness.
¡°Gi gi gi giiiii!¡± a nearby goblin shouted.
Wounded and half dead goblins lunged at Akira and the orcs that were trying to escape some even crawling towards them, it was an unsettling sight. Akira was forced to fight them off while he ran with the retreating orcs. A few of the orcs were stabbed in the leg or foot causing them to stumble they were quickly swarmed and stabbed to death.
Akira used his skill [Sword slash] to cut down the goblins that were trying to overrun them causing multiple deaths and maiming others. The mob of goblins paused for a few seconds not wanting to get hit by his attack which was enough time for Akira and the others distance themselves are rejoin Varbu and the other Orcs.
As they got closer to the walls of Orcrock the archers on the walls were able to help them by raining down arrows killing and wounding the goblins chasing after them.
¡°We will form up here and defend on this spot,¡± shouted Varbu standing in front of the closed city gates.
With their backs safe and no chance of the goblins being able to surround them the orcs met the oncoming goblins with fierce a war cry.
Akira stood next to Varbu and asked, ¡°What''s the plan? Just defend?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± said Varbu not wasting any more words as he swung his Quarterstaff bashing the head of a goblin delivering a killing blow.
Akira and Nox worked as a well-trained team. Akira used his shield to block the numerous attacks of all the goblins in front of him, while Nox attacked and killed the enemies with the help of a sword stab or two from Akira.
The orcs though outnumbered on the ground were able to keep the goblins back with the help of the archers on the wall.
Movement at the back of the mob of goblin warriors caught Akira''s eye. Multiple figures in black clothing swiftly moved through the large crowded area towards the spot that Akira and Varbu where fighting.
¡°It looks like we have trouble coming our way,¡± shouted Akira warning Varbu.
Akira used the short time transformed into a werewolf to help with the coming fight.
A few moments later the black figures jumped out of the crowd and launched fierce attacks at both Akira and Varbu.
Two nearby orc warriors tried to step forward to help defend Varbu but instead ended up taking the full attack and were killed instantly.
¡°Stay back, focus on the goblins, we''ll take care of this,¡± shouted Varbu angry that two warriors were killed right in front of him.
Akira stared at the four black-clothed figures and shouted, ¡°Just who are you guys?¡±
The four familiar figures did not stop their attacks to answer Akira and stayed silent.
A large area opened around them as the goblins and orcs parted way as to not get caught up in the intense fight.
Clang! Bang! Thump!
The fight was a 4 vs 3, with Akira blocking the attacks of two while Nox and Varbu fought the others.
It was looking like they would not be able to beat the headhunters any time soon due to the enemies skills with their weapons.
Akira heard an arrow whistle past his head and saw it slam into the shoulder of the headhunter Nox was fighting. This chance allowed Nox to pounce on him and end his life with a few well-placed bites.
The two Headhunters seeing Akira''s attention was drawn away from him both launched attacks towards Akira''s head.
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When Akira realized what was happening he was only able to dodge one of the swords with the second one stabbing into his shoulder pricing his armor and opening a painful wound. He was forced to bear with the pain as he focused on blocking all the attacks sent towards him he was unable to counterattack with the two constantly attacking.
With one Headhunterdead, Nox was now able to help Akira and attack one of the headhunters while they were still unbalanced from a strong attack directed at Akira.
Over to Akira''s left Varbu was fighting with a headhunterwhose body was similarly well built both of them creating loud clangs and bangs with their weapons repeatedly hitting each other.
Varbu Swung his staff down on the head of the headhunter but it is just barely blocked by the arm guards worn by the muscular headhunter. They looked to have been ruined due to the attack.
The battle raged on all around them. Minutes later Akira heard a roar of victory from Varbu, who has been successful in beating his opponent to a pulp but in the process, his Quarterstaff had broken.
He grabbed the long sword his enemy had been using and joined Akira and Nox in their fight to turn the tide and suddenly there was only one headhunter left after Varbu helped kill the one Nox was fighting.
¡°Who are you why are you fighting us?¡± asked Akira while dodging an attack sent by the last headhunter.
The headhunter kept quite but after seeing he was now surrounded by Nox and Varbu he gave a sneer and said, ¡°Kill me! I am an elite headhunter, I will never talk.¡±
He launched multiple ferocious attacks at Akira trying to break his defense and kill him, ignoring Varbu and Nox and the mission he had been tasked to do, capture Akira and bring him back alive.
Both Varbu and Nox launched attacks at the headhunters back and legs wounding him severely, but he continued to fight until an arrow was shot through his head.
The goblins that had been watching the fight gave a cheer after seeing Akira and Varbu defeating the last of the Headhunters.
This stunned the Akira and the rest of the Orcs who had been fighting with the goblins a few moments ago.
The goblins sheathed their weapons and quickly backed away from the orcs. An older goblin who looked to be the commander walked a step forward.
¡°Peace,¡± said the goblin commander. He was barely able to say the word properly.
¡°What?¡± asked Varbu as he was not sure what was going on.
¡°Me. You. Not enemy,¡± said the goblin in barely recognizable words while pointing at himself then at Varbu.
¡°Gii gii gii gii gi,¡± said the goblin in an energetic voice while smiling.
¡°Anyone able to translate the gibberish he is speaking?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I know a little, but I don''t think it is enough to understand everything he says. But I can try,¡± said an older Orc warrior a few feet away from Varbu.
¡°Groba I didn''t know you knew how to speak their language,¡± said Varbu.
¡°My father was one of the elders who specialized in the language he tried to teach me but I was never really interested in it so I''m a bit rusty,¡± said Groba sheepishly.
The commanding goblin could understand their intention and began speaking while pointing at the dead headhunters, ¡°Giii gii gi giii gii gigigigi.¡±
The words were spoken at a slower pace so that the older Orc warrior could have a better chance to understand.
A short time passed as the old warrior deciphered the words in his head.
¡°Ah!¡± said the old warrior as he began to understand what was said.
¡°Do you understand what he said?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I believe what he is saying is that they were forced to fight this war by these strong people. They captured King Gobgob''s daughter, the princess of the goblins and held her hostage forcing them to attack. She is still back at the strong peoples camp,¡± replied Groba.
¡°Then you have no intention of continuing to fight this war?¡± asked Varbu looking at the goblin in front of him.
¡°Gii giii giiii giiiiii giii gii,¡± said the goblin commander.
¡°As long as he is allowed to leave with the princess there should be no problem with the war stopping since they were forced to fight in the first place,¡± said Groba translating the words.
Varbu looked back towards the goblin commander and spoke, ¡°You will stay here, we will go to their campsite and see if what you say is true. If it is, I will immediately have a message sent to the warrior chief in command of the Orc army to stop the war. If you are lying about this don''t blame me for what happens after,¡± warned Varbu.
¡°Giiii giiii giiii giiiii giiiiii,¡± said the goblin shaking his head in disagreement.
¡°He wants to know what you will do with the princess when you find her,¡± said Groba.
¡°If she is truly there we will not treat her badly. She will be treated as royalty until we are sure that the war is over then we will let her go. Otherwise, you might continue the war,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Giiiii gii giiiiiiii giiiiiiiiiiiiiiii,¡± said the goblin angrily.
¡°Sir, he says he will not let you go and capture the princess and use her as a hostage,¡± said Groba.
¡°You don''t have a choice. You are the ones who started the war. It doesn''t matter if you wanted to or were forced. If you want, you can come with us but the rest of your warriors are to stay here where they can be watched to make sure they don''t start any trouble,¡± said Varbu.
The goblins face changed a few colors as he tried to decide on what to do. A minute later he looked at Varbu and nodded his head and said, ¡°Gii.¡±
¡°He says he agrees to go with you to the camp,¡± said Groba.
Ding!
Quest complete!
Reinforce Orcrock complete.
|
You have leveled up! Your level is now 19!
+3 to Toughness
|
New quest!
Peace:
Help the orcs and goblins work out a peaceful end to the war.
Difficulty: F
Reward: Deeper friendship with the orcs.
Will you accept?
Yes / No
|
Varbu called his officers over for a quick meeting. Akira pushed the message windows to the side as now was not the time to be looking at them.
¡°Akira, Groba, and I will go with the goblin commander to check to see if they are telling the truth. You guys are to keep watch on the little goblins to make sure they don''t try anything sneaky,¡± ordered Varbu.
¡°Understood,¡± shouted all the officers while giving Varbu a military salute.
Varbu walked over to the goblin commander and said, ¡°We can go now lead the way.¡±
The goblin commander nodded and walked towards the direction of the headhunters temporary camp.
***
After ten minutes of walking, they reached a small cave that had been hidden behind a large rock.
They entered the cave to see a fire still burning and three large tents set up around the fire a short distance away.
¡°According to our friend here the princess has to be in this cave somewhere. Akira since you are neither a goblin nor an Orc it''s fair to have you search for her while we wait and see,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gii giii giii,¡± said the goblin commander haughtily.
¡°He says he is no liar,¡± said Groba.
Varbu ignored the goblin staring at him and watch as Akira check the first two tents finding no one inside.
Akira opened the flap of the last tent and found a young female goblin with her hands and feet tied and mouth gagged.
Seeing Akira the princess became frightened and tried to get away from him.
¡°Hey calm down I''m not here to harm you,¡± Akira said trying to soothe her fears but it didn''t help.
Akira stuck his head out of the tent and called out to Varbu and the other two near the entrance.
¡°There is a female goblin inside this tent. Who knows if it''s really the princess or not,¡± said Akira.
The goblin commander tried running forward but Varbu placed his large hand on the goblinssmallshoulder and forced him to walk at the same pace as him.
When the goblin commander looked inside the tent he started to jabber, ¡°Giii giii giiii giiiii giiii gi.¡±
The goblin commander got on his knees and bowed to the princess his head touching the stone floor of the cave.
¡°What is he doing?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°He apologized to the princess for not being strong enough to protect her. I''m guessing that bow is something goblins do when they apologize,¡± said Groba.
¡°Akira hurry up and go untie her,¡± commanded Varbu.
Seeing the goblin commander the princess was no longer frightened of Akira. Instead, she eyed him with suspicion to see if he would do anything unwanted.
It took a minute or so of Akira fumbling around with the knots that had been tied before her hands and feet were untied.
Akira took off the rope that was around her mouth and stepped back to give her some space and get a better look at her.
Akira had to admit although he was not an expert on goblins the princes did look sort of cute. Well, judging by the goblins he had seen so far
¡°Are you the princess of the goblins?¡± Varbu asked in a brisk manner.
It took a few moments for the female goblin to find her voice after not using it for a long time.
¡°Gi,¡± she said nodding her head.
They did not need a translator to understand what it meant.
¡°We will not harm you but since the war is still going on you will be under our care, until both sides stop fighting,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gi,¡± the princess nodded.
¡°Gii gii giii giii,¡± the goblin commander tried to argue with her decision but after she sent him a certain look he stopped talking.
¡°He told her she should not accept being captured by us,¡± said Groba.
¡°When we get back to the city we can each write a letter describing everything and send them to the warrior chief and king Gobgob. With that the battles should end,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gi,¡± the princess again agreed not saying much else.
¡°Are you strong enough to walk?¡± asked Varbu.
As the princess tried to stand up she kept falling and stumbling due to not having anything to eat for a long time. They had not brought any extra food and could only give her some water.
¡°Akira help her,¡± ordered Varbu.
Akira tried to help her steady her feet. But as he tried to help her walk she keep stumbling and nearly fell numerous times.
In one swift motion, Akira picked her up and put her on his back.
¡°Ready,¡± said Akira.
¡°Giii giii gii giiiiii giii!¡± shouted the goblin commander in anger.
¡°He strongly disagrees with Akira touching her and says that a mutt should know better not to touch a princess much less do something like this,¡± said Groba.
¡°Whatever, we can''t spend all day waiting for her to hobble back to camp. We need to get back as quickly as we can. Let''s go,¡± said Varbu walking towards the cave''s exit with the goblin commander keep saying one syllable words most likely curses directed at Akira.
¡°Ah, I''m so hungry,¡± complained Akira as he jogged out of the cave.
Chapter 41: Peace?
When they returned to Orcrock Varbu left guarding the goblins to Akira and the other orc officers. Before he hurried into the city to write a letter to Tornok in order to stop the pointless war.
Akira stood with the Orcs guarding the goblins closely watching the goblins.
Just moments before the goblins had all started screeching like the world was ending when they had seen Akira carrying the princess on his back. Some had even tried to run over and attack him but they were blocked by the orcs guarding them.
When it was clear that the princess was going to be taken into the city the goblins had again tried to rebel but after a few sharp words from the princess they stopped and sat back down.
Now they just glared at Akira as if he had eaten and drank the last bit of food and water in the desert.
It was safe to say they did not like Akira.
Movement in the sky caught Akira''s eye. He focused his attention on it to see that it was one of the messenger birds flying off with what he guessed was the letter Varbu had written.
***
¡°Chief we just received a message from Orcrock,¡± said Chop, Tornok''s personal aide, as he entered the tent being used as the headquarters for the Orc army.
¡°What did it say?¡± asked Tornok looking up from the map he had been studying.
¡°It was addressed to you so it was not opened,¡± said Chop handing the letter over to Tornok.
Tornok used his dagger to quickly open the sealed letter and walked over to the nearby candle in order to read it. Looking at the handwriting he was immediately able to tell it was from Varbu.
It only took him a minute to finish reading the letter.
Tornok looked at a second smaller letter written in neat goblin letters that had been sealed inside the first. It was the letter that Varbu had mentioned in his own.
¡°Gather all the officers for an emergency meeting,¡± said Tornok with a smile on his face.
¡°I''ll do it right away chief,¡± said Chop saluting Tornok.
***
¡°So, we all agree that this is what we''re going to do?¡± Tornok asked the officers surrounding him.
¡°Yes,¡± the officers all agreed at the same time.
¡°Then send the messenger and we will see if he accepts,¡± Tornok ordered Chop.
With a salute Chop left the tent and ran to the messengers relaying the orders from Tornok.
After hearing the details and receiving a letter they were a little surprised at the orders.
The messenger left the Orc''s camp and headed towards the goblin army, along with ten other veteran shield warriors for protection, while the messenger carried the letter and a white flag.
The goblins noticed the orcs marching towards then and started to chatter to themselves loudly but did not attack. They waited to see what the messenger and his escort would do. The orcs stopped a short distance away from the Goblin camp where they waited. A group of goblins detached from the main army and walked over to meet them.
The Orc messenger passed the letter over to the goblins after which he traded a few heated sentences with the goblins before both groups separated and headed back to their own camps.
Chop listened to the messenger''s report before walking back to the command tent. He could hear the agitated screeches coming from the goblin camp as news of the princesses rescue was spread through the goblin army.
¡°Well? What did they say?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°If king Gobgob is willing to meet with us they will send a messenger over. All we can do now is wait and see hopefully whatever was written in the second letter is enough to stop the war,¡± said Chop.
¡°I''m confident it will,¡± said Tornok.
It didn''t take long for another messenger to come to the tent reporting that the goblin king wanted to meet with them.
¡°Alright! The rest of you are in charge of the army while I go to talk with king Gobgob. If you sense anything is wrong you are to use the army to come and retrieve us. Let''s go,¡± said Tornok.
Chop and fifty other veteran Orc warriors left the camp and walked halfway to the goblin camp where they waited in the cold night air.
¡°How long is he going to make us wait,¡± asked Tornok not happy at being forced to wait for over ten minutes.
As if the goblins heard them, two goblins ran from the goblin camp one was carrying a white flag and stopped a short distance from the orcs. Tornok saw that neither of them was the king.
¡°Where is king Gobgob? Did he not accept to meet us? Does he now not want to talk?¡± Tornok asked multiple sharp questions before the goblins could say anything.
¡°Great warrior chief, I am Gnob. The mighty king still wants to meet with you but wishes for you to meet him in his tent,¡± said the goblin not carrying the white flag.
¡°What''s this crap you''re saying? Have you no shame?¡± asked Chop.
¡°Is your great King such a coward that he will not come out and meet us but instead has to hide in his tent? Is he afraid that unless he doesn''t have over 2000 soldiers surrounding us that he won''t be safe?¡± asked Tornok enraged at the king''s dishonorable request.
The faces of both goblins turned red with anger at the words mocking their king.
¡°The king is suspicious of what your plans are. You may be trying to lure him into a trap. Will you come or will I tell him you declined,¡± asked the messenger.
¡°We''ll come since we''re not cowards,¡± Tornok mocking the king with his words again.
The two goblins faces grew even redder.
¡°Fine, follow me and don''t do anything that would cause any problems when we get to the camp,¡± said the messenger turning his back to Tornok.
The veteran orc warriors surrounded Tornok and then followed behind the goblins leading them into the camp.
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¡°Your guards can stay here,¡± said the goblin escort pointing to a spot at the edge of the camp.
¡°In your dreams. If we were not under the white flag I would kill you right now,¡± said the leader of the Orc guards. He was enraged at the arrogance the goblins showed when they spoke.
Gnob ignored the words and continued leading the way forward as if nothing had happened.
The veteran Orc guards pushed through the crowded goblin road glaring at the goblins giving off an aura full of killing intent at anyone that got to close.
They arrived at a large gray tent that was near the back of the goblins camp. They were forced to wait outside until King Gobgob barked orders from inside to let Tornok into the tent.
The fifty Orc guards were forced to wait outside the tent as Tornok and Chop entered the tent.
King Gobgob was sitting on a small wooden throne on the opposite side of the large tent guarded by over a dozen well-muscled guards who were all staring at Tornok.
Without greeting the king Tornok began speaking.
¡°What''s wrong with your legs? There must be something wrong with them for you to refuse meeting me outside. Otherwise, there is no other explanation but you being too much of a coward to meet me away from your soldiers. Where is your honor?¡± asked Tornok angrily.
¡°Gigigigigigi giiiii,¡± shouted the enraged King Gobgob.
Tornok guessed it was him swearing at him. He just shrugged his large shoulders and smiled back at the small shouting goblin.
King Gobgob regained his cool and started to speak in common. His voice sounded like a drunkard trying to speak and was doing a poor job at it, ¡°Enough of your taunts. Is the letter true? Are you now holding my daughter as a captive?¡±
¡°Yes, a few days ago there was a fight at Orcrock your troops were led by unknown strong humans. They were defeated and the goblins attacking surrendered. The princess was found and brought back to Orcrock. My son is taking good care of her right now. So there is no need to worry,¡± said Tornok with a smile.
¡°Release her! Now!¡± ordered King Gobgob.
¡°First we need to talk about ending this war you started. I know you did it because you were threatened with your daughter''s death. But there have been many Orc villages raided and looted, many Orcs have died during this war,¡± said Tornok.
¡°No! I will not talk to you about anything. This might be a trick of yours. Give me back my daughter before we talk.¡±
¡°Do you...¡±
¡°No more talking! Give me my daughter or the war will continue.¡±
¡°*Sigh*...She will be escorted here as soon as I send a message. But if you do not end the war and start talks about paying for the damage, we will follow you into goblin territory and continue to fight,¡± threatened Tornok.
***
Varbu had received a letter ordering him to escort the princess near one of the border towns.
There was nearly been a riot when the goblins saw Akira still carrying the weak princess on his back. What was worse was he was taking her away from the main group. The goblins quieted down after the princess scolded them.
There were only twenty other warriors traveling along with them. The only other goblin that was allowed to come was the veteran goblin commander.
Akira had many conversations with the princess mostly one-sided since she could not speak common. Although she could not reply to Akira she proved to be pretty smart her eyes had a very intelligent look to them. Varbu had said it was a rare thing for a goblin to be so smart.
The travel to the Orc border town was quick. They faced no trouble getting there after five days of travel.
Tornok, Chop, and his guards greeted them after they entered the camp.
¡°Princess it is nice to meet you again after such a long time,¡± said Tornok.
The princess nodded to him in acknowledgment.
¡°I''m sorry to have to tell you this but there is no time for any of you to have a rest. We must go to King Gobgob so we can stop the war now that the princess is here. Everyone lets move,¡± said Tornok waving them forward.
The small group passed through the empty land between the two armies and were quickly led through the goblin army to the king''s tent.
The orc Guards had to roughly knocked back goblins who were trying to see who was in the middle of the group of orcs since there was a rumor that the princess had just arrived.
King Gobgob watched as Tornok and two other orcs walked in. The next person to come in was a human who was helping someone walk. A human? Why was he here?
He turned his gaze to see the person next to him was his daughter the princess.
¡°Who is this human touching my daughter?¡± he squeaked out in a voice boiling with anger.
¡°He is not human. He is an ambassador between the Orc clans and his werewolf clan,¡± said Tornok.
¡°Ha, a werewolf,¡± said King Gobgob with disdain letting the subject go.
¡°We have brought your daughter to you just like you asked. We can now start the talks of ending the war and the gold you will be giving us as repayment for the damage,¡± said Tornok.
¡°Give me my daughter,¡± ordered King Gobgob.
¡°End the war,¡± replied Tornok.
¡°Fine, I agree to end the war. Happy? Now give me my daughter.¡±
Tornok nodded to Akira who was helping the princess stand.
With Akira''s help, the princess walked over to the king who motioned for two of his guards to relieve Akira and help her to a chair next to him.
¡°Werewolf, you''re lucky that you are here under the flag of truce. Otherwise, I would have your arms cut off for daring to touch the princess,¡± said King Gobgob.
Akira didn''t know what to feel about being threatened by a small goblin whose height just barely reached his stomach.
¡°It is nice to meet you king Gobgob, I am known as Akira,¡± said Akira with an Orc salute.
King Gobgob ignored his greeting and looked back to Tornok. Akira seeing this as a dismissal walked back over to the Orcs.
¡°What are you still doing here I ended the war you have given me my daughter back there is nothing else to discuss,¡± said King Gobgob.
¡°Don''t be stupid, Do you have worms eating your brain? What are you going to do about paying me for the damage you have caused?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°There is no need to do anything more. It was a war we did not want to fight and we have lost hundreds of goblin warriors ourselves,¡± replied King Gobgob as if he was talking to an ignorant kid.
Tornok''s face grew red, ¡°You have caused a large amount of damage to my villages and the many orcs who were not warriors died to your attacks along with all the orc warriors,¡± yelled Tornok.
¡°So? Like I said we were forced to.¡±
¡°Are you trying to start another war?¡± asked Tornok in a deathly quiet voice his hand on his weapon.
The goblin guards quickly walked in front of the king to protect him should Tornok attack.
¡°We are under the flag of truce,¡± screeched King Gobgob in fright.
¡°I know that,¡± said Tornok.¡±I would not do something as shameless and dishonorable as to goad my enemies and mock them while negotiating.¡±
Akira watched the argument went on for another ten minutes going nowhere the mood in the tent was quickly going south.
¡°Great King, the payment Tornok is asking for you can treat it as paying the orcs for rescuing the princess from the unknown enemy. The orcs can get the money they need to repair the villages that were damaged, this way everyone wins. Or do you not value your own daughter''s life enough, that you do not think she is worth paying a sum to the people who rescued her?¡± asked Akira interrupting the two arguing.
Everyone was speechless, partly because he had interrupted the two powerful leaders the other part due to his suggestion.
Varbu quickly recovered and spoke up, ¡°I also think this is a good idea.¡±
Tornok and King Gobgob glared at each other for long minutes in silence.
¡°Fine, I will give you gold as payment for rescuing my daughter,¡± said king Gobgob begrudgingly.
¡°I will wait for it at Orcrock. Let us seal this deal and end the war,¡± said Tornok.
They each walked forward and grabbed each other''s hand and after shaking twice they stopped.
¡°The war is over so I will return to my camp now. I expect you to leave our lands by the end of tomorrow,¡± said Tornok before leaving the tent.
Ding!
Quest ''Peace'' complete!
|
You have leveled up! Your level is now 20!
|
New Title:
One who stops Large Tavern Brawls.
Fame +5
|
Chapter 42: Honor
The cold night air began to be disturbed as the wind started to blow new snow everywhere. Akira tightened his sword belt to make sure his coat was firmly wrapped around him to help keep the wind at bay.
While their small group walked back to the camp Akira used the time to add the bonus points to his stats and check his skills.
Character Name
|
Akira
|
Race
|
Werewolf
|
Fame
|
60
|
Level
|
20: 4.20%
|
Profession
|
Son Of The Night
|
Title
|
One who stops large tavern brawls
|
Health
|
700
|
Mana
|
300
|
Strength
|
83(+10)
|
Vitality
|
70
|
Stamina
|
52
|
Agility
|
30
|
Intelligence
|
28
|
Wisdom
|
30
|
Attack
|
13-16
|
Defense
|
73
|
Endurance
|
18
|
Toughness
|
17
|
+ 5% Buff to Stamina and strength at night.
+ 10% Lesser poison resistance
|
Skills:
Sword Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 6| 3%)
Heavy Armor Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 3 | 53%)
Shield Mastery:(Beginner Lv: 7 | 11%)
Shield Bash: (Beginner Lv: 4 | 9%)
Sword Slash: (Beginner Lv: 4 | 63%)
Blacksmithing: (Beginner Lv: 3 | 0.5%)
Exotic Cooking: (Beginner Lv: 5 | 34%)
Mining: (Beginner Lv: 3 | 25%)
|
Equipment:
Reforged sword(Common):
Durability: 18/18 | Damage: 13-16
Gambeson and Hauberk(Common):
Durability: 30/30 | Defense: 27
Useful Aorium shield (common):
Durability: 40/40 | Defense: 25 (+10 strength)
Leather pants(common): Durability: 20/20 | Defense 5
Hard Oreium helmet (common):
Durability: 25/25 | Defense: 6
Oreium greaves (common):
Durability: 30/30 | Defense: 10
Hooded Cloak of Secrecy (Rare)
|
As they got closer to the camp the sound of laughter and shouts of joy could be heard coming from the orc camp to signal the orcs had already started to celebrate the end of the short war.
Obviously, someone had returned before them and informed them of the successful negotiations.
Akira followed Tornok and Varbu as they entered the camp and started to walk towards the center of the camp where a where most of the loud noise was coming from.
The orcs stood around a large fire set in front of the command tent, drinking, and eating. When they saw Tornok and the other officers following him they opened a path to let them through the crowded area.
The crowded are quickly quieted down when they noticed Tornok had returned along with Varbu and Akira.
Tornok walked forward into the light of the burning fire and waited for the last few noisy Orcs to become quiet.
¡°We have done it again! We have beaten the goblins into the ground! This should make them think again before trying to start another war anytime soon. With the help of Akira the werewolf ambassador we were able to bring a peaceful end to the war,¡± said Tornok pausing for the noisy Orcs cheering to quiet down.
¡°Akira come forward,¡± ordered Tornok beckoning him with his hand.
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Akira took a few steps forward and stood next to Tornok. Every pair of eyes focused on him. For some of the younger Orcs, this was their first time seeing a werewolf.
¡°Not only was he of great help during the negotiations of peace, he also helped stop the small force of goblins from attacking Orcrock, defended the Gnakad pass, and helped warn the outer villages where they fought and defeated a small group of goblin raiders,¡± Tornok paused to let the warriors cheer once more.
¡°I the Warrior chief of Orcrock have talked with both the elders and the generals. They both agreed that he is not just a great warrior but a great warrior with Honor! The elders have agreed to something that has never happened before. Akira you are now recognized as an honorary Orcrock clansman.¡±
Ding!
New stat received!
Honor:
|
The surrounding orcs crowded around were silent after hearing those word. The silence only lasted for a few breaths but it felt like hours to Akira.
The Orcs began to stomp their feet in unison and banged the butt of their spears, or pikes on the ground while others hit their shield with their swords and great axes. It started slowly but picked up speed. The sound from it was awe-inspiring and sent shivers down Akira''s back. It lasted for over a minute and ended with the warriors giving a loud shout.
¡°I''ll take that as everyone here agrees with our decision. That is all I have to say so let''s all have fun and celebrate the end of the war!¡±
Loud cheers rose up from the orc warriors as they began to continue what they had been doing before Tornok arrived.
Akira was surrounded by multiple orc warriors all wanting to share a drink of friendship with such an odd fellow. It was so they could brag to others that they had shared drinks with the first non-Orc to join an Orc clan.
Akira looked over to Varbu pleading for help but only received a smile from Varbu before he left to talk with Tornok a short distance away.
Akira continued to drink the strong alcohol with the Orcs and soon got extremely drunk and was about to pass out after drinking over a hundred of the small cups.
Seeing this Varbu walked forward and shouted over the loud noise of orcs partying.
¡°Alright, that''s enough tonight I''ll be taking him to his tent you can find him tomorrow if you want.¡±
Varbu helped the unsteady Akira walk to a tent near his and let him flop onto a cot that had been set up earlier.
¡°See ya tomorrow morning,¡± said Varbu with a laugh before leaving the tent.
Akira only let out a few mumbled words along with a groan.
***
Akira woke to a pounding headache. Looking around he found a small water jug on a box next to his cot. He grabbed the jug and drank the water straight out of the jug.
His head started to throb in pain even more as the water started to seep into his dehydrated body. When his headache had calmed down he stood up and walked out of his tent. The bright light of the late morning stabbed into his eyes causing him great pain. The fresh snow made everything look even brighter.
Squinting, he looked around the camp to see it was an utter mess. Orcs were sleeping everywhere on the ground. A few were up and cooking breakfast while only a handful of sober guards were still at the edge of the camp watching the Goblins in case of a surprise attack.
Akira walked over to one of the Orc army cooks who was stirring the morning''s warm stew mystery number 3. He pulled out his bowl and was rewarded with a thick stew with white sauce, large chunks of vegetables, and unknown bits of meat. The scalding steam continuously rose up from the bowl.
Grabbing a piece of cold hard bread Akira walked over to a log next to a large fire and sat down before starting to eat, soaking the bread in the almost boiling stew.
When he was nearly finished eating Varbu showed up and sat down next to him with his own bowl of stew and a piece of the hard bread.
¡°I talked to father last night. I decided that I want to Travel the world and I was hoping to join you in your search for your clan. My father only agreed after I suggested that I could be the Orc ambassador to the werewolf clans. That is if you will accept me traveling with you,¡± said Varbu speaking Quickly as if to get it all out before Akira could object.
¡°You want to travel with me? I really have no clue where I am going I''m just traveling from one place to another,¡± said Akira.
¡°That''s no problem this way I can see many places while we travel.¡±
¡°Well I have nothing against you coming two people is better than one. It would probably be for the best that we team up since you never know what might happen in the future. It''s only going to be you and no one else right?¡±
¡°Yeah only me. Due to the war, I''m sure that the news has gone out and there might be some other clans that may want to try and take advantage of the aftermath. So everyone still has to be on alert and protect our land and all the people that live here.¡±
¡°What? There are other Orc cities?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You didn''t think that Orcrock was the only major city, did you? The Ugahbugah mountains are huge so of courses, there are many large cities and each has a large clan that rules over them.¡±
¡°Huh,¡± said Akira thinking about what he had just learned.
¡°Anyways after I finish eating we should go inform Father. We can leave whenever he gives the OK,¡± said Varbu slurping the cooling stew.
***
In a dark room at some unknown location sat six dark robed figures around a large obsidian table. The only thing on the table was a carving of 7 triangles one in front of each numbered seat. The light in the room was only bright enough to see the outlines of the black-robed figures and nothing else.
¡°Number Three, it has been long over a month since you sent the headhunters to capture the target. What do you have to report?¡± asked a calm husky male voice.
¡°Number one I told you already when they contact me with information I will immediately let you know,¡± said number three slightly irritated.
¡°What are they doing taking so long? Are they playing around?¡± a female voice shouted from the right of number three.
¡°Number 6 you are new here but you should know that headhunters are picked for their combat power and also based on their personal traits. No headhunter would mess around when given a mission,¡± said a playful voice that sounded like a child''s. It was hard to tell if it was male or female.
¡°Number 2 is correct if they are taking such a long time to complete the mission then the target might be extremely hard to catch or something might have happened to them,¡± came the quiet and emotionless voice from number 5''s seat.
¡°Let us not get sidetracked,¡± said number 1 interrupting the conversation, ¡°With the recent death of the previous number 6 we now have an opening for number 7.¡±
¡°Tch. Number six you sure are lucky you got to move up a rank so easily. Do you know how long it took me to move up the ranks?¡± asked number 2 interrupting number 1.
Number one ignored Number 2''s outburst and continued to calmly talk as if he had happened, ¡°Do any of you have a suggestion? The suggestions should be limited to any of the current officers.¡±
Number four raised his hand and then wrote a name with a special pen on a piece of paper. Number Four was a mute due to a run-in he had with a noble where he had his tongue cut out many years ago. So he was unable to talk and was forced to write his words he wanted to say.
The name on the piece of paper glowed in the dark. It was a name they all knew, a rising star among the young recruits that had joined a few years ago.
¡°Tibia? Isn''t it too early to give her the position of the seventh head?¡± asked number three.
¡°She is indeed a resourceful person. I believe with a little more training she could get the spot, but not yet. Although she has surpassed her teacher she is still lacking in many areas,¡± said number 5 quietly.
¡°What if I take her under my wing and teacheher how to get things done. This way she can ditch Ol'' Bonestringer who is weighing her down and I fill in the cracks,¡± shouted number 6 energetically.
Everyone was silent as number one was carefully thinking it over.
¡°It''s fine with me as long as everyone is okay with not filling in the spot right now and waiting until she is ready,¡± said number one.
Everyone agreed to the proposal easily enough.
¡°Poor Bonestringer has been waiting for over 10 years for a spot to open and when it does his student takes it,¡± laughed number 2 as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
¡°Hehehe, Now I get a cute underling to play with,¡± number 6 also laughed crudely while talking.
¡°This is no time for laughing and playing around. We expect you to do the job correctly and make sure she can join us as soon as possible,¡± said number 3 harshly.
¡°Geez, what stick do you have up your but today? You''re always so strict and such a neat freak. Lighten up,¡± said number 2.
¡°Enough! The meeting is over everyone go back to your territory. Number 6 I expect you to take this task seriously. We can not afford to be down one person in case the time comes when we need our full strength,¡± said Number one.
¡°I got it, I got it. I won''t mess around,¡± said number 6 in a loud voice.
With that, the 6 figures left the table and each exited the room through one of 7 doors a few steps behind their chairs.
***
Akira and Varbu were both respectfully kneeling on the cold canvas floor of Tornok''s large tent.
A female Orc shaman had been chanting for over three minutes with her hand placed over Varbu''s forehead.
After she finished the chant without warning she grabbed Varbu and pulled him into a big hug.
¡°Mom not in front of other people,¡± complained Varbu embarrassed at her hug.
¡°Ah! Are you to great of a warrior that you can''t receive a hug from your mother? Don''t forget who you''re talking to,¡± said his mother while smiling. She pulled him into an even tighter hug.
Akira thought it was quite funny since Varbu was at least two feet taller than her due to being a blood orc.
¡°You are to help protect Akira while on his travels. The elders have given you the task of helping him convey our wishes for an alliance with the werewolf''s, do you understand?¡± asked Tornok.
¡°I understand father,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I expect you to become a great warrior. When you have reached a deal you are to return to Orcrock and report to me and the elders of your journey. Then we can think about giving you your own path of life tattoo.¡±
Varbu''s eyes shone brightly at the mention of the tattoo. It had great meaning in the clan. He wished very much to receive it since it showed he had an understanding of the world and would be fit enough to take over the job his father currently held if and when he decided to retire. When a chief retired the candidates that had received the tattoo would fight for the spot through various tasks set by the elders.
¡°Don''t worry Father I will not fail,¡± said Varbu standing up.
¡°Then go my son and fulfill the task that has been set for you. Do not dishonor your ancestors with failure,¡± said Varbu''s mother.
With that Akira and Varbu grabbed their bags that had supplies for a long trip and walked out of the tent to begin their journey.
Chapter 43: Overrun
Akira stepped off the road and walked a few paces towards a tall tree where a few oddly shaped plants were growing at the base of the tree.
He took out a knife and quickly dug the plants out off the ground. He gently hit the bottoms of the plants to dislodge the dirt that was clumped together before placing them into his small bag.
¡°What''s with you collecting every odd looking weed you find?,¡± asked Varbu as he watched Akira dig up the plants for what felt like the hundredth time.
¡°It''s so I can see what they do when I cook and combine them together,¡± said Akira as he rejoined Varbu on the dry rocky road.
¡°But isn''t that dangerous it could be a deadly poison,¡± said Varbu as the began to walk again.
¡°That''s why I have you as the taste tester.¡±
¡°Just because I can eat most things without dying doesn''t mean that I won''t feel side effects. If I eat something super poisonous it will cause a severe stomach ache for at least a few days.¡±
¡°It''s because of that iron stomach of yours that you are the taste tester.¡±
¡°So where are we going?¡±
¡°Vania, it''s the capital of Vussia.¡±
¡°Why are we going to a human city? I thought we were looking for your tribe?¡±
¡°I know someone there. They might be able to help me find them with the power they have.¡±
¡°Must be someone with a lot of power.¡±
¡°I guess you could say that. She does have the power to do a lot of things that normal citizens can''t do.¡±
***
They had been traveling for over a month it would take a few more months to reach their destination if they keep up with the current speed. Although the weather in the mountains was full on winter, it was still a fall in the surrounding lands so there were still a few months until winter arrived.
Akira sat next to the campfire stirring a small pot of boiling green liquid the steam that was rising in the air had a nice fragrant smell to it.
¡°Here try this out,¡± said Akira as he ladled a spoonful of the Green liquid into a wooden bowl.
Varbu took the bowl without comment since he was now used to this happening every night.
He drank it quickly and grimaced at the taste. He thought the liquid was worse than eating 1000-year-old rotten meat. Of course, he had never seen or eaten 1000-year-old meat so he could only imagine it.
He felt no sudden changes in his body nor did he feel sick. But after a few seconds, he noticed his toes wouldn''t move.
¡°That''s the worse tasting stuff I have ever had to eat. It seems like it has some paralyzing effects I can''t move my toes so it''s not that poisonous,¡± said Varbu after washing his mouth out with a swig of alcohol from his waterskin.
¡°Alright let''s test it out!,¡± said Akira energetically he scooped out another spoonful and drank the liquid right from the spoon. He had to agree with Varbu the taste was horrible. He wondered why the smell was so nice compared to the taste.
The effect was immediate, the spoon fell from his hand his body fell backward hitting the ground as his muscles stopped moving and he became stiff as a board.
¡°Why did I have to get such a crazy master,¡± complained Nox as he sat near Akira.
¡°He sure is weird all right. Are all werewolf''s like this?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°No, I think it''s just him. Somethings wrong with his head,¡± said Nox.
Ding!
Exotic Cooking Lvl up!
Beginner Lv: 5
|
Akira tried to smile because of the message but his muscles in his face did not respond.
As he ate and drank the things he cooked he gained experience points to repeatedly level up. Each level of the skill granted higher resistance to the things he ate and drank.
Five minutes of laying on the ground passed before he started to get feeling back into his limbs. Two minutes later he was able to sit back up. His body ached from the fall.
¡°That''s some potent stuff,¡± said Akira as he stood up and began to stretch.
¡°You''re not a normal person either. Most people would have died by now from all the crap you have been eating,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I''m ready for the nights sparring match,¡± said Akira after he had regained control of his muscles and finished warming up for the nights sparring match.
Varbu grinned and grabbed his large quarterstaff they both walked a short distance away from the fire to reduce the chance of them stepping into the fire while fighting.
The main reason Varbu agreed to be the test subject for Akira, was the agreement that Akira would spar with him every night.
Akira had readily agreed because this would kill two birds with one stone. He could get a taste tester and also train himself allowing him to get better at using his shield against people who had more pure strength than him.
20 minutes of nonstop intense battle passed before both Akira and Varbu sat back down sweating and tired from the heated spar.
¡°You''re getting better at blocking my half-full strength blows,¡± Varbu complemented Akira.
¡°Thanks, it''s crazy how much power you can put behind an attack. No wonder the weapons you used before would break,¡± said Akira as he panted for breath while looking at the stars in the night sky.
***
Akira was walking slowly next to Varbu while looking at a map trying to guess where they were by looking at his surroundings and back at the map.
¡°Hmm, I think we should be reaching this town right here soon,¡± said Akira pointing at a small dot on the map.
¡°That dot looks so close to the mountain but it took us so long to reach it,¡± said Varbu as he looked a the place Akira was pointing.
¡°Would that over there be a town?¡± asked Varbu pointing at something in the far distance ahead of them.
¡°Looks like we found it. I hope we can get some information on the land and the current events while we replenish our supplies,¡± said Akira. They hadn''t run into many people while traveling from the mountains so they were many weeks behind on current events.
The land surrounding the town was bleak with a few plots of tough looking plants growing were a match for the tough land. As they passed the fields they noticed no workers were tending to the plants.
¡°It''s too early for lunch where are the farmers?¡± mumbled Akira.
When they reached the small town half an hour later they stopped at the gates. The worn wooden gates of the town were wide open. After looking around for a few seconds they could find no guards near the gates.
¡°What do you think? Should we enter?,¡± asked Akira, ¡°I don''t want to get into trouble for entering without permission but there are no guards.¡±
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¡°I don''t want to stand out here all day so let''s go in,¡± said Varbu as he walked into the small town before Akira.
As soon as Akira walked through the gates he received a notification.
Ding!
Kill all monsters in the town of Unpor.
A dungeon break has happened nearby.
Kill all monsters in the town and rescue any survivors you see.
Difficulty: D+
Reward: Unknown
Will you accept?
Yes / No
|
Akira accepted the mission with a heavy heart. He knew what it meant for the people who had lived here. Most if not all would have probably already died. Killed by the swarm of monsters before they even knew what was going on.
¡°Varbu wait! There''s something not right here. We should be ready for a fight just in case,¡± Akira said in a hushed voice.
Varbu looked around fully alert. Akira summoned the grumpy Nox to help just in case there was trouble.
¡°Now that you mentioned it the streets look to empty. It''s unnatural,¡± said Varbu as he gripped his quarterstaff tighter.
During their search of the nearby houses they found no bodies nor could they find the enemies that had destroyed the city. There were only traces of blood to show that someone had died there.
They continued to check the houses as they walked slowly towards the center of the town all the houses doors were broken and laying on the ground.
Akira''s ears heard movement ahead of him. The sound was like multiple clacks of a hoof or something similar on the stone road ahead of them. He motioned for Varbu to stop.
¡°Nox, go see if you can check out what''s ahead without alerting them,¡± said Akira.
¡°...¡± Nox said a few words that the two of them could not hear before jumping onto a roof of one of the nearby houses and began leaping from house to house.
¡°It''s just a bunch of deer. No need to worry about them,¡± said Nox through their telepathic link.
¡°Let''s go check it out he says it''s just a bunch of deer,¡± said Akira.
Varbu grunted his agreement and they both cautiously walked past the last two houses blocking the view of the town square.
Akira scanned the area and was able to quickly find a group of twenty or more blue deer the size of small horses all lazily chewing on something he could not see.
[Blue Deer lvl 20]
¡°Blue?¡± asked Akira intrigued at a type of deer he had not seen before.
¡°You think these are the monsters that destroyed the town?¡± asked Varbu in a whisper.
¡°They have to be although they don''t look like it. Are you up for killing the ones in the city?¡±
¡°Let''s see who can kill the most,¡± said Varbu with a grin.
The blue deer turned around to look at Varbu and Akira with sharp eyes as if they had heard the two talking about killing them.
¡°Uuuuuuuueeeeeehhhhhhh!¡± the loud scream which sounded like someone crying blasted out from the group of blue deer. A second later as a group the [Blue Deer] lowered their heads with their sharp antlers pointed towards Akira and Varbu and leaped forward into a charge their speed quickening with each step.
Akira and Varbu were at the edge of the town square nowhere in front to hide.
¡°Over there,¡± shouted Akira pointing towards a tight alley between two houses a short distance away from them. They ran as fast as they could and dived into the alley only narrowly avoiding being skewered by the [Blue Deer''s] sharp antlers. The sounds of the stampeding [Blue Deer] rushed passed them.
¡°Akira this place should be small enough for you to block the next charge. I''ll knock them down when they are stopped,¡± Varbu.
¡°I thought we were going to see who could kill the most,¡± said Akira.
¡°You need to stop their charge or we won''t be able to do anything against them,¡± said Varbu.
Akira readied his shield in front of him and braced himself for the oncoming impact. The group of [Blue Deer] had swung around without losing any speed and started to run towards the two who were hiding in between the houses.
BAM! BAM!
Only two of the [Blue Deer] were able to fit into the tight ally and slammed into Akira''s shield. Their antlers created sparks as they slammed into the shield and skidded off.
Multiple other deer who had tried to enter the ally along with them crashed into the houses on both sides at full speed.
Akira tried his best to keep his footing and was only pushed back a few steps. With the help of Varbu pushing his back, they were able to stop the mass charge of the blue deer. If not for the tight space they would have been knocked down and trampled on.
¡°That looks like fun can I join,¡± asked Nox as he watched from the roof of a nearby house.
¡°Sure, feel free to go wild,¡± said Akira.
Nox jumped from the roof and landed on the back of one of the blue deer at the back of the group causing it to let out a scream of shock and then pain as its neck was bit.
With the appearance of Nox, the [Blue Deer] started to get antsy and again tried to push forward to get away, but Akira was still blocking the path.
The two [Blue Deer] at the front rose up onto their hind feet and tried to batter his shield away by slamming back down on it with their front feet.
¡°Alright looks like I can start fighting for real!¡± said Varbu as he swung his Quarterstaff forward connecting with one of the blue deer''s head which exploded like a ripe fruit, and splattered everywhere.
Akira used [Shield bash] and slamming his shield into the second deer''s head stunning it long enough for him to be able to step forward and stab it in the heart killing it instantly.
The blue deer were still bushing forward even with the death of the two at the front due to their fear of Nox.
Akira wanted to use [Sword slash] but was unable to due to Varbu and Nox being so close he might end up hitting them in such a confined spot.
He decided to focus on one [Blue Deer] at a time. He lashed out quickly slicing diagonally to the left and then diagonally to the right. After attacking and killing the [Blue Deer] one after another a notification popped up.
Ding!
Skill ''Cross Attack'' was created!
Cross Attack:
This skill was created for single target attacks.
This skill can target medium to large targets and will deal more 2x the damage of a normal attack.
Higher levels of this skill will do more damage.
Skill cost: 35 mana
|
Akira used the skill on the nearest [Blue Deer] to test it out. After the two sword slashes, a glowing X shot forward and slammed into the [Blue Deer] slicing it into four parts.
While Akira was in awe at the power of the attack one of the [Blue Deer] was running towards him and jumped into the air trying to fly over both of them.
Varbu took a firm stance and swung his quarterstaff slamming it into the deer''s ribs stopping it in mid-air while the sound of multiple bones breaking could be heard. The [Blue Deer] was slammed into the side of the building next to Akira reminding him of the battle that was still going on.
With the group of [Blue Deer] losing the ability to charge their enemies as a group, they lost the advantage in the fight. With Nox terrorizing and killing them in the back and Varbu and Akira easily blocking them from the front they had nowhere to go and were killed one by one.
The fight was over in a flash it felt a little too easy.
Ding!
Kill all monsters in the town of Unpor cleared!
|
You have leveled up! Your level is now 21!
|
Shield mastery has leveled up to Level 7.
Heavy armor mastery has leveled up to Level 4.
|
Nox has leveled up to level 11.
|
¡°Ah, nothing like a good fight to loosen up your muscles. If I counted right I killed more than you,¡± said Varbu while rotating his shoulders.
¡°I''m sure my number was larger than yours,¡± said Akira.
¡°No you came in third place,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Third place there is only me and you how can I be in third?¡±
¡°Nox also fought. He killed more than you,¡± said Varbu.
¡°He is my companion so his kills count towards my number. Plus I had to repeatedly stop the damn deer from running us over and goring us with their antlers,¡± said Akira as he walked over the dead bodies towards the thing blue deer had been eating when they first arrived.
¡°Whatever. Where do you think they all came from?¡± ask Varbu looking around as if he could find the answer that way.
¡°A nearby dungeon probably broke and this small group probably came here for who knows what reason. The rest of them are probably somewhere out there in the wild now. It will be a pain in the butt to deal with them in the open,¡± said Akira.
When they reached the center of the square Akira let out a shocked breath at what he saw.
Blood was splattered all over the ground there was a small object laying in the puddle of the blood.
It was a small bloody hand of a baby.
Chapter 44: Haunted?
Akira and Varbu searched through the destroyed and damaged stores to find the supplies they needed. Before leaving the store Akira placed some silver coins into the cash box on top of the stores damaged counter as payment for the items they took.
¡°That trick you did with your sword how did you do it?¡± asked Varbu while they walked down the empty streets.
¡°I wasn''t trying to do any trick. I just kept attacking them with my sword and the light came out,¡± said Akira sidestepping the question.
They were silent as they walked through the city headed for the broken gates.
When they reached them both Akira and Varbu used their full strength and tried to close the gates as best they could in order to keep any animals or monsters from entering.
Looking at the gates Akira guessed if a monster really wanted to enter the city they would not be hindered by the broken gate.
¡°We should find where they came from. There might be more hanging around there, which will cause problems for anyone trying to resettle this area,¡± said Akira.
¡°Do we have the time to do that?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°It won''t take us that long. If there''s a few still hanging around we can get a bit more training in. If there isn''t any we can leave right away,¡± said Akira.
Varbu shrugged his shoulders in a ''Do what you want'' manner.
With Nox leading the way the three of them were able to find two large stone doors embedded into the side of a medium hill. In the middle of the two stone doors was a large hole. Stone bits and chunks from the door had been scattered all over the ground near the doors.
What they could see from the hole was a path that led down deep underground. Akira stepped through the hole after Nox in order to search the dungeon. He was expecting to see a notification window but nothing popped up.
¡°No need to search this place, nothing''s here,¡± said Nox who had used his sense of smell that was even better than Akira''s when he was transformed.
This place that had once been a dungeon was now nothing more than a common cave.
¡°It looks like they all left the dungeon,¡± said Akira as he looked at the ground and saw the numerous tracks left by the Blue deer.
Their power as a heard running together was no joke they were able to destroy part of the stone door with their pure strength.
Akira was happy they only faced a small portion of the large herd that had escaped he wasn''t sure if he could have stopped them if t were not for the tight alley in the town.
Now a large number of them were out in the wild. He hoped they would not run into them while traveling.
***
As they moved closer and closer to the capital city of Vussia the sky continued to grow darker. The light during the day was extremely dim compared to every other place Akira had been. It made the day feel more like an extension of the night.
¡°We should be nearing the next town shown on the map,¡± said Akira as he pulled out the map from his bag and looked at it.
¡°I hope it''s not another small town,¡± said Varbu. The small towns had little to sell to them even if they wanted to, and the food was always the same.
***
The Gart monastery was near the town of Vouis which helped bring business to the town. With the nearby monastery selling high priced art and books nearby the small village of Vouis had grown into a small city. During the day the farmers toiled in the fields and at night there were many things to enjoy.
Vouis was not poor like the outer towns and villages but neither was it rich like the central cities and the capital.
The sun was quickly falling and the little bit of daylight swiftly disappeared as if being chased by the darkness.
Both Akira and Varbu were stopped and inspected by the suspicious gate guards. They were allowed to enter the city after a rude warning to not cause any problems.
¡°Let''s find an inn hopefully we can get a good night of sleep in a nice warm bed,¡± said Akira as he looked around the city trying to guess where the Inn was.
It took them over ten minutes of mindlessly walking around the crowded streets that were filled with drunk and boisterous voices. Many people had been staring at the two as they walked through the streets.
Akira pushed open the door to the [KeepOut Inn] and walked inside along with Varbu.
A male clerk was sitting behind a desk furiously writing on a piece of paper. Akira waited for over a minute trying to be polite and not interrupt the writing.
Varbu grew tired of waiting and hit Akira in the side with his elbow telling him to speak up.
¡°Hello, is there room for two more people?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We''re full. Before you ask all the other inns in the city are full you came at this time of the year and expected to get a room?¡± asked the clerk who was still writing.
¡°We''re new around here. We''re just passing by on our way to the capital. Are you sure that there''s no place available to rent a room?¡±
¡°There is a house for rent it has many large rooms, but you wouldn''t want to stay there because it''s haunted.¡±
¡°Haunted? In what way?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I don''t know the exact details, but Everybody in the city knows about it. If you want to rent a room there. You have to go the monastery and ask for the key from them since they own the building,¡± said the clerk still writing and not looking at them.
The two quickly exited the city and walked to the nearby monastery. The monastery looked like it was hundreds of years old the walls had many cracks and small holes.
When the monastery gate guards heard they wanted to rent the haunted house for the night Akira and Varbu were invited to talk to the head monk.
***
¡°Out of the few people that have stayed the night half of them have died or gone insane and the ones that were able to stay alive say that all night they heard moans and groans and to many other creepy noises to the point of not being able to sleep. Are you sure you are ok with staying there?¡± asked Brother Munk.
Ding!
New quest!
Haunted house night party!
You have heard about the haunted house of Vouis. Stay the night and find out why the house is haunted.
Difficulty: F
Reward: Fun night at haunted house.
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Will you accept?
Yes / No
|
¡°We can handle ourselves well enough. So how much is the rent?¡± asked Akira only accepting the quest because it was the last place in the city that had any open rooms.
¡°Well, you are renting the full house so it will be more expensive than just a room at an inn. One gold for a night is good enough.¡±
Akira and Varbu left the monastery and walked east following the directions that were given to them by Munk.
There was no one around the haunted house, it was all alone no with no other buildings near it also. The silence surrounding this small part of the city was eerie. It was like a completely different world from the energetic nightlife they had walked past a few minutes before.
¡°This area really does feel different,¡± said Varbu.
The haunted house was two stories high. The outside of the house looked like any other normal old house. The only thing wrong with the outside of the house was the old blue paint that had cracked and peeled.
¡°Don''t let your guard down,¡± said Akira.
Akira motioned for Varbu to follow him. As they walked up the steps they both readied their weapons in order to defend against anything that might jump out of the building.
On the wooden door was a small sign with an arrow pointing to a box with a small slit big enough to put coins in.
Akira let out a loud sigh and dug out 1 gold coin and put it into the box where it made a hollow thunk.
He opened the wooden door after using the key to unlock it. The door let out a loud Screeeeeeeeach! Causing Akira to jump back fully alert and looking for any movement.
Nothing happened.
Varbu laughed at Akira who was acting funny and being far too cautious.
¡°Come on let''s check out the building,¡± said Akira as if nothing happened.
Everything in sight was filled with dust except for a few sets of footprints already on the floor. Akira and Varbu walked around and added to the footprints.
Every step they took created loud groans from the wooden floor, as they searched the first-floor room by room.
The rooms were empty of everything but a bed and a wooden chest for belongings.
They quickly finished their search and found nothing suspicious.
¡°The second floor,¡± said Akira.
When they got to the stairs leading to the second floor Akira saw a few steps that led down to a door where the basement was probably located.
¡°We''ll check that out next,¡± said Akira as he walked up the stairs with his shield in front of him.
The stairs cried out with loud squeaks as Akira and Varbu stepped on each of them.
After searching the rooms on the top floor they were unable to find anything out of the ordinary so they headed back downstairs to check the basement.
Akira tried to open the door but the doorknob wouldn''t budge.
¡°I guess it''s locked, so we...¡± before Akira could finish talking Varbu sent his foot flying towards the door.
With a loud crack, the door swung open and slammed into the wall behind it.
¡°It''s open now,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Hey! We''re not supposed to be damaging this place. They''ll make us pay for anything they find broken.¡±
¡°Whoops.¡±
The air grew colder as he descended the last set of stairs leading to the basement floor. There were no windows in the large basement it looked to be one big room with the only light coming from the lantern Varbu held.
Numerous boxes were stacked at the far end of the basement. There were also two beds with thick blankets and pillows. ''Odd,'' though Akira.
¡°I didn''t see anything that would make this place a haunted house. Did you?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°No everything looked to be normal. Maybe a bit old but nothing crazy. Where should we sleep?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Well, you said you don''t want to break things and have to pay for it so If we have to fight, this basement will be a good place. It''s open and not a lot of things around to break,¡± said Varbu.
¡°That fine,¡± said Akira tired from the long travel without proper sleep as he walked over to one of the beds and flopped down on it.
***
The house creaked and groaned due to the wind that was blowing against it.
It took Akira a long time to fall asleep due to all the noise that the old house made.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeech! Bang!
Akira woke up from his light slumber. He didn''t know what time it was but he felt it had only been a few hours since he had fallen asleep.
He reached over to Varbu and poked him hard to wake him up.
¡°Shhh,¡± Akira stopped Varbu from yelling out.
¡°Something just entered the house,¡± said Akira.
The sleepiness in Varbu''s eyes was wiped away with those words. He stood up with his hands nervously gripping his quarterstaff and followed Akira to the stairs.
As they waited by the stairs the creak and moans of footsteps slowly walking towards the basement door could be heard.
The sound of the footsteps stopped when they reached the door to the basement. Akira and Varbu silently walked up the steps to open the door and capture the person on the opposite side of the door.
Loud thumps of someone or something running up the stairs away from the door could be heard. It was almost as if the person or thing was able to see through the door and was able to see Akira and Varbu getting ready to pounce.
Not wanting to miss the escaping person or thing. The two brave warriors burst out of the basement to chase after it.
Even at their fastest speed, they were unable to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that had stood on the opposite side of the door.
When they reached the first floor they stopped to listen and look for anything out of place.
The sound of running feet had stopped and there were no other suspicious sounds.
¡°Let''s do a quick search of the house,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmph...no such thing as a ghost...¡± said Varbu muttering to himself while fully alert making sure to inspect every nook and cranny around him.
They searched the whole house for the second time that night but were unable to find anything out of place. There had been no other sounds other than the ones their own feet were making.
¡°Let''s go back to the basement and sleep,¡± said Varbu.
When they entered the basement Varbu stopped Akira. He pointed towards the far wall where the boxes had been stacked up against the wall.
A few of the boxes had been moved to create a small opening in the wall of boxes revealing a hole in the wall behind it. Akira and Varbu both cautiously walked forward to inspect the opening with the dim light from the lantern still lighting the room.
They were only two feet away when a ghastly head that looked like it came from a tortured undead popped out from the hole.
Upon seeing each other, the head, Varbu, and Akira all let out a screamed of fright at the same time.
¡°¡°¡°AH!¡±¡±¡±
The head vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
Akira and Varbu both look at each other sheepishly.
¡°Should we check it out?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I think you should go first,¡± said Varbu volunteering Akira for the job of entering the hole first.
Akira sighed and crouched down with his shield in front of him before he started to crawl forward through the hole that led into a small tunnel, Varbu hesitated a few seconds and then started to slowly crawl behind him. It was harder for Varbu to squeeze through due to his large body.
Bam!
Something slammed into Akira''s shield before he could fully exit the tunnel.
¡°Stay back you ghost,¡± a male''s voice shouted from the dimly lit room in front of Akira.
''He thinks I''m a ghost,'' thought Akira bewildered at the situation he found himself in.
¡°I''m not a ghost. To me it''s you that looks and act like one,¡± said Akira.
¡°You can''t trick me ghost,¡± said the male voice, before attacking Akira''s shield multiple times.
Akira decided that the person attacking him was not a ghost but a human. He readied himself and pushed himself out of the tunnel slamming into the body of his attacker causing both of them to fall to the floor.
After wrestling with the attacker for a few moments Akira was able to get the man under control.
¡°I''m not a ghost,¡± said Akira.
¡°Get off of me,¡± growled the man.
¡°What are you doing here? How did you know about this secret room?¡± asked Akira.
The man was silent and ignored Akira his attention was focused on Varbu who had entered the room and started to poke around the place searching for anything of interest.
¡°Hey, you! Stop messing with my stuff,¡± shouted the man.
Varbu ignored him and started to open boxes. A few moments later he reached a large black ornate wooden box that was placed on top of what looked like an altar.
¡°Stop!¡± the man shouted again.
Varbu again Ignored him and opened it. His face changed quickly as a multitude of expressions flashed over his face as if it was unsure what to make of the items he had found in the box.
¡°You should have a look,¡± said Varbu turning back to Akira.
Akira let go of the man and pushed him away from him before walking over to the black box.
The man jumped back to his feet and tried to tackle Akira but in a flash, Varbu sent his quarterstaff swiftly into the man''s stomach knocking all the air out of his body and sending him back to the ground.
Akira looked inside the black box.
It took a few seconds for him to figure out what it was that he was looking at.
The box was full of Underwear. Women''s underwear.
Chapter 45: Capital city Vania.
Akira stood in front of the man who looked like death had taken him long ago. Varbu stood behind Akira watching ready to help subdue the captured man if he tried to escape.
¡°What''s your name?¡± asked Akira. There was no answer.
¡°Are you one of those weird perverts?¡± asked Akira not beating around the bush and asked what had been on his mind since he looked at the box full of underwear.
¡°What kind of question is that?¡± asked the man as if it was a stupid question.
¡°You must be with all the underwear neatly folded in the box over there,¡± said Varbu pointing to the black box.
¡°Those aren''t mine,¡± said the man waving his hands to deny any ownership over the box. As he did a pair of blue underwear he had been holding fell to the ground.
Akira quickly stepped on the man''s hand before it could reach for the dropped underwear.
¡°Are you the one causing people trouble and making them believe this place is haunted?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I haven''t killed anyone! The people that died a while back, got into a fight and killed themselves. You and everyone else can believe whatever they want,¡± said the man.
¡°So it really was you making noises in order to keep people away from your hiding place,¡± said Varbu.
Ding!
Quest complete!
''Haunted house night party!''
To receive special reward inform the head monk at the monastery of your findings.
|
¡°I answered your questions, Now can you get off my hand and let me go?¡± asked the man.
¡°We can''t let you go. We''ll have to take you to the monastery and tell them about what really is going on here,¡± said Akira.
¡°Are you sure anyone will be up right now?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Although it seems early, I know that the monks normally get up early for their morning devotions, so there shouldn''t be a problem. I''ll go through first then you can push him through to me so he can try and escape,¡± said Akira after tying the man''s hands behind his back.
Akira quickly crawled to the other side. As he waited he heard a few curses from Varbu and a scuffle started inside the tunnel.
¡°What''s wrong?¡± asked Akira.
¡°He kicked me in the face, so I had to subdue him. Don''t worry I have him under control now,¡± a few moments later Varbu pushed the man out and then squeezed himself out of the small tunnel.
¡°Let''s go,¡± said Akira leading the way up the stairs and out the old building.
While walking down the dimly lit streets Varbu suddenly let out a loud grunt of pain.
¡°OOF!¡±
Akira turned around to see Varbu hunched over holding his stomach. The perverted man was nowhere to be seen.
Even after searching the surrounding area Akira could not find the man or any tracks showing where he went.
It was surprising that he was able to escape Varbu who was extremely strong.
¡°Did you find him,¡± asked Varbu who had recovered from the attack to the gut.
¡°No, I couldn''t find anything. It''s like he disappeared. Thinking about his personality he probably went into a secret hiding place somewhere around here. Come on let''s go and report to the head monk,¡± said Akira.
***
¡°So you''re telling me that the old inn is not haunted? And it was just some old pervert causing all the noise during the night?¡± asked Munk.
¡°Yeah, I''m not surprised that people would think he was a ghost. Seeing as his face looked ghastly like a skeleton with a thin layer of skin over his bones. He probably needs a bit more food and sleep, then he wouldn''t look so scary.¡±
¡°What about the deaths that happened inside?¡±
¡°He said that it was a couple that had gotten into a fight and they ended up killing each other. Although I''m not sure how he knew the details.¡±
¡°It''s a shame you couldn''t bring him here. If you had I would be able to know exactly who it was.¡±
¡°Well we did try but as soon as we were outside for a bit he attacked Varbu and escaped.¡±
¡°Thank you for discovering this. Now we can clean it up and reopen the inn. As a show of thanks here are two vials of medium grade holy water. It has many effects, but mostly it protects against intermediate poisons and any negative effects from monsters or debuff potions from the magic guild,¡± said Munk handing Akira and Varbu each a small vial containing a mouthful or two of the holy water.
¡°This may seem inferior to the magic guilds healing potions but it is in fact far more powerful. Although it will not heal you it will cure your ailments and as a bonus up to 10 hours after you use it any poison or debuffs will have no effect on you. As far as I know, this also includes the rare skills used those special skill users.¡±
¡°We thank you for giving us such valuable items,¡± said Akira giving Munk a deep bow. Varbu nodded his head in agreement.
¡°I''m sure you travelers want to get back on the road to wherever it is you are headed to, so I won''t keep you here any longer. Thank you for helping us clear up this matter. Oh, just a heads up. If you''re headed towards the capital be warned they are not as friendly towards the demon race as the outer cities are.¡±
After Akira and Varbu left the monastery Munk walked over to a wall that had many portraits of the former heads of the monastery.
He stopped in front of one that had a small sheet of black cloth covering it. He pulled the cover off and stared at it.
It was a picture of the head monk that came before him and was also his mentor for much of his time at the monastery. He had died four or five years ago.
The features of the man in the painting matched what Akira had described.
¡°Could it be him? ...Nah no way he died long ago,¡± said Munk mumbling to himself before replacing the black cloth over the portrait of his mentor.
***
An old man Who looked to be on death''s door watched from a window of the old inn as Akira and Varbu exited the city talking about the fake ghost, and haunted houses.
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡°Ghost don''t exist? HA!¡± said the old man.
His face turning into a large smile as he began laughing crazily his body disappearing into a mist leaving only the echo of laughter in the now empty window. A pair of underwear he had been holding fell to the ground.
***
As Akira and Varbu traveled closer to the capital city they noticed a huge difference between the small and poor outer cities compared to the ones they passed on their trip to the capital. The cities were each bigger and richer than the ones before them the closer they got to the capital.
While traveling Akira took out the two skill gems he had taken a while ago back in the sewers under the magic guild.
He now had the time to inspect them thoroughly but, alas, no matter how hard he tried to use them nothing happened. He thought of different requirements they might be needed to be used, like a magic word or phrase or for the magic gem to be held in a certain hand.
None of it worked causing him to get frustrated. Varbu had been silent as he watched Akira stare and mumble at the colorful gems in his hands and though he had gone crazy for some unknown reason.
Finally, he decided to speak when he saw Akira silently glaring at the gems for over an hour.
¡°What are you doing?¡±
Akira continued to glare at the skill gems for a few more seconds before looking at Varbu and answering.
¡°Trying to get these things to work. They are supposed to shoot out certain magic attacks.¡±
¡°What those small things? Are you sure they''re not just ordinary shiny rocks? Or do you mean they are only used for tricks?¡±
¡°No. I saw them being used by other people and they were externally powerful...almost killed me,¡± said Akira mumbling the last part.
¡°Can I try?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I don''t care,¡± said Akira as he tossed both of the magic gems over to Varbu.
¡°How do you use them?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I don''t know. That''s what I was trying to figure out. Don''t point it at me just in case you''re able to use it,¡± said Akira.
Varbu spent a few minutes trying to use the wind skill gem but nothing happened he gave up and tossed it back to Akira and turned his full attention back on the fire skill gem.
As soon as he thought of using it a small fireball shot out from the gem and flew up high into the sky before creating a small exploding pop and disappearing. Varbu felt as if he had just finished a short workout after using the skill gem.
¡°It worked,¡± said a startled Varbu who had nearly dropped the gem out of shock.
¡°How did you do that?¡± asked Akira hoping for some tips on how to use it.
¡°I just thought about using it and then it shot out by itself.¡±
Akira sulked after hearing the answer that''s what he had been trying to do all morning.
¡°You can keep it, it''s a piece of junk to me right now,¡± said Akira depressed.
¡°Really? I don''t know this thing seems pretty powerful.¡±
¡°It would be better if you were able to have a strong trump card to use against enemies. That way both of us can rest easier while on our journey.¡±
¡°Okay, but don''t think I''ll take it for free. I have my honor you know. I''ll make sure to find something I can do or give you as repayment.¡± said Varbu saluting Akira.
During their travel Akira had Varbu show him the problems he had when using a weapon other than his quarterstaff club.
Each night Akira would have Varbu spar with a different type of weapon that Akira had picked up from the fights with the goblins.
After exchanging a few blows some part of the weapon would always break. Akira would gather the pieces of the weapon and study each of them thoroughly. He treated it as a sort of puzzle to put the pieces back together and see the larger picture of what broke first.
¡°We have been doing this for the last week. What''s the point of it? All you''re doing is wasting weapons you could sell for some change,¡± asked Varbu.
Akira continued to place pieces of the sword that had been shattered onto the ground in front of him after he finished inspecting them.
¡°Two reasons. One, if I can figure out the reason why the weapons break so easily then I can think of a way to make a weapon suitable for you. Two, it will help me with my black smiting I will be able to have a better understanding of the strength and weakness of certain weapons, allowing me to come up with ways to fix them in the future, ¡± replied Akira who was still focused on the broken sword.
Ding!
Basic understanding achieved!
+2 levels in Blacksmithing!
+5 Fame
Due to deep study, the level of understanding has risen.
This achievement is only able to receive once at each tier. Beginner, intermediate, advanced, mastery, grand mastery
Blacksmithing lvl 5.
|
¡°Oh yeah forgot you were able to do something like that,¡± said Varbu.
***
The Capital city Vania was built on a wide open plane. Less than half a day away from the city was a volcanic mountain that every so often spewed ash up into the air contributing to the almost always eternal night.
Surprisingly the little light that did shine through added with the fresh ash that was used as a fertilizer the capital was able to have many large farms. Although they had many large farms due to the spares lighting the farmers had a hard time creating an abundance of food but they managed.
It didn''t help that the taxes they had to pay were extremely high.
¡°This place is really interesting,¡± said Varbu as they passed through the west gates of the capital city.
¡°Yes, everything is so ... different. From the weather to the volcano, and even the people that live here,¡± said Akira as he looked about the streets.
¡°Don''t even think of causing any problems or you''ll be lucky if we put you in jail,¡± shouted one of the gate guards from behind the two.
A large portion of people stared at them as they walked down the streets.
Akira was used to stares as the orcs had continuously stared at him whenever he walked through the streets of Orcrock. Theses stares felt different, and most of them were directed at Varbu.
¡°Is it me or do they seem to not like me?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°It seems that feelings from the past great wars are still alive here. We should hurry and find a place to stay before we do anything else,¡± said Akira.
It didn''t take long before they were able to find a nice looking Inn and entered the building to rent a room.
¡°I don''t rent rooms to anyone of the demon race,¡± said the owner of the inn before Akira could ask for a room.
¡°Why?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The law says if I let one stay here I am responsible for any trouble they might cause. Don''t got no money for that,¡± said the owner spitting onto the ground.
Akira and Varbu left the inn to begin their search for an inn to stay at. They were repeatedly told to get lost sometimes nicely other times extremely rudely.
The only inns they had not checked were the ones in the outer slums. They had tried to find someplace else but were forced to head towards the slums since none of the regular inns wanted to rent them a room.
Upon entering the first inn located in the slums the inn did not turn them away.
¡°How long do you plan to stay?¡± asked the innkeeper.
¡°At least a week maybe more,¡± answered Akira.
¡°7 gold,¡± said the innkeeper.
¡°That''s too expensive,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s insurance for me in case you cause any problems,¡± said the man holding out his hand.
Akira sighed he didn''t want to test his luck at finding another Inn that would let them stay even if the innkeeper was trying to rip them off. He pulled out 7 gold pieces and was about to hand it over when the innkeeper stopped him.
¡°7 gold each.¡±
¡°@#$%¡± Varbu swore at the man and left the inn.
Akira put the money back into his bag and exited the inn to find Varbu waiting for him.
¡°Human cities suck,¡± said Varbu.
¡°There''s been hundreds of years of war between the humans and demon race. I guess some places were hit harder in the wars than others. The last great war was only ten years ago. So we can only work with what we have right now. Things might change in the future as long as the demigods don''t come back and start trouble again,¡± said Akira trying to sooth Varbu''s anger.
The sun had set hours ago causing the slums to look even worse. At each of the Inns, they tried to rent a room the owners tried to charge them outrageous prices.
The two stood in front of the door to the last inn in the entire capital. Akira laughed after seeing the sign.
[Demons Inn]
When they entered the innkeeper didn''t look up from a book he was reading and in a bored voice said, ¡°Its 25 silver for two nights, two gold for a week.¡±
¡°We''ll take a room for a week,¡± said Akira placing two gold coins onto the counter.
The old man closed his book and pushed the coins into a box underneath the counter. After searching for something in a drawer he pulled out an old rusty key with the number 11 and handed it to Akira.
His gaze only stayed on Varbu for a few seconds before he opened his book and started to read again.
Chapter 46: Shopping
The next morning.
Akira and Varbu were sitting at an old wooden table in the common room of the Demon Inn''s first floor. The old wooden table was stained from countless spills of unknown food and drink over the many years it had been in use.
The two of them were slowly eating the last of the rations they had prepared at the last city they had stopped at. They had been eating the same thing for the last few weeks while they traveled.
They were both getting tired of eating it, but the inn did not offer food as a service and the food stalls in the city were not open yet.
¡°Ugh, I''m beginning to hate this stuff,¡± grumbled Varbu.
¡°Before I go to try and set up a meeting with the queen we should replenish our supplies. I saw hundreds of shops while we were looking for a place to stay so we should be able to get everything we need,¡± said Akira as he bit down on the makeshift sandwich he had made out of leftovers from their dinner the night before.
For some time now Akira felt the gazes of someone watching him but didn''t bother checking to see who it was but the feeling of being watched was getting annoying now.
He turned to look behind him and saw a group of three dirty and shabbily dressed teenage boys. When their gazes connected the trio took it as a sign and got up and walked over to Akira''s table.
¡°We couldn''t help but notice you guys are new here. We can help you in many ways, for the right price that is. We can be your escort or we can show you the best spots to buy certain things...Including entertainment,¡± said the tall ugly teenager, who seemed to be the leader of the group.
Akira took a look at the other two teenagers and saw they were just as dirty and ugly as their leader.
¡°Sorry, we don''t need...¡± Akira was interrupted by the leader.
¡°Don''t worry the price isn''t high.¡±
¡°No thanks we can get around by ourselves,¡± said Varbu with a look that stopped anything else they might have said to try and persuade them.
¡°Tsk. for a half-breed and someone of the demon race you both sure act all high and mighty...¡±
Thwack! x3
Before Akira could ask what a half breed was, a wooden cane smacked each of the three boys on the head. The person holding the cane was the Old inn owner.
¡°Kroll! How many times have I told you not to scam other half breeds or people of the demon race? If you want to scam someone there are plenty of humans in this crappy capital city,¡± lectured the old man.
¡°But they were acting like they were better than us,¡± whined Kroll the tall ugly teenager.
Thwack!
¡°Ow! Why''d you hit me again?¡±
¡°You''re no better than them! Your mother was a troll. That goes for the both of you, one of your parents were also from the demon race,¡± said the old man pointing at the other two teens with his cane.
¡°I''m letting you stay here nearly free and you still keep breaking the rules. What am I to do with you three hoodlums?¡± sighed the exasperated old man.
¡°We''re sorry,¡± the three bowed to the old man when they apologized.
¡°Don''t apologize to me it''s the guest you should be asking forgiveness from. You three need to hurry and grow up, I won''t be here forever. Then who will be there to help you when you get in trouble?¡±
The three young teenage boys looked extremely sad at the thought of the old man dying.
¡°We''re sorry misters. We didn''t mean you any harm,¡± the three boys apologized together.
Akira could tell they were sincere in their apology after getting scolded by the old man.
¡°Sorry for these three kids bothering you. They became orphans during the last great war and I knew their parents so I took up the task to raise them. You two are new to the capital you might have guessed already that half-breeds and people of the demon race are treated differently here due to the last few great wars.¡±
¡°It''s okay, and I''m not a half breed,¡± said Akira.
The old man looked at Akira suspiciously and then to Varbu as if asking for him to verify Akira''s words.
¡°He''s not a human if that''s what you wanted to know,¡± said Varbu not giving any more info.
¡°That''s a relief. You don''t look like someone from any of the demon races, so I thought since you were with an Orc that you were a half breed,¡± said the old man.
¡°Wow! What race are you from?¡± asked the youngest boy who was also the skinniest of the three.
Thwack!
¡°Ow, I was just asking,¡± complained the boy.
¡°That information is private don''t go asking people stuff like that,¡± said the old man before turning to back to Akira.
¡°You two should be careful while in the capital. This city is full of informers that get paid to report to the guards if any foreigners or demon race break a law. No matter how small it is, you could end up in deep trouble, if they catch you and report it.¡±
¡°No need to worry, we aren''t here to pointlessly cause trouble and get locked up. I''m just here to see if I can talk to meet an old friend who lives here and see if I can get some help from them. But before that have to go and replenish our supply''s since our bags are now empty,¡± said Akira.
¡°I know of a place that sells all types of things it is like an auction house, but more of a black market. So if you need stuff that you won''t find in the regular stores just let me know and the boys can take you there,¡± said Kroll.
¡°I''ll keep that in mind. Right now I just need common stuff but if I need something later I''ll be sure to ask you,¡± said Akira.
¡°We''ll be back sometime later in the day,¡± said Akira before waving to the boys and exiting the [Demons Inn] along with Varbu.
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The outside air over the last few days had started to get cold just like it had been back in the mountains. As they had traveled towards the capital they had seen many farmers harvesting their crops.
¡°The weather looks like it will snow soon,¡± said Varbu looking up at the dark morning sky.
¡°I thought that it would be at least another month,¡± said Akira.
¡°I have never been here before, so who knows maybe this normal for them. So, where should we go first?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Let''s stock up on food then we can worry about the other items,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yes! Let''s get something different than the stuff we''ve been eating,¡± said Varbu happily.
¡°It seems a large amount of the farmers will be here selling their fresh produce. We should be able to get some good deals.¡±
When they reached the farmers market there was little room to walk through the already crowded street. Numerous people crowded around certain stalls that were selling fresh fruits, vegetables, and other things they had grown. Some farmers were selling meat from animals they had just slaughtered causing a faint bloody smell to flow everywhere.
Akira pushed his way through the crowded streets the people that he squeezed by scowled at him but when they saw Varbu a few steps behind him they tried to scurry out of the way, opening paths for two to walk through.
Finding something he wanted to buy Akira walked up to a stall that had a well-muscled farmer watching over the produce and the passing crowd.
¡°I would like to buy some of that fruit,¡± said Akira pointing at an odd looking red fruit.
¡°Can''t sell to you. I already have a buyer for everything. Get lost,¡± said the man grumpily.
Akira sighed and left the stall but a few seconds after he left he heard the voice of the farmer give a price to someone who asked about the fruit. Akira watched as the man sold two of the same fruit he had wanted to buy to a random person.
Again and again at each stall, they went to they were told that everything already had a buyer so it could not be sold to them.
¡°We''re not going to be able to find anything here let''s go to a store. We might be able to get what we need,¡± said Varbu.
***
¡°I can''t sell to you,¡± said the female store owner of the small general goods store that Akira and Varbu had entered not too far away from the farmers market.
¡°Why I have the money?¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s the law man, the law. I can''t sell to any one of the demon race. And since you''re with him you must be a half breed so I can''t sell to you either,¡± said the female as if Akira was dumb for asking the question.
¡°Who made such a dumb law?¡± asked Akira.
¡°How should I know? I just do what the law says. So you better leave now, and don''t try to get someone to come in here to buy things for you.¡±
At each shop, they went to they were turned away by the shop owners saying due to the law they could not sell certain things to people of the demon race.
So again like the night before they were forced to go to the slums to find a shop that would sell to them.
Akira and Varbu stood at the counter as the morbidly obese store owner calculated the cost of the items Akira had placed on the counter. He looked at both Akira and Varbu for a short moment before speaking.
¡°The total is 1 gold and 53 silver.¡±
¡°Are you trying to rip us off?! That''s at least three times what all of these should cost,¡± growled Varbu.
The obese man raised his hands as if to try and calm him down and patted some sweat from his brows.
¡°Maybe where you are from but here it is different. If you want to blame someone, blame the royal family and the lords that are under their control. They raised the taxes on everything again. It might be five times more expensive next week if they deem that they are not raising enough money. I''m barely even able to make a living because most of what I earn is either taken as a tax or is used to buy more product to place on the shelves,¡± said the man again whipping his forehead.
Akira looked at the man''s gut as if to say but you seem to eat well.
¡°It''s my one vice, I eat when I am stressed,¡± said the obese man offering up an explanation.
Akira paid the man and left the shop.
¡°Let''s head back to the Inn,¡± said Akira. Varbu silently agreed and the two walked through the back alleys of the slum streets.
Smash! Crash!
The loud sounds startled Akira. They were coming from a rundown Potion shop that they were passing by.
¡°Give us the good stuff man!¡± an agitated voice of a man could be heardshouting.
Ding!
Protect the potion shop!
A few deranged citizens have gone mad and are trying to rob the potion store. Stop them.
|
Akira motioned for Varbu to stop and follow behind him as he entered the shop.
¡°We won''t ask again!¡± a frantic female shouted. She was pointing a rusty dagger at the young man wearing glasses behind the counter.
¡°I told you already! We''re all out of it! If you want to buy more you''ll have to go to the magic guilds store and see if they have any left,¡± said the young man in a high pitched voice.
Slash!
Blood splattered everywhere as the man''s face was cut.
¡°Don''t give us that crap,¡± screeched the female.
¡°Hey you two what are you doing trying to rob this shop,¡± shouted Akira drawing the attention of the two crazy robbers and the shop clerk.
The two robbers looked at Akira then Varbu. The male robber spat on the ground near Akira and said, ¡°Shut your mouth, you filthy half-breed. Mind your own business.¡±
Akira could see the clerk was silently begging them with large eyes to help him escape the robbers.
Akira nodded to Varbu who jumped forward and used his quarterstaff to sweep the two off their feet and slam them onto the floor followed by a quick jab of the quarterstaff into their stomachs.
¡°I suggest you leave the store or we''ll take care of you,¡± said Varbu in a menacing voice.
¡°Hiieee,¡± the two screamed in fright as they scurried out the store on hands and knees.
Ding!
You have succeeded in protecting the potion shop.
Ask the clerk for the reward.
|
¡°You think you can give a reward for helping you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No,¡± said the young man.
¡°Why not? Didn''t we just save you?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°You damaged my products and now you are asking for a reward? I won''t give you anything! For all I know you sent those two here so that you could pretend to save me. How typical of the demon race, trying to extort money from me,¡± said the clerk looking down on both Akira and Varbu.
Akira who was tired from all the crap that had happened so far during the day and was about to say a few choice words but Varbu stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.
¡°Let''s leave, some people don''t have any honor there is nothing we can do about him shaming himself.¡±
The two left the store with Akira fuming.
On their way back to the Inn they saw the two crazy robbers whispering to each other.
Akira walked up to them causing them to look slightly frightened and were preparing to run away.
¡°Hey man, we won''t go there again don''t worry no need to come and find us,¡± said the male.
¡°Don''t worry! That thing before? That was just a misunderstanding. I''m just passing along a message. The owner told me that he has the potions you wanted and is willing to sell them to you,¡± said Akira before leaving the two dumbstruck idiots staring after Akira as he walked away.
¡°That liar! He said he didn''t have them,¡± screeched the female.
¡°This time let''s go make sure he hands them all to us,¡± said the man.
¡°Was that necessary?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°It''s been a shitty day so far I needed to relieve the stress somehow,¡± said Akira.
Ding!
New title received!
One who is very petty:
You seem like a person who can''t take a joke.
-1 Honor
|
Chapter 47: Meeting?
Akira and Varbu walked back to the Inn to eat a meal before deciding what to do next.
The Inn was quiet with only a few shabbily dressed people sitting in the dark corners secretly whispering to one another.
Before Varbu and Akira could sit down the youngest of the three teenage boys ran up to Akira.
¡°Did you get everything you needed? Was there any trouble?¡± asked the young boy.
¡°We were indeed able to find most of what we needed. But it sure was hard to find people to sell stuff to us at a reasonable price,¡± said Akira.
¡°What about any fights?¡±
¡°There were no fights, although it felt like some people wanted to but they were to chicken to start something. The only problem we had was when we went to the potion store. Some crazy people were trying to rob the store so we took care of them,¡± said Varbu flexing his large muscles.
¡°Something like that happened again?¡± asked the Innkeeper who was wiping down the old tables.
¡°What? Is that a normal thing?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s because they went crazy,¡± said the young boy before the innkeeper could speak.
¡°Quiet you,¡± said the old innkeeper before turning back to Akira and Varbu. ¡°There have been multiple reports lately of people trying to and most of the times successfully robbing the potion stores. It has been happening all over the city whether it''s in the wealthy central district or the poor slums of the capital, the results have been the same.¡±
¡°How long has it been going on for?¡±
¡°Over a month. And each clerk says the people trying to rob the potion store look and sound like crazy drug addicts trying to get more of their drug of choice in order to get high. It''s possible that the new potions the Magic guild created a month ago have an addictive substance like that of a drug. This would explain why the potion users have become so dependent on the new potion. The potion sales have skyrocketed greatly boosting the Magic guild''s coffers.¡±
¡°This sounds pretty bad. The royal family is allowing them to do this?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°They don''t care as long as the magic guild pay the required taxes every month. Why are you guys so interested? Are you trying to do something stupid and mess with them? You should know they have a lot of power not just in this city but every major city of the four kingdoms,¡± warned the old innkeeper.
¡°No way, I don''t want to mess with them. I was just curious,¡± said Akira denying it vehemently.
The last thing he wanted to do was go to the magic guild since they might have been warned by the main headquarters to be on the lookout.
¡°That''s good. Sticking your nose into places where it''s not wanted can get you into trouble,¡± said innkeeper.
¡°Yeah, I know that,¡± said Akira remembering the similar words spoken to him by the two magic guild grandmasters.
¡°Slar, aren''t you supposed to be out helping your brothers earn some money?¡± The Innkeeper asked the young boy changing the topic.
¡°I had a stomach ache,¡± said Slar.
¡°Well, you look fine now. So why are you still here? Just because you''re the youngest doesn''t mean you can slack off. Go take the food prepared in the kitchen to your brothers,¡± said innkeeper sternly.
¡°Awww, I don''t want to go,¡± mumbled Slar as he left the common room and entered the kitchen.
¡°Sorry to have bothered the two of you. I''ll let you get back to whatever it is you were doing,¡± said innkeeper as he finished cleaning the table and left.
¡°So what''s the plan for the rest of the day?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Well since the whole point in coming here was to see my friend., I think after we finish eating we can go and see her,¡± said Akira while eating a sandwich he had quickly slapped together.
¡°Well looking at the reactions we had today I think it would be far easier for you to meet her without me causing any problems,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Okay, if that''s fine with you I''ll do it. What will you do while I go to meet her?¡±
¡°I''ll just stay here and wait for you to return. There doesn''t seem like much of anything in this city that I can do without causing problems.¡±
¡°Sorry for dragging you to this place but I do need help in finding my clan,¡± said Akira.
Varbu grunted in acknowledgment and they both returned to eating their food.
When Akira finished eating he went back to his room and removed his armor and dirty clothes underneath. To clean his armor he only needed to do a quick oiling to make it shine as if new since he took good care of it every day.
Akira walked over to the water basin and started to use the cold water to wipe down his body before he changed into clean clothes, and again wore his now sparkling armor.
He tried to wet his hair down and comb it with his fingers in order to look somewhat presentable. The only problem was his hair didn''t want to stay in place causing Akira to give up.
Akira left the inn fresh and well groomed and headed toward the center of the city where the royal palace was.
The streets were just as crowded if not more then they were in the morning. The people he walked past paid no attention to him unlike in the morning when everyone had been frightened and parted ways for both him and Varbu.
The roads continued to grow wider as he walked towards the center of the city where the royal castle was.
After thirty minutes of walking and pushing through the wide crowded streets, Akira reached a less crowded street that led to the castle.
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Some minutes later he reached the castle gates which had numerous guards on patrol.
From where Akira was standing he could see the tall castle towering above the outer defensive walls.
¡°Stop!¡± shouted one of the gate guards.
¡°Who are you?¡± asked another.
¡°My name is Akira. I''m....¡±
¡°Why are you here? Even an idiot knows this place is off-limits to commoners,¡± shouted the first guard.
¡°I was going to tell you before you interrupted me...¡±
¡°Would you look at that. Doesn''t he have a mouth on him,¡± said the second guard.
¡°I''ll say, he acts like he is a noble or something. I''ll bet he''s just a country bumpkin that wanted to see the king and queen,¡± said the first.
¡°Come on tell us why your here, oh great country bumpkin,¡± said the second guard mocking Akira.
¡°I am here to meet the Queen...¡± Akira was again interrupted.
¡°Are you now? And just what reason would she want to meet you for?¡± ask the first trying to not laugh at the stupid man in front of him.
¡°I am her childhood friend. We grew up together.¡±
¡°Is that so? I''ll let you in on a secret,¡± said the second guard.
¡°What secret?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''m not a guard, I''m actually married to the queen,¡± said the second guard. The two guards burst out laughing at the joke.
It took at least two minutes for the two guards to regain their sanity and stop laughing.
¡°Why are you still here?¡± asked the first guard.
¡°Fook off you country bumpkin. Or we''ll arrest you for causing trouble,¡± said the second guard placing his hand on his sword.
Akira was stunned at the guard''s attitude and reactions.
¡°If you could send a message to the queen that her childhood friend Akira is here, I''m sure she will see me,¡± said Akira trying again.
¡°What part of get lost don''t you understand?¡± asked the first guard.
Seeing the guards hostile glares and seeing their hands grabbing onto their weapons, Akira sighed and left the castles front gates. He had spent a long time traveling just for the chance to meet the queen but was turned away and forced to leave.
Akira returned to the Inn where Varbu was still waiting.
¡°Huh? You''re back already? That was quick. Did she agree to help us?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I was unable to see her. I guess I have to try again tomorrow,¡± said Akira unhappy with the day''s events.
Two days pass as Akira tried each day to get an audience with the queen. Each time told to Fook off and threatened with weapons.
On the third day after scaring off Akira, the two guards were talking to each other.
¡°Hey doesn''t that guy look familiar?¡± asked the first guard.
¡°Now that you mention it, I get the feeling that I have seen his face somewhere before,¡± said the second guard.
¡°Do you think he''s on the wanted list?¡±
¡°Let''s go check. If he is then we can earn some extra money for capturing him.¡±
The two guards moved over to the small guard hut that housed spare equipment and documents. After finding the book they were looking for they began flipping through pages.
¡°Darn looks like he''s not a wanted criminal,¡± said the first after they looked through all the pages and were unable to find his face.
¡°I know I saw his face somewhere,¡± said the second guard while looking around the guard shack.
¡°AHA! Here it is!¡± said the first as he pulled a flyer from a large stack of paper.
The two read the flyer and both smiled at each other.
¡°We can make a good chunk of money for reporting this to them,¡± said the first while laughing.
¡°Easy money,¡± said the second.
Have you seen this man?
[Drawing of Akira(aren''t I good at drawing)]
If you have any information immediately report to the magic guild. You will be rewarded if the person is caught due to the information you provide.
|
***
After receiving the tip from the castle guards, a special spy for the magic guild was sent to search for the high priority target to see if the person they mentioned was indeed Akira.
It took him half the day to find the suspected target who was walking around in the slums.
Using his skill at stealth he began to tail the target in order to watch him and figure out if he was the person the magic guild was looking for.
***
Akira entered the inn and was greeted by Varbu.
¡°Still no progress made?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°It can''t be helped. My friend is a very busy person and it is hard to see them. Hopefully, I can get a meeting before the week is over,¡± said Akira.
¡°What should we do today? It''s too boring sitting here all day.¡±
¡°I have been meaning to go check out the black market that Kroll mentioned. If you want we can both go and see if we can find anything good.¡±
One of the boys who had been eavesdropping ran up to them.
¡°Do you want me to escort you to the location?¡± said Slar.
¡°Sure how much is it going to cost,¡± asked Akira.
¡°1 silver.¡±
¡°Wow you''re not cutting me any slack are you,¡± said Akira while smiling at the kid.
Varbu took out a silver coin and tossed it to the boy.
¡°Uncle, I''m taking Akira and Varbu to Mr. Wong''s place,¡± said the boy informing the old innkeeper before leaving.
¡°Don''t mess around and do the job properly. If I get told you didn''t take them straight there you''ll be on cleaning duty for a month,¡± the old man shouted after the young boy who was walking out the inn''s front door.
¡°Is it far from here,¡± Akira asked Slar as they walked down the back alley streets.
¡°No, not that far. But old man Wong doesn''t accept people he doesn''t know.¡±
Five minutes later they reached one of the larger buildings that waslocated in the slums. The outside of the multi-storied building looked extremely plain.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Slar knocked on the metal front metal door three times.
A few seconds later the sounds of locks could be heard from the other side of the door.
The metal door was slowly opened and an old gray-haired man looked out from a crack of the door.
¡°Ah, Slar why didn''t you say it was you. You had me worried it was someone trying to cause trouble again,¡± snapped the grouchy elderly man.
¡°Sorry Elder Wong I forgot,¡± said Slar as he looked down at the ground.
¡°Who are they?¡±
¡°They are guest at the Demons Inn they wanted to come and see if they could find anything they wanted to buy.¡±
¡°Hmph, due to the city guards causing trouble we have been having a harder time. Were not open today come back in a few days and you can browse to your heart''s content. But be warned we do not deal with cheap items. So do not bring junk here and try to sell it.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, I have enough gold to buy many things,¡± said Akira.
¡°We''ll see. What are your names?¡± asked the old man.
¡°Akira.¡±
¡°Varbu.¡±
¡°I am Willy Wong the overseer of the black market. I hope we can benefit one another in the future,¡± said Willy Wong before slamming the metal door shut and locking it.
***
The magic guild spy had been watching Akira the whole day there was now no doubt that he was the person that the headquarters were looking for.
¡°I must return and report this immediately!¡±
Chapter 48: The Queen
The magic guild spy did not head towards the magic guilds main office instead he stealthily ran towards a large plain unmarked building.
As if expecting him, an older male stood in the doorway with his face shrouded in darkness due to a baggy hood covering most of it.
¡°Inside now,¡± barked the old man.
As soon as he entered the door was slammed shut behind him.
¡°Speak,¡± ordered the old man.
¡°Chief, the tip we received was not false. It truly is the person the main HQ has been looking for. What should we do?¡±
¡°Why has he come all the way to this city? It really doesn''t matter this is my chance to rise up in the ranks of the magic guild,¡± mumbled the old man to himself before turning to the spy, ¡°Immediately go and send a high speed message bird to the magic guilds HQ telling them we have found the person they have been looking for. We will take care of him.¡±
¡°It will be done,¡± said the spy.
¡°Go now,¡± said the old man waving his hand in dismissal.
The spy bolted out of the building. The door closing behind him with little sound as he went to complete the orders given to him.
¡°According to HQ, he''s not weak. So we''ll have to use some of the warriors in the enforcement squad,¡± said the old man.
He thought deeply on many different plans, trying to figure out one that could stealthily eliminate the target without attracting the queen''s attention to the magic guilds secret forces. If she knew of it there was no telling what she would do, due to her unpredictable temperament.
¡°Tch, such a pain why did he have to show up here.¡±
The risk was high but the reward for success was just as great as the danger.
***
Two castle guards were walking through the royal garden talking to each other as they headed towards the front gates to relieve the current guards on duty.
¡°Do you think that country bumpkin will show up again today?¡± asked the first.
¡°He''s an idiot so we''ll most likely see him. He doesn''t know when to quit,¡± said the second.
¡°If we see him again I''ll let him know what feels like to be used as a practice dummy,¡± said the first unsheathing his sword and swing it around as if he was attacking the country bumpkin.
¡°Haha! He just won''t quit with the lies, saying he''s the queen''s childhood friend. It was funny the first time but now it''s just annoying.¡±
On a small stone bench, a young girl with flowing blood red hair maybe twenty or so years of age sat near a small pond in the royal garden.
At first, she had paid no attention to the guards passing by but upon hearing the last few sentences her sharp gaze pierced into the backs of the guards. The royal knight standing next to her was her personal bodyguard and servant.
Upon seeing the queen''s interest in the gate guards he called out them, ¡°You guards come here immediately!¡±
The two guards who had felt someone staring at them were agitated at being stopped. They turned around and looked in the direction of the person calling out to them so rudely.
Before they could let out any curses directed at the person interrupting their conversation their eyes fell upon the young lady sitting next to the knight.
Their faces became pale with fear upon seeing her they immediately rushed forward a few paces leavening a large enough distance between them and knelt down with bowed heads not daring to speak.
¡°Who is this country bumpkin you speak of?¡± asked the girl in a cold tone.
¡°Your majesty there is no need to worry about it,¡± said the first guard staring at the ground not daring to look up.
¡°He''s right your majesty we have made sure that you are not bothered by commoners,¡± said the second guard.
¡°Who are you to tell me what I should or should not do? Do you want to die?¡± said the queen icily.
The words were like daggers causing the two guards to start to stutter apologies and beg for forgiveness.
¡°Enough! Answer the queen!¡± shouted the knight standing next to the queen.
¡°A..Akira. His name is Akira, your majesty,¡± the first gate guard quickly stuttered out the name.
Her sharp gaze lingered on them for a short time judging whether they were telling the truth.
¡°Thirty lashes. After you receive your punishment you are to wait at the gate for him. When he arrives you better give a sincere apology to him and then escort him to the royal receiving room,¡± said the Queen without any emotion.
¡°Thank you!¡±
¡°Thank you for having mercy, your majesty.¡±
Both guards shouted out in relief. What were a measly 30 lashes compared to losing their life?
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Without another word Piet the royal knight, walked over to the gate guards who had taken of their armor and shirts baring their skin.
Piet unrolled a large black leather whip from around his waist and cracked it a few times in the air causing the two guards to tremble in fright.
The queen of Vussia watched unblinkingly as Piet''s whip repeatedly hit the backs of the guards until each had received thirty lashes.
Piet took a rag from his pocket and wiped the blood off of his whip before wrapping it back around his waist and returning to the queen''s side as if this was a normal everyday thing.
***
After multiple failed attempts Akira felt it was pointless to try and see the queen. He finally made up his mind if he was unable to talk to her today then he would leave and continue his search elsewhere without her help.
Walking down the royal road that led to the castle he could see the two usual guards standing in front of the gate.
¡°Sigh looks like there will be no chance of getting a meeting. If I keep pushing them they will most likely get violent,¡± muttered Akira.
¡°Welcome honored guest!¡± both guards bowed deeply and shouted at Akira as he stopped in front of the gates.
Akira was stunned by the guard''s reaction. Weren''t these the same guards that had so rudely told him to get lost multiple times over the past few days?
¡°Honored guest please accept our apology. We are very sorry to have mistaken you for a commoner,¡± the two guards shouted.
¡°It''s fine. There is no need to act like this,¡± said Akira not sure what to do in this awkward situation.
¡°You are wise. Thank you for understanding,¡± said the first guard slowly raising his head to stand up straight again.
¡°The queen has ordered us to escort you to the royal receiving room,¡± said the second guard motioning to Akira to follow him.
As they walked through the gates and into the royal gardens Akira couldn''t help but notice the guards walking was a bit odd their faces looked as if the were in great pain while walking.
¡°Are you guys OK?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Honored guest, there is no need to worry about us we had an unfortunate encounter earlier,¡± said the first guard.
They continued to walk through the gardens winding path until they reached a large stone door guarded by four royal knights.
¡°The queens guest Akira has arrived,¡± said the second guard informing the knights of their presence.
¡°We welcome you!¡± shouted the four knights saluting Akira.
¡°You can go back to your post,¡± said one of the knights dismissing the two lowly gate guards.
When the two gate guards were far enough away they hurriedly started to talk to each other.
¡°Ah! You Idiot why did you suggest we inform the magic guild about him?¡± asked the first guard.
¡°Wait! Wasn''t it your idea?¡± the second shot back.
¡°You idiot! If the magic guild tries to do something to him and the queen investigates it we''ll be toast!¡±
¡°No one knows we told them we weren''t stupid enough to go the magic guild so there is no way to link us to them,¡± said the second getting more frantic over the idea of the queen finding out they had provided information that could get her childhood friend killed.
¡°We better hope she doesn''t find out or I have a feeling that we''ll be begging for a quick death if she does,¡± said the first shuddering from his thoughts.
***
Akira was lead inside the large stone castle and taken to a large receiving hall. The receiving hall was normally used when the king and queen were entertaining foreign royalty.
¡°Wait here the king and queen are currently in a meeting with the parliament. If you need anything just ask Fion and she will try to take care of whatever it is,¡± said the leader of the knights who had escorted him.
Akira looked to see Fion was the female maid who was quietly standing by the door. When she saw Akira look at her she grabbed a fist full of her skirt and performed a deep curtsy.
¡°I am Fion, I will take care of ANY and ALL things you may need,¡± said Fion.
The knights left the room leaving Akira alone with the maid.
Akira was unsure what to do, so after he found a nearby chair he sat down and started to wait for the queen to arrive.
He was quite uncomfortable due to the maid staring at him the whole time.
Akira was forced to wait for over a half hour before the doors opened and a young muscular male with brown hair burst into the room. Akira judged his age to be around his own.
¡°Leave,¡± the young male said waving at the maid by the doors.
The muscular man studied Akira who was still sitting in the chair, for a few long moments.
¡°I am Cyrus, The current king,¡± said Cyrus.
Akira immediately stood up and bowed, ¡°Sorry for my rudeness I did not know that you were the king.¡±
¡°It''s fine, its fine,¡± said Cyrus waving his hand as if telling Akira to forget about it.
¡°My name is Akira. I came to Vania in order to meet the queen for help on a personal matter.¡±
¡°No need to tell me the details right now. The Queen will be here soon. How about we exchange news of current events with each other. I''m sure having traveled such a long distance you have gained some interesting stories.¡±
Another hour was spent with Akira and Cyrus trading stories of things that happened over the past year.
The door burst open and a stunningly beautiful girl in a red dress with flowing fiery red hair walked into the room searching for someone.
When she saw Akira she let out a scream of joy and ran over to Akira to give him a big hug.
¡°Akira! It is you! I wanted to see you again so badly but I could not since the distance was too far,¡± said the beautiful girl.
¡°Are you really Jezebel?¡± asked Akira stunned from seeing such a beauty and getting hugged by her without warning.
¡°What don''t you recognize me?¡± asked Jezebel.
¡°No, it''s just last time I saw you were such a shy little mouse. Now you''ve become so big and even more beautiful than I remember,¡± said Akira.
It seems that her growth spurt had been kind to her as she had grown in all the right places.
Jezebel''s face flushed and she let go of him and swatted his shoulder playfully, ¡°You flatterer.¡±
COUGH!
Akira turned to see the king was looking at Akira with an unhappy face at being ignored.
While Akira''s head was turned Jezebel''s gaze stared cold daggers at the king telling him not to interrupt her.
The king''s face turned a slight shade of green and turned away from Akira as if he had found something interesting to study on the far away wall.
¡°Akira, what brought you all the way here?¡± asked Jezebel as she sat down in a chair next to Akira.
¡°Well I was passing by so I thought I might come and see you,¡± said Akira.
He now felt awkward for only coming to ask a favor of a friend he had not seen for many years. He decided it would be too shameless to ask her for help during their first meeting in over 6 years.
¡°That''s great! So how long will you be staying?¡± asked Jezebel while staring at Akira with her cute smile and shining eyes.
¡°A week or at the most two since I still have things of importance to do,¡± said Akira.
The two continued to talk for a long time about what had happened to them since the last time they had met.
Chapter 49: Late into the night
Late into the afternoon, they continued to chat, not caring about the time and missing a meal. The king sat silently in his chair the entire time not daring to interrupt the queen. If he did, who knows what she would do to him with that fierce temper of hers.
Although Akira told Jezebel of many things that had happened he kept most of his problems he was currently facing a secret. The ones he did mention he told her only small truths implying that they had been the reason for traveling such great distances.
The pure smile on Jezebels face never disappeared the whole time she was talking and listening to Akira. She was extremely happy to have met Akira after so many years of not being able to see each other.
Akira had felt bad for the king being ignored and left out, so had tried to bring him into the conversation multiple times. But every time he tried the king only responded with a few words before becoming silent again.
''Growl''
Akira''s stomach let out a loud noise letting everyone know it''s unhappiness of skipping lunch.
¡°Ah!¡± shouted Jezebel as if she realized something, ¡°Where are my manners as the host. I got lost in discussing the past that we missed lunch.¡±
Jezebel grabbed a bell that was sitting next to her chair and shook it a few times creating loud clangs that rang throughout the room echoing a few times before fading away.
Two maids entered the room from a side door that leads to one of many kitchens in the castle.
¡°Send for someone to bring a table to this room and prepare enough food for the three of us,¡± ordered Jezebel.
The two maids bowed and left the room without uttering a word. Minutes later a large table was brought into the room through the main doors by four muscular palace guards. The table was gently placed directly in front of Jezebel.
Akira was surprised to see the imperial guards doing such menial tasks as moving furniture.
A half hour later the table was filled with freshly baked bread and bowls of steaming thick stew and other unknown side dishes.
¡°Let''s eat!¡± said Jezebel happily.
Both Akira and the king had waited for Jezebel to give the order to begin eating. Akira because he was a guest and it would be rude to start eating before the host. Especially since the host was royalty. The had king waited so he would not get scolded by the queen.
¡°So Akira what have you done since you entered my country? Have you seen anything interesting?¡± asked Jezebel between bites of her stew.
¡°There was one thing that stands out in my memory and I almost forgot to tell you about it. At the outer town of Nopor. There was an outbreak from a nearby dungeon the town was completely wiped out.¡±
¡°Oh? You were there?¡±
¡°Yes but I only arrived after the event happened,¡± said Akira.
¡°I heard something about it recently from one of the ministers. It''s such a shame now the tax from the town can''t be collected. So what happened when you were there? Did you run into any of the monsters?¡± asked Jezebel.
¡°Yeah, there were some monsters still in the town but luckily the main heard had left already. My companion and I fought with the remain monsters and cleared the town. It should be able to be resettled if you want to,¡± said Akira.
A red glint of light flashed across Jezebel''s eyes at the mention of a companion, she was now fully alert her sharp gaze was focused on Akira.
¡°Who is this companion? Why are they not here with you?¡± asked Jezebel. She was still smiling at Akira but the gaze from her eyes was causing Akira to feel a bit uncomfortable.
¡°I forgot to tell you about that. When I was in the Orc mountains I befriended an Orc who decided to travel along with me,¡± said Akira.
Akira felt the uncomfortable feeling disappear as Jezebel''s gaze returned back to normal, almost as if there had been no change before.
¡°What an odd taste of companions you have. I see, so you and your companion are the ones that cleared the town. As the queen of this country I give you my thanks,¡± said Jezebel.
¡°It was nothing. We were just passing by on our way to the capital,¡± said Akira trying to brush it off as a small thing.
Jezebel was quite for some time. As she ate the thick stew she kept shyly sneaking looks at Akira and hurriedly looked back at her food.
It was easy for Akira to notice such actions with her sitting right next to him. He guesses she wanted to ask him something but was unsure how to ask it.
¡°So...,¡± said Jezebel.
¡°Yes?¡± asked Akira. The two had blurted out their words at almost the same time.
¡°I was wondering, are you seeing anyone?¡± she hurriedly asked.
¡°Seeing anyone?¡± asked Akira not sure what she was asking.
¡°I mean are you dating anyone?¡± she shyly blurted out.
¡°Ah, that..um..no. There is no one,¡± mumbled Akira caught off guard by the question.
The room was silent again for a few minutes.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
¡°That''s good,¡± said Jezebel who became even happier than she had been all afternoon.
They continued to chat again about minor things of unimportance. Akira had even forgotten the king was still in the room as they finished the meal and continued to talk.
¡°Your majesty it is getting late I must head back to the inn I am staying at,¡± said Akira while standing up. The daylight in the room had been replaced by the ever-burning magical torches.
¡°Is it that time already? I know! Why don''t you stay here for the night? We have many open rooms that you can choose from,¡± said Jezebel hopeful that Akira would accept.
¡°I''m sorry, but I have to decline. I don''t want to overstep and wear out my welcome,¡± said Akira glancing at the king.
Jezebel sighed disappointed and said, ¡°That''s fine make sure to come again tomorrow. The guards will see you out.¡±
Akira bowed to both the king and queen before exiting the room. Before he knew it he had exited the main gates and was back on the main road.
As he walked he thought of Jezebel and all they had talked about today. Judging by her attitude and the way she acted while she was with him he decided that she seemed to be the normal girl that he had grown up with and not the tyrant that others said she was.
Akira''s feet had been taking him down less crowded streets as he thought about many things. Without noticing it he had already reached the outer slums where one would only see one or two people hurriedly heading home at this late hour.
''Shink''
Akira''s thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of swords being drawn from their scabbards.
As he looked up he saw a warrior in dark brown leather walking slowly towards him with his sword drawn.
Hearing footsteps behind him he looked to see another similarly dressed warrior approaching him from behind.
¡°Can I help you gentleman?¡± asked Akira on full alert. He had stored his shield and sword inside his bag while he had visited the palace in order to not cause any problems.
The two warriors ignored him and continued to walk closer step by step.
¡°Let''s quickly kill him while he is unarmed,¡± shouted the warrior in front of Akira.
The two warriors took action immediately, charging towards Akira wielding their weapons ready to land a killing blow to finish him with one attack each.
It took less than a second for Akira''s shield and sword mysteriously appeared in his hands. The two warriors were surprised by this but they were battle-hardened veterans from the last bloody great war. They had seen many shocking and dreadful things happen on the battlefields.
Their feet did not slow if anything they picked up speed as they grew even more determined to kill Akira.
Before Akira could get into a better position he was forced to defend himself from the warrior in front who had reached him first.
The sword slashed towards Akira containing the warrior''s full powered attack.
Bam! With the sound of thunder, the quiet streets became noisy as the sword slammed into Akira''s shield and bounced off.
Akira quickly used the skill [Shield Bash] and sent the warrior in front of him flying backward into a wall of an old wooden building. This gave him some space and a second to try and deal with the second attacker.
He dodged to the right in order to avoid the attack coming from behind the sword attack missed his side by only an inch.
Akira sighed in his heart ''That was a close call.'' But before he could even counter attack he felt a sharp pain in his side. He could feel blood was flowing from a long shallow wound on his side.
¡°Ha-ha! Though you dodged my attack did you? Feel the power of my special skill [Slice],¡± shouted the second warrior.
This time Akira was able to see a dim red light following behind the sword as it was swung towards Akira.
Akira grit his teeth and raised his shield to block the attack ignoring the pain that was throbbing from his side.
The sword and the red light both slammed into his shield. A large scrape was carved into the shield.
Both Akira and the second warrior were surprised at the results of the attack but for different reasons.
The Aorium shield had taken many powerful attacks both physical and magical and had not been damaged to this extent. But a single attack from the skill [Slice] had left a large scrape on it from left to right.
The second warrior was startled due to the powerful defense of the shield. Normally his [Slice] skill was his ace card that he had used many times to kill harden veteran knights cutting cleanly through their shields, armor, before taking their lives.
Akira felt this fight had just gotten even more dangerous. He did not want to transform while inside the city if he did and the city guard was to see him he would be treated as the villain and hunted down until he was either killed or thrown into prison for the rest of his life.
Akira kicked the second warrior away from him and jumped back to try and distance himself from both warriors as the first had gotten back up and was charging forward to rejoin the fight.
The two warriors were now in front of Akira one charging in from the left the other from the right.
Seeing as he could only block one attack he decided to block the second warrior due to him having the skill [Slice].
Bam! Another scar appeared on top of his shield as the red light slammed into it and dispersed.
Before the first warrior could successfully land a hit on Akira, Nox shot out from the shadows at Akira''s feet and bit onto the man''s sword arm breaking the bones easily.
¡°AH!¡± shouted the warrior mostly from shock at seeing a frightening wolf appear from nowhere but the shout soon became filled with pain as his arm was torn off by the powerful jaws of Nox who treated the arm as if it were a chew toy.
Akira no longer worried about the warrior to his left and turned to the one on the right and decided to end the fight quickly by using the new skill he had learned some weeks ago.
Akira activated the [Cross Attack] skill. His sword swished through the air twice creating a blue X in front of him the attack shot forward the instant the X was fully formed.
The second warrior was startled to see that the enemy also had a skill. He activated his [Slice] skill and swiftly swing his sword towards the approaching blue X. A soundless explosion erupted in front of him as the sword and red light clashed with the blue X.
Akira was forced to close his eyes from the bright glare. Which only lasted for a few seconds.
When he looked again the second warrior was standing still with a shocked look on his face. No more than a second passed when the body of the second warrior was split into four pieces falling to the ground with a loud splash as blood splattered everywhere.
Akira looked to where Nox had been fighting to see that the warrior had been bitten to death.
Akira went over to the body Nox was triumphantly standing over.
¡°What''s up with you needing me to come and save you all the time. Don''t you know how to not cause trouble?¡± mumbled Nox.
¡°I didn''t do anything to cause them to want to attack me. This was the first time I ever saw them,¡± said Akira.
Crouching down Akira searched the body to see if he could find anything that could tell him who they were.
The only thing on the body other than the common armor and sword was a normal looking ring which Akira took off and put into his bag.
¡°Over this way! I''m sure I heard the noise of fighting over there!¡± came the shout from a street nearby.
¡°Crap! The city guards are here. Nox you can return,¡± said Akira as he began to jog away from the crime scene holding his side that was still bleeding and throbbing in pain.
Chapter 50: Is someone trying to kill me?
¡°Look over there! There are two bodies!¡± a male voice shouted.
Akira heard the shout behind him as he jogged into one of the many side alleys that led towards the [Demons Inn].
He cursed himself for using up all the potions he had bought back at the magic guild in Fregoldawae and not buying more.
The two city guards were on their normal night patrol of the slum streets when they had heard the fight several blocks away.
They had rushed over here as quick as they could and were now inspecting the gruesome mangled bodies of two dead humans.
¡°He''s chopped into four pieces! What do you think did this?¡± asked the first.
¡°I don''t know, but looking at the other body whatever it was wasn''t human,¡± said the second.
¡°I''ve never seen these two people in the slums before. Have you?¡±
¡°Nope, I wonder what they where doing equipped in such armor.¡±
They both knew only the shady type of people used this type of armor to blend in with the night allowing for maximum mobility. One word came to their minds, ''Assassins''.
¡°We should go warn the captain that someone of the demon race might be out at night killing people.¡±
***
Akira pushed open the front door of the [Demons Inn] and limped in.
His face was a light shade of white from the blood loss. Although the wound he had received was small and not life threatening the fact that he had jogged all the way to the Inn, caused the would to constantly bleed making it so he had lost a large amount of blood and was feeling rather lightheaded.
¡°Ah, Akira you''re back!¡± shouted Varbu cheerfully.
¡°Took you long enough,¡± said Kroll.
Akira wobbled a few more steps into the in and collapsed onto the floor, fainting due to lack of blood.
The mood in the room changed quickly as everyone that had been waiting for him to return was stunned to see him collapse onto the floor.
The old innkeeper was the first to react he rushed over to Akira and after a quick glance, saw a small bloody gash on his side that was slowly leaking blood.
¡°Kroll, quickly go get one of the lesser healing potions,¡± shouted the old man.
Kroll came to his senses and ran off to a back room creating loud noises as big sturdy body ran around looking for the lesser potions.
It only took a few minutes for Kroll to return with a small bottle of a pink-tinted lesser health potion.
Varbu had helped move Akira onto one of the common room benches.
The old man took the potion from Kroll and poured half of it on the wound while the other half was poured down Akira''s mouth after raising his head to allow it to go down the unconscious Akira''s throat.
Causing Akira to cough a couple of times and wake up slowly opening his eyes.
Akira tried to sit up but was pressed back down by the old man.
¡°Stay laying down for a few minutes until the potion finishes repairing your wound.¡±
¡°Uhh.. where...am I?¡± asked Akira his mind all fuzzy.
After a short period of time, Akira''s wound had healed and the rest of the potion he had drank replenished his depleted blood.
Sitting up he looked around to she Varbu, the three teens, and the Innkeeper staring at him.
¡°What are you guys looking at?¡± asked Akira.
¡°What happened to you?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I thought you two said you weren''t here to cause any trouble and yet one of you comes back to my Inn half dead!¡± said the old man with a slightly angry tone.
¡°Wait! Hold on a second. I''m not looking for it, it found me,¡± said Akira stopping everyone from shouting more questions for only a few seconds.
¡°We aren''t here to make any problems,¡± said Varbu agreeing with Akira.
¡°Then how do you explain that wound on your side?¡± asked the old man.
¡°I was able to meet with my old friend and only left a short while ago. While I was walking on the outer edges of the slums two people dressed in dark leather armor attacked me. One of them was a skill user who gave me that wound,¡± said Akira.
¡°Who were they?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I''ve never seen them before, so I don''t know. After killing them I was unable to fully search their bodies because the city guards were running towards the scene of the fight. So I escaped and ran here since I didn''t want to get caught,¡± said Akira.
¡°From your description, it sounds like they are from one of the city''s assassin guilds. You must have pissed someone off for them to have hired assassins with special skills,¡± said Kroll.
¡°Enough talking. Varbu since Akira has most likely brought trouble here you are going to stand guard and watch the front door tonight and make sure no one tries to do anything funny. Akira, go to bed and rest I hope you can take care of this problem and not cause me any grief,¡± said the old man.
¡°That''s fine,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Sorry,¡± said Akira apologizing to both the old man and Varbu before walking up the stairs to his room to rest and fully recover from the attack.
***
¡°What! They failed? How could they have failed? It was only one person!¡± raged an old man in a hooded cloak that was covering his face.
¡°It''s true. I saw the bodies...their deaths were not normal,¡± said one of the city guards under the pay of the magic guild.
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¡°You can leave,¡± said the hooded figure angrily.
After the door closed a second person stepped out of the shadows and spoke, ¡°Chief should I send another group to the inn?¡±
¡°No to many witnesses are there. This is already a major loss for us. If we lose any more then the main headquarters will not be happy with us. We have to use Plan B,¡± said the chief of Vania''s magic guild.
¡°I''ll go inform the others. We should all be in place before the sun rises,¡± said the shadowy figure before disappearing.
***
Varbu sat and watched the door all night not moving or blinking once.
Luckily there was no one that had tried to enter the Inn. If they had they would have been in for a rude awakening or more like a clobbering to eternal sleep.
Akira fully refreshed from the night''s sleep, walked down the stairs and looked over to Varbu who was still fully awake and silently staring at the door.
¡°Any trouble last night?¡± asked Akira.
Varbu slowly looked over to see Akira and then shook his head.
The old man innkeeper walked through one of the back doors, After seeing Akira awake and looking fully recovered he had a slight smile on his face.
¡°Varbu thank you for staying up all night you can go get some sleep,¡± said the old man.
Varbu just nodded and walked up the stairs to his room.
¡°Thank you for your help last night. I am truly sorry for the trouble I might have caused you,¡± said Akira apologizing again to the old man.
¡°No need to thank me. I was just helping out another in need. I suggest that you be on a sharp lookout for any more attacks. In my experience, these type of people don''t stop at just one failure.¡±
¡°I will keep an eye out for any suspicious people. I slept a little too long so I have to head off to my meeting. I don''t want to anger or annoy them by being too late,¡± said Akira with a wave before leaving the Inn.
***
Akira walked down the streets of the slums, looking around he saw there were far fewer people out walking in the early morning as most people living in the slums were sleeping off their night of debauchery.
While walking he noticed a man around his age ahead of him, training with a sword attacking the air as if it were an enemy in front of the door of a rundown house.
Akira liked to seeing people training hard putting their all into learning and perfecting their sword techniques. It lit a fire of desire deep inside him making him want to get even better at using his sword and shield.
The man''s footwork was excellent, and Akira guessed he would be a tough opponent to beat.
As Akira was walking by, the young man suddenly shot forward towards Akira''s direction and stabbed the air multiple times where Akira had been standing just a second before.
If Akira had not been on guard he would have received two deadly attacks to his vitals and many other minor cuts.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Akira sternly, his shield and sword had instantly appeared in his hands and was now on full alert for any attack from the man in front of him.
¡°Ah sorry, I was so focused on training that I didn''t see you, my apologies,¡± said the young man sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
Akira decided not to pursue the matter further and keep an eye on the young man as he walked passed and turned onto another street to get away from him.
¡°Tch, I failed. He was able to react so quickly that I was unable to finish him. Let''s hope the others have better luck than I did,¡± said the young man as he ran off back towards the designated meeting spot.
Akira was walking through the large market streets that were more congested due to everyone being forced to walk on one side of the street.
The cause of the congestion was a large expensive stone statue of a roaring lion that was being lifted up into the air, over the left side of the street causing many to shy away from it in case something wrong happened.
Snap!
A shout of shock was heard from a few of the nervous people in the crowd who had been watching the lion rise up into the air. One of the ropes tied to the statue broke leading to the others to quickly follow.
Everyone in the crowded street tried to run away from the statue that had swung backward and was falling at a high speed towards the mass of humans.
Crash!
¡°Ah!!¡± there were many shouts of pain as the statue smashed into the ground killing a dozen people and then broke into many pieces which shot out everywhere and wounded many more.
The statue had landed right in front of Akira but he was unharmed mostly due to using his shield to block the larger chunks of shrapnel.
The city guards came running to the spot where the statue had crashed. Upon seeing the dead bodies and other wounded they cursed out loud.
¡°Why were you idiots thinking trying to move something like that on a busy street during the day?¡± shouted one of the guards angrily at the workers who were on one of the balconies high above the street.
Akira hurriedly escaped the area and continued to walk down the streets. When he reached the richer part of town the streets again became less crowded than the market streets.
Akira heard shouts of surprise from behind him and the sound of hooves on the stone-paved road.
Looking behind him he saw multiple fine black warhorses rushing down the street in a full gallop obviously they were on an important errand for some lord.
¡°Make way! Make way!¡± shouted the horseman riding in the front.
Everyone in the streets all jumped to the side of the streets to open a path for the horsemen.
As they neared Akira they veered towards him. Akira seeing this was unable to move back any further due to the wall behind him.
Using his shield and the wall behind him as support, he braced himself for the impact of the horse.
BAM!
The lead horse slammed into him and was forced to a halt after running into what felt like a brick wall. Whining the horse raised its front legs up into the air planning to smash its hooves down onto Akira''s head.
Akira rolled away from the warhorses attack successfully dodging it. Unfortunately, the person who had been standing near Akira was not so lucky and had his head caved in.
¡°Can you not control your horse?¡± shouted Akira angrily, ¡°What kind of horsemen are you to be unable to stop your horses from attacking random people?¡±
¡°Shut your mouth scum,¡± shouted the captain of the horsemen. He then turned to his men and motioned them forward, ¡°Let''s go.¡±
Akira arrived at the castle. The guards knowing who Akira was lead him into the castle.
¡°Sir Akira, the princess has asked for you to wait for her in the west tower tearoom. I''ll lead you there if you are ready,¡± said an elderly butler in black clothing.
Akira nodded, ¡°Lead the way.¡±
It took them only a few minutes to reach the west tower the butler walked ahead of Akira up a set of stairs to the top of the tower.
The top floor had no walls and was wide open only having a stone roof supported by thick pillars Cloth awning was hanging from the ceiling protecting the balcony from the sun.
Multiple expensive looking cushions were scattered on the floor all placed around a single table.
¡°I''ll go bring refreshments for you while you wait for the queen,¡± said the butler bowing and leaving.
Akira was stunned by the view from the top of the tower he could see the whole city from here.
He walked the balcony and gazed outside lost in thought.
''Is someone trying to kill me? There were way too many close calls just this morning to be a coincidence.''
¡°Sir your refreshments,¡± said the butler quietly.
Akira did not hear or notice that the butler had returned since he was still deep in thought.
A determined look entered the butler''s eyes as he put all the strength into his legs and swiftly ran towards Akira.
Akira hearing the sound of running footsteps turned sideways to see who it was.
He was shocked to see the butler run past him and jump off the balcony.
It looked like that to Akira but in fact, the butler had miss calculated his attack and with Akira turning around it had caused him to trip and fall off the balcony.
Akira quickly looked down to see the butler''s body become a gruesome mush as it smashed into the ground.
¡°Akira you''re here!¡± came the happy shout of Jezebel as she entered the room.
Akira in a daze turned to look at Jezebel.
¡°He jumped...¡± was all he could say while pointing at the ground.
¡°Really?¡± she didn''t know what he was talking but knew something had happened so she walked over to the balcony to look at what had stunned Akira.
Seeing the body she let out a laugh and said, ¡°How odd!¡±
Chapter 51: Dont touch my stuff
Jezebel was sitting in the large conference room at the head of a large wooden table along with the king.
The top ministers of Vussia were gathered around the table discussing a wide variety of important things that had to do with running the kingdom. The talks had already been going on for a few hours now and Jezebel was growing bored and impatient.
''When is Akira coming? Why is he so late? Did something happen to him?'' countless questions popped into her head. But for each question, there was no answer.
Just when she thought she couldn''t wait any longer a butler entered the room and informed one of the guards near the door of important news.
The Guard immediately walked over to the queen and was stopped by Piet her personal guard. After a few words, the guard left and Piet walked over to her.
¡°Your majesty the person you were waiting for has arrived,¡± said Piet in a quiet voice only loud enough for the queen to hear.
¡°Where is he?¡± asked the Jezebel, her boredom and unknown questions were washed away with those few words.
¡°He was sent to the west tower and is waiting there.¡±
Thud, Thud, Thud.
The queen used a gavel to get the attention of the loudly arguing ministers who immediately grew quiet upon hearing the gavel.
¡°Everyone, I have some business to take care of so I''ll leave you for now. The king will take over and continue with the day''s agenda while I''m gone,¡± ordered Jezebel. Before anyone could say anything she stood up and left the room with Piet trailing behind her like a well-trained dog.
She walked swiftly to the west tower and up the winding stairs leading to the tea room halfway up the stairs she heard something hit the ground outside and splatter everywhere.
Jezebel entered the top floor of the west tower and saw Akira looking over the balcony railings at the ground below.
¡°Akira you''re here!¡± said Jezebel happily.
When Akira turned to look at her he had an astonished look on his face as if he could not believe what he had just seen.
¡°He jumped...¡± said Akira pointing at the ground.
¡°Really?¡± Jezebel asked, unsure about what he was talking about. She walked over to the balcony and looked over to see the smushed remains of a human body that had been wearing butler clothing.
The castle guards were hurrying over to see what had happened they noticed Akira standing high above the body and were going to curse him for killing someone, but they became silent immediately after seeing the queen appear next to him.
¡°How odd!¡± Jezebel burst out laughing after seeing the body and the guards reactions.
¡°Akira come sit over here with me,¡± said Jezebel while grabbing Akira''s arm and pulling him to the only table in the tea room surrounded by countless cushions.
While walking over to the table her gaze wandered and noticed the gash in his armor that had not been there the day before.
She stopped walking her eyes gleamed with a cold light as she asked, ¡°Akira what happened to your armor?¡±
¡°It.. that... umm... just an accident I didn''t have time to repair it,¡± said Akira fumbling with his words.
Jezebel looked at him for a short a few seconds and then sat Akira down onto one of the cushions and walked to the other side of the small table where she poured a wine into a golden goblet.
¡°Here drink some of the wine it should help calm you down,¡± said Jezebel soft and caring as if to a lover.
¡°Thank you, your majesty,¡± said Akira as he started to regain his composure.
¡°No need to call that when we are alone,¡± said Jezebel shyly.
¡°Right,¡± said Akira while taking small sips of the wine.
She poured herself a glass of fresh juice and looked at the desserts on the metal tray.
¡°Ah! My favorite!¡± said Jezebel, as her hand shot out and grabbed a muffin that had blood red cherries baked inside.
¡°You don''t drink wine?¡± asked Akira upon seeing Jezebel drinking the juice.
¡°It upsets my stomach,¡± said Jezebel somewhat truthfully. It did upset her stomach but that was easily taken care of by adding a few special spices to better digest it.
The real reason she was not drinking wine right now was because she was a light drinker and would lose control and become extremely harsh even more than when she was sober and it only took a cup or two. She didn''t want to ruin Akira''s view of her so she had ordered juice to be served alongside the wine for when he came.
¡°Why were you so late today?¡± asked Jezebel before taking a large bite of the muffin.
¡°There were so many crazy things that happened while I was walking over to the castle. Due to those things, I was late,¡± said Akira with a small laugh.
¡°Oh? Please do tell me,¡± said Jezebel with a warm smile, while a flash of cold light appeared in her eyes.
Akira began explaining each event in quite some detail.
¡°And then you entered the...¡± Akira abruptly stopped talking. Jezebel had been carefully staring at his face saw that he looked as if he was startled by something.
He looked at his goblet of wine that had been refilled and then looked at Jezebel.
¡°What?¡± asked Jezebel puzzled.
¡°No..nothing. Just my stomach is a bit upset,¡± said Akira quickly glancing at the wine bottle.
Jezebel seeing this grabbed his goblet and poured it into a vase of flowers on the table. Immediately the flowers began to dry out and turn black before crumbling into a pile of dust.
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An unending rage began to build up in Jezebel''s heart as she saw this she had suspicions after seeing the gash in his armor and hearing the events that happened in the morning but now she had proof.
''Someone is trying to kill Akira!'' she raged to herself. Although she was furious she did not let Akira see it.
¡°Quickly drink this!¡± said Jezebel as she pulled out a deep red major health potion from a handbag she had beside her.
Akira hesitated but after a few seconds took it and drank the entire potion.
Jezebel sigh and walked over to Akira, ¡°Come rest on the couch while I have a doctor come to check you.¡±
Jezebel walked over to the stairwell after helping Akira to the couch.
¡°Piet, go call the captain of the guards and the palace doctor Immediately,¡± said Jezebel in a quiet but fierce voice full of anger.
¡°Yes your highness,¡± said Piet bowing before leaving.
The rage in her heart was continuing to build, it was as if a fierce thunderstorm was getting ready to shatter the earth.
A few minutes later the old royal doctor stood in front Jezebel. He was breathing heavily and had a few drops of sweat on his forehead from running all the way to the tower and up the stairs.
¡°Your majesty how can I help you?¡± asked the old doctor while wiping the sweat from his forehead.
¡°Someone tried to poison my friend. He has already used a major health potion. I want you to make sure he is OK,¡± said Jezebel still talking in a quiet voice full of anger.
The royal doctor was startled at the news. ''Who was stupid enough to try to poison someone in front of the queen and no less it had to be her friend. Whoever it was had better have covered their tracks.'' he shivered thinking about the queen''s temper and what would happen if the culprit was caught.
Jezebel paid no attention to the doctor as he was doing his test and waited impatiently for the guard captain to return.
It didn''t take long before she heard the clanking of the heavily armored guard captain running up the stairs.
The guard captain although a little winded from running with full armor was able to recover quickly due to his training and being in much better shape than the old doctor.
¡°Your majesty,¡± said the guard captain while bending to one knee and bowing his head.
¡°Arise, I have a task for you,¡± after saying this she picked the nearby wine bottle that was few cups short from being full.
¡°This wine was brought fully sealed by the late butler. It was poisoned! I suspect the butler had something to do with it but he is dead. You are to find out where this bottle of wine came from and who was trying to poison my friend,¡± ordered Jezebel in a quick and sharp voice.
The guard captain was just as shocked as the royal doctor had been. ''Someone''s going to die over this, possibly multiple people.''
¡°Use whatever force is needed to find who it was. I expect you to be back with results before tomorrow morning. Now go.¡±
¡°It shall be done right away your majesty,¡± said the guard captain solemnly.
Piet stepped forward after the guard captain left.
¡°Piet you listened earlier about the attempted attacks on Akira. You are to investigate them along with a suspected attack that may have happened last night. See if you can find anything on who is behind it,¡± ordered Jezebel.
¡°I shall be done before the night end''s,¡± said Piet resolutely.
Jezebel nodded satisfied with the reply and watched as he left.
***
Night time.
Jezebel sat on the throne in the main throne room. The night air inside the large room was quite cold with only a few green magical torches that never burned out lighting up the large space providing a small amount of heat.
She had forced Akira to spend the night in one of the guest rooms while she waited for the results of her subordinates search. She had full confidence they would bring her evidence pointing to who was at fault.
Midnight was only a short time away before she heard a commotion from the hallway as the guard captain entered the throne room leading a shackled person behind him.
Not long after Piet entered as well with his usual grim face looking even more so. The two of them and the captive walked closer to the throne and stopped ten paces away from it.
¡°Tell me what you have found out and who that person behind you is,¡± Jezebel ordered the guard captain.
¡°I was unable to find much information. But I was able to find the person who sold the wine to the butler,¡± said the guard captain shoving the captive in front and pushing him onto his knees.
¡°Why were you trying to poison my friend?¡± asked Jezebel her anger bursting forth. A strong aura of killing intent was radiating from her position of the throne so much so that it could be felt from where the three were standing.
¡°My queen I have already told the guards that came to my shop today that I had no idea that it was poisoned. I was given the bottle of rare wine by a member of the magic guild. It was too rare to sell to commoners so I kept it safe until your royal butler came to buy more wine. I am innocent,¡± said the wine shop owner pleading his case.
¡°You dare talk to the queen like that?¡± shouted the guard captain before giving the plump body of wine shop owner a kick.
¡°So it was the Magic guild that tried to poison Akira. Due to the fact they knew it would not be sold to a commoner and would only be sold to the castle. Fine take him to the dungeon to await his execution tomorrow,¡± ordered Jezebel with a cold uncaring attitude to the cries of innocence from the man as he was dragged out of the room.
¡°Your majesty, with the help of the guards that had been on duty in the morning, I was able to find most of the people that were described earlier. After getting the information out of them I cleaned up so you would not have to be bothered,¡± said Piet.
¡°Good, so who was it?¡± asked Jezebel.
¡°Each person that talked said they were hired by the magic guild. I was able to verify that an attack did happen last night. Only the two suspects were dead already so I was unable to interrogate them but it is more than likely that it was the doing of the Magic guild also,¡± said Piet. knowing that the magic guild was now going to face the queen''s wrath.
¡°Go retrieve the captain of the guards,¡± said Jezebel.
¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± said Piet bowing before leaving.
The two entered the throne room once again a few minutes later.
Looking at the guard captain Jezebel began to speak, ¡°You are to mobilize enough soldiers to take over magic guild and kill all who belong to the magic guild. Make sure to have as little casualties as possible, go now and take care of it.¡±
¡°Right away your majesty,¡± said the guard captain bowing before swiftly leaving the throne room.
¡°Piet you are to mobilize the crimson guards and follow me to go pay the local magic guilds chief a visit.¡±
¡°They are already waiting at the gates,¡± said Piet.
¡°Good if that''s the case let''s leave now.¡±
***
500 soldiers of the elite crimson guard belonging to the Vussia army marched down the middle of the street causing a large commotion for everyone that was enjoying the night activities the city had to offer.
People who had been drunk instantly became sober and began to drink even more pretending to not notice that something extremely bad was going to happen.
The crowded night streets became empty as the soldiers march down the streets.
Anyone who got in their way was killed and kicked to the side of the road.
They entered the slums and went to the district with many large buildings.
The 500 soldiers stopped in front of a two-story building that looked quite plain from the outside.
¡°Surround it don''t let anyone escape,¡± ordered Piet. The crimson guards obediently did as ordered.
Jezebel escorted by Piet walked up to the metal door of the building where Piet began to bang on the door until he heard a shout from inside.
¡°Who the fook is knocking at such a late hour!?¡± shouted an angry voice of an old man.
The locks of the door clicked and clacked and the door was opened a little.
Piet kicked the door with his full power causing the door to slam open and knocking the robed old man behind the door onto his butt.
The old man looked at Piet, Jezebel, and the crimson guard behind them.
¡°Why are you here? You have an agreement with the grandmasters that you would not do something like this!¡± sputtered the old man shocked and scared for he knew what it meant to have the queen to personally pay him a visit. But it was not for the reason he was thinking it was for, it was because he had dared to try and touch the queen''s possession.
Jezebel looked at the pathetic old man on the ground with burning hatred.
¡°Willy Wong you have really wronged me!¡±
Chapter 52: Important news
¡°Seize him!¡± said Jezebel, her voice sharp and full of anger.
Piet stepped forward to properly guard the queen and gave a hand signal to the nearby crimson guards.
Four guards stepped forward to capture Willy Wong.
¡°I won''t let you take me alive!¡± screamed Willy Wong.
He hurriedly scrambled to his feet and extended his left hand that had been hidden in his long robes to reveal a yellow [Magic Gem].
A bright yellow light flashed covering Willy Wong and the four guards, lasting for only a few seconds with no sound escaping from inside the light.
When the light disappeared the only one left standing was Willy Wong. His face was pale from using such a strong spell his breathing was uneven as he gasped for air.
The four crimson guards laid on the ground, blood pouring out of their eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
¡°You dare resist and even kill her majesty''s elite guards?!¡± shouted Piet while removing his long whip from his waist. He flicked his wrist a few times creating loud cracks and snaps with the whip.
Willy Wong''s face became bloody as the whip made contact with it on both cheeks opening two gashes knocking him back onto his butt.
With a final flick of his hand, Piet sent the whip to coil around Willy Wong''s neck making it hard for him to breath.
Four more crimson guards marched forward and kicked the [Magic gem] out of Willy Wong''s weakened grasp before placing both his hands and feet into iron shackles.
Although he had tried to struggle to save his life he had failed. The four crimson guards watched him closely as Piet wound his whip back around his waist.
¡°Why have you been trying to kill Akira?¡± asked Jezebel.
The question stunned Willy Wong for a moment, ¡°You know of him?¡± he asked not denying the accusation.
¡°Answer the question! Don''t waste her majesty''s time,¡± shouted Piet.
¡°The main branch of the magic guild sent orders to capture him either dead or alive.¡±
¡°Why are they trying to capture him?¡± asked Jezebel coldly.
¡°I don''t know, but the grandmasters normally don''t send out orders like this. There is most likely a reason why if you let me talk with them I can find out for you,¡± said Willy Wong trying to make a deal.
¡°I''ve heard enough. Let''s head back to the castle. Crimson guards make sure he does not escape on our walk back,¡± ordered Jezebel.
The once bustling streets were empty the whole way back to the castle. All the people enjoying the nightlife had either hid in the restaurants, taverns, or pleasure houses in order to not cross the path of the queen and risk being killed on a whim.
Once the queen and her escort returned to the castle the guards returned back to their barracks. Only the four who had been guarding Willy Wong stayed along with Piet.
¡°Take him to the playroom. Be sure to lock the door,¡± ordered Jezebel before leaving them and entering the castle.
Jezebel swiftly walked through the empty hallways to the guest room Akira was sleeping in.
She opened the door as quietly as she could and entered the room. Akira was at the far end of the room sleeping on a large comfortable bed.
A few quick and quiet steps brought her to the side of the bed where she could see Akira.
The little moonlight that passed through the window allowed Jezebel to see Akira''s calm sleeping face his breathing slow and even showing he was in a deep sleep.
Jezebel''s breathing became heavier as she grew more excited while watching the sleeping Akira.
She was tormented by indecision.
¡°Not yet! I must persevere! Soon, soon!,¡± she said quietly to herself before exiting the room without Akira even noticing.
***
Akira sat up fully refreshed. He let out a long yawn as he stretched a bit before getting out of bed.
He dressed quickly and walked to a large room that Jezebel had told him was where the guests would be served their meals.
Pushing the door open he found the room was not empty and Jezebel was already eating breakfast at the long table.
¡°Good morning,¡± said Akira as he walked over to the table and sat down next to her.
¡°Ah, your up! We have lots of things to do today!¡± said Jezebel happily upon seeing Akira.
¡°If it is okay with you I need to go and talk to my friend and let him know that everything is fine and inform him of the current plans,¡± said Akira grabbing a few pieces of thick freshly baked and buttered toast.
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Hearing this Jezebel had a frown but it was immediately replaced with a smile.
¡°It''s fine. How long will you be gone for?¡± she asked calmly.
¡°If I leave now I can be back before noon,¡± said Akira.
¡°Just be sure to hurry up and take care of whatever you need to do. You should hurry back since I have some important news to tell you.¡±
Akira nodded and picked up another piece of toast before leaving the large room.
¡°Breakfast is ruined,¡± said Jezebel grumpily as she stood up, ¡°I''ll have to amuse myself with my new toy in the playroom. I recently received some new tools from Cadia that I have been wanting to try out.¡±
***
¡°Where have you been?¡± asked Varbu, ¡°We thought something bad must have happened to you.¡±
¡°Sorry, I was unable to leave last night and had to stay the night. I came as early as I could to let you guys know that I''m not dead,¡± said Akira joking.
¡°You''re lucky that you were not outside last night. I heard that the elite crimson guard was patrolling the streets all night. Whenever they come out of the castle it is never good,¡± said the old innkeeper.
¡°Crimson guard? Never heard of them. I didn''t have to worry about anything last night and had a good sleep. Before I go back to my friends place Varbu do you think you could go to the magic guild and get me the things on the list?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Why me? You know how people act towards me,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I can''t go. If I did I would just cause even more trouble for us since I have a bit of a past problem with them,¡± said Akira not explaining anything further.
¡°You can have one of the boys go and get whatever you need,¡± suggested the innkeeper.
¡°I''ll do it for a cheap price!¡± ¡°No me!¡± ¡°You already helped him it''s my turn!¡± the three boys shouted and pushed at each other trying to stand in front of Akira.
Thwack!
¡°Ow!¡± the three cried out as their heads were hit by the old man''s cane.
¡°I''ll let the three of you go get the items,¡± said Akira with a smile as he handed the list and money to buy the items.
¡°Thanks,¡± shouted the boys before running out the inn.
¡°Those boys,¡± sighed the innkeeper as if not sure what to do with them.
***
Less than an hour passed when the door to the inn slammed opened.
¡°We''re back!¡± the three teenage boys shouted together.
¡°Did you find everything?¡± asked Akira.
Kroll handed back the small coin purse Akira had given him before they left. The weight of the coin purse felt just as heavy as when he had given it to them. He opened it and looked inside to see the same amount of coins still inside.
¡°There was nothing we could do. For some reason, the magic guild has been shut down. There were even city guards guarding the entrances to the building,¡± said Kroll after seeing Akira''s puzzled face.
¡°Did they give any reason why it was shut down?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Nope, they wouldn''t even talk to us. They just kept yelling at us to go away,¡± said Slar.
¡°Don''t worry about it, I was able to get information from the people that lived nearby,¡± said Kroll proudly.
¡°It wasn''t just you,¡± the other two complained.
¡°We heard from eyewitnesses that a large number of guards went to the magic guild last night, and now it''s closed this morning. So my guess is something must have happened last night,¡± said Kroll.
¡°Things are just getting weirder and weirder in this city,¡± grumbled the old innkeeper.
¡°Well if it''s closed then there is nothing we can do,¡± said Akira taking a few silver coins out and tossing them to the boys.
¡°Are you going back now? Or will you stay here for some time?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I have to go meet with my friend. They told me that they had some important news to tell me so I can''t keep them waiting if I don''t come back tonight don''t worry,¡± said Akira placing his coin purse back into his small bag before exiting the inn.
***
Akira was lead back to the west tower tea room to again wait for the queen to finish whatever she was doing.
He sat down onto the comfortable couch to wait but after a few minutes he became drowsy and dozed off.
Akira woke up to the sound of footsteps and clanging metal armor walking up the stairs he didn''t know how much time had passed. Akira quickly wiped the drool off his face and ran his hand through his hair trying to make himself look presentable.
¡°You''re back earlier than I thought. I''m sorry that I made you wait,¡± said Jezebel with a cute sly smile as she came over to the couch and sat down next to Akira.
¡°No need to apologize, it was my fault for arriving early,¡± said Akira.
A large splotch of blood at the hem of her dress caught Akira''s eye.
¡°Did you hurt yourself?¡± asked Akira in a somewhat worried tone after seeing the blood.
Jezebel looked down at the fresh blood on her dress, ¡°Oh this? I just walked through the kitchen and got a bit of animal blood on it,¡± she said dismissing it as a minor thing.
¡°You can leave now Piet,¡± said Jezebel dismissing her personal guard.
When Piet left the room Jezebel''s gaze returned to Akira, her eyes shining brightly with excitement.
¡°Remember this morning when I told you that I had important news to tell you?¡± asked Jezebel.
Akira nodded his head.
¡°Well, the thing is... Tomorrow there will be a large banquet. With many different types of entertainment. You need to come since I have already reserved a spot for you,¡± she said not caring if Akira wanted to or not. She had already decided that he would go.
¡°Um... what''s the occasion?¡± asked Akira unsure what to make of this development.
¡°Don''t worry, it''s nothing big. I''ll also make sure to get you a present or two,¡± she said happily.
¡°Present? You don''t have to do that, besides I don''t have anything for you,¡± said Akira trying to gracefully decline the need for her the queen, to give him a normal person a present.
¡°I WANT TO,¡± said Jezebel forcefully, a glint of light flashed across her eyes, her words and expression made it clear she would not budge from her decision.
¡°That''s fine I''ll receive as many as you give,¡± said Akira with a laugh trying to smooth over the awkwardness that he was feeling.
¡°How much do you remember of the etiquette classes you took when you were younger?¡±
Akira scratched his head in embarrassment and said, ¡°I uh... kinda forgot all of it.¡±
¡°Fine, since you are going to join me at the banquet I''ll make sure to thoroughly teach you all you need to know so that you don''t embarrass me and yourself tomorrow. Some of the customs of this country are different from what we grew up with in Beorin. Don''t worry it''s not that different, and since you learned it once before it should be easy to relearn,¡± said Jezebel with a sly smile.
Akira was starting to get a feeling of dread. His most hated subject was etiquette class. He and Rodger had always goofed off or sneaked away when it was time to learn the proper ways of being a noble.
''It''s going to be a long afternoon,'' though Akira. Wishing he could escape.
Chapter 53: Preparing for the Banquet
Akira had been tortured late into the night. The torture technique was called ''Jezebel''s super-powered crash course in etiquette''. Guaranteed to make you look like a noble or you will get hit on the head by a wooden stick for free.
For the first time since he had know Jezebel, he was able to see her serious side and it was surprising how different she was when she put her all into trying to teach Akira.
Thankfully he had been allowed to escape from the castle the next morning after being woken up early by Jezebel and told to finish any business he had to take care of. Before he had left he was told to make sure he returned to the castle before lunch was served.
***
Akira walked through the dirty streets of the slums headed to the plain building that housed the black market.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
After knocking on the door Akira stepped back and waited for old man Willy Wong to open the door.
The door opened all the way and a young burly muscular man wearing tight fitting leather armor appeared. He was definitely not Willy Wong.
Akira looked around to see if he had walked to the wrong building but saw it was the only one with a metal door.
¡°What do you want?¡± asked the man his large arms crossed in front of his chest.
¡°Uh...do you know if Willy Wong is here. If he is can I speak to him?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Never heard of him. I am the owner of this building,¡± said the man growing alert at the mention of the name.
Akira was slightly puzzled. He had come here to see if he could find a present for Jezebel. But for some reason, an entirely different person was now the owner of the building and had no clue who the original owner was.
¡°Who are you?¡± asked the muscular man.
¡°I am Akira. May I know your name.¡±
¡°Whu Yu.¡±
¡°I said my name is Akira.¡±
¡°No Whu Yu is my name. What can I do for you Mr. Akira are you here for the black market?¡± asked Whu Yu who had mysteriously become extremely nice upon hearing his name.
¡°Yes, I came to see if I could find something for a friend,¡± said Akira.
¡°Sir, there are many other stores that you could buy something from. Why come here?¡±
¡°Too expensive,¡± mumbled Akira.
Whu Yu gave an understanding nod and stepped to the side allowing Akira to enter the building before the metal door was slammed shut.
¡°Right this way sir.¡±
Akira was lead up a set of stairs and into the second floor passing multiple guards who looked more like local criminals than the guards he had seen at the castle.
At the end of the small hallway, there was another set of metal doors that were already unlocked allowing Akira to enter the large storage room that was dimly lit by torches.
¡°Please take your time. I''m sure you will find whatever you need,¡± said Whu Yu bowing to Akira before leaving the room.
Having such a strong person as Whu Yu acting so humble and even bowing made Akira feel strange.
Akira walked from table to table looking at the prices. The cost of a large portion of the items made his heartache. Most were just as expensive as the stores but these items were all of a higher quality.
If he wanted to get Jezebel a present, then he was going to have to spend a large amount of money. He could not just go out and buy something and call it a present.
An hour quickly passed by without Akira noticing since he was deep in thought as he searched for a suitable item.
As he walked to a new table an item on the table reflected the flickering light of a torch catching his attention.
He reached over and picked it out of the pile of expensive junk on the table.
It was a beautifully made hairpin made from a dark blue ore. There where multiple carved gems secured on top creating a flower. The petals of the gem flower were a light pink, while the gem in the middle was a deep red which made Akira think of Jezebel''s fiery red hair.
He looked at the price tag and his heart nearly stopped three gold and fifty silver for such a small hair clip?
Akira used his inspection skill to see if it had any traits that would justify it being so expensive.
Jarler''s Hairpin of tranquility (Rare):
On the year 420 this hair pin was made by the master jeweler Jarler.
He used the rare ore Yanium along with the best gems he could find to create this amazing item.
Unknown effect
Due to ancient spell cast on item usage restricted to females.
|
¡°Hmm, what an interesting item. Although I don''t know what it does, with tranquility in its name it shouldn''t be something bad.¡±
Akira pondered over whether or not he should buy it before finally deciding to purchase it. His heart ached as he handed over the money to Whu Yu and left the building with only a single item.
¡°That was the queen''s childhood friend? He didn''t seem like much of anything,¡± scoffed one of the guards.
¡°Quiet you!¡± shouted Whu Yu, ¡°What if the queen heard that you say that. Our job is to run this place not bad mouth the queens choice in friends. If you''re lucky the queen won''t find out.¡±
¡°Ah! Ca..captain that''s not what I was trying to do!¡± pleaded the guard.
***
Akira returned to the castle after letting Varbu know that he most likely would stay out all night due to the banquet.
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Jezebel was pacing back and forth in the castles front gardens while waiting for Akira to return.
When she saw him walk through the gates she rushed over to him.
¡°Hurry up, we have to get you into better clothes before the banquet. I can''t have you looking like a common country road bandit,¡± said Jezebel as she grabbed his arm and began walking quickly towards the castle.
Jezebel lead Akira to one of the many small rooms inside the castle. The room was filled with all sorts of cloth rolls and cured leather. Standing near a table with many tools were two beautiful young maids.
¡°I want you to take Akira''s measurements and create a new outfit for him to wear to the banquet tonight,¡± ordered Jezebel.
¡°Yes your majesty,¡± said both maids while bowing deeply.
Both maids picked up long cloth strings used for measuring and walked over to Akira.
Under the watchful eyes of the Queen, they began to thoroughly measure Akira writing the numbers down onto a piece of paper.
When they finished Jezebel dragged Akira over to the many rolls of cloth and began taking samples and placing it on Akira''s shoulder to discover the right color for Akira.
¡°I can''t let you go to the banquet in any old outfit. I have to make sure the color matches you also,¡± said Jezebel mostly mumbling to herself and no one in particular.
¡°Aha! This it is the one!¡± said Jezebel after testing multiple samples. She tossed the dark blue sample to one of the maids and then began searching through the leather samples for a similar color that would match the cloth.
When she found what she was looking for she gave the leather sample to the other maid.
¡°Use the cloth matching that color for a formal shirt, and use the leather for formal pants. They need to be done before the banquet,¡± ordered Jezebel.
¡°We''ll get right on it!¡± said the maids respectfully.
¡°Come Akira lets go have an early lunch and review the etiquette you learned yesterday,¡± said Jezebel while dragging Akira out of the room by the hand.
The two maids watched as the two left and felt pity for the man because from their point of view it looked like the queen was treating him more like a pet than a human.
Several hours passed as Akira was tested thoroughly on what he remembered.
¡°The banquet will start in a few hours you should go take a bath. The clothes should be done by now so I''ll have the maids bring the clothes to you,¡± said Jezebel.
Jezebel picked up a bell near her chair and used it to summon a pair of maids from outside the current room.
¡°Take Akira to the bath in the west wing. You are to help him,¡± ordered Jezebel.
Akira was about to tell her he didn''t need any help bathing but was interrupted.
¡°I have to go prepare myself as well since I am the host of the banquet I have to look my best as well,¡± said Jezebel immediately standing up and leaving the room.
¡°Sir, if you will please follow us we will take you to the west wing''s royal bath,¡± said a maid who looked to be in her mid 20''s with chestnut brown hair and was wearing a pair of glasses.
Akira was lead to a well lit medium sized room. The room was warm and humid due to the large bath in the center of the room that was letting off large amounts of steam.
Akira turned to the two maids.
¡°I can take care of myself, you both can wait outside,¡± said Akira.
¡°We can not,¡± said the older of the two maids who was somewhere in her 30''s with dark black hair.
¡°The queen has ordered us to help you. We can not disobey her commands,¡± said the youngest maid.
Akira sighed and took off all his clothes but his underwear and placed them into a pile on the ground.
The older maid picked up the dirty clothes and placed them into a nearby wicker basket.
¡°I''ll take care of washing his clothes,¡± said older maid picking up the basket and leaving the room.
Akira let out another sigh as if accepting his fate and started to walk towards the bath.
¡°Wait, sir where are you going?¡± asked the glasses maid stopping Akira.
¡°To get in the bath. Why?¡± asked Akira not sure what the maid wanted.
¡°You can not do that. You have to first do a quick rinse and scrub before entering the bath.¡±
¡°Why do it outside of the bath? Isn''t the whole point of a bath to clean yourself while inside the bath?¡±
¡°It is just the custom of royalty. To keep the bath water and bath as clean as it can you are to rinse the large amount of grime and sweat off outside of the bath that way you can enjoy the bath without the water getting too dirty,¡± replied the maid as if she was talking to a little kid asking her questions he should have know the answer to already.
¡°Where am I supposed to rinse myself?¡± asked Akira.
The maid pointed towards a wide wooden stool with small legs next to a stream of running water.
Akira walked over to the stool and sat down he looked around to find a washcloth but could only find a bucket next to the stream.
The bucket was picked up by the maid before he could even reach for it. She dipped it into the stream and brought it over to Akira and unceremoniously dumped the cold water onto of his head.
¡°Ah!¡± Akira let out a shout from the shock of the cold water splashing all over him. After a few more buckets full of water Akira was sputtering and shivering while wiping water from his face.
He let out another cry of shock as the maid started to use a sponge soaked in the cold water to wipe down his back and the rest of his body. She made sure to wipe down EVERYTHING.
Her hands reached for his underwear with the intent to remove them to wash every part of his body.
¡°I can take care of it just turn around and don''t look,¡± said Akira stopping her.
¡°No need to be shy I don''t mind doing it,¡± said the maid attempting to remove his underwear again.
Akira blocked her hand and grabbed the sponge and quickly washed himself with his back turned away from the unflinching maid.
He tossed the sponge into the bucket and stood up.
¡°Can I now get into the bath?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You may,¡± said the maid who to Akira''s horror began striping herself before he could even react Thankfully she was wearing an odd type of one piece underwear underneath her maid clothes.
Ignoring her and hopped into the large steaming bath.
''Ah, this is much better,'' thought Akira as he sat down in the shallow end of the pool like bath with the water coming up to his chin.
His shivering stopped and his tense muscle began to relax. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh in content as the warmth from the bath seeped into his body.
He heard the splash of the glasses maid rinsing herself and then a short time later felt the disturbance in the water as the maid entered it.
Then the real torture began as the maid started to use a coarse washcloth to fiercely scrub his back.
Forcing him to let out another cry of shock.
¡°Sorry sir but you seem to have a lot of dead skin that the warm bathwater has loosened. Most likely from not taking proper baths for a long time. I will have to use a bit of force to do my job and fully clean you,¡± said the maid.
Twenty minutes later Akira stepped out of the bath with a miserable look on his face and his skin a rosy red from the hard scrubbing received from the maid.
He was now sure that anyone who liked taking baths like this was either insane or a pervert who liked being tortured.
No sane person would want to endure what he had just been through. The glasses maid took a towel and started to dry Akira off and handed him a warm fluffy robe to wear before drying herself off.
The maid led him back to a room where the two maids that had made his clothes for him were waiting.
The two immediately removed his robe and started to dress him in the new fashionable clothes.
Jezebel walked into the room while he was looking at himself in a mirror that was placed on the wall.
¡°I knew that color would look good on you!¡± said Jezebel happily after seeing the new clothes.
Akira turned to see a stunningly beautiful Jezebel in a puffy hoop dress that was a deep red. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail and on top of her head sat her crown. A very enchanting smell was coming from her.
She looked at the leather pants that were not to tight nor were they baggy. The dark blue coat that was buttoned in the middle only revealing a silk white shirt at the top.
When her eyes gazed at his hair she frowned at the mess of hair. The maids seeing this rushed to explain.
¡°Your majesty his hair doesn''t want to stay in place.¡±
¡°Hmph...bring me the special cream,¡± ordered Jezebel.
Moments later one of the maids returned to the room with a small metal tin in her hands and handed it to Jezebel.
Jezebel opened it and scooped a small portion of the white contents inside and started to use it on Akira''s hair.
To Akira''s surprise, this wondrous cream actually held his hair in place.
Stepping back Jezebel checked his hair from all sides and nodded to herself happily at her handiwork.
¡°Come on Akira lets go to the main ballroom the banquet will be starting soon,¡± said Jezebel.
And again for the hundredth time that day he was dragged out of the room by Jezebel as they headed for the ballroom.
Chapter 54: Banquet
Jezebel and Akira stopped before the large ballroom doors that were currently closed.
¡°We''ll have to separate here for now since I''ll have to take on the duties of being the host. You can mingle with the nobles if you want, just don''t get too friendly. There are a few snacks ready, but make sure not to eat too much since dinner will be served as soon as everyone arrives,¡± said Jezebel.
With a quick order from Jezebel, the royal knights guarding the doors pushed the large wooden ballroom doors open, allowing the two to enter the ballroom and go their own separate ways.
They had arrived early but there were already a few nobles that had come even earlier in order to try and get on good terms with the king and queen and other high ranking nobles.
Akira looked around and guessed that the room had to be the largest in the whole castle. It also had a very high ceiling which had many crystal chandeliers hanging from it using green magic fire to light up the room.
The room was divided into two parts one was the large open floor where dances and other entertainment took place, and to the side was a smaller area with multiple long and sturdy tables placed end to end with hundreds of chairs on each side.
Akira had no experience in banquets such as this. He did not feel like mingling with the few nobles that were already forming many small circles, chatting and gossiping about current events of the city and the whole country.
His eyes landed on a long table near the entrance that had numerous small bite-sized desserts and snacks along with small plates to put them on.
Many of them he had never even seen before guessing they were a specialty of the capital city.
Looking around Akira saw no servants near the table.
He hurriedly and secretly walked over to the table and grabbed a small number of each snack and dessert. Putting them into his bag so he could have a large variety of other things to eat when he was back on the road.
Akira left the refreshment table with a small plate that had only a few snacks on it to deceive others.
When the head cook who was in charge of keeping the table fully stocked throughout the night, went to check the refreshment table and was shocked. Half of everything on the table had disappeared.
It had been less than twenty minutes since nobles had started to arrive and half of what they had prepared was already gone. The head cook had expected to see hundreds of people eating snacks but there were only a few people munching on the food.
Akira stood at the corner of the room leaning on the wall behind him while he slowly ate the snacks waiting for the banquet to start.
More and more nobles were arriving by the minute.
Many of the nobles who gathered in the ballroom did not notice Akira and the majority that did, did not talk to him due to not knowing who he was.
The only few nobles that did greet him and traded a few sentences with him were the nobles of lower rank who were not included in the large circles of the high nobles.
GONG!
Everyone became quiet after hearing the gong.
Their attention turned to the queen who was standing on a small platform to allow her to see everyone and also making it easier for everyone to see her.
¡°Everyone has arrived so dinner will now be served please follow the servants as they lead you to your assigned seats,¡± said Jezebel.
Many nobles grumbled in dissatisfaction as they had wanted to rush to the table and fight over the good seats closest to the queen and king.
After a large number of nobles were seated one of the servants walked over to Akira to lead him to his chair. There were a large number of open chairs at the opposite end of the table far away from the queen and king. This was where the low ranking nobles sat.
Akira thought he would be placed here since he was not even a noble but the servant continued to walk past the open chairs moving towards the head of the long set of tables.
The other nobles noticed him as he neared the head of the table and was given the only open chair next to the queen.
A large mummer arose as the nobles who were envious began gossiping with each other wondering who this mysterious man was to be allowed to sit at the head of the table right next to the queen.
When everyone was seated Jezebel shouted,¡°Begin!¡±
Small discreet side doors opened from the walls and multiple servants streamed out all carrying large platters of freshly baked bread, juicy grilled meat, and numerous other cooked and uncooked vegetables and fruits.
The aroma was mouth watering so many dishes of so many different types all in one place.
¡°Hello, friend! My name is Iep Noocar. The lead noble of this countries ministers. May I ask your name?¡± asked the elderly noble sitting next to Akira with his hand out for Akira to shake.
¡°I am known as Akira,¡± said Akira politely, taking the hand of the noble and shaking it.
After learning his name every other noble at the table that had been eavesdropping made an effort to remember his name.
Akira enjoyed the meal greatly eating mostly in silence, while he tried a bit of everything.
Jezebel was happy seeing Akira eating everything she even gave him a few pieces of her own specially cooked food which Akira gladly ate savoring the taste.
Seeing this the jealous nobles sitting near Akira kept complimenting and toasting Akira, trying to butter him up in order to get in good relations with him and in doing so get closer to the queen.
Akira saw through it all and humbly accepted the compliments but did not take them to heart.
As the main dishes became empty the nobles sat around satisfied rubbing their stomachs. It wasn''t often that the capital had banquets.
Clap!
Jezebel stood up and brought the attention of every noble onto her.
¡°Many have probably wondered about the reason for this banquet being held today. It''s simple really nothing too deep, it was because I was able to meet my dear friend Akira, after many years of not seeing each other. I have also decided to gather a few gifts to give to him for his longtime friendship,¡± said Jezebel.
Without another word, two servants near the ballroom wall brought two items over to the queen.
The nobles were quietly talking to each other while watching all of this. It was a big shock that the queen would do something like this just for an old friend and even personally give him a gift.
¡°Stand up Akira,¡± ordered Jezebel.
Jezebel reached over and picked up a dark blue cape that matched Akira''s current clothes.
Silently Jezebel placed the cape around Akira''s shoulders their bodies touching, creating a scene that looked like they were both hugging.
¡°With this, you should look less like a country bumpkin and more dashing when you wear it with your armor,¡± whispered Jezebel softly into Akira''s ear.
A few seconds was all it took for her to fasten the clasp together before she stepped back.
Ding!
Dashing blue cape (uncommon):
A cape created especially for you!
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
- Resistance to fire +20%
-Unknown effect Lvl 25 needed to unlock information.
|
She turned and grabbed a sword that was in a deep red sheath.
¡°Kneel,¡± ordered Jezebel.
Akira followed her instructions.
Jezebel placed the sword still in its sheath onto Akira''s right shoulder.
¡°I Jezebel, queen of Vussia, declare Akira, to be a friend of the country. Both gifts have been given to deepen our friendship. Rise and take the [Sword of friendship].¡±
Akira stood up and grabbed the handle of the sword that was presented to him and fastened it to his sword belt.
Ding!
Sword of Friendship (uncommon):
A sword created just for you!
Durability: 40/40 | Damage: 35-42
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Jezebel turned to the hundreds of nobles quietly watching the rare event and upon seeing her gaze sweep over them they felt a slight shudder.
As if an unspoken command had gone out every noble stood up and clapped vigorously for Akira. Not daring to be less enthusiastic than the person next to them lest the queen see it and decide to punish them later.
¡°The main meal and gift giving is now over. Desert will be delivered shortly. To those interested the ballroom dance floor is now open,¡± said Jezebel.
Immediately as soon as Jezebel''s words were finished the band that had been quiet all through the meal started to play a slow tune meant for a waltz.
A few nobles and their wives left the table and stepped onto the dance floor and began to gracefully dance to the music.
More and more nobles began to join until there were only a few small clusters of people who were still quietly talking at the table.
Both Jezebel and Akira stood near the table watching the people dance.
Jezebel kept sneaking glances at Akira. After a few minutes of watching she made up her mind and grabbed Akira by the arm and pulled him towards the dance floor.
Akira was startled by this and noticed a large amount of the nearby nobles moved out of the queen''s way creating a large bubble in the center of the ballroom where there was only Akira and Jezebel dancing.
To the many people that were watching there were many words that ran through their minds upon seeing Akira''s dancing. To sum it up his dancing was an abomination.
He kept tripping over his own feet and stepping on Jezebel''s. The nobles seeing this display of horrendous dancing didn''t dare to mock or laugh at Akira due to the glares they received from Jezebel telling them to mind their own businesses.
A few minutes of stumbling around passed until Akira had gotten a hold of the proper movements and was slowly improving and making fewer mistakes.
Jezebel laid her head on Akira''s shoulder while they were dancing to the slow music.
¡°Akira...,¡± said Jezebel quietly next to his ear.
¡°What?¡± asked the flustered Akira. He knew how bad this looked to have the queen hanging all over him a person who was not the king nor her husband.
¡°Why don''t you stay here and become my lover?¡± Jezebel asked whispering into Akira''s ear so only he could hear.
Akira stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face from the unexpected question.
His mind was all messed up with many different thoughts. He was silent while he tried to sort his feelings and thoughts.
First, he could not accept such a thing since he had to find his clan and complete the Ambassador mission along with Varbu.
Secondly, this would cause huge problems for Akira seeing as she was already married to the king who would most likely not approve of him doing something like that, and might send some people to kill him.
¡°The king won''t accept it,¡± said Akira trying to politely decline.
¡°Don''t worry about him. He''ll do whatever I tell him to,¡± said Jezebel hurriedly.
¡°I..I need some more time to think about it,¡± said Akira.
He was planning to ask for Jezebel''s help tonight after the banquet but now he was thrown off by her unusual attitude. He had a gut feeling telling him not to mention anything to her about his search for his clan.
This troubled him because Jezebel was one of his best friends and his only childhood friend he had a good relationship with.
Jezebel upon hearing his answer began to pout. She stopped dancing and dragged Akira to a small alcove that had a thin silk curtain blocking the view behind it. Inside was a row of plush benches with fluffy cushions.
Akira was slightly happy that he was now not surrounded and the center of attention constantly being stared at. He was also wary of Jezebel''s sudden change of attitude.
She sat down onto one of the specially made benches that were more like a couch without a backrest.
Akira could see her mood had turned sour. His mind was racing to figure out what to say to cheer her up.
The present he had bought earlier in the day came to his mind and he took it out of his small bag.
¡°Jezebel,¡± said Akira getting her attention. ¡°I was planning to give this to you later after the Banquet was over but now seems like a nice and quiet time to give it to you.¡±
On his palm was the beautiful hairpin he had bought.
Jezebels'' eyes grew big in shock and her pout expression was immediately turned into a large smile.
¡°It''s so pretty!¡± she said immediately hugging Akira.
She took the hairpin and replaced one of her expensive hairpins she had been using.
¡°How does it look?¡± she asked.
¡°It matches you perfectly,¡± said Akira with a smile.
At that time a window that neither Akira nor Jezebel could see popped up.
-Scanning female host...
-Blocked innate skill found.
-Begin protocol to unlock and sync potential innate skill: 1%
|
Ding!
New title!
Ladykiller:
With your smooth skills, you can make many maiden''s blush with one word.
(Or it might be just this one person was affected)
+5 Fame
|
Charm stat received!
+5 Charm
Charm will make certain females like you even more!
|
Akira felt a deep dread in his heart after reading through the messages quickly. He had a feeling that his life had become a little more dangerous.
He didn''t need this type of stat! Especially right now with Jezebel acting weird.
He had looked away in embarrassment after giving her the present but after a long silence, he turned back to look at her.
When his eyes met hers, he could see a fierce fire of desire raging inside them, the hair on the back of his neck to rose up and a slight shiver went through his whole body.
¡°Um..so the..¡±
Before he could say another word Jezebel''s head shot forward her hands grabbing his head pulling it forward, allowing their lips to touch for a few brief intense seconds before they were separated.
Akira was too dumbfounded to react to what had just happened.
''My first kiss,'' was the thought that went through his head.
Seconds later his head cleared and he quickly looked towards the thin silk curtain that covered the small alcove to see if any of the nobles still dancing had noticed.
He let out a sigh of relief as there was no commotion from the other side of the curtain.
''Dodged a bullet there,'' thought Akira wiping his forehead with his shirtsleeve.
¡°That kiss was my way of saying thanks. Follow me I have something to talk to you about in private,¡± said Jezebel as she stood up and walking through a pair of glass doors behind the benches.
''Oh no! What now? I can''t take any more of this if she tries something again I''m out!'' though Akira.
He stood up and followed her unwillingly out onto a balcony that overlooked a small pond which had a few rare night birds swimming in the waters catching fish.
¡°I would like to ask for your help on something,¡± said Jezebel with a serious look on her face.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira letting out a sigh of relief that she wasn''t going to attack him again.
¡°There has been a rise in monsters in the nearby Forest of Fire. I was hoping you could help me clear them along with other adventures that I have given the job to, they will head out tomorrow.
I am also in need of a certain rare item that drops from the rock monsters. It''s called a fire stone. If you find one or more please give them to me when you finish clearing the monsters from the area.¡±
Ding!
New quest!
Exterminate Lava-rockmen:
Lava rockmen have been appearing in the nearby Forest of fire.
Kill them all!
Subquest: Firestone:
Jezebel is in need of fire stones hand them over for an extra reward.
Difficulty: D
Reward: Unknown
Will you accept?
Yes / No
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¡°That seems doable,¡± said Akira accepting the request wanting to help her with this one task before deciding whether or not to stay in the capital for a few more days or head out in search of the clan.
Now that he felt a sense of danger he did not want to stay long it was a good thing they had most of their supplies already replenished.
¡°I only asked because I knew you were able to take care of the monsters that overran Nopor village,¡± said Jezebel.
¡°Don''t worry about it, I can help you take care of it,¡± said Akira.
The two talked with each other for the rest of the banquets duration.
¡°Goodnight,¡± Akira bid Jezebel a farewell as he left the castle with the other nobles so he could inform Varbu of their updated plans and prepare for the fight with the Lava rockmen.
Chapter 55: Fire stone
The suns early morning weak rays of light broke through the thin clouds lighting up the land that was filled with fresh snow.
Akira was leaning against a fence just outside the city gates watching the local adventures gather nearby.
He had switched out of his new clothes and was now wearing his armor.
The group of adventures had all shied away from Akira due to Varbu standing right next to him.
When the last adventure arrived the Vussian army captain in charge of leading the mismatched group of fighters stepped forward drawing everyone''s attention.
¡°I am captain Larf I will be in charge of this group. You have all received half of your reward already. The other half will be paid after we are successful in clearing a large portion of the monsters in the Forest of fires.
There are a few rules to follow: 1) When an unexpected situation happens you are to follow my orders without question. 2) No infighting between anyone. Our enemy is the monsters in the forest not each other. If you are caught doing so you will be arrested and killed on the spot. Now let''s go before the day gets any older,¡± said Larf.
Akira and Varbu took up the position at the rear of the line as they began to head towards the forest of fire.
It was around noon when they took a break from walking to cook some warm food from the rations they had prepared for themselves. Along with the food, they drank some warm liquids to help fight back the cold wind that was blowing every once and awhile.
¡°We will be at the border of the Forest of fire In less than an hour. Now is the time to make sure you are fully prepared,¡± said the guard captain.
Both Akira and Varbu along with everyone else began to check their equipment before they stood up and continued the march to the forest of fire.
Akira had decided to use his old sword for now and save the new one he had just received, and use it when his old one broke and became useless.
As they walked closer Akira could see the volcano that was deep within the Fire forest growing larger.
It occasionally coughed out some ash and burning rocks. Which started small fires here and there. This was the reason the forest had gotten its name due to the small fires that the volcano created.
Although the volcano created many fires every month the forest was still surprisingly thriving and was now home to many dangerous monsters.
Larf stopped them outside of the forest to give them last minute instructions.
¡°Since the forest is big we''ll not be able to all go in as one big group. You should all be able to take care of these monsters alone but to be on the safe side everyone should be in a group of no less than two people. If something unexpected happens or you find something that needs a larger group to take it down this is the spot you are to come to and inform me on the details,¡± ordered Larf before he began setting up a command tent.
Akira watched as small groups of adventures in two''s and three''s walked into the forest.
¡°Well, let''s get this done so we can leave this city,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Shouldn''t be too hard from what I was told,¡± said Akira as the two of them picked a direction that they had not seen any adventures walking.
The ground of the forest was a mixture of slushy snow, burnt roots of old trees, and numerous small rocks that had been spit out of the volcano scattered all over the place.
It wasn''t the easiest of places to walk but it was still manageable since the snow lessened the deeper they walked into the forest.
While searching for the [Lava rockmen] they found many odd-looking monsters that might have been a regular animal before it mutated.
The monsters that tried to attack them were far weaker than Varbu and Akira, only causing them to be more annoyed and delayed a few seconds but not harmed.
¡°Damn weak monsters keep attacking, are they stupid or do they just think we''re weak?¡± grumbled Varbu.
What Varbu didn''t know was although the monsters seemed weak to him, the other adventures were having a hard time fighting the same type of monsters.
The monsters were used to invaders coming into the forest every month and were normally able to fight the normal adventures that came. Sometimes they were even able to kill them.
The attacks continued until they were nearing the center of the forest that was nearest to the volcano.
The monsters that had been popping up like crazy seemed to have disappeared causing Akira and Varbu to grow more cautious.
The whole time they spent searching they had not come across any other adventures due to how large the forest was.
They were still able to hear the muffled sounds of numerous battles of the adventures off in the far distance.
As Akira was stepping over a pile of rocks something grabbed onto his foot with a vice-like grasp.
It was a hand made out of dark lava rocks.
The pile of rocks he had been stepping over rose up into the air and took the shape of a human made out of lava rocks.
Without any time to think of what to do Akira activated the skill [Shield Bash] and aimed the skill at the arm that was trying to grab for his leg.
Bam! He was able to block it and push it away, giving him enough room to jump out of its reach.
He used his inspection skill to see the name and level of the attacking monster. Akira had a hunch that this was the monster they had been looking for and he was right. [Lava rockman: Lvl 22].
¡°So, this is what we''re supposed to be fighting?¡± asked Akira looking at the [Lava rockman] in front of him.
¡°Isn''t it a little to short?¡± asked Varbu who was nearly 2.5 times taller than the small child like [Lava rockman].
The small [Lava Rockman] tilted its head back and opened its mouth to let out a silent roar of anger as if it knew and understood it had just been insulted. After its mouth closed it launching an attack aimed at Varbu.
Akira who had been ready for any attack stepped forward to intercept it and block the fist that was flying towards Varbu.
Bam!
Akira was surprised by the amount of force the [Lava rockman] had even with such a small body.
With Akira successfully blocking the attack Varbu was given an opening to counter-attack. Using his quarterstaff he swung it full force into the side of the lava Rockman destroying its left arm that had been in the way and creating a large crack on its side.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°This little thing has some Damn impressive defense,¡± shouted Varbu as he stepped back to allow Akira to block another attack launched by the now enraged Midget.
¡°Good thing you''re here otherwise I don''t know how long it would take me to crack it open,¡± said Akira.
Both he and the rockman had high defense while their attack was far less someone of Varbu''s caliber. He was by no means weak as his strength had helped him stay alive through many dangerous events. But a 1 on 1 fight between the midget and Akira might be decided on who tired the fastest.
With Akira and Varbu working together they were able to kill the [Lava rockman] rather easily with Varbu smashing it to pieces.
Akira saw a shining red rock that was mixed in with the ruble from the dead rockman. He bent over and dug it out to inspect it.
Ding!
Firestone (uncommon): This is the core of the Rockman.
Uses unknown.
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¡°I think this is supposed to be what my friend asked us to get,¡± Akira standing back up.
¡°Already? Wasn''t it supposed to be a rare item that was hard to get?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Dunno, maybe we were lucky. From what I was told most of the ones that were gathered before were either destroyed or damaged.¡±
Akira and Varbu continued to search the ground for piles of rocks as they walked around killing the [Lava rockmen] whenever they found one. They had recovered multiple firestones that were undamaged.
It was just past dinner after a full afternoon of exterminating the [Lava rockmen]. There seemed to be less and less of them as the time went on and it was now getting harder to find any.
¡°Did we kill them all? Because we haven''t seen one in over an hour,¡± asked Varbu.
¡°No, I feel like there are still some out here we need to keep searching,¡± said Akira as he looked at the quest window that had not updated notifying him of its completion.
¡°Speaking of the little devils, look over there!¡± said Varbu pointing to Akira''s right.
¡°It seems they have begun to team up,¡± said Akira looking at four piles of rocks on the ground all next to each other.
¡°You think you can hold of all of them while I take them out one at a time,¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Shouldn''t be too much of a problem,¡± said Akira walking towards the [Lava rockmen].
As soon as he came within ten paces away, the rocks flew up into the air creating four separate small bodies.
The rockmen each gave silent roars directed at Akira, but instead of attacking they all ran towards each other.
Bam! the four small bodies slammed into each other becoming a massive heap of rocks that fell to the ground creating a large pile of rocks.
Seconds later the rocks began to twitch and fly upwards creating a rockman that was three times as big and at least double its stone armor.
It was now far taller than Varbu with an even thicker body.
Ding!
Quest Update! Rockman golem field boss:
All other rockmen in the forest of fire have been exterminated. Kill the Rockman golem to complete the quest!
|
Akira heard Varbu swear after seeing what had just happened.
He inspected the new field boss to see how strong it had become, [?? Rockman golem field boss lvl 24].
¡°Umm Varbu...I think we should try and meet back up with the main group to take care of this big guy,¡± said Akira quickly backing away.
¡°Yeah good idea,¡± said Varbu following Akira.
The large rock head of the [Rockman golem] tilted back to let out a silent roar, but this time the roar was actually heard.
It was so loud that it hurt both Akira and Varbu''s ears causing them to be deaf for a few minutes after while they ran towards the meeting spot. The roar echoed throughout the whole forest.
***
Larf was happy to see all but two of the adventures return alive for dinner.
If he could complete the mission without anyone dying or at least only one or two, he might be able to be considered for a promotion.
He was currently sitting in the warm command tent drinking some steaming spiced wine that had been heated over the fire to wash down the food he had just finished eating.
He could hear the adventures happily talking and joking outside as they ate their own dinner.
¡°ROAR!!¡±
The fierce roar caused Larf to choke and start coughing due to the wine going down the wrong windpipe.
The sound had come from deep within the forest of fire and he had a hunch that whatever had made the sound was not an average monster.
¡°Captain what do we do that thing is coming our way!¡± shouted an adventure who had run into the tent.
¡°Quick (cough!) inform everyone to get into the planned formation!¡± said Larf between coughs.
He rushed out of the tent with his armor on and weapon at the ready joining the adventures who were staring into the forest.
The sound of the roars and the thumps of heavy footsteps could be heard coming towards the camp.
After ten more minutes of waiting, the bushes ahead of them began to shake and two people jumped out of them startling the group of adventures.
¡°It''s right behind us,¡± shouted Akira, running forward to join the group with Varbu next to him.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Larf.
¡°Why''d you bring it towards us!?¡± asked a frantic adventure which Akira ignored.
¡°A large [Rockman golem]. We killed all but four of the regular rockmen. Before we could kill them they fused together creating the thing chasing us,¡± said Akira.
The group of adventures were shocked upon hearing that they had nearly single-handedly wiped out one of the strongest monsters in the forest. Among adventures, respect was given to those that showed great power it matters who or what you were.
Larf regained his composure only after a few seconds before wiping the adventures back into formation.
¡°Don''t lose focus! Remember the formation to use for a large target!¡± shouted Larf.
A minute after they had all calmed back down the [Rockman golem] appeared after knocking down the trees that were blocking its path. It looked to have grown even taller.
Akira along with the other adventures that had shields and better armor ran forward to block it from moving forward.
Varbu and the remaining adventures moved into positions at the sides and rear of the [Rockman golem] to attack while Akira and the others keep its attention on them.
With a swipe of its large hand, the [Rockman golem] sent a few of the adventures with shields flying backward. Although Akira was pushed back a few feet he was still able to keep standing.
The [Rockman golem] reached out its other arm and grabbed a nearby adventure with a shield and brought its other hand to fully encompass the adventures body.
Squelch! Splat!
In mere seconds the adventure became nothing but mush after the [Rockman golem] opened its hands. Blood guts and metal armor parts falling to the ground.
Akira along with the remaining adventures kept the attention of the [Rockman golem] on them allowing. Everyone else to launch multiple waves of attacks.
Most of the attacks didn''t do much damage.
Every few minutes the [Rockman golem] would turn its attention to the annoying gnats attacking it from behind forcing them to retreat or risk getting pulverized or squished into pulp.
Akira and other adventures use this chance to attack its back to enrage it and turn its attention back onto them.
They had been fighting for over 15 minutes and had only lost four other people.
With a shout, Varbu jumped forward and landed an attack on the left leg of the [Rockman golem] which he had been attacking repeatedly. With a loud crack! The leg broke at the knee causing it to hop around killing two of the lightly armored adventures before falling to its knees.
Everyone stepped back and watched it in order to make sure they did not get caught up in any wild attack.
The [Rockman golem] tried to stand back up but was unable to.
¡°Don''t let your guard down! Target its arms!¡± shouted Larf.
With the help of Akira blocking the attacks, Varbu was able to destroy the left arm while Larf destroyed the right.
After it lost its arms it was defenseless and could only let out continuous roars of anger before both Varbu and Larf dealt the finishing blow to its chest killing it.
Varbu bent over and picked up a large Firestone as big as a melon, and tossed it to Akira.
When the other adventures saw this they were envious and had a look in their eyes that wasn''t friendly.
¡°This is for the queen. So don''t do anything stupid,¡± said Akira.
At the mention of the queen, everyone became quiet and looked away all thoughts from before disappeared.
¡°We should have spent at least another day here, but we have already lost a large number of people,¡± said Larf with a sigh. His hopes of promotion had been destroyed, ¡°we''ll head back first thing tomorrow morning.¡±
Chapter 56: The Dungeon is where?
When Akira returned to the city he was met by the castles royal guard captain who had been waiting for him near the gate of the city.
¡°The queen has ordered me to escort you back to the castle so you can give her your report on the mission,¡± said the captain.
Varbu and Larf tried to follow but the captain put up his hand to stop them.
¡°The queen only wants to see Akira,¡± said the guard captain with an icy tone to match the cold air.
¡°I''ll return to the inn later,¡± Akira told Varbu before leaving with the guard captain.
***
¡°.. and that is all that happened,¡± said Akira finishing up his detailed explanation and answering all her questions.
¡°How fascinating for such a monster like that to really exist. I''m glad you were able to kill it. From your report, almost all of the monsters seem to have been cleared out of the burning forest. So there shouldn''t be a problem for a while. I already sent a scouting team out yesterday to find the origin of the rockmen, they should be back soon. So were you able to find any fire stones?¡± asked Jezebel.
Akira pulled out a number of Firestones and handed them over to Jezebel all of them were various sizes, shapes. The quality of each Firestone was 10x better than the ones she had received before.
He had picked up a large number of them while fighting the rockmen and since he was unsure how valuable they were he kept many of the smaller ones along with the large Firestone that dropped from the [Rockman golem].
¡°So many! You really outdid yourself! With these my plan is possible!¡± said Jezebel happily.
Ding!
Quest Complete!
Lvl up!
Lvl up!
You are now Lvl 23!
|
¡°What exactly are they used for?¡± asked Akira after happily reading the message.
¡°Nothing much don''t worry about it. Can you stay here until the scout team returns tomorrow with the news?¡±
¡°Well, I guess it shouldn''t be too much of a problem,¡± said Akira.
***
Next day.
Akira was standing near Jezebel as she listed to the report given by the team leader of Scouts.
¡°You found where they came from?¡± asked Jezebel.
¡°Yes, your highness! The forest was mostly empty as you said it would be we were able to search the area quickly and found traces leading to and up the Crepitus volcano. Near the top of the volcano was an entrance to a Dungeon!¡± said the scout captain.
¡°A dungeon? Where you able to figure out how big it is?¡± asked Jezebel.
¡°We only had enough time to scout out the first floor which was rather large with a few winding paths that led to smaller rooms filled with monsters.¡±
¡°The first floor... so there''s more than one floor? What type of monsters were inside?¡±
¡°From what we saw there were a few different types of monsters on the first floor all of them were of the fire type. Which seems to have been boosted due to them living in the volcanic dungeon. The second floor most likely contains even more powerful monsters.¡±
¡°You may leave,¡± said Jezebel dismissing the man.
Jezebel looked over to Akira after the scout leader left the meeting hall.
¡°I feel bad for asking you this but can you help me with this? I''m sure that the people I send will get It done but judging from the monster you encountered in the burning forest the dungeon might be even more dangerous and cause a large number of deaths. I''m sure with your power you can help clear it,¡± said Jezebel.
Akira took a few moments to think it over going over the information he had just heard in the report. He had been planning to leave the capital in a day or two but now with Jezebel''s request, he was torn on what to do.
Ding!
New quest!
Help Clear the Crepitus volcano dungeon:
Jezebel has asked you to help clear the Crepitus Volcano dungeon that has been found.
She does not want to lose many people to the monsters inside and is relying on your strength to help take care of this problem.
It is not known how many floors there are. All monsters inside will have a high affinity to the fire element.
Difficulty: D+
Reward: Unknown
Will you accept?
Yes / No
|
¡°Don''t worry I''ll set up a reward for adventures that go to the dungeon and help clear it. This way you won''t be alone,¡± said Jezebel trying to persuade Akira.
He wasn''t too sure if they would be much of a help since they tended to not fight together and stayed in small groups doing whatever the group leader wanted.
¡°Alright, I''ll help you,¡± said Akira agreeing. ''I can do this last thing in order to thank Jezebel for the presents she gave me. But after I finish this dungeon I need to leave.''
¡°Thank you!¡± said Jezebel jumping towards Akira and hugging him.
A message window popped up that the two of them could not see.
***
Varbu was walking next to Akira as they were hiking up the narrow path leading to the Crepitus volcano.
Many adventures had seen or heard the news about the dungeon clearing expedition from the town criers. Many were enticed by the large amount of gold that was to be given to those who helped clear it.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Akira could see that there were a few familiar faces among the adventures. They were from the group of people that had gone out a few days ago to clear the burning forest with Akira and Varbu.
Many adventures had heard the tales of the large boss fight and the success of the last group at their favorite taverns. This stoked a fire of wanting to experience an adventure like that for themselves while also earning enough money to last them a few years.
¡°What''s wrong with your head? Aren''t we supposed to be searching for your clan?¡± asked Varbu unhappily, only after making sure the other adventures were not near enough to hear their conversation.
¡°This is the last thing, I promise. I''m just doing this last thing to pay back the hospitality and gifts that have been given to me. When we finish here we can leave immediately after I report the results to her,¡± said Akira trying to reassure Varbu.
¡°It seems like your friend is just using your past relationship in order to keep having you do things for her.¡±
¡°No, she''s not like that.¡±
KaBOOM!
As the group reached the path leading up the volcano. The sky above them darkened as the volcano spewed ash into the air along with small burning rocks that began to rain down on them.
Varbu grumbled as he batted away the raining rocks that had come near him.
The narrow path up the volcano was dangerous due to the loose rocks that littered the path making it easy for someone to slip and fall to their deaths. The only good thing was the path was not covered in snow due to the heat that was pouring out of the volcano.
Although there were a few close calls everyone reached the top safely.
This time the group didn''t have a leader and was solely made up of Adventures. They were all standing at the large entrance to the dungeon chatting together unsure what to do.
¡°Everyone I know we are not a group of friends or allies but let''s all avoid causing trouble and if we see another needing help we will all go and assist them,¡± said a tall muscular adventure who was carrying a pair of hand crossbows.
There was a low mummer of agreement from the crowd of adventures before they all began to enter the dungeon.
Ding!
You have entered Crepitus Volcano dungeon.
|
The entrance of the dungeon led to a medium-sized room that had more than ten paths branching out from each other. The chill of the outside winter air was now nonexistent inside the room. The temperature was rising with every step they took forward.
The group began to break up as they choose different paths to test their luck at finding treasure, rare ore, or a monster that had rare parts that could be sold for large amounts of gold.
Akira and Varbu picked a random path that no one had chosen yet. The last of the undecided adventures seeing the two entering it did not follow them and formed their own small groups to explore the remaining paths.
Akira and Varbu were vigilant while walking down the hallways ready for any type of attack.
They reached a four-way up ahead and were surprised to see another group passing by who were just as startled.
¡°Looks like the paths intersect with each other,¡± said Akira as he looked at the minimap that was being slowly revealed as they continued to walk.
***
¡°Your majesty a new report from the life force inspector,¡± shouted out a royal guard.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Jezebel.
¡°The report shows that multiple people have died already and it has not even been a full day yet.¡±
¡°Very well! You may leave,¡± said Jezebel coldly showing no emotion after hearing the news. When he exited the room a vicious smile finally appeared on her face.
¡°Wahahaha! These idiots will do anything I tell them as long as there is gold offered up. It''s a good thing that many will die inside the cave this means that I can cull those that might cause problems for me later and keep the cost of the dungeon expedition down. Hopefully more die,¡± said Jezebel while laughing.
¡°I wonder how Akira is doing.¡±
***
Fwooshhhh!
Akira ran forward with his shield held in front to block the incoming small fireballs being spat at him by four lava slimes. [Lava Slime Lvl 23]
In the beginning, the heat in the large cave was almost unbearable due to the large number of [Lava Slimes] that had continuously shot fireballs making the air extremely hot. But now that there were only a few left the unbearable heat was lessening its intensity.
Once he got close enough he used his skill [Sword Slash] to kill that last four remaining Lava slimes.
¡°Is it me or are these things too easy to fight? I thought they were supposed to have an advantage because of this being their home turf,¡± said Varbu.
¡°They are strong it''s just that your brute strength and blunt force is their worst enemy. You''ve been just blowing through them. From what I saw earlier some of the other adventures have had some problems with fighting one or two of them at a time I even saw a few burn to death,¡± said Akira while picking up the silver coins on the ground that the slimes had dropped.
¡°I''m not that powerful, and it''s the only thing that I can use since the Magic fire gem has no effect on them. What''s crazier than my attack power is your defense. You know I''ve been meaning to ask you but where is that money coming from?¡± asked Varbu. He had watched Akira pick up multiple copper and silver coin over the last few hours.
¡°The slimes I guess. They must have eaten someone or something that had this money on them and were unable to dissolve it. I''m just happy to find it, my money was getting low,¡± said Akira giving a vague answer.
¡°We should be nearing the stairs to the next floor,¡± said Akira quickly moving to a new subject as they walked through one of the many winding paths.
The mini-map that Akira had been recording showed just how crazy the place really was. He wondered how the others were able to navigate with all the twists, turns, and crisscrossing the paths did.
When Akira and Varbu entered the next open cave room filled with Lava slimes another small group of four adventures entered from the other side.
Seeing each other both groups did not speak and began to start killing a large amount of [lava slimes] on their own side of the large cavernous room.
Since there was plenty of room and monsters for both of them to fight Akira and Varbu ignored the other group and continued to fight the [Lava slimes] all the while picking up the coins that they dropped upon death.
The Other group of adventures had been keeping an eye on Akira and Varbu and when they saw the slimes that the two were killing were dropping copper and silver coins greed clouded their senses.
They began to slowly move towards Akira and Varbu killing a Lava slime one at a time and were soon killing slimes that were right next to Akira and Varbu.
Akira not wanting to cause trouble decided to not bother with them and moved away.
But the adventures kept following them trying to kill the slimes that he and Varbu were going to kill.
¡°Can I help you with something?¡± asked Akira who was now pissed off for having to deal with their petty acts.
¡°We were here first. These are our monsters to kill,¡± said the leader of the group.
Akira was speechless at the gall of the leader who was acting in such an overbearing way. Everyone in the room knew they had entered at the same time.
¡°Fine, we''ll go somewhere else,¡± said Akira through clenched teeth.
¡°You do that,¡± said the leader with a smirk. Happy to get the slimes that were dropping silver all to himself.
Akira and Varbu left through another tunnel and continued forward until they reached a circular cave that had a set of stairs in the middle of the room leading down to the next floor.
The room was empty of any monsters. There were already multiple adventures sitting around the entrance eating, talking, and repairing their equipment.
¡°Let''s go to the second floor,¡± said Akira.
¡°Fine with me, I need to kill something right now,¡± said Varbu.
One of the adventures standing near the stairs tried to stop Akira from entering the stairs.
Akira glared at him.
¡°It is dangerous down there, it will be better if we all wait here until everyone has gathered and we can go as a team to clear the floor,¡± said the young adventure hurriedly explaining himself.
¡°No need, we''ll go right now,¡± said Akira walking past him with Varbu following behind him.
***
Back in the cave where the adventures had forced Akira to leave they were surrounded by slimes that they had attracted from all over the cave while they had been moving towards Akira.
An argument had broken out between the members that were fighting off the large numbers.
¡°Why are there so many of them?¡±
¡°Why has there not been a single coin drop from these damn Lava Slimes!¡±
¡°Are you the one stealing the coins? They were dropping every time that guy killed one.¡±
¡°If you''re stealing all the coins I''ll kill you after we finish with these monsters!¡±
¡°How do I know you''re not just trying to say that to keep the blame away from you?¡±
It seemed the conflict between the members would not end well.
Chapter 57: Second floor
Akira stepped into a hallway that had numerous passages branching off in every direction.
¡°Which path should we take?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Let''s just pick the one in front of us and keep going straight until we either run into a dead end or find the stairs to the next floor,¡± suggested Varbu.
After making sure their equipment was still in good shape they walked into the passageway that was right in front of them.
Fwoosh!
They had only taken one step forward into the hallway before multiple fireballs stronger than the ones spat out by the [lava slime] came flying towards them.
Scanning the dimly lit area Akira found a mass of fire creatures that had just revealed themselves. The mini-map was showing a large cluster of red dots to many to count. [Lesser firemen lvl 24].
¡°Whoa! Where did these guys come from?!¡± asked Varbu who had been surprised by their sudden appearance.
The [Lesser firemen] continued to throw fireballs at Akira and Varbu only allowing them to block and dodge the attacks and not giving them a chance to move forward.
¡°It looks like they don''t want us to use this path. Let''s try a different path,¡± said Akira as he slowly walked backward while blocking multiple fireballs with his shield.
The same thing continued to happen for the next 10 passages large numbers of [Lesser firemen] blocked their path with far too many to allow them to successfully push through.
There was only one path that they had not tried yet and It was going in the direct opposite direction of the first path they had chosen. Stepping into the passageway they waited for the attack to come but there was nothing blocking their path nor were there any of the fast-flying fireballs.
¡°I guess this is the path they want us to take. All the more reason to be cautious,¡± said Akira walking ahead first with his shield held in front of him.
The path led them in the same direction as the entrance of the cave one floor above them. They continued to walk for numerous minutes before they reached a corner in the path.
Akira quietly looked over to Varbu to see if he was ready and saw him give a quick nod of his head signaling he was ready.
The two charged around the right corner into the new passageway and were met with four surprised lesser firemen who on instinct sent fireballs flying towards Akira who was the closest to them, as they moved back a few steps trying to widen the distance between the two groups.
The fireballs exploded harmlessly against his shield only raising the already hot temperature even higher.
Using the skill [Sword Slash] Akira sent out a blue light that sliced through two of the [Lesser Firemen] killing one and damaging the other.
¡°Their defense doesn''t seem to be that strong,¡± commented Varbu as he charged forward to attack one of them.
Unexpectedly the two that had been undamaged jumped back while the third that was wounded jumped towards Varbu and latched himself to Varbu''s leg. Before Akira or Varbu could do anything about it a large explosion erupted from the [Lesser fireman] as it self destructed creating a small explosion around Varbu''s leg.
¡°Are you Okay?¡± asked Akira as he ran forward and sent another [Sword slash] to kill the last two [Lesser firemen] making sure to kill them in one attack not allowing them to attach onto him or Varbu and self-destruct.
¡°Yeah, I''m alive,¡± said Varbu gritting his teeth and enduring the pain from the burns all over his lower body. He wanted to swear but held it back.
Akira hurried over to Varbu and looked at his leg to see that it was still intact but had been badly burnt.
He reached into his small bag and pulled out one of the cheapest health potions he had and poured it over Varbu''s burn leg. The skin immediately began to change as it healed. The black burnt skin began to fall off revealing fresh skin that was smooth and deep red.
¡°You sure do have high vitality to only receive burns instead of losing a leg. That explosion was no joke,¡± commented Akira after standing back up.
¡°It''s because I''m a Blood orc,¡± Varbu mumbled after letting out a few curse words as Akira helped him stand back up.
Akira watched as Varbu tested his leg and found it was now once again back in working condition.
¡°Well, looking at bright side of things at least we now know about their suicidal tendencies. Luckily it was only one of them and we didn''t make the mistake of trying to push through the large groups of them earlier. That would have been a massive mistake.¡±
Varbu grunted in agreement as they again started to walk down the long passageway.
The path they had been forced to take was long and winding. Every-time there was a turn it was a turn to the right, and at every turn, there were three to five [Lesser firemen] waiting to fight them.
Akira and Varbu had learned from the first attack to not get close to any of the firemen who were damaged and focused on killing them in one attack. Or at least killing them before they were able to get close enough to attach themselves to either of them. Throughout the fighting, they both received various minor burns from the attacks.
The passages were now getting shorter and shorter as they continued moving forward, causing them to continuously fight firemen that were waiting for them around the corner.
The blue light of a [Sword Slash] flew forward killing the last of the [Lesser firemen] that had been blocking their way forward. Only a short distance away from where they had killed the last [Lesser firemen] stood a large stone door with the image of what looked like a [Rockman golem] carved into each of the doors.
¡°I''m going to take a wild guess and say that something like the golem we had to fight in the burning forest is waiting inside for us,¡± said Akira remembering the golem they had killed some days ago.
¡°If we don''t kill it we won''t be able to move on from this point and all the fighting we have done so far will be pointless,¡± said Varbu.
¡°You think we can beat it by ourselves?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Might need Nox to help out,¡± said Varbu with a shrug.
Akira used the skill to summon Nox who jumped out of Akira''s shadow and looked around curiously.
¡°Let''s take a quick break to be fully prepared for the fight,¡± suggested Akira as he sat down and drank a large gulp of water from his water skin.
Akira opened the stat window to check his lvl and saw it was lvl 23: 95%, almost lvl 24.
''What is it this time? You don''t seem to be in any danger so why did you summon me?'' asked Nox.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
¡°It''s not like I only summon you when we''re in danger. There is most likely a large monster blocking our way so we need to pool our full strength to defeat it,¡± answered Akira.
¡°We already fought something like it before but we had the help of numerous people,¡± said Varbu.
''Why is it that you two always like to cause me such headaches,'' complained Nox.
After ten minutes of resting the three as one pushed the stone doors open and walked into a large open and bright room.
Boom!
The large stone doors automatically shut behind them. There were no handles to open the doors from this side. The door was completely smooth and looked like part of the wall.
¡°Guess we can''t go back even if we wanted to,¡± said Akira turning around to inspect the room.
¡°Good then that means I can go all out,¡± said Varbu while doing a few quick stretches to warm up.
The room was even warmer than the hallway due to two rivers of lava running along the edges of the room which was the source of the bright light.
In the middle of the room was a large pile of small boulders and rocks. Above it, Akira could see its name and level. [Rockman golem lvl 25].
Ding!
Quest Updated!
Defeat the Second floor Guardian:
The Rockman golem is blocking your path to the third floor defeat him and his minions in order to go to the next floor.
Difficulty: D+
Reward: Unknown
Will you accept?
Yes / No
|
Akira quickly accepted the quest.
¡°Be careful of the golem ahead of us even though it looks smaller it could be even stronger than the one we fought in the forest. There might be some lesser firemen hiding so don''t let your guard down,¡± said Akira.
Without another word, a black light covered Akira''s body as he began the transformation into a werewolf. Within mere seconds his body grew taller his muscles exploded doubling in size. His teeth became sharp daggers and his hands turned into deadly claws. Dark black fur covered his entire body. The dark light covering his body disappeared after he was completely transformed.
¡°Let''s take care of this hindrance,¡± said Akira in his gravelly voice.
¡°Let''s do it!¡± said Varbu getting pumped up.
The group of three walked forward but after only a few steps they were stopped by numerous Firemen that jumped out of the lava river and ran towards them to block them from reaching the [Rockman golem].
¡°Nox be careful these guys will latch onto you and explode if they take any damage,¡± warned Akira.
''How detestable,'' said Nox.
¡°They have no honor,¡± said Varbu.
¡°They''re monsters what do you expect?¡± asked Akira.
Akira sent a [Sword slash] towards a group of [Lesser firemen] killing many of them with one attack.
With the help of Nox, Varbu smashed any of the [Lesser firemen] that got in their way as they moved forward.
More and more appeared as they moved forward closer to the Rockman golem.
When they were 30 feet away the last batch of [Lesser firemen] appeared and after killing them there was nothing left to block their way forward.
When they came within twenty feet of the [Rockman golem] the rocks and boulders shot up into the air transforming into a large humanoid form.
The large stone head stared at the three small-fry''s in front of it and let out a loud roar the reverberated throughout the room and echoed through all of the second floor.
¡°Let me attack first to keep his attention focused on me. Nox you help deal damage so Varbu can breakthrough the boulders protecting its core. Varbu you know what to do. When the core is exposed everyone focus your attacks on it,¡± ordered Akira.
Akira used his skill [Cross attack] sending it towards the [Rockman golem]. The blue X slammed into its chest where the core of the golem was protected. The only damage that appeared were small cracks that created an X.
Roaring with anger the [Rockman golem] turned its attention to Akira and stepped towards him.
Akira used his skill [Pounce] to close the distance between them slamming into the large golem''s legs while landing a few weak attacks on them.
Before the slow golem could attack him, he escaped through the opening between its legs and attacked it from behind causing it even more anger. It slowly turned around and took a swiped at Akira with its large fist slamming into the ground near him creating a large hole.
With Akira keeping the attention and anger focused on him the golems back was now wide open allowing Varbu and Nox to attack freely.
Varbu took a running jump before slamming his quarterstaff into the back of the golem creating a small crack.
Nox nimbly climbed up the back of the golem and tried to dig into the golem''s back removing rocks.
The golem feeling pain in its back reached a large fist back to grab at Nox to try and tear him off of his back.
A large blue X slammed into his rocky face causing numerous small rocks to fall off. With a roar of anger, both fists stopped their movement and were sent towards Akira trying to smash him between them.
Varbu and Nox continued their attacks on its back causing large rocks and small boulders to fall to the ground creating uneven footing near the golem making it harder to move around.
Their teamwork was even better than the last time they fought together.
Bam!
Akira was slow in dodging one of the rock fists that was sent his way. It slammed into his shield and sent him flying backward.
The golem seeing him fly away lost interest in him. It grabbed for and successfully captured Nox who was on his back. With an angry roar, the [Rockman golem] flung Nox away from its body in the opposite direction of Akira.
His attention turned to Varbu who had been standing behind him and was now backing away to create some distance between the [Rockman golem].
Akira struggled to his feet and when he saw the golem''s back was close to exposing its core sent a [Cross attack] aimed at the last bit of rock covering it removing the last bit of defense.
¡°Its core is exposed!¡± shouted Akira in his gravelly voice.
The golem feeling threatened by the attack Akira had used turned around and charged towards Akira, who had sent another cross attack hoping to destroy the core.
The blue X slammed into its chest causing it to steps to falter allowing Varbu and Nox a chance to deal the final killing blow.
With a last roar of indignation, the core broke into many fragments causing the boulders and rocks to fall into a motionless heap on the ground.
¡°Pheeeew, that was harder than I was expecting,¡± said Varbu wiping away the sweat that was covering his face and neck.
Akira sat down and let out a few curses while rubbing his chest.
¡°That thing''s fist freaking hurt,¡± said Akira. He had blocked the fist with the shield which had saved his life but the shield had slammed into his chest when he was knocked back.
Ding!
Quest Complete!
Level up!
Level up!
You are now lvl 25!
+3 to Toughness
Hidden stat on Dashing blue cape unlocked:
+2 charm
|
Nox has lvl up!
Nox has lvl up!
Nox has lvl up!
Nox''s has reached Lvl 15
|
Son of the Night class has been upgraded from [Rank F] Beginner to [Rank E] Beginner!
-(10%) buff at night and in darkness
-Max amount of time able to stay transformed has been raised to 4 hours.
|
New class skills have been learned!
-Shadow chains: chains shoot out from underneath enemy, the chains have heads of wolfs that bite down onto the enemy holding them in place and does a small D.O.T.
Can not use physical attacks to break the chain. Results may vary depending on the enemy''s strength and size.
-Howl: When used on an enemy the same lvl and size or lower/smaller, will make enemy feared and cower for 5 seconds. Bigger and higher leveled enemies will only be stopped for 1 second and is able to interrupt them from launching a skill attack.
Howl is able to clear negative buffs from allies and clear their minds while boosting their resistance to such negative effects for a short time.
|
Chapter 58: Hidden forge
Akira added the new bonus points to his stats and looked at his stat window for a short time.
Character Name
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Akira
|
Race
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Werewolf
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Fame
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70
|
Level
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25: 1.96%
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Profession
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Son Of The Night
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Title
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Lady Killer
|
Health
|
850
|
Mana
|
350
|
Strength
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98(+10)
|
Vitality
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85
|
Stamina
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62
|
Agility
|
35
|
Intelligence
|
33
|
Wisdom
|
35
|
Dexterity
|
10
|
|
|
Honor
|
4
|
Charm
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5
|
Endurance
|
18
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Toughness
|
23
|
Attack
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35-42
|
Defense
|
75
|
+ 10% Buff to Stamina and strength at night and dark places.
+ 10% Lesser poison resistance
+ 25% Fire resistance
|
Akira''s attention moved from the stat window to the new skills he had just learned. He read and reread the information on the skills multiple times trying to absorb everything.
These skills were so cool! By the look of them, they were not meant to do much damage they were more useful for supporting allies. He wanted to use the skills immediately but there was no enemy to fight.
Growl!
Akira''s stomach let out a loud noise letting it be known that it wanted food. He rummaged inside his bag and pulled out a handful of the snacks he had taken from the banquet and began to wolf it down.
Varbu seeing Akira acting weird again just shook his head while watching Akira stuff his face with junk food from who knows where while crumbs and other bits of the snacks were getting stuck in his fur making it a mess.
Akira''s face, when transformed, was a fierce sight to behold that would make many humans scream in fright. But right now it looked more comical than fierce with all the crumbs all sticky residue covering his chin, mouth, and fur all over his face.
¡°Ah! I feel better,¡± said Akira after taking a drink of water while rubbing his now quiet stomach.
''Why was I paired with an idiot?'' asked Nox mournfully.
Akira stood up ignoring Nox''s complaining and walked over to the pile of rubble that used to be the [Rockman golem]. He could not see any coins around the rocks so he took a wild guess that they were under the rocks.
¡°Nox come help me search for anything unusual under all these rocks,¡± ordered Akira.
Nox grumbled as he walked over and began helping Akira sift through the large pile of large and small rocks collecting items that had been dropped by the large golem.
After gathering all the coins and dropped items they could find Akira reverted back into his human form to save energy.
The sticky gunk and crumbs that had been stuck to his fur was now on his skin. When Akira noticed this used some water to quickly wash his face.
When Akira finished counting all the coins he had gathered from both the first and second floor he was happy to see that he had made nearly three gold in one day.
The items that had been dropped by the [Rockman golem] other than the silver coins, were two sealed scrolls.
Akira didn''t have time to look at them right now as Varbu was getting antsy from waiting on him wanting to move to the next floor.
¡°I''m ready to move to the next floor,¡± said Akira after putting away his coins and the two sealed scrolls.
Varbu nodded and walked over to the dark hole leading to the third floor descending before Akira could say another word.
The path to the third floor was not a set of stairs but a cramped shaft with a stone ladder carved into the wall.
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Upon seeing this, Akira for the first time wondered how these dungeons were made? Who made them, and for what purpose?
The distance they had to climb down felt longer than the stairs had been. The heat rose a few degrees as they continued to descend.
After what seemed to be numerous hours but was really less than an hour they reached the bottom of the stone ladder with a blasting heat radiating from the third floor.
Akira looked around and was able to see the air shimmering from the heat. He was stunned to see that the third floor was far different from the first two. It was a huge wide open plane with a high ceiling and hundreds of big and small lava rivers that created both an enormous amount of heat and bright light.
Looking around he could not see any monsters walking around on the barren land that was not covered by the lava rivers. The third floor was to quite and its emptiness felt wrong.
¡°Where should we go?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Dunno, Nox can you detect anything on this floor?¡± asked Akira.
''Nothing,'' said Nox shaking his head.
¡°I guess we will have to do it the hard way and manually search every part of this floor to find the entrance to the next floor. Who knows if there is even a next floor,¡± said Akira.
The three of them set out to search every part of the third floor.
A short time later while walking close to one of the lava rivers Akira felt a sudden rise in the already hot temperature.
He instinctively jumped away from the direction the heat was coming from and watched as three fireballs passed through the air where he had been standing seconds before.
Turning to see what had attacked him he saw what looked like fish swimming in the lava river. [Lava fish Lvl 25].
¡°So that''s where all the monsters were hiding,¡± said Varbu.
When they moved away from the river the lava fish stopped attacking them.
¡°Let''s take a break I need to eat something,¡± said Akira.
¡°Again? You just ate a few hours ago,¡± said Varbu.
¡°This heat is making me hungry.¡±
Varbu didn''t say anything more because he was also hungry as well but had been trying to ignoring it for some time.
This time Akira didn''t eat like he was going to die and slowly ate some food and drank water to wash it down replacing the lost moisture due to the high heat.
With the rising heat, it was getting uncomfortable to wear his armor.
Now that he had some free time while they rested he pulled out the two scrolls that he had found on the second floor and broke the seals on both of the scrolls.
Ding!
Obtained New Blacksmith Blueprints!
Add them to collection?
Yes / No
|
Akira silently accepted and two new windows opened.
Chainmail Gloves (Uncommon):
Requires Beginner Blacksmithing Lvl 7.
|
Chest armor blueprint (Uncommon):
Intermediate blacksmithing needed to create this item.
|
Ding!
New quest! Create chainmail Gloves part 1:
Find random scattered ''Lavium'' and mine it until you have more than 40 pieces to use in leveling up the blacksmithing skill.
Use the Third floors Hidden Forge to create items.
|
A blinking green dot appeared on Akira''s minimap in a far away area they had not searched yet.
¡°I think I just got an idea where to go!¡± said Akira.
¡°Where?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°That way,¡± said Akira pointing in the direction of the blinking green dot.
While walking towards the green dot they made sure to stay away from the lava rivers so that they would not have to fight with the lava fish.
Akira stopped before a pile of rocks that seemed to have been melted together. This shiny metallic rock was the common ore Lavium that he had been looking for.
A pickax appeared in Akira''s hand replacing his shield and sword.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Varbu puzzled at Akira who was not mining the ore in front of him.
¡°Need this ore for later. If I get enough I can try to make some better weapons for you also,¡± replied Akira between swings of the pickaxe.
Varbu scratched his head, he wanted to finish the dungeon and be done with it but he also didn''t mind getting a stronger weapon to use. In the end, he didn''t say anything anymore each time Akira stopped to mine any ore they found.
Around the 26th time they had stopped, Akira was staring at a small gathering of deep blood red ore that looked different from the common Lavium it was a rare ore know as Hottor.
There was only one problem, it was too close to the lava river.
¡°We can''t get that without the lava fish attacking,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Here use this,¡± said Akira handing Varbu his shield.
¡°What am I supposed to do with this?¡± asked Varbu who nearly dropped the shield.
¡°Use it to block the attacks aimed at me.¡±
¡°I swear something''s wrong with your brain.¡±
''I''ve been saying that the whole time,'' said Nox who was now lazily lying on the ground watching Akira mine the rare ore while Varbu held the shield and ran around trying to block all the attacks by the lava fish.
I took them another hour before Akira had mined more than enough Lavium ore to fulfill the requirements of the quest.
In the distance, they were able to see a large building with open walls ahead of them.
¡°What''s something like that doing in a dungeon? Is this normal?¡± Varbu asked Akira since this was his first time in an active dungeon.
¡°All the other dungeons I have been in were small compared to this one so I don''t know if its normal for bigger ones to have stuff like this. Either way, it is odd. This whole dungeon has been different than all the other ones I have been in.¡±
Akira was in a happy mood due to having leveled up his mining skill to Lvl 5 along with receiving a few points in his dexterity stat. The higher level and dexterity would allow him to mine better ore more easily.
¡°Looks like it''s a forge. Guess I will be able to work on your new weapon sooner then I thought¡± said Akira as they walked into the large building.
¡°We''re going to stop here?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Yeah, might be for multiple hours so might as well get comfortable,¡± said Akira.
Varbu sighed and sat down onto the hard ground with a large rock to support his back. Nox picked a nearby spot and also soundlessly flopped down onto the ground.
Akira worked tirelessly for multiple hours practicing his skills on creating prototypes of weapons and armor he had ideas for. Almost all were failures but they still allowed him to slowly level up his blacksmithing skill bit by bit.
Ding!
Blacksmith has leveled up to Beginner lvl 7.
Dex +2
|
Quest updated! Create chainmail Gloves part 2:
Using the Third floors Hidden Forge successfully use the Chainmail Gloves blueprint to create a pair of Chainmail gloves that is ranked uncommon or higher.
|
Akira decided to take a short break. He gathered all his failed projects and put them into his bag before walking over to Varbu and Nox.
¡°Done yet?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°No just taking a short break before I start on the real things,¡± said Akira wiping the sweat from his face and drinking a large amount of water while replenishing his energy with food from his bag.
¡°Aren''t you worried that the other adventures will catch up to us?¡±
¡°No. They seemed like the type that would run into that mass of lesser firemen and pick a fight with them. I doubt that we''ll see anyone for a long time.¡±
After a short respite, he was back at the forge smelting ore and then back at the anvil quickly hammering out multiple long wires and then reheating them and creating springs that would be cut for the countless small rings needed for the riveted chain mail.
When he had finished cutting all the rings out he began the tedious job of connecting all the rings together hammering them shut with a pin creating a 4-1 pattern that was shown in the blueprint.
With his increased dexterity and the blueprint guiding him he was able to do such a task far quicker than a normal craftsman.
Several hours passed before Akira came to a halt.
Ding!
Chainmail Gloves (uncommon):
Defense:5 Durability: 50/50
|
He had created two pairs of gloves. With the first pair, he had rushed through the entire process and it showed with its many flaws which left it at the rank of common, and that rating was being far to nice.
On his second try, he was successfully able to create an uncommon pair of gloves.
He had also made a few quick modifications to Varbu''s Quarterstaff before putting down his hammer. Now the top portion of the quarterstaff was encased in metal and had a few crude protruding bumpy spikes to cause extra damage.
Akira equipped his new armor and brought the modified Quarterstaff over to Varbu.
¡°This should suit you better until I can make you something that won''t break. It should be more durable so you''ll be able to use it longer and with more power.¡±
Varbu grabbed the quarterstaff and began swinging it around testing it out.
¡°It''s a bit heavier than before but I like,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Give me a few minutes to rest and we can continue our search for the entrance to the next floor,¡± said Akira sitting down.
Chapter 59: Unexpected end
Akira, Varbu, and Nox were able to easily clear the next floor without much trouble.
Varbu was using his upgraded weapon with great success clobbering everything into mush.
Everything was going smoothly so they proceeded to the 5th floor.
The sweltering heat of the fifth floor made it hard to breathe for both Akira and Varbu and had no effect on Nox.
The sweat on Akira''s head and all over his body immediately evaporated as fast as it came out.
If he stayed down here for too long he would get dehydrated far too quickly. He chugged some water before checking the surroundings.
Judging from the number of passages this floor looked like it was going to be another maze. He could see no monsters in the current path in front of them. Nor could he hear anything moving or making any sounds.
The three of them cautiously walked away from the stairs and into the maze.
Ding!
Quest update!
Difficulty changed to Rank S.
|
Thud!
Something heavy fell to the ground behind them.
Akira looked to see what it was and saw a large knight with black full-plate armor covering its entire body. The only thing other than armor that could be seen were two yellow fireballs glowing in its helmet glaring at Akira.
It was now blocking the stairwell entrance with its large body. It stood like a statue while silently staring back at Akira.
[Fire spirit Knight Lvl ???]
This was the first time Akira was unable to see an enemy''s level and he was unsure what it meant.
¡°My gut is telling me that thing is dangerous. Let''s not fight it and find a way out of this floor,¡± said Varbu.
Both Varbu and Nox readily agreed.
¡°Well that''s a shock even Nox the hot head is agreeing to escape,¡± said Akira.
Nox ignored Akira''s words.
They ran further into the maze to get away from the large knight. As soon as they began to move they could hear loud thuds and metallic clangs as the knight tried to follow them. But it was far too heavy making it slower and was left behind.
After many twists and turns, they came upon another stairwell that was leading up. The three of them looked at each other before running towards the stairwell.
Thud!
A large [Fire spirit Knight] dropped from a ledge above the stairwell and fell right in front blocking the way forward.
They were forced to retreat and continued to run through the maze now with two dangerous [Fire spirit Knights] slowly following them.
This happened two more times making a total of four knights chasing after them from each direction slowly boxing them in.
¡°Were stuck. If we don''t don''t find a place and fight one of them and break through the noose they have created we''ll die,¡± said Akira.
¡°Let''s try and beat the closest one. It should give us enough time to try and handle it alone while the others slowly get here,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Good idea, we''ll do that.¡±
They turned around and ran back towards the Knight they had just escaped from just a few minutes ago.
The slow [Fire spirit Knight] appeared before them as they rounded a corner.
Akira quickly sent a [Cross attack] towards the Knight to initiate their attack. When the blue X slammed into the [Fire spirit Knight] and disappeared there was no visible mark left on the metallic armor.
Seeing this Varbu let out numerous curses. It would be harder to crack this nut than anything they had faced before.
¡°Looks like we''ll need your strength to bash it into metal scraps. I''ll try to block its attacks you just focus on damaging it,¡± said Akira quickly transforming into his werewolf form which was far stronger, sturdier, and agile than his normal human body.
The three of them ran forward each fulfilling their duties assigned to them.
When Akira came into contact with the [Fire spirit Knight] he was able to dodge and block most of the attacks.
He even had time to send a few attacks towards the [Fire spirit Knight].
Clang! Snap!
Akira looked at his sword with an unexpected pain in his heart. The [Fire spirit Knight] had used its own sword and clashed it Akira''s snapping his old sword into little fragments that flew everywhere.
With his sword now destroyed he was forced to stay on the defense. As the minutes passed the attacks from the [Fire spirit Knight] became faster and started to hit even harder.
More and more of the attacks were to fast to be able to be dodged and required him to use his shield to block them.
Varbu and Nox were not in any great position either their attacks were doing little to no damage at all. If it was they couldn''t tell.
The [Fire spirit Knight] launched an extremely fast and deadly attack with its fist burning bright with fire as it shot out towards Akira and Varbu who had stepped behind him to allow him to block the dangerous looking attack.
Sensing the danger of the attack Nox jumped in front of them taking almost all of the damage.
His body disappearing into thin air as he was unsummoned due to a large amount of damage he had just received.
This was the first time Akira had seen Nox being unsummoned due to battle and he felt another sharp pain in his heart.
The fist which had its speed lessened slammed into Akira''s shield flinging both him and Varbu through a stone wall behind them.
Gasping for breath through the pain he felt in his chest Akira tried to quickly stand up and get his bearings.
Looking around they were now in a small room that had been blocked off by the wall. On the far side of the room, there was a stairwell leading up with no [Fire spirit Knight] guarding it.
The sound of the [Fire spirit Knight] attacking the wall that they crashed through brought him out of his pain and muddled thoughts.
It was trying to push its way into the small room through the small hole in the wall created by Akira and Varbu''s bodies.
Akira looked over at Varbu who had taken the full force of the crash into the wall. As expected he was a study person so there were no broken bones but Akira could see blood dripping onto the ground showing that Varbu had been hurt.
Akira helped him stand up and together the two helped each other limp towards the stairs to escape this hellhole.
When they had reached the stairs and began to climb, the sound of the [Fire spirit Knight] smashing its fist into the wall stopped as if it had given up.
Not wanting to test their luck they continued to struggle up the stairs through the pain until they could no longer ignore their wounds and stopped to do a quick first aid.
They rested only for a few minutes to drink some water to replenish the water that had poured out of them while running and fighting.
Akira took a quick look at the messages he had been unable to read while fighting and running.
Heavy Armor Mastery level up! (Beginner Lv: 5 | 25%)
Shield mastery level up! (Beginner lvl 8 | 32.00%)
Toughness +5
|
It took them over an hour and a half to reach the top of the stairs that was blocked by a stone wall. On the nearby wall, a metallic lever could be seen. Akira guessed it was used to open the stone wall in front of them.
Varbu grabbed onto the switch with Akira and pulled down on it with all their strength. The rusty lever didn''t want to move for a few seconds but after it let out a cry of protest it slowly began to move.
Akira made sure that he was back in his human form before exiting the stairway into the familiar medium-sized room the was right at the entrance of the dungeon.
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The stone door slammed back into place after they exited the stairwell making the wall look like it was pure stone with no cracks to be found.
Walking out of the dungeon they were assaulted by the sudden change in temperature. For almost a full day they had been fighting in sweltering heat and now the cold night wind played with their faces as it gently blew past them causing them to shiver. All thoughts of the extreme heat of the dungeon left their minds.
There were a few tents set up by the adventures near the entrance to dungeon all off to the side of the cramped trail leading up the volcano.
¡°What took you guys so long to exit?¡± asked the self-appointed leader of the group.
¡°We ran into a few troublesome things on the 5th floor,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yeah, whatever. If your going to lie make it more believable. We have been waiting out here after a few deaths on the second floor due to the massed monsters blocking the path. Now that you are here we can go back and report that the first floor was successfully cleared.¡±
***
While walking through the streets of Vania Akira turned to Varbu.
¡°You go and get everything ready to go. I should be back within an hour or two after I inform her of the results to her request,¡± said Akira.
¡°I was beginning to worry that you were planning to stay here longer,¡± said Varbu with a smile.
Akira playfully punched him in the arm and said, ¡°You wish.¡±
***
Ding!
Quest failed.
You have failed to fully clear the dungeon. You have received half of the XP reward due to quest givers generosity.
(Lvl 25: 91%)
|
¡°And that is how it is your majesty. Here is the map I have hand drawn with details on the monsters of each floor up to the 5th floor. Along with the safest paths to use,¡± said Akira ending his report to Jezebel who was lazily slouched on a couch in one of the guest receiving rooms.
¡°This information is very important. I''m glad you were able to gather it. You weren''t hurt were you?¡± asked Jezebel earnestly.
¡°Not much, only a few bangs and bruises,¡± said Akira downplaying the multiple life and death battles he had experienced inside the dungeon.
¡°Will you please stay for a meal?¡± asked Jezebel in a cute voice.
¡°Oh alright, but I can''t stay too long since I have other things to do.¡±
¡°Hmph!¡± said Jezebel not happy with his reply. She called a maid into the room and privately whispered a few orders to her before sending her out the room.
The food arrived shortly after what was brought to the room was everything he had taken a liking to during the recent banquet.
He happily began to eat bits and pieces from all the flavorful food trying to replenish his exhausted store of energy.
Akira was to busy eating to notice Jezebel was not eating anything and was only unhappily playing with the food on her plate.
¡°So what''s your big plan you have that is so important?¡± asked Jezebel in a neutral voice.
¡°I''ll be leaving Vussia for a personal matter. I was going to inform you before we left but didn''t want to sour your mood for the last bit of time we have to spend together,¡± said Akira between bites of food.
Jezebel didn''t say anything else for some time.
¡°Yo... ca...¡± mumbled Jezebel.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira his voice slurred as his tongue went numb.
Ding!
-A heavy dosage of Waking sleep drug has been detected.
-The drug is affecting the host.
-Effects lessened due to lesser poison resistance.
|
''What''s going on,'' Akira tried to say out loud but failed as the words were stuck in his throat.
His body was no longer responding to him. His stared at Jezebel whose face had changed from her normal smile to something frightening to behold.
¡°I said, you can''t go! You must have hit your head while you were in the dungeon and gotten confused but you are going to stay here with me forever!¡± shouted Jezebel with a crazy look in her eyes. ¡°You are mine, no one else can have you!¡±
Akira''s consciousness was slipping the last things he saw before blacking out was Jezebel fiercely stabbing at a large slab of meat on her plate with her sharp knife. She did this over and over again while laughing maniacally causing the grease and juices to fly everywhere.
***
Akira woke up from the effects of the drug to find he was in a dimly lit jail cell with the only light coming through a small slit in the thick metal door.
His head was pounding as if he had drunk too much alcohol the night before. His mind was still a little hazy and sluggish but he could still slowly piece together the events that happened.
He had no idea what time it was nor how many hours had passed, or was it days?
Just because he could piece everything together did not make it so he understood why it had happened.
Jezebel, such a shy and kind girl, had acted like what he imagined a psychotic killer to be like. She was completely different from his childhood friend.
He knew people could change but he thought this was too far of a stretch something had to be really wrong with her to result in what he had seen.
A few unread messages caught his eye he quickly read them.
Exotic cookinglevel up! (Beginner Lv: 6 | 40%)
Lesser poison resistance +5%
|
Akira felt a panic after realizing he was not wearing his armor nor did he have his shield or sword.
After a brief search, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw his weightless small bag still with him and remembered he had stored everything inside before meeting with the queen.
To the guards who had placed him into the cell, the bag was empty so there was no point of them removing it.
A small slot at the bottom of the metal door was opened and a wooden tray was pushed into the room containing a bland looking soup, hard black bread, and a glass of water. The slot closed again and a click was heard as a lock was put into place.
Akira could barely reach the tray because of the chain attached to his arm was holding him back.
A thought dawned on him that the food might be drugged again so placed it into a container he had in his bag and ate some of the snacks he had previously taken from the banquet.
With some food and fresh water in him, he was feeling better.
After an unknown amount of time, the numerous locks of the metal door started to unlock. The door swung open letting the bright light shine into the room blinding Akira.
When his eyes adjusted he could see the person standing in the doorway was Jezebel holding a lamp with the magical green fire inside.
¡°Good you''re awake!¡± said Jezebel walking towards Akira. She looked at the empty bowl and glass and a smile appeared on her face.
¡°Guards strip him!¡± said Jezebel.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Akira. Trying to stop the guards from undressing him.
The guards used scissors to cut off his clothes that he had only paid a few silver for.
¡°You can leave now,¡± said Jezebel.
Jezebel walked up right next to him and whispered seductively, ¡°Let''s make a baby.¡±
¡°What''s wrong with you? You''re not acting like the person I know,¡± said Akira deeply disturbed by her words.
She ignored him and tried to make her move but Akira who had regained his strength stiff-armed her with his free arm pushing against her head not allowing her to get any closer.
Jezebel grew angry and grabbed onto his arm and bit it leaving behind bite marks and drawing blood.
¡°Ah!!¡± Akira cried out but still held her back.
¡°Why are you resisting me!¡± Jezebel angrily shouted.
¡°Have you lost your mind! No sane person would be doing something like this!¡± Akira shouted back just as angry.
Jezebel had an angry but troubled look on her face she could tell she was not going to be able to get what she wanted right now so she angrily kicked Akira in the shin and stormed out of the cell.
Slamming the door shut behind her.
He could just barely hear her say something about increasing the dosage.
Ding!
New title received!
One who attracts crazy killer women:
It seems there''s something about you that attracts all the crazy ladies.
+5 fame
|
Nothing else interesting happened for a long time. He could only measure the time by the irregular meals that he was given.
After two more meals had been pushed into the cell he guessed a full day had passed since he had been awake.
He was about to test his theory and see if he could transform and break out when he heard the sound of battle in the hallways not far from his cell door.
Crack!
¡°Ah!...¡± the cries of the wounded guard were cut short as the sound of a body was flung into the wall near the metal door.
¡°Akira are you in there,¡± a familiar voice asked through the metal door.
¡°Yes!¡±
Bam!Bam! Bam!
With three hits to the hinges on the door, Varbu was able to knock it onto the ground.
¡°What''s up?¡± asked the naked Akira.
Upon seeing Akira naked and chained to the wall the first words that came out of Varbu''s mouth were, ¡°How unmanly.¡±
¡°I was drugged!¡± Akira tried to defend his current nakedness.
¡°How did you know where to find me?¡± he asked trying change the subject.
¡°Not now, we can talk later. Why are you still chained to the wall? It''s night already, so hurry up and transform so we can leave and so I don''t have to look at you naked.¡± said Varbu.
Akira did as Varbu suggested transforming into his larger muscular black-furred werewolf form and was able to easily snap the chain restraining him.
¡°I tried to get here as quietly as I could but unfortunately there is no place to hide in the prison hallways. I''m sure that the other guards were alerted by the fight just now we might have to fight our way out.¡±
¡°Let them try stopping me,¡± snarled Akira in his gravelly voice.
***
Bam!
The door to the library where Jezebel was quietly reading slammed open.
¡°Your majesty! A werewolf and an Orc were sighted killing guards near the prison cells! They escaped before reinforcements could contain them!¡± a bloody knight shouted his message, winded from running so quickly to report the news.
Bam!
The door slammed open again as another knight ran in.
¡°Your majesty! Your prisoner Akira has escaped while we were fighting the werewolf and Orc!¡±
Hearing this Jezebel flew into an uncontrollable rage throwing books everywhere and knocking the bookshelves over killing the guard who had reported about Akira''s escape.
Ding!
Innate skill unlock: 100%
Innate skill Majestic decree (Sub skill of bewitching eyes) unlocked!
|
Jezebel was unable to see the message window but she immediately became aware of the skills existence. She knew exactly how to use it as if it had been a part of her for her entire life.
Using the skill a red light shot out of her eyes and into the eyes of the kneeling knight in front of her.
¡°Go bring back Akira don''t stop until you have captured him!¡± she ordered. The red light stopped after she finished speaking. She felt as if she had just run for many miles.
The guard stood up and gave her a salute staring at the queen with his now deep red eyes, his voice came out in a monotone, ¡°As you command your majesty!¡±
The knight walked out of the room as if he were a simple machine.
Jezebel bit on her nail thinking hard about the newfound skill she needed to get better at using it so that when Akira was caught he could not refuse her demands.
¡°I''ll kill them! I''ll kill anyone who steals my possessions!¡± said Jezebel as she bit onto her handkerchief in anger while holding both ends and pulling on it.
Chapter 60: On the run!
The night air was still warm from the days scorching desert sun.
Bang! Clang!
¡°Ahhh!!¡±
¡°Protect the chief!¡± shouted a burly warrior with two furry cat ears on top of his head and a tail to match.
¡°Don''t worry about me protect my daughters! You damn bandits why are you doing this?¡± shouted the village chieftain as he fought two bandits at once.
Many burning fires lit up the night as the small nomadic Nyaantails village was set aflame from the surprise attack.
The large group of mercenaries employed by the medium-sized bandit group did not speak and just continued to fight silently.
¡°Maya, take your sister and the other children with you and escape. You''re to keep your sister and the others safe,¡± shouted village chief while exchanging blows with the bandits.
¡°Yes father!¡± said Maya who was the eldest of the chiefs two daughters and was also the most skilled in fighting.
Maya gathered the small number of crying children near the center of the village.
¡°Stop crying we need to leave now!¡± said Maya as she began to herd the small group out of the village through a small exit in the back.
The sound of fighting could still be heard miles away as they traveled along the sand dunes.
After a long hour of half running and half walking they reached an oasis and took a rest near it while drinking.
¡°When will we be able to go back?¡± asked a young boy his ears and tail drooping due to sadness.
¡°Don''t worry father and the warriors will be able to defeat them and they will come to get us later,¡± said Maya. Her ears kept twitching in agitation and nervousness.
¡°I''m cold,¡± complained a young girl.
¡°Your old enough to do a partial transformation your fur should be enough to keep you warm,¡± said one of the older kids.
¡°My furs not as thick as yours yet!¡± complained the young girl.
¡°Stop arguing, all of you can rest while I keep watch,¡± said Maya.
The hours past with no sound reaching them. As the night grew longer it became harder for Maya to stay awake.
Half asleep she kept watch over the children and her younger sister.
The sudden sound of moving feet and shifting sand caused her hears to twitch.
Waking up from her drowsiness she sniffed the air to detect who it was and where they were coming from.
Her tail stood up in alert after catching the scent of the bandits that had been fighting the warriors at the village.
Maya gripped her wooden bow and with swift practiced actions sent an arrow flying into the darkness. She did not use her eyes to aim in the darkness instead she used the scent of the enemy and the sound they created to pinpoint their location.
¡°Guah!¡± a strange groan of pain was heard as someone was hit by the arrow.
¡°Looks like we were discovered! Did you really think you could get away from us?¡± said a voice coming from some distance behind Maya.
She whirled around and sent arrows flying towards the unknown speaker who only narrowly dodged.
¡°Hahaha! What a nice fighting spirit. With her skill I''m sure we can get a lot by selling her to the game masters in Otria,¡± said another bandit.
¡°You can stop resisting. We have you surrounded there is no one to left to come to rescue you,¡± laughed the first bandit.
Maya sent another arrow towards the man who again dodged it.
¡°Fine have it your way. We''ll do this the hard way,¡± said the bandit captain before giving the order to the multiple bandits surrounding them to capture them.
***
Magic guild headquarters, Freegoldawae.
¡°Why wasn''t this letter given to me sooner?¡± demanded Deve Hobs angrily.
¡°I''m sorry Grandmaster. I was swamped with other reports and I thought it was just the monthly report so I didn''t open it until just now,¡± said the secretary that handled all the incoming and outgoing letters.
¡°Leave now,¡± said Deve Hobs coldly.
When the door to the conference room was shut he looked at the spot on the ground that had been covered with blood many months ago before looking away.
The letter was from one of its branches in the Vussia capital claiming to have seen Akira in the city.
''I''ll have to use the Rune communication formation.'' thought Deve. He did not want to use it because it cost over a thousand gold in magic stones just to activate. It cost even more, to keep it open to have a conversation with the twin formation that was set up in the office of the sub-chief in Vania''s magic guild branch. Like it or not he had to get more details on this.
He walked through the side door of his office and entered a narrow hallway that led to a small room.
Inside the room were two scientists who maintained the rune formation and were always on call to make sure they received any messages sent or to inform the guild master of the need for him to speak with someone important.
It was late at night and the two were sleeping on their cots in the corner of the room.
Deve kicked the cots waking the two up.
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¡°Grandmaster?! What can we help you with?¡±
¡°Hurry up and start the communication formation,¡± ordered Deve.
¡°Which one?¡± asked one of the scientist.
¡°The Vania headquarters.¡±
The two white coat men walked over to a small formation on the wall with a ledge to place magic stones. They quickly filed the ledge with the special gems from a bag on the ground.
The two placed their hands on the formation in front of them and began to chant causing the runes to light up.
A large portion of the gems turned dull as the energy was extracted from them.
The runes stayed lit for a short time but soon went dark.
¡°What''s wrong?¡± asked Deve Hobs.
¡°I...I...The..,¡± stuttered one of the men.
¡°Well? Spit it out, what is it?¡±
¡°The formation will only act this way if its twin has been damaged or destroyed,¡± said the second man hurriedly.
Deve Hobs angrily stormed out of the room. 1000 gold wasted only to find out the communication failed.
He walked to his secretary''s desk and said, ¡°Immediately send out an order for the Giegle riders to go to Vania and get information on where Akira is. If they find him they are to capture him.¡±
¡°Yes, Grandmaster,¡± said the secretary as she quickly wrote down his words on a piece of paper.
***
It had only been a few days ago that the old year passed and a new year arrived.
Akira and Varbu were unable to celebrate because they were still being chased by a small group of fanatic guards that would not stop following them and tried to attack them whenever they caught up.
They had been on the run for many weeks now. The lack of sleep due to the constant danger of being attacked had worn down both of their usual chipper moods causing them to be quick to anger over small things that were not normally a big deal.
While resting for a few minutes to eat Akira tried to improve the mood by asking a question.
¡°I''ve been meaning to ask you something but everything has been so chaotic ever since we escaped from Vania that I forgot about it. How were you able to get into the castle without the guards stopping you?¡±
¡°It was easy. The old man at the inn has some friends on the inside of the castle. So I was able to enter through the servants rear entrance. The three kids wanted to come and help but the old man whacked them over the head and told them to go back to their rooms,¡± replied Varbu.
¡°I don''t know how long we can keep doing this if they keep chasing us. In another week or two if we don''t get new supplies we''ll be in a tight situation when we enter the desert.¡±
¡°Shouldn''t we be nearing the border with Caidia soon?¡±
¡°Yeah, why do you ask?¡±
¡°I''m tired of running once we reach the border lets find a spot to ambush the crazy bastards chasing us,¡± suggested Varbu.
¡°That''s fine with me, let''s do that then,¡± said Akira agreeing with anything that would stop the enemy from chasing them.
The two continued to quickly travel towards the border for several days. Each day they traveled the temperature grew warmer and the cold winter air became a dry heat, and the grassy plains turned into the endless desert sand.
Akira picked an area with multiple medium sized sand dunes that allowed them to hide behind while they waited to launch their surprise attack.
They both hoped they could finish them off all at once so that they didn''t have to worry about pursuers anymore. Before they hid they made sure to erase their tracks in the sand.
Waiting for the enemy to appear allowed them to rest and regain some of their strength. Akira summoned Nox to help them in the upcoming fight.
This was the first time Nox had been summoned since he had been forcefully unsummoned back in the dungeon. He looked healthy enough, but Akira had no time to dwell over past events right now.
They only had to wait a few hours until a group of four heavily armored soldiers appeared near the dunes. They stopped where the tracks ended and were now trying to pick up the trail once again.
Nox was hiding on the right while Varbu was on the left leaving Akira in the middle.
Akira gave a silent hand signal to the other two to get ready as he stood up and walked between two dunes and stopped before a small depression in the ground in front of him.
The four knights searching for a trail stopped their search and turned to stare at Akira as soon as they saw movement. They stood there for several moments just staring at Akira making no movement or sound.
Without saying anything the four knights charged forward with their hands outstretched as if they wanted to give Akira a bear hug.
Akira took a firm stance and used the skill [cross attack] sending a large blue X towards the charging knights.
Either the knights didn''t feel any danger from the unusual attack or they decided to let it hit them believing that their iron armor could take it. The blue X hit two of the knights and was able to easily pierce through the armor severing a leg of one of the knights and the right arm of the second.
The two knights were silent and expressionless even after having a limb severed. They were left behind by the two undamaged knights but still continued to move towards Akira now one with a hop and the other with only one arm stretched out.
Blood was pouring out of their wounds, splashing onto the ground with every step and hop. The dry desert sand soaked it all up quickly.
The two undamaged knights reached Akira and lunged forward trying to grab onto him with their outstretched arms. This was the first time Akira was face to face with his attackers. What struck him as odd was their eyes were almost completely red, Akira had never seen someone with eyes like them before.
Using [Shield bash] Akira was able to knock their outstretched arms away from him and cause them to have a harder time keeping their footing.
Varbu and Nox used this chance to launch their surprise attack while they had the upper hand.
Varbu''s quarterstaff slammed into the chest of the heavily armored knight caving in the armor along with his chest causing the knight to be flung backward while silently coughing out gobs of blood.
The knight''s movement was stopped as he crashed into the knight behind him who was trying to hop forward causing both of them to fall to the ground into a mess each trying to get back up.
Nox latched onto the leg of the knight on the right and tried to bite through the metal but was only able to damage it and cause the knight to lose his footing and fall to the ground. Akira stepped forward and stabbed his sword into the crack between his helmet easily pricing the knight''s throat sending blood spurting everywhere.
Before he could move away to help Varbu the knight latched onto Akira''s leg with both arms trying to keep him there.
Akira hacked at the man''s arms with his sword until the arms went limp. The Knight still sat up and tried to headbutt Akira but received a [shield bash] to the face knocking him back onto the ground.
Nox went to work on attacking the knight letting Akira rush over to Varbu who was dealing with the three mortally wounded and maimed knights who were still trying to move towards Akira.
After several minutes of hacking and bashing, the four knights stopped to moving and were almost unrecognizable as humans due to the damage they received.
¡°What type of people are these crazy guys? They fought as if they only had one thing on their mind. They must have been on some type of drug to ignore the damage they received,¡± said Akira.
¡°This was my first time encountering something like this. Their eyes looked a bit odd to me,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Ughh, let''s find somewhere to rest so we can get some sleep,¡± said Akira exhausted from the fight.
***
The Giegle riders arrived In Vania in nearly half the time it would take to travel by foot or horse.
They had been secretly watching the magic guild''s building to see if there was anything suspicious going on and found that it was strangely empty with no one entering or leaving it. There were multiple patrols of city guards that guarded the building all day.
Sensing something was wrong they started to ask the citizens about the magic guild and were stunned to hear that the magic guild was shut down due to it having angered the queen, causing all of the people who worked in the building to either be killed or imprisoned in the castle''s dungeon.
From the few noblesthey talked to they were able to learn that a person named Akira who fit the description given to them by the grand master, had been in the city but they had not seen him for several weeks to months. It was said that the queen was also searching for Akira sending out multiple soldiers across the entire country to look for him.
After learning all they could they left Vania to continue their search for Akira.
Chapter 61: Lost in a desert
Tibia stood in the dark hallway inside of one of the many secret meeting places.
She had been called along with her mentor to appear before the heads of the secret organization.
She was only a little nervous since this would be her first time meeting any of the leaders.
One of the large black stone doors was pushed opened revealing a dark robed figure with the number 6 on their robe. They walked over to Tibia and started to inspect her while ignoring the existence of Bonestringer who was standing only a few feet away.
When the robed figure was satisfied she finally glanced over to Bonestringer for a second and spoke with a feminine voice.
¡°Give us some room I need to talk to her privately.¡±
A weird expression appeared on Bonestringer''s face from being dismissed so rudely. It only lasted for a moment before he silently left the hallway leaving the two alone.
¡°I''m not going to waste any time so I''ll tell you I''m Number six. You are now my new student. We have called you here to do a quick interview before I start your training,¡± said number Six.
¡°Training for what?¡± asked Tibia her voice muffled by the silk veil she wore over her face.
¡°You''ll find out soon enough, let''s not keep the others waiting,¡± said number six with a laugh while motioning for Tibia to enter the room first.
The meeting room was only slightly brighter than the dark hallway allowing Tibia to see five other human figures all seated around a large black stone table with the logo of the secret organization carved into the middle of it.
Number six left her side and sat down in a chair that was marked with the number six. Tibia counted only six people in the room, not including herself. That left one chair at the table empty.
Her thoughts were interrupted when number one stood up and said, ¡°Tibia you have shown yourself to be a talented and skillful officer completing every mission given to you. We have called you here for this meeting for you to begin your training under number six. You will be replacing the recently deceased head #6. From this moment you are no longer Tibia, you are deputy number 7. If you have any questions now is the time to ask them.¡±
¡°This is a little too sudden for me. What about my mentor Bonestringer? He has been working for the cause for many years.¡± asked deputy number 7.
¡°What about him? He is just one of many members,¡± said Number 2 in a childlike voice.
¡°Don''t worry about him. Right now you need to worry about not disappointing us and focus on your training with number six. That goes for you too number six no messing around,¡± said number 3 seriously.
¡°You still got that stick up your butt?¡± asked number six whose anger was triggered.
¡°Knock it off you two. Deputy number 7 you will be traveling with number 6 until your training is complete. If you have no other questions then go wait for number six outside and send Bonestringer in,¡± said number 1.
Deputy number 7 left the room with the eyes of all six heads of the organization watching her back.
¡°I think she will do well,¡± said number 5 emotionlessly after the door closed.
¡°Don''t worry I can handle this,¡± said number 6 sending an angry glare at number 3.
¡°We need to talk later about the missing ring on our agent that was killed in Vania. If someone that is not part of the organization has it and uses it they could cause trouble for us,¡± said number 3.
¡°We can and will discuss that later,¡± said Number 1.
The stone door opened once again when Bonestringer walked into the room and walked up to the long table.
This was his third time meeting the heads of the organization seeing that there was a seat empty his heart was filled with hope that he had been called to take over the position of his deceased mentor.
¡°Bonestringer you have done well in training your student. We thank you for helping strengthen our organization, But....¡± said Number 1 pausing for a few seconds causing Bonestringer to get a bad feeling.
¡°We have chosen your student to become the next person to replace the recently deceased number 6,¡± said number 1 in his calm husky voice.
That hope Bonestringer had been clinging to was dashed into pieces. His mouth gaped open like a fish trying to breathe on land.
A glowing written message appeared in the darkness as number 4 shoved it towards Bonestringer.
''How much longer until the task we gave you is finished?''
¡°I''m going as fast as I can you should already know that you can''t create them without the proper material. I have been trying to get more but the supply is not as good as I hoped for.¡±
¡°So you''re saying it won''t be done any time soon?¡± asked the childlike voice of number 2.
¡°If I had more supplies I could finish faster,¡± said Bonestringer.
¡°Useless,¡± said number 6.
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¡°Just make sure you have them completed and ready for when we need them. You do not want to be the one that causes our plan to fail due to your ineptitude,¡± said number 3.
¡°You may leave now,¡± said Number 1.
Bonestringer was full of emotions all boiling up inside of him as he exited the room and walked past his student that he had mentored for many years. He didn''t even give her a single glance or word of goodbye before departing.
***
The heat of the morning desert sun beat down on Akira and Varbu as they walked up, down, and sometimes around the deserts sandy dunes.
Varbu and Akira had been walking around the desert searching for a road, caravan or a city since they entered the desert. But unfortunately, after a week of searching, they were still unsure where they were.
Their supplies were nearly gone and they were now in another type of trouble different than what they had endured before escaping into the desert.
For a short time, their mood improved as they were able to sleep and recover from the fatigue they had endured for several weeks. But now, Instead of being agitated from lack of sleep they were now agitated by the sun''s intense heat all throughout the day, and the chilling cold of the desert night.
They had been fooled too many times by mirages and hallucinations thinking they were getting closer to an oasis only to find out that it was nothing but more sand as far as the eye could see.
They were completely and utterly lost. Akira guessed that even with a map they would still be lost.
The two were currently taking a short rest in the shade that was given by a large pyramid-like structure they had seen many times already while walking through the desert. Each one seemed different, most made of cheap materials while other rare large pyramids used expensive stone. The shade was still hot but it was still more bearable than the full glare of the desert sun.
¡°Ah, I hate this place. It''s too hot and it''s still morning,¡± complained Akira. He had already removed all his armor and was wearing light clothing so he wouldn''t die from heat stroke.
¡°At least you haven''t gotten a bad tan like me,¡± said Varbu.
Akira looked over at Varbu and had to stifle a laugh due to how he looked. Varbu''s skin had become an even deeper red due to his mixture of sunburn/Tan.
Varbu noticing this gave a grunt and then ignored him as they drank a few sips of water while sitting in the hot shade.
They had not seen any other humans, animals, or monsters while they were walking through the desert they didn''t know whether they were lucky or unlucky.
¡°If we keep going this way we should be able to find a road, city, or something. If we try to walk in every direction we will get nowhere,¡± said Akira.
Varbu was quiet and did not reply as he stood up ready to continue their walk south.
They continued to walk with few stops for over three hours seeing nothing but sand.
¡°I hate sand,¡± said Akira as the two walked over to a mud-brick pyramid to rest in the shade.
Akira sat down and took his shoes off and dumped a large amount of sand out of them before putting them back on.
Akira''s ears which were now more sensitive since he had awakened into a werewolf picked up movement and a conversation a short distance away. He could hear three voices whispering behind a sand dune.
The voices reminded him of someone he had met before but could not recall who it was.
He motioned to Varbu warning him to be on guard pointing towards a dune where he could hear three people arguing with each other as if they did not understand the concept of being quiet.
¡°See! I told you we this was a perfect place to set up our trap.¡±
¡°Yep, that''s right you sure did. You''re so smart. Were lucky the local bandits don''t know about this place.¡±
¡°You idiots, we''ve been waiting here for over a month and we''ve only seen one other person this entire time.¡±
¡°We''re not idiots! You were the one who kept on saying we should stay just a few more days because someone might come.¡±
¡°You''re a bunch of idiots! Only an idiot would suggest we go this far out into the desert. The only other people that would be out here so far away from the main road and cities are also idiots.¡±
¡°Then what do you call those people over there...Huh, where''d they go?¡±
¡°Look at that! You were to busy arguing that they were able to leave without us being able doing anything. They were easy prey without any armor or weapons.¡±
¡°Hey, you were the one who started it!¡±
¡°Well, at least we have enough supplies for another month back at camp.¡±
Crack, Crack!
The sound of knuckles being popped startled the three bandits who whirled around to see who had snuck up behind them.
Varbu and Akira were standing behind the three looking menacing while Varbu cracked his knuckles and rotated his shoulders warming up for a fight.
¡°Ah it''s him!¡± said one of the bandits while pointing at Akira.
¡°Do I know you guys?¡± asked Akira confused.
¡°Don''t just go and forget us like we''re nobodies!¡±
¡°We will make you remember us with our new powerful attack!¡±
¡°Ah! Now I remember who you guys are!¡± said Akira.
¡°See even he couldn''t forget how great we are!¡±
¡°You''re the three idiots that I meet while traveling to Fregoldawe,¡± said Akira.
The three bandits fell on their faces after hearing such an unexpected answer.
¡°Don''t make fun of us! Because of you, we had a hard time escaping that jail and now we can''t even stay in Freeopia because we are wanted criminals with bounties on our heads!¡±
¡°That''s right! We endured such hardships because of you!¡±
¡°Brothers no need for any more talk let''s use the new ''YOU WILL DIE'' formation!¡±
The three bandits surrounded Akira and Varbu while posing in such awkward and comical postures that it made Akira embarrassed for them.
¡°Thank goodness we ran into some bandits who know the way around here. They even have extra food. That takes care of all of our problems,¡± said Varbu cracking his knuckles again with a menacingsmile.
***
¡°We''re sorry,¡± said the eldest bandit his face swollen from receiving many punches.
The two other bandits were just as badly beaten up by Akira and Varbu who had treated them nicely and not killed them. They didn''t need to use and special skills on them as they were able to easily subdue them.
¡°You three will take us to your camp and share your food and water with us. Then you will take us to the nearest city. If you try anything funny we won''t be so nice or gentle next time we''re forced to fight,¡± said Akira with a serious look on his face.
¡°Certainly how could we possibly refuse such a reasonable request,¡± said the youngest bandit.
¡°Honestly you three should quit being bandits. You suck at it, you could probably find something else to do that would be more worth your time,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yeah you guys could be comedians or something with all the funny poses and arguing you do,¡± said Varbu.
The bandits felt a little of both anger and pain after hearing the new formation they had worked so hard on being compared to a comedy act.
¡°Lead the way,¡± said Akira motioning for the bandits to get up and walk in front of Akira and Varbu.
Chapter 62: Jabooty
The three bandit brothers led Akira and Varbu to their temporary camp where they began to pack up their belongings and handed over some of the extra food and water they had to Akira and Varbu.
After what seemed like multiple hours of walking Akira was beginning to think the Bandits were either lost or trying to pull a trick.
When they reached a small trail that could pass as a desert road. Akira wanted to use the trail but stopped when he saw the bandits continue to walk past it.
¡°That''s only a small side trail you would be stupid to walk on it since there are too many bandit groups that have taken control of certain areas of the trail. We have to keep walking this way to reach the main road,¡± said the eldest brother after looking back and seeing Akira standing still.
It was late afternoon when they finally reached the main caravan road. A large caravan was passing by when they reached the road. The rough looking caravan guards giving them hostile looks as if daring them to try something thinking that they were bandits trying to accost them.
¡°The Idiot''s over there got lost in the desert so we had to go find them and bring them back to the main road,¡± said Akira trying to explain the situation to the caravan guards to deescalate the situation.
The three brothers tried to protest that it was Akira that had been lost but Varbu silenced them with a glance.
¡°Don''t bother us and we won''t bother you,¡± said the leader of the guards before returning back to guarding the caravans many camels. It looked like they didn''t care or take notice that Varbu was there.
Seeing they were unwelcome to join the caravan Akira and the others rested for a short time in order to keep a distance between the two groups, in order not to anger them by following too closely.
The desert road could hardly be considered a road judging by other countries standards. The only thing that was different from the rest of the desert was that instead of having to walk all over the place due to desert dunes the roads cut right through some of them with walls holding back the desert sand.
As they neared the city the pyramids continued to get more extravagant. Changing from dried mud to clay bricks.
They were able to reach the medium sized desert city of Jabooty a short time after they had eaten a cold dinner while they walked. They were some of the last people in line to be allowed to enter the city for the night by the dark leather armored guards.
If Akira and Varbu had not found the three idiots then they most likely would have walked right past the city. This improved Akira''s mood a little towards the three idiots. It helped that he had blown off some steam when they first meet and knocked their heads together forcing them to submit.
¡°We have brought you to the city of Jabooty like you asked will you allow us to leave now?¡± asked the eldest brother.
¡°First tell me do you know of any cheap inns in this city?¡± asked Akira.
The brothers looked at each other before the youngest spoke, ¡°We can show you the inn we use. Don''t expect much though, you get what you pay for.¡±
The three brothers led them through the streets to the less glamorous red light district that was getting into full swing as the young night grew older.
They reached an inn with a freshly painted sign reading [Rear-end Inn].
After Akira and Varbu booked two small rooms he turned to the three brothers who were respectfully waiting behind them.
¡°You can leave now but you should seriously think about what we said earlier,¡± said Akira.
¡°That thing about you hating sand?¡± asked the middle-aged brother.
Akira sighed at the idiot brothers living up to their name.
¡°No, I''m talking about you getting a new occupation.¡±
A few more words were traded and the two groups separated and went to their own rooms for the night.
***
Then next morning Akira felt fully rested and went down to the inn''s common room to check out the city map that he had seen the night before.
The map was well crafted but looked to be several years old. He guessed that for the most part, it would give him a general idea of where everything was.
Akira was finishing eating breakfast when Varbu sat down at the same table as him.
¡°What are your plans while we''re here,¡± asked Varbu.
¡°First we need to replenish our food and water. Then after that, I''d like to check out the local market and see if I can sell off some of the less stellar weapons I made while in the dungeon. Maybe even set up a repair stand for a day or two to earn some extra money.¡±
Varbu grunted in acknowledgment and started to eat the light vegetable soup that was provided by the inn.
The two left the inn refreshed and ready to take care of their errands. After agreeing on where and when they would meet back up they split apart to complete their tasks faster.
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Akira was able to find all that he needed to buy relatively easy and for a reasonable price. Since he had free time until he needed to meet back up with Varbu, he began walking through one of the city''s many small market bazaars, looking at trinkets clothes and exotic foods all native to the desert country.
¡°You sir look like you could use a brand new sword! I have the best swords and armor that money can buy!¡± said a merchant that stepped in front of Akira blocking his path forward.
¡°Please don''t be shy, take a look,¡± said the merchant gesturing to a rug with many plain items neatly laying on it.
Akira sighed and quickly used his inspection skill on the items to find that everything that was being sold either had the words unstable or training attached to it.
¡°Sorry I am not in the market for a new weapon I already have what I need,¡± said Akira.
To the merchant, it only looked as if Akira had taken a quick glance at his items and not really given them a good look.
¡°Good sir, take a look at this sword it will slice through the desert monsters and bandits alike, the price is also a cheap 5 gold!¡± said the merchant picking up a sword and shoving it into Akira''s face.
¡°I already have a sword,¡± said Akira pushing the man''s arm away from him.
¡°Look how swift you can swing the sword and how sturdy it is,¡± said the merchant swinging the sword in the air a few times. On the last swing, the blade detached from its handle and crashed into another merchants stall causing a larger hole to appear.
Akira sighed in amazement at the gall the merchant had to try and sell such a crap sword. He quickly escaped the merchant before he got caught up in the argument that started between the merchant who had his stall heavily damaged.
Akira hurried back to the inn where he was supposed to meet Varbu around noon which was only a short time away.
When he entered the [Rear-ends] common room he saw Varbu waiting for him at one of the tables. He looked to have a sour mood hanging over him.
¡°What''s with you?¡± asked Akira as he sat down on the opposite side of the table.
¡°A group of rotten little kids told me I look ugly and scary before laughing at me and running away,¡± said Varbu unhappily.
Akira chuckled at this, ¡°Don''t let it get to you, they''re children. But you do have an aggressive looking face I can see why they would call you scary.¡±
¡°Hey, I was born with this face! I''m a very handsome Orc! All the young Orc females want to be my partner! They shouldn''t be scared!¡± said Varbu defiantly.
¡°Well, it''s true you''re stuck with that face you have.¡±
¡°What are we doing this afternoon?¡± asked Varbu wanting to change the topic.
¡°I need to sell some of the junk...I mean the items I have collected over the last few months to earn some cash for our travels. From what I gathered we''ll have to go to the smaller bazaar near the east side gate if we want to sell anything without a license from the city.¡±
¡°How much is a license?¡±
¡°Too much for what it offers. It only allows you to sell at the bazaar near the front gates or the central bazaar. And doesn''t remove the high tax needed to get into the bazaar.¡±
¡°Well the side bazaar may be cheaper but buyers would have to go out of their way to get to it. You might not get many customers.¡±
Akira shrugged. What could he do? He didn''t want to take the risk of spending a large portion of his money only to make a small amount back. There were no guarantees that he would be able to sell anything.
They ate their lunch quickly and walked through the streets to the market bazaar near the east side gate.
When they neared the bazaar there was a large crowd surrounding multiple tents, metal cages, and a large platform that was raised high enough for everyone in the crowd to see what was on the platform.
For the first time while in the city, Akira noticed that there was a large number of different people from multiple demon races mixed in the crowd along with humans.
He recalled seeing multiple other demon races during the morning but had thought nothing of it. It seemed the country of Cadia was less strict with the demon race than Vussia was.
A muscular, bare-chested, olive oil skinned man, stood next to a cage that contained what Akira guessed was a monster from the desert. Akira was interested in what was going on stopped to watch.
¡°Look at this ferocious monster! The adventures that captured this fella, tamed him to be as docile as a household pet towards its owner and ferocious as a lion to any enemies. The bidding will start at the low price of 20 gold!¡± came the booming voice of the muscular man.
Instantly there were multiple shouts as people bid a few extra silver bit by bit, then a few gold until the final winning price was 33 gold and 10 silver.
¡°The winner please go to the tent behind the stage and pay for your purchase. We can then make arrangements for it to be delivered to your home. The next items for sale is a group of rioting debtors. A small village incurred a large debt of several thousands of gold. When the agreed upon time came for them to pay back the gold loaned to them, they attacked and killed the messenger, which they tried to cover up and pretend did not happen. They are being sold as indentured servants for 10 years of hard labor or 20 years of soft labor.¡±
A group of more than 20 men women and children were led up onto the platform all of them with varying skin colors from dark as the night, green olive oil, and even some with white skin.
¡°The bidding for the children will start at 3 gold each! For the adult females 7 gold and 15 gold for the strong males who would make for fine fighters or be even better as a hard laborer in mines and construction sites!¡± shouted the man.
Seeing this Akira knew exactly what this place was...it was a slave market.
He had heard about such places but had never seen them in any of the major capitals of the other countries. Although he disliked what he saw on the platform he understood that the villagers had entered an agreement with their creditors and were unable to pay off the debt. They even went as far as killing the collector sent by the creditors.
This left the creditors no choice but to inform the local authority of the situation, they were now hoping to receive a small portion of what was owed back by selling them into indentured servitude.
It was a distasteful thing but the debtors should not have taken such a large amount of gold if they had no way of paying it back.
What was even worse and what Akira could not forgive was the innocent people who committed no crime and were captured and sent to the slave markets.
He was sure that this slave market sold all types of slaves. But there was nothing he could do lest he wanted the entire city guard to chase after him or endure life in prison if he was caught freeing them.
He could not change the countries laws or the way the rulers of the cities thought. It made one feel both anger and helplessness at being unable to help.
¡°Let''s go,¡± said Akira turning his back to the platform while glancing at a few cages he had not bothered to look at before seeing multiple monsters, humans, and even some people of demon races chained inside.
Akira and Varbu left the slave market and walked to the Bazaar near it with a bad taste in their mouths. They paid the few silvers required to enter and sell items.
¡°Don''t cause any trouble,¡± warned one of the guards as they passed through the bazaars entrance.
Chapter 63: Mileena
Akira sat behind the wooden booth that he had rented for one silver. It only took a few hours of waiting before he was able to sell more than half of the junk he had been accumulating.
He received a decent amount of gold for all the items sold, which would have just taken up space in his bag if not sold.
Now that most of the better items had been bought by adventures and low tier mercenaries, he hadn''t made many other sales for over an hour. Varbu bored from sitting around and doing nothing had left to go back to the inn and wait for him to return.
Most of his time was spent trying to get people to notice his booth most ignored him and continued to inspect the other merchant''s Items.
Akira had grown tired of trying to attract people after an hour of no success and just sat quietly behind the wooden booth and watched the large crowd of various different humans and people of different demon races walk by.
When it was near closing time for the trading bazaar just an hour past dinner time Akira packed up his remaining items and left.
While walking down the darkening night streets an idea popped into his head that he wanted to test out.
He hid in an alleyway for a few seconds before stepping out in his werewolf form and began walking down the street as if nothing had changed.
Many people both humans and demon race looked at him with stunned faces. Akira began to smile thinking everyone was in awe of how cool he looked.
But in fact, the smile only caused his already fierce looking face to turn even more sinister. They were not in awe of his fierce looking appearance they were puzzled at what a lone werewolf was doing in their town.
As Akira walked away multiple quiet conversations broke out.
¡°Hey what''s a lone werewolf doing here in a no-name town like this?¡±
¡°I heard that the only werewolf''s that travel alone have either been banished from their clan or they have a perverted view on life and are shunned by everyone.¡±
¡°Is that true?¡±
¡°It is! I heard it from my friends, cousins, father who knew a sailor, who was friends with a soldier that knew a werewolf clan from the last war.¡±
¡°I see so he''s either a pervert or a criminal.¡±
Akira with his good hearing was able to hear it all and was a little embarrassed now. He decided to escape into another alley where he reverted back to his human form and returned to the [Rear-end Inn].
***
The next morning after a decent sleep Akira went back to the trading bazaar alone with a new sign he had made advertising his ability to repair minor things on armor and swords that did not need require a forge.
He picked the same stall he had rented the day before. After hanging the sign above the stall he set out the items left over from yesterday and pulled out his repair tools.
Akira spent most of the morning doing minor repairs and selling a few items.
He gained a small amount of XP from the repairs he made which only made a small dent in the amount needed for the next level. Creating things from scratch seemed to give far larger amounts of XP.
When it was almost nearing the busy dinner time a suspicious figure wearing a sackcloth robe with the hood up hiding their face appeared. They were nervously looking around them as if they were in danger. As they walked closer Akira could hear the person sniff the air a few times as if following a scent.
Apparently, they found what they were looking for and turned towards Akira''s direction and started to walk quickly to where he stood.
The short person who was maybe at the most 5 feet tall, stopped in front of his stall not saying anything only sniffing the air a few more times.
Before Akira could ask them if he could help them with something, the suspicious person threw off their hood revealing a young female child like face which had two furry ears twitching in agitation on top of her head.
¡°Please help me! I''ve been kidnapped by slavers and just managed to escape!¡± said the young girl looking at Akira with pleading watery eyes ready to burst out in streams of tears.
¡°Guards! She''s over there!¡± shouted an older males voice causing the young girl to jump in fright.
It was too late to escape in mere seconds a group of men along with the city guard surrounded her.
Akira stood by speechless as everything happened so quickly.
¡°I am so sorry to have to bother you like this,¡± said the same voice that had shouted earlier.
Akira turned to see the old man who was talking.
¡°Here''s a few gold for causing you troubles,¡± said one of the old man''s subordinates tossing three gold coins onto the wooden stand.
They quickly left with the guards helping to firmly escort the recaptured slave.
Akira stood there in silence as it was hard to process all that had just happened.
He wanted to help the young girl but after seeing such a large force of guards he knew that if he had done anything against the slavers will or attacked the guards he could kiss goodbye his time in the city and would be chased out by the guards and most likely a bounty put on his head.
He could not afford to anger any more people than he already had. His life was hectic enough as it was already.
Akira picked up the gold and the rest of his unsold items and packed everything back up before returning to the inn where Varbu was waiting.
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***
¡°...and that is what happened. So what should we do?¡± asked Akira.
¡°First of all, I am glad you didn''t do something like attack the guards...¡±
Akira interrupted him, ¡°You should know that I''m not that stupid.¡±
¡°What about when we were in Vussia you did some pretty dumb things,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Those were mistakes because I misjudged her! What about your honor code and stuff you''re always talking about.¡±
¡°We Orcs do not go out looking to make people slaves. A true warrior defeats invading enemies during war and captures them alive to force them to pay a ransom or work for their freedom. It is beyond dishonorable during peacetime to hunt down those weaker than yourself and force them to serve you.¡±
¡°So you agree we should help her?¡±
¡°Yes and no.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°We can do nothing to the slavers while they are still inside the city otherwise we risk the whole city guard attacking us. Let''s wait until they leave the city then we can figure out what to do. Don''t think of making this a habit we can''t free every slave we see or we will bring the anger of many cities down upon us.¡±
Akira hopped that nothing bad happened while they waited for the slavers to leave the city.
After deciding on what to do both Akira packed their small amount of belongings and left the inn to snoop around and find the slave group that the young girl was captured by.
When they reached slave market they slowly went to each tent of the slave owners to see if they were the same people he had seen before, but they had no luck in finding the girl or the slavers.
¡°Ah, it''s you that seller in the bazaar. What brings you here?¡± asked a male voice behind him.
Akira turned around to see a large muscular guard standing behind him.
¡°I was looking for the slavers from earlier,¡± said Akira not going into any more detail than necessary.
¡°Ah, I see that escapee caught your eye, didn''t she? It''s to bad the slavers you are looking for leftover half an hour ago due to not wanting to burden us guards with having to repeatedly round up slaves that keep trying to escape from them. That was the 6th one today. They sure are crappy slave merchants to not properly train their slaves before bringing them into a city.¡±
Seeing Akira''s mood change. Another guard off to the side of the first spoke up, ¡°If you hurry you might be able to catch them they said they would be heading to the next city. Hopefully, their troubles will be settled by then.¡±
¡°Thanks for the information,¡± said Akira turning around and leaving the slave market with Varbu.
Before leaving the city of Jabooty they made sure they had enough supplies to get them to the next stop with some extra in case of any unforeseen problems.
The roads only had a few travelers since it was dinner time where almost everyone was either eating, selling their goods, or shopping at the bazaars. Everyone they did see were all walking towards the city.
Akira could tell from the deep ruts in the hard sandy road that a caravan with a heavy load was heading south on the main road. He guessed it was the slavers with their metal cages and slaves.
They followed the trail at a quick walk only stopping when the tracks swerved off onto a smaller side trail.
¡°Why''d they take this road?¡± asked Akira out loud not expecting an answer.
Varbu shrugged. How could he know?
It didn''t take them long to hear sounds coming from up ahead of them after walking down the small road for several minutes.
¡°Ahhhhhhhh!¡±
The sound that reached their ears was what sounded like the cries of a dying man who was being tortured to death by the cruelest of ways, it made Akira''s skin crawl.
Akira and Varbu both readied their weapons and ran forward. Numerous other cries of dying pain reached their ears before they were able to see where the sound was coming from.
What they saw horrified them. Numerous large wooden stakes taller than even Varbu had been hammered into the sandy ground. Each stake had a glistening red liquid covering it dripping onto the ground below.
At the bottom of each stake sat the limp body of a slave that had been impaled and slid down from the top to the bottom killing the slave slowly. Man, woman, child, human, demon there were many already dead.
Enraged at the sight Akira transformed into his werewolf form and let out a howl at the rising desert moon.
Nox leaped out of Akira''s shadow when he used his skill to summon him. Nox did not say anything and just followed Akira.
The slavers and their guards hearing the chilling howl from Akira and the war cry that Varbu was shouting rushed out of their tents to see what was causing all the noise.
The trio was upon them before they could think of anything other than defending themselves.
Akira used his skill [Howl] which made it so the weak merchant slavers were easily cut down. But the guards and slavers that went out and raided for people to sell, were no slouches when it came to fighting and were able to barely fend them off.
Although they had the numerical superiority their enemies were too strong for them, one by one they were being killed.
Their heads were being caved in by the large Orc and his club. Their throats being ripped open and their limbs torn off by the terrifying large dark wolf. They were constantly being sliced into pieces by a werewolf''s special skills.
The head guard wondered who they had angered to cause them to send such demons their way.
The fighting lasted for less than ten minutes when half of the guards had been killed the majority of the ones left tried to escaped but were hindered by Akira who used his skill [Shadow chains] to stop the fastest runners from escaping. Nox pounced on the frantic guards biting their unprotected leg muscles crippling them allowing Akira and Varbu to deal the finishing moves.
After the fighting died down Akira bent over breathing hard, sweat dripping down from his face.
He tore off the shirt of one of the enemies he had killed and wiped his armor, sword, and shield cleaning of any blood that covered them.
Nox sulkily sauntered over to Akira and without another word jumped back into Akira''s shadow as if he was ignoring Akira for what he had to experience back in the dungeon.
Varbu walked over to Akira and tossed him a set of keys he had found on one of the dead bodies.
¡°We''ll have to take care of the bodies,¡± said Varbu looking at the dead guards and slavers.
¡°We can burn them before we leave no use in wasting our energy digging graves for each of them,¡± said Akira.
¡°What about the dead slaves?¡±
Akira paused as he thought, ¡°Them as well. The desert is not a place to bury the dead as animals and monsters will just dig up the graves and eat them. They don''t deserve that.¡±
They walked to the cages and began fiddling with the keys. Most of the slaves who had seen the two brutally kill the slavers backed away from the doors on the cages trying to become invisible.
Akira ignored their reactions as he unlocked each cage one by one. He didn''t care if they stayed in their cage or ran away. He continued his search for the young girl that had asked for his help earlier.
When he reached the last cage he finally found the person he had been looking for.
Her sackcloth clothes were ripped with a little blood staining her back where a whip had hit her multiple times.
The girl seeing Akira who was still in his werewolf form began to cry for some unknown reason. Thinking he had scared her he reverted back into his human form and unlocked the cage opening the door.
He silently waited for her to stop crying.
When the last of the tears fell Akira crouched down and looked her in the eyes before saying, ¡°Hello my name is Akira. I didn''t get to ask you earlier but what is your name?¡±
Sniffing the young feline girl wiped her nose on her sackcloth sleeve before speaking.
¡°Mileena.¡±
Chapter 64: Request for help
Ding!
Level up! Current lvl 26.
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New title received!
Clumsy Rescuer of Damsel in Distress.
+5 Fame
+1 Honor
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Akira took a few seconds to put his newly acquired points into the usual stats.
¡°Mileena, nice name. The sooner you come out of the cage the faster you can leave this unsavory place,¡± said Akira trying to get her moving.
Mileena sniffed a few more times before standing up and exiting the cage.
¡°You''re safe now that the slavers have been taken care of. I can''t chat with you right now since I have to help clean up this mess. If you want we can talk later,¡± said Akira.
Mileena only gave a shy nod acknowledging Akira words.
Akira walked over to Varbu who had already made two fire pits for the bodies to burn and was now placing large amounts of flammable items along with pieces of the wagons inside each hole.
Seeing the hard work was mostly already done Akira began to search each body looting everything including their weapons and armor only leaving them with tattered bloody clothes.
With the help of Varbu, they dragged the bodies into the pit. The slavers and guards were placed in one pit while the slaves were placed in the other.
Akira was fully aware that Mileena had been following him like a lost puppy the whole time but said nothing afraid he might frighten her and cause more problems.
When the bodies had all been placed inside the pits they did not light it on fire just yet. Instead, they carried the armor and weapons that had been looted over to the wagons that were full of supplies and other items belonging to the dead guards and slavers.
They quickly sorted everything into different piles on the ground near the wagons.
¡°Everyone gather around!¡± shouted Varbu.
The freed slaves didn''t dare to disobey the menacing red Orc who towered over them.
They each gave Akira and Varbu their meek thanks for freeing them numerous times.
When everyone had gathered near the supply wagons Akira spoke up.
¡°We have freed you from slavery but that does not mean your troubles are over. You will still have to endure the hardships of the desert to return to wherever it is you come from if that is even possible. To make it easier we have gathered some food and water to last you at least until you can make it to a different city other than Jabooty. I wouldn''t go there as the guards might recognize some of you. You should also come and pick a piece of armor and weapon to better protect yourself.¡±
The small crowd of freed slaves became a mob as they rushed forward to gather items from the piles of supplies not wanting to be left out causing a few loud arguments. Mileena stood next to Akira not making any move to head towards the supplies.
Varbu stepped forward with his domineering gaze fixed on the mob cowing the unruly crowd before an all-out brawl could start. With Varbu keeping them in check everyone received what they needed to survive in the harsh desert.
Akira had gathered plenty of gold and silver from the bodies of the dead slavers and their guards enough that he was able to give each slave 1 gold and a few silver coins.
Akira gave Mileena the coins and watched as she tried to find pockets to put the money in but after finding nothing was forced to just hold it.
Seeing this Akira rummaged through the supplies and found a sturdy leather pouch attached to a leather belt. He tossed it over to Mileena who was surprised and was unable to catch it.
She bent down and picked it up and after a few seconds of inspecting it was able to understand why Akira had given it to her. She put her money into the pouch and fastened the belt around her thin waist.
Everything that was not taken by the freed slaves was put in Akira''s bag before turning back to the freed slaves who were still equipping and sorting out their new belongings.
¡°You can stay with us until we reach the next city or you can leave now and take a camel to wherever you need to go. We won''t stop you just make sure to watch out for bandits,¡± said Akira.
Akira and Varbu went back to moving the rest of the burnable items and wagons to the fire pits. By the time they had finished and lit the fire, there was only one person left standing where the crowd had been, everyone else along with the ten or so camels were gone.
¡°Well looks like you''re sticking with us for now,¡± said Akira as he walked over to Mileena.
She quietly nodded her head but didn''t say anything else.
¡°We need to leave now or we might get into trouble when other people come snooping around to see what''s causing such a big fire,¡± said Varbu.
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¡°Well then, let''s go find a better place to spend the night,¡± said Akira gesturing for Mileena to walk next to him.
***
Akira, Varbu, and Mileena all sat around a small fire that was cooking some desert rabbits Akira had caught before they set up camp.
If a stranger happened to walk by they would think that the three together made for an odd group of traveling companions.
¡°So, Mileena, what caused you to come me and ask for help out of everyone else in the city?¡± asked Akira as he turned one of the rabbits cooking over the fire in order to evenly cook the other side.
Mileena who had been quietly nibbling on an already cooked rabbit finished chewing the small mouthful of meat before getting up the courage to answer.
¡°Your smell. I could tell you were not human. It''s only now that I know that you''re a werewolf which is even better,¡± she said with a quiet voice.
¡°Why''s that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Because I remember hearing my father talking to the other village elders about the werewolf clans agreeing to an alliance a few years ago.¡±
¡°Ah, that''s good to hear. It means they are open to having allies. I might have more of a better chance in getting an alliance than I previously thought,¡± said Varbu between bites of the greasy meat.
¡°Do you know where the werewolf clans live?¡± asked Akira hopefully.
Mileena shook her head no. ¡°I only heard about the alliance not where they lived.¡±
Akira sighed his hopes of easily finding them were destroyed.
¡°Why? Don''t you know where they are? Aren''t you werewolf''s huge on families sticking together and pack mentality? You''re not one of those outcast are you?¡± asked Mileena becoming wary of Akira and Varbu.
¡°No, nothing of the sort!¡± said Akira defensively he had already heard many rude things from strangers at Jabooty on this subject and didn''t want Mileena to misunderstand and think those things also, ¡°I was separated from my family at a young age. Over half a year ago I found out who I was and was going to return to them but certain things happened and now I''m traveling to find them.¡±
With the explanation, Mileena lessened her guard and continued to eat the cooked rabbit in her hands while still sending suspicious glances at Akira. She had heard stories from her sister and the other older kids in her tribe of the type of people that were banished from the werewolf clans. They were all exotic perverts of different types and were so extreme that even their clansmen shunned them.
¡°I''m sorry if I scared you earlier at the cages,¡± apologized Akira.
¡°Forget it ever happened! And I wasn''t scared! I was just under a lot of stress and it slipped out,¡± said Mileena in a loud clear voice for the first time since they had met. Her face turned a tinge of pink in embarrassment.
¡°Okay... okay...¡± said Akira trying to calm her down he had already escaped a psychotic childhood friend and did not want to deal with another crazy female right now. So he tried to make sure she didn''t explode.
The three continued to eat silently while the small fire cooked the last of the desert rabbits caught.
Mileena finished eating and threw the bones into the fire. She sat quietly sneaking looks at both Akira and Varbu.
A few more minutes past before she spoke up, ¡°Um...I need help.¡±
¡°Help? Help for what?¡± asked Akira puzzled at what she meant.
¡°My sister was also captured I need to help save her,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I''m sorry but we don''t have the time to go looking for someone when we don''t even know where they are. We also have our own missions to complete.¡±
¡°I know where she is! She''s at the capital city Otria.¡±
¡°Oh, well that''s convenient. We''re headed that way as well. You''re welcome to join us for the journey to Otria.¡±
¡°There''s another problem she was sold to the game master of the main arena. That arena is set to host the annual strongest fighter tournament. And the gladiators including my sister will be forced to participate.¡±
¡°I see what you mean that does pose a challenge,¡± said Akira.
¡°Do you know what this year''s theme is?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I heard the slavers talk about it. This year it''s supposed to be a team battle. Each team has two people, and the last two teams will be forced to fight to the death,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Varbu what do you think?¡± asked Akira.
¡°While I''m not against helping since we''re going that way, but I don''t think putting yourself in any more danger is productive to our goals,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Please! I need your help to save my sister she is the only family I have left. The slavers killed everyone in my village before capturing us!¡± Mileena begged them while tears started to well up in her eyes ready to burst at any moment.
¡°Okay...But under 1 condition. You have to help in rescuing her. That means you have to join me in entering the tournament as a team member. Even if Varbu and I were able to free her. If you can''t find the courage and strength to help her now then you both will have a hard time making a living when things get rough again,¡± said Akira after thinking for several minutes.
¡°What?¡± said both Varbu and Mileena at the same time.
Mileena had though Akira would politely refuse since they did not know each other but she had to ask just in case there was a chance. She didn''t expect him to accept nor that he would require her to fight.
¡°That... well...um...I''m not that good at fighting...My sister Is far better than me,¡± said Mileena quietly.
¡°Don''t worry we can help you hone your skills while we travel to the capital. We''re sorta experts at fighting since we do a lot of it. We''ve even fought in a few dungeons and killed many monsters,¡± said Akira puffing his chest out.
¡°We''re constantly fighting because you keep choosing the hardest path, and then decide to stop and poke the sleeping bear in the eye,¡± said Varbu grumbling just loud enough to be heard.
Akira coughed trying to ignore the comment but the cool aura he had been giving off had already been shattered.
¡°Well, I think we should get some sleep. We can talk about everything else in the morning,¡± said Akira quickly standing up and entering one of the three tents surrounding the small fire.
***
Vussia capital.
Jezebel walked alone through a dark cold underground hallway deep beneath the castle. She was in a foul mood right now due to having found zero clues to where Akira had escaped to.
Without knocking she pushed open the door that had appeared before her and entered a large underground research room.
¡°Master, we are honored that you decided to surprise us with your visit,¡± said a balding male researcher.
¡°Keep your flattery to yourself if you want to keep both your tongue and your life,¡± said Jezebel angrily.
A strained smile appeared on the researchers face.
¡°Have you completed it yet?¡±
¡°We just completed it and were doing the last checks before we were going to inform you,¡± said the researcher.
¡°Took you guys long enough. With this I will be able to receive instant messages from any of the major cities in Vussia,¡± said Jezebel her mood improving.
¡°It''s amazing that the magic guild had something like this in secret not letting anyone else use it. What''s more impressive is the upgrade we were able to make using the fire gems as a key component to making it work with multiple instances instead of only one.¡±
¡°Yes, the local Magic guild master was kind enough to tell me all of its secrets and quite a few other things I had never heard of or even things I never thought could be possible before. I have other things to do. Keep me informed on how well it works. If you still need to make changes to make it work better do it,¡± said Jezebel before leaving the room in a slightly better mood than she had arrived with.
Chapter 65: Weapons, Armor, and flatness oh my!
The desert sun was rising into the sky slowly warming up the cold night air.
Akira and Varbu sat around a small fire that had been had used to cook their morning meal.
Mileena had already fallen asleep again after eating. Akira guessed it was due to the lack of sleep from constant worry and anxiety while she was captured.
She was still wearing the same tattered sackcloth robe of a slave since there had been no clothing that fit her in the luggage left by the slavers and their guards.
¡°Varbu, can you go back to Jabooty and buy some clothes for Mileena? It''ll cause problems if we travel around with her dressed in that sort of clothing. It shouldn''t take you that long make a round trip you can probably make it back before lunch. What do you think?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s fine, I''d rather go back to the city to get the clothes than sit here and babysit her. But I don''t know what size or what type of clothing to get,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Just tell the clerk you need some sturdy travel clothes for a young girl about this tall,¡± said Akira holding his hand in the air above the ground showing the approximate height of Mileena.
¡°That''s doable. I''ll leave right now,¡± said Varbu standing up and grabbed his quarterstaff before leaving.
Akira spent the rest of the morning in his slightly shaded tent while waiting for Varbu to return. Mileena had spent the whole time sleeping and woke up only a few minutes before Varbu returned with multiple wrapped packages.
When Varbu handed over the clothing he quickly looked away from Akira as if something was wrong,
Akira opened the packages and saw what the problem was, everything he had bought was boy clothes.
¡°Did they not have anything for girls?¡± asked Akira puzzled.
¡°Well, you see... as I said earlier I don''t know what types of clothing to buy for girls. When I got to the open market I was drowning in so many choices. Everyone was trying to sell me some different colored or special designed clothing. How do women even choose between all of them? When I finally found a female merchant that had reasonable prices, she gave me a funny look that was accusing me of being a pervert when I was looking at the clothes for young girls. I couldn''t bring myself to buy them so I just bought those. They should be sturdy enough to travel in the desert,¡± said Varbu.
Akira turned to Mileena and passed the clothes over to her. ¡°What do you think? Are they passable?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''ll have to make some changes in order to make it work and become more my style,¡± said Mileena in a quiet voice before turning around and entering her tent and closing the flap behind her.
¡°At least wash some of the desert sand and sweat off before putting on the new clothes,¡± said Akira as if reminding a little sibling not to forget to wash behind their ears.
Although they couldn''t see anything both Akira and Varbu could hear multiple rips and cuts being applied to the clothing as Mileena worked on the clothes.
When she walked out of the tent several minutes later it was as if they were seeing a brand new person stunning Akira.
''Wow! Such beauty, such cuteness, does exist in this world! Stop it! She is a little kid! Well, I don''t actually know her age.'' Akira fought with his inner self as he looked at her ears twitching in embarrassment.
She had heard Akira''s words and had taken the time to quickly clean herself before putting on the newly altered clothing.
She had made a few changes to the shorts cutting a small hole in the seat of the pants just big enough for her tail to poke through. There were also a few other minor changes made to them.
For the shirt, she had cut off the long sleeves which were now showing her tanned arms and shoulders. The length of the shirt was shortened so that her tanned smooth stomach could be seen.
Varbu coughed breaking the silence and Akira''s stare.
¡°Ahem, Right! Now that you have proper clothing lets find you a weapon and some armor, so you can fulfill your part of the deal,¡± said Akira ignoring Varbu who was rolling his eyes.
Akira pulled out numerous weapons some he had created and others he had picked up from his enemies and put them on the sand before Mileena.
¡°Test them out and we can see which one suits you more,¡± said Akira.
Mileena had tried a few weapons before while under her fathers stern training but had not grasped any true feeling of success or skill with any of them.
She ruled out the weapons she already knew did not work for her and quietly picked up a long spear and looked at Akira as if asking what she should do next.
¡°Do a few stabs and some swings with it,¡± said Akira encouragingly.
Mileena took a deep breath and stabbed the empty air. The spear moved slowly in the air and was wavering all over the place the end of the spear was touching the ground due to it being longer than a normal short spear.
When she tried to swing it she lost her balance and fell on her butt, the dangerous swing almost hit Akira in the face.
¡°Yeah, definitely not the long spear,¡± said Akira.
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Another ten minutes passed with similar close calls and mishaps as Mileena tested the other weapons. All were failures.
The last and only weapons left were some old but well cared for daggers he had collected some time ago. No one was ever willing to buy them for a decent price so he still held onto them.
Mileena grabbed them hesitantly afraid that she might fail even with these and be unable to help save her sister.
Determination filled her heart and eyes as she agilely slashed the air in front of her moving this way and that she was fully in the zone and for the first time felt a small tingle of understanding how to use the weapons.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
¡°That''s great! You seem to be a perfect match for using dual daggers. I was a little worried that there might not be any weapons you could use,¡± said Akira as he clapped and let out a sigh of relief.
Mileena who had been startled out of her trance tripped and fell onto her butt again.
¡°Now I just need to figure out what type of armor you need to complement the fighting style of daggers. To do that I''ll need to take some measurements,¡± said Akira picking up and stuffing all the rejected weapons back into his bag.
He walked over to Mileena and stared at her inspecting her body.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Mileena embarrassed at being stared at.
¡°I''m taking mental measurements for your new armor,¡± said Akira as he walked to Mileena''s side and began to stare at her twitching tail it looked so soft and sleek.
¡°Can I touch it?¡± asked Akira.
Mileena grabbed her tail and held it to her chest. She turned to Akira and said, ¡°You can''t touch it.¡±
¡°Hmm, your tail looks different than mine,¡± said Akira.
Akira had noticed two things while taking mental notes for the armor.
First, her wrists were filled with scars and cuts from the shackles she had been wearing. He looked at her feet and saw they had similar scars. One of his weaker healing potions could fix that for her.
¡°Here take this. If you use it on your scars they will heal up and quickly,¡± said Akira as he handed over a minor health potion.
The second thing he noticed as he watched Mileena apply the potion to her scars was that she was a bit lacking in the chest department.
¡°Are you finished staring at me?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°*Cough*...Well, I think I have an idea of the armor that would suit your style,¡± said Akira looking away.
He walked into his tent and sat down and began to rummage through the armor pieces he had gathered taking out a few that met the requirements of what he envisioned.
It took him over an hour to modify the armor that had been made for someone else, in order for it to now fit Mileena''s small body. He had to cut, trim, and hammer parts of the armor into the shape he wanted.
Ding!
Blacksmithing has gained +50 XP.
|
When he finished checking the armor he handed the finished product over to Mileena.
After she had put it on Akira studied his handy work, starting with the metal chest protector, then the leather-armored gloves that went all the way up her arm almost reached her shoulders, and lastly her leather armor boots that went up to her knees.
Each piece was a nearly perfect fit. This was the best he could do with what he had. He didn''t want to weigh her down with extra layers of heavy armor especially not while they were in the desert where the heat from the day''s sun was brutal even without thick clothing or armor.
Plus the fighting style used for her daggers required that she be able to move agilely, she was not meant to be taking a lot of attacks, she would be the one doing the attacking and dealing the damage.
¡°How is it? To tight, loose, or heavy?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No, none of that. It''s just...different,¡± said Mileena who was walking around trying to get comfortable with the new armor.
¡°By the way how old are you,¡± asked Akira the question that was bothering him for a while.
¡°I''m almost 19,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Are you sure? You look like a kid,¡± said Akira who was a little skeptical while looking at her height and taking a quick glancing at her chest for a brief second.
¡°I''m an adult! And I''m sorry that I don''t have big lumps of fat on my chest like my sister!¡±
Akira obviously hit on a sensitive subject and tried to smooth things over.
¡°Don''t worry, there is a saying that some people say. It goes like this,''Flat is justice''.¡±
¡°Who says that?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Akira,¡± said Varbu who had been quietly watching the two all afternoon.
¡°Pervert!¡± said Mileena before she ran into her tent.
¡°Why''d you say that?¡± Akira asked Varbu exasperated.
Varbu didn''t say anything and only shrugged his shoulders.
He didn''t want his reputation to be ruined and only be known as a pervert. So he was forced to wait for Mileena to come back out in order to sort things out.
It was over a half hour before she came back out.
¡°I am sorry If I may have touched on a sore subject with you, earlier. I was just trying not to make you angry. You are fine just the way you are,¡± said Akira apologizing.
¡°Hmph!¡± said Mileena turning her head away from him.
¡°We have a few hours before dinner so we should go over the basics to see what you know and what we need to work on,¡± said Akira pressing forward trying to get past the misunderstandings.
¡°Fine,¡± said Mileena.
He led her away from the tents to a fairly flat area.
¡°First we will start with proper stances, movement, and other basic stuff like that. Then we will move on to how to properly do basic attacks. Are you ready?¡± asked Akira.
Mileena nodded.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on testing Mileena. Akira was able to get a better understanding of her strengths and weaknesses.
During training, she kept messing up so he came up with a light punishment.
Flick.
His finger lightly flicked her forehead after she messed up for the 100th time.
Mileena grabbed her forehead with both hands and crouched down.
¡°Ow, Ow, Ow,¡± she said a few times while looking at Akira with an accusing look as if asking ''why''d you do that!''.
This was repeated numerous times.
Night descended on them and the desert cold started to creep up on them so Akira stopped the training.
While eating dinner around the small campfire Varbu asked, ¡°So how did the training go.¡±
Akira looked over at Mileena who was quickly eating everything in front of her.
¡°She''s decent enough when it comes to using the daggers properly, but everything else is... a bit lacking around or under average. But with some proper training and some first-hand experience in combat, I''m sure she can grow stronger,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''m not that good of a fighter but I can learn,¡± said Mileena quietly between the small bites she of food.
¡°Tomorrow we''ll start traveling towards the capital, and we will be training as we go, so we should all get some sleep tonight,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 66: The greatest battle that was never heard of
After taking down their tents and storing everything in Akira''s bag the three began to continue their journey south.
The interactions with Akira and Mileena were a little stiff. As the day wore on the tension between the two lessened enough for Akira to continue to explain and mentor Mileena in the certain areas of melee fighting that he was good at. Giving her tips and answering any questions she had.
Varbu only added a few pointers but since his fighting was vastly different from the style she had chosen so he couldn''t help much in the theoretical part of her training.
When noon arrived they stopped and moved to the side of the road for lunch. While Varbu began to cook the food, Akira helped Mileena practice the things they had studied last night and during the morning while they had walked.
There were many head flicks as she repeatedly got the same things wrong.
¡°Lunch''s ready,¡± shouted Varbu stopping the afternoon training.
Akira and Mileena sat down around the small fire that Varbu had extinguished after finishing cooking in order to reduce the extra heat that they did not need during the middle of the hots desert afternoon.
While Mileena was still rubbing her head from a flick she had received just before coming over, she accepted a bowl of cooked meat and some bread with her free hand.
¡°Wao! This taste pretty good,¡± said Mileena as she bit into the juicy meat filled with many flavors.
¡°I''m glad you like it,¡± said Varbu happily.
¡°Don''t get too excited, the only thing he knows how to cook is meat,¡± said Akira between bites of his of lunch.
¡°At least what I cook can be called food. The stuff you make has a 50/50 chance of killing you,¡± retorted Varbu.
¡°Hey, I make do with what nature gives us how am is supposed to know if something is poisonous?¡±
Giggle.
The two stopped their arguing after hearing the sound of Mileena quietly laughing at them. This was the first time they had heard her laugh or smile and they both thought it suited her.
Akira and Varbu continued to hammer out the details of what the plan for the next few weeks to months would be if everything went the way they wanted it to go.
¡°Well let''s get back to traveling. Mileena are you ready?¡± asked Akira as he turned to look in her direction.
She wasn''t where she had been just a few minutes ago. Worried something might have happened he looked around quickly and let out a sigh when he saw she was dozing off in the shade of a nearby dune.
¡°Geez, falling asleep in the middle of that day...¡± mumbled Akira as he walked over to her.
¡°Hey wake up!¡± said Akira right next to her.
No response. After waiting a few long seconds he bent over and poked her in the cheek a few times to try and wake her up.
Nothing. He tried to wake her by shaking her shoulder but there was no reaction. She continued to peacefully sleep.
Akira looked over to Varbu as if to ask what to do.
¡°Just carry her. We don''t have time to waste staying here for too long.¡±
Akira mustered up the courage and picked up the young sleeping girl and flopped her onto his shoulder like he was carrying a bag of potatoes and began to walk south with Varbu.
An hour later Mileena woke up.
¡°Huh?... Help me, someone! I''m being kidnapped by a pervert!¡± Shouted Mileena as she started to struggle to get away from Akira.
¡°Wait! It''s me. You don''t have...AHHH!¡± Akira tried to calm her down but was bitten on the shoulder. He unceremoniously dropped her onto a nearby sand dune. Causing her to let out a soft oof.
¡°What are you a dog that goes around biting everyone?¡± asked Akira trying to ease the pain in his shoulder.
¡°Humph! I''m not a dumb dog like you, If anything I come from the most majestic and smart feline race,¡± said Mileena as she stood up and straightened her hair.
¡°Dog? I''m not a dog, I''m a werewolf!¡±
¡°What''s the difference? Why were you carrying me around in such an embarrassing manner?¡±
¡°It''s your fault that you fell asleep after eating lunch and since we couldn''t leave you behind carrying you was the only solution. I mean who can fall asleep in this damn heat no less in the middle of the day!¡±
¡°It''s just the way I am! I can''t help that I like to take naps after exercising and eating!¡±
¡°Quit your arguing you two, we still have a long way to travel today,¡± said Varbu stepping in between them and pushing them back a few steps.
All through the next week Akira and Varbu trained Mileena. Akira guessed her fighting strength was around what he had been when he was lvl 10.
As the week passed Mileena was able to gradually make fewer mistakes while training in the basics.
It was a huge improvement from when they first started when she was making mistakes partly due to her shyness during the first few days learning the basics.
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Her shyness was slowly fading away as she got used to both of them. It was still there but not as prevalent as before. Mileena and Akira now clashed many times over small things their arguments were becoming more and more like friendly banter.
While talking to her all week Akira noticed that one of Mileena''s favorite words to say was ''Wao''. When he asked why she said it she just said she had no control over it.
¡°Good now that you have a better understanding of the basics. I think you''re ready to start sparring with both me and Varbu. If we find any desert monsters tomorrow we can let you try fighting them if they aren''t too strong,¡± said Akira one night while they sat around the fire that had cooked their food.
¡°Are you sure? It''s so soon,¡± asked Mileena. She didn''t feel that she was strong enough to fight yet.
¡°If all you do is solo training and don''t actually experience battles and learn how to use your skills and your training in a fight, then you will never be able to fight properly. All the training in the world will not prepare you for battle like a true fight does. At some point you have to jump forward and fight on.¡± said Akira.
¡°Right you are! There is nothing like a good spar or fight with a monster to test your limits and learn new things about yourself,¡± said Varbu trying to sound like a wise sage but only sounding like a muscle head.
¡°If you say so,¡± said Mileena while poking her food and thinking about having to fight.
***
¡°Let''s go hunt for some lunch,¡± said Akira motioning for Mileena to follow him.
After searching for several minutes they were able to find a small group of weak desert rabbits nibbling on a cactus.
¡°Mileena now is the time to practice what you have learned. I''ll be nearby in case you need help. But you should try and gather enough meat for lunch,¡± said Akira in a whisper next to Mileena.
Mileena took a deep breath and exhaled trying to calm herself down before she started to slowly walk forward stealthily stalking the group of desert rabbits.
Before she could reach them the desert rabbits as one sensing danger looked behind them and upon seeing Mileena hoped a few feet away and stopped to see what Mileena was doing.
She was plagued with indecision on what move would be best to use, over-analyzing and thinking about every little detail.
¡°What''s wrong?¡± asked Akira in a whisper from behind one of the nearby dunes.
¡°They''re too cute!¡± said Mileena.
As if the Desert rabbits had understood what had been said about them they became agitated and one of them began to hop forward in a charge to attack the person who had called them cute.
Mileena was unready for such a quick change and was hit in the stomach by the small fluff-ball that was the charging rabbit and fell onto her butt after receiving the headbutt.
The desert rabbit scratched her belly with its nails but before it could bite her Akira appeared next to her and kicked it away from her.
Akira grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto her feet, and flicked her head.
¡°You can do this. Just focus on the basics and use the moves I''ve taught you,¡± said Akira.
The desert rabbit indignant at being kicked let out a cry which caused the other rabbits to join in the fight.
¡°I can''t fight them all!¡± said Mileena a bit frantically.
¡°Now''s the time to sink or swim,¡± said Akira with what Mileena thought was an evil grin.
With the situation changed so much she was forced to throw away her timid shyness and fully focus on each of the attacking desert rabbits.
She dodged left and right jumped forward and stabbed down killing one of them with her daggers.
The fight was a flurry of movement with many badly aimed attacks that could be characterized as a child throwing a tantrum.
Nearly ten minutes passed before the greatest battle never to be heard of now know as ¡°The battle for the desert lunch¡± was finished.
Mileena''s ears and tail were dropping as she was bent over catching her breath from all the movement and many attacks she had used to defeat her dreaded lunch foe.
Clap, Clap, Clap!
¡°Although there were many flaws with your attack it was decent enough. We''ll have to do more practice to help you reduce all that flailing and unneeded movement you were doing, along with your horrible attack accuracy.¡±
¡°What''s with those things? They fooled me they looked so cute but were they really some type of powerful monsters?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Umm... no, they were just regular desert rabbits. We can hunt larger and more dangerous stuff later if you want but only when you get better,¡± said Akira scratching his head in embarrassment at her question both for her and for a certain memory he had.
Mileena''s face turned red and stuttered out, ¡°I..I guess we should gather the rabbits and take them back to Varbu so he can cook them for us.¡±
When they handed them over to Varbu he gave them a grumpy look.
¡°How am I supposed to do anything with this sort of mess? They''re all mangled and chopped up,¡± grumbled Varbu.
¡°Come on Mileena we''ll continue your training, while Varbu cooks lunch,¡± said Akira ignoring the grumbling Varbu.
¡°But I just fought the Rabbits can''t I get a break?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Now''s not the time to be taking naps, you need to get as much training in as you can before we reach the capital. This time we won''t be doing the basics you''ll be sparing with me to hone your skills.¡±
Mileena mumbled a few sentences under her breath as she followed Akira to a decent enough area to spar.
After training and eating lunch Mileena quickly fell asleep forcing Akira to carry her until she woke up. He skillfully distanced himself from her before she could bite him.
The same routine was repeated every day for over a week as they traveled on the desert road only meeting a few well-guarded caravans and numerous bandits that were easily beaten up by both Akira and Varbu.
¡°The oasis should be this way, we can replenish our depleted water supply and gather information on current events from anyone else that is camping there for the night,¡± said Akira while pointing at the map.
It was almost time for dinner but they had decided to continue to walk until they reached the oasis for the night.
The sunlight was almost gone when they reached the medium-sized oasis. There were multiple tents set up around the palm trees and near the shore of the large pond.
¡°Let''s find a spot and put up our tents before we talk to the others,¡± said Akira.
When they had erected their tents, they walked towards one of the numerous large bonfires burning.
There were multiple groups with grim faces chatting with each other around the fires and most of them paid no attention to the newcomers.
Before Akira and the others could walk up to anyone to start a conversation two plain-looking middle-aged men both wearing robes common to the people who lived in the desert stepped in front of their path. One wore a red robe while the other wore a blue robe.
¡°Do you know tha way?¡± asked the red-robed man.
¡°The what?¡± asked Akira confused.
¡°He does not know tha way brother,¡± said the man in blue.
¡°I see that brother, he does not know tha way.¡±
¡°What are you guys talking about?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Goodbye one who does not know tha way!¡± said the two men at once before leaving them.
¡°What the...¡± said Varbu just as confused at what he had just watched.
¡°Don''t worry about those two brothers. They have a few screws loose,¡± said a dark-skinned man sitting next to the fire.
¡°I am called Unana, but my friends call me Knuckles and so can you. Who might you be?¡± asked Knuckles in a friendly voice.
¡°My name is Akira, and my companions are Varbu and Mileena. Why does everyone look so serious did something bad happen?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I see, so you have come from the north. A bit of a warning if you are going south multiple caravans have been attacked by monsters while traveling north. My caravan was lucky to not receive any attacks. But some of them lost numerous guards and even some of the merchants were killed.¡±
¡°Is it really that bad?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Some are saying a Dungeon has appeared near the main road and that a large number of monsters came out at night and attacked them by surprise. This is terrible news for everyone if it''s true.¡±
Chapter 67: Hunting mice with a catgirl
¡°What a dungeon?¡± asked Akira who immediately became interested in the gossip.
¡°Yeah, but like I said I only know people who were talking about it. I didn''t encounter anything while traveling here.¡±
¡°Who was it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It was Bumnickus. He is the old fellow drinking heavily by the palm tree,¡± said Knuckles pointing to an old man slumped next to a palm tree with multiple bags next to him.
¡°Here we go again,¡± said Varbu.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Just watch you''ll see soon enough,¡± said Varbu.
The two of them followed after Akira as he walked up to Bumnickus who was currently drinking a large amount of alcohol from a leather waterskin.
¡°What do you want?¡± asked the slightly drunk Bumnickus, upon seeing the three people surrounding him.
¡°Can you tell me where you encountered the monsters that attacked your caravan?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Why? What benefit do I get to let you know?¡±
¡°I might be able to take care of it for you. Which will make your future travels easier.¡±
¡°See,¡± said Varbu nudging Mileena with his large elbow.
¡°What''s he talking about?¡± asked Mileena while moving away from Varbu''s large elbow.
¡°Are you nuts? Those monsters are vicious. Normal people can''t fight them,¡± scoffed Bumnickus.
¡°We''re not normal people,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmph, suit yourself, I warned you. Do you have a map so I can show you where it was?¡±
Akira nodded and pulled out a map from his bag that he had bought for a high price before beginning the long journey.
¡°Hmph...you call this a map? I''m surprised anyone would buy such a crappy piece of paper,¡± said Bumnickus with a few slurred words before taking out an ink bottle and a metal-tipped feather from one of the bags next to him.
Bumnickus dipped the end of the feather in the ink and began to draw extra details onto the map. His hand was surprisingly steady creating crisp sharp lines and in an artful way. This happened even while he continued to drink his alcohol with his other hand.
He seemed to have gone into a trance and was slowly transforming the almost bare map into what looked like a piece of expensive art rather than a map.
After half an hour Bumnickus completed the last stroke finishing his task of transforming the map. He wiped the metallic tip of the feather on his pants and placed the cap onto the ink bottle and put them back into his bags.
When his hand came out of the bag he was holding a shaker that had a special finely ground sand and shook it over the map in order to soak up the excess ink. He let it rest for a short time before gently brushing the sand off with a soft horsetail brush.
Akira, Varbu, and Mileena had all been hypnotized by the masterful way he worked that the time had passed by quickly without them noticing it.
¡°Right, here is where we are,¡± said Bumnickus pointing to an artfully drawn oasis on the map, ¡°About a two days walk south the road branches into three. One to the left, one strait, and one to the right. I came from the left and was ambushed around here.¡± Bumnickus pointed to a spot on the map which showed multiple pyramids.
¡°Is it legal to own such a detailed map?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The king of Caidia does not care if others get ahold of a detailed map since it''s hard to move any large army through the desert without a large caravan of supplies, which makes them vulnerable and slow. If you can take care of the monsters at that dungeon then me filling out your map will have been well worth the time spent on it.¡±
¡°What type of monsters attacked you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°There was a swarm of large rat or mouse type of monster. Before I escaped I was able to to see at least one Ratman that was giving commands to them. There may be more than one of them.¡±
¡°How were you able to draw so skillfully,¡± asked Mileena who was interested in drawing.
¡°I was a cartographer before I branched out and became a merchant, and now on this trip, if I''m lucky I''ll barely make back what I spent on the merchandise I lost,¡± said Bumnickus mumbling the last part.
Akira pulled out a small bottle of alcohol he had taken from the banquet at the castle many weeks ago.
¡°Here have this as thanks for your help,¡± said Akira as he handed over the bottle.
Bumnickus pulled the cork from the bottle and sniffed it.
¡°This is some fine wine from the north you don''t see much of it down south anymore where did you get it?¡±
¡°From a friend,¡± said Akira not explaining any further.
After exchanging the wine for the map Akira and the other two headed back towards their tents.
Ding!
New Quest received!
How to train your catgirl:
You have learned the location of the Rat man''s hideout. Take Mileena and help her level up her fighting skill inside the Rat man''s hideout.
You must work on your teamwork while in the dungeon. You will receive a grade after completing the dungeon. If the grade is to low the quest will be a failure and you will not receive any experience or reward from the completion of the quest.
This is a perfect chance to deepen your bonds of friendship.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Reward: Decided after receiving the grade.
Will you accept?:
Yes / No
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Akira accepted the quest and was about to go into his tent before Varbu placed a hand on his shoulder.
¡°What are you planning?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Don''t worry it''s not a detour the road past the dungeon leads to the main road we need to take to get to Otria. We''ll just take a day to clear the dungeon. This way Mileena and I can work on our teamwork for the arena,¡± said Akira trying to reassure Varbu before he made any complaints.
¡°You think you can handle a dungeon?¡± asked Varbu as he turned to Mileena.
She shrugged her shoulders, ¡°I have never seen a dungeon, Is it hard? It sounds better than regular training,¡± Mileena said the last part while looking away from Akira.
¡°It shouldn''t be too hard if we need to Varbu and I can use our full power to kick their butts. Well if that''s all you needed then I''ll be going to sleep,¡± said Akira escaping into his tent.
***
A few days later in the morning desert heat, the three of them stood next to a large sandstone Pyramid that had multiple large stone steps leading up to a small stone door. The door had been cracked in half allowing enough room for a short person to walk under it. The height would force tall people like Akira and Varbu to crawl.
¡°Are you ready? This should help deepen your understanding of fighting and you might learn something new from it. If you get into a tight situation just remember the basics we have been practicing and you should be fine,¡± said Akira trying to reassure Mileena.
¡°I can do it!¡± said Mileena before entering the dungeon first with Akira and Varbu following.
Ding!
You have entered the Ratman hideout.
|
The cool temperature inside of the pyramid was like night and day compared to the scorching heat outside.
The sound of rat squeaks could be heard from a distant place in the dungeon.
When Akira entered the small room the only light that came into the dungeon was the light from the hole in the stone door and a few cracks in the ceiling.
Akira was going to pull out a torch or lamp to light up the area but was stopped by Mileena.
¡°No need for a light I can see just as good in the dim places as I can outside. Aren''t werewolf supposed to have night vision as well?¡± asked Mileena.
Akira had not really paid attention to something like that and had been using lights in the dark because he was almost always with someone else that could not see in the dark so it had become a habit.
¡°I haven''t used it that much and Varbu has a hard time seeing in dark places. I guess this is for the best since it can help with our training,¡± replied Akira.
¡°Since I won''t be able to see stuff clearly ahead of us I''ll just protect the rear,¡± said Varbu.
They exited the small room with Mileena leading the way due to her having the best eyesight in the darkness between the three of them.
The movement and squeaks of rats grew louder as they walked down the narrow pathway to wherever it led to.
¡°I see at least eight large rats,¡± Mileena informed the other two behind her.
Akira looked at the rats to figure out their strength. [Ratman minion Lv 10].
¡°Show us what you got,¡± said Akira prompting her to make the first move confident that they were not life-threatening enemies.
Swiftly and silently Mileena walked forward using the shadows to get close enough before she pounced onto the nearest rat that was chewing on a piece of rock.
Her two daggers stabbed right into the large rats unprotected neck and back paralyzing it and causing blood the spray everywhere. The rat was still able to cry out in pain alerting the other rats in the room.
Mileena''s daggers flashed again and the throat of the giant rat was cut open silencing it and causing it to bleed to death.
The other giant rats seeing an ally get slaughter like that screeched in anger and scurried forward as one to attack her.
Before they could swarm her Akira jumped in front of her and blocked their attacks knocking four of them back with a well placed [Shield bash].
¡°Your training in teamwork starts here. I''ll hold off all but one your task is to take care of it. We''ll repeat the process until they are all dead. Varbu will protect us from any attacks coming from the rear your job is to just kill them all.¡±
¡°Fine,¡± said Mileena as she readied her daggers.
With Akira and Varbu making sure to control the situation Mileena was able to gain more experience in fighting with her weapons of choice and experience battle as a member of a team.
¡°Last two! Try to defeat them on your own,¡± said Akira as He knocked them towards Mileena.
The two rats were angry at being knocked around lashed out at the nearest person which happened to be Mileena.
She narrowly dodged the first attack but received a cut on her side from the second rat''s claws causing her to let out a low hiss and her tail to stand up.
She gritted her teeth and focused on dodging the attacks made by the monsters.
Akira watched closely as she continued to dodge the attacks but never launched an attack at the rats.
¡°Don''t just dodge, if you don''t attack they will never be killed. Dodging is important but if that''s all you do you will only be hurting yourself, plus you''re not equipped to defend against them,¡± said Akira.
Mileena continued to dodge the attacks waiting for a chance to attack. Now! She pounced on one of them after it had missed her in a failed attack quickly stabbing it in vulnerable areas to kill it quickly.
There was now only one rat left which was easily taken care of after a few more attacks.
¡°Looks like you''re going to need more training with multiple enemies attacking at once,¡± said Akira as the three of them sat down to catch their breath.
¡°So what''s my grade?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°You''re a scrappy little fighter. Overall it seems you have learned the basics well enough you just need to experience more battles in order to gain more fighting knowledge. Varbu and I won''t be able to help you 100% of the time like we just did. So you need to train harder to be light on your feet and skilled enough to handle multiple threats if something unexpected happens. Varbu, anything else to add?¡± said Akira after a short time of thinking.
¡°No, I agree with what you said,¡± said Varbu.
¡°We shouldn''t waste to much time resting we still have to travel a few more miles today after we clear this dungeon,¡± said Akira standing up ¡°Same formation as before.¡±
They walked down a small set of stairs and into another maze-like hallway Mileena randomly picked a path and started to walk down it.
Click! Bam!
A large spiked ball fell from the ceiling passing only an inch or two from Akira''s face and slammed into the ground.
Akira and Varbu grew alert looking for an enemy but saw none.
They couldn''t see anything that could have thrown or activated the attack after searching blindly they gave up and continued forward.
Snap! The sound of a wire snapping was heard in front of Akira and Varbu.
Fwoosh!
Two large sharp axes one at knee height and the other a little higher above the waist swung out from the wall nearly bisecting Akira who was forced to drop to the ground to avoid the sudden attacks.
¡°These look like traps,¡± said Varbu looking at the Axes.
¡°Yeah, I can see that. Mileena, watch where you''re stepping. You''ve activated two trap''s already,¡± said Akira grumpily.
¡°Whoops! I got it, don''t get too angry it was an accident,¡± said Mileena innocently.
Even with Akira''s warning, Mileena seemed to be an expert at triggering all the traps causing Akira and Varbu massive amounts of trouble.
¡°Jeez this klutz,¡± complained Varbu in a mumble as they rested in an empty room.
¡°You guys seem really tired already. Has the dungeon really been that tough on you guys? I''m doing fine,¡± said Mileena as if she didn''t know about all the traps she had triggered.
¡°What was that I thought I heard someone crying?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I thought I told you to forget that!¡± said Mileena who used her daggers to take a swipe at Akira only for her attack to be blocked by his shield. She received a light push and was forced back landing on her butt.
¡°We have cleared most of the dungeon, I''m guessing that the [Ratmen] will be somewhere in the last room up ahead is everyone ready?¡± asked Akira Ignoring the dagger-like stare coming from Mileena.
Mileena and Varbu both nodded their heads.
¡°Then let''s finish this place quickly.¡±
Chapter 68: Hunting mice with a cat girl 2
Akira peeked out from behind a statue of a soldier that he was hiding behind.
After checking the room and his minimap he confirmed his earlier guess that this was indeed the last room of the dungeon.
The room was dimly lit just enough for him to see movement from numerous rats they were all Level 12.
At the far end of the room, he could see two small figures the size of a young human child near or at the age of 10. It was the leaders of the minions [Rat man Lvl 23].
Akira and Varbu could easily kill the small rats and then take care of the two [Ratmen] but the quest had said to work as a team and so he had to come up with a plan to do just that.
¡°Mileena, now is your time to shine I''ll keep the two [Ratmen] busy. You and Varbu need to take care of the minions and then come help me take care of the small fries,¡± ordered Akira.
Akira stepped out from behind the statue and ran forward he did not need to wait for evening and transform into a werewolf since the dungeon had been extremely easy so far.
The two [Rat men] noticed Akira running towards them and quickly spoke to the rats near them with numerous urgent squeaks.
Akira used [Shield Bash] to clear a small path forward and continued to run towards the two [rat men].
Shield bash lvl up!
Shield Bash: (Beginner Lv: 6 | 1%)
|
While the enemy was still focused on Akira, Varbu, and Mileena came in from the sides unnoticed and started to decrease the number of rodents.
The [Ratmen] seeing that they were Akira''s main target, tried to run away. Akira quickly used [Shadow chains] on the [Ratman] closest to him.
A dark ring of shadows appeared beneath the small [Ratman]. Four shadow chains shot out and with their sharp teeth bit down onto each arm and leg of the [Ratman] trapping it making it unable to move or defend itself.
Seeing this the second [Ratman] let out a screech and jumped into the air attacking Akira with the dagger it held.
Akira had grown negligent due to the dungeon being so easy up to this point that he almost received a fatal stab to his face from the sudden attack. But at the last second, he was able to turn his head just enough so that the dagger was unable to stab into his head and only grazed his cheek.
Akira let out a cry of pain not from the cut but the burning sting of poison he felt.
Ding!
You have been poisoned with Immature desert sandworm mucus.
If not cured within 10 hours you will die.
|
''Crap!'' Akira quietly swore to himself as he saw his health being slowly drained away.
The Ratman''s attack was pathetic when compared to its level or something like the golems that they had to fight in Vussia.
The attack didn''t cause much damage but the real problem was the poison that was on its daggers and how agile the [Ratmen] were.
The [Ratman] was able to attack far quicker than a golem in just a few seconds which made up for its weak attacks.
With the numerous attacks constantly bombarding Akira, he was forced to kick out with his left foot to knock back the small [Ratman] to buy time to allow him to jump back and reorient himself and properly position his shield to receive the poisonous attacks.
The [Shadow chains] disappeared after the skills timer ran out freeing the first [Ratman] who had lost nearly ? of his health due to the shadow chains biting into his unprotected legs and arms.
Before he could join the fight Akira used the [Shadow chains] skill again to keep him immobile. The Ratman screeched something at Akira and if he had to guess it was probably a swear word in the [Ratman] language.
Akira continued to block the attacks and keep the [Ratmen] busy while he waited for Varbu and Mileena to take care of their minions.
He didn''t need to wait long for them as the finished off the last one in under ten minutes.
¡°Mileena, while I block this one, kill the one that is trapped over there. Varbu, make sure that she doesn''t get to hurt,¡± said Akira.
Mileena and Varbu rushed over to the [Ratman] that was immobile due to the [Shadow chains]. Upon seeing Mileena and smelling her scent he began screeching at the top of his lungs trying to get the second [Ratman] to come to his aid.
It was pointless because every time the second [Ratman] tried to move to help he would get kicked back or receive a [Shield Bash] in the face.
Akira took a few seconds to watch as Mileena studied the trapped enemy deciding on how to attack before she swiftly moving behind it causing the [Ratman''s] screams of fright to become even louder.
Two daggers stabbed into the back of the [Ratman] causing him to fall to the ground paralyzed from the attacks that had severed the spine.
She continued to test her skills by attacking numerous areas on the body she thought might be weak points.
Two minutes later Mileena and Varbu rejoined Akira again.
Akira knocked the remaining [Ratman] off his feet with a [Shield Bash] before talking to Mileena.
¡°Now that you have a little experience in attacking them. Let''s take this one down together. I''ll keep his attention while all you need to do is attack his weak points,¡± said Akira as he ran up to the [Ratman].
Akira used his hand to smack the [Ratman] across the face causing it to get angry and focus its attention on Akira and leaving its back unprotected.
Mileena stalked the [Ratman] from behind and pounced forward her daggers ready to deal a fatal blow.
The [Ratman] had a good sense of smell and noticed Mileena''s scent coming closer. He moved a step to the side causing the daggers to miss its vitals and only cause shallow wounds.
¡°Concentrate on your movement and speed! Predict what the enemy will do ahead of time and adjust your attack,¡± said Akira before slapping the [Ratman] in the face again causing him to turn around and angrily screech something at Akira before trying to attack Mileena.
''Guess that only works once'' Akira thought to himself.
He kicked the back of the [Ratman''s] knees forcing it to fall onto the ground.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
The fight was over then and there as Mileena seized the chance and pounced at the [Ratman''s] unprotected heart with both daggers piercing deep into its body and immediately ending its life.
Mileena stood up tall and put her right foot on top the dead body and puffed out her small chest triumphantly looking to Akira as if to ask him for praise.
Akira let out a sigh and walked over to her to pat her head, surprisingly she let him do it a few times which caused her ears to twitch before she lightly pushed his hand away.
¡°You did good, although you still have a long way to go,¡± said Akira.
¡°Thanks...¡± mumbled Mileena shyly.
Akira took out a minor potion from his bag and drank it in order to cure the poison he had received from the dagger used by the [Ratman].
Ding!
Quest ''How to train your cat girl'' completed!
-You were able to clear the dungeon as a team.
-Your teamwork was ''Good enough''.
-Level up!
-Level up!
-Current level is now level 28.
-The somewhat skilled assassin Mileena has been born.
-Her level has risen up greatly!
-A special reward will be given.
|
New title received!
The Great Nyaantail Tamer.
Fame +5
|
Special reward for completing quest!
+1 to Mastery skills
Sword Mastery has leveled up to (Beginner Lvl: 8 | 3.00%)
Shield mastery has leveled up to (Beginner Lvl: 9 | 5.00%)
Heavy Armor Mastery has leveled up to (Beginner Lvl: 6 | 11%)
|
It took Akira less than a minute to read the multiple messages.
''Our team work was ''Good enough''? What type of rating is that?'' Akira wondered.
''Heok!''
He nearly had a heart attack when looking at the levels and the special reward. He had gained two full levels and one level in each of his main mastery skills which were not easy to level up.
All of this was from completing such an easy dungeon and quest.
''What a jackpot!''
Akira quickly put his bonus points into his chosen stats.
Character Name
|
Akira
|
Race
|
Werewolf
|
Fame
|
85
|
Level
|
28: 02%
|
Profession
|
Son Of The Night
|
Title
|
The Great Nyaantail Tamer
|
Health
|
940
|
Mana
|
380
|
Strength
|
107(+10)
|
Vitality
|
94
|
Stamina
|
68
|
Agility
|
38
|
Intelligence
|
36
|
Wisdom
|
38
|
Dexterity
|
14
|
|
|
Honor
|
5
|
Charm
|
7
|
Endurance
|
18
|
Toughness
|
28
|
Attack
|
35-42
|
Defense
|
78
|
+ 10% Buff to Stamina and strength at night and dark places.
+ 15% Lesser poison resistance
+ 25% Fire resistance
|
As he looked at his current stats it was now more obvious than in the past on what type of fighter he was.
He was built to take a beating. The damage he could deal wasn''t that bad but it was nothing to brag about when compared to Varbu.
Akira looked over to Mileena, her level had risen by five. It was a huge boost to her power and he wondered what her stats looked like.
Thinking back on how strong he had been when he was at her stage of training her damage was far superior to what he was capable of back then.
He could guess she was probably more oriented to a mixture of two or more of the stats such as Strength, Agility, and Stamina.
¡°Let''s hurry up and find anything worth looting and get out before the dungeon collapses,¡± said Akira.
He bent over and picked up the two daggers where they had dropped from the dead [Ratman] before they disappeared in a bright light. He studied the weapons for a few seconds before tossing them away.
They were no better than trash and were completely ruined from the poison that was added onto the weak metal the daggers were made out of.
New ideas came to his head as he continued to pick up the coins that the monsters had dropped.
His eyes had been opened to the possibility of using poison on his weapons. But there was one major problem poison was deadly not only to living beings but also the weapon itself slowly eating away at the metal causing it to become worthless.
If he wanted to be able to allow Mileena to use poison on her weapons to increase her overall damage he would have to figure out a way to stop it from eating away at the metal.
¡°Let''s go,¡± said Akira after one last look around the room.
***
The three companions were resting in the shade of the pyramid that they had just cleared. Luckily the only thing that had been destroyed was the inside of the dungeon while the outer appearance stayed the same.
¡°So...umm... what do you think about my fighting?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°You''re still rusty in actual combat and need more training. You need to experience more real combat,¡± said Akira.
Mileena''s ears and tail drooped after hearing this.
¡°But, your skill in handling the daggers and the damage you deal is far greater than when I was near your level of skill. It seems that it will soon reach and surpass me. Granted your damage is more of a burst damage and not sustained damage like me. That is only natural since you are more squishy them me, which forces you to move around in order to not get hit making it so you have to properly pick the area of attack to do the most damage,¡± said Akira.
Varbu spoke up, ¡°Not only is the little miss good at fighting she''s got a good eye for attacking the weak spots. I kept an eye on her while fighting and when she got into the groove of killing she was able to kill things far faster than the past you. Truly a genius.¡±
Mileena''s ears perked up and her tail began to slowly swish back and forth as she grew happy at the praise.
¡°Well... I''m not really that great I just guessed at which spots to attack and they happened to be correct. It''s all due to you guys helping me learn to fight,¡± said Mileena shyly.
¡°I haven''t done much, I''ve only sparred with you. Akira deserves all the praise for your current training,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Well, I''m glad you like my beginner hell training,¡± said Akira with a smile.
The three continued to chat for some time while eating some food and drinking a portion of water to return their strength.
Mileena who had always had a shy personality was finally starting to blossom and talk more with both Varbu and Akira as she grew more comfortable with them and her new found fighting skills using the dual daggers.
The three of them did not notice the three large birds flying so high in the sky that they looked like small birds.
¡°The target has been found. One of you go and report to the Magic guild branch in Otria, make sure you let them know that we have found a grade 1 target. We''ll watch them for now, to see where they are going. We should have captured the target before they notice and can get away,¡± said the commander of the three Giegle riders.
Chapter 69: Storm
During breakfast, Akira checked everyone''s armor and weapons while taking a rest on their journey to the nearest city and made small repairs when it was needed gaining a small amount of experience for his blacksmith skill.
When Akira finished repairing Mileena''s gear and handed it back to her he noticed that her ears and tail twitching in agitation.
¡°What''s wrong?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I noticed a while ago that the same two birds have been circling us for the last few hours. They''re too far away to see what type of bird they are but from the color of their feathers that I can barely see they don''t look like normal desert vultures,¡± said Mileena pointing at the specks of color high in the sky.
Both Akira and Varbu looked in the direction she was pointing while covering their eyes from the sun.
¡°Now that you mentioned it I can see something moving but I would not have noticed it unless you said something. You must have great eyesight to be able to spot something so far away,¡± said Akira.
¡°I don''t see anything,¡± said Varbu squinting at the sky trying to see the faraway specs.
Mileena puffed out her small chest at being praised, ¡°That''s right I''m an expert at seeing things far away.¡±
¡°Just keep an eye on them and don''t worry too much about it,¡± said Akira as they began walking again.
***
¡°Commander! I don''t know how but they seem to be pointing towards us,¡± shouted the remaining subordinate Giegle rider.
¡°Since we''ve been discovered we need to commence the attack in order to squash any chance of them getting away,¡± said the commander.
At the urging of their riders, the Giegles folded their wings and started a steep dive hurtling down towards the ground quickly gaining speed. Their legs were ready to reach out and grab Akira.
***
Skreeeee!
The high pitched cry rang out from the sky hammering into the heads of the three as they were walking.
¡°They''re attacking!¡± was all Mileena could say before the giant gray and black birds reached them at a surprising speed.
At the last moment possible the giant birds unfurled their wings to stop their descent the one that had targeted Akira swooped in and grabbed onto his shoulders with both of its feet. It''s sharp talons poked through his armor and dug into his skin before he could even respond.
The large bird tried to use the remaining speed from the dive to pick Akira up and quickly fly away flapping its wings as hard as it could to give it an extra boost.
Before it had a chance to get away Varbu who had been standing next to Akira when he was grabbed let out a war cry and swung his large quarterstaff which connected and hit landed a massive blow to the bird''s thigh.
The giant bird let out a cry of pain and flapped its wings a few more times before dropped Akira onto one of the numerous soft sand dunes from a height of over ten yards in the air.
Akira rolled down the sand dune and was more than a little dizzy and disoriented as he tried to stand back up and ready his sword and shield which was an extremely painful task due to the small wounds he received from the Giegles talons.
When his head cleared and he regained his bearings he started to run towards Varbu and Mileena who he had been separated from.
Seeing the first attack by his subordinate failed only because of the timely attack from the large Orc the commander guided his own mount to grab Akira while ordering his subordinate with designated combat signals to handle the other two nuisances.
Akira who was now more alert and aware of the type of attacks the enemy used was able to dodge to the right and roll away from the second swooping bird''s sharp talons.
Skreeeee! The Giegle let out a cry of frustration at narrowly missing its target.
Due to Varbu''s size and weight the Giegle that had grabbed onto him was unsuccessful at picking him up off the ground and received another powerful attack to the thigh angering it more before letting its prey go due to muscle pain and darting back into the sky to gain speed for another attack.
For its third attempt, it was decided to attack the weakest and smallest target, Mileena.
With surprising accuracy for the high speeds at which it was flying it was able to grab onto Mileena before she could successfully dodge it even if she could see it coming.
Before it could gloat at its success it let out an awkward Squawk of pain as it was whacked a good one in it rear end causing it to lose control over its flight for a brief moment, resulting in a crash into a nearby sand dune that it was unable to clear.
Varbu saw a human body get flung off from the top of the bird and thought ''So it was controlled by a human. But who are they?''
¡°Mileena, while I fight the giant bird, take care of the injured enemy that fell off the bird,¡± shouted Varbu before charging towards the giant bird that was still immobile on the ground after crashing at such a high speed.
Akira saw it all but was unable to do anything since he was being harassed by the constant diving attacks of the giant bird that was trying to grab him. The attacks forced him to dodge out of the way causing him to get farther and farther away from Varbu and Mileena.
Mileena let out a hiss of anger as she nimbly sprang to her feet after freeing herself from the talons of the giant bird.
She was able to locate the enemy quickly and saw that he was just now sitting up and regaining his senses. She dashed forward with weapons drawn.
Seeing Mileena running towards him with her daggers, he hastily stood up and tried to use his right arm to grab for his short sword but let out a cry of pain instead.
Looking at his arm he could see there was a white bone sticking out of his skin it had broken during the crash and he didn''t notice it until now and the waves of pain engulfed him.
He was forced to grab the dagger on his hip with his left hand to block the incoming attacks.
Although he was heavily wounded and using his left hand he was still able to just barely fend off the small girl of the nyantail race. From the way she attacked he guessed she was still a beginner at fighting real battles.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
The stalemate lasted for only a few minutes until Mileena was able to agilely slip one of the daggers past the enemy''s defense and create a wound in his left armpit.
This caused his reactions to slow and he was unable to block her final attack as it sliced across his neck causing blood to spurt everywhere.
Varbu finished beating the downed giant bird into a pulp and rejoined Mileena.
Upon seeing her successfully execute the enemy before he could help he gave her a thumbs up and said, ¡°Good job! Now let''s go help Akira.¡±
The commander seeing that his subordinate had failed in such an embarrassing way let out a sigh of exasperation. With the loss of a Giegle he would be in enormous trouble when he returned to Headquarters.
¡°Don''t think you have won today I''ll be back!¡± shouted the commander before swiftly flying back into the air and out of sight.
¡°Who did you piss off this time?¡± asked Varbu as he ran up to Akira.
¡°How should I know people are always getting mad for no reason!¡± said Akira.
¡°You don''t look to beat up. It''s a good thing you didn''t get captured. If you did how could I fulfill my mission?¡± asked Varbu.
Akira looked over to Mileena and saw that she had fresh blood coming out of two deep wounds she had received from the Giegle attack.
¡°Mileena, come here,¡± said Akira reaching into his bag to grab some potions and rags to stop the bleeding.
¡°Drink this,¡± said Akira as he handed her one of the potions.
He opened another potion and poured half of it onto the four wounds that were on the front and back of her shoulder causing Mileena to hiss as the pain of her wound began to slowly mend.
Due to the potion not being a high grade the healing wasn''t that fast so Akira poured the rest of it onto the rags and helped compress the wounds to stop the bleeding.
A short time later he removed the rags to see that the wounds had fully closed.
¡°Th...thank you for helping me. Ah! What about your wounds?¡± asked Mileena
¡°It''s okay, my wounds aren''t as bad as yours were,¡± said Akira before drinking a potion.
¡°That''s right he''s made of stronger stuff like me and he has some decent armor,¡± said Varbu slapping Akira on the back causing him to grimace in pain but didn''t let out a sound.
***
While traveling they had avoided joining caravans mainly because they required silver and sometimes gold to join them in order to enjoy the extra security.
The ones they had passed already had all been going in the opposite direction that they needed to go so there had been no point in thinking about it.
Now that they had been attacked they decided that it would be safer to join a caravan that had more people and mercenaries to help fight anything that would come their way.
It was a few hours after they started walking again they found what they were looking for a caravan heading to the next city.
In order to join Akira had to hand over 50 silver for each person to the mercenary captain in charge of protecting the caravan.
They had joined the group while it had stopped for a late afternoon lunch.
One of the benefits of traveling with a caravan was being able to buy and trade with the traveling merchants.
Most of the merchants could only barter goods since most or all of their money was tied up in the items they were transporting to sell for a large profit in the next town.
With only a few trades and using a small number of coins, Akira was able to replenish his supplies just to be on the safe side.
The caravan had been moving for over an hour when Akira noticed that several merchants were pointing to the east with worried looks on their faces while they quietly whispered to each other.
Akira looked to see what they were talking about. In the far distance, he could see a light brown wall moving towards them. If he had not looked at it long enough he would not have noticed it since it blended in with the faraway desert sand dunes.
What startled him was that it was growing bigger and bigger and was approaching them. As it grew bigger the area it covered became almost as dark as night.
¡°Halt!¡± shouted multiple mercenary guards forcing the large caravan to come to a stop.
Akira watched as one of the mercenaries ran over to them.
¡°A sandstorm is brewing! You need to set up a tent facing away from the storm, this one looks nasty so I advise you to hurry! You do not want to be caught outside in a sand storm,¡± said the mercenary before running off to another group of merchants.
Judging by the fast approaching storm Akira''s group did not have enough time to put up three separate tents.
¡°Let''s just use Varbu''s tent since its the largest,¡± said Akira.
They hastily got to work on erecting the tent. Akira pulled out four extra wooden stakes to hammer into the four corners of the tent to help keep it secured to the ground.
Just as they finished the howling wind slammed into their bodies causing minor cuts from debris that it had brought with it while stealing the breath from their lungs for a brief moment.
¡°Into the tent,¡± shouted Akira hoarsely.
The tent was easily able to fit them all and not overly cramped but there was no extra stretching room.
The fierce howling wind could be heard slamming against the tent with all sort of debris it had picked up.
The tents flaps were fluttering wildly until Varbu and Akira were able to fasten them at the top and the bottom.
The wind seemed desperate to destroy or flatten the that was in its way.
They sat quietly in the dark tent listening to the constant bombardment of objects and sand hitting the tent.
A half hour had passed when something went wrong as one of the corners of the tent collapsed.
Cursing Akira didn''t know what caused it to collapse but he stood up and unfastened the tent flaps to see if he could quickly fix the problem.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°If I don''t fix this now the whole tent could fall down on us and it would be nothing more than a sheet of heavy cloth on top of us,¡± said Akira before stepping outside before either Mileena or varbu could respond.
Varbu was forced to stop her from following him. ¡°He can handle it himself he has good armor and he won''t be in too much danger if he takes care of it quickly,¡± said Varbu reassuringly.
Akira could barely see even a foot in front of him due to the sand that was being flung everywhere by the wind.
The light of the sun was gone and the wind was sharp and cold. He could hear multiple system messages popping up as he searched the ground near the tent nearly half blind. He was able to find the portion of the tent''s support that had been torn out by the wind.
Akira struggled to walk to the stake and rope and pulled it taunt again before hammering it back into the ground.
He made sure to check the other stakes to make sure they were secured before returning back to the tent and fastening the flaps.
He sat down and drank a health potion due to the pain and numerous cuts he had received from the sharp wind and sand, healing his wounds in seconds.
¡°The last few days have been expensive, using the potions to clean the poison, healing the wounds from the large bird attack, and now this,¡± said Akira with an unhappy expression on his face.
Checking the message windows he found that he had received over 10 points into his endurance stat.
They were forced to wait a long time as the sand storm raged outside their tent. All the stress and weariness got to Akira and he dozed off for a few minutes but was woken up every once in a while when he thought he heard shouts or cries coming from the outside but was uncertain due to the wind instantly swallowing any and all noise as it howled past.
Varbu shook Akira''s shoulder waking him when the sandstorm had passed and the wind died down. passed and the wind died down.
Akira who was next to the entrance unfastened the flaps of the tent and was bombarded with an avalanche of sand rushing into the tent coming up to his knees.
A large amount of sand had piled up on and around the tent from the storms fierce winds. He was forced to dig his way out of the tent and make a path for Varbu and Mileena to exit.
As he stepped outside he looked around and saw the sun was sinking but shining just as bright and hot as before the surrounding area looked as calm and clear as if there had been no storm at all.
With the help of Varbu and Mileena, Akira finished removing the sand from Varbu''s tent and folded the canvas before cramming it back into his bag.
The tents and wagons of the other merchants and guards were similarly covered with large amounts of sand.
Akira Varbu and Mileena went around helping clear paths to the tents opening''s to help the occupants to exit.
Chapter 70: Ripples in the sand
The three found several tents that had collapsed and were buried in the sand. The only reason they knew that there was a tent under the small sand dune was due to parts of tent sticking out.
They tried excavating the sand from atop the tent to see if anyone was still alive.
¡°Don''t bother with that they''re most likely already dead from suffocation,¡± said the commander of the caravan guards.
The rest of the caravan was finishing up packing their items and gear that had been thrown around by the wind when a shout broke the silence that hung over the caravan since the end of the storm.
¡°Sand ripples!¡± shouted the caravan guard on lookout duty raising the alarm.
The merchants let out cries of fear and began to run around unsure what to do with the alarming news.
Akira and Varbu who were new to desert life did not understand why everyone was acting so crazy and just stood there watching as everything happened.
¡°What have we done to be cursed like this?¡± asked a panicked nearby merchant.
¡°We are truly doomed not only were we forced to endure a stronger than normal sand storm but now we have to deal with a Sandworm!¡± mourned another merchant.
¡°All the panic is over puny Sandworm?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I guess so, it''s a bit odd for them to get so worked up about it,¡± said Akira.
¡°You idiots! The Desert Sandworms are one of the most deadly monsters in the desert even if you encounter a young Sandworm it''s still able to swallow you whole in one go,¡± said Mileena.
Akira and Varbu were shocked by her outburst this was the first time they had seen her get really mad.
¡°Just how big are they?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They''re huge! The biggest adult I''ve ever heard about was over a mile long. We don''t have time to talk about it, we need to find the highest dune to be able to see where it is and prepare for any attacks it may be planning,¡± said Mileena hurriedly.
Mileena the expert in all things to do with desert life led the other two to a large sand dune that was just created a short time ago due to the sandstorm that had passed.
There were other merchants who had already reached the top of the dune and were looking to the east in horror.
Akira looked to the east and was able to see what looked like a small wave of sand approaching them. Every sand dune in its path were all cut in half or completely destroyed as the sandworm moved with surprising speed.
Akira was filled with a sense of foreboding as he watched the wave of parting sand continue to move in their direction.
¡°I can''t take this anymore! I''m leaving!¡± shouted a heavily sweating merchant afraid of the Sandworm that was getting to close for his liking.
¡°No don''t!¡± the multiple voices shouted trying to stop him.
But it was too late the merchant was already running down the hill and away from both the merchants and the Sandworm.
Immediately the wave of sand altered its path and sped up to catch the running merchant.
Akira and the others watched in horror as the sand wave quickly gained on the fleeing merchant. The merchant sensing something was wrong looked behind him and began babbling like an idiot from pure terror and tried to run even faster.
It was no use the sand wave chasing after him also sped up and in no time it was able to reach him. But surprisingly nothing happened the wave stopped right behind The merchant who had fallen onto his hands and knees and was panting.
The merchant looked around and saw nothing happen, he waited for over three minutes and still nothing happened.
He stood up letting out a sigh and...
Fwoosh! Bam!
...was eaten whole in one bite by the large sandworm that had shot out from the sand directly beneath him like a fish jumping out of a river to catch a fly above the water.
The sand exploded out everywhere as the large tan colored ringed body shot into the air and then slammed back into the ground quickly disappearing from everyone''s view.
No trace of the merchant was left behind, not even a drop of blood.
The large sandworm continued to move around in a large circle from where it had caught the merchant which included the large sand dune that Akira and the others were standing on.
¡°No one move!¡± shouted the commander of the caravan guards.
¡°You saw that right Varbu?¡± asked Akira in shocked amazement it was the first time he had seen something so large.
¡°I saw it,¡± said Varbu just as stunned as Akira.
¡°That''s was nothing but a baby Sandworm,¡± said Mileena.
¡°THAT was a baby?¡± asked Akira shocked.
¡°It''s length was around 500 hundred feet which is considered to be the length when the baby sandworms are allowed to hunt on their own.¡±
¡°How are we supposed to fight something like that?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Normal you don''t or can''t. Mostly because anyone who tries is killed before they can fight back, luckily this one is just a baby. The way to escape the sandworms attention is to not move or create any vibrations in the sand. The sandworms have no eyes or ears like us. The only way they know where something is, is from the vibrations that travel through the ground.¡±
¡°So we''re stuck just standing here until it goes away?¡± asked Akira.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Not much else we can do since we don''t have any of the gear to divert the sandworms attention. How were we to know that sandworms who normally stay in the deep desert would appear here,¡± interrupted one of the caravan guards.
Akira was even more grateful now when thinking of the highly detailed map, they might have wandered into a dangerous area in the deep desert without it.
The caravan members were forced to stay standing as they watched the sandworm continue its circling around them.
Two hours passed when the sandworm had slowed down it''s circling and after another hour passed the ripples in the sand stopped.
They continued to wait for several more hours to afraid to move in order to make sure that the sandworm had finally left the surrounding area.
Akira was getting tired of just standing around that he decided to check and see if the sandworm had left already.
Before anyone could understand what he was doing he bent over and picked up a large piece of sandstone and threw it as far away as he could.
The sandstone was enough to create small vibrations when it hit the ground and continued to skip a few times before coming to a complete stop.
Everyone waited in silence looking for any reaction to the silent and still sand.
After waiting over five minutes and nothing happened another rock was thrown this time in a different direction.
Same results no reaction. Everyone looked towards the guards who knew more about the sandworms.
¡°We should wait just a little longer,¡± said one of the guards still wary of the sandworms.
The time for dinner had already passed and the daylight was fading and being replaced with the bright moonlight before the guards gave the okay to move.
The merchants took a few small steps testing out if it was safe not wanting to go too far to fast.
Everyone let out a sigh when nothing happened and continued to walk towards the...
Fwoosh! Bam!
...three merchants that had been the first to test if it was safe and thus were the farthest ahead were swallowed whole.
¡°Damn!¡± shouted one of the caravan guards.
The ripples in the sand started to move towards the remaining people on the tall sand dune.
Without saying a word Akira grabbed Mileena into a hug and dived away rolling down the sand dune as the large sandworm burst out from beneath the terrified merchants and guards, swallowing another three unlucky people who had been standing next to Akira just moments before.
Varbu had also jumped at the same time and was able to survive the attack as he rolled down the dune near the other two.
¡°How the crap are we supposed to defeat that sort of thing?¡± asked Akira who was standing up and searching for the sandworm.
¡°Th...Th...The only way I know is near suicide. You need to have the agility to dodge and strength to climb onto it when it burst out of the sand and then somehow attack its heart. The bad thing is it can move its heart throughout its body. So you''re forced to cut it in half to reduce the area it can move its heart. That''s all I know, only the most elite of desert warriors can do this,¡± stuttered Mileena quickly as her heart fluttered due to the near-death experience...maybe.
¡°Fine let''s do that. Varbu are you up for breaking through any armor in the way?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''m always ready for an honorable fight to prove my skill. This is my kind of fight!¡± said Varbu bashing his fist together a few times while getting pumped.
¡°You need to transform in order to successfully catch it when it jumps out of the ground,¡± interrupted Mileena before Varbu and Akira could start to run towards the ripples circling the panicked merchants and guards.
¡°But there are other people around here and it''s too hot...¡± complained Akira.
¡°Just do it,¡± said Varbu interrupting Akira. He knew Akira did not like to advertise that he was a werewolf due to all the trouble it brought.
Akira relented a dark light covered his body and in mere seconds transformed into a werewolf growing taller and bulkier due to his increased muscles. His soft but firm black fur help him blend in with the night.
¡°Get on my back,¡± said Akira and a gravelly voice.
Mileena face turned a little red but found some resolve and jumped up onto Akira large back and wrapped her small arms around his neck.
Both Varbu and Akira ran towards the ripples in the ground. They reached the merchants just as the sandworm shot out of the sand and swallowed another two people.
Using his pounce skill Akira leaped through the air and slammed into the side of the sandworm.
As he began falling he tried to stop but was unable get a handhold, so he stabbed his hands into the sandworm''s lightly protected rings and came to a jerking halt as he hung from the side of the sandworm.
The sandworm sensed something was stuck into its side. It rolled so that Akira was now standing on top in order to protect its wounded spot from receiving more damage from the sand below.
Akira looked behind him and saw Varbu had somehow successfully grabbed onto the sandworm and was also trying to hang on while he slowly crawled forward to join Akira and Mileena.
For an unknown reason, the sandworm did not return underground and continued to travel on top of sand causing havoc with the surrounding dunes as it mercilessly slammed through them. Akira checked the name and level of the sandworm [Desert sandworm baby Lvl 30].
Varbu stopped next to Akira and shouted, ¡°The rings seem to be less protected I can try to break through but if the sandworm makes any sudden moves and I''m not holding on I''ll be thrown off and in the worst case run over by the rampaging monster.¡±
¡°Don''t worry I''ll hold on to its ring to make sure it stays upright. You just need to destroy the armor so we can separate its large body and attack its heart,¡± shouted Akira as he tossed a rope to Varbu who fastened it around his waist.
With their plan of action all worked out, Varbu got to work at bashing the light armor covering the ring causing bits and pieces of flesh and worm blood to fly everywhere.
It took over 30 minutes for Varbu to get a large portion of the upper ring to be destroyed.
The sandworm who had been enduring the pain now felt a sense of danger and began to rock back and forth as it moved and curved trying to knock off whatever was that was stuck to its back.
Varbu fell off his feet and almost slipped off the side but the rope around his waist was pulled taut as Akira held on preventing him from falling and allowing Varbu to regain his feet.
It took over an hour for the armor to be completely destroyed.
¡°Alright it''s our turn,¡± shouted Akira letting Varbu know that it was time to switch places.
Akira and Mileena went to town at stabbing and sawing with swords daggers.
After another twenty minutes of tedious work while trying to balance on top all through the sandworm''s pained thrashing.
¡°Sword slash!¡± shouted Akira as he used the skill to cut through the unprotected flesh parting it wide open severing all but the last bit of the flesh holding the two sections of the sandworm together.
Akira was hanging off the side near the large wound saw a beating heart that was trying to escape from the rear and move farther up towards the head.
The sandworm sensing its life was in danger tried to turn around and attack the people on its back.
With a hoarse growl, Akira used his skill [Cross Attack] sending the blue X towards the escaping soft heart.
The attack took only a second to reach the heart cutting it into four pieces before it could escape, and just like that after fighting for almost two hours the battle was completed in a split second.
The sandworms erratic movement abruptly ceased causing the three to slam into its body and fall onto to the ground.
Akira could hear messages pop up but had no interest in looking at them right now, he reverted back into his human form. He looked around and was happy to see Varbu and Mileena had both survived the dangerous fight.
Covered in blood, guts, and now sand, they stood up with unsteady legs and staggered back towards the ruins of the campsite.
Upon returning the remaining merchants excitedly gathered around them happily cheering.
¡°You are truly great dessert warriors.¡±
¡°You have earned the right to be called an elite desert warrior!¡±
Shouted the guards in awe of the skill, power, and endurance that the three had shown.
After the short celebration, it was decided that they would relocate the camp and stop for the night some distance away from the carnage of battle where so many had lost their lives.
Chapter 71: Fire, Snakes, and Ants.
Akira woke up late in the afternoon his body was sore from all the abuse it had taken the day before due to the storm and the desert sandworm.
His head was pounding with a slight headache due to dehydration. He had been so exhausted that he had not washed, eaten, or drank anything before he fell asleep.
After taking a few large gulps from his waterskin his head began to throb even more as the water flowed through his parched body.
As the headache lessened Akira noticed an odd smokey smell of something being cooked coming from outside his tent.
Before leaving his tent he checked the system messages.
Level up! Now level 29!
Endurance increased by +5
|
New title received!
One who is lucky:
You were able to kill a Baby Sandworm by sheer luck.
Fame +5
|
''You call that Lucky? That was all hard teamwork, not luck,'' thought Akira as he put the bonus points into the proper stats.
Akira exited his tent and found the surviving merchants and caravan guards surrounding a fire that was cooking huge slabs of meat.
He was able to find Mileena and Varbu sitting next to the fire. Everyone was talking as if nothing had happened the day before.
As Akira sat down next to Varbu one of the guards cooking the large meat happily greeted him.
¡°Glad to see you''re in one piece. I thought you were dead due to you staying in your tent all morning,¡± said the guard in a joking manner.
¡°How can you guys be so calm and happy after all those people died yesterday?¡± asked Akira getting straight to what had been bothering him.
¡°It''s just the way it is. The desert worms and sandstorms may be catastrophes but there are far deadlier things out there just waiting to kill you. With so many things wanting to kill you, you have to have a hardened resolve in order to travel through the desert, otherwise, you''ll just become another name on a large list of casualties. Only those with such a mentality will be able to have a chance to make a living traveling the desert and will be able to make a fortune doing it.¡±
¡°I guess I can see what you mean when you put it like that,¡± said Akira with a skeptical look on his face.
¡°Ah before I forget here is your portion of the spoils we were able to gather yesterday,¡± said a second guard handing Akira a head sized leather sack.
Akira was curious as to what they were talking about looked inside to see a large number of sharp triangle teeth of various lengths.
¡°Here have some freshly cooked meat. It should give you some energy and make it so you don''t look so dead. You shouldn''t worry about gloomy stuff, look at the good side of things like the fact that we have an abundance of food and that we''re almost to the next city. It should only take a day or two at the most,¡± said the cooking guard.
Akira took wooden plate the guard handed him. On top of the plate was a large piece of odd looking tanish pink meat that had been carved off the large slab of meat that was slowly rotating over the fire.
Mileena and Varbu watched Akira intently as he bit into the meat and made an odd face.
It was extremely tough to chew. The flavor was too exotic, he had never tasted anything like it before so he couldn''t properly describe it if asked. Although there was one thing he was sure of, it did not have a nice taste to it.
¡°What is this?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Oh that?... It''s just some meat from the sandworm that was killed yesterday. You might not know but it is a rare delicacy,¡± said the guard.
Bleghhh!
Akira''s stomach emptied onto the ground in front of him immediately after hearing that.
The thoughts that caused this reaction were linked to remembering what the sandworm ate the day before, which in a way was like him eating the same thing.
Yeah ...no. He rather not eat something that ate an unknown amount of humans.
¡°Why are you wasting such good food?¡± asked the guard unhappily.
¡°Sorry, I''m not in the mood for meat right now. Varbu do you want the rest?¡± asked Akira.
Varbu vigorously shook his head no. He was of the same opinion as Akira and did not eat any of the meat that had been offered to him before. He loved eating all types of meat but this was too out there for him to enjoy.
¡°I''ll eat it!¡± said Mileena happily.
During the past weeks, Mileena was always happy to eat anything left over that Akira didn''t eat during their meals. It was surprising that she didn''t explode from all the food she ate.
Akira handed over the plate and watched her happily eat it.
¡°Do you really like it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yeah, It''s really tasty!¡± said Mileena as she tore into the meat.
Both Akira and Varbu looked at her with weird expressions on their faces.
''I guess some tastes and customs are different wherever you go,'' thought Akira.
***
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Fwoosh!
Flames flew high into the air above the dark black burnt desert sand. The fire burned anything that had been standing on or near the hole it sprang from.
Akira, Varbu, and Mileena were all training in the harsh desert wasteland fighting any desert monsters that crossed their path.
Their teamwork had grown by leaps and bounds when you compare it even to the time they fought in the last dungeon.
It had been over a week since they left the caravan after they had reached the city of Sanwar and continued traveling towards the capital city. The event for the arena was drawing closer every day but they still had plenty of time to reach the capital.
¡°Dodge it properly!¡± shouted Akira.
They were currently fighting a small horned armadillo while also keeping an eye out for the fire that randomly erupted from the ground every once in a while.
¡°Nreee!¡± The level 29 Horned armadillo let out a loud cry as Mileena dealt the final blow to the monster.
Compared to when she had first started training. Her skills and fighting instincts had grown from all the dangerous combat they had endured while traveling through the desert.
¡°Tha.. that things...hide..was almost as tough .. as the sandworm,¡± gasped Mileena through large breaths of air while bent over, her hands on her knees not daring to sit down on the ground for fear of being roasted.
¡°Let''s get out of this section of the burning sand and set up camp for lunch,¡± said Akira who was less winded and was still ready to fight.
¡°Just a moment let me catch my breath,¡± said Mileena before grabbing her waterskin and taking a few gulps of water.
¡°I don''t remember this place being on the map,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Places change all the time so it''s hard to keep up to date. We''re lucky we have such a good map in the first place,¡± said Akira.
A short while passed before they continued to walk through the dangerous minefield of explosive fire pillars slowly moving towards the road that had been drawn on the map by Bumnickus.
¡°Enemy!¡± shouted Varbu.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Not sure but there''s a lot of them!¡± said Varbu.
¡°We just got done fighting I''m too tired right now!¡± complained Mileena.
¡°It can''t be helped we have to push through to get to the road,¡± said Akira as he looked towards the direction Varbu was pointing.
A Large swarm of what looked like a type of insects were running towards them. As they came closer he was able to see they didn''t look like any normal insect he had ever seen before they were all the size of dogs. [Lv 29 Giant fire ants]
¡°There''s too many of them!¡± shouted Mileena.
¡°We don''t have the energy to successfully run back through the fire pillars while evading enemy attacks, the main road is not far ahead. We just need to use all our strength and push through.¡±
In mere seconds over 100 [Giant fire ants] surrounded them and started to attack them.
Varbu and Akira were able to hold them off and kill one or two at a time with others immediately taking their place.
Mileena who was in between Varbu and Akira was having trouble fighting the overwhelming number of enemies in such a confined area. It was her first time encountering such a problem.
Akira used the last of his mana for a final push using the skill [Sword slash]. But to his dismay, the gap he created was quickly closed by the swarming [Giant fire ants].
¡°This is not looking good,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I know that,¡± said Akira as he blocked several attacks aimed at Mileena who was beside him.
¡°KIAhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡±
A loud shriek enveloped the battlefield causing the three great discomfort and sore ears but they were still able to fight.
The [Giant fire ants] on the other hand stopped all attacks and movement for a few seconds before hurriedly scurrying away in the direction they had come.
Now that something with the power to force the [Giant fire ants] to run away had appeared behind them, Akira was even more alert.
When he spun around to look what he found was not what he was expecting.
Ten warriors were quickly closing the gap between them but that was not what had surprised Akira. It was because they had no legs.
The lower half of their bodies that was not protected by leather armor was full of sleek scales that which covered their long tails.
Their scales were all of a different varying color of black, grey, brown, and tan. They were not the flashiest of colors but the scales still looked like well-polished jewels.
The ten warriors moved swift and silently, save for the few grains of sand that moved as they slithered their way towards Akira''s group.
¡°Wow! It''s the desert warriors from the Lamia tribe!¡± said Mileena in shock.
¡°You know who they are? Are they friendly?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Even among the Nyantails, we know of the famed Lamia desert warrior tribes. I only know a little about them. They are neither friendly or hostile to people on their first meeting. I was told to be as polite as possible if I ever met them,¡± replied Mileena.
¡°What do we have here?¡± asked one of the Lamia warriors before Akira could ask another question.
¡°What an odd group of individuals. An orc, a Nyantail, and a human?¡± commented another warrior.
¡°Werewolf,¡± Akira corrected him.
¡°Even more bizarre. What brings such an odd pairing together to travel through the dangerous desert dunes of the [Giant fire ants]?¡±
¡°Sir we shouldn''t waste time here the little buggers will be back with even more. If we stay here any longer we''ll have a big problem,¡± interrupted a warrior next to the one that was asking the questions.
¡°Fine, you three follow us. We can continue our ''Chat'' when we get back to camp,¡± said the leader of the warriors.
Akira looked at both Varbu and Mileena but they didn''t know what else to do so they followed them out of the dangerous area.
They were forced to jog in order to keep up with the speed of the Lamia warriors who seemed to glide over the sand.
They reached a large campsite an hour later. There were several hundreds of large sturdy leather tents, and many Lamia warriors paroling the area.
¡°Oh, Slazz you''re back! Who are those guys behind you?¡± asked one of the patrolling warriors.
¡°Some ''friends'' we met while on our way back. I was interested in them so I decided to bring them back for a talk,¡± said Slazz.
¡°Come this way,¡± said another warrior leading them to a large weathered tan tent.
The inside of the tent was almost all empty save for the several large cushions on the canvas floor.
The snake warriors all slithered onto two of them and curled their slick tails around them and took a lazy position on the cushion with their head held up by one hand as they stared at three companions.
¡°You can sit down if you like,¡± said Slazz motioning to the two remaining cushions.
The cushions were large enough to fit two to three normal people on so Akira and Mileena sat on one while Varbu sat on the second one.
¡°So friends what brings you to this part of the desert?¡± asked Slazz in a lazy voice as he cut open a Fig and ate a large piece.
¡°We''re traveling towards the capital city Otria,¡± said Akira not giving any more details.
¡°To save my sister,¡± said Mileena.
Akira facepalmed and thought, ''So much for keeping things a secret.''
¡°Is that so? It seems to be a worthy and honorable task for a warrior to take upon themselves. Slazz has taken a liking to you three.¡±
¡°Oh? What''s this? You don''t normally get this interested in outsiders affairs,¡± asked another warrior with a laugh.
¡°It is as you say Sliam. This one does not care much for outside dealings of the other races... other than that tournament the humans have. So you are going to the capital to save your sister, and if I remember correctly the tournament should be happening soon. Is your sister participating?¡±
¡°Yes, she was captured by slavers and sold to the arena!¡±
¡°It is as I guessed. But Slazz wonders how can you save your sister when you struggle with only a few [Giant fire ants]. People travel from all countries to fight in the tournament they are not weaklings. What to do, what to do... Ah! Slazz has a solution why don''t you stay for a few days to learn from us the ways of the desert warrior.¡±
¡°Th..Thank you! I Would love to!¡± said Mileena happily.
¡°It would be a great honor!¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± said Akira.
''What''s going on?'' Akira asked himself as he had a hard time figuring out what had just happened.
Chapter 72: Queen Fire Ant
¡°This is a great honor for you to be taught by us. As said before we do not normally talk to outsiders no matter who they are,¡± said Sliam.
¡°That''s right we are a people that like to keep to ourselves and not cause trouble with anyone. Some have come to see us as unfriendly. But we don''t mind since we are a wandering desert clan,¡± said Slazz.
¡°Since we live in the desert we must know ways different ways of fighting to combat the dangerous monsters that live here. We can teach you some of the ways of the desert warrior. As a way for us to help you complete your mission,¡± said Sliam.
¡°It is as you say. We have little time to teach everything since you need to go soon, so we''ll start immediately,¡± said Slazz.
¡°My name is..¡±
¡°No need for names! Nyantail girl, go train with Slorie she will show you some finer points on hunting with daggers. Werewolf, Orc you two can come with me and we can have some fun while I teach you some pointers,¡± said Slazz.
For the rest of the afternoon Mileena was instructed in the finer details of using dual dagger it was far more in-depth than what Akira could have ever taught her on the subject. While Varbu and Akira were forced to fight 2 vs 1 against Slazz. The old Lamia was strong and loved to point out any minute mistake that they made.
The Lamia race was able to use their tail and scales as an alternative weapon and somewhat shield. Since the scales were thick and slick, most weak attacks would either bounce off or not do any real damage.
Due to the scales slickness, it was hard to grab onto any part of their lower body let alone the tail as it would slip right out of their hands if they didn''t use their full power to try and hold it for a few seconds.
¡°I heard from Slorie that you two fought and won against a desert sandworm. I am ashamed for the desert sandworm with the lackluster skills that you have shown,¡± said Slazz during one of their breaks.
Akira and Varbu stayed silent it was just another one of Slazz''s comments poking fun at their inexperience.
By the time dinner came around Slazz led the two who were exhausted back to his tent with a smile on his face. They found that Mileena was already waiting inside.
¡±Sir there will be a dance put on tonight so why don''t we have our guest come watch it,¡± said Sliam.
¡°This one agrees we should relax tonight before the test tomorrow,¡± said Slazz nodding his head.
¡°Test?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes, werewolf pup did you think I would send you away without testing whether or not you understood what you had been taught? That would be a waste of this one''s time and yours.¡±
¡°I''m not a pup, I''m an adult,¡± said Akira.
¡°To me, in both skill and age you are but a pup who may have a sharp bark but still needs to hone his bite,¡± said Slazz before leaving the tent and leading the way to the large fire pit located in the middle of the camp.
A wooden platform had been set up on the opposite side of the large fire. No one was focused on it right now as everyone near the fire was cooking all types of desert food for dinner and maybe a snack to eat while watching the dance later.
Slazz grabbed a few plates of fresh cooked desert animal meat and vegetables grown by the clan and handed them over to Akira''s group.
¡°Let''s hurry so we can get some good seats,¡± said Sliam.
¡°You''re acting just like a hatchling,¡± said Slazz.
They chose an open area near the fire pit right across from the platform which would give them the best view.
As time went by more and more people started to crowd around them as they joined to watch the dance.
A group of ten beautiful female Lamia appeared on the platform and spread out so that there was the same amount of distance between them.
They were all wearing the same type of silk clothing that revealed there stomach and arms, Each silk outfit was a different color. Along with their silk outfit, they wore a veil that only covered the lower half of their face allowing the audience to see their eyes.
Dum!DUM!Dumm!
A drum and a flute started to play near the platform which caused the murmuring crowd to become silent as the dancers started to silently move.
Akira was amazed at the graceful movements of a dance done by someone without legs. The light from the flickering fire in front of them caused an even more enchanting sight when added to the desert nights stars that could be seen above and behind the beautiful dancers.
Their the smooth skin of their belly''s was shown off as they did various different belly dances that went along with the beat of the drums, some fast-paced others slow.
One of the dancers on stage who was dressed in blue caught Akira''s eye. She looked to be putting in over 100% into her dancing and it had captured his attention.
¡°Ah, you have noticed Slaiza. she is my youngest child and only daughter,...who I love very much,¡± said Slazz sitting next to Akira. It felt as if he was warning him not to get any funny ideas.
¡°Oh, Is that so?¡± said Akira awkwardly as he scratched his head and looked away from Slazz.
The event continued for over 2 hrs as the Lamia dancers completed many different dances that Akira had never thought could be possible due to limitations of two legs.
¡°Father did you see my performance?¡± asked Slaiza rushing over to her father after the dancers bowed and left the stage.
¡°I did,¡± said Slazz.
¡°Huh, Who are those outsiders?¡± asked Slaiza looking at Akira curiously.
¡°Do not worry they are guest staying with us for a few days.
¡°I am Akira, and this little one is Millena, and that big guy is Varbu,¡± said Akira with a slight bowing to Slaiza while dodging an elbow attack from Mileena.
¡°Akira, Hmm... I will remember it,¡± said Slaiza.
¡°It has been an eventful day already so we should sleep now for we have a long day tomorrow,¡± said Slazz.
The three of them led to a large tent near Slazz to sleep in for the night.
***
¡°So what is this test we have to take?¡± asked Akira as they walked alongside 30 other lamia warriors.
¡°The other day we found the nest of those [Fire ants]. It looks to be some sort of dungeon. Since it is near one of our campsites we normally use when we pass by we cannot allow it to remain. You will join us in the fight to show off your skill,¡± said Slazz.
Ding!
Quest automatically received!
Slazz''s test of knowledge and strength
Reward: none
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¡°How long will it take us to get there?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°We should be able to reach it around nightfall. If you are able to help complete the dungeon using what we have taught you, then you should be able to head to the capital without to much worry,¡± said Slazz.
The night sky was darkening when they arrived near a large mound of black sand that rose into the air. At the very top of the mound of dirt was a large hole used as an entrance to the ant nest.
Plumes of fire erupted out of the ground near the entrance every once and a while lighting up the surrounding area for a few seconds, causing problems with Akira and the others night vision.
Only a few [Fire ants] could be seen entering and exiting the anthill completing whatever task was given to them.
¡°You three watch as we clear out the majority of the ant''s guarding the nest you might learn a thing or two. Your real task will be to help when we go inside the dungeon,¡± said Slazz.
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The lamia warriors silently slithered up to the hill and buried themselves into the sand waiting for the enemy to approach.
10 level 28 [Fire ants] exited the hole at the top of the mound and began to move down the sand to the Lamia warriors who were still hidden under the sand.
With a burst of sand flying into the air the lamia launched an attack killing all but one allowing it to run back into the nest to summon more [Fire Ants].
The lamia made sure to find another spot near the last position and burrowed into the sand waiting to ambush the numerically superior enemy.
This continued multiple times for a while until the [Fire ants] finally brought out over 100 to deal with the enemy hunting them at their doorstep.
The lamia warriors were able to immediately kill thirty of them with their ambush but then they were surrounded by the remaining 70.
Akira, Varbu, and Mileena were getting ready to help them but stopped when they saw that they had it under control.
¡°KIAhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡± multiple Lamia warriors let out screeches that froze the [Fire ants] for several seconds which allowed them to clean up the rest fairly easy.
When the last [Fire ant] was killed Slazz motioned for them to rejoin them.
¡°This is the way you deal with an enemy that has far more numbers than you or an enemy that is far stronger. You don''t go to them on their terms unless there is no other way. You lead them into your own ambush. Make sure you have enough power to hit them hard, and if needed to have an escape route ready. With this we should have an easier time clearing the ant nest since we''ve lured a large portion of the warriors outside and killed them,¡± said Slazz.
Akira looked at the multiple hundreds of dead ants on the ground and had to agree with his assessment.
¡°Werewolf, you will help the other shield bearers in blocking the enemies from the front. Orc you will help the rear guard kill anything that tries to attack us from the rear while we push forward. Nyantail you will help with the clearing of the enemies wherever they appear. We''re going to try to get to the Queen before the rest of the hive can respond to our invasion. Be careful of their stingers they have a painful toxin that hurts like hell. It won''t kill you if you only get stung a few times. But too much toxin will act as a poison.¡±
Slazz was still not using their names even though he had heard them when Akira had said them the night before.
Akira was pumped and ready to fight he transformed into his werewolf form in mere seconds and summoned Nox.
¡°Oh! Never seen a werewolf transform before.¡± ¡°Who is that other wolf next to him?¡± asked the warriors.
Nox ignored the lamia warrior gazes and hide inside Akira''s shadow.
¡°Quiet we don''t have time to gossip. Let''s go!¡± Shouted Slazz.
Ding!
You have Entered the dungeon: Fire ant''s nest.
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Akira took a deep breath before continuing to walk down into the dark dungeon the only light was the random fire exploding from the ground and the red glowing sand that was slowly being turned into glass from the fire.
The pathway they chose to walk down was large enough to fit numerous shield warriors in the front.
As they continued to walk Akira could tell that the pathways were not built in any logical way. They curved up, down, left, and right with tens to hundreds of other pathways branching off.
Akira had no clue where they were going and just followed the lead of the lamia warriors next to him.
In the beginning, they only encountered a few small pockets of [Fire Ants] but as they walked deeper into the ant nest their numbers began to increase.
But with the Lamia warriors screech, they were able to easily clear the pockets of resistance and continue down deeper into the ant''s nest where the queen lived.
¡°Halt!¡± ordered Slazz. ¡°I can sense that we are getting closer to the main room where the Queen lives. Orc, we need your strength to continue and help the rear guard clear anything that tries to attack us while we fight the queen. Werewolf, you will be at the front of the fight keep the queen''s attention focused on you. Nyantail, you will be fighting with the others to help take down the queen. Show us that you all have what it takes to be called a warrior.¡±
They were forced to clear one more cluster of [Fire ants] before they reached the core of the nest.
The core was a large round room with multiple passages from all over connected to it. The dim light from the burning sand revealed numerous eggs laid out all over the ground and wall.
In the middle of the room, Akira found their target the [level 35 Queen Ant].
It was as large as an elephant. It was currently sitting down and spurting out new eggs while worker ants took them to an empty hole in the wall.
¡°Destroy as many eggs as you can while we charge forward no time to play this stealthily. We need to get this done and over with and get out quickly!¡± said Slazz.
¡°Nox, protect Mileena,¡± ordered Akira.
With that, they burst into the room with Akira and the shield bearers at the front of the charge causing mayhem and alerting the workers surrounding the queen.
A silent command was given to the worker ants and over two hundred swarmed forward to stop the intruders.
But due to the lamias innate skill, they were able to fight them off easily.
Akira along with the other lamia shield warrior reached the queen first gaining the queen''s full attention.
Akira stopped running and used his skill [Cross attack] sending it right into the Queen''s large head.
In its anger, the queen stopped laying eggs and stood up crushing multiple of the eggs it had just popped out a few seconds before.
The queen''s mouth pincers smacked together a few times creating loud clangs like that of swords hitting each other before trying to slice Akira in half.
Akira was forced to ducked and rolled under the queen''s body and hopped up behind it. The pincers snapped shut missing Akira and the other warriors next to him. In its anger, the [Queen ant] slowly turned around to face Akira.
Akira''s dodge was a dangerous move that could have killed him in numerous different ways but served its purpose of escaping the attack and forcing the queen to turn away from the main force of warriors and presenting it''s unprotected back to them.
Mileena and the remaining fighters joined the fight and attacked the queens rear end. They landed numerous attacks before the Queen got angry and turned to attack them.
Before it could do anything Akira jumped forward and used the skill [shadow chain] to try and hold queen in place.
It only lasted for one second but it was enough to halt the queen and its attack allowing the warriors to retreat and reposition themselves.
The Queen was truly frustrated now and started to repeatedly slam all her legs into the ground causing vibrations to go through the ground throughout the entire nest. Multiple eggs fell from their holes in the wall and broke.
Mileena and other warriors were being forced back even farther due to the vibrations making the ground unstable.
¡°Guys we got a problem they''re swarming in from everywhere!¡± shouted Varbu who had been helping the rear guard destroy the eggs.
An almost unending stream of ants began to stream into the main room by ones, twos, and threes.
Varbu along with the rear guard were forced to switch their priorities and did their best to block the swarm, but there were too many and a large number of them were able to rush past them and head towards the main group forcing a few of the warriors attacking the queen to turn and deal with them.
In another fit of anger, the Queen kicked out with her back leg before Akira could stop it.
Mileena was near the leg when it lashed out and was just barely able to block the attack with her daggers.
¡°oof¡±
She and two other lamia warriors were knocked back into a swarm of ants killing a few that they landed on.
The Lamia warriors had taken the full brunt of the attack and had been thrown deep into the swarm. Before they could get back up and fight, the Fire ants swarmed them and delivered hundreds of stings and bites killing them.
Mileena was lucky and was only thrown a short distance into the less dense swarm. With the help of Nox keeping the Fire ants at bay, she was able to quickly stand up.
The fire ants began to get antsy as the number surrounding Mileena and Nox began to swell and got ready to attack the intruders.
Mileena looked down at her daggers and saw they had been broken from the force of the queen''s attack. It did not look good for her.
A short distance away Akira who was forced to regain the queen''s attention, saw Mileena fly through the air into the swarm of Fire ants.
Letting out a Howl of anger Akira charged forward with his shield in front of him. He slammed into the fire ants blocking his path dealing a good chunk of damage and temporarily stunning them.
Like a farmer in the spring, he continued to plow through the ants until he reached Mileena.
A quick glance showed she had revived a few strings to her legs.
Ding!
New skill created!
Shield Slam: charge in a straight line towards your enemy/enemies with your shield in front slamming into them dealing damage and stunning them for a certain amount of time depending on their level compared to user.
Good for starting fights and gaining aggro.
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Akira scooped Mileena up and held her to his back with one arm while holding his shield in front of him.
The ants that had been stunned were getting just now getting back up and starting to surround them.
''Guess there''s no time like the present to try out the new skill,'' thought Akira as he used the new skill [Shield Slam].
Akira could feel a power surge into his muscular legs allowing him to easily plow through the ants and return Mileena back to the little bit of safety that the other lamia warriors could provide.
¡°Th...Thank you!¡± stuttered Mileena.
¡°Get your head back into the fight,¡± said Akira handing her a potion and a short sword so she wasn''t left without a weapon.
He ran from the back to the front of the queen to rejoin the lamia shield warriors who were struggling to deal with the queen''s attacks.
***
¡°Focus on attacking!¡± shouted Slazz.
By now the queen was in her death throws throwing out numerous wild attacks trying to kill as many as she could before dying.
Akira watched as Mileena who had somehow nimbly climbed up on to the queen, dealt the last critical blow to the queen''s head causing it to crash into the ground with a thump.
Multiple system messages rang out signaling the end of the boss fight.
Mileena fell off of the head and landed into Akira''s arms.
¡°It seems I am always catching you and carrying you around,¡± said Akira.
Mileena''s cheeks redden ever so slightly.
Akira quickly let her go and jumped back just in case she got angry attacked him.
¡°Not time to be playing around you two, we still have to break out of this dungeon before it collapses, Everyone head back to the entrance were leaving!¡± shouted Slazz.
Akira hurriedly checked the ground for anything that might have dropped and stuffed multiple items into his bag. He didn''t have the time to see exactly the items were before he rejoined the lamia warriors in their fighting retreat out of the dungeon.
Chapter 73: Lets meet again Okay?
Akira woke up to the sound of morning activity outside the guest tent he and the others were sleeping in.
It had taken them a day to get back to camp due to some of the warrior''s injuries slowing them down, causing them to arrive late last night.
He laid under his blanket thinking about how exotic his life had become ever since that night when he met Grand and Yuki. For a few seconds, he held doubts as to whether or not he would ever be able to find his clan or be forced to wander the kingdoms until he died.
His eye caught glimpse of the slow blinking notification icon that he had forgotten about with all the activity that had been going on. He lazily opened the notifications.
Title Upgraded!
Clumsy Rescuer of Damsel in Distress from Evil Queen:
+5 Fame
+1 Honor
+1 Coolness
Coolness: an Imaginary stat that does not exist
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Level up! Level 31.
Mileena has completed training and has been promoted to beginner Assassin.
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Rare Ore Desorium Obtained.
Desorium can only be found deep underground in the desert. Good for creating small weapons.
Queen Ants Stinger Obtained.
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He allocated his points into his regular stats and sat up. He didn''t have time to be lazy since he had to finish a few errands before leaving the lamia tribe.
Mileena and Varbu were still sleeping so he exited the tent as quiet as he could and walked to the makeshift open forge that the lamia used to create and maintain their weapons and armor.
Due to Mileena''s daggers breaking in the last fight he had to create a new set for her. Otherwise, she would be unable to fight in the tournament.
He was glad that Slazz had given him permission to use the tribe''s small forge.
Akira stood next to the roaring fire of the forge. He stared at the flames as he thought of what type of daggers would fit Mileena. He racked his brain and went over all his memories of the last few weeks that they had been together.
''Ah! That''s right, I need to figure out a way to make weapons that can hold poison properly,'' though Akira.
He pulled out all the different types of ores he had collected over the months and looked at each of them but the only one that fit what he wanted was the recently obtained Desorium.
It was a shame to use it right away only a day after receiving such a rare ore but if he didn''t use it now then it would be a waste to let it just sit in his bag.
The Desorium was a higher quality ore so it would be able to take more abuse but that alone didn''t guarantee that the poison wouldn''t eat through it.
He rummaged through his bag not knowing what he was looking for just trying to get a spark of an idea on how to solve his problem.
His hand stopped when he grabbed onto the small pouch that contained multiple large Sandworm teeth. He hadn''t really paid attention to them after receiving them since he didn''t know what he could really use the teeth for other than jewelry. He had planned to just sell them later but never got to it.
He pulled the pouch out and looked at the teeth inside inspecting them.
Baby teeth of desert sandworm: has the special trait of resisting poison due to the natural poison of the sandworms saliva.
Hidden info: a material that can be used in creating an alloy by fusing it with another mineral.
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Blacksmithing lvl up!
Dex +1
Hidden blacksmith sub-skill Bone alloy discovered.
Bone alloy allows you to use certain bones of strong monsters as a mineral component to create strong armor and weapons using the bones as a core component in the alloy.
To use a higher quality of bone raise blacksmithing skill.
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¡°Interesting,¡± muttered Akira.
Without a second thought, he decided to test it out and threw the teeth into the fire.
The teeth began to glow as they sat in the fire but not much else changed Akira was forced to raise the temperature even higher to try and melt the tooth.
After a half hour of constant blowing the bellows, the teeth began to melt. Akira dropped the Desorium on top of the melting teeth and watched as it melted even faster than the teeth and mixed with the teeth.
When they both had melted all the way he opened the small stone door at the bottom of the forge and let the new alloy mixture flow out.
He let it cool down for a few minutes before retrieving the alloy and bringing it to an anvil, where he began the task of hammering, folding, and reheating the new alloy to make sure the two components were completely bonded together.
When he was satisfied with the new alloy metal he again reheated it and separated alloy into two separate portions before he began hammering away.
Akira''s focus was only on the task at hand not bothering to notice that Slazz and a few other lamia blacksmiths had been watching him for some time now.
When he put the final touches on the daggers completing them he let out a sigh.
Akira gazed at the daggers for a short time, he felt they had an exotic look. The color was a golden tan due to both the Desorium and Desert Sandworm teeth being the same color.
The daggers had a slight curve at the end of each blade that he didn''t remember doing while he was working on them.
The handles of each dagger had handguards with spikes for both helping protect and attack.
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Ding!!
Blacksmithing lvl up! Lvl 9.
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Item successfully created
Desone daggers (uncommon):
Durability: 70/70 | Main hand Damage: 25-33 Secondary:16-20
The Desone Daggers were created with the main purpose of being able to use poison. Thanks to the Baby desert sandworms teeth it can withstand all lesser poisons.
The blueprint for Desone daggershasbeen added to your list of know blueprints.
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Akira clenched his fist and shook it in victory. Not only was he successful on his first try in experimenting with this exotic new way of blacksmithing, but the stats were also extremely good.
He had only one problem left and that was he needed to create a sheath that would be able to withstand the poison used by the daggers.
His mind wandered to the second thing had received in the dungeon, the Queen''s stinger.
It was large and sturdy enough and since toxins from the queen passed through it there was no worry of the poison eating through it.
He spent another half hour cutting the stinger in half lengthwise, smoothing the edges until they were rounded with no flaws, and finishing carving out enough space for the daggers.
Shink! He let out another sigh of happiness. The daggers fit perfectly.
¡°My what a talented person you are. It is such a shame you have to leave otherwise I would want you to stay with us for a longer period,¡± said Slazz interrupting Akira''s celebration.
Akira startled out of his admiration for his handiwork, looked up to see several faces looking back at him with great respect.
¡°Ah..yeah, I''m still a beginner,¡± said Akira modestly.
¡°The others are waiting for you at the stage for our farewell there is some food for you to replenish your strength,¡± said Slazz.
Akira picked up his tools and the new daggers before walking to the stage with Slazz.
Varbu and Mileena were standing next to a small group of Lamia.
Many of the warriors they had met over the past few days were not here but that was understandable as most didn''t have any extra time to send them off and continued working on their daily tasks to keep the small tent city running.
Varbu handed Akira a plate with some unknown cooked meat and vegetables on top of freshly baked bread.
¡°This one has called the three of you here for a small chat before you leave. After experiencing the battle we had and seeing your teamwork here are my thoughts. Nyantail, your attack is decent for one as young as you are but you will not be able to solo strong opponents yet. Werewolf, your sustainability is decent but your damage is a bit lacking. If the two of you continue to work as well as did in the dungeon then you can cover each other''s weakness in the coming fights. As for you Orc, your damage is great but only when it comes to blunt damage, you need to make sure that is not all you can do and you need to work more on your movement,¡± said Slazz thoughtfully.
¡°So these are the three that you took interest in father?¡± asked a young female voice next to Akira.
Akira turned to see Slaiza the enchanting dancer standing next to him. Her face from nose to throat was still covered by the thick dark blue half silk mask.
¡°Yes, that is so. Overall this one has concluded that as long as you keep in mind the tips taught to you and stick together you should have no problem with entering the tournament. As for winning, this one does not know about that, but I do know that you have shown yourself to be honorable warriors,¡± said Slazz.
Ding!
¡°We thank you for your help in training us,¡± said Akira.
¡°I will take your teachings to heart,¡± said Varbu thumping his chest in the orc salute.
¡°Me too, I feel as if I have grown a great deal from the fight against the [Queen ant],¡± said Mileena shyly she was still not that talkative with strangers she did not know.
Akira guessed she was talking about the message he had seen about her becoming a beginner assassin.
¡°This one''s daughter wants to give you a present as a show of friendship,¡± Slazz said to Mileena.
¡°Ah! I would be happy to receive it!¡± said Mileena.
¡°It is not much but I personally made it for you,¡± said Slaiza as she handed over a piece of folded dark blue silk.
Mileena held the silk and looked at it curiously wondering what it could be.
¡°It''s a desert veil just like mine. It helps protect your face from the harsh desert sun, and it helps filter the air during a dusty day or a dust storm, and lastly, it gives you an alluring exotic look,¡± said Slaiza slyly looking at Akira.
Akira coughed and looked away his cheeks reddening.
¡°I too have something to give you since your daggers broke. I made them so that they can use lesser poison to further strengthen your attack power,¡± said Akira Handing over daggers.
¡°Thanks! I feel like it''s my birthday!¡± said Mileena happily testing out the new daggers.
After Akira finished eating the food he had been given they continued to talk for a few more minutes before Akira and the rest of his companions said their goodbyes.
¡°It''s has been nice meeting you,¡± said Akira firmly shaking Slaiza''s hand.
¡°Yes, this one was intrigued by you as much as father was. I hope that we will be able to meet again in the future,¡± said Slaiza with a grin.
With that, they left the lamia tent city and continued their journey towards Otria.
***
As they moved towards the city they continued to hone their skills as a team.
Varbu continued to practice using the fire skill gem but was always getting tired after only casting it a few times. The fire attacks did little to no damage due to most of the desert creatures having fire resistance.
Akira''s level was able to increase to level 32 due to all the fighting.
As they drew nearer to the capital city of Otria the small sand and dried mud pyramids changed into ones built out of sandstone that were two times as large, and now that they were only a day away from the capital they even saw pyramids made out of large granite blocks towering over all other pyramids.
Currently, they were hiding behind a dune because they had been surprised to have another encounter of a large group of [Fire ants] crossing the road and milling around the general area. It seemed that [Fire ants] were all too common in the desert.
He was shocked that something like this would be allowed to happen so close to the capital.
¡°Look someone''s coming down the road!¡± said Mileena interrupting Varbu and Akira''s conversation on whether or not they should backtrack and go around the [Fire ants].
¡°Do they have a death wish? There''s too many of them!¡± said Varbu looking at the people on the road.
As they came closer at a quick pace Akira was able to see something he had only seen in the history books he had read when he was younger, Desert Chariots.
There wasn''t just one, he continued to count them as one by one 30 chariots came into view. Each was pulled by two desert jaguars that were far taller and wider than any he had seen in the wild over the past weeks.
Akira was extremely interested in the chariots and looked them over. In each chariot, there were two people, a driver, and a warrior. The warriors each had numerous javelins and a large oversized crossbow.
The sun glinted off something metallic near the chariots spinning wheels.
It was a large blade extending out from both sides of the chariot at what would be the height of a human''s knee.
¡°Uhh...they''re not planning on attacking them with such a small group are they?¡± asked Varbu.
Akira shrugged. How should he know it was his first time seeing something like this in real life.
It only took a minute to find out that they did plan on fighting the [fire ants].
The 30 chariots silently split apart into two groups of 15 one going to the left and the other to the right fanning out to cover more area.
They ran right up next to the large swarm of [Fire ants] and turned their chariots perpendicular to them and drove on the outskirts of the large group.
The fight started as soon the chariots all finished lining up one after another behind the other.
They lessened the distance between the chariot and the enemy allowing the blade on the side of the chariot to cut through the swarming ants like it was nothing.
The Warriors sent out one cross-bolt after another into the mass of ants on the ground while the chariots ran circles around the [Fire ants] the circles grew smaller as they killed them in large numbers like it was nothing.
In less than ten minutes the swarm of almost a thousand [Fire ants] had been decimated by the fast-moving chariots. The people in the chariots had not lost a single person.
Akira and watched in amazement as the chariots regrouped into a column and headed back towards the city.
¡°So powerful!¡± said Mileena whose eyes were shining from the excitement of what had just happened.
¡°No, we don''t know how strong they are. What they did was use tactics and the tools they had to overcome a far superior force,¡± said Akira who was deep in thought.
¡°Let''s get moving. The city is to close to be wasting time here,¡± said Varbu.
Chapter 74: Tournament registration
The morning desert sun was slowly rising into the sky warming the lingering chilly desert night air.
Akira stood in the long line to enter the capital Otria, along with Mileena and Varbu. For some unknown reason, he felt extremely happy and was smiling while looking around at his surroundings.
¡°Tch, stop that. You''re making me and everyone else around you feel uncomfortable with your lewd face,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Lewd face? You''re wrong, this is my cool guy smile,¡± said Akira bombarding her with the full power of his cool guy smile.
¡°Help a pervert is talking to me! Mmpphh...¡± said Mileena half joking before Akira covered her mouth with his hand to stop her saying anything else, worried others might get the wrong idea. He quickly realized that this put him in an even worse position and removed his hand.
¡°Who''s a pervert? If I was a real pervert I would say something like ''Look at that cute little assassin'', or something,¡± said Akira.
Mileena''s cheeks had turned beet red and Akira was immediately forced to dodge a swipe from her dagger, something that he had become an expert in over the last few weeks.
Varbu chuckled watching the two act the same way they normally did as if they had known each other for years.
¡°You two stop acting up you''re making people stare at us,¡± said Varbu.
The two stopped their squabbling upon hearing Varbu and started to feel the sharp gazes of the surrounding people staring at them.
¡°Ahem, yes you''re right, now''s not the time for such talk. That reminds me we need to wear our cloaks and sand masks before we get to the gates and enter the city. Can''t let the Magic guild''s spies find out we''re here,¡± said Akira as he raised his dust mask a piece of torn cloth, over his mouth and nose and flipped up the hood of his cloak.
Both Mileena and Varbu followed suit. It didn''t help much since the people standing next to them now thought they were an even more extremely odd bunch of people. Mileena had a hard time hiding her tail which she had to curl around her waist and use her cloak to hide.
The large capital was surrounded by tall sandstone walls with mud bricks covering the outside to protect them from the weather. The clay was from the nearby sea only a few days away where the city''s salt mines were.
The height and length of the walls showed the city was as large as any of the other capitals he had seen.
When the gates opened the long line outside started to move forward slowly. It was another two hours before they were able to enter the city with a warning that anyone caught breaking the law would get the harshest punishment.
The city guards were enforcing the laws to the extreme in order to keep the massive overflow of people coming to watch the tournament in check.
The three had no idea where to go so they wandered around the large city while looking for a notice board or the arena that would be hosting the tournament.
The majority of the city''s buildings were also built out of mud bricks and sandstone, with a few of the more important buildings, used marble.
They finally gave up after a short while of fruitless searching and asked for directions to the registration from a stranger on the street.
The stranger annoyed at being stopped hurriedly pointed them in the correct direction before walking away.
The three walked to the large building next to the arena and watched from a distance as the large crowd of people near the arena were slowly entering the building after being registered by what looked to be monks sitting at several tables.
Ding!
Quest received:
Enter the tournament and win!
Difficulty: C+
Will you accept?
Yes / No
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Akira declined the quest he wasn''t here to win the tournament.
They continued to watch the process in order to not mess up later when they went to register.
¡°Hey, they''re all wearing masks,¡± said Mileena pointing out something Akira had been too preoccupied to notice.
¡°Hmm...This is a good thing. It should help us protect our identity. The only problem is we don''t have masks,¡± said Akira.
¡°No problem, I saw a few stands selling festival mask a few streets back. I didn''t get a good look at what they were selling but it should be usable,¡± said Varbu.
The three backtracked the way they had come to find multiple vendors selling all types of festival mask mostly for children.
When they reached the last booth they met an old grumpy man who was sitting behind it.
¡°What do you want?¡± asked the old man.
¡°Do you have any masks left to sell,¡± asked Akira.
¡°You lot are a bit old to be playing with festival masks aren''t you?¡± asked the old man looking at Varbu''s towering height.
¡°We need them for the tournament as we plan to join,¡± said Mileena.
¡°The tournament you say? I''m sorry but I only two left and they are part of my special one of a kind super ultra rare limited edition mask series. But it seems no one has an interest in such great designs. They would rather use the same old boring wooden mask.¡±
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¡°That''s fine we only need two masks since only two of us are joining. Can we see them?¡± asked Akira.
The old man shrugged and took the two mask out from underneath the booth.
Akira took an immediate interested in them. They were both full face masks the type that covered your entire head.
One was of a fierce black furred wolf grinning menacingly showing off his sharp teeth. It was a mask that made regular people shy away from it and kids cry. That was the reason the old man had hidden it under the booth so he didn''t upset or scare away his customers.
The grumpy old man had come to realized that only people with an odd sense of taste would be interested in such a mask.
The second mask was almost the direct opposite of the wolf mask and was of a white-furred feline cat with blue eyes that gave off a feeling of royal beauty starting at you with a haughty indifference.
Varbu let out loud laughter for the second time that day. The masks were perfect for the two.
¡°You don''t have to rude! I know that they aren''t what most people would find appealing but I am still trying to change the mask industry as I have been for over the last 40 years of my life,¡± said the old man getting a little agitated.
¡°I didn''t mean to offend you. I just did not expect that we would find such masks that would fit my companions so perfectly,¡± said Varbu sincerely apologizing.
¡°Fit perfectly? Does that mean you want to buy them?¡± asked the old man perking up.
¡°Yes,¡± replied Akira handing over one gold coin.
The old man overjoyed with happiness took the coin and handed them the mask.
As the three walked away they could hear the old man muttering, ¡°This is good. If they join the tournament and win while wearing the masks I created everyone will know how great my masks are and want to buy more! I must get to work on creating newer and even better masks!¡±
***
Akira looked over both of the masks and made a few changes to make sure it would hold up in a fight. When he finished both Mileena and Akira put the masks on.
Akira let out a sigh of relief the mask fit as if it had been made for him. His vision was not blocked by the mask too much since the wide grin of the wolf mask was where he looked out. It also helped ventilate some of the heat from inside the full mask it was still a little uncomfortable but not extremely.
Mileena''s mask fit her as well but her ears felt a little cramped. She felt Akira''s gaze looking at her and turned to stare back at him.
Her mask truly was amazing and gave off a haughty majestic feeling.
¡°Tch, looking at your mask makes me think of you and your lewd smile,¡± said Mileena in an annoyed voice.
Akira ignored her since he knew she would never understand the power behind his cool guy smile.
When they reached the registration area the line had become almost two times longer and even more cramped and overflowing with people wanting to try their hand at winning the tournament.
¡°While you guys wait in line I''m going to go buy a ticket to watch the tournament before they''re sold out,¡± said Varbu.
Although there were four lines for registration they were still forced to wait a long time to get to the front tables.
They passed the time listening to the people talking around them.
¡°Hey, do you think we have a chance? I heard that The wig duo and The broomstick breakers are supposed to be in the tournament.¡±
¡°We won''t be able to win, but if we get high enough in the rankings we should be able to get some good rewards and people will recognize our names when we mention it at the taverns.¡±
When Akira and Mileena finally reached the front of the line the monk behind the table shouted out in a loud voice, ¡°Last registration! Everyone else, thank you for coming but the spots are now filled.¡±
Multiple groans and shouts of anger rose up from the teams behind them. The monks from the three other lines shouted out the same thing. Squashing the hopes of some who tried to line up in them after the first had closed.
Akira was sweating under his mask not because of the heat but because of such a close call in getting here in time for registration. If they had arrived a day later no even a few hours later they would have been out of luck and would not have been able to complete their plan.
A hand grabbed onto Akira''s shoulder. The hand applied a large amount of force into its grip.
¡°Hey...Buddy... how about you let us take your spot we traveled such a far distance to get here. All the way from the next town over just to enter the tournament,¡± said the voice behind Akira.
Akira reached up and calmly grabbed the hand with his full strength and pulled it off his shoulder and turned around still holding the wrist. He stared at the muscle-brain behind him who was wincing partially from the sight of the mask but mostly from the pain in his wrist.
¡°Look ''friend'' I have no intention of giving up my spot. So I would be happy if you would stop pestering me or I will be forced to get angry,¡± said Akira letting the man''s wrist go.
¡°My apologies sir. It was rude of me to ask,¡± said the man bowing before fleeing with his teammate.
¡°What are your ring names?¡± asked the monk behind the table emotionlessly as if nothing had happened.
¡°Ring name? What''s that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The name you will be using when fighting in the tournament or will you use your real name?¡±
Akira had been so focused on worrying about getting here that he had not thought about such a thing. He took a few seconds to think of a great name and blurted out the first one that came to mind.
¡°Super Cool Black Wolf, and Miniature White Cat.¡±
Mileena stomped on his foot unhappy with the name.
The monk looked at Mileena as if asking are you sure you want to be named that?
¡°What he meant to say is his name is Lewd wolf and I am known as Majestic cat,¡± said Mileena quietly.
¡°Wait...¡± said Akira as he tried to protest but his foot was stomped again silencing him.
The monk nodded, ¡°Lewd wolf and the majestic cat,¡° said the monk loudly as he wrote it down.
¡°Alright take these,¡± said the monk as he handed them both an identical large copper coin with the number 1000 on it.
¡°Show that to the guards behind me and you will be allowed to enter the building with the rest of the contestants.¡±
Upon showing the burly guards the coins the large doors were opened allowing them to pass through.
The building was one large room with over 2000 people crammed inside loudly talking and moving around. Some were even warming up doing exercises to get ready for any type of fight.
Only a few people in the large crowd noticed the two entering the large room.
¡°Looks like you two are the last team to register,¡± said an extremely skinny male with dyed blue hair standing near the door.
¡°Honestly, I don''t know why people join on the last day. They had two full weeks to join. We joined on the first day,¡± said a large woman with purple hair standing next to the skinny man.
¡°Ignore them,¡± said Akira as he grabbed Mileena''s hand and waded through the crowded room towards the center.
There were five large raised squares with ropes ringing them off in the middle of the room. Many of the people near the fighting rings were staring at them with determination in their eyes.
¡°Quiet! Quiet!¡± shouted young bare-chested teenager with a large bullhorn. The teen was escorting 5 old monks and one muscular man who held a Cat o'' nine tails whip.
The young teen scrambled up into one of the rings and with the help of the muscular man helped what seemed to be the oldest monk up to the raised platform, before joining the old monk.
The teen boy handed the bullhorn over to the muscular man.
¡°What part of quiet don''t you understand,¡± barked the muscled man. The low murmuring chatter died immediately.
¡°I am Khepri the Head overseer of the Big Arena, these old fellows are the local monks. They will be the impartial judges for the tournament. Whatever they say goes if you try to make a scene and argue you will be banned from the tournament and... you will be punished,¡± said Khepri as he slapped the whip against his hand a few times.
Akira could hear multiple people involuntarily gulping at the threat.
Chapter 75: Fight!
¡°Old geezer please explain the rules,¡± said Khepri.
The old judge hobbled forward using a cane to keep steady and grabbed the bullhorn from the young teenager.
¡±The main rules are simple, don''t kill your opponent and listen to the judge when they give a verdict or you will be disqualified and not allowed to participate in any tournament in the future,¡± said the old man pausing to look at everyone in the room.
¡°As you know this year''s tournament requires you to have a partner to participate in the tournament. In order to make sure that each team participating is up to our high standards. We will be having an elimination round today before the start of the tournament tomorrow,¡± the old man paused again.
Everyone knew there would be an elimination round otherwise there would be too many teams to fight in the short time frame of the tournament. So they didn''t understand why it was mentioned.
¡°But...unlike the tournament, you will not be participating as a team in the elimination round. To ensure that there are no teams where a random person was pulled off the street in order for a solo fighter to participate, everyone will participate in the 1v1 elimination round. If both members of a team win their individual fight the team will be allowed to enter the tournament,¡± said the old man before taking a step back signaling he was done talking.
A low murmur of excited talking started and a few curses could be heard somewhere in the crowd.
¡°You heard him! The elimination round to cull all of you weaklings starts now. There are five rings so we can get this done in one day. Each judge will randomly call two names off the list of participants. When you hear your name, head to the ring the judge is next to. That means you better shut up so that people can hear the judges,¡± said Khepri.
The room immediately became silent again as they watched Khepri and the old judge limp down and the other judges slowly walk to one of the five rings. They walked up onto a small raised platform with a chair overlooking each ring.
Once the old monks sat down they each called out two names from a list in their hands.
Akira and Mileena watched as the elimination round began. He was interested to see how strong everyone was and measure his own strength that had grown in leaps and bounds.
Akira felt a tug on his armor and looked to see Mileena looking at him.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira in a whisper.
¡°This wasn''t part of our plan. I don''t know if I can win a fight on my own,¡± whispered Mileena worriedly.
¡°Don''t worry as long as your luck isn''t crap you should be able to pass this easily. Don''t worry too much and just watch the matches. You''ll be able to get some information on the fighters in case we have to fight them in the main tournament.¡±
¡°Okay...but I''m still worried.¡±
¡°Oh yeah, that reminds me, keep an eye out for your sister in case she''s here. I know it''s highly unlikely since she''s part of the gladiators participating in the tournament events. But it''s best to be on the lookout just in case.¡±
Akira continued to watch the battles silently while studying the fighters. Some fights were done in seconds while others were a test of endurance and lasted a while until one of the two were knocked out.
From what he saw the majority of fighters were average fighters, and there were only a few hundred extremely powerful people that dominated their matches.
''Please don''t pair me with a monster,'' though Akira. He chuckled to himself due to his thinking of them as monsters.
Mileena jabbed him in the side with her small elbow and asked, ¡°What are you doing laughing like a maniac?¡±
Before he could answer a fight ended in ring number three and the judge stood up.
¡°Lewd Wolf vs Blue Stick!,¡± said the judge in a loud voice.
Multiple people were looking around to see who the idiot was that had chosen a ring name like ''Lewd Wolf''.
Their eyes locked onto Akira as he walked to ring number three and climbed up and through the ropes, to stand tall in the ring ready to fight his opponent.
Now more than ever he was extremely glad that he had a full head mask on so people could not see his face. It didn''t help that there were multiple laughs and sharp gazes staring at him from the surrounding crowd.
The opponent that entered the opposite side of the ring was the skinny man with blue hair that he had met when he first entered the building.
¡°So you''re Lewd Wolf? What a lame name,¡± said Blue Stick.
¡°Right back at ya, Blue Stick,¡± said Akira as he readied his sword and shield.
¡°Whatever. I''ll beat you in under 3 minutes,¡± said Blue Stick swinging around his long blue Quarterstaff which was nothing more than a stick compared to Varbu''s own weapon.
¡°Fight!¡± shouted the judge.
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Blue stick decided to ignore caution and charged towards Akira his quarterstaff held high ready to strike down on Akira''s head.
Thunk!
The Quarterstaff collided with Akira''s shield and bounced off. Blue stick was able to regain control over his weapon quickly and continuously attacked Akira from different angles trying to wack him into submission.
To Blue Sticks annoyance and great frustration, none of his attacks were getting through Akira''s defense each attack was blocked by the shield. Akira wasn''t worried about the attacks since they were nothing more than an annoyance with little force behind it.
¡°It''s been three minutes. Since you did not defeat me, I will defeat you in under a minute,¡± said Akira.
He had decided not to use any skills in the elimination tournament for fear of killing his opponent and any other people near the attack.
Akira kicked out with one foot hitting Blue Stick in the stomach, forcing him to take multiple steps backward.
Akira followed after him and before Blue Stick could even regain his balance he slammed his shield into the left side of Blue Stick with his full power.
Crack!
The attack caused Blue Stick to fly backward and slam into one of the wooden posts of the ring.
¡°AHHHHH! You broke my arm! My arm! MY ARM!¡± wailed Blue Stick pitifully as he was laying on the ground clutching his broken left arm.
¡°Winner Lewd Wolf!¡± shouted the judge.
Akira let out a sigh of relief that he had been given such an easy opponent and was able to pass with such ease.
¡°Shut up and get out of the ring or I''ll kill you myself,¡± shouted Khepri threatening Blue Stick who was crying loudly.
Akira hopped down from the ring and looked for Mileena but could not find her. Before going into a panic he turned around and found her already fighting in ring number one.
Blue Stick continued wailing in pain as Akira walked away from ring number three to watch Mileena''s fight.
***
A few minutes ago.
¡°Majestic cat vs Purple Hourglass!¡± shouted the judge at ring one startling Mileena who had been fretting over whether or not she could win a fight on her own.
She smacked her cheeks once to clear her mind and walked to ring number one.
Mileena watched as her opponent struggled to climb up into the ring.
Purple Hourglass was actually the rude female with purple hair that she had the displeasure of meeting when she first entered the building.
¡°Heh, look what we have here such a short shrimp this should be easy,¡± said Purple Hourglass.
¡°....,¡± Mileena was quiet trying to ignore the woman''s words and focus on the fight.
¡°Oh aren''t you that girl that was the last to enter was it because you were too scared to join, that you waited for the last possible moment to join? Don''t worry, I''ll end this quickly for you and let you go home.¡±
¡°In your dreams ugly,¡± replied Mileena.
¡°What did you call me? Hmph...Everyone knows that plump girls are the most beautiful. We are far better than someone like you who is so small and skinny.¡±
¡°Whatever.¡±
¡°Fight!¡± shouted the judge.
Mileena started inching to the right to attack the side of Purple Hourglass but her opponent wanted to finish the fight quickly and charged forward with her chubby arms held out in front of her wanting to grab onto Mileena.
Mileena dodged by spinning to the right and stuck her leg out in front of her charging opponent.
Fwump!
Purple Hourglass did a face-first belly-flop onto the hard canvas ring floor, and slowly huffed as she tried getting back up onto her feet.
¡°Watch where you''re putting your legs!¡± barked Purple Hourglass angrily.
Mileena darted in and landed a few hits with the butt of her daggers to Purple hourglass''s back before jumping back to evade a counter attack.
She darted around the ring continuously hitting Purple Hourglass and escaping.
¡°Stay still you little kid,¡± shouted Purple Hourglass.
Mileena ignored her and continued to dodge and attack.
¡°You little runt if you stop moving I''ll tell you how to actually get boobs and not be so flat.¡±
Mileena''s rage exploded at the mention of the taboo word. She leaped forward dodging Purple Hourglass''s outstretched hands.
Mileena''s attack was swift accurate.
Paaa!
Mileena''s hand smacked the left cheek of Purple Hourglass forcing her back away a step from shock.
¡°Don''t hit my face you might damage my beautiful skin!¡± screeched Purple Hourglass.
Paaa! Again, Pa, Pa, Pa, Pa, Pa!
Mileena let out a hail of smacks landing on the cheeks of her opponent which had started to become deep red from being hit.
Mileena launched a running kick to the dizzy Purple Hourglasses stomach causing her to fall down and roll out of the ring with a flop.
¡°Winner Majestic Cat!¡± shouted the judge.
Mileena quickly sheathed her weapons and hopped out of the ring where she found Akira waiting for her.
¡°Did you win?¡± asked Mileena worried that he might have failed.
¡°Yes, it was quite easy. I''m curious, what fueled all those attacks at the end? You were on fire there for a bit,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t worry about it,¡± said Mileena her face getting red.
***
The elimination rounds lasted all day and finally finished up after dinner. Akira was hungry as they had not been allowed to leave and only had snacks to munch on.
They were currently listening to the old monk speak.
¡°Those of you that have failed leave us now!¡±
Over two-thirds of the people standing in the building slowly filtered out of the main doors.
When they were gone the once cramped room now felt extremely empty.
¡°There are just over 300 teams that have reached this point...Do not let that get to your head! It means nothing if you pass and can do nothing in the tournament! Tomorrow the tournament will start and we will see who has the power and the will to win,¡± said the old monk pausing to catch his breath.
¡°Since you lot have passed the elimination, I will tell you that the last qualifying rounds will ignore the rule of no killing as they are to be fought to the death!¡±
A low murmur of shocked voices started to talk amongst themselves.
¡°Indeed this is the first time we have done something like this but if you win the tournament you will receive 1000 gold! You will also be allowed to speak to the king for 1 minute! What a gracious King!¡± said the old monk before stepping back and allowing Khepri to step forward.
¡°You''re all dismissed for today. Make sure you''re here bright and early. No one is allowed to quit now that you have passed the elimination stage! Anyone who is late will be punished!¡± said Khepri.
Chapter 76: Let the tournament begin!
Akira, Varbu, and Mileena sat at an old stained and scared wooden table in the rundown inn they were staying at. They were eating a meager vegetable soup that had more broth than vegetables.
While Akira and Mileena had been fighting to enter the tournament Varbu had searched for a place to stay for the duration of the tournament and rented the only two somewhat decent rooms he could find due to the massive influx of tourist filling the city''s inns.
¡°So, did you find her?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°No,¡± said Akira shaking his head, ¡°The only people that I saw were all teams of fighters that had registered to fight in the tournament.¡±
¡°We''ll definitely be able to find her when the tournament starts. I heard that the arenas will be using their gladiators to entertain the crowds in between some of the later fights,¡± said Mileena with total conviction.
¡°What are the odds of you two winning any of the battles?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°If there are anymore more people like the ones we had to fight today then the first few battles shouldn''t be too bad,¡± said Akira confidently.
¡°I was lucky to be able to find someone selling a ticket. The seat sucks and the seller tried to rip me off but I knocked some sense into him so he decided to sell it for a reasonable price. With the ticket, I can keep an eye out for your sister while the two of you continue to search for her in between your fights. You should hold out until I can confirm she is here,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Agreed,¡± said Akira while slurping the spicy broth.
***
Early Morning.
Akira and Mileena stood with 600 other tournament contestants in the same large building from the day before. They were all waiting for Khepri and the judges to enter and begin the process of getting the tournament rolling.
Akira let out a loud yawn that drew a few unfriendly gazes from the people near him.
Slam! The doors of the room burst open as Khepri and the elderly monks walked into the room.
Behind them, several muscular men carried a large round circular wooden barrel that was placed inside of an even larger wooden frame that had a metal crank on its side.
The wooden contraption was carried to and set down next to the platform that had been erected for the old monks.
Everyone stopped talking and looked at the Monks waiting for them to speak.
¡°Listen up! In order to start the tournament, we need to pair you guys up. So in order to do that fairly, one person from each team will place half of the identification coin into this barrel. No need to worry about losing half of the coin as both halves have your number on it. When all the coins have been added, the barrel will be turned several times to make sure that they are thoroughly mixed. The team member that did not place the coin into the barrel will step up to the barrel, crank it once, and then draw one coin. You may begin!¡± said the oldest monk who was also the leader of the judges.
Akira turned to Mileena and quietly asked, ¡°How''s your luck on these types of things?¡±
¡°I don''t know. I''ve never done it before but I can try it if you want me to,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Alright, I''ll leave it to you to pick an easy opponent,¡± said Akira as he walked forward with half of the identification coin in his hand to the front of the large room where a line was forming.
The line moved quickly as the 300 team members tossed their half coin into the barrel.
Mileena lined up and waited for her turn to draw a coin. The line thinned out fast due to the fact that when a teams number was pulled out both teams had to leave the line.
A large chalkboard was set up where the judges began to write down the results using their team numbers.
Mileena stepped up to the barrel and cranked it once. The sound of coins rattling inside stopped before she was able to reach her hand inside and pull out a half coin. She handed it to the judge without looking at it.
¡°Number 1000 vs Number 1,¡± shouted the old judge.
¡°You sure know how to pick them,¡± said Akira when Mileena had returned.
¡°I guess I have good luck like that,¡± said Mileena with a smile.
Akira didn''t know if it was good luck or bad since he had no clue who team number 1 was. But he did know that whoever they were they must be a pair of extreme people to be the first team to register. They most likely had some skill if they were able to pass the elimination round, but that wasn''t saying much when he remembered his own match.
Several more minutes passed before the brackets were fully filled and Khepri stepped onto the stage.
¡°The tournament starts in two hours. You must be at the arena half an hour before it starts. Otherwise...¡± Khepri made a fist and slammed it into his other hand, ¡°...you will be punished.¡±
***
Akira and Mileena meet up with Varbu who had been waiting for them in the large line in front of the arenas gates. Several thousands of people were already lining up eager to enter the arena. The arenas gates had just opened so the line was only just starting to move.
¡°Do you want to come with us while we check out the surrounding area near the arena?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Look behind you,¡± said Varbu pointing to the long line of people behind him crowding the desert city''s street the line was so long that it disappeared around a distant corner that could barely be seen.
¡°I''m not giving up this spot otherwise I don''t know when I''ll be able to get into the arena,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Well then, I guess we''ll see you again later tonight. Make sure you keep an eye out for Mileena''s sister,¡± said Akira.
¡°She uses a bow and has glasses,¡± said Mileena making sure to give enough details for him to recognize her sister.
The two left Varbu and circled the arena searching for any extra entrances that gladiators might be ushered through, but only found the back entrance that they would have to use when the time came for them to enter the arena.
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There were several large buildings with tall walls near the arena and none of them had a sign or any type of signature to tell if they were the places that the gladiators were held or if they were just some rich person''s house.
***
The waiting room under the large arena was dark, hot, and stuffy from all the people that were impatiently waiting for their turn to fight.
There were two separate large waiting rooms on either side of the arena to keep the competing teams away from each other until they were to fight in the arena. This was done to stop any hotheads from fighting each other before their match in the arena.
Akira still didn''t know who the people were that they had been matched up to fight against.
In order to make sure the tournament didn''t drag on the arena was hosting two fights at once to quickly cut the three hundred teams in half.
The battles happened in the order that they had been in line to receive a number in the morning.
So Mileena and Akira were forced to wait for several hours since Mileena had been in the middle of the line.
It was just past noon when their number was called.
¡°Number 1000 you''re up! Head to fighting ring number #2,¡± shouted Khepri at the entrance of the waiting room.
The two stood up and exited the room into a long hallway that led to a set of stairs that stopped at a pair of opened iron gates.
Akira raised his hand to block the sun from his eyes after spending several hours in the dark underbelly of the arena, it was blinding even with his full face mask on.
When his eyes adjusted to the daylight he took a quick look around the arena.
The arena was huge!
The ground was filled with nothing but sand some of it dyed a rust red from past bloody battles.
In the middle of the large arena, there were two large square platforms that had been built to make the continuous fights proceed faster.
The noise of the cheering crowd was deafening and it didn''t help that the place was almost fully enclosed which made the echoing cheers and voices of the crowd even louder.
Akira and Mileena climbed into the empty square ring that he guessed was 100 x 100 yards and waited for their opponents to enter from the opposite side.
The wait seemed like forever until two men hurriedly rushed out of the entrance one of them tripping over his feet and falling face first into the sand.
The crowd roared with laughter at the man''s misfortune.
His teammate helped him back up and they quickly ran to the ring and entered it.
¡°Battle #76 team #1 vs #1000!¡± shouted the announcer from a high position in the front of the stands towering over the regular folk who were at or near ground level.
¡°On the right, we have the Lewd Wolf and the Majestic Cat with their exotic masks vs Arm 1 and Arm 2. Are you ready to see some blood?!¡± shouted the announcer pausing for the crowd to respond.
¡°YEAH!¡± came the roar of over fifty thousand voices.
¡°Let the fight begin!¡± shouted the judge.
Akira had to admit fighting in front of such a massive crowd was intimidating. It was like a whole city of people were staring at him.
He shook his head once to clear it and blocked out the noise of the crowd and focused on the two men across from him.
They looked almost identical in every way from their age to their skinny tanned physical looks, and even the leather armor and weapons they used.
Their choice of weapons intrigued Akira slightly, they were both holding onto two thick iron crowbars one in each hand.
¡°We are the...¡±
¡°Arm twins. Number one and...¡±
¡°Number two! Prepare to get...¡±
¡°Your butt handed to you!¡± said the two finishing each other''s sentences.
Akira found the way they spoke rather annoying.
With those words, the two separated and started running to attack Akira and Mileena each from a different side.
Akira kept his guard up watching them closely.
¡°Mileena you may have to hold off one of them while I take care of the other,¡± said Akira loud enough for her to hear over the roar of the crowd.
¡°Understood!¡± said Mileena.
Seeing as his original plan had been to divide and conquer he didn''t have to worry about how to accomplish the first part of the plan since their opponents had already done it themselves. So he wouldn''t look a gift horse in the mouth and dashed forward with Mileena right by his side to support him.
Seeing that their plan to attack from both sides had put them in a bad position the two brothers decided to retreat.
Before Arm one could escape he was forced to trade a few blows with Akira before successfully disengaging and dodging Mileena''s deadly daggers that had swiped in front of his face.
Not wanting them to get away Akira used his skill [Shield Slam] and rocketed forward aiming at Arm one who had stopped to braced himself and guard against the incoming attack.
Arm 1 closed his eyes shut, and clenched his teeth while he waited for the impact.
Nothing happened, all he felt was wind rush by.
''Oops, I overshot'' thought Akira sheepishly as he hurriedly tried to cancel the skill and slow down before he ran out of the arena and was disqualified.
''Let''s try this again!''
Miss!
Again!
Miss!!
''Damn it! How am I missing so badly! I was able to use it so easily back in the dungeon and now I keep messing up,'' thought Akira angrily.
¡°Ahhh... It appears Lewd wolf may be having trouble landing a hit due to his amazing speed. What a shame,¡± said the announcer over the loud roars of the crowd.
¡°What are you doing? You almost ran into me last time,¡± asked Mileena grouchily, ¡°you''re making us look like fools.¡±
¡°It is as she...¡±
¡°Said. You are an...¡±
¡°Idiot,¡± said the two brothers with mock smiles.
Akira was breathing hard but his anger from missing multiple times and the two mocking him boiled into a wave of calm white anger.
¡°I''ll knock that smile off your face and out of this ring!¡± shouted Akira.
He again charged forward at a slower speed than before but the two brothers did not move as they were sure he would miss them again for the fourth time.
They were wrong!
Akira held out both his arms and close lined them knocking them off their feet where they laid gagging for air.
The crowd let out a roar of approval at the totally unexpected attack.
Akira grabbed one of the brothers (he couldn''t tell which one it was) by the neck and his sword belt before charging towards the edge of the arena where the unceremoniously threw him into the air allowing him to gracefully land face first in the hard dirt.
The second brother had managed to get back up on his feet and turned towards Akira and began watching him closely so he could escape the next charge.
He must have forgotten that this was a team fight and was kicked in his back with both feet by Mileena, knocking him forward right into Akira''s grasp.
He tried to struggle and get out of Akira''s grip but got whopped in the head causing him to see stars.
Akira dragged him to the edge of the arena and kicked him like a ball out of the arena.
Another roar of approval sounded out as the fight ended in such an enjoyable and humiliating way.
¡°We have a winner--! Lewd wolf and Majestic cat! You all saw it! What an odd fight! Who would have thought that you would see something interesting like that, am I right? I sorta feel sad for the Arm brothers due to the way they lost...Okay not really. There''s still plenty more battles left so don''t get too excited!¡± shouted the announcer.
The crowd let out another roar.
¡°Get out of the ring!¡± shouted the gruff old monk that had refereed their match.
The two left the open arena and went back underground they were going to return to the waiting room but were stopped by Khepri.
¡°Congratulations grunts you passed the first day you can go back to your lodging and get some rest. You are to be here the same time as today If you are late...¡± said Khepri clenching his fist.
¡°We will be punished,¡± said Akira finishing his sentence.
Chapter 77: Win win win
Akira and Mileena continued to win their matches and spent the rest of the day searching for clues hoping to find where the gladiators where living.
No matter how hard they searched they were unable to find another entrance that the gladiators would be escorted through. They even watched the entrances to see if they would be brought through one of them but they saw nothing like that happen.
Varbu had not seen Mileena''s sister or any gladiators during the last few days as there were too many fights between the tournament contestants for the gladiators to fight.
Now that the teams had been whittled down to 50 the inside of the arena had been changed. There were no longer two rings in the middle of the arena, there was only a large square ring roped off.
The remaining arena floor was filled with cramped rows of wooden benches. The benches set up inside the arena were dangerous to sit in since the fighting inside the ring could spill into the nearby area easily. So the seats were sold off for an extremely cheap price compared to the safer ones far behind them. This allowed for thousands of more people to be able to enjoy the fights.
The seats filled up quickly even with the risks that came with sitting so close to the fight. A few of the people that bought the tickets for the bench seats had missed purchasing a regular seat and had to settle with what they could get.
The majority of people that bought the seats were hardcore fans who made sure to bring tarps to cover their bodies in order to keep clean from the blood guts and other things that could get all over those who sat in the first few rows.
Why? Because starting from today the gladiators would fight!
The arena announcer who had been cracking many jokes (all to cringe-worthy to remember) since the beginning of the tournament had become soberer and somewhat professional as the numbers were whittled down.
Varbu sat in his seat eating a few snacks and while cheering along with the crowd. The sly team ''Slimy Snakes'' won the match by knocking the nearby numbers girl (the person who held up the team numbers for the crowd to see who was fighting) into the opposing enemies path tripping them up and causing their defeat.
¡°UHHH... that has got to hurt. I hope she''s okay!¡± shouted the announcer, ¡°Our next battle will star the outstanding beautiful Desert Sword Dance Duo!¡±
The crowd cheered like crazy.
¡°Their opponent will be the unorthodox Lewd wolf and Majestic cat!¡±
Another roar of cheering went through the arena.
Akira and Mileena walked through the small roped off path that led through the large crowd of fans sitting on the benches. They were only a few arm spans away some fan tried to reach out and touch them but had their hands bashed away by the escorting guards.
The other team was already waiting for them inside the ring when they arrived.
Akira quickly looked over his opponents. Their tight-fitting outfits made them look more like assassins than reputable warriors. He ran all the information he had heard about them through his head.
The two were from the capital of Otria and studied under the Grandmaster swordsman Hue Hyaa, who had created the prestigious Desert Sword Dance school of martial arts.
They were one of the top 10 teams that people were betting on to win the tournament. He only knew this much from what Varbu had told him when he had come back to the inn the day before after placing his bet on Akira and Mileena''s upcoming match.
Akira didn''t much like gambling but in order to raise some funds for their travels, he let it slide since he was 70% sure he could win.
That was all he knew about them.
But there was one thing that was troubling Akira greatly as he looked at them. So he decided to end his curiosity by just asking them.
¡°Why are you two using spears instead of swords? Aren''t you supposed to practice some sort of sword dance?¡±
An angry feminine voice blurted out through the half face mask that was covering her mouth, ¡°Ha, ha, very funny! It''s not our fault that we can''t properly use the sword techniques of the grandmaster!¡±
¡°Don''t get so worked up sister, we can do this! I am Fred and she is Ed,¡± said Fred while placing her hand on Ed''s shoulder to calm her down.
¡°Wow, your parents sure knew how to pick weird names for girls,¡± said Akira.
¡°They''re not our names! They''re our ring names,¡± said Ed getting agitated again.
¡°Fight!¡± shouted the judge.
Both teams stood where they were watching each other to see who would make the first move.
It was Fred and Ed who broke the stalemate first.
¡°Fred you know what to do,¡± shouted Ed.
¡°Right!¡± said Fred.
They started to move forward towards Akira who held his shield in front of him ready to block any attack thrown at him.
Their movement was slow and odd. It was as if they were...dancing.
The two stopped moving suddenly still a good distance away and shoved their spears towards Akira as if they trying to pierce him with the attack all the way from such a far distance.
Yellow light in the shape of a spearhead shot out from both spears and raced towards their target, Akira.
The use of a special skill surprised Akira but that was all, due to all his training his shield moved as if it had a life of its own and was able to block one of the skill attacks that punched into his shield and created a loud scraping thunk.
He ducked and leaned to the right to dodge the second attack that had been aimed at his head.
¡°Guahhhh!¡± a loud pained voice came from the crowd behind him. He could hear several cries of surprise and numerous people moving away from the seating area behind Akira.
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¡°Would you look at that! The famous Desert sword Dance skill has appeared!¡± shouted the announcer happily, while ignoring the injury of one of the audience members.
¡°It is widely known that 1 in 10 students who are able to enter the school are able to use the desert sword dance skill,¡± explained the Announcer.
¡°Ha! You can''t beat us when we go all out!¡± shouted the hothead Ed.
¡°Mileena, let''s charge them since we can''t let them continue using those types of attacks. Stay behind me, you should know what to do when we get there,¡± said Akira in a hurry. He could not use his own skills for fear of killing his opponent or members of the audience, which would cause him problems.
¡°Understood,¡± said Mileena as she stepped behind Akira.
Akira charged forward with his shield in front not using the skill [Shield Slam] for fear he might miss the targets.
Several more solid thunks could be heard as he continued to block their attacks with his shield which slowed his steps for a few seconds each time they hit allowing the two attackers to retreat.
Akira continued to push forward and reached them as they managed to send out two more attacks.
One of the spears was so close that the attack aimed towards his head almost connected but Akira leaned his shoulders to the right causing the skill attack to graze his cheek almost cutting his nose off.
Akira was quick to counter-attack with his own sword darting out in front aimed at Fred''s stomach, only for it to be blocked by Ed who knocked the sword off target with her spear hitting the flat of the sword''s blade.
Akira was again forced back onto the defense blocking numerous quick viper like thrusts of the enemies spears.
Mileena picked this time to jump out from behind Akira and launch an attack on Ed, forcing her to stop her attacks on Akira and defend against both daggers that came flying towards her head.
Akira used [Shield Bash] to knock Fred back and off her feet blocking her from helping Ed.
Only one of Mileena''s daggers had been blocked by the spear while the second one was able to snake its way past and stab into Ed''s right armpit.
Ed''s right hand that was holding the spear lost its grip, causing the spear to fall to the ground.
Before she could reach for it with her left hand Mileena used the butt of her daggers and forcefully hit both of Ed''s temples knocking her out.
Akira jumped forward and kicked one of Fred''s legs out from underneath her as she tried to stand up back up.
Standing over Fred, Akira placed a foot on her non-existent chest stopping her from getting up and aimed a well placed [Shield bash] to her face knocking her right out.
The fight was over in a flash.
Akira took in a few gulps of fresh air as he panted from the heat of the hot desert day that did no favors for those that were fighting.
¡°We have a winner! Lewd wolf and Majestic cat! Can you believe it! One of the top teams expected to win has been knocked out of the tournament! They even used their special Desert Sword dance skill and failed to produce results. I''m sure that they will be in a lot of trouble when they get back to their master,¡± shouted the announcer as enthusiastically as ever.
Before leaving the arena Akira and Mileena bowed to the crowd a few times causing loud roars of cheering and applause.
***
¡°Now we saved the last battle of the day for something special! A gladiator fight to the death!¡±
The crowd roared the loudest it had all day. They wanted to see someone, anyone, die!
¡°This battle, as with all the other gladiator battles over the next few days, will have a special rule or rules to make the fight more fun! Today''s rules are... no armor and only one weapon is allowed to be used!¡±
A different gate that had not been used by the contestants opened up and two gladiators were pushed out wearing only thin cotton clothes.
The guards pushed the gladiators into the ring in the middle of the arena and unlocked the metal shackles around their feet before returning to the tunnel.
¡°Let me introduce you to the two gladiators that will fight to the death the first is someone you may be familiar with.
It''s Brock Omama! He is has been on a winning streak lately with two wins! Can this be his third? Or will the new challenger be able to beat him?
The new contestant is Maya the nyantail goddess! She comes all the way from the northern desert!¡± shouted the announcer.
Varbu who had been lazily munching on his snacks nearly dropped them upon hearing the name of the last gladiator.
His gaze quickly zeroed in on the female gladiator down below.
Ears, check. Tail, check. She even had a bow! This must be Mileena''s sister!
''What to do? what to do? Do I go inform Akira and Mileena or do I stay and watch the fight to see if she survives?'' Varbu thought to himself.
''I''ll watch the first bit to see if she can stay alive or not, then I''ll go find the other two,'' decided Varbu.
***
Akira and Mileena walked out of the arena''s side entrance still wearing their mask to hide their identities from fans and other dangerous types of people that may be watching the rear door.
As soon as they walked through the exit they noticed something was wrong due to a large number of people milling around a far corner of the street near the exit.
They were all wearing the same familiar armor that Akira and Mileena had just seen in their last fight. Each one of them had their hands on their swords ready to draw them and start a fight.
Akira turned to the opposite direction and started walking away from them.
¡°Hey, you! Hold up!¡± someone shouted from behind.
¡°Pervert wolf! I''m talking to you!¡± shouted the voice again.
''Who are you calling a pervert wolf?!'' though Akira angrily.
¡°Let''s go,¡± said Akira ignoring the people behind them.
He grabbed Mileena''s hand and started running through the slightly crowded evening streets.
¡°They''re trying to get away! After them!¡±
Akira and Mileena took a long and winding route over ten minutes to try and lose the people following them before heading to the inn they were staying at.
But before they could fully escape they were spotted and chased into a dead end. They were now surrounded by ten people in a semicircle.
''Damn it we were so close to reaching the Inn.''
¡°What do you want?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°You made our martial arts school look bad in front of everyone.¡±
¡°Yeah, you''ve made out master lose face. So we have to take care of you to regain the reputation that was lost!¡±
Akira pulled Mileena back and stepped forward to protect her.
¡°Attack!¡±
¡°Huh? What''s going on here?¡± came a familiar voice from behind the attackers.
¡°Piss off if you know what is good for you Orc,¡± said the leader of the group.
Thwack!
A large quarterstaff club slammed into his stomach.
¡°Varbu! You''re just in time!¡± said Akira.
¡°Sorry I''m late, I seemed to have missed the invitation,¡± said Varbu with a smile.
Soon cries of pain that were so horrifying could be heard coming from alleyway making it so no one dared to go near for fear of getting caught up in whatever was happening.
***
¡°You saw her?!¡± whispered Mileena while sitting at one of the inns secluded corner tables.
¡°Yeah, she had cat ears and a tail just like you although different color hair and fur. The announcer said her name was Maya,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Wait, that means you saw her fight? Did she win?¡±
¡°I left before the fight ended so I could find you guys quickly and not have to deal with the large crowd. When I left she had the upper hand and was holding her own. So I don''t think she lost the fight.¡±
¡°Which gate did she exit from?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It wasn''t one that either of you have used before. It was that one between the other two,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Hmm, the third gate. That probably explains why we couldn''t find any other entrances and or see any gladiators going to the arena. They are most likely brought to the arena through an underground tunnel,¡± said Akira.
¡°So what''s the plan? How do we rescue her now that we know how to find her?¡± asked Mileena.
The three of them continued to talk late into the night hatching different plans for different situations.
Chapter 78: Start the Plan!
Maya exhausted from the life and death battle she was forced to fight, slowly followed the arena guards that were escorting her back to her temporary underground holding cell, where she would stay until her next battle.
Clang! The metal door was shut behind her. The dark empty cell reminded her of all the trouble she had endured for the past several months now.
She was trying her hardest to stay alive and alert so that if there was even a small chance for her to escape she would be ready.
She really needed to find a way to escape so that she could find and save her sister from whatever horror she was living, that is if she was even alive.
''No I can''t think like that. She has to be alive.''
Over the past few months, she had been forced to participate in arena battles not that different from the tournament fights.
Different rules each time, some with no weapons, others with special tools or weapons given out randomly. The terrain in the arena was sometimes altered to make a harder or more interesting fight for the audience.
Sometimes her opponents were not even human but deadly desert monsters that had been starved into madness.
''I will keep fighting! There will be a chance someday. I just need to be ready for it.''
***
Akira and Mileena were whispering back and forth as they walked down the tunnel to the arenas fighting ring.
¡°Now that we know where to find the gladiators we''ll need to start enacting our plan. Right now we should lose this battle, but we need to make it so that they don''t suspect anything wrong is going on,¡± said Akira.
¡°Do you also have a plan for that?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Don''t worry leave it to me. I have everything under control,¡± said Akira as they exited the tunnel.
The now familiar roaring of the large crowd was nothing more than white noise as they focused on the task ahead of them.
¡°Once again the odd duo Lewd wolf and Majestic Cat are ready to fight and show off their power. Can they win again and move to the next round?¡± asked the announcer.
¡°Their opponent this round is... the Mute monks! They may be silent but they are deadly. Just like what happens to me after eating too much spicy food!¡±
The two mute monks standing across from Akira were not wearing any armor and were both using a long quarterstaff as their weapons.
¡°Finally an opponent that won''t talk smack,¡± said Akira.
The two mute monks hearing this held up their middle fingers to show Akira what they thought of him.
¡°Fight!¡± shouted the old judge.
Not wasting any time the mute monks jumped forward and began to speedily zigzag forward.
Akira used his skill [Shield Slam] to charge forward intending to miss them and put his plan in motion so that he and Mileena would lose.
There was just one problem...he slammed right into the two monk warriors and knocked them back so far that they almost landed outside the ring.
''Damn it! When I want you to work you keep missing, but I hit the target when I want to miss.''
¡°OH! What a big hit by Lewd wolf. Almost knocked the Mute Monks right out of the ring! Such brute force! Amazing,¡± shouted the announcer.
¡°What are you doing? I thought you said we needed to lose this match,¡± said Mileena as she caught up to him.
¡°*Cough* Don''t worry everything is going to plan *Cough*,¡± said Akira not looking at Mileena for fear she might see that he was lying.
The mute monks quickly got back onto their feet and charged forward in their zigzag formation, swing their quarterstaff at Akira trying to hit him.
Akira again activated his skill [Shield Slam] this time missing his target partly because they hurriedly dodged out of his way. He continued to activate the skill until he was was positioned right across from Mileena and...
Accidentally slammed right into her.... well that''s what it looked like to the crowd.
¡°Ooof,¡± was all Mileena could say as she was grabbed by Akira as he hurtled past and carried her out of the ring disqualifying the both of them.
¡°Oh, what a shame! The promising duo was defeated not by an enemy but by their own power,¡± shouted the announcer disappointed.
The crowd was a mixture of cheers from the fans of the Mute Monks who had just won another match and booing coming from those who had wanted them. Most of the booing was aimed at Akira and Mileena for messing up so spectacularly.
Mileena gave Akira the stink eye as she stood up and stomped over to the exit tunnel where she waited for Akira.
¡°What was that?¡± she asked Akira in the tunnel with an unhappy voice seeping through her mask.
¡°Like is said it was all part of the plan. I made sure that neither of us got hurt and it looked like an accident. If I had told you about it you would have refused to go along with it and would have tried to dodge,¡± said Akira.
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Mileena tried to elbow his stomach but the attack didn''t do anything to him due to his chainmail and hauberk.
¡°Whatever, let''s go. We have to start on the next part of the plan,¡± said Mileena in a huff.
One of the familiar arena guards walked up to them as they neared the waiting room.
¡°Khepri wants to meet with you and give you your rewards for reaching the top 50. Follow me and I will take you to him,¡± said the guard.
They were lead down an underground passage they had not been through to get to Khepri''s office that was underground also.
Akira walked slowly and stealthily inspected every door and path to see if there were any gladiators hiding around this area.
When they reached the door to Khepri''s office the guard left them without a second word.
Knock, knock.
Akira lightly knocked on the office door informing Khepri that they had arrived.
¡°Come in.¡±
Akira pushed the wooden door open to reveal a small room with a large desk surrounded by many shelves filled with books and papers.
¡°Ah, so it''s you two. I thought you would last longer,¡± said Khepri.
¡°Yeah well, sometimes accidents happen,¡± said Akira rubbing his head.
¡°Well since you made it past the top 50, you both get a reward but it''s not much,¡± said Khepri reaching into a wooden box on the ground.
He threw a set of metallic arm-guards to each of them.
Big arena arm guards (rare):
Defense: 5 Durability: 50/50
Charm + 3
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¡°No matter wherever you are in the country of Caidia, if you are wearing these you will be treated with respect so long as you don''t commit any crimes,¡± said Khepri.
¡°Thank you,¡± said Akira and Mileena at the same time. They both equipped the new arm guards immediately.
¡°I expect that you will not cause any trouble in the city or....¡±
¡°We will be punished,¡± they finished his sentence for him.
¡°Good, you can leave now,¡± said Khepri dismissing them.
Back in the hallway, there were no guards patrolling as they were all watching the entrances and the waiting rooms allowing Akira and Mileena to walk around without a problem.
¡°Let''s go this way since we''ve already seen everything back that way,¡± said Akira pointing at where they had come from.
They quickly walked down the hallway trying to open any doors that they came upon. All of them were locked.
Just when they had given up hope of finding anything they came upon a tunnel that branch off and led away from the arena.
They silently walked down the tunnel and found multiple cells built into the walls on each side.
Only one of the cells had a person inside and they had their back to the cell door.
Akira and Mileena crowded around the door to see who it was, but it was hard to see 100% since both the hallway and the cell had no source of light.
Tail? Check! Ears? Check!
¡°Maya!¡± said Mileena in an excited whisper.
The person laying on the bed inside the cell shot up and looked towards the door.
She slowly stood up and hesitantly asked, ¡°Mileena? Is that you?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± said Mileena her voice getting emotional after finally finding her sister.
Maya rushed over to the door and grabbed onto Mileena''s hand that had been shoved past two iron bars of the cell door.
¡°It is you! But how did you get here? That mask, were you sent here to fight as well?¡± a torrent of questions spilled out of Maya''s mouth.
¡°Are you Okay? I can''t explain everything now but just know that we have a plan to get you out. Now that we know where you are being held it makes everything a lot easier,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I''m fine, but I''ve been worried about you this whole time because I know how you are. Who is ''we''? And who is he?¡± said Maya noticing Akira for the first time.
¡°He is one of the people that saved me and is also one of the people that will be helping you escape from here.¡±
¡°I''m ready to leave right now!¡±
¡°We can''t go now everything is not ready and there are too many guards at the exits of the arena and the city gates.¡±
¡°Whatever it is that you have planned you better do it within the next few days otherwise I will be sent back to the high-security gladiator hall. There is almost no escaping there alive,¡± said Maya.
While the two sisters chatted Akira checked the cell doors lock and made mental notes.
¡°We need to go before anyone catches us since we''re not supposed to be,¡± said Akira.
¡°Wait for us and don''t give up,¡± Mileena squeezing Maya''s hand before leaving with Akira.
As they walked back into the main tunnel they heard voices coming from the direction of Khepri''s office.
¡°Ah, so frustrating. Even tho this was also a business trip, everyone that was supposed to come with me and watch the tournament just had to have last minute emergencies spring up. Jezebel is searching for something, and father forced Rodger to stay behind and continue learning how to take care of the kingdom. The only person who was able to make it was my father-in-law and that was only because Rodger asked him to escort me. So bored....¡±
¡°Hide,¡± hissed Akira recognizing the voice he had not heard in many years.
Before they could find a hiding spot a gaggle of girls all looking to be in their 20''s rounded the corner.
Akira and Mileena were caught awkwardly standing in the middle of the hallway.
¡°Ah! Look!¡± shouted one of the girls.
¡°Kyaa!¡± squealed another.
The group ran over to the two like a tidal wave and surrounded them.
¡°It really is them!¡±
The leader of the group of girls stepped forward and looked the two up and down.
¡°Well isn''t this a welcome surprise? We are your fans. We were cheering for you to win. It''s a shame that you had an accident and knocked yourself out of the tournament. I hope you will be participating in the next one,¡± said Ruth, Princess of Beorin.
¡°...¡± Akira did not say anything for fear of Ruth recognizing his voice which would be bad. He did not need her telling Brutus or Jezebel where he was. He lightly elbowed Mileena in the side.
¡°Ahem...he...he is to shy to talk to other girls,¡± stuttered Mileena quickly making an excuse.
Ruth laughed at her answer.
¡°Kyaa! So cute!¡± said a few of the other girls.
Akira didn''t know how to react to being called cute.
¡°With such a name as Lewd wolf, I thought he was going to be some type of playboy,¡± said Ruth.
Akira shook his head in denial. He was definitely not a playboy. Although he had kissed a queen who was already married he still had not gone out on a date with anyone yet.
¡°Can I get a hug?¡± asked Ruth.
¡°I want one!¡± ¡°Me too!¡±
Akira was bombarded by the over perfumed and heavily makeup wearing girls.
¡°Sor...sorry we have to go to Khepri''s office he is expecting us,¡± lied Mileena as she was getting slightly agitated from the girls'' actions.
¡°Ah... can''t be helped,¡± said Ruth in a knowing voice, since she new Khepri''s personality.
¡°We will always cheer for you Sir Lewd wolf!¡± shouted one of the girls as Akira and Mileena disappeared around the corner.
Chapter 79: Escape!
An arrow flew through the cramped hot arena entering the area reserved for special guest and tore off a female nobles wig right off of her head and nailing it to the stone wall behind her.
¡°Wow! Would you look at that even Maya''s missed arrows still do not fail to impress. With this win Maya will be entering the semifinal fight, where she will fight to the death against a random semifinal team,¡± shouted the announcer over the roar of cheers and laughter at what they had just seen.
The bald female noble was struggling to detach her wig from the wall for several seconds before she let another person retrieve it for her. She quickly snatched it from his hands and shoved it back onto her head her face a deep red from embarrassment.
A few days had passed while Akira and his fellow companions continued to buy and gather things needed for their plan and the eventual escape from the city to work without a major problem.
This had forced Maya to trust in their plan all the while continuing to put her life on the line and fight the dangerous and uncertain battles presented to her by the Arena masters.
¡°You''ll want to be sure to come tomorrow as there will only be special events in the morning with the main event the two semifinal matches being fought in the afternoon. Now onto the final match of the day will the Broomstick Breakers be able to get to the semifinals? Let''s find out!¡± shouted the announcer as Maya left the arena.
As she was escorted back to her cell she could see that the majority of the guards were probably breaking rules as they huddled near the arena gate so that they could watch the last Quarterfinal battle.
¡°I''ll bet two gold that the Broomstick Breakers get their brooms broken over their heads and get knocked out of the tournament,¡± said one guard.
¡°You''re an idiot to bet against them. You''ve got a deal, I''ll be laughing when their powerful broom break attack knocks their opponent out,¡± said another guard.
The underground hallways were empty of anyone patrolling except for the guards who had drawn the short stick and were forced to escort and guard Maya.
¡°This sucks,¡± said one of the guards as he locked the cell door.
¡°I knew it was rigged. Captain had an evil plan to make us patrol while the rest of them get to watch the match,¡± complained his partner in misery.
¡°Hey, I know! Why don''t we go ''Patrol'' near the arena gate and see what''s happening?¡±
¡°Great idea let''s go!¡±
***
The plan Akira had come up with hopped to use the commotion of the last quarterfinals to break Maya out and give them some time to escape.
¡°Halt! What business do you have here?¡± asked a grumpy guard guarding the entrance to the underground tunnels of the arena.
¡°I was called by Khepri to meet him at his office. I was told he needed us to take care of a few final things before we left,¡± said Akira.
He was still wearing his wolf mask to hide his identity with Mileena also still In her cat mask. Both were now wearing their new arm guards that the guards only glanced at for a second.
¡°Fine go ahead,¡± said one of the guards not interested in asking any more questions.
¡°Majestic cat! I was one of your biggest fans and watched every one of your battles. It''s a shame that Lewd wolf messed it all up for you,¡± said a young guard.
¡°Ah...yeah...thanks,¡± mumbled Mileena.
Wack!
¡°You idiot stop holding them back. Khepri doesn''t like to be kept waiting,¡± scolded the older guard hitting the younger guard on the head.
Akira and Mileena entered the tunnels and made their way to where Maya was being held the last they had been here.
The hallways were empty allowing them to easily reach the cells. All was going according to plan.
They rushed over to the cell they had found Maya in a few days ago but it was empty.
¡°Where is she?¡± asked Mileena in a whisper. She was ready to panic now that something had gone wrong.
¡°Calm down,¡± said Akira.
The sound of movement behind them startled the two and they whipped around to see what it was with their weapons out and ready to fight.
¡°You guys are really jumpy,¡± said Maya from the cell opposite from the original one she had been in.
¡°Hold on a second I''ll get you out,¡± said Akira grabbing a key in his pocket to unlock the cell door which let out a soft click before swinging open.
¡°How did you get the guards key?¡± asked Maya.
¡°No time to...¡±
¡°Halt! What are you two doing with that slave!¡± shouted a guard as he ran towards them his weapon drawn.
¡°Intr...¡±
Without another word, Akira used his skill [Shield Slam] and shot forward. Since there was little maneuvering space in the hallway his aim was true and he slammed into the guard and drove him into the wall silencing him.
Thump! The guard''s body fell to the ground lifeless due to his neck and back breaking along with his internal organs rupturing.
Akira had tried to end the fight as silent and bloodless as possible in order to not alert any nearby guards. Leaving behind a large amount of blood everywhere would be asking for trouble.
He grabbed the body and dragged it into the cell Maya had been locked in just moments ago and tossed the dead guard onto the bed and covered his body with the flimsy blanket.
¡°Let''s go before anyone else shows up,¡± said Akira closing the cell door behind him.
¡°Wait I need my bow and armor,¡± said Maya.
¡°Where are they?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Locked in the large chest over this way,¡± said Maya as she walked to down the hallway towards the middle where multiple wooden chests were stacked on shelves.
She pulled out the chest that held her weapon and armor but was unable to open it.
¡°Move over,¡± said Akira as he looked at the lock.
It was an old crude functioning lock built into the wooden chest. It was not really meant to keep any determined person out but used more as a deterrent since they didn''t think that anyone unauthorized would be accessing the items inside it.
Akira took his sword and jammed it in between the lid and with a great heave, he pried open the chest with a loud crack as the lock snapped.
¡°Whoops!¡± said Akira as he grabbed the stuff inside and shoved it towards Maya who began to equip her leather armor.
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¡°Hurry wear this and let''s get out of here,¡± said Akira handing Maya a hooded cloak.
As soon as she wore the cloak she disappeared startling Mileena.
¡°Where''d you go?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°I''m right here I didn''t move,¡± said Maya waving her hand in front of Mileena who was still looking around.
¡°It''s a rare item I found some time ago it will allow you to escape from here unseen, but it only lasts for ten minutes we need to go now! Follow closely behind us,¡± ordered Akira as he grabbed Mileena''s hand and dragged her out of the tunnel with the cells.
¡°Got it,¡± said Maya''s voice right behind them.
¡°That was a quick meeting,¡± said the young guard as he opened the door to allow Akira and Mileena to exit.
¡°Well Khepri is very business-like and there were only a few minor issues,¡± said Akira. Keeping the door open so that Maya could pass through unseen.
¡°Majestic cat, I hope to see you fight when the next tournament happens!¡± shouted the guard as the two slowly walked away and blended into the growing crowded streets.
***
Ding!
Automatic Quest received!
Escape Caidia:
You have successfully rescued the Nyantail know as Maya.
You now need to help her escape the city alive but be careful, because she is not the only one that needs to escape!
There are strong enemies in the city still hunting for you including the Magic guild.
Rank: D+ / C+ (rank depends on who you might meet)
Reward: Not dying.
|
The quest appeared while they were still running to meet up with Varbu.
''The magic guild hasn''t given up yet? Wait there''s some else searching for me?'' though Akira as he read through the quest details again. There was no mention of who the second person or persons were.
¡°I''ve got a bad feeling if we don''t leave now we won''t be able to leave later,¡± said Akira.
¡°Weren''t we supposed to wait until the crowds from the arena clogged the streets later tonight?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°If we don''t go now we''ll be trapped inside the city walls,¡± said Akira with conviction.
Maya was silent the whole time since she was still invisible.
They reached Varbu a minute later at the inn they had been staying at for the duration of the tournament.
¡°I don''t see any guards chasing you so the rescue must have been a success,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Hurry we need to gather the stuff and leave,¡± said Akira.
Although Varbu was puzzled with the change of plans he didn''t argue and helped Akira gather everything.
The cloaks invisibility wore off and Maya materialized next to Varbu making him almost jump out of his skin.
¡°Hello, I guess you guys can see me again,¡± said Maya as if this was an everyday normal event.
They left the Inn quickly since they were in a hurry to get out of the city before Maya''s absence was noticed.
When they reached the gates the sun was setting and the guards had lit torches to help inspect the people coming and going.
¡°Keep the line moving! There''s only an hour left until the gates close!¡± shouted a guard.
¡°You there halt!¡±
When Maya passed one of the guards stopped her. She was still wearing the cloak that was helping conceal her face.
¡°You seem familiar... but I don''t see you on my list of wanted criminals...alright you can go,¡± said the guard.
Maya nodded to the guards as she passed through the gates and joined the rest of the group let out a long sigh.
¡°Alright, now we have to get as far away as we can before they find out that you''re gone and come searching for you,¡± said Akira.
***
The next day.
¡°You''ve all been waiting for this the semifinals! The first match is the Toe Stubbers who upset the favored Wig duo. Their opponent is Maya the Nyantail goddess.¡±
The Toe Stubbers walked into the arena and stared at the gate waiting for their opponent. They waited for several minutes.
¡°Uh...Maya are you there?¡± asked the announcer uncertain what was going on.
A few minutes later a guard entered the VIP section and ran over to Khepri who was sitting with the arena master.
¡°The slave gladiator somehow killed the guard watching her and escaped!¡± whispered the guard.
¡°What!? How could this happen?¡± roared Khepri.
¡°What''s the matter?¡± asked Brutus who was sitting next to him.
¡°Oh just a minor inconvenience, a gladiator escaped their cell,¡± said Khepri trying to calm his anger and downplay such a massive problem.
¡°Go warn the gate guards to be on the lookout for her! Hurry or she might be able to escape,¡± ordered Khepri in a quiet whisper to the guard that had brought the bad news.
¡°I hope this issue will be dealt with swiftly since it has already ruined the afternoon,¡± grumbled the arena owner.
¡°Terribly sorry sir, if you could postpone the match until we can catch her then the match can continue.¡±
The announcer hearing the whole conversation stood up after receiving the signal from the arena owner.
¡°A slight change in the order of battles sorry about that. This match will be The broomstick breakers vs E.D. To be fighting it when they are so young I feel sad for them.¡±
A short time later while the fight was going on the same guard came back with a sweaty face from both running and fear at the words he had to say.
¡°The gate guards report that they saw someone like the escaped gladiator leave the city last night!¡±
¡°Send the chariots after them!¡± Roared Khepri.
¡°Oh this seems interesting,¡± said Ruth who had been bored the last few days now that the work she had come to take care of in between the tournament was done.
¡°I know the feeling of someone escaping your grasps all too well,¡± commented Brutus brooding over past memories.
''How was I supposed to know that he was an important pawn piece to negotiating with those lunatics,'' thought Brutus.
***
In a dark room of a rundown building that was situated in the slums of Otria, Tibia was kneeling in front of Number 6 who had become in every sense her new master since her promotion.
She was currently here on a mission to further her training with number six. Tibia had grown tired of having to listen to number six complain about how she hated the weather every day, and today was no different.
But the atmosphere changed when a knock on the door was heard and a letter pushed through a small slit in the door.
¡°Bring it to me,¡± ordered Number 6.
Tibia went and picked it up and then handed it to number 6.
The wax seal on the letter was swiftly torn off and after she deciphered the coded message she threw the paper into the shuttered lamp disposing of it.
¡°The target was in the city and we missed it! It left less than a day ago. Quickly gather everything, we have to chase after it before we lose the target again!¡±
¡°Yes. Right away...¡± said Tibia somewhat energetically.
***
¡°Hurry! They''re catching up to us!¡± shouted Mileena looking behind them.
They had been running all night and were ready to drop but they noticed a large dust cloud several minutes ago and found it was a column of the deadly desert war chariots searching for Maya.
Ding!
Quest Update!
Escape Cadia 2:
There is a large pyramid dungeon to your right. It has a secret exit you can use if you clear the dungeon.
|
¡°Everyone, follow me!¡± shouted Akira running towards the pyramid.
¡°You want us to go in there? We''ll be trapped!¡± shouted Maya.
¡°Trust me it will be a lot safer inside than out here!¡± said Akira as he ran up the pyramids numerous large steps.
The chariots were getting close enough that the large crossbows they carried opened fire.
Thunk!Thwack!
The large metal bolts were landing all around Akira and the others as they ran up the stairs trying to keep as low a profile as they could so they didn''t get shot.
They soon reached the top and ran into the small door opening of the pyramid.
As soon as the last person had entered the pyramid two large stones fell down from the ceiling one after the other blocking them in while also blocking anyone else from entering!
¡°Don''t worry if we can clear this dungeon there will be an exit,¡± said Akira trying to calm the others before they could say anything.
¡°I hope you know what you''re doing,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Then are we safe?¡± asked Maya.
¡°As safe as you can be in a dungeon. They won''t be able to get to us and they might think we''re trapped inside that will be even better for us.¡±
Mileena jumped on Maya and hugged her letting out a soft sob.
¡°I missed you so much!¡± said Mileena tears and snot all over her face.
¡°Don''t worry we''re together again,¡± said Maya patting Mileena''s head soothing her little sister.
Akira smiled as he watched the touching scene of the two sisters reunion.
Maya seeing his smile recoiled.
¡°If you look at me like that I''ll get pregnant! You can''t lewd me, but I don''t mind if you lewd Mileena.¡±
¡°What kind of pervert are you to be thing something like that at a time like this?¡± shouted Akira red-faced while grinding his fist on Maya''s head.
Chapter 80: Theres nothing like camping...in a dungeon
Akira walked over to the large stone blocking the entrance and hit it a few times testing its strength.
It seemed to be as hard as any normal metal he knew of, it may even be harder. The large stone fit snugly against the wall and ground showing no cracks to stick anything into denying anyone the chance to try and pry it open.
The air inside the first room of the pyramid was not all that stale as there seemed to be a constant airflow coming from somewhere far above his head.
¡°I don''t think we''ll have any problems with anyone entering through this way any time soon,¡± said Akira as he walked back over to the rest of the group that was waiting for him.
¡°Haaaah. That''s a relief,¡± said Mileena letting out a sigh.
¡°You guys sure do know how to throw an escape party,¡± joked Maya.
¡°We should take a short rest before we try to clear the rest of this dungeon,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Good idea,¡± said Akira while taking out camping gear from his bag.
¡°I''ll help,¡± said Maya as she busied herself with setting up the campsite before Akira could even refuse.
¡°We''ll go scout ahead and see if there''s anything we need to take care of before we sleep,¡± said Varbu picking up a lamp with the magical green fire inside, before he and Mileena left the room.
Akira finished taking everything out and began helping Maya sort everything out and set up camp.
***
Ding!
Party buff skill Campfire has been used!
Campfire: Buffs entire party''s Mana, Stamina, and HP regeneration by 100%. Must be in a party and near the campfire to receive full benefits of the skill.
Nearby allies not in the party only receive 30% of the skills full effect.
At higher levels, the campfire skill will keep unwanted weaker monsters away.
|
''What is this? A new skill? What''s a party?'' wondered Akira as he read the message.
Requirements for forming a party not met.
|
He scanned through his skills to see if he had gained a new skill without knowing it.
Skills:
Sword Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 8 | 3.00%)
Shield mastery: (Beginner Lv: 9 | 5.00%)
Heavy Armor Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 6 | 11%)
Shield Bash: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 9%)
Sword Slash: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 63%)
Cross Attack: (Beginner Lv: 4| 1.00%)
Blacksmithing: (Beginner Lv: 9 | 50%)
Exotic Cooking: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 90%)
Mining: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 69%)
|
''Nope not on the list...'' he reread the message. Since it only said it had been used he guessed it had to be the skill of the only other person in the room who was fiddling with the burning smokeless fire.
Akira stared at Maya''s back as she added dry wood to the small fire so that they could at least have a somewhat decent cooked meal. Akira gave up on trying to figure out what the skill was and continued to watch Maya.
Akira had to admit she did indeed have a larger chest then Mileena.
Sensing someone looking at her she turned around to look at Akira her ears were twitching in annoyance, along with her tail lazily swishing back and forth.
She gave Akira a smile, or at least Akira thought it was a smile. One thing Akira could understand was whatever it was it was closer to an awkward evil grin.
''She really does not know how to smile. Maybe I should teach her how to do the cool guy smile,'' thought Akira.
¡°I thought I told you that you can''t lewd me. Don''t think because we are alone that I''ll change my mind...Oww what are you doing!¡± said Maya.
Akira stopped her talking by grinding his fist on her head.
¡°What''s with that mouth and perverted brain of yours?¡± asked Akira.
Maya smacked his hand away and gave a ''harrumph!'' before going back to tending the fire.
Several minutes later Varbu and Mileena returned and sat down next to the fire.
¡°The nearby passages and rooms were all empty except for multiple traps that someone triggered,¡± said Varbu exasperated.
¡°So you mean it''s just Mileena being herself as usual,¡± said Akira.
¡°Her eyesight is good enough that can she see quite well in the dark. My eyesight is not as good as hers but I was still able to see the traps and warned her but she kept running into all of them and activating them.¡±
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Hey they just appeared out of nowhere!¡± said Mileena defensively.
¡°Alright, alright, let''s not argue. Everyone can cook what they want,¡± said Akira pointing to a large pile of ingredients placed on a wooden block. It was a mixture of odd plants and meats that Akira had gathered to use with his exotic cooking skill.
¡°Wait! I''ve been practicing so let me cook for everyone!¡± said Mileena.
¡°Oh? Then I guess I''ll leave it to you,¡± said Akira surprised. Since she normally only ate what Akira or Varbu cooked and had never shown an interest in cooking before.
Maya''s face turned pale at the mention of Mileena cooking.
Mileena hummed an odd off-tune song as she cooked a mystery soup.
Slop! A large portion of dark blue toxic looking food was ladled onto Akira''s plate. A few large bubbles popped and let out a smokey burnt smell.
Akira and Varbu grabbed their spoons and scooped up a large portion.
¡°Um... I don''t think that''s a good idea,¡± mumbled Maya as she watched Akira and Varbu begin to eat the food.
¡°Don''t worry, how bad could it...¡±
Thump!x2
***
¡°How could you let this happen?¡± shouted the Arena owner angrily at Khepri who was kneeling before him.
¡°I''m sorry sir, It won''t happen again,¡± said Khepri.
¡°Why am I even paying you if you can''t make sure that gladiators stay where they are supposed to be?¡±
The arena owner was angry due to the recent report by the chariot soldiers on their failure to capture the escaped nyantail and her companions.
The king had already heard of their incompetence during the tournament and did not look fondly on those who could not take care of their own problems before they inconvenienced others.
Which they had done since the scheduled match had been canceled due to Maya escaping.
Brutus who had been talking to the Arena owner about the possibility of hosting a gladiator tournament in Beorin, had a front row seat to it all and heard everything.
¡°What did her companions look like?¡± asked the fuming arena owner.
¡°They were unable to get a clear look but it looked like an Orc and the two people with masks that looked like the one''s Lewd wolf and Majestic cat had worn during the tournament,¡± said Khepri.
¡°Send some people to the pyramid to see if they can open it. Also, pay off some of the military''s scouts to keep an eye out for them with an additional reward of 100 gold for each person brought back alive,¡± ordered the Arena owner.
Brutus thought this sounded too much like what had happened to him and decided to go and ask a few ''friends'' what they new on this subject.
When he left the mansion of the arena owner he found Ruth waiting for him back at the Royal Inn that only served nobles.
She had been out all night with her friends enjoying the city''s nightlife before they had to leave and looked exhausted.
***
Akira woke up to his face being smacked by Maya.
Lesser poison resistance increased.
|
¡°AH! Thank goodness you didn''t die! I was worried there for a second,¡± said Maya seeing Akira''s eyes open.
Akira looked around in a daze and saw Varbu slouched against a wall with his face a shade of light green from sickness.
¡°What happened?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I tried to warn you, but well Mileena likes to eat almost anything. Due to that she sorta has no sense of normal taste or skill at cooking. Most of the time she creates deadly stuff like that out of perfectly normal food,¡± said Maya pointing at the large bowl containing the food Mileena had cooked.
¡°Sorry, but I really do think I got better,¡± said Mileena disheartened.
¡°Well, at least you didn''t kill them,¡± said Maya patting Mileena on the shoulder.
¡°I thought I saw my ancestors calling for me to come and join them,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Alright, no cooking for Mileena unless we want to kill someone,¡± said Akira making a new rule in order to keep everyone alive.
¡°Hey that''s a bit rude,¡± protested Mileena.
Akira didn''t reply as he took the bowl containing the cooled down toxic food and placed it into his bag.
Since he was still hungry decided to cook something for himself. Everyone but Mileena began to cook their own dinner, not wanting to end up in the same situation as before.
Akira made sure to make an extra portion for Mileena as he didn''t want her dying from eating her own food.
Ding!
Maya looked at Akira''s finished results and scoffed.
¡°You call that cooking? That''s not cooking at all! You''re nearly as bad as Mileena, and what''s with all these odd plants and meat you have, are they even edible?¡± asked Maya.
¡°You''re too picky. We eat stuff like this all the time,¡± said Mileena eating the roasted meat Akira had handed her.
¡°From now on everyone needs to leave the cooking to me!¡± said Maya.
***
¡°Ahem,¡± Maya cleared her throat and took a small notepad and pencil from a pocket in her leather armor.
Repositioning her glasses she looked at the other three who were waiting for her to speak.
¡°Now that we have eaten I think we should get to know each other better,¡± said Maya.
¡°Why?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Because we will be companions from now on.¡±
¡°I thought you guys had a tribe or something to go back to,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s no longer exist, so there is no point in going back.¡±
¡°So... father...?¡± asked Mileena hesitantly.
¡°Yes, he and the elders died while trying to hold the slavers off,¡± said Maya solemnly.
Akira pat Mileena on the head to calm her down. It worked like a charm.
Maya watched this without saying a word and secretly wrote down a few things onto her notepad.
¡°So what do you think can we join you?¡± asked Maya after she finishing writing.
¡°Well, you see we don''t really stay in one place for too long since we have a mission we are trying to complete. I''m trying to find the werewolf tribe I belong to and Varbu is coming along as an ambassador of the orcs looking for an alliance,¡± explained Akira.
¡°Huh? Why don''t you know where they live? Your not one of those...¡± asked Maya questioningly.
¡°No! I''m not a pervert like you, and the reason is a long and personal story,¡± said Akira.
¡°I don''t mind if you join,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I guess the more the merrier,¡± said Akira.
¡°Alright if we are all agreed on being allies then as I said before we need to understand each other strengths to better work as a team,¡± said Maya trying to sound very smart, but Akira knew her brain was rotten with perverted thoughts all the time.
Thus started their first of many future team meetings. They discussed a wide variety of topics for a few hours including the strengths and weaknesses of each party member. The whole time they were talking Maya was writing down information into her notepad.
Akira was relieved to hear that Maya had a somewhat decent grasp on laying and disarming traps as well as using her bow. She was the exact opposite of her sister who excelled at activating traps.
Her only weak point was close range fighting. She still had a small short sword that was strapped to her leg and was double the length of a dagger. It wasn''t much but she could at least use it properly in case of an emergency.
¡°...and with that, I think we should all have a better understanding of each other,¡± said Akira.
¡°I have one question left,¡± said Maya.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°What have you been doing to my sister all alone, every night, together...¡±
¡°Huh?¡± x2.
Akira saw that Mileena''s face was warming up due to being embarrassed by her sister.
¡°What bad things have you been teaching...? Oww!¡± said Maya.
Akira ground his fist on the perverted cats head for the third time that day trying to grind some sense into her rotten brain.
Chapter 81: Whos your mummy?
¡°For some reason, I feel full of energy and ready to fight,¡± said Mileena as she walked back and forth near the extinguished fire.
¡°I feel like I just woke up from a good sleep,¡± said Varbu stretching his muscles.
¡°I always feel like that when I make a fire,¡± said Maya.
''It''s all because of your skill,'' thought Akira.
¡°So is everyone ready and able to keep going?¡± asked Akira.
They all nodded their heads.
¡°Alright since we don''t know where or if there is even an enemy ahead of us we''ll need to be sharp. Maya, we''ll leave deactivating the traps to you. I will...¡±
¡°Wait! Why are you leading the group I''m the oldest!¡± said Maya.
¡°Stop interrupting Maya. Varbu is older than you and he has no problem with Akira leading,¡± said Mileena.
Maya looked at Varbu as if accusing him of being born before her just to thwart her plans.
¡°As I was saying I will be right behind you along with Mileena and Varbu will be the rear guard. This is needed since we don''t know if this place has any secret trap doors for monsters to pop out of or on the small chance the enemy outside find a way past the large stones. It''s better if we keep moving now that we are fully refreshed.¡± said Akira.
¡°Right let''s do it!¡± said Mileena getting herself pumped up.
They marched forward deeper into the large pyramid.
Maya showed off her skills by finding all the traps and disabling them before they were able to be triggered by Mileena.
As they reached a set of stairs that went down deep underground they were forced to stop several times and wait for Maya to clear all of the traps that had been set up to activate if any careless person passed by.
At the bottom of the stairs was another set of stairs this time going up.
¡°Who the crap designed this damn pyramid,¡± complained Maya after the 5th set of stairs.
She was getting annoyed at having to deactivate so many traps.
¡°Instead of feeling like a dungeon, this place makes me feel like we''re exercising at one of those hardcore martial arts training grounds back in Caidia. Up, down, up, down,¡± said Mileena.
When they reached the top of the sixth set of stairs leading back up to the normal ground level they entered a small room.
Akira looked around and saw no monsters, traps, or stairs. There was only a hole in the floor right in the middle of the room.
¡°Well at least it''s not stairs,¡± said Varbu holding the magical green fire lantern over the dark pit and looking down.
Picking up a loose stone from the ground Akira tossed it into the hole. He listened to it bounce around for well over a minute before the sound stopped.
¡°I''ll go first. But just in case something unexpected happens better do this...¡± said Akira.
A black light covered his body as he transformed into a werewolf.
He grew several inches taller, with his muscles exploding out, and thick black fur quickly covering his entire body along with a long fluffy tail sprouting from his rear. His teeth and fingernails became sharp deadly tools for ripping and tearing.
¡°OOOOO!¡± exclaimed the surprised Maya this was her first time seeing a werewolf transform.
Holding onto his shield Akira jumped into the hole feet first before Maya could say anything else.
Akira slammed into a slippery slope and lost his footing, falling onto his butt.
As he began wildly sliding down the slope faster and faster Akira placed his shield in front of him to protect himself from anything that might be ahead of him.
It was a good thing because several seconds later he felt several thumps against his shield as he sped down the slope even faster activating the traps that had been put in place to kill anyone that dared to step foot in the pyramid.
Bam! He slammed into a wall and came to an abrupt complete stop. His body was extremely sore but no bones seemed to have been broken.
¡°AHHHHHH!¡± came the shout of two people from behind him their voices echoing down the slippery slope.
Thump! The two screaming sisters who were holding each other slammed into the dazed Akira as he was trying to stand up. Akira groaned in pain as they all laid on the ground in a heap of limbs.
Tssssssss.
The sound of something large sliding down the slick slope could be heard and this time Akira was ready. He grabbed Mileena in one arm and Maya in the other and rolled to the side just in time.
¡°Hey what are you...¡±
Bam! Varbu slammed into the wall and let out a loud groan.
¡°Oooh... I hope this is the only one like that. My body can''t take more of this,¡± groaned Varbu.
¡°Seriously I''m going to kill whoever designed this place,¡± grumbled Maya.
¡°They''re probably already dead,¡± said Akira standing up and distancing himself from the two girls.
They all sat down to take a break in order to let their sore bodies regain some of their lost energy.
¡°UHHHH!¡±
But their rest time was cut short with the appearance of a shuffling undead that was slowly making its way towards the group.
It was fully armored in ancient rusty armor. The armor looked extremely odd but still had a sense of strength to it even in its old and rusted condition. It must have been the best armor that money could buy several hundreds of years ago.
Akira inspected the undead to check its information [Tomb Guard lvl 32].
The sight of the undead [Tomb Guard] brought memories of his past where he had defended a fort against a wave of undead. It was a time when he was still blind to the atrocity''s, dangers, and pleasures of the world that he had experienced since he had started his journey.
¡°UUUUUHHHHHHH!¡± moaned the [Tomb Guard].
Since Akira didn''t speak undead he could not understand what it was saying. For all, he knew it could be complaining about a stubbed toe.
Waking up from his past thoughts Akira stepped forward with his shield held in front blocking the [Tomb Guard] from passing.
An arrow flew right past his ear and lodged itself in the [Tomb Guard''s] rotting head. The [Tomb Guard] ignored the attack and continued to walk forward.
When the [Tomb Guard] reached Akira it began to bang on Akira''s shield with its stiff arms that had surprising power behind them. It wanted to get past Akira and take a nice bite out of them and maybe have some tasty brains for dessert.
Mileena appeared at Akira''s side and stabbed the [Tomb Guard] in the heart her daggers piercing the old rusted armor.
She jumped back behind Akira before it could retaliate.
¡°Good attack but it''s an undead so attacking its heart is useless,¡± said Akira blocking the attacks that were meant for Mileena.
He pushed the arms away and used his skill [Shield Bash] to create some space between him and the [Tomb Guard] allowing Maya to send several more arrows into the undead''s head.
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The memories of the past fight popped back into his head reminding him of the use of fire to defeat the undead.
¡°Varbu can you shoot a fireball at this thing?¡± asked Akira as he blocked another powerful attack from the [Tomb Guard''s] arms.
¡°Move to the side I can''t aim it that good!¡± Said Varbu.
Akira jumped to the side and hugged the wall with his shield out in front of him for protection.
FWOOSH! A fireball flew by and slammed into the [Tomb Guard] and it began to burn like 500-year-old dry wood.
The [Tomb Guard] continued to move forward still ready to fight but after three steps it fell to the ground and broke into large charred pieces.
¡°Wow that thing sure can catch on fire,¡± said Maya.
¡°Smells bad,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Varbu are you good?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I can still use the skill if needed,¡± said Varbu.
They continued walking down the passage taking out any [Tomb Guard] that appeared before them.
After another half hour of walking and fighting both walls of the passage curved out and widened enough for several people to stand in a line before the plain gold covered stone door that was the height of two adult men.
Akira looked to Maya is eyes asking her to check it for any traps.
¡°I can''t see anything. So it should be safe to open,¡± said Maya as she stepped away from the door allowing Akira to walk forward.
Akira summoned Nox just in case they needed help with the coming fight.
Upon seeing Nox jump out of Akira''s shadow Maya Let out a Gasp.
¡°So cute!¡± said Maya.
Nox''s face turned into a frown and he growled at this new person who had hurt his pride.
''I am not cute!,'' said Nox grumpily.
¡°He doesn''t like being called cute,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh you can talk to him?¡± asked Maya.
¡°Yep,¡± said Akira turning back to the stone door in front of him.
Using all his strength Akira pushed the door opened to reveal a medium sized domed room.
Everyone was ready for an enemy attack but surprisingly the room was empty except for a large sarcophagus in the middle of the room and a few trinkets and pots scattered at the bottom of the walls.
They cautiously walked into the room looking around for anything suspicious.
BAM! A large flat stone slammed down behind them blocking the exit.
BAM! BOOM! The sarcophagus lid was blown off and slammed into the wall on the left.
¡°Get behind me,¡± shouted Akira expecting an attack.
Nothing happened. They waited for over a minute staring at the sarcophagus.
A bony hand appeared and grasped onto part of the sarcophagus pulling its body up into a sitting position.
[King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th lvl 35]
The mummified king''s head slowly turned to look at the intruders that had come to play with him.
¡°UUUUUUU!¡± said [King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th] greeting the unexpected guest as he stood up. He was no barbarian and would at least greet the intruders before exterminating them.
He stretched his arms out and pointed them at Akira, who was the closest.
Swoosh! Two fabric projectiles still attached to the mummy''s hand shot out and slammed into Akira.
Akira was only able to block one of the projectiles with his shield as the other bent in mid-air and stabbed at Akira''s shoulder piercing his armor.
The attack was blunted by his thick fur that was even tougher than his armor causing only a minor scrape.
The mummy wraps quickly retracted back towards the mummy''s hands in less than two seconds.
¡°Don''t get careless,¡± shouted Akira.
When the next attack came Nox tried to bite the fabric in order to rip it but missed as it avoided his teeth and stabbed Nox in the rear end and the side causing major damage.
¡°Yipe,¡± shouted Nox in pain as he unceremoniously ran to Akira and jumped back into his shadow to recuperate.
Before Akira could do anything other than ready his shield [King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th] began hammering him with multiple barrages of the mummy wraps trying to get past Akira''s trusty shield.
Twang! Several arrows started to fly over Akira''s head aimed at [King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th]''s head.
The mummy wraps stopped their attack on Akira and knocked the arrows out of the sky.
The lull in the attacks allowed Akira to send a [Sword slash] forward aimed at the mummy kings body but it was intercepted again by the wraps but this time they were cut in half.
¡°Step to the side!¡± warned Varbu.
A fireball flew past Akira a little to close for comfort heading towards [King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th].
But was again the attack was blocked by the mummy warps. They started to burn fiercely but the part that caught on fire was discarded by the mummy.
While the mummy was busy trying not to become barbecue Akira bent his legs and used the native werewolf skill [Pounce] to close the distance.
He landed right next to the mummy and grabbed onto its head twisting it with his full strength tearing it off before jumping back away from the mummy''s hands.
While in the middle of his jump multiple fabric projectiles flew out of the mummy''s headless body and wrapped around Akira.
The wraps slammed him into the ground and began constricting him trying to suffocate him and break him in half.
Akira''s muscles bulged as he grit his teeth while he struggled to break free of the tightening fabric.
Fwoosh! Another fireball flew past Akira and slammed into the main body of [King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th].
Luckily the fireball was able to land due to the mummy being preoccupied with Akira.
The mummy ignored the fire as it started to spread all over its body and even spread to the wraps covering Akira.
With a great as snarl Akira was able to tear through the now weakened burning wraps and roll away trying to put out the fire from the remaining wraps still clinging to him.
[King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th] stepped out of his sarcophagus and ran forward its burning hands stretched out as it ran towards Mileena and Maya.
Akira was able to stand up and used [Shadow-Chains] stopping its charge for a second allowing Varbu to step forward and swing his Quarterstaff at the burning mummy sending it flying back into a wall.
Even with all the damage [King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th] had received, and even though he now looked like a human torch he still stood up and charged forward again trying to attack them.
Akira used the skill [Cross attack] and sent a large blue X towards the charging mummy who ignored it and kept charging forward.
Flop. The burning [King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th]''s body was cut into four pieces and fell to the floor where it continued to flail around as it burned.
Varbu sent another fireball into the dissected mummy to help it burn faster.
More than five minutes past before all that remained of [King Mumahoptoetanaha the 69th] was ashes.
Akira walked over to the pile of ashes and pick up multiple magic stones that had been used as decorations on the king''s jewelry.
Ding!
Level up!
Level up!
Lvl is now 33
New title received!
One who hates his Mummy:
It looks like you have some mummy issues.
+5 fame
+4 to Toughness
|
Akira sat down and let out a sigh as he read the messages that popped up.
After finishing reading he opened his stat window and put the bonus points into the regular stats.
Character Name
|
Akira
|
Race
|
Werewolf
|
Fame
|
100
|
Level
|
33: 45%
|
Profession
|
Son Of The Night
|
Title
|
One who hates his Mummy
|
Health
|
1090
|
Mana
|
410
|
Strength
|
122(+10)
|
Vitality
|
109
|
Stamina
|
78
|
Agility
|
43
|
Intelligence
|
41
|
Wisdom
|
43
|
Dexterity
|
15
|
|
|
Honor
|
11
|
Charm
|
10(+3)
|
Endurance
|
23
|
Toughness
|
32
|
Attack
|
35-42
|
Defense
|
83
|
+ 10% Buff to Stamina and strength at night and dark places.
+ 15% Lesser poison resistance
+ 25% Fire resistance
|
Chapter 82: Seamen
Akira walked over to the large stone slab that was blocking the door behind them it was as sturdy and unmoving as a mountain.
Ding!
Quest update!
Find the secret exit and escape:
You are close to escaping the clutches of the Caidia empire. Find the secret exit to leave the pyramid.
|
¡°Well? What do we do now?¡± asked Maya.
¡°There should be a secret passage out of here,¡± said Akira looking around the room.
¡°Are you sure? The walls look solid and It looks like we''re stuck here with no way out,¡± said Maya getting worked up.
¡°Calm down,¡± said Mileena patting Maya on the back.
¡°She doesn''t like small enclosed areas,¡± explained Mileena as she turned to Akira and Varbu.
Everyone started to search the room carefully looking for anything that was suspicious and could be used in their escape.
The search was quick with the room being small but they were not able to find where the secret exit was hidden.
¡°Let''s take a break and think about this,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''m too tired to think,¡± said Maya.
¡°Should we set up camp for the night?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I guess we can, it would probably be better to get some rest and search again with a clear mind,¡± said Akira.
¡°We need to wash up first. Turn around and don''t look. I''ll be watching you so you better not peek,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I don''t mind if you look at Mileena just don''t look at me,¡± said Maya.
Akira covered his face at the shamelessness of Maya and began muttering quietly to himself but Mileena was close enough to hear what he said.
¡°You know I can hear you!¡± said Mileena launching a kick at him.
He stumbled back knocking over several old rusted treasures that had been buried with the ancient king.
Akira wobbled on one foot for a second before regaining his balance and placing his foot back on the ground.
Click!
Looking down at the floor he saw an uneven stone tile under his foot become even with the rest of the floor.
A gust of moist wind could be felt coming from behind him but before he could see what was causing the moist wind he was again kicked by Mileena.
His arms flailed everywhere as he tried to regain his balance. He grabbed onto the closest thing near him which was Mileena, but instead of regaining his balance they both ended up falling back into a hole in the wall and disappeared.
¡°Ahhhhh!¡± Mileena''s cry of surprise could be heard getting farther and farther away.
¡°Wha...wha...what just happened!? What do we do!¡± shouted Maya.
¡°Nothing to worry about. It looks like they found the exit,¡± said Varbu smiling as he was used to the other two''s bickering by now.
Varbu saw that Maya was still staring at the hole not moving.
¡°Ladies first,¡± said Varbu pushing her forward into the hole. A second later he could hear her let out a shocked cry as she disappeared into the darkness.
Varbu jumped into the hole right after her without a second thought.
***
Akira and Mileena held onto each other as they shot down a steep slick stone slide picking up speed as they went. They did not let go for fear of spinning out of control and crashing into a wall which could be deadly.
When Akira thought their speed couldn''t get any faster the slide changed and started to curve up. They flew up the slide at an amazing speed and only a few seconds later shot out of a hole in the ground and flew several feet in the air before crashing unceremoniously into a large sand dune.
A few seconds later the screaming Maya was spat out from the ground and plopped down next to them face first into the soft sand. Varbu was the last to shoot out of the hole in the ground. He slammed into a nearby dune like a large stone that was flung from a catapult, sending up a plume of sand everywhere.
The sound of a sinkhole filling with sand could be heard as the hole they exited collapsed blocking the way back to the pyramid.
¡°Ptooie! Blegh... I''ve got sand so far up my nose!¡± complained Maya as she spat out sand from her mouth and tried to clear it from her nose.
Akira and Mileena quickly released each other and jumped apart before the others could see and comment on it.
Varbu pulled himself out of the large hole he had created in the sand dune and stood up lightly brushing the sand off.
Akira began to shake his body to try and get all of the sand out of his fur flinging it everywhere.
¡°Ackk... stop acting like a dog and just brush it off like a normal person,¡± complained Mileena as she had sand flung into her face and all over her body from Akira''s actions.
Akira transformed back into his human form and began brushing off the sand as if nothing had happened.
Varbu walked up onto one of the large dunes and looked around trying to figure out where they were.
Akira joined him a few seconds later. Not far away he could see waves washing up onto the shore.
¡°We''re already at the ocean? Did we really travel that far?¡± asked Varbu confused.
¡°Most likely it was those crazy stone slides,¡± said Akira.
¡°I freaking hate whoever made that pyramid,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I don''t know about you guys but that was too much excitement for me I need to get a few hours of sleep,¡± said Maya.
¡°I''ll keep watch since I''m not that tired,¡± said Akira.
¡°You better not do anything perverted while we sleep,¡± said Mileena her words stabbing into Akira.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
¡°Stop talking like your sister!¡± Akira shot back.
Half an hour later everyone was sleeping peacefully.
With the help from the moonlight Akira watching the two Nyantail sisters sleeping.
He could see Mileena had a bad sleeping posture since her arms and legs flung everywhere, while Maya who had been sleeping next to Mileena was now clinging onto her as if she were a stuffed animal.
''What a cute sight!'' thought Akira.
***
Doooonnnnggggg! Doooonnnnggggg! Doooonnnnggggg!
¡°Huh!? Whaaa?¡± Akira opened his eyes to see that dawn had arrived. He must have dozed off for a short time.
Somewhere nearby, the sound of a towns warning bell was being rung continuously.
¡°What''s going on?¡± asked Mileena rubbing the sleep out of her face.
It seemed everyone had been awoken by the loud noise of the bells.
Ding!
Quest updated!
Help defend the small town Feeshpot:
Feeshpot is under attack. Help defend the town to receive a reward that will help you escape from Caidia.
|
¡°I''m guessing a nearby town is under attack. Let''s see if we can help,¡± said Akira running off to the sound of the ringing bells leaving behind the still half asleep Mileena, Varbu, and Maya.
¡°Wait for us!¡± shouted Mileena as she ran after Akira with Varbu and Maya following behind her.
***
¡°Can you see where the enemy is?¡± asked Mileena her head peeking over a sand dune not that far away from one of the wooden houses built near the beach.
The town was a small fishing town built near the beach and had no walls to protect it from any attacks so there was little to no practical way to defend it.
¡°No, I don''t hear any fighting either...¡± said Akira.
¡°Look Over there! There''s something coming out of the water!¡± said Maya pointing at the ocean.
They could see several humanoid bodies rise up out of the water.
Doooonnnnggggg! Doooonnnnggggg! Doooonnnnggggg!
¡°The seamen have come! The seamen have come! Run for your lives!¡± shouted a loud male voice from the bell tower.
¡°Looks like they could use some help,¡± said Akira.
Akira focused on the humanoids creatures that were now walking out of the water and onto the beach to find out their information.
[Sharkman lvl 32][Lobsterman lvl 31] [Crabman lvl 33] there was a large group of over twenty of them.
¡°We should have no problem taking care of them,¡± said Akira.
Clang! Bang! Somewhere in the town, the sound of a fight let them know that there was another group of seamen already attacking the townspeople.
Akira stood up and ran towards the beach with his shield out in front and his sword ready to strike at whatever was in front of him.
The group of seamen that were walking out of the water and toward the town turned their attention towards Akira who was running towards them.
They Quickly communicated with each other using odd snapping, clapping, and snarls using their claws and jaws.
Several arrows flew past Akira before he reached the Seamen hitting their targets in the head killing them.
Akira stopped a few feet away and used the skill [Sword Slash] to cut down two unarmored [Sharkmen] that took the brunt of the attack.
Due to the hard shells acting as armor dampening the attack, the [Lobstermen] and [Crabmen] only received a deep cut that caused a large amount of blood to gush out as they moved forward with loud snarly grunts escaping their mouths.
¡°Why''re you guys so crabby, lighten up,¡± said Akira as he blocked the claws from a [Crabman] with his shield.
The [Sharkmen] were able to use stone spears and swords to make up for that lack of claws. They had a thick outer skin but it was easier to cut than the hard shell of the crab and lobster.
With skilled ease Akira was able to dodge an attack from a [Sharkman] who had no weapon and had reached out with arms that were extremely thick and muscular, trying to rip Akira apart with its bare hands and teeth.
A quick stab to the head killed the [Sharkman].
Mileena and Varbu reached him several seconds later to join in on the fun.
The [Lobstermen] and [Crabmen] used their arms and claws to try to snap their enemies weapons, arms, and bodies in half but were failing to do anything.
Varbu took care of smashing the hard-shelled seamen allowing Mileena to deal the final blow while Akira and Maya took care of the rest of the [Sharkman].
In less than five minutes the invading seamen lay dead on the beach turning the sand and nearby water into a light-red color.
Akira could still hear the sound of fighting to the north of where they stood.
¡°This way!¡± said Akira not stopping to pick up any loot or catch their breath as he ran towards the sound of the fighting.
After passing an empty wooden house his view opened up showing a large stone lighthouse built near the town and was the place the townspeople had chosen to make their last stand.
Dozens of seamen were fighting and pushing to get into the lighthouse while a few of the defenders fought them off at the broken lighthouse door. Several archers shot arrows at the seamen from windows higher up in the lighthouse.
¡°Another enemy group has appeared! They look to be a mixture of human and demon race!¡± shouted a voice from a window in the lighthouse.
An arrow flew out from the window and shot towards Akira. It was easily blocked Akira using his shield.
¡°Don''t shoot! We have come to help,¡± shouted Akira hiding behind his shield.
Akira was not sure if it was because the archer didn''t want to waste arrows on them or they accepted his words but no more arrows were shot at them.
Some of the Seamen crowded around the door turned around when they felt danger coming from behind them and received a combination of arrows, sword and dagger stabs, along with blunt force attacks.
The seamen were caught in a pincer attack and were quickly defeated. Not a single seaman was able to escape to cause future problems.
¡°Is it over?¡± asked a voice from inside the lighthouse.
¡°I think so,¡± said a warrior standing near the door.
¡°We killed around twenty of them near the beach and I didn''t see anymore when we ran here to help you,¡± said Akira.
The head of an elderly man popped out of a window and looked around.
¡°Who are you people?¡± asked the old man after locating the outsiders that had helped them.
¡°We are just travelers passing by. We hear the bells ringing and decided to help out,¡± said Akira.
The old man looked at Akira and the other three for several seconds.
¡°Wait one second I''ll be right down.¡±
The old man hobbled out of the lighthouse with the help of a cane. Four guards walked forward with him to make sure he was protected from the unknown strangers.
¡°My name is Oledud, and I am the village chief. I thank you greatly for your help truly an honorable thing to do. Is there something I can help you with?¡±
Ding!
¡°We''re looking for transportation to cross the ocean,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ah...I''m terribly sorry but we do not have anyone that would be willing to sail so far,¡± said Oledud.
¡°Chief, what about Old Sal? Since I got Sal II built last year Old Sal has been just taking up a spot at the docks. If they want it I''m okay with selling her for a cheap price, as thanks for helping us,¡± said one of the guards.
¡°You sure about that?¡± asked Oledud.
¡°Yeah, but she might need a little fixing up since I haven''t done anything to her for over a year now,¡± said the guard sheepishly.
¡°So Fiman, you''re just trying to get rid of that old junker,¡± joked another guard.
¡°She Isn''t an old junker she still floats! I''ll sell her to you at the cheap price of 10 gold! It''s a good deal. When she was first built I had to pay nearly 65 gold for her,¡± said the Fiman.
¡°Can you show us the ship?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Chief?¡± the guard asked Oledud questioningly to see if he would let them go near the town''s ships.
Oledud gave a nod.
***
Akira and the others had checked the cog ship for any major defects and only found several small leaks here and there. But for the most part, it was still able to float and sail as Fiman had said.
He felt a burning pain in his stomach as he handed over ten gold to the guard.
¡°Thank you very much don''t worry Old Sal will treat you good as long as you also treat her with respect,¡± said the guard happily.
Akira decided that they would take a day to fix the leaks in the ship.
***
A scout for the Caidia military sat atop his horse on top of a sand dune far away from the town staring at it through a cheap collapsible telescope.
¡°Found them! I better let the captain know I found them. I can''t wait, no more crappy stale bread for me,¡± said the scout happily as he scribbled down a message on a piece of paper warning that the target was trying to escape by sea.
He reached into a birdcage and tied the message to a carrier pigeons leg before he opened the cage and send it flying to the captain.
Chapter 83: Ocean adventure
Akira had to pay even more money to Fiman in order to get the tools and material that Fiman suggested that they would need if they wanted to properly fix the ship.
As a free service, Fiman gave them a quick run through on how to properly use the ships sail and rudder to steer the ship.
It took them the rest of the morning to plug all the leaky cracks and bail out the remaining salty water that was pooled at the bottom of the ship.
Fiman was currently inspecting the hasty repairs after Akira had asked him to make sure there were no problems.
¡°Hmm... Your handiwork is not bad at all. The repairs look decent enough to take her back out on the sea,¡± said Fiman, ignoring what he had said earlier before Akira had purchased the ship. Something about the ship being able to sail even without any repairs.
¡°Do you guys need any supplies for the trip across the ocean?¡± asked Fiman.
Akira looked inside his bag and saw that there was still a decent amount of food and water. But after thinking about sailing on the unfamiliar ocean waters it might not be enough if they got lost or a storm hindered their progress. It would be best to be prepared with a bit more food and water just in case.
¡°If you could gather a two weeks worth of food and water for four people that should be enough,¡± said Akira.
Fiman left the ship and went to gather the requested items. It didn''t take long for him to gather everything. When he returned he brought multiple young men to help carry four large sacks full of food and two large barrels full of fresh water.
Akira wanted to cry as he watched even more of his gold disappear into Fiman''s hands this had turned out to be an extremely expensive day.
¡°Here take this as a free gift for helping us. One of the old fishers wanted me to give it to you,¡± said Fiman handing Akira a fishing pole with a long line and hook and some extra string and hooks in case the line broke.
¡°If you would please thank him for the gift,¡± said Akira.
¡°Do you know how to use a fishing pole?¡± asked Fiman.
¡°A little I used to play around at a creak when I was younger,¡± said Akira.
¡°Just use some food as bait and the smaller fish should bite. You can then use some of the fish you catch as bait for the larger fish who have more meat to eat,¡± said Fiman before jumping back onto the dock and helping them untie the ropes connecting the ship to the dock.
With unpracticed hands, Akira and Varbu unfurled the large sail.
Varbu who had decided he wanted to steer the ship took hold of the large rudder stick in the rear no one fought for the job since it required a large amount of strength to keep the rudder pointed in the right direction especially if there was a storm.
With the wind catching the sail the ship started to move forward slowly picking up speed.
The few people that were still on the small fishing towns docks waved them goodbye.
''Hopefully when we reach our next destination we''ll be able to find Yuki and Grand, otherwise, I have no clue what to do,'' thought Akira as he waved goodbye to the Fishermen.
Ding!
Quest Escape Caidia complete!
Reward: You are not dead
|
***
Several hours later long after Akira and his companions had left the small town a large group of chariots stopped outside of the town.
¡°Is this the town?¡± asked Number 6 who was wearing a dark robe with a hood that covered her face.
¡°According to the scout that we intercepted this should be the place where they saw an Orc, two Nyantails, and a human,¡± said Tibia.
¡°Let''s go see if they''re still here. Hopefully, we can get to them before the magic guild stooges do,¡± said Number 6 stepping down from her chariot.
Before they could walk away from their chariots and enter the town a man ran out to greet them.
¡°Honored guest if you wait for a second the village chief will come and greet you,¡± said the man.
¡°What''s with the strong scent of blood around here?¡± asked Number 6.
¡°Oh that, we had a little problem with the seamen exploding out of the water and attacking our town. Luckily we had help in stopping the seamen from entering. If they had gotten past our defenses then that would be around 9 months of work to clean up the mess,¡± said the man cheerfully.
¡°What type of seamen are you talking about?¡± asked tibia confused.
Before he could answer the village chief had arrived.
¡°Welcome, I am Oledud, the chief of this small fishing town. How may we help you?¡±
¡°Where is the group that had a human, Orc, and two Nyantails? Are they still here?¡± asked Number 6.
¡°Oh, you mean the nice people that helped fight off the seamen? They left several hours ago after they bought some food and water from us. Since they left on a ship I''m not sure where they are or where they were going,¡± said Oledud.
Number 6''s mood changed immediately turning into a furious storm of anger. They had missed the prey only by a few hours.
She calmed down a second later and turned to the soldiers still standing it the chariots.
¡°Burn the town down and kill everyone,¡± said Number 6 calmly as if she was ordering food at a local restaurant.
¡°Wh.. what is the meaning of this?!¡± asked Oledud.
¡°Village chief warn the others!¡± said Fiman pulling out his own sword to stall the enemy.
¡°Foolish,¡± said number 6 immediately throwing out two specially made daggers. The daggers started to glow white as they flew through the air and passed right through the man''s heart and head as if they were cutting through paper.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Blood, guts, and brain matter flew out everywhere from the large exit wounds.
¡°Why are you doing this!¡± asked Oledud who had fallen to the ground in shock after getting covered in the blood of Fiman.
Number 6 stood over the old man with a kind smile on her face.
¡°You helped my prey escape so it is only fair that I give you a proper reward for angering me,¡± said Number 6.
¡°We didn''t kn...guahhh!¡±
Number six didn''t let him finish his sentence as her daggers pierced the old man''s heart, killing him.
¡°What are you waiting for? Burn the pace down and make sure no one is left alive,¡± commanded Number six.
The rising smoke from the burning town could be seen many miles away.
***
Akira hummed a happy tune the weather was perfect for sailing, the sun shining brightly, a good calm ocean breeze to keep cool and push the ship towards their destination.
Since the ocean was calm there was little for Akira to do. So after getting bored of looking at the endless horizon full of water he had decided to catch some fish.
Fishing in the large open ocean with no land in sight was quite peaceful. There was only one problem souring his mood, every time he felt a nibble on the hook and yanked on the line to try and catch the fish was in vain all he received was an empty hook the food he had used as bait was always gone.
¡°If you''re just going to feed the fish, why don''t you just throw the food into the water,¡± said Mileena teasing Akira for his bad luck.
¡°It''s harder than it looks,¡± said Akira putting more food on the empty hook.
¡°Sure,¡± said Mileena.
¡°That reminds me you need to fix that bad sleeping posture of yours. You looked like a dead fish all sprawled over the ground,¡± said Akira poking back at Mileena.
¡°Wha...why were you looking at me when I was sleeping you per..pervert!¡± said Mileena slapping Akira in back of the head.
¡°What''s with you calling me a pervert all the time now? You really need to not learn any bad habits from your sister, and also how can I ignore it when you''re messily sprawled all over the place while sleeping. It''s like you''re saying ''Look at me!'',¡± said Akira rubbing the back of his head.
¡°Trouble!¡± shouted Maya from the top of the sail mast where she was sitting.
¡°There seem to be several heavy Quinqueremes following after us!¡±
¡°What?¡± asked both Akira and Mileena as they stopped their bickering and looked behind the ship.
At least four large Quinquereme ships could be seen fast approaching them their large sails all unfurled. The hundreds of oars sticking out of the sides of the ships made them look like water bugs swimming on top of the ocean.
¡°What did we do now?¡± asked Akira worriedly.
He put down his fishing pole and walked over to the sail to make sure it was fully unfurled and catching all of the wind so they could go as fast as possible.
A half hour passed and the Quinqueremes were still gaining on them. An hour passed and the military ships were close enough that they could hear the drum beats used to command the oarsmen with their different tempos. They were beating at a fast pace which the oarsmen were following just as quickly, their oars rising and falling as one in well-practiced motions.
Ten minutes later a tall naval officer standing at the front of one of the ships held a bull horn to his mouth and shouted out to the small ship in front of him.
¡°By order of King Klego ruler of Cadia, you are hereby ordered to stop your ship and surrender!¡± shouted the officer his voice travailing over the water and reaching Akira and the others on the Sal.
¡°Who?¡± asked Akira shouting back.
¡°Klego, the king of Cadia!¡± said the officer trying to shout louder so they could hear him clearly.
¡°Sorry, I have never heard of that person and don''t know he is. We''re in a hurry to get somewhere so I have to decline your request,¡± Akira shouted back.
The naval officer nearly fell off his ship in shock at the pure disrespect that being shown to the king.
¡°We are not asking you! I''m telling you to stop or we will stop you!¡± shouted the officer after regaining his balance and calm.
¡°Don''t want to,¡± shouted Akira defiantly.
¡°Full battle speed!¡± shouted the furious officer.
The tempo of the beating drums became even faster forcing the tired oarsmen to row even faster than they had been before.
The naval archers on the ship stepped forward taking the officers position in the raised forward castle of the ship, waiting for the distance to close enough so that they could start shooting their arrows.
The other ships that accompanied them had large Ballistas in their front castle to help take care of problems like this.
As Akira watched the enemy''s hurried movement on their ships three loud delayed thunks could be heard as ballistas large bolts were shot forward aiming at the cog in front of them.
¡°Take cover,¡± shouted Akira.
Two of the bolts missed one falling into the ocean to the left and another flying over their heads. The third made a loud thud as it pierced through the side of the upper deck.
Akira''s head popped out of cover to yell at the ships behind them, ¡°Stop shooting at my ship! I paid 10 gold for this!¡±
He was forced to duck again as another three bolts came hurtling towards the ship.
¡°Maya, Varbu, can you see if you can force them to stop following us?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I can try but you need to take care of the steering,¡± said Varbu.
¡°They''re still too far away for me to do anything. But if they get closer I''ll see what I can do,¡± said Maya.
Varbu pulled out the fire skill gem from his pouch he carried around his neck and aimed it at the nearest ship.
Fwoosh! A large watermelon sized fireball shot out and flew towards the nearest ship. The Quinquereme slowly turned to the right to escape the fireball.
Lucky for them the fireball harmlessly splashed into the water over twenty feet in front of the ship sending a large amount of steam into the air. After the miss Varbu decided it was best to wait until the ships were closer before trying again.
Another ten minutes passed bringing the ships close enough for the archers to start shooting.
The archers lit their arrows on fire using the coals in a metal brazer and drew back their strings waiting for the order.
¡°Fire!¡± shouted the officer. The archers released their strings sending a hail of burning arrows toward the small ship in front of them.
Only a few managed to reach the ship the others landed behind or to the side of it splashing into the water.
Mileena quickly stomped out the fire and while Akira tried to steer the ship out the archers firing range.
Varbu started to shoot fireballs and Maya her arrows at the chasing enemy but were doing little to no damage.
The ballistas continued to thud into the side of the ship causing different sized holes to appear letting water seep into the ship.
¡°This is the last fireball I can shoot,¡± said Varbu.
Fwoosh! The nearest Quinquereme''s forward castle structure caught on fire causing the nearby ballista men to grab buckets of water and try to put out the fire.
The Old Sal was growing slower and slower as it received more and more holes in its side and rear creating an easier target for the archers.
In the volley of arrows that came this time almost all of them hit the ship catching the sail and various other parts of the ship on fire everyone tried to focus on putting out the fire but even more arrows landed onto the deck, while bolts from the ballistas tore through the hull.
The ship was now dead in the water and quickly sinking. Almost every part of Old Sal was burning which caused a putrid smoke to rise up and choke them.
¡°Abandon ship!¡± shouted Akira between coughs.
The four of them jumped into the water to escape the sinking burning wreck.
The archers seeing that their prey had jumped into the water aimed their arrows at the spot they had disappeared into the water and shot another volley.
Due to everyone wearing armor their movement was hindered causing them to sink as they struggled to swim to the surface.
Akira could see the large cog ship sinking above them, they struggled to get out of the way and stop sinking.
To make things even harder they had to dodge several waves of arrows that flew into the water. Akira watched as all but one of the arrows swished past him. The one that he was unable to avoid cut his cheek letting blood leaking out into the water.
Sensing danger Akira looked down and saw several sea monsters were already swimming towards them.
''Oh crap!''
Chapter 84: Under the sea
They were in a real pickle. They were slowly sinking down and unable to get to the surface with arrows raining down from above them and now they had the misfortune of attracting several large sea monsters.
Even if they could reach the surface they would be sitting ducks for the approaching ships that were slowing down and searching the water near the burning ship that was slowly sinking.
Every once in a while they would shoot arrows into the water at what they thought was suspicious movement.
Akira didn''t think and just used his skill [Sword Slash] sending the attack towards the gathering swarm of sea monsters.
The normal swift blue blade of light flew forward at a slower pace than normal as it cut through the water.
Most of the sea monsters were able to get out of the way of the dangerous attack, leaving only the weak and slow monsters to be sliced in half.
The blood and guts from the dead sea monsters started to color the surrounding area in a deep red attracting the stronger sea monsters who had an insatiable appetite and would even eat their mother if they died in front of them.
A few of the larger sea monsters almost the same size of Akira and Varbu decided that the small fry sea monsters were not to their taste and decided to continue swimming towards Akira and the others wanting to figure out what they tasted like.
Everyone had managed to stay close to each other in order to protect themselves after they noticed the oncoming sea monsters.
When the first sea creature a large [Pointy Swordfish lvl 32] reached them Akira placed his shield in front so that he did not get impaled by the large pointy spear of its upper bill.
Bang! Akira was knocked back into the three behind him. He was surprised at the force of the attack and his inability to stay put and hold his ground due to having no solid ground to fight on.
Luckily Varbu and the others were able to stop him from spinning out of control.
Both Akira and Varbu readied their weapons and launched attacks when the [Pointy Swordfish] charged forward again.
They were able to land solid hits but felt something was wrong since their normal attacks only wounded it slightly. After attacking it again Akira was able to figure out the problem.
It was that water that was causing their problems. It was slowing their attacks causing them to use the same amount of force they normally used to attack but only gave them a small fraction of the power they spent on the attack.
It was also worrisome that their attacks were slowed which allowed the sea monsters if they were fast enough to dodge the attacks.
Varbu was able to understand what was going on and after a quick look at each other, they understood what they had to do. They had to use their max strength on every attack to ensure that they were able to kill the sea monsters.
Maya tried to help out by shooting arrows at the [Pointy Swordfish] but it was no use. The arrows were even more useless underwater than Akira and Varbu''s attacks.
Both Maya with her short sword and Mileena with her daggers were forced to fight off the small fry while Varbu and Akira fought the larger Sea monsters.
After several minutes of not seeing the four bodies resurface the captain became agitated.
¡°You idiots you weren''t supposed to kill them! Now how can we get the bounty?¡± growled the angry naval officer.
''You''re the one who told is to shoot at them,'' thought several of the unhappy archers.
Several arrows shot from above had attracted the attention of several large sea monsters as they were constantly getting hit with them and were getting angry.
So they decided to teach the large floating things above them not to interrupt them when they were trying to eat dinner.
Bam! A Large hole appeared as a [Pointy Swordfish] slammed into the bottom of the nearest ship.
Unfortunately for the swordfish it became stuck and was quickly killed by the horrified crew members of the now fast flooding ship.
Akira was able to see the other ships were having problems of their own as a large [Bone Octopus Lvl 36] wrapped its eight soft fleshy arms around the ship and pulled itself up onto the deck where its bone armored torso nulled the weak arrows that were shot at it.
Seeing all the fresh food walking around on top of the ship the [Bone Octopus] decided to forget about the other prey in the water and began picking and choosing which delicious piece of meat in front of it should be eaten first.
Another one of the ships had already been crushed in half by a second [Bone Octopus] and several of the weaker sea monsters rushed over to get a piece of flesh from the numerous dead and alive bodies spilling out of the broken ship that was now being pulled down by the [Bone Octopus] so it could reach its food more easily and eat in comfort.
Akira and the others were fighting furiously for several minutes and after killing the last sea monsters that had surrounded them, they began struggling to get away from the fight.
They were able to swim far enough that they were not in immediate danger but they were still sinking to the point that now it was hard to see the surface, their lungs were on fire and they were slowly losing what little strength they had due to the lack of oxygen.
Akira weakened from the fight and lack of oxygen reached out his hand trying to claw his way back to the surface but his mind was becoming dull.
Akira saw the others were having the same problem and began to slightly panic.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
''No! I can''t die like this!'' Thought Akira as his mind and vision slowly faded to black and his outstretched hand went limp as the last few air bubbles escaped his mouth.
(The End)
***
Cold. I''m so cold. Why is it so cold, and wet? Am I dead? Though Akira as he slowly regained consciousness.
Opening his eyes he could hardly see anything above him it was dark except for a strong glowing light coming from behind him.
When he tried to turn his body around but found that he was unable to move since he was strapped down to a makeshift stretcher.
He turned his head as far as he could and saw a large gold glowing seahorse swiftly swimming pulling the stretcher that was attached to it.
On the back of the seahorse was an odd saddle with a half human half fish person sitting side saddle.
''What the? What''s going on? Where is everyone?''
Akira looked around frantically and saw that Varbu and the others were in a similar state they all looked like they were sleeping bubbles escaping a small mask near their mouths.
''Bubbles?''
As his mind began to clear he was able to understand a little of what he was seeing.
The reason he was cold and wet because they were still in the ocean and were traveling even deeper into the depths of the ocean where few land dwellers ever had a chance to enter alive. He was breathing underwater!
Akira was not sure if he should be happy that they were saved or if he should be worried that they had been captured and would be used for some horrifying ritual, become a slave, or worst of all become food for the captors.
Sensing movement behind him the fishman turned around and saw Akira''s eyes looking back at him.
¡°Ah, you''re awake? You land fold sure are lucky we were passing by while on our patrol,¡± said the fish man his voice was crystal clear as if it was coming from right next to him. The water did not muffle or distort it in any way.
¡°...¡± Akira just stared at the fishman not talking and just inspecting the odd looking person.
¡°You can talk you know. The mask allows you to breathe and talk while under the sea. It is one of the most special inventions we made for land folk guest. When I first found you I was worried that we didn''t have enough of them for everyone. But here we are and everyone has one,¡± said the chatterbox fishman that was chatting away as if this was an everyday thing.
¡°What...no who are you?¡± asked Akira regaining his voice. His was not as clear or loud as the fishman''s and was muffled slightly from both the mask and the water.
¡°What you have never heard of us?¡±
Akira shook his head he had never seen, heard, or read anything about people like the fishman in front of him.
¡°Geez, what crap do they teach you up there that you can''t even recognize who we are. I will tell you! We are the swiftest, smartest, and coolest rulers of the sea! We are Mermaids! More specifically I am an honorable mermaid warrior!¡±
¡°Oh Mermaids, I may have heard something about them long ago. But I thought you guys were just fishmen or something,¡± said Akira.
The mermaid in front of him let out a gasp of shocked disbelief at such rude taboo words coming out of Akira''s mouth. His face grew red with unhappiness at being mistaken for a fishman.
¡°Ha! Never would I have thought someone would have the balls to compare me to those degenerate Fishmen. They have more in common with the sea monsters than they have with us mermaids! I could easily list over a thousand things that are different between us which make us mermaids the best in the entire ocean!¡±
And so for the next few hours as they continued to travel deeper into the ocean Akira was forced to listen to all the reasons why mermaids were better than the uncivilized fishmen.
When the mermaid had finished talking the Akira could see the others waking up and looking around slightly panicking.
But the soon calmed down after hearing the explanation from the mermaid that was escorting them and seeing that Akira was relaxed. They were not in any immediate danger, for now, it was still unknown if the mermaids were friend or foe.
¡°Varbu can you hear me?¡± asked Akira.
Varbu who was a good distance away looked at Akira with a confused look on his face but could not properly understand what was said and shook his head.
It seemed that it was harder to talk to others underwater and have them clearly understand what was being said.
Akira gave up on trying and continued to look at the dark scenery around him.
If he wasn''t with everyone and was alone he would have been extremely creeped out about the things he saw.
As they passed deepwater rocky reefs the glow from the seahorses lighting up the surroundings showed numerous odd looking fish. Farther down he saw several large glowing sea worms shoot out of the reef and eat one of the passing fish.
Creepy to creepy.
¡°Where are we going?¡± asked Akira.
¡°To the capital! It is such a great place! I''m sure that you haven''t seen anything as great as the city of Nepttis or another large city Poidon. Just wait you''ll see,¡± said the mermaid.
Akira though it was rather lucky that they had no ran into any more dangerous sea monsters while they continued to travel deeper into the ocean.
As soon as they passed the large reef the area opened became wide open.
He could several sparkling gems stuck in the bottom of the reefs their glimmering light shining everywhere like stars at night.
Akira turned his head around to see off in the distance a bright glowing light.
¡°We''re almost to our destination!¡± said the mermaid.
The glowing light grew bigger and brighter as they continued to swim towards it.
It turned out to be the glowing walls of the capital Nepttis.
The large glowing sandstone walls of the city made it hard for anyone to sneak up on the guards that were patrolling the area. They were always on guard for any sea monster or any unexpected attack from another demon race.
The Mermaid warriors escorting them were able to quickly pass through the gates and brought the seahorses to the stables near the gates guardhouse.
Akira and the others were untied from the stretchers and helped to stand up.
A young female Mermaid excitedly swam up to them and began shy peeking at Akira and the others.
¡°Hey chatterbox who are all these land folk,¡± asked the young mermaid.
¡°Cora, I have a name you know, and they''re just some people that I thought your mother would like to see. Besides that, aren''t you supposed to be studying with your tutor?¡± asked Chatterbox.
¡°It''s too boring. I rather explore the city. Luckily I hit the jackpot look at the treasure you found. It has been so long since any land people entered the city! And look they both have a tail and ears like the cute cats that I saw in one of my books!¡± said Cora pointing at Mileena and Maya.
¡°It''s not polite to be gawking and pointing at them like that. Is your mother back from her trip yet?¡±
¡°She just got back so if you want to see her you better go before she decides to go to bed. Also, don''t tell her where I am if she asks,¡± said Cora.
¡°I''m not going to lie to the Queen. If she asks I''ll tell her,¡± said Chatterbox.
¡°Fine, I''ll make sure not to be where ever you tell her I am,¡± said Cora swimming off to go explore somewhere else after taking a few more looks at the land folk.
¡°Don''t mind the princesses she is still young and rebellious. Ah, youth it''s nice to be young and not have a care about anything,¡± said chatterbox with a distant look in his eyes as if he was remembering his past childhood.
¡°Well anyways we best get going to catch the queen before she goes to sleep or we will be waiting a long time,¡± said chatterbox.
¡°Why do we need to talk to the Queen?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Don''t worry, all your questions will be answered later let''s go.¡±
Chapter 85: Problems under the sea
It was hard for Akira and the rest of the group to walk around due to being surrounded by water.
The pressure that Akira thought he would feel from being so deep underwater was nowhere to be found and the city had an odd sense of gravity that weighed their bodies down allowing them to at least walk in a somewhat normal way.
The speed of the mermaids who were born and grew up swimming in the ocean caused them to lag behind as they tried to keep up.
While they were half walking half swimming through the smooth stone-paved streets of Nepttis, they attracted many gazes from the citizens who were taking care of their daily errands.
Passing by so many mermaids Akira noticed that their clothing sense was rather odd. The males were either bare-chested or wore armor, while the females wore special large(and small) clams to cover their chest.
Mileena and Maya were both looking at everything and everyone they saw with wide eyes of amazement.
¡°Look! It''s a Kappa!¡± said Mileena as they passed a group of partially bald green-skinned humanoid turtles that were the size of children.
¡°So that''s what a Kappa is. I though a Kappa was a gray-skinned smug face,¡± said Varbu.
¡°What are you talking about? Did you read something about them before?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Never mind,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Hey hurry up. You can sightsee later, right now we need to go see the queen before she goes to sleep,¡± said Chatterbox.
The large underwater city was a mess of a maze that was not really built to any one standard.
While they traveled through the streets they saw many different demon races and several odd sea creatures as well.
Several minutes later they reached the gates of the large underwater stone castle that was shining even brighter than the city walls.
¡°Chatterbox who are those land folk behind you?¡± asked a mermaid guard near the gate.
¡°Important guest that the Queen will want to meet.¡±
¡°That''s news to me. I didn''t hear about any guest coming to the city today.¡±
¡°We''re in a hurry I would like to take them to see the Queen before she goes to sleep,¡± said Chatterbox.
¡°Wait here, I''ll send someone to see if she will see you.¡±
It didn''t take long for them to get a reply. They were ushered past the gates and into the castle to a small room inside.
¡°Please make yourself presentable before we go to see the queen,¡± said Chatterbox before leaving the room.
Looking around Akira saw that this was a changing room with a few mirrors and other amenities to help guests get ready for a meeting with the queen.
At the far end of the room, there were several green seaweed curtains blocking the view of the small changing rooms.
Akira was the only one that walked into one of them and began changing into more formal clothing.
¡°Not much I can do,¡± muttered Varbu.
Like Varbu, Mileena and Maya didn''t have any formal clothing for such an event, so they went to the mirrors and focused on trying to smooth out their frazzled fur that the water was messing with.
Akira exited the small changing room now wearing the blue formal clothing he had received from Jezebel, along with the cape he normally wore.
Maya was still messing with Mileena''s hair trying to make it look presentable.
Akira thought it was nice that the sisters were now reunited and were able to do something like this.
¡°Wow! Who did you rob to get such nice clothes? Are those the clothes you use to woo all the ladies?¡± asked Maya while looking at Akira''s reflection in the mirror.
¡°I received them from a friend a while ago,¡± answered Akira ignoring her last question.
¡°Better be careful or he''ll get snatched up,¡± said Maya looking at Mileena.
Before the red-faced Mileena could respond the door to the room opened.
¡°The queen is ready and waiting for you I suggest we don''t make her wait too long,¡± said Chatterbox.
As they were walking down a hallway Akira remembered something and quietly whispered to the others next to him.
¡°Hey whatever you do don''t call them fish people.¡±
¡°Duh, that''s common sense,¡± said Maya.
¡°Why are you telling us this? Don''t tell me you called them that and thought we would make the same mistake?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°N...no I just thought that you might not know,¡± lied Akira not fooling anyone.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
They stopped outside two large glowing golden sandstone doors that had several fascinating carvings on it.
The two guards guarding the door slammed the butt of their stone spears on the ground a few times the door to the room was slowly opened from the inside by another two palace guards.
The throne room was like any other Akira had seen but due to the glowing walls and the fact that the place was under water, it made everything look so enchanting.
As they approached the throne they were able to see the queen clearly.
She was slouching on the throne with her tail resting on one of the armrests and her head held up by one of her fists. Her green hair moved around as if there was a small breeze playing with it.
Akira guessed that the queen''s age was somewhere in the late thirties but she still looked extremely beautiful.
''Maybe it has to do with never having dry skin,'' though Akira.
They stopped in front of the throne several paces away.
¡°Are these the land folk you wanted me to meet?¡± asked the Queen lazily.
¡°Yes, your majesty!¡± said chatterbox bowing to the Queen.
¡°Who are they and why have you brought them to me?¡±
¡°Introduce yourselves,¡± said Chatterbox motioning for Akira and the others to step forward.
¡°My name is Akira.¡± ¡°I am Varbu.¡± ¡°Mileena.¡± ¡°I''m Maya.¡± The four quickly introduced themselves.
¡°While we were patrolling the waters above the city we noticed a large commotion happening and found these four who lost their ship and fainted from fighting off the numerous sea monsters. I was only going to help them back to the nearby land but then I saw that ring on his hand and decided that you would most likely want to meet them,¡± said chatterbox pointing to a ring on Akira''s hand.
¡°Oh? What is it?¡± asked the Queen unable to see the ring clearly from her throne.
¡°A dwarven ring of friendship.¡±
¡°Ah! This is wonderful! You did a good job,¡± said the queen who immediately sat up straight upon hearing chatterbox''s words.
¡°Ahem, My name is Queen Adrea Octoperssy. I know it may sound like a weird name but I was named by my mother after one of our ancestors from long ago.¡±
¡°It is a nice name your majesty,¡± said Akira trying to be polite.
¡°Thank you. You know, now that I look at you four of you I have to say that you make for an odd group.¡±
¡°We get told that a lot,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I''m sure there is a long story behind it all but that can wait for now. Now that I know you can be trusted I would like to ask you for your help,¡± said Queen Octoperssy
¡°I''m sorry but I''m not all that certain what we can do to help you as we are not familiar with the underwater world,¡± said Akira.
¡°No need to worry you seem like capable enough warriors and most importantly you have two legs.¡±
¡°I guess we could try helping you as long as it is not too hard since we also have a mission we are trying to complete.¡±
¡°And what is that?¡±
¡°I am looking for the werewolf clans and Varbu is coming along to try and gain an alliance between the orcs and werewolves,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh, I see, you''re a werewolf. You''re in luck, I happen to know where they live, but~ I''ll only tell you after you help me take care of a few problems,¡± said the Queen with a sly smile.
¡°If you really do know where they are then spending a few days to help you should be no problem. What do you need us to do?¡±
¡°First let me give you some information to help you understand the current situation down here since you probably don''t know much of anything to do with our underwater world. Nepttis is the main city and capital of the east while Naurin is the main city and capital of the west ruled by my sister Pelagia. During the last great war, we lost many soldiers fighting the Demigods while trying to help defend the villages of the Kappa and other allies that lived near land. Due to this and the fact that the ocean is so big, we have been unable to patrol a large portion of it which has allowed our enemies to grow in strength.¡±
¡°You majesty if I may ask who is the enemy?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Sharkmen, Fishmen, Lobstermen, all those types. If it were only them we could handle it but those damn Sirens are bossing them around. They have been growing bolder and have been causing me many headaches with all the trouble they are causing. I just got back from cleaning up a mess that they created.
Although they are the mermaid''s mortal enemies, they are not the only thing we have to worry about. There is something that may be even more worrisome and that is that there are several dungeons that we have been unable to get to with the increased workload. I fear some of them are close to an overflow. There are just too many things that need to be done.¡±
¡°You have a lot on your shoulders. What is it that you need us to do?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Is it possible for you to travel along with some of our warriors and help clear some of the dungeons that are near our cities? They will cause massive problems for us if they are not cleared,¡± asked Queen Octopurssy.
¡°We should be able to help but since we are still not used to moving underwater I hope you will allow us a few days to get accustomed to fighting underwater,¡± said Akira.
¡°But of course I have no problem with that as I would not want to send you to the dungeons unable to fight that would defeat the purpose of asking for your help. Ah! If I remember correctly the palace library has a book or two that was written many years ago by a master swordsman from one of the long forgotten land kingdoms detailing his method of fighting underwater it should be helpful to you.¡±
¡°Thank you for understanding,¡± said Akira.
¡°Chatterbox, take them to the library to find the book and after you finish there make sure to see them to the guest rooms. You can go now I am tired and need to sleep,¡± said Queen Octoperssy.
¡°Yes Your Majesty,¡± said Chatterbox bowing before leading the four guest out of the throne room and towards the library.
When they entered the library they were stunned to see row upon row of books. Near the doors of the library were several tables used for writing and reading.
At one of the tables was a grumpy looking princess Cora. It looked like she had been caught and brought back to continue her lessons.
She was more than happy for the interruption and swam over to the group.
¡°Princess, stop playing and get back over here and finish the math problems,¡± said the old scholarly mermaid with a long white beard and small glasses on the tip of his nose.
¡°Don''t wanna,¡± said the rebellious young princess.
¡°Sorry to interrupt you Profus but the queen has sent us here to look for a book written by ¡ Swardmon I think that was his name. You know the master swordsman from Swordia. Can you help me find it?¡± asked Chatterbox.
Profus looked towards Chatterbox and at the others standing behind him. He was shocked to see that they were not mermaid or anyone for a demon race he had seen in over 10 years. They looked to be special guests of the queen.
¡°Sigh... It can''t be helped if the Queen gave the order,¡± said Profus standing up, ¡°come with me.¡±
¡°You four can stay here and make sure the princess doesn''t run off,¡± said Chatterbox before leaving with Profus to find the book that they needed.
¡°Thanks for saving me from having to do my homework,¡± said Cora with a big smile on her face.
¡°I know how you feel. I used to hate having to do anything related to math,¡± said Akira remembering when he was young and would skip math class with Rodger.
¡°I know right! I feel the same way,¡± said Cora agreeing with Akira.
Cora turned to watch her tutor and Chatterbox disappear behind the bookcases before turning back to the four guests.
She unexpectedly swam up to Akira and gave him a hug.
¡°Big brother thanks for helping me escape,¡± said Cora before darting around Akira and past the other three before they could do anything.
¡°Wait!¡± they shouted and tried to catch her but she was already far away. She shot out of the library and disappeared down the hallway.
¡°Well, I guess she really hates math,¡± said Akira while scratching his head not sure what to do.
Chapter 86: Ten Tickles
Akira and the others waited at the tables for the two mermaids to return. When they did, they found that the princess was missing.
¡°She escaped again did she?¡± asked Profus letting out a long sigh.
¡°The last few months she has been quite rebellious after learning about how her father died,¡± said Chatterbox.
¡°Was it bad?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The king...he died in the last major war while helping defend allied kappa cities from the Demigod invasion. The enemy had an unending amount of troops that fought the king and his army. They were unable to hold them off and were forced to retreat after everyone had been evacuated. But they were ambushed while they were retreating and the king was killed along with all but a few of his soldiers who were able to escape and report to the queen on what had happened,¡± explained Profus.
¡°I didn''t know the war reached all the way out into the sea,¡± said Akira visualizing all the fights that must have been going on in each country.
The power the Demigods had and their persuasive speech was extremely frightening. It would take an extremely large and veteran army to keep them at bay for long if anyone wanted to stop a determined army of Demigods.
From what Akira could remember most of the demigod''s opponents could only play defense due to the inhuman abilities that the demigods had. If they were not strong enough they would be pushed back like the late mermaid king or face death defending their city.
After traveling around the continent meeting many different demon races and learning more about their fights with demigods along with his own experiences he wished that the demigods would never come back or at least not while he was alive.
¡°No need to be so gloomy, your making our guest feel uncomfortable,¡± said Chatterbox looking at the others who were lost in thought of their own experiences with the demigods when they had been young.
¡°Ah yes, sorry about that. Here is the book you were looking for,¡± said Profus handing Akira a thick book with a cover made out of stone.
The title of the book read [Swardmon''s underwater movement]. Akira took it over to the now unoccupied table to start reading it.
¡°I''ll leave you guys to your reading as I have to go and start my search for the princess again,¡± said Profus unhappily before leaving the library. His student was such a pain for this old man. He vowed that she would be his last student and he would retire and spend all his time in the library.
¡°I''ll be going as well since I have other duties I will send someone later to help you find where you are going to stay while you are here,¡± said Chatterbox.
The four nodded and continued to look at the book reading the thick leather pages that had the words sewed onto them.
Akira spent over an hour reading the book and when he was finished he decided to take a break. He would test his newfound knowledge later.
He left the table and began walking through the large bookshelves scanning the titles of the books to see if anything caught his interest and pulled them down when he found one.
He returned to the table with a large stack of books and saw that Mileena and Maya were already taking cat naps under the table on the seaweed carpet while hugging each other.
Akira was able to learn many new details about history that involved the mermaids and other interesting facts like the long feud between humans and mermaids.
The reason? Ancient humans used to think that if they killed Mermaids and ate their flesh then they would be able to live an even longer life.
There were many wars over this. The writer of the book was applauded that humans would even think about eating mermaids as if they were not alive and sentient being and were just fish.
Due to the constant fighting, the mermaids had to move their cities deeper into the ocean where no human could survive.
In another book, he read about the mermaids and sirens that listed the differences and the similarities. The book was quite detailed and even explained how the sirens and some mermaids used their vocal cords for special voice attacks that most creatures could not do.
Akira wished he had something like that as well. He remembered how useful it had been when something similar was used by the Desert Warriors. But even with the knowledge of how it was done, it was near impossible to replicate if the person''s body was not built a certain way.
Akira finished the last book in the stack which was about special blacksmithing techniques on how to combine them with armor and weapons just in time to see that Profus had finally returned with the young pouting teenage princess.
Akira started to hurriedly clean up the table that had multiple books strewn all over it.
¡°Sorry for the mess I''ll put them back and let use the table for your studies,¡± said Akira.
¡°It is nice that someone appreciates reading. Don''t worry I can take care of the books later,¡± said Profus with a smile, his view of Akira rising.
Not wanting to bother or interrupt the princesses studies Akira poked the others who were all sleeping until they woke up.
¡°Let''s go practice the new movement skills from the book,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ehhh, I want to take a nap,¡± said Maya.
¡°You just had one!¡±
¡°I want another one.¡±
¡°Come on,¡± said Akira half dragging Mileena and Maya who were still half asleep out of the library with Varbu following them.
***
Deep underwater inside the territory of the sirens a meeting was taking place between two people their faces covered by black hoods. One had two legs the other had a tail like a fish.
¡°Number four it is odd to personally hear from you and even more strange for you to come personally to ask for something,¡± said an enchanting female voice thick with an overpowering sweetness that was almost sickening.
A glowing light appeared on a piece of special paper with a written message from the mute number four.
[Cut the crap with your fake pleasantries. Your voice tricks will not work on me. I have a job I need you to do. Can you do it?]
¡°Depends on what it is. Can you tell me before I accept?¡± asked the siren giving up on trying to control number four.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
[There is someone in Nepttis that I need you to capture.]
¡°Oh, something like that? That should be easy. So who is it?¡±
***
Akira and the rest of the group had been practicing the new movement technique at the mermaids training ground for what Akira thought was maybe a day or two. He really could not tell the time due to not being able to see the sun.
The new movement skill was a mixture of moving like you would normally on land but also had portions of swimming added into it. It was fairly easy to learn but felt unnatural and weird when they used it.
Ding!
Several mermaid warriors had come to watch the rare land folk guest training. There was even a small group of civilians that had been allowed to come and watch them.
A few of the warriors even challenged Akira and Varbu to duels to which the mermaids had the advantage due to their movement speed in the water.
GONG! GONG! GONG!
The sound of a large gong being hit rushed through the water and reached everyone in the training field.
Akira didn''t know what it meant but he had a guess so he looked over to the nearby mermaid warriors and saw the shock on their faces confirming his guess.
¡°Enemy attack! Everyone to your designated stations!¡± shouted an officer of the gathered mermaid warriors.
¡°Who would be strong enough or more likely suicidal enough to attack the city?¡± asked one of the female civilian mermaids with a worried look on her face.
A large shadow appeared from above the city and was moving back and forth over the city slowly moving forward towards the training ground.
¡°What is that?¡± asked another voice.
The large Blob became clearer as it moved forward. [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus lvl 35].
The monster looked like it was looking for something as it slowly moved over the city.
Several mermaid warriors swam out to meet it and tried to block its path but they were batted away by its Tentacles.
The large mutated Octopus soon reached the training field and stopped.
Seeing this as a chance the mermaid warriors launched another attack but before they reached the mutated Octopus it had already launched itself down toward the training field where Akira''s group and the small group of civilian mermaids where.
Seeing the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] coming in to attack, Akira and the rest of the group all readied their weapons to fight the oncoming monster.
Its multiple tentacles reached out to grasp its target. Akira moved forward to intercept the tentacles that were coming towards them but...they ignored him and the others and shot into the small group of civilian mermaids.
¡°AH!¡± came the surprised voice of a young girl.
The [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] pulled its prize out of the crowd to reveal a struggling teenage princesses Cora. It started to swim away with its catch.
¡°The monster has the princesses!!¡± shouted the guards horrified.
¡°Save the princesses! Kill the monster!¡± shouted a panicked officer.
Everything happening so quickly it was hard for anyone to react fast enough Akira''s eyes met Cora''s as she was pulled up and away from the crowd.
¡°Big brother help!¡± pleaded the terrified young girl.
Maya was the first to react and sent several arrows towards the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] but due to the water slowing them down they only bounced off the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] harmlessly.
The voice shocked Akira''s senses into overdrive and his muddled thoughts cleared allowing him to take action.
He jumped forward using the new movement skills and activated the skill [Shadow-Chains]. The chains shot out from the ground and bit into the ten tentacles of the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] stopping its movement for several seconds.
Using the few precious seconds that the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] was immobile he used the skill [Sword slash] aiming it at the tentacle that still held the princesses.
The blue light swished through the water and cut deep into the flesh sending out a large amount of blood. The tentacle had a strong leather outer layer and the attack was not full strength for fear of harming the princess so the result was as one would expect the tentacle was still not fully cut through.
A loud vibrating screech was heard from the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] due to the pain. It was fiercely struggling to break free of the chains that were binding it so it could retaliate.
Another [Sword slash] followed the first and slammed into the wound cleanly cutting through the rest of the way. Freeing the princess, and angering the monster even more!
Akira grabbed the princesses outstretched hand and pulled her out of the large limp tentacle and headed back down to the ground where the rest of the group was.
Crack! Snap! The shadow chains broke into nothingness freeing the wounded [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] who was now very angry.
Not only had it been injured but its prey had escaped.
Still leaking large amounts of blood the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] sent two tentacles shooting towards the princesses trying to grab her.
Akira pulled her behind him and used the skill [Cross attack] Aiming at the unprotected soft belly of the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus].
Sensing danger from the approaching blue cross the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] tried to use its two tentacles to knock the attack away but ended up with a second tentacle being cut off.
The mermaid warriors had finally caught up with the monster and began to attack the monster from above, trying to draw its attention away from the princess.
Akira made a quick decision and pushed the princess towards Maya and Mileena.
¡°Take her away from here. Go to the palace if you can. Just get her away from this monster!¡± shouted Akira before jumping up to launch another attack at the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus].
In its anger caused by the pain of losing two tentacles, the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] forgot its purpose and decided to kill the annoyance that had caused it harm.
It ignored the mermaid warriors that were hacking away at it from above and causing gruesome wounds.
It only had eyes for Akira and the pain from the new wounds only caused its anger towards him to rise.
All eight of its remaining arms shot out wanting to crush Akira.
The blue light of another [Sword slash] flew forward and bit into the oncoming tentacles. But did not stop them.
BAM!
Akira was knocked back into a nearby building creating a large hole in the wall.
BAM!
The tentacles of the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] slammed on top of the building destroying it after a few hits.
BAM! Another hit tried to flatten Akira but he blocked the attack with his shield and only sunk into the ground.
The wounds the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] received by the mermaid warriors were now taking effect as it grew slower and more blood leaked out of its body.
The [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] did not want to give up and die meekly so after another attack was blocked it grabbed Akira with a different tentacle before he could dodge.
It opened its mouth as it pulled Akira towards it revealing large sharp teeth meant for piercing and tearing meat apart.
When Akira was only a few arm lengths away from the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] mouth he used the last of his mana to send a [Cross attack] right into the wide open mouth of the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus].
A loud vibrating screech came from the [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] as its body was wracked with spasms.
Akira broke free from its weakened grip and swam out of its reach.
The [Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] stopped moving and became limp, floating above the training ground unmoving while leaking large amounts of blood.
Ding!
[Mutated Ten Tentacle Octopus] Has been killed.
Level up!
Level up!
You are now level 35.
Toughness +5.
|
New title received!
One who hates ten tickles:
Mr. Octopus was only trying to tickle you but you killed him.
+5 fame
|
Chapter 87: Thanks and preparations for a hunt
Akira was still for several moments as he read the messages that popped up. He quickly put the bonus skill points into his usual three stats.
¡°Sir are you all right?¡± asked one of the mermaid warriors as he swam past the dead monster towards Akira. In the short time that Akira had stayed in the mermaid city, he had now gotten used to speaking and listening underwater.
Looking up from the messages Akira saw that it was Chatterbox who was talking to him.
¡°Yeah I''m fine,¡± said Akira waving his hand in the water as if to say the fight that just finished was nothing.
The water above them was slowly being dyed red from all the blood that was leaking out of the large sea monster.
¡°You and your companion should come with me. The Queen will want to talk to you about this,¡± said Chatterbox pointing to Varbu who had stayed behind to help Akira and the mermaid warriors hold off the giant sea creature.
Akira and Varbu left the training ground as the mermaids started to butcher and dispose of parts of the large sea monster while gathering its leather, bones, and meat for future uses.
***
Unlike the previous time when they entered the throne room rather quickly without a problem, the doors to the throne room were now heavily guarded by over twenty royal guards.
The Guards stopped Chatterbox, Akira, and Varbu before they could reach the doors to the throne room and made sure to thoroughly disarm them before escorting them into the throne room.
Mileena and Maya were already inside the throne room standing to the side of the throne where the princesses sat on her mother''s lap crying into her mother''s bountiful chest.
Seeing Akira enter the throne room Queen Octoperssy left her throne and with Cora in her arms and swam over to him with several royal guards following after her.
¡°Thank you for saving my daughter. I don''t know what I would do if I had lost her as well,¡± said Queen Octoperssy as she gave a short elegant curtsy to Akira.
Her face was full of pain at the thought of how close they had been to having such a disastrous thing happen. Luckily it had been averted due to the help from Akira and his companions.
¡°I was only one of the people that helped,¡± said Akira not wanting to take all of the credit.
¡°Nonsense I was told by both Cora and a few guards that you were the one that cut her free and used your special skills to allow her to escape and you dealt the killing blow to the monster,¡± said the Queen.
Cora after hearing Akira''s voice stopped crying and turned her head to look at him. her eyes were still red from crying. Without a second thought, she leaned over from her mother and hugged Akira.
¡°Thank you for saving me, big brother! You really are strong,¡± said Cora still trying to sniff back a runny nose.
A few low cries of shock came from the guards as they watched the princess hug a land folk stranger. She even called him brother! The shock only lasted a second before the guards began clapping.
Akira placed his hand on her head and pat her a few times before replying, ¡°Any time.¡±
Ding!
This brought even more applause from the guards who loved the princesses very much and thought Akira''s actions were very manly. They also wanted to pat the cute princesses head...but that was out of the question for them.
¡°Your majesty, here are the item''s you requested,¡± said a guard carrying two boxes.
¡°Bring them here,¡± ordered the Queen.
Opening the box she pulled out a silvery scale mail shirt that seemed to change colors as it moved under the water.
¡°Please take this as a sign of my gratitude for saving my daughter,¡± said the Queen handing over the scale mail to Akira.
Ding!
Nine colored deadly Meep fish scale armor (Rare):
Durability: 80/80 Defense: 40
+20% to underwater movement.
Requires level 35 to wear.
Hidden stat reach Lvl 40 to unlock
|
¡°Go ahead and put it on,¡± said the Queen.
Akira took off his soaked and heavy Gambeson and Hauberk and put them back into his bag.
The scale armor slid right into place without any problems, It was almost a perfect fit a little big but it would allow him to have some breathing room when he transformed.
He moved his body testing the feeling of the new armor and was surprised at how lite the scale armor was compared to his previous armor.
As he buckled his sword belt the glimmering scales caught his eyes causing him to be hypnotized by the beautiful sight for a few seconds.
¡°I am honored to receive this outstanding armor,¡± said Akira with a bow to the Queen after coming back to his senses.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°I hope you will put it to good use very soon,¡± said the Queen as she opened the second box and pulled out a large white bone Bow along with a quiver of special arrows.
She turned to Maya who was watching everything with great interest.
¡°I heard that you''re skilled at using the bow but due to the nature of being underwater your current fighting power is lacking. With this, one of our special bows, you will be able to help your companions. If you ever need more arrows you can always come to the city of Nepttis and ask for them we would happily supply you with replacements to the ones lost or broken,¡± said the Queen handing Maya the bow and quiver of arrows.
¡°Thank you!¡± said Maya her eyes wide with excitement as she bowed to the Queen.
¡°As for gifts for the rest of you we are working on that right now you will have to wait a short while before we can get it to you, all I can give you now is my thanks,¡± said the Queen speaking to Varbu and Mileena.
¡°It''s not a problem,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I am honored to hear your words of thanks,¡± said Varbu thumping his chest in salute before bowing to the Queen.
¡°There is no more time to speak pleasantries with the current events. I don''t know exactly who was behind this attack but I have a feeling that it was our mortal enemy the sirens,¡± said the Queen.
A few gasps could be heard from the guards.
¡°We all know a creature of that size is not dumb enough to enter our city with the unreasonable purpose of capturing the princess unless it was being controlled by someone else. The only ones strong enough for something like this are the sirens. How much longer do you need until you can help the guards take care of the surrounding dungeons so the patrols can search for the culprit?¡± the Queen asked Akira.
¡°I need to repair some of our equipment before we can go anywhere and we need to rest before we go in order to be at our best. We should be ready to start tomorrow,¡± said Akira.
¡°Make sure the hunting team, as well as the search party, is fully equipped and ready at the gates by tomorrow morning,¡± ordered the Queen to a nearby captain of the Royal Guards.
¡°As you command your majesty,¡± said the captain while bowing.
***
[What''s taking so long did it manage to get the princesses or not?] asked the glowing words written by number 4.
It had been several hours since Ursa had informed number four that her pet had arrived at the city. The last thing it had transmitted through their connection was that it had found the princesses. It was surprising at how fast she had been found.
But after several hours of not hearing anything, she was now certain that the faint connection between them had been extinguished.
¡°I''m afraid that the plan failed somehow they were able to kill Cutie Ten,¡± said Ursa.
[Didn''t you say they would not be able to resist your pet?]
¡°With their current power unless they had help there is no way for them to have defeated my Cutie, he has already killed hundreds of mermaid warriors and thousands of other creatures.¡±
[This puts a cramp in our plans. I hope you won''t let them interfere with it any more than they already have.]
¡°Don''t worry we''ve been working on the dungeons near their cities to keep them occupied.¡±
[I hope you''re right, for your sake.] said number four before leaving the underwater cave.
¡°Who does he think he is talking to me that way,!? I''m the future Queen of the seas!¡± grumbled Ursa unhappily after making sure he was gone.
***
Akira sat at a table inside a large workroom the mermaids used for crafting and repairing their own armor and weapons.
The others were either sitting or standing nearby watching him.
He had just finished his patching up and hammering out the dents in everyone''s armor and had gained a few experience points from it. He was now looking over everything making sure he didn''t miss anything.
¡°Now for the weapons,¡± said Akira looking at the four weapons on the table.
He quickly fixed and sharpened Mileena''s daggers and handed them back to her, and then fixed his own sword.
His hand grabbed Maya''s new bow and inspected it. He had a few ideas on how to improve it with his new knowledge but needed to test something first.
¡°Maya come over here I need you to test something for me,¡± said Akira pulling out a gem from his bag and extending his hand to her.
¡°What is?¡± asked the curious Maya.
¡°It is a magic gem that has a skill inside it. I think it would be a good fit for you if you could use it,¡± said Akira handing Maya the wind magic gem.
¡°How do I use it?¡±
¡°I don''t know. Ask Varbu since he has one that can shoot fireballs. Just don''t point it at us when using it,¡± said Akira shrugging.
Varbu gave her a crash course and a few mumbo jumbo tips on how to use the gem before she was ready to test it out.
She held the gem in both hands and aimed it at the ground several feet away from everyone. Several minutes past with nothing to show.
Fwoosh! A green blade of wind cut through the water and gouged the stone floor.
¡°Ah I did it!¡± said Maya happily. She felt a little winded as if she just finished a light workout.
Akira nodded and took the gem back.
¡°You''re sure it''s okay if I modify your bow?¡± asked Akira.
¡°As long as you don''t break it,¡± said Maya nervously.
He sat down and using the knowledge he had leaned a few days ago from the books he read in the library he started to model an attachment for adding the gem to the bow.
It didn''t take more than ten minutes to finish.
Ding!
Modification complete!
Additional effect razor wind has been added.
All arrows shot from the bow have a power of the wind flying with them allowing them to fly farther and hit harder. The arrows will also cause slice damage from the skill along with the piercing damage of the arrow.
Needed mana to use skill has been lowered.
|
Pleased with the results Akira handed it to Maya and had her shoot a few arrows.
Each arrow shot from the bow had a green glow surrounding it as it swished through the water as if it were not there.
¡°Don''t overdo it since the skill requires you to use up a lot of your energy,¡± warned Akira.
¡°I''ll keep that in mind,¡± said Maya happily shooting another arrow.
¡°Varbu?¡± asked Akira turning to the tall Orc.
¡°I don''t mind but I won''t be able to put it to use with all this water around us,¡± said Varbu handing Akira the fire gem.
Another ten minutes passed before he received another notification.
Ding!
Modification complete!
Additional effect Explosive fire has been added.
Fireballs can now be shot from the head of the Quarterstaff.
New special ways to use the skill find them all!
Needed mana to use skill has been lowered.
|
After inspecting it Akira handed the quarterstaff back to Varbu.
¡°You should have no problem using the skill whenever you want,¡± said Akira.
Varbu didn''t say anything and just looked at Akira''s handiwork for a few seconds before giving a satisfied nod.
¡°With this, we''re all ready for tomorrow. I''m not sure what we''ll be fighting but we should get some sleep so we can deal with whatever it is,¡± said Akira.
¡°Okay we''ll see you in the morning,¡± said Maya as the two sisters separated from Akira and Varbu to head to their separate guest room.
Chapter 88: Just a bit of spring cleaning
Akira and Varbu stood at the gates near the palace inspecting their armor and weapons one last time as they waited for Mileena and Maya to get ready for the days hunt.
According to the mermaid palace workers it was early morning, but Akira wouldn''t be able to tell if it was or not due to being so deep underwater so far away from the sun.
While they waited Akira continued to practice the new movement technique trying to get the last bit of practice in before going to the dungeons.
Ten minutes past before Mileena and Maya exited the gates and joined them.
¡°All ready? Then let''s go to the main gates,¡± said Akira making sure everyone had their armor and weapons in peak condition.
They were able to travel through the sparsely populated early morning streets quickly and reach the city''s main gates without a problem.
Chatterbox was waiting near the gates where two groups of mermaids were making one last check on their equipment.
¡°Good morning, I hope you guys have good luck with your clearing of the dungeons,¡± said Chatterbox.
¡°What are you not coming with us?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No, I''m in charge of the search group today. Have to keep a watch on the sirens as well to make sure they don''t try anything.¡±
Their short conversation was interrupted as a gray beard mermaid warrior swam over to the four.
¡°Are you the four that will be helping us?¡± asked the veteran warrior inspecting them.
¡°Yes, my name is Akira. This is Varbu, Mileena, and Maya,¡± said Akira introducing everyone.
¡°I am Orman. I will be the leader of this operation. If you need anything come ask me. I have heard great things about you from the Queen mainly that you saved the princess. We of the mermaid race thank you for that. I have a few questions I need to be answered before we can go in order to understand where to put you so that we can all work as efficiently as possible. How experienced are you with clearing dungeons?¡± asked Orman.
¡°We have cleared several dungeons mostly small to lower medium,¡± answered Akira.
Orman nodded his head, ¡°Have you fought in any of the underwater dungeons? Do you have any specialty that would help the team out?¡±
¡°This will be our first time in such a dungeon. In our group, we have a good range of fighting skills, tank, ranged, burst, and brute force.¡±
¡°Very well, we only have three free seahorse mounts so two of you will have to ride together.¡±
¡°Mileena and I will share a mount,¡± said Maya.
¡°Although the mounts may look far different than what you are used to, you don''t have to worry they are far easier to ride than a horse. Now that you''re here we can leave and start,¡± said Orman.
¡°I heard from the Queen that we are to help clear dungeons that are close to overflowing but did not hear how many there was, do you know the number?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I lost count a while ago, but don''t worry, most of them are minor dungeons. You don''t need to worry, It''s just a bit of spring cleaning and with your help we can clear several of them in a day, speeding up the process.¡±
Akira and the others were speechless they knew how tough even small dungeons could be. Were all mermaids so carefree that they would call clearing dungeons spring cleaning?
Ding!
Quest spring cleaning started!
The Queen has asked you to join Orman''s team in clearing dungeons that are close to overflowing. Don''t get careless.
Reward: a special gift from the Queen.
Rank D+
|
¡°Alright everyone mount up!¡± ordered Orman.
Thirty mermaid warriors as one mounted their seahorse mounts waiting for further orders.
Akira and the others found the three empty mounts left for them. One of them was larger than the others it was clearly brought out for carrying Varbu.
They hopped up into the empty saddles and familiarized themselves with the unique experience.
¡°Move out!¡± shouted Orman after seeing the four land folk were ready.
Akira urged his seahorse to follow the others and was amazed at how much of a different experience it was from riding a horse. Instead of the uncomfortable canter of a horse that one was forced to get used to, the seahorse just glided through the water making for a smooth and enjoyable ride.
While riding to the first dungeon Akira was able to get to know some of the mermaid warriors nearest him. Most of the group were professionals at clearing dungeons and had many scars and battle wounds that showed off their many battles they had been in and won.
¡°What type of dungeons are underwater dungeons?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Mostly small dark caves with a few odd mutated sea creatures. The medium to large dungeons are quite rare. The problem we have is there are far too many smaller dungeons which makes it harder to keep up with clearing them. The scouts try to make sure nothing is wrong in our territory while also reporting any dungeons they find to us. We have such a large backlog,¡± said Kaerio the second in command to Orman.
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Kaerio was someone who Akira had gotten on friendly terms with when he learned Akira was the one that saved the princess.
A few hours passed before they reached their first dungeon.
¡°Halt! We will use the normal 10, 5, 15 formation,¡± ordered Orman as he hopped off his seahorse.
Akira had a confused expression and looked to Kaerio for an explanation.
¡°Ten people guard the seahorses and the entrance to the dungeon. Five people stay inside the dungeon but near the entrance so they can help either the warriors outside or the fifteen that go inside.¡±
¡°Why split up like that?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°In recent months there have been numerous attacks on our seahorses whenever we would enter the dungeons to clear them. Someone or something has been either stealing or killing our mounts making it harder for us to take care of the dungeons so we have been forced to take preventive measures,¡± explained Kaerio.
¡°Everyone will be on a rotation shift between fighting in the dungeon, support, and guard duty so we can all be at our best when fighting. You land folk will join the 15 of us that will be entering the dungeon so that you can get some experience,¡± said Orman interrupting the conversation they were having.
¡°Although we need to hurry and clear as many as we can today do not get careless or you will lose your life because you never know what might be inside. Let''s go,¡± said Orman.
The warning was more of a reminder to the new members of the dungeon clearing team than for the veteran members who had experienced many battles already.
Akira and Varbu were placed near the front to help defend and destroy any monsters inside the dungeon. The mermaids in the front line all used large seashell shields that glowed brightly in the water lighting up the surrounding area.
They did not need any sort of lanterns due to most of the warriors having weapons and armor that glowed lighting up the surrounding dark caves inside.
Mileena was given the task of supporting the team of fighters, while Maya was positioned in the rear the safest position so that she could support the team along with the few other archers who were in charge of sniping troublesome monsters with their arrows.
As soon as they entered the dungeon they were attacked by several creatures that looked similar to the crab men that they had fought over a week ago.
[Primitive Crabman Lvl 30] Akira nodded his head he was unsure what the difference between the two types was but his guess was right that they did have a connection.
Like Kaerio had said the dungeon was rather small there were only two rooms in this dungeon and had almost 50 [Primitive Crabman] crammed inside.
Akira was amazed at the skill and power of the mermaid''s attacks as he fought alongside them. He was able to hone his own skills to a higher level while fighting underwater and received a good chunk of experience and coins from killing the [Primitive Crabman]. If he continued like this then he could level up soon.
They spent the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon clearing one small dungeon after another discovering many odd-looking sea creatures.
There were no boss creatures in any of the dungeons that they cleared so far, and the experience gain was just like Akira had expected maybe even more than he could have hoped for he had already leveled up once and was now level 36 and was close to leveling up again!
Now that it was the afternoon Orman had decided to switch Akira and the others to guard duty to let them have some rest and let some of the other mermaid warriors get some exercise.
Besides Akira and co there were 6 other mermaids outside with them guarding the seahorses and the entrance to the dungeon.
They were currently eating a late afternoon lunch, a meat and seaweed sandwich while they took turns patrolling the area surrounding the dungeon.
To Akira, it was still an odd thing to eat underwater but he had grown used to it. The only thing he did not like was that everything had a salty taste to it due to the ocean and there was little to no other spices for flavoring.
¡°Danger!¡± shouted Kaerio who had also been put on guard duty with Akira and co.
Akira dropped his sandwich and grabbed his sword and shield leaving his half-eaten food to slowly sink to the ocean floor where a few fish interested in it started to nibble away at it until it was gone.
Akira made his way over to Kaerio and saw what he was looking at.
A large group of what looked to be Hammerhead sharks were swimming towards them. Akira inspected them to see what they were [Bonehead shark Lvl 35].
¡°Muen, go ask the support team to come and help!¡± ordered Kaerio.
Muen swam off quickly as soon as he received the order and was back within a minute with the five other warriors just in time to help intercept the [Bonehead sharks] and stop them from getting close to the seahorses.
Akira was unfamiliar with such creatures so he played it safe and stood still letting the [Bonehead sharks] come to him.
The [Bonehead shark] who had its eyes on Akira saw this as a challenge to its power and surged forward.
Although Mileena and the two other mermaid archers shot arrows at the charging [Bonehead sharks] they were all blocked when the [Bonehead sharks] used their large bony heads as a shield for the rest of their unarmored body.
Bam! The [Bonehead shark] slammed into Akira driving him back down to the seabed creating a small crater. The [Bonehead shark] turned around to swim away and start another charge.
But as soon as it did a blue light slammed into and cut open its unprotected stomach.
It was a fatal blow that did not kill it immediately, but it was now leaking blood and guts because of the skill [sword slash] and would die soon even if Akira did not finish it off.
Just to be on the safe side Akira exited the crater his sword darting forward and impaled the sharks exposed heart killing it.
The sound of battle was coming from everywhere.
Mileena was helping Maya fight a [Bonehead shark] by luring it into a position that let Maya shoot its vital organs without the [Bonehead shark] being able to block the arrows with its head.
Varbu jumped from the ground and launched himself towards one of the [Bonehead sharks] using his full strength and slamming his quarterstaff into the head of [Bonehead shark].
Crack! The sound Varbu''s attack added to the multiple other sounds of the life and death battle. The [Bonehead shark] he had chosen to fight was forced to a stop form the powerful attack and swam in a dizzy circle for a few seconds trying to get its head straight.
A large crack on the [Bonehead shark''s] bony head could be seen where he had attacked it.
Again Varbu launched himself from the ground and let the [Bonehead shark] get a good taste of getting clobbered to death.
With the support warriors and Akira''s group, they were able to defeat the last of the [Bonehead sharks].
¡°Look someones swimming away,¡± shouted Mileena pointing towards a distant blurry figure that looked similar to a mermaid.
¡°Damn I knew it was the Sirens behind these attacks! Support you stay here and protect the rest of the mounts the rest of you we must chase after them we can not let them get away!¡± shouted Kaerio.
The rest of the group including Akira and co. hopped onto their seahorses and chased after the distant figure that was trying to escape from them.
They were unable to get close enough to capture them due to the siren getting onto their own mount and started to lead them on a wild chase that lasted for over an hour. They managed to always stay out of range of any attacks.
The group was forced to stop as they watched the siren escape into a large cave structure some distance ahead of them.
¡°Darn it! We can''t chase them in there since we have no clue what could be waiting for us inside,¡± cursed a mermaid warrior.
¡°Don''t worry, we know where they are so we can come back later with the rest of the group,¡± said Kaerio.
¡°True.¡±
¡°Let''s hurry and head back, the faster we report this the faster we can come back and capture whoever it is hiding in there.¡±
Chapter 89: Dungeon investigation
¡°What did you find that was so important that you left your post and chased after it?¡± asked Orman.
¡°Sir, we found out It was one of those blasted sirens that led the attack on us while you were inside clearing the dungeon. If you think about it all the earlier attacks might have been controlled by them as well¡± said Kaerio.
¡°Where are they? Did you capture them?¡± asked Orman searching for the siren.
¡°No, they escaped into a dungeon before we could catch up to them. I decided it was safer to return and report our findings to you. I left Nesasa hidden near the dungeon to keep an eye on it to make sure they don''t leave the dungeon unnoticed.¡±
¡°Show me which one it is,¡± said Orman taking out a thick leather map from his saddle. He unfurled the map and placed it on a nearby rock so that everyone could see.
¡°Right here this one,¡± said Kaerio pointing to a dungeon on the map.
¡°One of the big three? We already knew about this dungeon and two other large dungeons but since the last inspection reported that it was in no danger of overflowing the Queen decided that we should focus on the smaller dungeons. But I didn''t know that the sirens were messing around inside them. Alright! Let''s take care of this problem before it grows bigger and bites us in the tail. Everyone mount up!¡± ordered Orman as he rolled the map back up and placed it back into its holder.
***
The dungeon hunting party made good time and met up with Nesasa who had been stealthily watching the dungeon entrance.
¡°Report,¡± ordered Orman.
¡°Sir, there has been no activity near the entrance. I believe that the siren is still hiding inside,¡± said Nesasa with a salute.
¡°Very well. Since this dungeon is on the larger size it will be better if we have more people inside to clear it. Support team, you will be responsible for taking care of the seahorses. With the siren trapped inside, there should be no attacks but just in case I need you to be on guard. The rest of you will follow me into the dungeon,¡± ordered Orman.
With this order 25 mermaid warriors along with Akira''s group followed Orman into the dungeon leaving only five warriors to guard the seahorses.
Ding!
Entered Meat lovers dungeon.
Quest update! Spring cleaning 2:
Help Orman clear the remaining dungeons.
|
The name of the dungeon caused Akira some confusion but it was soon cleared up by Orman.
¡°Everyone be careful the monsters inside are nasty little buggers that will eat any type of meat. They will even eat their own mothers.¡±
Akira''s was interested in seeing what type of monster would even eat its own mother.
The team''s formation was still the same as they had been using to clear the other dungeons but now they had more people to fill any gaps that may appear.
Ten warriors plus Akira were placed in front to help defend against and funnel the monsters to the ten warriors including Mileena and Varbu who would kill the monsters quickly. The remaining five warriors, as well as Maya, were ranged support with the task of helping either the defenders or the attackers when it was needed.
It didn''t take long before they encountered the monsters that inhabited the dungeon.
As soon as Akira and the other shield warriors exited the small hallway they had been walking down and entered a large underwater cave room they were attacked.
With the bright glow of the mermaid warriors shields and armor Akira was able to see what was attacking them.
Bam! A large and swift monster darted in and slammed into Akira''s shield that was blocking its path forward. Akira watched the large monster bounce off of his shield as he inspected the strange-looking thing.
[Mini Piranha Lvl 36]
''What part of that is mini?'' thought Akira as he looked at the fat watermelon-sized fish.
It was a very ugly lopsided looking fish. With its head being the largest part of its body and the rest of its body was rather skinny and small. The head contained its deadliest weapon several rows of razor-sharp teeth made for eating meat.
Several [Mini Piranha] swam in slow circles in front of Akira inspecting him for a few short seconds before launching another attack on him.
Bam!Bam! They kept ramming into his shield trying to get past it to take a bite out of him or one of the less defended mermaids behind, but Akira stood firm and continued to block their path forward.
Swish! An arrow with a green wind cut through the water and pierced through two of the [Mini Piranha] that had been trying to swim above the defenders. Maya was as sharp as ever.
With the large group of fighters, they were able to successfully funnel the [Mini Piranha] to the attackers where Varbu and Mileena help pulverize them.
¡°Good work everyone. If we continue to fight this well, we''ll be able to capture the siren without anyone getting hurt,¡± said Orman.
They continued to move through the network of caves clearing out all the [Mini Piranha] whenever they appeared.
¡°Halt,¡± ordered Orman holding up his hand to stop everyone behind him.
¡°Looks like this might be the last room. There''s something moving on the opposite side of the room, it might be the Siren. You landfolk need to be careful. Sirens have voices that can charm others to do their bidding,¡± warned Orman.
When the group entered the large cave the movement on the other side of the cave stopped as it quickly hid behind a row of large stalagmites.
They moved forward slowly making sure that there were no other monsters in the cave.
Swish! Something shot out from above the stalagmites and reached the defenders before they could react.
¡°AHH...!¡± came the pained cry of a warrior as he was bitten in half. The only thing left was his tail.
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[Mother Piranha lvl 38]
Akira was able to see the attacking monster before it darted back behind the stalagmites. It was a large fish as big as an average adult human.
¡°%^&*. Everyone back away from its hiding spot,¡± shouted Orman.
The [Mother Piranha] did not want its prey to escape before it was full, so before they could move away it launched itself at another mermaid warrior its large mouth open wide enough to swallow a mermaid whole.
Shadow chains shot out of the ground and bit into the [Mother Piranha] stopping it only a few feet away from the pale-faced veteran who had hardened his heart to die fighting.
The [Mother Piranhas] large Jaws snapped closed several times right in front of the mermaid warrior as it tried to get free and eat him.
The terrified mermaid warrior came to his senses and swam over to the rest of the mermaid warriors as they prepared to attack after recovering from their shock.
Akira used his skill [Cross attack] and sent a blue X flying towards the [Mother Piranha''s] weaker rear end.
The [Mother Piranha] continued to struggle against the shadow chains and was able to break free. There was little room for it to escape from the fast-approaching attack with all of the mermaid warriors surrounding it from every other side as well as above and below.
The [Mother Piranha] moved towards the attack the only exit and was able to avoid a fatal wound as the attack slammed into its tail and cutting it off from its body.
With its tail cut off, its speed had been drastically reduced and it was leaking a large amount of blood now.
Looking at Akira the [Mother Piranha] snapped its large jaws in anger and swam towards him ready to eat him alive.
Bam! Akira jumped to the side and used [Shield Bash] slamming his shield to the side of its head as it passed him, stunning it.
¡°Now''s the time to avenge Bout''s death attack and kill this fish!¡± shouted Orman.
Everyone swarmed the [Mother Piranha] and continued to pierce its body with their different weapons.
Varbu with his brute force helped Akira keep the [Mother Piranha] in a constant dazed state by slamming his quarterstaff into its head.
Mileena darted in and used her daggers to stab the [Mother Piranha] eyes blinding it as blood flowed out.
The [Mother Piranha] began to thrash around angrily blindly biting at anything in front of it.
¡°AHH,¡± one unlucky warrior had his arm bitten off as he was attacking the [Mother Piranha]. His sword pierced into the roof of its mouth and became stuck causing the [Mother Piranha] to be even angrier and unable to close its mouth fully without causing itself more pain. Maya sent several arrows into its mouth further enraging it.
Akira used this moment to send a [sword slash] aimed at the opened [Mother Piranha] mouth.
Swoosh! The lower jaw of the [Mother Piranha] was sliced off in an instant. Causing it to thrash around now even more desperate to escape it slammed its body into one of the Stalagmites killing a mermaid warrior by breaking his back before he could escape.
¡°We can do this! It''s almost dead,¡± shouted Orman.
Akira jumped up towards a stalactite on the ceiling and with a roar launched himself off of it shooting towards the thrashing [Mother Piranha] below him. His sword carrying his full strength and the speed from his jump allowed him to penetrate its head with his sword slamming into its brain killing it immediately.
Ding!
Mother Piranha killed!
Level up!
You are now level 37.
|
Akira''s had shot out and gathered a blue magic stone and a few coins before anyone noticed.
¡°We''ll take care of the dead after we find the siren. Ten of you search the right the other ten will search the left we''ll flush out the siren wherever they''re hiding,¡± said Orman as he and five warriors swam to the hallway to block the exit making sure to not allow the siren a chance to escape.
They carefully searched the whole cave but were unable to find anyone.
¡°I''m sure that they didn''t exit out of the hole while I was watching,¡± said Nesasa.
¡°Keep looking this is the only place they could be since they did not pass us when we entered,¡± said Orman.
A group of mermaids swam towards the ceiling to search behind the stalactites and cried out in excitement.
¡°I found a hole!¡±
Everyone swam over to the hole and gathered around it looking up into it. It was large enough to let two people walk/swim abreast.
¡°We can''t just sit here gawking at the hole everyone one in!¡± ordered Orman.
With the order given, no one hesitated and they all entered the hole.
Akira entered and swam up a short distance it started to curve and level out and heading left. They travel for over half an hour down the tight tunnel.
¡°Halt!¡± shouted Orman.
Akira looked to the front to see the reason they had stopped. Orman stood next to a hole in the ground not unlike the one they had used to enter the tunnel. The tunnel still continued left but the siren may have escaped into the cave below.
¡°Looks like another large cave. I can''t see anything inside but we shouldn''t test out luck we should keep moving forward.¡±
¡°I''ll go scout it out,¡± said a young mermaid warrior.
¡°Wait!¡± shouted Orman.
But it was too late as soon as the young warrior enter the cave he was grabbed by a glowing tail. A yellow light flashed and electrocuted the warrior frying his brain and guts.
[Electrifying electric eel lvl 39].
The giant tail of the [Electrifying electric eel] slammed into the small hole trying to capture the other people hiding inside.
¡°Damn it! No one go near that hole let''s keep moving. I doubt that the siren could tame that creature. We''ll have to come back later with a larger group to kill it.¡±
Everyone Swam to top of the tunnel and hugged the wall as they pass the hole to continue forward.
¡°I think I see the exit up ahead,¡± said a mermaid as they swam towards the light at the end of the dark tunnel.
As they exited the tunnel...Flash! They were blinded by a bright white light.
¡°Ahhhh!¡±
Akira huddled behind his shield trying to regain his sight hear someone scream in pain as they were attacked.
¡°You fools may have been able to get past my first pet but did you think you would be able to catch me so easily?¡± asked a harsh voice.
Akira opened his eyes and blinked several times. As his blurry light cleared from his eyes he was able to see what was in front of them. There was a cloaked figure sitting on the back of an even more ugly large fish than the ones before. It had a thick drooping antenna growing out of its head with a large glowing ball attached at the end.
[Domesticated lantern fish lvl 38]
¡°You and your fellow sisters are the fools for causing problems for the Queen. Surrender now and we will allow you a peaceful death,¡± ordered Orman.
¡°Never! My loyal pet attack them!¡± ordered the siren.
The glowing ball on its antenna began to grow brighter as the [Domesticated lantern fish] moved forward.
Everyone in the small cavern room was skilled enough to understand what was happening and closed their eyes before another bright flash went through the room.
There were still a few people who were too slow and were temporarily blinded. The rest formed a battle line to receive the charging [Domesticated lantern fish].
Akira stabbed out with his sword and damaged the [Domesticated lantern fish] as it passed by. The Siren lashed out at Akira with her spear as she passed forcing him to block with his shield. Bam!
The [Domesticated lantern fish] was controlled by the siren to turn and circle around to try another place to attack. It started to gather light in its ball again to blind them just before it swam forward to attack.
It was hard to keep their eyes open to attack and defend due to the constant flash of light whenever the [Domesticated lantern fish] swam towards them. Forcing them to have to keep dodging.
With the fast movement and the constant flash Varbu and Mileena unable to deal any good attacks.
Akira used the skill [Sword slash] with his eyes half closed sending the attack towards the [Domesticated lantern fish] but the attack was dodged.
After several other Mermaid warriors were wounded by the spear of the Siren Orman and Keario decided to take the thing head on and swam in front of the [Domesticated lantern fish] causing it to crash into their weapons taking large damage on either side.
Two green wind arrows are shot out from behind the mermaid warriors and slam into the sirens shoulders knocking her off of her saddle and nailing her into a stalactite.
Without the siren sitting on its back, the [Domesticated lantern fish] stopped moving due to not receiving any new commands.
Akira jumped forward and used the skill [Cross attack] to separate the head of the [Domesticated lantern fish] from the rest of its body.
Ding!
Killed Domesticated lantern fish!
Level up!
You are now level 38.
|
Akira quickly scooped up the coins and another magic stone into his bag while the others were catching their breath and looking at the last enemy in the room.
They all cautiously swam over to the Siren who is pinned to the stalactite making sure to stay on guard for any unexpected pets that may show up. But after a short search of the room, they found nothing else.
¡°Who''s the fool now? You''re going to start talking or things will become even worse for you,¡± said Orman.
Chapter 90: The most beautiful thing under the ocean
The weakened siren opened her mouth to try and speak but the mermaid warrior next to her hurriedly covered her mouth stopping her from using her voice to try and hypnotize them.
¡°We will not allow you to use any of your tricks. If you want your life to be more comfortable, speak clearly or we''ll force it out of you,¡± said Orman.
The siren shut her mouth and began struggling, trying to escape from the stalactite she was pinned to.
¡°Okay, you picked the less comfortable way. It''s fine with me just don''t complain later that customer service is lacking,¡± said Orman.
With a wave of his hand, two mermaids grabbed her arms and another took the arrows out of her arms the three mermaids dragged her to the back of the cave behind a few stalactites.
¡°We''ll be done with our interrogation in a bit you guys keep watch on the entrance and make sure that nothing tries to ambush us,¡± said Kaerio.
Several minutes passed where the only sound that came from behind the stalactite was that of quiet movement. The quiet voices did not reach anyone guarding the entrance.
¡°Stop her she''s trying to commit suicide,¡± came the voice of Orman breaking the silence as a struggle could be heard in the back of the room.
It was another ten minutes until the mermaids came back with the hooded siren tied up and not moving.
Akira was curious what a siren looked like and tried to get a look under the hood but was stopped by Kaerio as he pulled the hood down farther.
¡°Trust me you do not want to look at a siren it''s not good for your health. Ugly things,¡± said Kaerio shaking his head as if to get the image of the sirens face out of his mind.
¡°What did she say?¡± asked Akira.
¡°She''s just a low-level grunt that either doesn''t know much or won''t give any more info even if we kill her. But what we did get out of her is troubling. We need to get out of here first then I''ll explain later.¡± said Orman.
Akira and Co. followed the mermaids as they backtracked down the tunnel and carefully avoided the hole leading to the cave with the hiding [Electrifying electric eel] and exited the dungeon.
The support mermaids guarding the entrance and the seahorse mounts greeted them when they returned.
¡°Did we lose people again?¡± asked one of the support warriors seeing the bodies off two people brought out.
¡°Nothing we could do, there were some nasty things inside there. We have a bigger problem and I need you five to go back to the city and ask for reinforcements we have to go and clear a large dungeon that is close to literally exploding. While you''re at it take her with you and make sure you don''t let your guard down. Even though she is bound and gagged if she gets the chance she could cause strife between you and escape,¡± said Orman pushing the bound siren forward.
The support team made sure to secure the siren to a stretcher behind one their mounts making sure to use more straps than normal to be sure that she could not cause any problems.
The few warriors that had received serious wounds were also more gently strapped onto different stretchers.
¡°Are you going to wait here or do you want us to meet up somewhere else with the reinforcements?¡± asked Kaerio who had taken command of the support team.
¡°We''ll be waiting at Reed city. Make sure to let them know that this is no joke and the whole kingdom is in danger!¡± said Orman.
¡°Will do commander,¡± said Kaerio as he sat down onto his mount, ¡°You heard the commander, we need to hurry back as fast as we can.¡±
***
A dark cave in a remote area of the ocean floor.
¡°Your majesty I have lost contact with Rease.¡±
¡°Who?¡±
¡°She is the one who was put in charge of the three connected dungeons. You sent her out to harass the pompous mermaid warriors.¡±
¡°Why are you telling me this? Get to the point.¡±
¡°Before we lost contact with her she sent a message that she had failed and was being chased by the mermaids. I''m afraid she was caught and...she might have leaked the plans...¡±
¡°Useless! Do I have to do everything myself? We can not allow them to interfere now that we are so close! Go send a message to those nearest to it and tell them to stop those damn mermaids from getting anywhere near it. If they see Rease tell them to make sure to bring her back so I can thoroughly discipline her.¡±
¡°Yes, right away, your majesty.¡±
***
The dungeon hunting team had reached Reed city several hours ago and had been resting and waiting for the mermaid reinforcements.
The underwater city of Reed was small as it had started out as a military fort used by the patrolling mermaids as a rest stop but it had grown into a small town with the civilians that had migrated to the city over the many years.
¡°....as I was saying the sirens are planning something dangerous with the old inactive volcano not far from our kingdom. The information we were able to get out of the captured siren wasn''t clear on the reasons why they are messing with it but if they succeed... the results will be too terrifying to mention. If they are able to reawaken it, it will not just affect our kingdom but it will also affect the landfolk. Earthquakes and tsunamis will be the least of our problems,¡± said Orman.
¡°Are you sure that what she gave you was not fake information to try and make you all run around in a frenzied circle,¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Trust me our ability to extract information from someone is very accurate.¡±
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
A knock on the office door interrupted their conversation and the door opened before anyone could answer.
¡°Commander the reinforcements have arrived. We are ready to take care of whatever problem there is that is endangering our kingdom!¡± said Kaerio saluting.
¡°Good, inform everyone we will be leaving immediately. I''ll explain the details of what we must do while we travel to the destination,¡± said Orman.
***
The large group of over 100 mermaid warriors on their seahorse mounts was an eye-catching sight causing both Mileena and Maya to be awestruck at the mass of glowing scales and glittering armor.
According to Kaerio they would be reaching the dormant Kapoom volcano soon.
Out in the distant water, Akira heard a melodic tune that reached his ears. The music was quite pleasing to the ears and seemed to have a nice calming effect.
¡°What''s this music?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Music? I don''t hear....¡± Kaerio stopped talking as he cocked his head listening to something that was just brought to his attention.
¡°Ambush! Cover your ears! Especially you two land folk males we don''t need you going crazy on us!¡± shouted Kaerio.
The mermaids all experienced with fighting against the sirens sound attacks always carried special earplugs to nullify them allowing them to fight normally.
Both Varbu and Akira looked at each other, not sure what to do and just decided to plug their ears with their fingers.
Multiple dark blobs appeared in the distance they were coming towards them at a fast speed.
¡°Defensive formation! We are strong enough to hold off anything that comes at us don''t let their tricks get to your head!¡± ordered Orman.
The group of enemies numbered over 100 Sharkmen. They were being led by four hooded Sirens who were swimming at the front of the group using their voices attacks to try and ensnare anyone who had their ears unprotected.
The mermaid warriors were ready for them and met the assault head-on. Crash! The two sides began the life and death struggle each one trying to kill the other.
Akira and Varbu stood to the side of the fight with their ears still plugged. They could not help much right now due to the current predicament they were in.
Mileena and Maya stood next to them ready to protect them and fight off anything that got close.
A small group of sharkmen lead by one of the Sirens spotted the out of place landfolk and decided to capture them for the true Queen of the sea as new pets for her majesties amusement.
As the large group drew closer it looked like the two girls would be forced to fight the group alone. But Akira and Varbu''s sense of honor made it so they could not stand still and keep their fingers in their ears while others fought in front of them.
They readied their weapons and hardened their hearts to ignore any sound from the sirens.
Akira watched as the Sirens mouth began to move and an extremely pleasing voice reached his ears.
[Friend''s why are you pointing your weapon at me? Have I done something to make you angry?] asked the silky voice which had to be the most beautiful voice Akira and Varbu he had ever heard.
''Had she done anything to anger him? Not that he could remember. So why am I planning to use my sword against her?'' thought Akira.
[Why don''t you two put down your weapons and come over here we can talk this over in comfort back at my place. What do you think?]
''No I can''t discard my weapon since I needed it to protect myself and everyone else, but I don''t need to point it at her,'' though Akira as both he and Varbu lowered their weapons still unwilling to drop them.
[See we are all friends no need to fight. Come let''s talk.]
''Why do the mermaids hate them so much they seem to be such nice people,'' thought Akira as he stepped forward.
¡°You two stop those idiots from getting themselves killed!¡± shouted Orman after seeing what was happening he could not do anything as he was currently engaged in a fight with three different sharkemen.
¡°How?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Just hit them until they snap out of it.¡±
¡°Akira, Varbu, stop!¡± both Maya and Mileena tried to stop them but they were shoved away.
[You wenches stop trying to interfere!] said the siren her voice gaining a sharp murderous edge when she talked to Mileena and Maya.
Akira and Varbu paused for a second due to the sudden outburst from the siren.
[Don''t worry you can ignore them and come over to me. We have so much stuff to talk about!] said the siren as she took down her hood to reveal her face.
Could such beauty really exist? Who said that sirens were ugly? Kaerio must have been lying earlier.
The two slowly moved forward in dazed dodging Mileena and Maya.
When they were halfway to the beautiful siren who held her hand out for them to reach when two green arrows shot past them.
The siren was able to dodge one of the arrows which flew by and sliced through several sharkmen hiding behind her.
But the second one pierced through her unprotected through. Causing the sound that came out of her mouth to be nothing but garbled nonsense.
Mileena dashed forward and her daggers stabbed into the Sirens chest piercing her heart and killing her in an instant before the sharkmen could even move to protect her.
The other three sirens let out screeches of anger at seeing their sister being killed.
¡°Disgusting,¡± said Mileena as she retreated.
Several mermaids leaped forward to protect the four landfolk from the enraged Sirens.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Akira angrily.
¡°She just wanted to talk,¡± said Varbu just as angry.
Pa! Pa! Mileena smacked Akira across the face while Maya did the same to Varbu.
¡°Ouch!¡± Pa! Pa!
¡°Stop that!¡± said Akira catching Mileena''s hand after the third hit to his face.
¡°Are you back to your normal self?¡± asked Mileena readying her other hand to smack him again.
¡°I''ve been my usual self the whole time. You''re the one that went crazy and started smacking me for no reason in the middle of a battle. Where did the siren go? Did we kill her?¡± asked Akira. For some reason, he was very hyped up his heart was pumping blood extremely fast and his body was filled with a large amount of Adrenalin.
¡°That thing over there hypnotized you and Varbu,¡± said Mileena pointing at the floating body of the dead siren.
Akira looked and immediately puked out his previous meal. The cause was both from the waning aftereffects of the sirens attack and the hideous thing the siren called a face.
Ding!
Where had the beautiful face of the siren gone? Was it all an illusion?
The fight died down after another siren was killed and the remaining two decided to make a hasty retreat after not finding their captured sister. They ordered the sharkmen to fight to the death to allow them to escape.
It didn''t take long for the mermaid warriors to wipe them all out the sharkmen had become nothing more than a barbaric mob without the orders from the sirens.
Akira and Varbu walked over to Orman who was cleaning his weapon and checking his warriors to see how many injuries or deaths they had suffered.
¡°You two are lucky you have such good bodies. Otherwise, your hearts would have exploded due to the nature of the sirens voice attacks. It causes your body to go into overdrive trying to fight the sound that is tricking your brain until it can no longer handle it and it bursts,¡± said Orman.
¡°Sorry, this was my first time ever experiencing something like that,¡± said Akira sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
¡°It is also my fault as well since I did not give you anything to protect yourself against their attacks I didn''t plan on them ambushing us. Here take these. I can''t guarantee that we can protect you if it happens again,¡± said Orman handing both Akira and Varbu an extra pair of earplugs.
Orman turned to the mermaid warriors and gave an order, ¡°Everyone wounded head back to Reed city and inform them of what happened. Everyone else will follow me and we will continue towards Kapoom.¡±
Chapter 91: Kapoom
The small group of mermaid warriors had already reached the outskirts of the Kapoom volcano near the deserted city of Seabenleaken but they didn''t move any closer since there were numerous guards near the volcanoes entrance.
Of the 100 warriors that had set out to fight only 80 were uninjured from the fight with the sharkmen not including Akira and his companions.
¡°How many do you think are there?¡± asked Kaerio as they watched thirty sharkmen swim back and forth in front of the entrance.
¡°We killed over 100 of them earlier so that should have been a large portion of the sirens minions that are close enough to do anything. We shouldn''t have any problem if we just go full power and clean up the rest,¡± said Orman.
¡°We''ll do whatever you need us to do,¡± said Akira.
¡°Alright, we''ll go in with our normal formation! Let''s take care of these weaklings blocking our path,¡± said Orman trying to raise the mermaid''s morale even higher.
With a motion of his hand, the mermaid warriors gave a battle shout and charged forward on their mounts headed straight for the patrolling sharkmen.
Hearing the shouts the sharkmen turned to look at the charging mermaids and after seeing a large number of enemies they chose to retreat to the entrance in order to fend off the approaching enemy instead of the open ground they had been patrolling.
The speed of the mermaid warriors on mounts was faster than the sharkmen, before they could reach the entrance the mermaid warriors slammed into the retreating Sharkmen as they tried to retreat.
The sharkmen were quickly taken care of before they could even put up any form of resistance.
¡°Scout, go check and see what''s inside and report back to me!¡± ordered Orman.
A few moments after the scout entered Kapoom''s entrance he came back and quietly delivered his findings to Orman.
¡°Everyone we''ll enter the dungeon now. Support you can keep watch of the seahorses inside also since there is enough room.¡±
Ding!
You have entered the Kapoom dungeon!
|
¡°Who dares enter my dungeon!¡± came the crackly voice of someone in the far corner of the large cavernous entrance room.
¡°We have come to stop whatever you sirens have cooked up. We will not allow you to cause any harm to the residents of the ocean! Attack!¡± Shouted Orman.
¡°Naive mermaids you can not stop us! My minions kill them!¡± ordered the siren before hiding herself again in the shadows of the dungeon.
Over 40 more sharkmen swam out of the only tunnel connected to the room and headed straight for the mermaid warriors. But they were no match for the mermaid warriors who were already warmed up and were quickly exterminated.
¡°Search for the siren she''s here somewhere,¡± ordered Orman. but after several minutes they were still unable to find her.
¡°Forget about it we need to push forward. Just make sure to watch your back.¡±
They continued to walk through several of the dungeons passages and found many empty small rooms that looked to be where the sharkmen that had died today had been living.
They continued moving forward at a quick pace trying to clear the dungeon as quickly as they could to be done before enemy reinforcements could arrive.
But they finally ran into a problem they had not thought of before, dry land.
¡°I feel really ashamed and useless. I''m sorry to have to ask you this but could you please finish clearing the rest of this dungeon for us,¡± Orman asked Akira with an awkward expression due to the current problem they were facing.
¡°Don''t worry, we''re here to help, and we''ve already cleared several dungeons by ourselves so we shouldn''t have too much of a problem, and you can''t help it that you don''t have legs,¡± said Akira.
¡°I will tell the Queen of your great deeds when we return successfully. We''ll wait here for you to return.¡±
Akira, Varbu, Mileena, and Maya all walked out of the tunnel that had up until moments before been filled with water.
They climbed up the steep tunnel dripping wet and entered a small room.
¡°It feels so weird walking on dry land after almost a week of weightless movement,¡± said Maya as she hopped from one foot to the other.
¡°True,¡± said Akira as he stretched to get re-accustomed to the feeling of walking without water surrounding him.
¡°You two don''t turn around. We need to wring out some of this water it''s making my clothes and armor so heavy. If I don''t take care of it I can''t fight as good as I normally do,¡± said Mileena warning Akira and Varbu.
Both Akira and Varbu made sure not to turn around lest they invoke the wrath of the girls.
But to Akira''s horror, he was able to see everything happening behind him from the reflection of his shield. Interesting...
Although the girls had their bare backs facing them he was still able to see side views of certain things.
¡°Hmm..hmm... it is as she said before... quite large... but smaller isn''t any worse,¡± mumbled Akira.
Mileena''s ears twitched upon hearing this she quickly replaced her shirt and turned around her face red.
Akira looked up from his shield and acted as if everything was normal.
¡°I heard that you pervert!¡± said Mileena kicking him in the butt.
Ding!
New title: Peeping Tom!
+5 fame
|
Maya pat Mileena on the head as if trying to console her on her lack of development.
¡°Alright let''s see what this dungeon has to offer us,¡± said Akira walking forward as if nothing happened... and got another kick in the butt.
***
The room in front of them was glowing brightly with their experiences from the other dungeon they made sure to be on guard and ready for any form of attack.
When they walked into the room... there was no attack it seemed that at least for this room there was no need to worry.
Scanning the room Akira was able to easily find the reason why the room was glowing. It was due to a large number of metal ores that were embedded in the walls and ceiling of the cave.
¡°You guys can take a quick rest here. I need to gather some of these for later use,¡± said Akira looking at the shiny ore.
¡°What? You''re stopping right now to mine ore?¡± asked Mileena shocked.
¡°Don''t worry it''ll only take a few minutes for me to gather enough for future use.¡±
Akira turned around and took out his pickax he had personally created and started to hack away at the ore that was calling out to him saying ''Please sir take me with you!'' or at least that''s what Akira thought they would say if they could talk.
Ding!
Glowstone ore [rare] received!
+1, +2, +1, +3, ...
|
Akira only stopped when he had gathered all the easy to reach ore. He was confident that he could make something great out of this ore when he had the time and tools to work on it.
¡°Are you done now?¡± asked Maya.
¡°Yup,¡± said Akira patting the small bag that held all of the ore. He was quite satisfied with his haul.
¡°I guess we should take this place seriously so might as well summon Nox to help fight,¡± said Akira before summoning Nox.
For some odd reason, they had not seen any monsters or pets of the Sirens for over a half-hour as they cautiously walked through the tunnels and small cavernous rooms.
As they entered one of the many rooms in the dungeon Akira stopped, the room they had just entered was not a cave this time but a room carved out from the stone. And on the floor was a large glowing circle of what looked to be dwarven runes.
¡°What are these doing here?¡± Akira asked out loud.
¡°You know what they are?¡± asked Varbu.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
¡°Dwarven runes. But I have no clue why they are here or what they are supposed to do. Looking at the ground around them they look like a fairly recent addition to this room.¡±
¡°Is it dangerous?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Can''t be sure...¡± said Akira still looking at the runes trying to figure out what they were for.
Bam! Varbu fearlessly slammed his quarterstaff into the runes and smashed a large hole in the ground where the rune circle was.
The light quickly faded from the circle after receiving a large hole destroying a portion of it.
¡°What are you doing? What if that was here to stop it from blowing up?¡± asked Maya scolding Varbu.
¡°You heard him he said it was new. I doubt that it was put here for a good reason,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I agree. We should take care of any others we find from here on out,¡± said Akira.
They continued to walk through the tunnels and rooms and found a total of 7 rune circles. The last one was not on the floor but was embedded into a plain door along with a small unnoticeable symbol of seven triangles.
Akira and Varbu stepped forward and used their full strength and smashed the runes on the door into nothing but rubble.
Varbu kicked away the rubble and pushed the door wide open revealing a large dimly lit large cavernous room.
When they entered the room they were able to see everything inside in an instant. There was a large lake in the middle of the room taking up most of the space leaving only a 20-foot walkway around the entirety of the lake.
On the opposite side of the room next to the lake were several sharkmen all gathered around someone chanting in an unknown language.
The chanting immediately stopped when they heard the doors open.
¡°Who are you? How did you get in here?¡± asked a female voice from within the group of sharkmen.
Akira and the others all became alert upon hearing the voice.
On a stretcher held up by several sharkmen that looked taller and even more muscular than the sharkmen they had fought before, sat a hooded siren. Her dry tail laid limp on the stretcher as she held herself up with her arms to look at the invaders who had interrupted their ritual.
¡°Uh...room service?¡± said Akira.
¡°Kill them!¡± ordered the enraged siren.
The sharkmen who were not holding onto the stretcher charged forward to kill the intruders. [Evolved Sharkman lvl 38]
Several Green arrows shot from Maya''s bow and pierced through the Siren''s head before she could cause any more trouble for them shocking the sharkmen that were holding her up. They dropped the stretcher and looked at the dead body with disgust and joy now they were free of their shackles linking them to their former ugly master.
The attacking [Evolved Sharkman] only paused for a moment when their minds regained full power over their body again. They still moved forward to eliminate what they saw as enemies that were in front of them.
Akira Stepped forward to blocked their path and used his skill [Shield Bash] knocking the closest sharkman into the lake behind them.
The sharkman let out an odd cry and struggled to hurriedly swim out of the water with what Akira thought was a frightened look on his face.
¡°Gahhhh...¡± the sharkman shouted out in pain as a large semi-translucent tentacle wrapped around his body. The sharkman tried to struggle but his body became limp due to the toxins injected into his blood from the small barbs on the tentacle.
A second later the sharkman was pulled underwater and the lake became calm again.
Akira could not spare any more attention to the water and turned back to the charging sharkmen.
With the help of the others, they continued to fight the sharkmen but with the enemies large numbers Akira was pushed away from the entrance and down the left side of the lakes stone path.
Swish! A large Tentacle shot out of the water and just missed Akira as it grabbed onto the sharkman that he had been fighting.
The sharkman''s body went limp immediately and was dragged into the water.
One after another the sharkmen began to get dragged into the water by the large tentacles.
¡°Everyone, get behind me!¡± shouted Akira as he transformed into a werewolf unsure what was in the lake. Luckily it was night otherwise he would be in a crap situation.
Soon there were no sharkmen left on dry land. The tentacle shot out from the water and aimed for Akira who was in front of everyone.
A blue light shot forward as Akira used [sword slash] cutting the tentacle in half. The remaining half of the tentacle squirmed and thrashed around as if it was in extreme pain and retreated back into the water.
¡°Let''s get out of here! We finished what we came to do and that thing looks pretty dangerous,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Alright just stay behind me,¡± said Akira moving to the right trying to get to the exit.
BAM! A tentacle slammed into the ground in front of him blocking his path but it quickly retreated not allowing Akira to damage it.
Akira tried to step to the left. BAM! Blocked again.
Nox tried to bite onto the Tentacle but was swatted away.
''Yipe!'' Nox could not help but let out an uncool yelp.
Varbu shot a fireball into the water after the retreating tentacle but nothing much happened.
Maya tried shooting an arrow into the water to stop it from attacking them but nothing changed.
The tentacles blocked them every time they tried to move.
¡°It looks like it doesn''t want us to leave,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Fine if it wants to play then I''ll play with it,¡± said Akira running forward and jumping into the water.
¡°Don''t...¡± Mileena shouted but was to late and unable to stop him.
Akira''s eyes quickly got used to seeing through the water and were able to see a glowing upside-down bowl-shaped sea monster the size of a small house with multiple tentacles under its body. Many of which were holding onto the now dead sharkmen.
[Big Daddy Jellyfish lvl 39]
Several of the large tentacles shot out to try and grab Akira.
With as much skill he could muster he used the movement technique he had learned to jump off the wall and dodge them sending out a [Sword slash] to cut the numerous tentacles in half enraging the [Big Daddy Jellyfish].
Akira was forced to be on the defensive having to dodge numerous tentacles that shot out at him. He was constantly jumping off of one wall towards another while sending out counterattacks dealing damage to the tentacles.
His luck ended when the last tentacle that was undamaged grazed his leg as he passed by paralyzing it.
Ding!
Poison resistance upgraded: +5%
Paralyzing effect lessened.
|
Akira was forced to use his shield to block the incoming attacks by the tentacle and to his horror, the tentacle punched several holes into his shield.
The [Big Daddy Jellyfish] was able to grab his leg and pull him towards its main body so that it could eat the troublesome meal whole.
Akira wasn''t going to give up and used [Cross attack] while he could still move sending it straight to the large translucent body.
The attack cut through the [Big Daddy Jellyfish] like butter making the large monster let out a Pop! As it exploded and it''s clear guts and blood began to mix into the water.
Ding!
[Big Daddy Jellyfish] Has been killed!
Level up!
You are now level 39!
|
New title Received: Jelly Man.
Why you so jelly?
+5 fame.
|
Character Name
|
Akira
|
Race
|
Werewolf
|
Fame
|
115
|
Level
|
39: 01%
|
Profession
|
Son Of The Night
|
Title
|
Jelly Man
|
Health
|
1270
|
Mana
|
490
|
Strength
|
130
|
Vitality
|
127
|
Stamina
|
90
|
Agility
|
49
|
Intelligence
|
47
|
Wisdom
|
49
|
Dexterity
|
20
|
|
|
Honor
|
15
|
Charm
|
10(+3)
|
Endurance
|
26
|
Toughness
|
37
|
Attack
|
35-42
|
Defense
|
96
|
+ 10% Buff to Stamina and strength at night and dark places.
+ 25% Lesser poison resistance
+ 25% Fire resistance
|
As Akira watched the [Big Daddy Jellyfish] disintegrate he saw something falling from its body. He watched it slowly fall until the paralysis wore off and he was able to swim over and pick it up.
Ding!
Supernormal bracelet [Legend: Growth type]:
This supernormal not suspicious in any way bracelet was forged in this volcano long long ago near the beginning of time by an unknown person who is not important enough to know.
Great ''normal'' things will happen if you gather all the right gems and add them to the bracelet.
|
''What is this?''
Chapter 92: Departure
Akira was in no hurry to exit the pool and decided to test out the old looking bracelet. He reverted back into his human form after checking his surroundings for enemies and then put the bracelet on his left hand.
Nothing happened.
The bracelet had three empty sockets each with a different color, one blue, one red, and one green.
He pulled out several of the magic stones that he had collected over the past few months from various monsters in order to see if they would fit every one of them was rejected.
Ding!
Special ordinary gems are needed for the bracelet no random gems will be able to be used.
|
Akira had no special gems so he decided to swim to the surface and exit the water.
¡°What took you so long I thought you had died,¡± said Mileena as she stopped pacing back and forth.
¡°Sorry, I found something interesting while I was down there and was checking it out,¡± said Akira as he pulled himself out of the water.
His legs were still a little shaky from the aftereffects of the paralyzing toxin and he stumbles a few steps before Varbu caught him with one arm and helped him stay on his feet.
¡°What was it that you found?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°This,¡± said Akira showing them the bracelet.
¡°Looks like an old piece of junk,¡± said Maya.
¡°Well, I think it''s from ancient times, so-...If I clean it up a bit it should look better,¡± said Akira.
¡°Never mind that piece of junk. What happened to your shield? Was it really that strong to be able to make it look like cheese?¡± asked Mileena looking at the ruined shield.
¡°Those tentacles were no joke. If it weren''t for my shield and armor, I''m not sure how much of a worse state I would be in. I''ll have to figure out something later to replace it,¡± said Akira putting the shield into his bag.
¡°We shouldn''t keep the mermaids waiting. Let''s head back now that everything here is dead,¡± said Varbu.
On their way back to the tunnel they made sure to search again for anything or anyone they might have missed and found nothing new.
When they met back up with the mermaids there were only ten of them waiting for them.
¡°Were you successful in clearing everything out?¡± asked Kaerio.
¡°Yes, we were able to kill the siren and her minions,¡± said Akira.
¡°Where''d everyone go?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°The siren from before came back with a large number of minions so Orman and the rest of the warriors had to go defend the entrance,¡± said Kaerio.
¡°Alright, let''s hurry back so we can help them put an end to this if they are still fighting,¡± said Akira.
When they reached the entrance of the dungeon the fighting was already over and the mermaid warriors were treating the wounded.
Orman swam over to them with a smile after seeing them return.
¡°Looks like you were able to complete the task. That''s great,¡± said Orman.
¡°I see you guys didn''t have a peaceful time waiting for us,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Nearly 250 of the Sirens minions tried to enter the dungeon to stop us. I don''t know where they find them all. We lost several seahorse mounts and warriors trying to hold them off. Luckily the fight was not on an open battlefield and we only had to defend the entrance, otherwise, I doubt we could have held off that many. Near the end of the fight, they seemed to have all stop fighting for a few seconds before most of them ran away.¡±
¡°What do we do now?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''ll be leaving some soldiers here to make sure that the sirens don''t try anything again. Everyone else will head back to Reed City to drop off the wounded. After that we need to head back to the capital to report to the Queen to let her know everything that has happened,¡± said Orman.
It took them several more minutes to get all the wounded warriors onto stretchers behind the seahorse mounts that were still alive.
The Seahorses were truly the strong workhorses of the underwater world most were carrying two people as well as a stretcher with a wounded warrior.
The trip back to Reed city took longer than it had taken to get to Kapoom due to not wanting to exhaust the mounts as well as to make sure the wounded were not hurt any further.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
They only rested in Reed city for a short time only enough for a quick bite to eat.
While they ate the commander of the city prepared fresh mounts for them so that they could return to the capital quickly.
Everyone that was not wounded was ordered to return to the capital since some of the reinforcements that came to help were part of the city guard and needed to go back or the city''s defenses would be dangerously weak.
***
¡°Big brother you''re back!¡± said Cora happily swimming up to Akira and giving him a hug as they walked through the castle gates.
¡°Nice to see you again as well,¡± said Akira with a smile.
Mileena who was standing next to Akira had a grumpy look on her face.
¡°Look at that a little kid is making Mileena jealous,¡± said Maya teasing her sister while laughing.
¡°Why would I be jealous of a kid and for what? It''s just that she doesn''t act like a princess and she''s just a little too clingy,¡± said Mileena as she brushed off her sister''s words.
Cora stuck her tongue out at the two sisters and said, ¡°Big brother is mine you can''t have him.¡±
¡°Little brat...¡± mumbled Mileena.
¡°Princess, please let us pass we have to report to the Queen immediately,¡± said Orman.
¡°I''ll go with you. I want to hear all about your adventures in the dungeons!¡± said Cora.
The Queen was already waiting for them in the throne room when they entered.
Cora swam away from the group and sat on her mother''s lap so that she would be comfortable while listening to the report.
***
¡°...and so that is what happened. I have no clue why the sirens would do something like this. I don''t see how it would benefit them at all,¡± said Orman finishing his report.
¡°Hmmm, Akira you said that there were several dwarven runes carved into the ground? Are you sure about that?¡± asked the Queen.
¡°Yes, they looked almost exactly like the ones I saw used by the dwarves for enchanting. There were a few that I had not seen before but I think they were dwarven runes or something close to it. The Siren and her minions in the middle of the dungeon were chanting in some language I have never heard of before but they quit when we entered so I''m not sure if they were related.¡±
¡°I''m grateful for the help you have given us. With your help, we were able to clear out many of the troubling dungeons and even stop a plot by the ugly sirens.¡±
Ding!
Spring cleaning completed!
The Queen will give you your reward.
|
¡°I was just doing what I promised to do,¡± said Akira.
¡°Allow me to show my appreciation for your help. I heard that your shield was ruined while fighting with a monster inside the Kapoom dungeon. Please accept this from me,¡± said the Queen.
She clapped her hand once and a castle guard swam over to Akira holding a large white glowing shell shield that was like the ones the mermaids used. It was slightly different with the size being bigger.
¡°There are only two shields like this created every ten years and it is a great honor for those who receive the shield.¡±
Ding!
King Cockleshell shield(Rare):
Durability: 80/80 | Defense: 50
+Unknown stat unlocked at lvl 40.
|
¡°I humbly accept this gift,¡± said Akira taking the shield and replacing it with his ruined Aorium shield.
The [King Cockleshell shield] was larger and slightly heavier than the Aorium shield and was shaped just like the shell of a Cockle wider at the top and thinner at the bottom.
The Queen''s gaze turned to Mileena, Maya, and Varbu.
¡°I have not forgotten you three. The royal craftsmen have been working hard the last few days to create a suitable reward for you.¡±
With a motion of her hand, three guards moved forward each carrying a bundle covered by a cloth.
When they took the cover off they found three different sized leather chest armor one for each of them.
¡°The armor was created out of part of the hide we received from the Octopus that you four helped to kill.¡±
¡°I am honored to receive such a gift,¡± said Varbu lifting up the large leather armor chest piece.
¡°Thank you,¡± said both the sisters at the same time.
The Queen nodded acknowledging their thanks and turned back to Akira.
¡°You have held up your end of the bargain so I will tell you what you wish to know. The last I spoke to one of the werewolf clans was ten years ago after they had taken a heavy blow to their clan''s power losing many warriors, elders, and I heard that another clan had even lost their chief. They told me that they planned to retreat to the southern part of the swamp continent. ¡±
¡°Thank you!¡± said Akira happy that they now had a lead on where to look. Their long search would be coming to an end soon.
¡°I would like for you to send my greetings to the clan chiefs and elders when you get a chance. I would still like to continue our friendship into the future if possible. As well with the rest of your clans Varbu, Mileena, and Maya,¡± said the Queen.
¡°I will make sure to inform them of your wish,¡± said Akira.
¡°Then please take this letter and give it to the elders when you see them,¡± said the Queen.
A gray envelope with a golden seal of a trident was handed to Akira.
¡°I know that you want to get to the swamp continent as fast as you can so I asked a friend of mine to give you a ride there. It shouldn''t take too long with his help. If you''re ready to go you don''t have to wait for long since he should be here soon,¡± said the Queen.
¡°Awww, do you really have to go Big brother?¡± asked Cora as she swam over and hugged Akira with tears in her eyes.
This caused Mileena to mumble a few choice words under her breath.
¡°Hush Cora. They can not stay here forever they have their own problems they have to take care of. It is surprising and nice that you have taken a liking to him since you normally don''t warm up to strangers.¡±
¡°Big brother is different from everyone else!¡± said Cora.
¡°I may visit later when things settle back down but your mother is right, I have a lot of things I still need to do,¡± said Akira patting the princesses head to calm her down.
***
The friend that the Queen had mentioned was a large blue whale the size of a mountain.
¡°My name is Little Blue. But everyone just calls me Blue,¡± said the large whale in a booming voice.
''Little my ass,'' thought Akira.
¡°Thank you for agreeing to take us to the swamplands,¡± said Akira.
¡°No need for thanks I was heading that way anyway and decided to help the little miss. Hop on and we can get going,¡± said Blue.
They swam up on to the whales head and found a small house that had been built. The door was open so the four entered the house.
¡°And we''re off!¡± said Blue his voice vibrating floor and walls of the house.
Chapter 93: Map reading adventure
They rode on the top of Blues large head in the small house that had been built for special guests. Only a few select people were allowed to travel with him. Inside the small house were several large beds fit for royalty and the large pantry had enough food stored inside to last over a year.
They were thankful for such a great place to stay while traveling it was like they were kings and queens traveling the world on an expensive ship with everything they needed only a few steps away.
During the trip, they spent their time sightseeing the large underwater world as it passed by and occasionally talking to Blue who was normally silent unless someone talked to him.
With Blue leading the way they had no problem with any sea monsters or sirens causing problems for them and were able to travel in peace.
The trip took over a week with Blue moving at a constant speed night and day. The speed was far faster than what their small ship could have done even if it were brand new.
***
[The others are not pleased with your failure.] Glowing words written by number 4 appeared on special paper in an unknown dark cave under the ocean.
¡°It''s only a small setback. We can finish the job we just need more time,¡± said a sweet female voice.
[Everything was destroyed! That place is no longer usable. The reason we wanted to use it was because it was in a remote place where others were supposed to not find out about it and it had a good layout for the rune placement. It is useless to us now that the runes are destroyed! The mermaids now know of the place and are watching it. It would be stupid to try and continue working there!]
¡°We can take care of the mermaids it''s no problem,¡± said the siren trying to protest.
[If you could have taken care of them the current problem we are facing would not have happened and I would not be talking to you right now. I had to convince the others that you may still be of help to us later in order to have them spare your life.]
¡°Thanks...I guess,¡± said the siren mumbling the last part.
[You have been spared for now but you better keep a low profile because if any of the others meet you they will not hesitate to kill you, especially number 3 he hates people who fail. If in the future we need your help you will accept the request without complaint to wipe this stain away. I''m going now. I suggest you remember my warning if you want to live.]
Several minutes passed before the Siren Queen lashed out at anything that was near her destroying it in her anger.
¡°Those damn cultist! Who do they think they are to boss ME, the true Queen of the ocean around like that! Damn those mermaids always getting in my way and ruining everything!¡±
***
¡°Did you make sure to grab the map the Queen left for you?¡± asked Blue.
¡°Yes we have it,¡± said Mileena holding up the map.
¡°Good, I can''t go any closer to the shore or I''ll get stuck and be unable to leave so you''ll have to swim the rest of the way there,¡± said Blue his voice booming.
¡°Thanks for the ride you were a real help,¡± said Maya.
¡°Hahaha, it was nothing don''t mention it,¡± said Blue his entire body vibrating from laughing.
¡°Well, I guess this is goodbye. Let''s go everyone,¡± said Akira jumping into the water.
Everyone else followed him into the water jumping from the top of Blues head that was just peeking out of the water.
The shore was not all too far away. Within ten minutes they were able to swim to the muddy beach and walk out of the ocean.
Akira turned around and looked behind him. Blue''s large body had already disappeared into the ocean and was long gone.
Several seagulls flew in the air above them letting out their cries of unhappiness at the four who had entered their territory and disturbed the peace.
¡°So... does anyone know where we are?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°No, even if we did know, we still don''t know exactly where the Werewolf clans are so it doesn''t matter much,¡± said Maya cleaning her glasses.
¡°We''ll have to travel inland a bit to find some landmarks on the map. Hopeful we''re near a city so we can get some information about this place and maybe even find a guide who knows the southern part of the Swamplands,¡± said Akira removing the special underwater breathing mask and putting it into his bag.
They decided to have a short rest in order to try and air dry some of their clothes but it didn''t help much because of the weather in the Swamplands.
With the humidity in the air added with the heat, it was a rather unpleasant place to want to live making everything feel sweaty and sticky.
They wrung out their clothes the best they could before walking away from the beaches and the angry seagulls in search of some type of landmark or a nearby city. But all they found was wide open grassy plains.
While Akira''s armor and shield slowly dried in the humid air they lost their sparkle and glow which was interesting to watch happen. He guessed that the sparkle and glow only happened when they were wet.
¡°Wait, are we in the right place? I thought this was supposed to be the Swamplands?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I think we''re in the right place. See here? It looks like the northern part of the swamp continent is wide open grasslands, we should be around here somewhere,¡± said Akira pointing to a northern part of the map where the grasslands could be seen.
¡°Damn! Why did we have to get dropped off in the middle of the grasslands and not in the south?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°We''re lucky that we were able to get here as fast as we did with the help of Blue. Now that we have an idea where we are, we should head to this town and see what we can find there,¡± said Akira pointing to a small dot on the map.
¡°Can I do the map reading for the trip to the city?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Do you know how to read the map?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I was taught how to read them several years ago!¡± said Mileena puffing her small chest out.
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¡°Then I see no reason why you can''t do it for the short trip to the city,¡± said Akira.
No one else objected so they continued traveling with Mileena leading the way.
A week later.
¡°Mileena are you sure you are reading the map correctly?¡± asked Maya.
Both Varbu and Akira were wondering the same thing.
¡°Show me where we are on the map,¡± said Akira.
Mileena pulled the map out of a small pouch she had at her side and unfurled it.
¡°Right here? I think,¡± said Mileena pointing to a certain spot on the map.
¡°Right there?¡± both Akira and Varbu repeated her words in shock.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Maya coming over to see.
¡°Sigh... I''ll take care of the navigation from here on,¡± said Akira shaking his head in amazement.
¡°What I thought I was reading it just fine,¡± said Mileena.
¡°You dummy you were reading the map sideways,¡± shouted Maya exasperated.
¡°What should have been a few days travel has turned into multiple weeks if we want to go to that town now,¡± said Varbu.
¡°No use worrying over spilled milk. We can only do what we can to salvage something out of this. Luckily there is another smaller town on the map in this area. We''ll have to get resupplied their and see what information we can gather there,¡± said Akira.
***
¡°Looks like we''re entering a swampy area that we have to pass through before we can get to the town,¡± said Akira looking at the map and the surrounding landmarks.
There were several small islands of dry land and several large Bald cypress trees populating the knee-high green swamp water that was everywhere. There was no telling how deep parts of the swamp was.
¡°It smells,¡± complained Mileena holding her nose shut with one hand.
¡°The faster we get through it the faster you can have some fresh air,¡± said Akira jumping onto one of the moist islands.
¡°Be careful these things are a bit slippery...¡±
Splash! Akira''s warning was all in vain as he watched both Mileena and Maya fall into the swamp both of them clawed their way out back onto dry land sputtering with green algae all in their fur.
¡°Ugh! You stink get away from me,¡± complained Mileena pushing Maya away form her.
¡°You stink worse than me!¡± said Maya. Mileena sniffed her arm and scrunched her nose at the bad smell.
¡°Let''s hurry up you two,¡± said Varbu as he passed them trying to hold his breath to not get hit with the bad smell.
When they were halfway through the swamp they were stopped by Akira.
¡°Something moving in the water.¡±
Everyone''s eyes darted to the nearby water searching for movement.
Fwhssssssh! Crack!
Several finger-sized short bursts of high pressured water shot out of the water at where Akira was standing seconds before. They missed and hit the tree behind him cutting large holes into the tree''s trunk, cutting it in half.
¡°We''ve got to get to the other side before we get surrounded and pierced by whatever it is that''s attacking us,¡± said Akira leading the charge forward.
Bam! Bam! Several water arrows were shot at Akira trying to stop him but they were all blocked by Akira''s new shield as he jumped to the next dry island.
In front of him were several small black snakes that were swimming out of the water and occupying the next island trying to block his path forward.
[Baby Blackhorn swamp snake lvl 35]
Before they could launch another attack Akira jumped forward and used [Sword Slash] sending a blue light rushing forward cleared a path for Akira and the others to land.
Varbu and the girls were following right behind him running and jumping as fast as they could while trying to dodge the attacks of the small snakes that were hiding under the water.
The [Blackhorn swamp snakes] were rather easy to take care of due to their weak bodies the only problem was the large number of them living in the swamp, along with their deadly high powered water arrow attack.
With the help of Varbu''s fireballs, they were able to kill over 100 [Blackhorn swamp snakes] and reach the last island before reaching dry land.
Akira jumped into the air but as soon as his feet left the ground his gut instincts told him to stop his jump so he grabbed onto a branch of a nearby tree and stopping his movement.
Swoosh! A large black scaled head the size of a super-sized watermelon with a sharp gleaming horn shot out from under the water.
[?? Blackhorn Queen lvl 39]
Its mouth snapped shut only to bite the empty air. It''s large and long body slammed back into the water. It was only a few seconds later before the [Blackhorn Queen] shot back out of the water with its horn pointed at Akira who was still hanging from the tree branch over the water.
Akira hastily swung his legs forward and grabbed the branch with his feet holding onto it like a lazy sloth. The [Blackhorn Queen] horn sliced through the air trying to pierce Akira''s bottom only missing by a few feet.
Varbu acted immediately and shot out a large fireball which slamming into the [Blackhorn Queen''s] neck drying up its scales and causing large burns.
The [Blackhorn Queen] retreated back into the water to extinguish the flickering flames that clung to its scales.
Akira took those few seconds to swing from the branch back to the island so he could protect everyone. As soon as he landed a large water arrow the size of his arm shot out from the water.
Akira leaned his body and shield to the right in order to block the attack and was knocked off his feet from the pressure and the slippery ground. He slammed into a tree behind him stopping his movement as well as knocking the wind out of him.
Swoosh! The [Blackhorn Queen''s] headshot out of the water and headed straight for Akira.
Fwoosh! A large fireball slammed into its face stopping its attack as it cried out in pain.
¡°Thanks,¡± said Akira standing back up. Regaining his breath he used the skill [Shadow chains] to restrain the [Blackhorn Queen] for several seconds.
Mileena darted forward dodging the smaller water arrows from the pipsqueak snakes and jumped into the air holding both her daggers out high above her head and slammed them into the [Blackhorn Queens] eyes robbing it of its eyesight.
This vicious attack that Mileena liked to used was jokingly given the name ''Eye gouger'' by Akira while they had traveled to the swamp continent. It was an extremely brutal attack almost making you feel sad for the enemy... almost.
Mileena was knocked away from the [Blackhorn Queen] from its pained struggling as it tried to break free of the shadow chains.
Akira jumped forward and grabbed her hand pulled her over to him stopping her from falling into the water.
Several green wind arrows shot past them and pierced right through the body of the [Blackhorn Queen] body.
With a shout, Varbu flexed his muscles and jumped forward bashing his quarterstaff into the [Blackhorn Queens] head.
Boom! An explosive fire erupted from his Quarterstaff as it hit the head causing both blunt and fire damage.
Bam! The head slammed into the moist ground of the island where it lay stunned.
¡°Stand back!¡± shouted Akira.
A blue X shot forward and cut cleanly right through the [Blackhorn Queen] neck that had been damaged and weakened by the fire from Varbu and the wind arrows from Maya.
Ding!
You have killed [?? Blackhorn Queen]!
Level up!
Your Level is now 40!
+3 Toughness.
|
Nine colored deadly Meep fish scale armor special stat unlocked: +5 to Agility.
King Cockleshell shield special stat unlocked: +10 Vitality.
|
Akira''s hand grabbed the coins and other items on the ground and stuffed them into his bag before standing up and running forward taking less than a few seconds to do it.
¡°Let''s go,¡± said Akira, jumping towards the dry land.
They all let out a sigh of relief when they were far enough away from the swarm of snakes.
¡°I hope the swamplands aren''t like this place otherwise it will be a pain to travel,¡± said Mileena walking next to Akira.
¡°Man you stink. You really need to take a bath,¡± said Akira holding his nose closed and jumping away from Mileena.
Chapter 94: Madham
It took another three days until they were able to see in the distance a small town with a medium-sized mud wall surrounding it.
Although they could see the town due to the flat plains and swamps mixing together, it was still far away and would take them a while to reach.
It was several hours past noon when they arrived at the wooden gates of the small town that the map said was named Madham.
Akira was surprised to see the town¡¯s gates were closed. This was unlike every other city and town that he had been to before.
Normally most towns and cities would have the gates open during the day to allow citizens and travelers to enter and leave without much hassle. The gates were only closed at night or if there was a war going on.
Akira looked around and found no army big or small camping near the town.
Scratching his head he looked to the others. They shrugged just as unsure on what to do as he was.
Since there was no other choice he just walked up to the wooden gate and knocked on it.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
¡°Yeah...? Who iz it?¡± asked a drunken voice above the gate.
¡°We are travelers looking for a place to stay for the night and replenish our supplies. Can you open the gate and let us in?¡± asked Akira.
A head full of messy curly black hair and a red face from to much drink popped out of a window above the gate.
¡°Travlerzz Yuss say? Yuss gots ta pay the tax to get in,¡± said the drunken man, ¡°Jus a second I gots ta find za bucket.¡±
¡°The bucket?¡± asked Akira but the man didn''t answer and disappeared back into the room above the gate.
Loud stumbling footsteps and sounds of several bottles and boxes being knocked over could be heard along with a few choice drunken curses.
Several seconds later a bucket with a rope attached to it was thrown out the window almost hitting Akira in the head as it fell.
The drunken man''s head popped out of the window again now holding onto the rope.
¡°Put the tax money into the bucket and you can enter.¡±
¡°How much?¡±
¡°2 silver,¡± slurred the drunken man.
One silver was already nearing what you would pay to enter the larger cities if they were in need of gold.
Most capitals would not stoop so low as to charge people just to enter the city. This made the travelers and merchants feel more at ease, but there would always be other ways for the cities to earn a large amount of silver and gold from taxes of the purchases and sales that would happen in the city.
Seeing Akira place two silver into the bucket the drunken man coughed.
¡°That''z 2 silver for each perzon,¡± said the man exasperated. He acted like Akira should have already known something like that.
¡°That''s highway robbery!¡± said Varbu unhappily.
¡°Even the large cities don''t charge that much just to enter,¡± said Maya.
¡°If you don''t want to pay an extra 6 silver then only one person can enter,¡± said the drunk man grumpily jerking the bucket up out of their reach so that they could not take back the silver coins inside.
¡°Fine, I''ll pay the other 6 silver,¡± Akira pulling out the coins and tossing them into the bucket that was lowered again.
¡°Thank ye very much.¡±
The man and the bucket disappeared back into the room. Loud clunks could be heard as the wooden beams behind the gates were removed and the gates were slowly pushed open.
Two guards in shabby leather armor stood on either side of the opened wooden gate inspecting the four as they walked through the gates and under the mud gatehouse.
As they continued to walk Akira inspected the town and found that it was a rather poor looking place. All the buildings they passed were small drab one-story mud houses with thatched roofs.
The atmosphere inside the town was very bleak, the townsfolk did not have smiles on their faces and avoided eye contact with the new unknown people.
Akira was unsure where the shops where since all the buildings looked the same. So he decided to just walk up to one and ask for directions.
¡°I wouldn''t knock on that door. Mr.Cranb, is a grumpy old man and would just yell at you for disturbing him,¡± said a young female voice from behind them.
Akira turned around to see a girl around his age standing behind them with an empty basket.
¡°Are you looking for the shops?¡± asked the girl before Akira could reply or ask anything.
¡°Yes, but everything looks the same here so it''s hard to find,¡± said Akira.
¡°If you live here long enough you get used to it. I can take you there if you would like,¡± said the girl.
¡°Ah thank you that would be a great help. My name is Akira and yours is?¡± asked Akira his hand outstretched for her to shake.
¡°Beadtrice, nice to meet you. If you follow me this way I can lead you to the store,¡± said Beadtrice.
She began to walk ahead of them and led them through the streets and past many alleys that all looked the same.
She came to a stop in front of a building that was slightly larger than the others and turned to Akira.
¡°Just a warning the prices in the shop are not cheap.¡±
¡°Nothing to worry about we have enough money,¡± said Akira.
The store had very little variety partly from it being so far away from other cities and the other part was due to laws and regulations passed by the lord of the city.
When the total price was given Akira''s heart ached. Ever since he entered this town he was leaking money faster than a boat with a hole in the bottom of its hull.
Outside the store, Akira stopped Beadtrice to ask her another question.
¡°Do you know where the towns Inn is? We need a place to stay for the night.¡±
¡°Ah! I''m sorry but we don''t have an Inn here. There used to be one but due to the lord''s laws it was driven out of business because of the to the high cost of operating it,¡± said Beadtrice.
Akira felt a headache coming on ''No inn?'' Just when they thought they could get a good night''s sleep they would still have to leave the city and camp outside.
¡°Ah, but don''t worry I have an extra room at my house if you want you can stay there. It''s big enough to have four people stay for a night,¡± said Beadtrice.
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¡°Are you sure we aren''t inconveniencing you?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°No problem at all! As long as you follow the city''s thousands of rules that change everyday just to go along with however the Lord feels you should be fine,¡± said Beadtrice.
¡°Is it that bad here?¡± asked Maya.
¡°We shouldn''t talk about it out in public others could be listening,¡± whispered Beadtrice looking around suspiciously.
Beadtrice took them away from the store and walked for several minutes until she reached her small home on the outskirts of the city near the mud wall.
***
¡°Hey did you hear that guy said his name was Akira,¡± said a grubby looking guard near the store.
¡°Isn''t there an Akira on the bounty board?¡±
¡°Yeah! I looked and there is one but the picture doesn''t fully look like him.¡±
¡°Should we tell the lord?¡±
¡°If we do and he is the right person, then we might get some money for reporting it!¡±
¡°Let''s go!¡±
***
The inside of Beadtrice house was clean but lacked most of what you would find in a normal house in other cities. There was a vase of flowers on a table to try and brighten up the place.
¡°What''s up with this place that you have to be so secretive?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The city wasn''t always like this several years ago it was a very rich and vibrant place to be. But then the old lord that had watched over the city died and his son took over.
With the promise of giving everyone free stuff if we allowed him to take the position of the lord of the city. Although there were many that opposed him he still won over enough people to get the spot with promises of free this and that to whoever he was talking to.
As soon as he took over for his father he started to put high taxes on everything he could touch and made new rules and regulations on what can and can not be done in the city as well as how to do it. According to the lord, the high taxes were put in place to give us the free stuff.
But here we are, poorer than we were before and still, nothing free has been given to us as he promised. Even if he were to complete a small portion of his promises it would still not be free since he would be paying for it from the taxes we have already paid him,¡± said Beadtrice.
¡°Then you should just leave this place,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I would if I could but everyone in this town is in debt to the lord. We can not leave. The money that he receives from taxes all goes to his pockets. He used a large portion to build his own mansion and to fund his own private guards that stay inside the stone walls surrounding his mansion. There is no way to leave unless you die,¡± said Beadtrice with a sad pained look on her face remembering many people that had died over the past few years.
¡°So... umm... what does the city make or do for money?¡± asked Akira trying to change the subject and cheer up Beadtrice.
¡°Oh normal stuff, we farm rice and fish mainly. That''s most of what we all eat here. There are some vegetables but the monsters around here are too many and they often get into the gardens and tear things up eating whatever they can. The rice fields are guarded fiercely because of the large amount of money it brings in when it is sold to the other countries that don¡¯t have the right climate for growing rice.¡±
¡°I''ve been wondering for a while now. Why is there no country in the swamp continent? Aren''t the other countries are strong enough to put up cities and tame the wild here right?¡± asked Varbu.
Beadtrice shook her head, ¡°No, multiple nobles have tried to start their own countries only for it to end in disaster. The land here is not forgiving and the monsters are even more vicious with all their different types of poisons they can use. This place is truly a land where everything wants to kill you even the normal animals have poisonous bites and stings. If you are not careful you will lose your life.¡±
They spent the rest of the day talking about the outside world, answering all of Beadtrice''s questions.
She had many and wanted to one day pay off her debt and leave the town but with the new taxes that were always popping up everywhere, she didn''t know when or even if she would be able to leave.
Knock! Knock!
A knock on the door startled them as they ate a late dinner of rice and fish soup.
¡±Who is it?¡± asked Beadtrice standing next to the door.
¡°In the name of the lord Madham, I have come to invite the travelers for a late dinner with the Lord himself. There will even be an entertainment show after dinner,¡± said a female voice from behind the door.
Beadtrice mouth gaped open. Something like this never happened who were these people to be able to have the lord invite them and even provide entertainment?
¡°Should we not go?¡± asked Akira looking at the odd facial expression on Beadtrice''s face.
¡°No! You should definitely go. This is a rare thing for the lord to show interest in others. He would definitely not let it go if you ignore him.¡±
¡°Then I guess we should indulge him just this once. We''ll come back later I hope that we won''t cause you any problems.¡±
¡°No problems at all,¡± said Beadtrice.
***
They walked to the rear of the city escorted by a female mercenary who was wearing old plate armor that had seen better days.
The night''s full moon was already out and brightly shining there was no need for lanterns or torches to see where they were going.
¡°Can I ask why the Lord would want to talk to us and how it was that he hear about us?¡± Akira asked the female mercenary as they reached the stone walls of the manor.
¡°Don''t know, don''t care. The lord will explain everything to you when you see him,¡± said the female mercenary.
She stood aside slightly behind them motioning for them to walk forward to the closed gate.
From the side of his vision, Akira noticed both Mileena and Maya''s ears twitching in agitation.
His hand that was placed on the gate ready to push it open paused as he sniffed the air. The odor of a group of several people in the surrounding area entered his nose.
Akira''s gut churned and growled. Something didn''t feel right about this.
He took a side glance at the mercenary and saw that her hand was on her sword ready to draw it at any moment.
¡°I''m sorry, on second thought we have somewhere else we need to go. So we''ll be leaving now. If you can tell your boss I said hi,¡± said Akira backing away from the gate.
Shink!
¡°I''m afraid I can''t allow you to do that. You don''t understand, the boss was not asking you to come he has ordered that you come or else,¡± said the female pointing her sword at them.
¡°I''m sure you don''t know who we are otherwise you wouldn''t be pointing your sword at us,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Oh, we know who you are. That is the whole reason for inviting you to dinner.¡±
Akira tried to discreetly signal to the others to get ready to flee.
¡°I won''t let you get away!¡± shouted the female mercenary before blowing hard on a horn.
A net from atop the wall was thrown down and managed to capture both Akira and Mileena. While Varbu and Maya jumped to the side and escape the entanglement of the net.
Bam! The manor gates flew open and over thirty mercenaries of the lord''s personal guards rushed out with their weapons out ready to fight!
Before they could reach the net a dark light covered the two people inside and a second later a large werewolf tore his way out of the weak net that was made out of old rope.
¡°Awooooooo!¡± howled Akira angry at such a thing happening when he was so close to reaching his goal of finding his clan.
Nox was immediately summoned and jumped out of Akira''s shadows to see the mercenaries that were frozen in shock from the unexpected change of events.
¡°What''s going on!? No one said he was a werewolf!¡±
¡°Is the lord trying to start a war with the werewolf clans?¡±
¡°Quiet! The Lord has given us the order that if we catch him we will get enough gold to last us several years!¡± shouted the female mercenary.
Akira and the others did not give them any time to gather their thoughts and escaped down the street and into an alley.
¡°After them! Warn the guards at the gate to keep it closed!¡±
The chase was on! Anyone that got in their way was pushed or kicked aside.
When Akira''s group reached the city gates there were already two rows of guards all with shields ready to block them.
They were only there to stall for time until more people could come and allow them to take down the dangerous enemy with a large enough force to guarantee success.
¡°I don''t have time to be playing around with you people move aside or die,¡± growled Akira charging forward still several yards away.
The guard''s legs trembled but they still stood their ground.
¡°Fine Varbu, Nox, let''s plow our way out of here,¡± shouted Akira.
Bam!
They slammed into the guards Akira with his shield and Varbu with his shoulder lowered, sending several guards flying into the air.
The guards behind them stepped forward to block their path only to get clobbered by Varbu''s large quarterstaff as well as Nox''s teeth that bit into their necks paralyzed them.
Akira continued to use the skill [Shield Slam] to plow his way through the guards.
The gate was right in front of them but was closed.
Needing no words to be spoken both Akira and Varbu lowered their shoulders and rammed into the gate snapping the wooden blocks put in place to stop the gates from opening.
The gates slammed wide open and Akira and Varbu continued to plow forward.
The four of them continued to flee into the swampland''s trying to get as far away from the town while killing anyone that came near.
Beadtrice had heard a loud commotion near the gates and left her house to see what had happened. When she arrived she saw the bodies of the guards sprawled all over the ground or slumped against the mud walls.
Most of the bodies were caved in from a powerful blunt attack but some were missing body parts that looked to have been ripped or bitten off while others were missing their heads.
¡°What sort of monsters could have done this?¡±
Chapter 95: Chack Nai-lie
¡°You''re all useless! Why did you let them escape so easily! All you had to do was block them for a short time,¡± shouted lord Madham his face a rosy red from anger.
¡°I am truly sorry sir but they were not normal people! Their power was too demonic!¡± said the captain of the town guards.
With the injuries, he had received from the battle he was forced to use a pair of crutches to keep standing while the lord was present. You couldn''t really call it standing since it looked like he was just hanging on them.
¡°Hurry up and send a hunting team after them! We can''t lose them since they are worth more than this town can make in even 6 or 7 years!¡± shouted Madham.
¡°Yes sir, we will send a group out immediately,¡± said the captain.
Although he said this he didn''t know if they even had enough people to form a group that would be able to survive out in the dangerous swamps.
Madham stormed away from the front gates and headed back to his mansion with the mercenary''s making sure to properly protect him.
In his office, he started to furiously write a letter to the lord Brutus who had issued the old wanted paper.
After sealing the letter he walked to the building where the messenger birds lived. He placed the folded letter inside a small leather tube and attached it to a carrier pigeon that was linked to the kingdom of Beorin.
¡°Hurry and fly without stopping!¡± said Madham tossing the messenger bird out of the window.
¡°If I can''t capture him, I hope I''ll still be able to get a reward for reporting where he is.¡±
Lord Madham watched until the bird became a small dot and disappeared into the distance.
***
Akira and the rest of the group spent the better part of two weeks running and hiding from any pursuers that may have been trying to track them down.
They took the most random route traveling through the dangerous swamps that surrounded the area to try and cover their tracks and make it harder for anyone to find them or know which direction they went.
¡°Do you think we lost them?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°I hope so. Otherwise, the last two weeks of traveling through the swamps would be pointless,¡± said Akira.
¡°We should still be on guard for a few more days just in case,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I agree with you that we should be on guard of anyone following us. To prevent any more mishaps we should avoid any human cities from now on. This will only be until we can reach the safety of the werewolf clans and meet back up with Grand. Then we won''t have to worry about them trying to cause trouble.¡±
They continued traveling south while keeping an eye open for any sign of someone following them.
In the area they were currently traveling through everywhere they looked dry land was sparse. The majority of it was a soggy mess that made odd squelching sounds as you walked. In some areas, the ground was hidden under a thin layer of swamp water.
Swarms of bugs of all types lived in the swamps and they all wanted to take a bite out of the groups exposed skin if they were able to get close enough.
The ones that were suffering the most were Akira and Varbu since the nyantail sisters were able to use their tails to effortlessly continue to swat away any annoying bugs that got close.
In his anger, Varbu shot a few fireballs at the swarms and burned the large group of them. Varbu''s fire must have scared the insects because after that the insects that came near them was far less than before.
At night in order to sleep safely, they were forced to climb up the tall swamp trees. They needed to stay high above the ground during the night because of the numerous night swamp monsters that came out to play at night.
They were lucky to have the trees to hide in otherwise their time in the swamp would truly be an exhausting and hellish experience, where they would have to constantly fight all day and night.
***
¡°Stop!¡± ordered Akira holding up his hand.
Not too far ahead of them was a large group of animals that had been well camouflaged as they lazily bathed in the shallow swamp waters trying to keep cool in the humid heat of the swamp.
[Wild Lizarsaurus lvl 42].
The Lizarsaurus looked somewhat like a supersized alligator that was almost as big as a horse.
¡°Looks like we have to take a detour, those things don''t look like they would let us pass without a fight,¡± said Akira looking around the swamp for a different path.
They continued with their wide detour jumping from one soggy piece of land to another and splashing through the areas where there was no dry land.
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Akira jumped from a soggy patch of land and landed on something near a tree which caused him to lose his balance and fall on his butt making a loud squelch. He now had a super wet butt.
¡°Ow! Hich-nolik, why do you have to be so rude and step on my tail!¡± asked a slurred voice.
The voice of an unknown person stopped the other three from laughing at Akira''s misfortune and turned to where the voice had come from.
Akira looked down under his foot and saw a light gray and green-scaled lizard tail that had escaped his eyes before due to it blending in with the surrounding swampy green.
He quickly removed his foot from the tail and got back onto his feet before stepping back his sword and shield ready for a fight with this unknown person.
From behind the nearby trees, a humanoid lizard stood up and walked out to confront the person that had stepped on his tail.
His mouth protruded out like an alligator''s there was no hair anywhere on his body. On the top of his head was a cluster of four or five small feathers that sprouted out from above his forehead and curved back.
¡°Really... Hich-nolik are you still angr...?¡±
His voice stopped as he saw that the people standing in front of him was not who he was expecting. It was someone from a different race!
His yellow reptile eyes blinked a few times trying to piece together understand what was going on.
¡°Hu..hu...Human!¡± the lizardman cried out in fright after looking at Akira. He swiftly jumped back behind the tree to hide from Akira.
¡°G..g..go away humans. I...I''m a nobody and you wouldn''t want to capture me,¡± he shouted from behind the trees.
The group looked at each other in puzzlement unsure what to do since they did not want to anger the other person and start a fight.
Before they could whisper a word to quietly discuss the matter, the lizard man spoke again.
¡°I lie! I am somebody. But trust me you wouldn''t want to capture me I don''t taste good.¡±
¡°What?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°What is this weirdo talking about?¡± asked Maya.
¡°I lie! Although I never tasted myself I probably do taste good but please don''t eat me! I Don''t want to die!¡± said the lizard man.
¡°Friend, what are you talking about? No one here is a human,¡± said Akira.
¡°We don''t plan on eating you either. I don''t even know how you came up with such a dumb idea,¡± said Mileena.
The lizardman''s head popped out from behind the tree to look at them.
¡°You''re not a human here to hunt bad lizardmen like me and eat me for dinner?¡± asked the lizardman looking at Akira suspiciously.
¡°No, I''m a werewolf and as you can see the others are not humans either. Who told you that humans hunt lizardmen for food?¡± asked Akira really wanting to know the answer out of curiosity.
¡°Hah! Everyone knows that humans hunt down younglings and other lizardmen that have been bad and eat them for dinner. My mother told me so when I was a small hatchling.¡±
¡°I see,¡± said Akira trying not to laugh.
The truth behind his weird ideas was most likely from his mother trying to scare him into being good with the scary stories of humans that would capture and eat anyone that was bad.
¡°Ha! I knew it all along that you were not humans. I was just testing you! There was no way I was scared of you.¡±
¡°I''m sorry if...¡±
¡°I lie! I peed my pants. Haaa...I''m so relieved that I won''t be eaten by a human today.¡±
¡°Friend, may I ask what is your name? Mine is Akira.¡±
¡°My name? It''s Chack Nai-lie. What are you doing out here in Griiq territory if you''re not here to eat me?¡± asked Chack
¡°Griiq?¡±
¡°Griiq is the name of my race.¡±
¡°I see. We''re traveling south to find my clan that I was separated from. By any chance do you know where we might find the werewolf clans?¡±
¡°I do. I do. There is a trading post where the merchants of my village go to trade with the werewolves all the time. I have gone there many times...I lie! I only went there once,¡± said Chack excitedly.
¡°Do you remember the way there?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes, very much so, like the back of my hairy hand...I lie! I don''t have hair on my hand!¡± said Chack furiously nodding his head.
¡°Do you think you can take us there?¡±
¡°That...will be troublesome...I have to ask my father...but...¡±
¡°Don''t worry If you lead us to where you live, we can ask him for you,¡± said Akira.
¡°I can''t I''m doing something very important.¡±
¡°What is it? Maybe we can help.¡±
¡°I lie! I''m just hiding!¡± said Chack.
¡°From what?¡± asked Akira.
Just then a loud shout reverberated through the swamps.
¡°Chack I know you''re hiding here somewhere hurry up and come out so that we can take you back to the village. Stop wasting our time and face the judgment of the elders!¡±
¡°Save me!¡± Chack pleaded.
¡°From what?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Hich-nolik Cuhgar, the grand champion of the tribe.¡±
¡°What did you do to anger him? I''m not sure I can do anything to help.¡±
¡°Nothing much. Just when he asked me if I thought he was the most handsome and smart person in the tribe I may or may not have told him that he was an ugly and brainless meathead.¡±
¡°Why would you do something like that?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°I was just being honest! Don''t worry they won''t kill us,¡± said Chack.
¡°I''m relieved... Wait! Why would they want to kill us?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I lie! They do want to eat us!¡±
¡°Why would they eat us?¡± asked Maya.
¡°Isn''t that normal?¡± asked Chack.
¡°Your head is screwed on wrong if you think that''s normal!¡± shouted Mileena.
¡°Found you!¡± a booming voice was heard nearby.
Ten medium-sized lizarsaurus noisily splashed their way towards the soggy island that everyone was standing on.
The lizarsaurus were carrying large green wooden chariot sleds behind them.
In each of the war sleds, there were two to three Griiq warriors.
Chack hurriedly hid behind the Akira and the others before they could say another word.
¡°Human you dare help hide that Griiq from me! You are hindering us from doing our duty! We''ll have to take you all with us and have the elders decide what to do with you!¡± said the tallest and strongest looking Griiq who Akira guessed was Hich-nolik by the scared look on Chack''s face.
¡°I am not a human, and I...¡± Akira tried to explain.
¡°Silence human save your excuses for the elders!¡± said Hich-nolik.
¡°Don''t worry, my father is one of the elders of the tribe,¡± said Chack.
¡°Your father can''t help you this time,¡± said Hich-nolik.
¡°I lie! We should be very worried!¡± said Chack as he put his hands up in defeat.
Akira and the others did not want to fight and cause a rift between the Griiq and their demon races which could start a war. So they allowed the Griiq warriors to herd them onto the sleds at spear point.
¡°Back to the village!¡± ordered Hich-nolik.
The travel to the Griiq town lasted for several hours as they whizzed through the countless swamps and patches of soggy land.
As they neared the village, they started to see many other Griiq riding on top of smaller lizarsaurus.
The buildings of the Griiq village were all tall mud Ziggurats with numerous steps leading to the top of each one.
At the outskirts of the large village, several older looking Griiq stood waiting for the return of the warriors.
The sleds slid to a stop in front of them and the warriors hopped out of the sleds bringing their captured prey with them.
¡°Honored elders I have brought Chack back. He was hiding with these people,¡± said Hich-nolik pointing at Akira, ¡°A human, Orc, and two Nyatails.¡±
¡°I''m a werewolf!¡± said Akira for the millionth time.
¡°Father nice to see...¡±
¡°Quite Chack. You have really blown it this time,¡± said his father.
¡°We elders have decided on the punishment for his repeated offenses.¡±
¡°His punishment will be to go to the Hall of heroic trials!¡±
Chapter 96: Hall of heroic trials
¡°What? Did you say the Hall of heroic trials?¡± asked Chack with an odd look on his reptilian face.
¡°This time we can not overlook your words that have shamed both me as your father and Hich-nolik Cuhgar, who is the champion warrior of our village,¡± said Chack''s father.
¡°You''re lucky that your father stepped in and asked for leniency, otherwise we would have fed you to the Lizarsaurus,¡± said one of the elders.
¡°We have given you the honor to enter the hall of trials. If you can complete the hall of trials we will give you our judgment after,¡± said another elder.
¡°What''s this hall of trials?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s normal for someone like you too not know. Warriors from all the Griiq clans who have been shamed will go there to test their power and recover their lost honor, most do not return. Those that do are heavily wounded,¡± explained another elder.
¡°So it is just a place to die?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It will be an honorable death not just anyone is allowed to enter the Halls of trials. Anyone that is sent there should be glad they are allowed in,¡± said Hich-nolik.
¡°Chack you are allowed four warriors to join you. But it looks like no one is willing to throw their lot in with you since it would mean they would have to receive the same judgment as you,¡± said Chack''s father.
¡°As punishment for helping hide this trouble maker you all are ordered to help him,¡± said an Elder pointing at Akira and the other three behind him.
¡°Wait. We were just passing through the swamps. We have no intention of interfering with your clans, last I checked our races have never had any ill will towards each other,¡± said Akira.
¡°Silence you have no say in this. The elders have spoken!¡± said Hich-nolik.
¡°Please sir, if you do not go with my son then he will have to enter the Hall of trials by himself,¡± pleaded Chack''s father.
Ding!
New Quest received!
The super-duper trial at the Hall of trials!
Chack''s father has asked you to help support Chack to clear the Hall of trials and regain his honor!
Difficulty rank D+
Accept?
Yes / No
|
Akira stayed quiet as he thought about it.
Chack stood next to him and waited for an answer, hoping for the help Akira might provide.
¡°Fine, but I want to let you know that you ordering us around like this is not helpful to the relationship between our races. You are stretching our goodwill thin.¡±
¡°Hmph...like we care what a nobody says,¡± said Hich-nolik.
¡°I thank you for agreeing,¡± said Chack''s father.
¡°Let''s go! No time to waste,¡± said Hich-nolik.
¡°What right now? We just arrived and have been traveling all day already. Can we not have a rest and ready our equipment and supplies?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No need. You rested while we traveled in the war sleds! You should be well-rested and it is best if you enter the hall of trials and use your own power without preparations to show off your true potential,¡± said Hich-nolik.
Akira wholly disagreed they had been standing with spears pointed at them during the whole time they traveled here. Not a very relaxing rest.
¡°We will go now! No more discussion! Hich-nolik, lead the way!¡± ordered one of the Elders.
While walking towards the hall of trials Chack''s father walked up to Akira and started to talk in a hushed voice so that only he could hear him.
¡°Please take care of my son. He is a good kid. He is shy and not that great with others but he just doesn''t know when to keep his mouth shut and is always too honest with his words.¡±
Akira didn''t say anything and just nodded his head he had no plans of dying or letting Chack die inside of the Hall of trials.
They traveled through the swamps behind the Griiq village for several miles before stopping at a large hole in the ground.
¡°We are here!¡± said Hich-nolik.
¡°We elders will stay outside near the entrance to the hall of trials we will wait a day for you to return. If it takes longer than a day for you to complete we will assume you have died and leave.¡±
¡°Don''t think that we will not know if you are just standing near the entrance to wait for the day to end before coming back. We will know if you have really challenged and completed the trial inside or if you are just wasting time before coming back out,¡± said one of the Elders.
¡°If you should die, die honorably,¡± said another Elder.
¡°May the ancestors be with you in the trial and may you not shame them as they watch,¡± said Chack''s father.
¡°Don''t worry we have no plans on dying. We''ll be back when we finish clearing the hall of trials you can count on it,¡± said Akira before stepping into the hole that was gently sloping down into the ground. He raised his shield and sword ready for a fight.
The others including Chack followed behind him splashing as they walked forward into the hole.
Ding!
You have entered the ''Hall of trials''!
|
''So this place is just a dungeon? I was expecting something more interesting,'' thought Akira.
The sloping tunnel was quite slippery due to the mucky swamp water trickling down it in small amounts.
It only took them a few minutes slip and sliding for the floor to slightly even out and when they reached the first room of the dungeon.
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The dark murky swamp water covering the floor was already up to their ankles hindering their movement only a little.
¡°I''m...I''m sorry that I dragged you into this. If I was able to hide better, then you would not have found me and would not have been captured by Hich-nolik,¡± said Chack.
¡°Don''t sweat it we can take care of this fairly easily,¡± said Akira.
¡°Really? Thank you so much!¡±
¡°Let''s not waste time and clear this place. As repayment for our help you can lead us to where we can meet the Werewolf clans,¡± said Varbu.
¡°What can we expect ahead and what type of fighting style do you use?¡± asked Maya taking out her notebook and pencil to write down information.
¡°I don''t know what is inside since no one that returns ever talks about it. My weapon is this,¡± said Chack holding up a mace with pointy spikes on it.
¡°Okay, just be sure to stick with Mileena and Varbu. They are melee attackers like you as well,¡± said Akira,
¡°Let''s see what this place has to offer,¡± said Varbu smashing his fist together.
There was no need for them to use a torch or lamp due to the light from the glowing algae on the walls and the ground.
¡°Everyone, be careful there might be some of those nasty snakes in here,¡± warned Akira.
¡°No need to worry about those snakes they do not like shallow water like this,¡± said Chack.
¡°Okay just stay on guard for anything that might hide in the water.¡±
As they entered the next dimly lit room the sound of creaking and clacking of bones could be heard. It was coming from a dark corner of the room filled with numerous moving shadows.
Three bony undead slowly walked out of the shadows and into the green glowing algae light.
Akira looked over the bony bodies of the guests that had joined them and saw that they looked a lot like Griiq but without and skin or guts.
[Undead Griiq lvl 40]
They undead each held different weapons and wore different armor.
¡°What is this?¡± asked Chack greatly troubled at the appearance of the undead.
¡°Is something wrong?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I know them. They are all warriors that were sent to the Hall of trials because of their failures. But why have they all turned into beings like this? Gohge-Nau only entered the Hall of trials last month. Is this what happens to those who fail?¡±
¡°I don''t know, but we told your father we would clear this dungeon. So even if these people were your friends when they were alive they are not the same people. We still need to kill them all to make good on our promise,¡± said Varbu with a roar. He charged forward with Akira right by his side.
The three Griiq warriors bone jaws clacked a few times as if they were laughing at Akira and Varbu who were charging towards them.
Bam! Akira used the skill [Shield Slam] to charge into one of the skeletons and ram it into the slick mud wall behind where it became stuck and was unable to escape.
Varbu leaped into the air and brought his quarterstaff down on the [Undead Griiq''s] head shattering it and its collar bone before having to jump away to dodge a counter-attack.
Maya and Mileena teamed up to fight the third one. Swoosh! A green arrow flew through the air and slammed into the bony head knocking it off and into the mud wall behind it.
Mileena moved forward and started to hack at the undead with her daggers.
Chack was torn on what to do. He didn''t want to fight those who he had known and shared meals with when they were alive. But Varbu''s words were true that they were now dead, so could you really consider them to be the same person that they were when they were still alive?
Akira continued to hack away at the [Undead Griiq] that was embedded in the wall breaking each of its bones thus killing it.
The fights ended a minute later when everyone had completely crushed the [Undead Griiq] they had been fighting.
¡°Whew, nothing like a good fight to get the blood flowing and wake you up,¡± said Varbu rotating his arms.
¡°Who are you people to so easily defeat them? Are you famous? I knew it all along! That is why I picked you to be my allies,¡± said Chack.
¡°We''re just everyday normal people,¡± said Maya.
¡°I lie! I had no clue you were such monsters. Good thing we are friends and you won''t eat me,¡± said Chack.
Everyone ignored his comment about them eating anything and continued to fight their way through the underground swamp dungeon. Everyone they fought, were all people that Chack had known.
It was getting harder to move the deeper they went into the dungeon. The water that was only at their ankle was getting higher and higher and was now at their waist.
The skeletons had little to no trouble moving through the water and were getting harder to fight.
Seeing this Chack finally started to show off his skills as he began to help them. He was able to move agilely through the swamp waters as if it was not there.
His hard scales were stronger than most leather armor so he did not have to wear any extra armor to weigh him down allowing him to clobber things and quickly escape.
They continued to fight for over four hours and with the help of Chack they were able to take care of the undead that filled up every room in the dungeon even with the water level rising up to their chest.
When they killed the last [Undead Griiq] in the room Akira noticed a simple wooden door at the back of the room. The door was halfway open and had a different green glowing light coming from inside the room behind the door.
Akira motioned them to stop their movements and continued to listen for any noise on the other side. There was none.
Akira stepped forward and walked up several stone stairs leading up out of the water and stood next to the door.
He reached out with his sword and pushed the door open further his shield in front ready to block anything that might pop out.
Creeeeeeak! The door opened all the way to reveal a well lit dry stone room that was far out of place with the rest of the dungeon that was full of mud and water.
On the ceiling of the room slightly covered by moss going unnoticed by Akira was a symbol of 7 triangles surrounding one large triangle carved into the stone.
The room was empty except for a large stone table and the items on it.
On top of the table was an empty space with a circle of runes carved into. There was a small indent in the middle of the runes where something could be placed Akira was unsure what.
Surprisingly, the source of the green light was from the green magical fire lantern sitting on one of the edges of the stone table.
Everyone walked up the stairs and into the room after seeing it was empty.
Akira walked over to the table and inspected the tools, empty glass bottles, and crumpled used paper.
Picking up one of the empty bottles and sniffed it. He scrunched his nose in disgust. ''Ew... smells like rotten death.''
¡°What is this place? Why is there something like this in the Sacred hall of trials?¡± asked Chack.
¡°I''m not sure, but judging by the dust on everything no one has been inside for at least a year,¡± said Mileena before she sneezed, causing more dust to fly in the air and cause her to sneeze even harder.
Akira picked up one of the crumpled pieces of paper to see if there was anything that could explain what this place was used for.
[Experiment 69: Another failure! This time it still did not spread like I wanted it to. When will I find the right formula? singed B.]
¡°Was this someone''s experiment lab?¡± asked Akira out loud.
¡°Impossible who would defile the sacred Hall of trials and use it as if it was a normal room?¡± asked Chack.
¡°Whether you like it or not someone was here using it for something like that,¡± said Maya as she rummaged through the tools and empty bottles in a crate on the table.
¡°Jackpot!¡± Mileena held up a black wooden box she had found in the drawer under the table.
Inside was a small smooth blue gem placed on soft silk to protect it.
¡°Hmm.. maybe it''s one of those skill gems? Activate! Move! Alwakabush!¡± Mileena tried to use the gem but nothing happened. She threw it back in the box disappointed.
¡°Here hold onto this!¡± said Mileena before she tossed it over to Akira.
Akira fumbled with the box that was thrown at his face and almost dropped it.
Ding!
Rare Magical tier 1 growth type gem.
Stats: ???
Your Intelligence is to low to understand the workings of this gem.
Maybe read a book or two and not be such a meathead.
|
''What type of stupid description is this?''
''Hmm, looks like it would fit that hole on the table,'' thought Akira.
He took the gem out of the box and placed it in the hole where it fit perfectly, but nothing happened.
He shrugged his shoulders and placed the gem back in the box and put the box into his bag.
Chapter 97: Whats your name?
[...and so that is our situation in the ocean right now,] explained number 4 with his glowing words on the special paper that he used.
Clack! The loud noise of something falling to the ground interrupted the meeting of the seven elders.
¡°Bonestringer, why are you interrupt us with your clumsy actions?¡± asked number 3 unhappy at the interruption.
Bonestringer had been respectfully standing in a dark corner out of the way of the heads waiting to be called upon.
¡°Elder, the magic seal that I put on one of my labs... the one in the south to be exact, seems to have just been broken. If I have to guess it is probably the nosy lizards again.¡±
¡°Didn''t you tell me that you made sure that something like the last incident wouldn''t happen again?¡± asked number 6.
¡°I did but it has been a while since I last checked on the lab so the protection I left could have thinned out,¡± said Bonestringer.
¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and go check the lab and make sure everything is still there! This time make sure you properly secure it,¡± said number 2.
¡°Yes, right away!¡± said Bonestringer bowing to the seven elders.
When Bonestringer left the room they continued their discussion.
¡°Do we have the worst sort of luck or what?¡± asked number 5, ¡°It seems every plan we have worked on has either had a setback or has been a complete failure.¡±
¡°It is indeed frustrating but our organization has already waited several hundred years. What are a few more years of waiting if we can complete our mission? We just need to be patient and not make any major mistakes and everything will go our way. Our true mission will be achieved in our lifetime!¡± said number 1 calmly with great conviction.
¡°Did we ever find out where that bargaining chip disappeared to? The one that imbecile Brutus was supposed to be watching over for us?¡± asked number 2.
¡°He was last seen in the deserts of Caidia, but all traces of him have disappeared.¡±
¡°Hmph...Useless.¡±
***
¡°Chack, did we complete the trial since we killed everything in here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Of course!... I lie! How should I know? This is my first time entering the sacred hall of trials. But it is strange... I heard that it was supposed to be a lot harder. Did we miss something or are we not good enough to take the real test?¡± asked Chack.
¡°Your guess is as good as mine. Since we searched everywhere in here and there seems to be nothing else to do we should head back out,¡± said Akira.
¡°I hope father is not still angry with us when we return,¡± said Chack as they waded through the waist-deep water.
¡°Relax he''s your father no need to worry too much. How bad could it be?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Very bad...Meat-eating bad,¡± replied Chack.
¡°I see...I''ll be sure to put in a good word for you to try and help you out. But first, we have to get out of here.¡±
It took them several minutes to get out of the waist-deep water and reach the muddy entrance where the water was only around their feet.
As they exited the dungeon they saw the elders who were still waiting near the entrance with their bodyguards had their backs to the entrance. They were all whispering back and forth in a heated conversation.
When they heard the movement near the entrance they looked over their shoulders to see what it was.
¡°Father we''re back!¡± said Chack.
¡°You''re back so soon...Are you sure you properly challenged the hall of trials?¡± his father asked.
¡°Father, are you doubting your son''s honor?¡±
¡°How could you have completed the challenge? You don''t even look like you were in a fight!¡± said Hich-nolik.
The elders inspected all five of them. They were all soaked and caked with mud from the dungeon, but there was no sign of wounds big or small anywhere on their bodies.
¡°That''s because I was the main fighter killing everything!¡± said Chack.
¡°Bullcrap! You can''t even beat me so how could you complete the trial without taking heavy damage!¡±
¡°I lie! It''s true! I was just support for the others, but we did finish the trial!¡±
¡°Stop lying. Elders, you know his strength and you know the strength of the warriors that went in before him. The Hall of trials is not something you can complete within half a day! They did not complete it and are trying to fool you so that they can get a lighter punishment!¡±
¡°If you don''t believe us why don''t you join me and we can go back into the hall of trials to check and see if we did finish it?¡± asked Akira interrupting the argument.
¡°What do you take me for? An idiot?¡± asked Hich-nolik.
¡°I don''t know you well enough to make a judgment on whether or not you''re an idiot, but I can tell by your hesitation that you''re afraid of going inside. There is nothing to worry about it was just a dungeon.¡±
Snap! Hich-nolik''s mouth snapped shut in anger. To be called a coward was far worse than being called an idiot, and this nobody even did it in front of the elders!
Hich-nolik snapped his mouth shut a few times trying to lessen his anger as he tried to think clearly so that he did not shame himself in front of the elders.
¡°Ha! You and your sly words will not trick me! You just want to take me inside and them eat me for a snack like all you nasty humans always do!¡±
¡°I already told you I''m not a human, I''m a werewolf. Trust me eating hard and unappetizing creatures like you is the last thing they would want to eat!¡±
¡°It''s the truth father I learned this earlier today! Humans don''t eat Griiq!¡± said Chack proudly.
His father gave him the stink eye which made Chack look down at the ground and quietly mumble.
¡°I lie! Don''t worry father, I still believe mother!¡±
¡°Enough of your pointless bickering! Since you claim that you have completed the trial and I hope that you would not dare to ruin your father''s honor by lying. We elders will now decide on what to do with you!¡± said the oldest elder in the group.
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The elders shooed their bodyguards away and huddled closely together to talk privately for several minutes.
When they turned back around and walked back over Chack''s father had a sad look on his scaly face.
¡°Father...I''m not going to be...¡±
¡°Quite! The elder''s decision has been made! Chack Nai-lie, you are hereby banished from the Griiq tribe! Unless you would rather stay in a fresh dug grave!¡± said the oldest elder loudly.
¡°You have one day to leave our territory! If you are still here by this time tomorrow we will hunt you down as if you are an invader!¡± said another elder before turning and getting back into his war sled to be taken back to the village.
All but Chack''s father followed suit and returned to their war sleds.
¡°Father? How...¡± Chack wanted to ask his father how he could agree to this but his father ignored him and walked up to Akira.
¡°Please sir, I can tell by the aura you give off and the way you carry yourself that you are a strong and honorable warrior. Please let my troublesome son join you and your other companions. He is my only son and I do not wish for him to die in the dangerous world outside this village.¡±
Chack''s father was now bowing deeply to Akira waiting for an answer.
This shocked Chack since he had never seen his father who was one of the tribe''s elders, bow to someone in the Griiq tribe. So bowing to someone of a different demon race was highly unlikely.
¡°No need to bow to me. I consider your son a friend already so that makes you his father my friend as well. Chack, do you want to come travel with us? I can''t guarantee that you will be completely safe but it should be safer than being alone,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yes, Yes. I agree it is a good idea to be friends with you so I don''t get eaten.¡±
¡°Honorable warrior if the situation was slightly different I would invite you to a party at my house but sadly that can never happen, at least for now. Thank you for taking pity on this old me and accepting my selfish request. I hope that you can keep my son out of trouble. I must go now or I will only cause more problems for you,¡± said Chack''s father walking to his war sled where his bodyguards were waiting.
Ding!
¡°Goodbye, father! Goodbye uncles!¡± said Chack waving towards his father and the guards disappearing in the distance.
¡°So where to next?¡± asked Chack turning to Akira.
¡°Remember when I asked you if you knew where to find the Werewolf clans?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Ah! That''s right you want me to take you to the trading post! That''s easy! Just follow me somewhere south and we''ll get there in a week or...two?¡± said Chack as he started to walk ahead of the others.
¡°Uh... Chack, that''s not south, that''s east,¡± said Maya.
¡°Of course! I was just testing you!... I lie! I forgot which way south was my bad! So which way is south?¡±
¡°Oh boy we have someone worse than Mileena leading us this time,¡± grumbled Varbu.
***
Just as Varbu had predicted a trip that was supposed to take them a week had lasted over two weeks due to the constant errors in Chack''s memory.
They found out that he had slept for most of his only trip to the trading post so he only knew parts of the path that led to where they wanted to go.
They were exhausted when they finally the trading post reached that was located in a large dry clearing in the swampy jungle.
There were three mud houses built on dry ground. One house for each tribe while the third was used for trading.
¡°Hey, old werewolf geezers I have come to trade!¡±
¡°Oh really?¡± asked a voice coming from one of the mud houses.
¡°I lie! I brought people to see you!¡±
Five burly men with long hair and bushy beards that could almost even rival a dwarfs beard stepped out of the house at the rear of the trading post. The sixth person to exit the house was a skinny guy who looked to be in his late teens and had no beard.
¡°Who are you guys?¡± asked Chack confused.
¡°That''s what we want to know. Why are you here early? There are still several months until the elders arrive for the yearly trade. So you should not be here,¡± said a man as tall as Varbu.
The hair on his head, as well as his beard, was a fire red color with a few streaks of gray showing his age.
¡°I brought some people that wanted to meet you!¡± said Chack.
¡°HA! More likely you thought that the elders were going to be here and wanted to rob them!¡± said the teenager.
¡°No, no! I would never lie! I lie! I lied about not lying but not about coming here to rob you!¡±
¡°What should we do with them Redbeard?¡± asked a muscular man next to him.
¡°Capture them and we''ll beat the truth out of them if we have to!¡± ordered Redbeard.
The warriors without hesitation transformed into werewolves in less than a second after hearing the order form the pack leader and leaped forward to capture the suspicious people. Almost all of them had fur that was a different color from one another the only two with the same color fur was Redbeard and the young teen werewolf.
¡°Wait! I''m a werewolf looking for my clan. We did not come to fight,¡± said Akira stepping in front of Chack with his shield ready to stop werewolves from harming him.
¡°Frang, capture that suspicious guy,¡± ordered Redbeard
Frang, the young werewolf, jumped forward putting all his attack power into his fist.
Bam! The attack from Frang slammed into Akira''s shield, his attack and push forward was stopped by Akira''s sturdy defense.
¡°Nice try! But you human bandits need to come up with a better trick than this to fool me!¡± said Frang as he swung his claw at Akira''s head trying to land a heavy blow to knock him out.
Akira stepped to the side and used [Shield bash] to push Frang away. He didn''t dare use his sword or any other skills because of the risk of hurting or killing someone. He needed to convince them they were on the same side and get them to help him.
The others were all caught in the same situation Akira was in not being able to use their full strength either.
¡°Look this ring proves I am who I say I am!¡± said Akira holding out the dwarven ring of friendship.
Upon seeing the ring the older werewolves stopped fighting.
Frang, on the other hand, ignored the ring in Akira''s hand and continued to charge forward to trade blows with Akira again.
¡°Frang, Stop!¡± Redbeard''s gravelly voice boomed out.
Frang''s movement stopped immediately following orders on instinct.
¡°You say you''re a werewolf? Then prove it by transforming,¡± said Redbeard.
¡°Well you see...there is a slight problem with that...¡±
¡°Either you can or you can''t. If you''re a werewolf of the Earth tribe than at your age you should have already awakened. You''re older than me so...¡± said Frang.
¡°He''s a crippled, he told me he can only transform at night,¡± said Chack.
¡°I''m not crippled!¡± said Akira.
¡°Ha! So either your a liar or a crippled!¡± said Frang with a laugh.
¡°Shut your mouth Frang,¡± said Redbeard.
He walked up to Akira still in his werewolf form and began sniffing Akira.
¡°Frang, I can tell without needing much investigation that he is indeed a member of the Earth tribe. With your nose, you should have been able to tell before you even attack the first time. Why did you not inform me of this? Has your nose rot off your face or was it that you like my special hell training so much that you wanted another day of it?¡±
¡°It''s just for a little fun! No harm was meant, uncle!¡±
Growl! Redbeard let a loud growl escape from his throat.
¡°When we''re on missions you are not to be so familiar with me. I am the missions pack leader, not your uncle! Stop acting like a child or you''ll never be able to receive a chance to lead a pack on a mission. You know that will bar you from taking over the position of clan leader when your father retires.¡±
¡°Sorry leader I will take your words to heart,¡± said Frang.
¡°You, what clan are you from?¡± Redbeard asked Akira.
¡°I don''t know...¡±
¡°Really? Fine show me your bare arms.¡±
¡°This again?¡±
Growl! ¡°Show me your arms!¡± ordered Redbeard with a loud snarl.
¡°Sigh...why do I get stuck babysitting all the young pups!¡± complained Redbeard, as Akira started to take off his armor that was covering his arms. He felt this was just like the time he had been at the orc city.
When Akira arms were bare for all to see, Redbeard grabbed the right arm with his large paws and scanned it looking for something. When he didn''t find it he grabbed the other arm but didn''t find it there either.
¡°How come you don''t have a clan tattoo?¡± asked Redbeard.
¡°Well you see, a year or so ago I kinda found out I was a werewolf. I was going to come back with other people who knew what clan I belonged to, but I was separated from them,¡± said Akira.
¡°What''s your name?¡±
¡°My name is Akira.¡±
Chapter 98: Bluemoon clan
Due to the urgent matter of someone invading the laboratory along with the order from the 7 heads, Bonestringer traveled as fast as he could in order to reach the lab and figure out what happened.
Around the time that Akira and the others were meeting the werewolves, he had arrived in front of the self-created dungeon.
His footsteps stopped in puzzlement the death aura and the smell of lingering death that normally emanated from the hidden underground lab was gone.
The surrounding area was peaceful and only the smell that reached his nose was that of wet rotting plants.
Feeling a sense of dread he ran down the steep path into the underground lab.
¡°Gone..Gone...GONE!¡± muttered the frantic Bonestringer as he splashed through the empty rooms.
He reached the end of the underground lab and found that the door was wide open.
Running into the room he shot straight to the stone table where the special gem that was worth more than his life was hidden.
Empty!
¡°NOOOOO! How can this be! Where is the gem! Where are my experiments! How could it be that they have disappeared? The lizards are too weak to do anything about this place. So who destroyed MY research experiments and STOLE MY GEM!?¡± shouted Bonestringer in a black rage.
This was a major catastrophe! He dreaded having to go back to the 7 heads with this news but they were expecting him to be back before long and he could not waste any more time.
Looking at the ground he found many small and big footprints including a set that looked to be from one of the lizards.
¡°Just who had the courage to steal something belonging to the 7 heads? Even I dare not touch it without permission from them. I guess I''ll have to go pay the Lizards a visit and ask them what''s going on here,¡± said Bonestringer as he exited the room and splashed through the tunnels.
***
¡°Akira? Doesn''t that sound familiar?¡± asked one of the werewolves at the rear of the group.
¡°Now that you mention it, I do recall hearing that name some years ago!¡± said another werewolf.
¡°You''ve heard of his name before? ¡± Ask Redbeard.
¡°Yes, pack leader! I think someone in the Bluemoon clan had a son with the same name. I can''t truly say who it was or if I am remembering correctly since it was nearly 17 years ago when I heard it. I didn''t pay much attention to it since you know at that time the second great war was still raging on.¡±
¡°It''s fine, at least we have a place to start or search,¡± said Redbeard before turning to Akira.
¡°We''ll take you to the Bluemoon clan and see if anyone knows you. If they don''t then you won''t like what we do to liars and robbers. Even if you are a werewolf and have the ring of friendship.¡±
¡°I don''t know them so they might not know me and that is no reason to doubt us!¡± said Akira.
¡°No need to try and come up with excuses to back out of this. You''re coming with us whether you like it or not. Adal and Frang blindfold them. Since we don''t know who you are, we can''t take you there with your eyes wide open in case you were sent to spy on us for some hidden master,¡± said Redbeard.
Everyone in Akira''s group did not refuse and let the two werewolves place blindfolds over their eyes.
¡°I''ll be watching you closely so don''t think of doing anything funny. Even if you have a slight smell of a werewolf and the ring of friendship, the smell of humans on your body and your actions overpower it all. If you are an enemy to the Earth tribe I will personally kill you,¡± said Frang.
Akira grimaced as Frang tightened the knot of the blindfold at the back of his head with all his strength. It felt like he was trying to squeeze the juice out of his head like a freshly cut piece of Mororange fruit known for having the tastiest citric juice than any other type of similar fruit.
¡°I get the feeling that you have a very good relationship with your fellow werewolves,¡± said Chack.
Akira sighed ignoring Chack''s comment.
¡°I lie! They seem to not like you one bit. What did you do to them? Did you eat someone you were not supposed to?¡±
Akira attempt to ignore was thrown out the window and wanted to kick the lizard in the shin but he was now blind and wasn''t sure where he was, so he was forced to endure his jokes.
He had to calm down and get control of himself he was picking up to many bad habits from the nyantail girls, mainly Mileena.
¡°We are not enemies right now and will treat you with respect as long as you follow my orders. So don''t do anything stupid and we will all get to the Bluemoon clan in one piece soon enough,¡± said Redbeard.
Traveling with a blindfold on was a rather new experience to Akira and he could say without a doubt that it was not a pleasant or fun experience.
Eating, using the bathroom, washing his body, were all a bit troublesome to do with a blindfold blocking their vision.
The only light that he saw was a faint glow that came through the thick dark cloth covering his eyes. The only way he could tell what areas they were passing through was through the ground under his feet that constantly changed as they walked.
Akira was fairly confident in his skill of navigating new and unknown places but that was only when he could see! He didn''t know if he could find his way back with just the memory of his footsteps.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
They traveled for over a week walking over 10 hours each day. The talk between them and the other werewolves was minimal only speaking when they needed something.
On the eighth day of walking the group stopped well before the usual lunchtime which had been around noon over the last seven days.
¡°Bluemoon clan! Redbeard of the Red moon clan has come to greet you!¡± shouted Redbeard.
¡°Ehhh?? So it was just you guys that were headed to the clan. You here to meet someone?¡± asked a voice coming from far above their heads.
¡°No, we''re not here to meet anyone. I''ve brought someone that your clan might like to see,¡± said Redbeard as he pushed Akira forward.
¡°We are trying to figure out if he is really part of Earth tribe and not some random offspring of one of the blasted condemned. He says that he doesn''t remember which clan he belongs to. We think he might belong to one of the families in your clan. Do you know of anyone that had a son named Akira?¡±
¡°Ehhh...Akira? I''m not sure. Are they criminals or something that you need to keep them blindfolded?
¡°No, no, just a precaution so that if they are not part of your clan they won''t know how to get back here,¡± said Redbeard waving his hand.
¡°Ehhh... okay. You can take him to the interrogation room if you want and we''ll send over someone to ask them a few questions to see if they have any relatives here.¡±
With a push, the group of blindfolded people were herded towards a small building the only one in the surrounding area.
¡°Watch your step there are several steps in front of you. Wouldn''t want you to hurt yourselves,¡± said Frang behind Akira.
Stumbling up the stairs and into the building they led to a side room and were shoved into wooden seats.
¡°Wait here for now and don''t take off your blindfolds until you''re told to,¡± said Redbeard before exiting the room and standing guard near the door.
The whole building had a bad sweaty smell making Akira crinkle his nose.
¡°Eww... it smells like wet dog!¡± complained Mileena who couldn''t take it anymore after sitting in silence for several minutes.
¡°Don''t you werewolves not know about taking baths?¡± asked Maya equally unhappy with the smell.
¡°Hey don''t lump me in with them! I try to wash everyday so I can keep clean,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmph! I''m sorry that you don''t like the smell. But it can''t be helped since this is also where the clan''s wolf dogs sleep at night,¡± said a young female''s voice near the entrance to the room.
¡°You can take off your blindfolds,¡± said Redbeard as he walked into the room after the young girl. He walked over to a corner of the room to make sure that Akira and the others did not cause trouble or try to escape.
Akira had trouble undoing the knot on his so after fumbling with it for over a minute he just ripped the cloth off his head.
His head began to pound as blood started to flow through the areas that had been compressed for over a week. With each heartbeat, his head throbbed with pain.
Slowly he opened his eyes to look around by was forced to squint from a bright light in front of them.
Several seconds of blinking passed before the severity of the bright light lessened and the blurry images became whole to show the source of the blinding light was a small candle burning on a wooden table in front of them.
Akira looked to both his left and right and saw everyone was still alive and doing well.
¡°Who are you?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Why did they send a kid?¡± asked Maya.
Akira turned his gaze towards the person Maya was talking to.
On the other side of the table sat a young girl with chestnut brown hair that was tied into a cute side ponytail with a beautiful blue flower placed near the base of the ponytail. She had hardly any clothing on save for short shorts and a tube top and all of her clothing looked to be made out of animal hide.
¡°I''m not a kid. And my name is...Wait! I''m the interrogator it''s my job to ask you the questions! So be quiet unless I ask you a question!¡± said the young girl her two large ears twitched in agitation, while her bushy tail was standing up straight.
Akira was surprised to see that she was still in her human form but had her werewolf ears and tail out.
¡°Which one is supposed to be the person called Akira?¡± asked the young interrogator looking at Varbu.
¡°Me,¡± said Akira raising his hand.
The young girl stood up and walked over to him before she started to sniff the air around him. After a minute or two of sniffing she continued to stare intently at Akira as if to see through him.
¡°It seems like you have a special skill to attract all the young girls and steal their hearts. What''s going to happen next?¡± said Maya jokingly under her breath.
Akira watched as the young interrogator ears twitched at such a lewd comment.
Akira''s face turned red from embarrassment ''Now is not the time to be making lewd jokes Maya!''
¡°You certainly have a familiar smell to you but I am not 100% sure so I''ll have to ask you a few questions. Answer them truthfully or Mr. Redbeard will help you remember correctly. I will get to the bottom of this and find out if your really are a member of this clan!¡±
***
Grand was walking back to his own home with the groceries he had just bought when he spotted someone from the Red moon tribe that he knew.
¡°Frang, what a surprise to meet you today. How is your father?¡±
¡°Ah! Grand Elder! This junior greets you. Father is doing well and still has many years of fighting in him. He always has many praises about Grand elders strength back in the last two wars!¡± said Frang respectfully bowing to Grand.
¡°Ah yes! I remember when your father was quite young almost your age when we fought in the second great war but he became a powerhouse himself in the third war over ten years ago. So what brings you here at this time of year?¡±
¡°Oh, it''s the weirdest thing but a group that has an orc, two Nyantails, a Griiq, and an unknown werewolf all showed up at the trading post asking to be brought to the werewolf clans. But the guy didn''t know what clan he belonged to. But Naz said he heard that someone in the bluemoon clan had a kid with his name. So we brought them here to see if he really is a clan member. Uncle Redbeard is watching them at the interrogation building right now.¡±
¡°Oh? What''s his name?¡±
¡°Uhh...Aki...Akira? I think.¡± said Frang.
Grand''s hand shot out and gripped onto Frang''s shoulder. Even though he was old, his grip was still as strong as it was in the last war so Frang''s shoulder began to hurt.
¡°Grand elder...?¡±
¡°Did you say Akira?¡±
Frang nodded his head furiously.
The bag of vegetables that Grand had been holding dropped to the ground as he ran towards the Interrogation building.
***
BAM!
The door to the interrogation room flew open startling everyone inside.
¡°Ah! It''s just you Grand elder, junior Redbeard greets you! Is there something wrong that has caused you to run here?¡± asked Redbeard respectfully.
Even though Redbeard who was a grown man with his own children still showed the greatest respect towards Grand who was the Grand elder of the Bluemoon clan.
The Grand elders of any clan were the most respected elders of the clan. Most being the former clan chiefs that had passed the role of controlling the clan to their sons. So there was no way anyone would show disrespect.
Grand ignored Redbeard and the young interrogator sitting at the table. His gaze fell on Akira and his body began to tremble from the emotions welling up inside.
¡°Akira is that you?¡±
Chapter 99: Reunion
¡°Grand, It''s sure is great to see you again,¡± said Akira.
¡°It is you!¡± said Grand happily walking over to Akira and giving him a bear hug nearly suffocating Akira.
¡°Grand elder do you know this person?¡± asked the young interrogator still wary of the group of unusual people.
¡°Yes, I most definitely do! How could I not,¡± said grand releasing Akira from the deathtrap hug.
¡°So you will personally vouch that this group will not cause any problems for the clan?¡±
Seeing the way she spoke to Grand, Akira saw that she held great respect for him and viewed his words and opinions highly.
¡°I don''t know the other people but they should be alright. No need to worry your little head about it, there might be a bit of commotion but that is just normal nothing new around here,¡± said Grand as turning back to Akira.
¡°So you did receive the letter I left with Delgar? The one with the directions to the clan. What took you so long to get here?¡±
¡°What letter?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Wait...don''t tell me you never went to the dwarven town and met Delgar?¡±
¡°No, I did. I met Delgar when I was there and he even taught me the basics of blacksmithing and we cleared out a dungeon together when I was there.¡±
¡°Haaaah... that guy is forgetful as ever. I''ll have to give him a good earful the next time I see him. No wonder you took so long to get here. I was worried something bad had happened after a month of not hearing anything. In truth, I was starting to think you would never arrive.¡±
¡°Grand, I am truly sorry that I have made you wait and worry for so long. It took a while to get here because one thing after another kept popping up. I can go into more detail if you would like.¡±
¡°No need, this is not the place for such topics we can do that later. I am just glad that you''re safe.¡±
¡°Grand elder why does he keep calling you ''Grand''?¡± asked the young interrogator.
¡°Ah yes, I sorta gave him a false name when I met him in the Kingdom of Beorin. I wasn''t sure if he was the right person I was looking for at the time. I didn''t have enough time to tell him my real name due to the trouble we ran into while we were escaping.¡±
¡°Wait, your name isn''t grand?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes, my real name is Wulfric. I am bad with coming up with secret names so I just chose something easy like Grand from the fact that I''m a Grandfather. Get it Grand...Grandfather? Hahaha,¡± Wulfric laughed quite hard at his own corny sense of naming for over a minute.
Both Redbeard and the young interrogators face were red from embarrassment not for themselves but for Wulfric and his terrible jokes.
¡°I see, so you''re a grandfather. Who''s the lucky person that gets to have you as their grandfather?¡± asked Akira ignoring Wulfric''s odd sense of humor.
¡°That would be the young miss who has temporarily taken over the job of clan chief until the elders decide on the next leader, and... I am also your grandfather,¡± said Wulfric quickly speaking the last words as if it were nothing.
¡°What!!¡± asked Akira and everyone else in the room including Redbeard and the young interrogator.
¡°Haha, that''s right! Akira, I am your GRANDFATHER!¡± Wulfric said the later part in a very serious and deep voice.
¡°NOOOOO!¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Oh, it''s nothing. I just thought it fit the situation,¡± said Akira brushing it off.
¡°So I do have a family? This feels weird since I have been alone for so long. If you''re my grandfather then what is my relationship with the young miss you spoke of before?¡±
¡°The temporary clan chief? She is... Your little sister! Hahaha!¡±
¡°Little sister?... Can you take me to meet her?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No need! You already have met her! Hahaha!¡± said Wulfric pointing at they young interrogator.
¡°Mouuuu, Grandfather why tease me and everyone like this! Hello my name is Azura,¡± said the young girl while pouting.
Akira along with his companions were all shocked that she was his little sister. He had not paid much attention towards her before but now he stared at her to take in all the details he had missed from his first inspection.
She seemed to have a haughty but noble-ish feel to her. Akira thought it was cute to watch her puff out her cheeks and pout. She had a pair of cute dimples that added even more to her cuteness.
She also had something in common with Mileena...but better not mention that since it might be a taboo with her as well.
Overall his assessment was... she is just too cute! Maybe he was a bit biased now that he knew she was his little sister.
Were they really related? How unfair! It looked like she got all the good genes and he was stuck being average!
Maya laughed at this unexpected situation. ¡°So now you''re a real brother. You have two little sisters now!¡±
¡°Two little sisters?¡± asked Azura with a sharp glint in her eye looking at the two Nyantails.
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¡°That''s right when were at the capital of the mermaids the little princes would not stop hanging all over him and calling him big brother. What are you jealous?¡±
¡°No, it''s just that I''m the only little sister that my brother needs. No one else!¡± said Azura loudly.
¡°Heh, heh someone is jealous,¡± said Maya.
¡°Haha, the little miss is jealous!¡± said Chack wanting to join in the fun.
Azura gave him a death glare and shouted: ¡°I''m not!¡±
¡°I lie! You are jealous, but I won''t say you are because I don''t want to be eaten!¡±
¡°Grandfather, Azura, I would like to get to know you more and understand more about the clan, my parents, and so much more!¡± said Akira.
¡°Like I said before this is not really a good place to talk about such things. Azura take him to our house and wait for me there. The rest of you since you are friends of Akira''s you may stay here as long as you don''t start any trouble. You Nyantails are in luck. There are several other families from your race that came to live with us for a while. So you should be able to fit in well with them I''ll arrange some guest rooms for everyone,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°It looks like I''m not needed here so my job is done. Grand elder, it was nice meeting you again,¡± said Redbeard.
¡°Be sure to tell the clan chief I said hi and not to be such a stranger. Haven''t seen him since the last tribe meeting,¡± said Wulfric.
Redbeard left the room and gathered the roaming werewolves under his command and without another word headed back towards the trading post.
Azura led Akira out of the dark building into the hot and humid outdoors.
Akira took a moment to scan the surrounding area since he had been blindfolded when he had arrived.
As far as he could see was all dry land with lush green plants everywhere. Large trees populated the whole place.
There were only a few rough buildings that Akira could see. Nowhere near enough for a whole clan to live in.
¡°Not exactly what I was expecting when I hear town,¡± said Akira looking for other people and buildings.
The only thing he saw was a bunch of wolves running around. They must be the ones that sleep in that building back there.
¡°Hmph you''re looking in the wrong places,¡± said Azura while pointing up.
Akira''s head looked above and was rendered speechless. Hundreds of houses and walkways were built on and between each of the large trees.
A whole city was built in the trees!
¡°Hmph! It''s nothing much just our current place we are calling home,¡± said Azura proudly puffing out her small chest.
Akira was taken to a large tree where a rope ladder was hanging. Azura began to climb up towards the city above.
Akira just stood there looking at the city. Thousands of new thoughts and questions were buzzing in his head.
¡°Hurry up!¡± shouted Azura.
***
Bonestringer paced back and forth in the dark hallway outside the main meeting room of the 7 heads. He was worried about the report he had to give and did not want to be here right now.
¡°Bonestringer come in!¡± the voice of Number one boomed out into the hallway.
The doors opened without anyone pushing them revealing the darkroom inside.
Bonestringer walked into the room and stopped in front of the 7 heads.
¡°This had better be good. What do you have to report to us?¡± asked Number 2.
¡°Gulp...Well you see...whoever entered my lab killed all my test subjects and...stole the gem. I don''t think it was the lizards as they knew nothing of it when I interrogated a few of them,¡± said Bonestringer who had started to sweat buckets even though the room was almost as cold as a winter blizzard.
¡°What!? You lost the gem! You useless piece of trash!¡± Yelled number 3 his anger soaring.
¡°How could you be so careless with such an important item!¡± asked Number 6.
¡°Do you know how bad of a mess up this is? You know that we are at an important stage in the research and this will cause major delays if it is not taken care of!¡± said number 5.
¡°Get out of here and go find the gem don''t return until you have found who has it!¡± ordered Number 2.
Bonestringer hurriedly scurried out of the room grateful that he was still alive. The door slammed shut behind him with a loud bang.
***
Akira was walking next to Azura following her to where here house was while trying not to look at the ground.
¡°Akira, wait up!¡° an unfamiliar voice call out him.
Akira turned around to see someone running over to them using the various winding and crisscrossing pathways from tree to tree to get to them.
Akira was able to see that the person who had called out to them was a tall skinny man with glasses with his age somewhere around the same as Akira.
The man stopped a few paces away and bent over panting from having run all the way over to them.
¡°Uh... Do I know you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Just ignore the idiot,¡± said Azura.
The young glasses guy stood up straight and pushed his glasses all the way back up onto his nose.
¡°Azura, don''t be so mean to me!¡±
¡°Klyn, how did you find out that Akira was back,¡± asked Azura.
¡°Fred was talking about it when I was passing the tavern earlier. Anyone with ears knows that someone named Akira is back. But only a few understand the significance of his name, I am one of them! I decided to come and see for myself if it was true. So here I am!¡±
¡°Hmph! That damn Fred has such a big mouth. Don''t tell anyone yet as I have to clear up a few things with my brother. I''ll be calling everyone for a meeting sometime later to inform everyone of the news. So you better keep your mouth shut,¡± said Azura threateningly.
¡°Sure wouldn''t want to anger the little temporary clan chief now would I.¡±
¡°Excuse me! Just who are you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°My name is Klyn!¡±
¡°No not that I already know your name. What I want to know is how you know me?¡±
¡°That''s because...I am your childhood friend!¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°What are you disappointed I''m not a girl? I know that all the stories make the long lost friend of the main character a girl and then they both get into a super lovey-dovey romance. Well to bad! I''m a guy and nothing like that is going to happen,¡± said Klyn pushing his glasses back up.
¡°I don''t want anything like that to happen either! I barely even know who you are!¡± said Akira slugging Klyn in the stomach.
¡°Yup it truly is you my childhood friend always impulsively punching me in the stomach like when we were kids.¡±
¡°I don''t remember any of that, and I don''t even remember you!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°I would like to say I''m saddened that you forgot me but I can''t say I''m shocked with the bad memory that you have,¡± said Klyn.
¡°I can remember things just fine, thank you very much,¡± said Akira.
¡°Stop arguing you two. See, I told you just to ignore him he is an idiot that only reads books and can barely even pass the monthly physical training. Hmph!¡± said Azura.
¡°Hey! Little miss barbarian who are you calling an idiot? I am not like you. I can use my brain to fix problems I don''t need to use brute force to solve everything!¡±
¡°Hmph! So what if you can spout stuff from books you have read. I''m done talking with you! Brother come! We''re leaving,¡± said Azura pulling on Akira''s arm.
¡°We can talk later and catch up on things when you have time,¡± shouted Klyn.
¡°Go away!¡± shouted Azura pulling Akira with her as they ran to a large house near the center of the city built in the largest tree.
She opened the door and pulled Akira in slamming the door shut behind them.
Chapter 100: The past and the future
Akira sat on an older couch that was covered in fur and had a few stuffed cushions that felt a little lumpy.
Azura sat across from him on a wooden chair, there was only a small wooden table between them.
She was currently staring at Akira and it was making him a bit uncomfortable.
¡°So you''re my sister?¡± asked Akira trying to end the awkward silence.
¡°You got a problem with it?¡± asked Azura.
¡°No...¡± said Akira. He decided it might be better if he just stayed quiet.
¡°Are you going to stay with the clan from now on?¡± asked Azura with an unreadable face.
¡°If I can, I would like to. I have gone through a lot of things just to get here.¡±
Azura nodded her head. ¡°Good, we have an extra room here that you can stay in.¡±
¡°What about my friends?¡±
¡°There are several empty houses or an inn that they can pick from and use for however long they wish to stay.¡±
¡°Can I go live with them as well?¡±
¡°No,¡± said Azura shaking her head.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because you are my brother. You are not some random person that it doesn''t matter where you live. You may not know anything about werewolf culture or the ways the clans and the Earth tribe run due to being away for so long and only just now returning. This does not change the fact that you are still the son of the former clan chief and the grandson of the Grand elder. So you will be staying here with me and grandfather.¡±
The door opened and Wulfric walked into the house and took off his shoes. He had entered just in time to hear Azura''s last sentence.
¡°Azura good idea. This way we can monitor him as well as keep him safe from anyone that has a dumb idea and stop them before they can do any harm. Also this way you get to live with your big brother and have him pamper you like an elder brother should. What a sneaky move,¡± said Wulfric teasing Azura.
Azura blushed slightly and turned her head away from Akira and looked at Azura her face growing stern.
¡°Grandfather, get over here so we can continue the talks from earlier and inform him on all that he needs to know,¡± she said with a stern voice trying to hide her embarrassment and not look at Akira.
Wulfric sat down on a rocking chair that was at the head of the wooden table between the couch and the wooden chair.
¡°Ha-... My granddaughter has such a mouth on her. Almost everyone in the neighborhood heard you shouting outside. Well, Akira at least you got to meet someone from your childhood. That must be nice,¡± said Wulfric letting out a sigh as he started to rock back and forth in the wooden rocker with a smile.
¡°No, it''s not good. How could it be a good thing that the first person he meets other than me is that weirdo,¡± said Azura.
¡°I honestly have no clue who he is,¡± said Akira.
¡°Akira as a bit of a warning I''m telling you this now so that you are not surprised later. There is a high possibility that when everyone in the clan hears about your return there will be many that will have high or even unreasonable expectations of you. So you need to learn everything about the clan and the Earth tribe quickly. I do not know your full strength or skill at fighting only what I saw when we were escaping and that was well before you were fully awakened. I can not vouch for your strength. Later you will need to prove to the elders and the rest of the clan that you have the strength and the brains to lead. Otherwise, there may be some that will not recognize you as my grandson,¡± said Wulfric all traces of laughter gone from his face.
¡°That''s right! You can''t disgrace our parents. So you better not turn out to be a coward,¡± said Azura.
¡°I am no coward. I have fought in many battles against many monsters, humans, and even some demon races. If I have to I will not shy away from a fight,¡± said Akira.
¡°Good I have faith that you will not shame the memory of my son and daughter-in-law.¡±
Wulfric stopped rocking and reached for a bowl on the table that was filled with yellow bananas. He removed one from the cluster and tossed it to Akira.
¡°Have a taste. It''s a fruit called a banana that only grows in the swamplands. It should be able to hold down your hunger until later when we have time to make a meal.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± said Akira taking the odd-looking yellow fruit and biting into it without peeling it first.
Akira''s first opinion of the fruit was it was rather hard to eat and tasted really bad, but he didn''t want to be rude so he continued to chew it and swallowed.
Before taking another bite he saw that Azura and Wulfric faces were a mixture of shock and amusement.
¡°pfff...¡± muffled laughter escaped Azura''s mouth before she covered it with her hands and regained her blank serious face after a minute.
¡°What is it? Do I have something on my face?¡± asked Akira as he tried to wipe his face with his hand to clean it.
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¡°You''re not supposed to eat it like that. You peel the outer layer and eat what''s inside,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°*cough*...I see,¡± said Akira trying to hide his embarrassment as he peeled the rest of the banana and took a bite. Hmm... yes it tasted much better without the outer yellow skin.
¡°We don''t have a super long time until I have to inform the other clan elders that you the former clan chiefs son has returned. So I will try to give you a crash course of some of the more important things you need to know.¡±
¡°Alright, I''m ready to learn,¡± said Akira sitting up straight.
Wulfric cleared his throat and looked to the ceiling trying to gather his thoughts and put them in order.
¡°Upon learning about my son''s death, I was forced to come out of retirement and take on the job of being the clan chief. It was only a few years ago when the last Grand elder passed away. When the other elders of the clan gathered I was elected to take over the position as the new Grand elder. As the Grand elder I can not hold the position of the clan chief as well. So Azura has been the temporary clan chief for the past few years now.¡±
¡°As for the matter of how I was able to find you, It was due to a rare vision one of the clan shamans had. The vision revealed that there was still hope that you the son of the deceased clan chief was still alive.
So I continued to send out people to search for any traces. That was when Yuki told me of a strange meeting she had many years ago when she was traveling in the north. She thought that the person she had met fit the description of the person we were looking for. There are only a few survivors from the fightback then and they have all sworn that they would keep the knowledge of your existence secret until you returned to the village.¡±
¡°I expect that some of the elders will want you to take up the job as clan chief, some out of loyalty and some might only want to see you fail so that they can promote someone else of their own choosing. I don''t think anything like this will happen right now but there have been cases like it in the past history of the clans.
This is why I said you can not show any weaknesses. The majority of the elders will want you to prove yourself before they agree to you taking over control of the clan.¡±
¡°Whoa! I didn''t expect to be bombarded with such an important responsibility. What if I don''t want to become the clan chief?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Don''t be a chicken! You think I wanted to waste the last two years taking care of the clan while all my friends were having fun?¡± asked Azura.
¡°You can not refuse. You either take on the job of clan chief or you might as well not live here,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Fine if I decide to stay I will take the job.¡±
¡°Continuing where I left off...You may have wondered why the houses are built up in the trees. It''s because when spring comes it rains for over a month and the ground below us is flooded with fast-moving water. Most of the werewolf clans are nomadic and only stay in one place during the spring rains. There are several clans that watch over different sized villages and cities with extra room for the wandering clans to stay during the spring rain and during dangerous times such as war. Our Blue moon clan is one of those clans. We watch over this medium-sized city and make sure that there is enough housing for the nearby wandering clans. Are there any questions that you have before I continue?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°How many clans are there? What is our strength compared to them?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Currently there are 15 werewolf clans that make up the Earth tribe. Of those clans, there are three large clans, 5 medium and 7 small clans. Our clan is one of the 5 medium clans. As for strength, the 3 large clans can each muster at least 2000+ warriors. The 5 medium clans have 600-1000+ warriors, and the 7 small clans have somewhere around 500+ warriors. Our total fighting force is somewhere around 14,500 max warriors. All of those numbers include the clans retired warriors like me that are in the reserves.¡±
¡°The warriors of each clan are not normal soldiers that get paid to fight like the big countries to the north of us. Each clan has a militia made up of the ordinary people that reach a certain age. They hold ordinary jobs during the day, but at times of war, they drop everything and pick up their weapons and put on their armor to defend the clan.
Every month the militia has training to make sure everyone is in proper shape and good health. It is also a time to make sure that everyone is able to understand proper orders and form simple formations.
Our clan''s strength is somewhere around 1000+ warriors when you add the current active militia 700+ and the 300+ reserves made up of the older werewolves. Don''t underestimate us just because were retired. We can still fight and protect the clan if needed we probably have fought in more battles than you can ever dream of.¡±
¡°Grandfather you''re always complaining about how your body aches,¡± said Azura interrupting Wulfric.
¡°When you get to my age and have fought as many battles as I have then you will understand why I complain!¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Hmph!¡±
¡°Anyways do you have any other questions?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°I have too many to count. But there are two on the topics discussed. First, you keep mentioning things like elder and Grand elder how are they different and is it important? Second, of the 15 clans who are our allies and enemies?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes, these are some important things to know. Elders are not much different than you would find anywhere else in the other kingdoms, but there is only 1 Grand elder for each clan. We Grand elders meet once a year during the fall warm months. We represent our clans when we meet to talk business and vote on certain things that will affect all the clans in the Earth tribe. The Grand elders of each clan are the most respected people in the whole tribe even more than a clan chief. So if you meet one from another clan you are to never be rude and must always show the highest respect to them.
For enemies there are none we all get along some clans are nicer to others while there may be a few old grudges there isn''t anything that is big enough to cause a problem.
Since we are all part of one tribe everyone can be considered an ally. But if you mean who are we close to then the only one I can think of is Red moon clan. We both share a common ancestor from long ago, and more recently your mother was the granddaughter of the Red moons last Grand elder.¡±
Knock! Knock!
Before they could continue their discussion the knocking on the door interrupted them.
Wulfric got up out of his rocking chair and answered the door.
¡°I''m sorry to bother you Grand elder but a messenger from the Bloody-claw clan has arrived. He is waiting to talk to you down at the guest house near the guard outpost,¡± said a guard that had half of his face horribly scarred from old battle wounds.
¡°Ah, it''s already that time of the year,¡± said Wulfric nodding his head, ¡°Inform them that I will be down shortly.¡±
Wulfric closed the door and walked back over to Akira and Azura.
¡°We''ll have to continue our discussion later. I can answer your other questions later and after that, we''ll have to put you through some tests to see what your strengths and weaknesses are. But right now you two come with me to go and meet with the Bloody-claw messenger. It is better that we let them know about the fact that you have returned then to try and hide it,¡± said Wulfric motioning them to follow him.
He walked to a row of hooks on the wall next to the door and pulled down an expensive-looking cloak and put it on.
Akira didn''t think it was needed due to the horrendous heat and humidity outside but thought it was probably used to show his status as the Grand elder so he didn''t say anything.
Chapter 101: The past and the future 2
Akira followed Wulfric and Azura through the maze of rope and wood walkways before they reached another large tree that had a crew of large burly werewolves whose job was to power the winch connected to the pulley system of an elevator used for raising and lowering goods the city needed.
Wulfric as the Grand elder was also able to use it as a way to ascend and descend from and to the ground floor.
The burly men all greeted Wulfric and Azura as they walked over to the elevator, and stared at Akira the only person they did not know.
¡°Grand elder who''s next to you?¡± asked one of the elevator operators as he held the wooden elevator gate open.
¡°All I can say for now is that he is a very important guest of the clan. Sometime soon I''m sure everyone will be able to learn more when I call for a clan meeting,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°How suspicious,¡± said the man as he closed the gate behind them when they had all finished entering the elevator.
¡°Alright, gates secured. Let her down! Take it easy because the Grand elder is inside!¡± shouted the man.
The ride down was quick and over within less than 10 seconds.
Thunk! The landing was rough enough to cause Akira to stumble.
This was Akira''s first time using a contraption like this. The feeling of falling down from the high treetops to the ground made his stomach churn and he had almost lost the previous meal he had eaten.
If that what they call taking it easy he didn''t want to ride the elevator when they were in a rush or he might lose his stomach entirely.
After taking a few seconds to calm his stomach Akira followed Wulfric and Azura who had already exited the elevator and were walking towards the messenger outpost. The outpost had several guest rooms for the messengers from distant cities allowing them to rest and recuperate from a long journey, and prepare for continuing their journey.
Wulfric knocked on one of the doors that were occupied.
¡°Come in the doors unlocked,¡± came a middle-aged males voice from the other side.
The three walked into a candlelit room to see a middle-aged man with a beard already specked with gray hairs.
¡°Welcome Grand elder. Oh? You brought the little miss as well,¡± said the messenger.
¡°Will you be staying long?¡± asked Wulfric not wasting any time and asking the question.
¡°I will only be staying for tonight. I still have to reach the other clans as quickly as I can. Who is this?¡± asked the messenger pointing at Akira.
¡°His name is Akira, other than that I''ll explain later. First, tell me what you came here for. I can guess but it would be better to hear it in case it is something different,¡± said Wulfric.
The messenger looked over to Akira wondering if he was allowed to say everything including secrets meant only for the elders and clan leaders.
¡°No need to worry you can speak freely, Akira is also a member of our clan and needs to be up-to-date on the current affairs of the Earth tribe,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°It is as you probably guessed the Grand elder meeting will happen in less than a month. But this time news has come to us that a few of the clans are planning to leave soon, and it''s not just one of the small or medium clans but one of the large clans this time.¡±
¡°Another group? If everyone keeps leaving we will not have enough warriors to protect our land. We are already stretched as it is. If another great war like the three before starts we will not stand a chance at surviving.¡±
¡°That is the reason why they want to leave now. The Grand elder of Coldfang clan who is also the clans strongest shaman has been having strange dreams and ill feelings for the near future. He wasn''t sure what exactly the problem would be but in the next five to ten years something big will happen. But that is just a rough guess. After hearing the prediction the elders and chief of the Coldfang clan decided to start preparations for leaving. This next meeting will be the last one before they leave.¡±
¡°This is serious news. Anything else?¡±
¡°No, everything else is minor stuff that can wait until the meeting. So who is this Akira?¡±
¡°My grandson,¡± said Wulfric proudly.
¡°Your grandson? Didn''t your grandson die with his parents some 16+ years ago?¡± asked the messenger.
¡°I was surprised to find out that he was alive as well. It is a great fortune that I was able to find him.¡±
¡°Interesting, this is big news. I guess I should be offering you my congratulations. Will he be taking over the clan sometime in the near future?¡±
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¡°Possibly, it has yet to be decided. It all depends on the views of the other clan elders.¡±
¡°Do you mind if I help spread the news of his return for you when I meet the other clans?¡±
¡°That was part of the reason why I brought him here. I would be grateful if you could help with spreading the message.¡±
¡°I understand I will make sure to inform everyone that I meet.¡±
¡°If that is all then I still have other stuff I need to take care of today. We''ll be leaving now so you can rest up for your journey tomorrow,¡± said Wulfric.
They walked back to the elevator and this time the experience was far different from falling from a high place, it was a slower and somewhat smoother ride up. At some points of the ride up, it was a little jerky but nothing serious.
Ten minutes later they had returned back to the house and we''re sitting back down in their original seats.
¡°What was all that talk about clans leaving where are they going?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The Earth tribe wasn''t always this small we were once able to form massive armies of over 100,000 warriors. But due to the last three great wars, our strength has dwindled and the majority of the clans have already migrated to a far off distant land across the ocean. Not much is known about it except that it has very little to no humans living there. The last major wave of clans to leave was over ten years ago after the last war ended. Everyone that has stayed has had to become tougher and stronger in order to defend against the human empires that might want to start trouble. Not to mention those blasted Demigods,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Grandfather what are we going to do about it?¡± asked Azura.
¡°I know Grand elder Varn from the Coldfang clan, his premonitions are normally true. So, for now, it is not something we have to fret over just yet. We have at least four years before we need to worry about any future trouble, but just to make sure we are prepared, I will mention this to the other clan elders and we can decide on what to do.
I still believe we will still be able to live here peacefully. If push comes to shove we are not any weaker than the kingdoms. So we should have no problem defending ourselves. As long as nothing major happens before then we will be ready for whatever happens,¡± said Wulfric trying to reassure Azura who was worried.
¡°Akira let''s get back to cramming some more stuff in your head,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°If you could I would like to know more about my parents ended up dying,¡± said Akira.
¡°Very well, let me gather my thoughts...¡± said Wulfric getting comfortable in his rocking chair.
¡°Wulfric the second was your father and my only son and Zara was your mother. Your father and I both agreed that you were going to be named Wulfric the third. Unfortunately, your mother put a stop to that saying that there were already two Wulfrics and there was no need for a third so she named you after a great warrior ancestor from several hundreds of years ago,¡± said Wulfric.
''Thank you mother, for making sure I had a good name,'' thought Akira. He was extremely happy for his current name.
¡°They were both the shining stars of the clan and held great sway with the other clans. Nearing the end of the second great war your parents had been in contact with several people from the human kingdoms that had been unhappy with the demigods and wanted to form an alliance with the Earth tribe.
At that time you were four years old and your sister was a few months over 1. They took you on the trip that was supposed to be uneventful so you could see the world. But somehow the information was leaked and the party that opposed the demigods were exterminated. An ambush was set up for your parents where the meeting was supposed to take place, and the rest is history,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Do you know who was leading the ambush?¡±
¡°No, we were never able to find out the true culprits behind the attacks. We only know that the demigods had something to do with it whether they were the masterminds or just the muscle is still unknown. Any other questions?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Then I will continue from before and explain more about what it means to be a werewolf. The Earth tribes main strength that has allowed us to survive even in such harsh places and through many wars is our ability to awaken the blood of the Earth tribe.
The trait may or may not show itself during the birth of the child such as fur covering their body or they might have wolf ears or small tail showing. After a few days the fur, tail, ears will all go away. Normally we are almost the same as humans until our blood of the Earth tribe is awoken.
There are past records from hundreds of years during the more peaceful times of many people never experienced an awakening. The only reason the blood of the Earth tribe activates is because it is our bodies defense mechanism to danger.
You may be living a normal life but then something happens where it requires to transform, so your body will awaken the dormant blood and transform.
Here a few examples of past events from the clan records. One person fell from a fairly high place and while falling their blood was awoken in midair. They were able to slow the descent with their claws and land lightly on their feet before bounding off unhurt. A major one that happens all the time is when someone wanted to protect a loved one from a great danger they were able to awaken the blood of the Earth tribe and transform to protect them.
The main reason for awakening is when war comes. There are many records of mass transformation whenever a huge war came.¡±
¡°So it''s not guaranteed that I would have awakened if I lived a peaceful life?¡± asked Akira.
¡°As far as we know that is correct. The reason the clans living in the swamplands have a high rate of fully transformed werewolves is because of the many wars and high dangers of living in the swamplands. That is not to say you can''t awaken if you are born during a peaceful era it will just be harder since it doesn''t have that extra punch.¡±
¡°You probably already know this but with our ability to transform we gain several times more power than normal. Our bodies defense is also high due to our thick fur that for some clans can be as strong as steel, so some don''t even need to or just don''t bother to use armor. Our regeneration of wounds is far faster than humans and we can recover faster from sickness and wounds the would cripple humans.
You need to always be aware of the moon. It is a powerful ally and it gives us extra strength so fighting at night with a full moon we will be at our full strength. You must remember this and make sure to use it to your advantage along with your night vision and other heightened senses.
Lastly, you need to be very careful of silver. It has a strong effect on us and can restrict some of our powers. It hurts like hell when you get cut with it and the wounds don''t heal as fast.
We werewolves can look scary and tough but not everyone is good at fighting although when everyone is old enough they are trained to fight.¡±
¡°For now, that should be enough to hold you over until I can continue teaching everything else. I have to go talk with the other Elders now and inform them about everything that has happened. Azura, keep him company and help him feel comfortable,¡± said Wulfric as he got ready and left the house.
Chapter 102: Tests
¡°Is Yuki staying here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Why are you asking about her?¡± Azura countered with her own question.
¡°I just wanted to thank her. She is one of the people that helped me escape.¡±
¡°Right now she is a bit under the weather, so you can''t see her.¡±
¡°Oh, if you get a chance could you tell her I said thanks.¡±
Azura nodded her head and the two were silent for several minutes.
¡°So what''s between you and Mileena?¡± asked Azura out of the blue.
The unexpected question caused Akira to start coughing and the water in his mouth. The now lukewarm water sprayed everywhere in front of him as he tried to stop coughing.
¡°Ewww!¡± screeched Azura as she received a face full of elder brother mouth water.
¡°What are you asking weird questions for?¡± asked Akira wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
¡°So there is something between you two!¡± said Azura as she wiped her face off.
¡°Stop jumping to conclusions. We''re just teammates. We have been traveling and fighting together for many months now it''s only natural that we would be friendly towards each other.¡±
¡°How suspicious,¡± said Azura staring at Akira.
¡°Now that you mentioned it where are they staying? Can we go and check in on them? I want to see how the two are doing now that they have met up with a few other Nyantails.¡±
¡°Hmph! Doesn''t matter to me, but we have to be back before grandfather returns. He will not be happy if we keep him waiting.¡±
¡°Aright lead the way!¡±
¡°What am I your servant?¡±
¡°How else am I supposed to find them?¡±
¡°Hmph! Fine, I''ll take you to them. Not because I want to but because you would get lost and cause me problems.¡±
***
When they arrived at a huge two-story treehouse on the east side of the city Azura stopped.
¡°This is the place,¡± said Azura.
¡°Are you coming in?¡± asked Akira as he walked up to the front door.
¡°No need, I''ll wait right here just hurry up.¡±
Akira knocked once and opened the door.
¡°Greetings stranger may I help you?¡± asked an elderly Nyantail man behind a counter.
Akira did a quick scan of the room and found it was set up like the entrance of an inn with its own front desk to greet and take in guests.
¡°I''m looking for Mileena, Maya, and Varbu who should be staying here.¡±
¡°Ah! You must be Akira! I have heard so much about you from the young ladies. My name is Canip. I am Mileena and Maya''s uncle 6 times removed. I am grateful for all that you have done for them. If you need anything just ask and I will see if I or anyone I know can help.¡±
¡°Ah... yes... Nice to meet you,¡± said Akira a little lost in thought as he tried to puzzle out just what exactly was Canips relation between the two girls. Six times removed? What is that!
¡°They are staying in room 6 and 9 on the second floor,¡± said Canip.
¡°Thanks,¡± said Akira as he walked over to the wooden stairs caved from the same tree the house was built around.
After spending a few minutes checking on the three to see that everyone was doing okay. Akira went back outside and rejoined the bored Azura.
She was staring up at the many leaves that were moving in the slight wind blowing through the many trees.
¡°Took you long enough,¡± said Azura as she started to walk back towards their house.
***
Wulfric returned to the house only a few minutes after they had returned from their trip. He didn''t return alone as there were seven older men all with well-groomed gray or white beards following him.
¡°Akira these are the elders of the Bluemoon clan. Elders this is Wulfric the second''s son and also my grandson,¡± said Wulfric introducing everyone to each other.
Akira and the elders did not speak for several minutes. Akira just stood still while the elders inspected him head to toe.
¡°He indeed does look like your son Grand elder. But what about his fighting skills?¡± asked one elder who had a short pointy beard.
¡°Fighting skills mean nothing if he can not properly control his transformation. We already have a thousand warriors that can fight,¡± said another elder with a bushy beard that looked like a cotton ball.
¡°You both are to short-sighted if he has no skill in leading people properly then so what if he is the son of the former chief,¡± another elder chided the first two.
¡°Elders there is no need to guess and wonder. The reason I brought you here was so that you would be able to test him yourself,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Yes, we must see what he is like before making any decisions on the matter of what to do with him. For the sake of the clan we can not make rash decisions just because he is your grandson,¡± said one of the elders.
¡°Oedwuf, since you are the eldest why don''t you go first? If you have anything you would like to know or test just ask and Akira will complete the task,¡± said Wulfric without even letting Akira have a say in anything.
¡°Young man are you able to do a partial transformation?¡±
¡°What''s that?¡± asked Akira.
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¡°Hmph! It''s what I''m doing right now!¡± said Azura pointing to her twitching wolf ears and a bushy tail that was lazily swishing back and forth.
¡°Partial transformation is something like what Azura is doing, but it is not limited to only having the tail and ears appear. They are some of the more common and easy things, but things like only transforming your arms in an instant to provide greater power to an attack, carry something heavy, or only transforming your legs for faster movement can be done but are harder to do and maintain. It requires the person to have great control over their own body. If done right you can boost your power without even transforming fully,¡± explained Oedwuf.
¡°I have been able to do stuff like this since I was a real small pup,¡± said Azura proudly.
¡°Quiet Azura, this isn''t about you right now,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I never knew I could do something like that. So I don''t know if I can,¡± said Akira.
¡°Just give it a try,¡± said Wulfric.
Akira had no clue how to do something like partial transformation, so he just stood there looking like he had to take a crap, as he tried to make his tail pop out of his rear end.
When a few minutes passed he was stopped by Wulfric for fear he might embarrass himself in front of the elders it looked like if he continued something other then his tail would come out.
Another elder was picked to give him a test.
¡°My name is Ellair, I heard from Grand elder that you have already awakened so I would like to see your transformation.¡±
¡°Well...I can transform just...only at night...¡± said Akira quietly in embarrassment.
Azura started laughing upon hearing that but stopped when Wulfric bopped her on the head with his knuckles.
All the elders nodded their heads in understanding.
¡°Well it may be an odd quirk that he can only transform at night but at least he is able to transform without the help of the clan tattoo,¡± said one elder starting a quiet discussion with the others.
¡°True, it shows he has better control of his transformation than those that rely on the clan tattoo to transform after they awaken,¡± said another.
¡°Interesting... Akira, we elders will allow you to show us your transformation later tonight,¡± said Oedwuf.
¡°I am called Neil and would like to know how long can you stay transformed without the help of the clan tattoo?¡±
¡°Four hours...I think but I get really tired and hungry if I stay transformed that long,¡± said Akira.
All movement in the room stopped and everyone just stared at Akira.
Thinking he said something stupid his face started to glow a light red as he was even more embarrassed. He figured the elders must think he was such an insignificant person with his lack of skill.
¡°When you say four hours do you mean that you can stay fully transformed for a full four hours?¡± asked elder Neil trying to make sure he heard Akira clearly.
¡°Yes, but I''ve only done that a few times before, most of the time I only need to be transformed for one or two hours before the fight is over,¡± said Akira ashamed with his head down looking at the floor and not at the elders.
The room was again quiet for several moments.
¡°Amazing!¡± said Odewuf.
¡°Elder Odewuf is right. The amount of control and stamina needed for staying transformed that long without a clan tattoo is shocking.¡±
¡°I had heard that Wulfric the second when he was young, was able to stay transformed for nearly forty minutes without the clan tattoo. The average normal person can only last is 10 to 15 minutes.¡±
¡°If this is true then how strong will he be with the clan tattoo?¡± asked an elder.
¡°Excuse me, I keep hearing you mention the clan tattoo and have been hearing others talk about it for over a year now but I still don''t know exactly what they are or why they seem so important. Can you explain?¡± asked Akira interrupting the elder''s conversation.
¡°Ah! How could I have forgotten to tell you something like this!¡± said Wulfric holding his hand on his forehead.
¡°A clan tattoo does two important things. One it works as proof that you are a werewolf and allows others to know what clan you belong to. Each clan has its own different techniques and designs used for the clan tattoo. But the most important thing it does is helping to regulate our transformation allowing anyone that has one to have greater control over it, as well as greatly lowering the stamina needed to keep transformed. This allows even the weakest werewolf to stay transformed for several hours which is crucial for winning fights during wars,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°This technique is something rather new compared to the Earth tribes long history. It was created after the first great war finished. The Shamans and Grand elders of that time were the ones that came up with the first iteration as a response to the clans receiving heavy losses due to the war. With the help of the clan tattoos we have not had such a massive loss since the first war and have been able to stay alive this long due to the wisdom of our past ancestors,¡± said Wulfric.
Akira nodded his head, he kinda understood it all now.
For the next hours leading up to just before the moon rose into the sky Akira was forced to undergo many tests and answer many questions that the elders had. The test ranged from testing his hearing to his skill in smelling while not transformed and other things Akira thought were odd to be tested on.
¡°Night has come! Let us head outside to see what you look like,¡± said Oedwuf.
¡°This is the way to the back balcony,¡± said Wulfric leading the others out onto the large wide open balcony.
The balcony had an unhindered view of the sky allowing them to see the large moon that was shining brightly without a cloud nearby to block it.
The elders gathered around Akira in a circle to watch and inspect him as he transformed.
Wulfric nodded to Akira and motioned for him to go ahead and transform. He was also just as interested in his grandson''s transformation as the other elders were and hoped that he would be able to have the strength, courage, and leadership skills to take over for his father.
Akira took a deep breath and then started transforming. A black-light covered his entire body as he transformed stunning the elders speechless. This was not normal.
A few seconds passed and the black light soon disappeared to reveal the tall muscular fierce-looking Akira. His black fur blended in with the surrounding dark shadows of the night and when the moonlight reached his fur it gave off an unusual luster.
The aura that was emitted from had a faint majestic but still, overpowering might made it so that anyone who saw him transformed would want to agree with whatever he said.
Although it was faint there was no doubt it was the aura of a leader.
¡°Akira do you have any unexplainable powers that you can use?¡± Oedwuf breaking the trance everyone had been in.
Akira was torn whether he should let them know about it or not, but after a minute he nodded his head.
¡°Wulfric, your grandson is simply amazing!¡± said Oedwuf.
¡°Why? Although his transformation was a little odd I wouldn''t call him amazing,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°That''s because you do not know what I do! Nearly 70 years ago when I was just about to turn ten my grandfather who was one of the clan''s elders who studied the clan''s history and helped maintain the clan records told me a story before he passed away. I had thought it was just that, a story.
Over 180 years ago during the first great war with the Demigods, there was a Great warrior from the Moon clan the clan that both the Red and Bluemoon clans came from before splitting many years ago. His name was...Akira. In the records, his transformation was described to have a haze of blacklight covering his body whenever he transformed. That is not all he also had many unique and powerful special skills. With his might and power, he was able to unify the clans that were in disarray from the constant enemy attacks.
With him leading the army they were able to hold the demigods off allowing the clans to regroup and find safety. Through the rest of the war, he was able to keep them at bay until the war ended with the disappearance of the demigods.
If not for him we may have never even been born. The werewolf race could have been wiped out like many of the weaker demon clans that are no more or only have only a few hundred people left alive.¡±
Akira was glad he did not lie since he had already been found out by the elder and would have just become a liar in their eyes. Not a good way to make a first impression.
¡°Are you saying Akira has inherited such a great power of our ancestor? This is great!¡± said Wulfric.
¡°No, although it is an amazing thing for him to inherit the power of our ancestor this is a terrible omen,¡± said Oedwuf shaking his head.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°My grandfather told me that Ancestor Akira had awoken his great power only because of the great threat of extermination that the whole Earth tribe was facing back then.
I was told that if I were to see such a thing I was to know that it was both a blessing and a curse. The blessing because the person will help to unite the clans and lead us through hard times. The curse because it is a warning that a great disaster is approaching!¡±
Chapter 103: The Ceremony
¡°Do you mean that the premonition of the Coldfang''s Grand elder is true?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°I''m afraid that it must be true. With the appearance of the traits described in the records and the Grand elders premonitions it looks like hard times are headed our way,¡± said Oedwuf.
¡°We must prepare for the coming hard times. Grand elder, at the next upcoming meeting you must bring Akira along with you and explain everything to them. They will be able to see for themselves and make their own decisions,¡± said Ellair.
¡°You are right this matter does not just affect our clan but the entire Earth tribe,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°What have you taught him about the clan and its way of life already?¡± asked Oedwuf.
¡°I only had time to teach him the basics which is not enough.¡±
¡°True. We will have to make sure to teach him all the knowledge he needs about what it means to be a werewolf and the clan''s history before the meeting.¡±
The elders walked back into the house as they continued to the discussion of what they would need to do to be fully prepared for the future.
Akira and Azura were left outside both slightly puzzled with what had just happened and were not quite sure what was going on.
Azura was staring at Akira with stars in her wide-open eyes.
¡°So...this clan tattoo seems to be really important,¡± said Akira trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
¡°Un...It''s a normal thing that everyone experiences mostly around the age of thirteen, it¡¯s not that big of a deal. The family normally has a party after they receive the tattoo since it is the start of adulthood. You are way past that age already,¡± said Azura.
¡°I saw that the orcs do the same thing and have their own tattoos,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmph! They probably saw ours when they fought with the Earth tribe during the great wars. They are just inferior copies that have no power! You''ll get to have your own tomorrow and you will be able to experience the difference first hand.¡±
Akira shrugged he really didn''t know much about either of them so he would just have to wait.
¡°Is it true what the elder said? That you have special powers?¡± she asked quietly.
¡°It''s true, I have weird skills that I can use. I don''t know much about how it all came to me it just happened. I''m not sure about anything else the elder spoke about,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmph, It''s just as I thought. I knew my brother could not be such a trashy idiot that couldn''t even transform when he needs to.¡±
Azura''s words stabbed into Akira''s heart, dealing critical damage to his cool big brother image.
¡°What is that!? Are you trying to compliment me or insult me?¡±
¡°Hmph! I''m just interested in what the elders said about your potential to help the clan.¡±
¡°Aren''t little sister supposed to be nice to their older brothers? Do you secretly like me and you don''t know how to express it?¡±
¡°Your wrong! It''s not like I like you or anything....idiot.¡±
Azura turned her head away from Akira and looked up at the sky.
¡°How cold,¡± said Akira but Azura ignored him.
They continued to stand there looking at the night sky. Azura secretly took a few glances at Akira taking in his aura and scent that emitted from his body.
This was her brother. He may be an idiot but he was a powerful idiot that was her big brother.
***
The sun dipped below the horizon and the moon rose to take its place. It was now the night of the next day.
Akira was pacing back and forth in the living room. Azura was supposed to come to him when the elders had finished their preparations for him to receive his clan tattoo.
He looked out the window to see a full moon was shining brightly.
The door opened behind him and Azura came in.
¡°Big brother...they are ready for you,¡± said Azura.
Calling Akira big brother was still awkward but she had decided the night before that since he was her big brother she would start using the two words.
¡°What is this? Is my cute little sister warming up to me?¡± said Akira.
He was forced to dodge one of Wulfric''s old slippers that was thrown at him.
¡°Who is warming up to you? I''m just taking pity on you. Who else would be willing to take care of an idiot big brother like you? Hurry up we can''t keep the elders waiting,¡± said Azura slamming the door behind her.
Akira followed her down to the ladder to the ground floor.
A short distance away Akira could see a large bonfire was burning, lighting up the surrounding area as if the sun was still out. The fire also helped with drying up the surrounding area.
Akira stumbled when he saw thousands of people sitting on hundreds of long wooden benches situated in front of the fire.
¡°I thought you said these things were supposed to be normal things that only the family celebrated,¡± hissed Akira quietly.
Azura ignored his complaints and led him through the only open path in the center between hundreds of benches.
Many of the people they passed shouted out greetings to Azura. When they saw Akira behind her they became silent and just stared and inspected him.
Having a few thousand people staring at him was nothing compared to the large crowds that had been at the arena tournament so it didn''t bother him much.
Near the fire was a large platform where Wulfric stood waiting. Akira was led up the steps and positioned next to Wulfric on his right, while Azura stood on his left.
The conversations coming from the surrounding benches stopped as they stared at the three people on the stage.
Akira had only been on the stage for a few seconds and was already getting extremely hot due to the cracking fire burning behind them.
¡°Fellow clansmen! You may have heard rumors over the last two days of a new person coming to our clan...they are true and that person is to my right.
His name is Akira and he is my grandson and the former clan chief''s only Son!
He has been gone for over sixteen years and has finally returned! It is a true blessing for our clan that he did not die along with his mother and father when they were ambushed by the blasted Demigods.
Since he was missing all these years he was never able to receive the clan tattoo. We have called you here to witness and welcome Akira in becoming an official member of the Bluemoon clan as he receives The clan tattoo!¡± said Wulfric.
Thousands of whispering conversations started up again at the surprising news of the return of someone thought to be dead. Many who were you had never even heard of Akira.
Wulfric looked to a group of werewolves next to the stage and with a wave of his hand, he gave the signal for them to start playing the numerous small and large hide drums.
Dauummmm-! A deep sound rang out as the largest drum was hit the other smaller drums followed with their own slow deep sound. Dummmmm-! Dummmm-!
With the hide drums beating out a slow rhythm it drowned out any conversation that had not already stopped.
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The ceremony had started.
Wulfric turned to Azura and handed her a small round iron tin and gestured for her to go over to Akira.
She walked up to Akira and opened the iron tin revealing a black substance inside, that looked to be a type of thick paint.
Stabbing her finger into it she scooped out a good amount of the black paint.
¡°Hold still and don''t move...Big Brother,¡± said Azura with an evil glint in her eyes.
¡°You''re not still angry are yo...¡± Akira''s words were cut short when Azura''s finger jabbed hard into his left cheek nearly poking him in the eye.
She started to use her finger and the paint to draw something on his face. She scooped out more of the paint to do the same for the right side of his face and his forehead. Jab, jab, jab.
When she was finished she closed the iron tin of warpaint and stepped back to her original position.
¡°Everyone can see that he has received the warpaint of ceremony!¡±
With another hand gesture, an elder from the front row stood up and carried a wooden tray with the tools and materials needed for the tattoo up onto the stage and handed it to Wulfric before returning to his seat.
Wulfric handed the tray to Azura to hold and motioned for the head shaman to join them on the stage.
An elderly man dressed in all green clothing walked up onto the stage followed by the younger shaman and apprentices that were under his command.
Akira received a shock when he saw Klyn wave to him from the small crowd of apprentices.
Azura stepped forward holding the wooden tray presenting the tools to the head shaman. The tools were specially made just for creating clan tattoos.
The needle was made out of a magic stone, while the ink was also made out a magic stone that had been ground up with a few other secret ingredients added.
Taking the needle from the tray he dipped it the inkpot and then looked at Akira expectantly.
¡°Take off your shirt,¡± whispered Azura before Akira could ask what he wanted.
¡°In front of everyone?¡±
¡°Don''t be a wimp. Just do it. You''re holding up the ceremony,¡± said Azura.
Akira sighed and took off his shirt in front of thousands of people he did not know.
The elderly shaman stepped forward and grabbed Akira''s right arm and inspected it for any defects or trouble spots that he would have to watch out for.
Finding nothing wrong he took a wet cloth from the wooden tray and wiped Akira''s shoulder off. He dipped needled into the special ink again and nodded to his subordinates.
The drumbeat started to pick up in speed. Dumm!Dumm!Dumm!
With the sound of the crackling fire and the drum beats the other shaman circled around Akira and the head shaman and started to chant in an ancient language.
The Head shaman held the end of the needle with his right hand while the front was held between the two fingers of his left hand.
He rested his left knuckles on Akira''s shoulder and slightly angled the needle.
Without warning the needle swiftly stabbed into Akira''s shoulder.
Akira felt the pain of multiple punctures from the needle which had multiple pointy bits at the end, not just one. He held still and put on a grim face as he made sure not to make a sound or show that he felt any pain.
The head Shaman continued to move his right hand back and forth with the left hand guiding the needle as it stabbed into his shoulder.
The needle only stopped moving when the Head shaman needed to dip it into the inkpot.
Azura stood off to the side still holding the tray for the shaman.
The tattooing took over an hour to complete. All the while the subordinate shaman continued to chant and the drummers continued their fast drumming.
Placing the needle down onto the tray the shaman shouted, ¡°It is done!¡±
Wulfric walked over and inspected it. With a nod of his head, he said, ¡°Continue.¡±
Dum dida Dum! Dum dida Dum! Dum dida Dum! The drum beats became even faster.
¡°With this, the tattoo will be activated and will never fade,¡± explained the elderly shaman.
The chanting shaman moved forward and placed their hands on Akira''s shoulder around the new tattoo and continued chanting over Akira.
On his right arm, a dim light was starting to emit from the tattoo. As they continued to chant the glowing light became even brighter.
A few more lines of the ancient language that Akira couldn''t understand were chanted before they pulled their hands away finishing the chant.
The light coming from the tattoo flashed blinding those near Akira for several seconds.
Akira looked at his shoulder and saw that the normal clan tattoo was now transforming before his very eyes.
Ding!
Clan Tattoo is auto-updating!
|
Slowly formed by a misty, murky ink, small tattoos of his major kills over the last year started to appear on his arm all surrounding the clan tattoo.
¡°Something wrong is happening!¡± shouted the Head shaman as he watched the ink move on Akira''s arm.
Ding!
The tattoo has been fully updated.
Future achievements will be automatically added.
|
For some reason, Akira was unable to control his own body and started to transform into a werewolf.
The Blacklight covered his body and after several seconds it disappeared to reveal his large muscular frame with his deep black fur his height was even taller than he normally was while transformed.
The fierce power raging through his body made him feel over the moon. Drunk on the feeling he let out a howl that sent chills down everyone''s back.
Ding!
Lvl up! Lvl up! Lvl up! Lvl up! Lvl up!....
You have gained 10 levels and are now level 50!
Unable to level up any higher requirements not met.
Exp will be saved and added after requirements are met.
|
Son of the night has upgraded from rank E: Beginner to rank D: Intermediate
- (-10%) stamina usage.
- (+10%) boost to power if in Werewolf form and the moon is out.
- Able to use Werewolf form at any time of the day.
|
New class skills learned:
Devour: While in werewolf form you are able to eat the flesh of your enemies for Stamina and health regeneration to allow for continuous fighting for long periods of time.
Eyes of the Werewolf (Beginner, Active): Requirements not met.
|
Akira was having a hard time following everything that was happening.
He forgot that he was on a stage in front of thousands of people and checked the messages from the system. Seeing his level skyrocket was astounding. With so many levels at once, his strength had received a massive boost.
He was extremely pleased that he was no longer stuck with only being able to transform at night.
After coming back down from the rush of power he noticed something was wrong the music and chanting had stopped.
Looking around he saw everyone was staring at him with odd looks on their faces.
He scratched his head and sheepishly said, ¡°Sorry for interrupting the ceremony.¡±
Wulfric cleared his throat and said, ¡°No need to apologize, the ceremony is nearly over.¡°
Akira was going to revert back to his human form but Wulfric put a hand up to stop him.
Turning to the shaman and drummers he ordered: ¡°Continue.¡±
This time Wulfric joined in with his own chant his hand was placed on Akira''s furry head.
Hearing the chant coming from his mouth the elders in the front row were surprised, but after their previous conversations and current predicaments, they understand why Wulfric had chosen to use this chant.
The elders all walked up onto the platform and joined Wulfric and the shaman in the chant.
A blue light began to cover Akira''s body as the chant grew faster along with the drums and cracking fire. When the chant reached the crescendo the light exploded outwards blinding everyone.
Ding!
Blessing of the elders(passive skill):
This blessing can only be given once every few generations.
The elders must give up a small fraction of their vitality to activate the blessing.
Any attack that would have caused you to die in one hit will instead reduce your health to 10.
If the blessing of the elders is activated a 30 day cooldown will activate before it can be used again.
Unable to upgrade skill.
|
The Elders staggered a bit due to the amount of energy that was taken from them.
The Shaman apprentices alarmed at the elders swaying came forward to help support them and bring them back to their seats.
Wulfric shook his head trying to clear it while Akira on the right and Azura on the left helped him stay on his feet.
Wulfric regained his footing and a clear head after a minute. Clearing his throat he stepped forward to the edge of the stage.
¡°You have all witnessed Akira officially join the Bluemoon clan. Although this is a joyous event know that recent events have revealed to us that hard times for our clan and the entire Earth tribe is just down the road.
All hope is not lost with the return of Akira I believe we will be able to weather the storm that will come. Everyone will need to train hard and prepare for it. If you do then I have no doubt we will be able to get through it. Like we have always done in the past.¡±
Azura walked up next to Wulfric who had grown silent and began to speak, ¡°Do not let the news spoil your mood since it is still in the future. Everyone should go and get a good rest because tomorrow will be a day off of work, and a festival will be held in the afternoon to celebrate Akira''s return.¡±
With this everyone was dismissed with their brains filled with so many new thoughts at what they had experienced during the ceremony.
Chapter 104: Day of celebration
Morning of the celebration.
The sun had yet to rise but Akira was already up and was outside on the large balcony.
During the night before he did not have time to put all the bonus points into the usual stats because he leveled up during the ceremony, and when he had returned to his room he had fallen asleep immediately.
Before doing his morning exercises he decided to take a look at his current stats and allocate the large number of bonus stats into his usual three main stats STR, VIT, and STA.
He stood there admiring the large stat increase along with the huge rush of power even greater than what he felt the night before during the ceremony.
Character Name
|
Akira
|
Race
|
Werewolf
|
Fame
|
120
|
Level
|
50: 0%
|
Profession
|
Son Of The Night
|
Title
|
One who has received the Elders blessing
|
Health
|
1700
|
Mana
|
600
|
Strength
|
163
|
Vitality
|
170(+10)
|
Stamina
|
112
|
Agility
|
65(+5)
|
Intelligence
|
58
|
Wisdom
|
60
|
Dexterity
|
20
|
|
|
Honor
|
15
|
Charm
|
10(+3)
|
Endurance
|
26
|
Toughness
|
40
|
Attack
|
35-42
|
Defense
|
121
|
+ 10% Buff to Stamina and strength at night and dark places.
+10% boost to power if in werewolf form and moon is out
+ 25% Lesser poison resistance
+ 25% Fire resistance
|
His stats were looking more and more powerful every time he leveled up. But there was just one problem, hist level was now stuck at level 50 with 0%.
''I don''t know what to do about that since it didn''t say what requirements were in order to lvl up.'' thought Akira.
There was no use worrying about it so he closed the window and started to do his morning exercises as well as stretching his body trying to get used to everything after the massive boost to his level and stats.
It almost felt like the time when he was recovering at the monastery after he had first awakened there Earth tribe''s trait.
Several minutes passed before he became comfortable with his new strength in his human body.
Now that he was warmed up he decided to test his abilities and strength while transformed, sending a few jabs, punches, and kicks into the air. While running, jumping, and hopping all over the place.
His mind wandered as he trained thinking of all the things that had happened over the past few days. He had learned and experienced so much that his head was hurting trying to comprehend it all.
When he felt he had a good enough understanding and control of his new strength he reverted back to his human form.
He was happy that the normal extreme exhaustion he would have felt before last night''s ceremony was gone. The clan tattoo really did help to regulate the stamina use.
His ears were now even more sensitive so had noticed quiet breathing behind him for some time.
¡°It''s not nice to spy on people,¡± said Akira.
Startled, the person spying on him in their hast to escape stumbled and fell forward out onto the balcony.
Akira looked to see Azura sprawled on the floor. She had been trying to sneakily watch him from the doorway but was caught.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Akira.
Azura stood up and straightened her hair and smoothed out her clothing before speaking.
¡°I came to see what you''re going to do before the celebration this afternoon.¡±
¡°I was just going to go meet up with my friends and maybe tour the city. Why? Do you need me for something?¡±
¡°No, not really, I was just wondering. Do you mind if I come?¡± asked Azura looking away from him.
¡°I don''t mind since it will be better if we have someone who knows the way around the city,¡± said Akira with a shrug.
¡°When are you going?¡±
¡°After I eat breakfast. Have you eaten anything?¡±
Azura shook her head.
¡°Then you can eat with me and when we''re finished, we can go look for the others.¡±
¡°Okay!¡± said Azura happily.
¡°Don''t get too excited or I might think you actually like me,¡± teased Akira.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡°It''s not like I want to hang out with you. I''m just going to make sure you don''t cause any problems,¡± said Azura not looking at Akira.
***
On their way to the guest house that the others were staying at Akira and Azura had the fortune or in Azura''s view the misfortune to meet Klyn.
¡°What''s this? A love couple?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Die idiot!¡± said Azura sending a kick towards Klyn''s head which missed as he quickly dodged and hid behind Akira.
Seeing his little sister attack when she got angry made Akira silently asked himself, ''Why is it that all the women I know are either violent, perverts or both?'' that last part was directed at Mileena.
¡°Calm down Azura you don''t need to get so worked up,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s just a joke! This scene makes me feel like we have traveled back in time. The big brother is fawning over his little sister! Exactly the way it should be!¡± said Klyn as he poking his head out from behind Akira before hiding from Azura again.
¡°You''re not helping with the situation,¡± said Akira.
He was forced to hold Azura off at arm''s length to not get hit or kicked by her attacks directed at Klyn.
Azura''s forehead was pressed against his hand as she tried to get closer, but she was unable to make him budge and soon gave up after running out of steam.
¡°So what are we doing today?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Going to meet a few friends before the festival,¡± said Akira.
¡°Can I come?¡±
¡°No! Go away,¡± said Azura.
¡°I guess you can as long as you don''t keep bickering with Azura,¡± said Akira.
¡°Alright let''s go meet my new friends!¡± said Klyn.
***
¡°Everyone you have all met Azura, my sister, before,¡± said Akira introducing Azura to them.
The rest of the group greeted her and turned to the oddball with glasses standing next to Akira.
¡°This is Klyn. Although I don''t remember him, he is supposed to be my childhood friend,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hello. I am Klyn, the genius scholar, and apprentice shaman,¡± said Klyn repositioning his glasses with a glint in his eyes.
¡°Hmph! Don''t let him fool you he''s just an idiot,¡± said Azura.
¡°Wow, a shaman! Were you one of the people that were chanting around Akira last night?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°That''s right! You could say that I helped my buddy Akira big time by helping him unlock a portion of his full power last night!¡± said Klyn.
¡°Not likely you were just back up the real person he should thank is the Head shaman,¡± said Azura.
¡°Last night was nothing I see stuff like it all the time,¡± said Chack.
¡°Really? Where?¡± asked Klyn turning to Chack.
¡°I lie! I peed my pants in shock.¡±
This caused Klyn to let out a hearty laugh.
¡°I like your style. Let''s be friends,¡± said Klyn holding out his hand to Chack.
¡°Okay!¡± said Chack happily grabbing onto Klyn''s hand and shaking it.
¡°Klyn, I was surprised when I saw you with the other shaman last night. All Azura told me about you was that you were a bookworm that doesn''t like to fight. How did you end up as an apprentice?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You aren''t the only one with a famous and powerful grandfather! My grandfather Is the head shaman. I have been learning from him since I was six years old. My grandfather had tried to teach my father but he never liked reading or learning stuff other than stuff about fighting. So my grandfather was quite happy when I agreed to continue in his footsteps. I''m still an apprentice but soon I will be a full Shaman!¡±
¡°Oh? Since you''re a shaman, do you have some type of Ultra superpowers?¡± asked Maya.
¡°No! Shaman are not freaks like that, and I can''t talk to you about it since you''re an outsider,¡± said Klyn.
¡°When I get back to my clan I will get my own Tattoo,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Oh? You Orcs doe stuff like that as well?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°They''re just fakes compared to ours,¡± said Azura.
Varbu shrugged he had never seen the ceremony nor received a tattoo back at home so he could not say if it was the same or not.
They continued to talk until someone knocked on the door to the room they were in.
¡°Azura, Grand elder is looking for you. He said to tell you since it was your idea for the celebration you have to help set it up,¡± said the messenger.
¡°Aww man... more work!,¡± complained Azura.
¡°Do you need us to help?¡± asked Akira.
The messenger spoke up quickly, ¡°We can''t have that! The celebration is to honor you. Your friends are guests of the clan as well so they can not help. Come, miss, before the Grand elder gets mad.¡±
Everyone waved goodbye to Azura as she left them. ''Haaa, it must be tough having to take on the job of a leader. Wait. Isn''t this going to be me soon?'' thought Akira getting depressed at the thought.
***
The celebration was all set up and ready by the time lunch came around. Akira and the others were escorted down to the ground floor where the celebration would happen. Azura, Wulfric, and the other clan elders were waiting for them along with thousands of clansmen.
¡°Now that the main guest has arrived, the festival can start! Today we have many different food stalls up for all to have a taste of the best food the clan can offer. There are many contests and games to play with friends and family and later there will be a friendly mini 1v1 tournament for those who want to challenge each other. As well as an area for the local artsy people to show off their skills. Lastly, we will have a great feast when the moon rises!¡± shouted Wulfric.
The crowd of people cheered loudly happy for such a jammed pack festival. They were all ready to start enjoying the festival.
¡°Let the festival...Begin!¡± said Wulfric raising his hand and bringing it down swiftly.
The mass of people all swarmed towards the food stalls and began ordering food. The people at the stalls were all swamped with hundreds of orders and were trying to work on them as fast as they could.
Wulfric walked up to Akira and placed a hand on his shoulder.
¡°We hope you enjoy the festival if you need anything just ask Azura since it looks like she will be hanging around with you,¡± said Wulfric before he and the elders left to discuss important matters.
¡°What should we do?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Let''s get something to eat, I''m starving,¡± said Azura.
¡°Yes, yes. I''m hungry as well. Let''s eat something! As long as it isn''t me I don''t mind what it is,¡± said Chack nodding in agreement.
¡°What?¡± asked both Azura and Klyn.
¡°Just ignore him, he says some weird stuff like that all the time,¡± said Akira.
¡°Wrong!..I lie! It is true that I don''t want to be eaten.¡±
¡°Do you know any good food stalls to go to?¡± Akira asked Azura.
¡°Ha! You lucked out since I helped organize everything I know which stalls have what so all you have to do is follow me!¡± said Azura sticking out her nearly nonexistent chest and pointing to herself with pride.
They went from one stall to another. The prices of the foods and drinks were cheaper than normal due to it being a festival and also because they would be able to sell enough to make up for the difference.
Since Akira was the only one that had more than just a few coins, Mileena hung on his arm and cutely pouted and beg him to buy the exotic tropical fruit with the weird name Grapple. He could not resist her cute charm and bought everyone a Grapple.
Ding!
The same thing kept happening at each stall they visited. Whatever was there he bought it for the rest of the group after Mileena asked him to.
Exotic fruit, juicy meat pies, snacks that were sweet, salty, and some even ones so spicy they burned Akira''s mouth making him feel like he could breathe fire like a dragon.
Near that last stall when everyone had full belly''s Mileena was still holding onto Akira''s arm.
Azura finally could not take it anymore and walked between the two separating their arms.
¡°Stop hanging all over my big brother it''s annoying!¡± said Azura taking Akira''s arm into her own.
¡°Ha! Looks like someone is jealous of you Mileena! You aren''t a brocon are you?¡± asked Maya.
Klyn choked on what he was eating as he laughed at her unexpected words.
¡°Big brother what sort of perverted things have you been teaching those to girls?!¡± Azura asked Akira in an accusatory tone.
¡°Don''t look at me like that! I didn''t teach them anything! They were already perverts when I met them!¡± said Akira trying to defend himself.
This caused Klyn to start to laugh harder and even Varbu began laughing. Chack didn''t know whether to laugh or hide from the raging Azura.
After everyone had their fill of food the art viewing and 1v1 fights started.
Several people rushed to the fighting rings and fought until they puked up the food they had just eaten.
Seeing this Akira decided to wait for his food to digest before taking on anyone.
So they walked to the section of the festival where the art was being displayed. There were all types of art from carvings of monsters that the artist had seen to paintings of a distant land during a starry night and jewelry made out of metals and bones from monsters that had been killed.
But there were a few pieces that he had trouble understanding. A canvas with only black paint covering it, as well as a collection of ordinary stones put in a pile. He wondered if you could even call it art.
¡°I''m curious who is stronger, big brother or the bookworm,¡± said Azura breaking the silence as they passed the last piece of art.
¡°Of course Akira will win!¡± said Mileena.
¡°Don''t be so sure I may be a world-class genius, but I can also fight when I have to!¡± said Klyn.
¡°Then it is agreed that Big brother and the bookworm will fight! Whoever loses has to be the others lackey for a week!¡± said Azura mischievously raising the bar to make it more inserting.
¡°What? Hey don''t go making decisions for people without them even having a say in it!¡± said Akira.
¡°What are scared?¡±
¡°How could I be? I just don''t like people forcing me to do things!¡±
¡°Alright let''s go to a ring that''s free!¡± said Klyn dragging Akira back to the fighting area.
They stepped into the ring and when Klyn saw Akira bring out his shield and sword he shook his head.
¡°No, we fight transformed with no weapons to show off our true strength!¡±
When the surrounding clansmen saw that Akira enter the ring and was going to fight they were curious to see who his opponent was.
They laughed when they saw it was Klyn but decided to watch the fight anyways to see what type of strength the newcomer and possibly future clan chief had.
The outcome of the match? It was as you might have guessed if you knew the strength of both contestants.
Although Klyn had more experience with transforming and trained with all the clan warriors since he received his own tattoo he still lacked one thing that Akira had, Battle experience.
With the number of battles Akira had been through by now, he was able to slowly pick apart Klyn who was still a strong opponent, but the mistakes he made added up leading to his defeat.
The surrounding crowds all hooted and hollered at them when the match finished it was nothing special but it was a good fight nonetheless. The two exited the fighting ring to let other people waiting, continue the festive 1v1 fights.
¡°I knew big brother would win!¡± said Azura.
¡°Well looks like we truly have returned to how things were several years ago, now that you are my underling,¡± said Akira smiling at Klyn.
¡°It does look like that,¡± said Klyn.
Chapter 105: Feast under the moon
The light in the sky was getting dimmer as the sun dipped down under the trees allowing the moon to take its place.
¡°We should head over to the main bonfire where the tables are being set up. The games will be over soon and the area will become crowded. It would best if we get to our tables before that happens,¡± said Azura.
They were the first to arrive and saw hundreds of makeshift long tables were placed around the fire.
The longest table was set up near the center and placed on top of a small platform to allow others to see and listen to the people that sat there.
There were still several people that had volunteered to help with the feast running back and forth placing cups, plates, and utensils on every table.
¡°So which table is ours,¡± asked Klyn looking at every table but the one on the platform.
¡°You, big brother, and I have to sit at the main table. Everyone else will have to sit at the table of honored guest on the right next to the main table,¡± said Azura pointing at the two tables in question.
¡°Are there arranged seats at the tables?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°You guys can pick any seat but the three of us have to wait for the elders and head shaman to arrive before we can figure out what seat will be ours.¡±
Everyone other than Akira, Azura, and Klyn went to the table on the right to get a good seat closest to the main table.
The smell of food that was being prepared was getting stronger as the time for the feast got closer. The smell was enough to make Akira''s stomach growl even though it had eaten a lot during the day.
It was only a short wait before people started to filter into the surrounding tables trying to get the best spot that they could.
Twenty minutes passed and all the tables were packed with people talking loudly about the food, art, and games that they had experienced during the day.
At this time the elders began to arrive and walk down the main path that was cleared to the main table.
Behind the elders walked Wulfric and the head shaman who Akira had met the night before.
Akira, Klyn, and Azura waited in front of the table for the elders to take their seats.
When Wulfric and the head shaman reached the table they stopped in front of them.
¡°Akira, Azura, you will sit on my right. Klyn, you are to sit on the left next to your grandfather,¡± ordered Wulfric.
They followed the two elderly gentlemen and took their seats.
Wulfric stayed standing as he looked over the mass of bodies at each table.
¡°Everyone!¡± said Wulfric in a booming voice in order to gain the attention of those still deep in conversation. He waited a few seconds for the chatter to die down before speaking again.
¡°I hope that everyone had a fun time today. As you all know, today was a celebration for the return of Akira. In order to end the celebration properly, a great feast has been prepared! Eat, Drink, and be merry!¡± said Wulfric his voice booming out over the crowd.
Loud cheers and clapping arose from all sides of the main table.
With the end of Wulfric''s short speech, the food began to be brought out and served to the hungry people.
Hundreds of servers were carrying trays each carrying enough food for ten people. Several of the servers rushed to the main table with the best of the best food for the elders and honored guests.
The first course was a salad and soup that had been cooled down. The soup had a light broth and thin noodles. The portions were big enough to make it so that they would not starve before the main course was brought out.
When everyone was just finishing their appetizers the steaming hot plates of fresh barbecued Lizarsaurus with baked potatoes were served.
Akira had no idea what to expect before biting into the juicy meat but after tasting, it found that he liked the taste.
His only worry was that the Lizarsaurus might have eaten a lot of people making it so he was in a way eating them as well.
This thought had been brought to his mind when he thought of Chack always talking about feeding them exotic things.
There wasn''t much talk at the main table as everyone was focused on eating their food.
When they had finished the main course a dessert drink was served. It was a rather chunky drink, full of morange juice, chopped bananas, nuts, and other dried fruit.
As Akira enjoyed the sweet dessert Wulfric who Akira was sitting next to began to talk.
¡°Akira, it''s good that you and Klyn are getting reacquainted with each other. Don''t you agree with me Hegir?¡±
¡°True the younger generation should work together and form strong bonds to keep the clan strong in the future. We will need all the unity we can get in the coming years,¡± said Hegir who happened to be the head shaman.
¡°If your grandson keeps up with his studies and hard work, within a few years he could surpass even you Hegir,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Haha, If that comes to be true then I will view my mission complete and retire from the position of head shaman.¡±
¡°Akira, make sure you don''t let him escape and keep him as an adviser. He is extremely smart and I believe he will be of great help to you in the future,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Yes, I agree. Although he may be lazy sometimes, my grandson still has a good head on him. Here, Akira lets switch seats so that you and Klyn can chat,¡± said Hegir as he stood up and walked over to where Akira was sitting.
Since he was not given any other choice Akira stood up and sat down next to Klyn.
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¡°Hey,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hello,¡± replied Klyn.
The two sat next to each other quietly eating their dessert. It was not easy to start a conversation when told to. It was even harder with everyone near them constantly looking at them to see what they were doing or what they would say.
¡°So the fight today you seem to have a solid foundation. I''m sure if you continued to train you could get far stronger,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ha! I don''t care about physical fights. I just make sure my body is fit enough to pass the test every month. If I didn''t have to pass the test I wouldn''t train at all!¡± said Klyn as he stabbed his spoon into the drink pulling out chunks of fruit.
¡°Really? Then what would you do?¡±
¡°I would focus on my studies to be ready for the real fights that matter!¡±
¡°Which are?¡±
¡°The intellectual fights! From what I saw today I can see that we already agree on one thing.¡±
¡°Oh? From today? What is it?¡± asked Akira curious.
¡°We both agree that ''Flat is Justice'',¡± said Klyn loudly with a serious straight face as if the matter was of the utmost importance.
The shock from such an unexpected answer caused Akira to spit out his mouthful of morange juice. Several other people who had been listening to the conversation had the same reaction as Akira including Azura.
Akira did not know how Klyn had come to such a conclusion only using today''s events to judge him.
''I think he might be getting some weird ideas about me in his head.''
With Klyn saying stuff like that so loud in front of everyone, Akira was worried that it might make people think he was a pervert who agreed with Klyn''s words.
He didn''t hate them but come on! Don''t say something like that in front of thousands of people!
A toothpick flew from the right side of the table and stabbed into Klyn''s forehead.
¡°You idiot, stop embarrassing me!¡± growled Hegir.
¡°So big brother has that type of preference,¡± mumbled Azura looking down at her small chest happily.
¡°You guys don''t any wrong ideas about me. I''m just a normal guy not weird or anything,¡± said Akira.
¡°True it is not weird for us to like what we like. It''s only normal,¡± said Klyn while he held a cloth napkin to his forehead to stop the bleeding.
With the fast health regeneration of werewolves, the small wound from the toothpick closed up quickly.
¡°You''re not helping! For a guy that''s supposed to smart you sure know how to screw up a situation like this,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s only normal and healthy to like such things,¡± repeated Azura quietly to herself.
¡°Ahahaha! It''s good to be young!¡± said Wulfric laughing at the situation.
When everyone had finished their dessert the last event of the day¡¯s celebration started.
Wulfric stood up and raised his hands for everyone to quiet down.
¡°As it is customary when an important guest joins our clan for whatever reason the three customary gifts are always given! One from the clan chief, one from the elders, and one from the shamans. The time to present the gifts is now!¡± said Wulfric his voice reaching all the way to the outer tables.
Hegir and Azura stood up to join Wulfric who was standing next to Akira. Three cloth bags were brought forward by servers and handed to each of them.
Wulfric took out a book from the bag and handed it over to Akira.
¡°This is a gift from the elders!¡± said Wulfric.
Ding!
Book of blue moon clans history!
|
Hegir took out several bottles from his bag and handed them to Akira.
¡°This is the gift from the shamans!¡± said Hegir.
Ding!
You have received the Special 30 minute stat boost potions.
These potions were all made by Hegir himself!
|
Azura pulled a ¡ bag out of the bag and handed it to Akira.
¡°This is the gift from the clan chief! I noticed that your current bag is too small and worn out,¡± said Azura hurriedly.
Ding!
Medium Rough hide bag received! Space is double that of the small bag.
|
Akira had to agree that his small bag did look rather ragged but that was due to all the wear and tear that it had endured while he traveled through the whole continent and even under the sea!
What could he do about it since it was such a valuable item? Akira decided to keep the small bag in case he ever needed it in the future.
¡°With the gifts given, today''s celebrations have come to an end! You may all head home now if you wish to,¡± said Wulfric.
Everyone at the main table watched as the rest of the clan finished their conversations and then left for their homes up in the tree city.
¡°Azura, Klyn, you may leave. Akira stay behind,¡± ordered Wulfric.
Both Azura and Klyn said their goodbyes before leaving.
Soon the only ones left where the elders Wulfric, Hegir, and Akira.
¡°Follow us,¡± said Wulfric leading the group towards a large tree with several guards patrolling the area and guarding the stairs that led to the elders meet room.
When they saw the elders they stepped aside and saluted them as they walked passed and entered the building.
The inside was just an empty room with numerous seats carved out of the wood.
Wulfric waited for everyone to be seated before he began to speak.
¡°On the matter of Akira joining the clan are there any last-minute objections?¡±
He looked at each and every elder.
No one raised their hand or spoke up. They were all for welcoming Akira into the clan no one would even think of denying him the right to do so.
¡°Good! Onto the next matter which is the possibility of Akira taking over the role of the clan chief. What is everyone''s opinion.¡±
A hand was held up by one of the older elders named Hal. Wulfric nodded acknowledging him.
¡°If you mean taking the job right now then I have to object. He has just come back after living with humans for so long. He does not know the ways of our clan and it would be foolish to give him the role just because he is your grandson. But that does not mean I am opposed to him taking the role of clan chief in the future if he can prove that he is worthy enough,¡± said Hal.
Many of the other elders nodded their heads in agreement. Only a few who had been close to Akira''s father when he was alive were willing to give the position to him right now.
¡°I agree with your assessment. That is why I will continue to teach Akira what is needed to be a leader of the clan. I will soon place him into a pack as a new member where he will have to work hard to prove his skills and work his way up from the bottom.
For now, Azura will keep the position of clan chief until everyone is satisfied with Akira''s accomplishments,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Grand elder is wise and just. Even though he is your only grandson you show him no favors.¡±
¡°I agree. With this, he will either sink or swim.¡±
¡°Then it is decided. This is what we will do,¡± said Wulfric.
Akira was forced to watch in silence as they talked about him.
¡°Akira do you have any objections to our decision?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°No, I will work hard to prove I am able to take on the job!¡± said Akira.
¡°Good. You may leave,¡± said Wulfric.
When Akira was gone the elders continued to talk of future plans for the clan.
During a lull in the conversation Hegir, the only person not an elder raised his hand.
¡°Yes, what is it Hegir?¡±
¡°The pack that you are putting Akira in can you also put Klyn in it as well? He is nearing completion of his apprenticeship and needs real-life experience. I think it would be best if he had someone he knew to help him during this time,¡± asked Hegir.
¡°I have no problems with it since it should strengthen their friendship and teamwork. Which in the end will helpful for the clans future,¡± said Wulfric.
Chapter 106: Heatwave illness
It was early morning still an hour or two before the sun would peep over the horizon. Akira was sleeping comfortably in his own bed still dreaming of all the tasty food he had eaten the other day.
Bam!Bam!Bam!
A loud banging on the houses front door woke Akira from his pleasant dreams.
¡°Grand elder! We need you, It''s an emergency!¡± shouted a muffled voice from the front door.
Akira heard the door to Wulfric''s room open and the creaking wooden floor as he walked over to the door and unlocked it.
¡°What''s so important that you had to come and wake me and all the neighbors at such an early hour?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°An emergency! The Head shaman sent me to get you. Yuki''s Illness has gotten even worse!¡±
There was silence for a few seconds as Wulfric took in the information.
¡°Tell Hegir I''ll be there soon I have to get dressed first,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Yes, sir!¡±
The door closed with a click and his footsteps walked back to his room where they stopped.
¡°Akira, if you''re up, get dressed. You are to come with me since Hegir might need help with whatever it is,¡± said Wulfric.
Akira who was now wide awake jumped out of bed and began shoving his legs into his pants and quickly pulling his shirt on. Grabbing everything else he exited his room and sat down on one of the chairs in the living room where he put on his boots and tightened his belt.
The door to Azura''s room opened and a sleepy Azura walked out her hair a mess while rubbing her eyes trying to get the sleep out of them.
¡°Big brother whats with all the noise?¡± asked Azura.
¡°Ah, good your awake, go get dressed and when you''re ready, come find us at Yuki''s sick room,¡± said Wulfric exiting his room and walking to the front door with Akira right behind him.
¡°Huh? What''s going on?¡± Azura asked herself as her sleepy head tilted to the side and tried to make sense of the early morning commotion.
***
Akira and Wulfric reached the ground floor and walked to a remote area before descending into an underground house.
There were many people milling around in the main room when they entered. To Akira, they all looked like the shaman that had been chanting over him when he had received his tattoo.
¡°You stay here while I go talk to Hegir,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Akira you''re here too?¡± the voice of his childhood friend Klyn called out to him from the side of the large room.
¡°I was dragged here by my grandfather,¡± said Akira turning to see Klyn walking over to him.
¡°Same.¡±
¡°Do you know what is going on?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Not much, but from what I heard from my grandfather it seems like whatever illness Yuki has caught it has taken a turn for the worse.¡±
Azura soon joined them and they chatted for a few minutes before Wulfric stuck his head out of the inner room looking for someone.
¡°Akira, Klyn, Azura get in here,¡± he ordered before ducking back into the room.
The trio quickly entered the damp dark room. The only light was from a few rare glow stones that were embedded into the stone bed in the middle of the room. They could not risk using any source of fire in or near the room.
Hegir and Wulfric stood next to the bed looking over a frail-looking girl Akira could barely recognize as Yuki due to her poor health.
Hearing their footsteps Hegir turned around.
¡°Akira, since it is such short notice we need you to take a small group and gather the herbs and other material on this list for a medicine that I need to make in order to cure Yuki''s illness.
Klyn, you will go with him and be in charge of finding and extracting the herbs so that they are not damaged. Normally I have such things stocked, but we recently ran out of them and before we could gather more this happened,¡± said Hegir pointing at Yuki.
¡°Akira, this is a chance to show off your skills before you join a pack so do your best,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°What illness did she catch? Is it contagious?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°The illness is known as the Heatwave. It''s where the person''s body gradually continues to grow warmer and warmer until their body can no longer handle the heat anymore and they die.
It''s not contagious...since it can only be found in the Yuki-onna demon race who normally live in cold places.
What might be a common cold for us turns into an even deadlier illness for them as their bodies temperature is always far colder than a normal person''s and if it rises beyond a certain point it becomes deadly.
On the other hand, our own bodies are different in that we have a higher body temperature than normal.
This is a serious matter the herbs and other materials need to be found and brought back as soon as possible she does not have long to live.¡±
Ding!
New mission received: Save Yuki!
You must clear the path of any obstacles that may hinder Klyn from gathering all the materials needed to create a pill to cure Yuki''s Heatwave illness. Time is very important!
Time limit: 2 days.
Difficulty: D
Will you accept?
[If you do not accept Yuki will die.]
Yes \ No
|
A timed mission? This was the first time he had seen something like that. Right now he had no thought of refusing the quest and accepted it, trying not to think about what would happen if he failed.
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¡°Azura, we need you to gather two others to help bathe Yuki in the small river over there,¡± said Hegir pointing at the cold rushing underground river that passed through the room. ¡°You must keep Yuki as cooled down as possible. I and the other shaman will set up a formation outside the room and start a chant to regulate the temperature inside this room. We''ll make sure that no heat enters the room to help slow down the heatwave illness from worsening. Be sure to come back with warm clothes.¡±
¡°Who do you want me to take on the mission?¡± asked Akira.
¡°There is no time to form a pack so you should just take your companions and have them help,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Ah! Wait for me big brother! I need you to help me get Maya and Mileena to help me take care of Yuki,¡± said Azura as she ran after Akira and Klyn.
***
The group of companions had split into two. With Akira, Varbu, Chack, and Klyn heading out to the search for the ingredients.
While Azura, Mileena, and Maya stayed and went to the dark underground room to constantly bathe and wipe down Yuki''s body with the cold water in order to keep her temperature as low as possible.
The inside of the room was starting to get cold enough that they could see their breath whenever it escaped their mouth. Frost began to appear on the walls and the small river in the room was starting to gather small chunks of ice on top.
This was all due to the chanting shaman outside the room trying to keep it as cold as possible.
***
¡°What is a person like Yuki doing in the hot and humid place like the swamp continent?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I don''t know. She has been staying with the clan as long as I can remember,¡± said Klyn with a shrug.
¡°She looks like someone tried to eat her,¡± said Chack joining the conversation.
Both Akira and Klyn ignored Chack and continued to talk.
¡°Okay, what else is left to get? We''ve already gathered the [Fert bark], [Poyt sap], and the [Limp but bendy firm blue shade grass]. Who came up with that name?¡± asked Akira.
The first three ingredients were rather easy to get without much trouble. The only hard part about it was that it took them a few hours to travel to where each of the items could be found.
¡°Let me check...It looks like only two more things. I saved them for last since there might be some problems with getting them. The easier of the two should be five [Acorns of the lizard bush] which are nearby, and then we need one [Chilled beetroot]. The problem with that is many monsters love eating this as a snack, so they are hard to find,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Lead the way!¡± said Varbu.
When they reached the area with the oddly named lizard bushes scattered everywhere they decided to split up to search for the acorns faster.
¡°They need to be green and undamaged,¡± Klyn reminded them before they split.
The ground near the lizard bushes was littered with acorns. The only problem was they were all either half-eaten or old and rotted acorns.
Akira moved from bush to bush searching for any green acorns but they were all empty until he reached the 13th bush.
¡°Jackpot!¡±
Hanging from a branch were three shiny green, fresh, and undamaged acorns.
He rushed over to the bush and reached for them only to see a blur shoot past and the acorns disappear.
The blur stopped a few paces away on top of another bush. It was a cute looking light brown squirrel and it was holding onto the there acorns. [Cheeky brown-tail squirrel lvl 41].
¡°Hey you damn squirrel give me back my nuts!¡± shouted Akira as he lunged at the squirrel trying to grab him only to miss as the speedy little demon jumped to another bush and continued to look at Akira.
It started to chatter at Akira as if mocking him and stuffed two of the acorns into its mouth one in each cheek.
¡°Don''t eat them! I need those!¡± shouted Akira as he jumped towards the squirrel again.
Miss...Miss...Miss... Akira continued to chase after the squirrel but was always a few inches from catching it.
¡°Fine, I didn''t want to have to do this but you leave me no choice!¡± said Akira as he transformed into his werewolf form.
Using the [Pounce] skill Akira was able to leap forward grab a hold of the squirrely squirrel.
¡°HaHa! Who''s the boss now? Give me that,¡± said Akira taking the third acorn from Squirrel as it was trying to shove it into its mouth to join the other two acorns.
¡°Spit out the other ones,¡± ordered Akira.
Instead of spitting them out the squirrel began to furiously chew.
¡°You damn squirrel I said not to eat them!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°Is everything okay? We heard shouting and ...¡± Klyn stopped talking when he saw the transformed Akira.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Varbu looking at Akira who was holding onto a squirrel that was now slowly chewing something while staring at the three newcomers.
¡°Looks like he is trying to make a new friend,¡± said Chack, ¡°I lie! It''s probably dinner!¡±
At the word dinner, the startled squirrel escaped from Akira''s grasp while he was distracted and ran away. In the distance, he stopped and chattered a few choice words at Akira for interrupting him while he was trying to eat.
¡°Here is an acorn!¡± said Akira handing Klyn the prize that he had fought so hard for.
He ignored their questions and reverted back to his normal form.
¡°With this one, we have five. All that is left is the [Chilled beetroots],¡± said Klyn after giving up on questioning Akira.
They continued their search for the last ingredient and were successful in finding one that was not eaten by the local monster population.
With the last of the ingredients found they were able to head back to Bluemoon city.
***
It was just after dinner time when they returned to the underground building.
The chanting shaman looked exhausted as they continued with their task of regulating the room where Yuki was staying.
¡°Were back! Grandfather here are the ingredients!¡± said Klyn.
¡°Good you guys did well! Klyn, I''m sorry but I am in no shape to make the medicine right now and I can not leave the formation for long or it will collapse.
You will need to do it yourself. You already know the recipe and have practiced it several times, you can do it. Akira please give him a hand with anything he needs,¡± said Hegir.
¡°I...I will do my best and not shame you,¡± said Klyn as he got ready to start a fire to start working on creating the medicine.
¡°Not in here! Go outside and do it. We can''t have a fire anywhere near the room,¡± ordered Hegir.
¡°Yes!¡± said Klyn hurriedly stumbling out of the underground building and back outside.
Akira watched as Klyn started a fire and pulled a small cup-sized metal pot that had four stubby legs out of his own bag.
When the pot was filled with water it was placed onto the fire to let the water come to a boil.
While the water heated up he began to rinse the [Fert bark] and then crumble it into small pieces when the water was bubbling the [Fert bark] was thrown into the boiling pot and a small lid was placed on top.
¡°Can you please mince the [Limp but bendy firm blue shade grass] while I chop up the [Acorns of the lizard bush]?¡± asked Klyn.
While Akira had no experience yet in creating herbal medicine he had experience in making food out of all kinds of odd plants. So he just chopped it up the way he would normally do it before handing it to Klyn who looked over his handiwork.
¡°Ehhh...not the worst but you could have done a better job,¡± said Klyn as he set it aside and started to fish out the soggy bark bits with a ladle.
The clear water inside the pot had turned to a dark black that blocked the view of the bottom of the small pot.
Plop!
After removing the bark Klyn placed the minced grass and chopped acorns into the pot.
Several minutes of boiling the water was slowly evaporating and leaving behind a substance that was turning into a darker blue-green solid.
Klyn added the sticky [Poyt sap] to the mixture when the water had evaporated and all that was left was a bunch of goop, he thoroughly stirred it and let the sap caramelize before taking the pot off the fire and letting it cool down.
Klyn carefully cut the [Chilled beetroots] into three small portions and then scooped out the blue-green goop from inside the pot that was now moldable.
Separating it into three small portions he then separately wrapped each of them around one of the three [Chilled beetroots] pieces which immediately cooled the rest of the goop and created a small pinkie sized pill three in all.
¡°Done!¡± said Klyn wiping the sweat from his head.
¡°Let''s go give it to Hegir,¡± said Akira heading back into the underground building.
¡°Good work. With this, she''ll be able to make a full recovery and the pill should last for several months,¡± said Hegir.
Ding!
Quest complete!
Yuki will make a full recovery thanks to your speedy actions in retrieving and making the pills within the time limit.
Reward: 10% towards learning the skill herbal pill making.
Continue to watch and learn from a shaman to fully unlock the skill.
|
Chapter 107: New daily routine
Akira, Klyn, Varbu, and Chack all sat outside the main room waiting to hear the results of their hard work. The shaman that had been chanting all day had already stopped and left to recover from the exhausting day.
They only had to wait a short ten minutes until Hegir walked out of the inner room.
¡°Akira, Klyn, thanks to the pills you created her illness has been halted and she is now recovering. She just woke up from her coma and would like to see you both. She also asked me to thank everyone that helped gather the ingredients,¡± said Hegir turning to Chack and Varbu.
¡°It was nothing much, anyone could have done it,¡± said Varbu modestly.
¡°It was fun since we got to see Akira making friends with squirrels,¡± said Chack.
Akira ignored Chack and entered the room that Yuki was recuperating in. The cold temperature and dry air of the room felt extremely nice compared to the outside where it was hot and humid.
Looking around he could see large amounts of frost on the walls.
Azura and the two nyantail sisters were all huddled together trying to keep warm. Azura had even partially transformed so that her arms and legs were covered with fur.
¡°Ah...such a nice feeling I could stay here all day,¡± said Klyn.
This comment brought sharp dagger-like stares from the three girls.
¡°It''s freezing in here! We''ve been locked up inside all day. We''ll gladly change places with you,¡± said Azura her teeth chattering from the cold as she talked.
¡°You three can leave if you''re that cold. The main trouble has passed for now. Thanks for helping take care of Yuki,¡± said Hegir.
¡°Thank you for all your help,¡± said a weak voice from the hard bed in the middle of the room.
¡°No need for thanks. You know that there is no way I would not help and let you die. We''ve known each other forever so it''s only natural that I helped,¡± said Azura before the three girls quickly escaped the freezing cold room.
¡°Thank you Akira and Klyn for gathering the ingredients and creating the pill. Without it I would have died. Truly I owe you my life. Akira this is the second time you have helped me when I was in need. I don''t know how I can repay my lords'' great deeds,¡± said Yuki''s quiet voice.
¡°You don''t need to call me that I am no lord or noble. I am just an average person, and you don''t need to repay me with anything. The only thing we need is for you to stay healthy,¡± said Akira.
¡°I will try, but it''s hard to keep healthy in this hot and humid land... it is hard,¡± said Yuki.
¡°The heat really does a number on you doesn''t it?¡±
¡°With the shackles of the heat, I am unable to show my full power. At maximum when I am healthy i can use 50% of my power.¡±
¡°Yuki now that you have thanked them you should get some rest. We don''t want your condition to flare up again,¡± said Hegir.
Akira and Klyn bid Yuki farewell and left the room to head back to their own homes in order to get some rest themselves. It was a long and eventful day.
***
Next day at the breakfast table.
¡°Akira, in order for you to be ready for the pack that I''ll be putting you in a week or two from now, you will need to get a bit of training in on how things are done around here. Since I don''t have much free time to supervise your training and have much to talk about with the other clan elders, I have given the task to Azura,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Don''t worry grandfather. I will make sure he doesn''t slack off in his training!¡± said Azura.
¡°Akira I expect you to be able to pass the monthly training standards before you join the pack. I can not let you dirty our families reputation by holding everyone down due to lack of skill and co-operation,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I will train hard. I''m sure that I''ll have the skills needed to meet your standards,¡± said Akira after swallowing a piece of buttered toast.
¡°Good. I''ll be back late tonight so don''t expect me for dinner,¡± said Wulfric before standing up and leaving the house.
¡°Hehehee, I''m in charge of your training big brother so you better be nice to me or...¡± Azura didn''t finish her sentence but the message was clear.
¡°Come on take it easy on me. I''m your one and only big brother,¡± said Akira trying to get on her good side.
¡°Hmph! We''ll see how I feel when we start training. Don''t think that you being my big brother will help you.¡±
''This little gremlin is hard to please,'' thought Akira.
He hoped she wouldn''t purposefully make things hard for him.
***
The area used by the clan for training was just the open ground under the city. You really couldn''t call it a training ground.
The morning heat was already becoming hot enough to make anyone sweat if they did anything other than a light walk.
Akira stood in front of Azura, waiting for her to give him a task to complete. She stood in front of him deep in thought while looking up at the green leaves above them.
She had come prepared with her own weapons. On her right hip, she wore a scabbard for a rapier, and on her left, she had a buckler.
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After spying on her big brother while he did exercises and watching him when he had fought Klyn, she had a good enough sense of how strong he was. So she knew she would have to up the training in order to make sure he was fully reforged into a proper warrior of the clan.
¡°You seem proficient in the use of a shield so how is your skill in using spears?¡± asked Azura.
¡°Huh? What about spears?¡± asked Akira confused.
¡°What you don''t know what a spear is?¡± asked Azura.
¡°I know what they are, I just don''t understand what it has to do with me,¡± replied Akira.
¡°A lot of warriors that I know in the clan use medium to short spears with their shields as well as swords. The spears have a longer reach and can do a lot of piercing damage. They are good for taking on monsters and opponents that you don''t want to get too close to, while still being able to deal damage,¡± said Azura.
¡°Well, I never used one in a fight before most of all my fights are just up close with my sword and shield.¡±
¡°Alright, we have found something that I''ll have you train over the next week! But first, let''s test your skills with the sword and shield.¡±
¡°Are you going to be my duel partner?¡± asked Akira.
¡°That''s correct in order to fully get an understanding of your power I have to test you myself.¡±
Azura pulled out her rapier and buckler commenced her attack without warning.
Klang! Bam, Klang, Klang! The two traded several dozen blows their weapons attacking, probing and parrying, while their shields blocked all the other attacks.
Akira only counterattacked a few times mostly let Azura wear herself out by attacking and not wanting to get too serious and hurt her.
With her light armor and small buckler she was light on her feet and able to attack from multiple angles all aimed at different parts of Akira''s body. She was more of a hit and run fighter. Her buckler was only used when she could not dodge or parry the attack.
No matter how much she tried she could not get past Akira''s defense. He was like a stone wall blocking everything that came towards him.
¡°I can at least say one thing about you so far, I think you will turn out to be a good meat shield for others,¡± commented Azura as the two sat and rested while drinking some water to rehydrate due to sweating from the day''s heat.
She was a little annoyed that she had failed to even hit him once.
While resting Chack wandered over to them curious of what they were doing. This gave Akira a great idea.
¡°Chack you and I are friends right?¡± asked Akira.
Chack nodded his head furiously.
¡°So you will take some advice from me?¡±
¡°I don''t mind as long as it doesn''t have to do with eating,¡± said Chack.
¡°Since you joined me and the others you haven''t fought that much, so you should train with me to make sure your skills are up to par with the others,¡± said Akira.
''If only I have to suffer under this training my brain would explode but with someone else to share the suffering it will be nice,'' thought Akira.
¡°Sounds good to me!¡± said Chack nodding in agreement.
If Chack really got rid of his habit of hiding and being timid he would make an excellent off-tank that could either help Akira hold off monsters or help the others deal damage.
The next several days Akira trained along with Chack in the dreadful heat under the sharp eyes of Azura who made sure they did not play around.
On the third day after Varbu saw the two training so hard the last few days, he had decided to join them and work on his weaknesses as well.
When Mileena and Maya wanted to join them as well, Azura denied them the opportunity and shooed them away saying that they would only distract Akira.
After finding out Akira''s preferences at the feast from Klyn''s words, Azura had gotten more cautious when it came to Mileena. She viewed her as the number one rival who might try to steal her brother from her if she was not careful. So of course she wouldn''t let them join! That was too dangerous they must be kept apart as much as possible.
This line of thinking only made Akira''s training even harder and longer as Azura made sure to give him little free time to talk to anyone other than Chack and Varbu who were suffering along with him.
Ah... a little sisters love is a scary thing to experience.
Klyn seeing what was going on offered to take the two sisters around the swamp and showed them different plants and monsters in the surrounding areas that could be made into poisons.
They began a crash course on the production of their own poison for the arrows and daggers they used. With this, they would truly become a deadly duo when they perfect their skills.
It would be best to not make them angry in the future.
After several days of being tortured in all kinds of ways and practicing with the spear day after day, a system message popped up while he was drenched in sweat from his training.
Ding!
New skill has been learned!
Spear Mastery (Level 1: 0%): Grants extra damage buff when spears are used.
|
Akira was happy at gaining a new skill and decided to train even harder to raise the level since his sword mastery has stuck at lvl 9: 99%, so he might as well work on the spear to flesh out his bag of tricks that he could use to trip up any enemy.
Over the course of training, Akira had been watching his sister and studying her wolf ear and tail movements intently to understand her mood to know when she was happy, agitated or sad.
His life depended on his understanding of each movement so that she did not make his training anymore hellish than it already was. He put his all into understanding it all and was fairly accurate in reading her mood. This could also be applied to the other werewolves in the clan as well.
The time limit that Wulfric had given would be up tomorrow. Akira was extremely happy he only had one more day of suffering left.
¡°Today''s training is only for Akira since he still has to properly learn the different ways of communication between members of a pack and talking with other packs or a large group of allies,¡± said Azura.
¡°Azura! Akira! Emergency the grand elder wants you to head over to the guard post!¡± shouted a huffing guard who had run all the way to where they were training in his heavy armor.
¡°What''s so important? Did Yuki get sick again?¡± asked Azura.
¡°No much worse! Can''t explain you will see when you get to the outpost,¡± said the guard shaking his head.
Akira and Azura headed over to the guard outpost to find Wulfric and the other elders were already there talking with another werewolf that had gray and white speckled fur.
He reverted back to his human form to reveal an elderly man with a gray beard. The elders all had grim looks on their faces as they listened to his words.
Behind the clan elders and the older man, Akira saw a large group of ragged looking people sitting or laying on the ground breathing heavily exhausted from their journey to the Bluemoon city.
They were of all ages from babies to the elderly.
There had to be at least over 300 people in the large group.
¡°...Please give us protection.¡± pleaded the old man.
¡°Grandfather what''s going on?¡± asked Azura as she walked over to the elders ahead of Akira.
¡°Good, you two are here. Your training will have to stop early, something unexpected and disastrous has happened.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°One of the kingdoms has sent a small army and has started to raid the werewolf clans. If this continues....¡± said Wulfric in a serious voice full of worry.
¡°War...¡± muttered an elder.
Chapter 108: Emergency Tribe meeting
The cold wind flew through the feathers of a large eagle as it flapped its wings. Smoke from a small burning town blocked its view forcing it to flap its wings to rise into the air and ascend through the clouds above.
Several minutes of flying passed before the eagle tucked its wings in it dived into the moist clouds below. After breaking through the clouds it flapped its wings to pull out of the dive.
The eagle used its large wings to slowly glide while its sharp beady eyes scanned the ground for its target.
There! A few miles away a large group of people were gathered in a hastily made fortification.
The eagle flapped its wings and flew over to the camp to get a better look.
As it began to circle the camp several smaller groups could be seen leaving and returning as they went about whatever task they had been ordered to do.
The eagle looked for anything that could identify who they were. So far the Eagle could not find any flags flying in the camp.
The eagle''s gaze fell upon the largest tent in the middle of the encampment. Some type of emblem was embroidered on the top of the tent.
To get a better look, the eagle again folded its wings and descended hundreds of feet in seconds.
The tent grew bigger in the eagle''s eyes as it grew closer and it was able to understand what was embroidered on the roof of the tent...It was the royal crest of the Beorin.
Swoosh! An arrow flew by nearly impaling the Eagle. With a squawk of surprise, the Eagle flapped its powerful wings and flew out of range of any other arrows.
The camp guards bellow watched as the bird flew away.
¡°How can anyone live in this crappy place. With all these animals and monsters living here you can''t have any peace there''s always something trying to bother us,¡± complained a guard.
***
Akira sat at a table and watched the quiet and unmoving Shaman that was in a trance currently using a specialized skill that some Shaman trained in. They had been waiting in silence for several hours.
Jerking awake the shaman let out a loud sigh.
¡°Did you find the people causing the trouble?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°Grand elder, I was indeed successful in finding a large group encamped on the open plains of the grasslands north of the swamps near the small city of Madham. I was able to count at least 1000 warriors. I couldn''t count them all due to large groups constantly leaving and returning to the main encampment. The number is probably around 1500 at the most 2000.¡±
¡°Did you figure out who they are?¡± asked Hegir.
¡°Yes, although there were no flags to announce who they were, I was still able to figure it out. It was as the Grand elder expected one of the northern kingdoms, the Beorin kingdom to be exact.¡±
¡°Beorin kingdom? Why should they come all the way down here to bother us? We didn''t even fight them in the last war so there should be no lingering resentment between us,¡± asked Hegir.
¡°When they first entered our town I heard the leader of their group shout something about finding the person that was worth over 500 gold,¡± said Neal the elderly village chief that had led the survivors of his small town to the Bluemoon city.
¡°Did you find anything else out?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°Only a little, the towns and villages near the encampment of the Beorin soldiers were all razed to the ground. I saw several groups of werewolves headed deeper into the swamps so we should expect more people to be arriving soon.¡±
¡°I beg of you to allow us to stay here we can help with whatever you need. The people of my village now have nowhere to go,¡± said Neal pleading with Wulfric.
¡°There is no need to act like this, you should already know that there are several houses for times just like this everyone will be able to have a place to stay and food to eat as long as they help out with the work around the city. Things look like they will be getting rather busy soon,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Grandfather what are we going to do? If this continues and nothing is done there could be several hundred more deaths,¡± said Azura with a worried look on her face.
¡°There is nothing to worry about it has not turned into a war yet. There still may be hope to negotiate with them to figure out what they want. But first we have to warn the other clans and call an emergency meeting,¡± said Wulfric trying to calm Azura.
¡°I will personally relay the message to the other clan''s shaman and warn them to be on guard. Although it takes up so much energy I am the only one able to do suck a large task right now,¡± said Hegir.
¡°I''ll leave it to you but be sure to warn them about the encampment and ask them to join us at the Clan Meeting grounds as soon as they can. We''ll have to prepare for the trip and make sure the city is fully alert and protected before we can go.¡±
¡°Understood.¡±
¡°Alright, we all have a lot to do so we will end the meeting for now. Make sure you''re ready by tomorrow morning since we''ll be leaving for the Clan meeting grounds as soon as possible,¡± said Wulfric.
Akira had nothing to do, so he just stayed with Azura to help her with anything she needed help with.
Azura continued to talk to Neal to further understand everything that was going on. They listened to him explain how they had come from the north and were chased for several days by the soldiers before managing to escape into the swamps.
All through the day several smaller groups of werewolves filtered into the city scared and exhausted from their terrifying flight from the soldiers that had killed many friends and family.
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Everywhere Akira went people had gloomy looks on their faces and were whispering quietly about the current events they had heard from the people that had managed to escape.
Something major was happening and nobody knew how big or how bad it would get but they all knew that the future was not looking good.
***
Several guesthouses had been filled up yesterday and still more people were coming to the city as the small group of elders and shaman gathered to leave for the clans meeting grounds.
Only half of the shaman and elders would be going with Wulfric and Hegir to the meeting.
Akira and Azura stood nearby to send them off. Varbu, Chack, Mileena, and Maya all stood behind them, they were all unsure of what they should do now that something like this had happened.
¡°Azura you will be staying here along with the other elders and shaman that stay behind. Your task is to help the people that come for protection and keep the city running smoothly. Make sure you don''t let your guard down and keep the city as safe as possible. Double the guards on duty and the daily patrols until we get back. If anything happens that you can not take care of the elders will help guide you.¡±
¡°I will not let you down,¡± said Azura.
¡°Akira you''re coming with me,¡± ordered Wulfric.
¡°I haven''t prepared anything...¡± said Akira.
¡°I already packed things for you,¡± said Wulfric tossing Akira a bag.
¡°Will all the werewolf clans be there?¡± asked Varbu.
This question reminded Akira of the whole reason why Varbu had traveled so far from home. It also reminded him of the letter that was given to him by the queen of the mermaids.
¡°Yes, all the clans will have representatives there,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Grand Elder, can you allow Varbu to come? The main purpose of him coming here was to form an alliance between the orcs and werewolves,¡± said Akira.
Wulfric thought it over and quietly discussed the matter with Hegir before turning back to them.
¡°You can come but you will have to wait until the end of the meeting. Since we elders will have too many other important things that we''ll have to take care of before you can speak,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°We need to leave now so that we can make the meeting on time. We should be back after a fortnight or two,¡± said Hegir.
With that Akira and Varbu joined the small group and left the city to begin their journey south to the clan meeting grounds.
While on the journey Wulfric called over to Akira, ¡°Did Azura get to teaching you about the different werewolf howls how to understand and communicate the common signals, commands, and warnings?¡±
¡°We covered some of it but before we could go into all of it this happened,¡± replied Akira.
¡°Then I''ll just have to teach you while we travel,¡± said Wulfric.
Akira had expected to escape from the training since such an event had happened but it turned out he was still stuck learning even now!
He was stuck listening and repeating the wolf howls and whistles signals used on a custom made dog whistle that the werewolf armies used. Hegir also taught him several things about various plants raising his herbalism to 20%.
Along the way south they stopped at many small villages and camps of groups nomadic werewolves that were too small to be recognized as a clan and warned them of the enemy to the north.
Their group soon doubled and tripled as the elders of each small town and camp joined them to make the trip to the big meeting in order to represent their small group and have a say in what should be done.
In just under a week the exited the swampy jungles. In front of them, Akira saw a large mountain that was surrounded by many large grassy hills.
¡°The meeting ground is just ahead of us. Look there''s another group also just arriving to the north of us,¡± said Wulfric pointing to a group that was just as large as theirs.
With the two groups noticing each other, they walked over to the other and joined up together.
¡°Grand elder Wulfric! Good to see you although the circumstances of our meeting is not so good,¡± said another elderly werewolf his youthful red hair had been almost all replaced with white hair.
¡°Grand elder Carl I am glad to see you. It is indeed a dangerous time we are living in. Let us travel together the rest of the way to the meeting grounds,¡± said Wulfric.
Akira learned through listening to their conversations that Carl was the Grand Elder of the Redmoon clan who was a strong ally of the Bluemoon clan.
The two grand elders were deep in discussion for the rest of the trip only stopping when they reached the foot of the mountains where there were several other werewolves groups gathered.
Now that they were so close to the mountains Akira was able to see that the mountains had several natural caves and even more that were carved out with tools.
There were several types of sea birds flying around and nesting in the mountains since the ocean was only a few days away.
¡°Ah, you slowpokes arrived! Now we''re only waiting on one more group,¡± said a cheerful elderly man greeting Wulfric and Carl.
¡°Grand elder Garnal, it is good to see you,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°What do you expect from us when our clans are so far north,¡± said Carl.
¡°There is no time to waste the other elders and grand elders are waiting. I''ll lead you to the grand meeting cave right now.¡±
¡°Varbu, Akira, you stay here with the shaman I''ll call you if and when the tribe elders want to talk to you. Don''t start any trouble with anyone were all allies here,¡± warned Wulfric.
With that Wulfric, Hegir, and the other elders followed Garnal to the meeting with the other clan''s elders.
There were several other werewolves that were staring at Varbu who was out of place in this meeting of werewolves.
¡°Hey, big guy who are you? I''m known as Yap,¡± asked a werewolf whose curiosity had gotten the better of him.
¡°My name is Varbu,¡± said Varbu not speaking anything more than necessary. The nearby werewolves looked at him with suspicion.
¡°He is a guest of the Bluemoon clan, a representative of the Orc clans, and my friend,¡± said Akira backing up Varbu.
¡°Who are you?¡± asked Yap. ¡°I''ve never seen you at any of the clan meetings before... judging by your age we should have met at least once before.¡±
¡°My name is Akira and I am from the Bluemoon clan.¡±
¡°Strange...The Bluemoon clan? Never heard of you before...¡±
¡°I have,¡± the voice of an unpleasant familiar young man came from the crowd of werewolves.
Everyone turned to the person who had spoken. It was Frang.
¡°Oh great its the little yipping dog,¡± said Varbu loud enough for Frang to hear.
Frang''s face heated up and turned a red that was almost the same color as his hair.
¡°You know him?¡± asked Yap.
¡°Yes as well as the Orc. Around a month ago they appeared at the trading post used to trade with the Griiq demanding to be brought to a werewolf clan. Why are you guys here? Is it that you''re still so untrustworthy that the elders and grand elders have decided to take you with them to keep an eye on you so that you can''t cause problems?¡± asked Frang.
¡°Frang, out of the respect we have for Grand elder Carl and the ties that link the Bluemoon and Redmoon clans together we will ignore your insults just this once,¡± said Coinin one of the shamans Akira had gotten to know after working to help save Yuki.
¡°You better watch your words we will not allow you to insult Akira and our clan like that,¡± said another shaman.
¡°Just who are you?¡± asked Frang even more confused after getting scolded by the older shaman.
¡°I''m no one important just a normal person...¡± said Akira.
¡°He is the future chief of the Bluemoon clan,¡± interrupted Coinin.
¡°Future chief?¡± several voices asked. They were now even more curious to find out just who Akira was.
¡°What''s the big commotion going on over here,¡± asked a booming voice.
The crowd surrounding them parted as a large domineering man with red hair and a red beard walked through.
¡°Frang, you''re not causing more problems for me are you?¡± asked Redbeard.
¡°No! They started it,¡± said Frang pointing at Akira and Varbu.
¡°Hah-...,¡± Redbeard sighed and looked to the other party that Frang was pointing at.
¡°Hello Akira, sorry that Frang is causing such problems for you,¡± said Redbeard. ¡°Frang why are you arguing with your cousin. You two should be getting along with each other since you are both the future chiefs of the Blue and Red moon clans.¡±
¡°Wait that little crap is my cousin?¡± asked Akira.
¡°How is he my cousin?¡± asked Frang.
¡°Hey, Akira name-calling isn''t going to help the situation and Frang, Akira is Grand elder Wulfric''s grandson, his mother was your aunt Zara. So that makes him your older cousin.¡±
Chapter 109: The Elders decision
After Redbeard explained everything the situation calmed down leaving the two cousins to stare at each other and hopefully get along.
Everyone that was not an elder or grand elder was forced to wait in one of the many large hidden caves while the elders discussed what to do with the current crisis.
When a half-hour past with nothing to do but stare at the stone ceiling someone entered their cave and gained their attention.
¡°The elders have given an order that everyone has to help clear out any of the caves that have collapsed or have unwanted guests in them. We also need to reinforce the defense structures in front of the caves and around the mountain. Since there might be a need to use them sooner than later,¡± said the messenger before leaving to relay the same message to another group of people in the next cave.
Akira stood up and looked around at the cave they were staying in. It looked good enough and did not need any fixing up, maybe a bit of dusting but that was it.
¡°I guess we should go and join the others and look at the rest of the caves to see what needs to be done,¡± said Akira as he led Varbu and the shaman out of the cave.
***
¡°Grand elder Wulfric is it true that the Beorin kingdom is harassing small villages?¡± asked an elder sitting across from Wulfric on one of the many large stone benches carved into the large oval caves wall.
¡°That is putting it mildly. They are not just harassing them, they have killed nearly a hundred of the nomad werewolves form the small villages already. That number is rising every day. I personally talked to many of the people that managed to escape. In order to verify their claims, I had a subordinate of Hegir inspect the places that they said they came from. As you heard from his testimony earlier they were able to see the ruined villages and were even able to see Beorin''s royal seal on the main tent. Before you ask I doubt it was anyone from the royal family. It is most likely someone that the king trust enough to handle whatever it is they are trying to achieve.¡±
¡°Why are they attacking? Has one of you smaller clans done something to anger them?¡± asked Grand elder Tormoid of the Bloody-claw clan one of the three large clans.
¡°Why would we do something like that? We''re not as dumb as you might think we are. Everyone knows the Earth tribe has not had any conflict with them since our ancestors fought in the great war,¡± said Seoc Grand elder of the Longtail clan one of the small clans.
¡°There is no need to bicker between ourselves. I think we already know the reason why. You have all heard about Grand elder D¨´ghall''s premonition of the hard times coming. I think this may be the start of just that,¡± said Wulfric.
Everyone turned their heads to look at Grand elder D¨´ghall who had been silent for the whole meeting so far.
With everyone staring at him waiting for a comment on the subject he only gave a short reply, ¡°It is true I have seen hard times ahead, it is also true that Beorin could possibly be the cause of it.¡±
¡°Beorin the cause of all this worry? HA! Our ancestors were able to beat them bloody and they didn''t even have the clan tattoo back then. If it weren''t for those damn demigods we could have made sure they never messed with us again. Are you telling me we are going to get our tails handed to us by those wimps?¡± asked Grand elder Griogair of the Ironhide clan the third largest clan.
¡°It has been a long time since then. We may have grown stronger but that does not mean we can be satisfied and expect that our enemies that we have beaten long ago will be defeated as easily as they were in the past.
It is foolish to think they have not improved as well. Everyone knows that the human armies when gathered together are far larger than our own. We may be stronger but they have the advantage of numbers that can be replaced easily. We do not have such luxury, ¡± said Grand elder Carl.
¡°Let us get back to the main reason we are here. To decide whether we should do nothing, retaliate, or leave this land,¡± said Grand elder Aaron of the small clan Madmane.
¡°If we don''t do something to stop the situation from getting out of control this may end up in another large war. I propose we send a letter to the kingdom demanding they stop their aggression, as well as send out forces to gather all the distant clans and villages so they will have no one to attack while we wait for Beorin''s reply,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I second the proposal,¡± said Carl.
Several other clans grand elders agreed, creating a majority that wanted to follow Wulfrics suggestion.
¡°What is this? Are you medium and small clans afraid to fight them? Even if they have grown stronger we can still tear them apart,¡± asked Tormoid.
¡°No, I will never cower before the human armies. You know our courage is no less than yours since we have all fought together in the last two great wars. I recently learned of something that was even more shocking than Grand elder D¨´ghall''s premonition,¡± said Wulfric.
D¨´ghall sat up straight and his eyes turned to Wulfric now interested in the conversation for the first time today, ¡°You''re saying you know something that overshadows my own predictions?¡±
¡°I wouldn''t say it overshadows the prediction it is more like they got together and both confirm what the other might suggest,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Stop being obtuse and tell us already,¡± said Griogair.
¡°Some of you may have heard that just recently, my grandson that was thought to have died along with his parents after the second great war, has returned to our clan. While I and the other elders were testing his abilities we found he possessed a trait that was held by an ancestor of the moon clan allowing him to have special skills,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°A trait from our ancestor?¡± asked Carl.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°So what! Every once in a while there is always someone who gets odd skills,¡± said Tormoid.
¡°I thought it was nothing unusual as well but hear me out. The trait is not some random skill from a nobody. Like the ancestor he was named after he has received the traits from the great unifier and honorable warrior...Akira,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Who''s that?¡±
Some of the smaller clans had never heard of him, while most of the medium clans and all of the large clans knew of him.
¡°Although he was a great warrior of his time and had a few unusual skills what does that have to do with my predictions?¡± asked D¨´ghall.
¡°Everything! Through looking at the past records we have discovered that the trait only manifested when the great calamity of extinction was near. I do not believe this is a coincidence. With your visions warning of a grim future and now the trait that has only ever appeared when the Earth tribe has faced extinction has shown up again. This is no joke. We must act now to stop whatever conflict is brewing. Hopefully, we can prepare and lessen the danger we face,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Is this true?¡± ¡°So this is not a simple matter of the humans being overly aggressive?¡± ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°If such a treat is hanging over our heads can we really do nothing?¡±
¡°The Coldfang clan has been working on plans to leave this land and we are making preparations to be gone by the end of the year. This revelation only proves our decision was right. We will continue to help defend the clans and fight against the humans while we are still here but we will be leaving whether the rest of you want to stay or come with us,¡± said D¨´ghall.
The thought of leaving the land was looking more and more enticing with the danger they may have to face in the unknown future.
¡°How do we know that your grandson has such a trait?¡± asked Griogair.
¡°I personally brought him here so that you can see for yourself,¡± said Wulfric for now stopping all suspicions that he was trying to cause more trouble for the tribe.
¡°Then bring him here so we can make a decision,¡± ordered D¨´ghall.
***
While the elders talked with each other Akira and Varbu were busy clearing out the caves of any monsters that had decided to stay in the more remote caves. They had also been forced to remove the rubble from the caves that had collapsed and help add new wooden supports to the cave so that another collapse would not happen.
The rubble from the caves was put into good use by using it to strengthen the outer defensive wall that was well hidden by the landscape and many large rocks all over the place.
The caves had been used in all the great wars to house those that could not fight as well as the werewolves army. It had not been used since the last great war so there was a lot of work that still needed to be done to get them all back to a decent standard for people to live in for a short period of time.
¡°Akira? Are you there?¡± asked Hegir.
Akira poked his head out of the cave he was currently resting in and found Hegir looking everywhere for him.
¡°Over here Hegir. Is there something you need?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The Grand elders would like to talk with you. You need to be on your best behavior, do whatever they ask of you, and do not make anyone angry,¡± said Hegir.
¡°Alright, I''ll keep that in mind.¡±
Akira felt bad for leaving Varbu and the rest of the shaman behind to do all the work while he got to take it easy and talk to the Grand elders.
After a few minutes of walking through the connecting tunnels that led them to the center of mountain high above the ground. They had reached one of the largest caves in the mountain that Akira had seen so far.
The cave was an odd oval shape and curved downwards creating an oddly shaped bowl with the many benches carved into the walls all around the room. The seats were filled with Grand elders and elders of the various werewolf clans and villages.
Hegir led Akira to Wulfric who was standing on a small stage in the middle of the bowl with all the benches surrounding it.
¡°Akira, the other Grand elders would like to ask you a few questions to verify what I have told them. Please do as they ask,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°You are the one named Akira?¡± asked D¨´ghall.
¡°Yes, my name is Akira.¡±
¡°Is it true that you have the same special trait as the great warrior ancestor you are named after?¡±
¡°I have been told that, and it makes sense to me,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmph, you have been told. Do you know? Or is it a guess?¡± asked Tormoid.
¡°Calm yourself Tormoid,¡± said D¨´ghall, ¡°Since you claim to have the trait you must be able to prove it. Please show us your transformation.¡±
By now Akira was used to being ogled by hundreds if not thousands of people so transforming for the elders was nothing big. Now that he had received the clan tattoo he had no trouble transforming whenever he needed to.
The black misty light covered his body as he transformed into his tall muscular black-furred werewolf form.
The aura emanating from Akira was an exciting feeling for the old-timers as it made them feel invigorated and ready to fight a full-blown battle even though it had been several years since some of them had even picked up a weapon.
The dark light disappeared as fast as it had appeared, leaving the elders with much to think about.
¡°It is as the records described!¡±
¡°So what, it could be that this is his only skill to try and trick us, show us a ''real'' special skill that only the ancestor would have had and not another trick trying to mess with our brains,¡± said Tormoid.
Akira complied and summoned Nox. He did not think anyone else was able to do something like this.
Nox jumped out of the shadows near Akira''s furry feet ready to fight. It had been quite a while since he had been summoned and he had been bored while he waited. He really did enjoy his time while summoned but would not let Akira know that.
''What''s up with all these old geezers? Are we supposed to be fighting them?'' asked Nox letting everyone hear his question not only Akira.
¡°Ah! A voice in my head! Am I going crazy?¡± ¡°No, I heard it also!¡±
¡°So it is true. Now that I think back on the past events I remember reading about the great warrior Akira having companions that he could summon. I will let everyone know with this the Coldfang clan will not change our decision. We will be leaving by the end of the year. If you want to come with us fine if not you will have to face the dangers that are hiding in the future,¡± said D¨´ghall.
¡°You are dismissed.¡±
¡°Ah! Wait I have something important to give you,¡± said Akira as he dug into his bag looking for the item.
¡°What is it?¡± asked D¨´ghall.
¡°This!¡± said Akira holding up the letter he had received from the mermaid queen.
¡°A letter?¡±
¡°I was given this letter by the Queen of the mermaids and was told to hand it over to the leaders of the Earth tribe,¡± said Akira as he handed the letter to Wulfric.
¡°Also, I have a friend from the Orc tribes in the east mountains. He would like to talk to you about creating an alliance. I believe with a new and strong alliance we can withstand any of the dangers that may be coming for us,¡± said Akira.
¡°Is that all?¡± asked D¨´ghall.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Then you are excused. Please send your Orc friend here so we can discuss the terms and get it out of the way. We have too much to talk about and very little time.¡±
¡°I will do that. Thank you for listening to my request,¡± said Akira as he respectfully bowed and exited the large cave.
Chapter 110: The Elders decision 2
Most of the cleanup of the caves was finished when Akira left the central cave, so after he had informed Varbu of the elders wish to talk to him, he started to look for something else to do in order to ward off the boredom.
¡°Hey Coinin, is there a forge here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes, there is one next to the armory. Why?¡±
¡°I want to create something. I might also be able to make some spare weapons for the armory.¡±
¡°Are you skilled in blacksmithing? Then could you take a look at everything in the armory and repair or replace the weapons that have rusted? The armory and the forge haven''t been used in over ten years so you might have to clean up the place first.¡±
¡°That should be an easy task,¡± said Akira happy for something to do while the others sat around chatting and waiting for the grand elders to make a decision.
The armory and the forge were placed right next to each other allowing Akira to not have to walk long just to get from one to the other. After a thorough inspection, he found that they were both still in good condition.
It only took a few minutes of dusting and sweeping out the dirt and cobwebs to get both of the rooms back to a decent standard. Akira went over to the furnace and cleaned out the old ashes from who knows how long ago and added new charcoal into the furnace and started a small fire so that it would be ready when he needed it.
Now with that all done he decided to take a look at the weapons and armor left in the armory from the last war.
The armory was not that big and only had enough weapons and armor outfit Around 100 people it was mostly used for the guards that of the Caves during the war.
Compared to the rooms and other tools in the forge, the weapons and armor were in poor shape.
Akira spent several minutes separating everything that had a small amount of rust but could still be repaired from the weapons and armor that the rust had completely destroyed, which was the majority of it.
Akira went to the shamans that had nothing else to do and asked them to help him take the two separate piles to the forge, where he started to work on removing the rust from the smaller pile of weapons and armor.
He was well-practiced in cleaning armor and weapons so everything was finished in half an hour.
When he finished oiling the last sword he let the shamans take the repaired weapons and armor back to the armory.
Akira made sure to add more charcoal to burning fire in order to raise the temperature even higher while he pressed the bellows.
When the temperature was just right he started to add as many pieces of rusted armor and weapons in the forge as he could and waited for it to melt.
It took some time but the former weapons and armor were eventually all turned into iron ingots with all the impurities removed.
With hundreds of ingots stacked up against the wall, he could now start the process of creating new weapons and armor for the armory.
Varbu showed up several hours later and stayed quiet in order to not disturb Akira while he was still hammering out new swords, arrows, and various armor to replace the old useless junk.
Almost everything he created was ranked common and had a low enough level requirement that the majority of the werewolf warriors could use it without encountering any problems.
Ding!
Dexterity +1
Dexterity +1
...
...
|
The repetitive actions of mass-producing several of the same thing over and over again helped Akira get a better understanding of blacksmithing as well as giving him a mass upgrade to his dexterity. It was just too bad that his blacksmithing skill was stuck and 99%.
After all this time he was still unable to find out why it would not upgrade to the intermediate. But if he had to guess it would probably have to do with the same reason his level was stuck.
When he finished his task of repairing and upgrading the armory he took a short break to replenish his energy with food and water.
Varbu was still silently standing near the entrance of the cave.
¡°How did it go?¡± asked Akira as he wiped away the sweat from his face and neck.
¡°I was able to reach an agreement with the Grand elders,¡± said Varbu with a smile.
¡°That''s great! Are you planning to head back to your clan now that you have completed your mission?¡±
¡°How could I go back right now when such trouble is brewing. I''ll stay to help you and your clan fight if this turns into a war. When we win, I''ll be able to proudly return with two great achievements and even much more honor,¡± said Varbu with his fist thumping his chest.
¡°Are you done here? The heat here is worse than the time we were in the desert!¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Almost, I still have one more thing to create. I''m just taking a short break.¡±
¡°I''m going to wait outside where it isn''t so hot,¡± said Varbu before leaving the cave.
Since Akira didn''t know how much time he had left to work on his special project before the elders finished their discussions he could not afford to mess around or take an overly long break.
When he finished eating and did a few stretches to keep everything limber he threw himself back at the task in front of him. He focused his mind on what type of weapon he wanted to create before looking in his bag to see what ore he still had that he could use with his current skill level.
He decided to take out the last pieces of Desorium ore and began the process of creating a new weapon for himself.
Ding!
Weapon created!
Short spear with a pointy end (Uncommon):
Durability: 50/50 | Damage: 65-77
Requirements: Lvl 50 required, STR 135
|
The reason the spear had such a high STR requirement was due to the fact he had used the leftover iron ore infused with Desorium ore to create the shaft of the spear instead of wood.
Ding!
You have a magic stone that can be used.
Would you like to automatically use it on the weapon Short spear with a pointy end?
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Yes \ No?
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It had been a long time since Akira had used a magic stone on a piece of his equipment.
He felt sad when thinking about it because he had to sell most of them whenever he was able to find them so that he and everyone else that traveled with him would not starve or lack any other types of supplies.
¡°Yes, do it.¡±
A magic stone in his bag was removed by the system and with a flash of light, the spears tan and light gray metal was dyed red.
Ding!
Successful upgrade!
Sturdy short spear with a pointy end(Rare):
Durability: 85/85 | Damage: 69-77
+25% damage on critical hits
Requirements: Lvl 50 required, STR 135
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This spear can only deal piercing damage and a bit of blunt damage if used properly. Don''t let the word short fool you, it still has a longer reach than most common swords.
Because of the material used and the successful upgrade, the shaft of the spear is far more durable than most low tier weapons of the same type and can be used to block attacks as well as whack the people that annoy you over the head(blunt damage).
|
''Yes, whacking people over the head is good,'' thought Akira agreeing with his new spears description.
He was extremely pleased with himself for creating one of his best pieces of equipment yet. With the high durability, great attack, and the bonus damage there was not much more he could have hoped for.
The spear was far heavier than the training spear he had been using while he had been tortured by Azura.
It would take some time to adjust to the weight. He wanted to test it out as soon as he could to see just how durable it really was.
Although he now had a new weapon the sword would still the main weapon that he had trained with for many years.
The spear was only there as a second option. It would be helpful too if he needed to fight something at a longer distance than his sword would allow.
After cleaning up the forge he left to rejoin the others out in the cool air that was like a breath of fresh air.
Several messenger birds could be seen flying into the air with the leather tubes attached to their backs. Each bird flew off in a different direction.
¡°Looks like the elders have finally decided what to do,¡± said Coinin as the watch the birds disappear.
***
It took them less time to return back to Bluemoon City since they did not have to stop at every village or town on the way back.
Akira was resting on the couch in the main living room of the house he shared with his two other family members.
Wulfric was sitting across from him explaining the decisions made at the meeting to Azura who was sitting next to Akira.
¡°For now we have sent a letter to Beorin to demand that they stop their attacks. We have also sent letters to the other demon clans detailing the situation we find ourselves in. Right now we have to go to each of the small clans, villages, and wandering nomads to escort them here so we can better protect everyone,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Akira, you will join the wolf pack I put together a while ago. I expect you to follow the orders given to you and work diligently at the task of making sure that the scattered werewolves are able to get here safely. Azura you''re staying with me to help take care of everything here.¡±
¡°You''re lucky big brother, you get to do all the fun stuff,¡± complained Azura.
¡°Akira, the wolf packs are getting ready to leave so you better go and join them. Make sure get to know some of your new packmates before you leave,¡± said Wulfric.
Ding!
New mission:
Join the wolf pack and help warn and evacuate the small clans and nomad werewolves.
Reward: One step closer to leading a pack of your own.
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Akira waved to Azura and left the treehouse to join the gathering werewolves on the ground floor.
There were four groups of around fifty werewolves all gathered and quietly talking to each other as they checked over their equipment.
¡°Akira over here!¡±
Turning Akira was somewhat happy to see Klyn calling him over to the group the farthest to the right Mileena and Maya both stood with him.
¡°Is this the group I''m supposed to join?¡± asked Akira as he walked up to Klyn.
¡°Yes, I''m afraid we''re stuck with you. Don''t worry though, I may be the only shaman in this pack but I''m no weakling!¡± said Klyn proudly.
¡°Where''s Chack and Varbu?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They were put in another group. Your grandfather probably didn''t want you to rely on us since we already know each other and fight well as a group,¡± said Mileena pointing to another group several feet away from them.
When Chack noticed Akira looking in his direction he started to smile and began to wave his arm like crazy worried that Akira might not be able to see or notice him. It was kind of hard not to notice the oddball since he was the only Griiq standing with a large group of werewolves.
¡°You''re Akira?¡± asked a rough voice right behind Akira.
Turning around Akira saw a middle-aged man with a bushy brown beard and a set of even more bushy eyebrows.
¡°Yes, and you are?¡±
¡°I am the pack leader Saul Ermergerd. I''m warning you now, I don''t care that you are the Grand elders grandson. You are a nobody in this pack and will receive no special treatment. You will follow my orders or you will receive proper punishments,¡± said Ermergerd.
¡°Understood!¡± replied Akira not wanting to give him any reason to be angry with him.
¡°Since you are new to the clan and this pack you will be helping Klyn with whatever tasks I give you to help keep the pack running smoothly. Check your equipment now because we leave in ten minutes,¡± said Ermergerd.
***
Over the next week, they went from town to town that had not already been visited by the Beorin soldiers and warned them of the danger they faced if they stated in their small villages and towns.
After gathering the people from several towns they formed a rather large group that would not be hindered much and were sent back to Bluemoon city with the town''s own guards protecting them.
Several warriors from the towns they passed decided to join them so they could help spread the word and if needed, fight the enemy.
The trip was not very enjoyable for Akira or Klyn as they were both forced to do all the minor task such as cooking, repairing, and helping bandage anyone that hurt themselves while traveling through the dangerous swamps.
Because of the poor decision making of Ermergerd, they were constantly running into large groups of monsters which they had to fight off.
There had even been a few close calls where they had almost stumbled into the path of scouting Beorin scouts. This had a large effect on their progress in reaching all the villages.
After one such encounter with a group of [Green bobcats], Akira and Klyn were currently taking care of the wounded and repairing their weapons.
Ding!
A new skill has been learned!
With your knowledge of herbalism and your experience in the use of bandages, you have learned a new skill.
First aid lvl 0: 0% (Active skill):
When you use bandages and herbs on yourself or an ally you are able to immediately stop the bleeding of minor wounds and increase healing by 25%. Higher levels will give greater benefits.
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¡°What''s up with this guy?¡± asked Klyn in a whisper next to Akira making sure no one else heard him.
¡°I don''t know, maybe it''s his first time leading a pack? We''ve made it this far without losing anyone so he can''t be that bad. I heard there is only one more place that we have to go to before we are finished with the mission. We just have to tough it out and obediently follow orders,¡± said Akira.
¡°I mean if he would stop for a moment and allowed me to, I could give everyone a full set of buffs that would help us not have to waste so much time recovering from all the fights. If he used proper scouts we wouldn''t be in this mess either,¡± grumbled Klyn.
¡°True but your chants take some time to complete and doing multiple of them with only you, is even slower than if there were more shaman''s helping. From what I have seen so far Ermergerd is not a patient person to wait for stuff like that. He''d rather charge forward and get stuff done as soon as possible.¡±
¡°Hey who do you think I am? I''m not some low-rank shaman! I can cast quick chants for some of the buffs it''s just the other ones are still hard to grasp, so I have to do the full chant. You''re lucky you have a friend like me that has learned the chants to so many buffs. My grandfather has even started to teach me one of the harder chants for healing someone''s wounds,¡± said Klyn full of pride.
¡°Wow, healing people''s wounds. Impressive, then why have we been bandaging everyone''s wounds if you have such a great chant?¡± asked Akira.
Klyn looked away from Akira and started to make excuses ¡°Well that...I only just started...and It''s kind of hard to remember the chant. It uses up way too much energy and since I can only heal small things right now, I would be half dead if I had to heal everything.¡±
¡°Well keep up the good work we should reach the last place sometime tomorrow and then we can head back home,¡± said Akira slapping Klyn on the back.
Chapter 111: The city Swormp
¡°Halt who goes there?¡± asked the gate guard from the top of the small city''s wooden walls.
¡°I am Ermergerd of the Bluemoon clan.¡±
¡°Why have you brought such a large group here what do you plan on doing?¡± asked the guard.
¡°We''re just here to talk with some people. We also need to buy some supplies if you are willing to sell to us.¡±
¡°I need to talk to the mayor of the town first,¡± said the guard before disappearing.
¡°You think they''ll sell to us?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Dunno, even if they don''t, we can still make it back to the city without it,¡± said Akira.
Swormp city had a mixture of mostly humans and a few families of werewolves who had been living in the city for several generations.
Several of the families moved to the small city when it was created because they had wanted a less harsh life for their children different from living in the heart of the swamps where the majority of other Clans lived.
The humans of the city did not know that some of their neighbors were werewolves since they went to great lengths to hide it.
The group of werewolf warriors all waited patiently outside the city gates until the guard came back ten minutes later.
¡°The mayor has made the decision that only two people will be allowed into the city and they must be escorted around to make sure they do not cause any trouble. The rest of you must step far away from the city gate,¡± said the guard.
¡°Klyn you go in since you know what herbs you need, take this list and check if they have anything on it for sale. Akira you go and help carry the stuff that he buys and take this list. Those are the names of the families that we have to escort back to the city,¡± said Ermergerd.
¡°Understood,¡± said Akira as he grabbed the paper and looked over the names before pocketing the piece of paper.
¡°Hurry up we don''t have all day. Make sure you inform everyone and get out quickly,¡± ordered Ermergerd.
Klyn and Akira were allowed to pass through the gates after a quick inspection. They were given an escort of two unhappy-looking guards.
¡°Lets split up since it will be faster to get both tasks done if I go and talk to our friends while you shop,¡± said Akira choosing his words carefully since he did not trust the guards following them.
¡°Alright, just don''t forget about me and make me carry all the supplies,¡± said Klyn.
***
¡°Captain! I just received a letter from the mayor of Swormp city. A large group of werewolf warriors has gathered outside. The mayor said he will try to stall for time but they request that we come and take care of them,¡± said the excited messenger.
¡°Their warriors are gathering? Did they give a number?¡± asked the captain of the small Beorin scouting unit near the Swormp city.
¡°No, they only wrote that it was a large group.¡±
¡°Hurry and send a letter to commander Brutus asking for reinforcements,¡± ordered the captain.
***
Akira gave the guard the list of names he needed to talk to.
¡°Please take me to their homes,¡± said Akira.
The guard said nothing and just walked ahead of Akira after looking at the names.
While walking they passed a small wanted board and Akira was amazed to see a yellow faded wanted poster of him was on the board all the way out here in the middle of nowhere.
He didn''t have to hide his face due to the massive change he had undergone during the awakening.
The guard seeing Akira interested in the board randomly asked Akira, ¡°What did you say your name was?¡±
¡°I don''t remember telling you my name, and there is no need since my name is just a normal one. I am just a lackey running errands,¡± said Akira.
It took forever for Akira to arrive at the first house since the guard seemed to always get lost and kept having to go back and try a different direction when they ended up in a dead-end or passed the street they needed to go to.
Akira knocked on the door several times before hearing footsteps walking up to the door and opening it.
¡°What is it?¡± asked the woman in her early twenties not much older than Akira.
Her voice held no friendliness in it when she saw the guard next to Akira. She placed her hand onto the shoulder of a small boy who was grabbing onto her leg with unsteady legs while he looked at the new people outside.
¡°Hello, I am Blue and I was told to let you know that you have a friend waiting outside the city to talk to you about something important. If you could meet me near the town square when you are ready, I can take you to see them,¡± said Akira in a coded message that Ermergerd had given him beforehand.
The young mother''s face twitched for a second after hearing the message for she knew what it meant. It would only be used when something big happened. She controlled her emotions since could not show any surprise with the guard watching both her and Akira.
¡°I''ll inform my husband and we''ll go meet our old friend along with our son,¡± said the woman with a blank face.
This was to let Akira know how many people were in their family.
Akira waved and continued to follow the bumbling guard. Akira wondered how he even got the job of being a guard if he could not even find the house of someone in a small city that he had lived in all his life.
After repeating the same thing at multiple other houses the guard was growing suspicious.
¡°You sure have a lot of people that are ''friends'' with the townsfolk,¡± said the guard sarcastically as he led Akira to the last house on the list.
¡°What can I say, we know how to party and make lots of friends. If you came to one of them you would understand,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmph, as if that would ever happen.¡±
Akira finished informing everyone that he needed to and decided to go help Klyn while the families got ready.
He found Klyn waiting outside a shop with only a few items from the long list that he had been given.
¡°Were you not able to find what you needed? ¡° asked Akira.
¡°No, they say they have it, but since they don''t normally sell it, most of the items have to be fetched from another building they use for storage,¡± said Klyn.
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¡°It''s taking them this long to gather the items? Aren''t they all regular items?¡±
Klyn shrugged they couldn''t force the people to move faster and since Ermergerd ordered they get the items they had to wait for them to return.
Akira grew impatient after waiting for another half hour. The families would be all gathering at the town square right about now so they could not waste any more time.
¡°Klyn let''s go they can send the supplies out to us when they are ready we have some friends to talk with right now,¡± said Akira standing up from the spot he had been crouching.
The two guards followed behind them with panicked looks on their faces as they hurriedly whispered to each other.
The families that had gathered were each carrying several bags of their important belongings.
While they waited they quietly talked to each other and continued to watch the passing people, afraid that something might happen.
¡°Great! Looks like everybody is here. Let''s all go meet your friends that are waiting,¡± said Akira.
¡°Wait, you can''t!¡± said one of the guards as he placed his hand on Akira''s shoulder to stop him.
¡°Are you trying to pick a fight with me?¡± asked Akira as he removed the guard''s hand from his shoulder.
Both Klyn and Akira placed their hands on their weapons ready to defend themselves and the families if a fight broke out.
Five other adult male werewolves walked forward to join Akira and Klyn to show their support, while the women continued to protect the children.
¡°No...Haha... I just...wanted to say...um.. I like your shield it looks nice,¡± said the guard stumbling over his words as he tried to think of a plausible excuse.
¡°Thanks, I like it also. Let''s go everyone, we shouldn''t keep your friends waiting,¡± said Akira leading the group to the city gates.
The guards could only stand there with a dumb look on their faces and could do nothing else since they were outnumbered. 3 to 1.
When they reached the gates they were forced to stop since the gates that had been open earlier were now closed.
Akira looked over to the guards and asked, ¡°Are you going to open the gates or am I going to have to do it myself.¡±
¡°No need to get excited,¡± said the guard before hurriedly running up to the gatehouse and exchanging a few words with the captain of the guards.
The two guards walked over to the gate and ever so slowly started to open it. Akira pushed past them as soon as a space wide enough was opened and gave the gates a good push to help the weak guards.
He stood next to the gates making sure they stayed open to allow the families to pass through.
¡°Thanks,¡± said Akira to the two guards as the last person past through.
¡°Uh..,¡± the guards didn''t know what to say so they just watched as Akira walked away.
***
Two men stood on the wooden wall just close enough to see the gatehouse and anyone that passed through it.
¡°No! They''re going to get away! What are those families doing with them?¡± shouted the mayor in anger his chance of getting benefits from befriending the Beorin kingdom was slipping through his fingers.
¡°If you can delay them a little longer commander Brutus will arrive with reinforcements,¡± said the captain of the scout team who had just arrived only a few minutes ago.
¡°They''ll be long gone before he gets here!¡±
¡°I only have 20 men with me right now but if you lend me your guards I can try and keep them busy.¡±
¡°Quickly before they leave!¡±
***
By the time Akira had finished the task of leading the group of families the waiting wolf pack night had already fallen.
¡°What took you so long?¡± asked Ermergerd annoyed at waiting so long.
¡°It was out of our hands. They were taking forever to do anything, so we couldn''t get everything you wanted,¡± said Klyn.
¡°I had a feeling that something was off because the escorts were acting odd,¡± said Akira.
¡°Did they attack you?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Then you don''t need to tell me. You''re in charge of making sure the families get taken care of on the trip back,¡± said Ermergerd.
Whit that they were dismissed. Akira took the families to the center of the wolf pack and let them rest.
¡°We should be leaving as soon as they send us the rest of the supplies,¡± Akira informed the families before leaving and walking over to Mileena and Maya.
¡°Sir! Looks like they''re bringing the supplies out!¡± shouted one of the werewolves watching the city gates.
A group of sixty guards exited the gates carrying large sacks of supplies and headed towards the waiting werewolves. When they were over halfway to them something unexpected happened.
They dropped the sacks and pulled out their weapons.
¡°Ahhhh!¡± someone let out a scream as an arrow pierced his shoulder. Several more arrows began to fly in their direction wounding other warriors who had been caught off guard.
The sixty guards charged forward to engage the werewolves and try to keep them near the city.
¡°Ermergerd! We''re under attack! Ermergerd!¡±
¡°Klyn, where are you? Buff me!¡± ordered Ermergerd with a roar.
Klyn ran over and quickly shot off a few quick chants to buff Ermergerd.
¡°Everyone get into formation and pull back! Protect the families!¡± roared Ermergerd as he transformed mid-step while running towards the werewolves that were already engaged in a fight and were under constant fire from the arrows coming from the archers on the city walls.
They were forced into an all-out melee fight as they pulled back to get out of the archer''s effective shooting range.
The families they had come to escort back to the city had been safely put in the middle in order to protect them from the enemy''s swords and spears as well as the flying arrows.
The young children were crying loudly from the loud and frightening battle clanging all around them along with the smell of fresh blood splattering everywhere.
The young mothers tried to calm them down by carrying them in their arms and holding them close to their bosom to protect them while trying to keep the fear out of their voice as they sang a lullaby.
The retreat stopped when they reached the woods which blocked the archer''s view. Now that they didn''t have to worry so much about the archers on the wall.
Klyn was busy repeatedly chanting and buffing everyone he passed and making sure that the families were all safe and sound. As he passed Akira and the two Nyantail sisters he also gave them a quick buff.
Ding!
Received Strength buff.
Received faster regen buff.
|
They refocused their attention on the guards that were chasing them and launch their own all-out counter attack stopping the guards from moving a step forward.
¡°Kill them all!¡± growled Ermergerd.
One after another the warriors were transforming and launching themselves at their tormentors slashing, tearing, and ripping them apart.
Akira was no different he joined the rest and ran towards the nearest enemy.
His steps stopped when he saw who it was.
It was the guard that had been his escort all day.
¡°So you did want to join the party and find out what fun it is! I''ll make sure to show you a good time. Let''s dance,¡± said Akira with a snarl as he transformed and pounced at the guard.
He slammed into the guard knocking him into the ground. The force of the impact of both the tackle and hitting the ground knocked the guard''s helmet off and it was sent bouncing several yards away.
The two started rolling around on the ground trying get the upper-hand. But it didn''t last long as the fight soon became one-sided due to Akira''s strength. He was able to subdue the struggling guard before grabbing onto his head and jerked it to the left to break his neck.
Swish!
Two swords came close to pricing Akira in the chest but missed and dug into the ground when he rolled away from the new attackers.
Mileena appeared behind the two guards and gave them each a few stabs before retreating when they turned around to try and hack her in two, which allowed two arrows to pierce through the newly created holes in their armor.
Akira now on his feet finished them off with a [Sword Slash].
The three of them continued to fight together while Klyn joined them and continued to make sure their buffs were up continuously. He even used a few longer chants to help debuff the enemy.
As expected the werewolves with their amazing strength were able to tear into the enemy and dominate the fight when the numbers were near even. The wolf pack slaughter many of the enemies with no deaths but several wounds were earned some were far worse than the others.
Only 15 soldiers of the enemy were left standing but none of them were wearing the armor that the city guards had worn and were all far stronger.
BuuuuRuuuuuu! A warhorn in the distance sounded.
It was not anything the werewolves recognized letting them know that it had to be more enemies that were about to join the fight.
The thought of more enemy reinforcements soured their moods while enemy soldiers cheered up and fought even harder to survive.
The werewolves were far from home with multiple civilians under their care and with an unknown amount of enemies that could keep getting reinforcements they had no choice but to leave before they were outnumbered.
¡°Retreat!¡± shouted Ermergerd making the decision to escape while they could.
The last remaining 10 soldiers that had made it through the fight alive did not follow them and let them go, choosing to let the new reinforcements under Brutus to chase after them.
Chapter 112: The chase
The reinforcements led by Brutus had run all the way to Swormp in order to try and capture the werewolves so they could interrogate them.
Now they were out of breath and sweating like crazy. The heat and humidity in the swamplands was no joke.
¡°Where are the rest of you men captain Jehon?¡± asked Brutus looking at the remaining 10 soldiers standing in front of him.
¡°They''re...dead or heavily wounded sir!¡± said Jehon with a stiff salute.
¡°You mean to tell me that you couldn''t hold off a pack of mangy mutts and lost over half of your men? This will not look good for you in the report to the king and will most likely impact your chances of promotion.¡±
¡°Honored guest...My...My city guard what about my city guard!¡± asked the distraught mayor of the city.
¡°What does your city guard have to do with me or my men?¡± asked Brutus.
¡°Forty of them helped your men to stall the werewolves. Now they are either dead or crippled! My cities defenses have been cut in half!¡±
¡°What do you want me to do about it? It was your choice to send them out to fight with the werewolves. If they weren''t strong enough they shouldn''t have been sent out in the first place.¡±
¡°But...But..¡±
Brutus ignored the stuttering mayor and turned back to Jehon.
¡°Jehon, you and your men will join the rest of the soldiers in tracking down the werewolves you just fought. We''ll take a short break to catch our breath before we enter the swamp forest.¡±
***
Akira along with the other members in the large pack continued to run through the swampy land and trees trying to put as much distance between them and the enemy.
They were having trouble keeping up the speed due to the small children''s slow speed if they were not carried and the babies needing to be constantly taken care of.
Akira and Klyn had both offered to help carry one or two of the children to let the exhausted parents to have a chance to rest a little while they ran. They were still forced to continue to run but they were at least able to rest their arms for a few hours.
So now Akira was running while carrying two crying children like sacks of potatoes one over each of his shoulders.
Carrying the kids was nothing much for Akira as they weighed little, but the constant crying next to his ears was starting to get annoying and soured his mood.
Ermergerd stopped the group for what seemed to be the hundredth time after he saw several of the family members were ready to collapse.
Ermergerd and his subordinate officers gathered around him to listen to his plans on how to get out of this troublesome situation they were in.
¡°We can''t keep up like this. If we don''t do something they''re going to catch up to us within a day or two!¡± said Ermergerd loud enough for everyone in the pack to hear.
¡°Then what should we do?¡± asked Ardolf, Ermergerd''s second in command.
¡°We''ll have to split up. I''ll take the majority of the warriors and try to distract them. Akira and the Nyantail girl will go with you while Klyn will come with me just in case we have to fight.¡±
¡°You''re putting me in a tight spot. I''ll only have a few people to protect the families we were sent to escort back to the city. What if the enemy doesn''t take the bait you set for them and instead follows us?¡± asked Ardolf.
¡°Stop asking needless questions. If you can''t do it I''ll appoint someone else to lead the group.¡±
Ardolf kept his mouth shut and did not say anything else. He was a veteran of the last two great wars and was getting ready to retire in a few years, loyalty and honor demanded that he follow the orders of the pack leader.
The large group of werewolves was split in two with Akira, Mileena and four other warriors joining Ardolf to escort the families back to the city.
¡°I''ll see you guys back at the city,¡± said Klyn as he waved to Akira and Mileena before the two groups went their own separate ways.
¡°Alright, anyone that has the strength will need to carry a child so that we can keep moving without stopping. Nyantail girl what was your name again?¡± asked Ardolf.
¡°Mileena.¡±
¡°Mileena, we will need you to scout ahead and make sure the path is clear.¡±
''Oh no!'' Thought Akira. ''We''re doomed!''
***
Akira and the four other warriors each carried one or two children so that their pace was not slowed down.
They were making good speed on their escape. It helped that they were taking fewer breaks.
Mileena had been able to do the job of a scout somewhat good enough there were a few close calls but they managed to get by without a major incident so far.
The moon was hiding so they only had to light coming from the stars to help them see where they were going this amount of light was still enough for the group to see far enough ahead to keep moving.
Mileena had been given a whistle that let out a high pitched sound that only the werewolves could hear, she was to use it if danger lurked ahead.
Everyone including Akira had one of the whistles to help communicate during the night and day when they had to be quiet.
They were currently stopped waiting for Mileena to return as they rested for a short time in a small open area hidden by thick prickly bushes.
¡°I don''t know what it is but I heard a lot of movement up ahead we need to be careful as we go forward,¡± said Mileena as soon as she returned to the group.
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¡°Is there no other way around it?¡± asked Ardolf.
¡°Not unless we backtrack which would bring us closer to the enemy that might be chasing us.¡±
¡°Then there is no choice. After we eat and regain some of our strength we''ll face whatever it is.¡±
When everyone had eaten and the needs of the children and babies had been taken care of they continued to push forward.
This time the parents were left with the task of carrying their children so that the warriors of the small makeshift pack could be ready to fight anything that lurked in front of them and defend the families.
They came to a halt near a narrow boggy path in the swamp. They could hear continuous loud splashes in surrounding swamp water but were unable to see what it was that was making the noise.
¡°I''ll go first since I can hold off whatever is out there,¡± said Akira readying his sword and shield.
He slowly stepped forward onto the slim and squishy path and waited for an attack. Nothing. He took several more steps forward pausing after each one to listen to the surrounding splashes in the water.
When he reached the middle of the boggy path a large lizarsaurus head popped out of the water on his left and snapped its large jaws at his legs. [Lvl 41 lizarsaurus]
Akira slammed his shield down on top of its head pinning it to the ground where it struggled to free itself and bite Akira. He didn''t let it get a chance to escape by using the skill [Shield Bash] to knock the dazed lizarsaurus back into the water.
The four other warriors joined Akira in clearing the path and keeping the lizarsaurus at bay creating an opening for Ardolf to quickly lead the families to the opposite side of the boggy path.
Akira took up the rear guard position and blocked any attacks that came his way as he slowly retreated.
Before he could reach the end of the path where the other warriors were waiting with their weapons still ready for a fight a large [Lvl 45 Bull Lizarsaurus] crawled out of the water and onto the path and snapped its jaws at the nearby smaller lizarsaurus forcing them to slink away in fear.
The large Lizarsaurus now had a clear path towards Akira and tensed up its muscled to charge at Akira who was standing several yards away from it.
Instead of letting it slam into him Akira chose to meet it head-on by using the skill [Shield Slam].
BAM! The two crashed together stopping each other''s charge. Akira who had the strength advantage was able to knock the large Lizarsaurus onto its belly where it lay dizzy from the crash.
Akira made sure to give it a quick [Shield Bash] to the head before escaping to the warriors at the edge of the path.
¡°That was amazing! The strength you would need to stop a charging bull lizarsaurus is no joke. The way you fight reminds me of your father when I fought with him in the second great war,¡± said Ardolf as he slapped Akira on the back.
They continued to stumble along in the dim starlight as the adrenaline from the fight disappeared and exhaustion sunk deep into their bodies. They were unable to stop for long enough to get a good rest and were not even able to sleep.
As their pace began to slow down due to exhaustion a distant cry of pain came from behind them and echoed through the swamp.
The sound of a distant battle could be heard as whoever it was fought with the lizarsaurus guarding the small path.
¡°Pick up the pace! They''re right behind us!¡± ordered Ardolf.
The sounds of battle only lasted for a few short minutes before the natural sounds of the night swamp could only be heard.
They didn''t know if the enemy had been able to get past the ambush or if they were wiped out, which led to the families panicking.
Everyone was tired beyond anything they had ever experienced before in their lives but they somehow managed to muster up enough strength to go into a quick jog and continue forward.
***
The sun was rising above the trees and they were still half jogging half walking trying to say ahead of the enemy that may or may not be behind them.
During the night they had a setback when two of the older children, a brother and a sister the first 7 and the other 8, started to awaken due to the frightening chase and events that continued to happen all through the night.
The group could not stop and let them rest and recover, they had to keep moving if they wanted to escape the enemy.
So Akira had been the one to carrying both of them as they cried in pain and fear not knowing what was going on. Akira had a hard time keeping a hold of them as their bodies went under the massive changes of an awakening.
Mileena who had been scouting ahead of them hurried back and held up a hand to stop them.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Ardolf quietly.
¡°I heard voices ahead of us, I didn''t see who it was but there is a fairly large group,¡± said Mileena as she panted and drank some water.
¡°Alright, you stay here with the group. Akira you''re in charge while I go and see who it is. It shouldn''t take me to long, this nose of mine still works great,¡± said Ardolf.
Ardolf ran ahead and disappeared before Akira could say anything.
Now that they had stopped the families collapsed to the ground and started to doze off. In their exhaustion, they had become numb to the danger that was behind them and gave up caring about it. All they wanted to do was sleep.
The four warriors along with Akira were just as exhausted as everyone else but they had to stay alert and watch the surrounding area behind them looking for an enemy that might jump out and attack them.
Akira gave a few ''Sweet sue'' herbs to the children that had awakened. Their bodies were still aching from the painful awakening that was made even worse by being carried in an awkward way.
The herbs had a nice sweet minty flavor and helped numb any type of pain one might have other than losing an arm, leg, or head. Well if you lost a head you wouldn''t feel any pain either.
They two kids ate the leaves quietly and their pained faces calmed down and they were able to fall asleep as the numbing effect overtook their pain.
Akira joined the warriors in their sleepy watch for any enemy movement.
A short time later Ardolf returned with a smile on his face.
¡°Were in luck boys! We finally got something to go our way this time. The group ahead of us is one of the other escort groups heading back to the city! They agreed to wait for us so that we can join them for the trip back. Hurry wake everyone up,¡± said Ardolf.
Akira and Mileena went around shaking the adults and sometimes slapping their faces to wake them up.
It took several minutes before everyone was up on their feet and the sleeping children were once again being carried by anyone that still had the strength which was, of course, Akira and the four warriors.
Once they met up with the other wolf pack they were allowed to rest and were given some hot food.
The wolf pack they stumbled upon just happened to be the one that Varbu and Chack had joined.
¡°Ardolf, I had Nerad, our shaman scout the area you guys came from and he found no one following you. But he did find traces of a fight with blood and broken weapons left on the ground. Looks like whoever was chasing you was either scared off or was eaten by the local monsters,¡± said Luef the commander of the wolf pack.
¡°Ha~....that''s a weight off my shoulders. Last night was a long one I thought it would never end,¡± said Ardolf with a sigh.
¡°What happened to your group and where is Ermergerd? It thought he was the one commanding your group.¡±
¡°We split up. He was supposed to stall the enemy while we escorted the people back to the city.¡±
¡°He what? That doesn''t sound like something he would normally do. The grand elder won''t be happy when he hears this,¡± said Luef looking over at Akira who was talking to Varbu and Chack.
¡°I know, even though he was given the task to make sure that Akira stayed alive he ignored the orders and sent him with me where things could have gone bad. Luckily he is not a weakling and doesn''t need anyone protecting him. For me, he proved his loyalty to the clan as well as his honor and skill in fighting last night.¡±
¡°Really? Someone of the younger generation impressed a grumpy old man like you?¡±
¡°Hey, I may be getting old but I still have a few more years of fighting in me before I join the others in the reserves. Let''s not waste our good luck and hurry back to the city.¡±
¡°Yes let''s do that. I want to hear all of what happened that caused such a mess in the first place.¡±
¡°You''ll be able to hear It when we get back to the city and report to the grand elder,¡± said Ardolf.
Chapter 113: Loyalty and Honor
The large group was able to make it back to the city without any major incidents happening. Either the enemy had given up or they had lost track of where they had gone and were still trying to find them.
Everyone felt the tension slip away as they passed the werewolf sentries and entered Bluemoon city.
Surprisingly Ermergerd and the rest of the warriors that had gone with him were leisurely sitting around a campfire cooking lunch when Akira and Ardolf found them.
¡°Oh, so you guys were able to make it back,¡± said Ermergerd with little interest as he kept his eyes on the food that was roasting over the fire.
¡°We had some trouble but we were able to meet up with Luef,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°When did you get here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Grand elder will want to speak to both of you. You can give him the full report for me,¡± said Ermergerd not even looking away from the cooking food.
Ardolf pulled Akira away from the group and they both headed towards the office where Wulfric did his daily work.
***
¡°...and that is the situation right now the enemy is near and not afraid to attack in large groups,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°How did Akira handle his first mission?¡± asked Wulfric not looking at Akira, who was also in the room.
¡°He has proved to me that he is an honorable warrior. If he continues to work hard he will have no problem being promoted in the future,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°That''s good to hear, but now that things have escalated I don''t think the city will be safe enough if a full-scale war breaks out so close to us. I will be talking with the other elders on whether or not we should evacuate. You should be ready to receive further orders later. You both can leave.¡±
Ding!
You are one step closer to leading your own pack.
+2 honor
|
***
It was late afternoon when the news spread that the elders had decided the city would be evacuated and everyone was going to have to go to the clan meeting caves.
The other clans had been informed of their decision and had also begun the process of evacuating just to be safe.
Everyone who had just recently reached the city and were now finally able to rest were unhappy with the news, but couldn''t say anything because they were even more unhappy with the Beorin kingdom that was causing the problems.
Everyone was hurriedly packing the things that they wanted to bring with them.
Akira was dragged into this frenzy by Wulfric as he was forced to help pack up the family heirlooms from a secret safe in Wulfric''s Office.
¡°What''s this!?¡± asked Wulfric in surprise as something in his hand warped in white silk started to shine brightly before he could hand it over to Akira to pack.
Akira felt something shake in his bag so he opened it and out jumped the [Supernormal bracelet].
The two items began vibrating with a pulsing light before Wulfric removed a gem from the silk and placed it into one of the sockets.
¡°How can this be?¡±
¡°Do you know what this is?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Quickly put it away before someone sees it!¡±
¡°Is it that important?¡±
¡°The Moon clan has been guarding this gem since ancient times for many centuries. The knowledge I have of the gem is little and mostly rumors. It is said that many countries and powerful people fought over them and wiped out whole cities in order to steal it from the previous owner and hide their tracks. One of our ancestors happened to find it when he found a battlefield where two forces had fought to the death. He took the gem and only found out about the trouble that it brought with it. He decided to hide it away to keep it from some people long ago that were trying to use it for evil deeds. You must not speak of it to anyone.¡± said Wulfric with a stern and serious voice as he stared into Akira''s eyes.
***
As the sun rose to bring a new day the city was bustling with activity as everyone made their last-minute preparations.
In order to let the cities evacuate without problem the four escort packs were given more warriors and were given the task to find the enemy raiding groups and either defeat them or push them back from the werewolf territory.
Akira stood listening to Ardolf finish explaining the new mission in great detail.
¡°We only have the task of keeping them out of our territory so that means no picking fights with anyone that is not in werewolf territory,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°We move out in thirty minutes. You need to be ready by then,¡± shouted Ermergerd.
¡°Good thing both of our groups were merged into one,¡± said Akira as he sat next to Varbu and Chack as they checked their armor and weapons.
¡°Will I actually be able to see a real human?¡± asked Chack.
¡°It looks like you will be able to see hundreds of them if we are able to do our job correctly,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Exciting...I lie! I don''t want to meet any humans!¡± said Chack his feathers on his head were quivering with just the thought of encountering a human.
When everyone had finished their preparations they left the city and headed out to find any enemies that were raiding inside werewolf territory.
They already knew in what direction to go since they had to escape from the enemy a few days ago.
***
Akira was put on night watch with only a handful of other sentries as everyone else slept away the day''s exhaustion.
While on patrol of his small section he heard the faint sound of something moving in the swampy water near his position hidden by some swamp bushes.
He picked up his lantern and brought it over to the bushes holding it up above them looking for anything suspicious.
Being cautious he held his shield in front of him ready for the possibility that it was a swamp monster lurking around.
The light parted the dark shadows and reflected off the still black water. There was nothing there.
¡°Must be hearing things,¡± said Akira as he turned around and walked back to his post.
Slowly a dark figure quietly exited the water dripping wet. The dark figure unwound rope from its waist as they dashed forward with silent footsteps throwing the rope around its targets neck strangling them before they could let out a sound and alert anyone.
***
Although the running footsteps quite enough that a normal human would not have heard them Akira who was fully alert was able to pick up the sound coming from the sentries'' position to the left of him.
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¡°Harl, did you find something?¡±
Silence.
Akira unsheathed his sword and walked forward cautiously, ¡°Harl, respond.¡±
As he drew near he saw someone lazily leaning against one of the trees.
It was Harl.
¡°Did you fall asleep?¡± asked Akira as he walked closer.
His footsteps stopped when he smelled something wrong with this situation he looked around but found nothing.
Akira bent closer to Harl and could smell the odor of another person on his body. Now that he was close he could clearly see that Harl''s head was not slumped to the side sleeping but was broken from strangulation.
Akira blew hard on the whistle that was between his lips before shouting to raise the alarm.
¡°Enemy att...ghhh,¡± but his shout was interrupted as someone dropped from the tree above and wrapped a thick rope around his neck and began trying to strangle him as they both fell to the ground.
Akira clawed at the rope trying to loosen it but he was losing strength as each second went by.
Dropping his sword he used the last of his focus and strength to partially transform his hand into a claw and stabbed it back behind him at his attacker piercing his side, forcing him to let go of the rope and roll away from Akira.
The camp was now in a frenzy as people half-awake rushed towards the direction of the whistle.
Akira laid there for several seconds coughing and trying to gasp for air as he fumbled with tearing the rope away from his neck and throwing it away.
He was not given much time to recover as he heard the sound of two metallic weapons being unsheathed.
Thud! Something slammed into the ground right next to him barely missing his left shoulder as he tried to get back up to his feet another attack slammed into his right shoulder knocking him back down.
The attack was unable to pierce his scale armor but the blunt damage of the stab hurt like hell.
Akira grabbed onto the enemy''s hand that was retreating and twisted it forcing them to drop the dagger they were holding.
He yanked the attacker''s arm close to him and wrapped them into a bear hug and rolled over so the enemy was trapped under him. He held the dark figure''s arms down so that he couldn''t do anything.
¡°I''ve captured an enemy!¡± shouted Akira as he struggled to keep the attacker under control.
The first two people to reach Akira was Ardolf and Ermergerd.
¡°Good work! We can question...¡± Ardolf was interrupted as Ermergerd drew his sword and pushed Akira aside with his foot before hacking the enemies head off killing him instantly.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Akira as he stood up.
¡°He is an enemy and attacked us so he had to die,¡± said Ermergerd simply.
¡°We could have gotten some information from him.¡±
¡°Do not question my decisions! I am the pack leader!¡± growled Ermergerd before walking over to Harl and inspecting his dead body.
¡°Send someone to take him back to the crypts,¡± ordered Ermergerd.
***
As the days went by, wherever they went they ran into constant ambushes were one of the warriors in the pack was either heavily wounded or killed.
Three people were already dead and ten others were wounded in the failed ambushes but could still fight if they needed to.
¡°What is up with these tactics? They have the larger force so they should not be slinking around and ambushing us,¡± grumbled Akira.
¡°Maybe they''re testing us,¡± said Varbu as he ate their dry rations along with a piece of meat from something they had caught earlier in the day.
¡°That still doesn''t explain how they know where we are all the time. The shaman has been keeping an eye on the surrounding area and can never find anyone following us,¡± said Akira.
¡°Maybe they are just overlooking the enemy,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Bo is almost as much a genius in the use of long-distance communication and control of his companion than I am with my chants! There is no way he would miss so many people before they ambush us,¡± said Klyn defending Bo who was the same age as Klyn. They had both trained with each other for many years although they each took a different path.
¡°Maybe someone is trying to feed us to the humans,¡± said Chack.
Akira glared at him, ¡°No one is trying to feed us to the humans. Werewolves have a high sense of loyalty and honor just like the Orc clans.¡±
¡°I lie! Pretend I didn''t say anything!¡± said Chack trying to hide from Akira''s stare.
Akira looked over to Bo who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes a blank as his mind was off looking through his companion''s eyes as they scouted the surrounding area.
Two warriors with shields were standing next to him so that they could protect him while he was in the defenseless state.
As Akira watched Bo''s body shivered and his eyes cleared up. He started to look around and then shouted ¡°The enemy is coming at us in four different directions! If we don''t move now we''ll be surrounded and it''s not small ambush this time!¡±
Ardolf came running over to him, ¡°Are you sure?¡±
¡°Completely!,¡± said Bo seriously as he stood up. A raven dived down from the sky and landed on Bo''s shoulder.
¡°I''ll go and inform the captain,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°Hurry we only have ten minutes at the most.¡±
Everyone hearing his words shoved their lunch into their mouths and got ready to move out.
They waited... and waited... but the order to move out never came.
¡°Enemy!¡± shouted a warrior on sentry duty before getting turned into a pincushion by several tens of arrows.
The werewolf warriors were getting killed left and right from the arrows of the enemy since they were all in a dry open space with little to no protection.
¡°Ermergerd! We''re under attack!¡±
¡°Ermergerd! What do we do?!¡±
Akira ran towards the tent used by Ermergerd and shouted, ¡°What are you doing? Give us some orders?¡±
¡°It''s no use he''s gone mad,¡± said Ardolf.
Ermergerd was hiding under his cot muttering something over and over again.
They had no time to figure out what he was saying.
¡°You rally the right I''ll take care of the left!¡± ordered Ardolf.
Akira rushed out of the tent and ran towards the right flank.
There were small groups of scattered fighting everywhere when he reached the right flank. Not stopping his running he transformed and let out a long and loud howl activated his class skill [Howl].
The enemy hearing his howl paused for several seconds as they quivered in fear due to the skill''s effects.
The nearby werewolf warriors who had been panicking had calmed down and had their morale boosted.
¡°Follow me and attack! Kill them all!¡± shouted Akira his voice echoing throughout the battlefield.
With their minds cleared and now full of fighting spirit from Akira''s firm and reassuring voice. The werewolves that had not joined the fight all transformed and followed Akira as he led them in a counter-attack to break the enemy encirclement.
Even though they were surrounded and outnumbered they were able to slowly start turning the tide against the attackers by breaking out of the encirclement and starting to attack them from both sides.
Akira was continued to use his new spear to quickly wound any enemy that appeared in front of him and allow the other warriors to deal the killing blow.
Ding!
Pierce skill received!
Pierce: (Beginner Lv: 1| 00%)
When using a spear the Pierce skill will allow you to reach those hard to scratch places.
Raise the level of the skill to be able to break through even tougher things.
|
¡°I will not allow you to eat me!¡± shouted Chack as he bashed the enemy soldiers over the head with his mace.
With both Ardolf and Akira taking control of the wings of the pack they were able to kick the enemy away after dealing a heavy blow to them. But it wouldn''t last long since the enemy would be back with even more soldiers if they didn''t leave before they came back.
Akira hurried back to Ermergerd''s tent with Ardolf and found that he was still hiding under his cot.
As Akira walked into he saw a large amount of blood covering the ground. Several arrows were sticking out of Ermergerd¡¯s stomach.
¡°It wasn''t supposed to be like this! I was just supposed to stay here and surrender my forces to them.¡±
¡°What?¡± asked Ardolf
¡°Nothing,¡± said Ermergerd with lifeless eyes.
¡°Don''t tell me... you''re working for the enemy?¡±
¡°W..what how could you say that. We must stay here and defend this spot.¡±
¡°That''s suicide we need to get away from this open ground as soon as possible.¡±
¡°No, I was ordered to stay here.¡±
¡°By who?¡±
¡°A friend¡±
Ardolf had enough of Ermergerd nonsense and used a few mean he had learned to make him speak.
They found out that he had betrayed the clan because hid did not want to die in the upcoming wars and hard times that the Elders had spoken of.
He had wanted to get rid of Akira since he had thought that he was the one that had brought the disaster to the Earth tribe. So he contacted the enemy and told them their position and what routes they would use.
When Ermergerd finished spilling his guts Ardolf thrust his sword through his heart killing him for betraying the clan.
¡°Akira let''s go, we need to get out of here before they come back,¡± said Ardolf.
Ardolf exited the tent and began to gather the warriors.
¡°Those of you that are able to move, help the wounded. We''re moving out now!¡± shouted Ardolf.
No one question where Ermergerd was. They all silently followed Ardolf''s orders and helped the wounded up to their feet or carried them on makeshift stretchers long with the dead allies.
They had no time to do anything about the dead and wounded enemies so they left them to face the fate of whatever the swamp had in store for them.
Chapter 114: Peace Delegation
¡°I''m sorry that I had to report something like that to you during such a volatile time. I dealt with the matter there and then by removing the traitor. If you wish to punish me for taking action without the say of the elders I am ready for it,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°There will be no punishment. If I were in your place I would have done the same. To think I trusted Ermergerd to keep Akira safe but he defied all logic and constantly leaked your movements to the enemy. How did Akira handle the situation?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°He kept a cool head and showed his skills in leadership when he took control of the right side and helped rally them to push back the enemy. Now that the old commander is gone we need you to appoint a new commander to the pack as soon as you can so we can continue to work on keeping the clan protected,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°Elders do you agree with my earlier assessment?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°We agree,¡± said the elders.
¡°Ardolf, you will take over as the commander and Akira will take your position as second in command,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I will take this burden and will make sure to uphold the clans honor!¡± said Ardolf.
¡°What? You''re promoting me already?¡± asked Akira who had been quietly listening to the conversation.
¡°Don''t question it and just take the promotion. In times of peace, you would have to wait years for a promotion but during war, those who prove themselves will always get promoted over others that only have time on their side,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°You two may leave now. We''re still waiting for a reply to the letters we sent to the kingdom or the enemy''s camp. Until we receive one you''ll need to keep the enemy away from the clans,¡± said Wulfric.
***
A few days later a letter from the enemies camp near Madham arrived by way of a messenger bird.
Akira was called to the Grand elder''s meeting room because of the contents in the letter.
¡°The letter states that they will agree to host a peace negotiation with a delegation of people we choose as long as you go with them. The meeting will be held in the capital and during this time there will be a temporary truce with all fighting and aggressive actions put on hold,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Are you sure this will be safe and not a ruse to capture a few important people for hostages?¡± asked Akira skeptical of the kingdoms demand that he join the peace delegation.
¡°They are a first-rate kingdom and will not stoop so low as to dirty their name by doing something like that,¡± said an elder.
¡°The grand elders have already begun to write a letter accepting the terms. You will head out to the capital with the other people of the peace delegation later today. Everyone that will be part of the delegation will have passed the requirements set by the grand elders so there will be no need to worry about their loyalty or weak strength. You need to have all your equipment and be ready when the supplies for the trip are gathered,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°How will we get there? It''s going to take more than half a year to travel there and back.¡±
¡°Not with what we have prepared. Not only is it safer so no tricks can be played but it is also quicker. You will travel on the ship [Nouds Wind]. Carvey the second rank shaman of the Ironhide clan will be going along with you along with a few other Shaman to help. With him, on the ship and part of the delegation, you will be able to keep in touch and warn us of any trouble. He is also skilled in chants for controlling the wind, so the ships sail will always have a full wind behind it speeding up the travel all the way to the capital. It should only take you a month at most to get there.¡±
¡°If it can help the clan stop a war from breaking out, I will go,¡± said Akira.
¡°Good. Go get ready for the trip, you will be gone for at most two months so make sure you have everything you need.¡±
Ding!
New mission received!
Mission for peace!
Go to Beorin''s capital and talk to the king.
Convince him that there is no need to be fighting. Failure will worsen relations with the king and kingdom which may lead to war depending on results.
|
***
¡°Why can''t we go with you?¡± asked Mileena next to Akira.
¡°I already told you guys. The Beorin kingdom has only given the okay for the peace delegation from the earth tribe to enter their lands. Having an Orc, Griiq, and two Nyantails join the peace delegation that is only meant for the Earth tribe will not work out well with the negotiations,¡± said Akira as he picked up his bag that was now almost completely filled with all the supplies that he would need for the next two months.
¡°Then why can''t I come?¡± asked Azura.
¡°You''re too young and it''s too dangerous for you to go. There will only be a few of us and thousands of enemies if things go bad,¡± said Akira patting Azura''s head to try and placate her.
She smacked his hand away angrily, ¡°I''m only a few years younger than you, and why do you have to go if it''s so dangerous?¡±
¡°It''s been decided on by the Grand elders. If I don''t go this conflict could turn into a full-on war.¡±
¡°Akira stop lollygagging and get on the ship, we are about to set sail,¡± shouted Klyn from the deck of the ship.
Akira waved to his companions that he had traveled and fought with and grown close over the many months since they first met.
Now he would have to part with them for several months in order to complete this mission.
***
Everyone that the grand elders picked to go to the capital of Beorin, were all seasoned veterans that had fought in either one or both of the last two great wars and had an unquestionable loyalty to the earth tribe.
The oldest person in the group was an elder from the Coldfang clan named Bleddyn. He had been put in charge of the whole delegation by unanimous decision of the Grand elders.
There were only two acceptations to the group of veterans and that was both Akira and Klyn who were the youngest of the group and the only ones that had not actively fought in the last war.
Out of the 40 people in the delegation, there were only four other people that Akira knew besides Klyn. He really couldn''t say he knew them all that well since he had only met them a few times back at Bluemoon city.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
They were the warriors that Wulfric had personally picked to protect Akira. Each of them hardened veterans that had served under Wulfric in the last war.
Due to the serious matter that would decide the fate of the tribe for the next months to years, everyone was always grim and business-like when they talked to each other.
There was no happy jokes or conversations to pass the time. It was nothing but constant planing on what they would say and how they would convince the King to stop the attacks.
Midway through their journey, they stopped at the dwarven mountain town Thileduhr near the ocean to replenish their fresh water supplies and patch up a few rough spots the ship had gotten due to the pestering of a few annoying sea monsters.
The town of Thileduhr was a vacation town for the dwarves.
This was odd since the place was wide open, something that most dwarves preferred to not be anywhere near. They preferred to stay in the small valleys of the mountains and the dark and deep caves exploring, mining, and creating new armor and weapons.
¡°We might as well go get some real food while we can,¡± said Klyn. He had grown bored of dry rations that they had been eating over the last few weeks.
The only thing that had kept him sane was the rare salty fish that Akira would catch every now and then.
¡°Do you know of any good places to eat here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Nope, but that shouldn''t be a problem. Anything will be better than what we''ve been eating.¡±
Akira followed Klyn as they left the ship and searched for a tavern or an inn that was serving lunch. After looking at all of their options they ultimately picking a place called Hammer and Eggs.
While waiting for their food in the dimly lit tavern Akira heard a familiar voice from the table behind them.
¡°Glola don''t make that face. I just said it tasted good, I didn''t mean that it''s better than your cooking.¡±
¡°Ha! You''re only saying that to cover your bottom,¡± said an equally familiar female voice.
Akira turned around to see two people he had not seen in a long time.
¡°Delgar?¡± asked Akira.
The dwarf nearest him turned around to look and see who had called his name. When he saw Akira his eyes widened.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°On my way to the Beorin kingdom''s capital for an important meeting, and you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Oh me no reason. Just a ¡ vacation,¡± said Delgar looking away from Akira.
¡°Don''t lie. We''re on our honeymoon!¡± said Glola punching Delgar in the shoulder.
¡°Congratulations!¡± said Akira.
¡°Ha! Like he did anything. If I hadn''t dragged him away from his hammer and anvil I would still be single and waiting for him to propose,¡± said Glola.
Glola allowed both Akira and Klyn to join them at their table where they continued to talk and catch up on the past months they had not seen each other all the while eating their food.
Akira showed a few of his creations that he had made since he had learned the blacksmithing skill. He went into great detail when he explained the daggers that he had made for Mileena.
¡°It all looks passable but that helmet...Yeah...I have something better I made yesterday if you want to buy it for a few gold,¡± said Delgar as he looked over everything Akira showed him.
¡°How did you find time to work on something when we are supposed to be on vacation and not working,¡± said Glola glaring at Delgar.
¡°Don''t get mad I just wanted to make something to sell so I could get some money to buy you a trinket or two from the shops,¡± said Delgar, expertly deflecting her anger.
¡°Hmph, it better not be any of those cheap pieces that they sell to gullible tourists,¡± said Glola.
¡°How could I buy something like that?¡±
When they finished eating Akira followed Delgar to the inn that he was staying at while he and Glola were on their honeymoon in order to retrieve the helmet.
Klyn had been given the job of keeping Glola company to allow Akira and Delgar to talk privately.
¡°Sorry about not giving you the letter. I now see that you have no need for it since you already found the Earth tribe,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Well thanks to you forgetting that I have made several good friends and allies,¡± said Akira.
¡°What''s with all the need for secrecy?¡±
¡°The mission I am currently on is a very important one that involves the entire Earth tribe. You may or may not have heard that the Beorin kingdom started to attack our villages recently we are going to the capital to try and negotiate a stop to the fighting. I hope you can pass the word to your king that a war might start in the next few months. If it does you should be ready in case they try to pull something against your own cities.¡±
¡°Those are indeed dark words to be hearing. What do you think are the chances of you being able to stop the war from happening?¡±
¡°I have no clue since we have no idea why they started to attack us in the first place.¡±
¡°I will have to think about it I can not just go to the king and tell him something that turns out to be false. I would only be lowering my status in his eyes and my words would be less trusted in the future. Let''s hope that it does not come to war,¡± said Delgar as he handed over the helmet and accepted the gold from Akira.
Ding!
Helmet of secrecy: (Rare)
This helmet was made in secret when the creator was supposed to be relaxing.
Durability: 50/50 | Defense: 12
-Has a 3% chance an enemy will overlook you at night while wearing the helmet.
|
¡°Impressive,¡± said Akira as he looked at the new helmet. Instead of the crude bowl-shaped cap with a nose guard, he now had a real helmet that covered his entire head and neck. The front was still open and had a nose guard but it was larger thicker and made of sturdier metal.
¡°Eh, it''s just something I made on the fly, we best get back to Glola or she might come looking for us,¡± said Delgar.
***
The ship continued to travel north to the port city Blaisan second only to the port city connected to the capital.
They had sent a bird ahead a day before to let them know they were going to arrive soon and received a reply that they were to meet up with an escort that would take them to the capital.
The weather in the north was a drastic change from the hot and humid south. Every morning they woke up to the cold and the warm afternoons that were unique to the north.
Akira wore a dark hooded cloak to keep warm and hide his face as they disembarked from the ship.
He was surrounded by Klyn and the four veteran Bluemoon warriors.
A squadron of knights riding on their own battle horses was waiting for them near the end of the docks. The sight of so many knights had drawn a large crowd of onlookers wondering what was going on.
One of the fully armored knights with a red fur cape moved his horse forward to intercept them.
¡°Akira?¡± asked the knight as he stopped his horse in front of the hooded Akira, before taking off his helmet.
The face that was revealed was one that Akira knew well.
Akira thought for a moment before he pulled down his hood and revealed his own face.
The two looked at each other in silence while the warriors around Akira tensed ready to transform and tear anyone that made an aggressive move against the future clan chief.
Where there was once the bonds of brotherhood they were now not certain how to act towards each other. It had been over a year since they each had last seen the other and the parting was not friendly.
In that year each of their lives had changed drastically. Through his marriage to Ruth, Rodger was now the prince and through his wife heir to the throne of Beorin kingdom.
On the other hand, Akira had gone through many trials and was now being trained to lead the Bluemoom clan in the future.
They now both lived in vastly different worlds from the other.
Their past relations were forced to be put on hold in order to deal with the current political climate between the two factions. Rodger for the humans of Beorin and Akira for the werewolves of the Earth tribe.
¡°You look different,¡± was all that Rodger could think to say.
¡°Yeah,¡± said Akira.
There was more awkward silence for several seconds.
¡°I''m sorry about making your face ugly,¡± said Akira pointing to the scar that he had left on Rodger''s left side of his face.
With this comment from Akira, the ice was broken and Rodger gave him an awkward smile.
A cough from one of the impatient knights behind Rodger broke the silence.
¡°Let''s not dwell on the past, we have come to escort you to the capital so that you make it there unmolested. Luckily we brought enough horses for everyone,¡± said Rodger after counting everyone.
¡°Lead the way,¡± said Akira.
Before Akira could follow after Rodger, Klyn held onto Akira''s shoulder and whispered, ¡°Don''t get too friendly with him he is still the enemy otherwise the other people in the delegation might get the wrong idea.¡±
¡°I know what to do and not to do. My past relationship with him will help us in the long run,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 115: Visitor in the Night
The travel to the capital took only a few days. It was a rather quiet and uneventful time since anyone they met on the road immediately moved aside. They did not look at the royal knights because they did not want to start a fight for any misconceived wrong that the knights might throw at them.
The ship that had brought Akira and the others in the peace delegation to the north set sail again and moved closer to the capital city where it set its anchor a short distance away so that it was close enough to pick up the group if something went wrong in their negotiations.
As they rode through the gates Akira remembered how large the capital had felt when he was a child. Now when he compared it to several of the other capitals it felt far smaller than he remembered.
When he compared it to the other cities he had been to it was somewhere in the middle.
As they walked down the main street Akira noticed that there were far more people in the city than when he had last visited the city many years ago.
Klyn was oohing and ahhing at everything new that he saw. The farthest away from Bluemoon city that he had ever gone was only recently when they went to the small town of Swormp to escort the werewolves families back to safety.
The escorting knights parted the morning crowds as they trotted through the mass of people pushing them aside. They led the way down the winding road and up to a side gate of the Royal castle.
The peace delegation was allowed to pass through the castle gates only after being thoroughly inspected by the castle guards.
Akira and the others were taken to a nearby stable where they dismounted from the horses and left them with the stable boys to take care of the horse''s needs.
¡°This section of the castle is where the royal guest houses are. Only those of great influence are allowed to stay in this part of the castle,¡± said Rodger.
As they moved further into the guest area past many large stone buildings Akira noticed that there were many people already staying in most of the buildings.
¡°You guys came during the fall harvest celebration so you''ll have a lot of neighbors to talk with while you stay here,¡± said Rodger.
They were led to a house that was the farthest away from the outer gate.
¡°This is where you will be staying. There are enough rooms in the house for all of you. Just a small reminder, you must stay within the Guest section of the castle and you are not allowed to roam the city. This is for your own protection,¡± said Rodger.
''And so you can keep an eye on us,'' thought Akira.
Before Rodger and the knights under his command left Akira called out to Rodger, ¡°Is Ruth in the capital right now?¡±
¡°No, she''s off on some princess duties with her mother the queen. They should be back before the royal ball starts. I don''t know how long you will be staying here since it all depends on when the king has time to talk to you. So you might be able to see her if you are still here when she returns,¡± said Rodger.
***
The guesthouses all had their own kitchens for the more wealthy nobles who brought their own cooks and maids as well as ingredients for cooking.
If the guest had none of them then there was a classy food hall that served top-class meals for the guest free of charge in limited quantity.
Akira and the other werewolves of the peace delegation were persuaded by Klyn to go to the Food hall and eat. It didn''t take much persuading since it was free and had to be better than the stuff they had called food for the last several weeks.
As Akira entered the large food hall the scent of fresh-baked bread as well as the steamy aroma escaping the bowls of stew filled the air making everyone''s stomachs grumble from hunger.
There were nearly 100 square tables in the large hall all of them had a delicate white embroidered cloth laid over them with a small magical fire lamp at the center of the table to keep everything well lit.
A large portion of the tables were already occupied by other well-to-do guests all dressed in fancy clothing.
A waiter hurried over to them making sure to not make them wait too long. Even if they looked shabby everyone that was able to step foot in the food hall were honored guest of the king and queen.
¡°Hello guest, I welcome you to the royal food-hall. Are you all together?¡± asked the waiter as he counted everyone.
¡°We are,¡± said Elder Bleddyn speaking for the rest of the group.
¡°I''m sorry, we don''t have any single table big enough to fit you all.¡±
¡°That is no problem we can sit at more than one table.¡±
The group was led to five different tables. The waiter and a few other servants carried extra chairs over to the tables to accommodate everyone.
Akira, Klyn and the four quiet Bluemoon warriors were seated together at one of the tables. With the bulky bodies of the werewolves, the tables seemed rather small and crowded.
¡°This countries weather is really nice,¡± said Klyn as he took a sip of the water from an ornate crystal glass.
¡°The weather may be nice but the company is not at all,¡± said Dolph one of the Bluemoon warriors sting next to Akira.
He had a scar that went from his lower right chin over his lips and stopped near left of his nose where a portion of his left nostril had been cut off.
When Akira had first meet Dolph he had asked how he had received the wound.
Dolph went into great detail to explain that during the last great war he had been sent out to keep an eye on the border along with several other werewolves. Not long after they left they encountered a demigod with several human allies that were already fighting another group of werewolves.
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Dolph and the others joined the fight and while fighting he received the wound from the demigod when an attack aimed at his throat had missed.
As they waited for the food to be delivered the guests that sat around them mostly kept to themselves. Except for one person sitting all alone at another table next to Akira.
¡°You here to celebrate the buffoon of a king as well?¡± asked the elderly drunk man.
Several nearby people choked on their food or quietly chuckled at the drunk man''s words.
¡°What? Do you guys all have a stick up your butt that you can''t see who the king really is? He is a clown! A bastard born from a mother that was a demon!¡±
¡°Shut up you fool.¡± ¡°Be quiet before the guards come and take you away!¡± shouted a few people as they threw pieces of bread at the drunk man.
¡°Go home Bill you''re drunk. If you keep spouting such things you''ll end up behind bars during the celebration,¡± said a young noble as he walked over to the elderly man and tried to help him up out of his seat.
The old man slapped his hands away and stood up on shaky legs, ¡°I don''t fear a king that has no balls. Let him come to my house near the gates and talk to me. I''ll give him a few choice words.¡±
The food hall was quiet as everyone tried to ignore the old man who continued to make jokes about the king as he stumbled out of the food hall.
The rest of the dinner was quiet and uneventful. The food that was cooked by a royal chef was well worth its weight in gold.
They walked back to their own guest house and fell asleep with full bellies after they made sure to lock the doors and add a few extra security measures.
***
¡°Ahhhhh~!¡± a loud scream of pain pierced the early morning air waking up Akira and everyone else in the guest house.
They grabbed their weapons that had not been taken by the castle guards and donned their armor and gathered in the front room. When Elder Bleddyn saw everyone was present and okay he sighed.
¡°Let''s go see what is happening outside, everyone be careful, we are not in friendly territory,¡± said elder Bleddyn.
Akira was the first to exit the guest house. He stopped and looked around searching for any disturbance while the cold morning air helped clear the sleep from his head.
The sound had come from one of the guesthouses far away from their own house near the outer gates.
With Akira leading the others followed and ran towards where they had heard the sound had come from.
The cold morning was extremely silent with the only sound they could hear coming from their feet hitting the paved stone streets as they ran.
Dolph sniffed the air and called out, ¡°This way I smell fresh blood!¡±
¡°Over there!¡± said Elder Bleddyn pointing at a building up ahead.
They came to a stop at one of the houses that had its door broken off its hinges and was laying on the ground in two pieces.
Akira stepped forward and to look inside. He found traces of a fierce struggle and a large amount of blood splattered all over the floor and walls, but there was no sign of a body or the attackers.
The inside of the house gave him the familiar smell of Bill the elderly drunk guy from the night before.
¡°Klyn you smell that as well?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I think we can all smell it. This has to be the house of the old man from last night,¡± said Dolph.
¡°You there! What are you doing out so early in the morning? Go back to your house!¡± shouted a guard who ran over to the group of werewolves with three other guards.
¡°What happened here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Nothing. Just an old house that is getting fixed up,¡± said the guard.
¡°What''s going on out here? Why is there such a loud commotion going on?¡± asked the young noble from the night before.
Several other people were stepping out of their houses with similar questions and were looking at the guards and the fully equipped werewolves who were still in their human forms.
¡°Something has happened to Bill,¡± explained Akira.
¡°Who?¡± asked the young noble, with the other guests echoing his question, confused at the name.
¡°The old man you talked to last night in the food hall. Did you get too drunk to remember last night?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°I don''t know anyone named Bill. I remember last night clearly since I did not drink at all and never talked to anyone,¡± said the young noble.
The other guest all parroted the same thing. No one knew who Akira was talking about.
¡°Then who was staying in this house?¡± asked elder Bleddyn.
¡°No one that I can remember of. It has been empty for several months.¡±
The werewolves were stumped at the words and actions of the guest and the guards who acted as if the man named Bill was just a figment of their imagination and had never existed. But their own noses did not lie.
There had been a man named Bill whether or not he was still alive was debatable.
¡°Alright everyone no need to cause a ruckus. Go back to your houses!¡± shouted the guard as even more soldiers joined the group of guards.
¡°Who can sleep now with all the noise they made?¡± asked the young noble pointing at Akira.
¡°Move it!¡± shouted the guards as they started to walk towards the crowd of people and shooed them away.
Back in the guest house, Bleddyn called for an emergency meeting.
¡°This incident proves that we can not be too lax with our own security. Two people will be on watch at night and rotate every four hours. We do not want to receive any uninvited visitors during the night.¡±
***
The peace delegation was ignored by everyone for over a week as they waited.
When Bleddyn had gone to speak with one of the guards asking to speak with the king or the prince he was told that they were both busy with overseeing the fall celebrations and he would have to continue to wait.
At the beginning of the second week, a fancy envelope invitation was stuffed through the small crack under the locked door.
¡°Hmph! They have time for parades and parties but no time for a meeting to stop the fighting between us,¡± said Elder Bleddyn with contempt after reading the letter.
Akira picked it up from the table and read it out loud for the others.
¡°You are hereby invited to join the Royal Fall Ball scheduled at 4 in the afternoon to midnight with several events to take place before the Ball dance. Be advised that weapons will not be allowed inside the ballroom to avoid hotheaded duels.¡±
¡°Oh! I have never been to a Ball! Elder Bleddyn can we go?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°I''m not going to go, but you are welcome to go mingle with the humans if you want. Just be sure to bring someone else with you,¡± said elder Bleddyn.
¡°Akira will you go with me?¡± asked Klyn as he clung to Akira''s arm pleading with him.
¡°Hey weren''t you the one that warned me to be careful of the humans and not be so friendly with them?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Well if we totally ignore them then they might get the wrong idea,¡± said Klyn trying to make up an excuse.
¡°It would be best if you went as a goodwill ambassador to try and smooth things over with the prince if he is there. He might be able to move the talks forward,¡± said Dolph.
¡°True,¡± said elder Bleddyn while stroking his beard. ¡°Just make sure that Dolph goes with you and don''t you go picking any fights. I don''t want to have to report back to grand elder Wulfric that something happened to you while under my watch.¡±
¡°No need to worry Elder I can keep him safe,¡± said Dolph.
¡°What about me?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Don''t get in a fight and you will be fine,¡± said Akira patting Klyn on the back.
***
Tibia had received orders from the other heads to go to the Beorin capital and capture Akira who was supposed to be staying there.
This was her first solo mission without number 6 and was of great importance. She was ready for this chance and would have to show that she could handle any task given to her.
She quietly walked through Bador''s quite early morning streets looking for a place to stay while she searched for her target and made plans to capture him.
Chapter 116: Fall Royal Ball
Akira, Klyn, and Dolph stood in the short line at the gates to the main that led to the inner castle where the Ball was being held. The three had decided to wait a short time before heading out so that the large crowd of people trying to get in would have lessened by the time they arrived.
The line moved forward slowly as everyone handed over their weapons and allowed the guards to make sure they were not hiding any small weapons on their bodies.
¡°I better get my sword back in perfect shape that was expensive to buy,¡± said a plump elderly man with a large walrus mustache.
¡°Fear not sir, Your sword will be held here in the weapons armory next to our own and will be taken good care of,¡± said the guard as he handed the sword over to a subordinate who ran off to stow away the weapon.
¡°Next,¡± said the guard motioning Akira and the others to move forward and hand over their weapons. But before that, they had to show the invitation to the ball.
Akira had thought of just keeping his sword in his bag and not handing it over but decided against it because it would put him under even greater suspicion.
Plus he still had his spear so he was not without a means to fight back. Not that he needed it against unarmored people who he could tear apart with his bare hands if he transformed.
¡°You can go, but you better not start any trouble,¡± said the guard after making sure there were no hidden weapons on them and even checked Akira''s bag that looked empty to him.
As the three walked through the gates Akira was able to once again see the gardens that he had spent many summers in when he was a child.
There were several small groups of people boisterously talking together as they slowly walked to the open doors of the large ballroom.
The sun was already starting to set as they entered the open doors and walked into the well lit large ballroom.
The ceiling of the ballroom was several stories high with several large crystal chandeliers hanging from long sturdy chains. The green magical fire that was used for lighting was flickering erratically making it so the crystals gave of glittering green light.
The large ballroom was already filled with several hundreds of high-class nobles, famous artists, and businessmen all in their own groups talking about whatever it is that fancy pants like them talk about.
Whenever someone of note entered the ballroom a guard near the doors would shout out their name letting everyone in the ballroom know of their arrival.
Since Akira, Klyn, and Dolph were nobodies, the guards ignored them as they walked by.
As Akira walked around the ballroom he had a hard time finding a spot to stand that was not already taken by a group of people. So he just kept wandering around with Klyn and Dolph following behind him.
Klyn was awestruck by everything he saw from the ballrooms smooth and artfully paved floor to how big the room was as well as the enchanting sparkling chandeliers.
¡°Excuse me who might you be?¡± asked a man from Akira''s side as the three of them were passing by.
Akira turned to the man and saw that he was looking at their clothes most likely wondering how they were even able to enter the ballroom.
They had all worn their best clothes to go to the ball but compared to the nobles they probably still looked like country bumpkins.
¡°My name is Akira, this is Klyn and he is Dolph,¡± said Akira pointing to the other two as he introduced them.
¡°I see... I have never heard of you before. Are you new merchants?¡± asked the noble.
Akira felt awkward talking to the man as he did not look at Akira''s face when he was talking to him but instead looked over Akira''s left shoulder the whole time.
¡°We are not merchants. We have been invited to the capital on business with the king,¡± replied Akira.
¡°Figures,¡± said the man turning away from them after losing all interest.
This happened several more times as they walked around waiting for the ball to start.
Klyn was now continuing to mutter insults under his breath at the nobles after each slight. This was the first time people had ignored him as if he was nothing, it was a learning experience he did not like.
¡°Hey, handsome who are you?¡± asked a nearby female voice.
Klyn looked over to see she was looking directly at him.
¡°Me?¡± he asked flustered pointing at himself while looking around to see if she was talking to anyone else, but there was only Dolph and Akira next to him and in his opinion hardly anyone would call them handsome.
¡°Haha, who else could I be talking to?¡± asked the woman with a voice that dripped with a sweetness almost to the point of being rather annoying.
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Akira inspected the woman and after only a glance, whisperer to Klyn a warning, ¡°Watch yourself she''s a local escort.¡±
¡°A what?¡± asked Klyn confused at the word.
¡°A prostitute,¡± said Dolph bluntly. ¡°They''re all over this ballroom. All you have to do to tell them apart from the noblewoman is look at the massive amount of makeup caked on their faces and the cheap-looking jewelry worn everywhere.¡±
¡°No need to fight over me gentlemen. There is enough of me to go around as long as you don''t mind sharing,¡± said the escort as she watched them quietly talk to each other.
¡°My name is Meesa Orny,¡± said the escort as she held out her hand for Klyn to take.
Klyn had no idea what type of customs human nobles were accustomed to so he didn''t know what to do with the hand. He looked around trying to see what others were doing and saw a man that was somehow already drunk slobbering all over a girl''s hand that he held in his own.
Following suit, he took the girl''s hand and started to lick it to everyone''s surprise including the escort.
¡°You idiot! That''s not how you do it,¡± said Akira whacking Klyn upside the head.
¡°Really Klyn, what if the head shaman saw you acting like a young pup in heat. Get control of yourself,¡± said Dolph shaking his head in disapproval.
After trading a few more words they distanced themselves from the escort and walked over to the table full of fancy snacks and large pitchers of alcohol.
¡°Attention the night''s events will start now with speeches made by a few of our famous authors. Gather around if you would like to listen to them,¡± shouted a rotund man with a large white powdered wig that made his head look twice as big.
Akira and Klyn listened to the authors tell a few tall tales for a time before getting bored and going back towards the food table to eat more.
Many of the speeches and stories were outlandish in their attempts to wow and outdo the person that had gone before them.
When the stories and speeches by other nobles were done a knowledge quiz contest was held where anyone could join and win a prize if they beat the other contestant five times.
Akira was going to push the brainy Klyn forward to volunteer but Klyn was one step ahead of him and gave Akira a push.
Everyone''s eyes turned to him as he stumbled forward.
¡°We have our first contestant who will challenge him?¡± asked the wigged noble.
A tall and skinny scholarly man with glasses stepped forward.
The questions were hard and more like riddles than a quiz on a person''s knowledge.
Akira ended up randomly picking choices because he had no clue what any of it meant.
When Akira surprisingly won his fifth time. The scholarly man turned to Akira.
¡°I see you had a deeper understanding of the deep meanings of life far better than I do. You truly are on the next level!¡± said the man praising Akira as he shook his hand.
¡°Ah...Yeah...Thanks...,¡± mumbled Akira.
Akira walked back to the impressed Klyn who asked, ¡°How did you know the answer to all of those questions?¡±
Akira shrugged and said, ¡°I just got lucky when I guessed.¡±
This left Klyn stumped he had though Akira had used his brains to win. In the end, it turned out to be just dumb luck.
The contest continued as several nobles wanted to show off their smarts to their companions. There was no quick win again like Akira''s as many of the challenges lasted for several long minutes.
Akira walked around and talked with the few nobles that he could over a glass of wine catching up on the current events of the capital since he had long been out of the loop.
The contest lasted until several trumpets near the entrance sounded breaking through the noisy chatter.
¡°Princess Ruth has arrived! Prince Rodger has arrived!¡± shouted the guard before the trumpets sounded again.
Everyone inside the ballroom stopped what they were doing to watch as the prince and princess walked into the ballroom waving and greeting everyone in the room.
Princess Ruth wore a puffy pink dress full of frills along with an eye-catching red ruby necklace. While Rodger wore his clean officer military dress uniform.
¡°Here''s our chance,¡± said Dolph nudging Akira to go talk to Rodger.
The trio walked towards the royal couple behind several hundred others who had the same idea of trying to talk to them.
The line was long and unorganized with much pushing and shoving as people tried to get a better spot near the front.
When the nobles acted up near the three werewolves, Dolph just glared at them and they quickly backed away frightened.
It took over a half hour for the trio to reach the front of the line to talk to the royal couple.
Klyn was in front of Akira and made several quick and shallow bows to the two, looking like a chicken pecking at grain on the ground.
When Ruth offered her gloved hand for him to kiss Klyn made sure not to mess up this type and grabbed the hand and shook it vigorously nearly making her fall over.
Several loud Gasps could be heard throughout the ballroom.
Akira kicked Klyn aside as several nobles began to whisper about the faux pas.
Many angry stares were now looking at Klyn. Dolph stepped forward and brought Klyn away from the crowd and off to the side where he could be protected him from any angry noble.
¡°I take it that...Interesting... person is with you?¡± asked Ruth after Akira kissed her gloved hand that had a gold ring and a plain silver ring.
¡°Sorry, he does not know the customs of Beorin. It''s nice to see you again Ruth,¡± said Akira.
¡°You know my sister is still looking for you?¡± said Ruth saying something so explosive with a calm and neutral face.
¡°Still? I thought she would have given up by now,¡± said Akira who was slightly horrified at her persistence.
¡°I don''t understand it either. I have no clue why she goes to such lengths just for someone like you,¡± said Ruth looking over Akira.
¡°Thanks.¡±
¡°You didn''t come here to just trade pleasantries did you?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°That''s true, I was sent to talk to you about the possibility of meeting with the king,¡± said Akira.
¡°Just wait a bit and I will finish up here and we can continue talking on the matter,¡± said Rodger.
Akira walked over to Klyn and Dolph to wait for Rodger and Ruth to finish their royal greetings.
By the time they had finished, the time for the grand ball dance had started and Rodger and Ruth were forced, as the Highest ranking nobles in the ballroom, to open the ball with the first dance.
Everyone watched to the side as the two danced to a new slow tune by the castle''s famous band.
When the song finished and another one started the other nobles joined the floor and began to dance as well.
With their obligations finally over Rodger and Ruth were able to slip away to meet with Akira and his fellow clansmen.
Chapter 117: Nighttime Negotiations
While Akira had been waiting for Rodger to finish his royal duties he had sent Klyn to go inform Elder Bleddyn and the other werewolves from the peace delegation to hurry and come to the castle so that they could start the negotiations.
Dolph had stayed behind in order to protect Akira and was fully alert as they waited in one of the castle''s many gardens.
It was only a short time after Klyn left when Rodger and Ruth both entered the garden unaccompanied by any guards.
¡°I informed the King and his ministers, they will be here shortly,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Are you sure it is not too late in the night for something like this?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s fine the ministers should all be used to gathering at strange hours already,¡± said Rodger waving his hand dismissively.
¡°So do you have anyone you are dating?¡± asked Ruth out of the blue catching Akira off guard.
¡°What? No, I''m not really dating anyone...yet,¡± said Akira.
¡°So there is someone that you could be dating in the future. Jezebel won''t be happy to hear this.¡±
¡°She shouldn''t be disheartened since she is the queen of Vussia and already has a husband.¡±
Ruth shrugged her shoulders as if it really didn''t matter to her.
¡°It''s too bad that we childhood Friends could not all meet up together on better terms. It is quite odd that we are only meeting up at a time like this over some unpleasant matters,¡± said Ruth.
Akira didn''t have anything nice to say to that, so he kept his mouth shut.
As they waited for the rest of both parties to join them the conversation was controlled mostly by Ruth asking Akira many questions while lamenting the changes of life and the hard truths one learned once they became a fully functioning adult.
Dolph signaled Akira to keep quiet and not let the enemies know anything more than necessary about the werewolf clans.
Klyn was the first to return along with elder Bleddyn, head shaman Carvey, along with the warriors sent to guard them.
This stopped Ruth''s long-winded one-sided conversations allowing them to wait in silence for the king and any ministers that would be he joining the meeting.
¡°An odd time to be having such an important meeting so late at night,¡± said elder Bleddyn in a whisper once he reached Akira''s side.
¡°At least they agreed to see us and are not going to push us off for another week,¡± said Carvey.
They waited for the King for over an hour in relative silence the only noise coming from the ballroom some distance away from the garden.
When the king arrived he came with a large group of noblemen trailing along behind him.
The Queen who had recently returned to the city even tagged along next to the king in an expensive silk dress that had been bought from Freeopia.
Before elder Bleddyn could even greet the King, he walked past him and up to Akira with an air of superiority and huffed a few times as he inspected Akira.
¡°I always knew that there was something wrong with you. For you to turn out to be a lowly werewolf...HA! My instincts were not wrong!¡± said the king Titus.
The werewolf warriors bristled at the insult. While Dolph, elder Bleddyn, and Carvey kept their faces blank not showing any emotion.
¡°Father-in-law this is not the time to be insulting Akira and the other guests that have come a long way to talk with us,¡± said Rodger trying to mediate between the two groups and move the negotiation talks forward without any fighting.
¡°Right you are. Behind me are several of the commanding officers of Beorin''s main army,¡± said king Titus pointing to each person as he quickly introduced them.
Akira was surprised to see several of the officer''s levels were in the 40''s and a few older officers were even at the same level as him.
When all the pleasantries of introducing everyone from both parties were finished, king Titus clapped his hands.
¡°Alright before we head to the discussion tables we have decided to put on a nice show for you our guest. If you would please follow me,¡± said king Titus before turning around and walking out of the garden.
Akira looked to Rodger questioningly and only received a shrug in return. It seemed this was a last-minute addition put in by the king.
They walked to a large open field behind the castle that was used as a training ground for the army. The field was lit by the moonlight as well as several green magical lanterns scattered all around the training field giving everything a flickering green glow.
Several well-armored soldiers were milling around on the open field while even more soldiers continued to filter in joining the large group of soldiers already waiting.
A large number of the soldiers gathered were conscript soldiers that had been called away from the fall celebrations on such short notice which caused some unhappy grumbling.
Upon seeing the arrival of the king and their commanding officers the soldiers formed up into their proper units.
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The officers bowed to the king and left his side to take command of the units on the field. Even Rodger left after a short talk to the king.
¡°Are they trying to show off their power to us?¡± asked Klyn in a whisper next to Akira.
¡°Shh...It does not matter if they want to flaunt around their strength. This can be seen as a good thing since it allows us to get a better understanding of their army. We can use that to our advantage if things don''t pan out,¡± said elder Bleddyn quieting Klyn.
King Titus and the rest of the noble ministers still gathered around him ignored the whispering Werewolves and watched as the hastily mustered army marched with precision in front of the king one unit at a time making sure to properly salute the King.
When the parade in front of the king finished they formed up on the large field and began to show off their ¡°Pretty parade ground dancing¡± as Dolph called it.
Many other warriors chimed in with comments about how impractical it would be to actually use some of the maneuvers they showed on a real battlefield.
But they also kept in mind that the formations were meant to wow and awe the guest.
Elder Bleddyn watched their movements like a hawk remembering everything so that he could give a proper report when they returned.
When the cavalry entered the field to show off it''s might, Rodger rode at the front leading them in a full out charge at a row of straw dummies which they struck down with easy slaughtering all the poor defenseless stuffed scarecrows.
¡°Ha, try that with me and I''d be glad to drag you off your pretty horses and play with you,¡± commented one of the warriors under his breath.
The military show when on for over an hour before the soldiers and cavalry left the field.
Nothing about the army surprised Akira as he had grown up training with them. But several of the others had changed their minds somewhat on thinking they were just as weak as they were in the past wars.
It had more to do with seeing their weapons, armor, and imagining the numbers they could conscript into multiple armies.
Rodger and the other officers now sweaty and caked with dust from the exercises returned to the group next to the king.
¡°Let us return to the royal garden for some privacy,¡± said King Titus as he stood up from his chair.
***
Akira sat at a large stone table to the right of Elder Bleddyn and Head shaman Carvey sat on the elders left. Klyn had been given a seat next to Carvey, while Dolph was sitting next to Akira.
The werewolves sat on the right side of the table while the king and his ministers along with Rodger sat on the left.
Both the queen and Ruth had decided to call it a night and had already headed back to the castle as it was now a little past midnight when the meeting finally started.
¡°King Titus you all know why we are here so I will only summarize. The Earth tribe wants you to stop terrorizing our villages, towns, and cities. We demand that you get out of our territory now,¡± said elder Bleddyn.
¡°HA! You have some nerve saying that to my face! The only reason we took any action was because we received information from a trusted nobleman telling us that werewolves had attacked human villages and were going to attack again. They asked for us to put a stop to it.¡±
¡°That''s ridiculous!¡± said Carvey.
¡°It''s true that we received such a request, here is the letter that was sent to us,¡± said Rodger pulling out a piece of paper in question from its protective leather tube.
The letter was handed over to Elder Bleddyn so that he could read it.
Akira and Carvey read it along with him from the side. When he saw the signature at the bottom of the letter his face darkened with anger.
The whole reason they were in this predicament was because of the vile Lord Madham.
¡°Some violence may have happened but none of our clans had anything with the things mentioned. There is no need to start a war over this baseless accusation.¡±
¡°It is not baseless! We know the ringleader of the violent thugs that killed many innocent people when they attacked and raided several human cities. You have the gall to even show your face here purporting to be part of the peace negotiations. I Name you Akira as the ringleader!¡± said king Titus pointing at Akira while spitting all over the place as he got worked up.
¡°Preposterous! Are you going to sit here all night and insult us or are we going to talk about stopping a war?¡± asked Elder Bleddyn who for the first time was showing his anger.
Rodger placed his hand on the king''s shoulder, ¡°Father-in-law, calm down. This is a meeting to stop the fighting not one to further fan the flames of hatred and start a war.¡±
¡°GET your hand off my shoulder,¡± said the king through clenched teeth as he tried to rein in his anger.
¡°Your accusations are false. Yes, it is true that I had the misfortune of meeting this person indirectly. When I was staying in the city of Madham for not even a day the lord of the city ordered his personal guards and city guards to capture me and my companions. We were forced to fight our way out of the city to win our freedom. If they did not want to suffer casualties they should not have tried to attack us,¡± said Akira with a cold hardness to his voice as he explained what had happened.
¡°It''s your word against his and since he is not here to defend himself, we can not believe the word of someone like you.¡±
¡°You wouldn''t even believe me even if he was here!¡±
The negotiations continued with accusations and outrageous insults being thrown at the peace delegation who could do nothing about it but endure the humiliation since this was the heart of the enemy''s power.
The conversation halted for several minutes while the minsters whispered to themselves.
¡°We have decided the requirements you will need to fulfill in order to stop this war from starting. First, you will need to pay 20,000 gold for damages. Secondly, you must continuously give us a yearly 2,000 gold tribute, and lastly, you must hand over the criminals that started this so they can be brought to justice.¡±
¡°This is outrageous! It seems you view the Earth Tribe as a bunch of stray dogs that you can kick around! Are you trying to start a war?¡± shouted Dolph as he stood up from his seat in anger.
¡°We will not accept these terms. But are willing to hear if you have any other reasonable suggestions,¡± said elder Bleddyn who was having a hard time keeping his voice low from the anger he felt.
¡°That is our final offer. If you do not wish to take it we have nothing more to discuss,¡± said King Titus.
¡°Then we are done here,¡± said elder Bleddyn standing up. The other werewolves along with Akira stood up as well.
¡°You will be escorted to your former lodgings so you can gather your belongings and leave, you are not welcome in our kingdom any longer,¡± said king Titus.
¡°It is a shame that we were not able to work something out,¡± said Rodger as he shook Akira''s hand before he was escorted away by the royal guards.
Ding!
Peace mission has failed!
The Earth tribe''s relationship with the kingdom of Beorin has now become hostile.
|
The werewolves were all on guard for any trickery that the king might have in store for them but nothing happened as they returned to their guest house.
¡°We need to hurry up and leave. This city is no longer safe for any of us,¡± said elder Bleddyn.
¡°I need to send the message of our failure to the grand elders first!¡± said Carvey.
¡°Hurry! We only have a limited time before they make their move,¡± said Elder Bleddyn.
Everyone scurried around the house and began to pack up the meager belongings they had brought on the trip.
Chapter 118: Return
Other than Klyn the other Shaman gathered together in a triangle holding each other''s hand as the two younger shamans chanted some odd ancient words Carvey stayed still as a rock as he used all his power along with the help from the others to send a short message to one of the Earth tribes shamans far away.
''Mission failed'' was all he could send before breaking out in a sweat and panting heavily.
Klyn walked forward and handed each of them some bread and wine to regain some of their energy.
¡°Will you three be okay or do you need someone to help you so you don''t lag behind,¡± asked elder Bleddyn.
¡°We''re okay, but Shaman Carvey might need help. Sending a message so far away drains most of your energy,¡± replied one of the young shaman.
¡°Just give me a minute to recuperate,¡± said Carvey.
¡°We don''t have a minute to spare. Every minute we wait here gives the humans more time to set up a trap to stop us from leaving alive. Jorn, grab Carvey and let''s get out of here,¡± said elder Bleddyn.
Akira, as well as the other werewolves, had all put on their cloaks but their hoods were not yet pulled up.
The guards outside the guest house were still waiting impatiently for the werewolves to exit with their belongings. As soon as they did they herded them to the outer castle gates and unceremoniously booted them out.
The small delegation of werewolves swiftly disappeared from the view of the castle walls and entered into the back alleys where they finally pulled their hoods up to cover their faces from anyone they might run into as they ran through the dark back streets of the capital.
***
Tibia had been staking out the main road leading out from the castle but for some reason, her target never appeared at the expected spot forcing her to change her plans.
She was now jumping from rooftop to rooftop looking for her prey that had escaped. She still had a chance to complete her mission. The target should not have had enough time to get that far away and should still be somewhere near the castle.
As she was in mid-jump from a lower roof to a slightly higher one, she heard the sound of multiple running feet from below in the narrow and dark street.
As she landed she looked to where the sound was coming from and was able to barely see that there was a large group of people who were all wearing hooded cloaks that were hiding their identity.
''This must be them. Now''s my chance!'' thought Tibia as she readied herself for a fight.
Vrrrrr, a slight vibration from the silver ring on her hand stopped her actions. It only did this if an ally from the organization was nearby, but since this function required her to use magical energy to power the effect she only activated it when she was on a mission.
Someone else from the organization was in that group.
''Why is there someone else here? Were they sent to keep an eye on me? If they are with that group then the target must be elsewhere. I have no time to waste here, I still need to find the target.'' thought Tibia.
She pulled back from the edge of the roof and began her search again quietly jumping from roof to roof.
***
While on the run Akira was focused on keeping an eye out for an ambush and did not notice the vibrating ring in his bag that he had confiscated from the failed assassination attempt in Vussia.
Sniff, Sniff.
Dolph, who was next to Akira was also alert and was now smelling the air after catching an unfamiliar scent.
With a low voice, he alerted the rest of the escaping werewolves, ¡°There''s someone looking at us from above.¡±
Everyone continued to run forward and did not look at the person stalking them in order to not spook them and let them know they had been found out. If they attacked they would be mercilessly shredded to pieces by everyone.
¡°They''re gone. Whoever it is I don''t think they are with the castle guards. But I can''t help but feel this scent is slightly familiar,¡± said Dolph a few seconds later.
He could not be sure if the smell was something familiar due to the thousands of other smells that assaulted his nose every second this was one of the hardships of being in a city that had hundreds of thousands of people and many other animals.
¡°If they''re not going to bother us then forget them,¡± said elder Bleddyn who, for being an old man was rather quick on his feet.
They passed many small taverns and restaurants in the hidden alleyways that were full of loud activity as the common folk celebrated the coming of fall and the fall harvest.
With the harvest, they had extra money to splurge on anything and everything.
The streets became wider and all meshed into the main road the closer they got to the capitals main gates. Even at such a late hour the main street was jammed with other festival-goers all trying to go somewhere.
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Since they were not at war and the city was celebrating all through the night the gates had been left open to let the large mass of people come and go as they pleased so that everyone, wherever they lived, could enjoy the festival.
This caused the guard''s jobs to be harder as they had to work longer hours on a holiday and monitor even more people than usual. They had even been given a command by the castle guards to watch out for several important criminals.
The werewolves all stuck together and dived into the crowd of humans, swimming through the mass of bodies as they tried to get to the main gates.
Part of the reason for the congestion was because of the guards randomly stopping people at the gates and inspecting them and their belongings before letting them through.
The mass of drunk and sweaty humans that had partied too hard were all gushing out of the gates to get back to their own beds.
The werewolves tried to blend in with them but it was rather hard as most of the werewolves were a head taller than the drunk farmers and shopkeepers.
¡°You people pull down your hoods and show me your faces,¡± shouted a guard at the gates.
¡°We are nobodies. You do not need to see our faces,¡± said elder Bleddyn waving his hand in front of the guard''s face.
¡°You are a nobody and I do not need to see your face.....Wait a second! Show me your face!¡± said the guard reaching for elder Bleddyn''s hood only to get his hand smacked away.
¡°Hey stop holding up the line. I want to get home sometime before next year!¡± shouted a drunk man from somewhere behind the werewolves.
¡°You do not need to see our faces,¡± said elder Bleddyn waving one of his hands in front of the guard''s face while his other hand shot out and chopped the guard in his unprotected neck.
The guard fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Seeing the attack by the hooded figure the other gate guards tried to intercept them but the mass of crowded bodies impeded their progress. Before they could reach the assailants they had already exited the gates.
¡°Warn the soldiers stationed outside that a group of suspicious people just exited the city. They may be the people we were looking for!¡± shouted the gate guard captain.
The werewolves continued to run at top speed towards the preset destination where the [Nouds Wind] should still be waiting for them allowing them to escape from the damned human kingdom.
Soon the sound of hooves could be heard behind them. Akira took a look behind and saw over a dozen Knights urging their mounts forward at a speed that could not be maintained for long that did not matter since they were closing in fast!
Without another thought Akira summoned Nox. ¡°Help me out and go block those guys from reaching us!¡±
''You sure are bossy today,''said Nox grumpily as he leaped out of Akira''s shadow and began to run towards the charging horses whose skin was beginning to be covered in a foamy white sweat from overexertion.
As Nox neared the dumb beasts of labor let out a loud snarl and launched himself at the closest unprotected neck of one of the horses at the front of the charge.
The horse cried out in fear and immediately halted its charge forward as it reared up on its back legs and tried to fend off the attack with its front hooves.
This sudden halt threw the knight out of his saddle and slammed into the ground and sent rolling a few times before stopping. He lay on the ground unmoving while moaning from the damage he received due to the fall while wearing heavy armor.
Nox adjusted his body in mid-air and used his feet to jump off the horse''s hooves and launch himself at another horse passing by ramming into its side causing the horse''s legs to falter in its high-speed charge and with its rhythm messed up its legs stumbled once more before falling to the ground.
The second knight who was riding the horse was thrown from his saddle and had his leg caught under the horse''s body and was broken by the weight.
Nox continued to work his magic and there was soon a pile-up of over six horses either lying on the ground or running around without a knight on its back trying to get away and out of the reach of the demonic Nox.
One could tell that these horses were not of the fine warhorses bred by the nobles but everyday horses so they shied away from any enemy or attack that targeted them.
All the way to the coastline of Beorin the werewolves were being chased by several different groups of the kingdoms soldiers but with the help Nox, they were able to reach the rowboat near the shore and row themselves out of immediate danger and reach the safety of the ship [Nouds Wind].
The cavalry looked on helplessly from the shore as they watched their targets sail off.
***
¡°King Titus, I just received a report from the scouts we sent out. They were unable to capture the criminals at the gates and the soldiers outside the city let them reach their ship and sail away,¡± said Porskey.
¡°It does not matter. We can kill them when the war starts. Begin the mustering of the army we will ship them out as soon as possible. You are to join them,¡± ordered Titus.
***
Delgar had thought long and hard about what Akira had said and after talking with Glola he had decided on a suggestion she had offered up.
Not long after Akira had left he sent out a message to the king to warn him about the coming war and the possible troubles the human armies might bring if they entered or passed through their territories.
After sending the message they both cut their honeymoon short and made the return trip back to their own home town.
When King Nokkad Noblebraid received the message he issued a warning that was sent out to all dwarven towns and cities that they should be ready for any surprises.
With the notices going out many of the smaller villages and towns on the edges of the mountains became empty as they headed to the main cities for protection.
Although it pained him to leave his shop Delgar locked it up and headed south along with a few other dwarves that had similar ideas as him to go help the werewolves with anything they needed.
Glola had decided to follow her husband and closed up her tavern as well.
***
¡°Grand elder Wulfric what is your opinion on what we should do?¡± asked Grand elder D¨´ghall.
¡°There are still a few people lagging behind we need to get them to the protection of the caves. The war will start as soon as their main army meets up with the commander that is already staying near Madham. We must be ready before that time.
We also need to warn our neighbors the Griiq of the large army that may be entering their lands to cause trouble. If we can get them to help during the coming war I have no doubt we can easily push them back.¡±
¡°We will have to ramp up our preparation for war and gather all the supplies now so we are not lacking later,¡± said Grand elder Griogair with a grim face.
***
With the war on the horizon, several factions on the continent of Halverold readied for the coming clash making sure they would not be caught in the struggle.
Rodger sighed as he stepped on one of the many warships that were being packed with the kingdom of Beorins army and the supplies they would need for the coming war.
The king had ordered him to join his father as second in command in order to gain experience in commanding the army in actual battle.
Although Rodger was unhappy with the situation he could do nothing but accept his role as the prince and follow the orders given to him by the king.
A short distance away, a disguised Tibia secretly entered one of the nearby ships and found a spot in the bowels of the transport ship to hide for the whole trip south.
Chapter 119: Important clan announcement
Vuk, was the messenger that the grand elders had decided to send to the Griiq and inform them of possible future troubles.
But as soon as he arrived at the main Griiq city he found that they were already having some sort of trouble.
The Griiq warriors were grouped together at the city gates with their weapons pointed at one man.
¡°Go away Human, we will not allow you to eat us.¡±
¡°Just give me the information or the person I asked for and I will leave!¡±
¡°We don''t know what you are talking about!¡±
¡°Then you leave me no choice. I''ll have to use force to get you to talk!¡±
¡°What''s going on here?¡± asked Vuk as he transformed and walked up to the group that was arguing.
¡°Stay out of this werewolf or I''ll kill you,¡± said the man in black robes raising his empty hands as if to use some special technique.
Vuk was not afraid and continued to walk forward and stood next to the robed man. He was a head and a half taller than the hooded man and by far more muscular. Everything about him gave off an intimidating feeling that a normal human would shake and quiver in fear from.
¡°Human, I suggest you stop pestering our neighbors,¡± said Vuk.
¡°You don''t have the strength to do...¡± before the man could finish his sentence Vuk slammed a furry clawed fist into the man''s chest and kicked him away causing a loud crack to be heard from the man''s body.
¡°Aaaahh!¡±
¡°Leave now while you can,¡± said Vuk.
The hooded man slowly got up while holding his chest and cursing under his breath and got onto a mount that looked like it was nothing but skin and bones. He hurriedly escaped from Vuk and the city with moans of pain coming from his mouth as he rode his mount.
¡°Thank you, furry guy, for saving us when you were just passing by,¡± said one of the Griiq warriors.
¡°That guy has been bothering us for weeks!¡±
¡°I was not just passing by and did not come to save you it was just a coincidence that I arrived in time to help you. My main purpose for coming here is to warn you of grave news! In the future, a large human army will be entering the swamplands and they might enter your territory. You need to make preparations for this!¡±
¡°Oh..thanks for ruining our happiness.¡±
***
Akira let out a sigh of relief as he stepped off the [Nouds Wind] ship and onto dry land. It had been a quick but stressful few weeks of travel back south.
The temperatures of the south were extremely noticeable from the north were the nights had been cold and the days warm. Even though it was fall, the heat in the swamp continent was still high, although it was not as hot or humid as it was in the spring and summer months.
¡°We should go to the elders right now so we can give the full report. The enemy''s army should not be that far behind us,¡± said elder Bleddyn.
As soon as the grand elders found out that the peace delegation had returned they sent out someone to fetch them and bring them to the main meeting hall.
Akira once again stood in the bowl-like cavern meeting room next to elder Bleddyn, as he gave the full report on what had happened during their stay, the king''s demands, and the reasons the king gave to why they were attacking.
¡°This makes no sense!¡± said grand elder Seoc.
¡°I knew this Akira pup was bad news! Ever since he has appeared nothing but bad things have happened!¡± said grand elder Tormoid.
¡°Watch your tongue!¡± shouted Wulfric angrily.
¡°Enough! We do not need to fight amongst ourselves! We already have bigger problems to take care of than waste our time on bickering between each other,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall slamming the butt of his staff onto the stone floor.
¡°Bleddyn, what about their army? You mentioned seeing a portion of it what do you think of their strength from the first great war when we fought them?¡± asked Grand elder Aaron.
¡°The army that they showed us was full of fluff and pointless maneuvers...But their armor and weapons it is far superior to what they had in the past. Some of it even better than what we have, and when you add that to the numbers they can conscript into an army...¡± said elder Bleddyn.
¡°So what if they have large numbers and good equipment. They are still green beans, so the weapons and armor in their hands will just be a waste,¡± said grand elder Garnal.
¡°We can do nothing about it now since Beorin has already sent out their army to fight us we must finish our preparations before they get here,¡± said grand elder Griogair.
¡°Immediately go and gather each clan and small villages and have them meet at the base of the mountain for an important announcement,¡± ordered grand elder D¨´ghall.
Several messengers left the room in a run hurrying to spread the news of the important meeting.
***
A large stage had been erected near the bottom of the mountain allowing the grand elders to look over the massive crowd of werewolves who were all packed around the stage. Almost all the werewolves in the swamplands were gathered here.
Akira stood on stage along with the other peace delegation members and the grand elders. He stood to the back and right of Wulfric.
D¨´ghall stepped forward when he felt that everyone had arrived.
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¡°As you all know some time ago we sent a delegation to the human kingdom to work on stopping a war from breaking out. The peace delegation has just returned today and we now know the full details and results.¡±
Grand elder D¨´ghall paused to let his voice carry out over the large massive crowd.
¡°It is with a sad heart that I must inform everyone that the peace delegation has failed,¡± said D¨´ghall his loud voice again echoing throughout the nearby mountains and hills.
Akira could head cries of shock and a few curses from people near the stage.
Upon hearing this all the warriors young and old in the large crowd knew what this announcement meant.
Every warrior in the crowd started to bang the butts of their spears on the ground, others their swords on their shield in a slow solemn rhythm.
The large crowd began to buzz with conversation but it was interrupted when D¨´ghall spoke again.
¡°Although a new enemy has shown their faces fear not! We are well prepared and have a mighty army that will crush anything that comes near us!¡±
The banging and clanging of the warrior''s weapons picked up speed.
¡°From today forward, WE GO TO WAR!¡± shouted D¨´ghall.
The noise from the warriors and the shouts from the civilians was deafening. Several warhorns added their noise to the cacophony of the crowd.
There were even a few warriors who had been whipped up into a frenzy and transformed in order to let out wild howls.
The mountains and surrounding hills only made the sound of everything even louder as everything echoed a few times.
Akira looked at the massive crowd of werewolves and listened to the deafening noise. This was something entirely new to him and he didn''t know what to think about it.
¡°By tomorrow evening everyone will have received your orders on what to do during this time of war. No one can sit still. We must all work together and support one another in this time of crisis,¡± said D¨´ghall.
After his last words left his mouth the grand elders left the stage along with everyone in the peace delegation.
***
Hundreds of warships carrying the whole might of the small army of 20,000 soldiers reached the small town of Bogman where they began to disembark from the ships along with all of their supplies needed for the coming war.
Rodger stood to the side watching and sometimes giving orders as everything was coming out. This was his first actual war that he would be personally participating in.
Although he would not be the commanding general of the army he would still need to show the king that he was not a weak pushover.
He did not relish the task of fighting in this war due to who he would be fighting, but as he was the crown prince and husband of Ruth, he had to obey the king''s orders and fight on behalf of the Beorin kingdom.
¡°Messenger! Let the officers know that we will be staying here for the night but at dawn, we will set out for the village Madham where General Brutus is waiting,¡± ordered Rodger.
The messenger quickly saluted Rodger and ran off to follow his orders.
With such a large number of soldiers, Rodger hoped that the war would be over quick enough so that everyone could be home before the winter festivals arrived.
***
While Akira waited for his orders he helped out in one of the many forges in the mountain caves and continued to repair and make basic cheap weapons, shields, and armor for the army.
¡°Akira!¡± a gruff voice came from the doorway to the forge forcing him to look up from his work.
¡°Delgar? What are you doing here? You even brought Glola...¡±
¡°I see you''re putting my teachings to good use although the work looks a bit shoddy,¡± said Delgar picking up one of the cheap swords that he had finished earlier.
¡°I''m in a hurry right now to help replace some of the old rusty sticks that some of the werewolf warriors are trying to call a sword. There isn''t much time before I get pulled away from here and sent to one of the large wolf-packs to help fight against the invading Beorin army,¡± said Akira as he went back to hammering another sword.
¡°We came to give our help to our friends in their time of need,¡± said Glola.
¡°You should already know that with the war starting any time now, that this place will not be as safe as the dwarven citadels,¡± said Akira.
Glola walked passed Delgar and into the room as she let out a laugh.
¡°Ha! Do you think I would be afraid of such a small war? I may look like a beautiful and young maiden but I am well over 100 years old give or take a few decades. I have lived through many small wars between the humans and dwarves. I also experienced the horrors of the two great wars!¡± said Glola boasting of her experiences.
Akira was no expert on dwarven ages or what was considered old or young, nor did he know what the dwarves considered to be beautiful so he kept his mouth shut.
But obviously Delgar had an opinion as he coughed and huffed at her shameless boasts. Which was rewarded with a cuff to the ear by Glola.
¡°Anyways, I and a few other friends I know, came to help repair and make weapons and armor for you so that you don''t have to resort to using crap,¡± said Delgar as he turned and waved forward two other dwarfs.
The first to come forward was a young-looking dwarf with a bald head and a dark black beard that was well-groomed, oiled, and braided.
¡°This is Three toes. He gained the name in one of the great wars when all but three of his toes were cut off by a Demigod''s sword when they missed his head and instead chopped at his foot,¡± said Delgar pointing at the younger black-bearded dwarf.
The second dwarf was an elderly dwarf whose hair was gray as well as his long waist-length beard that had a simple ribbon tying his beard together.
¡°This is Stone deaf. He is almost completely deaf from using explosives many years in the mine without using anything to cover his ears,¡± said Delgar pointing at the old dwarf.
¡°Huh? Speak louder if you''re trying to talk to me,¡± said Stone Deaf.
¡°I was introducing you to Akira!¡± shouted Delgar. Akira''s ears hurt from the loud voice and thought people hundreds of miles away would be able to hear it.
¡°Why didn''t you say so before,¡± said the old man.
¡°Although there are only three of us, with our talent you don''t need to worry about making such cheap weapons,¡± said Delgar.
¡°You can count on me! Although I am not a grandmaster smith, I have won a few local awards in my town for some of my work,¡± said Three toes.
¡°Huh? Marriage? I''m too old to be thinking about marriage. A fire, anvil, and a hammer is all I need!¡± said Stone deaf.
¡°Are you sure he will be okay to work in the forge?¡± asked Akira wondering if Stone deaf had all his marbles.
¡°Don''t worry his hearing is crap but his mind is still in one piece and he is still one of the better blacksmiths that I know,¡± said Delgar.
Stone deaf listened to Delgar''s explanation with a serious face and nodded his head in agreement.
¡°That''s right when I was younger I did indeed fight a mountain bear with only my bare hands. After the fight my back was scared and bled for months whenever I moved too much,¡± said Stone deaf looking at the stone ceiling as he recalled the event that happened long ago in his youth.
***
Rodger led the large army of 20,000 soldiers along with many more civilian people who were in charge of the supply wagons which trailed behind the large army.
A man on a half-dead horse joined the supply train in the rear.
Seconds later another hooded person joined him and began a conversation.
¡°What are you doing here Bonestringer? Aren''t you supposed to be finding the gem you lost?¡±
¡°I could ask you the same question Tibia,¡± said Bonestringer through gritted teeth as his broken bones slowly regrew with the help of the potions he had continuously drank earlier in the day.
¡°I am on an important mission given by the other Heads,¡± said Tibia.
¡°I''m surprised that someone with your background would be given a mission all the way out here in the middle of nowhere. Don''t you know there is a war going on? These troops are not here to play.¡±
¡°I know exactly why the troops are here and I don''t intend to stay with them long. I am just using them to get to where I need to be without any hassles.¡±
¡°Alright, whatever you say,¡± said Bonestringer.
Chapter 120: First orders
The area in front of the mountains was a mass of werewolf warriors milling around trying to find others of their own wolf pack they had been assigned to. It was a complete mess.
A short time passed by before the officers had finally gathered everyone into their proper wolf packs inside of the larger wolf packs controlled by even higher-ranked officers.
Wulfric''s earlier guess several weeks ago on the size of the full strength of the werewolves army wasn''t off by much.
The army had over 15,000 regular warriors with 1500 in the reserves, for a total of 16500 warriors. The 1500 reserve warriors were given the task of keeping the caves and civilians inside of them safe.
Varbu, Chack, Maya, and Mileena were all given the job of helping defend the caves as well.
Akira thought it was unfortunate that they were unable to join the main army along with him and with Klyn.
Azura was also left at the caves to take care of the people of the blue moon clan while the others fought.
Several hours ago Akira had been called away from the forge and led to a large group of a few hundred other werewolves. He had little to no knowledge of who most of these people were as it was his first time meeting them.
As he looked around for a familiar face he was somewhat happy when he found Ardolf and Klyn were both in the same wolf pack as him. It looked like Dolph and the other werewolf warriors he had met on the trip north had all been assigned elsewhere.
¡°This army structure seems like a mess how exact is it set up?¡± asked Akira as he walked over to the two friendly faces.
¡°So you finally arrived,¡± commented Ardolf.
¡°It may be a mess right now but it has worked for every war including the great wars. As for the army let me explain it to you.
First, you have the scout unit which is only used for keeping a low profile to gather information on the enemy and find dangers ahead of the main army or whatever unit they are attached to. There are only 5 warriors in each scout unit.
The next is just a regular wolf pack with 20 warriors, above it is the omega wolf pack with 100 warriors, then the Epsilon wolf pack with 500 warriors, Beta wolf pack with 2500, and lastly the alpha wolf pack which is the full strength of the werewolf army.
Each wolf pack is led by an appropriate level officer except for the scout unit''s they have no officers,¡± said Klyn as he pushed his glasses back up in a smart way.
¡°I am the officer of the 5th omega wolf pack which both you and Klyn are part of. The 5th omega wolf pack is part of the 3rd Epsilon, 1st beta pack,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°Although you are second in command under me in one of the Bluemoon clan wolf packs. The grand elders are still skeptical of your prowess and have not given you an officer position.
Grand elder Wulfric asked me to pass a short message along to you that you need to keep fighting honorably and if you do so you will be recognized since the other grand elders are keeping an eye on you,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°I can do that,¡± said Akira nodding.
He wasn''t all that troubled by being given the position of a grunt warrior. This way when he became an officer he would not be looked upon as someone who received favors by being the grandson of a Grand elder.
¡°You have been put in the second wolf pack along with Klyn. You both are two of the three warriors in the second wolf pack that are not veterans of the last war. The officer commanding the second wolf pack is Botolf from the Redmoon clan,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°Who is the third person?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Go and see for yourselves,¡± said Ardolf with a knowing smile as he pointed to a small group of middle-aged veterans.
Akira and Klyn immediately walked over to the group and introduced themselves.
¡°So you''re the grandson of Grand elder Wulfric. Huh... I was about your age when I fought in the last war. I was in a different unit that coordinated many of our attacks along with Grand elder Wulfric,¡± was all Botolf said before turning to Klyn.
¡°I won''t be a nag since I know that shaman chants are not easy to use and take up a lot of energy but that does not mean you can be a slouch and not do your job correctly. I expect you to provide buffs when we need them for a big fight.¡±
¡°I will do my best!¡± said Klyn.
Botolf turned away from them and continued to chat with the other veterans of their group.
¡°Why are you here?¡± asked a voice from beside Akira. The voice was not hostile but it was not warm either.
¡°Oh... cousin nice to see you as well,¡± said Akira a little surprised at seeing Frang.
Now he knew why Ardolf had smiled earlier. He guessed that Frang had been put in the same unit as he was for the same reason, for both of them to gain experience and prove their strength.
¡°How weird is that, both of you are the future heads of your clans and in the same wolf pack, and we are all lowly grunts,¡± said Klyn with a laugh trying to smooth out the mood and make sure an argument didn''t start.
¡°Ha! I may be only a warrior now but I''ll show that my skill is not something to look down on!¡± said Frang.
¡°Same here,¡± replied Akira.
Botolf watched from a distance as the three greenhorns talk to each other. He had heard from Redbeard that the two cousins had quite a few arguments already and now it was his job to keep an eye on the two to make sure they didn''t act up. What a headache this was going to be.
¡°Alright! Everyone in the 5th omega wolf pack gather up!¡± shouted Ardolf.
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The warriors of the 5th omega stopped their chatter and walked over to Ardolf in a loose semi-circle.
¡°We have just been given our first two orders! We are to go with the 3rd Epsilon wolf pack and talk to the Griiq tribes to see if they will be helping us in the future fights to come. Then we have to meet back up with the 1st beta pack near the border where we will receive further instructions. Let''s go,¡± said Ardolf.
***
The 3rd epsilon wolf pack had been camped outside the Griiqs main city for over two days as the officers led by Redbeard who was the officer of the 3rd epsilon, tried to get an answer out of the Griiq elders who were reluctant to do anything, even with the possible crisis knocking on their door.
Akira sat and waited along with the rest of the warriors. It was boring and frustrating knowing that other wolf packs were getting to the front line and could be already fighting the enemy while they were sitting and doing nothing.
¡°How am I supposed to become an officer if all we do is sit around!¡± complained Frang.
¡°We can do nothing but follow orders this is also an important thing to show that we can be trusted,¡± said Akira.
¡°Plus if we can get the help of the Griiq we can outnumber the human army by a lot,¡± said Klyn as he used a stick to draw in the moist sand.
The three were the youngest in their wolf pack and so they had decided to stick together and get along rather than fight and argue with each other. This made Botolf quite happy since it meant he didn''t have to babysit them.
¡°Akira! Come here!¡± shouted Ardolf near the city gates.
Both Klyn and Frang looked at Akira curious at why he was being called.
Akira shrugged his shoulders before jogging over to Ardolf.
¡°Redbeard wants to talk to you,¡± said Ardolf as he led Akira to the large mud brick Ziggurat that was in the middle of the city.
Redbeard was impatiently waiting for them at the top of the hundreds of stairs.
¡°Akira I just remembered that you have a friend that is a Griiq. So you should know how to get them to agree on something right? Plus they should know you as well. So can you put in a few words for us to Griiq elders to hurry up their decisions?¡± asked Redbeard.
¡°Uh.. well I wouldn''t say my experiences with Chack and the other Griiq were anything but normal. I can still try to help but I am unsure how much help I can provide,¡± said Akira.
¡°Good, follow me.¡±
Akira was led inside the uppermost building and down several sets of stairs that descended inside of the large Ziggurat until they came to a large and dimly lit Square room that had many rows of benches and chairs.
The Griiq elders sat on the benches while the werewolf officers sat on the chairs that had been brought into the room.
The slow discussion they were having stopped when Redbeard entered the room with Akira and Ardolf behind him.
At the sight of Akira, several of the elders began to whisper to each other.
When the three of them were seated a Griiq elder stood up.
¡°I see you have brought a troublemaker to the meeting. Were you going to try and use him to help your case?¡±
¡°Stop nitpicking at every little thing. That was in the past and since it seems like you have already forgotten, I will remind you that he along with Chack completed the halls of heroic trials. That''s more than you have done in your entire life,¡± said another elder who Akira recognized as Chack''s father.
That shut up the elder who had tried to derail the meeting and the discussion on what to do with the possible invading human army continued.
When Akira was allowed to speak he was only able to say a few sentences before sitting back down.
With Akira''s presence and the few words he had spoken, he was able to change a few of the Griiq elder''s minds as well as pull some of the elders that were still in the middle and unsure what to do towards the possibility of helping them.
By the end of the day, the Griiq elders had finally reached a decision. In the end, they had decided that they would not send any warriors to fight on the front lines along with the werewolves but they would send their warriors to the borders of their own territory and stop any human soldier that tried to pass through their own lands.
Although the decision was beneficial to the earth tribe it was not what Redbeard had been hoping for.
With the Griiq guarding the connected northwest area of the werewolf territory the werewolves could focus on other areas along the border and not worry too much of a surprise attack from that side.
¡°I''ll be sure to let the grand elders know of the help that you provided when I write it up in my report,¡± said Redbeard as he and the other officers along with Akira descended from the tall Ziggurat to return to the waiting warriors outside the city.
***
It had taken Rodger over a fortnight to lead the large army through the muddy swamplands.
He was beginning to really hate the swamplands.
The heat had caused several of the soldiers under his command to get sick from too much sun exposure as they traveled.
The humidity of the swampland''s made him feel like every part of his body was always wet and sticky, and the mud was even worse it got everywhere and into everything and caused massive delays.
The supply wagons pulled by large draft horses always got stuck whenever they had to go through a particularly wet area.
But that was not the worst of it! It was the damn insects and the large monsters that lived in the Swamplands that had caused him so much grief as he lost nearly a hundred men to them mostly at night when they were paroling.
It had gotten so bad that the soldiers would not patrol around the camp and instead stood right next to the bright fires which did little more than let you see what it was that was going to eat you.
To combat this Rodger had decided to have the army march at night and sleep during the day.
Although marching at night was far harder than during the day, especially in the swamplands it made it so that they would not be sitting ducks for the lurking monsters and would be able to react to any surprise night attack.
When they reached the large campsite at the small town of Madham the tired and muddy soldiers all gave a sigh of relief.
***
¡°How many soldiers did you bring with you?¡± asked Brutus as he looked up from a letter had been writing at his makeshift desk set up in his tent.
¡°20,000...but 213 are either sick or are recovering from a wound, we lost 137 to attacks from the local monsters during the night,¡± reported Rodger hesitantly not sure how his father would take the news of the deaths.
¡°Heh...The weak will be culled and only the strong will remain after this war. You did a good job good in bringing the army here in once piece. With over 19000 soldiers we have enough to crush anything the werewolves send at us,¡± said Brutus who was surprisingly calm about it and even gave Rodger a few rare words of praise.
¡°Father about Akira can we...¡±
¡°Don''t talk about that mutt. I have my orders. We are to capture him and take him to those that want to...talk to him. If you can not control your feelings and do as ordered then I will remove you from command. You may be a Prince now but you are still my son and I expect you to act like it and not dishonor me during the coming battles,¡± said Brutus sharply interrupting Rodger.
¡°Although I want you to fight with honor...If you come to an unwinnable situation where you will face death... you must retreat and regather with others so that you can continue to fight at a later date. I do not want you to be a fool and die like your brother,¡± said Brutus in a softer and quieter voice that Rodger had not heard in many years.
¡°Father...¡±
¡°Enough talking. Go see that the soldiers get settled in and when that is done bring the officers to my command tent.¡±
Rodger let out a sigh and left his father''s tent to complete the orders that had been given to him.
As Rodger disappeared into the mass of tents two dark-robed figures passed the guards near Brutus tent and entered the tent.
Chapter 121: Scouting the enemy. What? Its over ****!!!
The 3rd Epsilon traveled to the border of the werewolves territory where the 1st beta pack was camped and making preparations for the rest of the army that would arrive shortly.
The officers of the 3rd Epsilon let the warriors take a rest while they walked to the temporary command tent of the commanding officer for the 1st beta pack in order to report on their mission and receive their new orders.
The warriors only had enough time for a short rest before the officers returned.
¡°Alright everyone, gather around!¡± said Ardolf, causing everyone''s quiet chatter to stop. When the 100 warriors of the 5th omega all stood in front of Ardolf he continued to speak.
¡°The 3rd Epsilon has been chosen to be the first to go out and scout the enemy army and its raiding forces. We already know there is a smaller force of around 1000 is near Madham and it will likely be where the enemy''s army starts their invasion from. We are to scout the rest of the surrounding areas to make sure that the enemy is not trying to do anything sneaky.¡±
¡°To do this with such a large border we will be breaking up into twenty teams of 5. This is only a scouting mission, with only five warriors in a unit your job I not to fight the enemy but to silently watch and observe the enemy if you encounter them.
If you must attack only do so if you feel you have a chance of winning without alerting a larger force or when there is no other choice. Otherwise, escape and report their position and a larger force of warriors will be sent to take care of them. All right, I''ll separate you in to your teams now.¡±
Akira and Klyn waited in the back of the group as Ardolf separated everyone into their scouting units.
¡°...and team twenty will be Akira, Klyn, Frang, Gonzalo, and Vilkas. Team twenty will be in charge of keeping watch of the 1000 soldiers already at Madham. Make sure not to get to close or you might alert the enemy of your presence. Now that you all have your orders you may leave whenever but you must return in 7 days or less and give a report on any information that you find out.¡±
With that, the twenty scouting teams were dismissed and went their separate ways after they gathered enough rations for a full week.
***
¡°Why were we given the easy job?¡± complained Frang for the 100th time.
His constant complaining about anything and everything as they ran to their destination was getting on everyone''s nerves.
Finally, Klyn. who had enough of listening to his complaining spoke up, ¡°Will you quit your complaining? I don''t see how this is an easy job when only five of us are going to a place that has over a thousand human soldiers. One wrong move and we could be easily killed.¡±
¡°But how are we going to make a name for ourselves and get promoted if we are stuck with this type of mission. We''ll be unable to add any kills to our name and we''ll just be a grunt warrior forever,¡± said Frang.
¡°I have to agree with Klyn. This is also a very important mission to make sure we know where and what the enemy is up to so that our main army can respond to it if they need to.
We also need to make sure we get an accurate number of the enemy, the weapons, armor, and any other type of special weaponry they might have so that the army won''t be blindsided by any surprises,¡± said Gonzalo who was around the other three''s age.
Akira and Vilkas chose not to join the conversation and only listened to them as the small scouting group ran to their destination.
Vilkas was the oldest member in the group with an age somewhere around thirty and had even participated in the last few months of the last great war.
¡°Well I can count as good as any other normal person but with so many people moving around, I think it will be near impossible to get an accurate number of the enemy''s army,¡± said Frang.
¡°That''s no problem although Vilkas acts like he is a mute he has a good brain for counting things quickly. So he''s in charge of counting,¡± said Gonzalo.
With the help of Klyn''s buffs that allowed them to run for several hours without sleep and with the deep knowledge of the swamplands that Vilkas had they were able to make good time and reached the forest near Madham faster than the time Akira thought it would take.
It was night time and the town of Madham was just barely visible in the distance due to the burning fires that looked like little floating firefly''s from such a long distance.
Since it was already late they decided to rest before they started the task of inspecting the enemy''s army.
They climbed up into the trees that were still full of leaves which helped hide them from prying eyes.
Akira was the first to take a two-hour watch while the others slept off their exhaustion.
From the height of the tall trees, he could see everything in the surrounding area unhindered unlike when he had been standing on the ground.
The night was calm and quiet. The swamp bugs buzzing and the night owls hooting mixed in with the calm wind flowing through the thousands of leaves created soothing natural music that made you want to fall asleep.
Akira had to pinch and slap himself a few times to keep awake.
Over an hour and a half had passed like this with Akira trying to find different ways to keep awake. While he was fiddling with a branch to his right he heard the loud crack of a dry twig in the distance and became fully alert.
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¡°Everyone! Wake up,¡± said Akira quietly.
The four others who had been lightly sleeping sat up and looked towards Akira.
¡°Enemy,¡± was all Akira said before pointing in the direction the sound had come from.
¡°How many?¡± asked Gonzalo.
¡°Don''t know,¡± said Akira with a shrug.
The sounds of several people walking in the damp dirt were getting louder as they were getting closer to the trees that they had chosen to spend the night in.
¡°Let''s attack them!¡± said Frang in a voice too loud for the current situation.
¡°Shhh~,¡± said Akira trying to silence Frang.
¡°You''re not the boss of me so don''t to shush me,¡± said Frang as he readied his weapon to fight the enemy.
¡°Have you forgotten what our orders were? We are not here to pick a fight with the enemy, we''re only here to scout and gather information,¡± whispered Klyn angrily.
¡°He also said we can fight if we feel we can win. I am not afraid and there is no need to worry since they are just humans,¡± said Frang ignoring the others'' warnings.
With Frang being hotheaded and too stubborn to listen to anyone''s words, Akira took action before Frang did something stupid and got them into a mess they couldn''t handle.
He jumped from the branch he had been sitting on and slammed into Frang pinning him to the tree behind him. Frang struggled to get out of Akira''s arms but was unable to match Akira''s strength.
¡°Let go of....¡±
Akira quickly covered Frang''s mouth with his hand but the short struggle in the tree branches had already alerted the soldiers that were now almost underneath them.
¡°What was that?¡± asked a tensed voice of one of the soldiers who held up his puny lantern that only lit up an area of ten or so feet away and tried to look around for the source of the disturbance.
¡°The noise came from that tree over there,¡± said another soldier pointing with his sword.
A group of over twenty human soldiers cautiously walked forward looking around the ground first before looking into the trees for any monster that might be lurking in the dark shadows of the night.
Akira increased his strength and pinned Frang so that he could not move or make a sound at all.
He held his breath as did the other three all sitting unmoving as they clung to the tree that hid them.
¡°Damn it. It''s probably just a squirrel or something. It scared the crap out of me,¡± said the first soldier as he lowered the lamp.
¡°I hate this place why did we have to draw the short end of the stick and get punished with night patrols. This hell hole is already dangerous enough during the day but it''s a hundred more times worse at night,¡± complained a second soldier.
¡°What type of savages do the werewolves have to be in order to live in such a crap place like this, where everything from the plants, insects, and monsters are trying to kill you,¡± asked a soldier as the group continued to walk away. They wanted to get away from the spooky tree as fast as they could just in case there was a monster hiding up in the branches just waiting for a chance to eat them.
Akira waited several minutes before removing his hand from Frang''s mouth and releasing him from the pin before returning back to the tree he had been hiding in before.
¡°What was that! Why did you pin me to the tree? Do you think I''m not afraid to fight you?¡± asked Frang with a hiss in a low voice not wanting Akira to come back over and cover his mouth again.
¡°You and I are cousins so I only did it because if you had done something stupid to get yourself killed, I would have had a hard time trying to explain to Redbeard and Grandelder Clark, why you died,¡± said Akira.
Frang had not been expecting an answer like that and was not sure how to respond to it.
¡°You''re lucky that your outburst happened in this small group and that it was your cousin that stopped your actions. If you had done the same thing in a larger group and risked putting the lives of everyone in danger just for your childish thoughts of gaining points for a promotion, you would have been permanently silenced by everyone else without a tear shed in order to keep everyone else alive and out of danger,¡± said Vilkas quietly.
These were the first words that Vilkas had spoken and it threw everyone off.
¡°Vilkas is correct. You are not a little pup anymore you need to smarten up and act like you are an adult or you will find yourself in a situation that you will not like,¡± said Gonzalo.
Frang remained silent after receiving such harsh rebukes. Akira could see that he was deep in thought about what had been said.
''At least he isn''t too dense and stubborn to know when he crossed the line,'' though Akira letting out a sigh of relief.
***
When morning arrived everyone had only gained a few hours of sleep. Even with such a short rest, they would still be able to function well enough to do the job they had been tasked with.
The group continued to walk towards the town staying inside the forest for as long as they could to keep undercover and get as close as they could without alerting the enemy army or any of the random groups of soldiers patrolling the area.
¡°Still too far away,¡± muttered Gonzalo as he looked through a small collapsible spyglass.
¡°There are a few gullies that lead closer but we have to cross open ground to get to them,¡± said Akira pointing to one of the many gullies in front of them.
The one he pointed to cut through a small hill that would allow them to have a higher ground to look at the enemy army while still being hidden from prying eyes of the enemy''s lookouts.
With only this option left they were forced to get on their bellies and slowly crawl towards the chosen gully.
After an hour of crawling passed Akira rolled into the gully and stopped himself before reaching the bottom where the swampy river water was flowing.
He waited several more minutes for the others to join him.
Everyone''s body and faces were caked in mud from the constant movement on the wet ground. Akira didn''t mind much since it helped with blending in with his surroundings.
Gonzalo handed Vilkas the spyglass as they silently walked forward to get a better view while still being hidden.
Another ten minutes of walking passed before Vilkas walked to the wall of the gully and dug his feet into the side before slowly raising his head and the spyglass over the edge.
A low curse came from his mouth several seconds later as he looked through the spyglass.
The others were curious but held their tongues and let Vilkas continue with his counting while they held their weapons ready for any attack that might come.
A long-time had passed before Vilkas finished and rejoined them.
¡°How many are there?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°20,000,¡± was all that Vilkas said.
This caused both Frang and Gonzalo to let out low curses. The number of the enemy was well over the full strength of their own army.
¡°The enemy army sure moved fast.¡±
¡°Did you get a good look at their equipment and anything else they might have?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I did but everyone should look since you might see something I missed,¡± said Vilkas handing the spyglass to Akira before returning to his usual silence.
Akira took the spyglass and went over to the spot that Vilkas had been using and looked at the enemy''s army.
It was an amazing sight to see so many tents and soldiers walking around outside the town of Madham.
It all looked like a medium-sized city of its own bristling with sharp and shiny weapons.
Akira handed the spyglass over to Klyn after he had gathered all the information he could.
Everyone took their turn and when they finished it was already late afternoon when they exited the gully and began crawling their way back to the forest.
Chapter 122: Patrolling the border
Akira and the rest of the werewolves in the small scouting unit stealthily escaped the territory occupied by the human army and continued to travel at a quick pace and returned within the 7-day limit.
¡°20,000? Are you sure that number is correct?¡± asked Ardolf.
¡°We each took a good look and checked for ourselves. The number may sound high but it''s an accurate number,¡± said Akira.
¡°When I counted they were set up into three different camps near each other. 5000 on the left 10,000 in the center and 5000 on the right. This is probably how their army is organized with the 10k as their core army while the right and left armies could be used for other things,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°I''ll have to take this information to Redbeard and let him decide what to do. You can rest until I receive new your new orders,¡± said Ardolf before leaving his tent that doubled as both his sleeping quarters and his temporary office.
***
¡°Elders, general Blaez,¡± said Redbeard as he saluted to general Blaez and gave a slight bow of respect to the elders that had been talking to the general and the other officers in the tent.
¡°What is?¡± asked Loup who was a somewhat famous warrior from the large Ironhide clan. He had fought in both of the last two great wars now nearing 50.
¡°I have received important news about the enemy army and have come to report on the strength of the enemy army and the equipment they are using.¡±
General Blaze waved his hand allowing Redbeard to continue.
¡°The enemy numbers are around 20,000 soldiers. The army is made up of 11-12 thousand foot-soldiers with various melee weapons, 4-5 thousand archers, and somewhere around 2 thousand Cavalry. No siege equipment was seen but they could be built it later if needed,¡± said Redbeard.
At the mention of cavalry one of the officers gave a loud laugh but was quieted when an elder gave a quiet cough and looked at him with a glare.
¡°How accurate is this information?¡± asked general Blaez.
¡°It was given to me by the commanding officer of the 5th omega just moments ago. This is the information given by the scouting unit that was sent to Madham. I have the utmost certainty that they would not lie about a serious matter like this.¡±
¡°Very well, If the information is found to be true then your unit and the scouting team that gathered the information will receive proper accommodations. You may return to your post I will send you new orders when we have finished discussing what to do with this information,¡± said general Blaez.
Redbeard again saluted general Blaez and left the command tent.
¡°The enemy having a slight advantage in numbers is not a big surprise, I think we can still manage,¡± said general Blaez continuing the conversation on what to do.
¡°Their cavalry will be next to useless in the swamps unless they find a large enough piece of dry land to fight on. We shouldn''t worry too much about them being used to harass us since they pose little to no threat in the current battlefields of the swamps,¡± said Loup.
Several other officers nodded their heads and gave words of agreement.
***
Akira''s small scouting unit was one of the last to have returned and when they reached the area where the 5th omega had set up its tents many other warriors were lounging around talking or cook food.
When the bored warriors saw Akira and the others had returned many walked over to them to see if they had found out anything important.
¡°Vilkas, did you guys see anything good? Did you get into a fight or two?¡± asked an older warrior that was about the same age as Vilkas.
Vilkas nodded his head but didn''t say anything to clarify what he was nodding to. He only looked to Akira as if telling him to do all the talking.
The other warriors seeing this turned to Akira expecting an answer.
¡°We ran into a few close calls but we didn''t fight anyone. What we did find was the main human army near Madham,¡± said Akira.
¡°How many were there?¡±
¡°Around 20,000.¡±
The warrior let out a whistle, ¡°They sure have pulled out all the stops to make sure this war will not be easy.¡±
¡°Did any of you get in a fight with the humans?¡± asked Frang excitedly.
The older warrior nodded his head, ¡°Squad 7 and 14 were both ambushed by the humans and received several wounds but they were able to kill the enemy. Luckily no one died. They are all bandaged up and resting right now, but they should be able to fight again before any big fights happen.¡±
The different squads continued to talk and trade information that they had found while they were out scouting their designated areas.
***
As the werewolf army consolidated its power and continued to gather information over the next few days the scouting units sent out started to encounter more and more enemy scouts which led several battles.
There were even a few deaths, the first of the war, starting to pop up as a result of the constant ambushes and fighting with the enemy scouts.
It was getting bad enough that if they wanted to send out scouts to keep an eye on the enemy instead of the original squads of 5 warriors, squads of twenty warriors would have to go out in order to fight off any enemy attack or ambush.
The fighting would only continue to escalate as the humans would just bring more soldiers the next time in order to counter the werewolves own force.
Akira''s scouting unit 20 along with four other scouting units had been consolidated into one group with Caleb as the commanding officer. Caleb was one of the many low-rank officers under Ardolf''s command.
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They had only been given a few days of rest before they were sent out again but this time to a different section of the border near the Griiq territory.
Everyone had a grim or serious face as the continued to move through the swamp on their patrols keeping a sharp lookout for any signs of enemies or traps.
¡°Are we strong enough to fight off an enemy ambush?¡± asked Frang nervously.
Before they left they had all heard that several hot spots of fighting on the border now required a full omega wolf pack to deal with the enemies large skirmishes between the scouting units.
Caleb overhearing Frang''s worried question gave a laugh and said, ¡°No need to worry, this area of the border has been quiet so far and if we need any help all we need to do is retreat to the Griiqs army near their border and they can kick whoever is chasing us.¡±
Six days passed just as quietly as Caleb had said it would. Tomorrow would be when they headed back to the main army and would be able to rest for a few days before being sent back out to another position on the border or receiving a different mission.
It was now a dark and cloudy night. The moonlight was randomly peeking out of the clouds and lighting up the area whenever a cloud moved away every so often.
The werewolves had switched to sleeping during the day and scouting at night in order to counter the humans who seemed to like ambushing the scouting units during the night.
Akira was walking at the head of the scouting pack next to Caleb in order to help block any sudden attacks from the front.
Both Akira and Caleb stopped when their alert ears picked up the sound of several footsteps coming from the direction of the Griiq territory.
Akira gave a quick silent whistle, which Caleb acknowledged and motioned the other warriors behind them to form up and head towards the sound.
They moved with well-practiced steps from dry patches of land keeping the sound they made as quiet as they could all the while keeping to the shadows as they neared the sound of running feet.
They could now hear loud splashes as a large group of people not trying to be stealthy continued to run through the watery swampland with loud breathing.
¡°What were those demons!?¡± asked a voice from the group as it huffed and puffed.
¡°Mop, didn''t you say that they were supposed to be a dull and timid race that wouldn''t fight us if we showed up?¡±
¡°I call bull crap! They killed over twenty soldiers even though they were outnumbered! I don''t know who you got that information from but they were lying!¡±
¡°Quiet you two! Stop talking and focus on getting out of this hellhole. The enemy is right behind us. We need to escape and regroup with a larger force and give our report!¡± ordered what appeared to be the commanding officer of the group.
From his hiding spot, Akira counted just over 30 soldiers running perpendicular to the werewolves spread out formation.
Caleb gave a short whistle command for the warriors to get ready to ambush the enemy when they drew near enough to intersect with the line of hidden werewolves.
Frang was standing next to Akira shaking with either fright or excitement, or it could even be both.
Not that far away the sound of larger and heavier footsteps could be heard coming from behind the fleeing human soldiers.
When the fleeing humans entered the kill zone where they would be unable to escape Caleb gave the order to attack with another short whistle.
All twenty of the werewolf warriors transformed growing taller, more muscular, and having thick fur cover their entire bodies there were many different colors of fur.
Several of the warriors let out howls as they launched their ferocious attack on the fleeing human soldiers that were unwittingly running right towards the werewolves.
¡°Ambush!¡± shouted the human commander but it was too late for them to do anything.
¡°Awooooooo!¡± as Akira transformed he used his class skill [Howl].
The loud Howl raised the morale of the charging werewolves while sending chills of dread down the human soldier''s spines.
Ding!
The enemy has been affected by the skill [Howl].
They are now stunned for 5 seconds and have lost a portion of their fighting morale.
|
The human soldiers wobbled around in a stunned panic as the werewolves ran towards them.
They were unable to shoot any arrows or cross bolts at the charging werewolves and only recovered from their panicked stupor when the werewolves were right on top of them.
Snarls and cries of pain and screams of horror sounded through the night as the werewolves slammed into the group.
They unleashed their various attacks on the weak human bodies using whatever weapon they wanted. Whether it was their claws, teeth, swords, spears, or daggers it mattered not as long as the enemy was killed.
In the first clash, ten soldiers were killed making the forces equal in numbers but not strength.
A fierce fight broke out between the two sides with the werewolves having the advantage in strength and the fact that they were fresh compared to the enemy who had been running for who knows how long.
Several minutes into the fight the loud splashing that was heard before arrived behind the humans making them fight even harder to try and escape from being hammered in the rear as well as the front.
It was a useless struggle.
What appeared behind them was a group of Griiq riding on large Lizarsaurus.
Seeing that the enemy they had been chasing was in a fight with the werewolves they spurred their mounts forward to help in the slaughtering of the mutual enemy.
When there were only three human soldiers left Caleb gave the order for the warriors to stop their fighting.
The Griiq followed suit but did not lower their weapons and kept them pointed at the remaining three humans.
Caleb stepped forward still fully transformed and stared at the cowering soldiers in front of him.
¡°You three will be killed. You have a choice to tell us what we want to know and have a quick and painless death or we will get the information out of you by other means,¡± said Caleb with a growl.
The two soldiers on the left and right started to sob and looked at the man in the middle on what to do. But he had a hard face already accepting his fate that they would die which only made the sobbing soldiers moral fall to rock bottom.
¡°Which is it?¡± asked Caleb looking at the man who looked to be the officer.
¡°We surrender! we''ll tell... Gurgle...¡± one of the soldiers tried to surrender but the officer next to him slashed open his throat silencing him.
He turned to the last soldier and decided to silence him as well. The soldier tried to dodge the attack but stumbled and also received a slit throat.
¡°You can do whatever you must but you will not receive any information from me,¡± said the officer before raising his dagger to his own throat.
Akira was the first to react. Using the skill [Pounce] he leapt forward and slammed into the human''s body and grappled with him. The man seeing a chance to kill someone tried to stab Akira but before he could Akira used his full strength to break the man''s arm.
¡°Ahh!¡±
With the dagger dropping from his now crooked and limp arm both his suicide and attempt to kill Akira failed and was under was now under Akira''s complete control.
¡°Alright, we''ll do what you want,¡± said Caleb as he motioned for two other warriors to pick him up.
¡°We will help you,¡± said the Griiq officer in charge of the group of warriors that had been chasing after the humans.
Several hours passed with the chilling sound of screams of pain as the human officer was questioned by both Caleb and the Griiq far away from the main groups who sat around making sure that nothing tried to ambush them.
¡°I don''t understand why they had to all die aren''t we supposed to take prisoners?¡± asked Akira to Vilkas who was standing next to him.
He only knew of war through the training he had learned when he was younger and was still learning the tactics and customs of the Earth tribe.
¡°Don''t be naive. The humans do not treat us as equals, and with that point of view, they never leave anyone alive that they capture. They show no mercy to the young or old it matters not if they are male or female, they all die. Not even the Griiq and the goblins who are known for their savagery during war, would refuse to take prisoners. We can not be lenient with the enemy or they will take it as a sign of weakness and use it against us. Until they stop slaughtering everyone they capture we can not do anything else,¡± said Vilkas.
Chapter 123: First major engagement
As the moon dipped down and the sun began to rise and replace it, Caleb departed from the Griiq and returned to the waiting werewolves that had stood guard all night.
¡°Remind me not to anger any Griiq,¡± said Caleb to no one I particular.
¡°So did you get anything out of him?¡± asked Vilkas.
¡°I didn''t do much of the interrogation, it was mostly the Griiq who used their skills,¡± said Caleb with a shudder after remembering what he saw.
¡°We did learn some important news. Then enemies vanguard will be invading soon and will be setting up a forward base! The humans we ran into were scouts for the vanguard that were looking for weak spots in our defense. They were also given the task of finding our main base so that they could send a raiding force to attack it and divert some of our strength from any future battles. We have to head back and report this immediately.¡±
¡°Yes! With these last few weeks full of accomplishments we should be on our way to getting a promotion!¡± said Frang happily.
¡°Hmph, promotions are not that easy to get. If they were everyone in the army would be an officer with no soldiers to command,¡± said Vilkas.
***
Redbeard stood in the command tent in front of General Blaez for the second time in the last two weeks.
¡°Your unit seems to have a special skill at finding out important information. This is the second time that you have given us vital information. It is appreciated very much. As I said before if and when this is confirmed everyone will be compensated in due time,¡± said General Blaez.
¡°General, my men were just at the right place during the right time. We are just lucky that we were able to stumble upon such success. I will be sure to let the men know that their work is appreciated,¡± said Redbeard.
¡°You are dismissed,¡± said General Blaez.
When Redbeard left the command tent the officers started a heated discussion on what to do.
It was quickly decided to send another unit with a messenger bird to the front lines to watch the enemy army.
The several 100+ scouting units that were currently patrolling were to be recalled immediately back to the main army so that they could move and counter the enemy with their full strength if needed.
***
It was early morning several days later when a messenger bird flew into its home nest and waited for the leather tube to be taken off its back.
After the messenger in charge of the rookery saw the hastily written words urgent on the rolled-up letter he hurriedly ran towards the Generals tent and handed over the letter.
¡°What''s this?¡± asked General Blaez trying to clear the sleep from his eyes.
¡°It is a letter that just came from the scouts that are watching the main army,¡± said the messenger.
General Blaez quickly waved him away before opening the letter and reading the short message written.
¡°Moe, go gather the other officers immediately,¡± shouted Blaez to his attendant who was stationed outside of his tent.
Ten minutes later the command tent was filled with the commanding officers of the beta packs.
¡°The information from the other day was true,¡± said General Blaez waving the paper letter around.
¡°The enemies main vanguard with over 2000 soldiers left the main army and headed straight in our direction. It is most likely that they are just clearing the way for the main army''s attack, this is no feint. Also, the enemy''s army has indeed split into three and along with the movement of the vanguard 5000 soldiers have started to move to the left flank while another 5000 has gone to the right leaving only the vanguard and the main army together numbering 10k as the center.¡±
¡°It is a good thing we recalled our scouting warriors otherwise we would have been caught flat-footed and unable to immediately respond,¡± said Gren the officer of the 6th beta pack.
¡°We will move out immediately to stop the enemy from gaining any advantage by flanking us and split into three packs to counter each of the enemy''s armies. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Beta packs will fight the vanguard and the main army led by me. The 4th beta pack will counter the left diversion army while the 5th beta pack will counter the right. We will have to have the 6th beta pack split between the three groups in order to help even the numbers against the enemy. So it will be 3500 to the left 3500 to the right and 8000 to fight the enemy''s main army. Gren, you can choose which of the three packs you want to fight in since your command has been split.¡±
¡°I would like to fight alongside you General! Because that is surely where the main fighting will be,¡± said Gren.
He was not particularly upset about his command being split in fact he was happier than the others thought he should be. This order suited him well since it lessened what he had to worry about and allowed him to focus on fighting which he liked more than commanding.
He had only gotten the spot of the 6th beta pack commander because he was too good at fighting. The promotion had put shackles on his love of fighting and he had been forced into the role of commanding and watching the battles more often than fighting on the front lines.
¡°Any questions?¡±
¡°Do you have any special orders for us? Do you want us to attack or defend against the diversion armies?¡± asked Yarow the commander of the 4th beta pack.
¡°For now keep them in check and make sure they can not do anything that would harm us or the civilians. If you see a chance to defeat them take it. Otherwise, be ready to receive any orders as I may require you to rejoin us or do another task. Everyone go and prepare to move out before noon,¡± ordered General Blaez.
***
Akira watched as almost half of the werewolf army split into two large forces with one heading out east and the other to the west. They marched to an uncertain battle where the enemy would outnumber them.
He could not worry about their troubles as he was traveling with the core army of 8000 werewolf warriors.
They were moving as quickly as a large army with a large baggage train could move in the swamplands, towards the enemy''s vanguard who were now under constant watch form the hidden werewolf scouts.
¡°I heard that the enemy''s vanguard has already picked a decent rare piece of dry land as their main base in our territory,¡± said Frang.
¡°From who?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Bert, he takes care of the messenger birds. He also said that he head from the general that we would be able to see the human army soon.¡±
¡°What he says is true. I received word from Redbeard earlier today we should be encountering them either tonight or sometime tomorrow. We have just been given an order to scout ahead of the army and if we can, we are to either destroy or kick the vanguard back to their main army,¡± said Ardolf.
Everyone after hearing this hardened their hearts for the battles that were now approaching faster and faster.
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***
The moon was high in the sky, giving off a faint light that trickled through the many clouds that covered the night sky.
It was not enough for humans to see clearly in the dark swamp jungles without large torches and campfires.
The burning fires and torches of the roaming patrolling soldiers were like a beacon in the night showing their exact positions to the scouting werewolves.
The sounds of shovels digging could be heard as the humans continued to work late into the night trying to hurriedly make a fortification out of the damp swamp dirt.
Akira watched the enemy soldiers from a safe and well-hidden spot out of the range of their vision and hearing along with the rest of the werewolf warriors that had been sent ahead to deal with the vanguard.
The unsuspecting vanguard had been silently surrounded on all sides and didn''t even know it. It was that or they thought that the werewolves would do nothing while also thinking that if they did get attacked they had enough soldiers to defend the incomplete fortifications.
Akira''s eyes scanned over the dry patch of ground that the enemy had chosen. It was a rather wide dry island surrounded by ankle-deep and in some places waist-deep swamp water.
It was not so wide that a full 20k army would not feel cramped and it had little room for the enemy''s cavalry to be of any use. What it did have going for it was that it was a good defendable place that would be hard to assault if they were allowed to solidify their hold on it.
Klyn and Frang stood in the shadows of trees next to Akira waiting for the order to attack. Four of the five epsilon packs had been sent ahead to crush the enemy vanguard while the main army continued to move forward.
Frang was shaking with excitement, while Klyn had a look of irritation. He hated fighting and would rather just study his shaman chants and herbalism. He already knew this would be a big fight and everyone would be counting on his buffs. Even if he didn''t fight he would be extremely tired from all the buffs he would have to use.
Before Akira could make a comment to calm the two down, the high pitch sound of the command whistle was heard from the rear signaling to each warrior that it was time to commence the attack.
Slowly the noose around the enemy tightened as the werewolves crept forward as they walked silently in the swampy water.
As Akira moved forward with the rest of the 3rd epsilon he focused on the enemy soldiers patrolling in front of him ready to start his charge into battle if the enemy discovered their presence.
Klyn was busy quietly chanting and re-chanting his shaman buffs making sure that everyone would have something at the beginning of the battle.
Several light thunks were heard after Redbeard gave the order for the crossbows to shot at the nearest patrolling soldiers.
The bolts whizzed through the air and pierced the two patrolling soldiers'' heads killing them immediately. The burning torch that one of them had been holding fell to the soggy sand and rolled into the water letting out a soft hiss as it was extinguished.
The werewolf warriors halted all movement as they looked towards the enemy''s half-built fortifications. When no alarm was sounded they continued to walk forward.
They silently stepped out of the swamp onto the dry land and continued walking in the darkness of night towards the half-complete dirt walls of the large fort.
The sounds of shovels digging and throwing the dirt onto the wall was even louder now. Akira could now clearly see hundreds of the soldiers outside of the wall digging a moat and using the dirt that was dug to add to the walls of the fort.
¡°Enemy attack!¡±
They were only halfway towards the wall when a cry of alarm was raised on the north side of the fort on the opposite side of where Akira, Frang, and Klyn were.
The sound of battle along with the howls of the werewolf warriors to the north could be heard as the enemy soldiers started to engage in battle.
Redbeard held up and hand to for everyone to stop and they watched as the soldiers outside of the fortification in front of them dropped their shovels and ran north to fight off the 4th epsilon pack leaving this side of the fort lightly defended and wide open for an attack.
Similar cries of alarm sounded from the east and west walls as the 1st and 2nd epsilon packs started their attacks.
With another whistle command from Redbeard, all 500 warriors of the 3rd epsilon charged forward to try and use this to their advantage to enter the fort unopposed while the enemy was occupied at the other three walls.
Akira sprinted forward with a great burst of speed taking the lead when he reached the wall he tensed his muscles and jumped over the half dug moat. He landed right next to the sandy wall and started to climb up it with Frang, Vilkas, and Klyn following right behind him.
When Akira reached the top of the wall he crouched down looking for targets from the higher vantage point.
¡°Commander it should be safe back here. You can stay here while the soldiers fight off the enemy,¡± came the voice of a middle-aged man nearby hidden in a row of tents.
¡°Huh...huh...those damn werewolves...attacking without warning and making me run. Who do they think they are!¡±
¡°It''s called a sneak attack sir.¡±
¡°You idiot I know what it''s called.¡±
Hearing the voices Akira and several other warriors that had joined him on the wall, dropped down to the ground and stealthily walked towards the sound of the voices, while the rest of the warriors fanned out to find other targets.
¡°Father I thought you said that this would be a safe place to earn a few ranks in the military!¡± whined a young voice.
¡°How was I supposed to know that the blasted werewolves would know we were here and decide to attack us.¡±
Akira crept closer towards the voices and stopped at the edge of the tent he was hiding behind.
He could hear the breathing of several people just around the corner. The nearest person to him was the whiny young voice who was right in front of Akira.
Akira looked to Klyn, Frang, and Vilkas who all nodded that they were ready.
¡°Father I want...¡±
Akira charged around the corner revealing a small square opening where a fire was burning around the campfire were several soldiers standing near two extremely fat people.
With his shield raised to block any attacks that came his way, he thrust his sword forward towards the nearest person that was in front of him which was the smaller of the two mountains of flesh.
His sword pierced all the way through the thin leather armor and completely passed through the flabs of flesh and exited his stomach.
The whiny youth could not finish his sentence and was only able to look down at the sword sticking out of his belly looking like someone sticking out their tongue.
¡°TUBBORD! You vile demons! What have you done to my son!¡± shouted the fat commander in a mixture of surprise, anger, and horror.
Akira quickly pulled his sword out and turned his attention to the commander that had just spoken.
One of the soldiers used a warhorn to raise the alarm and let everyone know that the enemy was also attacking the rear.
¡°Protect the commander get him out of here!¡± shouted a soldier as he ran forward along with several other soldiers to meet Akira and the other werewolves that had flooded out from behind the tents.
Akira used the skill [Shield bash] to knock two soldiers out of his way as he charged towards the escaping commander.
Seeing Akira going for the commander Frang did not want to be outdone and tried to follow but was stopped when a sword swung towards his head.
Clang! He swung his sword up to block the attack and pushed the sword back towards the knight that had attacked him.
¡°Get out of my way! I have to kill that fat guy so I can get promoted!¡±
¡°Fook off! You ain''t killing no one!¡± shouted the knight while kicking Frang with an armored boot.
Several other warriors started to engage in fighting the soldiers around them.
Akira was able to plow his way through the soldiers that tried to block him catch up to the commander.
He was only able to poke him several times in the butt when he tried to pierce the large man making the commander cry in pain.
For a fat person, he was surprisingly fast and agile when it came to trying to escape someone.
A soldier running with the commander jumped at Akira swinging his sword while shouting, ¡°Your opponent is me!¡±
With a quick slash of his sword, Akira used the skill [Slash] bisecting the soldier and as well as another person that had come to help.
Seeing this the commander let out a whimper and continued to run trying to escape from Akira.
Even more, soldiers that had come running to fend off the attackers in the rear after hearing the warhorn, now saw Akira chasing the commander.
They tried to block Akira''s path but were all cut down or fatality wounded.
Akira stopped next to one of the soldiers that had just died and picked up his spear.
With a firm stance, he hurled the spear at the running commander piercing his upper thigh causing him to fall to the ground with a loud thump.
¡°Don''t kill me! I am worth a lot of gold if you ransom me!¡± blubbered the fat commander as he tried to crawl away from Akira who had appeared next to him.
¡°I''m not interested in money. If you have any information I can think about sparing your life,¡± said Akira raising his sword ready to kill the man.
¡°But.. but... I don''t know anything! That damn Brutus doesn''t share his plans with anyone other than the prince!¡±
Akira''s sword swung down and separated the commander''s head from his flabby neck in one clean move.
¡°The commander is dead!¡±
¡°Kill that guy!¡±
¡°No! Are you insane! We need to escape from here or we will die as well!¡±
Several shouts rang out adding to the confusion of the battle.
Akira was forced to fight several other soldiers as he backed away and tried to return to the rest of the werewolves.
Chapter 124: Gifts
The fierce fighting lasted only a half-hour before the last human soldier breathed their last.
When they finished counting the dead bodies, they were surprised to find the number of dead enemies was less than they had expected there were only 1000 soldiers that had been stationed at the forward base.
For whatever unknown reason the enemies vanguard had been split which ultimately led to a rather quick defeat.
With this knowledge, they stayed alert and watched their surroundings while they assessed their losses and wounded.
Only fifty warriors died fighting against the humans, most of which were from the 4th epsilon which bore the full brunt of the enemy''s attack at the beginning of the fight.
It was a sad thing to lose even one warrior as the earth tribe needed every warrior they had to hold off all the dangers of the world. They were lucky that the enemy had been caught off guard or the losses would have been far higher.
¡°Don''t be so down for every person we lost we killed 20 of their men,¡± said Vilkas seeing Akira staring at the dead werewolves that had been gathered and placed on a large pyre. The pyre had been hastily built with the humans building material that was meant for building the fort.
¡°Well, now that Jim died someone will have to be promoted in order to take his spot,¡± said Frang looking at Akira with envy.
The candidate for promotion was most likely going to be Akira and with his recent killing of the commander of the vanguard, it all but cemented his future promotion.
¡°I am perfectly fine. I''m just thinking about what will happen next and the future where others will surely die,¡± said Akira.
¡°No need to overthink it, we''ll get our orders soon enough. Until then we just need to be on guard for any enemy counter-attack,¡± said Vilkas before returning to the half-built fort walls.
The next night.
Several hours later a buzz went through the camp as word came from the scouting shaman that an enemy force of 1000 or more soldiers was making its way to the fort.
It wasn''t long before the werewolves with their perceptive ears could hear the noise from the small army of 1000 soldiers as they walked unsuspectingly towards the unfinished fort.
The werewolves quietly hid behind the low walls waiting for the soldiers to get closer so they could ambush them.
¡°Halt! Something feels off...¡± the voice of an older man rang out clearly being transmitted over the large distance of the swampy water.
¡°No one is working on the Moat or walls. Where are Porskey''s men?¡± asked another person.
¡°Phatherson, go scout ahead and tell us what you see,¡± said the old voice.
Before Phatherson could move forward a large wind swept past the fort and headed towards the humans carrying the scent of blood and death.
They did not need the nose of a werewolf to be able to smell such an overpowering stench.
¡°Everyone retreat!¡± ordered the old commander decisively. He was an old and cautious soldier and did not want to step into any ambush that may or may not be waiting for them.
When the order for retreat was heard by the werewolves a loud howl rang out commanding the warriors to attack and hunt down the enemy!
The wild werewolves leaped out of hiding and jumped over the walls and the moat as they ran towards the escaping enemy.
Unfortunately, the enemy was able to escape as they had been farther away than they thought, as well as the large swamp separating them.
¡°Return to the fort! It is best we do not chase after them and fall into any traps they lay for us,¡± ordered Eyolf the commander of the 1st beta pack.
***
Brutus rode his warhorse at the center of the army with Rodger right next to him. The rest of the army''s commanding officers were forced to stay several paces behind them to give the commander and the prince some privacy.
A messenger riding his horse furiously towards them caught Brutus''s eye as they slowly walked forward with the rest of the army.
The messenger stopped several paces away and turned his mount around and matched the slow pace of Brutus who had not stopped to receive the messenger.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Brutus.
¡°General I bring grave news!¡±
¡°Out with it already!¡±
¡°The Vanguard encountered the enemy while they were setting up to fortification for the future battles and suffered heavy losses.¡±
¡°How bad? Do they need reinforcements?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°It doesn''t really matter, they should be able to hold out until we get there,¡± said Brutus.
The messenger was hesitant to answer the question for fear of the anger that would be unleashed by the general.
¡°...half of their forces were wiped out. The other half of the vanguard is several days behind me.¡±
Brutus''s rage flared up. He felt the urge to lash out and kill something but he controlled his anger.
''I am not some low barbarian. I am a respectable and honorable general and I needed all my soldiers alive to win the war in this damned swampland, where everything wants to kill us,'' thought Brutus as his heart raged with anger. He repeated his inner thoughts until he had calmed down.
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¡°When that Porky Porskey returns I will have his hide! I should just kill him and be done with it,¡± growled Brutus in his somewhat contained anger.
¡°Sir...Commander Porskey along with his son Tubbord were both among those that died...Currently, Nat is in command of the remaining vanguard soldiers.¡±
¡°Hmph! Trash!...Rodger! Take a few officers of your choosing and go relieve Nat of his position. You will now be in command of the vanguard. I expect that you will not fail me and harm our family''s honor,¡± said Brutus after dismissing the messenger.
¡°Order the army to move at double speed!¡± commanded Brutus. They would march forth and fight the enemy with a vengeance!
***
¡°We have our orders we need to take a shovel and help demolish the wall and fill in the moat,¡± said Ardolf.
¡°What? Why aren''t we staying here? We fought so hard to capture the fort and now we''re just going to destroy it?¡± asked Frang.
Redbeard who was nearby smacked Frang on the back of the head and said, ¡°Don''t ask questions and do as you''re told.¡±
Frang grumbled as he went to go pick up a shovel and join the rest of the warriors that were already demolishing the sand fort.
¡°The shaman scouts found that the human army will get here maybe a day or two before our own army. We will not be able to hold them off, so it is best to demolish it and take care of them when the main army arrives,¡± Ardolf explained to Akira as they walked over to the wall to help.
Several hours later when the walls and moat were all torn down and filled in they left a few parting gifts for the human army that would no doubt arrive here and try to reclaim the defensive spot.
After setting fire to the remaining tents wagons and other tools that had been piled up, the 1st beta pack left the area and headed towards the main werewolf army. Leaving only a few people behind to keep an eye on the enemy.
***
As expected the human army did indeed arrive at the open swampland first. The forced quick march made it so they were in no shape to fight a full pitched battle to take back the fort from the enemy or start doing manual labor to set up a defensive fortification.
They needed a good long rest and were hoping that the fort the vanguard had set up was still intact.
But to their horror, there was no fort, no moat, and no enemy!
There was nothing but bloodied dirt, dead bodies, and large piles of ashes.
They did find one silver lining out of all the bad that was piling up. The food and water that the vanguard had taken with them was still intact and not destroyed.
¡°Send a few work crews to clear the dead and other debris from the area so we can start building the defense fortifications,¡± ordered Brutus ignoring the exhausted soldiers.
Brutus jumped off his horse and walked over to the command tent that had been quickly erected.
Taking off his helmet and chest plate he sat down on the cot, the only furniture that had been brought into the tent, and laid down so that he could get a few hours of rest before the enemy arrived and there would be no time for sleep.
¡°AHHHH!¡± ¡°UWAHHHH!¡± ¡°GAHHH!¡±
Frightening cries of pain rang out causing Brutus to immediately sit up and put his armor back on before rushing out his tent to see what was wrong.
¡°Where is the enemy? How come the scouts didn''t warn us sooner?¡± shouted Brutus loudly.
Looking around he saw that the soldiers and officers nearby were just as clueless as him.
There was no sound of battle anywhere and no enemy in sight. So everyone looked towards the work crews that had been sent to clear the debris.
Brutus who was followed by his officers walked towards the cries of pain. As they neared they were able to see several large pits with sharp spears cut from random wood placed at the bottom.
Several soldiers had fallen into the pits and had been impaled on spears some dying immediately while others lying on the bed of spears screamed and moaned from the pain of being pierced several times.
As Brutus was watching another group of frightened soldiers that were trying to escape from the dangerous area, the ground disappeared from under their feet and they fell into another pit dying a painful death like all the others.
But that was not all of the troubles that they faced a few of the soldiers that had been sent to move the food and water supplies that had been left behind were now frothing at the mouth while rolling on the ground in pained spasms before they went limp and stopped breathing.
¡°Those damn mutts! I want that area cleared of traps before the day is over. We have no time to waste on being cautious! The enemy may arrive at any time! Dispose of the food and water so that no one else gets poisoned,¡± said Brutus once again full of anger.
***
¡°The General and the elders helping advise him have all heard of your accomplishments in the last battle. With all the other achievements and help you have given towards the current war, they have decided that you are worthy of taking over Jim''s command,¡± said Redbeard.
Ding!
The sound off multiple messages could be heard but he could not check them right now.
¡°Congratulations!¡± said Ardolf, Klyn, and Vilkas.
¡°Yeah, thanks,¡± said Akira scratching his head in embarrassment.
¡°Don''t think you have beaten me yet, just because you are a pack leader. I will be an Epsilon pack leader before you!¡± said Frang.
¡°Frang, If the only thing you keep on doing is boast then the only thing you will have to show for it will be a large mouth,¡± said Redbeard as he jabbed his elbow into Frang''s side.
¡°The elders and General Blaez also wanted me to tell you to keep up the good work,¡± said Redbeard turning to Akira.
¡°I will be sure to keep working as hard as I can,¡± said Akira humbly.
¡°I have other things to take care of before we reach the enemy army tomorrow, so I will take my leave,¡± said said Readbeard.
After everyone finished congratulating Akira they went back to preparing for whatever tomorrow brought.
When he was finally alone in his small tent he thought for a second on how he felt about this change in status.
''I was promoted faster than I thought I would be.''
He was now one of the pack officers in the 5th omega. He was still under the command of Ardolf and Redbeard so nothing had changed much other than the fact that he was now an officer with 19 other warriors under his command.
Overall it was not that big of a deal but it was one step up from being a grunt.
Akira cleared his thoughts and turned to the blinking messages that had appeared when Redbeard had informed him of his promotion.
-New stat Charisma has been created.
- (+ 10) to Charisma
-The Charisma stat influences how well the warriors and people under your command will follow your orders or suggestions.
|
-Requirements met!
-Unlocked new Passive skill tree Leadership:
-Leadership (Green officer Lvl 1: 0.00%): The higher the level of the charisma stat the higher the boost to moral will be. Higher levels of leadership will grand more benefits such as skills and larger control over.
|
-The party function has been unlocked!
-You now have the option to put people into your party as well as kick them out.
-When you further unlock skills in the leadership skill tree the effects of the skills will only affect the people in the party.
-The higher the level of leadership the more people you can add to your party.
|
¡°Interesting....This looks like it will be helpful,¡± said Akira as he read the messages.
Chapter 125: Surrender or Else
For the first time since he had started living in the swamplands, the early morning was cooler and less humid.
Akira stood at the edges of the werewolf''s camp fortifications and looked over the enemy''s own camp that was at a distance where neither of the armies could launch a surprise attack on the other. The werewolves had a slight advantage in that the trees blocked the human''s view for the most part.
The dirt fortifications around the enemy''s own tents were built so poorly that you could hardly call it a wall.
Even though the sound of shovels could be heard all night from both sides the results for the enemy''s efforts looked like they had given up halfway on making the wall uniform as if they had just gotten fed up with the hassle of clearing the land of traps and just built around them.
Looking at the walls from such a distance Akira guessed that they were only a few inches taller than his own height while transformed and it only covered the enemy''s main camp. The rest of the area only had a few trenches and wooden stick fences hastily built to block off other areas under their control.
The enemy''s camp was now coming to life as more and more soldiers started to go about their morning duties before the day started and brought many unknowns along with it.
¡°Do you think that today will be the first day of the actual war?¡± asked Frang as he walked up to Akira.
¡°It all depends on the generals of both armies. If one feels they can defeat the other then the war will most likely start today,¡± said Akira as he looked at the rising sun and listened to the movements of the werewolves behind him moving about as they also got ready for whatever the day brought.
¡°Good thing you got assigned to a different wolf pack than ours. Otherwise, I would have to be under your command. I have to get promoted soon to not lose to you!¡± said Frang before skipping away.
Akira ignored his cousin''s words and continued to watch the enemy''s camp while thinking of the unknown possibilities that the day had in store for them.
***
Brutus along with his commanding officers stood around a small table that had a crudely drawn map done by one of the army''s scouts.
The map showed the current positions of both his army and the enemy''s own army along with the fortifications and simple details of the surrounding terrain.
¡°The fortifications are rather poor,¡± said Brutus looking at their own fortifications.
¡°There is not much we can do within such a short time. If we had made the whole army work on the fortifications nonstop, then we would have a decent defense but the soldiers would all be exhausted and unable to hold off any attack by the enemy,¡± commented a young noble officer.
Brutus slammed his hand onto the table. ¡°I know that already. Do you think I, the general of this army, would not have thought of such things?¡± asked Brutus.
¡°I...I...¡± the young officer was rendered speechless after being reprimanded.
¡°General, from the reports I have read, the enemy has somewhere around 7-8000 warriors ready to fight,¡± said the commanding officer of the army''s scouts.
¡°Damn it! If the vanguard did their job we wouldn''t be in this situation. Almost all the advantages we could have had are now gone, we now only outnumber the enemy by 2000 soldiers it is a good thing I brought along the 1000 soldiers from the Madham encampment,¡± said Brutus.
All his intricate plans were ruined and his hopes of a quick and decisive battle to win the war were completely dashed as he looked at all the new information presented to him.
He was not confident that their current numbers were enough to ensure that the enemy would be defeated any time soon.
¡°We''ll have to call back one of the diversion armies to help crush this army standing in our way. Once we defeat them there should be no other forces strong enough to stop us from cleaning out the rest of the rabble when we find them.¡±
Knock! Knock!
The sound of knocking came from outside the tent as the guards knocked on a wooden post to get the general''s attention.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°General a new report has come in from both the left and right diversion armies,¡± said the guard.
¡°Bring them in.¡±
The officer next to the flap of the tent snatched the two pieces of paper from the hands of the guard and handed them over to Brutus trying to curry favor with him.
After reading the few short lines on both pieces of paper his face glowed red with anger.
¡°Damn it... both of them have encountered a large force of werewolf warriors and have already fought a few skirmishes,¡± said Brutus explaining the details of the reports.
A few curses could be heard.
¡°So they can not leave and come help us...If they try to disengage and return they will most likely open themselves up to multiple attacks on their rear allowing the enemy to inflict a massive loss of life,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Rodger, immediately take the rest of the vanguard and head to the left diversion army and help clear the enemy there. When you complete that task, take control of the left diversion army and launch an attack on the enemy from their rear while we hold them down in the front,¡± said Brutus.
¡°General, I highly disagree. If I take away the vanguard''s remaining 1000 soldiers then the main army will have little to no advantage over the werewolves,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Don''t underestimate us! We are not so weak that we can''t hold off the mutts until you return!¡± said an elderly officer defiantly.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°Well said Jeorge,¡± said Brutus as he nodded his head. ¡°You don''t need to worry about us. All you need to do is defeat the enemy forces holding down the left diversion army and return quickly to attack their rear. We will take care of the rest.¡±
Roger said no more and saluted Brutus before leaving the command tent.
***
The movement of 1000 soldiers was hard to hide so the werewolves were able to clearly understand what the enemy was planning to do and sent out quick messenger birds to both of the smaller werewolf armies that were currently holding down the enemy giving them new orders and a few extra ideas on what to do.
Awooo!
A commanding howl came from the center of the werewolves encampment where the command tent of general Blaez was set up.
The howl was a call for all warriors to form up for battle.
Akira exited his own tent fully equipped and ready for a battle.
He waited in front of his tent for the 19 other warriors under his command to assemble before they could head out to join the other wolf-packs of the 5th omega.
The warriors under his command were strangers he had no relation with and had only met a few times only because they were in the 5th omega. This made it so he was not in a position where the warriors would let his mistakes slide and would let him know if messed up.
Over half of the warriors were older than him by 10 or more years and all had fought in the last great war. The rest were around the same age as him some older or younger by a year or two.
It only took a minute for everyone to arrive with their armor equipped and weapons in their hands.
¡°Everyone check your equipment. Make sure you have everything needed for the fight,¡± said Akira making sure that everyone was fully prepared before leaving their tents.
There were only grunts of acknowledgment from the warriors as they did a last check on their equipment.
The warriors had no good or bad feelings towards Akira as they did not know if he was a competent enough officer or not.
With today''s fight, they would be able to judge him and decide whether or not he deserved their full respect and loyalty.
¡°Alright let''s hurry and join the others. We do not want to be the last ones to arrive,¡± said Akira after everyone had finished checking their equipment.
The small group of warriors under his command walked to the battlefield where the rest of the army was forming up.
As they passed the main tent city of the warriors Akira could see new long tents that had been set up this morning. Each tent had many wooden tables with saws and other medical tools and multiple rows of cots being prepared.
This was the army''s field hospital and would be where the wounded were taken to get operated on and patched up.
¡°Akira! Good, you''re here on time. Did you make sure that your men have all that they need?¡± asked Ardolf.
¡°Yes,¡± said Akira.
¡°If you don''t screw up and keep making respectable achievements and contributions to the army you will keep rising up in the army. Don''t let the clan down.¡±
Akira nodded to Ardolf and took his position in the army''s formation in standing in front of his own warriors.
The 5th omega was positioned next to the 4th omega inside of the 3rd epsilon 1st beta pack.
As the minutes passed the army''s formation was filled in as every warrior stood on the battlefield.
The enemy was not content with sitting behind the cramped and shoddily built fortifications and were also forming up outside to engage the werewolves and push them back away from their fortifications and the dry land that they were holding.
A human knight on a warhorse carrying a white flag on a pike rode forward to within 100 yards of the werewolves before stopping.
¡°The honorable Beorin army general Brutus has sent me to give you his most generous terms that you will want to accept. He is ...¡±
¡°Spit it out already! Stop wasting our time!¡± shouted Kunun the officer of the 2nd beta pack interrupting the knight.
¡°The honorable General demands that you surrender and hand over the instigator of this war Akira. You will also lay down your weapons and armor and accept the small fine of paying the kingdom for the full cost of having to send its army here as well as a yearly donation of 2000 gold or else,¡± said the knight.
Loud boos and jeers were shouted out from the mass of werewolves causing the knight''s horse to get jittery and prance around nervously, but after a few words from their officers, the battlefield became quiet again.
¡°Or else what?¡± asked Eyolf the commanding officer of the 1st beta pack.
After the knight regained control of his horse he was able to reply, ¡°We will be forced to exterminate you.¡±
¡°Tell your commander to come and try it. Or is he too much of a coward?¡± asked Horsh the officer of the third beta pack.
¡°You have chosen the wrong answer and will suffer the consequences!¡± shouted the Knight as he turned his horse around and spurred it into a gallop to return back to the human army with the loud boos and jeers of the werewolves at his back.
A howl went out over the large crowd of werewolves ordering them to ready their weapons for the start of the battle.
Ding!
New quest received!
First fight as an officer:
As a new officer, you have not shown your abilities in either commanding or fighting and thus the warriors under your command will be watching you closely.
Lead the warriors under your command and defeat the enemy.
Your reward will depend on the grade you receive after the battles are finished. If any warriors under your command were lost during any of the fights it will affect the grade in a negative way.
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¡°Baaaarrruuuuuuu!¡±
A loud warhorn sounded from the human army signaling the start of the fight as they started to march forward!
Several howls sounded out throughout the werewolf army as the officers ordered their soldiers under their command to transform. The officers wanted to smash the enemy''s army quickly while the numbers were somewhat even.
¡°If the fight goes on for too long and your stamina starts to run low do not continue to fight on the front-line and get yourselves killed. Let me know and we will see if we can pull back and replenish our strength,¡± ordered Ardolf.
All around Akira werewolves were one after another transforming he did not hesitate and also joined them.
For those who had not heard about or seen his transformation before were shocked as a dark misty light covered his body.
Inside the mist, his arms, legs, and body grew taller and exploded with large muscles. Black fur dark as the night sky covered his entire body. While his claws on his feet and hands became sharp tools of death.
His deep blue werewolf eyes mesmerized those who stared too long at them distracting from his fearsome sharp teeth that could rip through all sorts of weaker leather and metal armor.
Within seconds he was an entirely different looking being who gave off a fierce aura.
Feeling the energy running through his limbs Akira let out a loud howl of excitement that drowned out the other howls of transforming werewolves.
Those nearby Akira felt a giddy feeling of energy run down their spines as they felt the booming howl with their whole body. They were feeling even more pumped for the fight.
¡°Shields to the front! Charge!¡±
Chapter 126: Fight!
The entire werewolf army let out several loud howls. Akira joined in and added his own howl to the cacophony of sounds.
The chilling sound of the howls coming from the werewolves and their exotic transformations into savage beasts, brought the entire Beorin''s army to a halt as they watched the transforming werewolves and listened to their howls.
The smell of a latrine grew extremely strong as several green soldiers and even a few hardened veterans bowels emptied when they heard an extremely loud and menacing howl come from the werewolves several hundred yards away.
¡°For the love of all that is sacred! Get a hold of bowels! They''re just a bunch of mutts!¡± shouted an angry officer at the soldiers around him, not hiding the new wet puddle at his feet.
¡°Don''t let a few barks from those mutts scare you! Remember you are part of the elite Beorin army!¡± shouted Brutus as he rode his warhorse in front of the troops trying to rally them and boost their morale before the werewolves launched their attack.
The soldiers and officers seeing the General and hearing his words regained some of their composure.
Seeing that things had calmed down Brutus returned to the center of the army where the rest of the Cavalry was now acting as heavily armored ground shock troops making up the core of the center.
The 2000 knights had to fight on the ground with the rest of the army due to the fact that there was no room for them to maneuver on the swampy dry land they had picked to fight the battle. They would have just been in the way if they tried to use their horses and would be unable to build up any speed to do much of anything.
***
¡°Shields forward! Charge!¡± shouted the voice of Redbeard along with the many other officers.
New skill set learned!
Tactics: This skill set has many sub-skills related to fighting. To unlock new sub-skills you must participate in a battle while commanding warriors and have the proper level of charisma.
The only way forward is to learn through experience!
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New sub-skill learned!
Charge: adds a small boost of energy to those in your party and under your command allowing them to run faster towards the enemy and deal a large amount of damage on impact.
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Without hesitation, Akira used the new skill while shouting ¡°Charge!¡±
He and the three other shield warriors that were in his small wolf pack were all in the front of the unit so they could use their shields to block the enemy deadly attacks and protect the soldiers behind them.
The werewolves'' shield bearers were made up of mostly stronger and larger built werewolves that could either dish out the damage or hold off the enemy from breaking through their ranks.
All at once the whole werewolf army lurched forward like an unstoppable tidal-wave closing in on a beach where it would wipe away everything in its path.
Akira and the other shield bearers at the front of the army set the speed of the army as they charged forward plowing and splashing their way through the shallow water while blocking the numerous arrows that were now raining down on them.
Several grunts and snarls of pain sounded out as several of the arrows that had gotten past the shield bearers found purchase in several warriors arms, legs, or shoulders only slightly wounding them.
Hearing the sounds coming from behind them the shield bearers picked up their pace and charge with all they had to get to the enemy that had still not moved since the warriors had transformed.
Akira charged out of the shallow water and onto the dry land with thousands of warriors following behind him.
Several shield bearers used their full strength to throw one of several short spears that they were carrying in order to soften up the enemy front line. Akira followed their example and made sure to use the [Pierce] skill as he launched the short spear forward and watched it fly forward and pierce two soldiers before it stopped.
With another howl of triumph at successfully crossing the stretch of dangerous swamp water the werewolves stormed onto dry land and continued their charge towards the humans that had just started to move in order to reposition themselves so that they could properly take the full brunt of the werewolves charge.
Bam! Crash! Clang!
The werewolves slammed into the human soldiers using their shields and strength to bash away the weapons along with the humans that stood in front of them.
Akira used his spear to impale the soldier that was directly in front of him before switching to his sword so he could better fight in the hectic close combat.
Two swords came flying towards Akira both swung at the same time forcing him to raise his shield to block them.
Clang! Bang! Many blows from several soldiers started to rain down on Akira as he blocked each one with his shield or sword.
Each and every shield-bearer at the front were enduring a similar onslaught all along the line of battle with the fiercest fighting happening near the middle where both armies tried to break the other.
The blows lessened as werewolf archers and warriors with crossbows let out arrows point-blank into the enemy''s front lines decimating hundreds of unprepared soldiers all at once.
With the attacks lessened Akira was able to launch an attack of his own. Using the skill [Sword Slash] a blue light flew out in a wide arc in front of him cutting down several soldiers either killing them or leaving them with fatal wounds.
As one person was cut down another stepped over the dead body and plugged the hole that appeared in the line not allowing the werewolves to break the battle line.
Akira was not entirely focused on pushing forward and was more focused on keeping the warriors under his command alive, with thoughts of the mission he had received earlier popping up every once in a while.
Bam! Akira acted quickly and blocked an attack that would have heavily wounded the shield-bearer on his left.
¡°Thank you,¡± said the nameless warrior full of gratitude. Akira only gave a grunt in acknowledgment and continued to fight the enemies in front of him.
The battle had now been going on for several hours and was surprisingly still at a stalemate.
¡°We''ve been ordered to make a strong push on the enemies left-wing!¡± shouted Ardolf over the sounds of battle.
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¡°Understood!¡± shouted Akira as he killed the soldier in front of him who had heard their plans.
Akira slightly turned and pointed with his sword towards a random soldier on the left flank and shouted, ¡°Attack the left flank!¡±
New sub-skill learned!
Full attack: Point to an area or a single person for everyone in your party and under your command to attack. They will receive a slight boost to their attack power for a short time. Can only be used once per target.
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Akira turned his full attention towards the left-wing of the enemy army and used the skill [Shield Slam] to plow his way through the enemy that tried blocking him making it easier for those behind him to follow.
As Akira reached the left wing he started to launch a few more skills to soften them up killing many soldiers at once causing the humans near him to be scared and reluctant to fight him since everyone who stepped near him seemed to be getting torn to pieces.
The fear of special skill users was not unique to humans as the demon races did not hold enemies with special skills in high regard and would often gang up on anyone that showed off a special skill making it so that the enemy had no chance to cause further damage.
In response to the attack, the Beorin army launched their own counter-attack from their right and onto the werewolves'' own left flank to try and break it.
Both sides continued to fight each other late into the day neither side giving the other a big enough mistake to seize victory.
With the coming of night, the werewolves were forced to make a well-ordered retreat pulling their dead and wounded back across the shallow waters in order to recuperate from spending so many hours transformed.
New sub-skill learned!
Full Retreat: Boost the defense of all warriors in your party and under your command allowing them to retreat to a designated area more easily and orderly.
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With the end of the days battle the officers of both armies gathered in their respective camps to go over the days'' losses and plan for the battle that would most likely start at dawn.
***
Brutus sat at the head of the table with his hands gripping the table.
¡°How bad is it?¡± asked Brutus with a grim face.
¡°Commander...we lost over 1000 soldiers today. The majority of the soldiers that died were from the initial clash with the enemy''s arrow attack at the beginning of the fight. The losses were heaviest on the left-wing where many of the units were wiped out by a skill user. The units that survived only have a few people left in their unit,¡± said the officer in charge of such information.
¡°Has there been any news from the vanguard commander?¡±
¡°Even if the prince forced marched the vanguard there and back it would still be several more days until they return.¡±
Bam!
Brutus slammed his fist into the table. He wouldn''t have an army to command if the war continued like this for a few more days.
He was beginning to regret his previous battle plans now that the enemy had countered them so thoroughly forcing them into this stalemate that could turn into a complete disaster at any time.
¡°Send some of the knights to the left and right wings tomorrow to support them. When the signal is given they will launch simultaneous attacks on the enemy flanks to try and break them. Make sure that the archers gather all their arrows and replace any that have broken. We need them to blunt the enemy''s charge,¡± said Brutus.
¡°It will be done as you say General!¡±
''We need to crush them soon or there won''t be much of an army left when Rodger returns,'' thought Brutus.
***
¡°...and the full moon will be out tomorrow, so it will give us an edge over the humans,¡± said Seff the information officer.
¡°Your plan has merits but if we fail to control the situation, it will be a near-death sentence to those who are given the task,¡± said General Blaez.
¡°General our losses were light today compared to the enemies but if we continue this long drawn out fight over several days the enemy may be able to receive reinforcements from either the left or right harassing armies. Then we will be back to being outnumbered and the losses will keep adding up.
I agree that the task is dangerous. But if only a few more warriors have to die to stop this war. We should hold onto this chance,¡± said Redbeard.
¡°Since you are championing it do you have anyone in mind that would have a chance at pulling it off?¡±
¡°I do, but I have to ask him first. I don''t think his grandfather will be okay with this but it is a war and we can not protect him from stubbing his toe forever. We should not block him from growing.¡±
¡°If you are talking about that young man, then you''re putting me in an awkward spot. If he were to die then I''ll have to answer to the grand elder.¡±
¡°I will offer my own explanation to him if that happens,¡± said Redbeard.
¡°Does anyone else have an opinion on this plan? Or a different idea?¡± asked general Blaez.
Everyone shook their head no. Although the plan was dangerous with a slim chance of succeeding they would still go with it rather than the alternative of continuing the stalemate.
¡°Very well, then each of you are to gather a few people that are willing and we will form three groups with their own task. This way if even one of them ends up succeeding we will be able to brute force our way through and crush a large portion of their army and cruise through the rest of the war.¡±
***
The next morning when the sun rose the human army was already starting to form up the sleepy soldiers who had been given ¡°dry¡± rationed bread to eat while they formed up onto the battlefield that had been cleared the night before but was still dyed a dark red from the blood of the dead and wounded.
An hour passed and the sun had risen high enough to fully light up their surroundings. The Beorin army continued to stand, waiting for the attack from the enemy.
¡°Where is the enemy? What are they doing?¡± asked the impatient Brutus concerned that something was wrong.
¡°I''ll send a scout out right away sir!¡± shouted a subordinate officer.
¡°Send two.¡±
¡°Yes, sir!¡±
Brutus watched as the officer rushed over to a small group of lightly armored knight scouts the only ones that were still on their horses. Seconds later two of the knights left the main army making sure to put a wide distance between themselves as they rode their horses forward at a quick pace splashing into the swamp water and running to the opposite side for a look at the enemy that was hidden behind the many trees.
The lightly armored scout in the front immediately became a pin cushion as several arrows and cross bolts pierced him and his warhorse killing them both instantly.
The second scout that was still a good distance behind immediately turned around and charged back towards the safety of the Beorin army, urging his horse to go as fast as it could as arrows flew after them.
When he returned he had an arrow piercing his left shoulder along with one in his left arm.
¡°What did you see?¡± asked Brutus.
¡°General! The enemy''s army is still there but they seem to not be making any move to form up and attack!¡± saluted the knight with his right arm.
¡°Are you sure? Is their whole army still there?¡±
¡°I''m positive! I saw them all talking and eating their morning meal next to fires. Sod was killed by a few sentries that spotted him.¡±
¡°Fine, you can go and get your wounds treated at the medical tent,¡± said Brutus dismissing the soldier with a wave of his hand.
With an awkward pained salute, the knight turned around and walked away revealing an arrow stuck in his butt that quivered and moved every time he took a step.
¡°General this is outrageous! They are taking us to lightly! Say the word and I will lead the charge forward into their camp!¡± said an officer next to him.
¡°No! I don''t care if they are taking us lightly. If they do not wish to attack us then this benefits us more than them. All we have to do is wait for the vanguard to return,¡± said Brutus.
¡°Then...do you want us to return to the fortifications?¡± asked the officer.
¡°We can not do that either. This may be some trick of theirs to make us let down our guard... we must stay ready to receive and counter their attack. Send the word to the other officers that the army will stay in formation but they may rest at east right now until otherwise ordered.¡±
Around noon the sky started to cloud up and a cold drenching downpour began to fall from the sky.
The rain battered the human army as they stood out in the cold rain for over an hour until Brutus reluctantly ordered them back to the fortifications while cursing out loud when there was no sign of the enemy attacking or the rain stopping.
***
¡°Is everyone still confident with the plan for tonight even with the weather turning for the worse?¡± asked General Blaez.
¡°The winter rains may have come early, but I believe that they will not hurt our chances. Either way, we can not call the three groups back they have already left,¡± said Gren.
¡°All we can do is hope for the best and if it turns even worse we will just have to deal with it,¡± said Seff.
¡°Alright for better or worse we will go forward with the plan. Everyone must do their own part in making sure that it succeeds.¡±
Chapter 127: Curse
The cold early winter rain continued to pour down all afternoon and only stopped after the sun was replaced by the full moon which lit up the dark night creating many shadows for things to go bump in the night.
There was not a cloud in the sky as if the rain of the earlier day was a lie. The ground was a fresh and extra soggy mess all the blood and bad smells from the battle the day before had been completely washed away.
¡°AWOOOOOOO!¡± a loud wolf howl rang out from the distant woods sending shivers down the Beorin soldiers that were patrolling near the edge of the swamp.
Several thousand more howls answered the first drowning out the peaceful sounds of the night.
¡°Damn it what is it now!?¡± asked Brutus exiting his command tent.
¡°The Werewolves are attacking!¡±
¡°I knew they were up to something! Hurry send the order for the soldiers already outside to form up. The rest of the army will join them in a second the archers just need to hold them off long enough to allow us to get into formation,¡± commanded Brutus as he rushed back into his tent to grab his sword and helmet.
¡°Buruu, Buruu,¡± the Beorin war horns joined the noise of the werewolves howls giving the command for the army to get ready for an attack.
Now fully equipped Brutus jogged to the fortifications walls facing the forest where the Werewolves army was hidden. His personal guards followed right behind him and shortly after arriving at the wall they were joined by the core officers of the army.
¡°Just what are they trying to do? Do they think we are afraid to fight a night battle?¡± asked Brutus as he watched the various transformed werewolf warriors with a variety of different colored fur pour out of the trees that hid them and flow towards the soldiers that were still trying to get into position.
***
Akira was one of the nine other volunteers that had been handpicked and put into team three. They did not know exactly what they had volunteered for only that it was likely to get them killed if they failed.
Vilkas was the only person in the group Akira knew. The rest of the warriors were all veterans from different units that had seen some fighting in the last great war.
Everyone who had volunteered had no dear of going on this suicide mission and they were fully prepared to put their lives on the line if it meant a quick end to the war. Everyone but Vilkas had been surprised to see such a young person join them in this suicide mission.
When the time came to start the secret plan, which had been just before the rains started, they were given the full details of what the general and officers wanted them to do causing some to mutter in discontent to themselves.
In order to go unnoticed by the human army, they had traveled under the cover of the downpouring rain during the day to get into position.
Akira was standing in the same spot that he had been at for most of the day. He along with the other werewolves had stayed hidden in the woods choosing to stay under the large trees that had enough leaves to stop most of the rain from falling onto them, but with the wind blowing everywhere it was a useless endeavor.
Out of boredom, Akira opened the quest that he had received when Redbeard had asked him to join the secret mission.
The contents of the quest and its rewards had changed after he was given the full details of what he had to do.
Tricky Secret Sneaky Night Mission:
You and nine other warriors of team 3 have been given the task to take out the commanding officers of the Beorin army.
Difficulty: B+
Reward:
-The possible end of the war or a faster end to the war depending on the success rate of the mission.
-One time use S-grade information that will be automatically issued when needed
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As Akira read the details on the rewards for a second time he was still unsure what type of information he could receive or how to trigger it.
''Well, it is labeled as S-grade so it should give me something that is helpful...I hope,'' thought Akira.
¡°Awooooo!¡± off in the distance they heard a howl that was so loud that it echoed throughout the surrounding area.
¡°That''s the signal. We need to be quick and not let them have a chance to respond. Let''s go,¡± said Vilkas.
They ran out of the shadows of the trees trying to avoid the muddy areas and large puddles to create as little sound as they could while they moved towards the rear of the enemy''s fortifications.
There was a high probability of high ranking officers staying behind to command from the safety of the sandy walls and thus it had been designated as the target of team three.
The sounds of a fierce battle were raging long before they were able to reach the walls of the fortification.
Akira followed behind Vilkas and silently climbed up the sand wall.
¡°You think this is was the big plan the werewolves were preparing for all day?¡± asked one of the guards as they all watched the fierce battle.
¡°This is the dumbest...¡±
The soldier''s answer was cut short as his neck was broken by Vilkas. Akira and the rest of team three silently eliminated the rest of the sparse defense that was on the rear wall.
¡°Useless humans. Why are they so careless?¡± asked one of the warriors as they pushed the dead guards off the wall onto the ground outside to hide them from anyone''s view.
¡°Shhh...¡± several people let out quite hisses telling him to keep his mouth shut.
The inside of the large fortification reeked from the thousands of soldiers that had been cramped inside without a chance to properly clean themselves. The smells made it hard to find their targets so they were forced to rely on their eyes and ears.
Akira and the rest of team three slowly walked through the empty tent city using the shadows to keep hidden while they searched for targets to kill, but they found no one.
¡°Did we miscalculate the human officer''s tendencies to hide in the back?¡± asked one of the warriors next to Akira in a quiet whisper only loud enough for those next to him to hear.
Akira shook his head no, there would be some officers here...he hoped.
***
¡°Is this night battle the only thing they were planing? It seems too simple,¡± said Calum the officer in charge of the left-wing of the army.
¡°Meh, the battle looks like it will be another stalemate just like yesterday,¡± replied Merk the officer of the right-wing of the army.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°Don''t get complacent we lost a few hundred men already in the opening of the battle due to our unpreparedness. If we don''t use the plan we agreed to yesterday it will just end up with us having even more losses,¡± said Brutus.
¡°When do you want us to give the order?¡± asked Merk.
¡°Not yet. It is still to...¡±
¡°General! There seems to be a group of warriors sneaking up on officer''s positions on left-wing!¡± interrupted Calum with a shout of surprise.
Brutus and Merk turned their heads to see what Calum was pointing at.
It was ten werewolf warriors that were silently making their way up to where the commanding field officers were. They continued to issue orders not knowing of the danger that was creeping up from behind them.
¡°Crap! There is a group of them on the right as well!¡± said Merk.
¡°Damn it, I knew they were up to something! Guards shoot them down with arrows!¡± shouted Brutus.
¡°It''s too far general! We won''t be able to hit them at this distance!¡± replied one of the guards next to him.
¡°Then sound the warhorn and warn them!¡±
¡°Right away general!¡±
As Brutus watched the werewolves creep closer the expected loud warning of the warhorn did not come instead a low and unusual sound came from the soldier in charge of the warhorn, ¡°B..guuurlge.¡±
The three officers turned around to see the shocking sight of the soldier lying on the ground in a puddle of blood with his throat torn open.
What was even more shocking was that ten fully transformed werewolves were rushing up the narrow ramp headed right for them!
***
When they found the officers on top of the wall they immediately transformed and rushed forward to eager to complete their mission while they still had the surprise.
At the bottom of the ramp that led to the top of the wall stood a few soldiers who were all looking up at the commanders who were talking.
Akira watched as one of them raised a war horn and placed it onto his lips. He didn''t know what message the warhorn would send to the army, but he decided to take action to silence it so that it could be used to warn the army outside of their presence in the fort.
Using his skill [Pounce] Akira leaped forward with his claws held high he swiped at the soldier''s hand knocking the warhorn out of his grasp/ His attack had enough force to continue forward and completely slice through the unprotected neck of the soldier.
Vilkas and the others joined him only seconds later and quickly killed the remaining nearby soldiers who were unable to put up any effective resistance.
Akira let out a loud growl from the Adrenalin that was pumping through him as he and Vilkas led the charge up the narrow sand ramp.
¡°Protect the general!¡± shouted the captain of the personal guards.
¡°I don''t need protection! If they want to fight me then I''ll kill them all!¡± said Brutus unsheathing his sword and stepped forward to meet the charging werewolves.
The guard captain fearing for what would happen to him if the general was killed, rushed forward to support him.
Although Akira felt a deep anger when he looked at Brutus he was unable to reach him as Vilkas had reached the top first and was already engaged in battle with him.
Akira used his skill [Shield Slam] to rush forward up the last of the ramp and slammed his shield into a soldier that was rushing towards Vilkas.
CRACK!
The loud sound of ribs breaking could be heard as the soldier was sent flying backward off of the wall due to the impact.
With his attack, he created a small opening at the top of the ramp so that he could push forward and used his shield to block the rest of the soldiers that were trying to interfere by trying to attack Vilkas in the back.
The rest of the werewolf warriors followed right behind him and pushed forward with their brute strength to help Akira in fighting the several guards by attacking from the side.
They didn''t have time to figure out who was an officer and who was a lowly grunt. So they decided to just kill everyone in front of them, and thus Calum was killed when two warriors grabbed onto his arms and ripped him apart limb from limb.
The werewolves in team one and two that were sneaking up on the officers on the left and right flank reached the officers and attacked them causing mayhem on both flanks.
With all the action happening behind them several soldiers turned around and also noticed to their shock that there was fighting on the fort''s walls where the general and his commanders were supposed to be.
But no one could move towards the fort as they were being pinned down by the main werewolf army.
¡°Ha! You are still too young to be fighting with me!¡± shouted Brutus.
Akira glanced back at Vilkas to see Brutus launching a surprise attack with a hidden dagger.
Vilkas was able to lean to the right away from the attack protecting his neck from getting sliced open and instead received a slash to the face starting from his lip across his furry face cutting off the lower half of his ear sending blood spraying everywhere.
The attack to his face was followed up by a kick to the stomach which pushed him off of the wall.
¡°Uoof!¡± said Vilkas as he hit the ground.
Before any of the other warriors could engage Brutus, Akira turned and used the skill [Shield Bash] to block Brutus from jumping down after Vilkas, pushing him even further away from the guards that were still trying to protect the General.
Akira did not worry about them since he trusted the other warriors to hold them off while he fought one on one with Brutus.
With a lunge, Akira''s sword shot out looking for an opening in Brutus stance that had not yet recovered.
Clang! The attack was blocked by the dagger in Brutus'' left hand but was pushed back even farther.
Akira looked at the information above Brutus'' head and saw that he was now Lvl 50.
With their levels the same he could not afford a slip-up and continued to attack forcing Brutus to continue to retreat backward.
On the ground, Vilkas regained his composure and charged back up the ramp to rejoin the fight with his face wound still bleeding.
Akira and Brutus continued to trade blows with each other trying to brute force the other into submission.
Brutus was constantly getting pushed back while not budging Akira who stood like a large boulder and blocked each attack that was sent his way. With the fight going poorly in his favor he decided to use a different tactic.
¡°I know it is you Akira! Do you think I would forget what you look like just because you try to hide your face with that transformation! If you surrender now I won''t cut off your arms,¡± said Brutus.
This shook Akira for a second but that second was all Brutus needed to regain his footing. Akira jumped forward to slam into Brutus.
Instead of receiving Akira''s charge Brutus rolled to the side onto a crowded wooden platform that was erected next to the wall which held all of the army''s supplies up off the muddy ground trying to keep it as dry and clean as possible.
Akira followed him onto the wooden platform with an attack but every attack but it was again dodged by Brutus as he used the boxes of supplies as shields.
¡°You''ve gotten better at fighting,¡± said Brutus frustrated at getting knocked around, ¡°But you are still not strong enough to kill me!¡±
Akira ignored the words coming out of Brutus'' mouth and continued exchanging attacks trying to find an opening.
But before he could launch more than a few rounds attacks Brutus miscalculated a dodge and fell between the gap of two platforms slamming into the ground below.
Akira didn''t follow but instead used a [Sword Slash] and sent it after Brutus only missing him by a hair as he rolled further under the platform for protection.
The use of special skill attack startled Brutus greatly.
''How did that mutt get a skill? He didn''t have it when he was younger!'' Thought Brutus as he hid out of Akira''s sight.
Now he found himself in a predicament as every time he tried to exit from his cover Akira used the skill [Sword Slash] and since he could not block the attack he was stuck under the platform unless he wanted to take the chance of getting cut in half.
Akira had refrained from using most of his skills too much during the fight because they made him become tired even faster if he used them without care.
But now at such a crucial moment when he had such an advantage, he could not afford to not use them.
As one of the [Sword Slashes] missed Brutus again. It hit one of the wooden supporting structures giving Akira an idea.
He sent out several [Sword Slashes] in quick succession depleting a large amount of energy but he was able to complete his desired goal.
The platform that Brutus was hiding under collapsed with several tons of material falling down with a loud crash. The collapse of the platform affected the structures next to it as well this included the platform that Akira was standing on as well. causing him to fall to the ground.
As he lost his footing his body felt weightless for a second or two before he fell onto several baskets full of apples which were all smashed into a mush.
Akira aching from the impact scrambled to his feet on guard for an attack from Brutus but it never came...
...because a short distance away was Brutus who had been unable to escape from underneath the collapsing structure. The lower half of his body had been completely crushed.
Akira cautiously walked over to where Brutus lay not beveling that his plan had worked so well.
¡°I hope the Organization tortures you to death before they get the items and information they want from you,¡± said Brutus his voice getting weaker and weaker with each word he spoke.
¡°Who?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I curse you and every werewolf alive! I hope you all get wiped out!¡± shouted Brutus before letting out one last gasp of air and falling silent.
Chapter 128: S grade information
Akira stood there stunned at the last words that came out of Brutus''s mouth and for over a minute he continued to stare at the dead man who he had not seen in a long time.
While alive he had radiated an aura of a strong stern and impenetrable wall. But now looking at the dead man in front of him Akira could only see the face of an old man.
Akira regained his composure after he remembered what his main purpose in coming here.
With the main goal of their mission successfully completed he looked up at the moonlit sky and let out a long and loud howl of victory.
¡°Ahhhhwooooo!¡±
With the howl washing over the humans again several thousands of soldiers lost their bowls from the chilling howl.
What made it even more frightening than the howl from the day before was that the howl came from behind them.
The werewolf warriors all gained a boost to their morale as it could only mean one thing... the enemy''s commanding general had been killed!
The sounds of battle continued on for over ten minutes as the human army struggled to keep the werewolves at bay but were being constantly being pushed back and torn to pieces.
The low ranking officers started to grow panicked as they looked around for superior officers hoping for a way to turn this situation around. They had not received any orders in a long while and were forced to accept that they were now on their own.
Now that they were not receiving orders from the head officers the large army was behaving as several smaller armies as the lower rank officers fighting on the front lines were forced to give commands in response to what was happening right in front of them.
Then it happened... the first group of soldiers in the rear of the army started to run away. At first, it was only a few people here and there. Seeing some of their companions running away was like a deadly disease that quickly spread throughout the army and there was nothing the officers could do.
In less than a minute every soldier that was not engaged in combat started to flee from the battlefield.
Each fleeing soldier tried to be faster than the soldier behind them so that they would not be the tail of the retreating army which the werewolves would surely attack as the soldiers retreated.
The unlucky soldiers that were engaged with the werewolves were left to die as a diversion to let the rest of the fleeing army escape. Several soldiers realizing what this meant hardened their hearts and went all out and fought until their last breath trying to give the retreating soldiers even one more second to escape.
There were also soldiers that broke down crying or turned away from the werewolf warrior they had been fighting and tried to run away, but they were all killed immediately.
With the enemy in full retreat, the werewolf army chased after them all night killing nearly half of their original army.
When the sunlight started to light up the morning the werewolf warriors were given an order to stop chasing the scattered army and return to the armies fortifications.
¡°Why are we letting them get away?¡± asked Frang.
¡°We are far away from our supplies, and I don''t know if you noticed but most of us are not freaks like Akira. Fighting a battle all night in our werewolf forms is exhausting. If we don''t return now we will only give the enemy a chance to counterattack when we are in a weakened state,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Don''t worry now that the main army has been crushed we can clean everyone else up later,¡± said Ardolf.
***
When Rodger reached the left diversion army he found to his amazement they were just leisurely sitting around on several small dry islands that had been fortified with makeshift mud walls and trenches.
It seemed they either had not received the orders to break away from the enemy or they were willfully ignoring them.
¡°What are you doing guys doing? Where is your commander?¡± asked Rodger angrily as he walked onto one of the islands unchallenged.
¡°Who are you?¡± asked a lazy soldier as he looked over Rodger and glanced at the large group of soldiers that were waiting behind him.
¡°Are you our reinforcements? It''s about time that you came. The werewolves outnumbered us 2:1 if it wasn''t for the captain''s quick thinking in setting up our strong defense on these islands we would have suffered a huge defeat.¡±
¡°Hold your tongue! You are speaking to the crown prince! Kneel down and ask him for forgiveness or my sword will make you a head shorter,¡± growled Raimund the commander of Rodger''s personal guards.
Rodger didn''t care much for the rules and regulations of royalty but if he screwed up and word got back to the king there would be hell to pay, so he let Raimund continue to threaten the soldier in order to get information out of him.
Now knowing that he had spoken in such an unfriendly manner to the prince and also the next king of Beorin the soldier''s face grew pale. He fell to his knees, his face bowed almost touching the shallow swamp water.
¡°I did not know it was you, the crown prince. Please forgive me for my crimes,¡± pleaded the soldier.
Rodger waved his hand letting Raimund know to hurry things up.
¡°The prince has little time to deal with someone like you. So he will allow your crimes to pass today. Where is your commanding officer? Take us to him immediately,¡± said Raimund.
The soldier jumped back up trying to comply with the orders as fast as he could to anger Raimund but he ended up flinging fresh mud everywhere in his haste.
Raimund scowled at the soldier as the mud nearly hit him and the prince.
¡°So...sorry...¡± stuttered the soldier immediately trying to apologize after he saw Raimund glaring daggers at him.
¡°Move it!¡± barked Raimund as he kicked the soldier in the thigh.
¡°Yes!¡±
Rodger was soon led to the largest of fortified islands that was situated in the middle.
¡°Are you the commanding officer in charge here?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°Yes, and you are?¡± asked the captain.
¡°He is the crown prince,¡± explained the solder quickly.
¡°Oh...? It is a great honor to meet you. But if I may be so rude to ask, why are you here and not fighting with the main army?¡±
Rodger ignored the man''s question and asked one of his own, ¡°Why have you built fortifications here on these islands? Your orders were to harass the enemy from the left flank creating trouble for the werewolf army. Why have you ignored your orders to just sit here doing nothing.¡±
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¡°Prince... your words are a little harsh. I understand since you don''t know what led me to this decision so I will explain the current situation to you.
The werewolves that we encountered have a large force that outnumbers us 2:1. If we would have attacked them, we would have faced an utter defeat. Not to mention the hostile monsters that live in the swamp.¡±
¡°If you had done your job properly you would have known that it is you who outnumber them nearly 2:1. Your incompetence has damaged the honor of Beorin and its army. I hereby relieve you of all duty and will be taking over command,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Gather the soldiers! With over 6000 soldiers we can quickly crush the nearby enemy and return to the main army.¡±
The orders were sent out and in less than ten minutes the whole diversion army was standing in a sloppy formation waiting for orders. The soldiers were unsure of what was going on with the sudden change of tactics. Most guessed that a new officer had taken control of the diversion army.
¡°Begin the attack!¡± ordered Rodger.
The army of over 6000 soldiers started its noisy march forward... but when they reached the spot where the enemy was supposed to be, all they found was the ashes of old fires.
It looked like the enemy had left long before Rodger had arrived.
Rodger turned to look at the former captain not saying a word. His irritation at the man''s incompetence was starting to make him really annoyed.
¡°When we return to the kingdom you will have to answer to the king about your cowardice. That is the thing I can think of that would explain how you let a weaker force stop you from completing your orders. You even let them walk away making you and the rest of our army look like a fool,¡± said Raimund in an angry voice.
¡°I..I...¡±
¡°Enough, retrieve all your supplies and belongings we are returning to the main army immediately. Unlike you, they are currently fighting the werewolves,¡± said Rodger.
***
When the werewolves returned to their camp in the early afternoon they found the warriors that had gone to fight the left diversion army were already waiting for them. They were all fresh as they had not engaged in a battle with the enemy and had only watched them from a distance.
¡°Damn it why are you always getting the good orders!¡± complained Frang as he ate a late lunch.
All morning Akira had been feeling troubled by the looks of awe and reverence that was on his cousin''s face whenever he looked at Akira.
After spending many weeks of travel together and fighting numerous battles out of the several young warriors that Akira knew Frang was the one who had matured the most. Unfortunately, he still had not gotten rid of his annoying habit of complaining.
¡°With you killing the enemy general you will most likely get promoted to at least an Omega commanding officer,¡± said Klyn.
¡°It was a bunch of heavy sacks and boxes that killed the general,¡± said Akira trying to be modest.
¡°Cut the crap. From what I heard, it was you who cut the legs of support that caused those bags and boxes to crush him,¡± said Frang punching Akira in the shoulder.
¡°If you want to get some sleep quit talking and finish your food. The army will be packing up and moving out in four hours to meet up with the remaining warriors to crush the enemy''s right diversion army,¡± shouted Ardolf.
***
The right diversion army had no time to act before they were completely taken by surprise and nearly wiped out. Of the original 5000 soldiers, less than 1000 managed to escape into the swampy wilderness, and there was still no guarantee that they would survive the monsters that lived in the surrounding area.
The war was looking very favorably for the werewolves now as the enemy army was fractured into three scattered uncoordinated groups.
The werewolves could finish them at any time now so they decided to take a few days to rest and hold military funerals for the fallen warriors.
Akira watched the solemn process as the dead were put onto pyres and burned.
Just over a thousand warriors had lost their lives since the beginning of the war.
He guessed that it had to be around 10:1, For every one warrior lost ten soldiers had been killed. Most of the dead were the young and inexperienced warriors who had not honed their fighting skills. The clan hit the hardest with the most losses was the large clan Bloody-claw losing nearly 200 warriors.
When the solemn funerals finished a massive festive mood swept through the werewolf army.
With the enemy beaten so soundly, the war would soon be over. Everyone drank large amounts of alcohol celebrating surviving the war. Many speeches made honoring those who had passed while they drank and ate.
Akira celebrated with the troops that were under his commander for only a short time.
¡°Don''t get too carried away, and don''t forget that the enemy army is still out there it could regroup and still cause us problems,¡± warned Akira.
¡°If they want to come and fight us, we will crush them again! This time they won''t be able to escape!¡± shouted a soldier.
Everyone gathered laughed and continued to party.
¡°I wonder if the danger that the grand elders predicted was actually some nightmare that he had and not a vision,¡± said Frang who was nearby.
¡°Don''t let anyone from the Cold fang clan hear you talk bad about their grand elder,¡± said Dolph.
The warriors from 5th omega were mainly from the red and blue moon clans with some other warriors sprinkled in so that each clan would not lose all of their warriors if one unit were decimated.
¡°It is impossible for him to make such a mistake. I heard from my grandfather that all of his previous predictions were true. What most likely happened was with the grand elders warning, we were able to prepare before the humans could overrun us. Without his warning the other clans might not have taken the matter so seriously,¡± said Klyn.
¡°But their army was defeated so easily. Would they have been able to crush us even if we had not been fully ready?¡±
¡°Don''t ever underestimate your enemy. They may not have been able to kill us all but they would have been able to wipe out 1000s of other civilians before the army could form and counter them,¡± said Dolph.
***
While Rodger was leading the soldiers back towards the main fortification he encountered several scattered groups of soldiers and stopped them.
¡°What are you doing out here alone?¡± asked Raimund.
¡°Thank goodness we ran into a larger group! We are safe now!¡±
¡°Safe from what?¡±
¡°The werewolves used some underhanded moves and attacked during the night several days ago. All the high ranking officers were killed including the general!¡±
¡°WHAT!¡± roared Rodger, ¡°How did he die?¡±
¡°He was fighting several werewolves on the fortifications walls and was doing well until a large menacing werewolf that was taller than the others by a head and had glossy black fur as dark as the night started to fight with him and drove him out of my view. A short time after that there was a loud chilling howl from the fort.¡±
¡°How accurate is this information?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°I saw it myself!¡±
There was only one werewolf that Rodger knew of that fit the description but there were many werewolves in the army that may have the same fur so he was unsure if it really was him.
No, he prayed that it was not him, because otherwise...
***
¡°AHHHH!¡±
A shout rang through the spartan stone room that grand elder D¨´ghall was using while he stayed at the clan meeting caves. Sweat was dripping down his forehead.
¡°Grand elder are you alright!¡± shouted his attendant who had been lightly sleeping in the next room and had been woken by the scream.
¡°The.... visions... they are getting stronger and worse every second I close my eyes...¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall as he took several large gasps of air while grasping his chest trying to calm his racing heart.
¡°This is bad! Do you mean that the main army has suffered a Great defeat? What should we do?¡±
¡°Have the ships been loaded with all the supplies?¡±
¡°Yes, they just finished yesterday,¡± said the attendant.
¡°Good, go wake the other grand elders and tell them to meet me in the meeting hall.¡±
***
Ding!
Akira was woken up by the system notification in the early hours of the next morning.
He debated whether or not to ignore it until later, but after looking at the title of the message his groggy mind was cleared in an instant.
S-Grade information 1 of 1 has been used:
At the end of the year 701.
All over Halverold in small towns and large cities, the people are talking about something major happening.
It is no secret to those who live there for if you walk into any tavern or shop you will hear the worried mutterings of the people.
Changes will be coming soon...
For the demigods have Returned!!
|
***
A man with an unremarkable plain face browsed over the cheap masks that a street vendor was selling and pointed to a black and white half face mask.
¡°That will be 1 silver, sir.¡±
The man paid the seller and immediately put the mask on.
¡°Ah! It''s Good to be back! This time for good!¡± said the man with a hearty laugh as he walked off in search of anyone that would give him a task or two to complete and earn some money for better equipment other than the shabby clothes he was wearing.
Chapter 129: New orders for the army
¡°Ardolf! Wake up! This is bad!¡± shouted Akira as he burst past the sleepy guard patrolling next to Ardolf''s tent.
¡°What!? Is the enemy attacking?¡± asked Ardolf as he sat up from his cot, straight and alert.
¡°No,¡± said Akira shaking his head.
¡°Then why are you waking me up so early in the morning?¡± asked Ardolf grumpily.
¡°It''s worse than anything you can imagine! The demigods have returned!¡±
¡°What!? How do you know that?¡±
¡°That doesn''t matter! We need to go to the General right now and warn him. If we do nothing we''ll end up fighting a losing war with both the humans and the demigods!¡±
¡°We can go and tell the general but there is no guarantee that he will listen to something like this...¡± said Ardolf as he stood up and began to put on his armor and buckle his sword belt around his waist.
The two jogged to the general''s tent where they were forced to wait to see if the general would see them.
¡°Tell him the information I have is as important as life and death,¡± said Akira agitated at being forced to wait for over five minutes.
¡°Just keep quiet. The general will see you when he is ready...¡± said the guard in front of the tent.
¡°Send them in!¡± came the stern voice of General Blaez from inside the tent.
Akira pushed aside the tent flap and entered the dimly lit tent. This was his first time seeing the general up close.
¡°What is this information that is of such great importance?¡± asked General Blaez as he stood behind the map table staring at the surrounding terrain that had multiple markers indicating where large portions of the enemy army had been scouted and were starting to gather again.
¡°General the demigods are back! We must inform the grand elders of this and ask them what they want us to do!¡±
General Blaez looked up from the map, his eyes stared at Akira taking in everything about him.
¡°Where did you get this information?¡± asked General Blaez.
¡°That well...it came to me sorta like a vision?¡± said Akira.
Ardolf standing next to Akira facepalmed at the answer. If he knew this, he would not have come to the general.
¡°What? Have you been training in the shaman arts?¡± asked General Blaez.
¡°No...¡±
¡°I see...out of the respect I have for Grand elder Wulfric and your high level of contributions during this campaign, I will not reprimand you this time for bringing useless and unfounded drivel to me. Next time you have a nightmare don''t come to me and try to tell me that the sky is falling. You may leave,¡± said General Blaez dismissing the two with a wave of his hand.
Akira wanted to reply but Ardolf put a hand on Akira''s shoulder and the two left the tent together.
¡°It would have been nice if you told me that you were basing this information off of a dream,¡± grumbled Ardolf.
¡°It was not a dream. The information is 100% accurate I just have no way to prove it yet. But I have to let the grand elders know about this,¡± said Akira as he walked off leaving Ardolf behind.
¡°Where are you going now?¡± asked Ardolf.
¡°To talk to Redbeard.¡±
¡°That''s pointless he is not in a position to make the general accept what you have to say.¡±
¡°I''m not trying to get him to convince the general.¡±
***
¡°So you want me to help you go behind the generals back and contact the grand elders? Do You know how much trouble I''ll get into if this turns out to be nothing but a fantasy of yours? This is not some small prank that can be shrugged off. ¡±
¡°I know how serious it is. That is why I tried to get the general to listen but he said I was having nightmares. I am only doing this because if I do nothing the entire Earth tribe could be caught in another great war and this time wiped out!¡±
¡°Fine... I''ll take you to see Udolf, he is one of the core shamans from the Redmoon clan. We can have him send whatever message you want to the grand elders. But whatever happens after is on you. I nor your grandfather can protect you from the consequences of causing a panic if the information turns out to be false,¡± said Redbeard.
The two of them walked to a large tent near the middle of the 1st beta pack encampment.
¡°Uncle Udolf, I am sorry to bother you but can I come in?¡±
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¡°What is it Red?¡± asked a scratchy old man''s voice. A few seconds later the tent flap was pushed aside revealing a large framed old man with snow-white hair that had lost all of its color.
¡°Uncle, can you send a message back to Grand elder Wulfric?¡± asked Redbeard.
¡°Did general Blaez give permission?¡± asked Udolf.
¡°Not exactly...¡±
¡°So you didn''t ask...? Whatever, I know you wouldn''t come to me for unimportant matters. What is it that you want me to send to him?¡±
Redbeard pointed to Akira who stood behind him. Udolf inspected Akira for a few silent moments and waited expectantly for Akira to speak.
¡°This message, ''The demigods have returned. What are the Grand elders'' orders for the army?''¡± said Akira with a grim face.
¡°You can''t be serious...If I send this... the panic that it will cause will engulf the entire earth tribe. No wonder you didn''t ask the general for permission.¡±
Both Redbeard and Akira just stared at Udolf with unblinking grim faces, neither showing any sign that this was a prank.
¡°Very well, but if I am asked later I will not hide who it was that gave me this information,¡± said Udolf.
Udolf moved to the center of his tent where a large cushion was situated and sat down on top of it crossing his legs and began to start a slow chant after his breathing had calmed down.
The message was near instantaneous and Akira could see Udolf grow tired as he sent a message to a shaman stationed at the clan caves. Akira was amazed at the mental strength that Udolf had to be able to send a message such a long distance without any help from another shaman.
¡°Phew...the message has been sent. If we are lucky we will get a reply within an hour or two,¡± said Udolf as he took a big bite of bread from a plate next to him.
¡°We would like to wait here for the reply is that ok?¡± asked Redbeard.
¡°It''s fine,¡± said Udolf between taking a few sips of water.
Several minutes passed by with Udolf and Redbeard swapping tales of their battles during the last few fights with the Beorin army.
Five minutes later Udolf stopped talking and his face scrunched up as if he was concentrating with all of his body to listen to something that Akira and Redbeard could not hear.
His face paled as he received the message.
¡°What did they say?¡± asked Redbeard.
¡°They believe you! It seems Grand elder D¨´ghall''s visions have been getting worse and worse. I have been told that the army is to stop everything and return to clan caves immediately. ¡±
¡°Let''s go inform the general!¡± said Redbeard as he stepped forward and helped Udolf stand up so that he could walk to the general''s tent.
***
¡°So you ignored my orders and went behind my back to do this?¡± asked general Blaez.
¡°Sir! This matter is more important than the consequences of disobeying orders,¡± replied Akira.
¡°Since I can not disobey the Grand elders'' orders we will head out immediately. Since you feel so strongly that you are right I am sure that you will agree that if this matter turns out to be false the person that will take the full brunt of blame will be you along with whatever the Grand elders deem fitting as punishment.¡±
¡°I am prepared to receive whatever punishment as long as the earth tribe is able to escape annihilation.¡±
¡°If this is true there will be no need for punishment as I am not such a prude like grand elder Tormoid. You will instead have my utmost respect. But as it stands right now you are an insubordinate officer that should be demoted back to a common warrior. You are dismissed,¡± said General Blaez waving Akira and the others away.
***
¡°Why are leaving now? The humans still have half of their original army! If we don''t crush them now they will just continue to cause us problems,¡± complained Frang as he packed his meager belongings into his bag.
¡°The grand elders gave the general a direct order. There is nothing we can do,¡± said Akira.
¡°How do you know?¡±
¡°I just overheard a few officers talking about it earlier,¡± said Akira.
¡°Damn it, I didn''t even get enough contributions to get promoted!¡± complained Frang.
***
The grand elders had been in a meeting when a frightened shaman had run into the room and delivered a message to Grand elder Wulfric.
Everyone stopped their heated discussion and waited for Wulfric to read the note. Five seconds passed before Wulfric stood up and held up the piece of paper for all to see.
¡°This message is from the lead shaman of the 1st beta pack. Grand elder D¨´ghall I am certain that the contents of this piece of paper is the reason for your visions,¡± said Grand elder Wulfric.
¡°What is it did the army really encounter defeat?¡± asked Grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°No, it is much worse than that! The Demigods have returned!¡±
Silence swept through the cave as the grand elders were shocked beyond belief.
Grand elder D¨´ghall mulled over his past visions to see if this was true.
He was startled at what he now saw. It was as if a strong wind had blown away the fog of vagueness that had hidden the meaning of the visions. Now the warning signs were clear as day.
He knew this was the correct answer and deep down he must have had a feeling it was like this with the preparations he had started. A weight he did not know he had been harboring was released from his body only to be replaced by a new and heavier worry.
¡°I did not want to think that it was possible so it may have clouded my judgment but now that it has happened. The visions have all become so clear now. The Demigods are back and I feel that this time it will not be a short stay,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall his voice breaking through the silence.
¡°What are we to do!?¡± asked a panicked Grand elder Garnal.
¡°Everyone! Calm yourselves, we are the representatives of the Earth tribe and must present ourselves accordingly. Immediately send a reply back to them and tell them that the army must return immediately!¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall.
¡°I propose that we have a vote on whether we should follow Grand elder D¨´ghall, or stay and fight the Demigods,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I second this motion!¡± said grand elder Carl.
¡°Very well, all in favor of leaving Halrverold, raise your hand,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall.
Every single hand went up.
¡°Did we even need a vote? Staying here with the Beorin empire trying to wage war and now the return of the Demigods? Only a fool would stay,¡± said Grand elder Tormoid.
¡°Since everyone is in agreement, We''ll need to start gathering supplies and as many ships as we can. If there are not enough we''ll have to build more. We must be ready to leave by the time the army arrives.¡±
¡°We need to inform our allies of this! This does not only affect the Earth tribe but every one of the demon races!¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
¡°Of course we will inform them of this. There is no need to say that,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall.
The heated discussion continued on as the Grand elders planned for the unknown future.
Chapter 130: Rearguard
¡°Is it true that the demigods are back?¡± asked Delgar with a worried expression on his face.
¡°I heard it directly from my grandfather. They received a message from the army yesterday. The Earth tribe as a whole has decided to migrate to the unknown continent of Foradverold. We can not fight a war with the humans and deal with the demigods that are lurking around at the same time, ¡± said Azura.
¡°So you''ll be making a new life in a new and unknown land? Hmmm...Sounds interesting...¡± said Delgar as he stroked his beard and thought about this new problem that would affect the whole continent of Halrverold.
¡°I am not scared of demigods!... I lie! I need to go clean my scales. I hope my father will be safe... but I can not speak to him,¡± said Chack. The feathers on top of his head drooped as he thought about his family he had been separated from.
¡°Don''t worry all of our allies have been sent a letter. They should get them in a few days to weeks depending on where they are,¡± said Azura.
Varbu exited a nearby cave and was carrying a bag with all of his belongings.
¡°Have you finished gathering everything?¡± asked Azura.
¡°Yes,¡± said Varbu with a stern face.
¡°The small ship you asked for has been made ready for you. You should be able to get back to your clan several months earlier than if you walked.¡±
¡°Are you really leaving?¡± asked Mileena who had traveled for many months with both Varbu and Akira.
¡°Thank you, Azura. Yes, Mileena, I have to leave now so that I can go and report the somewhat success of my travels. I don''t know what my father and the elders will do now that the Demigods are here, hopefully, they make a quick decision when they learn of this disaster.
It''s a shame that I have to leave before I could say my goodbyes to Akira, but I''m sure that we''ll meet again in the future,¡± said Varbu as he remembered the last few sentences the two had before Akira had departed with the werewolf army.
''Keep the magic stone as a trump card in case you encounter a hard to kill enemy.''
''I will, you need to stay alive so we can spar again.''
¡°I have to go talk to my wife and the other two that came with me. We''ll have to decide on what we should do,¡± said Delgar as he stood up from the stone seat he had been sitting on.
¡°I need to go and help prepare the new ships and supplies for the travel across the ocean. Chack you come and help me,¡± said Azura.
¡°I caught a cold... Cough ...so I can''t help...I lie! I don''t want to work now that I am sad,¡± said Chack.
¡°A bit of hard work should help you forget about your sadness,¡± said Mileena patting Chack on the back.
¡°Well, I guess this is goodbye,¡± said Varbu as he thumped his chest in a salute and then left for the small ship that had been prepared for him.
***
¡°Have you finished gathering the nearby wandering soldiers?¡± asked Rodger.
Since he was the last of the major officers and was also the prince he had taken over the role as general and was now trying to regain control over the once scattered headless Beorin army.
¡°We have gathered everyone that we could find in the short time that was given. Unfortunately, most of the left diversion army was wiped out when the whole werewolf army attacked it. I did as you commanded and asked each soldier if they had been in the fort at the time your father was killed. This man was there and saw it all,¡± said Raimund.
¡°I thought the werewolves killed everyone inside the fort?¡± asked Rodger as he turned to a timid soldier that was covered in what looked like dried mud.
¡°Well you see my lord, I was protecting myself so that I could give my report to you...¡± said the soldier not daring to look at Rodger.
¡°So you hid while everyone else was fighting. How exactly did you hide from the Werewolf''s noses?¡±
¡°I hid in the latrine...¡±
¡°You ought to be killed for such cowardice. Tell me exactly what happened.¡±
Rodger listened to the man as he groveled in the dirt trying to recall all that he had heard and seen hoping that his life would be spared.
¡°The werewolf who was fighting with him did you see what he looked like before he transformed?¡±
¡°No...¡±
¡°Get out of my sight. If I see or hear of your cowardice again you will have a sword run through your back,¡± said Rodger coldly.
¡°Tha..Tha...Thank you, Prince... I mean General,¡± said the soldier and he stuttered and tripped over himself while trying to run away.
¡°What do you want to do, general?¡± asked Raimund.
¡°We will go find the werewolf army and destroy them! We march at once! I must have vengeance for my father!¡±
¡°General we have already lost nearly 10,000 soldiers. The enemy has an advantage in both numbers and strength. We do not have the might to take the fight to them right now.¡±
¡°I do not care if they have more warriors good tactics can make up for that disadvantage, we march towards the enemy army immediately.
Their army right now is not as strong as you think, they must have taken a heavy blow in the last two battles or they would have already come to finish us off. Instead of waiting for them to attack, we will be the ones to deal a finishing blow to them and get revenge for my Father!¡±
***
¡°Damn it! With this war causing such havoc I can''t find the magic stone! Now that Brutus has died all the help he promised has been lost!¡± grumbled Bonestringer.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°It seems this war has caused both of us problems. I can not reach my target since he is always surrounded by several hundred other werewolves. That fool Brutus dying really had messed up everything. I just hope that the prince does not go and do something stupid,¡± said Tibia.
***
Ding!
Akira''s sleep was again interrupted by another random system message.
New Mission!
Escape the continent of Halrverold:
You have received information that the demigods have returned, this time for good. You must help the Earth tribe escape the clutches of the Demigods and find a new home.
Difficulty: S rank level.
This quest is a chain quest. Rewards will be given out at the completion of each stage of the quest.
Reward: Your life and something else.
Accept?: Yes / No?
(If you decline the human armies along with demigods will destroy the Earth tribe.)
|
¡°Why is there even an option to decline?¡±
There was no way he could decline such a mission, so he immediately accepted it. This was the first S rank level mission that he had ever received and he was unsure what to expect.
¡°Akira! The general has called all officers to his command tent for an important meeting,¡± said Ardolf from outside of his tent.
¡°I''ll be out in a second!¡± said Akira as he hopped out of bed and started to get dressed.
A minute later he was walking out of his tent buckling on his sword belt.
¡°Why are we being called? Do you know?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No clue, we''ll find out when we get there,¡± said Ardolf.
As the two walked to the command tent they heard several quite mutterings of people talking about the newest rumor that had been flowing through the whole army. The return of the Demigods.
Ever since the rumor had started spreading there was no joy or hearty laughing and celebration happening around the campfires whenever the army was camped for a few hours of rest. Whenever someone talked it was always with a serious expression and tone of voice.
Akira and Ardolf were both allowed to enter the command tent and given a spot at the rear of the tent where the rest of the lower-ranked officers stood.
With a quick scan of the other officers, Akira was surprised to see Dolph standing near him.
But before he could say anything General Blaez entered the tent with his advisors trailing behind him.
¡°I will get straight to the point. The Beorin army is following us like a rabid dog but we can not waste time by stopping and fighting them, so I need volunteers to act as a rear guard. Your task will be to keep them from following us and if you can lead them away from where the clan caves and civilians are gathered. You will need to either force them to turn back or hold them off for at least a week or two to allow the army and civilians to finish departing from this place. Any questions?¡± asked General Blaez.
¡°How will the rear guard follow you to the other continent if you have already sailed away on the ships?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°The Rusted fangs clan has decided to stay behind and look after the clan meeting caves. They will be taking care of several ships that will be hidden in the Nars cove. The Grand elders have already contacted a few people and asked them to wait with the ships and act as a guide so you can rejoin with the main fleet. There is nothing to worry about, you will only be a few weeks or a month behind us.¡±
¡°My unit will join the rear guard,¡± said Dolph.
Several other officers raised their hands to stay behind and face the enemy army.
¡°My unit as well,¡± said Akira decisively after thinking about how to successfully complete the S rank mission.
Several of the officers who knew who Akira was looked at him wondering why he would take on such a dangerous task. Everyone knew that this would not be an easy task, and there was a high chance for numerous casualties.
¡°Akira, Grand elder Wulfric would not accept you doing something like this. You should reconsider,¡± said Ardolf quietly next to him.
¡°I can not allow the human army to follow us. If we do not stop them they will not only know where the civilians are but they will also stop the tribe from escaping from this continent!¡± said Akira.
¡°Well said, with the addition of your soldiers we now have a little over 1000 warriors to act as the rear guard. I suggest you not face them head-on and only conduct raids. There is no time for any more discussion the army will be moving out in an hour. The safety and success of the Earth tribes exodus is squarely on your shoulders,¡± said General Blaez before exiting the command tent.
***
Tens of guards patrolled in multiple large groups near the rear of the Beorin army where the baggage train was. They held onto their long torches trying to light their surroundings in the dark cloudy night.
¡°Awoooooo!¡±
¡°Damn it! Sound the alarm they''re attacking again!¡±
¡°Is there even a need to do that? You would have to have had your ears torn off to not know that they''re attacking!¡± screamed a panicked soldier.
¡°Just do it!¡±
¡°Burruu!¡± the warhorn sounded out letting all know of the coming enemy attack.
¡°How many more nights are they going to keep attacking us!¡±
¡°Don''t worry the Prince may be young but he is rather cunning. Those mutts are in for a rude surprise tonight!¡±
¡°Ah, look! They''re attacking the sentries at the front of the army this time. I guess they must have sensed the trap laid by the prince,¡± said the worried soldier.
As if in response to this the soldiers who had been hiding behind the nearby wagons sheepishly exited their cover. They all watched as the rest of the armies soldiers all raced to the front of the army to clash with the attacking werewolves.
¡°I for one am happy that they are not attacking us back here,¡± were the last words said by one of the soldiers as he was killed by a dark black claw that had reached out from the nights'' dark shadows.
***
Akira and several other werewolf warriors silently killed the soldiers that were looking towards the fight that had broken out. They had volunteered to set the baggage train ablaze while the rest of the rearguard drew the enemy''s attention.
By now the werewolves who had attacked the front sentries were already retreating their task as a diversion was complete.
Akira picked up one of the burning torches form one of the dead soldiers and used it to light several other torches that they had prepared ahead of time. As one they started throwing their torches onto the wagons and boxes of supplies.
¡°They''re burning the food!¡± came the alarmed shout from a fully armored knight on a warhorse, ¡°Ignore the retreating werewolves and save the food!¡±
¡°Let''s get out of here!¡± said Akira.
Akira and the rest of the volunteers ran towards the cover of the trees and the nights dark shadows to escape the large number of soldiers that were now swarming towards them.
¡°Akira! I know it''s you!¡± shouted the knight on the warhorse as he charged towards the baggage train.
Akira did not stop running but he did turn his head to see who had called his name.
Seeing this reaction the knight knew he had guessed correctly.
¡°Why did you kill Father? There may have been bad blood between you but he raised the both of us! You could have just captured him and ransomed him back! Have you really become such a demon that you have forgotten how to be a human?¡±
The last sentence out of Rodger''s mouth echoed in Akira''s ears and stabbed at his heart as he escaped into the darkness along with the other werewolves.
***
¡°Raimund! Order the army to chase after the werewolves that went that way! The person who killed the General is with them!¡±
¡°Sir, we can not do that! If we do not look for food to replace what we lost we will run out in less than a week. We need to head back to Madham and replenish our supplies.¡±
¡°Do as I command!¡±
¡°Yes, your highness!¡±
Chapter 131: Fight to escape
¡°Why are they still chasing us?¡± asked one of the warriors running next to Akira.
They were able to easily outrun the humans who were no match for their speed, stamina, or familiarity with the area. But for some reason, the humans were still trailing after them like a dog chasing after someone who stole its toy.
¡°Why are you so worked up about it? The answer is simple, we destroyed their baggage train,¡± said Akira.
¡°But they are chasing only our small group and not the others who attacked the front defenses.¡±
¡°We don''t know that right now. All we can do is escape them and meet up with the others so that we can escape this land that will be crawling with demigods soon.¡±
¡°Shouldn''t they be running out of food soon? I thought the whole point of the plan was to force them to head back home because the prince was a smart and rational person?¡± complained Frang on Akira''s right.
Frang had volunteered to join the raids when he heard that Akira had joined. He wanted to get some merits to help get a promotion.
Redbeard had come to Akira before he left with the main army and asked him to keep an eye on Frang and make sure that he didn''t get himself into any trouble.
¡°We should be nearing the blue moon territory. We should be able to take a rest in the city away from the chasing soldiers,¡± said Dolph.
There were many grunts of acknowledgment, many of them happy for a night of sleep in a bed.
***
Nighttime.
¡°Akira,¡± a voice whispered next to Akira''s head waking him up from his light sleep.
¡°What is it Dolph?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We have a problem. A group of Beorin soldiers are camping under the city right now. Everyone is gathering to decide what to do with them.¡±
Akira quickly got out of the bed he was staying in and followed Dolph to a room that the others were quietly whispering in.
¡°Looks like everyone is here,¡± said Dolph after a quick glance over the tired faces of the warriors. ¡°Are we going to clear out the rabble chasing us or hide up here and hope they don''t find us?¡±
¡°Of course we will attack them! How can we let them escape and cause us more problems,¡± said Frang.
¡°They outnumber us over 2 to 1 almost 3 to 1. They may even have other groups of soldiers join them at any time tonight. If we stay silent they may not notice the city above them and leave the next morning,¡± said Neal.
¡°For once I agree with Frang, if we leave them alone they will only cause us more problems. If we defeat them now then that''s one group less that will be able to hinder us and we can throw them off our tails,¡± said Akira.
¡°This is not going to be an easy battle,¡± said Neal.
¡°We have the element of surprise, and with Akira''s and my strength we can easily clean up this little bit of rabble and make a clean escape,¡± boasted Frang.
The arguments went back and forth for another 5 minutes until they came to an agreement that they needed to kill the humans below. They would wait until the humans lowered their guard and entered their tents for the night.
***
¡°It''s time,¡± said Akira as he looked at the tents far below them. The ground was lit up by several dim fires that were still burning in an attempt to keep the creatures of the night at bay.
Several rope ladders were lowered down so that they were around 30 feet off the ground and out of the sight of the patrolling soldiers.
A drop from that height may have been deadly for humans but for the warriors who were now all transformed into muscle fluff-balls. To them this drop was nothing.
Akira and the rest of the warriors silently descended from the city above the enemy tents and waited on the last rung until everyone had positioned themselves.
At the sound of the dog whistle, all 25 warriors let go of the rope ladders and dropped to the ground.
Thud! Several muffled sounds could be heard as they reached the ground.
Akira executed a controlled crash landing, rolling forward and back up onto his feet, stopping right in front of a shocked soldier who was just staring at Akira with his mouth hanging open.
Before Akira had fully regained his balance his hand shot out and covered the man''s mouth. Using his full strength he jerked the man''s head sideways snapping his neck like a dry twig.
The body dropped to the ground with a low clatter as Akira moved forward in search of his next target.
¡°Awoo!¡± someone in their excitement and blood lust, from killing let out a short howl which was loud enough to alert the enemy!
¡°Enemy attack!¡±
¡°Frack! Who was the idiot who did that!?¡± asked a red-furred Frang who had fresh blood splattered all over his furry face.
Several shouts rang out as the human soldiers scrambled to form up and fight the enemy that had appeared.
¡°There are only 25 of them no need to fear them!¡±
¡°Hey! Isn''t that the werewolf the prince want''s captured?¡±
¡°Everyone! Capture that werewolf with the black fur. Kill the rest!¡±
¡°Out of my way! I will be the one to capture him!¡±
The soldiers all ran towards Akira with a green look of greed in their eyes thinking of the large reward they would receive if they handed him over to the prince.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Awooooo!
Akira leaned his head back and used the skill [howl] making the soldiers stiffen up for several seconds.
Well... certain bodily functions were not stopped as several small puddles were created on the ground due to fear caused by the howl.
Akira used the few seconds to retreat to where Dolph was in order to not get surrounded and captured.
¡°Nox, I need some help!¡± said Akira as he summoned Nox.
¡°Hmph, another hard fight,¡± said the grumpy Nox as he leaped out Akira''s shadow and looked around to assess the situation.
¡°So it was you that they were after this whole time. Why is the Beorin prince interested in someone like you?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°I used to be a childhood friend of his, you might even say we were as close as brothers,¡± said Akira as he used the skill [Shield bash] on a soldier''s face in front of him caving the man''s face in and killing him instantly.
¡°I would hate to be his friend if this is what he thinks is hospitality,¡± said Frang as he joined the two.
¡°Nox, try to help keep Frang alive,¡± said Akira ignoring Frang''s comment.
The werewolf warriors were now fighting in groups of two''s and three''s against groups of 4 or 5 soldiers.
The soldiers were now nothing more than an unorganized mob trying to get past the other warriors and gather around Akira, making it so that the largest group of soldiers were gathered the Akira, Dolph, Frang, and Nox.
Akira was holding off over 6 people while Frang and Dolph fought another two people on the sides and Nox pounced on anyone who tried to attack from the rear.
Swoosh, bang, clang!
Attack after attack was blocked by Akira''s shield. The attackers were either pushed back or received a deadly bash to the face if they got too close.
¡°Gyaaa! My eyes!¡± came a pained shout from one of the soldiers on Akira''s right.
Akira quickly glanced over to see a soldier grabbing at the bloody pits that should have been his eyes. Seconds later Frang''s sword separated the man''s head and his hands from his body.
Another soldier cried out in pain next to the last one. On top of the soldier''s head, was a small bushy-tailed squirrel. This particular squirrel looked somewhat familiar to Akira.
When the squirrel saw Akira looking at him it waved at him with his little bloody paws and angrily chattered and pointed at the soldiers in front of Akira who were trying to attack him while he was distracted.
Due to his moment of carelessness, he received several hits to his armor which blocked the stabs from pricing his fur and skin but did nothing against the blunt attacks that knocked him back and caused several large bruises.
Akira struggled to keep his footing and block the hail of incoming blows both Dolph and Frang were being blocked from helping him as they were forced to fend off the new assaults from the soldiers in front of them.
But with the help of the squirrel Frang was able to easily dispatch the soldiers that had lost their eyesight. Relieving some of the pressure on them.
¡°Kill that damn squirrel!¡± shouted a soldier as he tried to wildly swing his sword at the squirrel only to miss it and end up receiving a claw to his own eyes.
¡°Gyaaa!¡±
A soldier next to blind man recklessly swung his sword at the squirrel that was still sitting on the man''s head... and split the man''s head in half.
There was a loud chattering that sounded out in pain as the squirrel clumsily leaped off the dead man''s head blood trailing behind him.
The small squirrel landed on Akira''s broad muscular shoulder and hid from the enemy by clinging onto Akira''s large back.
By now the other warriors had finished off the soldiers that had surrounded them and were now attacking the mass of soldiers that were trying to capture Akira.
Several minutes later the last human soldier was defeated allowing the warriors to let out sighs of relief.
Although there were no deaths on their side, everyone other than Akira, Dolph, and Frang had been wounded and were now bleeding from several unblocked attacks. They had received many new battle wounds and future scars to show off.
¡°Whose the little friend on your back?¡± asked Dolph as he helped another warrior bandage up his wounds.
¡°I think he''s someone I met when I went with Klyn to gather ingredients for the medicine that was used to cure Yuki''s illness,¡± said Akira.
Akira put his hand out behind him and the squirrel jumped onto it letting Akira bring him to the front so he could look at him.
¡°Ah! Looks like you were wounded let me get something to stop the bleeding,¡± said Akira as he reached his other hand into his bag. After rummaging around for a few seconds he pulled out a low-grade potion.
The squirrel showed a surprising calm obedience, as Akira used a portion of the potion and poured it over the little stub of a tail that was left and bandaged it up.
The squirrel chattered his thanks and clumsily hopped onto Akira''s head. He was having trouble adjusting his movement due to losing a large portion of his tail.
¡°Get off my head,¡± said Akira trying to smack him away. But the squirrel just dodged Akira''s hand.
The warriors all laughed at the sight which helped the mood to lighten up from the tense atmosphere.
¡°Alright! With this group defeated it will be some time before another group comes in this direction. We should use this time to escape,¡± said Dolph.
Everyone agreed, and after gathering their belongings, they set out for the final destination where they could meet back up with the rest of the rear guard.
***
Several days had passed since the night fight.
They had not seen or heard anyone following them since then.
¡°We''re only a few hours away from the meeting point where the ships that will take us away from this continent should be waiting,¡± said Dolph to cheer up the tired warriors who had not had any proper sleep in over a week.
Even though they had received several wounds and had an entire army still searching for them everyone was in high spirits because of the new adventure that lay ahead of them.
It did not matter that the demigods had returned to cause havoc as they would soon be leaving this land that was full of danger.
¡°Just think of the adventures we will have! A brand new unknown continent where we will have to explore and discover all its secrets!¡± said Frang happily.
¡°For some reason, I always feel so invigorated, whenever I fight near you Akira,¡± said Neal as he looked at Akira with a weird look on his face.
¡°You felt it too? I heard from my grandfather that people also felt something like this while fighting with the legendary hero ''Akira''. You know, the great warrior who united the clans during the first great war,¡± said Frang.
¡°Suspicious...¡±
¡°What''s his name?¡± asked Frang pointing at the squirrel that was now sitting on Akira''s shoulder.
¡°He doesn''t have one. But I guess he should have one, shouldn''t he? Hmm... how about... Stubby,¡± said Akira after looking at the squirrel to gain inspiration for a name.
Stubby turned to Akira and angrily waved his lit claw at him unhappy with the name.
¡°Hmm, suits him well,¡± said Dolph.
¡°Ah! I see the rearguard up ahead!¡± said Neal.
¡°What happened to you guys? It looks like you got a real beating,¡± asked a warrior as Akira and the rest of their small group joined back up with the rear guard.
¡°The enemy decided to chase after us and would not stop following us. So we were forced to resolve the problem by killing them. They outnumbered us so we took some damage,¡± said Dolph.
¡°It''s a good thing you arrived when you did. The ships are up ahead and will only be waiting a few more days,¡± said another warrior as he slapped Akira on the shoulder.
¡°Who will be guiding us to the other continent?¡± asked Frang.
¡°I heard they were friends of grand elder Wulfric''s granddaughter,¡± said the warrior.
***
¡°General, we have lost all contact with the enemy. If we don''t...¡±
¡°Enough! I know what has to be done. Send out the order that everyone is to return to Madham. We will have to take care of them later...and if I have to...I know there are people always willing to help with something like this,¡± said Rodger with an unhappy look on his face thinking about those people.
Chapter 132: Adventure for two in the south sea
¡°I didn''t expect you guys to be waiting for us,¡± said Akira as he and the other warriors arrived at the three large wooden ships.
¡°After not seeing you for so long, they couldn''t help but volunteer to stay behind and wait with the ships,¡± said Delgar pointing to Maya, Chack, and Klyn.
¡°Where''s Mileena? Did Varbu already leave?¡± asked Akira as he and the others entered a small rowboat and began rowing towards one of the large ships.
¡°She couldn''t stay behind since Azura asked her to stay and help her with certain tasks. Azura probably asked because she didn''t want to be alone. With the Demigods appearing Varbu didn''t have any time to wait for your return for a goodbye,¡± said Maya.
¡°I kinda feel bad for him. He spent all this time trying to get an alliance and the earth tribe is now leaving for a new land,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t worry, the elders sent him away with a letter containing some suggestions for both the Orcs and the Goblins of the mountains. If they agree and follow them then it won''t be long before we see them again,¡± said Klyn patting Akira on the back.
¡°The earth tribe and the army already left several weeks ago, so you guys are the only ones we were waiting for,¡± said Maya.
¡°Are you guys the ones that are going to guide us to the new continent?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No way, that would be Shaarla,¡± said Maya.
¡°Who''s Shaarla?¡±
¡°Me,¡± said a fluttery voice.
A head with wet aqua blue hair popped out of the water right next to the small rowboat. She looked to be around Mileena and Maya''s age.
¡°A talking fish!¡± said Chack in surprise.
¡°How rude!¡± said Shaarla splashing water at Chack''s face.
¡°I lie! It''s a fish that is a human,¡± said Chack.
Akira clamped Chack''s mouth shut before he could say anything more.
¡°Sorry about that, but who are you?¡± asked Akira.
At that moment two muscular mermaids emerged out of the water next to Shaarla.
¡°She is the Princess of Naurin the capital of the west sea,¡± said one of the muscular mermaids.
¡°Don''t mind NumWan and NumTuu. They are just my bodyguards,¡± said Shaarla.
¡°Are those really their names?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°No. I forgot their names a long time ago so I gave both of them nicknames that I could remember.¡±
¡°That''s mean princess, after all these years of protecting you, to find out you only use these nicknames because you don''t know our names,¡± said Numwan.
¡°So, are you Akira?¡± asked Shaarla ignoring the two complaining mermen.
¡°How did you know?¡±
¡°I''ve had to listen to Cora talk nonstop about you whenever she comes over. Azura also talked quite a bit about you so it is almost like I know you already,¡± said Shaarla playfully flicking a few drops of water at Akira''s face.
¡°Well, it''s nice to meet you. So do you know the way to the Foradverold continent?¡±
¡°No, I''m just here to lead you to the other ships of the main fleet that are waiting for you. My mother is the one who knows the way,¡± said Shaarla.
Thunk. The wooden rowboat bumped against the large ship right under a rope ladder that was waiting for them.
¡°I can tell that you are an interesting person, but we can''t keep talking right now with all the dangerous people on the dry land looking for you. I will talk to you later when we have escaped from them,¡± said Shaarla.
¡°I am sad and will miss this place...¡± said Chack, ¡°I lie! This place is getting too scary! I want to go now!¡±
***
The three ships were able to successfully sail away as a fog rolled in helping conceal the ships and the direction they sailed in.
A week had already passed as they sailed into the tropical waters farther south. Both Delgar and Glola stayed on the lower deck constantly sick due to the rocking of the boat.
Whenever Akira went to check on them he heard the same thing from Delgar, ¡°We dwarves were not meant to be sailors.¡±
¡°So one of the small clans stayed behind?¡± asked Akira, who was sitting on a wooden box on the top deck of the ship.
¡°The Nooklage clan is small and decided that they wanted to protect the ancestors meeting grounds. They won''t be living outside anymore but will still be able to protect it from the humans and monsters,¡± said Klyn.
¡°I heard from my mother who talked to the grand elders of the Earth tribe. They said that the Demigods are popping up like seaweed, at least a hundred a day!¡± said Shaarla as she lay on her back sunbathing on the top deck.
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It was a hassle for the sailors to hoist her up onto the top of the deck, but every day she demanded to be brought up so she could talk to everyone and soak up the sun.
Shaarla turned over onto her belly so she could look at Akira while talking. She wiggled her tail a bit to get into a comfortable position again which made her dark blue scales with golden specks let out a glittery effect from the sunlight which was very nice to look at.
It was rather hard for her to get into a comfortable position as her rather large chest was in the way.
¡°I heard from Azura that you met a demigod before. Are they really strong like all the stories say?¡± asked Shaarla.
At the question, everyone looked to Akira curious to hear his answer.
¡°Azura should really keep her mouth shut and stop talking about me so much. It is true I met one when I was a kid and I even saw him fight. If I were to judge him by what I consider strong right now then no he wasn''t that strong. I watched him die.
But from what I learned about them during and after that meeting they all have a type of special skill and are able to get stronger faster than normal people.
So some of them might be able to become as strong as the stories say if enough time passes. I guess. But I don''t really know much.¡±
¡°You saw one of them die? What did their dead body look like?¡± asked Chack.
¡°Why would you need to know something like that?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°How else are you able to tell if you can eat it or not?¡± asked Chack as if it was common sense.
¡°Eww, gross. You really are a lizard brain,¡± said Shaarla.
¡°Hmm, I''m not sure if you could say I am a lizard... I lie! I am very much a lizard...Maybe,¡± said Chack thinking hard about the insult as if it was a tough riddle.
¡°There was nobody left behind after dying he just... disappeared in a flash of multiple specs of light,¡± said Akira.
¡°Whaaaat?!¡± asked everyone in disbelief. Akira just nodded to say yes it''s true.
¡°Shaarla how does your mother know the way to Foradverold? Does she have a map?¡± asked Akira switching the topic.
¡°No map, it''s all up here,¡± said Shaarla pointing to her head, ¡°As far as I''m aware the south sea is too volatile with islands growing from the active underwater volcanoes and others getting destroyed by sea monsters. If you try to make a map it will be outdated as soon as it is made.¡±
¡°Is the sea that bad?¡± asked Maya.
¡°It depends on what season it is. We should be fine since it is the beginning of winter when things should be calming down as the waters cool a bit. I definitely would not have come if it was during spring.¡±
¡°Why?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°That''s when the mating season for the sea monsters starts. Trust me you do not want to be anywhere near the south sea during that time things can get...Violent...¡±
¡°I see...¡±
¡°Have you ever been to Foradverold? Do you know what it''s like and the type of people that live there?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No,¡± said Shaarla shaking her head, ¡°That''s the reason I came on the trip this time. I need to learn the way to the continent from my mother. So right now I need to soak up all the sun I can before we meet back up with the main fleet.¡±
¡°The only reason she came, was because she didn''t want to do any work while her mother was away...¡± muttered the nearby NumWan.
¡°I heard that the place is a wild untamed wilderness. The demon races are abundant on the land not like the small clans and tribes on Halrverold. The people that live there are supposed to be cold taking after the land they live in. They do not care if you die or live, only the strong survive in the harsh land of Foradverold. It is filled with dangers that Halrverold does not have,¡± said Klyn.
¡°How long until we are able to meet back up with the rest of the ships?¡± asked Maya.
¡°A few more weeks...hopefully,¡± said Shaarla.
***
The days passed by uneventful and rather dull until...
¡°Ah! I see the island!¡± said Chack pointing at a spot in the distant water on the left of the ship.
Akira and the others searched the sea where he was pointing looking for the island where the rest of the fleet was supposed to be waiting. But after a minute of searching, they could not find an island or any ships.
¡°You lizard brain, the island is over there,¡± said Shaarla pointing to the right of the ship in the exact opposite of where Chack had pointed.
Sure enough, there was an island and several dozen ships off in the distance.
¡°I lie... I must have mistaken the water over there for an island.¡±
It only took them another hour before the three ships pulled up to the main fleet and let down their anchors.
Akira watched from the top deck as several rowboats started moving towards the three ships. Only one of them headed towards the ship Akira was on.
The rowboat quickly reached them and the occupants climbed up onto the top deck.
¡°Big brother are...¡±
¡°I was worried that you had died since you decided to take on such a dangerous task,¡± said Mileena as she interrupted Azura''s greeting and jumped on Akira hugging him tightly.
¡°Get off my brother and stop being so clingy!¡± said Azura trying to pull Mileena away. ¡°I knew you would act like this.¡±
¡°So that''s why you had me stay behind! You didn''t even need my help at all!¡±
¡°Oh my, Mileena, if you act like this, people might get the wrong idea,¡± said Maya.
¡°You mean something like this?¡± asked Mileena as she stood on her tiptoes and quickly kissed Akira on the lips stunning everyone.
The person who was shocked the most was Akira, who had become a frozen statue, his brain going completely blank.
¡°....¡±
¡°Who''s she?¡± asked Mileena pointing at Shaarla, while staring daggers at the large mounds on her chest that were covered by a pair of large shells, the only piece of clothing that Shaarla wore.
¡°Don''t mind me. I won''t get in the way of you two love birds,¡± said Shaarla lazily waving her hand at Mileena.
¡°Hmph, it''s good that you know that you can''t have him,¡± said Mileena haughtily.
¡°It''s not that I can''t have him, it''s just that it is too much of a hassle to date someone with two legs.¡±
¡°Haaa, the princess is such a lazy person,¡± said NumTuu.
¡°We''re doomed if she is this lazy when she becomes the queen! Who do you think will have to do all the work?¡± said NumWan.
¡°I''m not lazy! I just like to take things slow!¡± retorted Shaarla.
Akira''s mind was now racing trying to figure out what was going on.
¡°Akira are you really dating her?¡± asked Azura.
Akira mechanically nodded his head not paying attention to the words that were spoken. He was still too preoccupied with thinking of the kiss he had received.
¡°See that means you can''t boss me around anymore!¡± said Mileena.
¡°Calm down Mileena or you might go into heat,¡± said Maya pulling her away from Akira.
¡°I see. So this is how other demon races show their love,¡± said Chack who had been watching and listening to everything.
This comment made Klyn burst out laughing as this was not in any way normal.
Chapter 133: The eye
It was several minutes after everyone had returned back to their tasks before Akira could finally fully process what had happened to him.
''Wait do I have a girlfriend now?''
''How did this happen?'' Akira asked himself as he looked at Mileena who was sitting on his right and was combing her tail.
¡°The air is even more humid out here on the south sea. My hair keeps getting all frazzled as soon as I finish brushing it,¡± complained Mileena as she noticed Akira''s gaze.
¡°Oh,¡± was all Akira could say.
A short time passed as Akira thought of his current situation. He decided that he didn''t mind having a girlfriend, even though it was a bit odd how it had all been decided.
¡°How long are we staying here?¡± asked Klyn who was sitting by the rail with a wooden fishing pole.
¡°The rest of the fleet is all ready to set sail. So as soon as the ships that you guys arrived on replenish your food and water we can leave. So a day or two from now,¡± said Azura.
Akira looked to his left to see his sister sitting next to him watching Mileena like a hawk.
¡°You''re still here? Aren''t you supposed to be back on the other ship with grandfather?¡± asked Akira.
¡°He doesn''t need me for anything right now so it''s okay...Oh! That''s right the queen wanted to meet you after hearing so much about you from the Cora.¡±
¡°Mother will probably be disappointed since he is quite average,¡± said Shaarla in a dismissive tone as she flipped over to tan her back.
Mileena quickly kissed Akira on the lips and while hanging onto Akira said, ¡°I don''t think you are average. But even with all your flaws I still love you.¡±
¡°It should be me saying that to you! You who can''t take one step in a dungeon before you set off all the traps. Not to mention that stuff you call cooking....¡± said Akira mumbling the last part.
Maya seeing such lovey-dovey stuff happening in front of her bopped her sister on the head before Azura could.
¡°Cool it Mileena or you''ll go into heat,¡± warned Maya as she pried Mileena off of Akira''s arm.
¡°I see, so this is something just like a cat or a dog? How normal...I lie! You guys are too strange!¡± said Chack.
¡°No, it''s not like those animals that go into heat during a certain season. We Nyaantails, when overwhelmed with emotions of love will go into heat... and then stuff happens,¡± said Maya pushing up her glasses on her nose in a very smart way.
¡°Ummm... I don''t think we should be talking about something like this,¡± said Akira scratching his head while he looked into the sky to avoid everyone who was looking at him.
¡°Yeah, talking about THAT happening between Big brother and her...how embarrassing...,¡± said Azura.
While the ships were busy gathering supplies for the long trip south, Akira spent the rest of the time ignoring the other girls by talking to the queen of the east sea. In doing so he was able to understand more about the south sea.
The whole time this was happening, stubby stayed on his shoulder sleeping most of the time. When he was awake he ignored Mileena and Azura who were constantly trying to lure him away with nuts and other scraps of food.
***
With the help of the mermaids escorting the ships, the fleet was able to pass most of the troublesome areas that would have caused them problems if they had tried to go alone by themselves.
It was amazing how fast the mermaids could swim and their stamina was no joke.
Akira was staring out at the sea sketching whatever he saw onto a piece of paper that was starting to look more and more like a crude map. He knew the map would most likely be wrong in the future with the changing seas but it was better to have something just in case he ever needed to travel in the south sea.
¡°Bluuuuggghhhh,¡± for the hundredth time the sound of someone losing their last meal could be heard some distance away.
With several weeks of sailing behind them, Akira was able to find out that Azura was prone to seasickness.
¡°Here, have some water,¡± said Mileena as she patted the silent Azura who silently took the waterskin and slowly took a sip of the water.
¡°Ewww! Who puked in the water!?¡± asked Shaarla her voice coming from the bottom of the ship.
¡°What are you doing here? Aren''t you supposed to be at the front with your mother? Did you escape and come here to slack off?¡± asked Maya.
¡°I wish I could! I''m here to pass along a message. Tell the captain of the ship that part of ''The eye of south sea'' is still active and we will reach it in a few hours.
The Grandelders have decided to take the risk and skirt the edge since it should be getting weaker every hour. If we turned around now we would run out of supplies due to the extra time needed to sail around the island chain to the next island that has fresh water.¡±
¡°I heard you loud and clear,¡± said Finch, a grizzled seafaring captain who had been on the seas all his life, although this was his first time crossing an entire ocean.
¡°Be sure to make preparations and follow closely behind the other ships. The ''eye'' may be weakening but it still can drag your ship to the bottom of the sea. I have to go warn the other ships so I can''t stay and chat.¡±
Akira turned to captain Finch who was behind the large wooden steering wheel of the ship and asked, ¡°What is this eye of the south sea?¡±
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¡°A whirlpool. A nasty piece of work, I heard earlier that this one randomly starts and stops every few months. At least we picked a time when it is calming down and not the other way around,¡± said Finch.
¡°What do we need to do to be ready?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The sea is going to get even rougher as we near the eye along with the wind becoming chaotic. The main thing is for all shamen on the ship to help keep the wind blowing properly on the sails so that we don''t get dragged off course and sent to the bottom of the sea.¡±
Akira looked over to Klyn.
¡°Don''t look at me. I don''t know any elemental chants. I only know the chants for buffs for battle,¡± said Klyn.
¡°No need to worry, we already have a few reliable wind element shamen on the ship. If you could help support them that would be more than enough,¡± said Finch. ¡°As for everyone else, if you have enough courage and strength to resist the wind, rough seas, and slippery footing, we can use you to help with any emergency repairs that may pop up. Everyone else should go below deck where it will be somewhat safer.¡±
¡°I think I''ll go down and rest in my bed,¡± said Azura who had turned pale at the thought of an even rougher sea than now which would make her seasickness even worse.
¡°We''ll keep you company,¡± said Mileena volunteering herself and Maya to keep an eye on her.
When the girls had disappeared under the wooden deck of the ship the captain turned to Akira, Chack, and Klyn.
¡°Make sure to tie yourself to one of the main masts. When I say it is going to get rough I am not joking,¡± said Finch pointing at the dark clouds swirling in the sky far away. The swirling clouds were getting bigger and bigger as they approached.
As they neared ''the eye of the south sea'' the winds started to pick up speed and the boat started to bob up and down even more as several waves escaped from the nearby whirlpool.
Akira could now see the large spinning whirlpool that was in the middle of the large rocky islands with several sturdy green trees that blocked the view of whatever was hiding behind them.
The surrounding area was scattered with dangerous shallows and other small islands making this narrow pass the only place they could use to get past the islands without taking a detour that would take several weeks.
In order to ride the edges of the weakening whirlpool, each ship of the fleet was forced to reposition themselves and form up into a long line as they entered the dark shadows of the stormy waters.
As if the dark clouds were waiting for them a heavy rain started to fall which soak everything and everyone on the top deck of the ships.
The raging wind was blowing everywhere.
The sails would have been useless if it weren''t for the shaman who continued their chants fighting the roaring wind and the rain to make sure that a strong wind was behind the sails so that the ship stayed on the proper course.
The rough waves caused by the wind continued to slam into the ship causing the ship to violently rock to one side or the other.
Every time they were hit by a large wave Akira''s stomach lurched as the waves were constantly trying to pull or push them closer to the swirling whirlpool.
In order to keep his footing, Akira along with the other sailors on the top deck had transformed and was holding onto whatever they were tied down to.
Akira''s fur was thoroughly soaked by the salty water from the waves that continued to smash into the ship and washed over the deck trying to pull any careless person into the sea.
¡°I love this!... I lie I don''t want to stay up here anymore!¡± shouted Chack over the roaring wind.
¡°You can''t leave now!¡± shouted Akira.
Akira was somewhat jealous of Chack because the rain and water from the waves just slid off his scales. His feet also had a hind claw on his heel to go along with the claws in the front making it so he could clamp down onto the wooden deck and not move at all.
¡°The fun''s just started! Don''t let your guard down!¡± shouted Finch as his large furred arm muscles bulged while trying to keep the wheel straight as he resisted the rough seas chaotic pull.
¡°Incoming wave from the left!¡± shouted the lookout who was still in the crow''s nest keeping an eye out for dangerous waves as well as making sure they were following the ship in front of them which they could barely see due to the rain and large waves.
Wham!
The huge wave slammed into the side of the ship causing several wooden groans from the ship as well as a loud ''Crack!'' as the smaller supporting mast next to Akira was snapped in two as the wave rushed over the deck.
Klyn who now had no anchor was picked up by the wave and was swept towards the edge of the ship along with the other shaman that he had been supporting.
Akira let go of his grip to the mast and without a second thought leaped forward towards the two with his claws outstretched grabbing onto Klyn''s wrist and the ankle of the other shaman just before he was jerked to a stop by the rope that was around his waist tied to the mainmast.
The two shamen were dangerously dangling over the edge of the ship where the railing had broken. The waves continued to smash into their bodies trying to suck them into the water.
The only thing keeping them from falling was Akira.
¡°Heavy,¡± grunted Akira as he tightened his hold onto the two large transformed werewolf''s. He was being slid roughly back and forth on top of the slick deck slamming into the remaining railing on both sides while he held onto the two.
Seeing Akira diving to save the two shamen Chack along with several nearby sailors let go of whatever they were holding onto and slipped and slid over to his rope and started to pull the three back to the relative safety of the mainmast.
When both Klyn and the other shaman were given a new rope and tied to the mast, Akira let out a sigh and of relief.
¡°You need to go on a diet! So heavy,¡± shouted Akira.
¡°I''m the same weight as you!¡± said Klyn.
¡°Quit your yapping! We''re only halfway through! We need to keep the main mast safe or we are doomed,¡± shouted Finch.
With the help of the Shamen who were heaving and huffing from exhaustion, they were able to reach the south side of the eye without another incident.
The water and winds were now starting to calm down.
...
¡°A Kraken!¡± shouted the lookout in the crow''s nest. ¡°It''s coming towards us!¡±
Several curses came out of the sailor''s mouths as they had thought that they had escaped the danger of the ''eye'' only to run into the sea monster that was one of the most feared monsters for sailors.
¡°Battle stations!¡± shouted Finch.
Akira unsheathed his sword and readied his shield that was now glowing, lighting up the darkness around him due to becoming wet.
Before the Kraken could reach the ship several mermaid warriors appeared before it and launched several attacks forcing the Kraken to shy away and swim back to the whirlpool with the several severe wounds it had received from the warriors.
Everyone let out sighs of relief as the nearly wrecked ships exited the dark clouds and the rain stopped, returning to a calm and sunny sea.
With the sun now shining brightly and the high humidity in the air, Akira''s fur poofed out making him look like a large fluffy and frizzled furball.
What was worse was the salty water that was now drying on his skin made his skin all over his body itch.
He hurriedly returned back to his human form to stop Chack from laughing at him.
¡°Bring up the spare mast! Get the tools and start fixing the holes and the rails! Bail out the water that escaped into the ship!¡± Finch shouted out several orders to the everyone who was staring at the whirlpool that was now behind them.
Several people let out groans.
¡°Quit your whining we can''t reach full speed and keep up with the rest of the fleet if we don''t fix the ship now, and we can''t afford to take a slower trip with our limited supplies!¡± boomed Finch.
***
As they continued to sail south the islands became less and less tropical green and started to become more barren as the air also became colder.
Chapter 134: The Orc clans decision
Several weeks before.
With the appearance of the demigod every day hundreds had been appearing and soon that number rose to nearly a thousand a day as new Demigods started to appear in any one of the four Halrverold Kingdoms capitals.
***
The Orc cities had already received the warning messages from the Earth tribe of the Demigod threat before Varbu had returned to the Uhgabuhga Mountains and reached the capital city of Orcrock.
When he arrived in the city it was already on high alert preparing for the coming war with the Demigods.
The forges and mines were being worked all day and night to make sure that everyone had a weapon and a full set of armor to fight against the coming storm.
Each Orc city had already sent delegates to Orcrock in order to decide what the Orc clans would do as a race.
Varbu was now sitting outside of the meeting hall as he waited for the elders and delegates of each clan to come to a decision on the information he presented several hours ago.
Thunk! The doors to the meeting hall were thrown open and the elders and delegates all streamed out quietly chatting with grim faces as they left the building.
¡°Father what has the Council of Elders decided?¡± asked Varbu when his father exited the meeting hall behind the elders.
Tornok pulled Varbu to one of the darker corners of the small lobby for a little privacy before talking.
¡°They have decided that we are too old to travel across such a dangerous ocean by ourselves. We would rather die with honor fighting for our homes. The other clans and smaller cities have agreed to join us as we consolidate our power and build up the fortifications around the mountain pass and the city...¡±
¡°Then? What about...¡±
¡°...but that does not mean we are going to let the Demigods kill us until we are extinct. The clan elders have judged you to be a worthy successor of our clan.
As the new Warrior Chief, you will lead the young warriors of our clan along with the woman and children to the new continent and rejoin with our new allies the Earth tribe.
The other clans have also nominated their own successors to lead their clans to the new continent. Although we cannot force everyone to go to the new continent we are leaving it up to each Orc to choose whether they will go or not.
You are to work along with other Clans new Warrior Chiefs so that everything goes smoothly. I have faith in you and I believe that you will be able to fulfill your duties with honor and show the other clans what a true warrior is.¡±
¡°I am honored that the elders have bestowed such an honor on me but...you...won''t be coming?¡±
¡°No, I must stay here and command the forces in the coming fights.
I have already spoken with King GobGob, and he has also had the same idea as us and is sending princess Gobalina and the young prince Gobbers to the new continent along with the young warriors and civilian goblins.
They will join you and the other Orc clans so that you all can support each other as you head for the sea. The queen of the east mermaids has assured us that she will have transportation ready for you by the time you get there.¡±
¡°Can we trust the goblins?¡± asked Varbu as he thought of the most recent war that was fought between the two races.
¡°If their father was in charge I would trust them as far as I could throw them. But the young prince is different than his father since princess Gobalina keeps a close reign on him in order to make sure he doesn''t pick up any bad habits from their father. She is also in charge of the young prince''s lessons making sure he does not turn out to be an idiot.¡±
¡°That is good to know since it is one thing less that I have to worry about.¡±
¡°Don''t get complacent. Now that you have become the new Warrior Chief you have now have the great responsibility of protecting those under your rule.
I have already sent an order for the young warriors to gather near the barracks. They have all received new armor and weapons. They have all received their warrior''s training and will do their duties with honor.
I will be sending Cargan with you as an advisor and the captain of your guards. Before leaving you need to make sure to sort out the command structure you want to use. You need to make sure you protect the woman and the children as they are our future.
Go now, you only have a few days to prepare before the other clans and the goblins arrive.¡±
Varbu stood tall and slammed his fist into his chest with a loud thump saluting his father before leaving and heading towards the barracks in order to sort the young warriors into a proper fighting force.
¡°Don''t forget you still need to receive your clan tattoo of status!¡± shouted Tornok before Varbu was out of sight.
***
With the news of the Demigods return reaching the ears of each of the demon races on Halrverold, one could see that in each city the demon races were preparing for the worse case scenarios and were frantically making sure they would be able to protect themselves.
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The scattered clans who liked to live in solitude, as well as the nomadic races, were no longer safe to roam around and live in smaller communities.
They were forced to consolidate their forces into their strongest cities, forest hideouts, mountain citadels or deep underground desert caves.
In only a few days several small and medium-sized villages and towns had been abandoned and turned into ghost towns where monsters would now roam free.
The demon races focused on upgrading their armor, weapons, and city defenses in order to raise their chances of surviving the oncoming battles that would surely come looking for them.
As new groups of people reached the new strongholds there were several rumors about fights with small groups of demigods but nothing serious had happened yet.
This further pushed the demon races to hurry up with fortifying their cities.
***
Capital city Fregoldawae.
¡°Excuse me. Are you guys demigods?¡± asked Rodger as he walked up to a group of odd-looking men who wore a mismatch of armor, clothes, and weapons, making them look rather comical.
¡°Yeah, who wants to know?¡± asked one of the demigods as he spit on the ground near Rodger''s feet.
¡°How dare you spit at the prince!¡± shouted Raimund unsheathing his sword along with the other soldiers behind him.
¡°Oi... Are you trying to pick a fight with the Toothpick feather Guild?¡± asked one of the demigods that had a tricorne hat on his head with several large fluffy feathers sticking out of it.
The two sides bristled ready for a fight as they glared at each other.
¡°I only wanted to ask if you could do something for me. Not to start a fight,¡± said Rodger trying to calm everyone down.
¡°I the great Peacock, have no time to deal with the likes of you. Get lost or we''ll make you disappear,¡± said Peacock with a look of disdain before turning away from Rodger.
¡°Ha! Weaklings like you and your pathetic guild sure know how to bark loud. If you were to do something as stupid as that your time in civilized society would be over,¡± mocked someone from behind Rodger.
¡°Who said that!?¡± asked the angry Peacock.
¡°I did,¡± said a demigod with a black and white half-face mask covering a part of his face.
¡°Captain...look it''s him! Scar, from the large guild ''Demon Hunters!¡±
¡°Scar...? Ah! Yes well... our clan is small as you say. I''m sorry to have bothered you but we have other things that we need to do so we will be going now,¡± said Peacock before turning tail and running away.
¡°I couldn''t help but overhear that you have something you want done. My name is Scar. I may be able to help you depending on what it is you need. If you would like we can talk about such matters in the comfort and privacy of one of the new VIP boxes at the new arena that was opened a few weeks ago,¡± said Scar with a slight smile on his face.
¡°My name is Rodger and I am the prince of Beorin. Isn''t the VIP box a bit expensive just to talk about such a small matter?¡±
¡°It is an honor to meet you the prince of Beorin. I recently won a month-long access pass to the VIP box so I might as well use it while it lasts,¡± said Scar as if it was nothing.
¡°Alright then, let''s continue the discussion there,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Follow me I''ll lead the way.¡±
Rodger and his guards were led to a brand new large arena that had been recently built outside of the city.
This arena was far larger than any arena he had ever seen before built with large granite stone blocks. The arena shot into the sky several stories high and was extremely wide allowing it to hold over a hundred thousand people.
As they reached the entrance that led to the VIP boxes, Rodger read the name of the arena that was posted above the entrance. [The clinic].
There was a second sign under the first that read: [Only demigods are allowed to fight at ''The clinic'' chain of arenas].
After walking up several sets of steps they were able to reach one of the private VIP boxes to watch the fights that were already happening on the sandy ground below them.
¡°You should be careful with who you ask to complete your tasks. There are too many small nobody Guilds that are popping up like weeds and die out just as quickly. You should always look out for one of the bigger guilds to make sure that whatever task you need is completed without delay,¡± said Scar.
¡°A large guild like yours?¡± asked Rodger as he sat down in one of the large cushioned chairs to watch the current fight.
¡°That would be preferable but I can also introduce you to a few other large clans. Purgatory, Forsaken warriors, Cunning Shadows, Banished Knights, or the Gentle fallen are just a few of the 7 major guilds that you should keep an eye out for. Depending on what your task requires you will want to ask one of them if I can''t help you.¡±
¡°How can we trust you? The people from before seemed to be fairly afraid of you...¡± asked Raimund.
¡°You might say I am a bit of a celebrity among the other demigods. My guild is not in the habit of hiding behind words and we follow through with or full strength to punish those who get in our way.
So, what is this task that you want done and what will be the reward?¡±
Rodger was so engrossed in watching the fight on the field below that he did not hear Scar''s question.
Seeing the demigods using strange and wondrous skills that he had never seen before made him forget all about Scar and the reason he had come here in the first place.
The current fight was between a demigod that wore leather robes and held a wooden twig in on hand and a book In the other he was continuing to run while shouting out words and pointing the wooden twig behind him to shoot out several skills at his opponent who was a swordsman in cheap leather armor equipped with a rusty sword and wooden shield.
It was really embarrassing to even call them a sword and shield but the powerful skills that shot out from the sword was no laughing matter.
Raimund coughed and nudged Rodger to break his trance.
¡°What? Oh sorry, I was just shocked at how powerful those skills look,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Ha... those are nothing. Just some nobodies playing around. If that guy with the wand continues training he will be able to receive skills that are maybe even 10x stronger, but his defense will always be crap.¡±
¡°Ten times...If all demigods are like this then I am very confident that you demigods will be able to take care of the task that I must have completed,¡± said Rodger a bit frightened at the power of the demigods.
''It seems the only way to protect Beorin against such a threat is to employ some of them in the future to keep others from causing any problems,'' thought Rodger.
¡°Don''t misunderstand me, we demigods are not all the same. We have different...traits that we receive when arriving in this world. Those traits allow us to pick one of the many ways of fighting known as classes.
That guy down there with the wand is just a basic low tier class known as a Wizard. They have high attack skills but low defense. The other guy is also a basic low tier warrior known for fighting mainly with the sword.
Last I heard there were hundreds of classes not including the rumored hidden classes. Some even have nothing to do with fighting like merchants and people who create certain items.¡±
¡°What is your class?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°That''s a secret,¡± said Scar, ¡° So, what is that you want me to do?¡±
¡°I want you to kill a person... His name is... Akira.¡±
Chapter 135: Who are you?
¡°Oh? Someone made you angry enough to want them killed?¡± asked Scar.
¡°He killed my father,¡± said Rodger with a sour face.
¡°I see. So where is this person that you want killed?¡±
¡°I don''t know exactly where he is right now, the last place I saw him was in the southern swamplands. But it seems the werewolves have either gone into hiding or they have left to live somewhere else. I am sorry I can''t give you anything more solid.¡±
¡°That request sounds like it will take a lot of effort just to find the target and complete it. If they have moved... I hear that the sea is a dangerous place to travel which will make finding them even harder if they left this continent.¡±
¡°Don''t worry you will be properly rewarded!¡± said Rodger.
¡°Hmm...is it just me or do you remind me of someone... What was his name...Mac...Mak...Marc! That''s the one,¡± said Scar as he looked at Rodgers'' face.
¡°You knew my brother?¡±
¡°Oh, so he was your brother. I met him only once, it was a short meeting but he left a deep impression with me. How is he?¡±
¡°...he died during the last great war...¡± said Rodger quietly.
This was just another painful reminder that he was now the only one left alive. His father, mother, and brother were all dead. The only relatives he had now were from his marriage to his wife Ruth.
¡°Ah...so that''s how it ended up, huh. Well, since I was such good friends with your brother I will accept this mission,¡± said Scar with a wide knowing grin that made Rodger feel uncomfortable.
***
¡°Hey boss, I just got a big mission I need help with,¡± said Scar as he entered a small one-room building.
¡°The buildings in this city are too expensive! With the money our guild is making right now we can only afford to rent this crappy one-room building for our guild house. What''s worse is everyone and their brother is trying to make a guild and going out and buying up all the free buildings driving up the cost of rent in the city,¡± complained Fela, a light purple-haired bespectacled woman who was in charge of the guild''s gold.
¡°It can''t be helped, we just started recently and have to use most of our gold to help buy equipment for everyone,¡± said a man that was over 6 ft tall with a body of nothing but muscle.
His head looked like it was one size too small for his large body but he gave off an honorable trustworthy feeling to those who did not know him.
¡°Scar, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me boss. I may be the guild leader of the Demon hunters, but you are second in command so you can just call me by my name,¡± said the tall muscular man as he looked over to Scar.
¡°Ah, sorry Ualtar. I forgot. But it''s only because you picked such a hard name to remember...¡± said Scar mumbling the last part.
¡°What quest did you get? Is it something that will help the guild?¡±
¡°The reward is huge! 1000 gold and the reputation with the Beorin kingdom will immediately become friendly for whoever completes the mission!¡±
¡°The gold is nice but are you sure about the reputation? Isn''t that supposed to be really hard to raise?¡± asked Ualtar.
¡°It''s true I checked to see if it was correct several times. I''ve hit the jackpot already. I need to make sure no bad luck comes looking for me.¡±
¡°This mission, what is it that we have to do to get such a reward?¡±
¡°Kill someone, but I have no clue where he is. The last he was seen was in the southern swamps. The person I received the mission from said that they may have even left this land altogether.¡±
¡°Haaaa...so that''s why. This will be hard to do if we don''t know where the target went. I''ll have the information officer Brand and his underlings go look for clues to find where he is now.¡±
¡°It''s a good thing I got this mission before the other guilds could take it. If we complete it we can move to the Beorin kingdom and get many benefits from our high reputation.¡±
***
Varbu and Cargan stood at the head of the group of 400 young orc warriors from the clan as they waited for the rest of the civilians to gather at the front gates.
The other four young warrior chiefs were all well-built blood orcs like Varbu. They all waited silently with their warriors along with grim looks on their faces.
The Orc clans combined forces totaled around 2000 young warriors that were of fighting age and had completed their warrior training.
The young warriors would have to protect the caravan of over 5000 civilians as they moved from the mountains and towards the sea.
As they waited for the civilians to finish their last preparations. Princess Gobalina and Prince Gobbers arrived with another 500 fighters and 2000 civilians. The two did not talk to anyone and just waited along with the others.
The large caravan now had 2500 warriors to protect over 7000 women and children.
Varbu had already said his goodbyes to his father and his crying mother who he had never seen cry before, so when the last person exited the city the large caravan began its long march towards the sea and Varbu did not look back at all.
***
The Orcs continued to travel in a big blob of bodies separated only by the clans they belonged to.
There was no unified leadership of the Orc clans so although they were traveling together they kept to themselves.
Varbu had tried repeatedly to get the others to listen to his suggestions on getting a more firm command in place. But since he was the youngest of the five warrior chiefs everyone ignored him.
The only person who had accepted his offer of cooperation was Gobalina.
So the goblins and Varbu''s clan joined together at the rear of the large caravan, while the other four clans vied for the honor of leading the caravan from the front.
A week had passed since the Orcs had left the protection of the rocky Orc territory. They were now traveling in the vast wide open human lands.
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The caravan came to a complete stop long before it was supposed to.
¡°Why did we stop?¡± asked Varbu. He looked to Gobalina next to him so see if she had an answer.
She just silently stared back at him with her clear eyes blinking a few times.
¡°Oh right, I forgot you can''t speak this language,¡± said Varbu sheepishly. ¡°I''ll go see what''s going on up ahead. Cargan, you are in charge of the civilian''s protection until I return.¡±
¡°I will do as you command. You five go escort the chief to the front,¡± ordered Cargan.
¡°That''s not necessary.¡±
¡°I''m just following orders from your father. I need to make sure that you stay alive.¡±
Varbu jogged to the front of the large caravan surrounded by five Orc warriors that were extremely proud to be given the honor to guard the new warrior chief.
When he reached the front of the caravan he found the four warrior chiefs were standing out in front of the caravan. 20 feet or more in front of them was a small group of ten humans all wearing an odd mismatched assortment of clothing and armor. They were all talking to each other loudly not caring if the Orcs heard them.
¡°What is this? Is it a special event?¡±
¡°But there are no details on what to do?¡±
¡°There is only one way to find out!¡±
The humans all went silent and turned to the orcs who were watching them warily.
Grat the oldest of the five young Warrior chiefs took several steps forward and pointed at the humans while asking, ¡°Who are you? Why are you blocking our path?¡±
The humans were silent and only unsheathed their weapons causing several Orcs to laugh.
¡°Do you think the ten of you weaklings can fight us? Leave now and...¡±
Swosh! Swish!
Several exotic special skill attacks flew towards Grat and slammed into his sturdy body sending blood everywhere into the air and causing his body to fall to the ground.
¡°De...De... Demigods!¡± said Urikil, one of the young warrior chiefs.
Cries of horror erupted throughout the nearby woman and children as they tried to get as far away from the demigods as they could.
¡°Sound the horn of battle!¡± ordered Varbu immediately.
One of the bodyguards had a war horn on his hip and raised it to his lip and let out a long blast.
Buruuuuuu!
Several more attacks were launched at the three other young warrior chiefs.
But they were not careless like Grat and jumped to the side or fell to the ground to dodge the attacks... only to hear screams come from the women and children that were hit by the attacks.
¡°All warriors follow me! We must attack!¡± shouted Varbu in a booming voice as he pointed his club like quarterstaff that Akira had made for him at the Demigods and charged forward.
The demigods seeing Varbu charging towards them along with his bodyguards turned their attention away from the other clan chiefs and the civilians and focused on Varbu.
Several exotic glowing skills came flying towards Varbu.
He launched himself forward into the air dodging all but two of the attacks that slammed into his chest and exploded burning all his exposed skin.
Several cries of pain could be heard as the skills hit the unlucky warriors who followed behind him.
Gritting his teeth Varbu put all of his strength into his arms as he descended, swinging his quarterstaff down onto the head of one of the Demigods who was wearing cheap cloth armor and holding twin daggers.
Splat! The head of the Demigod disappeared as it was smashed into nothingness. Several seconds later the body also disappeared in a burst of light fragments.
¡°Kill that Orc! We have to get revenge for Tricky Dick!¡± shouted an enraged Demigod.
Unfortunately for the small group of Demigods they were now surrounded by the Orc warriors and were forced to focus on fighting the nearest threat.
They continued to use their exotic spells and skills hitting everything in front of them. Flashy sword attacks, colorful piercing arrows, explosive fireballs, and ice shards.
Varbu continued swinging his quarterstaff and even used the fire gem inside to great effect.
Boom! One swing, one kill.
The demigod''s heads, chest, and rib-cages were completely caved in leading to their immediate deaths where they would disappear into light fragments.
With their combined power, Varbu and the warriors were able to kill the remaining Demigods in under five minutes with Varbu killing six of them.
Varbu and the other clan chiefs gathered for an emergency meeting.
Surprisingly Grat was still alive and joined them after he was wrapped up in several bandages to stop the bleeding from the several cuts all over his body. With all the bandages wrapped around his body, he looked more like a mummy than an Orc.
Although he was alive, he had suffered a great loss when one of the attacks severed his right hand which was his main fighting hand. This lowered his ranking among the other warrior chiefs.
¡°How many people did we lose?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Twenty warriors and 80 civilians...¡± said Nugrug.
¡°Were those really demigods?¡± asked Urikil.
¡°That''s a stupid thing to ask. You saw their bodies disappear into light,¡± said Rubrokk.
¡°Yeah, and every one of them used a weird skill, and they freaking hurt when you get hit with them,¡± said Grat.
¡°I know someone that has a skill that can cut through tens if not hundreds of people in the weak leather and cloth armor they were wearing. Their attacks are surprisingly weak compared to his,¡± said Varbu.
¡°But how can they be the legendary Demigods when their bodies were so weak and they were killed so easily? Aren''t they supposed to be unkillable like in the war stories?¡± asked Urikil.
All of the young chiefs had been children when the last great war had occurred. They had all stayed far away from the battles that were fought, so the only information they had was from the adults who had fought them.
Hearing all the horror stories from them the demigods were near impossible to kill.
¡°That doesn''t matter right now. We need to quicken our pace and leave this place as soon as possible before any more Demigods decide to attack us,¡± said Varbu, bringing a halt to the discussions.
Although the young clan chiefs did not want to admit it, they had performed like crap in their first battle with the demigods. The only one to rise to the occasion was Varbu.
Thus his rank among the five warrior chiefs rose near the top and they did not complain and just followed along with what he said.
***
Over the next week, they were attacked three more times by the same group of Demigods.
Although the warriors had now lost most of their fear of the Demigods that did not mean they could take it easy when fighting them.
Hundreds of orcs and goblins, both civilian and warriors, were killed in the repeated attacks.
¡°What kind of monster are you? You kill everyone with only one attack,¡± asked a dying demigod.
¡°I''m no monster. To me you are the abomination!¡± said Varbu as he watched the last demigod disappear into light particles.
¡°Grand chief we should only be a day away from the sea where the transportation should be waiting for us. This should be the last attack we have to fight off if we don''t stop to rest,¡± said Urikil as he looked at Varbu.
Varbu had gained the position of Grand Chief of the five clans, through proving his power and leadership in battle as he repeatedly crushed the demigods when they appeared. With his battle powers and leadership, he gained the respect of the other warrior chiefs as well as the civilians.
¡°Let''s do that. Each time the Demigods appear they end up killing more civilians. This time it seemed like they were only focusing on them instead of the warriors.¡±
¡°Despicable. They have no honor,¡± said Rubrokk loudly.
¡°I''m beginning to understand why the elders and old warriors said the Demigods were near impossible to kill. It''s because they won''t stay dead,¡± said Varbu.
***
¡°Did you find where the target went?¡± asked Scar.
¡°Brand and his underlings were able to confirm that rumor that the entire werewolf race left the continent for another place across the sea. They also found two guides that know a way to get to the new continent. Are you planning to go with them?¡± asked Ualtar.
¡°Are you crazy? Why would I want to waste several weeks to months on a trip to an unknown barren continent? I need to grow stronger so I am not left behind by the members of the other guilds.¡±
¡°Then why did you accept the mission if you weren''t going to complete it.¡±
¡°Just send a few of the underlings over there to take care of it. It shouldn''t be hard for them to do that much.¡±
Chapter 136: Foradverold
¡°Man...I picked the wrong thing to specialize in. I should have become a merchant, then I wouldn''t have to spend such a long time on a boat sailing to some backwater continent,¡± complained LieLie as she walked towards the ship along with the other members of the Demon hunter guild.
She stood out from the rest of the party due to her height being just 5ft while also wearing eye-catching overly large floppy hat baggy robes that were several sizes too big for her.
¡°I don''t want to go either since everyone else will get ahead of us while we travel. You''re a mage so you shouldn''t have any trouble leveling up fast. But I''m just a berserker and can only kill things up close one or two at a time,¡± said Berk who was over 6ft tall and full of muscle. The clothing and armor he wore was all rough fur leather taken from the monsters he had caught.
They had all been given the task by the higher-ups and there was no way of declining it. The only upside to this was the rewards for completing it were extremely good. The majority of the group stayed silent as they had given up caring about it anymore.
¡°No use in complaining all you can do right now is make sure you buy the best weapon and armor you can before we leave. There may not be a decent shop to buy anything on the new continent,¡± said Bland.
Bland was a knight, he was a very average looking person with an average height. He didn''t have anything that made him stand out much from others and it didn''t help that he always wore a helmet that covered his face at all times.
¡°I heard that another guild got a mission to go to the new continent but they put it off because they wanted to continue fighting another guild that started to hunt in their territory,¡± LieLie.
¡°Of course they would! Who would want to waste time going to a backwater underdeveloped place with unknown weather patterns? The risk of falling behind over there is far larger along with no support to help us when a dangerous event happens,¡± said Berk.
¡°Those idiots! There is so much land with so many things to hunt and they are wasting time by fighting among themselves,¡± said Bland.
¡°Well there is a lot of land but there is also a lot of new guilds popping up everywhere, so of course there will be fighting,¡± said Berk.
¡°Ah, I think those black-robed figures next to that ship are the people that are supposed to lead us to the new continent,¡± said Bland pointing at two dark-cloaked people standing in the shadows of one of the large wooden ships.
***
Present time.
¡°I see land on the horizon to the starboard!¡± shouted the sailor who was sitting in the crows'' nest high above everyone else.
Akira hurried over to the ship''s wooden rails on the right of the ship to get a glimpse of the new continent of Foradverold where the Earth tribe would make their new home.
A cold wind slammed into his body as he stared at the distant dark blue waves on the horizon. Stubby who had been sitting on his shoulder quickly scurried under Akira''s cloak and clung to his back to hide from the cold wind.
Every breath he took created a small white cloud that was blown away by the wind.
The temperature here compared to the swamplands was a complete 180* change, but in all honesty, the cooler temperature was much more to Akira''s liking.
The sticky heat was torture to fight in let alone transform. It made him sweat so much that he always smelled like a wet dog no matter how many times he took a shower.
¡°Do you see it?¡± asked Mileena who walked up next to Akira.
She was wearing an oversized cloak that had been given to her by Akira, it was wrapped around her several times to keep herself warm.
¡°Nope, it''s still too far away. How are you holding up with the weather?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We Nyantails have warm blood and natural defense against the cold just like you werewolves. So this weather is no problem for me,¡± said Mileena as she pulled the cloak around her tighter to ward off the cold blowing wind.
Akira couldn''t blame her for her reactions since she had grown up in the heat of the deserts. The only other place she had traveled to was the swamplands that were just as hot but extremely wet.
Mileena stared at Akira as If she was expecting something or some sort of reply from Akira, forcing his mind to race to figure out this S grade puzzle.
¡°Well if it gets too cold I''m sure you can use your fur to help keep warm,¡± said Akira after a minute of intense thinking.
¡°Hmph...¡±
''Ah! Wrong answer! Does she want me to do something like that...?'' Akira asked himself in a panic. He was, of course, thinking of Stubby who was now sleeping inside his armor where it was warm. ''Well, she is too big to join him so...''
He awkwardly reached out his right arm and put it around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him, sharing his own body heat with her as he tried to wrap his cloak around her as well.
Mileena let out a quiet purr of content and rested her head on his chest.
''I guess that was the correct answer. But....this is really inefficient! All the cold wind is coming in since the cloak is not big enough for both of us! Why would anyone want to do something like this?''
***
Several hours passed as the fleet corrected its course and sailed towards the continent of Foradverold.
The land grew larger as they sailed closer allowing Akira to make out the details of the new land that they would call home.
Everything was covered in a light dusting of fresh snow making the sunshine reflect everywhere.
¡°It looks so pretty!¡± said Azura who had come up from the bowels of the ship several minutes ago when she heard the news that they were close to land.
¡°Like someplace from a fairy tale,¡± said Mileena.
The ships were now slowing down as they neared the shore. They would have to use the smaller rowboats to get to shore since it was too shallow for the ships to get any closer or they would run aground.
¡°I''m saved! I want to get on the first boat to land!¡± said Azura as she ran towards the rowboat that was getting prepared to accept people before it was lowered into the water.
She had spent well over a month in her bed due to severe seasickness.
¡°Wait for me!¡± shouted Mileena.
Maya followed behind them, silent as usual. Akira dragged Chack onto the rowboat as well. It was hard not to laugh while looking at Chack who was wearing so many layers of clothing that he looked like a puffball.
Delgar and the other green-faced Dwarves stumbled into the rowboat behind them as well.
¡°Soon we''ll get to have solid ground under our feet,¡± Delgar kept muttering as he tried to not look at the cold water far below them. The rowboat swayed back and forth from in the light winter breeze as well as people getting into the rowboat.
¡°This one is full! Lower her down,¡± shouted the sailor in charge.
The rowboat was jerkily lowered down until they had descended halfway to the water below. But in a heart-wrenching moment, they fell the rest of the way splashing into the cold waves getting everyone in the rowboat wet.
¡°Sorry!¡± shouted the sailors still on the ship.
The Dwarves grumbled as they helped detach the rope from the ship and let the sailors pull it back up.
Shaarla swam up to the rowboat next to where Akira was sitting.
¡°Well, I guess our job is done here. It was nice meeting everyone, but I really don''t like the weather and the sea here, it''s too cold and I can''t work on my suntan.¡±
¡°Princess, we shouldn''t make the queen wait for us. We need to leave now,¡± said NumWan.
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¡°I hope that this isn''t the last time we meet! Goodbye,¡± said Shaarla before she dived back under the water followed by her two bodyguards.
Akira was sitting in the middle of the rowboat so he was forced along with a few other werewolf warriors to row the boat to shore.
As soon as the rowboat hit the shallow shore everyone spilled out of the boat trying to be the first to step onto the firm stable ground.
¡°Ah! The water is so cold!¡± Azura cried out as she hopped out into the shallow water.
¡°My tail is getting soaked!¡± complained Mileena as she and the other two girls splashed and waded through the knee-deep water to get to dry land.
Akira and the other werewolf warriors grabbed onto the armor or armpits of the short Dwarves and helped the sputtering Dwarves who were up to their necks in the water when the waves passed them.
Akira stood on the snow-covered beach and looked around at his immediate surroundings.
All along the beach were several large sand dunes covered with powder snow that would rise up into the air whenever the wind passed by.
Beyond the snow-covered sand dunes to the right was a small forested area with several pine trees that were covered with snow and icicles. He could see nor hear anything dangerous moving around.
On the left was an open plain and in the far distance, he could see what looked like snow-covered stone walls with several gray pillars of smoke rising into the sky from the dwellings that were hidden behind the walls.
It was too far away to tell how big the city was or who lived behind the walls.
Ding!
Quest Escape the continent of Halrverold complete!
In the year 702, in the first month deep into winter, the Earth tribe has for now successfully escaped the looming threat of the demigods and have reached Foradverold, the harsh and untamed land of monsters.
This land is known to have harsh winters and short summers.
|
Requirements met...
Skill eyes of werewolf is now unlocked.
Receiving stored experience...
Level up!
Level up!
Level up!
¡
¡
You are now level 60!
|
All max level beginner skills have been upgraded to intermediate level 1.
|
You have received a new title!
One who is skilled at running away.
+5 fame
|
You now have a girlfriend!
+4 Charm
|
The wave of messages surprised Akira. But after reading through them he gave a relieved sigh. He had thought that his level would be forever stuck at level 50.
He hurriedly opened his stat window and added his bonus stats into his regular STR, VIT, and STA.
Character Name
|
Akira
|
Race
|
Werewolf
|
Fame
|
125
|
Level
|
60: 69%
|
Profession
|
Son Of The Night
|
Title
|
One who is skilled at running away.
|
Health
|
2000
|
Mana
|
700
|
Strength
|
193
|
Vitality
|
200(+10)
|
Stamina
|
132
|
Agility
|
75(+5)
|
Intelligence
|
68
|
Wisdom
|
70
|
Dexterity
|
20
|
Charisma
|
10
|
Honor
|
20
|
Charm
|
15(+3)
|
Endurance
|
30
|
Toughness
|
45
|
Attack
|
35-42
|
Defense
|
127
|
+ 10% Buff to Stamina and strength at night and dark places.
+10% boost to power if in werewolf form and moon is out
+ 25% Lesser poison resistance
+ 25% Fire resistance
|
Several rowboats from other ships began to reach the shore and everyone inside either hopped out or was helped out before the rowboats were able to return to the ships to retrieve more people.
¡°Ah! The weather here is so nice!¡± said Yuki as she jumped into a pile of snow and rolled around in it while only wearing a light layer of clothing.
¡°Yuki do you really have to head back home?¡± asked a sad Azura.
¡°Yes, my mission is done. So I have to return back to my parents. I will be sure to find you at your new home when you settle down!¡±
¡°Akira where are you?¡± Asked Wulfric a short distance away as he waded ashore.
¡°Over here!¡±
¡°Help me gather everyone. We need to set up a temporary camp.¡±
Akira along with other volunteers started to clear out a large defendable area between several of the many sand dunes which acted as wind blockers and would help reflect the heat of the fires back at the campsite keeping it warmer than if they camped in the open.
Tents were erected as soon as they were transported off of the ship and several short snow walls were created to surround them.
The ferrying of people and supplies lasted all day and was only finished when the sun had already disappeared below the horizon.
With the setting of the sun, the night air became even colder making everyone huddle closer to their fires as they cooked a late dinner.
At the center of the large tent city encampment, was a large plain-looking gray tent that was being used by the Grand elders of each clan.
Akira sat behind Wulfric and listened to the Grand elders debating on various topics.
Several Metal brazers were lined around the tent to give both warmth and light to those that were inside.
¡°What are we to do now that we are here? If we don''t do something, people will start to die from the cold. This winter weather is no joke, and moving around in this weather is surely going to cause problems,¡± said Grand elder Tormoid.
¡°I doubt that, all you need to do is transform and you can stay warm for a long time even without fire,¡± said grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°We only have a limited supply of food and other items that will be hard to replenish if we don''t figure out how to replenish it, we will run into problems quickly,¡± said Grand elder Garnal.
¡°Earlier when the sun was up I saw a city in the distance. We''re lucky to come ashore so close to it. I''m sure they have many of the items, we can go there and buy what we need to replenish anything we are lacking,¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
¡°We still don''t know who lives in that city. So I don''t know if you can call it lucky or not. They may be hostile to anyone that comes near their city. What if they come out with an army to attack us? We have no idea what the local customs of this land are. So we need to be cautious,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall.
¡°I will lead a group of warriors to the city tomorrow and see if whoever lives there will trade with us. If they accept we may be able to ask them about this land and find a good place to settle down,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Whoa who said anything about staying together? Our clans have always lived separately in their own cities,¡± said Tormoid.
¡°Is it not better to stay together as one?¡± asked Wulfric. ¡°If we do, we''ll be able to fend off the monsters and other future hardships.¡±
¡°My clan is strong enough that I do not need help with something like that!¡± said Tormoid.
¡°We should think about this clearly. Several clans might not get along all that well so we will leave it up to each clan to decide where and with whom they travel. For my clan I have decided that we will search for a suitable place in the east. Anyone that wants to join me can,¡± D¨´ghall.
¡°My clan will go west,¡± said Tormoid.
¡°We should not be splitting up the threat that the demigods pose is still a real thing, although we have distanced ourselves from them they may still be able to find us. If it weren''t for all that Akira has done then we would have still been in a war that would have evolved into a fight with both the humans and the demigods. You all know of the great power he has inside of him. If we all unite together, with him to lead the way, there is no way that the demigods will be able to wipe us out!¡±
¡°Stop talking nonsense! That stuff is all superstitious fiction from delusional people of the past,¡± said Tormoid.
¡°My ancestors were not delusional! They saw everything just the same as the scholars of the blue moon,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
¡°Whatever. Your grandson is no shining beacon of hope. He is nothing more than a curse. I said it before but ever since he has shown up everything bad that could happen has happened.
Look where we are now! We had to leave our homes that countless generations lived in. We are now poorer than the poorest person with no roof to keep the snow off our head and keep us warm. I will not unite with your clan. Because it is foolish to follow someone who is cursed.¡±
Several others agreed with him nodding their heads while a few others protested.
The heated debates continued long into the night.
Chapter 137: Froit
Puffs of foggy breath escaped Akira''s mouth as he scanned the surrounding sand dunes on the beach and the nearby woods in the early dawn light.
The morning light hitting the fresh new snow that had come down over the night glittered as if it were a gem.
¡°Is everyone that''s going here?¡± asked Wulfric as he looked at the few Grand elders and their guards that had decided to follow him to the city first before making any decisions on what to do.
¡°Wait, we''re coming as well,¡± said Tormoid as he and the clans that supported him arrived.
¡°Oh? I thought that you already decided where you were going? Why come with us to the city?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°We need to gather information on this continent just like you, and the whole Earth tribe still needs to replenish its supplies before we can leave.¡±
¡°We will also be joining you,¡± said D¨´ghall who arrived along with his supporters.
¡°Let''s go then, the quicker we get this done the faster we can decide on what to do,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°It''s a good thing I packed my thick fur-lined coats, along with the ugly sweaters that Glola made me,¡± said Delgar as he waded through the snow that was up to his waist.
¡°The weather here is not all that bad and it''s quite beautiful. How are you holding up with the cold?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''m not like you werewolves with your warm blood and fur. But I am no stranger to the cold as the mountains have some mighty cold winters,¡± said Delgar.
The trip to the port city only took an hour and a half to reach.
¡°Who are you? Why have you come to Froit?¡± asked a human city guard on top of the snow-covered walls.
Several more guards started to gather on the top of the walls all of them bundled up in thick leather fur armor to keep warm while on patrol.
¡°We are travelers looking to replenish our supplies. We would also like to gain information on the surrounding land and current events,¡± said Wulfric.
The guards looked over Wulfric and the several other Grand elders and their guards, everyone was not transformed and so they looked just like humans.
¡°Is that camp that popped up last night yours?¡± asked the guard pointing towards the sand dunes.
¡°Yes, we have no intention of encroaching on your land and will leave as soon as we have resupplied and gained the information we need,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall.
¡°Very well. As long as you have no plans to commit crimes in our city you are permitted to enter. We don''t care if you were some powerful lord from wherever you came from. You must listen to whatever a guard says since in this land our word is law.¡±
¡°We understand we have no intention of causing you problems,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°The prices right now are the winter prices so things are more expensive. So don''t get your hopes up on buying things for cheap prices,¡± said another Guard.
The cold wooden gates to the city were slowly pushed open creating a clean path for the werewolves as the fresh snow was pushed aside by the large doors.
Akira entered the city and found the road inside the city was a mixture of frozen mud and fresh slush from footsteps horses and carts.
The houses and buildings surrounding the streets were various sized stone buildings with big thatched roofs.
The streets were already busy with morning traffic of people going to and fro as well as carts and animals moving to wherever it was they had to go. In short, it was a lively medium-sized city.
¡°Where should we go?¡± asked Grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°Let''s split up and take care of whatever we need to do,¡± said Tormoid as he turned and started to walk down one of the unknown side streets.
The group split into three as D¨´ghall took his people with him down another street.
¡°Mr. Grand elder, I have a suggestion, if you will listen to it,¡± said Delgar.
¡°What is Mr. Dwarf?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°Ahem, we need information, right? Well... why don''t we go find a tavern. We can warm up there with a good drink and see if anyone has any information,¡± said Delgar trying to make a good case for getting a drink at such an early hour in the morning.
¡°Hmm... since our gold is limited I guess we can check it out and see if there is anyone there willing to talk to us for free. Will they even take gold from another country?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°Gold is gold, it shouldn''t matter much,¡± said Delgar the expert in metals.
¡°Carl, why don''t you and the others go and find the supplies we need, while I go with Akira and Delgar to search for information,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Hold it if you are going to go to the tavern I''m coming as well, ¨¤aron will take care of finding whatever we need,¡± said Carl.
***
The ''Snow owl'' was one of the only small taverns that was open for businesses all day and not just during the evening.
The light inside the tavern was low as the windows were covered with wooden shutters to help keep the cold out and keep the warmth from the roaring fire inside.
There were no green magic fire lamps hanging from the walls or the ceiling, the only light was from the hearty fire burning in a large pit in the middle of the room which acted as a heat source and a light for the tavern.
The tavern was currently empty except for Akira, Delgar, and the two grand elders.
¡°Well this was a failure, looks like no one is coming here,¡± said Carl.
¡°We still have time, and we already ordered some food and drinks,¡± said Delgar.
Bam! The door to the tavern slammed open letting in the cold gray morning light along with a cold gust of wind which carried a few fresh snowflakes.
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¡°Close the damn door! Burkin, how many times do I have to tell you not to slam the door open and close it quickly so you don''t cause customers to get angry!¡± shouted the tavern owner as he was roasting some meat over the large pit fire.
Bam! The door was slammed shut just as hard as it was opened.
¡°Come on Jas, you know I am the only one that comes here so early in the morning...What? Who are they?¡± asked a short and stout dwarf with a well-groomed three-pronged braided beard.
¡°Despite what you think I run a business, these happen to be customers,¡± said Jas using the fire poker to stir the fire before putting another lump of something black onto the burning coals.
¡°Oh? You actually have customers at this hour? You didn''t kidnap them did you?¡±
Jas took a piece of the black fuel and threw it at Burkin missing the dwarf as he nimbly ducked.
¡°Hey no need to throw that horse crap at me! It was a joke! I may not look like it but I like to keep clean. I took a shower last month and I don''t need to take one for another month. So I rather not get hit by your dung,¡± said Burkin as he walked over to the table Akira and the others were sitting at.
¡°I''m Burkin, nice to meet you! What brings ya to this small dump?¡± asked Burkin as the back of his head was hit with one of the dried horse dung chips.
¡°We''re looking for information about this land, the clans, monsters and anything else that would be helpful,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Oh?! A fellow kinsman? What clan do you come from? The Icehammer? or the Frozen-steel?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°Umm...I am from the Ashenforge clan,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Ashenforge? Who? ...wait isn''t that the clan that the Grandmaster smith Darmond came from?¡±
¡°Yes, he was my father...¡±
¡°Your father! You must be a great blacksmith yourself!¡±
¡°Yeah, well...¡±
¡°This means you are from the old continent! I have so many questions for you about the clans!¡±
¡°If you would like I am sure Delgar would love to answer your questions as long as you help us out by answering our own,¡± said Akira.
¡°Well...my throat is a bit parched sooo...maybe if you bought me a drink or two to help loosen up the words...¡± said Burkin.
¡°Stop acting like a miser, you have enough money to pay for your own drink,¡± said Jas.
¡°Ah, well it was worth a try,¡± said Burkin as he pulled a wooden chair from another table to the booth that the others were sitting at.
¡°If you don''t mind I''d like to ask my questions first,¡± said Burkin as he sipped his warm wine that had been just handed out to everyone at the table.
¡°That is fine with me,¡± said Wulfric.
***
¡°...and that is why we have come to this continent,¡± said Delgar looking at the tavern owner with suspicion.
¡°Don''t worry about him, he is a harmless nobody. The humans here are not like the ones back on the old continent,¡± said Burkin.
¡°If you say so,¡± said Delgar.
¡°This is indeed troubling news if the demigods have come again. Although they have not come to this continent in large numbers before there is always a chance of it happening. My clan the Stonecrushers left the main continent when the first demigods showed up. I was not even born then so I have never seen a demigod. But I have heard many stories from the elders,¡± said Burkin.
¡°How old are you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Me? I''m quite young. I am only 90 years old,¡± said Burkin.
Akira choked on his warmed wine as it had gone down the wrong pipe from the unexpected words.
¡°So the information we asked for, do you know anything?¡± asked Delgar as he roughly thumped Akira on the back to try and help him stop coughing.
¡°Hmm, yes...let me reorder my thoughts. There are no other demon races that I am aware of that live near my clan. There are only other dwarven clans as we tend to live in the cold mountains to mine and craft things for a living. I am aware that there are several large werewolf clans in the east and west. There are several other smaller clans of demon races that escaped during the first and second great war scattered all over some are nomads that do not live in one spot,¡± said Burkin taking a big gulp from his wooden mug.
¡°As for the human cities, there are only two. This city which is the most northern of any human or demon city, and the Jerora trading post that is farther south.
The trade post is where many human adventures and thrill seekers go to make a profit. It is also a place for major trade between the demon races and humans. You have to be careful of not only the harsh weather but also the monsters on this continent. These things are no joke, but since you''re with werewolves I guess you will have no problems with that.¡±
¡°You never mentioned what brought you to this city,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Simple, I''m working on negotiating a large trade between my clan and the humans,¡± said Burkin.
¡°Didn''t you say that the place for doing that was in the trade city?¡± asked Akira.
¡°If it were a minor thing then I might think about it but this is too big. Plus the people there are just middlemen and will try to gouge you for as much as they can. It is better to come straight here and personally set up a trade deal with them.¡±
¡°So are the two main werewolf cities on the east and west coast?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°I wouldn''t really call it a coast as most of the year it is all frozen. But yes last I heard that was where they lived, this information is about five or ten years old since I haven''t seen or talked to anyone from their clans for some time. If you want I am sure that I can find someone that will take you to them.¡±
¡°No, we rather find our own place first and settle in before talking to them. I am not sure how well they would receive us,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Agreed, this is for the best,¡± said Carl.
¡°Well if that is the case then far to the south past the Jerora trade post, the land is open for anyone, There is so much land down there just waiting for someone but it is a harsh land that will kill all who underestimate the dangers. It is the only place that is not claimed by any other major clan that I am aware of. If you want I can take you to Jerora after I finish my negotiations with the governor of this city in a few days.¡±
¡°I suppose It can''t hurt to wait a few days if you can guide us to the trading post,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°We have to leave now as I am sure the other people we came with are waiting for us,¡± said Carl.
¡°Where and when can we contact you when you are finished with your business?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°No need to worry I will find you guys, you are staying near the coast right?¡±
¡°Correct, we will wait for you there,¡± said Wulfric as he stood up and downed the last of his warmed wine.
They exited the tavern and joined the grand elders who were impatiently waiting at the gate.
¡°Took you long enough!¡± grumbled Tormoid.
¡°Did you get everything you were looking for?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°Only the supplies at an outrageous price. There was no one willing to talk to us about anything unless we paid them even more gold,¡± said D¨´ghall.
¡°Were you late because you couldn''t find anything as well?¡± asked Tormoid.
¡°Actually we were in a discussion with someone and learned a lot from them. We gathered all the information we needed so I will explain everything when we return,¡± said Wulfric.
***
¡°Has everyone come to a decision?¡± asked D¨´ghall as he looked at each of the Grand elders.
¡°We have!¡±
¡°I still think it would be best if we stick together and create our own settlement, before talking to the other clans. We do not know if they will accept us with open arms or if they will view us as a threat,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Agreed,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
¡°Stop talking nonsense. We are all of the Earth tribe. Why would they do something like that? You said to yourself that there are already two cities, one on each coast. There is no need to go through the hardships of creating our own when we can join them,¡± said Tormoid.
¡°Listen. We should be uniting together. The visions of Grand elder D¨´ghall warned of annihilation and the traits that Akira is showing along with the past history....¡±
¡°I don''t want to hear any more of your nonsense about your grandson being the great hero the tribe needs to save us from the boogie man. In case you haven''t noticed, the demigods are nowhere to be found and the humans on this continent are already outnumbered by the demon races. We have made our decisions and there is nothing you can say to sway it,¡± said Tormoid as he stood up and stormed out of the tent along with his supporters.
¡°Tormoid is right, we may not agree on everything but there is some wisdom in meeting up with the other clans that have already settled down here,¡± said D¨´ghall before leaving with his own supporters.
Chapter 138: Darkmoon clan
¡°There is nothing we can do about it,¡± said Carl as he thumped Wulfric on the back.
¡°It is foolish to split up and go our separate ways. Do they really think that an ocean will stop the demigods? It will only give us more time to prepare for the future. There is no telling what they will find at the two coastal cities or if they will even be allowed to join them,¡± said Wulfric as he stared at the backs of the grand elders who exited the tent.
¡°I know. You don''t need to convince me. It would be smarter to solidify our base of operations before conducting diplomacy with the other clans. If you look on the bright side of this they will be able to warn the clans and raise their awareness of the Demigods. So that they can take precautions for the future...hopefully.¡±
¡°Seoc, ¨¤aron, I''m sorry for dragging both of you and your clans into this,¡± said Wulfric as he turned to the only two remaining Grand elders that had decided to stay with Wulfric and Carl.
¡°The Longtail clan has long been a friend of both of the moon clans. We were one of the first to join the first Hero Akira when he called for all the clans to join against the Demigods. I see no reason why we should ignore all the warning signs that everyone else has forgotten or brush off as not their problem anymore. Although we are one of the smaller clans in the earth tribe I hope you will accept us as part of the new coalition to protect the future of the Earth tribe,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Don''t forget about me. The Madmane clan was also one of the first to join the Great warrior hero Akira. Some say that the warriors of the Madmane are quite mad or even insane but we are just very passionate when it comes to fighting. I hope you will allow us to fight alongside your grandson and kill all the demigods that come our way!¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°You meatheads are too passionate. That''s why you have always stayed as a small clan. If you calmed down you could have been a medium-sized clan by now,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Speaking of losses, how did both of your clans fare in the war?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°The Madmane only suffered a few losses. Unlike Tormoid who lost many warriors due to their reliance on large numbers of low skilled warriors. Every Madmane warrior is trained as soon as he can hold a sword along with our special hell training and weightlifting. You should know that our clan specializes in elite heavy shock troops with more of a focus on dealing damage.¡±
¡°Yes, I fought alongside several warriors of the Madmane clan during the second and third great wars. Each and every one of the warriors were very courageous and full of strength. The strength needed to be able to run around in such heavy armor for several hours is no laughing matter,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°They''re still just a bunch of meatheads, as for our clan, we only suffered a few deaths as well,¡± said Seoc.
¡°That''s because you are a bunch of dancing fairies that never stay put and always run away, unlike us front-line warriors that face the enemy head-on,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°You know that our clan specializes in scouting and skirmishing tactics. Our clan''s warriors can ''dance'' circles around you for hours without you being able to do anything,¡± said Seoc.
¡°I doubt it.¡±
¡°Alright, alright, no need to get in a fight over who is better. Both of your clans provide different things that are needed for fighting an enemy,¡± said Carl.
¡°This coalition is already well fit to be together with the elite shock troops, scouts and the warriors from our moon clans. We should have no problem facing whatever is ahead of us as we look for a new place to call home,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Well said,¡± said Seoc.
¡°I couldn''t agree more,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Carl, this may be too much to ask but I would like for both of our clans to join together and once again become one clan as it was in the past,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I have no problem with it but I will have to talk to the elders of the red moon and see what they think since this is not a decision I can make by myself,¡± said Carl.
¡°Get back to me when they have decided. For now, everyone must make sure they are prepared for the long search ahead of us. I am not sure how long it will be until Burkin is finished with his duties in the city so we shouldn''t slack off and be ready to leave as soon as he comes to us,¡± said Wulfric.
***
The gathered Earth tribe split into three with Tormoid intending to lead his faction to the west city and D¨´ghall leading his faction to the east city.
They left on six of the ships that had brought them to the new continent without saying a word to those staying behind. They thought those who were staying behind were idiots that were just begging for punishment.
There were still four ships left for remaining clans to use if they needed them. Each one only had a skeleton crew that also included a shaman who could receive orders from the grand elders. The number of sailors was only enough to take care of the ships and move them to wherever the grand elders decided they needed to go.
***
Several days had passed since the departure of the other clans.
Akira and his fellow companions sat around the fire in his tent trying to stay warm after completing a short patrol of the camp.
¡°This place feels so empty,¡± said Chack as he huddled in his multiple layers of fur coats.
¡°That''s to be expected, with all the other clans gone there is a lot of unoccupied space now,¡± said Klyn as he wiped his glasses to clear the moisture from them.
¡°Did the clans decide yet on whether or not to join together?¡± asked Mileena as she laid her head on Akira''s shoulder.
¡°They did. Both clans decided to join together once again. We are now the Dark moon clan once more. The Blue moon clan has become the main branch and the Red moon will be the outer branch as it was in the past. With our combined strength we are just as strong as any of the other three large clans,¡± said Akira as he turned his head and blew into one of her furry ears, causing it to twitch furiously.
¡°Ah! That tickles!¡± said Mileena as she moved her head away and flicked Akira on the lips before returning her head to his shoulder.
Akira took pleasure in torturing her several more times by blowing into or rubbing her ears, making them twitch along with her tail swishing back and forth. They both ignored the other people in the tent as they flirted.
Then Azura entered the tent.
¡°Ahem...Big brother would stop being so shameless. You''re making other people uncomfortable. I''m sorry that I have to interrupt your happy time but grandfather wants to talk with you,¡± said Azura.
¡°Alright, I''ll be there in a second,¡± said Akira.
¡°He wants to talk to you now,¡± said Azura as she walked over and dragged Akira out of his seat and Mileena''s embrace.
***
¡°I need you to go find Burkin and see if he has finished yet. The elders are getting a bit antsy waiting as it has already been a week,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I''ll go right away,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ardolf and a few others are waiting for you at the camp entrance,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I''ll go as well,¡± said Azura.
¡°No, you will stay here and help me,¡± said Wulfric.
Akira left the tent while Azura started to voice several unsatisfied complaints to Wulfric.
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¡°You''re finally here!¡± said Ardolf when Akira arrived.
¡°This place will take some getting used to,¡± said Dolph as he rolled the snow into a ball and threw it at one of the hills.
¡°Cold,¡± was all that Vilkas said as he kicked the snow in front of him.
Akira was surprised to see several familiar faces that would be accompanying him to the city.
¡°Let''s go,¡± said Ardolf as he plowed through the fresh white snow covering the ground.
***
¡°Burkin, are you finished with whatever it was you needed to do?¡± asked Akira as he took a sip of warmed wine at one of the empty tables in the quiet Snow owl tavern.
¡°I just finished early this morning before I came here to celebrate over some nice warmed wine,¡± said Burkin taking a large swig of the wine that was in a large horn from some unknown monster. The horn was now being used as a large mug for the small dwarf.
¡°Celebration my butt. You always come here to harass me whenever you have free time,¡± said Jas the tavern owner.
¡°When can you leave?¡± asked Akira.
¡°As soon as I finish this wine,¡± said Burkin, draining it all in one go, ¡°There, finished! Let''s go.¡±
Burkin threw a few coins onto the table and said, ¡°I left a few extra coins for you since you''re always so empty, I know you''ll miss me, but there is no need to worry I''ll come back to visit in a year or three.¡±
¡°If you were sober and awake during the night you would know that''s when all the normal people come here. I''m doing just fine,¡± said Jas as Burkin exited the tavern with Akira and the others.
The small group walked through the less crowded side streets to get to the main gate faster.
¡°Did you guys get all the supplies you need for the trip ahead? From what I saw earlier you have a small cities worth of mouths to feed and clothe, that can''t be cheap,¡± said Burkin.
¡°We did, but not everyone had the same plans as us and decided to go their own way. The group that you will be guiding is far smaller than what it was when we arrived,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ah, I see. Even your clans have problems like this. I understand all too well. Just trying to get the old fogies from each of the dwarf clans to agree on one thing is such a pain,¡± said Burkin.
Akira and the others waited in line at the main gate as the guards inspected a large group of rugged warriors that wanted to enter the city.
¡°This city is so small compared to Fregoldawae. Are you sure we can find what we need before we start our hunt?¡± asked one of the warriors.
¡°Watch your mouth! The city of Froit is the largest city on Foradverold,¡± said one of the guards.
The words from the warrior caused Akira to be alarmed. He pulled up his hood to cover his face and stepped behind Ardolf.
From behind Ardolf, he scanned the warrior to see who he was. [Berk, lvl 25, Demon hunters guild]. He checked several others in the group and after seeing each of their names his stomach began to feel sick.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Ardolf as he turned around to look at Akira.
¡°What kind of game is this?¡± asked Burkin his head cocked to the side as he looked at Akira who was trying to hide behind Ardolf.
¡°Shhh! Quick come this way,¡± hissed Akira as he walked back towards one of the hidden side streets.
The others followed Akira confused at why he was acting so odd both Dolph and Vilkas sensing something was wrong scanned their surroundings for danger while their hands gripped the hilts of their swords ready to draw them and start fighting at any moment.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Burkin as he saw the others start to act weird.
¡°Those people at the gate are Demigods!¡± hissed Akira.
¡°What!¡± asked everyone next to Akira.
¡°How can you tell?¡± asked Ardolf.
¡°Just now they were talking about Freeopia!¡± said Akira as he peeked his head around the corner and stared at the demigods who were in a heated argument with the guards.
¡°Since you guys look like you want to cause trouble only two of you are allowed to enter,¡± said one of the guards.
¡°Were not all in the same group! I''m from the Cunning Shadow guild,¡± said a female archer.
¡°Only two people from a group will be allowed to enter the rest of you have to wait outside,¡± said the guard as he slammed the butt of his poleaxe on the ground.
A total of 8 people were allowed to enter the city.
Akira was able to see that there were two people from three different guilds. But no matter how hard he stared at the last two figures who were hiding in dark robes he was unable to find out any information on who they were.
As if sensing someone looking at them one of the dark-robed figures turned their head towards the side street but after finding nothing continued looking forward.
Akira and the others were glued to the side of the building not breathing as they had hurriedly hid from the gaze of the dark figure.
A minute passed before they let out a sigh when no sound of approaching feet could be heard.
¡°We need to get out of here now!¡± said Ardolf.
¡°What are we going to do with such a large group of demigods waiting outside of the city,¡± asked Dolph.
¡°There is no reason for them to suspect anything. Just act natural,¡± said Akira as he stuck his hand into his bag and rummaged around inside it before grabbing what he was looking for.
¡°You''re not seriously going to wear that are you? It will draw more attention to you if you do,¡± said Burkin as he watched Akira pull out a full face mask depicting a ferocious wolf.
As they walked out of the gates instead of walking away from the group of demigods Akira walked towards them.
¡°Akira where are you going!?¡± hissed Ardolf.
¡°We need information! Just wait here, I''ll be back in a second,¡± said Akira as he started to again look for something in his bag.
¡°It''s all your guilds fault for making the guards angry. If it weren''t for you we would have been allowed to enter the city.¡±
¡°Shut your mouth! Why did both of your clans decide to come here in the first place? Are you trying to steal our quest and our hunting grounds?¡±
¡°Since when has this land become yours? I don''t see your name written on it?¡±
¡°It is our guilds because I said so. Got a problem with that?¡±
¡°Yeah, I do!¡±
¡°Then duel me! If you get killed don''t go crying to your guild master and try to start a guild war.¡±
¡°You know that my level is not as high as yours. Plus you have a better weapon,¡± complained the archer demigod.
¡°If all you''re going to do is whine and do nothing then you should just leave,¡± said the warrior demigod turning his back on the fuming archer.
...Only to get shot in the back by several arrows from two different archers.
¡°You little...! Now you''ve done it! I''m going to kick your asses!¡± shouted the warrior.
The situation started to deteriorate quickly as several of the demigods joined the fight and started to use several dangerous and colorful special skill attacks that Akira had never seen before.
There were still several other demigods who were standing back watching the hotheads duel it out while cheering them on from the sidelines.
Akira snapped out of his amazement at the large variety of flying skills and walked up to one of the cheering demigods.
¡°Excuse me,¡± said Akira tapping one of the demigods on the shoulders.
¡°Huh? Who are you,¡± asked the annoyed female demigod who was wearing long robes and holding a book and a large wooden staff.
¡°Just...A wandering merchant,¡± lied Akira.
¡°Ha look at you. I see you bought one of those cheap knock-off masks as well,¡± said a male fighter who was wearing large metal gloves with jagged metal knuckles.
He took off one of the gloves and pulled out a mask from his bag and showed it to Akira. It was a mask similar to his that was made to look like a gorilla.
¡°What do you want?¡± asked the female demigod.
¡°Would you be interested in buying some potions? The city has none as another group of travelers bought them all. We can also trade information if you are interested in that sort of thing.¡±
¡°What type of information do you want?¡±
¡°Nothing that important. How about what you all are doing here?¡±
¡°Heh, that''s no secret. The Demon hunters are here to do a quest but they won''t tell us anything other than they are hunting someone. But the Cunning Shadow and my guild the Forbidden came here because it is supposed to be a land of monsters and demons. Which means a lot of places to hunt and get stronger!¡± said the brawler as he smashed his fist together.
¡°And maybe grab some land of our own if we can,¡± said the female demigod.
¡°How many potions do you have?¡± asked the brawler.
¡°20.¡±
¡°I''ll take them all,¡± said the Brawler. He didn''t even ask for a price and just tossed Akira a small pouch that was filled with clinking coins.
Akira looked inside and saw that the bag was full of gold coins. He happily handed over all of his expired potions to the demigods and quickly ran back to the others who were still waiting for him.
¡°Let''s go. We need to warn my grandfather and the others about the demigods!¡± said Akira.
***
Back inside Wulfric''s tent, all the Grand elders had been called after Akira had returned with Burkin.
¡°What did you say?¡± asked Carl.
¡°There is a decent-sized group of three different demigod guilds that have just arrived on this continent. They are just outside the city gates right now.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°Grand elder, there is no mistaking them. I saw the bizarre and exotic skills that they were using. They are similar to the ones I encountered in the last great war. There were even some things I have never seen before,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°We should go and kill them all right now! There are only a few of them,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Don''t be foolish. Use your brain for once, won''t you? If we kill them they will know that we are the enemies they are looking for. They will continue to follow us and never leave us alone. If that happens how are we going to find a safe place to live?¡± asked Seoc.
¡°Carl, Seoc, ¨¤aron, inform your people. We are to leave within the hour. We need to leave now before they find our camp and start to ask questions,¡± said Wulfric as he stood up and left the tent.
¡°Akira, come with me,¡± ordered Wulfric.
Chapter 139: On the road again
¡°What''s with these useless idiots? They''re fighting each other for no reason!¡± grumbled Bonestringer in a dark corner of the Snow owl tavern.
¡°Three of them were killed, and they still haven''t been reborn. Are they really demigods?¡± asked Tibia.
Both wore dark robes that covered their bodies and hoods that hid their faces in shadows.
¡°Before coming here to meet you I heard a few of them talking. Something about the three idiots that died are now all the way back on Halrverold!¡±
¡°If this keeps up we''ll have to either complete our task alone or go back for reinforcements. You need to go and tell them not to get into any more stupid fights.¡±
¡°You know they won''t listen to anyone. If I say something like that they will just ignore me.¡±
¡°*sigh*...we need to finish gathering information today and search for their trail before it is lost in this snow.¡±
***
Wherever Akira looked there was snow covering everything. Several large icicles had formed on the numerous branches of trees. The snow had started as only a light dusting but the further south they went the more snow there was.
The sunlight was now shining and reflecting off of the icicles and snow, making the surrounding area the werewolves were passing through very bright.
¡°What''s with all the small villages not allowing us to camp outside them? They wouldn''t even trade with us,¡± grumbled Frang.
They had passed several small villages that looked more like small forts. The houses were all built next to each other creating a wall around the village for protection against the monsters and other threats.
¡°It''s winter and we are a large group. What do you expect them to do?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°Ah... I''m getting too old for this. I just want to build a house and retire,¡± said Ardolf as he waded through the nearly knee-deep snow on the side of the small ''Road'' where several sleds carried their supplies along with the young and old who could not endure the weather or the laborious walk through the snow.
They were part of the guards protecting the right flank of the long caravan of sleds.
¡°While I like that it''s cooler here... all we really did was go from one extreme weather to another,¡± said Klyn.
¡°It''s our duty to protect the sleds from any attacks on the sides! With this we will gain recognition by the elders!¡± said Frang who was still hoping to get a promotion.
Akira looked towards the front of the caravan where Nox was lightly walking on top of the soft snow as if it was solid ground.
Nox was part of the scouting team that was making sure there was nothing blocking the road or waiting to attack the caravan.
At first many of the warriors and civilians were surprised when they had first seen Nox, but after his help in flushing out several monsters that had been hiding as well as helping fight the monsters alongside the warriors, everyone started to warm up to him even more so when they learned he was a special companion of Akira''s.
Nox had leveled up like crazy becoming even stronger all thanks to the numerous monsters they encountered.
Stubby was no longer hiding in Akira''s armor and cloak since he had slowly taken a liking to the three girls who had continuously bribed him with nuts. Now he was always chattering on either Mileena or Azura''s shoulder waiting for them to give him more food.
Ding!
New Dungeon update!
With over 100 demigods appearing every day the dungeons have been upgraded!
There are now multiple new types of dungeons. All new dungeons are permanent and can be cleared an infinite amount of times! Be sure to clear them often!
All monsters inside a dungeon will receive a boost to their health and damage making them harder to fight than those that can be found outside.
Monsters inside dungeons will now drop at least one item either coins, minerals, weapons, or armor as a reward.
Monsters outside now also have a higher chance to drop items or money.
To learn more about this update enter a dungeon!
|
The system message stopped Akira in his tracks. ''What is this? An update to the dungeons?''
¡°What is it?¡± asked Ardolf as he turned to Akira who had come to a complete stop.
Everyone in their small group stopped moving while their hands grasped onto their weapons as they scanned the surroundings for danger.
Before Akira could apologize, movement from his right caught his attention as a pack of blue-white furred [Hungry Snow Wolves] appeared nimbly running on top of the snow right towards them. [Lvl 50 Hungry Snow wolf].
Without needing to issue an order each warrior in their group immediately transformed to receive the attack from the [Hungry Snow Wolves].
¡°Awooooo!¡± Akira let out a warning for the rest of the clan letting them know about the monster attack.
Several howls came from all up and down the line of the werewolf caravan sounding the alarm that they were also under attack. This was not an isolated attack, it was a massive ambush by a large pack of [Hungry Snow Wolves].
¡°Strength buff! Stamina buff!¡± shouted Klyn hurriedly as he continued to cast several buffs on everyone that was near him.
¡°[Sword Slash]!¡± Akira''s use of the skill carved through the snow in front of them vaporizing a large portion of it for 30 yards allowing his small group to move easier and fight the approaching [Hungry Snow Wolves] who were nearly upon them.
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¡°Awarara!¡± hundreds of howls came from the [Hungry Snow Wolves] as they launched themselves at the defending Werewolves.
Akira stormed forward and raised his shield as the [Hungry Snow Wolves] opened their mouths and shot out an ice-cold wind that left a layer of ice wherever it passed.
The ice wind attack slammed into his shield covering it with a layer of ice adding extra weight to his shield.
Akira swung his shield out in front of him using the skill [Shield bash].
Bam!
The shield slammed into the two [Hungry Snow Wolves] that had their mouths wide open wanting to take a large bite out of him.
There was a loud crack as the ice on his shield was broken off as well as several bones of the [Hungry Snow Wolves] braking as they were sent flying backward.
The two [Hungry Snow Wolves] whimpered in pain as they tried to stand back up but could not move.
Akira ignored them and turned his gaze to the several dozen other [Hungry Snow Wolves] that were attacking everyone else.
Activating the skill [Shield Slam] he charged forward into the sides of three [Hungry Snow Wolves] that were attacking Klyn and sent them flying. Two out of the three hit one of the numerous pine trees and were instantly killed by the impact when their bodies were snapped in half.
Klyn''s arm was covered in a light layer of frost from one of the ice wind attacks that he was unable to dodge. Akira gave it a light tap to help break the ice off of his arm.
¡°Thanks!¡± said Klyn before returning to his chants.
Akira continued leaping around helping block the skill attacks from the [Hungry Snow Wolves] allowing for the others to keep fighting unhindered. Anything that got near them was mercilessly killed.
¡°Awarara!¡± a howl from one of the [Hungry Snow Wolf] leaders signaled the command for the remaining [Hungry Snow Wolves] to retreat.
The werewolf warriors were unable to catch all of the nimble [Hungry Snow Wolves] as they scampered away with their tails between their legs.
Akira walked over to the several wounded and whimpering [Hungry Snow Wolves] and put them out of their misery.
Ding!
You have leveled up! You are now Level 70!
|
Foradverold was not called the land of monsters for anything. Along their journey, they had been attacked so many times that Akira had lost track. With so much fighting his level which had been stagnant for several months continued to skyrocket.
He quickly added his bonus points into his main stats.
¡°Damn those mutts! When will they stop attacking us!¡± grumbled Ardolf.
¡°They aren''t that hard to fight. That is if you forget about their ice wind attacks,¡± said Akira.
¡°For you maybe, but for the majority of the warriors they are a hard challenge.¡±
¡°The main problem is that it is so hard to smell them since they smell almost just like the surrounding snow,¡± said Dolph.
¡°I wonder how so many monsters have learned to use such skills. Not only those wolves but the other monsters that have attacked us as well!¡± said Klyn who was very interested in learning all the secrets of the new land.
¡°Stop chatting and help me out here,¡± grumbled Burkin.
Akira looked over to see Burkin was having a hard time moving as he had received several hits from the ice wind attacks. His beard also had several icicles hanging from it.
Akira walked over and helped Burkin remove the ice from his body.
¡°You werewolves know how to fight... but you lot are like a huge magnet attracting any and all monsters. I have never seen or had to fight so many skirmishes with monsters in all my travels,¡± grumbled Burkin.
¡°Wait, I thought this was normal. Are you saying that you can normally go from one place to another without getting attacked?¡± asked Ardolf.
¡°You will always get a few random hungry monsters but nothing like this,¡± said Burkin.
¡°How much longer until we get to the trading outpost?¡± asked Frang.
¡°Shouldn''t be too long maybe a few days or more depending on how many stops we have to make.¡±
¡°Are there more villages to the south of here?¡± Asked Akira.
¡°Some, there are dozens of villages scattered all over the place with their own leaders laying claim to the surrounding land.
Although their number is far less than the ones we have already passed, many of them rely on the passing adventurers and the rare merchant so that they can trade for supplies they need. They are far more hospitable to travelers.¡±
¡°Why is it different from the northern villages?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The northern villages can easily farm in the warm months and hunt in the winter as well as go to either the human city or the trading post for whatever they need as well as trade with passing merchants.
When you go beyond the trading post the farther south you go the towns will become hard to find. The winter and land is harsh and very cold down there. Only the most rugged of demon races and monsters can live there.¡±
***
It took another three days until they arrived at the outskirts of the snow-covered trading post that had large and thick stone walls covering the entire small city inside.
There were already several different varieties of small tent cities set up all around the trading post outer walls.
Akira and Burkin were now at the front of the long caravan along with the four grand elders who were resting in the sleds right behind them.
Several soldiers from the trading post exited the city gates on what looked like deer mounts that easily leaped through the deep snow.
The guards stopped several yards in front of Akira, Burkin, and the other werewolf warriors protecting the caravan.
¡°Who are you? What is your business here?¡± asked one of the guards.
¡°Lark it''s me! I am just leading these fine people south where they can find some land to settle down and call their own,¡± said Burkin as he waddled a few feet forward in the deep snow.
¡°Oh, it''s you Burkin. Kurzlin is looking for you. She said she wanted to have a chat with you when you return,¡± said one of the guards with a large smile on his face.
¡°Ah...yeah... well...¡± stuttered Burkin his face turning as white as the snow at the thought of having to talk to Kurzlin.
¡°Settlers you say?¡± asked another guard, ¡°Who is the representative of this caravan?¡±
Akira turned and pointed to where Wulfric was. Wulfric was already getting out from underneath the blankets that were piled on top of the sled and standing up.
¡°That would be me. I am Grand Elder Wulfric of the Earth tribe,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°Ehhh? A werewolf? What are you guys doing all the way out here? Don''t you have your own cities on the east and west coasts?¡±
¡°We are not from one of their clans, we have come from a long ways away due to certain unavoidable circumstances.¡±
¡°Still having wars over there?¡± asked a guard curious about the rest of the world.
¡°We could handle it if it was just something like that. The demigods have returned and will cause nothing but ruin.¡±
¡°Oh! I''ve heard of those guys before the stories say that they are immortal. Is it true?¡±
¡°Why don''t you ask them yourselves. A few of them already arrived on this continent a short time after us. They were even killing each other outside of the city walls of Froit when we escaped,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°This is indeed some troubling news! I am sure the Governor will want to talk to you while you are here. We have all the items you need for exploring the south. If you are interested I am sure the governor would be happy to start a trade relationship with your new settlement if it ever gets big enough,¡± said the guard.
¡°Your people can set up your tents over there,¡± said one of the guards pointing to a wide-open patch of land to the right of the trading post covered in snow.
¡°Grand elder Wulfric if you would like, I will bring you to the governor so you both can talk and do business,¡± said the captain of the guards.
¡°Is it alright if I bring along a few other people?¡±
¡°No more than 5 people at a time are allowed to see the governor. I''m sorry but that is the law,¡± said the captain.
¡°Akira, come with us,¡± said Wulfric as he and the three other Grand elders followed the guards back to the city.
Chapter 140: Jerora
The sound of the warm crackling fire filled the governor''s office and lit up the room. Outside the large glass windows, Akira could see the gray gloomy sky filled with clouds with fresh snow falling.
A tired man with dark bags under his eyes sat behind a large wooden desk that was filled with stacks of papers crying out for his attention. He pulled off his reading glasses and looked over the five guests that had entered his office.
¡°My name is Scoit. I am the governor of this humble trade post. I was told that you are travelers from Halrverold. It has been some years since I have heard of such a large group passing by. How is the old continent doing?¡± asked Scoit.
¡°I won''t lie, the relationship with the kingdoms and the demon races is not good. But if it was only that we could handle it. THEY have returned,¡± said Wulfric with a solemn look on his face.
¡°Yes... one of the guards filled me in on what you told them. Are you sure that the people you saw at Froit city were really Demigods and not some rare and powerful skill users?¡±
Wulfric looked over to Akira who was standing behind the four Grand elders and motioned for him to answer.
Akira stepped forward and cleared his throat, ¡°There is no doubt who they are. I was able to talk to them and confirmed that they were demigods. Burkin a dwarf merchant and a few others were with me and saw them using their skills.¡±
¡°This is troubling news. I know Burkin would not start false rumors, so I will have to accept what you say is true. There have been demigods who have come to our continent in the past, but I have never seen one. Do you know what they are doing here this time?¡±
¡°I was about to find out that one of the groups came here to hunt something or someone. I have no clue what the other group''s goals were in coming here, but I did hear them talking about finding some land to call their own.¡±
¡°I suggest that you strengthen your cities defenses. I have fought the demigods in two of the three great wars. If they want something they will take it even if it means they have to die several times to get it,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°So the stories of them being immortal are true?¡± asked Scoit.
¡°I am not sure if you could call them immortal in the normal sense of the word. They can die but they reappear a day later. Although we have fought them in several wars and hundreds of battles we still know only a little about them,¡± said Carl.
¡°You need not worry. I will make sure that Jerora is fully protected. Now, onto other matters. I hear that you are in need of some supplies and equipment for setting up a new settlement. If I may be so rude in asking but since you are werewolves why are you not going to either of the villages that are already established?¡±
¡°It has been a long time since those clans left and came to this land. There is no guarantee that they will accept us. The differences between our clans may be too great, so in order to prepare for the future we have decided to create our own settlement,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°We have everything you need but it is not cheap and will cost you quite a bit,¡± said Scoit as he scribbled some numbers onto a piece of paper and handed it over to Wulfric.
Wulfric looked at the prices and felt a pain in his gut everything was extremely overpriced!
¡°Can we have some time to discuss this between ourselves?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°Of course, and if you accept I will throw in one of the most recent maps of the frontier for free. If you are successful at finding a place to set up a new village I would be more than happy to start a trading relationship with your settlement. We can iron out the details if and when that happens but I am sure we will both benefit from such a deal,¡± said Scoit.
¡°We will keep that in mind,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I have too much work to do right now so I will have to cut this meeting short. If you decide to buy the items listed just bring that paper to the central trading zone and they will handle everything for you,¡± said Scoit.
He placed his glasses back onto his nose and returned to working on the large stacks of papers on his desk.
***
While the elders talked over how to raise money for the items needed, Akira sat around a small campfire with Burkin and ate a late lunch.
Mileena and the others were busy with various tasks inside the trading city so it was just the two of them.
¡°Burkin, can you tell me about the places south of here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The nearby land south of here is what we call the frontier where the last of the habitable land has been claimed by several small settlements.
If you go farther south past the frontier that land is called Kaldrbiod. The name means Cold land. Most of the year it is nothing but snow and ice. My clan is the one that named it long ago even then it was a cold and inhospitable land.
Most settlers do not go that far south due to the weather and monsters that live there. It is wide and mostly unexplored, but I am sure you werewolves can deal with both,¡± said Burkin as he kept looking over his shoulder checking to see if anyone was looking for him.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Well, you see there is someone that lives here and¡ well, I won''t get into the details since I don''t want to bore you. Could you do me a favor and take this letter to the address written on it?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°Sure... but... why can''t you do it?¡±
¡°Don''t worry you won''t die...I think,¡± said Burkin as he ran away after handing Akira the letter.
''What am I getting myself into?'' thought Akira.
He quickly ate the last of his food and set out to find the address inside the trade city. With a little help from people on the streets, Akira was able to arrive at a general store on one of the main streets.
¡°Welcome customer!¡± a female voice greeted him as he entered the warm building, ¡°Is there anything I can get you?¡±
Akira found a female dwarf with red hair, long eyelashes, and rosy red cheeks standing behind a short counter.
He looked back at the letter to read the name before speaking, ¡°I am looking for a Kurzlin, from the K''s general store. Do you know where I can find them?¡±
¡°I am Kurzlin. What can I do for you?¡±
¡°This letter is for you,¡± said Akira as he handed over the letter.
Kurzlin accepted the letter and immediately opened it and started reading. When she finished there was a scowl on her face.
¡°Where is he?¡± asked Kurzlin with a sharp look in her eye.
¡°Who?¡±
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¡°Burkin, take me to him now!¡±
¡°Sure,¡± Akira was startled by her change of tone and accepted without a second thought.
Before leaving the store Kurzlin put up a closed sign and made sure to lock the door behind her.
Akira led her back to the campsite where they were staying and found Burkin sitting near a fire drinking some warmed wine with Delgar and Chack who had recently returned.
¡°See, what I tell ya. You didn''t die, so there was nothing to worry about,¡± said Burkin as he saw Akira walk towards him.
¡°Oh? Why would he have died?¡± asked Kurzlin from behind Akira.
¡°Pfffff...cough, cough,¡± Burkin choked on his drink and started to cough.
¡°Why did you bring her here!?¡± asked Burkin after regaining his voice.
¡°You have some nerve to come here after what you did last time! Did you think you could get away with just writing me a letter?¡± asked Kurzlin as she walked over to Burkin.
¡°Hmm... I don''t remember what you''re talking about. You see I am a busy dwarf...so...¡± said Burkin.
¡°You don''t remember!¡± said Kurzlin exploding in a fit of anger.
¡°Calm down Kurzlin. I think I remember now. But that happened such a long time ago so why are you still mad?¡±
¡°A long time ago!? It was only a year!¡±
¡°Huh? Last year? What was it that I forgot?¡± asked Burkin.
Kurzlin Glared at Burkin for over a minute.
¡°I have been waiting for twenty years and each year you keep saying next year! Last year you promised that we would get married but left right after that!¡±
¡°Oh that, I thought you found about that other thing, no forget I said anything.¡±
¡°I''m not even going to ask about whatever it was that you did since I know it will just make me even angrier. I''m not letting you get away this time!¡± said Kurzlin garbing onto Burkin''s arm.
¡°Hey! I''m too young to get married! I''m only 130!¡± shouted Burkin in protest as he was dragged off back to the city by the ear.
Akira, Chack, and Delgar, just watched as he was dragged away not wanting to get in between the two''s love quarrel.
¡°What just happened?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Ah, I want to get married to...I lie! Women are too scary!¡± said Chack as he watched.
Burruuuuuu! Burruuuuuuu!
The sound of war horns came from the snowy woods on their right.
Kurzlin and Burkin stopped quarreling and everyone in the werewolf camp stopped whatever they were doing to look towards the woods.
The guards patrolling the trade city''s wall all stopped and had a look of alarm on their faces.
¡°What is that?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°It''s a warning signal from the guards that should be patrolling in that direction!¡± said Burkin.
Several minutes later a small group of three sleds with two soldiers each pulled by large deer monsters exited the woods at full speed. They were trying to run away from something terrifying.
As the sled passed by the guards only shouted two words.
¡°Dungeon overflow!¡±
The sleds continued at full speed towards the city to find safety behind the walls.
Upon hearing the words several werewolf howls rang out alerting the rest of the warriors of the danger.
Akira left the others behind as he ran to the tent where the Grand elders were currently talking.
¡°What''s all the commotion?¡± asked Carl.
¡°Akira, where are your manners don''t just barge in like that,¡± scolded Wulfric as Akira poked his head into the tent.
¡°A dungeon overflow happened! We need to prepare for a wave of monsters attacking!¡±
¡°Go and help the warriors. We will take care of the civilians,¡± ordered Wulfric as he immediately stood up and gathered a few items and left the tent.
Since there was an abundance of snow the entire werewolf encampment only had a chest-high wall of snow in the shape of a triangle surrounding the werewolf encampment. The tip of the triangle was pointed at the forest.
The snow walls were not great protection as they could be easily destroyed but it was all that they could build.
Akira ran to the tip of the triangle where a large number of warriors were already gathering and getting in position to take on the coming wave of monsters.
After the three sleds entered the city the gate slammed shut and locked. They would not open until every monster outside was killed. Everyone inside the city was stuck where they were and could not return to their own camps outside, this included the three girls who had been browsing the many shops.
Akira joined Chack, Delgar along with the rest of the warriors in his patrol unit who had been waiting for him.
Several of the older warriors seeing Akira welcomed him warmly. Many of the gathered warriors had either fought with him during the war with Beorin or had seen him fighting on the trip to Jerora. They all had great respect for the young future clan chief.
¡°Sir, would you like to take command of the warriors?¡± asked one of the older warriors in charge.
¡°There is no need, you are doing just fine. I''ll just take control of my own warriors and help defend,¡± said Akira.
He did not want to step on any toes right now since he was still inexperienced with commanding large forces. It would be better to control his own unit.
The warriors stood behind the short walls waiting... and then several [Hungry Snow Wolves] burst out of Forrest. Everyone readied their weapons only to see them monsters ignore them and run around the human and werewolf fortifications trying to get away from the snowy forest.
Everyone looked back to the forest. They could hear the sound of crunching snow coming from within.
¡°Transform!¡± shouted the commanding officer.
Crash!
Several trees were knocked over as over a hundred white-furred monsters plowed their way out into the open.
Akira checked to see what type of monster they were. [Twin Tail Snow Panther lvl 60]
The [Twin Tail Snow Panther] was covered in white fur and stood over 4 feet high with a length over 5 feet and they were headed straight for the werewolf''s who had all transformed.
¡°Archers! Fire!¡± the majority of arrows missed as the [Twin Tail Snow Panther] nimbly dodged them, only a few took any real damage. In a few seconds, the large monsters were already halfway to the snow wall.
¡°Throw the Javelins!¡±
Akira who had three javelins hurled them at the fast-approaching [Twin Tail Snow Panther] and was able to kill one and wound two others.
¡°Spears out! Brace for impact!¡±
Akira and the other front line spear-men created a wall of spearheads over the snow wall pointing at the charging [Twin Tail Snow Panther] ready to break their charge.
The [Twin Tail Snow Panther] were undaunted by the mass of spears and picked up speed.
Wham!
The [Twin Tail Snow Panther] slammed into the spears sending several warriors stumbling backward or even falling onto their butts.
The [Twin Tail Snow Panther] that were in the front of the charge had all been impaled by numerous spears and died immediately.
A few unlucky [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] were still squirming and letting out howls of pain trying to remove the spears from their body, some snapping the spears or pulling them out of the warrior''s hands with their erratic squirming.
The tip of the snow wall had lessened the charge but had crumbled and now there was little protecting them other than their armor and shields.
Akira yanked his spear out of the [Twin Tail Snow Panther] that had impaled itself on it and pierced it a second time to make sure it was dead.
¡°Don''t let them pass, we must not let a single civilian die!¡± shouted Akira using his[Shout] skill, boosting the morale of all who heard him.
There were still at least fifty [Twin Tail Snow Panther] still alive. They crouched down and jumped high into the sky clearing the spears that were still entangled with dead and half-dead bodies of the other [Twin Tail Snow Panther].
Akira raised his shield to block a [Twin Tail Snow Panther] which fell right on top of him slamming him into the ground.
A claw slammed into his shield trying to knock it away so it could get to Akira''s stomach.
Delgar with a battle cry slammed his warhammer into the side of the [Twin Tail Snow Panther] causing it to stumble to the side allowing Akira to roll away from it and get back onto his feet.
As he did he grabbed his spear from the ground and rejoined Delgar and Chack.
Akira quickly used the skill [Shadow chains] to keep the [Twin Tail Snow Panther] immobile and unable to dodge their attacks.
Their attention turned to another nearby [Twin Tail Snow Panther] that was trying to get past them.
¡°Surround it!¡± commanded Akira as he charged towards the [Twin Tail Snow Panther] to get its attention.
With great efficiency, they were able to kill it quickly.
¡°Next!¡±
They continued to search for the [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] and helped whoever was fighting one.
In this way, Akira took a big roll commanding the warriors around him, even when he had not intended to.
With the help of Akira using his tactics skills, there was no loss of life for werewolf warriors.
But there were still many wounds that would need urgent medical treatment.
Chapter 141: Twin Tail Snow Panthers Lair
Ding!
Level up! You are now Level 71!
Command skill level up!
+1 Charisma!
+2 Toughness!
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As Akira was chatting with a few of the wounded warriors, a sled pulled by a large reindeer stopped a short distance away from Akira and the warriors.
¡°Don''t forget to repair the snow wall,¡± Akira reminded the warriors who were now gathering materials from the dead monsters.
¡°Does anyone know where I can find the leader or leaders of this caravan? I must speak to them immediately,¡± said one of the two guards on the sled.
¡°I can take you to them, or I can give them the message for you,¡± said Akira as he walked over to the guard on the sled.
¡°I must speak to them personally.¡±
¡°Then follow me,¡± said Akira leading the guard towards the central area where the grand elders had gathered the civilians.
He found them talking with a small group of women and children that had puffy eyes from crying.
Akira and the city guard waited until the small group finished talking with the Grand elders.
¡°Grandfather, Grand Elders,¡± said Akira, bowing to them showing his respect. ¡°This person said he needed to personally talk to you.¡±
¡°How can we help you?¡± asked Carl.
¡°I have come here straight from the governor. The governor has great respect for your strength and has a request that he hopes you will accept. For a few weeks now there have been numerous large scale monster attacks coming from the Chilam forest. We have been looking for the dungeon that they have been coming from but we were unsuccessful until today. The governor asks for your help in clearing the dungeon and any monsters you encounter on your way there. He knows this is a large request so as compensation the price of everything you want to buy will be cut in half.¡±
¡°Is there a reason you can not do it yourself?¡± asked ¨¤aron.
¡°We are short on men right now due to several reasons. We can not head into an unknown dungeon and leave the trade city unprotected. The governor has put the city guards on high alert due to a report of demigods appearing near Froit city.¡±
¡°What type of dungeon is it? Do you know what type of monsters are hiding inside?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°We were unable to go inside but we are sure that the [Twin Tail Snow Panther] came from inside,¡± said the guard.
¡°If it was a dungeon outbreak then the dungeon should be empty right?¡± asked Akira.
¡°That is the odd thing, not all of the [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] left the dungeon. Reports came back from one of our scouts that they saw some of them return to the dungeon.¡±
¡°Give us a few moments to discuss this,¡± said Seoc as the four entered a tent behind them. They continued their quiet discussion for well over 5 minutes before exiting the tent again.
¡°We will accept the request, but... you must guide the warriors we send to the dungeon,¡± said Carl.
¡°I have no problem with that. When can your warriors leave?¡±
¡°Akira, we have decided to let you use this dungeon clearing as a chance to further prove that you have what it takes to lead the clan''s warriors. Take Klyn with you and find thirty volunteer warriors to clear the dungeon,¡± said Wulfric.
Ding!
New mission received!
Defeat the [Twin Tail Snow Panthers Lair] dungeon!
The Grand Elders have accepted the governor''s request and have given you a task to gather a minimum of 30 warriors to clear the dungeon.
This will be a test of your leadership skills.
This is an important mission that will affect your entire clan.
Difficulty: C
Rewards: Governor Scoit will view the Darkmoon clan as friends, all items market items will be half off for a limited time. Additional rewards depending on how successful the dungeon clearing is.
Nothing will be rewarded if you fail. The governor, as well as the city guards, will view the Darkmoon clan as a nuisance to the city and you will be asked to leave.
|
¡°I will not let you down,¡± said Akira as he bowed and immediately left the Grand elders with the guard following behind him.
The warriors were still licking their wounds. repairing the wall, and taking care of their weapons and armor when Akira returned.
¡°I need thirty volunteers to join me in clearing a dungeon!¡± shouted Akira in a loud booming voice.
Everyone around him stopped what they were doing and looked at him slowly letting the words sink in.
Seconds later hundreds of hands shot up. Among the hundreds of people that volunteered were those who were still recovering from their wounds from the last fight.
The warriors had all seen him commanding on the battlefield and saw his fighting prowess and were impressed with him.
Since he was the future leader of the Darkmoon clan there were many that wanted to have the privilege of hunting with him as well as show him their good traits so that they could get a better chance of getting a promotion in the future.
¡°Only those that are 100% healthy will be accepted. This is no time to be playing around, ¡°said Akira.
Ding!
Do you want to add 30 warriors to your party to use leadership skills and charisma stat?
Anyone in your party will gain experience at a faster pace.
|
''Yes,'' as he started picking warriors from the healthy volunteers they were automatically added to his party.
After gathering the required number of warriors and packing a few supplies for hunting in the dungeon, they rejoined the two city guards who were waiting for them on their sled.
***
There were very few fights on their way to the dungeon since most of the monsters that had been in the woods had been scared away by the [Twin Tail Snow Panther] rampage earlier.
It was almost pointless to have the city guards lead them to the dungeon as there was a wide and long path of destruction through the trees and snow that led them in a wandering zigzag path.
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An hour passed before the guard''s sled stopped near the entrance of an ice cave that led underground.
¡°This the dungeon?¡± asked Akira pointing to the cave.
¡°It''s where the scouts claim to have seen the [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] exit. More than a hundred of them exited the dungeon. So you should expect the dungeon to be quite large if it was able to hold that many,¡± said one of the escorting guards.
Akira stared inside the dimly lit cave and tried to sniff out the presence of any [Twin Tail Snow Panther] but the only thing reaching his nose was from several hours ago.
¡°Klyn can you give everyone buffs?¡± asked Akira.
¡°That''s what I''m here for!¡± said Klyn as he went around casting several buffs on each of the warriors who all quietly thanked him.
No matter which clan you were from everyone respected a shaman that was skilled enough to give out powerful buffs. Throughout the history of the Earth tribe, many unwinnable wars and battles were won due to the constant support from the many shaman that had fought alongside them.
Akira was covered in a black misty light as he transformed into his werewolf form. When the dark light was gone it revealed his large muscular body and thick dark fur.
Most of the warriors had seen his amazing transformation before but were still in awe at the Aura they felt when standing so close to him.
¡°Transform and follow me!¡± ordered Akira in a gruff voice.
¡°What about Us?¡± asked the escort guard.
¡°You guys can stay here at the entrance or go back to the city,¡± said Akira.
As soon as he entered the dungeon a message popped up into his view.
Ding!
You are the first to enter the [Twin Tail Snow Panthers Lair].
+10 fame!
Would you like to have your name recorded as the one who discovered the [Twin Tail Snow Panthers Lair]?
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''What is this? No, I don''t want to do something like that.''
Ding!
The Dungeon leaderboard icon has now been added!
Complete certain tasks to receive fame and a position on the leaderboard!
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The messages had stopped Akira for a few seconds causing those behind him to also stop.
¡°Ahem...¡± Akira cleared his throat. ¡°Just making sure that there are no traps.¡±
Akira looked around the large empty underground cave that looked like any other cave he had ever seen. The only difference was the large piles of plants and other rubbish that the [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] has used as beds.
Although they had only entered a few steps into the dungeon it had already become noticeably colder and harder to breathe. The air seemed to have a certain unusual heaviness to it.
¡°Shields out and be careful, my gut is telling me that this place is not a normal dungeon,¡± warned Akira.
They passed through several dark gray cavernous rooms. They were all empty and the deeper they went the colder it became. The only light in the rooms was from a few glowing ice crystals on the ceiling that looked sharp enough to pierce through armor and flesh.
¡°I thought this was supposed to be a dungeon? Where are the monsters?¡± asked a warrior next to Akira.
By now they had already passed through ten empty cavernous rooms each with numerous empty beds.
¡°Stay focused,¡± warned Akira as they entered a new room and began their search for enemies or anything that could be sold for money back at the trade city.
¡°Captain! I found a path leading farther down into the ground for a long distance,¡± shouted another warrior on the far side of the cavernous room.
¡°Let''s go!¡± said Akira, gathering the warriors that were still looking around the empty cave.
He took the lead and cautiously walked down the ramp with his shield held in front of him at the ready to block any nasty surprises.
As they descended the cold became even more pronounced. A light wind blew past them as it traveled up the ramp.
The light from the ice crystals back in the cavern rooms did not reach into the tunnel making it so they were forced to rely on their sense of smell and hearing to move forward.
Akira did not want to use a torch or lamp and attract the attention of whatever monsters may or may not be hiding below.
His footsteps stopped as they neared the bottom of the ramp. A pair of golden eyes had opened and were now staring at the werewolves who were silently standing still.
Two more pairs of golden eyes opened and silently stared at them.
¡°Meeeerrrrooooooowwwwwww!¡± a loud shrill noise came from the three sets of glowing eyes as they launched themselves at the werewolves.
¡°Shield bash!¡± Akira used the glowing eyes to slam his shield into the face of one of the [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] knocking it back into the second [Twin Tail Snow Panther] that had followed after it.
¡°Shield Up! Stick together!¡± ordered Akira.
The third [Twin Tail Snow Panther] was able to jump over the two [Twin Tail Snow Panther] who were struggling with each other on the ground trying to get untangled from the other.
Snap! The [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] large mouth bit nothing but air as Akira stepped to the side at the last moment.
He lunged forward and stabbed his sword into the side of the [Twin Tail Snow Panther].
¡°MEEEEWWWWW¡± the [Twin Tail Snow Panther] howled in pain. It tried to retaliate using its tails to weakly slam into his legs.
The warriors all jumped in using the sound of battle to direct their attacks while it was still pinned down by Akira''s sword. The [Twin Tail Snow Panther] went limp only moments later as the attacks overwhelmed it.
Those that were not attacking were now struggling with holding off the last two [Twin Tail Snow Panthers].
In a short few minutes, the remaining two [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] were also taken care of.
¡°Mrrrrrowwwwww!¡± several more golden eyes appeared at the bottom of the ramp. They had come due to the sound of battle and the smell of the frozen blood on the floor and walls of the cave.
¡°It looks like we found where they were hiding,¡± said Akira.
¡°More like they found us!¡± said Klyn.
They were forced to fight over twenty [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] on the ramp that was now getting cramped with all the dead bodies covering the ground.
¡°Was that the last of them?¡± asked one of the warriors.
¡°Is it me or were they harder to fight than the ones we fought outside?¡± asked another warrior.
¡°Quiet,¡± ordered Akira.
He stood still listening for any sounds coming from in front of them. Nothing.
Akira squinted at the dead bodies on the ground and saw a few sparkling coins and cores. He gathered everything he could see and put it in his bag.
¡°We need to keep moving, we''ll come back and gather the materials from these guys later. Their fur can create some warm clothing for several people of the clans. Or we can use it to barter for the items the clans need for our journey,¡± said Akira.
¡°We will follow you captain!¡± said the warriors with great vigor.
Moving through the second floor was slow as they were constantly attacked by [Twin Tail Snow Panther] who hid in the darkness.
Ding!
Leadership skill has leveled up!
+2 Charisma!
Special leadership passive skill has been unlocked!
Due to fighting multiple battles in the dark, you have gained the Night-Battle passive skill!
Night-Battle: Those who fight in the dark or at night under your command will receive a small boost to their morale and their night senses, allowing them to fight without fear of the dark.
|
Thanks to Akira''s growing skills in commanding along with his stout defense on the front-line the warriors were able to keep calm even when they were ambushed by a group of [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] where one pushed its way through the shield bearers.
The [Twin Tail Snow Panthers] were quickly surrounded and taken care of by Akira and the others.
It was a surprise that there were little to no injuries after they cleared the second floor.
They stumbled their way around trying to find the next room or the way to the next floor if there was one.
¡°Fighting in the near dark is something new that I never knew would be this interesting,¡± commented one of the warriors.
¡°You got that....ooof!¡± the sound of the warrior falling could be heard as he rolled several feet away and with a crash hit one of the walls.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Owww... lost my footing...I think I found the path to the next floor,¡± said the warrior as he stood up.
¡°Everyone watch your step carefully, it would be a shame if you sprained a muscle due to a careless step,¡± said Akira as he took the lead again down the ramp to the third floor.
¡°Whoa!¡± Akira flung his hands out wildly trying to regain his balance before he fell onto his butt and started to slide down the ramp quickly picking up speed before he could stand back up.
¡°Captain!¡±
¡°Hurry we have to follow him and make sure nothing happens to him!¡±
¡°Watch where you''re stepping, that''s my foot!¡±
¡°Stop pushing me....whoa!¡±
¡°Don''t pull me with you!¡±
The other 29 warriors along with Klyn slipped and slid down the ice-covered stone ramp all the way down to the third floor.
They found Akira standing in a small well lit room staring at swirling blue-white misty light that was in the form of an oval door floating in front of the far wall.
¡°What type of magic is this?¡± asked Klyn as he stood up from the pile of tangled werewolves.
Akira reached out with the tip of his sword and touched the door.
Chapter 142: Mother Snow Panthers Den
¡°What are you doing!? Don''t touch it!¡± shouted Klyn, but his warning was too late.
Ding!
Party leader has initiated the Boss battle.
Transferring party to the [Mother Snow Panthers Den].
|
With A bright flash, the swirling light expanded and engulfed Akira. The warriors began to panic but they had little time to worry about it as the light washed over them as well.
In only a few seconds the small room was empty again and the swirling oval door was back to normal.
Ding!
You have entered the [Mother Snow Panthers Den].
The exit is locked in order to leave you must kill the [Mother Snow Panther] or Die.
|
¡°Captain you all right?¡±
¡°Where are we captain?¡±
¡°Akira, why are you always touching dangerous-looking things?¡± asked Klyn. ¡°That magic door could have killed us.¡±
Akira didn''t answer them and just used his hand to block the bright sunlight that was shining in his face nearly blinding him. The change in lighting was very unwelcome since his eyes had gotten used to the dark dungeon tunnels.
As his eyes became accustomed to the bright light he was able to see where they had been taken by the magical light.
They were now on the edge of a large stone bowl that was carved into the ground and they were surrounded by towering mountain walls that were covered in slick ice.
The icy walls rose straight up into the sky as far as the eye could see. There was no cover to hide if something came to attack them.
The reason for it being so bright was partly due to the sunlight reflecting off of the snow and ice.
A few fresh snowflakes accompanied a cold wind that was blowing down from the top of the mountain peaks causing the warriors to feel a little discomfort.
¡°MEEEERRRROOOOOOWWWWW!¡±
A deep meow came from the opposite side of the cavernous bowl stopping the warriors who had been talking quietly.
Akira silently gave hand signals to the warriors ordering them to form up beside him.
It had been some time since Klyn had given everyone a buff so he quietly began his chants applying several buffs on Akira first before applying them onto the rest of the warriors.
The sound of large footsteps echoed out from within a large dark cave that was carved into the mountainous wall just above the carved bowl.
Two large golden eyes stared out of the cave and looked at the werewolf warriors gathered below.
Then a large white head the size of a medium boulder exited the dark cave followed by a body that was larger than the tallest horse. [Mother Snow Panther lvl 78].
It opened its large mouth showing off several rows of sharp teeth.
¡°Merrrooooooow!¡± the [Mother Snow Panther] let out a howl, challenging those who stood below her.
Ding!
[Mother Snow Panther] has used a skill fear.
You will be in a state of fear for 5 seconds.
You have resisted the skill.
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The warriors next to Akira had all been affected by the skill and were unable to move just staring blankly at nothing.
¡°It''s just a large cat!¡± shouted Akira while using the [Shout] skill. With the effects of the shout, the warriors were able to clear their minds and focus back on the coming fight.
The [Mother Snow Panther] seeing its skill fail lowered its body and then shot into the air soaring towards Akira and the warriors. Its mouth was wide open and its claws were stretched out ready to tear through armor and flesh.
Akira used the skill [Sword slash] and sent a bright blue light flying towards the approaching [Mother Snow Panther].
The attack hit both of its front paws and sent blood spilling onto the white snow and caused a growl of anger to escape its mouth. The wound was not deep but it hurt a lot.
Akira and the warriors were bracing themselves for the coming attack, but the [Mother Snow Panther] flew over their heads and slammed into the wall behind them sending ice fragments everywhere.
With its powerful legs, it rebounded so that it could attack them from behind!
¡°Everyone turn around!¡± commanded Akira as he sent another [Sword slash] flying towards the [Mother Snow Panther] this time creating a shallow gash on its side.
Of the thirty warriors that had joined the dungeon clearing mission only two of them had crossbows. They aimed at the newly opened wound and pulled their triggers sending two bolts coated with toxins slamming into the wound. The toxins were a specialty made by the shamans for fighting against monsters.
The [Mother Snow Panther] landed on the ground in front of the warriors and swiped its claw at the nearest person knocking them off of their feet.
Before anyone could come to his aid and surround the [Mother Snow Panther] it launched itself back into the air heading towards another wall and rebounded off the wall aiming to attack their unprotected backs again.
The [Mother Snow Panther] was playing with them only wounding those that it smacked around as it jumped back and forth. Whenever they tried to attack it would just run away and had only received a few small cuts and pokes as well as several of the bolts that were covered in plenty of toxins.
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Growing annoyed, Akira waited until the [Mother Snow Panther] again landed and immediately used his skill [Shadow Chains] before it could jump away.
Four shadow chains flew up from the ground and entwined themselves with the [Mother Snow Panthers] four limbs and bit down into the flesh securing their grasp on the [Mother Snow Panther].
¡°Everyone attack from its sides! I''ll deal with keeping its attention!¡± ordered Akira as he activated [Shield Slam].
He rocketed straight forward aiming for the struggling [Mother Snow Panther].
Bam!
His shield and body slammed into the head of the [Mother Snow Panther], stunning it as well as dealing a large amount of blunt damage.
¡°Merrroooowww!¡± the [Mother Snow Panther] let out a howl of pain after shaking it''s head to regain its senses.
The spear in Akira''s hand shot forward and stabbed at the roof of its open mouth.
[Piercing skill increased!] He continues to use his spear to pierce and wound the [Mother Snow Panther] not letting it focus on the others or the chains holding it.
The warriors on the side of the [Mother Snow Panther] stabbed, hacked and poked with their weapons causing blood to spray all onto the ground in large hot droplets sending up steam into the cold air.
With the multiple wounds, toxins, and loss of blood the [Mother Snow Panthers] restrained movements were becoming slower but not any less deadly.
¡°Ah!¡± a cry of pain was let out as several of the warriors were knocked off their feet and sent flying as the tail of the [Mother Snow Panther] swatted them away from the rear flank they had been attacking.
¡°Watch its tail!¡± ordered Akira.
Snap! Crack!
¡°CRAP!!¡± shouted Akira as the shadow chain binding the front paw of the [Mother Snow Panther] was broken.
Bam!
The large paw slammed into Akira''s shield.
¡±Oof.¡± The weight behind the paw pushed him down onto one knee. The paw pressed down harder trying to force Akira into the ground.
With both hands, Akira used his shield to push against the paw and slowly stood up.
The [Mother Snow Panther] let out a low howl. It was unhappy that it was not able to smash Akira into the ground with its weakened strength.
The large paw was removed from the shield but came back and swatted him from the side sending him rolling away from the rest of the warriors.
The [Mother Snow Panther] now free of Akira''s distractions clawed at the shadow chain that was holding down its other front paw while its tail was continuously smacking against the chains holding down its hind legs.
¡°Don''t let it break the chains!¡± shouted Akira as he jumped back up onto his feet. He ran forward and used the skill [Shield Bash] to knock the paw away from the chains but the damage was already done.
With one tug of its large paw, the chain snapped allowing the [Mother Snow Panther] to turn to the side and bite onto the arm of a werewolf warrior who was too slow in dodging the unexpected attack.
Crunch!
¡°Ah!¡± the warrior fell to the ground and with a bleeding stump left for an arm. Even while he received such a wound he was able to roll away from the [Mother Snow Panther].
The [Mother Snow Panther] made several more attempts to bite the others but they all dodged the erratic lunges of the raging monster.
Its movements were getting slower and slower as the toxins from the numerous bolts in its body started to take effect on the large creature.
¡°It''s almost dead! Let''s kill it!¡± shouted Akira.
The warriors bravely rushed forward and again started to hack slash at its sides, legs, belly, and even its now limp tail.
Akira used his spear to poke its face again to keep its attention on him.
When the sharp teeth came to bite him he placed the butt of the spear on the ground. The [Mother Snow Panther] in its hasty attempt to bite Akira bit off more than it could chew and impaled its own head on the spear dying when the spear reached its brain.
Ding!
[Mother Snow Panther] has been defeated!
The next respawn will be in three months.
Level up! Level up! Level up!
You are now level 74!
+2 Endurance!
+5 Toughness!
+4 Charisma!
You are the first to complete the dungeon hunt would you like to add your name to the leader-board?
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¡°No.¡±
Akira looked around and saw several warriors on the ground moaning from pain several had broken bones arms, legs or ribs, while others had large gashes on their bodies from when the claws swiped at them.
¡°Everyone who is not hurt, help the wounded as much as you can. We don''t want anyone dying,¡± ordered Akira.
Klyn went around and helped bandage the more severe wounds and used buffs to help the Warriors'' bodies regeneration go into overdrive to heal small wounds stopping the bleeding.
As Akira looked at the dead monster''s body a glint on the floor caught Akira''s eyes. He stepped forward and picked it up to see what it was... it was a key.
Ding!
Hidden quest ''Explore a new dungeon.'' completed!
Your reward is information on the new dungeons!
Monsters in the new dungeons are stronger than monsters outside and will always have more health and deal more damage.
Dungeon monsters can and will take equipment of defeated enemies and use it for themselves if they can. This will make them stronger and harder to fight.
Dungeon monsters are also able to level up if they kill enough invaders.
After killing the boss of a dungeon they will revive after a certain time has passed depending on how strong they are.
Each new dungeon has a treasure box in the boss room. In order to open it, you must kill the boss and pick up the key it drops.
The first person to kill the boss will receive a one-time rare item. All boss kills after will be normal items unless the boss has gathered loot from invaders it has killed.
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''A treasure box?''
Akira had seen nothing like that while they had fought.
While looking around his gaze stopped on the black cave the [Mother Snow Panther] had exited.
''That''s probably where it is.''
Akira climbed up to the ledge and entered the cave. It was not deep at all and upon entering the cave he found both things he was looking for.
A black wooden chest with a keyhole the matched the key in his hand, and an oval swirling light door which he guessed was the exit.
Akira walked over to the treasure chest and unlocked it.
Ding!
You have received a pair of fanged daggers, 100 gold, and a Large core.
|
The black box disappeared after he took the daggers, gold, and large white core out.
Akira returned to the warriors after putting the items into his bag and started to help skin the fur from the [Mother Snow Panther].
¡°We need to take the bones as well,¡± said Akira, thinking about the various ways the clans could use them.
Ding!
New title received!
Bane of cats:
Tales of a scary werewolf going around fleecing kittens will be told to many of the large feline monsters of the continent.
All large cats and felines will either run away or attack you as soon as they see you.
+5 fame
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¡°I don''t like this place. This Dungeon is too strange. I have never seen anything like it before,¡± said Klyn as he helped Akira gather the materials.
Chapter 143: Puman
Several people disembarked from a large ship onto the snow-covered ground.
¡°Kooter, Why did we have to come to this cold continent?¡± asked a female carrying a large wooden staff wearing a large fluffy coat over her leather robe.
She and 30 other Demigods from the Demon hunter guild had been ordered by the guild leader to get on the ship and did not tell them where they were going.
¡°Bland said he needed more help with the task. This place is no joke,¡± said Kooter, a man of average height. He held twin daggers and wore all black clothing as well as a mask to hide his face.
¡°Phobia, do you see them? The only people I see here are from other guilds.¡±
¡°You know that''s not my name,¡± said the female demigod. ¡°They already left, we have to hurry up and join them,¡±
¡°Useless! They can''t even take care of such a small thing. We need to show off our skills to the guild leader by killing everything here!¡± said Kooter.
¡°Don''t go recklessly starting wars! Your profession does not suit your hotheadedness,¡± said Phobia.
¡°You say that, but isn''t that exactly what our current mission is? We are going to kill someone important from one of the demon clans won''t that start a war?¡±
¡°You''re standing too close to me,¡± said Phobia to Kooter who was already 5 ft away from her.
¡°You and your phobia of boy cooties. How are you ever going to get a boyfriend and get married.¡±
¡°That''s none of your business. Someday I''ll find the right person but right now my senses say you are definitely not that person. So move over there 10 or 20 feet.¡±
***
¡°You did a good job leading the warriors. The dungeon was cleared without a death,¡± said Wulfric.
The other grand elders nodded their heads in agreement. They all had high hopes for Akira who was shaping up to be a promising strong leader.
¡°Several of them received some serious wounds...¡± said Akira trying to be modest.
¡°They will recover. Although some will be missing a few parts they will still be able to take care of themselves when they fully recover,¡± said Carl.
¡°With the furs you have brought us we can cover the cost of all the supplies we need for quite a while. We can use any leftover to help keep the young and old warm,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°May I ask a question?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Go ahead,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°What are we going to do from now on?¡±
¡°With the completion of the dungeon, Scoit has agreed to allow us to stay here until we find a new place to settle down,¡± said Seoc.
¡°We have decided that a scouting team will go south while the rest of the warriors and civilians stay here. I have decided to lead the scouting team and I want you to come along with me. The other Grand elders will make sure that everyone is safe while we are away. If you would like you can bring any of your companions as well. This mission will take a few months,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°I am honored that you would bring me. I will ask to see if the two people I have in mind want to come. When are we leaving?¡±
¡°As soon as we finish our transactions with Scoit,¡± said Wulfric.
***
¡°Burkin, what are you doing here with us? Aren''t you supposed to be chained to Kurzlin?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Don''t joke about such scary things,¡± said Burkin.
¡°I think it''s a good idea,¡± said Mileena as she looked at Akira with an evil grin making Akira wish he hadn''t said anything.
¡°Heh, You reap what you sow!¡± said Klyn.
¡°The reason why? It''s so I can get away from...I mean, I have a duty to show you guys around. Wouldn''t want you to wander around in circles and end up in the belly of some monster,¡± said Berkin.
¡°How noble of you...I lie! You are just running away!¡± said Chack.
¡°Hey! Don''t say things that could get me killed!¡± said Burkin.
The snow piled up higher and higher as they went south seeing little to no one on what according to Burkin, was supposed to be the main road.
Akira and everyone else could not tell the difference between the road and the surrounding snow-covered land so they had to trust what Burkin said.
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It was a good thing they had bought proper sleds to help them travel south at a far faster speed than walking.
They were still only a few days away from the trade city but they had already been in many fights with numerous monsters.
¡°Halt!¡± ordered the lead scout.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°I hear something up ahead.¡±
Everyone grew quiet and strained their ears to listen.
¡°It seems a fight is happening somewhere ahead of us. Stay alert, we will go and check it out,¡± ordered Wulfric.
Wulfric was in charge of where they would go and most other decisions but he had given Akira the command of all the warriors so he could personally judge his leadership skills.
Akira, Chack, and the other shield warriors led the way forward towards the sound of battle.
When they cleared the trees and large snowdrifts that were blocking their vision they were able to clearly see what was happening.
A small village with several huts close together ringed by a snow and ice wall was under attack by a large pack of [Snow wolves].
These [Snow wolves] looked to be far larger than the ones they had seen farther north.
¡°We should help them, we might be able to get some information on the surrounding area,¡± advised Wulfric after watching the fight for a few seconds.
¡°You heard the Grand elder! Let''s go and save them!¡± shouted Akira.
Ding!
All warriors under your command will receive the benefits of your leadership skills.
They will follow your orders more willingly as long as the orders are not suicidal.
+2 Char
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The large ferocious werewolf warriors plowed forward through the deep snow towards the ongoing fight.
The sudden appearance of a new enemy frightening the Pumans who were defending the crumbling walls.
Their fears were quickly eased as they watched the werewolves pounced onto the [Snow wolves] from behind easily killing several of them.
The [Snow wolves] were slow in reacting to the new threat due to their one-track mind that was focused on trying to break past the Puman''s defense so they could run wild inside of the small village.
With Akira leading the warriors they were able to quickly kill over half of the attacking [Snow wolves] before they decided to run away with their tails between their legs.
¡°Friends, I don''t know who you are but I am extremely grateful for the help you have given us. May I know your name and what clan you belong to?¡± asked a middle-aged man with purple skin.
The man was covered in blood and had several minor wounds on his body. Next to him was a beautiful purple-skinned woman with red hair. She was fretting over his numerous wounds while she helped bandage them.
¡°I am Akira, and this is Grand elder Wulfric,¡± said Akira pointing to his grandfather.
¡°Oh? A Grand elder? I have heard of something like that before. What is such a distinguished person doing all the way out here in the far reaches of the frontier?¡±
¡°We are from a mixture of several clans. We have come in search of a place to settle and build our village,¡± said Wulfric.
¡°You''re not from the large clans on either of the coasts?¡± asked the man.
¡°No, we have come from another place. If it is not too much trouble could you tell us if you know of anywhere south of here that is decent enough for a settlement?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°I normally wouldn''t advise anyone going any farther south as the monsters only get more numerous and the weather only harsher. You seem to have strength far stronger than the average adventures that pass by so I will give you what you ask for.
Depending on how fast you can travel through the snow and monster territory if you keep heading south you will be able to reach the Unfreezing river. Our village is one of the last that you will find and there will be no others to trade for food or water.
If you plan on going south I recommend that you head there and stay close to the river. It has freshwater and a large number of fish. If you try any other direction you will be needlessly risking your life,¡± said the man.
¡°Burkin?¡± asked Wulfric.
¡°I have not been that far south myself but I have heard of the Unfreezing river. What he says is true from what I have heard from other adventures and wandering merchants.¡±
¡°I am sorry to bother you but...there have been so many monster attacks recently that almost everyone has received several wounds and we have been unable to repair our defenses or gather any food.
If it would be possible can you help us repair and gather food?¡± asked the man.
¡°Akira, what is your opinion on what we should do?¡± asked Wulfric, wanting to see what Akira would say.
Ding!
Repair and feed the Dalry village!
Efrem the leader of the Pumans has asked for your help.
If you accept then you will have to help them completely repair their defensive walls and help stockpile a large amount of food to last until they can fully recover.
Reward: Dalry village and the Puman race will become friendly with your clan. They will be more than happy to become trade partners when you create your village.
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¡°We can afford to help you take care of these minor things,¡± said Akira accepting the mission.
¡°Burkin, Delgar, you both have a good understanding of construction as well as blacksmithing right?¡± asked Akira as he turned to the two stout dwarfs.
¡°That is correct.¡±
¡°Then I will leave you with several warriors to help rebuild and strengthen their walls. While you do that I will lead the rest of the warriors into the nearby woods to quickly gather some food.¡±
Wulfric nodded his head in agreement with Akira''s judgment. ¡°It is good to help those who you can help and gain allies. I will go with you as well.¡±
Ding!
+2 Honor!
The more honor you gain the more other clans and races will respect you.
The southern wandering warrior tribes will only respect strong and honorable warriors and shun those who are weak and cowardly.
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Chapter 144: Listen!
¡°This should be enough don''t you think?¡± asked Akira looking at the large amount of meat they had gathered that was piled up on top of several sleds.
¡°I could eat it all in one day...I lie! This would last me a long time,¡± said Chack as he hungrily stared at the meat.
¡°Hey, lizard brain, keep your claws away from the meat,¡± said Mileena as she jabbed Chack with the butt of one of the new daggers that Akira had given to her a present.
Thunk!
¡°Grand Elder!¡±
¡°Enemy attack!¡±
¡°Protect the grand elder!¡±
Akira turned to see his grandfather had fallen to the ground. There was blood slowly seeping into the snow where he had landed turning it red.
Several warriors surrounded Wulfric to protect him from any more surprise attacks.
For a moment Akira''s heart nearly stopped, but as he watched Wulfric pushed himself upright and stood back up.
¡°I''m fine! A small wound like this is not going to kill me. Akira, stop dawdling and take command of the situation!¡± growled Wulfric as he transformed into a powerful and ferocious werewolf form.
This was Akira''s first time seeing his grandfather fully transform and was surprised at how many wounds he had received from the many wars he had participated in. His fur was now a deep Grey, a far cry from his once dark black fur truly showing his age.
¡°Everyone! Transform and find the attackers!¡± shouted Akira as he started to transform as well, a black misty light covering his body.
¡°Nox! Come out and fight!¡± shouted Akira as he emerged from the mist fully transformed.
Nox jumped out of Akira''s shadow and looked around for the hidden enemies but could not find anyone.
¡°Che... that didn''t kill him! We wasted a lot of gold on that potion to hide our scent,¡± said a loud voice that wasn''t trying to hide his presence.
¡°That werewolf with the Black mist around him is our target! Attack him!¡±
Over thirty humans in various mismatched armors, carrying a wide variety of weapons, emerged from their hiding spots and charged towards Akira and the other warriors.
¡°I don''t know who you are but I am going to ^&*$ you with a *&^% and @#$% you until you all die! Everyone form up and kill them all!¡± shouted Akira.
He was extremely angry that his grandfather had been targeted and attacked by these unknown attackers.
Ding!
Potty month skill has been created!
By using vulgar and extremely rude words you will be able to intimidate and lower enemy attack power by 10% and for a short time.
All who hear your words will grow angry and attack you.
The more creative you are with your words the more effective the skill will be making the effect last longer.
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¡°I have no clue what a *&^% is or how you would @#$% someone with it, but just hearing you talk makes me angry! Phobia let''s kill him!¡± shouted a man dressed in black clothes as he rushed towards Akira.
¡°You heard the potty mouth of that werewolf as well? Kooter you''re right, he really is asking for it!¡± said a female at the back of the group after she finished a long chant.
¡°Watch out Akira I have never heard that chant before but it sounds similar to a shaman element chant!¡± shouted Klyn.
¡°Too late you are going to die! Take this!¡± shouted the girl named Phobia.
Boom!
A large fireball flew towards Akira and blew up near his feet causing a decent sized crater while sending a large amount of snow into the air blocking their vision.
¡°Demigods!¡± shouted Wulfric.
Akira struggled to keep his balance as one of the people burst through the misty snow cloud and sent a red sword slash skill straight towards his neck.
He quickly raised his shield and blocked the red slash attack.
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Two more demigods burst through the snow and attacked him from either side using their own skills.
Several other demigods appeared next to the others to try and kill Akira. Their skills did little damage to him but they did not give up and keep attacking him with skill after skill.
The werewolf warriors and his long time companions were in the same situation but to a lesser extent as Akira had gathered most of the enemies'' attention and anger onto himself.
Mileena seeing Akira under constant attack felt something click inside her and became aware of a skill that she never knew she had but it felt as if it was only natural for her to have such a skill.
Blink!
She disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared right behind one of the Demigods who was furiously attacking Akira.
Using her daggers she stabbed into his unprotected back several times making him stumble towards Akira.
Akira pounced on the defenseless demigod and struck a fatal blow piercing the man through the heart.
The demigod''s body disintegrated into thousands of light particles before it hit the ground.
Mileena used her new skill [Blink] several times to help trip up the attackers allowing Akira to finish them off.
Since she was still inexperienced with the skill, it used a lot of energy. After using it several more times Mileena''s ears and tail were drooping as she panted from exhaustion next to Akira.
¡°Attack that cat! She''s causing too many problems!¡± shouted one of the demigods.
¡°I''m on it!¡± shouted Phobia the female demigod that was flinging fireballs everywhere.
Akira pulled Mileena into his embrace and covered her as several attacks came flying towards them. He placed his shield on his back and received the attacks with only his armor and thick fur as protection, receiving several minor burns and small cuts.
Ding!
Akira ignored the pain and let go of Mileena and turned around before using the skill [Shield Slam].
He hurtled at an alarming speed towards the few demigods at the rear constantly throwing explosive attacks at the warriors.
Several demigods tried to block his path but received serious wounds as they were knocked out of his way and thrown onto the ground.
Those wounded by the charge were immediately pounced upon by the werewolf warriors ending their lives before they could stand back up.
Bam!
Akira slammed into his main target, the female magic skill user interrupting her chant and knocking her into the air.
Her low health plummeted to rock bottom and she disappeared in a bright burst of particles without him having to use a second attack.
Using his momentum he swirled around and used the skill [Sword slash] aiming it at another lightly protected magic skill users causing a second female demigod to disappear as her head was separated from her body.
Nox was running amok tearing into the demigod''s lightly protected legs allowing the warriors to easily execute them.
Akira reached the last magic skill user that was hiding at the back and cut them in half with one swing of his sword starting from his head and ending at his toes.
Akira continued using his various skills and killed anyone he could reach.
The demigods were disappearing one after another.
The fight soon ended just as quickly as it had started with the complete extermination of the demigods. All thanks to Akira plowing through the enemies and clearing out the people in the back.
The werewolves had not come out unharmed as there were two warriors, the youngest in the group, that had died after receiving several skill attacks and crossbow attacks while trying to protect the Grand elder.
Only a few warriors came out of the fight without some sort of wound. Many of them had minor cuts to their arms, legs, and faces. While a few were now missing fingers, eyes, or parts of their noses and ears.
They were a poor sight to see with blood splattered all over the fur and armor. The ground around them was pockmarked and scorched. Blood from both the demigods and warriors who had died dyed the snow various tints of pink and red.
Akira walked over to Wulfric and the other warriors as he sheathed his sword.
¡°Gather the dead and bind your wounds, we need to hurry back to the...¡± Akira''s voice caught in his throat as his grandfather fell forward towards Akira.
He quickly reached out and caught him before he hit the ground.
¡°Grandfather you shouldn''t have overexerted yourself,¡± said Akira worried for his grandfather as he heard his heavy breathing.
¡°Grand elder let me see that wound of yours,¡± said Klyn as he stepped up behind him to examine the wound on his back.
¡°Wait...Grand elder this is not a small wound! You should have told me sooner and not lied about it!¡±
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s nothing!¡± growled Wulfric.
¡°A piece of silver is lodged near his heart! Akira, hold him still while I take it out and try to use my chants to heal his wound.¡±
Akira held onto Wulfric arms tightly while Klyn used a knife and some tweezers to pull out the silver causing Wulfric great pain.
¡°It''s no use poison...already...¡± Wulfric panted for breath.
¡°No! It''s not too late! I can cure it! Or at least slow it so we can return to my grandfather and have him cure you,¡± said Klyn as he began furiously chanting.
¡°Akira... although we were together... for a short time... I am proud... to call you my grandson...¡±
¡°What are you saying!¡± said Akira with tears escaping his large eyes which fell down onto the bloody snow below.
¡°Listen!¡± growled Wulfric.
¡°Yes! Grand elder!¡± said every warrior, their full attention on Wulfric.
¡°I appoint Akira as the leader of the Darkmoon clan and the coalition. You are to bear witness to this and make sure the other grand elders know my wishes. You must protect Akira from the demigods and anyone who wishes to harm him.¡±
¡°Yes, Grand elder! We will do as you order!¡±
¡°Stop talking like you''re going to die!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°You remind me very much of your father when he was youn...¡±
¡°No I can still save him,¡± said Klyn as he finished his chant and used all of his energy to try and heal Wulfric.
The wounds on Wulfric''s body started to slowly close but the energy usage was too much and Klyn fainted and fell to the ground unconscious.
A moment later Wulfric breathed his last breath.
Chapter 145: Contract
Two black figures that had been watching the fight from a distance ran away after seeing the first demigod dying.
A few healthy warriors were sent to chase after them to see if they could find out where they went and who they were. But they came back empty-handed.
The warriors stood around unsure what to do. Several of them still had open wounds that still needed to be taken care of but were still shocked by the death of Grand elder Wulfric.
He was the first Grand elder to die in battle since the first great war when many of the Grand elders of that generation had been wiped out.
Out of everyone there, Akira was most ashamed of himself for allowing such an ambush.
The demigods were relatively weak compared to the werewolves but their use of exotic skills and silver weapons laced with poison could and did cause a large problem for them.
Akira''s eyes rose from his grandfather who was still being held in his arms. He looked to the surrounding warriors who were silently waiting for him to say something.
As he looked over those that had survived the short fight he could see several had received various different wounds from the exotic skills that had been launched at them. Fingers, noses, ears, and even a few eyes had been lost by some of them.
¡°Everyone, finish treating your wounds. When you are fit to move we''ll take the Grand elder and rejoin the others back at the village,¡± said Akira as he laid Wulfric gently onto a large snowbank.
Akira had received a few messages from the system, most of them were nothing important.
You have received a new title for killing multiple Demigods!
Brutal Hero Killer.
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''What is this? Are you trying to say I''m some sort of villain?''
Ignoring the messages he looked to where the demigods had been killed and saw that there were many items laying on the ground. He walked over to each item and put them in his bag, not in the mood to inspect them.
Mileena came over to him wanting to say something but she could not find any words of comfort for a situation like this, so she just stood there silently.
Akira nodded to her and walked into the nearby trees to be alone for a few moments while the others continued to help each other bandage up and their wounds.
He didn''t go too far away, it was only far enough so he could have some quiet time to think. He made sure to check his surroundings with his heightened senses.
After confirming that there was no sign of anything hostile in the area he let his emotions run free.
When a few minutes had passed he again rained in his emotions and started to wipe his face and eyes to clear his vision.
A large amount of fresh snow was falling from the sky as Akira stared off into the distance thinking of what he would have to do now that his grandfather had gone. So many things popped into his head it was overwhelming.
As he was still wiping his eyes he heard the sound of crunching snow behind him and turned to look at it through blurry eyes.
He had a hard time seeing what it was not only because of his blurred eyes but also because it had white fur that blended in with the surrounding snow.
The small creature had crouched down and become still when it saw Akira''s head turn around.
Akira again wiped his eyes and was now able to see what it was [?? Level 1 Snow wolf pup].
He looked around to see if there were any adult snow wolves as well. But no matter how hard he looked or how long he listened he could not find any.
''What is this weak small fry doing out here alone? This isn''t even the area for snow wolves anyway.''
Akira couldn''t be bothered with the small pup so he turned around to stare at the falling snow and contemplate his future. He continued to ignore the loud sounds of the not even close to stealthy snow wolf pup.
Thump. Akira felt a light tap on his back and turned around to see the [?? Snow wolf pup] slumped on the ground near his feet. It stood back up quickly and started to shake its head to clear the dizziness from crashing into Akira.
¡°Shoo go away,¡± said Akira pushing the [?? Snow wolf pup] away with his foot.
The [?? Snow wolf pup] gave a squeaky yelp of indignation and leaped forward to tackle the foot that had dared to challenge him.
¡°Stop bothering me,¡± said Akira as he shook off the small pup. He scooped up some snow and lightly threw it at the [?? Snow wolf pup] who received a face full of snow.
¡°Yap!¡± the [?? Snow wolf pups] squeaky barks rang out and it started to hop around in the snow around Akira trying to dodge Akira''s snowballs.
¡°Whatever... I''m not going to play around with you,¡± said Akira as he turned around and headed back to the other warriors.
He could still hear the sound of crunching snow behind him as he took a few steps forward. When he stopped and looked back the [?? Snow wolf pup] had also stopped but had begun to hop around so it wouldn''t get hit by a snowball.
The [?? Snow wolf pup] continued to follow him no matter how hard he tried to get it to leave him alone.
Ding!
A rare mutated [Snow wolf] has shown up!
Now is your chance to tame it while it is young!
If you are successful you will be able to train it into a strong companion that in the future will be able to fight alongside you.
Step one: get close to the [Snow wolf].
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Akira was taken aback by the message and was unsure what to do.
After a few seconds of contemplating if he even wanted to have another thing to worry about, he decided since this was the first time he had seen a message like this he would at least try it out and see what would happen.
Step one get close.
Akira turned around and started to slowly move towards the [?? Snow wolf pup] that was hopping around sending the snow near it flying everywhere.
It didn''t run away from Akira as he got to within a few steps away.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Ding!
Step two: Give the [Snow wolf] a piece of meat.
Fresh meat will raise the chance of success by a large percentage.
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All the fresh meat was back with the warriors so Akira had to fish out a few pieces of rock-hard salty jerky from his bag.
He held the small pieces in his open palm allowing the [?? Snow wolf pup] to see the food.
The [?? Snow wolf pup] stopped hopping around and sniffed the air for a few seconds before taking a few cautious steps forward right up to Akira''s hand where it continued to sniff the cold jerky.
The mouth the [?? Snow wolf pup] opened wide and snapped up the small pieces of hard jerky and began to gnaw on it with large bites using its baby teeth to make quick work of it.
After a minute of chewing the jerky was fully pulverized and entered its stomach. It began to sniff and lick Akira''s hand wanting more.
Ding!
Step three: Place hand on top of the [Snow wolf''s] head to begin the contract.
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Akira used his other hand and placed it on top of the [?? Snow wolf pup''s] head. It did not resist and allowed his hand to rest on its head.
Ding!
A bright white light spread out from Akira''s hand and covered the body of the [?? Snow wolf pup]. Akira could feel it quiver as the light enveloped it.
When the light covered the [?? Snow wolf pup] it began to pulse with different shades of white and gray looking like several waves of light was washing over it growing faster and faster as the seconds went by.
A minute passed as Akira patiently watched the pulsing light come to a complete stop.
Ding!
The [?? Snow wolf pup] has accepted the contract!
Please give the young [Snow wolf] a name.
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¡°Hmm, squeaker? No not that, Hardhead? Not that either...¡± Akira looked at the small [?? Snow wolf pup] trying to get some inspiration for a name.
¡°I name you Fluffball!¡± said Akira, confident in the name he had chosen.
Ding!
Fluffball has been successfully tamed!
You are only allowed to tame one companion so hopefully, you made sure to pick the companion you wanted.
You cannot tame another companion even if Fluffball dies.
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¡°What the! You should have told me there was a rule like that before or I wouldn''t have wasted it on this guy! I would have picked something stronger!¡± complained Akira.
At this moment all thoughts of sorrow were gone from his head as he read the messages and looked at his new companion.
Akira picked up Fluffball to inspect his new companion and received a lick on the cheek for his troubles.
¡°Yep, you''re a boy. Guess I should have figured that out before naming you huh,¡± said Akira after inspecting Fluffball.
Fluffball just looked at Akira not saying anything.
¡°Hey, it''s not like I''m an expert in this. We''re both in the same boat since this is our first time doing something like this,¡± said Akira trying to defend his odd sense for naming things.
Silence.
¡°What am I going to do with you? You''re so weak that even Stubby, who is several times smaller, could bully you, steal your lunch, and dance around you for days.¡±
Fluffball didn''t know exactly what Akira was saying but he knew it wasn''t something nice so he let out a yap of protest.
Ding!
Suggestion:
Keep Fluffball alive by training and feeding him.
He will grow and receive special stats depending on how you treat him.
If you neglect him he will gain a sense of independence and ignore any commands you give him.
Watch what you feed him or he may become fat and lazy.
To check the current status of Fluffball use the new companion icon next to your own status icon.
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Akira opened Fluffball''s status window.
Fluffball: Level: 1
Race: Mutated Snow wolf pup
Title: Naive explorer
Personality: Inquisitive
Hunger: 90%
No special stats or skills have been received yet.
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Akira let out a long sigh. He had brought himself more trouble.
Unlike Nox who could exit and enter his shadow and did not need to eat, Fluffball was a living being that could not disappear and needed to be constantly looked after and fed.
Fluffball nosed Akira''s hand again wanting more food.
Akira pulled out a few more pieces of jerky and a piece of hard bread. Fluffball snapped one of the pieces of jerky into his mouth but it was a lot bigger than the smaller pieces from before so it took him longer to chew it.
Fluffball ate all of the meat jerky while ignoring the piece of bread he even went so far as to push it off of Akira''s hand onto the snow.
¡°What a picky eater,¡± said Akira as he grabbed the piece of nearly frozen bread and put it back into his bag.
Fluffball gave a large yawn showing his tongue and small baby teeth while he turned his head ignoring Akira''s criticism.
Fluffball''s hunger was now at 5% so Akira had nothing to worry about for some time.
The memories of the recent fight popped back into his mind making him feel ashamed for temporarily forgetting about it.
¡°Come on Fluffball. We need to go back and return to the others,¡± said Akira as he scratched behind Fluffball''s ears.
Fluffball gave an energetic Yap and started to follow Akira from behind hopping from one of his deep footprints in the snow to another.
¡°Chief your back! Is everything okay?¡± asked Vilkas who had also come along on the trip.
¡°We''re all ready to...¡±
¡°Look out a [Snow wolf] is behind you!¡± shouted a warrior as he pulled out his weapon ready to protect Akira.
The other warriors all grabbed their weapons and stepped forward to attack as well.
Fluffball, seeing so many werewolves who were giving off a hostile vibe jumped in front of Akira the fur on his neck raised up and he showed his teeth as he growled.
¡°Yap! Yap! Yap!¡± Fluffball challenged the hostile people to a fight wanting to protect Akira.
¡°Wait!¡± said Akira, causing everyone to halt their movements. Fluffball also stopped his growling and looked to Akira with his head cocked to the side waiting to see what Akira would say.
¡°He is not an enemy, I uh...sorta picked him up a few minutes ago while I was thinking over there,¡± said Akira as he pointed back at the trees.
¡°You what?¡±
¡°Are you saying you tamed it?¡± asked Vilkas.
¡°As expected! Your talents really are worthy of being the chief of the Darkmoon clan!¡±
¡°Grand elder Wulfric has really chosen the right successor for the clan. Not only is he able to fight and lead warriors well but he is also able to tame wild monsters,¡± praised another warrior.
¡°Well...It isn''t that great it just sort of happened,¡± said Akira.
Akira saw Klyn awake and walking towards him supported by another warrior whose right side of his face had been bandaged to cover his missing eye.
Akira looked at Klyn who still looked rather pale.
¡°Akira I''m so sorry... I was too weak and was not able to do anything to save Grand elder... I mean your Grandfather,¡± said Klyn full of remorse.
¡°You have nothing to be sorry about! I will be forever grateful for all the effort you went through to try and help my grandfather.¡±
¡°I''m sorry. I am just too weak. I need to practice more, so something like this doesn''t happen again,¡± said Klyn.
He continued to quietly mutter several apologies under his breath.
¡°Chief what is your command?¡± asked Vilkas.
¡°Right now we need to go back to Dalry village and regroup with the others and then head back to the main clan to report the death of my grandfather.¡±
¡°And the meat?¡±
¡°There is no sense in leaving it behind. We will finish our mission and deliver it to the village.¡±
¡°We will do as you say!¡±
¡°Let''s move out!¡± shouted Akira.
A heavy feeling of loss weighed everyone down as they placed Wulfric onto one of the sleds and covered him with one of the fur blankets before heading off back towards Dalry village.
The only one with a light and playful mood was Fluffball as he happily hopped around in the snow occasionally letting out a yap at anyone that walked too close to Akira.
Chapter 146: Unshakable resolve
When Akira and the rest of the warriors returned to the small village Delgar and Burkin were just finishing up with the small tasks they had been given.
Akira found Efrem who had given them the quest and had the warriors hand over the large quantity of meat. Completing the mission.
¡°Thank you! I don''t know how we can ever repay your kindness,¡± said Efrem.
Ding!
Dalry village and the Puman race are now on friendly terms with your clan.
They will be more than glad to trade with you. If there are small matters that they can help you with they will not hesitate to do so.
If you try to abuse their friendliness they will return to neutral or even become hostile.
+5 honor
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¡°Just helping out those in need. I am sorry but we can not stay here any longer as we have to return to Jerora for something important,¡± said Akira.
¡°I won''t stand in your way. I wish you good luck with your travels.¡±
¡°Why are we heading back to Jerora?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°It is because¡ Grand elder Wulfric has...¡± Akira didn''t finish his sentence and looked to the sled that was carrying the body of his grandfather under several blankets.
¡°Oh,¡± was all Burkin said after looking at the sled.
¡°Let''s move out! We need to hurry so that we can get this done as quickly as possible!¡± said Akira as he picked Fluffball up off of the ground and put him onto the sled he was driving.
Fluffball gave Akira a quick lick on the face with his rough tongue.
***
¡°What did the guild master say?¡± asked Kooter.
¡°What do you think?¡± said Phobia unhappily.
¡°Just tell me! Damn it!¡±
¡°He just laughed it off and said it was not worth it to send more people here right now. They are too busy fighting the other guilds and demons on the mainland to send anyone. We have to take care of the target with what we have right now.¡±
¡°Damn it! I lost a piece of armor! The prices here are not cheap to replace something like that!¡±
¡°Stop complaining! You''re not the only one that lost something since I lost my magical staff. Losing equipment is the least of our worries. Those damn black-robed guys that were supposed to be our guides left us the moment we needed their help, and no one had been able to find where they escaped to.¡±
***
Akira and the rest of the scouting team returned to the werewolf encampment outside of Jerora and were shocked to see an even taller snow wall with a heavy presence of warriors patrolling the perimeter. There was far more security around the camp than when they had left.
The warriors who saw Akira and the rest of the warriors returning were also surprised. They were supposed to be far to the south searching for a place to live.
Word quickly reached the Grand elders as the scouting team entered the encampment. They came out to meet with Akira and Wulfric.
¡°Have you found a place for the clan to live?¡± asked Carl.
¡°No...what''s with all the increased security here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Last night a swarm of various monsters stampeded out of the forest and charged right at our encampment again. Never seen something like it before. After we killed all of them we found that someone had used that moment to kill the guards who were in charge of guarding Grand elder Wulfric''s tent. They ransacked the whole place. I''m not sure if anything was taken so he''ll have to check himself,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Where is Wulfric? I don''t see him with you, and what''s with some of you looking so ragged,¡± asked ¨¤aron.
Akira did not say a word but motioned them to come over to a sled and pulled the blanket down just enough for them to see his grandfathers still face.
¡°Who did this! I kill them!¡± growled ¨¤aron the hot head of the four grand elders. The loud outburst caused the people who were passing by to look in their direction.
¡°Calm down ¨¤aron! You''re making a scene. We need to find out what happened back in the privacy of the meeting tent,¡± said Carl.
The Grand elders and their guards cleared those that had gathered and made their way back to the privacy of the large tent. They only allowed Akira and the other scouts that had been with him at the time of his death to enter the tent.
¡°Speak. Tell us everything,¡± ordered Grand elder Carl.
***
¡°This is something we did not need at a time like this. As for Wulfric''s last request, we agree with his decision for you to become the chief of the Darkmoon main branch. This trust we put in you must not be betrayed. If your actions start to destroy the clan we will not sit by and let you lead everyone to their deaths. Even if you are Wulfric''s grandson,¡± said Carl.
¡°I have no intention of doing such a thing!¡± said Akira, standing straight as an iron spear.
¡°The rest of you. Grand elder Wulfric charged you with the duty of protecting Akira. Now that he is the faction leader your job is more than ever important. You WILL give your lives to save him if such an attack happens again. I will personally hunt you down and kill you if he dies. Each and every one of you must carry antidotes and other life-saving items with you at all times. To prevent such a tragedy happening again we will make sure to find a proper shaman to join you,¡± said ¨¤aron.
Klyn hung his head after hearing the last sentence.
¡°We shall lay our lives down for the chief!¡± shouted the warriors.
¡°We will hold the funeral tonight. There is no sense drawing this out or hiding something big like this. Since he was a Grand elder there will be many that will want to pay their respects to him. As the Grandson you have the final say on what type of funeral you would like for him,¡± said Seoc.
¡°I can''t decide what to do on my own. I will have to talk to my sister as well...¡± said Akira already dreading the discussion that was to come. How was he going to explain it to her? The person who raised her was now dead. The only family members they had was each other.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As if understanding Akira''s feelings, Seoc spoke, ¡°We already sent someone to inform Azura. Both of you should hurry and decide what will be done so we can start preparing.¡±
¡°You both will also have to decide what to do with his belongings as well as see if anything was stolen,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Akira...don''t let that pup cause any problems,¡± said Carl.
Fluffball who was sitting yawning next to Akira''s feet looked at Carl who was pointing at him and gave a squeaky yap back at him.
¡°Don''t worry. He will not do anything that bad...I hope,¡± said Akira.
***
Dolph and Vilkas, both who had become part of Akira''s new personal guards, led him to Azura''s tent.
Mileena decided to stay outside with the two guards and let the two of them have a moment to themselves.
When Akira entered the tent he found Azura who was quickly wiping her eyes to see who had entered.
Seeing that it was Akira she ran over to him and hugged him as she started to cry into his shoulder.
Akira hugged her and didn''t say anything. He just let her cry as much as she needed.
Fluffball looked at Azura and let out a mournful howl his ears and tail drooping from the sad mood in the tent.
Ten minutes passed before she had calmed down enough to ask Akira a question.
¡°Is it really true?¡±
¡°Yes, grandfather was killed by a poisoned silver arrow,¡± said Akira with a stern face.
¡°Who?¡±
¡°The demigods ambushed us. If I had done a better job this would not have happened,¡± said Akira putting all of the blame on his shoulders so that Azura, if she wanted to, could blame him for their grandfather''s death.
She shook her head, ¡°No. I know grandfather would deny that something like this was your fault. It was the Demigods that killed him so they are the ones responsible not you.¡±
A small weight was lifted off Akira''s already heavy shoulders as he listened to his sister''s words.
¡°We still need to decide if we want a private or open funeral,¡± said Akira.
¡°I want an open one so that everyone can come and pay their respects. He deserves a full honorable ceremony.¡±
¡°Alright I will inform the Grand elders of your decision,¡± said Akira.
¡°Let me get ready for tonight. I need some time alone,¡± said Azura as she turned away from Akira.
***
Akira spent a short while cleaning up his grandfather''s ransacked tent.
He spent most of the time sorting the items and searching through the belongings of Wulfric making sure that everything was there.
Everything seemed to be all right but for some reason, he felt he was forgetting something.
***
The funeral was held outside of the encampment in a large open area. The snow had been cleared and many makeshift benches and other makeshift seats had been erected using whatever they could find in order to allow everyone to attend the funeral.
Several small fires were set up all over the area to keep the cold away as best as they could.
There were many people from other encampments looking at the large gathering wondering what was going on. The guards on patrolling the walls of Jerora were also interested in what was going on.
A large pyre was built in front of a large platform where Akira, Azura, and the three grand elders stood.
Wulfric was laying on top of the pyre in his best clothes with both of his hands grasping onto the hilt of his sword.
Akira could see that mass of faces all looking up at him and Azura. In their gazes, all he could see was the pity that they felt for the two.
He put on a strong face and stood straight with his arm on Aura''s shoulder as she sniffled trying to keep her emotions under control. He had to put on a strong front for both his sister and the rest of the coalition.
The ceremony started with Hegir giving a short speech followed by the three Grand elders.
When it came time for Azura to give her speech she got halfway through her speech before she broke down crying and Akira pulled her into a firm hug to help calm her down.
The many eyes from the crowd were watching the two siblings but Akira ignored their gazes and blocked all unneeded thoughts and emotions. He had also prepared a speech that he was going to say but threw it away.
Akira stood firm and used his skill [Shout] to reach everyone.
¡°Let there be no doubt of my honor, I vow to avenge my grandfather and destroy all the Demigods that come looking for us! But the safety of the coalition comes first! Tomorrow I will go south and continue the search for a place we can call home!¡±
His voice boomed out over the large crowd who received the added effect of boosting their morale which helped with tightening their unity in the time of mourning.
Ding!
You have received a new passive skill!
Unshakable will: You have a very firm resolve to do what you say.
Your unshakable will makes you resistant to intimidation or other debuff skills that affect morale.
Those under a leader with this skill will not be shaken as easily.
|
With his speech over he took a burning touch from its holder and walked over to the pyre lighting it on fire in several places before tossing the torch onto the pyre itself.
Soon a large fire roared to life and engulfed Wulfric''s body. Silently saying his goodbyes Akira Returned to Azura and comforted her.
***
Next morning.
¡°I do not agree with sending you out to look for the new settlement! Your grandfather already died and you are now the chief of the main branch. This is too reckless,¡± said Carl.
¡°This is something I must do! I must fulfill this last mission that my grandfather entrusted to me.¡±
¡°Carl, it may be dangerous but if we make sure that he has a full guard, I see no need to deny him the chance to do this. If you want I can send some of my warriors with him,¡± said ¨¤aron, who lived by the motto ¡®what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger¡¯.
¡°No, we need your warriors here to protect the civilians. Akira''s new guards should be able to keep him out of trouble but just in case we can add a few other warriors to the scouting team as well as a higher-ranked shaman,¡± said Seoc.
¡°If you two think it is okay then I will have to agree. We will have to postpone electing a new Grand elder for the main branch as well as the restructuring of the coalition until you have found a place for the clans to live. Your new position will not be announced until then,¡± said Carl.
¡°Agreed,¡± said both Seoc and ¨¤aron.
¡°You must go quickly as we can only stay here for a short time before wearing out our welcome. It is also not that safe and secure here,¡± said ¨¤aron.
Akira left the tent and returned to his own tent to replenish the supplies he had used during the trip to and back from the Dalry village.
While he was packing his items he looked over at Fluffball who was still sleeping on Akira''s bed.
''Should I leave Fluffball behind and let Azura or Mileena take care of him? I don''t know how safe the trip south will be.''
Akira had decided to have Mileena stay behind due to the unknown dangers she had reluctantly accepted his request.
Klyn was also not coming with him as he was currently going through hell training with his grandfather to further expand and strengthen his skills.
He shook his head and decided against leaving Fluffball behind after remembering the warning message about Fluffball''s temperament changing depending on how he was raised.
Akira scooped up Fluffball along with his blanket and held him close.
¡°You''re coming with me. I can''t have you getting an attitude while I''m away,¡± said Akira as he exited his now-empty tent.
Fluffball just yawned at Akira and closed his eyes again after squirming to get further into the warm blanket.
The rest of the scouting team along with Akira''s new guards were all waiting for him near the small open area of the snow wall.
They had already finished replenishing their supplies and were waiting for him. This time they had several warriors from the Longtail clan join them.
Akira walked to his sled and placed Fluffball onto the sled under even more blankets next to all the other supplies the sled was already carrying.
¡°Let''s move out!¡± shouted Akira.
***
¡°Hahaha! Our mission was far more successful than I could have imagined!¡± said Bonestringer holding onto a box.
¡°Stop gloating. We have to hurry to a village that we can use to contact the other heads so we can inform them of our success. Until we get back we must not let our guard down in case they send someone to chase after us,¡± said Tibia.
¡°The rewards they will give us! I can see it all now! Our grand plan will definitely work!¡±
Chapter 147: Wandering in Kaldrbiod
At around the same time that Akira and the rest of the scouting team were traveling south, the ships D¨´ghall and his allies were riding on sailed as close as it could to the eastern shore.
A large buildup of ice was blocking the path of the ships so they were forced to stop several miles away from the shore.
They had no choice but to disembark from the ships and walk on the slippery and uneven ice while they pulled their supplies and personal belongings on makeshift sleds that were a far cry from a real sled. It was really just a piece of flat wood with a rope attached to it.
Several hours of frustration passed before they reached the shore cold and tired from having to pull the heavy sleds and constantly having to make detours to get around weak ice or jagged ice protrusions.
As everyone began to sit down to take a quick rest a group of around 100 werewolf warriors who were wearing fur armor that was made from local monsters appeared.
¡°We do not tolerate trespassers. Leave now or we will forcibly push you out of our territory,¡± said a large warrior who was wearing silver furred armor.
¡°We are not looking to cause trouble. We are here looking for the Coldpelt clan who rules over the Bleur Shor city,¡± said D¨´ghall.
¡°What business do you have with the Coldpelt clan?¡± asked the warrior.
¡°I am Grand elder D¨´ghall. This is Grand elder...¡±
¡°I asked what business you have not your family tree.¡±
¡°...we are from the earth tribe and wish to join the city of Bleur Shor,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall unhappy at the rude behavior from the warrior.
¡°Hmph...follow us. We''ll take you to see the Grand elder of Bleur Shor,¡± said the warrior and without another word began walking.
Another hour of frustrating travel passed before they stopped at a large campsite.
There were several thousand large tepees already erected with smoke coming out from the top as people were cooking the night''s dinner.
¡°You, come with me,¡± the silver fur warrior pointed to Grand elder D¨´ghall. ¡°The rest of you can make camp on the outer edges for the night.¡±
D¨´ghall was led to a large red tepee in the center of the encampment where they waited at the entrance a few minutes before being called inside.
A middle-aged man with a square jaw and a nose that looked like it had been broken a few times before greeted him.
¡°I welcome you fellow kin from the old continent. I am Grand Elder Brod. I am the one who is in charge of the city which we call Bleur Shor. As long as you do not cause any problems you are more than welcome to stay with us. Our clans have many different customs that you are probably not aware of so I will gladly help answer any questions that you may have,¡± said Brod.
¡°Excuse me, but when will we be able to reach the city of Bleur Shor?¡± asked D¨´ghall.
¡°You''re standing in it right now.¡±
***
Tormoid and his followers had a similar reception when they reached the western shores where they found the Saberfang clan ruled over the Crowmaw city which was a large nomadic tent city.
Due to Tormoid''s temper, their welcoming was less cordial than the one D¨´ghall had received. Although they were accepted to live along with the other clans they were not given any special treatment and had to do everything for themselves.
¡°This is no city! It is just a bunch of wanders going around wherever they please,¡± complained one Grand elder.
¡°There are no buildings and we still have to live in tents!¡± said another.
¡°What''s worse is they treat us as a nuisance. What''s with them saying that we are not allowed to join them in clan meetings. They are treating us worse than a small clan,¡± grumbled Tormoid.
¡°We can''t worry about that right now. We have to gather some people to start hunting for food and large monsters so that we can create those teepees that the other clans are using. We can not stay in these flimsy tents forever.¡±
***
Kooter, Phobia, and Bland along with their subordinates were hunting the Razorbeak monsters that inhabited the forest near the city they had picked as their base. They had decided to grow stronger before trying to complete the assassination mission again.
¡°This place really is amazing,¡± said Phobia.
¡°I know right! There are so many monsters that we can get stronger really fast!¡± said Bland with an expressionless face that did not match the excitement in his voice.
¡°I bet if the other guilds found out about this they would be jealous enough to start a war over who should own the hunting grounds,¡± said Kooter.
¡°Get real they could care less about this backwater place. The only thing good about this place is the large number of monsters to hunt. Everything else sucks,¡± said Phobia.
¡°Captain! That monsters back! We better run or we''ll all get killed again!¡± shouted a demigod as he pointed to a large round white ball that was rolling towards them.
***
Two dark-robed figures stood in a small village with the smell of fresh blood filling the air. The small village had been chosen by Tibia and Bonestringer as a source to perform the ritual for long-distance communication.
¡°You did well in retrieving the ancient Talisman. You both are to return immediately and receive your rewards. Bonestringer with the retrieval of your gem as well as the talisman your research should be able to advance at an even faster pace than before,¡± said Number One.
¡°It is as you say. With this, we will be able to jump the organization''s plan ahead many years from the original plan. You will have to make sure everything is prepared before I complete the first stage,¡± said Bonestringer.
¡°We know what must be done. Don''t get too far ahead of yourself just because you had a little success. Remember who you are talking to,¡± said number six.
¡°I am sorry, I misspoke.¡±
¡°Humph... Hurry up and return so we can start phase one. If you are not able to finish within the new deadline after boasting so much I will not be pleased,¡± said number three.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
***
Akira and the scouting team continued to move south using the same path they had traveled only a few days ago.
Since they had already cleared the area twice before they only encountered a few monsters.
As they reached the end of the frontier far from the Puman village of Dalry, there were no more roads or nearby villages.
¡°We will soon be entering Kaldrbiod,¡± said Burkin as they ate a quick lunch.
¡°I''m still surprised that Kurzlin allowed you to come on such a dangerous mission after hearing what happened on our last trip,¡± said Akira.
¡°HAH! I told her that a little danger is nothing, and if you didn''t have me you wouldn''t know how to survive in the dangerous Kaldrbiod lands.¡±
¡°So you''re just running away...¡± said Akira.
Cough! ¡°As we head south the monsters will start to get stronger with many of them running around in larger groups. We need to be on the lookout for any monsters that might take a liking to werewolf or dwarf meat,¡± said Burkin looking away from everyone while pretending to search for nearby monsters.
¡°Well I have just the right person to help with scouting,¡± said Akira as he summoned Nox.
¡°Nox, I need you to help with scouting and standing guard with the others during the night,¡± said Akira as soon as Nox jumped out of his shadow.
''Fine, but I don''t like having to babysit everyone,'' grumbled Nox as he stretched and wiggled to wake up from his long nap that had been interrupted.
''Where are we?'' asked Nox, as he lazily yawned and looked over the large group of warriors that were traveling with Akira.
¡°Kaldrbiod. I''m told there will be far more monsters and snow the farther we head south, so I need you to stay on full alert,¡± said Akira.
Nox''s gaze stopped on Fluffball who was peacefully sleeping inside several bundles of blankets on Akira''s sled.
He looked away without saying a word and walked to the front of the scouting group where he waited for the others to get ready to continue south.
Nox was a great help to the scouting team as he did not need to sleep nor did he need to eat. But that did not stop Nox from doing both of them as they were his hobbies. If he could he would sleep all day and eat Delicious food whenever he woke up.
As Burkin predicted their travel south grew more dangerous the next day as they continued south towards the unfreezing river.
Akira had leveled up a few times as the days passed. But the experience points he gained from fighting monsters was now split between three people, Nox, Fluffball, and himself.
The only ones fighting out of the three were Akira and Nox. Akira kept Fluffball safe by keeping him on his sled wrapped up under many blankets to make sure he was never cold.
A fortnight passed before they reached the Unfreezing river, a major point in their travel south.
It was now night and the scouting expedition was now setting up a temporary camp that they had become quite skilled at after doing it every night over the past weeks.
¡°Look at this big fish I caught! This river is filled with them!¡± said a warrior as he walked back to the camp that had several fires burning.
¡°Ha! You only caught 1? I caught 3!¡± said another showing three fish cooking over the fire on wooden sticks.
Akira stood at the shore of the unfreezing river watching the flowing water which had numerous large fish swimming in every direction. It was amazing that such a large river would not freeze even this far south.
A slight warm mist hung over the river as the freezing air touched the warm water.
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball, who was being held in Akira''s arms, squirmed out of the blanket and hopped out of his arms. The small snow wolf started to wander around sniffing the ground.
Akira had to keep a close eye on him as he was constantly wandering off whenever he looked away.
While he was watching Fluffball two of his new bodyguards were watching him and scanning the surroundings to make sure nothing happened to him.
It was a bit uncomfortable to have someone follow you everywhere you went even when you had to take care of bodily functions. But he was getting used to ignoring them.
Akira opened the status window for Fluffball to check on his progress:
Fluffball: Level: 5
Race: Mutated Snow wolf pup
Title: Naive explorer
Personality: Inquisitive
Hunger: 100%
No special stats or skills have been received yet.
Due to mutation more Xp is needed for each level.
|
Fluffball was leveling up far slower than Akira or Nox had when they were at the same level and it seemed due to their level differences Fluffball was only receiving 1% of the total experience points.
Even with those restrictions, he was still leveling at a decent pace due to his low level as well as the large number of monsters that Akira and Nox killed every day.
¡°Hey Fluffball, come over here,¡± said Akira trying to get the little wolf''s attention.
Fluffball didn''t hear him since he was in a trance watching the large silverfish swimming by in the river.
Before Akira could react Fluffball jumped into the shallow water trying to catch one of the fish.
Akira cursed a few times as he waded into the lukewarm water to rescue the floundering wolf pup his boots became heavy as water flooded into them.
Akira exited the river holding Fluffball who was now soaking wet. With the freezing temperature, the water trapped in Fluffball''s fur began to freeze immediately.
Akira rushed back towards the fire he had started earlier and laid down a blanket near the fire. He placed the shivering Fluffball on the blanket and started to vigorously rub him down with a towel to remove the melting ice and water out of his fur.
Several minutes passed before he could let out a sigh of relief when Fluffball''s shivering stopped and his body temperature returned to normal.
¡°Chief, you need to take off your boots, and make sure to dry your feet and the boots before we start again tomorrow,¡± said Audun the lead shaman that the Grand elders had chosen to accompany the scouting expedition.
¡°Here let me help,¡± said Dolph as he grabbed onto the frozen boots. The now stiff ice-covered boots came off with a loud squelch.
The freezing water inside of the boots was dumped out to the side away from the fire.
Now that Akira was not so worried about Fluffball he noticed that his feet felt like ice blocks.
He could barely feel his toes as he moved them. After removing his soaked socks he could see that his feet were a light purple color.
¡°You need to warm your feet up now or you will receive permanent damage to them,¡± said Audun as he started taking herbs out of his side pouch and added them to a small metal cup of boiling water.
Akira took his advice seriously and placed them as near to the fire as he could without touching it even this close he could not feel the heat from the fire.
His boots and socks were also placed on sticks near the fire so they could dry out as well.
Akira watched as Audun went through several steps and finally finished brewing a herbal remedy that Akira had not seen before.
¡°Here drink this. It will help regulate your temperature in your body as well as helping prevent frostbite,¡± said Audun as he passed the steaming cup wrapped in a small cloth over to Akira.
He sipped the drink and made a face as the bitter flavor washed over his taste buds.
¡°Don''t mess around and drink it while it is still warm,¡± ordered Audun.
Akira held his breath and took several gulps of the herbal drink. There was still a small amount of the drink left when he reached over and had Fluffball drink the rest before handing the cup back to Audun.
¡°Keep your feet near the fire for another hour,¡± ordered Audun as he started to cook a fish he had caught earlier.
As Akira''s feet began to warm up and regain a rosy red color he could feel a sharp prickly pain poking every nerve of both of his feet.
Seeing Akira''s discomfort, Fluffball tiredly crawled over to Akira''s feet and laid next to them. He licked it once and looked at Akira as if to say sorry.
¡°If you''re really sorry, don''t go wandering around like that and we won''t have something like this happen again. It''s too dangerous for you to do stuff like that until you get bigger and stronger,¡± said Akira as he picked up Fluffball and wrapped a blanket around him before placing him on his lap.
Chapter 148: Puffball
It had been a few days since the incident at the river with Fluffball and everything had calmed down and returned to their normal daily routine. Travel all day while the sun was up and then stop at night to build fires in order to ward off the night''s extreme cold.
Fluffball was also healthy and had been behaving himself since then. Luckily Akira did not have any permanent damage to his feet. He only had to endure a day or two of uncomfortable standing.
Akira placed a piece of wood on the burning fire sending sparks up into the air. A pot of water was boiling over the fire making a simple fish soup.
Fluffball had recently taken a liking to sleeping on Akira''s shoulders whenever the sleds stopped.
He was never more than a few feet away from Akira and if Akira tried to go anywhere without him he would yap and whine forcing Akira to either carry him or allow him to follow behind him.
With the dangerous monsters, they were encountering daily most of the time Akira was forced to carry Fluffball or let him lay on his shoulders to make sure nothing came and tried to eat him while he wasn''t looking.
A few of the large Reindeer that pulled their sleds had been attacked at night causing them much trouble so his worries were not unfounded.
Akira removed the lid and stirred the fish soup causing a large puff of steam to escape into the cold air. A deep fish aroma filled the surrounding area as many different types of fish were being cooked in several different ways.
Fluffball''s ears twitched a few times before picking up his head and looking into the darkness just outside of the fire''s light.
He jumped off of Akira''s shoulder and started to growl at the darkness.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira as he pet Fluffball to calm him down.
''It''s nothing to worry about,'' said Nox as he yawned.
Fluffball began yapping loudly looking at Akira then at the darkness. Due to his misadventure a few days before he did not move away from Akira impatiently waiting to see what Akira would do.
By now Akira''s personal guards were on full alert and had already transformed. Their hands were on their weapons while they sniffed the air for any unseen enemy.
Akira picked up a burning branch and used it as a torch to light the dark edges of the camp as he walked forward.
Fluffball followed right beside Akira growling the whole time. The two transformed werewolf warriors flanked Akira on either side ready to jump in front of him to block any surprise attack.
Nox watched them lazily as he laid near the warm fire.
Akira took two more steps forward and held the burning branch above his head. No matter how hard he looked all he could see was white snow.
Fluffball started to growl even louder and before Akira could stop him he jumped towards a nearby snowbank.
That was when Akira saw it. [Baby Snow Puffball lvl 6].
The small creature that had caught Fluffball''s attention was staring at the boiling soup over the fire with drool coming out of its mouth.
The [Baby Snow Puffball] was the size of a small watermelon and was just as round and covered in nothing but white fur.
It had no arms or legs, just a large mouth with sharp teeth and two large black eyes.
The trance that the [Baby Snow Puffball] was in was snapped as Fluffball jumped towards him.
Fluffball clumsily crashed landed into the snowbank headfirst just short of the [Baby Snow Puffball].
Seeing something was trying to attack it, the [Baby Snow Puffball] began rolling towards the top of the snowbank to get away from the clumsy wolf pup.
At the top of the snowbank, it stopped rolling and opened its large mouth revealing its sharp teeth. A few squeaky coughs continued to escape its mouth while it had a creepy smile on its face.
Fluffball removed his head from the snow and searched for the white-furred puffball.
When he found the [Baby Snow Puffball] on top of the snow mound continuously smiling and letting out its squeaky coughs he became angry and charged up the snowbank.
¡°Fluffball...¡±
Ding!
Requirements met!
You have unlocked the passive skill [Companion combat training].
In order to unlock and upgrade this passive skill, you must allow your companion to fight on its own or put it through certain training scenarios by sparing with your companion.
A combat companion is useless if all it does is receive experience points.
With this passive skill, your combat companion will be able to learn things 2x faster.
|
¡°Sir should we take care of that thing or do you want to?¡± asked one of his guards as they looked at the small Puffball who was now fighting with Fluffball.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°No, Fluffball needs to learn to fight and this monster is a great match for him,¡± said Akira as he held up a hand to stop his guards from killing the weak [Baby Snow Puffball].
The guards relaxed their stances but still had a hand on their weapons while they looked around searching for any other monster that might show up.
Nox came over to Akira and sat down to watch the two fight.
Akira watched as the [Baby Snow Puffball] rolled around while Fluffball chased after it.
Fluffball was getting increasingly angry as he kept running in circles trying to catch the [Baby Snow Puffball]. He stopped chasing after the [Baby Snow Puffball] and stared at his foe that was still rolling around.
The [Baby Snow Puffball] noticed that Fluffball had stopped moving and also stopped.
The two stared at each other ignoring the growing crowd that had come to see what all the commotion was.
It was Fluffball who made the first move as he jumped through the air sending snow flying everywhere as he launched himself towards the [Baby Snow Puffball].
Fluffball crashed headfirst into the [Baby Snow Puffball] stunning both of them as they stumbled and rolled around disoriented in the snow.
Ding!
Fluffball has learned the skill [Headbutt]!
Headbutt: both the attacker and the target are stunned for an undetermined amount of time depending on both attacker and the target''s strength.
|
Fluffball was the first to recover and staggered towards the [Baby Snow Puffball] who was still rolling back and forth.
Using his small front claws Fluffball attacked the [Baby Snow Puffball].
Ding!
Fluffball has learned the skill [Scratch]!
Scratch: leaves a nasty scratch on the enemy it may even draw blood if the attack is strong enough!
|
Fluffball started to bite the [Baby Snow Puffball] and scratch it with his front paws.
Ding!
Fluffball has learned the skill [Gnaw]!
Gnaw: chew on the target and make them wet and soggy. If the teeth become stronger the attack might do something!
|
Akira sighed after seeing the useless skills that Fluffball was learning.
¡°I guess I''ll have to teach you how to fight properly later,¡± mumbled Akira.
Nox let out a few chuckles at seeing the two fumble around.
It was only a few minutes later when the [Baby Snow Puffball] who had lost several patches of fur and was now covered in frozen saliva stopped moving. Its eyes were closed and its mouth was shut.
Fluffball took this as his win and stood on top of the [Baby Snow Puffball] and let out a loud squeaky yap declaring victory. He looked towards Akira for praise.
Unfortunately, his celebration was premature as the [Baby Snow Puffball] rolled around and bit down onto one of Fluffball''s legs.
Fluffball let out a loud whimper as his leg was bitten and became bloody.
He tried to pull his leg out but the [Baby Snow Puffball] clamped down onto his leg like a metal hunting trap.
No matter how hard Fluffball scratched or gnawed at the [Baby Snow Puffball] it still did not budge.
Akira moved quickly the moment he saw the blood with Nox following right behind him.
He picked up the whimpering Fluffball who still had the [Baby Snow Puffball] attached to his leg.
Akira easily pried the Puffball off of Fluffball''s leg and punted it away from their camp like a leather ball.
Nox took off after the monster to make sure and chase it away for good.
Akira Hurried back to the campfire to check on Fluffball''s leg.
The blood covering his little furred leg made the wounds look worse than they were.
Fluffball had only received minor punctures that were not that deep and the wounds would heal within a few days to a week if taken care of properly.
¡°Hold still,¡± ordered Akira as he took a canteen of hot water that had been warmed near the fire and used it to clean Fluffball''s wounds.
Fluffball let out a few whimpers as the hot water washed away the blood from his leg. Akira made sure to quickly dry the leg to stop the water from freezing.
When the wound was washed and dried Akira took out some clean bandages from his bag and tightly wrapped the leg.
Fluffball licked Akira''s hand as thanks for bandaging his wound and tried to stand up but let out another pained whimper as unable to stand on his foot.
¡°You won''t be able to walk on it for some time. You''ll have to stay on the sled or my shoulders until you are fully healed.¡±
Fluffball looked away from Akira shyly.
¡°Next time you should make sure that your opponent was really defeated before you celebrate,¡± said Akira as he ruffled Fluffball''s fur and scratched behind his ears.
He couldn''t be mad at him as he was still young and inexperienced but hopefully, he would be able to learn from this as he had with the river incident.
¡°What was all the commotion over there?¡± asked Burkin as he bit into a steaming fish that was skewered by a wooden stick.
¡°Nothing that important. Fluffball got in a fight with a small puffball monster,¡± said Akira.
Burkin stopped chewing and looked at Akira.
¡°Did you make sure to kill it?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°No, I just kicked it away and Nox chased it off. It was just a little guy so there was no need for me to worry about it,¡± said Akira.
¡°We need to leave now!¡± said Burkin as he finished his cooked fish in just two bites.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°You let it escape so now it is most definitely going back to its parents! If we don''t leave now we will have to fight them!¡±
Not wanting to see if Burkin''s advice was wrong, Akira ordered everyone to pack up camp and head south. He placed Fluffball in his usual blanket and put him on the sled before getting on the back of the sled and heading south.
Not more than ten minutes had passed when a loud howl roared out from where they had been camping just a short time ago.
Akira looked behind him to see a large two large hills rolling around looking for something near the dim coals of the fires that had been hastily put out.
[Puffball Yeti lvl 80], [Puffball Yeti lvl 83].
¡°See! I was right! If we had stayed behind we may have been able to defeat them but I''m sure our mission would have become a failure as many warriors would have been wounded and we would be forced to return to the main camp again. This is not the northlands showing sympathy to a monster because it is cute or weak will get you killed,¡± said Burkin.
¡°Understood, Everyone, let''s keep heading south to get as far away from them as we can,¡± said Akira.
He felt ashamed because it was just as Burkin had said he had shown sympathy to the [Baby Snow Puffball] because the mounter was so weak and at a low level. It seemed that not only did Fluffball have something to learn so did he.
The two large monsters roared as they tore through the large snowbanks searching for the culprit that had gnawed, bit, and scratched the [Baby Snow Puffball].
Chapter 149: Samzu Island
More than a week had passed since their near-miss with the large rolling hills that were the [Puffball Yetis].
They were now deep in the land of Kaldrbiod far away from civilization. Currently, everyone in the scouting expedition was eating breakfast near the unfreezing river.
¡°This is farther than I have ever been so all I can''t really tell you where to go other than follow the unfreezing river. I think you''ll still need me to make sure you don''t go attacking baby dragons or something crazy like that. Who would have thought you would have attacked a puffball,¡± said Burkin shaking his head, he was still poking fun at Akira even a week after the event.
¡°Hey, I only kicked him away because he bit Fluffball. What''s with the puffball coming right up to our campsite anyway,¡± said Akira.
¡°Who knows how monsters think. The puffball may have just been nothing more than a spoiled baby because its parents are so strong. It probably didn''t think anything would ever attack it. Both you and Fluffball should think about what you fight next time. Just fight snow rabbits, they pose no danger and they can be roasted or cooked in a stew,¡± said Burkin as he finished eating.
¡°Rabbits are no challenge, right Fluffball? How are you going to get strong if all you fight are rabbits?¡± Akira asked Fluffball who was on Akira''s lap chewing on a bone from a past meal.
Fluffball stopped chewing on the bone and looked over at Burkin and let out a short squeaky ¡°Yap!¡± before returning his attention back to the bone.
Nox was looking at Fluffball with a hint of jealousy in his expression.
Akira knew that Nox was jealous of Fluffball''s closeness with Akira and the large amount of attention he was getting. So he had been working extra hard to kill everything he could and be as helpful as he could. With his hard work, he had leveled up several times on the trip so far and was nearing lvl 50.
¡°So far the map has been accurate with only a few changes needed,¡± said Akira as he looked at the map and the surrounding land before rolling it back up and putting it back in his bag.
¡°That''s surprising since it has been a while since the map was made. I''ll have to make a copy of the new features and make sure that the map makers from my clan update the templates they use,¡± said Burkin.
¡°How old is the map?¡± asked Akira.
¡°About ten or twenty years older than me,¡± said Burkin casually.
Akira just shook his head amazed not at how old they were but the fact that the dwarfs had never updated the maps in those 140 to 150 years.
***
¡°The river seems to be widening up ahead, we might be getting close to Lake Mist,¡± shouted a scout that was several hundred yards in front of the others.
As they moved forward they entered a large snow-covered forest that blocked their view of what laid in front of them.
The numerous trees scattered everywhere caused them to have to travel in a single file line one sled following behind the others in order to get through the small openings.
Around mid-afternoon, they exited the forest and arrived at the shore of the large lake.
As they stopped for lunch Akira looked out over the lake and saw there was no ice anywhere. It was just like the unfreezing river with the top of the lake covered with a light misty fog.
He could see that there were two islands in the middle of the lake. One was several times larger than the other one.
While Akira stared at the large island he guessed that it was large enough to hold a large city possible one the size of Nofreegol.
¡°This the place you want to start your village?¡± asked Burkin as he chewed on a roasted rabbit. It had been one of the many Snow rabbits that Fluffball had caught while they had traveled through the forest.
¡°It looks big enough. We''ll just have to go and check the island to see if it has everything that would be needed to sustain a settlement,¡± said Akira as he stared at the island.
¡°You sure have a weird taste in picking places. Who would want to live all the way out here where the closest village is at least several weeks away,¡± said Burkin as he turned back towards the campfire.
When they had finished eating their lunch the werewolves started to create several makeshift rafts to help ferry them, the reindeer, and their sleds that held all of their supplies across the lake.
Akira hopped onto the first raft that was ready and his guards made sure to get on the raft to protect him. He held onto Fluffball in order to make sure he did not cause any trouble or have an accident such as falling into the lake.
As his guards began paddling across the misty lake with makeshift paddles several fish jumped out of the water and extended their silver-like wings and glided through the air for several seconds before diving back into the water.
Fluffball was squirming trying to get a closer look at flying fish that were constantly jumping out of the water.
¡°Hold still Fluffball,¡± ordered Akira.
Fluffball stopped struggling but turned his head to Akira and gave him a pitiful puppy dog eyes pleading to be allowed to catch them.
Ten minutes passed before they reached the shore of the island.
Now that he stood on the island he felt that the island was even bigger than he thought. The center of the island rose up to form a tall hill that overlooked the surrounding land.
From where he was standing he could see a few large rocks were scattered all across the top of the hill. There were several trees on the island enough to help build hundreds of houses.
Not long after Akira and his guards reached the shore the rest of the rafts arrived and unloaded the werewolves before heading back to the opposite shore to gather the sleds and reindeer.
¡°While we wait for the sleds let''s set up a temporary camp for now. We''ll start exploring the island tomorrow,¡± ordered Akira.
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Ferrying all of the sleds and reindeer over to the island was quite a hassle and took over two hours. There were a few close calls where a sled or a reindeer or two almost fell into the lake while they were ferried across.
When the last sled was pulled off of the raft the night sky was already growing dark and the preparations for camping on the island were completed with a small snow wall being erected around the tents mainly for blocking the blowing wind.
***
Midnight.
A handful of warriors who were unlucky had picked the short stick and were now on night watch duty making sure that nothing came near or into the camp without their knowledge.
Rattle, rattle, clack, clack.
The warriors on night watch all became alert when they heard the rattling but could see nothing.
¡°Who''s there!?¡± asked one of the warriors.
Rattle, rattle, clack, clack.
A sharp smell of death reached their nose before they were able to see anything.
¡°Awoooo!¡± Reacting quickly the night watch warriors transformed and let out loud howls warning the others of the enemy.
Several hundreds of skeletons revealed themselves as they entered the light from the burning fires and torches.
¡°What''s attacking us!?¡± Asked Akira as he rushed out of his tent already transformed and holding his shield and sword.
¡°Undead skeletons!¡± shouted a warrior.
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°No Fluffball stay in the tent!¡±
Akira ran to the snow wall with his guards and Nox ran right behind him to make sure nothing happened to him.
Akira looked into the darkness to try and find the person or group of people controlling the undead but could not see anything.
The skeletons reached the snow wall and ran right into it with their stick figure bodies. Several of them got stuck in the snow walls while others used the bodies of the stuck skeletons to climb up the wall to where the werewolves were waiting.
¡°Use fire and blunt force damage to take care of these mindless idiots,¡± shouted Akira as he used the skill [Shield bash] to knock five skeletons back onto the ground. It was a good hit that separated their heads from their body but they still stood back up and wobbled back to the wall.
Ten minutes passed as they continued to smash and burn the skeletons but there seemed to be no end to them mostly due to the fact that they kept getting up even when they had only one leg or one arm to move.
¡°These damn puppets just won''t die!¡±
¡°They¡¯re just a bunch of mindless idiots, just smash every bone in their body even if it takes us all night!¡± said Akira.
¡°Who are you calling mindless idiots!¡± shouted a nearby skeleton with an iron helmet on its head while pointing its sword at Akira.
Out of all the skeletons, this one had a full set of metal armor and was taller than the other skeletons around him.
¡°Hey, minion guy who can talk, who is controlling you guys? Where is your puppet master?¡± asked Akira.
Two fiery lights inside the skeleton''s helmet flared up in anger at the question.
¡°How dare you insult this king! I am not someone''s puppet or plaything! I have no clue what you are talking about!¡± shouted the armored skeleton as he launched an attack at Akira.
¡°Then why are you attacking us!¡± shouted Akira as he blocked the attack and countered with his own.
¡°I just wanted to see who was entering my territory... It was just a joke. But then you called us idiots, twice!¡± said the skeleton king.
¡°If you stop fighting us we can talk this over!¡± shouted Akira as his sword tip struck the skeletons head making it rotate several times.
¡°Why didn''t you say so sooner? I would have done that but I thought you wanted to have a fun night exercise with us,¡± said the skeleton king as he reached up and stopped his spinning head.
Without a command or hand signal, the skeletons that were fighting the werewolves all stopped their actions as if someone had cut their strings. They were all looking towards the skeleton king.
¡°So what is it you want to talk about?¡± asked the skeleton king.
¡°That''s supposed to be my line! You came to us!¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmmm... I guess you''re right. Can you answer me this question, why are you here?¡±
¡°We are just looking for a place to live and found this island. If this is your home we can leave,¡± said Akira.
The island from what Akira had seen so far was the best they could hope for in such a cold and desolate tundra, but if there was already a city here then they would have to leave.
¡°Why would you want to live on this piece of crap along with that damn lake!¡± said skeleton king shaking his head like Akira was an idiot for saying that.
¡°Is there something wrong with this place and the lake?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We have lived here for as long as I can remember. It is so boring here and we only see a living person every few hundred years. A few of those people even joined us, like Joe over there,¡± said the Skeleton king as he pointed at a skeleton that looked like all the others.
¡°As for the lake that damn water burns whenever one of us gets even a drop on our amazingly ugly bones.¡±
¡°I thought you couldn''t feel warmth or cold?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We can''t, the water has some type of purification quality to it. Whenever a skeleton tries to swim across to the other shore he is melted before he can even get halfway. I know because I send someone to try every hundred years,¡± said skeleton king as he nodded his head in a knowing way.
¡°Purification?¡±
¡°Yes, that is the reason that we have been stuck on this damn island year after year. If only there was some way to get off this island then you idiots could stay here.¡±
¡°So you need a ship?¡±
¡°What is a ship?¡± asked the skeleton king tilting his head at the unknown word.
¡°You don''t know? It''s a... floating thing that keeps you from touching the water. People use them to travel long distances over oceans and lakes like this.¡±
¡°You humans are super smart.¡±
¡°We''re werewolves.¡±
¡°Whatever, all you living things look the same to me. I have made my decision! Fight me one on one. The winner gets to stay on this crappy island and the loser gets this snip thing.¡±
¡°Ship. Why do you want to fight aren''t we supposed to be peacefully talking about this?¡±
¡°Are you a coward?¡± asked the skeleton king.
The guards near Akira tensed up and were ready to kill the king if Akira gave them the signal.
¡°Fine,¡± said Akira as he pulled out his sword and jumped off the wall to stand in an open space along with the king.
¡°Damn you look too handsome,¡± said skeleton king.
¡°Umm...Thanks?¡± said Akira.
¡°You shouldn''t be thanking me I just insulted you!¡±
¡°Look at how ugly my bones are! All the ladies love me. They always scream when they see me. Well, you guys are the first live humans I have seen in over 150 years.¡±
¡°I''m not sure that means what you think it means,¡± said Akira.
¡°Fight!¡± shouted skeleton king.
Akira swung his sword full force and surprisingly cut the skeleton king in half at the waist.
¡°You win!¡± said the skeleton king who was lying in two pieces on the ground.
¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No need to worry, it''s just a flesh wound. See?¡± said the skeleton king as he attached his lower and upper body back together.
¡°Your legs are on backward,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh this is quite embarrassing,¡± said the skeleton king as he looked down at his legs and quickly fixed the problem.
¡°I lost the fight so now you have to give me that Smip thing you talked about,¡± said the skeleton king.
¡°You could have just asked me for a ship instead of faking a fight,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hey, I have my image as a king of the undead that I have to keep up, you know. I can''t let my men see me casually talking and trading with someone who is alive. They might think I''m your friend or something.¡±
¡°Who would think something like that after all that you have done!¡± shouted Akira in exasperation.
Chapter 150: A new captain of the sea
¡°My name is Pegleg. I am the king of these guys,¡± said Pegleg as he pointed at the skeletons that were walking around collecting broken bones and trying to fix their broken and missing body parts.
Akira looked at Pegleg''s twig-like leg bones and could see neither of them had a wooden peg.
¡°That name is...Interesting. It would be a great name for a pirate,¡± said Akira.
¡°What''s a pirate?¡±
¡°They use ships to attack other ships and take the other ships'' items,¡± said Akira.
¡°Sounds nice. So where is the scip? I don''t see it,¡± asked Pegleg looking at Akira''s hands as if he was hiding a ship in them.
¡°I don''t have any with me right now. I''ll have to talk to someone about sending a ship that you can use,¡± said Akira.
¡°Very well,¡± said Pegleg as he sat down on the ground to wait.
Akira sought out Audun the shaman that had come with them on the trip.
¡°Is there something you need, chief?¡± asked Audun.
¡°Can you send a message to Grand elders? We have found the place we will create our village. But in order to gain ownership of the land, we need to trade a large ship. We also need more workers sent to us so we can work on building the village. Everything can be sent to us down the unfreezing river. Also, warn them not to mess with puffballs.¡±
¡°I''ll do the best I can, but that''s a long message for the distance we are right now,¡± said Audun.
Akira watched as Audun sat down and took out some water and food, placing it on his lap.
A minute passed and Audun was visibly tired but still had his eyes still closed as he sent and waited for a reply.
Five minutes passed, then ten. After 15 minutes Audun opened his eyes and spoke in a near whisper.
¡°The Grand elders find it odd that you need a ship to gain the land but they will be sending it with another 100 warriors and extra supplies. The ship will leave in a few days when the warriors arrive at the ship.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± said Akira as he turned around and walked towards Pegleg.
¡°The ship will be here in a little over a week,¡± said Akira.
¡°One week is nothing, I have already waited hundreds of years. I would like you to tell me more about these pirates you were talking about before.¡±
***
A week passed by already and it was now nearing the time for the ship with its reinforcements and supplies to arrive.
Akira had gotten to know Pegleg more and more. Everything he learned about him made him shake his head in amazement at how oddly exotic his personality was.
Over the week both he and Pegleg had spared several times in order to pass the time since Akira was not allowed to roam the island until the ship was handed over to Pegleg.
Ding!
Understanding of Pegleg''s skill [Harden] has reached 100%! Adding skill to list of active skills.
Harden (Rare: lvl 0): Increases defense x5 for 1 minute. You are unable to move while the skill is active. It can only be used once a day. Upgrade the skill to increase active time and additional effects.
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Pegleg was extremely hard to damage when he used the [Harden] skill and would not move one inch. So it always felt like he was just beating on a stone wall.
Wanting to test out the new skill Akira used [Harden] and immediately became still with his shield up in front of him.
Pegleg managed to land several attacks on his body. The quick attacks did no damage and Akira felt no pain. It only felt like someone was poking him with their finger.
¡°Hey, you cheater! You stole my skill!¡± said Pegleg as he quickly figured out what had happened.
¡°You are really a tricky person! This was your plan all along wasn''t it! I guess since you learned the skill from me that kinda makes me your teacher right?¡± asked Pegleg.
¡°No,¡± Akira denied vehemently he did not want to be linked to the crazy skeleton king like that.
Akira sat down after finishing the fight and was breathing hard from the workout.
¡°Heh, you living beings are so weak to lose your energy after only fighting for a short time,¡± said Pegleg.
¡°We were fighting for four hours! Plus I was also transformed so I use more energy.¡±
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¡°Oh, that''s what that was? I was wondering what it was. I thought you had just put on a costume or something.¡±
Akira let out a sigh not knowing how to respond to that.
¡°So about those demigods, you were talking about are they really that bad?¡±
¡°You should keep away from them unless you are strong enough to take them on as they are in a way like you. They can die but will be revived again sometime later and will come back to keep fighting. Their power can grow fast when they fight a lot.¡±
¡°This world is getting really dangerous. First, you tell me about these damn people who control undead as their puppets and now these copycats that are trying to be like me. Hmm, I bet they are not as ugly as me, so at least I can beat them in that!¡±
¡°Chief! The ship has just entered the lake! They will be here in minutes,¡± shouted a Warrior that was watching the lake.
¡°Want to go check out the ship?¡± Akira asked Pegleg.
¡°Yes, I want to see this slip with my own eyes,¡± said Pegleg as he laughed at his own joke.
When they reached the shore where several other warriors were waiting for the large ship was already anchored and the rowboats with both men and supplies filling them were being lowered.
¡°They will need an hour or two to take all that men and supplies of the ship but after that, we can start moving you and your men to the ship,¡± said Akira.
Pegleg was quiet as he stared at the ship for over five minutes.
¡°Is there something wrong with the ship?¡± asked Akira, worried that the deal might be canceled.
¡°It''s...too clean and too new.¡±
Akira let out a sigh, ¡°That can be easily fixed.¡±
¡°It is a lot bigger than I expected,¡± said Pegleg as he watched the smaller rowboats ferry supplies and people back and forth from the ship.
Akira was not paying attention to the rowboats and was talking with Pegleg to pass the time.
An hour passed before a werewolf warrior walked up to Akira and saluted him.
¡°The ship is empty and ready to be handed over.¡±
¡°King Pegleg would...¡±
¡°I am no longer King Pegleg. You said that the leader of pirates has the title of Captain. So I will now go by the name of Captain Pegleg!¡±
¡°Alright... we can now bring you and your men to your new ship. Just hop into the rowboats.¡±
Pegleg stood still not moving.
¡°Is there something wrong?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Can you bring them in closer to shore?¡± asked Pegleg.
The rowboats were only a few feet out in the ankle-deep water.
Upon Akira''s gesture, the werewolf warriors pulled the ships even closer to the land.
¡°Any closer than that and we won''t be able to push it off easily,¡± said Akira.
Pegleg inched forward slowly and then quickly jumped the rest of the way into the rowboat. After checking that all his bones were still in one piece he let out a shout.
¡°Ha! Take that you damn lake! I will finally escape this damn place!¡±
The skeletons started to move as one after a silent order was given and they started to cram as many onto the rowboats as they could making it so that the werewolves that were in charge of rowing had little room to move.
A few of the unlucky undead fell into the water and dumbly flounder around in pain as they tried to get out of the lake or back into the boat but the other skeletons kicked them back into the lake not wanting any of the water to be brought into the boat.
Akira joined Pegleg''s rowboat which only had the two of them and the warrior that was in charge of rowing.
¡°Take me to the ship!¡± ordered Pegleg.
When they reached the ship Akira followed Pegleg up the net that was on the side of the ship and hopped over the railing.
¡°If you need someone to teach you how to use the ship I can have someone help you with that,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yes, I may need help with that,¡± said Pegleg as he pulled a large piece of red cloth out from under his metal armor.
¡°This should be perfect!¡± said Pegleg as he looked at the cloth and started climbing up the main mast where he tied it.
A red flag with a crudely drawn skeleton head that resembled Pegleg was now flapping in the wind.
Pegleg hopped down next to Akira and looked at his handiwork while nodding his head.
¡°Why the flag?¡± asked Akira.
¡°How else will others know that this ship belongs to me? This way I don''t have to do any talking and all the ladies will come running to play with me.¡±
Akira spent a few more minutes discussing some of the finer details of ships and was repeatedly asked to explain the job of pirates so that Pegleg would not forget.
When Akira returned to shore he saw a large red face that he had not seen in several months.
¡°Varbu? Klyn? Why are you guys here?¡±
¡°Akira!¡± said Varbu, embracing him in a bear hug and slapping him on the back.
¡°What are you doing all the way out here? Aren''t you supposed to be back with the other orcs on Halrverold?¡± asked Akira after he escaped Varbus hug.
¡°My father and the other chiefs decided to stay and fight...I and several other young warrior chiefs brought the younger generation with us to join you werewolves.¡±
¡°Shouldn''t you be with them right now then?¡±
¡°No need, they are safe right now. They are camping right next to the other werewolves at the trade city, so I only brought a few people to help out with clearing and building stuff for the new settlement,¡± said Varbu.
¡°You really didn''t need to,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh, right the Grand elders gave me this letter to give you,¡± said Klyn.
Akira opened the letter and read the few sentences that were written in the letter.
[The Dark moon clan and other coalition clans have accepted the allied Orc and goblins into the coalition. This means they will also be staying at the settlement until they decide otherwise. Use them to help build up the settlement. Send word to us when we can start migrating to the new homes.]
Akira looked up at the smiling Varbu.
¡°I guess I''m stuck with you from now on aren''t I,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t make it sound like a bad thing!¡±
¡°What''s this part about goblins?¡±
Varbu just turned and pointed behind him where the short princess Gobalina stood.
¡°I''m sorry I didn''t greet you earlier. I didn''t see you because of this big guy blocking my view,¡± said Akira.
She just stared at Akira and didn''t say anything only nodding to him while keeping a blank cold expression on her face.
¡°Have you explored this island yet it looks huge! I bet there are lots of resources that we could use to help with creating the settlement,¡± said Varbu.
¡°No. I was unable to do any exploring yet. We should check it out after Captain Pegleg leaves,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 151: Exploration and city planning
Akira waved to captain Pegleg as he and his hastily trained skeleton crew slowly sailed out of the lake and into the Unfreezing river heading to the south sea.
Just like that the legend of the horrifying and utterly crazy skeleton pirate captain Pegleg, was born. All who saw his flag would tremble in fear due to his many famous battles with both humans and demigods.
But for Captain Pegleg the worst part about his fame was the fact that all the women who saw his flag would run away, while all the strong men would flock to come and play with him and his crew.
What an utter disappointment. But those stories are for another time.
¡°Are we going to start searching the island now?¡± asked Varbu, happy to be once again exploring with Akira.
¡°Yeah, the faster we can get done the faster we can start working on planning the village. We have a lot of work ahead of us before we can have everyone join us,¡± said Akira.
He felt a heavyweight on his shoulders to get the village built fast so that the werewolves and their allies had a permanent and more secure place to live.
¡°Stop being such a downer. Let''s go to the top of the hill to check out the rest of the place!¡± said Varbu as he began walking up the hill without looking to see if Akira was following.
Ten of the werewolf warriors were ordered to protect their campsite with all of their supplies. The rest surrounded Akira in loose box formation making sure that nothing could reach him without first fighting them.
On either side of Akira was Audun and Klyn who would use all their skills to keep Akira alive if something happened.
When Akira reached the top of the hill Varbu who was surrounded by a few of his own guards raised his eyebrows at the overcautious formation around Akira.
¡°Looks like someone is moving up the ladder of importance. What are you? Some sort of VIP?¡±
Princess Gobalina just looked blankly at Akira blinking a few times not saying anything.
¡°Let''s focus on the task at hand,¡± said Akira skillfully dodging the question.
Now that he was at the top of the hill he could see that the rocks that he had seen from below were in fact broken stones that had been part of a castle wall that was now nothing more than rubble covered in snow.
There was a large area inside a ring of rubble that was flat and open with more rubble at the center.
¡°Doesn''t this look like it used to be some sort of castle?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Huh, I thought it was just a weird place with a lot of rocks but now that you mention it, it sorta looks like one if you tilt your head this way and look at it that way,¡± said Varbu as he looked at the broken walls with his head and body at an awkward angle.
Akira stepped over the crumbled wall and stepped into the center of the opened area. He kicked some of the snow away to find what looked like a flat rock floor underneath the snow.
He kicked and stomped his foot on the stone floor to see how solid it was.
''Yep it is definitely solid rock,'' thought Akira as his foot throbbed in pain.
¡°This place has a good foundation. We can clean it up and rebuild everything after we finish working on the village. Instead of camping near the lake, we should move our stuff up here and use it as our temporary base,¡± said Akira.
¡°I will go inform the others to start moving the supplies and tents up here,¡± said Dolph.
Before leaving the top of the hill Akira left a few warriors behind with the task of clearing the snow and rocks out of the center of the ruined castle.
Behind the hill and the ruined castle was a large forest that covered a large majority of the island.
¡°Let''s go and see what''s down there!¡± said Akira.
Akira descended the hill still surrounded by the warriors with Varbu and princess Gobalina following them.
They stopped next to the trees on the outer edge of the woods and inspected several of the trees.
¡°These look like we can use them to make some sturdy log houses,¡± said Akira as he patted one of the large trees.
They continued into the woods and explored everywhere for the rest of the afternoon. Finding several different species of animals living here from rabbits to even reindeer.
Surprisingly they did not find any monsters, but they had only done a quick scan of the area to get familiar with it so there may be something that hid from them.
As the sun was going down they returned back to the top of the hill.
Akira was happy to see that the jumbled mess of rocks and snow had been cleaned up.
The warriors who had stayed behind had already finished moving the supplies and tents along with working on the camp defenses by piling up the broken stones to create a makeshift wall that was packed with snow to hold it together.
Their only entrance to enter the camp was guarded by two of the warriors.
As they entered the new camp they found that the flat stone foundation was still a little wet but was drying out now due to the several fires that were burning.
¡°Good work everyone,¡± said Akira nodding to the warriors who had gathered to welcome him when he returned.
¡°Varbu, princess Gobalina, after you get settled into your tents, come find me so that we can plan out everything that we need to do from here on out,¡± said Akira.
Thirty minutes passed before everyone was gathered inside Akira''s tent. His tent would be used as the meeting place until they had some buildings that they could use.
They spent over an hour discussing what they felt was the most important thing they needed to start working on first and then things after or alongside it.
¡°Okay, so now that we have our goals set straight. We''ll need to split up everyone into different teams to fulfill those tasks,¡± said Akira.
¡°I can lead my men and any werewolves you want to give me and go cut down the logs for the houses. I''ll make sure that it is done quickly and efficiently so that we can start building,¡± said Varbu flexing his muscles.
¡°Right, I''ll leave the logging to you. The majority of warriors will be sent to you for help until we have enough logs to start building. Although it would be best if we had dried wood to build the houses we can only work with what we have,¡± said Akira.
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¡°While we were in the woods I saw several nuts, berries, wild vegetables, and other herbs that we can gather for food and medical uses. If I can also find some seeds we can see about planting them when the weather warms. That is if this place will ever warm-up,¡± said Klyn.
Princess Gobalina raised her hand and spoke for the first time in front of Akira, ¡°Gi giii gii giiiii gi.¡±
Akira looked to Varbu for translation.
¡°Um... I think she said she wants to help Klyn with gathering the food. I have only been studying their language recently so I could be wrong,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gi!¡± said Princess Gobalina as she nodded her head.
Akira nodded back at her, ¡°I''ll give both of you a few warriors to hunt and gather food so that we don''t run out while we are working. There''s plenty of snow rabbits, reindeer, and fish in the lake. Burkin do you know anything about the seasons here?¡±
¡°On the topic about the weather it''s about 150 years old, from what I remember reading this place does have something that you can kinda call a summer but it only lasts for a few months there is really no spring or fall everything is all smashed together.
At that time the warm weather melts most of the snow. So if you plant enough hardy and quick-growing plants you should have no problem with stockpiling food for the rest of the winter.
Even if you have a bad year the city''s farther north have longer and warmer summers. Most every year they sell off their surplus to the trade city to make some money which also helps feed those villages farther south that have shorter summers,¡± said Burkin.
¡°What are we going to do about the other island?¡± asked Dolph who was currently acting as the head of Akira''s guards.
¡°It looks pretty barren and rocky to me. We can check it out later after we have the log cabins built,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''ll take charge of planning the village and overseeing the building of the houses. Now that we have sorted that out I think we can call it a night,¡± said Akira.
The others got up and left his tent after bidding him a good night.
Akira ate a quick simple dinner of dried meat and a few of the berries that he had gathered earlier in the day.
Wiping his hands he pulled out the map and a piece of blank paper and began doodling on the paper copying the island''s features onto the new paper. He created some squiggles to mark important places for future development and drew boxes to represent houses and other future buildings.
¡°There, I¡¯m finished! This should help with making sure everything is placed properly,¡± said Akira looking at his handy work satisfied with the finished product.
Ding!
New title has been received!
Worst artist in the world:
You have created something that is so horrible that no one would ever find out what it was originally meant to be.
Seriously you suck at drawing, but I''m sure that the crazy ''Art'' lovers would love to buy this ''Unique'' picture as they might see something in it if you tilted your head this or that way and stared at it for a few hours.
+5 fame.
|
Out of pity for you, a new Tool has been created.
City blueprint planning: use this tool to properly plan your village. When you finish, a blueprint will be created.
|
¡°What''s with these hash messages? Why didn''t you say anything about my drawing skills earlier?¡±
The system was silent and did not reply to his question.
Akira closed the rude messages and opened the new blueprint tool.
Ding!
The tool only has very limited options until a village is fully built and other resources are found.
|
Immediately after closing the message, his vision went blank for a second. When he could see again he found that he had a ghost-like body that was now hovering over the island looking from far above allowing him to see everything including his tent where he was sitting and the warriors that were patrolling the makeshift walls surrounding the camp.
¡°Next time, warn me if you''re going to do something like this!¡± shouted Akira as he felt a little sick from the out of body floating sensation.
He quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard him but it seemed no one could hear him as they continued with what they were doing before.
On the side of his vision was a small vertical row showing a few simple log buildings pictures, as well as an outhouse and what looked like different types of dirt roads.
When he touched one of the road icons. A loud thump sounded as the road appeared on the ground beneath him.
There was still no reaction from any of the warriors who were patrolling.
Akira returned his attention back to the road and found that there were four arrows above the road pointing in the cardinal directions, with another two arrows on each side of the road one curving to the left and the other curving to the right.
Floating above the road was a green checkmark along with a red x.
He played around with the arrows to see what everything did.
Whenever he pressed one of the arrows the road would move a short distance in the direction of the arrow and The curved arrows would turn the road in a curved 90* degree angle.
''What are these buttons for?'' thought Akira looking at the two buttons above the road.
He reached out and pressed the red x and a crumbling sound could be heard as the road disappeared.
''Hmm so the other button is for making it stay in place?'' thought Akira as he placed down another road and pressed the green checkmark. All the arrows went away and only the red checkmark remained.
After a few more minutes of testing out stuff, he cleared everything that he had placed down.
¡°Time to get serious! Let''s look for a good spot to start the village,¡± said Akira.
After searching he decided to start planning the village near the bottom of the hill not that far from where they had first camped.
He started to create a large grid using the roads as guides to keep everything straight while creating multiple squares.
Inside of the squares he placed down four basic one story long log cabins that could house up to 20 people. He rotated them so that their doors were facing the road in front of them one pointing to each of the 4 roads. There was one outhouse added between the four houses.
¡°Can''t be fancy right now. We can always work on something better in the future,¡± said Akira as he thought about how troublesome the bathroom situation might become later on.
He continued to plan the village this way making changes when the terrain called for it. While doing this he made sure that there was a large open central square for town gathering and trading. After placing several hundred houses and roads he took a moment to look over everything and made a few changes before he was satisfied with the end result.
As if sensing that he was finished, a flashing button at the top of his vision started to blink. It read [Create blueprint]. Akira pressed it and a window popped up.
[Please name the blueprint.]
¡°Village #1!¡± said Akira.
After confirming the name the message box closed.
And again his vision blanked out for a few seconds before returning back to his body.
¡°That is very jarring. It''s going to take some time to get used to it,¡± Akira muttered to himself sleepily.
The blueprint tool icon was now blinking so Akira pressed it and a new drop-down appeared showing his new blueprint.
He pressed on the ''Village #1'' tab under the created blueprints section.
A second later a detailed opaque map appeared in front of him with his exact roads and houses just as he had placed them.
There was a message in red under the blueprint that read [Unable to use blueprint since the selected area has snow rocks and other debris covering the ground. Clear it to move on to the next stage of planning.]
¡°I was expecting a physical blueprint but I guess this will have to do,¡± said Akira as he closed the map.
It was now late in the night when he exited his tent and walked towards the walls wanting to look at the area that he had picked for the log cabins.
The bright moon was out lighting up the whole island. From atop the wall, he could see that the snow below was still undisturbed.
''I guess the build mode doesn''t affect the real world,'' thought Akira.
¡°Who''s there?¡± asked a guard as he walked closer to Akira.
¡°Just me. I was out for a stroll,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh, it''s you chief. Can''t sleep?¡± asked the guard.
¡°Yeah, something like that,¡± said Akira who was feeling really tired.
Chapter 152: Village building
Akira woke up early to the sound of several other people noisily cooking breakfast.
He stayed under his heavy fur blankets not wanting to leave the warmth of his bed.
¡°Chief you up? Breakfast is ready if you want it. You better hurry or it will grow cold. If you wait too long it might even freeze,¡± joked a guard that was in charge of guarding his tent.
¡°I''m getting up!¡± said Akira as he removed his covers and shivered from the cold air assaulting him.
He knew what the guard had said was a joke, but if he did wait long enough the food really would freeze.
A few moments later he stepped out of his tent fully dressed and ready to take on all that had to be done today, but first, it was time to eat some food.
Luckily the food was still somewhat warm it was hard to keep food hot in such a cold place without overcooking it.
He washed it down with some warm wine to help energize and warm up his body as he looked out over the large lake that was covered in a low misty fog as the warm water and cold air continued to battle each other.
The sound of snowbirds could be heard in the distance as they chirped and sang to each other.
The morning sun was slowly rising into the sky slowly lighting everything up. This view was worth thousands, no, over a hundred thousand in gold! It was just too breathtaking. He was glad that they had found such a place to build the village.
There was no need for another meeting in the morning as everything had been settled the night before.
Varbu and his guards along with half of the warriors went into the woods to start looking for logs that could be used for building the houses.
The rest of the warriors were split up between Akira and Klyn who was being helped by princess Gobalina. The two quickly left after eating and entered the forest to start their gathering of Winterberries, nuts, and rabbits.
The warriors and guards that stayed behind looked to Akira waiting for his command on what they were to do.
¡°You guys can rest for now. I have to report to the Grand elders before we can do anything,¡± said Akira.
He motioned for Audun to come with him to his tent so they could talk privately.
¡°Please inform the Grand elders that everything is going according to plan and we will begin building the log cabins today or tomorrow. We''ll message them again and let them know when they can join us.¡±
Audun nodded and made preparations before becoming still and started to communicate with his counterpart at the campsite near Jerora.
Several minutes later he opened his eyes and after taking a swig of warm wine he replied, ¡°The Grand elders are happily surprised at the quick pace you are moving at. They had expected for the process to take at least a few more months before you would find a suitable place. They will take care of the coalition matters while we work on the settlement. They wanted me to warn you not to be in such a haste that you end up doing a sloppy job.¡±
¡°They don''t have to worry that I have a proper blueprint that I made last night. Everything will be alright,¡± said Akira.
Audun raised his left eyebrow as he had seen Akira''s drawing skills before. He had even seen a piece of scrap paper that had many scribbles and the only thing legible on it was the words ''city blueprint''.
''Although he may be skilled in fighting and commanding the warriors in battle... let''s just leave it there. There is no need to insult him.''
¡°You can stay here and rest for now. We''re not going anywhere dangerous,¡± said Akira.
¡°I can not accept that. I was given the task by the Grand elders to keep you alive. This little fatigue is nothing,¡± said Audun as he ate some food and took another swig of warmed wine.
Akira did not argue with him and let him follow him out of the tent.
¡°Everyone gather up! I need you to bring ten of the sleds and all the reindeer out to the front of our encampment!¡± said Akira.
The warriors had no clue why but they just followed his orders.
While they were gathering the sleds and the reindeer Akira began to pull out several large metallic pieces from his bag as well as old shields that he had picked up from fights and had not sold.
When the warriors returned Akira had already finished pulling everything out and was piling everything into ten different piles.
¡°What''s that for?¡± asked one of the warriors who could not hold in his curiosity any longer.
¡°Were making plows!¡± said Akira as if it was a no brainer.
¡°Plows?¡±
¡°Yeah, how else are we going to clear the land of snow and other debris so that we can start building. You don''t want to do it by shovel, do you? Or are you one of those crazy M''s?¡± asked Akira as he looked at him suspiciously.
¡°No way! I definitely want to use a plow, not a shovel!¡±
¡°Good choice M,¡± said Akira, giving the warrior a new name.
¡°How did my name become something like that!¡±
¡°Everyone, come take one of the piles and attach it to the front of the sleds. Well, have to double the reindeer for each sled so that they can still pull it without any problem.¡±
Akira spent a half-hour helping drill holes into the various metal so that they could attach it to the sleds. Another half-hour passed as they worked on converting the ten sleds into temporary snow plows.
¡°Alright let''s go down there and I''ll see if I can mark the corners of where we have to clear the land,¡± said Akira as he walked down the hill with the sleds following behind them they had the plows raised right now and would only be lowered until they were in position.
Akira opened the blueprint he had made the night before. But this time instead of seeing the opaque map a whole large village popped up all around him giving him such a fright that he fell on his butt in shock.
¡°Chief! Are you okay? Did you slip on something?¡± asked a guard near him as he helped pull Akira up onto his feet.
¡°I''m fine..fine..,¡± mumbled Akira still in shock from the sight. It seemed that no one else saw the several hundred houses neatly laid out with roads and outhouses for each four of the cabins.
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How is something like this possible... as he thought that he started to feel his mana and energy-draining slowly as he stood there staring at the projection.
''Ah! That''s right I have to mark the corners. Looks like it needs to do this quickly before all my energy is drained,'' thought Akira as he woke up from his shock.
Using the phantom blueprint as a guide he ran to the very edge of the bottom left that was closest to him and the hill.
He stabbed a pole into the ground and tied a yellow ribbon onto it so that they could see the end of the area. He quickly ran to the three other corners that were far away from each other. The four poles created a large curved rectangle the size somewhere between a village and a small town.
When he closed the blueprint and the drain on his energy and mana disappeared. He was now breathing heavily and flopped down onto the snow to take a rest for a few seconds.
¡°Chief are you okay?¡± asked several of the guards worriedly as they looked at the exhausted Akira.
''I have been hearing that a lot this morning haven''t I,'' thought Akira.
¡°I''m fine, I just didn''t sleep enough last night,¡± said Akira as he stood up.
With a wave of the hand, he motioned for the warriors that were in control of the sleds to position themselves one after another.
All of the plows on either side of the sleds could be raised or lowered with the rope attached to it allowing them to choose where the show would go. For clearing this area out they had been instructed to push the snow all the way to the edges and to the right.
The sleds did not all move at once they waited for the person on their left to pass ahead of them first. In this way they could cleanly clear the land by picking where the last sleds plow stopped making it so that there was no need to come back for multiple passes on the same spot.
The plowing was going rather smoothly until they turned around and made their way back towards the opposite end where they were stopped by the large snowbank just outside of the markers. They could not move snow any further forward which left an even larger pile of snow in the area that was still in need of clearing.
¡°What now?¡± asked Akira to no one in particular as he walked up to the large snowbank and tried to kick some of the snow away to see what was blocking the plows.
¡°&^*%,¡± Akira started to hop around on one foot as he held his other foot that was now throbbing in pain.
¡°Are you okay chief?¡±
Akira muttered a few more choice curse words under his breath as he tried to regain his composure.
He bent over and brushed the snow away from the solid object that he had just kicked.
It was a large rock!
No, it was a pile of large rocks that looked to have been purposely placed in a large pile.
¡°Who puts a large pile of rocks up in the middle of nowhere and covers it with snow!¡± grumbled Akira.
¡°You guys continue plowing the rest of the area if there is any place that needs extra attention just skip it and we''ll take care of it,¡± said Akira pointing at himself and the rest of the warriors that were not driving the sleds.
¡°Let''s move these rocks out of the way,¡± ordered Akira.
In order to lift the large rocks, they were forced to transform and have two warriors carry one of the rocks. It took them over half an hour to transport the majority of the large rocks away from the pile and out of their way.
The only rocks left were all smaller in size and did not require them to be transformed.
¡°Chief there''s a problem!¡± shouted M.
¡°Whats up M?¡±
¡°Water is coming out from under the rocks!¡±
Akira hurried over to the rocks and saw a small amount of water in the cracks between the rocks right now it was not flowing out.
As he placed his hand near the rocks he could feel the warmth coming from the water.
¡°So the rocks were here to cover a hot water spring?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Seems so,¡± said M.
If they continued to remove the rocks then a disaster would happen. The whole bottom of the hill would be flooded making it a wet slush that would freeze during the night. This would make it impossible to build the cabins here.
Looking on the bright side of things they had found a hot spring!
''What should we do with it? Better think about it later.''
¡°We''ll have to stop for now. M, you are in luck today! You get to use your shovel after all. Everyone let''s take care of the piled-up snow around here with shovels. We''ll fix the area with our pure strength,¡± said Akira trying to motivate everyone that was not like M and his weird ways.
¡°Why are you singling me out like this is somehow my hobby? I''m not an M you know?¡± said M.
¡°Don''t worry M. I understand that you may be shy about it but it''s fine even if you are a bit odd,¡± said Akira.
They spent the rest of the morning clearing snow as well as other certain hard to move spots in the whole area that the village would be built on later.
Some of the spots were too hard or frozen for shovels that Akira had to use his [Sword Slash] skill a few times to cut through whatever it was that was blocking them.
It was well past noon when they had finally finished plowing the land and leveling it out enough for them to build the log cabins.
¡°Let''s take a break for lunch,¡± said Akira.
Everyone slowly walked up the hill already tired from the morning''s hard work.
As they walked up the hill they could see several piles of freshly cut logs waiting to be used.
Logging and hunter-gathering groups were just finishing up their lunch when they saw Akira and the exhausted warriors return.
¡°Working hard?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°You picked the easy job,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hey dragging all those logs here is no easy task,¡± said Varbu.
Akira looked at Klyn who raised both his hands. ¡°Hey! Don''t look at me like that. If someone were to pick poisonous plants and give it to everyone to eat we could see several deaths!¡±
¡°While we''re on the subject of plants and stuff I found several seeds for plants and other things that look like they could be useful in providing food for everyone. Also, there is a large number of winter berries in the forest. If we started to cultivate more of them we could even start to make a winterberry wine.¡±
¡°Oh that''s a good idea, I''m sure that the trade post would buy it all up at a high price if you were successful in making it. Just be sure to leave some barrels for me to buy as well,¡± said Burkin.
¡°Why such a high price? Is the winterberry wine special compared to the wine and drinks from the north?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Of course it is! The winterberry is a rare fruit that only grows in the extremely cold region of Kaldrbiod. Even if you were to sell just the berries you would make a lot of money just not as much as the wine.¡±
¡°Burkin, how long will you be staying with us?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Ah that, Akira I was meaning to talk with you about that. Now that you have found a place to stay and are already starting to build your settlement, I really do need to head back to my clan and update them about all that has happened and give them my report on my original purpose of trade deals with Froit.¡±
¡°That''s no problem. There were several of the rowboats left behind by captain Pegleg. Who said something about never wanting to get in one of them again. We can fix one of them up so that it has a sail so you can use it on the river to get wherever you need faster.¡±
¡°Much appreciated.¡±
¡°By the way what about Kurzlin?¡±
¡°Don''t be going and jinxing and cursing me like that! I''m not running away I''m just... taking a short detour before I return to her.¡±
¡°Okay, we''ll have the ship ready for you tomorrow,¡± said Akira.
Everyone besides Akira and the warriors that had been working with him left to continue with their own work.
¡°Let''s take a 2-hour break for lunch and a nap,¡± said Akira mainly because he was exhausted from using so much mana and stamina.
The warriors including M, all cheered happily and wolfed down some hastily cooked food and went to their tents to take full advantage of the two-hour break.
When the rest period was over Akira gathered everyone.
¡°We need a bit of practice first so let''s start by moving some of the tents here and build a cabin or two before night falls,¡± said Akira.
They were slow at first as they figured out how to build the log cabins properly but they learned a lot during the time they worked on them.
By the time night came, there were now two long log cabins built in the center of their campsite.
Instead of staying in their tents everyone crammed into the two crude log houses well over the recommended level of people.
The log cabins were far warmer than the tents and blocked out the wind and cold air really well.
With so many people in the log cabins, the temperature was not freezing.
Akira surrounded by guards slipped off to sleep exhausted from the day''s work.
Chapter 153: Village building 2
As Akira stood on the relatively flat ground that had been cleared the day before, he looked at the light dusting of snow that now covered the ground.
The only people around him were his guards. The rest of the warriors that were in charge of building the log cabins were on top of the hill still practicing by creating the last few cabins that they would be staying in until the rest of the clans and allied tribes arrived.
His current job was to map out the areas for each house, road, and outhouse.
¡°Chief do you need us to do anything?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°No, I was just checking everything and trying to figure out where to start from,¡± said Akira as he walked over to the edge of the cleared area where the hot spring covered with the pile of rocks was.
Akira took a large swig of warmed wine from his horn flask, something that Burkin had sold to him and several other warriors. The horned flask had a way of keeping the warmed wine and other beverages from quickly becoming frozen in such a cold climate, something that their leather wineskins could not do.
With the extra warmth and energy from the wine, Akira opened the ''Village blueprint #1''. immediately feeling a drain of energy as the phantom village popped up in front of his eyes.
He reached for a small wooden pole that the guards were carrying for him and started his task. He worked quickly to mark the edges of each building using different markers for the cabins and the outhouses.
To the guards, it looked like he was just randomly walking to a spot placing down a marker, and then moving to the next spot. But as they watched Akira work, they saw that the seeming randomness actually started to take a very precise and uniform shape.
Akira began to really feel the strain when he was half-way finished with placing the markers. He took a quick swig of his warmed wine that was still not frozen and shrugged off the fatigue and continued.
''Just a few more,'' thought Akira as he struggled and succeeded to place the last few markers.
¡°Chief?¡±
Thump!
Akira fell into a pile of snow face first, exhausted and unable to move he quickly exited the blueprint mode before losing consciousness.
¡°Audun, the chief! He''s fallen!¡± shouted Vilkas. His shout also alerted those on top of the hill who were busy finishing up the last log cabin.
¡°Move aside!¡± ordered Audun as he pushed through the guards who were surrounding Akira.
Fluffball was sitting next to Akira whimpering and licking his face to try and wake him up.
Audun looked at Akira''s face seeing that it was red and full of sweat possibly from a fever.
Using two of his fingers he checked Akira''s pulse and found that it was beating fast but was slowing down. His labored breathing and sweaty face was also calming down.
With a cloth, Audun wiped the sweat from his face.
¡°No need to worry. It''s just a case of overworking. He most likely hasn''t been getting enough sleep lately and has been pushing himself too hard,¡± explained Audun.
The guards let out a sigh of relief, glad that it was not something more serious that they would have to report to the Grand elders.
¡°You and you, take him to one of the cabins so he can stay warm and rest,¡± ordered Audun as he picked two random guards that were standing next to Akira.
Akira woke up two hours later feeling like he was back in the deserts of Caidia.
He could not move his arms and legs due to something restricting them.
As he opened his eyes he could see the reason why he was now inside of one of the cabins tightly wrapped in several thick heavy fur blankets.
Fluffball was laying on the bed right next to Akira''s shoulders. His small ears twitched as they picked up the movement from Akira''s head.
He gave a loud excited yap and started to lick Akira''s face happy to see him awake.
¡°Fluffball stop! That''s unfair!¡± said Akira struggling to get his arms out of the covers so he could push away Fluffball and sit up.
¡°Ah, you''re awake, good. You fainted due to overwork. You need to take the rest of the day off and rest. We can''t have you dying from such a simple thing,¡± said Audun as he pushed Akira''s shoulder back down onto the bed.
¡°I need to help build the cabins!¡± said Akira trying to sit back up again.
¡°There is no need for you to help right now since you''ve already marked where everything is to be built. The warriors in charge of building, have already started working on the cabins and outhouses. With such precise measurements from you they are having an easy time,¡± said Audun as he pushed Akira back down onto his pillow and tucked the blankets around him once again.
¡°If you are hungry or need to use the restroom I''ll be outside taking care of those clumsy enough to wound themselves during the building,¡± said Audun as he left the cabin.
¡°I guess it''s just you and me for the rest of the day,¡± said Akira as he looked at Fluffball.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball happily before squirming under the covers to join Akira.
***
¡°Burkin, I''m sorry for causing a ruckus yesterday and delaying your departure. The small sail ship has been fixed up and is ready for you to use. Please allow me to send a few warriors with you so that you can have a safe journey back,¡± said Akira.
¡°Things happen. I''m just glad that you are all right. It would be a shame if something happened to such a bright fellow like yourself. Just a warning between you and me if you get caught by that female cat of yours you better watch out. Marriage is even more exhausting than working all day out in the snow,¡± said Burkin as he jabbed Akira in the thigh with his elbow.
¡°Whoa who said anything about marriage? It is way too early for me to be thinking about that,¡± said Akira.
¡°Smart man, give it 100 more years and you might be ready. As for the escort, there is no need. I am skilled enough with ships to be able to use them by myself. There''s no need for extra bodies on the ship which will just slow it down and require me to carry more supplies,¡± said Burkin as he hopped onto the ship.
¡°You don''t get seasick?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Ha! I used to get horribly sick, but now I can sail for weeks on end without any problems. I trained myself to withstand the feeling of sickness in order to be able to move products more swiftly by boat,¡± said Burkin proudly.
Delgar and the other Dwarves who had come to see Burkin off were not envious of Burkin and looked at him with expressions of pity.
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For a second time in a week, Akira watched and waved as another friendly acquaintance disappeared down the river.
Akira returned to where the cabins were being built by the warriors.
There were already nearly 50 cabins built. They all looked fairly similar with only minor differences.
Several more cabins were being built right now each with six warriors working on one cabin.
There were two warriors to gather the logs from the large stockpile and carry them over to the cabin that was being built. Two who used their axes to quickly cut v notches on the logs and inverted v notches on the other sides. The last two warriors were in charge of lifting the logs up into position and trimming the notches to make sure the logs linked together snugly.
With the growing stockpile of logs, more people had come to help build the cabins. With this system, the log cabins were popping up quickly.
¡°Akira, where do you want me to put these?¡± shouted Klyn as he walked over with several different types of animals walking behind him.
¡°What are they?¡± asked Akira.
Fluffball was pacing back and forth repeatedly looking at the animals and then back at Akira.
¡°This one according to Burkin, is a Moomer, it creates nutritious milk,¡± said Klyn pointing at a large mammal with four large horns that curved forward. It looked like a normal black cow but it was the size of a large adult moose with thick fur.
¡°This bird is known as a Chuckling cackler. They lay large brown eggs,¡± said Klyn as he pointed to a cage full of medium-sized red birds. Whenever the birds opened their beaks they let out a shrill sound as if they were laughing.
¡°Are they both safe to be around?''¡± asked Akira.
¡°No need to worry, they are very docile and only eat plants,¡± said Klyn as he reached up and rubbed one of the Moomer''s heads while feeding it a salt-covered plant cube.
¡°Mooooomeeeeeer,¡± said the Moomer in satisfaction as he ate the food given to him.
Several of the other Moomers moved towards Klyn wanting to receive some of the cubes as well.
¡°I see why they are called Moomers. Whoever named them really has a great naming sense. You can make a temporary overhang pen for them next to our camp on the hill until we find a better place for them,¡± said Akira.
***
Another long workday came to an end as the sun was replaced by the moon and stars that were far different than those they had all grown up with.
Akira was turning back and forth in his new bed, one of the few that had been made. He was trying to get comfortable so he could sleep, but his brain would not let him rest as it was thinking of all the things the fledgling settlement still needed.
¡°AWOOOOO!¡± the howl of one of the werewolves on guard duty stopped his fitful tossing and turning.
¡°Monster attack!¡±
Akira threw off his covers and hopped out of bed causing Fluffball who had been sleeping on top of the blankets to tumble to the edge of his bed.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball unhappily after he let out a long yawn.
¡°Fluffball, you stay here,¡± ordered Akira as he quickly put his armor on and buckled his sword belt before running out of the cabin.
His guards and Audun who he shared the cabin with followed behind him all trying to shake the sleep from their eyes.
¡°Where are the monsters?¡± asked Akira as he ran up to the werewolves who had sounded the alarm.
¡°They''re down there,¡± said the warrior as he pointed to the area where the recently built log cabins were.
¡°What are they doing?¡± asked Akira as he watched a large group of several different types of monsters roaming through the new streets of the village as if they were looking for something.
Bam! The sound of something crashing into wood was heard.
Everyone turned to see where the sound had come from and found several Hammerhead bull monsters were ramming their heads against the newly built cabins.
As if taking this as a signal every other monster in the group started to attack the cabins by slamming their bodies, headbutting, or slash at the cabins with their claws.
¡°They''re attacking the cabins!¡±
¡°All archers and crossbows stay on the walls and support us. Everyone else, follow me! We need to kill those damn monsters who are attacking our cabins!¡± shouted Akira using his skill [Shout].
He also summoned Nox to fight alongside him as he transformed into his tall and muscular werewolf form.
Some of the monsters upon hearing Akira''s shout stopped their attacks on the cabins and looked towards the top of the hill and saw the fully transformed werewolves emerging from behind the wall charging down the hill.
¡°Rawr!¡± a Griffin who was perched on top of one of the cabins let out a challenge and jumped into the air flying towards its new prey.
¡°You #$%^! We spent a lot of time working on those cabins. I''m going to %^&* you for messing with them you -#&^%!¡± shouted Akira as he ran down the hill using the [Potty mouth] skill.
He was the first person in the charge down the hill followed by his guards who flanked him on his right and left as well as Nox running on top of the soft snow not disturbing it.
The monsters nearby as well as the flying Griffin, paused their actions as he tried to understand what Akira had said.
Although they could not understand human language, somehow they had a feeling that what the human had said was highly rude and insulting.
Angered, they turned from their previous targets and locked their sights onto Akira.
Before the monsters reached him he came to a complete stop and used the skill [Harden].
Bam! Bang! Scrape!
Several monsters slammed into Akira''s shield and swiped at him with their claws battering his body that was standing firm like a mountain.
Ding!
Toughness +1... +1... +1...
|
The toughness stat continued to slowly rise as he received numerous attacks that did little more than give him a few bruises and cuts.
The Griffin seeing this tried to dive from above and grab onto Akira but only received several arrows and cross-bolts for his efforts forcing him to flap his wings to stop his dive and try to fly away.
Before he could Nox had used Akira as a launch board and bit onto the Griffins leg before it could fly away.
Akira watched as Nox struggled with the Griffin in midair receiving several blows from the back legs of the Griffin sending Nox tumbling back to the ground.
During all this, the guards on Akira''s sides were able to attack the monsters from the side as they were focused on Akira allowing them to easily defeat them one at a time.
Nox just shrugged off the fall and continued to show off his prowess by wrestling a hammerhead to the ground, tearing its neck apart.
Akira repeatedly used both the [Potty mouth] and [Harden skill] to attract the attention of the monsters allowing those around him to have an easier time clearing the monsters.
The Griffin tried several times to attack but each time received several wounds.
Varbu showed off his prowess by smashing anything that got close to him as he plowed through the numerous monsters roaming the streets.
In less than twenty minutes over 150 monsters were laying on the ground dead.
The griffin had already run away after seeing the fight was not winnable.
¡°Ha.... what was that all about?¡± asked Dolph as he cleaned the blood from his sword and sheathed it.
Ding!
Since a large settlement is being built, monsters may come and attack the settlement in order to try and take resources from you and may try to drive you away.
You need to be ready to fight off these attacks.
|
¡°Most likely they don''t want neighbors,¡± said Akira as he walked to each of the cabins checking the damage each had received.
There were only a few that would have to be rebuilt the others had only a few minor scratches that could be fixed.
''What''s this?'' said Nox in a surprised voice making Akira turn his attention to the shadow wolf.
A black-light not too dissimilar to his own misty light that covered him when he transformed was now washing over Nox.
Akira watched silently for over 5 minutes before the light split into two, a black misty light, and a dark gray charcoal color.
As the misty light faded there were two shadow wolves standing in front of Akira.
Ding!
Requirements met!
Shadow wolf skill has ranked up!
Nox has reached tier two and has unlocked the Gray shadow wolf form.
The Gray shadow wolf has the special ability to use long-range attacks.
|
¡°Who are you?¡± asked Akira to the new dark gray shadow wolf.
¡°I am Nox,¡± said the gray wolf.
¡°Two of you?¡±
¡°It is nothing special, I have several other forms that I can use if I grow even stronger,¡± said the original Nox.
Akira did not know what to say and was just as speechless as the others who were standing near him.
''If you are done with us we are tired so we''ll return for now,'' said the black shadow wolf before the two jumped back into Akira''s shadow.
Chapter 154: Grand elder nomination
Over the next week, Akira and the werewolf warriors spent every waking moment that was not used eating to build the cabins as fast as they could in order to build every cabin and outhouse that had been marked on the cleared ground.
During the night the Orcs helped the werewolf warriors patrol the snow wall that was in between the cabins and the lake. Every other night the monsters swam across the lake always led by the Griffin who would fly away after losing.
During that week Fluffball had reached level 10. Fluffball didn''t grow much and was still a small pup who always wanted to lay on Akira''s shoulders or be carried in his arms.
The fireplace inside the cabin was roaring making sure that he did not have to wear multiple layers of heavy clothing like he had to when he was staying in his tent.
''Is there something wrong with him?'' thought Akira as he looked at Fluffball who was lazily resting in his arms exhausted from trying to pounce at Nox #1 who was dozing in front of the burning fire. He had been repeatedly swatted away by either Nox''s tail or his paw.
It had been over a month since he had met Fluffball and he was still so small. The only thing that had really changed was his weight. The weight seemed to be all dense muscle with little to no fat as Akira made sure that Fluffball trained everyday.
Akira had seen several other weaker snow wolves around Fluffball''s level that had a near adult-sized body.
Ding!
Temporary Rank 3 village created!
The Village overview icon has been added.
|
Akira closed the notification window and looked at the new icon that was next to the blueprint creation icon. The icon could not be opened as it was grayed out.
Ding!
To access full functions of the village overview icon repair the castle keep on top of the hill.
Repairing the Keep will help raise the security level of the village.
|
Quest received: Repair the Keep!
Mine enough stone and fully rebuild the castle keep that was destroyed long ago.
|
''This is going to be a pain,'' thought Akira as he tried to figure out how to complete this new task.
¡°How long do you think it will be until they get here?¡± asked Klyn as he sipped a steaming spoonful of a warm stew that had a creamy milk broth.
A day ago Akira had Audun inform the Grand elders that the settlement was nearing completion for basic living as long as they brought the needed supplies with them from Jerora.
¡°It shouldn''t belong since they don''t have to travel by sleds like we had to and will be using the ships to sail down the river,¡± said Akira as he turned to Klyn who was sitting at a table behind him along with Varbu and Delgar.
¡°Looks like you are going to be busy for the foreseeable future. What''s next on the list, now that we have the cabins and outhouses built?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Delgar, I need you and the other Dwarves to help find a suitable quarry to gather large sturdy stones,¡± said Akira.
¡°What for?¡±
¡°The next project is rebuilding the ruined castle keep.¡±
¡°You sure are a glutton for punishment. Do you know how hard that will be with the limited people we have?¡±
¡°We won''t be able to do anything major until the rest of the clan arrives. While we wait we can still find a place with good stone.¡±
¡°Leave it to me. I think I know just the place!¡± said Delgar.
¡°For now I''ll put you in charge of the developing quarry. I hope you and the other Dwarves can make sure that everyone properly learns how to mine the rock,¡± said Akira.
***
Another week passed by. In that time Delgar had found a good source of marble stone on the smaller island next to the main island.
The quarry was now fully operational with several large stacks of mined stone waiting to be moved from one island to the other.
Their progress was not that fast as they had to set up everything from scratch and the inexperienced warriors had to learn how to properly handle the mining picks to not ruin the large chunks of rock.
Delgar and the Dwarves were still in charge of shaping the stone blocks as they continued to teach the warriors how to use the chisels and hammers.
¡°The ships are here!¡± shouted a scout who had been watching the distant river entrance.
Several smaller ships had already entered the lake followed by six large ships. A large portion of the smaller ships and a few of the larger ships were the ships that Varbu and Princess Gobalina had used to move their people to the new continent.
Akira joined Audun, Varbu, Klyn, Delgar, and Princess Gobalina near the lakes shore and watched as the ships sent the anchors splashing to the bottom of the lake and started to send rowboats filled with people to the shore.
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The first to arrive was of course the Grand elders and their escorts.
Akira stepped into the shallow water getting his boots wet in order to help pull the boat closer to shore and help the Grand elders disembark from the rowboats.
¡°This place does indeed look as promising as your reports stated,¡± said Grand elder Carl as he looked around.
¡°It is amazing at how fast you were able to build all these cabins,¡± said Seoc pointing towards the roofs of the cabins that could be seen behind the snow wall that was protecting them.
¡°What''s with that big snow wall blocking the view?¡± asked ¨¤aron.
¡°The monsters seemed to not like us building here and attacked the cabins almost every night. So we had to use this to block them.¡±
¡°Is it safe to be living here?¡± asked Carl.
¡°They have stopped recently not sure why. Maybe we killed too many of them?¡± said Akira, unsure.
¡°This island is the most perfect place for defending the clans! I highly approve,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Ah! Grand elders please excuse my rudeness. It is cold out here and you have all had a long trip to get here. Please follow me and I will take you to my cabin and give you a full report,¡± said Akira.
Before Mileena could reach the shore and rush over to Akira he had already left with the Grand elders making her fume as she tried to find where he had disappeared to.
***
¡°..and now all we need is more workers in the quarries and the large ships to move the stone from one island to the other,¡± said Akira.
¡°You really have exceeded all expectations I could have imagined,¡± said Carl, praising Akira once again.
¡°It may be cramped for some time but at least for now all of our basic needs are covered. We''ll have to gather more of those Moomers and Chuckling cacklers to help feed everyone.¡±
¡°There is also the fishing and hunting of other smaller creatures to think about as well as the need to gather seeds and other stuff for cultivating during the short warm months,¡± said Carl.
¡°Klyn and princess Gobalina have already been gathering several types of seeds for later use.¡±
¡°With so much to do are you sure we should be focusing on rebuilding the Castle keep right now?¡± asked Seoc.
¡°I agree with Akira that it is vital that we build the keep. It will not only keep Akira who is now the new chief of the main branch safe, but it will also be a safe place for us Grand elders and the head shamans of the clans stay. It can help protect the civilians as well,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°I see your point. It would be pointless to work on things that are already doing well enough right now,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Also on this point, we should think about refitting some of the ships for proper patrolling of the lake to make sure that they can intercept any unfriendly ships that enter the lake.¡±
¡°Did the clan encounter any Demigods while you camped at Jerora?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Surprisingly no. Which is suspicious since they are always such a nasty bunch who attack without a care for their lives,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Alright now that we have all been caught up on the village''s current development and our plans for organizing the workforce is set, we need to talk about finding a new Grand elder for the main branch of the dark moon,¡± said Carl.
¡°Speaking of the main branch and Outer branch, how is Frang?¡± asked Akira.
¡°He is doing well enough. Since he is to take over as the head of the Outer branch in a few years when his father retires he has been undergoing strict training,¡± said Carl.
¡°Here are three people we have come up with that we would like you to take a look at and decide on,¡± said Seoc as he passed Akira a piece of paper over the crude wooden table that had been built only a day before.
¡°Is it okay for me to be choosing the next person?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Everyone already knows that you are not the head of the main branch. So there will be no trouble with you choosing who will succeed your Grandfather,¡± said Carl.
Akira read the names on the paper along with a short description written under their names.
Of the three names, two were unfamiliar while the third was someone he had met several times before and was well acquainted with.
¡°Why is Hegir on the list? Isn''t he the Grand shaman?¡± asked Akira.
¡°There is no rule stating that the Grand shaman can''t become a Grand elder. We know that you have a good relationship with him and his grandson. It is always best for a clan to have a chief and Grand elder that get along with each other,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°However if you do choose Hegir, you''ll have to also find someone to take over his position as Grand shaman,¡± said Carl.
¡°How long do I have to decide?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We would prefer it if you could decide today. The faster it is done the faster we can focus on other issues,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Is it alright if I go speak with Hegir first?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We thought you might want to talk with the three candidates so they are all waiting in the cabin next to this one,¡± ¨¤aron motioned for one of the guards to bring Hegir to them.
A minute later the door to the cabin opened again and Hegir entered behind the guard.
¡°Grand elders, chief,¡± said Hegir, giving them a respectful half-bow.
¡°You probably already know why we have called you so I will not waste time. Are you willing to take over as the Grand Elder of the main branch?¡± asked Akira, getting straight to the point in a no-nonsense manner.
¡°I would be honored. But...¡±
¡°Is there something that is stopping you from accepting?¡± asked ¨¤aron.
¡°It is about my replacement. For many years I have been grooming my grandson to take over when I retire but he still has not fully grasped the Revitalize technique and is still studying it. In all matters to do with any other buff, he has no rival that I know of even among the older generation. He is also quite book smart,¡± said Hegir.
¡°If that is all that is stopping you from accepting we can make him sub-head of the shaman where he can further gain experience until he is ready to take over the role as head shaman,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Anything else?¡± asked Carl.
¡°No, that was my only worry,¡± said Hegir.
¡°Akira, is Hegir the person you want to succeed your Grandfather?¡± asked ¨¤aron one last time for confirmation.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Hegir from this moment forward you are now the Grand elder of the main branch and will act in accordance with the role granted to you. Unfortunately, we have little time to celebrate your promotion with so much work we have to do. It will have to wait until later,¡± said Carl.
¡°Akira you can go and start preparations for building the keep while the four of us hammer out the other clan issues,¡± said Seoc.
As Akira exited the cabin he was rushed by two blurs. One was Fluffball who had been waiting near the door and the other was Mileena.
Mileena jumped at the unsuspecting Akira and hugged him tightly before grabbing his face and pulling it down so she could give him a kiss on the lips.
¡°Not in public,¡± said the embarrassed Akira.
¡°I had to wait so long to see you, and yet when I reached the shore you had already left without even thinking of waiting to greet me!¡± said Mileena as she pinched Akira''s ear.
¡°Ow...¡±
¡°Get a room you two,¡± said Azura who was standing behind Mileena.
¡°I''m sorry Mileena, but the Grand elders have given me an important task and I have to take care of it since it has to do with the whole clan. I''ll talk with you later tonight,¡± said Akira as he skillfully escaped her arms and ran away with Fluffball following him.
Mileena stood there shocked.
¡°Did he just run away from me?¡±
Chapter 155: Kodria
Akira gathered over 100 warriors that were free without anything to do and ordered them to deconstruct the log cabins on top of the hill.
¡°Put the logs off to the side so we can either rebuild the log cabins somewhere else or use them in some other project,¡± said Akira before returning to his own cabin for a few moments of privacy.
After closing the door he sat down on his bed and opened the blueprint creator tool.
His vision immediately blanked out and returned to once again be hovering over the temporary village that consisted of several hundred log cabins.
He could see the thousands of people exiting the ships, reaching the shore, and walking to the new cabins. He could even see Mileena searching for him. It was a good thing he escaped while he did.
Ding!
A new building has been added to the list of things that can be built.
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On the sidebar above the other buildings was a new blinking icon with the title castle keep. He reached out and pressed it to see what it looked like.
Thump!
An extremely large stone building appeared on the ground where the cabins were.
But unlike the other times when he had placed down cabins and outhouses, the castle keep was now colored red with a blinking message above it that read [Unable to place keep. Uneven/no foundation/blocked area].
Akira moved the keep towards the top of the hill where all but two of the cabins were currently being dismantled. The one the Grand elders were using and the one Akira was in.
The blinking errors disappeared and the color of the keep returned back to that of white stone.
¡°It''s bigger than I expected. I''ll have to clear out all the cabins and the snow wall surrounding the area,¡± said Akira as he looked at the keep on top of the hill.
He positioned the keep so that it overlooked both the village below and the lake behind the cabins. While he was inspecting the keep''s final position he found a similar snowbank inside of the planned building path. It looked like the one he had stubbed his toe one only a short time ago.
¡°Don''t tell me another hot spring?¡± asked Akira.
With the keep positioned properly, Akira confirmed the position and exited the blueprint planning tool.
Since he had only placed one building the blueprint was automatically named Keep #1 and added to his list of blueprints.
When Akira exited his cabin he made sure to take a roundabout path to dodge Mileena and escape outside of the snow walls.
It was almost impossible to sneak around with several guards following beside him but somehow he managed it.
He took out several poles with yellow flags on them and activated the keep #1 blueprint and started placing the poles as quickly as he could.
He was done in under 5 minutes.
His breathing had gotten heavier from the use of the blueprint skill and running around but he wasn''t going to faint. He felt that by repeatedly using the blueprint skill he was building up mental strength. It was as if it was less stressful than before but he could not really tell if it was just his imagination.
The guards near Akira watched him closely wondering if he would collapse again.
Akira who could see their questioning gazes felt sad that they thought he would faint again.
After catching his breath he walked over to the snowbank he had seen from above and found it was indeed a pile of frozen rocks.
The pile was far smaller than the one at the bottom of the hill.
¡°Looks like I''m quite lucky. With this, I should be able to make a bathroom that has its own hot spring!¡± Akira muttered to himself as he poked at the stones.
¡°Let''s go find some more people to start clearing this place,¡± said Akira. His guards silently followed behind him.
¡°I found you!¡± shouted a voice from behind Akira.
He looked behind him to see Mileena running towards him with a gaze a lion had when it was hunting its prey.
¡°Can''t talk, I''m busy working!¡± shouted Akira as he took off in search of other people to help him clear the hill and build the castle.
¡°Get back here!¡± shouted Mileena and thus a wild chase ensued as Akira ran through the log cabin village below trying to escape Mileena.
***
It took over a week to build the keep with the help of over a thousand warriors split between the mines, transporting the stones from one island to another using the large ships, and the rest building the keep.
Akira had to stay with the warriors that were building the keep so he could direct where to place the walls, stairs, doors, and other parts of the keep that had not been fully marked out before.
During that whole time, he had been shadowed by Mileena who had followed him everywhere he went along with his guards.
She had cheated and quickly caught up to him by using her new blink skill and latching onto him and would not let go forcing him to give up on trying to escape.
¡°Akira, your skill in building and planning things is truly amazing. Doing all of this with no blueprint! If you weren''t the chief of the Darkmoon you could be a first-class constructor,¡± said Carl as he praised Akira.
The four Grand elders along with their guards had come to watch as the last stone was placed down at the very top of the Castle keep.
¡°Thanks... I think?¡± said Akira, not sure if that was a good thing.
¡°Of course Akira would be great at something simple like this!¡± said Mileena who stood next to Akira.
¡°I''m truly surprised, judging from your past drawing skills, I would have thought you would not be suited for something like this,¡± said ¨¤aron who had seen the Ocean maps Akira had drawn.
The castle keep was square and several stories high with a flat roof and stone walls on top to allow archers and other soldiers to defend the keep from above.
There were no castle walls or towers around the keep but Akira was thinking of future plans to add them.
¡°With this, we can use one of the many rooms in the keep as an office for our meetings,¡± said Seoc.
¡°That is if it is okay with you Akira. We don''t want to be getting ahead of ourselves and bother you since this will be your home,¡± said Carl.
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¡°It''s fine if you use any of the rooms on the first floor. My living quarters are on the third floor, so there should be nothing to worry about,¡± said Akira.
¡°You sure?¡±
¡°Yes, I think all the important city sections should have their own office on the first floor as well, and I will go even one step further. I hope that you will accept my invitation to live on the second floor. There are several large rooms that you can choose from and decorate how you see fit,¡± said Akira.
¡°Truly a good idea, it is best to keep the offices in one place,¡± said Seoc.
¡°I guess we should go pick the room for our office and choose which room we''ll be staying in,¡± said Carl as he hurriedly walked into the keep passed the sturdy wooden doors.
¡°Hey, you crafty old codger! Don''t think we''ll let you have the best room!¡± said ¨¤aron chasing after Carl.
Hegir and Seoc followed behind him along with their own guards leaving Akira and Mileena outside to look at the new sturdy Castle keep.
¡°So this is our new home?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Yeah,¡± said Akira.
He did not correct her as she seemed to have already made up her mind that she would be staying with him and Azura on the third floor.
Chack, Varbu, and Delgar had all received their own smaller log cabin house that was ideal for a small family. The cabins had been built during the week using the logs from the old cabins that they had disassembled.
¡°I have to go inspect the hot spring bath. Don''t worry I''ll make sure to thoroughly check if it is safe and of a high enough standard for you to use,¡± said Mileena as she happily skipped into the keep.
¡°You just wanted to use that as an excuse,¡± muttered Akira after he was sure she was out of range.
Ding!
Castle Keep completed!
Please design a flag for the Castle keep.
This flag will represent your village and those who live in it.
Your flag can be brought to the battlefield and will give a 10% boost to the warrior''s morale. If the flag is captured by enemy forces morale will decrease by 30%.
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A blank rectangle flag appeared before Akira''s eyes with different colors to choose from on the left and several pictures on the right.
He quickly grasped how to use the new tool and started to create the flag after scanning through all of the images and picking a color for the background.
What he ended up with was a flag that had a dark blue cloth with a white moon at the top and a howling wolf head underneath.
Satisfied with the final results he pressed the complete button.
Ding!
A new incomplete village has been established!
The city planning tool has been upgraded, the village overview status has been fully unlocked. City planning can now see the cost of resources to build something.
Please give your village a name to complete the process of village creation!
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¡°Should I ask the Grand elders'' opinion for something like this?¡±
Please stop wasting time and pick a name.
|
¡°Alright... I''ll pick something... How about something related to this area... Kodria!¡±
Ding!
The village of Kodria, a 3rd tier village, has been founded!
Requirements met for 2nd tier village. Would you like to upgrade the status of the village?
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¡°Yes?¡± said Akira, having no clue what was going on. He was just following along with the prompts from the system.
A light appeared above the keep and grew bigger and brighter as it hovered in the air causing several of the warriors and civilians to start worriedly pointing and chatting about it.
When thirty seconds had passed the hovering light exploded outwards without a sound sending out waves of light passing through the Castle keep, the village below, the ships on the lake, and even the mine on the other island.
Ding!
Scan completed! Beginning to implement upgrades alongside first-time updates...
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Another flash of light blinded Akira and everyone else that was outside.
Ding!
Completed update!
2nd tier Kodria information has been updated. New buildings have been added to the planning system.
Requirements are not met for 1st tier village.
|
When Akira opened his eyes again in front of him were two flags on each side of the keep''s door and as he looked above he saw a flag at each corner of the keep''s roof.
He looked down at the village and found that there was now a large flag with a white banner underneath that had ''Kodria'' written on it in the central square.
Even the large ships had their flags changed to the village''s new flag. He could also see from a distance that there was also a flag appearing at the stone quarry.
Several other messages started to pop up all at once as they tried to vie for his attention.
But Akira''s attention was not on them as he was looking at a group of 100 warriors who had just exited the keep and were all wearing full plate armor.
They were being led by a man who appeared to be in his late 50''s to early ''60s.
Akira''s guards immediately transformed and jumped in front of Akira, their weapons and shields ready to fight even though they were outnumbered nearly 10 to 1.
They let out several threatening growls at the approaching elderly man. Fluffball stood alert next to Akira watching the old man.
The elderly man ignored the hostile actions of the guards and came within a few steps of them before kneeling down in front of Akira.
The 100 guards behind them all did the same.
As he inspected the warriors he could see that each of the warriors was wearing a coat of arms over their armor, a dark blue cloth with a white moon, and the head of a howling wolf underneath.
¡°Sire, we have answered your call! We recognize you as the lord of this castle,¡± said the old man loudly.
Akira''s guards looked at him as if asking him for an explanation. Several other warriors from the village were rushing up the hill to see what was going on.
Akira raised his hand and stopped everyone. He was just as clueless as them but he could not show that right now.
¡°Umm..so I called you...?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You did indeed sire, ¡± said the old man.
¡°Uh..who are you?¡±
¡°I am Samuel. The village adviser that you have hired,¡± said Samuel, still bowing his head to Akira.
As Akira looked at the old man, information appeared above his head: Werewolf Samuel, City adviser.
¡°And they are?¡± asked Akira.
Samuel looked to see who Akira was pointing at.
¡°They are your loyal castle guards! There is no need to worry about their loyalty as they like me are one with the keep!¡± said Samuel.
¡°One with the... wha...?¡±
¡°Sorry, you can stand,¡± said Akira after a minute trying to digest everything.
Samuel slowly stood up and brushed off the wet snow from his legs.
¡°Sire, there is no time to be dilly-dallying outside. There are over a hundred things that require your attention. If you do not take care of them now it will cause problems for the village and even more, work will be piled up for you to take care of.
Seeing as you are quite young I am sure you have many questions, but you''ll have to wait until we are finished with sorting out the village then I can answer any questions you have. Please follow me to your office.¡±
¡°My office? Wait, what about them?¡± asked Akira pointing at the castle guards that were still kneeling.
¡°Just give them an order and they will fulfill it to the best of their ability. Ah, just a warning, but they can not leave the village, so using them to do something outside is impossible,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Um... please diligently guard the castle for now,¡± said Akira.
The guards all stood and smartly saluted Akira letting out a loud howl from inside their helmets.
They parted ways making a clear path to the door of the castle to allow Akira and Samuel to pass.
When Akira''s personal guards tried to follow they were blocked by the castle guards.
¡°Move aside you brainless mutt,¡± said Dolph as he tried to push past one of the guards.
Seeing Akira''s troubled face Samuel spoke up, ¡°You need to let them know who is allowed to enter the keep.¡±
¡°Ah, so it was something like that?¡± said Akira.
Chapter 156: No more running
Akira sat in his new office on the third floor. There was currently only a large wooden desk and a few chairs in the large stone room making it feel extremely wide and empty.
A fire was burning in the fireplace to his right warming up the stone room as well as lighting up the dark corners of the room. Fluffball was sleeping
¡°So you really are just the conscience of the castle?¡± asked Akira, still in amazement.
¡°Sire we have many things still left to take care. Although most of the more severe ones have been taken care of,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Still?¡± asked Akira.
He had been making decisions for over an hour now.
¡°To give you a break let''s talk about the village overview information. Please open up the information window,¡± said Samuel.
Akira opened the village overview tab and found several things inside.
[Village 2nd tier, Population: 24,000+, Treasury: 0, Safety: 30%, No ally or enemy.]
¡°As you can see there are several things to look at. But in my opinion, the two most important things listed are safety and treasury.¡±
¡°Safety and Treasury?¡± asked Akira as he looked at the information.
¡°Safety is at 30%, and treasury...0,¡± said Akira as he scratched his head in embarrassment.
¡°Yes, it is quite pitiful, but this is no surprise since the village has just started,¡± said Samuel as he pulled out a leather pouch of coins from his own bag and placed it on top of the desk.
Akira picked it up and opened the pouch and saw a large pile of golden coins each with a finely drawn wolf head stamped on both sides.
¡°There are 300 Wuf coins in the bag. That should be enough money to keep a village of this size running for a short time. You can use it to fund building projects and buy the necessary supplies,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Wuf coins? What country did these coins come from?¡±
¡°These are Kodria village''s own coins and all other coins you receive from now on will be converted to Wuf coins.¡±
Akira took a look at the copper silver and gold coins that were in his own coin purse and found that they all had wolf heads on them as well.
As for the security status, 30% is not good at all that is just asking for trouble. It would have probably been lower without the Castle keep adding to the security of the village.¡±
¡°How do I make sure it stays high?¡± asked Akira.
¡°A strong military, special defensive buildings, a lot of guards patrolling the village. Making sure that the village is sanitary and the people have enough food. The first two cost a lot but if the last three things mentioned are lacking they will have a heavy effect on the security of the village.¡±
¡°You can also see under the information of the city the current requirements needed in order for the village to rank up. Right now you will need to complete the 2nd Tier requirements in order to rank up to a 1st tier village. And from a 1st tier village to a 3rd tier town and so on and so forth. Honestly, the village tiers are rather easy to accomplish, so you shouldn''t have any problems,¡± said Samuel.
¡°So that''s how this system works? So there are higher ranks and each of them has three tiers?¡±
¡°Yes, that is correct. If you check the requirements to upgrade you will see that certain buildings needed to be built along with other requirements.
With each new tier, new buildings will be unlocked for you to use in making your village stronger.
As the village levels up the castle keep will have more options such as adding walls, towers and have more large weapon placements.
Also, I may have forgotten to tell you but with each specialized building that can be built, you can decide who is and isn''t allowed to enter it. If they are not allowed to enter it will act as if it was locked.¡±
Knock Knock!
Akira looked up and saw the four Grand elders standing at the door.
¡°So this is where you were! We''ve been looking for you to discuss something!¡± shouted ¨¤aron in a cheerful mood.
¡°Please come in and sit down,¡± said Akira as he pointed to the empty stools near the desk.
¡°I rather stand than sit on something painful-looking like that,¡± said Seoc as he eyed the stubby hard stool.
¡°What can I help you with?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Right now we only have 50 gold left after selling all the furs and other items to buy the supplies for the new village. It will not last more than a month so we need to figure out what we''re going to do in order to bring in more money,¡± said Carl.
¡°Ah, about that, you don''t need to worry much right now I have enough gold to cover us for a while,¡± said Akira.
¡°If that is the case then we can move on to the second matter. We would like to open a bank to offer out loans. The main office will be in the keep using one of the first floor offices. Can you spare any money for this?¡± asked Seoc.
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¡°I can give you 100 gold coins. But isn''t that a little early there is nothing here for anyone to buy or sell,¡± said Akira as he took out ten stacks of gold coins and pushed them over to the grand elder.
¡°Right now the housing is quite cramped. If we start building smaller cabins for families and set the price at a reasonable price I am sure there will be a few that would want to buy one,¡± said Hegir.
¡°What''s this? I have never seen a coin like this before,¡± said Seoc as he picked up one of the coins.
¡°It''s the new coin of Kodria village,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Kodria village, I saw that name on the flags that were put up outside. Was it you who picked that name and put up the new flags?¡± asked Carl.
¡°Yeah, sorry for not asking for your input. It''s sorta like our clan and the village''s new coat of arms,¡± said Akira.
¡°No need for you to apologize. I think the flag and the name fit just fine,¡± said Hegir.
¡°Same,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°While you are here can you help me with deciding on a few other things?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Sure, we have time,¡± said Carl.
¡°Samuel can explain,¡± said Akira pointing to the elderly man who was around their age.
¡°We still need to figure out the governing system of the village and what it will be in the future when it grows. Laws to govern the village need to be created. A tax system needs to be decided upon and implemented when convenient so that the treasury is not just leaking gold. The...¡±
And so Akira and the grand elders spent the rest of the day hammering out the details of the governing system, laws, taxes, and future plans for the clan.
It was decided that Akira would be the lord of the city while the grand elders would be the advisers who oversaw the internal runnings of the village.
¡°...as I was saying you need to spend money to make money,¡± said Samuel.
¡°But if I waste it on pointless stuff, that is not going to help the village. I need to keep some money in case there is trouble in the future where we need the extra gold,¡± said Akira.
¡°So stingy. Then don''t spend it on pointless things and your problem is solved. Either way, you shouldn''t have too much trouble with earning money if you trade with the wandering tribes.
I am sure if you keep following the plan I have set out for you, Kodria will become one of the most important places on Foradverold. With importance, people will keep coming to the village to live, work, and trade! Which will bring in more wealth! So you need to keep spending the gold to grow faster!¡± said Samuel.
¡°Sorta makes sense,¡± said ¨¤aron while scratching his head with a face that screamed ¡®I have no idea what is going on¡¯.
¡°There are other villages around here? I thought there was nothing this far south?¡± asked Hegir.
¡°Not anywhere around here, and I wouldn''t call them villages. Just small wandering tribes that live off of hunting and gathering. A few even delve into dungeons and gather rare materials from the monsters and the caves to sell back at the trade villages north,¡± said Samuel.
¡°I suggest that we call it a day for now and finish whatever Is left for tomorrow,¡± said Carl.
¡°Good work everyone,¡± said Seoc as he stood up from the short stubby stool and let out a few groans.
¡°You need to get better furniture in here, my butt has gone completely numb and my back is killing me,¡± said ¨¤aron.
Akira waved the elders off and headed to his own large suite down the hall.
Upon entering the large suit that he was currently sharing with his sister he found Mileena standing near the living room fire with what looked like a luxury dark blue robe that had the Kodria crest on the chest and sleeves.
A towel was draped around her neck with her wet hair hanging over it.
¡°Ahh-! This sure does taste good,¡± said Mileena as she drank down a fresh glass of moomer milk.
¡°That''s your third glass. You know... no matter how much you drink it will not help grow them,¡± said Azura.
¡°Who said I was drinking this to make them grow!? I was just thirsty! And you had more than me!¡± said Mileena.
¡°Welcome back Akira,¡± said Maya who was sitting on a wooden bench near the fire reading a book.
¡°No! Don''t tell me you heard that!¡± moaned Mileena her face turning beat red as she looked at Akira.
¡°Mileena... you have a milk mustache,¡± said Akira.
With the back of her hand, she quickly wiped the milk away.
¡°So how was the hot spring bath?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Amazing!¡± said Azura.
¡°I feel so refreshed! It''s such a great thing to have in such a cold place!¡± said Mileena.
¡°It was fine,¡± said Maya as she turned a page of the book.
¡°So you guys took turns using the bath?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No, we all used it at the same time, just someone fell asleep,¡± said Azura looking at Mileena.
¡°You should have woken me before you left. I almost became a prune!¡± said Mileena.
Akira entered his own room and tossed his unnecessary items onto the ground and gathered some soap and a washcloth from his bag before exiting his room again.
¡°If you''re going to use the bath, do you want me to wash your back for you?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°You vixen! Stop trying to corrupt my brother!¡± said Azura.
¡°No, I can do it myself thanks,¡± said Akira.
¡°Make sure you open the large windows, they give a truly nice view,¡± said Maya as Akira exited the noisy suite.
As soon as Akira entered the bathroom the sound of flowing water could be heard. Everything in the room was covered in a warm misty fog.
He had not designed the bathroom so he was surprised at the size of the ''Bath''. Could it even be called a bath? It was as large as a pool and was even larger than the royal bath he had used at Jezebel''s castle.
After a quick search, he found the large wooden shutters that were closed high up on the wall.
He walked over and opened them up, shivering as the cold air rushed in.
From the wide-open window, he could see the village below. Several small lights from their windows lit up the dark night with smoke escaping their chimneys.
¡°Well it is a somewhat nice view but not that amazing,¡± said Akira.
The misty fog that had been trapped in the bathroom was quickly escaping out the window making it so that he could see everything more clearly now.
With the air getting cold he quickly stripped out of his armor and clothes putting them in a basket that was already in the room.
After a quick scrub outside of the hot spring pool, he immediately jumped into the water shivering from the cold air.
¡°Ah-... this temperature is great. It''s warming me up from the core...¡± said Akira as he let out a sigh. His muscles started to relax as the heat seeped into them.
After swimming around the pool a few times he looked towards the windows and stopped moving.
What he could see was the night sky full of unfamiliar stars twinkling brightly. As he watched the night sky a shooting star flew past.
Akira quietly made a wish.
While he stared up at the sky he mulled over all the changes and troubles that he had experienced in just a few years.
There was so much that he had to do that it was a little overwhelming but at least he had some idea which way to go as well as the help from the four grand elders. If he followed the path that the system set he could continue to build the village up into something truly special.
¡°With the founding of this village, I am done running!¡±
Chapter 157: Building a village from scratch 1
Akira finished putting on the new clothes that had been given to him by Samuel. They were a dark blue color the same as the new flag that was now flying everywhere. On the sleeves and the chest was a white crest of a wolf head howling at the moon.
He put on his armor over his new clothes, buckled his sword belt, and took a new large fur-lined cloak off of a wall. The cloth of the cloak was also a dark blue and had a large white embroidered howling wolf under a moon on the back.
Fully equipped for the busy day ahead of him he exited his room into the empty living room.
There were only burning coals in the fireplace giving the room a dim flickering red glow. He took a few logs from a nearby pile and placed them onto the fire before quietly leaving the room as it was still early morning and the girls had not woken up yet.
On his way to his office, he made a quick detour to the castle kitchen and grabbed some breakfast that he could eat while he walked.
Samuel was waiting for him outside of his office when he arrived still munching on the food.
¡°We have many things we must do today, sire. Mainly we need to work on getting the buildings needed for a tier 1 village built,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Right, where can I see the requirements again?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Next to the village information tab,¡± said Samuel.
Akira found it and opened the tab and began reading the requirements to rank up to a tier 1 village.
Requirements for tier 1 village:
-Village granary built
-Two months food saved up in granary,
-must have more than one source of permanent food gathered
-5000 population.
-security above 30%
-4 other types of buildings built
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Village Granary: A warehouse for storing grain.
Simple fence: Basic fortification, Weak defense, can stop wild animals.
Simple fishing dock: A dock where rowboats and small sail ships can dock.
Logging camp: A place to gather wood and replant new trees for later use.
Basic Mining Field: Speeds up the collection of ore.
Village level dining hall: Dining area for village residents.
Basic blacksmith shop: Able to build a variety of farm tools, such as axes, chisels, and other iron tools. Skilled blacksmiths can do more with limited tools.
General store: Sells various types of daily necessities.
Sawmill: Cuts the logs into planks and other shapes needed to build certain things including furniture.
Carpentry shop: Makes furniture and other wooden products.
Tavern: A cozy place to enjoy drinking and eating warm beverages and food with other people.
Watchtowers: A high platform to see a good distance away. It can only fit one person.
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¡°Are these all the buildings that need to be built before I can upgrade?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Not necessarily, just what the requirements say. I suggest that you do build everything before having the village rank up or Kodria will have huge gaps in certain areas if you ignore them just to rank up,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Guess I''ll need to start working on a new blueprint,¡± said Akira as he entered his office with Samuel following behind him.
Akira sat down behind his desk and after finishing the food in his hands he went straight to working on a new blueprint to include the easier to build and more important buildings.
He could see all of the new buildings on the side and with the upgrade to the new blueprint creator, they all had the number of resources needed to build them listed under their name.
¡°Finished! At least for the most important ones,¡± said Akira as he completed the village blueprint #3.
¡°I suggest we get started immediately. I already made sure that the loggers were sent out so we can begin building as soon as the blueprint was done.¡±
¡°Let''s go then!¡±
Akira and Samuel exited the castle where the new castle guards, all wearing the new coat of arms, were guarding the entrance to the castle and patrolling the area making sure that nothing came close.
When the castle guards saw Akira their eyes locked on him and they all stopped and saluted Akira with their swords. They held the position until he was out of their view.
Akira looked back at the castle and saw that there were also several guards on top of the castle keep watching everything that happened below them.
¡°Is everything to your liking,¡± asked Samuel as he watched Akira inspecting the guards from afar.
¡°I have no complaints,¡± said Akira as he turned his attention to the open village square where several hundred werewolf warriors were standing around waiting for him.
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¡°Everyone, gather around!¡± shouted Samuel.
The warriors all looked towards the new person they had never seen before with a questioning look but when they saw Akira behind him they all walked over to him.
¡°We''ll be extremely busy for the next few weeks as we work on many new projects. The buildings and other infrastructure you build will be used to keep the new village running smoothly so I need you all to give it your best,¡± said Akira as soon as the werewolf warriors gathered around.
¡°Yes, chief!¡± shouted everyone.
Of course, they would not be working for free. Everyone would be getting paid a set amount for every day that they worked along with receiving food while working. There currently wasn''t anything for them to spend the money on so they could save it for when they needed it later.
It was a way for Akira to boost the not yet established economy of the village. He would have to figure out something to replenish the village coffers so that they would not run out of money.
For now, he had to prioritize the more important buildings and infrastructure that would help grow the village in order to save on spending too much gold on pointless things.
Akira started to sort the werewolves into two groups and explained to each of them what they were to build.
He led each of the groups to the areas that the buildings and infrastructure were to be built and marked the places. After which he helped carry logs over to the shore where several new wooden docks were being built.
This helped the morale of workers who saw him working alongside them. Several docks were completed before noon arrived.
While working on the docks Akira had learned that Ardolf was now going to work as a fisherman now that he was retired from fighting.
¡°With this, the smaller ships and the rowboats can now use the docks as a place to moor their ships, as using it to make entering and exiting the ships along with loading and unloading the ships far easier. We no longer need to jump into the water to get to land,¡± said a satisfied Akira.
¡°You really are working hard,¡± said Mileena as she handed Akira a fish sandwich she had personally made while he had been working.
Although the sandwich was nothing special, bread was now considered a luxury as they only had a limited supply of wheat and flour due to it being winter as well as being so far south away from any large cities.
Mileena happily watched Akira eat the food she had made while Azura watched with an unhappy face because she was a few seconds late in giving him food she had made herself. So she ate it herself.
When everyone had finished eating their noon meal Akira took the rest of the warriors to help work on building a simple fence that surrounded the entire village.
When creating the blueprint he had made sure to keep enough space for the village to expand with more houses and buildings.
The fence was nothing special but it was far sturdier than the snow walls that would crumble far too easily.
In order to further strengthen the fences, a layer of snow was packed around it. The fence''s height was far shorter than the large snow wall in front of the village near the lake.
Akira had decided against creating ice walls around the city since they would melt during the short summer months.
Either way, the current fence and snow walls were only going to be a temporary thing until they had the resources, proper weather, and the right plans to build something better.
The fences layered with snow was a large project and took several days to complete. While they were building the fence other buildings were also being worked on as well.
***
With the completion of new docks several days before the lake was now extremely active with many smaller ships and rowboats filled with new fishers going out early in the morning to catch fish all day in order to help feed the village.
The large ships were anchored farther out guarding the river entrance to the lake, keeping a close watch for enemy ships or monsters that might attack the main island.
Akira walked by the docks and saw a small fish hatchery had been built using several nets in order to make sure a constant supply of fish could be found in the lake.
Varbu continued to oversee the gathering of the lumber needed for projects along with a large number of sturdy orcs. While Klyn had handed over the reins of gathering fruits, nuts, and herbs to goblins. Since he was always busy now with his grandfather trying to cram his head full of information he needed for his new position as sub-Head Shaman.
Everyone whether they were a werewolf, orc, or goblin pitched in to hunt wild animals and birds to eat. Several more large pens were created for the newly domesticated animals that were now being bred and taken care of by the villagers.
***
¡°I haven''t been able to see you all that much lately since you do nothing but work,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I can''t help it since there is so much to do,¡± said Akira as he ate a late lunch with Mileena and Varbu. The others were all busy with their own chores and important tasks.
¡°What''s next on the list?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°We need to work on the logging camp for the loggers to have some protection from the elements when the weather turns bad as well as a place to keep their tools and other logging equipment safe. We also need to prepare the area for a tree farm. We''ll have to use some of the Moomers and reindeer to help pull out the stumps to clear the land,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ah, that would be much appreciated. Having a place to warm up and keep our equipment will be nice. What about a sawmill?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°We''ll build one close to the logging camp, but we have to build a forge first in order to create the large saws for it,¡± said Akira.
Everything in the village so far had been created with hand tools that they already had, but it would be far better if they had a sawmill to cut the wood for them.
¡°What''s this I hear about a forge?¡± asked Delgar as he joined the three eating their lunch.
¡°Ah, Delgar. Just the person I was going to go find later. I need you to help find a nearby source of metal where we can set up a mine to supply the village''s needs. With a mine producing ore the forge that will be built will become very busy,¡± said Akira.
¡°This is indeed a heartening thing to hear! I will have to inform the others and we will put our full effort into finding a suitable place! There may be some metals near the quarry or somewhere on the other side of the lake,¡± said Delgar with a smile on his face.
It only took Akira and the builders a day to build the logging camp but the task of pulling stumps took a lot longer than Akira had expected due to the hard ground hindering their progress.
They needed it to be completed before the warm months arrived in order to plant new trees immediately. The shamen of the werewolf clans would be in charge of overseeing the tree farm as some of them had chants that would help with plant growth.
While the majority of orcs and werewolf''s worked on pulling out the stumps, Akira oversaw the building of a large warehouse at the bottom of the hill near the keep where it was close enough for the castle guards to keep an eye on it.
The large amounts of furs gathered from hunting were placed inside along with other surplus stone blocks, logs, Snowflake flowers, fruit, and other materials that were being gathered and produced now all had a place to be stored.
Akira had received many furs as gifts from hunters and placed them in the warehouse along with the others.
The biggest project out of all the buildings other than the castle keep was the granary. It required the area where it was to be built to be cleared of snow and ice along with laying down a sturdy foundation to support the stone granary walls.
The granary would have several compartments for long term storing all of the different foods that the city would need. The extra fish and meat hunted from wild animals would be either salted and dried or smoked and placed inside, while the herbs and plants would also have a place to stay. As well as the grains and other produce they traded for. It would be a much better way to store the food than leaving them in a box outside.
While those projects were underway Akira, Delgar, and the Dwarves, found a suitable place on the second island that had many resources including Korium ore, Icium ore, coal, and even the few rare gems and diamonds.
Akira left the creation of a mine to Delgar and the other Dwarves.
With all the material they were getting from the mines and the furs they would have no problem with gaining money later if they traded with Jerora.
While Akira worked on the specialized buildings the grand elders consulted with Akira who had given them a rough blueprint of the smaller log cabins that could be built and bought by families at a decent price.
The small log cabins were all being built in the open area Akira had left for them still inside of the new snow layered fence.
There were so many things going on that Akira was having a hard time keeping up with everything.
Chapter 158: Building a village from scratch 2
Akira stood inside of the completed blacksmith shop inspecting the small building that had several anvils and two large forges.
¡°This building should suit our needs for now,¡± said Delgar who stood next to Akira.
¡°With this place, we can now repair our armor and weapons as well as starting to produce the tools and other items needed to keep the village running. Delgar, since both the mine and the quarry are finished I''ll leave the forge to you and the other dwarves,¡± said Akira.
¡°Right! It doesn''t look like much compared to some of the grand forges the king had but it will do. I''ll need to create the tools that we are lacking right away. We won''t be able to make anything until we have all the proper tools, but I''m sure the others are just as ready as me to make something out of the minerals that we mined over the past few days,¡± said Delgar as he started to stretch to get ready for a long session of working at the forge and anvil.
¡°I''ll leave it to you since I have to oversee the other buildings that are being built right now,¡± said Akira as he waved and exited the forge.
The forge was currently located right at the base of the hill near to the warehouse and close to the castle keep right in the center of the village.
Akira spent the rest of the day supervising the various building projects. Before he returned to the castle keep he stopped by the forge to see how Delgar and the Dwarves were doing.
¡°Zzzzz...¡± loud snoring could be heard along with clangs and bangs from a hammer.
As he stepped into the forge he looked around for the source of the snoring and found it was coming from a large ball of fur coats in one corner of the forge.
¡°Zzzzz...¡±
Delgar and the other dwarves were not paying him nor the ball of fur any attention as they were furiously hammering on whatever it was they were working on.
Akira walked over the ball of fur and after removing a layer found that it was in fact Chack.
¡°Hey Chack, wake up.¡±
¡°I''m awake!... I lie! I was taking a nap in my new favorite place,¡± said Chack as he quickly stood up and stretched.
¡°What are you doing sleeping in the corner? It would be troublesome if you were to get in Delgar''s way since you could cause an accident,¡± said Akira.
¡°This is my new favorite place to stay since it is so warm,¡± said Chack as he yawned showing the large sharp teething in his mouth.
¡°He''s not bothering me as long as he stays in the corner,¡± said Delgar as he put down his hammer and took off his leather apron.
¡°Were you able to make all of the tools you needed?¡± asked Akira.
¡°All of the basic tools that we needed to start have been finished. We should be able to start working on whatever you need tomorrow,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Want to come over and have a meal with me?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Not tonight...Glola wants me back home before it gets too late. She told me if I stayed out too late...¡± Delgar shook his head as he remembered her words.
¡°Chack, how about you?¡±
¡°Yes, I would love to...I lie! I just want to go back to sleep!¡±
¡°Haaa...I''m almost out of wine...¡± mumbled Delgar as he looked at his nearly deflated wineskin.
¡°This heat is drying out my scales,¡± complained Chack.
Akira bade the two farewells and walked to the castle where he ate dinner with Azura, Mileena, and Maya.
***
Another day had passed and it was now nearing dinner time.
¡°Awhoooooo~!¡± a howl echoed out over the lake warming of two unknown ships had been spotted on the river heading to the lake.
Everyone stopped their work, grabbed their weapons, and ran to the top of the snow walls to defend against a possible attack.
Akira watched from the top of the wall as two of the large ships intercepted the smaller boats, but after only a few minutes of talking the smaller ships were allowed to enter the lake.
As the ships came closer Akira could see that the two small ships held several dwarfs and were filled with several bags and boxes of items.
Akira descended the snow wall followed by his guards and walked to the docks in order to greet the Dwarves.
¡°Akira I have returned! Look at this place! So much has changed¡± said Burkin as he hopped out of one of the ships and landed onto the wooden dock.
¡°To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Don''t be so formal! Aren''t we friends!?¡± asked Burkin as he slapped Akira on the back and let out a loud hearty laugh.
The guards behind Akira bristled at the rough greeting Akira had received but were calmed down when Akira raised his hand signaled them to let it be.
¡°Look! I brought some housewarming gifts!¡± said Burkin as he pointed at two large casks being unloaded from one of the ships by several stout dwarfs.
¡°It''s Shroom ale. A specialty of my clan and quite expensive. You might start seeing crazy things if you drink it with an empty stomach so it is best if you eat some food with it.¡±
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¡°Would you like to come and have dinner with me so we can discuss business over some food?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Sure, sure,¡± said Burkin as he followed behind Akira after giving his fellow dwarves a few instructions.
The two casks of Shroom ale were picked up by two of Akira''s guards and brought it along with them.
Akira stopped by the small forge where Delgar and the other Dwarves had been working on the different saws for the sawmill all day.
The Dwarves who were all bent over inspecting the newly finished blades felt that the room had become quite crowded and looked to the door to find Akira, Burkin, and several guards crammed inside the entrance.
¡°You even have a forge? You guys really work fast!¡± said Burkin.
¡°Delgar you should bring Glola with you tonight since we have some rare ale. You guys are welcome to come as well,¡± said Akira tempting Delgar and the other Dwarves with the rare ale.
¡°Hmmm...I''m sure Glola won''t mind if I only stay for a few hours,¡± said Delgar with thoughts of how tasty the rare ale would be.
¡°I''ll join you as well!¡± said Chack as he sat up from his nap in the corner of the forge.
***
¡°...so in short I convinced the old-timers to let me form trade alliances down here and see if I can contact the wandering tribes and trade with them as well,¡± said Burkin before he took a large gulp of his shroom ale.
¡°So you want to use Kodria as a base of operations while you search for other wandering tribes to trade with?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yep, I can also sell you anything you need from other places at a good price as well,¡± said Burkin.
¡°Well, money is tight right now, so we can''t buy much of anything right now,¡± said Akira.
¡°Not to worry, I can buy anything that you have for sale right now. Plus we won''t just be staying here for free. Well pay for room and board and the food we eat,¡± said Burkin.
¡°We have a few items that are currently just sitting in the warehouse. We were going to take them to Jerora and sell them but if I can sell it all to you for a decent price then that would be a real big help.¡±
¡°Can I ask for a big favor from you?¡± said Burkin after another swig of his ale.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°I want to pay you to build a general store for me in your village so I can sell and buy things from there. I can pay a monthly rental fee and pay you a tax on anything that is sold in the store. If you allow me to set up a shop here then I truly will have set up base here and it will not be just a temporary stay,¡± said Burkin.
¡°I don''t see a problem with that if you are paying. But as I said before we don''t have that much money right now so there won''t be many people who will buy anything for the shop. I''m sure everyone would want to sell you things. You might be better off setting up shop in Jerora or investing more in your wife Kurzlin''s shop.¡±
¡°...this is supposed to be a wedding gift to Kurzlin. Jerora is a great place to have a shop as many people go there for trading but the cost of renting land and a building is also extremely high.
Some months it''s hard to break even. All she does whenever I go back to her shop, is complain about me being away for a long time or the high rent. If you can do this for me...then maybe she will stop nagging me...¡± said Burkin as he stared deep into his cup.
¡°I see...Although I still think you should reconsider since you might lose more money than you make. But if you insist then I''ll find a place to build the store for you as long as you pay the cost for the workers and material,¡± said Akira.
¡°We have a lot of Savings and can weather some rough months. This is an investment for the future. How much gold will you need?¡± asked Burkin as he began to reach for his leather coin pouch.
¡°We''ll have to figure that out later,¡± said Akira.
¡°Wait if he is allowed to pay you to build a shop then I want to pay you to build a tavern!¡± said Delgar. ¡°...and then I can have some peace and quiet while she busies herself with running the tavern.¡±
¡°Ah, such a great idea! I was so shocked to see that your village had so many things already but not one of the most important buildings, a tavern!¡± said Burkin.
¡°I agree. It is truly a sad thing,¡± said Delgar.
The other Dwarves that were sitting on wooden chairs near the burning fireplace all nodded their heads in agreement.
¡°We have no extra ale or wine to sell so I felt building a tavern was not worth the cost right now,¡± said Akira.
¡°Judging by Burkin''s fine tastes in ale I''m sure I can buy decent wine and ale from him,¡± said Delgar confidently.
¡°Of course! If you have the gold I can get you any type of wine or ale! Just let me know what you want and on my next trip north I can bring it with me!¡± said Burkin thumping his chest proudly.
¡°Plus Klyn said he would start working on cultivating the berries for winterberry wine,¡± said Varbu.
¡°It will be a long time before we can start making any large quantity of winterberry wine. We have already gathered a large number of seeds to plant when the weather starts warming,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Don''t drink it all when it is made! I want to buy some as well to trade with other cities and towns,¡± said Burkin.
¡°Alright both of you will need to come to my office tomorrow and we can hammer out the details,¡± said Akira.
***
The grand elders, Akira, Samuel, and the two dwarfs all sat in Akira''s office going over the final details of trade and building the tavern and general store.
¡°So I have estimated the current cost of labor and materials for the general store will be 40 Wuf coins and the tavern will cost 60 Wuf coins,¡± said Samuel as he handed Burkin and Delgar a price of paper with the cost of everything written down on it.
¡°A good price, I have no complaint so where do I sign?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°I think I have enough to cover it all and still pay for the large order of ale and wine,¡± said Delgar as he counted his gold.
¡°These are the deeds of the shops. Sign here and here,¡± said Samuel as he pointed to lines on the pieces of paper on Akira''s desk.
Burkin dipped the feather pen into the inkwell and signed his name on two documents.
Delgar did so as well for the tavern.
¡°This one is for you and this is for our records,¡± said Samuel as he handed them one of the copies of the deed and put the others into a folder.
¡°With your payment, we can begin building immediately,¡± said Akira.
¡°Where will the buildings be built?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°I was planning to have them built next to the central plaza. So that they will be at the heart of the village where everyone can reach them,¡± said Akira, happy with the large sum that he had just received.
¡°Now let''s talk trade,¡± said Burkin. ¡°For the furs, gems, diamonds, and other miscellaneous stuff, I will pay these prices.¡±
Burkin wrote down the prices for each item and passed the paper over to Akira who looked at the paper and studied the prices he was offering.
¡°You could probably get a slightly higher price for the gems and diamonds at Jerora but you would need to spend some time travailing there to sell them,¡± said Burkin.
¡°The price is fine, I am aware that time is money and it would be foolish to waste my time for only a slight rise. With the inflow of gold we should be good for a little longer,¡± said Akira as he handed Samuel the gold he had received from the two dwarves.
¡°How long will you be staying?¡±
¡°Since there is so much to do I won''t be staying here long. If you can sell me some provisions then I can head out with my kin and search for the wandering clans and see if I can trade with them. I have brought a lot of gold and miscellaneous items with me on this trip and I am sure that the wandering tribes that live this far south would need some of the items. Just make sure to have the items I bought ready when I return so I can gather the items when I head back up north,¡± said Burkin.
¡°With luck when you return both the shop and tavern will be built,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 159: Grand-opening
Akira stood inside the large empty candlelit tavern and watched as several freshly made tables, chairs, and benches were carried into the tavern.
The general shop and the tavern had both been quickly built. The builders put in far more effort than he expected when they learned that the building was to be a tavern. Both buildings were placed next to the central plaza in the center of the city.
¡°Put those there and there,¡± said Glola as she guided the furniture carriers on where to place the tables and chairs.
The wooden furniture was one of the first things built using the freshly cut logs that had come out of the new sawmill.
¡°This is quite the upgrade from the small tavern you used to run,¡± said Akira as he looked around seeing two fire pits near the center of the tavern which helped heat the tavern and gave off a soft yellow light. There were also sturdy poles next to the fire to allow roasting of large game over the fire.
¡°It can hold a few hundred people,¡± Delgar nodded as he watched Glola position the tables and chairs.
¡°This won''t be enough room to serve everyone in the village so I bet you both will be swamped,¡± said Akira as he looked at the tables.
¡°We can always expand the tavern later. You are mistaken on one thing, I won''t be working here since I have some plans of my own. Glola will be hiring several people to help serve the customers,¡± said Delgar.
¡°I''m sure this place will be a great help with employing people who are unable to log, mine, hunt, or build things,¡± said Akira.
¡°How is the general store?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°I need to head over there right now. I was just stopping by to check out the tavern now that it is finished. Kofac will probably be waiting for me at the shop so I shouldn''t keep him waiting.¡±
¡°With these two buildings, it''s starting to really feel like a proper village. Ah! Before you leave can I get permission to add on a side room to the tavern?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°You already want to expand the tavern after it was just built?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No, it has nothing to do with the tavern. It has to do with my own project. I just want to add a small room to the side of the tavern with enough room to sell some of my armor and weapons and other odds and bits.¡±
¡°You can add it, but don''t go overboard with expanding the tavern too far since we have limited space around the central plaza where everything is a premium price to build. Do you need any help with planning the extension?¡±
¡°No, I have the help of the other dwarves who also want to use it as a place to sell their own stuff,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Don''t forget that tonight is the grand opening!¡± Glola reminded Akira.
Akira waved goodbye to the two dwarves before leaving the tavern. The General store was a short walk away just on the opposite side of the Plaza.
Kofac was waiting outside for Akira. He was the son of Burkin''s sister and had been pushed off onto Burkin. His sister wanted him to teach Kofac the ways of a merchant due to her son''s lack of skill in both mining and smithing.
Kofac had a similar look and build to Burkin but was tens of years younger and his short beard had only started to grow a few years before on his chubby babyface.
His skin was far softer looking and really showed off his young age compared to Delgar and Burkin who were far older or more rugged looking. He even looked younger than Akira.
Delgar did not want to take the young dwarf into the unexplored wilderness so he had given Kofac the task of setting up and watching over the shop when it was completely built.
¡°Sorry for keeping you waiting, Kofac. Have you had a chance to looked over the shop?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I have and it is built sturdy enough for now,¡± said the young dwarf.
¡°If you like we can go gather the items your uncle bought,¡± said Akira pointing to the guards that were behind him.
¡°It would be best if we could do that. I don''t want to disappoint my uncle so I need to get the store up and running. Has he already paid for all of the items and the rent for this month?¡± asked Kofac.
¡°He made sure to take care of that before leaving. All you have to worry about is the taxes from the sales you make,¡± said Akira.
¡°With uncle traveling to the wandering tribes, there may be some of those tribes that travel to Kodria to trade in person. It really was a good idea to set up a shop here.¡±
For the rest of the morning, Akira along with his guards helped Kofac move the items from the warehouse and place them onto one of the several newly built shelves inside of the general store.
Kofac organized everything to his liking trying to make it so the store didn''t look so empty. He nodded with satisfaction when looking at the shelves that were now filled with a variety of items all ready to be sold.
¡°Kofac, I hope you don''t mind me asking but, how long have you been learning under your uncle?¡± asked Akira as he placed down the last item onto a display shelf at the front of the general store.
¡°About... 5 years I think? This is the first time that uncle has taken me with him on his travels,¡± said Kofac happily.
¡°Just how old are you?¡±
¡°This year I will be 31. I know I am still really young and not an adult yet but I can take care of my uncle''s shop well enough,¡± said Kofac.
¡°You''re older than me! How are you not an adult?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Since we Dwarves live such long lives when you turn 50 you are considered an adult. I still have almost 20 more years until I can call myself an adult.¡±
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¡°Excuse me is this the place where I can sell items?¡± asked a young werewolf who stood at the door looking at Akira and his guards with awe.
¡°Everything is in order here so I''ll let you take care of your businesses,¡± said Akira leaving Kofac to talk with the young werewolf.
***
Akira stood over a piece of glowing metal that was laying on the large anvil.
The hammer in his hand continued to rain heavy blows down onto the metal as he used the tongs to move it this way and that way shaping it into what he envisioned in his head.
The forge was empty since the Delgar and the other Dwarves had all gathered at the tavern waiting for it to open so they could celebrate as if it were a huge holiday.
Akira used this time to work on some miscellaneous projects he had been wanting to get to but could not due to the constant moving and lack of facilities.
He continued to work over the large piece of metal only putting down his hammer when he felt that the new weapon was finished.
What lay in front of him was a large double-bladed Ax with a heavy metal shaft. Akira wiped the sweat from his brows as he inspected the large weapon.
It was far heavier than any weapon Akira would use in a battle.
He had experimented with several other lighter versions but this was the sturdiest of the bunch using a mixture of Korium ore and Puminium.
¡°Varbu, what do you think?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Can I?¡± asked Varbu, his hand hovering over the large battleax.
Akira nodded.
Varbu had trouble picking it up with only one hand so he grabbed onto it with both hands and lifted the battleax easily.
Akira followed him out of the forge into the open street. Although he was expecting it the cold air was quite a shock change from the sweltering heat inside of the forge causing shiver for some time.
Varbu, now having a wider, more open space, began to test out the feeling of using the large ax. Loud bangs echoed out as the ax slammed into the ground causing chunks of ice, snow, and dirt to fly into the air.
¡°It''ll do,¡± said Varbu after looking at the new weapon closely to see if there were any signs of breaking.
He took out his leather coin pouch and handed Akira several gold coins as payment for the new weapon.
¡°I''ll leave you with your new toy and allow you to play... get antiquated with it. If you decide later that you want to use it as your main weapon, I made sure to add a slot for your gem. I can transfer the gem from your staff to your battleax if you want.¡±
¡°I can''t make a decision yet as this is quite different from what I am used to so I''ll have to figure out how to properly use it.¡±
Akira went back into the sweltering forge and continued to work on projects until the light outside disappeared.
He placed his hammer back onto the tool holder on the wall. He would have to finish tomorrow.
He took some water from a nearby clay jar and poured some of the water on a clean piece of cloth and used it to wipe down his face, neck, hands, and other parts trying to clean up before heading to the tavern.
Word had already spread that the tavern would open tonight causing a large group of people to fill the central plaza as they waited in the cold for the doors to open.
When they saw Akira they all made way for him so he could walk to the front so he could be the first to enter.
Akira was going to refuse the offer but Dolph stepped forward.
¡°It would be best to accept their kind gesture and not insult them by refusing.¡±
Akira only silently nodded his head accepting Dolph''s words.
When they reached the front of the line Delgar and the other Dwarves that had been waiting all day greeted Akira.
He tried to look for Mileena or any of the other girls but could not see them or Varbu anywhere. He guessed they were skipping the large crowd in favor of eating at the castle keep.
The doors to the tavern soon opened up allowing Akira, his guards, and the Dwarves to enter first with everyone else following.
The morning''s empty tavern now looked like a completely different place.
The warmth and smell of fresh cooked bread and meat filled the air coming from the kitchen that was hidden behind the large bar counter where there were over 50 stools.
There were several new maids waiting inside to escort groups to their tables. The tavern was already becoming packed to the extreme with only being open for a few minutes.
Glola had taken it upon herself to escort Akira to a table near one of the warm fires.
Delgar joined Akira at the table and plopped down on the opposite side along with the two other elderly Dwarves.
¡°Here is the current menu,¡± said Glola as she handed Akira a flat piece of wood that had several words and numbers carved into it.
Akira found several specialized meals that had been created to best utilize what the village was able to catch, gather, and grow. Fish, rabbit, eggs, moomer milk, and other herbs and things gathered from the woods.
The tavern was a place for fishers and hunters to sell their surplus food at a cheap price.
Everything on the menu was far different from a tavern that would be found in Jerora or Froit.
Akira was glad that it was all at a reasonable price which would allow people to eat here every night if they wanted. It was very nice.
Looking up from the menu Akira saw Delgar and the other Dwarves were looking at their menus in horror.
¡°Where are the drinks?¡± asked Delgar.
¡°Where am I supposed to get something like that right now? Until Burkin comes back with a large delivery we''ll be unable to sell anything,¡± said Glola with a huff.
¡°Still...What type of tavern doesn''t have any drinks?¡± mumbled Delgar with a sad expression.
The two dwarfs next to him both nodded with sad faces of their own. The three looked like they would start to cry at any moment.
¡°I''ll have the grilled fish meal and the Snow-berry pine needle tea,¡± said Akira after looking at all his options.
It was only a short wait for his order to arrive at the table along with the dishes that Delgar and the others had ordered as well.
Akira cut some of the fish meat and bit into it enjoying the flavor.
Throughout the meal, Delgar and the other dwarves didn''t say much. But the rest of the tavern was loud and jovial as everyone enjoyed their first meal at the tavern. With the tavern operating it brought a feeling of normalcy to the village making it feel more whole.
With the aroma of different food and the warmth of the tavern made the whole place feel rather cozy.
Akira guessed that this would be a very popular place for people to come and even more so when it started to sell wines and ale. People would come in to get out of the cold to eat and drink while sharing the company of friends and strangers alike.
Akira paid for his meal and left the tavern heading back to the castle keep where the girls were waiting.
As soon as he entered the keep he was stopped by Samuel.
¡°Sir, I have good news for you! The village is ready to rank up to a first-tier village!¡±
¡°Already?¡±
¡°Well you have been on a building spree lately and the population is already high enough. To get to the 3rd tier town we must do several things but the most important is to create an army of 200 regular soldiers, and 50 village guards. As the village grows new people will want to migrate here.¡±
¡°An army? Do we need something like that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Do you not realize how big it is for a village to be started this far south?¡± asked Samuel.
¡°The nearest trade city by land is several weeks if not months north through dangerous lands. Not only will the wandering tribes want to come here and trade but so will the northern cities and merchants. The adventures who wish to explore will want to use this village as a base to explore even farther south. With such an important place popping up out of nowhere there will be others who want to take this village for themselves.¡±
Chapter 160: Wheat from the chaff
Bright and early the next morning Akira stood outside of the keep with Samuel and the Grand elders as he waited for the city to fully upgrade to a 1st tier village.
Akira looked to Samuel who nodded back.
Ding!
A bright blue light started shining over the keep and in a split second silently exploded out in a large disc spreading over the whole island and continued until it reached the second island where the mine and quarry were.
The light quietly disappeared just as it had appeared.
Ding!
1st Tier village requirements have been met.
The village information has been updated.
New requirements for 3rd tier Town have been added.
-A professional army, guards for the village, and safety above 60%
-Have a tax revenue of over 100 gold a month
-A population of 10,000 people
-Build a warehouse, fence, and watchtowers.
|
¡°Here are the fliers you wanted,¡± said Carl as he handed over a small stack of papers.
[Notice! All able-bodied men requested to show up at the training field at the bottom of the hill behind the Castle keep for training in two days'' time.]
¡°Please put these up at the general store, tavern, docks, mine, and the sawmill,¡± said Akira as he handed out the papers to several of his guards.
¡°Although it says there to report to the training ground there is nothing there but snow,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°What I am more worried about is the cost. Where are we going to get the gold to keep a permanent full-time army? We only had a large increase of wuf coins due to Burkin buying the leftovers and miscellaneous stuff,¡± said Hegir.
¡°If we can start trade with other tribes and then sell the stuff at Jerora we might be able to earn enough,¡± said Seoc.
¡°It will be possible to pay for an army if it is small,¡± said Carl.
¡°What we need right now is 200 soldiers for the army and 50 village guards,¡± said Akira.
¡°What''s the difference?¡± asked Seoc.
¡°The army will be focusing on taking care of outside threats head-on and keeping the surrounding area safe. The village guards'' main duty is to keep order in the village as well as inspecting those coming in and make sure everyone is following the laws. During an emergency we can have both of them act as the main force for protecting the village,¡± said Akira.
¡°Kinda pointless when we already have the militias from each of our clans,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°The main point of having a professional army is so that you have a large force of soldiers that train everyday, who are properly armed and can immediately react to any problem that arises.
The militia will still be the main body of our fighting force if something bad happens but they are just fishers, hunters, loggers, cooks, and miners who train every once in a while. There is a huge difference,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Grand elders, since this is more of your specialty, I''ll leave the guards as well as the laws and regulations for you to decide on how to keep the city running properly. The army will be under my command,¡± said Akira.
¡°Alright don''t forget to consult with Klyn about the shaman that will be supporting the army. I hope you didn''t forget about them,¡± said Hegir before he and the grand elders headed back to the keep to discuss the topic over a warm drink.
Akira walked to the back of the keep and looked at the bottom of the hill where the new training ground would be in two days.
¡°Bring the sleds with the plows,¡± said Akira as he opened the village planer to check on the new buildings.
The usual sensation overcame him and when his vision cleared he was once again floating high in the air over the city.
He scrolled through the new buildings to see what was new.
Barracks: A place for soldiers that are single to live without the need to pay rent. It also has a small courtyard for keeping them to train. Security+.
Guard post: A place for the village city guards to keep warm in between their patrols of the surrounding area. Security+.
Basic Shipyard: Constructs ordinary civilian vessels, including ordinary fishing boats and passenger ships.
Ferry: Provides civilian transport services on both sides of the lake.
Village Level hospital: For medical treatment of the villagers. includes doctor and pharmacy. Security+.
Village School: An education building for the children of the village.
Basic Tailor Shop: A shop for sewing clothing.
Tannery: For treating leather.
Simple Arrow Tower: A basic defensive structure, with a weak defense. Security+.
Winery: Create wine for the villagers to drink and trade with others.
Beacon towers: Used to alert city guards and the army of enemy or trouble coming to the city. Security+.
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¡°Quite a lot of important-looking buildings,¡± said Akira as he looked over everything.
Akira started working on placing a barracks at the base of the hill behind the keep along with several guard posts throughout the village, one at each of the entrances to the village as well as one at the central plaza near the tavern and general store.
He would have to consult with the grand elders about the other more specialized buildings and see what they had to say on the subject.
When he was finished checking over everything he pressed complete and received a newly updated blueprint ready to be used.
The guards returned soon after with the plow sleds pulled by several reindeer.
¡°Alright men, we have a lot of work to do in the next two days,¡± said Akira as he took the reigns of one of the sleds.
***
Akira, Klyn, Varbu, princess Gobalina, and her younger brother prince Gobbers all stood in front of the newly built Barracks.
The wooden walls and wooden gate that surrounded the barracks made it so that it could be used as a fort to protect the rear of the castle keep, the village, and the soldiers that would live inside. Inside the walls there was a small courtyard for doing simple training.
In front of them stood several thousands of warriors from each of their clans.
¡°Varbu, Princess? Are you sure about this?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It is only natural that we join you in creating our own armies. We can''t always stay here with you guys forever. In the future, we''ll need to go out and find a place where our own clans will be able to expand and grow.¡±
¡°Giii giiii giiii,¡± said prince Gobbers, nodding his head pompously in agreement with Varbu.
But obviously he had said something wrong as his older sister whacked him on the head.
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When Akira looked to Varbu for an explanation he shrugged and said, ¡°Some sort of goblin slang I don''t understand.¡±
¡°You guys will always be welcome here if your endeavor to create a village fails,¡± said Akira.
¡°It looks like everyone that is coming is here, the shaman under my command have all arrived as well,¡± said Klyn.
Akira looked over the large mass of warriors from the three different demon races.
The goblins had brought all 500 of their warriors, while Varbu had brought all 2000 of his orc warriors, and the grand elders had made sure that their clans had sent all of their own warriors so as to not be shown up by the others.
Akira was happy with the turnout for something that was only decided on two days ago.
The grand elders were watching everything from atop the castle keep.
Akira stepped forward and raised a hand to calm the noisy crowd of warriors.
¡°You may be wondering why I have called for special training. I will tell you now. We will be forming a permanent army for each demon race. This training is to find those who are the best of the best,¡± said Akira.
Akira waited for Princess Gobalina as she translated what he had said so that the Goblins would understand.
¡°If you pass today''s training and accept a position in the new army, you will no longer be a regular civilian. You will live here at the barracks and train every day that you are not on some mission or holiday.
You will of course receive a monthly wage. This requires serious commitment and may not be for everyone but I ask that you all think this over. For any werewolf warriors interested I advise you to give your all as there is a limited number of open positions right now. For you Orcs and Goblins you will need to talk with your chiefs, or prince and princess,¡± said Akira.
Akira again waited for Princess Gobalina to translate his words. The large crowds of warriors from each of the three races began to chatter among themselves quietly but were quickly hushed by the sharp stares of the Orc chiefs standing next to Varbu.
¡°We are not only looking for those who have had experience in many battles but for those who we can mold into a proper soldier. Those who do not wish to become a soldier may leave but I will remind you that the last day of each month will be the scheduled day of training for the militia,¡± said Akira.
¡°Gii giii-,¡± said princess Gobalina before being interrupted by her brother.
¡°GIIII gii gi giii.¡± said prince Gobbers as he glared at the goblin warriors in front of him. To which he received a large thump on the head from his sister.
Akira watched as a large portion of the warriors from each of the three races left the training field.
They were no cowards and would fight if called upon. They would even give their lives for their clansmen if it meant that they would be able to live on peacefully.
The problem for them was the fact that the life of a professional soldier was something far too restrictive. It was not something that men who already had a family could do. It was perfect for single men.
Akira was happy to see that well over 1000 werewolf warriors were still standing in front of him. 800 orcs were still standing in front of the Varbu and the other orc chiefs.
The goblin warriors who had been cowed by prince Gobbers'' words only had a few who decided not to participate in the training.
¡°There will be several tasks that the prince and princess, Varbu, and I will give you to test everyone. If you are unable to accomplish the tasks given by anyone of us you will be disqualified.
If that happens but you still want to join the army later there will be extra training once a week. If you meet the standards you will be able to join the soldiers or be put into the reserves depending on the village''s needs. I won''t waste any more time talking, training starts now. The first task will be given by the prince and princess,¡± said Akira.
¡°Gii gi giiiii giii. giiiiiiii gi gi gii giiii. Gi giiii,¡± said Princess Gobalina.
¡°The first task is simple and split into two parts. To warm up you are to run ten laps around the cleared training ground with your full armor on, weapons drawn, and shields out if you have them. You have half an hour to complete it,¡± translated Varbu as he pointed to the large cleared training ground behind the gathered warriors.
¡°Start!¡± shouted Akira.
Akira and the leaders of each group watched as the warriors began to run at full speed.
The goblins were the quickest out of the three demon races but seemed to have the worst stamina, the orcs were the slowest due to their size, while the werewolves were somewhere in the middle.
The easy run was completed in under 10 minutes. The only ones winded were the goblins who had the lowest stamina of the three races.
¡°Gii gi gi giiiii. Gi gi gii giiii, gii gii,¡± said Prince Gobbers.
¡°The second part is to do a full battle charge, back and forth through the row of snowbanks over there. You must complete the task 30 times in less than 20 minutes,¡± said Varbu as he pointed to three long and wide snowbanks that had been formed with the use of the snowplows each at a different height for the different races.
There were a few groans but the warriors of each clan did as they were told and started to run through the deep snow that came up to their knees.
The goblins were lighter than the others so they were able to move through the snow easier but due to low stamina were dropping like flies.
As Akira watched the werewolf warriors he examined each one as they pass through the snowbanks.
The shaman were included in the training as they would have to fight along with the soldiers in the army as well.
¡°Stop!¡± shouted Varbu.
Over half of the warriors from each of the demon races were unable to complete the task in time. The worst failure rate was with the goblins.
¡°Those who failed, remember that there will be weekly training if you want to continue to condition yourself and take on different tasks later,¡± said Akira before dismissing them.
¡°It''s now my turn to give you the next task! But since you are a bit winded I will give you a two-minute break,¡± shouted Varbu.
Two minutes wasn''t that much, but it was enough to drink something and catch their breath.
¡°The task I have for you is simple! You need to do full force swings from above all the way down!¡± Varbu showed what he wanted them to do using his new Battleaxe, raising it high over his head and swung it down with full force stopping just before it hit the ground. The wind from the attack scattered the loose powder snow.
¡°Just like that. You are to do it with full force and stop just before hitting the ground. If you hit the ground that swing will not count! If you do not use your full strength, that swing will not count! You are to do 1000 swings in under 20 minutes.¡±
¡°Spread out! If anyone of us calls you out you will not complain and redo that swing until we are satisfied with it,¡± shouted Akira as he pointed to himself, the other orc chiefs, and the two goblins prince and princess.
Akira started to walk between the warriors watching as they frantically swung their weapons trying to keep up a fast pace.
¡°Gi gi gii giiii-¡± he heard prince Gobbers excited talking somewhere. Which was quickly followed by a thump and grunt as he was hit on the head by his sister.
As time went on and it passed the fifteen-minute mark several people started to mess up and were forced to repeatedly redo their swings.
¡°Stop!¡± shouted Varbu.
¡°All those who finished please follow me!¡± shouted Akira as he started walking towards the woods.
There were 250 goblins warriors, 300 werewolf warriors, and over 400 orcs who managed to pass the second test.
Behind Akira where three small wooden soldier figures stuck on top of sticks so everyone could see them. Each one had a different color.
¡°My task is for you to use your skills to find one of these wooden soldiers in the woods.
Green is for the goblins, red for the Orcs, and gray is for the werewolf warriors. There are only 200 of each.
If you find one of the figures you are to leave the woods immediately and return to me.
Do not mess with other races figures if you find them. Do not make it easier for a friend to find one. Do not get into a fight with another person over who will take the wooden soldier.
Those who fail to follow the rules will be eliminated. We do not need people who have no honor and will cheat or fight over a simple test.
To make sure that you follow the rules shaman Ras will be watching you from above,¡± said Akira as he pointed to the elderly shaman who stepped forward upon the mention of his name. A falcon was perched on the old man''s shoulder.
¡°Start!¡±
Nearly 1000 warriors made up of the three demon races rushed into the woods to search for the wooden soldier figures.
They were no soldier figures placed in easy-open places. This task was meant for the warriors to use their brain and searching skills to find the hidden objects. The ones for the werewolves would be even harder to find as Akira knew how well their senses could be used compared to the orcs and goblins.
¡°You really think these tasks are the way to sort them?¡± asked Varbu when the last warrior disappeared from their view.
¡°This is the best way to separate the wheat from the chaff, if they are rough around some edges we can always sharpen them later,¡± said Akira.
The first people to come out of the woods after a half hour had passed were all werewolves followed by a trickle of Orcs and goblins.
The third task ended after another three hours had passed when a goblin with the last soldier figure exited the woods.
Akira sent runners into the woods to find the orcs and goblins who were still searching and informing them the task was over. While he also let out a loud howl to call back the remaining werewolf warriors still inside of the woods.
Another twenty minutes passed when the last person had exited the woods.
¡°With the completion of the third task, the selection is over for now. Everyone, follow your leaders and they will give you further instructions. Werewolves follow me,¡± said Akira, not yet dismissing anyone as he started walking to the barracks.
The goblins and orcs could care less if they won or not. The werewolf warriors who had failed all had sad expressions on their faces as they had been close to their goal but were not fast enough in searching for the wooden soldier.
Each demon race split up as they went to their own places to talk.
Akira stopped before the gates of the Barracks.
¡°If your name is called step forward!¡± Shouted Akira.
He slowly recited 50 names he had written on a piece of scrap paper.
Akira looked at each of 50 warriors that had stepped forward before speaking, ¡°There are currently 50 positions open for city guards the pay will be less but the job requirements are also less restrictive. You will have to patrol the village and make sure that everyone is civil, as well as patrolling the walls of the village, keeping a watch for any monster or enemy attacks. Would you like to take the job?¡± asked Akira.
A warrior raised his hand to ask a question.
¡°Yes?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Will this stop us from entering into the army later?¡±
¡°No, if you prove you have what it takes in one of the weekly training exercises you will still be able to join. As part of your job as a village guard, you will still be training alongside the soldiers on a mandatory once a week training day. The only main difference is you will be under the command of the grand elders.¡±
¡°Then I accept!¡±
¡°I as well!¡±
Each one of the werewolves that had been called forward accepted.
¡°Tomorrow all 250 of you will report here in front of the barrack gates. Those that are entering the army, you will make the arrangements today to move your belongings into one of the many rooms in the barracks. There will be four people to a room.¡±
¡°Those of you who failed today, I have high expectations that you will not disappoint me by giving up after only failing once. I want to see each of you at next week''s training!¡± said Akira as he looked to the small group that had failed to join the army or the guards.
They were rather dispirited but upon hearing Akira''s words they regained some of their vigor back.
¡°YES SIR!¡± they shouted full of determination.
Chapter 161: First day of Training
Akira stood in front of the new barracks and looked over the 250 gathered werewolf warriors who would become the backbone of Kodria''s army and city guard.
Varbu, Gobalina, and Gobbers were meeting with their own warriors in a different part of the city but would meet up later to do some warm-up training together.
Akira looked over the warriors and inspected their levels. He found that they all ranged from level 39-50. Each of them had a blue title under their name [Militia].
It seemed that the system did not consider any of them a soldier yet. He was not yet sure what the requirements were for them to be considered a soldier but he guessed he would just have to wait until the system sent him a message letting him know.
¡°You are no longer warriors of any one of the clans! Today... marks the first day of your training to become soldiers of Kodria!
But before you can be called a soldier you must be molded into an even stronger force than you are right now. When you complete this training and I deem that you have passed you will be given a permanent assignment and begin the duties of a true soldier of Kodria.
Do not forget why you have joined and why you are training.
It is to be the front line defenders of the city. The first to lead the attack to the enemy. I commend you for giving up so much so that the other villagers may all live more peacefully,¡± said Akira as he looked at each of the warriors one after another.
¡°Yap,¡± Fluffball let out a loud yap in agreement.
The warriors standing in front of Akira all saluted him as their eyes met with his, their fists thumping their chests.
¡°I know each of you can fight so we will not focus on that right now. Instead, we''ll focus on strengthening your bodies as well as getting you used to the cold and the snow. After this training, you will be able to fight just as well in the snow as if it were not there. Today''s first task will be running around the outer village walls ten times! Follow me,¡± ordered Akira.
When Akira reached the edge of the makeshift snow-covered fence that surrounded the village, he found that the Orcs and Goblins were already waiting for them.
¡°Took you long enough, what were you doing? Eating a large breakfast?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Just had to give a speech,¡± said Akira.
He turned around to look at his bodyguards who were standing a few steps behind him.
¡°I believe you all have received orders from the grand elders as well?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes! We will participate in the training as well. The grand elders have stated that only the best will be allowed to stay as part of your personal guard. We will not let you down,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°I, as well, will do my best,¡± said Dolph and several others.
Akira''s current bodyguards were just a bunch of experienced warriors from several wars that the grand elders had chosen to protect him before he set out in search of a new place for the clans to live.
The grand elders wanted the best of the best to protect Akira to prevent any catastrophe from happening.
¡°Let us start the training!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°Wait for me!¡± someone shouted from behind the crowd of warriors.
Akira looked to see Klyn hurriedly running towards him along with a few other shaman several years older than him. The only one around the same age as Bo the young genius shaman that specialized in scouting with several animals mainly birds.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked Akira when Klyn arrived next to him.
¡°My grandfather... I mean, the Grand Elder ordered me to join the training,¡± said Klyn, a little lost on what to say.
¡°It will do you some good to put some meat on your skinny body!¡± laughed Varbu as he slapped Klyn''s back roughly.
Akira turned to his guards and gave a silent signal to which the guard let out a howl ordering the start of the day''s training.
Akira, Varbu, and Klyn all ran at the front of the pack, followed by their guards, and then the soldiers, and Chack had also joined. Fluffball followed right behind Akira jumping from one footprint to another.
This was not a normal easy run around the village.
Behind the large gathering of warriors were several sleds with plows to even out the trampled snow so that they would not have an easy path to run through when they started the other laps around the city.
This would build up their stamina as well as let them grow accustomed to running through the snowy battlefields of their new homeland.
Ding!
Commander skill activated!
Anyone under your command will receive a boost to their training speed and will be able to learn things faster!
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The warriors from each demon race received a large boost to their morale as they saw their own leaders running in front of them. They were not sitting on the side ordering the recruits to do the harsh training by themselves.
Since the leaders were doing the same training and pushing themselves to be stronger, how could they slack off or complain?
When the last of the warriors finished running the tenth lap everyone was breathing hard. It was no joke trying to run through large amounts of snow that sucked your feet in causing you to sometimes lose one of your boots if it was not properly tied.
The ones that were the most worn-out were the Goblins. They looked like they were ready to call it a day.
¡°Back to the training grounds!¡± shouted Akira after they had caught their breath.
The warriors marched in a disorderly fashion from the village wall back to the large open training ground outside of the barracks.
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Once everyone had arrived on the field they looked to Akira waiting for his orders.
¡°We will now begin strength training to mold you into a fierce soldier! Follow my example!¡± Shouted Akira as he got down into a perfect push-up form.
Varbu, Klyn, and the goblin royalties also followed his example and got down and started doing push-ups as well.
Fluffball who watched Akira a few times also began to lay down on the snow and stand back up following Akira''s movements.
Every time Akira''s face neared the ground the freezing cold of the snowy ground could be felt all too well.
They continued to do push-ups until they could do no more. Akira made a mental note on those who lasted the longest as well as those that were the first to fall to the ground exhausted.
¡°Everyone take a ten-minute break and re-hydrate,¡± ordered Akira.
It would not do him any good if the warriors training fell sick or hurt themselves due to not taking care of their health during the training.
¡°Sit-ups!¡± shouted Akira after the ten-minute break was up.
The cold now seeped into his butt and back as he laid down onto the ground. He forced himself to ignore it and only focused on completing the next sit up.
After sit-ups, the werewolf warriors were ordered to transform and carry the large rocks that had been removed from the hot springs from one end of the training ground to the other.
The orcs joined the werewolves carrying the large rocks, while the goblins had to carry smaller rocks since they would be crushed if they tried to mess with the larger rocks.
Akira continued to lead the warriors of the different demon races through several other strength training until noon arrived.
¡°You have a half-hour to eat! If you wish to cook something, there are cook fires already set up over there,¡± said Akira pointing to several fires set up a good hundred feet away from the training ground.
Everyone walked over to the fires mainly because they wanted to warm up their feet and hands that were cold. The rest of their body was still nice and toasty from working out so much.
¡°What''s next after lunch?¡± asked Varbu as he pulled out some food he had prepared beforehand and made a sandwich out of it.
¡°Weapon training, everyone is familiar with their weapons but that will not be enough when we are faced with the might of the demigods, ¡± said Akira.
¡°Gii gii giii gi,¡± said Princess Gobalina agreeing with Akira.
Prince Gobbers was quietly complaining to himself next to his sister.
He had received several thumps on the head this morning because he had slacked off in training. Princess Gobalina did not join in the training and had only been keeping an eye on her brother.
¡°She says we cannot be average if we want to survive,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I''m going to really not like waking up tomorrow,¡± said Klyn as he ate a mixture of nuts, berries, and smoked fish.
Before Akira could eat any of his cold food he had prepared for lunch Mileena showed up along with Azura and Maya carrying a large cloth-covered box.
¡°We made you some food to help you have enough energy to keep fighting on!¡± said Mileena handing over the large box.
¡°You looked really macho when leading the warriors in training,¡± said Azura.
¡°Yeah,¡± said Mileena bashfully.
Maya as usual was quiet and just watched the other two girls interact with Akira.
Akira could feel a warm heat coming out of the box as he held it. He quickly untied the knot of the covering cloth and took off the lid.
A large puff of Steam escaped the box along with several whiffs of tasty aroma that tickled his nose.
There were several types of cooked eggs, fish, and other dairy products inside.
Varbu, Chack, Klyn, and Prince Gobbers looked at Akira with envy.
¡°Glola helped us learn new recipes,¡± said Azura.
¡°Quick, eat it before it gets cold!¡± said Mileena.
***
¡°1000 swings of your weapon!¡± shouted Akira as he swung his sword down.
...
¡°1000 stabs forward!¡±
Akira continued to lead the warriors in training with their weapons for several more hours.
¡°That concludes today''s training. Until you will have grown accustomed to the snowy land we now call home. We will do the same training tomorrow and every day after until such things become second nature to you. Only then will we move on to other things,¡± said Akira.
There were several tired grunts of acknowledgment, as the tired warriors from each of the demon races saluted Akira.
¡°Currently we are in the process of creating new armor, shields, and weapons to replace what you have. You will not have to pay for it but when they are delivered they will act as the next few months'' payments,¡± said Akira.
Akira heard no complaints as he paused and looked over the crowd. They all wore mismatched armor and had weapons that were of all different variety and qualities with none of the weapons being new.
The soldiers in the Kodria army would need to have a standard set of armor and weapons that were above average if they wanted to be effective.
¡°Dismissed!¡± shouted Akira.
It only took a few minutes for the cold training ground to clear out with only Akira and the other leaders staying.
¡°I''ll go get the gold to pay for the armor for my warriors. Sigh... this is going to be expensive,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gi gi gii. giii giiiii gii,¡± said Prince Gobbers giving Akira a thumbs up.
¡°He says not to worry he can also pay for the armor,¡± said Varbu. ¡°Lucky buggers are so damn small their armor won''t cost much.¡±
¡°I''ll see you guys later. I have to go and see how well the Dwarves are doing with creating the needed weapons and armor. When you gather the money, send it to Samuel and he will make sure everything is sorted out for you,¡± said Akira as he waved them goodbye.
Akira walked towards the forge followed by his guards who were still highly alert even after the day''s harsh training.
Bang! Bang! Klang! Tsssss!
The sound of hammering could be heard even before he entered the building.
¡°How goes it?¡± shouted Akira so he could be heard over the ruckus inside the forge.
¡°We''ll be able to make at least thirty swords a day at this pace after we finish with the swords we can work on the shields and then armor,¡± said Delgar as he continued to hammer a piece of glowing metal shaping it into a sword.
¡°If you want things to move along faster you''re going to have to help out yourself,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Should I ask the other experienced blacksmiths to help?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Bah! They are nothing more than Apprentices!¡± said Three toes as he inspected a sword that he had just finished.
¡°At least you know the basics since I taught you them myself,¡± said Delgar.
¡°Alright, then what do you want me to do?¡± said Akira.
¡°There''s an open anvil, pick up a hammer and some ore and start working on it. If you create something that does not meet my standards I won''t ignore it and you''ll have to redo it. When it comes to working with metal I will not budge or allow you to try and pass off something shoddily made as a finished product,¡± said Delgar quickly pointing to one of the open anvils before returning to hammering the glowing metal.
Akira rolled up his sleeves and got to work helping the Dwarves create the swords that would be used by the soldiers of each race. There were three variants being made each a different size to fit the needs of each of the three demon races.
Delgar made sure to inspect each of his finished swords and made him redo them a few times before he was satisfied that Akira understood the quality of the sword he wanted.
He and the other Dwarves took the creation of weapons and armor with dead seriousness and would not allow a poorly made weapon to be handed out to any soldier as it would cause them to feel utter shame and their honor as blacksmiths would be ruined.
Ding!
Blacksmith skill has leveled up!
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***
The days continued on like this for over two weeks. First, running around the village and then strength training in the morning. In the afternoon they would train with weapons.
After the days training had finished Akira would go and help the Dwarves create weapons shields and armor.
Chapter 162: Equipping the armies
¡°I Still can''t get used to this, my body is always hurting,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Ha! I have been doing extra training and found a new way to use my new battleax! Thanks to the gem getting embedded into the ax. I can use the new attack I call ''Spin to win''!¡± said Varbu as he stepped forward and to demonstrate the new skill.
He hefted the large battleax and started to swing it around quickly and as he did so he used the gem to create fire on the metal head of the large battleax making him look like a burning whirlwind.
¡°Impressive!¡± said Akira as he watched the very strong looking attack.
Over the past two weeks the warriors of each of the three demon races trained every day. The village guards joined them once a week and the differences between the two groups'' training could be clearly seen as they trained side by side.
¡°I have to go and talk with the other Orc chieftains now that today''s work is over,¡± said Varbu as he waved to Akira and Klyn.
¡°I also have to go back to the city and continue with my duties as the sub-head shaman,¡± said Klyn before leaving as well.
Akira headed for the castle keep to meet with the Grand elders who had sent a messenger earlier wanting to speak to him after the day''s training was finished.
He hoped it wasn''t anything troublesome since he still had a few more hours of work to do at the forge today.
They had already finished making all of the swords and were now quickly churning out shields.
As he reached the front doors of the castle keep the guards standing guard let out a loud shout and saluted him with their weapons held high.
Akira had grown used to the same thing happening every time he left or entered the castle keep so he only half-heartedly acknowledged it as he passed by.
He walked through the maze of hallways and doors before reaching the grand elders'' main office.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
¡°Come in,¡± said Hegir from behind the door.
¡°Ah! You came earlier than expected. The others are not here right now since they had to take care of some small matters that popped up in the village,¡± said Hegir as he saw Akira enter the room.
¡°I hope it''s nothing serious,¡± said Akira as he sat down into one of the chairs that Hegir had offered him.
The Office was quite cozy with wooden desks and numerous bookcases that were starting to be filled up with books and paper.
On the ground between the desks was a large fur rug.
¡°There are only a few minor disagreements between some of the villagers. They went to make sure that everything was settled peacefully. How''s the training, weapon, and armor production going?¡± asked Hegir.
¡°For training, we''ll be moving onto formations and tactics as soon more shields are produced. We have already finished equipping each army with new swords. All of our warriors will be receiving one of two types of shields we are currently making.
With these shields, everyone should be able to guard against any ranged attack and hopefully skills as well. I am not sure what the Orcs and Goblins are doing as they didn''t order enough shields for each of their warriors to have one,¡± said Akira.
¡°When can we expect you to be finished with training?¡± asked Hegir.
¡°Things like this can not be rushed, if we skim on the training and equipment we''ll not only be putting the warriors in danger but also the village and the villagers they are supposed to be protecting. The shields and armor are being made as fast as possible.¡±
¡°How are the blacksmiths we sent to help the Dwarves?¡±
¡°You know the Dwarves'' stubborn ways when it comes to blacksmithing. They ignored them for the first few days treating them as if they were not there. It took me some time to warm them up to the idea of accepting their help and now they are at least letting them help out on the minor things but are still treating them as if they are apprentices. With their help, we''ll be able to produce everything much faster.¡±
¡°That''s good but I urge you to do it faster. We, grand elders, have been working on making sure that there are enough houses built so that everyone can own a home. Of course, family''s have been prioritized first,¡± said Hegir.
¡°So what is the reason you called me here?¡±
¡°Ah! I almost forgot about that! We wanted to know if you would agree with us setting up a detective force for the village. They would be in charge of taking care of investigating any crimes that happen in the village which would allow the guards to focus on protecting the city.
We wanted to use the warriors that were wounded and maimed during the past wars and fights with the demigods. Since there are not many jobs they can do with the wounds they received seeing as some of them lost different body parts.¡±
¡°I have no problem with that. But we can''t be adding more and more jobs that we have to pay for as we have such a small budget right now,¡± said Akira.
¡°Noted, but this is very much needed to keep the city running smoothly,¡± said Hegir.
¡°If that is all, please let the Grand elders that I thank them for all the help you have given me and all that you do to keep the village running smoothly,¡± said Akira as he stood up to leave.
¡°It is nothing much. We are just doing what is best for the clans,¡± said Hegir before waving Akira goodbye.
¡°Wulfric, your grandson is really well suited for his role as the village chief and head of the Darkmoon clan. It is a shame that you had to endure so much pain in your life and are now unable to see this bright moment,¡± said Hegir quietly to himself after Akira had left.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
***
¡°When will Burkin return!¡± grumbled Delgar as he hammered out the last of the shields that needed to be created for the three small armies.
¡°I want a hard drink but all your wife serves at the tavern are teas, milk, and juice!¡± complained Stone deaf.
¡°It is an insult to call it a tavern when it has no ale, beer, or wine!¡± said Three toes.
¡°Hey... I know you guys are sorta right... and I want some ale and wine as well but... If my wife hears you insulting her tavern like that...¡± said Delgar, not finishing the last part of his sentence.
¡°What? Something happened to your wife''s ears?¡± asked Stone deaf who did not quite hear what Delgar had said.
This was not the first time that this conversation had happened; it was almost an hourly complaint over the last few days.
¡°They should be here soon,¡± said Akira for the hundredth time as he placed his hammer down.
Ding!
Blacksmithing has reached intermediate lvl 7.
|
Akira closed the notification and inspected the last of the 50 special heavy square tower shields that would be used by the front line heavy shock troops.
With Delgar''s constant guidance he was able to raise his Blacksmithing skill faster than if he was just tinkering by himself. If one small detail was off, Delgar would throw a hissy fit if Akira did not redo the whole thing.
He had learned a lot from each of the Dwarves as they had their own quirks when working on things.
¡°Now that we have finished with the shields, I would like you to focus on creating the chest armor for warriors first,¡± said Akira.
¡°That will be no problem. Once we get into the groove of things we can start to Hammer out armor like crazy!¡± said Delgar.
¡°Hey you apprentices, make sure you watch us closely as we create the first few chest armors, you can help us later after you feel you are ready,¡± said Three toes as he started to work on heating up the Korium ore.
Akira watched as well to see if he could improve on his own skills as he still had an unfinished project of his own that had been put on the sidelines. He had been working on a new set of heavy armor to replace all of his old armor.
***
Several days passed by and After working on several chest pieces he had finally completed a heavy chest piece and a large shield for himself using both Korium, Icium ore that he had gathered himself.
Ding!
Koric chest piece has been created!
Koric chest piece (Rare): Durability: 160/160 Defense: 65
(-10% stamina usage while transformed)
Icikor Shield (Rare): Durability: 160/160 Defense: 75
(Harden+: When the Icikor shield is equipped Harden skill will last for1 minute longer.)
|
Ding!
The Koric chest piece and Icikor Shield can be upgraded with a magic stone in your possession!
|
Akira took out several magic stones from his bag and found two that were black and were both glowing with a dark light being emitted from them.
He placed the two magic stones on top of the shield and chest piece and watched as they melted into the armor and shield, dyeing them a dark blue.
Ding!
Koric chest piece and Icikor Shield have been upgraded!
Midnight Koric chest piece (Rare): Durability: 160/160 Defense: 80
(-10% stamina usage while transformed)
(+10 Stamina)
Midnight Icikor Shield (Rare): Durability: 160/160 Defense: 75
(Harden+: When the Icikor shield is equipped Harden skill will last for1 minute longer.)
(+15 Vitality)
|
¡°Ohhh? You sure do have an interesting secret blacksmith technique of your own,¡± said Delgar as he walked over and inspected the finished products.
¡°Are these for you to use?¡± asked Delgar pointing at the Midnight Koric chest piece and the Midnight Icikor Shield.
¡°Yes, I know it is not on par with your skills but I wanted to create it myself,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t sell yourself short,¡± said Three toes after he came over and inspected the armor as well.
¡°What are you talking about? He doesn''t look short at all,¡± said Stone deaf who had also finished what he was working on and had come over to see what the other two were doing.
¡°Three toes is right, compared to the armor you made in the past this quality is 100 times better but it is still lacking something. If you would allow us to, we can engrave some runes onto your shield and chest piece to make it truly fit for you, the lord and commander of Kodria''s army,¡± said Delgar.
¡°I do indeed still know how to engrave runes. Do you want me to engrave some on your armor?¡± asked Stone deaf.
¡°Please do. I would be more than happy to receive something like that,¡± said Akira.
¡°While we work on it you can go deliver the finished armor and shields to your soldiers,¡± said Delgar.
¡°You guys help him deliver everything,¡± said Three toes as he pointed to ten of the ''apprentice'' blacksmiths.
Akira had his own bodyguards help gather all the shields and heavy armor. They loaded them up onto several sleds that had been prepared earlier.
Akira and his bodyguards headed to the barracks while the ten blacksmiths split from them and went to deliver the rest of the shields and armor to the Orcs and goblins.
When the warriors that were on guard duty patrolling the barracks walls saw Akira and his guards, they quickly opened the wooden gates allowing him to enter the small training courtyard that was surrounded by several buildings.
A short howl summoned the warriors who were currently resting inside the warm barracks.
In less than a minute everyone had rushed out of the barracks and lined up in front of Akira in 20 neat rows of ten warriors each.
¡°When I call your names, step forward!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°Calo, Hugh,....¡± Akira listed off 50 names, 30 of them were from the Madmane clan while the last 20 were from the Darkmoon clan.
¡°After watching you for the last few weeks of training I have found each of you to have what it takes to be given the specialized role of front line heavy shock troops. Step forward one at a time and receive your shield and heavy chest armor,¡± said Akira.
The 50 warriors all received their new heavy armor and large square tower shield from Akira''s guards one by one.
¡°From tomorrow onward you are to wear your new armor and carry your shield all day only setting it down when you sleep. Not just anyone can do this since you need to have high stamina and strength to be able to wear and carry such armor. You may return back into line.¡±
¡°The rest of you may come forward and receive your shields,¡± said Akira.
The shields that the rest of the warriors received were circular shields that were smaller and far less heavy than the tower shields.
¡°As I have said before. The swords, shields, and armor that you receive must be treated with great care as these will be your most important tools. It must become one with yourself, as it will keep you alive. If you do not take proper care of your new armor and weapons you will be fined and depending on the severity of the negligence punished severely,¡± said Akira.
¡°We understand sir!¡± the warriors shouted as one.
¡°Tomorrow after morning exercises I will be sorting everyone into your new units. We will begin training in formations and other maneuvers. You are dismissed!¡± said Akira.
Chapter 163: Formations
The cold gray sky was just starting to light up as the sun began to peek out from over the surrounding snow-covered trees.
Inside of the blacksmith shop Akira received his armor and shield that had been worked on by Delgar and the two other Dwarves.
As he gave it a quick inspection he saw that there were three different types of runes engraved on each piece of armor as well as the shield each with a different engraving style.
One set of runes were drawn with thin cursive lines. The second was in big blocky lines, and the last set of runes looked like a bunch of zig zags.
This armor would be now replacing his old armor. Some of the armor being replaced had been worn since he first started his journey to find out who he was.
¡°It should be a major boost to your defensive abilities,¡± said Delgar as he watched Akira look over the armor.
Akira only nodded in acknowledgment before starting to equip his new armor.
Ding!
Armor set bonus added for wearing a full set of Midnight heavy armor!
+2 defense for each piece of heavy armor equipped.
|
His new helmet had a faceplate to cover his face, with a slit to look out and a few smaller holes so his breath could escape and not create ice inside.
Akira could really feel the weight of the armor which was far heavier than chainmail or scale mail. He rotated his arms around to see how well he could move and was happy that his arms could move normally, the same for his legs.
He equipped his new large tower shield which added even more weight. For someone without Akira''s strength, they would have to be transformed in order to use the shield. To make up for its heaviness it could weather 1000''s of brutal attacks and covered a large portion of his body.
¡°Did you finish the 4 sets of studded leather armor I paid for?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I had one of the apprentices do it. Don''t worry, we made sure they didn''t mess up,¡± said Delgar as he pointed to a pile of studded leather armor.
Akira picked up one set of armor out of the four there, ¡°Can you have someone deliver the three sets to the castle? They are for my sister, Mileena, and Maya.¡±
¡°No, I have never had canned liver. Is that some sort of delicacy?¡± asked Stone deaf.
¡°I''ll make sure that it is sent to them later this morning when the apprentices have free time. We still have a lot of work to do making the armor for the rest of the army,¡± said Three toes.
***
On his way to the barracks, Akira bumped into Klyn and the other shaman that were with him as they headed to the barracks to join the morning training.
¡°Akira is that you?¡± asked Klyn as he looked at the tall dark armored person with a flowing cape surrounded by several bodyguards.
¡°Ah, just the person I was looking for! I had something made for you to replace that raggedy leather armor you have been using,¡± said Akira as he tossed the new studded leather armor to Klyn.
¡°I''m fresh out of money...¡± said Klyn looking at the new armor.
¡°No need to pay me, how can I let one of my best friends and the future head shaman go around wearing rags,¡± said Akira.
¡°You''re wearing new armor as well. What about your old armor and shield?¡±
¡°It''s a lot heavier than all the armor I wore before so it''s going to take some time to get used to it. That''s why I thought I might as well wear it to today''s training. I''ll be keeping the scale mail and shell shield just in case I ever need it for something in the future since it is far lighter and can be used in different situations. The other armor has already been recycled and used to create tools and other useful things,¡± said Akira.
¡°Is that so,¡± said Klyn as he hurriedly removed his old leather armor and equipped his new studded leather armor while they walked to the barracks.
The werewolf warriors were already waiting outside the barracks when Akira arrived. The warriors who had received a full set of heavy armor and a tower shield the day before were all standing in the first two rows.
Akira stepped forward and used the hilt of his sword to hit his shield calling for their attention.
¡°Let''s begin the day''s training so we can get to training in formations and tactics!¡± said Akira as he led the warriors towards the outer edge of the village''s snow wall where the goblins and Orcs were waiting.
The normal laps around the village were far harder for Akira as he was now carrying nearly triple the weight compared to his old armor and shield. He persevered and kept a steady pace at the front of the pack.
The warriors who wore the new chest pieces and tower shields had a harder time than the day before but they were strong enough to not let it affect them much.
After completing the warm-up exercises Akira called everyone to attention.
¡°Heavy shock troops step forward! When I call your name and the unit, you will organize yourself accordingly with the 1st unit on the right to 5th on the left,¡± said Akira.
When Akira had sorted the warriors into 5 units of ten he spoke again.
¡°You will now be known as the 1st - 5th heavy infantry part of the 1st omega pack.¡±
Akira turned to the other warriors, ¡°Everyone else so far has not specialized in anything yet so I will add you all to temporary units until you show or decide what part of the army you would like to be in,¡± said Akira.
¡°If I find that you have what it takes you will receive the position of an officer for one of the twenty units.¡±
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°We''ll not be deviating much from what everyone should already know, but with new enemies, weapons, and new lands, our way of fighting must adapt if we are to survive. We''ll be using the familiar howls, whistles, and war horns for battle so there is no need to learn a whole new communication system. For today we will be mainly focusing on shield formations. I have high expectations for everyone, especially everyone in the 1st-5th heavy infantry.¡±
¡°Let''s start with something simple. 1st heavy infantry to the front! Hold your shields up so that they cover your body and overlap with the person next to you. 2nd - 5th heavy infantry line up behind them and do the same.¡±
¡°Everyone else, follow their example and form up behind them!¡±
Akira watched as everyone moved to get into place.
¡°This will be the standard marching formation that the army will use to move from one place to another! Learn it well so that you never forget it. I will accept no slacking!¡± shouted Akira as he and Klyn walked up and down the line of warriors correcting those who were not properly positioned.
When Akira was satisfied that everyone was in position he returned to the head of the formation along with his guards.
¡°Don''t let your shields fall! Do not break the shield wall! If you do, you will not only be exposing yourself to enemy attacks but also those next to you and anyone behind you. Forward march!¡± shouted Akira his sword pointed towards the opposite end of the training field.
Akira switched between shouted commands, howls, a war horn, and the silent dog whistle to command the warriors. They spent most of the morning marching in formation until Akira received a system message.
Ding!
Warriors under your command have received boosted experience as well as an accelerated learning ability when taught by you.
The warriors have gained the basic knowledge of the ''Shield Marching'' formation.
Several warriors have leveled up due to hard work and their new understandings from the training.
Keep training and more warriors will be able to level up and have a better understanding of the new tactics.
Command skill has leveled up!
|
¡°Halt! Ten-minute break to re-hydrate!¡± shouted Akira as he flipped his visor up and started to drink some of the treasured lukewarm wine from his bone flask.
¡°This training, is it really necessary?¡± asked Varbu as he sat next to Akira. He was following Akira''s example and was training his own warriors in the same way. Prince Gobbers and Princesses Gobalina were also doing something similar.
¡°If we can''t do something simple like this right now, then how are we going to be able to put up a fight against the demigods? I am basing everything on what I experienced during the Beorin swamp war. I want to fix the problems I saw during the battle of the Beorin swamp fort.
We werewolves are fierce warriors but any form of a shield wall was nearly non-existent; we just charged the enemy with our shields up. It was more of a berserker mentality than any type of formation. This will not work with demigods who have special skills that can kill dozens of people and even hundreds when they get stronger.¡±
¡°I agree with Akira''s view of things. It is always better to be cautious and start from the basics and let us shamans buff and support,¡± said Klyn nodding his head while he rubbed his chin as if deep in thought.
¡°Still you shouldn''t focus too much on defense, otherwise how are we going to kill them?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°No need to worry, we will get to that later. Klyn, how are you and the people under your command doing?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Everyone is doing fine now that they have gotten used to the exercises. There is no need to worry about us since we can keep up with you and we won''t hold you back,¡± said Klyn.
When the short break was over Akira again took his position in front of the ''Shield Marching'' formation.
¡°On my command, the 1st - 5th heavy infantry units will switch from marching formation into a shield-wall with the 1st unit on the right and the 5th unit on the left.
You are not allowed to lower your shield or show any opening while transitioning into a shield wall.
All other units behind the heavy infantry will split up and follow behind one of the 5 heavy infantry units.
Even-numbered units will move to the right while the odd-numbered units will move to the left. There should be only three units behind each of the five heavy infantry units. Understood?¡±
¡°Yes, sire!¡±
¡°Shield wall to the front!¡± shouted Akira.
Like a piece of paper unfolding the 5 heavy infantry units spread out into a long shield wall, while the 15 units behind them moved to the left and right based on their unit number.
Akira walked in front of each warrior and inspected everyone.
¡°That was too sloppy! Marching formation!¡± shouted Akira.
He waited for the warriors to return back into the twenty rows of ten warriors.
¡°Shield wall to the front!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°Marching formation!...Shield wall to the front!¡± Akira repeated the orders several tens of times until he was stratified they were able to not mess up while standing still.
¡°Marching formation! Forward march!¡± and so Akira once again led the Warriors in a march around the training field switching between the Shield marching formation and the shield wall formation.
Their marching only stopped when noon arrived and Akira gave everyone time to eat and re-hydrate.
Mileena, Azura, and Maya had all been waiting for the training to pause for lunch so they could hand over the warm food that they had cooked for Akira. It was something they had started to do every day now.
Each of them was now wearing the new studded leather armor that Akira had ordered for them.
As Azura was going to hand Akira the wrapped lunch box, Mileena pulled Akira''s head down and pushed his helmet visor up before giving him a kiss.
Which made Azura give a loud huff of indignation.
¡°Thanks for the new armor. It fits well enough and is better than the armor I used to wear,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Thank you big brother,¡± said Azura as she handed over the boxed food.
¡°Thank you,¡± mumbled Maya as she straightened her glasses on her nose, her ears twitching in irritation at the cold.
¡°We have other things to do so we won''t take up any more of your time. Keep working hard!¡± said Mileena as she gave Akira another peck on the cheek and ran off with the other two girls.
Akira made sure to share the large box of food with Varbu, Klyn. Both goblin Gobbers and Gobalina declined the food and ate their own food.
After the lunch break, Akira continued to train the fledgling army in new shield tactics which included the arrow formation for attacking and breaking through an enemy''s line of defense.
The turtle formation where the heavy infantry protected the whole army in a circle formation while the warriors inside used their shields overlapping above their heads to protect themselves.
They also worked on single unit square formations where each unit of ten soldiers would form a square with 3 warriors on each side while the unit commander was positioned in the center giving orders and helping fight with any of the four sides that needed it.
Akira was thorough in teaching the new tactics and only moved onto the next one when he received a message that the soldiers had a basic understanding of the new formation.
¡°Although today was a bit sloppy and I know that learning all this might be a lot to remember in one day, I still feel you all did a good job. You have shown me that you are indeed worthy of becoming soldiers of Kodria. You don''t have to worry about forgetting anything you learned today as we will be doing this every day until you know how to do it by heart!¡± said Akira.
¡°When everyone receives their new armor you will be required to wear it at all times during training so that you can get used to the new weight.
When you all resemble a well trained and fully functioning army with proper formations and not a wanton charge of scattered warriors we''ll have some fun fighting skirmishes with blunted weapons. So I suggest that you put in your all to learn the shield formations,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yes sir!¡±
¡°Dismissed!¡±
Chapter 164: Double time, March!
For over a week during the day, Akira led the army in the new marching and shield formations.
Later in the day, he joined the Dwarves to help work on the armor that was still needed for the army with the help of the other blacksmiths, all werewolf soldiers had a full set of new armor that they were now training in.
Akira stood at the training field in front of the warriors after completing their morning run and exercises to warm up their muscles. He took a quick look at the message window that had popped up several minutes before.
The warriors under your command have a complete basic understanding of the marching and shield formations.
Continue to train the warriors for a perfect understanding.
Command skill level up! Fluffball has leveled up to level 20!
|
He wanted to continue training only the shield formations until they were at perfect but he could not stop worrying about the demigods being quiet for so long.
It would be best if they started on skirmish fighting so that they could stay in full fighting shape for anything that came their way.
The 1st-5th heavy infantry units stood at the front in full white heavy armor with the crest of Kodria on their large tower shield and on their breastplate. Their armor was designed similar to Akira''s but did not have the added benefits of the Dwarves runes or magic stones.
Behind Akira were several hundred snowmen that had been erected in several rows.
¡°Before we start with full skirmishes we have a few more exercises I will be adding every day. Everyone must use the hand-crossbow given to them and shoot ten bolts at the snowmen from 50 yards away.¡±
¡°Marching formation! Step forward one unit at a time,¡± ordered Akira.
¡°Begin!¡± shouted Akira as the units quickly followed orders and moved smoothly into formation.
Akira watched and marked down the names of those who were able to hit the snowman ten times in a row on their first attempt.
There were only 20 who managed to score a hit with all ten, 11 from the Longtail clan, 6 from the Darkmoon clan, and 3 from the Madmane clan.
Akira would be keeping an eye on them and would see if it was just a fluke or if they could do the same thing the next time they shot the small hand crossbow. The majority of the warriors missed three to four shots. The worst accuracy was from the heavy infantry who missed five or more times.
After all of the cross-bolts were gathered from the ground and the deformed snowmen they returned to the marching formation.
¡°You all understand how to march prettily. Now you must show that you can keep that formation while charging the enemy line and attacking the enemy!¡± said Akira pointing at the rows of snowmen.
¡°1st -5th heavy infantry you will rotate in protecting each unit until they have all successfully completed the charge to my liking. You have the duty of protecting those behind you in battle so you can count this as extra training. 1st unit and 6th unit step forward!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°Charge!¡± Akira watched as the twenty warriors ran forward in almost perfect unison. But when they got to the snowmen the shield wall disappeared as they moved their shields to attack the enemy with their swords.
The warriors from the temporary 6th unit were a mess as well, as they tried to land an attack of their own while the heavy infantry was hacking away at the deformed snowmen in the front row.
¡°Do it again but this time do not let the shield-wall fall! Let the warriors behind you attack the enemy!
Your job as heavy infantry is to take the punishment dished out by the enemy so that those behind you get to the battle in one piece. When you reach the enemy smash into their front line, push them back all while keeping formation and blocking the enemy from breaking through your shield wall.
You may attack if it will not cause the shield wall to collapse or if given an order by me or an officer,¡± shouted Akira.
On their second try, the warriors of the 6th unit threw their short spears over the heads of the heavy infantry while charging forward towards the enemy.
The solid shield-wall slammed into the snowmen and braced for a counterattack, their weapons ready to attack the imaginary enemy if there was a chance. While the warriors of the 6th unit behind them stabbed at the enemy from behind the protection of the shield-wall.
¡°Good that''s what I want to see! Next two units!¡±
When each unit had successfully completed one charge at enemy snowmen. Akira turned to Azura and Mileena who had joined him.
¡°Did you manage to find enough help?¡± he asked.
¡°Around 100 of them,¡± said Azura.
¡°Their mothers all said pretty much the same thing they have to be back for lunch,¡± said Mileena.
Akira walked over to the group of 100 kids, the majority of them boys.
¡°All right listen up! As chief and commander of Kodria, I have a mission for you guys. Do you want to know what it is?¡± asked Akira in a quiet whisper.
¡°Yeah!!!¡± shouted the excited kids.
¡°Shhh...¡± said Azura.
¡°I need you to stand behind all of those snowmen and whenever the soldiers charge I want you to throw as many snowballs as you can until they stop attacking the snowmen. Can you guys do that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yeah,¡± said the children quietly.
¡°We also need those who are good at building snowmen to help replace the ones that get destroyed. Any takers?¡± asked Akira.
Several kids raised their hands.
¡°Alright everyone, take your positions!¡± said Akira quietly.
Akira waited until the children hid themselves behind the many rows of snowmen. The warriors had seen Akira quietly talking to the children and although they could eavesdrop if they transformed they did not dare to do such a thing like that.
¡°We are increasing the distance to the enemy! 1st and 6th unit, start at the end of the training field and charge the snowmen!¡± ordered Akira.
The 1st and 6th unit formed up before charging forward and as soon as they started the run...
Thunk! Thud! Thump!
Snowballs rained down on them surprising them. Although it was unexpected they continued to charge forward under the rain of snowballs.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
For the rest of the morning, the units continued to charge at the snowmen while under snowball attacks. After each charge, the kids who had volunteered continued to help make new snowmen and patch up the less damaged ones.
The heavy infantry was getting the worst of the training as they had to lead the charge with all of their heavy armor and large square shields. They ended up charging the snowman three times more than units 6-20.
During the morning training, Akira received several messages of units leveling up together as they learned and gained a better understanding of the new formations and fighting.
¡°What''s with all the fighting of snowmen?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°If their shield wall falls apart while trying to fight the snowmen, then just think about how bad it would be if they fought against the demigods in mess like that,¡± said Akira in between bites of the steaming meat stew that the girls had brought him and the others.
¡°If you say so but it seems kinda silly to me, especially the kids throwing the snowballs,¡± said Azura.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball who disagreed with her as he liked running alongside Akira, dodging the snowballs, and jumping at the snowmen.
¡°Varbu how are your warriors doing?¡± asked Maya.
¡°Not bad. We''re doing somewhat the same training as Akira so we should be on par with each other,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gi giii gi giiiii,¡± said prince Gobbers.
¡°He says that his warriors are doing fine as well,¡± translated Varbu between bites of food.
¡°I heard that Burkin returned several days ago and left before I could say hello,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Yeah, he told me that he had met several wandering clans and made some great deals with them. He dropped off some of the stuff he traded for at the general store before heading back up the river to sell the stuff at Jerora and pick up his wife. Soon he''ll be back with more items and even some alcohol.
I know Delgar and the other Dwarves have been dying from not having anything strong to drink so I''m sure they will be happy when he comes back,¡± said Akira.
¡°Kodria is really growing well with all the new buildings and homes being built. I heard from the Grand elders that the village has enough food right now to last us for several months so we don''t need to worry that much,¡± said Azura.
¡°It''s all because my man found, planned, and helped build the village that everything is going so well! Now all you have to do is keep up the good work with the military and we''ll have nothing to worry about!¡± said Mileena while laying her head on Akira''s cold metal shoulder using the cape as a cushion.
¡°Thanks for the kind words but we still have a long way to go in order to be at the point where we don''t have to worry about the demigods,¡± said Akira as he rubbed Mileena''s furry ears.
The rest of the day the warriors continued to train in shooting the crossbow, charging the snowman, and spear throwing.
Akira joined the training alongside his own bodyguards and did everything he had the warriors do. Fluffball, energetic as always followed Akira enjoying his time playing in the snow.
The Grand elders would soon be looking to see which bodyguards lived up to the standards they wanted so they gave it their all as they knew that they were being watched by the grand elders from the castle keep as well as by Akira.
Four days passed as they trained in all they had learned over and over again.
Akira now stood in front of the warriors after the warm-ups had finished.
¡°I have chosen 20 of you to create the 6th and 7th skirmish unit of the 1st omega wolf pack. Your role in the army will be, but not limited to, scouting and fighting alongside the heavy infantry as skirmishers shooting at the enemy from a distance. When your name is called step forward and join your new unit.¡±
It only took a few minutes to reorganize the units so that the new 6th and 7th skirmish units, while the temporary units that had lost men were re-organized.
¡°From now on the 6th and 7th skirmish units will follow after the heavy infantry while in line formation. The 6th skirmishers will support the 1st heavy infantry and the 7th skirmishers will support the 5th heavy infantry in all formations unless ordered otherwise.¡±
¡°Today we will be taking a break from formations, charging, and crossbows training. We are going to have some fun with a wrestling contest!¡±
Everyone cheered at his words.
¡°We will be holding a weekly contest from now on. Although you will be fighting Kodria''s enemies with weapons there may be unforeseen instances where you will be forced into a fight without your weapon. I expect you to not shame the Kodria or the army by not knowing how to fight the enemy with your bare hands.
The rules of the competition are simple, everyone will transform and use their bare hands to defeat their opponent. Three losses will mean you are out of the competition. Those who lose will have to do ten more laps around the village after the contest is finished! The winner of the contest can take a rest while everyone else runs,¡± said Akira.
There was another happy cheer as everyone was determined to be the winner and not have to run the extra ten laps.
The morning passed by leisurely several of the villagers along with the Grand elders who had no work for the day came to watch the fights. The event was full of shouts of encouragement and had a festival atmosphere to it.
¡°What do you say to having the Orc champion and the werewolf champion fight after they win?¡± asked Varbu as he jabbed Akira playfully in the side.
¡°Or how about the both of us show off our skills in front of everyone,¡± said Akira as jabbed Varbu back.
¡°Awoooooo~!¡±
The loud howl echoed through the cold air caused the cheerful atmosphere to disappear in an instant as they listened to it.
Fluffball let out a howl of his own in response to the howl.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Mileena who was sitting next to Akira.
Ding!
Urgent Mission received!
Defend the mines from Invading attackers!
Difficulty: C+
The reward will depend on the results of the mission. A bonus may be added if you choose to do certain things.
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¡°Someone is attacking the mines!¡± said Akira as he stood up.
¡°How did they get past the ships?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°That''s what I want to know as well. Warriors! Marching formation!¡± shouted Akira.
Without thinking the warriors disentangled themselves from their wrestling matches and along with those that had been watching them, rearmed themselves, and got into the Shield line marching formation.
¡°Double time, March. To the docks!¡± shouted Akira. Fluffball followed beside Akira even though he tried to get him to stay with Mileena and Azura.
The werewolf warriors followed by the orcs and the goblins jogged through the snow as they headed to the docks.
Akira now had a dilemma since there were no ships built for carrying the troops across the water and the large ships were already out patrolling the lake and would still take time to get to the docks to allow them to move them to the island with the mines.
There were several medium-sized fishing boats that had just finished unloading their morning haul of fish tied up at the docks.
Akira made the decision right then.
¡°Fishing captains, we need you to take us to the mines quickly!¡± shouted Akira.
The captains of the boats were surprised to see the large gathering of 200 fully armored warriors who all looked the same and were being led by a warrior that was wearing dark blue armor.
It was their first time seeing the Kodria military up close and they were shocked for a few moments.
¡°Close your gaping mouths and move aside to let the warriors onto your ships!¡± shouted Dolph, snapping the fishermen out of their daze.
The boarding of the ships took more time than Akira had expected due to the need to balance the ships in order to not capsize the ships due to the many heavily armored warriors.
The ships began to transport the werewolf warriors over first and would come back for the goblins and the orcs on the second and third run.
As the ships reached the docks of the rocky island Akira hoped down from the ship onto the dock.
He had several thoughts flowing through his mind as he oversaw the warriors as they disembarked from the ships.
''This is a major blind spot I never thought about. When this is all over we''ll need to create some ships for transport and we''ll need to train in amphibious landing.''
There were over thirty regular werewolf warriors who were gathered at the docks when they arrived.
¡°Where is everyone else? And where is the enemy? Is it the demigods?¡±
¡°Chief! The enemy is holed up inside the mine! They didn''t look like demigods to me. The other miners are stuck in the mines guarding against the enemy with their pickaxes but can''t do much against their numbers without their armor and weapons. The enemy killed nearly ten people that I saw.¡±
¡°How many were there?¡±
¡°I couldn''t get a definite count but it looked to be over two hundred of them,¡± said the miner.
¡°Stay here and make sure no one tries to mess with the docks while the orcs and goblins are transported over,¡± ordered Akira.
Seeing that they were going into battle Klyn and the shaman under him started to cast their buffs on the werewolf warriors. Klyn made sure to stay close to Akira so that he could make sure he was able to assist him if needed.
¡°Marching formation! Double Time, MARCH to the mines! Klyn, have one of your shaman scouts find the enemy and see how many there are.¡±
Chapter 165: Armys first fight
¡°Halt! Shield wall forward!¡± ordered Akira as the mines came into view below them.
Around the entrance to the mine, there were somewhere around 100 stone gray-skinned male warriors with stubby spikes coming out of their heads. Each of the warriors was wearing what looked like a light set of fur armor made from some unknown type of furry monster.
Akira focused on the male in the group who had a small crown of stubby horns on his head [Kamen warrior lvl 50].
Akira moved to the front to join the heavily armored warriors holding his shield in front of him adding to the shield wall. His guards stood just behind him so they could support him.
Fluffball stood behind Akira and watched the enemy between Akira and the guard''s legs.
The Kamen warriors were standing still with no movement, not even a blink of an eye, it was almost like they were statues.
¡°You are trespassing on Kodria''s land! Leave now or we will be forced to push you out,¡± shouted Akira.
As if awakened by his voice the gray-skinned warriors all turned their heads and looked towards Akira and the warriors that were atop of a small hill above the mine entrance.
As one the Kamen warriors crisply turned towards them and... started to shoot arrows at them.
¡°The enemy has made their choice, let''s not disappoint them. Full charge forward! Smash them!¡± Roared Akira.
¡°YAP!¡± Fluffball let his feelings be known as he excitedly agreed with Akira.
¡°Stay here behind a rock,¡± Akira ordered Fluffball before joining the charging front line heavy infantry as they charged down the hill shields raised covering for those behind them. The warriors behind them held their own shields above their heads as protection from any arrows that fell from above.
Without a need to order them the skirmishers used their hand crossbows when they were in range. The javelins from the warriors were sent flying towards the enemy as the distance narrowed.
BAM!
The werewolves charge slammed into the loosely formed Kamen and sent several of the mute gray-skinned warriors flying backward into others or a stone wall behind them.
¡°Shield wall! Surround them and push them back!¡± Roared Akira to be heard over the clash of battle.
The 1-5th heavy infantry fanned out with well-practiced steps and began to surround the enemy in a U pushing them back against each other.
The warriors behind the heavy infantry stabbed at those that were in front of the shield wall. The heavy infantry was able to get in several attacks of their own as the enemy stumbled.
The rest of the warriors went to work throwing javelins and stabbing at the enemies'' exposed body wounding and killing many of them in the first few minutes of the battle.
The shaman commanded by Klyn stood at the back of the werewolf warriors formation and continuously sent several debuffs towards the enemy fighters to allow the werewolf warriors to have an easier time defeating them.
Akira traded several attacks with many of the Kamen warriors while he looked for the stubby crowned leader of the group. When he found him commanding from the center of the enemy warriors Akira sent a few of his own javelins towards the man.
The javelins were intercepted by the warriors around him either with their shields or their bodies. The attack drew the stubby crowned man''s attention towards Akira.
With a few guttural shouts, the Kamen officer managed to reform a line of battle to try and fend off the overwhelming werewolf force. There were now less than 50 warriors that were still standing and could fight.
Now that the initial momentum and chaos from the charge was over the Kamen warriors were putting up stiffer resistance to the werewolves who were pushing forward with the shield wall attacking whatever was in their way.
The Kamen officer let out a guttural battle cry and charged towards Akira with several Kamen warriors by his side intending to kill Akira.
Unfortunately for them the shield wall Akira was part of blocked their path forward. Akira''s guard made sure to block any Kamen warriors from getting around the wall to attack Akira from the side.
At each end of the shield wall, the skirmisher units were using their hand crossbows to great effect due to the short-range.
Swoosh! The Kamen officer''s sword missed Akira''s head by an inch as he leaned his head to the side and stabbed his own sword out over his shield at the officer.
Thunk!
His sword pierced the exposed gray skin but it felt like he was stabbing stone.
As the Kamen officer was fiercely attacking and being attacked the rest of the Kamen warriors started to rain their own attacks on the shield wall trying to push past them to attack those behind them.
Under the renewed onslaught of enemy attacks and push forward the shield wall held firm not budging, while those behind them continued to hurl well-aimed javelins and other attacks at the enemy picking them off one by one.
The Kamen warriors were step by step being pushed back towards the entrance where they made their last stand.
Akira and the officer continued to trade several blows with each other with Akira receiving no damage to his body only concussions from the constant battering of attacks on his shield and armor.
The Kamen officer was covered in several wounds, blood dripping from each one onto the ground where he stood dying the snow a pinkish red.
Akira was going to use a skill to finish him off but two large javelins came hurtling over his head and slammed into the Kamen officers'' head and chest knocking him off of his feet and piercing him to the stone wall behind.
¡°You started the fight without us! How uncool,¡± said Varbu from behind as he ran up to take the right flank.
¡°Let''s clean up the rest of this rabble and then my warriors will enter the mine first,¡± said Akira as he stabbed his swords at a nearby Kamen warrior.
With the Orcs swarming them from one side and the werewolf''s on the other the remaining Kamen warriors were cleaned up nicely.
¡°I''m really growing to love this Battleax!¡± shouted Varbu as he looked at the body of a Kamen warrior who had been cut in half from one of his swings.
Ding!
All warriors under your command have gained a better understanding of battle tactics and have leveled up!
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
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Akira took a quick looked over his warriors to assess what state they were in. There were only a few who received minor wounds since the shield wall had done its job and held the enemy back.
¡°Kof, why have you transformed without my order?¡± asked Akira as he saw one of the heavy infantry warriors was in his furry werewolf form.
Over the past few weeks of training, he had been trying to get them to be able to fight without having to rely on their werewolf transformation which would greatly preserve their stamina and allow them to fight longer.
¡°I have no excuse. I let the battle frenzy get to me,¡± said Kof.
¡°When we return make sure to do an extra 10 laps around the village,¡± said Akira.
He returned his gaze to the entrance of the mine and pointed shi sword towards it, ¡°Line formation, forward march, double time!¡±
The werewolves entered the mine with three heavy infantry in the first row leading the way with their large shields blocking the path of anything from getting past them. Akira stood in the second row sandwiched between Dolph and Vilkas. Behind him was Klyn who was making sure to buff those around him.
The mines were dark as the enemy had destroyed the lamps and any torches on the wall as they had passed them.
As they ran down the dark tunnels they could hear the sound of howls and the clash of heavy attacks on skin echoing throughout the tunnels ahead of them.
¡°Hurry!¡± shouted Akira as he ducked to pass a wooden beam that was supporting the low ceiling of the tunnel.
The cramped tunnel was a real pain for Varbu and the other large Orcs who were following behind Akira and the werewolf warriors.
As they got closer to the sounds of battle the low tunnel ceiling began to rise and widen into a large cavernous room with several mining branches. Several lamps hung from the ceiling near the tunnel entrances lighting up the mined room.
Near the central entrance, there were around thirty transformed werewolf warriors who were surrounded by some 100 Kamen warriors.
The transformed werewolves were wearing no armor and only their pickaxes and fists as weapons. Those still standing had many wounds on their body as they fought for their life.
As Akira entered the room he saw several werewolves fall to the ground joining several other still bodies on the ground.
¡°Javelins! Crossbows! Fire!¡± ordered Akira.
When the javelins and cross bolts flew out Akira shouted, ¡°Arrow formation! Forward charge!¡±
The enemy was taken by surprise by the attacks on their rear and was slow to form a defense against the charging warriors.
Akira joined the charge at the tip of the arrow his square shield raised up as he ran right into the enemies'' weak defense plowing right through them splitting the group into two as he fought and pushed to reach the miners that were still fighting off the Kamen warriors surrounding them.
Klyn and the shaman who followed behind the warriors started to send several buffs to the wounded miners who were still fighting fiercely giving them a boost to their fighting power and recovery.
With Varbu and his Orc warriors exiting the cramped tunnel and joining the fight, the enemy was outnumbered and losing warriors of their own quickly until there were only 50 warriors left.
The leading officer of the Kamen warriors who had a medium-sized stubby crown of horns on his head held up his sword in a salute to Akira and shouted in a deep stony voice, ¡°Great warrior king, I Frafrak admit defeat.¡±
¡°Warriors halt your attacks! Surround them with a shield wall!¡± ordered Akira.
When the Kamen warriors were completely surrounded Akira again spoke.
¡°Why have you come here picking a fight with Kodria village?¡±
¡°These odd people came to us and told us of a place rich with diamonds and other minerals.¡±
¡°Were they short and stubby with bushy beards?¡± asked Akira thinking of Burkin and his caravan.
¡°If you''re talking about the Dwarven kind that traded with us some time ago then no, it was not them. The people who I speak of looked to be humans but had powerful skills that could kill easily.
They said we could have the mines if we cleared out the bandits that occupied them. We did not know that a village was here or that you owned the mines. Please believe these words and allow us to return to our tribe.¡±
¡°Are you blind? Could you not see the many boats on the lake or the village on the large island?¡± asked Varbu.
Akira held up his hand to calm him down.
¡°The fact still remains that you attacked us and killed several people,¡± said Akira pointing to the still bodies of several miners and warriors who had been slain.
¡°And you have killed most of my warriors, such is life in Kaldrbiod.
If you are strong enough to take what you want, you do. If you are not strong enough to defend it, you do not deserve to own it.
There are no hard feelings between us so please allow us to leave,¡± said Frafrak.
¡°Drop your weapons and come quietly back to the village, where you will await judgment,¡± said Akira.
¡°Where is your honor? This is not the way of Kaldrbiod! Tried by who? A tyrant like you who does not respect tradition and the laws of Kaldrbiod?¡±
¡°You are in Kodria''s territory and we do not follow your laws. We have our own.
I will not be the one who judges you, that will be up to Kodria''s grand elders to decide your fate.
I will only say it one more time. Drop your weapons or we will take you by force,¡± said Akira as he pointed his sword at the man.
¡°But...¡±
Akira raised his sword ready to smack the officer with the flat of his sword.
Seeing this the Kamen officer stopped trying to protest and dropped his sword. The rest of his warriors followed suit.
Akira motioned for several warriors to step forward and gather the dropped weapons while the heavy infantry still stood ready to stop them from doing anything stupid.
¡°We will treat your warriors with respect, and I will take you to present your case to the grand elders,¡± said Akira.
Ding!
¡°Form a single file line and we will guide you back,¡± Akira ordered the Kamen warriors.
There were several notifications that had popped up but he could not look at all of them as he had to keep a close watch on the new captives as they marched them out of cramped mine and onto the boats.
***
¡°So what do you think?¡± asked Akira as grand elders exited the room that held the captured Kamen warriors.
¡°They are from the Kamen tribe and from the information they gave us the people responsible for leading them here are most definitely demigods,¡± said Carl.
¡°That fits with what the shaman scouts reported. They sent a few birds to scout some suspicious people at the edge of the lake who were watching the movement of our warriors. When they noticed the Goblins who were sailing towards them they escaped into the woods heading north,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°The captured officer also told us that they were not the only wandering tribe that was told of a land of honey and rich resources,¡± said Seoc.
¡°So that''s why we haven''t heard from the demigods in a while. It was only time before they showed up. There is no way we could hide our village from them but we need to hurry the plans for building the village and its future defenses,¡± said Akira.
¡°The warriors that attacked us were just a small scouting party of a larger nomad village camped a week or more away. They said their village numbers around 5000 but they are only one clan of many that numbers around 25,000 who are all scattered around Kaldrbiod,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°How can there be such a large population in such a desolate place?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We asked the same thing and we were told that each nomad tribe lives in a different area only gathering when war with another demon race happens. He laughed at us when we mentioned the south being nothing but barren snow lands,¡± said Hegir.
¡°With the information gathered we decided that we can not act rashly. The majority of the captives will stay locked up for now but tomorrow the officer Frafrak and a few of his soldiers will be allowed to return to his tribe. He has agreed to inform the commander of his tribe about our demands and ask him to come and negotiate the terms of release for their warriors,¡± said Carl.
¡°Wait, what if he just brings their army to fight us?¡± asked Akira, worried about the possibility.
¡°Frafrak assured us that his honor would not allow him to do such a despicable thing. He said that unlike us, his tribe valued honor and tradition over everything else,¡± said ¨¤aron, a humorous smile.
¡°As for the ships that were supposed to be guarding the lake the captains have already been demoted and sent to the brig. This light punishment is due to them being volunteers,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Even if they are volunteers their negligence can not go unpunished. I have informed the new captains who have taken charge of the large ships that I expect that they will properly patrol the lake,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°I really don''t know what to think about the Kamen since they have a weird sense of honor,¡± said Akira. ¡°I''ll make sure that the army is ready before they arrive or the demigod''s attack. I already have several things in mind that were revealed to me during the fight that needs to be remedied right away. Hopefully, I can take care of everything so that we aren''t caught flat-footed again.¡±
¡°Agreed, we need to formulate our plan on how to deal with the demigods and any future attacks,¡± said ¨¤aron.
Chapter 166: Navy
It was early morning when Akira returned from a memorial at the newly created cemetery out near the woods behind the castle keep.
The first people to die while living in Kodria were now buried there. The families of the dead had received a small sum of gold as compensation for their dead sons and fathers. It was not much of a consolation for those who lost loved ones but it was all they could do.
This event was a wake-up call for Akira and shined a light on his and several other people''s mistakes.
There were several things he had to do today before he joined the Warriors in their daily training, which was why he was walking towards the docks followed by his guards and several workers.
He took out some markers and placed them down outlining the new dock that would be built and only used by the military.
As soon as he left the workers began gathering materials to build the new dock.
His next stop was the shipbuilders who were nearby. Lately, they had been only working on small rowboats and fishing boats, but now Akira had a different task for them.
¡°Lord it is an honor to see you here! How may I help you?¡± asked the head shipbuilder.
¡°The army requires at least 6 transport ships that can carry a minimum of 50 soldiers at a time,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yes, I can understand why you would need them after yesterday''s problems. We will stop all other projects and work on them. If we work all day we should have all six transport boats finished by the end of tomorrow.¡±
When Akira finished some other small tasks he returned to the barracks where the warriors were standing at attention waiting. They had already finished their morning run around the city with Varbu and Prince Gobbers while he had taken care of the random errands.
Seeing Akira they all saluted him as he passed by. He made sure to return the salute as well.
Akira inspected each of the soldiers and found that over the weeks of training the average level was now around level 50. With the lowest at level 45 and the highest at lvl 58.
No one in any of the three demon races army''s had died from the battle but there were several who were banged up.
¡°I will now call out several names. The names that are called out will be the new officers of the unit you are in,¡± said Akira.
When he finished, he pulled an envelope out of a small bag on his side and pulled out the piece of paper from inside.
¡°The names on this list are the names that the Grand elders have picked as the elite bodyguards of Kodria. The leadership of the Kodria''s elite guards will be Co-captains Vilkas and Dolph. Now on to those who have been selected to work under them.¡±
When he was finished with the names he paused for a moment before talking again. ¡°You have all proved your ability to command in a battle. I thank those of you who have helped protect me during the last few months and are not on this list. I hope you will stay with the army and continue working your hardest for Kodria and its citizens.
Today''s training will be lighter to allow everyone to recuperate from yesterday''s battle. Tomorrow we will be doing new training. After that we will be hunting nearby monsters on the other side lake. Varbu will be leading today''s training while I take care of a few other things.¡±
With that Akira left the training ground and returned to the castle keep.
***
¡°The large ships have new captains and are properly sailing the lake keeping an eye out for any enemy that might appear. The army has found all of its officers who picked from those who showed promise in yesterday''s battle,¡± said Akira, giving the Grand elders an update on the morning tasks.
¡°I am glad you didn''t pick any peacetime officers who only know training and theory. I heard that you had commissioned a new dock and 6 transport boats. Do you have any plans of expanding the navy?¡± asked ¨¤aron.
¡°Can you even call it a navy? It''s just a bunch of volunteers who know how to take care of the ships. They aren''t even fully crewed,¡± said Seoc.
¡°We do not have the money right now for adding any more sailors or naval ships then what we already have. We can pay the volunteers if they actually decide to join the navy. I decided to spend my own money for the new transport boats due to yesterday''s problems with getting to the mining island,¡± said Akira.
¡°It is all for the best that we found out about these problems now before the demigods launch an attack,¡± said Hegir.
¡°What are the plans for making sure this does not happen again?¡± asked Carl.
¡°I have made plans to build a few watchtowers on the other side of the lake as well as a garrison on the mining island for at least a minimum of ten of the city guards to be stationed there at all times. It is not much but until we have enough money and a big enough army we''ll have to do this for now,¡± said Akira.
¡°Lord, if I may remind you. Since the village security is low creating some temporary forts on either side of the mouth of the river would help secure the lake from that end as well as raise the security of the village,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Noted, but as I said before we don''t have a full army yet or a big enough city guard to man forts outside of the city protection. But we will have to work on that sooner or later. For now, the watchtowers will be put in place there,¡± said Akira.
¡°We can get around that by having warriors in the militia rotate in and out of the forts,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Frafrak has left already while you were at the cemetery this morning. Will the army be ready before the Kamen leader arrives in a week or so?¡± asked Carl.
¡°I have moved all my plans ahead due to yesterday''s battle. The warriors under my command understand all the basic formations and all that is left is to continue to raise their battle experience with fighting. I will be taking them to clear out any monsters we find around the area. I believe within that time the army will be completed,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t forget about teaching them how to swim!¡± shouted ¨¤aron as Akira was leaving the office.
¡°That will have to wait until the warmer months.¡±
***
Next day.
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Akira stood on the new dock that had been built for the army with three new large transport ships tied to the right side of the dock.
Today along with the army, village guards, and the majority of sailors from the patrolling ships were all lined up in front of the docks.
There was currently only one ship patrolling the waters.
¡°Sailors, you all have been volunteering your time to protect the village and mines. Yesterday''s battle proved why we need a stronger naval force and better discipline on the lake.
So I along with the Grand elders ask you to join the newly formed naval marines. As marines, you will be trained every day in both the workings of the ships that you will be assigned to but also fighting on the sea, rivers and lakes.
Your main job will be to protect your ships fighting any enemy who tries to board your ship while also learning proper tactics to board and commandeer a ship. You will also be trained in amphibious landings to fight alongside the army if it is needed. We are currently looking for a minimum of 50 marines. Who will join?¡± asked Akira.
He was not expecting much since the volunteer sailors on the one ship that was patrolling right now had all declined his offer.
Out of the 100+ volunteer sailors, 61 of them raised their hands.
¡°Those that wish to join the marine units please talk to captain Walcott over there he will take down your names,¡± said Akira pointing to an older gentleman with a sea salt gray beard and a black leather hat.
¡°The rest of you will join in today''s training as it is vital that you at least know the basics,¡± said Akira before turning to the army.
¡°Officers! It is your duty to not only lead the warriors under your command but also know how to control and navigate the transport ships! Line formation by Omega unit!¡± shouted Akira.
The volunteers who were unsure what to do watched the army form 20 lines of ten warriors, as well as the guards who formed 5 lines of then beside them. The volunteers decided to follow suit and formed it into lines of ten as well.
¡°Army 1st Omega unit 1-5 forward march to the third transport ship, 1st Omega unit 6-10 to the second transport ship, 11-15 to the first ship!¡± shouted Akira.
The units that were called stepped forward and marched to the ships they had been ordered to. The dock was now crammed with 150 warriors who waited for Akira''s next orders.
¡°Embark! Officers at the rear of the ship!¡±
All 150 warriors entered their assigned ship and picked up the oars on the side of the boat, with the officers standing at the rear.
¡°Disembark!¡±
¡°Move faster! The enemy will kill you before you can get out of the boat if you are that slow!¡±
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball let out his own agreement scolding the slowpokes.
For the rest of the morning, Akira rotated the Army, guards, volunteers, and others onto and off of the ships. While they were training the fourth ship was delivered to the docks.
Ding!
The Army now has a basic understanding of boarding and disembarking ships. Several warriors, naval marines and volunteers, have leveled up due to training and new knowledge.
Fluffball''s understanding of tactics for battle has been enhanced with a better understanding and a higher level he will now be able to receive more experience points.
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¡°Good you know how to board and disembark! Transport ship 1-4 you are ordered to move to the mining island and disembark march in line formation to the new garrison and return to your ships. Where you will once again row to the mouth of the river with ship 1 and 2 disembarking on the right bank and moving to the new watchtower. Ship 3 and 4 will disembark on the left bank moving to that watchtower. You will then return to your ships and return here where you will disembark and await further instructions. You will be timed and judged on your skill at following these orders. Move out!¡±
Akira watched as the officers started to shout commands. The boats pushed away from the dock and started to quickly row away from the dock. Some more graceful than others.
¡°Village guards, naval marines, volunteers, watch and learn from them as you will be doing this as well after they return!¡±
¡°Yes sir!¡± shouted everyone.
The rest of the day was spent with everyone taking turns using the transports to embark and disembarking at the designated places, each a different from the other.
They needed to be able to do everything without flaws or mess-ups so that there would be no major flubs when they needed to get to a certain place to engage an enemy.
***
Over the next several days Akira took the 200 warriors out to search for and fight nearby monsters. A large portion of the warriors were leveling up quickly due to this.
The naval marines trained daily with the army during the morning exercises then returned to their ships to continue their training. The five ships small and big that were being used for the navy were now manned with 12 naval marines to help protect and fight off enemies.
Since there was little traffic in the wilderness and no nearby settlements there was no lack of monsters to fight. It was all for the best that they started to clear out the monsters near the village.
Ding!
You have leveled up to level 78!
Fluffball has leveled up!
For clearing out a large swarm of [Pinecone bombers] Security of the village has gone up by 1%.
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Fluffball was allowed to join in the fights as well when the monsters they fought were not too strong, and because of this, he was able to grow stronger faster.
Ding!
Officer Hurst has reached level 60 and has received the status of soldier!
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Everyday more and more of the warriors reached level 60 which the system decided was the level a common soldier should be. Soon all of the warriors would reach level 60.
***
¡°Awoooo~!
¡°Sir! Burkin and several other ships have arrived at the mouth of the river!¡± shouted a nearby messenger.
It was noon and Akira and the army had just finished eating lunch, and they were now all getting ready to head out for the afternoon monster clearing.
¡°Officer Hurst! Today you will be in charge of the monster extermination! I expect you to complete the task with no mishaps!¡± said Akira, picking the officer at random.
¡°Understood commander! Omega units head to your designated ships!¡± shouted officer Hurst.
Akira, Fluffball, and his guards walked over to the fishing docks to meet Burkin once again.
As he walked down the dock he looked at the several new ships that carried new faces he had never seen before.
Burkin and the dwarves under him had brought several ships with them all filled with items.
¡°So we meet again young pup. When we last met... please forgive my stone-head husband for creating so much trouble for you,¡± said Kurzlin as she was helped off the ship by an annoyed Burkin.
¡°..yeah nice to meet you as well madam,¡± said Akira giving a slight bow to Kurzlin. ¡°Burkin it sure looks like you brought a lot of things this time.¡±
¡°The majority of it is from the shop. I convinced Kurzlin to close the shop and take everything down here. There are a lot of good quality things that the village is missing.¡±
¡°Hmph! Knowing Kofac and how he does things, I''ll have a lot of work to do in order to reorganize, stock, and make it so that everything fits my taste,¡± said Kurzlin.
¡°Who are they?¡± asked Akira pointing to the other human sailors that had come with Burkin.
¡°Fellow traders! After I told them about my success they all wanted to come as well! I told them that they would have to pay an import tax and stuff like that and they still wanted to come. With word getting out like this the village will be able to have a better flow of gold,¡± said Burkin.
¡°Ah, in all the recent commotion I forgot about stuff like that. I''ll have to consult with the grand elders on what the tax will be for those who wish to trade their goods here,¡± said Akira.
¡°What happened?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°If you and Kurzlin will join me for dinner tonight I can catch you up on all the details,¡± said Akira.
¡°Alright, can you give us a hand with unloading the ships?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°I would be glad to help out.¡±
Chapter 167: Crulak
While Akira was out hunting nearby monsters with the army the grand elders were making sure that the village was functioning well and continued with plans Akira had given them to build several new buildings for the village.
There were several new village school buildings being built in different parts of the village. At these schools, the kids would be able to learn to read, write, do math, and study the history of the clans and demigods.
There were now two village tiered hospitals with doctors and pharmacies to help those in need. Klyn, as the head shaman, had to keep an eye on the hospitals and make sure that everything was in order. The majority of healing herbs were divided between the two buildings while an emergency supply was saved in the warehouse.
There was now a flatbed ferry that was paid for by Akira that would take people from the village to the mines, or the watchtowers.
Ding!
You have reached level 80!
Fluffball is now level 30!
Fluffball''s skills [Gnaw, Headbutt, and Scratch] have been upgraded to [Bite, Tackle, and Claw attack]!
|
Akira hurriedly put the bonus stats into the normal three and then brought up both his and Fluffball''s stat window.
Fluffball: Level: 30
Race: Mutated Snow wolf pup
Title: Yap!
Personality: Inquisitive
Hunger: 75%
Skills:
Bite
Tackle
Claw attack
Due to mutation more XP is needed for each level.
|
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball who was still full of energy after tearing a [Drill nosed mole''s] neck apart.
They were quite the tricky monsters that drilled into the snow as well as the icy ground only to pop out of the ground right under your feet attacking with their sharp nose.
Akira watched Fluffball as he jumped around in the snow playfully with blood all over his furry little face. He could not tell if there was any difference in his size as he still looked like the cute little puppy he had met back in the woods up north. Akira for the 100th time hoped there was nothing wrong with him.
Fluffball sensed Akira watching him and ran over to Akira jumping up into his arms that were ready to catch him.
¡°Even while you''re such a small guy, you sure are gaining a lot of weight, we might need to put you on a diet,¡± said Akira as he held the heavy pup and wiped the blood off of Fluffball''s face which had turned away from him at the mention of a diet.
¡°That little guy is quite the oddball. Even Burkin and the other Dwarves who have fought with snow wolves for hundreds of years have not seen a small guy like him. By now he should already be a fully grown adult,¡± said Klyn who was standing next to Akira as part of his guard protection.
¡°Maybe he''s a late bloomer and will have a large growth spurt later.¡±
¡°In my studies, I have never heard anything about monsters having late growth spurts...but it could be a possibility.¡±
¡°Speaking of studies, how is your training with your grandfather?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Ugh...If training with you, fighting monsters, overseeing the hospitals, and managing all the other shamans wasn''t enough, I still have to endure my grandfather''s harsh training. He has only gotten harsher now that he is a grand elder and I have taken over as head shaman. I have the core healing chant down and I am now working on the intermediate level which is far stronger,¡± said Klyn.
¡°So how strong is the core skill?¡±
¡°Enough that if we were in the same situation as when your grandfather passed I would be able to stabilize him until we returned to the main camp where my grandfather could save him,¡± said Klyn.
At the mention of his grandfather, Akira''s mood fell a little as he remembered the fight with the demigods.
¡°Ah... Don''t worry about anything bad happening. I am far stronger now so I won''t let anything happen to you or your other companions,¡± said Klyn as he slapped Akira on the back to try and reassure him of his new abilities.
Ding!
All training militia have reached level 60. The small army of Kodria has been officially formed!
With the army training completed the security status has been updated to 65%!
To keep the security level high you must continuously clear the monsters out of the surrounding woods.
Commanding skill has leveled up.
|
Akira looked at the warriors who were still in formation watching their surroundings for any enemy while waiting for Akira''s next orders.
¡°Soldiers! Let''s head back to the village and...¡±
¡°Awooooo~,¡± a howl was let out by a scout from the 6th skirmish squad who was keeping an eye out for monsters and enemies on their right.
¡°A large force of unknown people have been spotted...¡± said Akira to himself. Fluffball jumped out of his arms and hoped around since he was able to understand the howls and knew something big was going on.
The bodyguards around Akira all transformed and gathered around Akira.
¡°Could it be the Kamen tribe?¡± asked Klyn.
Akira shrugged before he started transforming a dark black mist covering his body for a few seconds before emerging with his tall dark fur and powerful stature sharp teeth and claws. A heavy aura emanated from him giving off a feel of killing intent that had been honed over many battles.
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¡°Awoooooo~,¡± Akira sent out a command for the city guards and militia to be ready for action.
¡°Forward march, double time!¡± Growled Akira as he led the soldiers through the woods towards the skirmishers who were waiting for the rest of the army to join with them.
As Akira lead the army out of the woods in line formation he could see in the distance a large gathering of shabby-looking people marching towards them.
While watching the approaching group several flags with a large plain rock on it were raised by the approaching group to let Akira know who they were.
¡°So it is the Kamen,¡± said Klyn with a sigh. He was glad that it was not a group of demigods.
¡°Don''t let your guard down. We still don''t know if they are friendly or not,¡± said Dolph who was standing next to Akira on his right while Vilkas was standing on his left.
As the large group of Kamen warriors came closer Akira was able to see their weapons and armor, well mostly the lack of it.
The group of Kamen who numbered over 500 stopped a hundred feet away from the two hundred werewolves who were on full alert ready to take action if they made a wrong move.
The two sides stared back at each other for over a minute as they inspected one another.
They were like night and day in their differences. The Kamen were poorly equipped with mostly clubs, rusty weapons, and thick fur armor that was stinky enough to be smelt even from 100 yards away. There was no sense of order as they just stood around fidgeting with their weapons while they looked at the werewolves.
They looked rather barbaric and very ragged compared to the shiny new armor and weapons that the werewolves wore as well as their silent shield wall lined out in front of them.
A flag bearing the stone started moving through the crowd of Kamen warriors who moved aside letting the flag bearer and several people behind him move forward.
The flag bearer stopped halfway between the two groups and planted the flag into the snowy ground.
¡°Crulak, leader of the Kamen tribe, has come to seek an audience with the leader or leaders of the Kodria village!¡± shouted the flag bearer.
Seeing the flag Akira was reminded that he still needed to find his own flag bearer as he did not have anyone that was responsible for such a task yet. He would have to figure that out later, maybe picking a person from his bodyguards to do it.
A bald man fully equipped in metal armor stepped forward standing next to the flag with two armored warriors following him.
He was around the age of Dolph and Vilkas and had a far bigger crown of horns on his head than all other warriors around him. [Crulak leader of Kamen tribe, Lvl 70]
Akira walked out from behind the shield wall with Dolph and Vilkas to his right and left while Klyn followed behind him. They were all still transformed in case a fight broke out.
When they stopped right in front of the Kamen flag Dolph spoke, ¡°Akira, commander of the Kodria army, head chief of the Darkmoon clan, and leader of the Kodria village!¡±
Akira took another step forward so that he was close enough to reach out to Crulak and let him know who to speak to.
Crulak and Akira looked at each other for a few seconds. Frafrak who had gone to bring back Crulak quietly whispered some words to Crulak who had an awkward smile on his face as he rubbed his bald head.
¡°I am honored that such a person as yourself would come out to meet me,¡± said Crulak as he still looked at Akira''s tall muscular body.
¡°Ah yeah... It is an honor to meet you as well,¡± said Akira, not wanting to say that it was just a coincidence that he was already out here. ¡°We have much to talk about. If you would please order your men to follow the guide to the lake we will follow behind and make sure no monsters attack.¡±
¡°The sooner we settle this the better it is for both our clans,¡± said Crulak skillfully ignoring the fact that Akira did not trust them and enough to follow behind the werewolf army.
When they reached the lake Akira rejoined Crulak with his guards.
¡°For the village''s safety, I can not allow your army to enter the village. You may bring your guards with you while we go speak with the Grand elders to solve this mess,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hold on! We can''t let our leader go into hostile territory with little protection,¡± said Frafrak.
¡°We are not barbarians and have our own honor to uphold. Crulak will be safe while meeting with the Grand elders. My warriors will keep you company while we discuss important matters,¡± said Akira.
¡°But...¡±
¡°Frafrak, enough. We are not here to start more trouble with Kodria. I accept your conditions as long as you keep to your honor and see to it that I and my men come to no harm,¡± said Crulak putting his hand out for Akira to shake.
¡°You have my word as the leader of Kodria and commander of the army. You and your men will come to no harm as long as you or your men do not try anything,¡± said Akira as he grabbed Crulak''s hand with his strong furry paw.
¡°Yap,¡± Fluffball let out his own vow to not bite or pee on Crulak unless he became hostile to Akira. Akira rubbed Fluffball''s head and then looked back to Crulak.
¡°Right this way. The ferry is already waiting to transport us to the village,¡± said Akira.
***
¡°...again I am sorry that we had such a mishap like this happen. I do not blame you for defending your territory. We were fooled and used by these fellows you call demigods. I now see that they used us as a punching bag, to the point we have lost hundreds of our warriors.¡±
¡°The demigods are sly like that. You need to make preparations for the future so that when they come again with even more strength you will be ready for them,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Although we four grand elders understand the circumstances. The fact still remains that it was your warriors that attacked and killed several of our own villagers. Your warriors, their weapons and armor, will be held until the ransom is paid,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
¡°I understand all of that although it is a little late to worry about the spilled moomer milk. I feel mad at myself for allowing something like this to happen and even angrier at the demigods for playing us like fools. I thank you for not killing my warriors after they surrendered. You can rest assured that I will pay the ransom for those alive along with their weapons and armor.¡±
¡°Do you have enough gold to pay for it?¡± asked Akira who had seen the shabby state the Kamen warriors were in.
¡°We have a small amount of gold from a recent trade with a small dwarf trader some weeks ago, but we mainly deal in bartering with other wandering clans. If the gold we have is not enough we can pay with special minerals or gems that we have gathered,¡± said Crulak as he waved for one of his guards to bring forward a sack of gold.
The heavy-looking sack clinked and clanked as it was placed onto the table in front of Crulak.
Crulak pushed the sack of gold towards Akira who sat several feet away from Crulak''s right side. He did not have any emotion on his face as he handed over the large sum of gold.
Akira looked inside and estimated the amount by the weight and what he could see. 10 gold for each warrior and their equipment.
¡°It looks to be the right amount,¡± said Akira as he handed the sack to Samuel who was standing behind him.
¡°With the matter of ransom finished what is everyone''s opinion on the three requests from Crulak,¡± asked Hegir.
The grand elders all looked at Akira first, wanting him to give his opinion first.
Ding!
You must make a verdict on Crulak''s requests.
This will have a large effect on the relationship between Kodria and the Kamen tribe.
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¡°I think it is too early for us to be close allies as we have only just met each other and not on the best of terms...¡±
Crulak''s blank expression fell, showing sadness for a second before he caught himself and returned to a neutral expression. The Grand elders remained silent as they waited for Akira to continue.
¡°...however, that does not mean we can not agree to sign a non-aggression pact between Kodria and the Kamen tribe. I believe the pact will ensure that something like this will not happen again at least between the two of us.¡±
¡°I agree.¡± ¡°Agree.¡± ¡°I as well.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Each of the Grand elders agreed and accepted Akira''s decision on the matter.
¡°And the matter of them creating a village nearby?¡± asked Carl.
¡°I can not accept something like that if it is within several days'' distance from our own village,¡± said Akira.
¡°Right, it would be too much of a security risk for us to have a possible enemy so close that could lead an army to our village within a few days away,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°There is no need to worry about that. There is no suitable land nearby. The place I have already decided on is 5 days away if the weather is nice. It is one of the camping grounds that my tribe normally stays at for a few weeks before moving on.
We are forced to constantly move from one place to another to gather what we need to survive as we can not supply everything at one campsite.
But if you agree with accepting a trade agreement with my tribe we will pay you with valuable minerals, gems, and other items we gather for the food and other resources we need.
With your village acting as the new trade hub It will allow us to finally build a permanent home. I believe this will benefit both of us,¡± said Crulak.
¡°Grand elders your opinion on this?¡± asked Akira.
¡°As long as the Kamen tribe does not build their village near Kodria I have no issue with accepting a trade agreement with them,¡± said Seoc who had been quiet for most of the meeting.
Ding!
Non-aggression pact and trade agreement has been formed between the Kodria village and the Kamen tribe.
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Chapter 168: 3rd tier town
¡°Can my men and I camp near the edge of the lake until the runners from my clan return with the items we have for trade? You have my word of honor that I nor my men will cause any problems,¡± said Crulak.
¡°Akira?¡± asked Carl.
¡°I have no problem with it,¡± said Akira.
¡°Then I think we have finished our meeting with you,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Ah, I have one last thing that I just remembered. One of my own scouts who were watching the Auga tribe said they saw the demigods getting really friendly with them after we told them to shove off.
The Auga tribe has been our rival/enemy over many generations. This might mean more trouble for both of us in the future. This threat is part of the reason I as leader of the Kamen need to create a village that is able to defend against the increasing enemy attacks unlike the wandering camps we currently live in,¡± said Crulak.
¡°Thank you we''ll keep that information in mind. If you can wait outside the room for a few minutes I can personally escort you back to your men and make sure you don''t encounter any problems,¡± said Akira as he stood up and held out a hand for Crulak to shake.
When the door closed behind Akira he turned to the Grand elders with a raised eyebrow.
¡°He seems honest enough for now,¡± said Carl.
¡°The information about the demigods and the Auga tribe was very helpful,¡± said Hegir.
¡°I believe that there may be a possibility that our cold relationship in the future can thaw out and turn into one of friendship if they stick to what Crulak has said they will do,¡± said Seoc.
¡°How is the army''s training coming along?¡± asked ¨¤aron.
¡°They have been thoroughly trained in the tactics of fighting and defending in the local terrain. Their strength is far above the average person and well above the normal warrior. With their continued fighting of nearby monsters they will only get stronger,¡± said Akira.
¡°Are we done here then?¡± asked Carl.
¡°Just one last question. Did the four of you already take care of the tariff and other sales taxes for the new merchants that have been traveling to the town?¡±
¡°Already taken care of. It was set at a reasonable price so that we don''t scare them away. The town''s income for the month will be quite nice,¡± said Seoc.
***
Akira exited the castle keep with Crulak walking next to him. Both of their guards were eyeing each other making sure that their leader was not under any threat.
¡°You know, you look a lot smaller, skinnier, and less hairy than when we first met. It is quite the shocking change of body you have,¡± said Crulak as he looked at Akira.
Akira did not know how to respond to that so he changed the subject.
¡°I noticed that you and a large portion of your warriors do not wear any hats on your heads, Aren''t you cold? The weather is too cold for something like that.¡±
¡°Not at all! Our Kamen race is resistant to all but the harshest cold weather of the deep south where the ice races and other insane demon races live,¡± said Crulak.
¡°Ice races?¡±
¡°The demon races that have a high affinity and control over ice. Like the Yuki-onna. Some of them are even partially or fully ice-based like the Killer Ice bears.¡±
¡°Ah, I have met a person of the Yuki-onna race before but she was living in the swamplands a very hot and humid place,¡± said Akira remembering Yuki who had departed from the group when they had arrived on the shores of Foradverold.
¡°That is indeed very strange. From what I remember they''ll contract a very nasty sickness if they live in a warm climate for too long. Our race has something similar but not as bad. We call it the ''Summer flu'' as it only comes during the warm months if we travel to the far north.¡±
The two continued to walk silently for a few seconds and as they neared the blacksmith Akira stopped.
¡°Crulak, you mentioned that the Auga tribe is constantly attacking you and now they are receiving help or information from the demigods. Is this correct?¡±
¡°Yes, is there something wrong?¡±
¡°Seeing your warriors'' current weapons and armor. It is all quite shabby. My village has the means to produce armor and weapons. If you would be willing to pay for said items Kodria would be willing to supply you with enough to protect yourself from the Auga and any small band of demigods.¡±
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¡°Are you allowed to make such a decision like this?¡±
¡°It has to do with the military and security of Kodria so it falls under my command. Although we are not allies for now we are not enemies. It would not be to Kodria''s benefit if your tribe was wiped out by a hostile demon race and demigod alliance,¡± said Akira.
¡°I understand what you are saying. This would fit both of our interests since we would both receive something out of a deal like that. My Kamen tribe can defend itself with the new armor and weapons while you don''t have to worry too much about the Auga tribe overrunning the area.
This would be a great help as it is almost impossible to get any good weapons in the south.¡±
¡°Maybe when everyone''s tempers simmer down and they warm up to you after trading for a while we can join together in an alliance but right now it would not work out.¡±
¡°I understand.¡±
¡°Allow me to introduce you to the gentlemen and their apprentices that will be working on everything for you. You can describe to them what you would like them to make,¡± said Akira as he entered the blacksmith.
***
Ding!
Requirements for 3rd tier Town have been met! Upgrade completed!
Requirements for 2nd tier town added!
-Population 15k, 200 gold in tax, 2000 gold saved, multiple new buildings, enough food to support the population for a month.
-500 soldiers, 100 guards, wooden walls, or other similar material to surround the town for protection. 70% security needed.
New buildings have been added to the Town blueprint planner.
|
Akira looked at the new message as he sat at one of the desks in the grand elders'' office.
¡°With the increased population and the rent, sales tax, and tariff funds Kodria has surpassed that of a small village and is now on the scale of a small town.
With news of Kodria spreading out far and wide we must take security more seriously. With the fold we now have we can work on projects that were out of our budget just a few weeks ago,¡± said Samuel as he gave Akira and the grand elders a quick summary of Kodria''s growth.
¡°A town you say? So would it be more proper to start calling Akira the town''s lord instead of village chief?¡± asked Hegir.
¡°A lord? That sounds like he''s some rich noble or something,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Who cares about titles and names. What are we going to do about the demigods doing their usual crap stirring up conflict with others? With the increasing number of merchants entering the town every day the security of Kodria is not as strong as I would like,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°I have already thought of a solution for that problem, I will be building a trade post plaza on the opposite side of the lake so that it is separated from the town. It will be a place to allow the unknown merchants and tribes to trade without risking our safety. This way only trusted merchants such as Burkin and a few others will be allowed to do business in the city,¡± said Akira.
¡°That does take care of the random unknown person wandering the streets but what about the security for such a place?¡± asked Seoc.
¡°I think I mentioned this before but I have plans of placing forts on either side of the unfreezing river at the edge of the lake. Later I''ll be asking Burkin and the others to make a large chain long enough to connect one fort to the other. The chain will be able to be raised or lowered as a barrier allowing for the better protection of the lake against enemy invading ships that try to use the river.¡±
¡°I suggest that you take it a bit further and not only focus on building forts on the river. There are other dangers to the south and it would be best if there was a fort built on the south shore of the lake,¡± said Hegir.
¡°That can be done. As for concerns for the town''s security and defending against the demigods'' plots there is no need to worry. I have already finished training the first batch of soldiers and guards for the town. With the increased flow of gold the army will start training 300 new soldiers as well as an additional 50 more town guards, and 50 more naval marines.¡±
¡°Hmm, 500 soldiers, 100 guards, and 110 naval marines do we have enough gold to support this?¡±
¡°We just received a massive order of weapons and armor for the Kamen tribe. What they are paying will cover the cost of equipping and maintaining the army for a while. And that does not include all of our other income,¡± said Akira.
¡°I do remember you mentioning something about that,¡± said Carl.
¡°The warm months will be here in a few months. I suggest that you start planning and preparing for building the stone wall around the village. Movement will be far easier during the short warm months so there is a higher chance of trouble finding its way onto our doorsteps,¡± said Samuel.
¡°I''ll let the miners at the quarry know that they need to start stockpiling the stone,¡± said Seoc.
¡°I''ll make sure to work on the full design and placement of the wall to properly protect the city according to the three-layer plan.¡±
***
¡°Akira! There you are all you have been doing is fighting and training with the army and not spending any time with me!¡± said Mileena as she jumped at Akira who was walking to the docks so he could oversee the building of the trading post and river forts.
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball grabbed onto Mileena''s pant leg and pulled on it to get her off of Akira.
¡°I won''t let go Fluffball no matter how hard you pull,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Yap!¡± This only made Fluffball more determined.
Akira scooped Fluffball up from the snow with his free arm.
¡°Just ignore the crazy person,¡± said Akira talking to Fluffball as he held Mileena off with his other hand.
A wolfish smile appeared on Fluffball''s face and he licked Akira''s nose to show his agreement and affection for him.
Mileena wanted to say something but Akira spoke before she could.
¡°Mileena, you can follow me if you want, but I have a lot of work I still need to do so I can''t be playing around.¡±
¡°Fine, I''ll follow you and I won''t get in your way.¡±
¡°Wait, I want to come!¡± shouted Azura as she ran up to them along with Maya and Chack.
¡°Me too!... I lie! I was dragged here by your sister. I want to go take a nap in the warm corner!¡± said Chack.
Chapter 169: Blizzard
Over the next few days, Akira was very busy. In the morning he oversaw the training and selection of the new warriors that would be added to the army, guards, and naval marines. In the afternoon he managed the construction of the three new forts and the trade plaza.
¡°Let''s go and inspect the finished product,¡± said Mileena as she hopped off of the ferry that had transported Akira and his guard to the new docks that had been built for the trade plaza.
Fluffball jumped out of the ship and chased after Mileena after taking a quick glance at Akira who was following them down the dock that already had a few merchant ships moored.
At the end of the docks, there were two small guard huts posted on either side. The guards were in charge of both taking the tariffs and keeping the peace between the merchants and buyers.
Kodria''s import tax was far cheaper than that of Jerora which was a huge positive for newer merchants and those that did not have enough capital to do business at the large trade hub to the north.
¡°Lord we welcome you!¡± shouted the guards as they saluted Akira.
Akira returned the salute and then scanned the trade plaza. It was just a wide area that had been plowed of snow and ice and flattened as best as the frozen ground allowed. The snow and ice chunks had been used to create a wooden snow fence around the trade plaza to give the merchants some protection from monsters and the almost constantly blowing wind.
¡°Are you sure this is the trade plaza?¡± asked Mileena as she looked around with Fluffball sniffing the heavily trampled ground.
¡°Yes, this the trade plaza,¡± said Akira.
¡°It looks more like a fort with an occupying army,¡± said Mileena as she pointed at the several tents that the Kamen warriors had set up as they waited for their own merchants to arrive.
There were already several different merchant tents and stalls set up with each of the merchants having their own security force.
The merchants were all shouting out their products trying to lure in the small wandering groups of Werewolves, Goblins, and Orcs who had come to see what was going on.
¡°Hurry! Let''s go see what everyone has to offer!¡± said Mileena as she dragged Akira towards one of the stalls.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he excitedly ran around the two several times.
As they browsed the stalls Akira was surprised at the wide variety of items as well as seeing several food stalls with all kinds of freshly cooked food.
¡°We are already gaining a large amount of gold from the tariffs, just think about how much it will be as the town grows,¡± said Akira as he munched on a grilled fish on a stick.
The fish was quite spicy as it had been dipped in a special sauce that the cook said was perfect for warming up the body.
Akira bent over and gave Fluffball a large piece of the fish because he could not take the large pleading puppy eyes that he had been sending him the whole time.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he ate the piece of meat in two quick bites and began to cough because of the spicy sauce.
¡°You''ve got to be careful with your eyes and belly making the decision on what to eat since it might not be that pleasant,¡± said Akira as he rubbed Fluffball''s back.
¡°Oh if it isn''t the honorable lord!¡± came the voice of Crulak from the large gathering of tents.
¡°Crulak, have you been faring well?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The weather is nothing. The convenience of having so many merchants gathered in one place sure is amazing. I have already made several successful trades with the merchants with what little items we had to trade.¡±
¡°I hope that this place will catch on and not be a short-lived fad,¡± said Akira as he looked at the merchants selling items.
¡°I can only see a bright future for this place. I have been meaning to ask you this for the last few days but what was that blue light wave up in the sky? Is it some type of magic, skill, or shaman chant? It surprised all of us including the merchants.¡±
¡°Ah... that. Yeah I guess you could call it a type of magic,¡± said Akira giving a vague answer.
***
When the group finished wandering around the trade plaza they returned to the ferry and traveled to the three forts for a quick inspection.
They were all the same each with temporary snow walls supported by wooden logs and a few wooden cabins inside for the guards and soldiers that were posted there. The lookout tower stood at the center of each of the forts allowing for a high view of the surrounding area.
The three forts were manned by a mixture of werewolf, goblin, and Orc warriors who were to be rotated out every week.
Akira was not looking forward to the warm months. He was fairly busy now but he would be swamped with double or even triple of what he was doing now.
The forts would receive proper stone walls during the warm months after the stone wall was built around Kodria.
¡°Let''s head back. I still have to help Delgar with upgrading and expanding the Blacksmith shop,¡± said Akira.
¡°Already?¡± asked Mileena, disappointed that their date would be ending.
Akira patted her head before walking to the ferry with Fluffball right next to him.
The basic village blacksmith shop was currently being upgraded to an intermediate town blacksmith shop.
The small shop had become cramped with all the werewolf ''Apprentices''. There were also several Dwarf blacksmiths arriving to provide their skills to the fledgling town after hearing about it from Burkin.
With the large influx of orders for armor, weapons, and mundane things as well as repairs there was a need for the expansion so they could have enough space to take care of everything faster.
Delgar, Three toes, and Stone deaf each had several new young and ambitious Dwarven apprentices who had traveled to Kodria to learn from the three new master blacksmiths who had skills in blacksmithing that were far different from the elders of their own clan.
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In a way, Delgar was finally realizing his long-desired goal of training several apprentices in the skills that his father and grandfather had taught him.
The village barracks had also received an upgrade to a town medium barracks adding several double story cabins to allow enough room for the expanded army.
***
¡°This is my plan for the future defenses of the town when it grows big enough to require it. I decided that it would be best to have such things ready before it is needed,¡± said Akira as he handed the grand elders a blueprint.
The grand elders tilted their heads trying to decipher the blueprint that Akira had drawn.
¡°What are these...squares?¡± asked Hegir, uncertain if he could call them that.
¡°They are Arrow towers. There should be two at each gate of the three walls as well as one protecting each of the four corners of the walls.¡±
¡°I see... so those three boxes... are supposed to be walls,¡± said Carl as he looked over the blueprint.
¡°I added a few notes on the sizes of the three walls. The outer wall (first wall) will be the smallest of the three walls and the one we will be building during the warm months.
The middle wall (second wall) which will be smaller in circumference due to being built farther into the town will be taller and thicker than the first. The inner wall (Third wall) that will protect the castle and most important buildings will be the tallest and thickest of the three. Each will have a number of gates to allow the army to exit out at certain places to meet an enemy force if needed.
The walls will be built so that the higher walls can support the lower ones. If the outer wall is captured the other two walls will still have the height advantage and will be able to see and attack the enemy without a problem.¡±
¡°Yes, very well detailed and thought out,¡± said ¨¤aron as he read the notes.
¡°I asked for Samuel''s opinion on what the town could look like in the future and with his input, I was able to finalize this blueprint,¡± said Akira.
¡°The inner wall will be a big beautiful 30-foot wall,¡± said Samuel.
¡°The cost of such a project not only in gold but materials... I do not want to even think of it,¡± said Seoc as he inspected the blueprint.
¡°There is no need to worry about the other two walls as I don''t think they will need to be built any time soon. Plus we are already seeing a large increase in funds due to the trade plaza and other taxes,¡± said Akira.
¡°You are missing something on this blueprint,¡± said ¨¤aron as he pulled out a feather pen and dipped it in a jar of ink.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira.
¡°An smaller inner wall around the castle keep,¡± said ¨¤aron as he drew a smaller box around the castle keep and added a few boxes to represent the arrow towers.
¡°Well... I thought I could do that later,¡± said Akira who had been more focused on the bigger picture of protecting the village and its future expansion.
¡°We may need a 4th wall built on the other shore of the lake surrounding the trade plaza and other buildings that may pop up,¡± said Hegir.
¡°True, a small outer village will most likely be formed if things go well for us. We''ll have to make sure that it is properly defended,¡± said ¨¤aron.
All the things that the grand elders pointed out made Akira see how big Kodria could be in the future.
Right now they were just a small town but with how fast they were growing, who was to say how big it would be within a year or two.
They had to make sure that everything was all planned out before that time arrived so that Kodria would be able to defend itself if anyone took an interest in the fledgling town.
***
Akira stood at one of the castle keep''s windows in his large suite and listened to the howling wind.
He could not see that far as his vision was blocked by the blizzard that was raging outside. He could only see a few yellow flickering dots in the distance signaling the large fires of the forts trying to light up the area and keep the soldiers warm.
The blizzard had started over a day ago and the severity of the wind and massive amount of snow had caused all outside work to be halted.
The majority of merchants had returned to their ships so they could be shielded from the cold winds of the blizzard. The only people that seemed to not be affected by it were the Kamen warriors.
Akira continued to pace back and forth in front of the window worried about the numerous problems that the blizzard could cause. This was Kodria''s first taste of the volatile southern winter weather.
¡°Do you think that the villagers are all right with such strong wind blowing out there?¡± asked Akira.
Mileena who had been watching Akira pace back and forth answered him immediately full of confidence, ¡°As long as they stay in the cabins that you and the grand elders built there should be no problem.¡±
¡°Stop worrying so much big brother. The large snow walls should be enough to block most of the wind from reaching the cabins. And the cabins themselves were built sturdily enough there should be no problem,¡± said Azura as she stirred the fish stew that was being cooked over the fireplace.
¡°It''s fine,¡± said Maya flippantly as she continued to read one of the new books that she had bought from a dwarf merchant several days ago.
¡°I sure hope...¡±
¡°Awoooo~! Awoooooo~! Awoo-Awoooo~!¡±
Both Akira and Azura froze in place and listened intently to the muffled howls that seemed to be coming from everywhere.
The same message was repeated over and over.
[Unknown enemy approaching the lake from the south. Not merchants or Kamen tribe.]
Akira transformed and stood in front of the opened window before taking in a large breath and letting out a loud howl of his own.
¡°Awooooooooo~! Awooo~!¡± it was a call for the army to form up and for the town guards and the guards at the forts to be on full alert.
¡°My ears...¡± complained Maya.
¡°Is it the demigods?¡± asked a worried Mileena.
¡°You three girls stay here. Chack you help with the Castle keeps defenses,¡± ordered Akira as he rushed out of the room with Fluffball following right behind him.
¡°Don''t do anything stupid big brother!¡± shouted Azura.
Akira noticed Fluffball following him and was going to tell him to stay inside the castle due to the blizzard but he remembered that Fluffball was a snow wolf who was born in the snowy wilderness and was well equipped to weather the blizzard.
¡°Stay close to me and don''t wander off. With this blizzard you can easily get lost and wind up in trouble,¡± said Akira as they ran through the castle.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball in disagreement.
When they exited the castle his bodyguards joined him as together they headed towards the barracks to take command of the army.
The cold blizzard wind pushed at Akira as he ran towards the barracks navigating by memory and not by vision as he could only see a wall flying snow all around him.
If it were not for his thick fur protecting and holding in his body heat he felt that he would not be able to withstand the blizzard conditions for long with only a fur coat, hat, and gloves.
¡°Listen up!¡± shouted Akira once he reached the barracks. The soldiers and trainees were already formed up and transformed into their werewolf forms.
¡°All trainees head to the walls and support the town guards! First and second omega pack, marching formation! You''re all lucky you get to experience your first possible battle in a blizzard!
Double time to the docks were heading to the south fort to provide support to stop the unknown party!¡±
¡°We Shaman have arrived!¡± shouted Klyn as he appeared out of the curtain of blowing snow followed by several shamans who were under his command each of them was already transformed as well.
¡°Klyn, follow me!¡± shouted Akira as he began running to the docks with the first and second omega units.
The three hundred trainees split from them and headed towards the town walls.
Before they were half-way to the docks several urgent howls rang out.
¡°Awooooo~! Awoo~!¡±
¡°About face! Double time to the south shore! When we arrive, change to shield line formation!¡± Akira shouted over the howling wind.
¡°What did they say? I couldn''t hear it clearly over the wind!¡± shouted Klyn as they started to run towards the south shore of the island.
¡°The unknown party is walking across the lake!¡± shouted Akira.
Chapter 170: The unknown group is...
¡°What!? The lakes are not even frozen! I saw it earlier today. Even with all the snow and cold wind, there was not even a hint of ice on top of the lake or the river!¡± shouted Klyn.
¡°It could be a special skill that the demigods have!¡± shouted Akira just as worried as Klyn.
Akira and the small werewolf army reached the south shore and tried to look through the swirling wall of snow.
He could only see a short distance ahead, as there was a massive amount of steam rising from the lake due to the blizzard clashing with the warm water.
¡°Akira what''s all the howling about!?¡± shouted Varbu as he ran up to Akira.
¡°Some unknown group of people are crossing the lake.¡±
¡°In this blizzard? Are they mad!? Crossing the lake in this weather is suicidal!¡±
¡°Varbu, are you sure you can handle fighting in this blizzard?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Don''t worry we can handle it, plus if they get across the lake then I can really test out my spin to win fire attack! I have also brought my small army to support you!
The prince and princess along with their army have taken over commanding the walls of the village since they are not as robust as us orcs,¡± said Varbu as he pointed to his own 200 soldiers and the warrior chiefs who commanded them.
¡°Just make sure that your soldiers are safe and can handle the cold. We cannot afford to have them getting sick and not being able to protect the city,¡± said Akira as he turned his attention back to the blurry lake in front of him.
¡°Lord! There is movement over there!¡± shouted Dolph as he pointed in a direction from the southeast.
Akira focused on the area that was pointed out and could just barely see several dark figures hidden by the snow and steam that were moving directly towards them.
¡°Shields ready! Javelins ready!¡± shouted Akira.
Everyone watched as the dark blobs turned into human forms as they slowly drew closer. A sudden whirlwind of snow surrounded the approaching unknowns slowly clearing a circular area around them.
Akira looked to Klyn, ¡°Is this from one of the shaman?¡±
¡°No!¡±
A dome was created around the dark figures not letting any snow inside. The cleared up area allowed Akira and the others to have a better view of who was approaching them.
There were around thirty people that Akira could see walking towards them. Each of them was only wearing what looked to be light silky robes that looked familiar in design.
As they came closer they could see that they were indeed walking on top of the water. Every time the female at the front of the group took a step a large chunk of ice was created under her foot connecting to an ice road behind her.
¡°Hold your fire!¡± shouted Akira.
Akira watched closely as a group of 20 men and 10 women walked to the edge of the shore and stopped in front of the gathered warriors.
¡°So this was what all the hollering was about. What a warm welcome on such a cool winters day,¡± said a tall and slim elderly man with a long pointed beard that was as white as the snow falling from the sky.
¡°Hush, Nollan, they have every right to protect their settlement,¡± said a familiar female voice that Akira had not heard in several months.
¡°Is that how you''re going to speak to your loving grandfather?¡± asked the old man.
¡°Awooooo~!¡± Akira let out a howl letting everyone know that the group was not an enemy and ordered them to return to their homes or shelter.
¡°Yuki what are you doing here? It would have been nice if you had sent a message ahead letting us know that you would be making a visit.¡±
¡°I heard the news that your clans had created a new settlement and so I decided to come right away. I talked my grandfather into getting my parents to form a delegation to come here and start talks of trade and forming an alliance,¡± said Yuki.
¡°My daughter is a really cold and stubborn person. I don''t know where she gets it from,¡± said the equally stubborn old man.
¡°May we join you on land?¡± asked Yuki who was still standing on the ice over the warm water of the lake.
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¡°Yes, please do! I am sure the grand elders will be happy to welcome you and your grandfather. Please follow me,¡± said Akira.
¡°Soldiers return to your barracks!¡±
***
Ding!
A temporary alliance with Yukionna kingdom.
|
¡°...again we thank you for the gifts you have brought us,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
¡°It was nothing. I brought it as a thank you gift for taking care of my granddaughter while she was living with you in such a deadly place,¡± said Nollan.
¡°Grandfather, don''t talk about stuff like that,¡± said Yuki.
¡°What? Are you talking about the fact that you ran away from home after getting in a fight with your mother? I think that little trip of yours did you some good...¡±
A cold whistling wind started to flutter around Yuki causing her hair to fly about erratically as she glared at her grandfather.
¡°Hah... what am I to do. My cute granddaughter is just like her mother, bad temper and all.¡±
Small ice shards started to form in the wind swirling around Yuki.
¡°Princess please calm down,¡± said a female attendant that was standing behind Yuki as she placed a hand on her shoulder to shake her a bit.
¡°Ahem... we have already concluded the trade and alliance deals. Is there anything else that you think we need to discuss?¡± asked Akira trying to break the ice. :p
¡°Yes, I have a few concerns. This settlement may be small now but I am sure it will grow into one of the most important cities of the continent connecting the north with the south for trade.
While walking to the castle I felt that the town''s current defenses are severely lacking. In order to ensure our alliance with each other is firm. I believe you must strengthen your settlement so that you do not call us for help whenever bandits attack,¡± said Nollan.
¡°Grandfather, the Earth tribe''s warriors are not weak. They can handle bandits,¡± said Yuki coldly. ¡°But I have to agree with my grandfather that the defenses of this town are not up to par with what is needed to protect it.¡±
¡°We have already planned out several projects for updating and reinforcing the town''s defenses,¡± said grand elder Hegir.
¡°We are just waiting until the warm months arrive,¡± said Akira.
¡°If you already have it all planned out then that settles my worries for now,¡± said Nollan.
¡°Akira, since you are the leader of Kodria, is it possible that you could come and meet with my parents? Although my grandfather and I have agreed to the terms of trade and alliance, we have to get both my mother and father to accept the terms,¡± said Yuki.
¡°I can''t leave right now with the warm months arriving soon. There is just too much I have to do. I can accompany you after we take care of all the main projects,¡± said Akira.
¡°Then, we will stay here as a representative group of the Yuki-onna race until the time you can leave,¡± said Nollan.
¡°If you need a place to stay we have a few extra rooms in the castle,¡± said Akira.
¡°If you can find a room for my granddaughter and her handmaidens that will be nice. I and the rest of the warriors will find and pay for lodging in the town,¡± said Nollan.
***
The next day.
Akira sat on a fur carpet inside of his large suite hammering in some short nails connecting the metal square basket under the short table leaving just enough room between the two.
¡°Akira today was supposed to be our day for a date! Why are we just sitting inside doing nothing?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°The blizzard is still roaring outside. What can we do with such nasty weather outside,¡± said Akira as he hammered in the last nail.
¡°The blizzard should die out before noon,¡± said Yuki who was now staying in a room next to Azura who was extremely happy to see her best friend.
¡°Then I guess we can go out for lunch and do whatever you want,¡± said Akira as he tested the sturdiness of the newly nailed metal basket.
¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Azura who had been watching Akira work on the project for some time.
¡°It is my newest secret invention! Let me show you how it works,¡± said Akira as he flipped the short stubby table back over onto its legs.
He stood up and walked over to the burning fire and grabbed a small metal shovel that was used for clearing the ashes and gathered a few of the glowing red coals. He brought the coals to the stubby table, knelt down, and awkwardly reached under the table with one arm and deposited the coals into the metal basket.
He put the small shovel back on the tool rack next to the fireplace and returned to the small table where he took a blanket and placed it over the table.
¡°There It''s complete!¡± said Akira.
¡°What is it and what is it supposed to do?¡± asked Maya.
¡°I call it the ''Leg oven, toe toaster 1.0''! It is supposed to let you relax comfortably underneath without the need for a large fire to keep warm. I am sure everyone will want one!¡±
¡°That''s a dumb name. Can''t you ever come up with a normal name?¡± asked Azura.
¡°Just watch me, this is how you use it,¡± said Akira, ignoring his little sister''s harsh words. He sat down and picked up part of the blanket so that he could place his legs under the table.
¡°Wow it really is already quite warm under here,¡± said Akira when his legs were all the way under the table.
He laid on his side and tried to move his legs but...
¡°OWWW! HOT! HOT!¡±
In his clumsy attempt to get out from under the table he knocked it over sending the coals all over the place.
Before they could start burning the wood furniture or the fur rug Yuki waved her hand and froze the coals.
Akira was gently rubbing his sore leg that had been slightly burnt when it had touched the metal basket.
¡°My brother is an idiot!¡± said Azura embarrassed after watching the whole thing.
¡°Hey it''s only v1.0 so of course it will have some problems it needs fixing! It''s just a minor thing I forgot to take care of. All it needs is some type of insulation to not burn the user,¡± said Akira as he started pulling out things from his bag.
Chapter 171: Cute source of money
The Blizzard had calmed down to just a light blowing wind with a light dusting of snow just as Yuki said it would.
Now Akira, Mileena, Maya, and Azura, stood near the rear of the castle as they looked towards the open snowy land below.
They watched as a small group of people spread out in a rectangle started chanting led by Yuki. The chanting that reached them was in a language that was unknown to Akira.
A swirling wind quickly rose up around each of the people chanting. The loose snow around them was caught up in the swirling wind.
As Akira watched the wind from each person expanded and connected to the others next to them forming a swirling rectangle.
Seconds later ice started to sprout up from the ground where the swirling wind was present. It grew taller and thicker as the seconds went by. When the ice walls reached a certain height they began to grow diagonally creating a roof.
The clear ice stopped growing and expanding when the group changed the words they were chanting.
With the new chant, a new layer of ice that was a dark green started to spread out from the top of the roof down to the ground covering the entire building.
When the chanting stopped the swirling wind also disappeared from the building.
¡°There it''s finished,¡± said Yuki slightly breathless as she arrived next to the others who were looking at the new building.
¡°What exactly is it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°A greenhouse. Now you can use it to grow important plants all year. The others will make sure to plant the flowers and other special seeds we brought you inside,¡± said Yuki proudly, in a cheerful voice that was unusual for her.
¡°But won''t the ice just melt when the Warm months come?¡± asked Azura.
¡°There is no way that would happen since we added the second protective layer over the first, The others will finish adding another layer on the inside of the building. It acts as a way to attract the little sunlight there may be and magnifies it while separating the ice from the heat.¡±
¡°Well now that is finished we can go on my date right?¡± asked Mileena, looking at Akira with great expectations.
¡°I guess so since we are free for the rest of the afternoon,¡± said Akira.
¡°Great!¡± shouted Mileena as she tried to latch onto his arm.
¡°I guess it can''t be helped. I''ll have to join you two in order to make sure you two don''t do anything indecent,¡± said Azura.
¡°I''ll just follow everyone, don''t mind me,¡± said Maya as she wiped the lenses of her glasses and put them back on.
¡°Then I will join as well!¡± said Yuki.
¡°No! This is supposed to be a date! A date!¡± shouted Mileena at the others who ignored her as they followed Akira back to the bustling town.
¡°Mileena, what shop do you want to go to first?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Muuuuuu~. Fine! If you''re going to come don''t get in my way!¡± shouted Mileena as she chased after the group.
They spent the next few hours visiting every stall and hastily built shack at the trading post. Buying odd food and trinkets that caught their interest.
¡°Let''s go to the clothes shop in the town!¡± said Mileena as she ate a type of dessert that Akira thought no one would want to eat in such a cold place. But it seemed that all of the girls loved it, especially Yuki.
The dessert? It was shaved ice with a berry sauce and an unknown type of chopped nuts sprinkled on top.
A few minutes past as they rode the ferry that had been recently built. It had two rows of benches at the center allowing the passengers to sit instead of stand the whole time like the previous flatbed that was used.
***
¡°I welcome the lord! It is an honor to have you personally come to my humble shop. I am sorry that we have such a small selection of fancy clothing here.
Most of the clothes are of simple designs made by the fledgling local sowers of the town. But I do have a few special items that I managed to trade for from a few of the traders,¡± said a plump elderly werewolf.
¡°Madam Lydia, there is no need to worry about something like that. The girls just wanted to come and try out some of the clothes,¡± said Akira with a slight bow to the elderly woman.
¡°If there is anything I can do for you let me know,¡± said Lydia as she went back to one of the counters and continued to fold clothes and place them into a neat pile.
¡°Let''s start!¡± said a happy Mileena.
¡°Akira you''re going to have to be the judge for us and see what looks good,¡± said Azura as she joined Mileena in a search for clothes that she liked.
During the girls mission to try on as many things as they could find, Mileena had a mishap where her underwear was shown to an extremely embarrassed Akira.
¡°Oops! Now that you have seen my underwear you have to marry me!¡± said Mileena.
¡°You vixen! You did that on purpose! Stop trying to corrupt my brother!¡± said Azura as she yanked Mileena back into the changing room.
Akira carried a large pile of clothes to the front counter. It was everything that the girls had decided to buy and it was all based on Akira''s reactions more than any words that he may have said.
¡°Would you like to buy a cloth flower hair ornament? They only cost a few coppers,¡± asked Lydia as she showed a small wicker basket that had several colorful red and blue cloth flowers inside of it.
Akira looked to the girls behind him who were all looking at him with big watery eyes full of expectation.
¡°Ye...Yeah. Um four of them please.¡±
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¡°Any particular color?¡± asked Lydia.
The four girls jumped on the small basket and picked out the color they wanted before Akira could answer.
Red for Mileena and Azura, Blue for Maya and Yuki. Truly matching their personality, red for hotblooded and blue for calm or cold in Yuki''s case.
As they walked back to the castle Akira turned his head to Azura who had her arms linked with one of his and said, ¡°You know that thing that happened in the shop. You need to protect yourself properly. A pervert might try something if they saw that.¡±
¡°There was no one else in the shop beside the old lady. But what should I do if something did happen?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°If the worst-case happened you could always grab on to him to stop him from escaping and scream ''This person is a pervert!'',¡± said Azura.
Mileena grabbed onto one of Akira''s hands that was holding a leather bag containing the clothes that had been bought.
¡°Help! This person is a per...¡±
Akira quickly dropped one of the bags and covered her mouth.
¡°Hey, hey. Stop with the jokes! People might get the wrong idea!¡± said Akira.
The rest of the late afternoon until dinner time was spent having a snowball fight with several of the local kids of the town.
***
¡°Ah~, the ''Leg oven, toe toaster 2.0'' is really nice to warm up under after a long day outside,¡± said Akira as he lay partially under the now modified short table and blanket with his head laying on Mileena''s lap.
¡°It''s a perfect time for me to check Akira for fleas,¡± said Mileena as she started playing with Akira''s hair.
¡°I''m not a dog! I don''t have fleas,¡± said Akira slapping her hand away from his head.
¡°Ah! There was something I have been meaning to tell you,¡± said Yuki.
¡°What is?¡± asked Akira as he turned onto his side to look at Yuki who was standing next to the window.
¡°While traveling to Kodria we found what looked to be a dungeon nearby. My grandfather didn''t want to risk going into the dungeon to clear it due to his need to keep me protected. So I decided to let you know about it.¡±
Ding!
New mission received!
Clear the new Unknown dungeon near Kodria!
Difficulty Rank and rewards unknown!
|
¡°Why did you wait until now to tell me?¡± asked Akira as he sat up nearly tipping the table over.
¡°Well there was the whole standoff meeting at the lake then the meeting with the Grand elders and everyone was having so much fun today that I didn''t want to say anything.¡±
¡°You forgot about it. Didn''t you?¡± asked Azura.
¡°I wouldn''t say forgot, just that I remembered it a little later than I was supposed to,¡± said Yuki as she turned her head away and looked out of the window hiding her face.
¡°I''ll need you to lead me and the army to the dungeon tomorrow morning,¡± said Akira.
¡°You''re not going to go immediately?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°I rather not go out at night with the cold temperatures. It can wait a few more hours,¡± said Akira.
***
¡°This is the entrance to the dungeon,¡± said Yuki as she pointed to the small cave opening in front of them.
Akira looked to the 200 soldiers behind him. He had made sure to bring the full army since he had no clue how big or hard it would be to clear.
''It is better to be over-prepared for a tough fight than to be under-prepared,'' thought Akira.
¡°Shield formation,¡± he ordered as he joined the front row of shields with Dolph and Vilkas on his right and left.
As they marched forward fully alert for any type of ambush Akira was able to make out several shadows rolling around near the entrance.
With a quick blast through the dog whistle, the skirmishers aimed their weapons and fired at the moving shadows.
Thunk! Thud! The sound of the bolts hitting something hard could be heard.
¡°Charge!¡± ordered Akira pointing his sword towards the shadows.
As one the shield-wall moved forward and entered the dungeon row after row.
Ding!
You are the first to enter the ''Cute Ice slime'' dungeon!
+5 fame.
Would you like to add your name to the leader board as the one who discovered the dungeon?
If you want you can stop receiving all future notifications like this.
|
Akira quickly declined and accepted the option to mute and decline all future discovery leaderboard notifications.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the cave he focused onto one of the rolling shadows.
[Cute Ice slime: Lvl 30] ''What part of this thing is cute?''
The [Cute ice slimes] continued to roll around ignoring the soldiers who had entered.
¡°Let''s hurry and clean up this room and move to the next! If these are anything like the other slimes only blunt damage will work. Use your shields to smash them, Fluffball you stay back I can''t have you getting sick because of their poison,¡± ordered Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, unhappy at being forced to stay out of the fight again.
They went to work herding the [Cute ice slimes] into a small pocket and continued to use their shields to try and smash them apart.
Every time Akira hit one of the slimes the area that was hit would immediately become rock-solid ice.
Several of the [Cute ice slimes] tried to latch onto the shields or legs of some of the heavy infantry and turned themselves into hardened ice that tried to cover the entirety of what it was attached too.
It took several blunt attacks to make sure the [Cute ice slimes] were completely crushed.
¡°Sir there are a few large ones over here!¡± shouted a soldier.
[Super cute ice slime: Lvl 50]
¡°Let''s take care of them!¡± shouted Akira as he and his guards charged and smashed their shields into the large [Super cute ice slimes].
Before they knew it the fighting was over.
¡°Commander I can''t find any other exits or rooms,¡± said a soldier.
Ding!
Cute ice slime dungeon has been cleared!
No reward will be given!
A new title has been received!
Coldblooded Overkiller: For someone to use a full army to decimate such cute ice slimes one would think that the commander has ice in his veins.
The dungeon will re-spawn a new batch of [Cute ice slimes] in a week.
Continue to train your soldiers well and they will be able to be promoted to Veteran rank!
|
Akira closed the notification windows and looked over to Fluffball who was digging through the chunks of broken ice slimes.
When Fluffball found what he was looking for he walked over to a pile of dark blue ice chunks, dropped it onto the pile, and ran over to another cluster of dead slimes.
¡°What are you gathering?¡± asked Akira as he walked over to Fluffball and scratched his head.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball after spitting out a blue chunk into Akira''s hand.
Ding!
Special magic stone discovered!
This magic stone can be socketed into armor and weapons to add a variety of special ice buffs, effects, and on rare occasions skills.
|
As Akira took a closer look he could see that inside of the ice chunk there was a dark blue stone.
Each of the other chunks that Fluffball had found was the same.
¡°Good job Fluffball. I think we really hit the jackpot! Now that I think about it I can see how these little guys really are cute money makers!¡± said Akira praising Fluffball.
Fluffball tiled his head to the side, not sure how Akira could call the rolling blocks of ice cute.
Chapter 172: Warm months arrive
During the winter months, Akira was focused on training the new warriors until they had reached the status of a soldier. The navy went through a similar but slightly different training so that they could fight both on ships as well as on land in rare cases.
When he was not training the warriors he was focused on helping the Dwarves create armor and weapons for the new warriors and navy and town guards. When those were completed they started to work on the large order to equip the Kamen tribe as they were paying a large sum for them and it had become one of the main incomes for the town other than import taxes at the city and trade post and the sales tax.
Delgar deemed it beneficial for everyone to have the assistant blacksmiths work on the minor orders such as tools and other items needed for the town. This way they could better their understanding of blacksmithing, or so he said.
With the new dungeon that spawned the [Cute ice slime], Akira was able to take warriors that were training, to the dungeon and have them gain experience while gathering the ice magic stones so that he could use them to embed the weapons and armor of his personal guards and the officers of the army, navy, and town guards. He would update the soldiers'' weapons and armor when they had enough to do it all in one go.
Doing all this gained him a large amount of XP raising his blacksmithing skill to intermediate lvl 9: 99% where it was now stuck.
During that time Yuki spent most of her time working in the greenhouse taking care of the special plants she had gifted to Akira. The other girls joined her in taking care of different plants that they had picked to plant inside.
While all that happened the tow was still growing and had reached the 1st tier town.
***
The warm months had arrived.
Over the last month, the snow continued to slowly melt during the day, and now it was completely gone in the large town of Kodria, but if You looked hard enough you could still find patches of snow in the woods.
The days were now longer, brighter, and warmer. While the nights were still a bit chilly.
¡°...and now that the snow and ice has melted from the town and the surrounding fields we must hurry with the planned building projects,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
Akira sat at a table inside the grand elders'' office finalizing the town''s plans one last time before they started.
¡°We also have to take care of clearing the land, tilling, planting, and replanting certain things to ensure that the town is able to have enough food stored up for the winter. If we can do this properly we will not be forced to continue buying what we lack from Jerora at such high prices,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°We have all the stone stocked up to build the first outer wall. We need to remove the remaining wood fencing around the city and start working on creating a solid foundation while the stone is brought over from the quarries. We also have to do the same for the three forts. Since the snow and ice has melted the fort''s walls have become rather weak wooden fences,¡± said Grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°Speaking of stone, now that we are such a large town we need to start replacing our wooden buildings with sturdier stone. Starting with our most important ones first. If there were to be a fire caused by accident or by a DGH attack we would be crippled,¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
Akira was writing everything down in his notes so that he could keep track of the main things that needed to be done.
¡°Haaa~ so much to do! We only have a short window to get everything finished,¡± said Akira as he looked at the list depressed at the large amount of work ahead of him.
¡°Ah! We can''t forget that the hot spring is still leaking now that ice and snow has melted. We have tried to keep it from affecting the area too much but it is only temporary we need to do something about it or we could be living in a swamp again,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
Akira let out another sigh as he added it to his list.
¡°Is that all?¡±
¡°For now it is,¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
Akira left their office with the intention to start walking to the wooden fencing around the town so that he could help with the dismantling as well as coordinate the smoothing of the ground for the stone foundations for the future stone walls. He was followed by his ever-present companion Fluffball who was sniffing the ground as he walked behind Akira smelling the dirt and grass.
But as soon as he exited the castle keep he found a large group of his companions were waiting for him.
¡°How did the meeting go?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°This is for you,¡± said Akira as he handed over a piece of paper full of notes. It was all about the town''s farming plans and information on replanting the winter berries and other important plants.
Akira watched as Klyn''s face crumpled as he looked at the piece of paper.
¡°There is just too much to do in the short time we have!¡±
¡°Don''t worry princess Gobalina and Prince Gobbers will be helping you with clearing the land, plowing, and planting you just have to make sure that everything on the list gets done properly,¡± said Akira as he turned to the Goblin Prince and princesses. He gave a piece of paper to the Princess who could read so that she would understand what tasks needed to be done.
¡°What about me and my Orcs?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°You''ll be joining me and my soldiers in the major wall project,¡± said Akira.
¡°And us?¡± asked Azura.
¡°Um... You have the important job of...taking care of the greenhouse and making sure that the rest of the important plants are planted and well taken care of,¡± said Akira.
¡°This heat is killing me. I''m going to die!¡± complained Nollan as he walked out of the castle with Yuki.
¡°Then stay inside the castle where it is still cool,¡± said Yuki coldly as she ignored the several handmaidens that trailed behind her.
¡°My daughter would kill me if I let you escape again,¡± said the elderly man as he was wiping his head that was full of sweat.
To Akira and the others, it was still quite chilly most of the day and was nowhere close to the humid swamps or the sandy deserts that he had traveled through.
¡°We all have our tasks so we need to get to work. Varbu, gather your men and meet me at the wall,¡± said Akira as he started walking towards the outer fencing around the town.
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¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he ran after Akira.
When Akira arrived at the fence the workers along with the army were already tearing it down and putting the logs into many different piles.
They had been working for a few hours already and were nearly halfway done since it was far easier to tear it down than to put it up. Plus the fact that there was no snow or ice hindering their movements made it all the more faster.
¡°Yes! I can see it now, this will be where we build the first of the three main great big beautiful walls better than all the walls before it! We also need it built before we can reach the 3rd tier city,¡± said Samuel as he looked at the blueprints that had been drawn up over the winter months.
¡°If you say so,¡± said Varbu who had just arrived with his own soldiers. ¡°What do you want us to do?¡±
¡°Start helping tear down the fencing. When that is done I''ll have to start outlining the area for the walls and we''ll have to start working on leveling the land so we can lay down the stone foundations for the walls,¡± said Akira as he walked over to help those tearing the wall down.
With the large number of people working on the project the rest of the wooden fence was dismantled within an hour.
Akira activated the blueprint he had prepared before and started to outline the long outer wall around the entire town. He had to make sure to take several breaks in order to not faint from exhaustion.
The workers along with the Werewolf and Orc soldiers got to working with their pickaxes and shovels to prepare the area for the wall.
When Akira had finished the outline he left Samuel in charge for the time being so he could go check on Klyn and the others to see how they were doing with the clearing of the land and farming.
He arrived at the designated farmlands to see Klyn frantically running with several warriors and shamans beside him while he shouted at a goblin.
The goblin in question was bending over to smell a large green flower that was around the same size as the goblin and was only partially budded.
As Akira watched the large flower bud opened wide to reveal sharp teeth and bit down on the goblin severing him right in half. The lower half of his body fell to the ground spraying blood all over the ground.
Klyn and the warriors arrived too late to save the goblin, but when they did, they started hacking away at the monster plant that was still chewing on the upper half of the goblin in its mouth. [Fragrant Sunflower (Carnivore) Lvl: 30].
Akira jogged over to Klyn who was pulling the bloody upper half of the goblin out of the butchered plant.
¡°It looks like things are quite active over here,¡± said Akira.
Fluffball walked over to the dead plant monster and started to sniff it, curious of what it was.
¡°This is the 5th goblin that was lured in by one of these flower¡¯s fragrance. It seems to have a large effect on them, we have been trying to clear all them but we keep finding more and more of them. It''s even worse in the woods,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Sorry I didn''t think there would be such odd monsters that would show up like this. I can send you a few units of soldiers to help clear the land of anything that might pop out,¡± said Akira.
Just as he finished talking a group of goblins came running out of the woods running with plants in their hands while screaming out something frantically in their own language.
Behind them, several large white and blue striped flying insects were chasing them. [Fluffy Ice Stinger Bees Lvl 40].
Before Akira could go over and use a skill to cut them down he heard the loud and long-winded command in goblineese. Followed by a loud thump as Prince Gobbers was hit on the head by his sister.
The goblin soldiers that had been training with the orcs and werewolves quickly took aim with their crossbows and filled the flying [Fluffy Ice Stinger Bees] with several metal bolts. Saving the running goblins.
Klyn continued talking as he had seen the same thing several times already, ¡°While gathering the winter berries the goblins found a large bubbling tar pit inside the woods. According to the translated reports, there is something hiding inside of it and it has already dragged a few goblins inside of the pit when they got too close.¡±
¡°I''ll have the Soldiers look into it while they clean up the rest of the woods. It looks like there are a lot of new problems we have to take care of now that the weather is warming up,¡± said Akira.
¡°Until we can get rid of these problems we will be behind on schedule,¡± said Klyn.
¡°I''ll send someone to get the units right now,¡± said Akira as he motioned one of his guards to gather the soldiers.
¡°Now, we have to take care of the leaking hot spring problem,¡± said Akira as he left Klyn and the goblins.
Akira had given orders already for clearing the land around it so that it could be worked on for the new building he had gained blueprints for.
He opened the blueprint prepared for just this and went to work on outlining everything.
When finished he started to draw and write down the important information for the foreman of the work crew that would be working on it.
¡°The main building will be built from stone as well as the large and small pools. You''ll need to dig about this deep for this and this deep for that. We will be using the reclaimed logs from the city fence that are still in good shape to create a tall vertical wall around the pools to block the view of anyone from outside. Also, we''ll need some walls blocking this pool from that pool,¡± said Akira as he explained the scribbles to the work crew foreman.
¡°Ah... yes... I see, and what are we building?¡± asked the foreman.
¡°Kodria''s very own Hot springs spa! I''m sure that it will be a popular place to go especially in the winter!¡± said Akira as he nodded to himself thinking of a certain someone in a certain bathing suit.
When he finished answering all the man''s questions he visited all of the important city buildings and helped explain what needed to be changed and updated.
Several of the buildings such as the warehouse, granary, hospital, schools, and the like needed to be upgraded to the stone city version in order to reach one of the requirements of 3rd tier City.
Along with those buildings the Tavern, general store, and blacksmith shop were all getting updated to be fully stone as well as receiving a larger add on to accommodate the growth of the town.
***
Akira sat slumped in his chair exhausted from running around and using the blueprint skill to make sure that everything was built according to plan.
He was half awake while he listened to the Grand elders discuss the day''s progress and other issues that had come to their attention during the day.
¡°According to Samuel the wall will start to go up in a day or two as they are working as quickly as they can to get the foundation in place,¡± said Carl as he looked at the paper. ¡°We have just enough stone for the full length of the 10ft outer wall as we planned before. Right now the miners are hard at work getting the needed stone for the rest of the buildings.¡±
¡°Are we really sure we only want the outer wall to be 10ft tall?¡± asked ¨¤aron, still having doubts.
¡°We are sticking to the plan. Although it may not be as tall as the outer walls of other countries'' outer walls, we will not be having just one wall like them. With the other two walls both being taller and thicker than the first they will be able to support the outer wall,¡± said Akira sleepily.
¡°That is true, even if we planned it out months ago this is still the first time I have seen something like it,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Right now we don''t have enough stone to be creating a huge and long wall outside like the other kingdoms. For now, this size will have to do. If we need too we can always upgrade it later,¡± said Seoc.
¡°What I''m more worried about is the rate of our growth. It is alarmingly fast compared to any settlement I have seen or heard of. With this there are several large glaring problems,¡± said Hegir.
¡°Right, there are many people coming to live in the town every day, and now there are several babies being born due to the long winter nights. With such a population growth our army is quite lacking compared to the large human cities and places like Beorin,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°I agree that it is small right now but we are in the process of training 500 new recruits to add to the army. Most of the new recruits are those who have recently come of age and decided to join so we have a long way to get them fully trained to what I can call a true soldier. Right now I don''t think we will be facing large armies like Beorin so we don''t need to panic... yet,¡± said Akira.
¡°¨¤aron, I understand your concern about our lacking army but with the Orcs, Goblins, and Werewolf armies growing together we will be nearing 3000 active soldiers when the new batch is fully trained, not including the expanded town guards and navy and militia,¡± said Seoc.
¡°Hmm...I know we cannot have every militia member joining the army as they all have important jobs to do in order to keep the town running, but there are still a lot of them as well as the retired warriors who are in the reserves. I suggest after the wall is built that the militia and the reserves join the army for some extreme summer training,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°Agreed. Even if they are not at the level of the soldiers in the army we need to get them marching to the same tune so that there are no mess-ups when they need to co-operate on the battlefield,¡± said Hegir.
Chapter 173: Zundar Rockpelt
A week passed by with the majority of townspeople working on the long outer wall that stretched all the way around the town as well several of the buildings far behind the castle keep.
Some things in the town were being neglected so that the wall could be built faster.
The rest of the workers not working on the wall were either working on other smaller projects or were frantically doing several jobs trying to keep the town running properly.
Akira watched from the high point of one of the arrow towers next to the front gate as the last few large stones were carried up a ramp by the Werewolf and Orc soldiers four to each large stone.
Of all the walls Akira had seen on his travels the wall was nothing extravagant but it did give off a feeling of security.
It looked solid enough and was built out of stones that the Dwarf miners had approved after making sure that none had any cracks or hairline faults that would cause problems in the future.
As planned each of the gates had an arrow tower on each side of the stone gatehouses which could house a large number of soldiers or guards.
The top of the gatehouse had enough room for a large ballista or a smaller catapult to be placed as a long-range defense against attacks on the city.
Unfortunately for them, they had nothing to put atop the gatehouse other than soldiers with bows, crossbows, javelins, and swords. Samuel had hinted a few times about the arrow towers being able to be upgraded in the future so he made sure that they had been built.
Ding!
The outer wall has been completed!
Town security has risen to 80%!
You must have 1000 active Werewolf soldiers and 200 guards to reach the 3rd tier city!
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Akira closed the window. The 500 young warriors that were being trained now were already several weeks into their training and had the basics of basics down.
They were now working on strengthening their body and fighting power as well as their teamwork by hunting monsters and clearing the [Cute ice slime] dungeon as part of their training.
¡°Send an order to the officers that the soldiers can have the rest of the day off. Tomorrow we will begin summer hell training, so I want them to be well-rested,¡± said Akira to one of the messengers standing on the steps that led down to the wall.
¡°This wall... how do I put it... It gives off a sort of vibe. Never mind, I am just amazed at how well the town has grown. The completion of this wall just shows how far it has come,¡± said Varbu as he looked at the soldiers who were starting to dismantle the wooden ramps and carry the tools away.
¡°Now that work is done here, I have to go check up on the other projects as well as Klyn. You might want to get some rest as well Varbu. I wasn''t joking about the hell training tomorrow,¡± said Akira as he started to walk down the tower''s stone steps followed by Fluffball, Dolph, and Vilkas.
As Akira walked through the town he could see that it was just as busy as ever with people running to and fro trying to complete important errands. One thing after another there was a never-ending list of things that had to be done in the short warm months.
Akira stopped by Glola''s tavern which had gone under a massive upgrade.
It was now a two-story stone tavern with a large cool underground stone basement for storage of the wine and ale barrels along with certain food as well. There was enough room to house a large number of people in the basement as a place of safety if there was ever a need.
Akira turned to look at the General store that had received the same treatment and was also two stories of stone as well as having its own large basement.
He checked the two buildings off of his long list after he finished inspecting the buildings and went to his next destination, the Hot spring spa to see how it was doing.
¡°We''re almost finished. We only need to put up the wooden walls. After that, it will be ready to go. The only thing it will need is some workers to run the building and work on cleaning the place,¡± said the foreman of the project.
Akira nodded as he wrote down some notes to remember later about hiring a few front desk receptionists and janitors.
The last stop before Klyn and the goblins were the Barracks that had gone under a massive upgrade with its own stone wall surrounding the newly built two-story stone buildings that housed the growing number of soldiers. The buildings'' roofs were built so that they could act as a platform for fighting an enemy outside of the stone walls surrounding them. It was a fully functioning fort of sorts protecting the rear of the castle.
Akira passed through the rear gate and walked towards the fields that were already cleared and tilled.
He saw Klyn was overseeing the Shamen that had skills to boost the speed of the growth for the seeds that had been planted.
¡°How are things coming along?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The first few days were quite hectic with all the monsters popping up everywhere and coming out of the woods,¡± said Klyn as he wiped his forehead with his sleeve. ¡°We have finished transplanting the winterberry bushes and the nut bushes. They are being watched over by the shaman skilled with plants to make sure that they don''t wilt. Now we are just focusing on planting as many fast-growing vegetables and herbs as we can for the long winter.¡±
¡°Good work,¡± said Akira as he pat Klyn on the shoulder and looked over the large amount of land that had been tilled. Several hundred Goblins were going about planting germinated seeds that had been given buffs by the shaman under Klyn. It was all quite an odd sight.
¡°There was something that came up, but you were quite busy and it didn''t seem to be that big of a problem. So I waited till now.¡±
¡°What is it? Now that the wall is finished I can look into whatever it is.¡±
¡°While the soldiers you lent me were clearing bushes and the several [Fragrant Sunflowers (Carnivore)] in the area nearest to the castle they found steps that lead underground. Some of the soldiers are keeping an eye on it but so far there haven''t been any monsters or anything suspicious exiting the hole.¡±
¡°Can you take me to it? It would be best if we take care of it before something does happen,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, excited to explore a new place.
¡°Make sure you stay next to me. You''re growing strong enough to start fighting next to me in real battles, so you need to show that you can follow orders,¡± said Akira as he pat Fluffball before following Klyn.
The area he led them was inside of the newly built wall and was at the base of the hill at a part he had not been to when he had checked on the barracks.
Ten soldiers were guarding the stairs that led underground. When they saw Akira they stood ramrod straight and gave a military salute.
¡°Do you have any information on what the stairs lead to?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I personally descended 100 or so stairs but could neither hear or smell any monsters below,¡± said the officer of the ten soldiers.
¡°Fall in behind Vilkas and Dolph. We''ll go have a peek and if needed we''ll come back for more soldiers before making sure this place is safe,¡± said Akira as he equipped his shield and unsheathed his sword.
Dolph and Vilkas took up their positions on either side of Akira, their shields joining Akira''s to make a small shield wall.
¡°Let''s go,¡± ordered Akira.
Fluffball followed behind Akira leading the soldiers who had their own shield wall.
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Ding!
You have entered the ancient underground refuge.
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There was no need for a torch or lantern as the stone walls were giving off a faint, greenish-blue glow that got brighter as they descended.
After descending over 300+ stone steps they entered a medium-sized round room that had two large metal doors on the right and left wall.
On the far side of the room directly across from the stairs, was a large glowing statue that stood over 7ft tall.
Akira looked at the statue trying to figure out what it was. The lower half of the statue showed off two legs of a muscular bull with large hoofed feet that made Akira''s feet look small.
The upper body was that of an extremely muscular human. The head of the statue was a mixture of a human and a bull with two large and deadly horns pointing forward. In the statue''s muscular hands there was a massive two-handed Warhammer.
¡°Five of you check the right door, the other five check the left door,¡± ordered Akira as he walked up to the statue.
As Akira inspected the statue up close, the soldiers at each door called out to him.
¡°The door is securely locked. I see no way to open it. The door seems completely solid. We might need the Dwarves to help open it.¡±
¡°It is the same over here.¡±
¡°I think there is a door behind this statue, come help me move it,¡± said Akira.
As Akira and several of the other soldiers tried to push the statue out of the way, a notification window popped up before Akira.
Ding!
This statue is Unmovable and Indestructible.
In order to pass, you must first challenge and beat the guardian of the Ancient underground refuge.
Will you offer a challenge to the guardian? Yes / No
|
¡°Everyone step back and form a shield wall! Get ready for a fight!¡± ordered Akira as he accepted the option to challenge the guardian and moved away from the statue.
They formed two rows with Vilkas, Dolph, and 5 other soldiers in the front row and the last 5 behind them for support.
Crack!
Large fracture lines appeared on the large green glowing statue. The lines grew larger by the second with the loud crackling sounds and soon large pieces of the stone started to fall down onto the ground revealing the form of the Minotaur that the statue had depicted.
When all of the stone had fallen off of his body he was only slightly smaller than when he had been covered in stone and was still over 7 ft tall.
The large Minotaur stood still with its eyes closed as Akira and the soldiers watched it closely.
Its furry legs were a deep red that neared the color of dried blood. His chest and arms had a large amount of red hair. The hair on his head had been cut short in a simple military style. The two large dark red horns were even more deadly looking as they reflected the glowing green light of the room.
There was indeed another metal door behind him.
Blink. The eyes of the large Minotaur opened and looked at those that stood before him.
¡°I can''t feel my lord¡¯s life force... has he died?¡± Muttered the large Minotaur as he looked at the werewolves in front of him.
Taking a deep breath the Minotaur slammed the butt of his large hammer into the ground creating a loud thud that vibrated the ground.
¡°Who has challenged I, Zundar Rockpelt the loyal guardian of the underground refuge!¡± he asked in a booming voice that echoed off the walls. [Zundar Rockpelt level 90].
His red eyes scanned those in front of him searching for the one who would step forward.
¡°It was I that challenged you,¡± said Akira, not taking a step forward to keep the shield wall whole.
Zundar''s gaze zeroed in on Akira. ¡°Your name?¡±
¡°Akira, Lord of Kodria and commander of its army and navy,¡± said Vilkas before Akira could respond.
¡°Kodria...I have never heard of it before. I do feel in my bones that much time has passed... that does not matter.
Akira, I accept your challenge for a duel! If you lose I will kill you and all those next to you! If you win I will serve you as your most loyal servant!¡±
¡°We can not allow such a thing to happen. We have been charged with protecting the lord,¡± said Dolph wary of Zundar who was giving off an aura of extreme danger.
¡°Lord! We can not ignore the Grand elders'' orders and will protect you,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°Fear not younglings, I do not intend the duel part to be a fight to the death. You only have to pass my simple test if you fail... well that''s your fault,¡± said Zundar.
¡°I accept!¡± said Akira.
¡°Commander!¡± ¡°Lord! Please reconsider this, the Grand elders....¡±
¡°If I can pass his test we will have another strong ally,¡± said Akira as he stepped forward followed by Fluffball.
¡°What''s with the small mutt next to you?¡± asked Zundar pointing towards Fluffball.
¡°He is my fighting companion,¡± said Akira before a dark mist surrounded him as he transformed into a taller, furrier, and more muscular werewolf form emanating an aura that had a small amount of killing intent of his own.
¡°I see, I knew that there was something different about you since there was no way those weak humans could reach me. I guess the rest of you are also werewolves,¡± said Zundar as he tightened his grip on his large two-handed war hammer that was just as tall as him.
They did not answer and just silently transformed, ready to jump forward and protect Akira if there was a chance that he would fail.
¡°Let''s begin!¡± shouted Zundar as he took a large step forward so that he had enough room to swing his large Warhammer.
¡°Fluffball do you think you can handle dodging his attacks? He looks quite strong,¡± growled Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball full of confidence.
¡°Okay, now is the time to show off your skill we have been practicing.¡±
Akira turned to Zundar and gripped his sword and shield tightly before using the skill [Pounce] to jump towards him with Fluffball following right behind him.
Swish! Bang!
Akira''s first attack was blocked by Zundar using the metal shaft of his large hammer as he stood still, solid as the stone statue he had emerged from.
Akira used the shaft of Zundar''s weapon to jump back and retreat a few steps. Zundar chose to attack as Akira was just landing, sending the large hammer hurtling towards his head.
¡°Awoooooooo!¡± Akira let out a fierce howl activating the skill [Howl] Interrupting the attack.
The wind from the attack still continued on and slammed into Akira who had braced himself.
He silently used the skill [Shadow chains] to immobilize Zundar as his legs and arms were caught by the shadow chains.
Fluffball made his move and let out an icy breath that created a layer of frost on Zundar''s legs before nimbly hopping back behind Akira.
Akira activated the skill [Shield slam] to charge forward. He held his shield in front of him as his muscular legs pushed him forward at an extreme speed.
Zundar who was still being restrained from the chains received Akira''s charge by lowering his head and headbutting the large shield.
BAM! Akira''s charge was forced to a complete stop by Zundar''s hard head and he was even sent sliding backward from the rebound of the attack.
Zundar''s sharp horns had been only a few inches away from piercing Akira''s head.
Zundar shook his head to clear it. Akira used the short pause in his attacks to regain his footing. As he readied for another charge Nox 1 and 2 jumped out from his shadow.
¡°Attack him from the sides!¡± ordered Akira.
Akira again used the skill [Shield slam]. Zundar was ready for the attack and aimed his horns to impale the charging Akira.
Fluffball let out another icy breath sending another coat of frost Zundar''s upper body slowing his movements even further.
Bam!
Akira and Zundar clashed again. This time just as they clashed Akira used [Shield bash] on Zundar''s head as he was pushed back stunning the Minotaur.
Nox one and two latched onto his legs and began gnawing on them trying to tear through his tough leather skin.
Zundar still dizzy from the attack roared and snapped one of the shadow chains restricting his arm and then the other. He reached down and tore off the gnawing shadow wolves and threw them at Akira. And then broke the chains latched to his frosty legs.
With large steps, he charged towards Akira raising up his large Warhammer to slam it down on Akira. While charging forward he received another ice breath attack from Fluffball and had Nox one and two latchings onto his arms.
Akira took a sturdy stance and braced himself with his shield held to block the hammer hurtling towards him. Just before the attack reached him he activated the [Harden skill].
Boom!
The impact of the attack sent a shock wave into the ground and caused the dust in the room to fly up into the air as it was pushed to the side by the shock wave.
The werewolf soldiers behind Akira readied themselves to jump forward to help if Akira showed the need for it.
For over a minute the two stood still locked in the same position neither one moving an inch.
Zundar was the first to move out of the two of them.
Thud!
¡°You have received my full attack, and have shown me that you have a powerful set of skills that can be skillfully used. I accept you as my Lord and I will faithfully follow you,¡± said Zundar as he slammed his hammer into the ground and knelt before Akira.
Akira stood there silently unblinking.
Zundar waved his hand in front of the silent Akira.
Fluffball pushed on Akira''s leg to get his attention causing Akira''s stiff body to fall backward. Fluffball hurriedly went to Akira''s face and started to try and lick him awake.
¡°Huh? What is going on?¡± asked Akira as he came to.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°That''s right I was in a duel,¡± said Akira as he pushed Fluffball away and sat up looking at the smiling Zundar.
¡°Yep, I may be on the older side but I still got the strength to make people faint from my attacks!¡± said Zundar as he flexed and showed off his muscles.
Chapter 174: Hell training
Ding!
You have gained a loyal follower Zundar Rockpelt.
|
¡°So how exactly did you end up here fully covered in stone?¡± asked Akira who was sitting next to Zundar.
¡°Hmm...my head is a bit fuzzy still due to just waking up after sleeping for so long,¡± said Zundar as he scratched his chin and tried to put his memories into the order that they had happened so long ago.
Akira flanked by Dolph, Vilkas, and Klyn all waited quietly for Zundar to continue.
¡°Long ago, there was a great evil threatening our kingdom. This evil threat also affected the other kingdoms near us. We fought it for many years but In the end, we were left with no choice but to retreat after too many people were lost as it flowed across our lands.
In order to protect the royalty and the civilians that had managed to gather at the castle, they along with their guards entered the refuge that had been built for such a time as this. Several of the Royal sorcerers stayed behind and I was given the mission to protect the royalty, civilians, and their belongings.
I Don''t know what happened after that because they used their ancient sorcery to encase me in stone putting me into a deep sleep to wait until someone came to challenge me.¡±
¡°What I find odd is that you have been here for all those years and no one came here. Wouldn''t the great evil you speak of come here?¡±
¡°I can not remember much about the great evil, it is all a hazy blur. But if I had to say why no one found me in all these years it would probably be because of something that the royal sorcerers did after sealing me. A ward or some such protection.¡±
¡°Wow, so you''re like a really old man,¡± said Klyn nodding his head as if he now understood something groundbreaking.
¡°Older than Burkin or Delgar by several hundreds of years. Hmm... you still look like you''re in your thirties,¡± said Akira as he inspected Zundar''s face trying to see his real age.
¡°I don''t like what both of you are implying,¡± said Zundar as he sent a fierce glare at Klyn.
Akira stood up and placed his hand on the door that had been guarded by Zundar.
Ding!
Requirements not met. You are unable to enter at this time.
|
¡°It seems that whatever they did the door is still not accessible,¡± said Akira.
¡°Lord, we still have several other errands that need to be finished today so that they won''t interfere with tomorrow''s hell training,¡± said Dolph.
¡°We can continue our discussion when you meet the grand elders,¡± said Akira as he stood up still a bit sore from the clash with Zundar.
¡°Zundar, I know someone that would probably love to trade a few blows with you during tomorrow''s hell training,¡± said Akira hatching an evil plan.
¡°If they are as strong or stronger than you I am interested.¡±
***
Akira led his guards around taking care of several errands going from one place to another helping those that needed it as well as giving input and permission to start new projects that would benefit the blooming town. Zundar followed behind them wherever they went since he took his oath seriously.
As Akira was exiting the shipbuilder''s main office next to the lake he noticed Zundar was staring at the calm lake water.
¡°I can still feel the ancient sorcery in this lake. I''m surprised that something the royal sorcerers put in place to hold back the ancient evil is still present after such a long time has passed,¡± said Zundar as he knelt down and put his hand into the water.
¡°So that explains why the lake is filled with the holy power,¡± said Klyn, hitting his fist into the flat of his palm happy that something bugging him had been cleared up.
¡°You''ve seen the town so how does it compare to the old kingdom of the past?¡± asked Akira.
¡°How should I put this...Although there are several amazing new things... it''s really tiny compared to the old kingdom,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Hey, it''s one of the biggest places around here!¡± said Klyn.
¡°What? This puny place is the best around here? What about the other kingdoms?¡±
¡°There is nothing near us unless you count the wandering tribes. We are surrounded by vast wilderness full of monsters,¡± said Akira.
¡°So...they were all wiped out is what you''re saying,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Akira! My grandfather wants to talk to you,¡± shouted Yuki from behind them.
¡°I''m melting out here, let''s hurry back to the castle!¡± said Nollan.
¡°Who is that big guy next to you?¡± asked Yuki as she looked over the tall Zundar who was carrying his massive hammer on his shoulder.
¡°It seems I have found a new retainer. I''ll explain more after we return to the castle, I don''t want your grandfather melting on us,¡± said Akira.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
***
¡°...so that is how it is,¡± said Akira as he explained all that had happened and what he had learned.
In the cool stone room, the grand elders had joined Yuki and Nollan to discuss the future plans for Akira''s trip south with both Yuki and Nollan.
¡°I see. So the kingdom of OudIs was able to survive. I met king Icesar once when the surrounding kingdoms had a meeting on how to deal with the great evil,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Huh?¡± asked Yuki.
¡°I do not know of the OudIs kingdom or who Icesar is, but the names do sound familiar,¡± said Nollan as she scratched his head trying to remember.
¡°It''s nothing I was just lost in old memories. I''m sure you have a different name for where you live,¡± said Zundar.
¡°So, back to the main issue. When will you be able to travel south so we can finalize the alliance agreements?¡± asked Yuki.
¡°Although the wall was finished we still have so many things that need to be done. The earliest we can send Akira is... after the army''s hell training,¡± said Grand elder Carl after he looked at a piece of paper with several scribbled notes on them.
¡°I guess we can do nothing but wait,¡± said Nollan.
***
Over the next several days Akira led the hell training that included the army, town guards, naval sailors, marines, as well as the Militia warriors.
The hell training lived up to its name as Akira had thought of several ways to work one''s body and mind.
In the morning they endured the harsh physical training and in the afternoon they were given many different tasks to complete depending on their ability. Such tasks as formations practice for the Militia, hunting monsters for the soldiers, or tasks that needed to be completed to help the growing town.
The navy''s marines were given special training such as navigating with a thin layer of gauze over their eyes (especially the lookout) to simulate a snowstorm covering their vision. This resulted in a few close calls that could have been disastrous but they managed to get better at navigating half-blind.
Akira had sneakily paired Varbu and Zundar as sparring partners. Whenever they sparred with each other they tore up the ground with their fierce full-powered attacks.
On several of these days, Akira forced everyone to learn how to swim. First, it was only in their clothing but after that everyone was ordered to swim in their armor.
Although they gained valuable experience swimming in their armor at the hot springs pools they had to spend a long time repairing and polishing their armor afterward.
On the last day of hell training, the morning physical training was replaced with a contest to see who would be chosen as the standard-bearer of the army.
The only people who were allowed to participate in the contest were his personal guards, those in training, and the regular soldiers.
Everyone else was focused on all the work that had piled up during the week of training that still needed to be taken care of before the warm months ended.
¡°Hmph, you should have let me join in the fight!¡± complained Zundar.
¡°The grand elders have decided that you are to join as one of the core bodyguards along with Vilkas and Dolph. You can''t be taking up another job that would divert your attention,¡± said Akira.
¡°Tanner, since you won the match I now give you the position of Kodria''s standard-bearer,¡± said Akira.
¡°Awooooo~,¡± a loud howl rang out from one of the lookouts on one of the paroling naval ships alerting them to the presence of an enemy.
¡°Awooooo-awooooo,¡± Akira let out a howl in response giving an order to the navy, army, and guards to go to battle stations to fight the enemy.
¡°Is this also part of training?¡± asked Zundar as he ran alongside Akira and the rest of the army as they headed towards the waiting transport ships.
¡°No, it''s an enemy attack!¡± said Klyn.
¡°Awoooo~.¡±
¡°You know for those of us that don''t speak wolfanese, it''s hard to understand what is being said.¡±
¡°Hurry the naval marines have intercepted the enemy trying to swim across the lake,¡± said Akira.
Due to Zundar''s heavy body and weapon, only Akira and his guards were able to enter one of the ships with him so that it didn''t sink.
The large naval ships along with several of the smaller ships were now surrounding the invading enemy blocking Akira''s view of who exactly it was.
When they had rowed to the flagship of the navy and climbed up onto the deck the fight was already over.
Akira looked at the group of wounded enemy soldiers that had been pulled out of the water and were now being held at sword point.
¡°So the Ramia people of the Madu kingdom survived as well?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°Who are you to speak the name of our ancient kingdom!¡± asked an arrogant male Ramia warrior.
The Ramia warriors looked like lizard men with their upper bodies covered in thick scales of arious grays and browns. But instead of legs, their lower body was that of a snake.
¡°Don''t speak unless you are asked a question!¡± shouted one of the marines as he poked the lizard man with his sword.
¡°I see, so the Auga tribe of Ramia was once part of the Madu kingdom? What is your purpose of trying to cross the lake uninvited?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''m surprised that your small village has grown to something this formidable. It''s nothing like they told us several months ago,¡± said the loudmouth ignoring the question.
¡°Answer the lord!¡± said the naval marine poking him again.
¡°Oww! Stop jabbing me with that! You''ll ruin my scales! We just came to scout your village to see for ourselves if you really were here. It seems your small village has grown into a ripe town... Ow! I told you to stop poking me!¡±
''So this is all because of the Demigods again,'' thought Akira as he looked at the Ramia warriors.
¡°What should we do with them? Throw them into the brig?¡± asked one of the marines.
¡°Hey! If you hold us the chief will view it as a deceleration of war! The others have already left to report everything.¡±
With all Akira had to deal with he could not risk starting a war with the Auga tribe right now.
¡°You are to leave our land and stop sticking your nose where it does not belong. Tell your chief that sending warriors into someone''s territory can be viewed as an act of war. It would be best if he doesn''t do something like this again,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s not like we would attack a place with such strong fortifications,¡± said loudmouth.
¡°Captain Walcott please escort them to shore. Officer Hurst, you will take the first and second unit of the first omega and escort them out of our territory,¡± ordered Akira.
¡°It will be done as you say, sir!¡±
¡°We don''t need no babysitters!¡± said Loudmouth.
¡°We wouldn''t want you to get hurt or lost and find your way back here so we''ll make sure that you are taken care of,¡± said Akira as he waved for his bodyguards to follow him back to the transport ship.
***
¡°There are still a few more preparations that we need to finish today before we can go,¡± said Akira as he talked to Yuki.
¡°Are you sure you can leave so soon after something like this happened?¡± asked Yuki.
¡°The army and navy are strong enough to handle defending the town while I am gone. Plus the grand elders will be here to make sure everything runs smoothly. With the list I gave them, they should have a good idea of what is needed to grow the town into a city,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 175: Head south!
¡°Why has the plan changed into something like this?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We need more allies and trading partners. Yuki and Nollan already agreed to guide you to each of the larger tribes on the way south to their capital IsKald. There should be no problem with it as long as you don''t spend too much time at each of the villages,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
¡°But if we do this I will only arrive back when the warm months have passed! The town needs my help to plan the buildings and grow. There are also many enemies just waiting to do something,¡± said Akira.
¡°You have already given us detailed plans on how to move forward. You have already said several times before that the army, guards, and navy are strong enough to defend the town for now,¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
¡°Although we would like to send a Grand elder with you to help speed up the negotiations we must stay here and take care of the town. Right now we cannot risk another death of a Grand elder,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°It is all for the best that we stay here due to the lurking Demigods. The four of us have fought them in two great wars and multiple battles. We may have gotten older but we still know a thing or two about fighting and killing demigods,¡± said ¨¤aron.
¡°After a chat with the others, we decided to have Zundar join you on the travels south. He seems to be a strong and honorable warrior. Have you gathered all the people and supplies needed?¡± asked Grand elder Carl.
¡°Yes all the supplies and everyone that I asked to accompany me, are currently waiting at the gates right now,¡± said Akira.
¡°Be sure to diligently take care of the errands that we gave you,¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
***
As Akira exited the castle and walked past the castle guards something darted out of the shadows and tried to attach itself to him but the shadow was blocked by a headbutt from Fluffball.
¡°Oww...¡±
¡°What are you doing Azura?¡± asked Akira as he looked at his sister who was laying on the ground with Fluffball licking her face.
¡°Get off be you fat furball,¡± said Azura as she struggled to sit up while pushing off the heavy Fluffball.
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball unhappily. He lightly swatted her nose as payback for calling him fat.
Before Azura could respond he jumped off of her and hid behind Akira.
¡°GRRRR...That furball needs to go on a diet! And you... why didn''t you pick me to go with you on this trip!¡± said Azura as she stood up and pointed a finger at Akira.
¡°You don''t know? It''s because I trust my little sister to take care of things for me while I''m gone!¡±
¡°S...so...that''s how it is... you trust me huh.¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°Wait! You''re just trying to push all the work off onto me so that you don''t have to do it when you get back!¡± said Azura.
¡°I don''t know what you''re talking about,¡± said Akira as he looked away from his sister. ¡°Anyway the Grand elders have also decided that you should stay to help them since you are such a trustworthy person. Well... good luck! I need to go now since the others are waiting!¡±
¡°Don''t run away! I''m not done with you yet!¡± shouted Azura as she chased after Akira.
Unfortunately for Azura, the town was quite lively due to all the projects going on, and lost Akira in the crowded streets.
***
As Akira helped unload the supplies off of the transport ships he looked over everyone that he would be traveling with for the next few months.
There were many familiar faces with some unknown people as well.
¡°Hahaha! The whole team is back together to travel once more!¡± said Varbu happily.
¡°Why are there so many people here that have nothing to do with traveling to IsKald?¡± asked Mileena as she looked at the several other new people that would be joining them.
¡°The Grand elders gave us a few extra diplomatic errands and tasks to do while we head south. They also want us to make sure we kill all the monsters we encounter on our way south. Something about making the journey for merchants safer for a while,¡± answered Akira.
¡°And Burkin?¡± asked Maya as she pointed at the Dwarf and several other merchants that were gathered around large bundles of items.
¡°Burkin and the other merchants agreed to help take care of transporting the rest of the armor and weapons to the Kamen tribe''s new village. In exchange we have to act as an escort for them until we reach the Kamen tribe,¡± said Akira.
¡°I hope we don''t find any troublesome monsters on our trip south,¡± said Klyn.
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¡°Don''t worry! I will take care of all of them!... I lie! I will hide behind that big guy!¡± said Chack as he pointed to Zundar.
¡°If a monster gets in my way or attacks my lord I will just smash them!¡± said Zundar showing off with a few showy swings of his Hammer.
¡°OHHH!¡± said Klyn and Chack as they clapped after listening to Zundar''s deceleration and watching his performance.
¡°The more I get to know you the more I like you. You''re almost as manly as me,¡± said Varbu as he gave Zundar a thumbs up.
¡°We''ll be stopping at many of the wandering tribe''s camps so you''ll get your chance to kill all the deadly monsters and clear out any of the smaller dungeons that we find,¡± said Akira as he finished loading one of the modified sleds that had removable wheels attached to the metal runners.
¡°Lord, if we go into a dungeon, how are we to protect you with all the danger inside!¡± said Dolph.
Vilkas silently nodded his head in agreement.
¡°Relax, we aren''t going to be going into any of the larger dungeons. Plus anything we find in the dungeon we can trade or sell to the next wandering tribe we meet.¡±
¡°It''s true it would be troubling for me if lord''s thing was hurt in that place. You need to hurry up and get married and have a son so that you can have an heir. Then I can train the young master in the greatness of hammers!¡± said Zundar as he looked at both Mileena and Akira.
¡°Ohh! I like this guy! Let''s be friends!¡± said Chack as he pat Zundar''s thigh due to his height being nearly two times as tall as Chack.
¡°What an interesting idea,¡± was all Mileena said as she stared at Akira, making him uncomfortable.
¡°Then it is decided! I will be the young master''s personal weapons trainer when he is born!¡±
¡°Fine with me,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Hey! Why are you guys deciding on something like that without me!¡± asked a flustered Akira.
***
¡°Damn! Why are there so many monsters that we have to clear out everyday,¡± said Klyn as he sat at the fire eating a quick lunch with the others.
¡°It''s strange. I don''t remember this many monsters the last two times we went to the Kamen tribes village. I sorta get a feeling that this is similar to that time I led the group south to find a place to live,¡± said Burkin as he stared at Akira.
¡°Hmm, you''re right, he may be a monster magnet. Crazy things are always happening wherever he goes,¡± said Varbu as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and stared at Akira.
¡°I''m not a monster magnet!...anyways isn''t it good that they all show up? With so many of them gathering we have an easier time cleaning up the path south for the merchants while getting stronger,¡± said Akira trying to turn it into a positive.
¡°Right! I totally agree, even more monsters showing up would be better! It would be really annoying if only the small fry showed up in small numbers,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Can we even call what we''re using a road? We''re just wandering through the woods, the grassy plains, and the hills,¡± said Mileena.
¡°How long until we reach our next destination?¡± Akira asked Yuki.
¡°We left the Kamen village five days ago and now that we don''t have to escort the other merchants that turned back we should be able to move more quickly, so... a few more days?¡± said Yuki unsure as she looked to her grandfather for confirmation but found him snoring loudly.
¡°I''m surprised at how many wandering tribes we have been able to get into contact with. Most of them have been quite friendly and willing to at least trade with us and Kodria in the future,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''m more surprised with the number of small dungeons you keep finding,¡± said Klyn.
¡°We need to pick up the pace or we''ll fall behind schedule. Let''s hurry up and get to the Nyaan tribe. Mr. Kat, we''ll drop you off there so you can negotiate on behalf of Kodria you''ll have enough time to hash things out before we return to Kodria,¡± said Akira as he looked to the elderly Nyaan male Mr. Kat.
¡°No need to worry, my skills in negotiating are very good. I am sure they won''t mind gaining a few more of the same race, making a new village near us or even joining us!¡± said Mr. Kat.
***
¡°What did you just say?¡± asked Tormoid as he grabbed onto a merchant''s collar and lifted him up into the air.
¡°It''s just a rumor I heard at Jerora! There is a new frontier town farther south than any other. It seems that it is growing well and is quite prosperous and important,¡± said the merchant.
¡°Not that part! What you said before that!¡± said Tormoid as he shook the man.
¡°The man named Akira is the lord of the town?¡± asked the unsure merchant.
¡°Damn it!¡± said Tormoid as he threw the merchant down onto the ground.
''I''m a Grand Elder of the Bloody-claw tribe! But here I am being treated like a small nobody! While those guys are living in houses, I''m still stuck here living in a tepee!'' raged Tormoid.
''Think, think, how to use this to my advantage to get up out of this mess...''
¡°Does the Coldpelt clan on the east coast know of this?¡± asked Tormoid.
¡°Everyone knows of it in Jerora so if another merchant went there it is possible,¡± said the merchant.
¡°You, and your friends you brought with you, better keep your mouth shut about this,¡± said Tormoid.
The werewolf guards that stood behind Tormoid flexed their muscles and laid their hands on their weapons as a threat to the merchant.
¡°Don''t worry we won''t say a word!¡± said the frightened merchant.
''I need to hurry and tell that bastard about the village and try to convince him to follow my plan. I can not let that runt get all the glory and rewards after all that he has put me through!'' though Tormoid as he left the cowering merchant.
***
As the party moved south the weather had grown colder and colder.
¡°It seems like we can never escape this damn snow!¡± grumbled Klyn as they walked through the light dusting of snow on the ground.
¡°I quite like the snow, it is refreshing compared to that heat which was way too hot,¡± said Nollan.
Ding!
Warning!
A nearby dungeon is in the process of a dungeon break!
A new quest has been created!
Kill all monsters that escape: There is no need to worry about finding them! They will find you! Even if you run!
Difficulty level: C++.
|
Seeing Akira stop and start looking around on full alert Zundar moved closer to him.
¡°Lord is there something wrong?¡±
¡°Danger has found us...¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°...a dungeon break.¡±
ROOOOOOOOAAAARRRRRR!
Chapter 176: Dungeon break
¡°I guess that was a mating call... I lie! Something wants to eat us!¡± shouted Chack who had a thick fur armor covering his entire body to keep him warm.
¡°Not while I am here!¡± shouted Zundar.
¡°Burkin take your guards and go to the cave behind us. You should wait there until we can take care of this problem. We might end up clearing the dungeon so don''t worry if we take a long time to return,¡± said Akira.
¡°Be sure to bring back some good stuff from the dungeon if it has anything. I''ll be sure to buy it at a fair price!¡± said Burkin as he walked to the cave with his guards.
¡°We will also go with the dwarf,¡± said Nollan as he pulled his granddaughter towards the cave.
¡°But I want to go help,¡± said Yuki, giving her grandfather a firm look full of cold determination.
¡°Hey don''t look at me like that! I can''t let you do something like that. If my daughter heard that I let you do something dangerous and you got hurt... Not going to happen!¡± said Nollan as he pulled Yuki with him followed by the rest of their party who would not be fighting.
¡°Let''s not be sloppy since there is bound to be a large number of monsters coming out of the dungeon. We don''t have a lot of time to waste before the warm month''s end and have to go back. Let''s head out!¡± Akira said to the remaining companions and guards around him.
¡°Understood!¡± shouted all of his personal guards.
¡°With me by your side there is no need to worry!¡± shouted Zundar.
They all ran towards the constant roars that rang out as if trying to challenge anyone to a fight. Akira turned to the small Fluffball who was running next to him.
¡°Make sure that you stay close to me and fight like we trained,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± shouted Fluffball as he ran through the soft snow.
Klyn was following right behind Akira busy with chanting off several buffs for the entire group, starting with Akira first.
¡°I have a bad feeling about today!¡± said Akira as he ran.
Ding!
A new passive skill has been created!
You have lived through many fights, including catfights, and have now discovered a Super Secret Special Skill(Or is it?).
[Akira''s bad feeling]:
Your stomach will get upset when you sense something bad will happen. You will be able to tell how bad it will be by how bad your stomach feels.
This skill works for everyday life as well as combat situations. If you pay attention to the warnings, it will help you to not make any stupid mistakes that could kill you (creating a harem).
|
¡°I have located the monsters!¡± Shouted Bo as he caught back up to the group. His raven companion swooped down and landed on his shoulder before letting out a caw.
¡°Where?¡±
¡°South East of here there is a large clearing with a small hill made of ice at the center. But there seems to be something wrong. I only saw three monsters and each of them were holding a large weapon.¡±
¡°That''s even better for us if we don''t have to fight several waves of monsters,¡± shouted Akira as they headed east.
Several minutes of running passed before they exited the snowy pine trees and entered a flat snowy plain with only an ice hill in the middle.
As Bo said there were only three monsters rampaging around the ice hill searching their surroundings for something while roaring.
Akira focused on them to see what they were up against. [Brown hammer polar bear lvl 79] [Brown hammer polar bear lvl 82] [White hammer polar bear lvl 90].
¡°Why did such strong monsters escape the dungeon?¡± asked Akira as he looked at the large polar bears who were standing on two feet carrying around large hammers.
¡°My blood is boiling for a good fight! They even use hammers like me! Lord, please let me take on that white furry guy in the middle,¡± said Zundar, giving Akira a pleading look that did not suit such a fierce-looking barbarian like him.
Akira waved his hand to stop him from looking at him like that, ¡°Sure knock yourself out. Dolph, Vilkas you take the others and fight the one on the left I will take the one on the right!¡±
¡°But...¡±
¡°No need to worry. I''ll have my companions and Klyn to help me. You have your orders! Now let''s go take care of them!¡± said Akira using the [Shout] skill to raise everyone''s morale.
They split up and charged towards their target. The guards and soldiers led by Dolph and Vilkas were all in a good formation using the shield charge they had trained in for many months.
Both Akira and Chack took up the front position with their shields ready while Varbu and the girls followed behind them.
Zundar who was alone just charged forward in a berserk fashion gleefully plowing through the snow to recklessly ram into the [White hammer polar bear].
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When Maya and the other ranged werewolves were in range, they started to shoot at the two [Brown hammer polar bears] angering them and pulling them away from Zundar''s fight with the large [White hammer polar bear].
Roar!
The [Brown hammer polar bear] on the right that had received several arrows from Maya started to charge towards Akira and his companions. The bear''s killing intent was all focused on Maya.
¡°Hey you ^&%$ don''t look at girls like that or I''ll have to do ^*&= to you!¡± shouted Akira using the [Potty mouth] skill.
¡°Roar!¡± The confused [Brown hammer polar bear] angrily shouted at Akira as he decided to first kill the very annoying person who had just said something rude to him.
¡°[Shield Slam]!¡± Akira hurtled forward to meet the charging [Brown hammer polar bear].
Before they could clash the [Brown hammer polar bear] stopped and swung his large hammer at Akira who was unable to dodge due to the skill shooting him forward in a straight line.
Boom! The hammer impacted on the center of his new shield with great force and stopped Akira in his tracks and... Even sent him flying backward crashing into the snow.
Ding!
Toughness has increased by 2!
|
You have received a new title!
One who flys without wings:
Not just anyone can fly in the air. But you have found a very unique way to fly.
One would have to be either an M or an idiot to think of such a method.
|
¡°Roar!¡± the [Brown hammer polar bear] let out a taunting roar at Akira who had been knocked back and received several arrows to his body for his troubles.
The [Brown hammer polar bear] ignored the arrows and charged forward towards Akira who was just getting up.
¡°[Harden]!¡± Akira braced himself and used the first skill that came to mind as the [Brown hammer polar bear] slammed it''s hammer into his shield again.
But this time when the hammer slammed into his shield he stood firm not moving an inch.
Ding!
The hammer bounced back from the impact and pulled the [Brown hammer polar bears] body around, making him stumble and reveal his back to Akira and his companions who had caught up with him.
Fwoosh! A small fireball flew forward and struck the [Brown hammer polar bear] on the back where it burned for a few seconds before dying out. The fireball attack was followed by arrows from Maya and spears thrown by Chack.
Fluffball stood next to Akira and let out an ice breath that covered the legs of the [Brown hammer polar bear].
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Akira glanced over towards the explosive attacks and saw that Zundar and the [White hammer polar bear] were sending huge clouds of snow up into the air as they attacked each other.
Their fight was nothing more than brute force vs brute force. The two of them were so focused on each other and were heading away from the main group towards the woods as they traded heavy blows.
¡°ROAR!¡± the [Brown hammer polar bear] recovered from its failed attack and was now even more enraged at its back getting singed.
As it slowly turned around Akira could see yellow flames coming out of its eyes diagonally, making it look even more fierce.
¡°I''ll keep him in place, Varbu and Mileena use the opportunity to attack from the side or rear again. Chack guard Maya!¡± said Akira as he activated [Shield slam] once again.
With the short distance between them and its movements dulled by the frost, Akira was able to land a solid hit forcing the [Brown hammer polar bear] to stumble backward after receiving large damage from the impact.
Akira used [Shadow chains] as soon as he recovered from the charge, locking the [Brown hammer polar bear] in an awkward sideways bent position.
Blink! Mileena used her skill to appear right behind the trapped [Brown hammer polar bear] and dealt several blows to its neck before jumping back to catch her breath and escape any counter-attack.
Varbu followed up her attack with his own skill [Spin to win] becoming a flaming whirlwind as he spun towards the exposed side of the bear.
Thud! The skill and Varbu were stopped in his tracks as his burning battleax bit deep into the [Brown hammer polar bear] the area around it all burnt black.
¡°Ah! My skill stopped! I wanted to keep on hitting him with my ax,¡± shouted a disappointed Varbu as he pried his battleax from the [Brown hammer polar bear].
¡°Looks like you can only keep spinning if it''s against smaller or less armored monsters,¡± said Akira as he launched a shield bash to the [Brown hammer polar bears] head that was now close to Akira due to the awkward position it was in.
Crack! The sound of something breaking could be heard and the [Brown hammer polar bear] let out a weak gargled roar of anger as it struggled to free itself.
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball used another Ice breath to cover the [Brown hammer polar bear] arms making them stiff and unable to use its full power. Mileena again aimed several attacks at its vitals from behind dealing heavy damage.
The [Brown hammer polar bear] was able to escape from the chains but he was far more ragged than when he had entered them.
¡°Stand back, I''ll finish this with one attack!¡± shouted Akira as he activated the [Cross attack] skill.
The blue X flew towards the [Brown hammer polar bear] and slammed into its body biting deep but not killing it as it still stood now bleeding deeply from the large X.
¡°You''re sturdier than I thought, here have another!¡± said Akira.
As the second blue X slammed into its body it cut the rest of the way through severing its body into four parts.
Ding!
You have reached level 85!
|
¡°Hah... that was hard but easier than expected,¡± said Klyn who had been focusing on buffing everyone and making sure that If Akira was wounded he could use his healing chant.
Akira looked towards Dolph and Vilkas and saw they were just finishing their fight with the bear as Vilkas sent a spear through its head. With all the spears and javelins sticking out of its entire body it looked like a giant furry porcupine.
Zundar was nowhere to be seen but the booming sounds from his fight had already stopped so Akira hoped that meant that he had finished his own fight.
¡°Looks like the fight''s finished, let''s rest for a bit and wait for Zundar to return before heading into the dungeon,¡± said Akira as his stomach let out a grumbling uncomfortable feeling.
Ding!
[Akira''s bad feeling] has leveled up!
|
Bo who had been focused on watching the surroundings from the air came out of his trance and rushed over to Akira. ¡°Lord bad news I just saw...¡±
¡°Oh look! Another party has already come to challenge the Dungeon as well.¡±
Chapter 177: A Unique group
Upon hearing the voice of someone unknown Akira''s guards moved to surround him in order to protect him from any harm. They were ready to transform and attack if needed.
The rest of his companions stood guard behind him ready to support the guards.
¡°Wait, let''s see what they want,¡± said Akira in a quiet voice.
A group of six humans exited the woods from the east and walked towards them.
Looking at their facial expressions and body language they did not seem to have any hostile intentions.
They were all wearing different armors and weapons. One person looked to be a heavily armored knight while the rest of the party were wearing leather armor or thick robes. Each of them was wearing the same mask of a creepy gray smiling face.
¡°They''re hardly wearing anything, aren''t they a bit cold?¡± asked one of the guards.
¡°There that... so maybe they don''t feel the cold like the Kamen tribe,¡± said Dolph.
¡°Quiet,¡± said Vilkas as the other party walked up to them.
¡°Hello, friends! Allow us to introduce ourselves!¡± said a man wearing gray leather armor with six daggers sheathed on each side of his chest.
With that, the six humans all formed up into a line.
¡°I am Ben!¡± said the gray leather armored man who was at the center of the six. He used his right hand and pointed straight up into the sky.
¡°I am Dover!¡± said a muscular man next to Ben. He had a large two-handed sword that was about two hand widths wide and was as tall as him. He used his left hand and also pointed up towards the sky.
¡°I am Boot!¡± said a man with a bow on his back and two smaller crossbows on his hips along with a short sword. He raised his arm pointed diagonally to the right.
¡°I''m Shaker!¡± said a girl in a cutesy voice as she held onto a coiled thorn whip and pointed diagonally to the left.
¡°I''m Ivana!¡± said a shy girl at the back. She was wearing dark gray robes and held onto a large staff that had some sort of large gem on top of it. Akira wondered if it was some type of new tool that the Magic guild had created. She also raised her arm and pointed to the left.
¡°I am Sir Bumpalot!¡± said the male knight. Pointing to the right.
¡°We are [TEAM ULTIMATE BEN DOVER]!¡± shouted the six people all at once.
The six of them continued to hold the pose in silence and continued to glance at Akira and the others to see if they were looking at them.
¡°Lord... are they really who I think they are? I thought that they were all supposed to be some super blood-hungry fighters. But these guys... they are just a bunch of idiots...¡± said Dolph, in a whisper to Akira.
¡°I have a feeling they are who they say they are... I would not doubt that they really are part of a team with that name,¡± said Akira as he watched the idiots in front of him.
He checked each of their names which also showed they were indeed part of a group called [Team Ultimate Ben Dover].
After another awkward minute of silence, Ben coughed and the rest of the group returned to normal.
¡°Good work everyone. That was our first time actually being able to show off our hard work at practicing our introduction,¡± said Ben as he praised the other members of his party.
¡°Good work,¡± said the other five congratulating each other on the successful introduction.
¡°Can I ask who is the leader of your party? Well, I assume it''s you in the dark full suit of armor,¡± said Ben pointing at Akira who still had his helmet visor down covering his face and Identity.
Before either Dolph or Vilkas could say anything Akira held up a hand.
¡°I am the leader,¡± said Akira.
¡°We introduced ourselves, so the least you can do is tell us who you are and your party''s name.¡±
¡°I am Rodger, the leader of The Iron meatheads,¡± said Akira.
¡°That name suits you guys well since I only see heavily armored meatheads,¡± said Shaker.
¡°What is it that you want from us?¡± asked Akira, still on guard for any sign of trouble.
¡°Oh well, we have died a... a few times trying to clear this dungeon. Normally we have four others with us but they died too many times,¡± said Ben, looking away from Akira in embarrassment.
¡°We want to team up with you to help clear the dungeon. We will be of some help to you since we have more medium and long-range attackers than you,¡± said Dover.
¡°Isn''t this dungeon a little too hard for you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We...,¡± Ben looked to Dover who nodded his head. ¡°We got a really nice mission to clear the dungeon so we have been trying to clear it. So will you join us?¡±
¡°Can you give us a second to discuss this,¡± asked Akira.
¡°Sure.¡±
Akira brought everyone out of earshot of the other group before he began talking.
¡°Chack, hurry up and tuck your tail under your coat, and wear this over your face,¡± said Akira as he made sure to block the other group''s view of Chack.
¡°But I can''t fight with my tail like that!¡± said Chack.
¡°Hurry up and do it. I need you and Varbu to go and find Zundar and tell him not to come out of the woods. You both should stay with him as we can''t hide that you''re not human if we fight in the dungeon,¡± said Akira.
Chack silently accepted his task and stumbled away from the group and into the woods with Varbu following behind him hunched over to hide his large body.
¡°Are you really thinking we should help them?¡± asked Mileena.
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¡°I don''t plan on trusting them or becoming friends with them, but if we can watch them fight and listen to them we might be able to learn more about the demigods'' powers and their motives for coming to this continent,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s true that we only have a little knowledge of them that was gathered from the past wars and battles our clans fought. It would be best if we could gain more current and updated knowledge on them,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Then I guess we should see what they want us to do. If it is reasonable we can join them,¡± said Akira.
¡°Lord I don''t like this one bit. Helping Demigods after what they did to your grandfather,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°I don''t like it either but we need more information to better understand our enemy. I will do whatever it takes so that we can find a way to kill them easier. For now, everyone will fight without transforming to hide our identity. Treat it as extra training,¡± said Akira.
¡°If they show any sign of hostility I will not hesitate to kill them,¡± said Dolph.
¡°If they bare their fangs at us... kill them all,¡± said Akira quietly.
¡°Who were those two that ran into the woods?¡± asked Ben as Akira and the others returned from their quiet group discussion.
¡°No one special, I just sent them to inform our camp of cooks and baggage carriers of our changed plans. They will stay there to help protect them while we are away. What exactly is it that you need us to do?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Just help us clear the dungeon. If anything drops that you can use you can take it and we will take what you don''t want. Really, the only thing we want is the loot from the boss so we can complete our mission,¡± said Ben.
¡°Sorry, but we can''t share this mission with you so we can only offer the dropped items,¡± said Dover.
¡°Deal?¡± asked Ben as he held out a hand for Akira to shake.
Akira took the hand forcing himself to stay calm and not crush it as he shook Ben''s hand.
Ding!
Would you like to form a raid party with [Team Ultimate Ben Dover]?
...
The other party has declined.
|
¡°We rather stay in our own groups,¡± said Ben before Akira could even respond to the message.
¡°It''s fine with us. If you don''t mind, we would like to clear the dungeon quickly,¡± said Akira.
¡°Then let''s go!¡± said Dover.
Akira led the group to the dungeon and entered the Ice entrance first.
Ding!
You are entering the [Brown polar bear''s Poiyoing hunting ground]!
|
¡°Oh? Looks like someone else unnamed entered the dungeon while we were gone,¡± said Ben not knowing that it was Akira who was the unnamed person.
The rest of the werewolves all formed up on Akira''s right and left in their proper positions.
¡°Wow, you guys look really sharp,¡± said Shaker.
¡°What type of monsters can we expect further in?¡± Akira asked Ben and Dover who were walking next to the shield wall.
¡°We have only been able to clear the first two floors, but we keep dying due to some really strong monsters blocking the way after that.
On the first two floors, there are just random rooms full of the mini mobs called Poiyoings they are somewhat easy to kill due to their nature. But on the third floor, there are brown polar bears that stand on two feet. They are quite hard to fight,¡± said Ben as they walked down the slippery ice slope towards the first room of the dungeon.
¡°With your shields and armor you should be able to take care of the Poiyoing''s with no problem,¡± said Dover.
¡°We''ll hold the monsters off and push forward while you attack from the sides,¡± ordered Akira.
He did not care if they followed his orders as long as they stayed out of his way and were not standing behind them since he did not trust them enough to allow that.
Dolph and Vilkas flanked Akira as they entered the cold ice room with glistening wet ice walls.
On the opposite side of the room, Akira could see several small black fluffy round creatures eating rocks and ice from the ground.
Klyn began to quietly give buffs to each of the werewolves as well as the two nyaan sisters. There was no way he was going to buff the demigods so he ignored them.
One of the small black monsters turned around to look at the intruders and... hopped towards them with a ¡°Poi!¡±
When it landed on the ground it let out a ¡°bleh~¡± its red tongue stuck out all the way only returning inside its mouth when it let out another ¡°Poi!¡± as it again hopped towards Akira.
It repeated the same thing each time it hopped and landed on the ground.
¡°It''s so cute!¡± said Mileena.
¡°Don''t be fooled by their cute looks. They are deadly if you let down your guard,¡± said Shaker as her whip snapped out into the air intercepting the hopping [Poiyoing] as it was falling back to the ground.
Boom! A small explosion erupted leaving nothing but a frozen mist in the air where the cute monster had been.
¡°What skill is that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I didn''t use any skill. The [Poiyoing] exploded sending frost out over whatever attacked them,¡± said Shaker as she shook her whip making it crack a few times to remove the frost that had formed on it.
¡°Here they come!¡± said Boot as he started shooting arrows.
¡°Poi! Poi! Poi! Poi!¡± as if they all had one mind the small [Poiyoings] stopped what they were doing and started hopping towards the shield wall to attack the intruders who had killed a [Poiyoing].
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With Boot and Maya shooting arrows, and Ivana using a skill that shot out ice shards the charging [Poiyoings] were being popped one after the other.
But the wave of [Poiyoing] was like a swarm of rats that kept coming towards them.
Akira and his guards that were a part of the shield wall held their shields firm as the [Poiyoings] reached them and slammed against the shields.
The impact of the small black creatures created several small explosions and covered the air around them in a frosty mist.
In just a few minutes the entire swarm had either been shot or exploded against their shield wall.
¡°What a weird type of monster,¡± said Akira as he hacked at the ice on his shield removing what had formed during the [Poiyoing''s] attacks.
¡°It seems like they freeze their enemy and then eat them,¡± said Klyn as he was writing stuff down in a notepad that he had pulled out of one of his pockets.
¡°As I said before, the first two floors should be easy with your help,¡± said Dover.
¡°Let''s hurry and make our way to the third floor,¡± said Akira.
***
The group had completely cleared the first three floors and were taking a short food break in the last ice room before they went to the third floor.
During their fighting on the first three floors, they had learned quite a bit about the demigods that were with them.
They said many things that only Akira could understand which confused everyone else. Klyn was constantly writing down everything he heard or saw in his notepad whenever he was not busy buffing and watching over Akira.
¡°Has anyone ever told you that you guys smell like dogs?¡± asked Shaker.
¡°Hey, don''t go insulting them like that,¡± said Boot.
¡°With the cold weather we haven''t been able to wash in a while,¡± said Akira.
He sniffed himself to see if he really did smell like a dog but he couldn''t smell anything wrong.
¡°So you chose to be a shaman?¡± Ivan asked Klyn.
¡°Uh... yeah,¡± said Klyn, not sure what he was talking about.
¡°You''re the first person I''ve met who has that type of job,¡± said Ivana.
¡°That''s an ice wolf pet, right? You must have had a really hard time getting it. I heard that Tizzs McWiggle died at least ten times before getting a pet of his own,¡± said Ben as he looked at Fluffball with envy.
¡°I wouldn''t say it was all that hard for me,¡± said Akira.
¡°With the completion of this mission we will reach one hundred completed missions!¡± said Ben as he looked at something that was not visible to others.
¡°I hope you won''t be stopping at every rock or ore you find on the third floor,¡± said and annoyed Dover.
Through the last three floors, any and all drops along with the rare ore they found was picked clean by Akira and his group.
The demigods could not complain as they had agreed to allow them to have the stuff but they did not expect Akira would be so thorough in picking up everything.
¡°Alright let''s head to the next floor!¡± said Akira as he stood up after finishing eating and drinking.
Chapter 178: Deadly Cute Poiyoing
¡°Hurry up! We still have a few more rooms to go before we reach the entrance to the 5th floor!¡± said Dover trying to make Akira Move faster. Akira continued to gather items from the [Brown Hammer polar bear] that had been killed.
Akira''s guards watched the demigods closely blocking Akira from their view, acting as a shield from any danger or random monsters while he and Fluffball gathered the armor, weapons, gold, and magic stones.
The guards had been on edge ever since they entered the 4th floor which was far harder than the exploding poiyoings. The demigods had all become more agitated and snappy as they came closer to the end of the 4th floor. Those who had better noses than others even without transforming could smell the desperation and worry that emanated from the demigods.
¡°You guys need to relax. We won''t be able to fight the boss of the dungeon like this, if you''re so high strung,¡± said Akira as he packed the rest of the items away.
¡°You guys better watch where you send your skills,¡± said Vilkas quietly as he looked at the Demigods.
¡°It was just a misfire since I slipped on the ice,¡± said Ben.
¡°Why are you guys not using any skills now that we''re on a harder floor? If you helped out we could clear it faster,¡± complained Dover.
¡°We are training our bodies so that we can fight and not be reliant on skills,¡± said Akira, making a quick excuse for the werewolf soldiers'' lack of skills.
¡°So you really are just a bunch of meatheads after all,¡± said Ben.
¡°Us girls are not meatheads! Were dainty ladies,¡± said Mileena, unhappy with being lumped with Akira and the other meatheads.
¡°Fascinating at how many different ores are in this dungeon, even some dropped from dead monsters instead of magic stones,¡± said Klyn as he wrote down the new info into his notepad.
¡°Any idea why they drop it,¡± asked Akira.
¡°No idea but it seems to be a special type of magic ore,¡± said Klyn.
¡°It''s just a random loot drop. Why are you guys acting so weird?¡± asked Dover.
¡°Alright let''s head out,¡± said Akira as he stood up.
¡°Finally... the next rooms will be the hardest as they have mini-bosses guarding two passages down to the fifth floor. They are what killed us so many times...¡± said Ben.
Akira and the other heavy infantry walked ahead of the others cautiously checking for any enemy as they walked down the glistening ice hallways that glittered from the little light that was emitted from the ceiling.
They entered the next wide ice room and found it was empty so they continued moving forward and reached the last room that was again empty and had only two dark stairways leading down deeper into the dungeon.
¡°Where are the two mini-bosses?¡± asked Ivana.
¡°Damn It! If they are not here then we won''t be able to get the bonus rewards for killing them,¡± said Shaker.
¡°It can''t be helped. Which stairway should we use?¡± asked Dover.
Akira and Fluffball walked over to one of the tunnels and discreetly sniffed the air while another pair of soldiers did the same at the other tunnel.
¡°The one on the right looks to have a few traps but I couldn''t sense any monsters that way,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with him.
¡°There are several monsters on the left but no traps that I could find,¡± said One of the werewolf soldiers.
¡°What? Do you guys have special scouting skills?¡± asked Boot, who was interested in those types of scouting skills. ¡°I''m so jealous.¡±
¡°Well... you could call it a skill I guess,¡± said Akira.
¡°I think we should take the route with the traps, the other one gives me a bad feeling,¡± said Mileena as she returned from inspecting both.
¡°Wait! We need to check the monsters on the left. We cannot skip this side just because of a bad gut feeling. They might be the bosses that we are looking for,¡± said Dover.
¡°Fine with me. We will wait here while you check to see what is down there,¡± said Akira.
Ben and Dover led the way to the stairs in a confident manner and when they had descended two stairs there was a loud click.
Thunk, thunk, thunk!
¡°Whoaaa!¡± they both cried out as they slipped and started to slide down the icy ramp that had just replaced the stairs.
Crack!
Shaker snapped her whip and wrapped it around Ben''s waist stopping him from falling while Dover grabbed onto Ben''s legs.
¡°Bumpalot help me! These guys are too heavy and I might lose them and my whip!¡± said Shaker as she started to slide closer to the ramp due to the slippery ice.
Sir Bumpalot sheathed his sword, put his shield on his back before grabbing onto the whip, and started pulling it up towards him hand over fist little by little.
¡°Phew! That was close! If we had died there then that would have been the end of our mission for good,¡± said Dover as he stood up and dusted off his armor as if nothing happened.
Thunk, thunk, thunk!
The icy ramp returned to its previous state of harmless stairs after the two demigods were pulled back into the main room.
¡°Ahem...I think we should take the right stairway down. The left seems too dangerous,¡± said Ben as if he had a new and great idea.
¡°We''ll clear the path down so just wait here,¡± said Akira as he motioned for his guards, the soldiers, and companions to follow him.
¡°Turtle formation,¡± said Akira as they reached the stairs.
There were many thunks, cracks, and other noises as they walked down the stairs blocking all the activated traps with their shields.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs Akira could see the swirling magical light that would lead to the boss of the dungeon.
¡°You can come down,¡± shouted Akira as he and the other werewolves stood to the right of the swirling magical light.
¡°Yes! We have finally reached the entrance to the boss room after all the hardship we have gone through!¡± said Ben.
¡°Do you mind if we go first?¡± asked Dover as he walked towards the swirling light not waiting for Akira''s answer.
¡°Sure...¡± said Akira as the group of Demigods disappeared in a flash of light.
¡°Lord what was that?¡± asked several of the guards and warriors who had not seen such a thing before.
¡°Is this magical light safe?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Don''t worry we''ve already used it before. It just transports you to a different place where a strong monster is,¡± said Klyn in an all-knowing manner.
Akira stepped forward and touched his sword to the light.
Ding!
A different party than yours has already entered the Boss instance.
There is a five-minute cooldown before your party can enter the Boss instance.
|
¡°Is it broken?¡± asked Mileena when nothing happened.
¡°Um, I think it needs to recharge its magic power. It shouldn''t take too long,¡± said Akira.
Both Maya and Klyn were writing in their notepads detailing the new information.
¡°What do you think of these demigods so far?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°They''re a bunch of talkative idiots. Klyn did you make sure to note down all their skills and other info that they talked about,¡± asked Akira.
¡°No need to worry. I made sure to write down everything, even the things that might not be that important,¡± said Klyn.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°Alright everyone, looks like it has recovered. Well be using the turtle formation until we can see what the situation inside is,¡± said Akira as he initiated the party transfer.
Fwoosh! An endless falling sensation overwhelmed Akira''s senses as the light flashed over him and everyone around him.
When the light and the falling sensation disappeared they found themselves huddled in a small stone room that had been cut into the stone wall.
Akira looked around and saw that to each side of the room was a stone pathway that was carved into the wall. It was wide enough for two people and was curved around the whole boss room. There was no front wall and was wide open so they could attack the Boss from any part of the room.
As he looked at the boss room as a whole he could see that the room was shaped like a cone. The flat end at the bottom and the pointed top far above them. The stone room and side paths were lower than the raised center of the room.
The Upper ice walls of the cone room shined and glittered with many different shades of yellow and blue making it look like a beautiful gem.
¡°What took you guys so long? Were you trying to make us fight the boss alone?¡± asked an annoyed Dover quietly.
¡°There was a cooldown because we aren''t in the same party,¡± said Akira as he looked over to the demigods who were gathered near the edge of the room.
¡°Oh, forgot about that,¡± said Dover.
¡°For some reason, there is only one boss here when there should be two,¡± said Ben as he pointed to a large black mountain of fur that was sitting still at the raised center of the boss room.
[ Deadly Cute Poiyoing level 90].
¡°It looks to be quite strong, what''s the plan?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Just like before, you tank its attacks so that we can deal damage to it from the side and the rear,¡± said Dover.
¡°Are you guys even strong enough to damage it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Don''t underestimate us! We have a lot of skills that we saved just for the boss,¡± said Shaker.
¡°Alright... shield formation forward. Let''s take care of this thing before it has a chance to do any real damage. Since this thing looks to be a giant Poiyoing you better be careful. There is no telling what it will do so you need to immediately follow my orders when I give them,¡± said Akira as he led the werewolves forward.
Both Dolph and Vilkas chose to stand behind Akira this time to better protect him from any ''misfires'' from the rear.
Akira and the front line shield wall exited the carved stone room and walked up the short incline to where the Boss was sitting. The large black-furred mountain started to tremble.
Boom! Boom! With two hops the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] turned to face the intruders.
¡°POIIIIIII,¡± roared the large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] before sticking out its huge red tongue that was almost as large as Akira, ¡°BLEH.¡±
Both the hops and its loud voice shook the ground and vibrated their bodies.
¡°So cute! I want to kill it and use its fur for a rug and a blanket and maybe some new gloves and armor and...¡± said Mileena as she looked at the large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing].
The [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] stared at the numerous werewolves who held up their shields and slowly walked towards the large monster. Ben, Dover, and Shaker followed them on the rear left side ready to attack when they were in range.
¡°Poi! Poi! Poi!¡± shouted the large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] as it started to hop from side to side.
Ding!
Warning!
The [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] is using a special skill:
The Poi Poi dance!
|
¡°Crossbows, Javelins! Fire!¡± shouted Akira.
The metal bolts disappeared into the large black fur while the Javelins pierced into its body.
They braced themselves behind their shields not sure if it would explode like the small [Poiyoings], but it continued to shout ''Poi!'' as it hopped side to side.
¡°Again!¡± shouted Akira, not wanting to get too close to the monster since he didn''t know anything about the boss'' skills.
There were only a few small drops of blood dripping on the stone floor to show how little their attacks were doing as several more javelins found their target again.
¡°POIIII!!!¡± With its roar, a loud ''pop'' was heard and two Poiyoings double the size of the small ones on the previous floors shot out from the large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing''s] lower body.
[Deadly Cute PoiPois: Lvl 60].
The large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] continued to do the Poi Poi dance not stopping.
Ding!
More and more [Deadly Cute Poipois] will spawn unless you stop the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing].
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¡°BEN, Dover! Your party needs to focus on taking down the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] and stop it before it can spawn enough poipois to overwhelm us. We''ll take care of all the spawns, and support you,¡± said Akira.
¡°Got it,¡± said Dover he gave a signal to the three members who were hiding in the stone passage behind the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] ordering them to begin their skill attacks.
¡°Rose thorn whip of love!¡± shouted Shaker as she cracked her whip that had started to glow pink and sent out a pink light that resembled her whip. The pink light slammed into the large black fur body tearing up its fur.
¡°It''s tougher than I expected,¡± said Shaker.
Akira stopped watching the Demigods and turned his attention to the [Deadly Cute PoiPois] that were hopping towards them.
¡°Poi! Bleh!¡±
¡°These guys look like they might have a far bigger explosion, so we need to pop them before they come near!¡± ordered Akira.
Boom, boom!
After several ranged attacks the two [Deadly Cute Poipois] exploded creating a wide circle of freezing ice where they had been.
¡°POIIIII,¡± shouted the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing]. Pop! Four more [Deadly Cute PoiPois] appeared and started to hop towards them.
The large [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] started to hop side to side even faster as it was getting hit.
¡°Raining arrows!¡± ¡°Ice piercer!¡± shouted Boot and Ivana from behind the large fur mountain.
Around 20 to thirty green magical arrows fell from the sky and landed on top of the [Deadly Cute Poiyoings] head. While several Ice spears shot out of the ground right under the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing].
¡°POOOOOIIIIII!¡± Roared the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] in pain as it hopped onto the ice spears and had several arrows pierce its head.
Pop! 7 [Deadly Cute PoiPois] appeared and 1 of them started to hop towards the demigods at the rear while the other 6 hopped towards Akira and the shield wall as they were taking care of the last two poipois from the previous wave.
¡°Hurry! It''s getting angry and making more of them!¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t worry! Sir Bumpsalot can protect the two others from that one that went behind,¡± said Ben as he continued to use a skill that sent out glowing light daggers that exploded when it hit its target.
¡°Slice!¡± shouted Dover as he sent a large Red slash towards the boss.
¡°Halfway there!¡± shouted Ben.
The demigods contained to rain their skills down on the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] who was spitting out [Deadly Cute Poipois] even faster.
Now each time the boss hopped it would let out a wave of icy air that would rush out freezing the ground and knocked the cross bolts and javelins off course.
Akira and the other werewolf soldiers were having a hard time killing all of the [Deadly Cute Poipois] before the next wave arrived. They were exploding closer and closer to the shield wall as more and more were spawned.
¡°25%!¡±
As they struggled to kill all of the spawning [Deadly Cute Poipois] the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] grew more ragged and enraged.
¡°10%!¡±
The [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] stopped hopping from side to side and started to hop up and down. Sending out cold blasts of icy air that froze the ground and grew stronger and wider with each hop.
¡°Slice!¡± ¡°Rose thorn whip of love!¡± ¡°Fire dagger!¡± the Demigods sent their skills shooting out and they...
...slammed into Dolph and Vilkas'' shields as they intercepted the attacks that had been aimed at Akira.
The two were pushed a few steps backward with large gashes appearing on their shields.
¡°Lord!¡± shouted Vilkas.
Akira blew into his dog whistle issuing an order. As one, the shield wall started to retreat quickly towards the small carved room in the side of the cone room.
With the demigods showing their true colors and the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] going berserk they had to regroup farther back to take on the enemy away from the growing ice waves to get away from the icy wind that was quickly expanding freezing the entire area.
¡°Boot! Ivana! Stop them!¡± shouted Dover as he let another slash fly towards the retreating Akira and werewolf warriors.
It slammed into the shield wall and only caused a small gash across the two shields next to Akira and only a small scratch on his own which had been enchanted.
¡°Ice spear!¡± ¡°Raining Arrows!¡± The two attacks missed their target as Akira and the werewolf soldiers entered the small stone room. They were also sheltered from the growing ice attack of the [Deadly Cute Poiyoing] as well.
¡°Ivana, keep it enraged, and don''t let it regenerate! Boot and Sir bumpalot, attack them from the side!¡± Ben shouted as he and the other demigods ran after the retreating werewolves.
Cross bolts and javelins flew towards the approaching demigods who dogged them or were blocked with a crack of Shaker''s whip.
When they were only a few yards away the Demigods stopped for a second and jumped to the side, revealing several [Deadly Cute PoiPois] who had been following them and were now flying through the air in mid hop.
Boom! Boom!Boom!
Several large explosions went off as they exploded when they landed next to the shield wall sending covering everything around them with a light layer of ice.
The demigods used the disruption to launch their own attacks towards Akira.
¡°The boss is glowing! I think he''s going to blow!¡± shouted Ivana!
¡°Brace for impact!¡± shouted Akira as he activated his [Harden] skill.
KABOOOM!
A shock wave of freezing cold air slammed into the shield wall followed by a wave of ice that spread out freezing everything in its path and slammed into the shield wall.
Akira could see from the side of his vision two flashes of shattering light rise up into the air as the two demigods that had been running towards them were killed by the attack as well as a disappearing light where Ivana had been behind the Boss.
When the freezing wave stopped Akira and the others were covered in layers of ice.
¡°Urrgggh!¡± Akira tried to break the ice but was stuck.
¡°Ha! Luckily Ivana was able to cast an ice wall to protect us,¡± said Ben as he exited from behind an ice wall.
¡°Damn...only the two of us survived. Let''s hurry up and take care of them and take the special dungeon item so we can complete the mission they gave us,¡± said Dover as he positioned himself to use a deadly skill to kill Akira.
¡°Body splitter!¡± the long two-handed sword started to glow as he swung up in a large arc from behind...
Thud!
¡ only to be embedded into the stone ceiling as it hit the low ceiling.
¡°Damn it!¡± shouted Dover as he tried to pull out his sword.
¡°Burning daggers!¡± shouted Ben sending multiple daggers flying towards Akira.
¡°ROAR!¡± a large ice blue blur jumped out from behind Akira and in less than a second Dovers outstretched arms were severed from his body while his head disappeared as it was bit off.
The furry blur jumped towards the surprised Ben who sent out several burning daggers towards the new attacker but he was sliced in half after two swipes from a sharp claw.
Standing on top of the severed body was a large Snow wolf at least two times larger than a normal adult snow wolf.
The large snow wolf let out another roar of triumph while standing on the severed body and kept glancing towards Akira to make sure that he had seen his fight.
Chapter 179: Rewards
Ding!
Ben and Dover have been killed by your companion!
Your level is now level 87!
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¡°Fluffball?¡± asked Akira, who had been freed from the ice when the burning daggers had exploded against his shield.
¡°Roar!¡± said the large snow wolf as he started to haughtily strut towards Akira.
As Fluffball walked to Akira his body started to shrink back to his miniature puppy size and jumped into Akira''s arms.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball before falling asleep like the spoiled brat he was.
Akira quickly checked Fluffball''s stats to see if something had changed:
A hidden special skill has been revealed!
Compression (Intermediate): Fluffball a super rare snow wolf has the ability to change his large size into a smaller compact and younger-looking puppy form(Weight is not affected).
While in the compressed form the user and their skills are weaker than in their full form. If this skill is leveled to the advanced level the restrictions will be removed.
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¡°No wonder why you''ve gotten so heavy lately. You have actually grown even bigger than every other snow wolf,¡± said Akira as he pet the heavy Fluffball.
¡°Lord...a little help? We''re all stiff from the ice,¡± said Dolph who had been standing next to Akira when the Ice wave had slammed into them.
¡°First...Klyn where are you?¡±
¡°I''m at the back with the other Shaman,¡± said Klyn in a muffled voice.
As Akira moved through the stiff soldiers he found Klyn and the other shaman and lightly smacked the ice on their arms body and legs.
¡°Klyn, I need you to help take care of those that were wounded from the boss'' attack.¡±
¡°Sure, just let me get some feeling back in my legs and hands,¡± said Klyn as he wobbled unsteadily.
Akira and Klyn walked to the front of the group to start freeing the soldiers and guards while the other shaman took care of freeing the others at the rear.
Although the shield wall had been hit the hardest due to blocking the ice wall they found that there were no deaths due to the shields and armor that had the ice gems embedded into them.
¡°Ah! I can''t feel my legs,¡± said One of the soldiers as Akira freed him.
Klyn bent over and inspected the man''s legs tapping on them here and there.
¡°Is there something wrong with them?¡± asked the soldier.
¡°Not good. They''re frozen solid all the way through. No way to save them. The best I can do is amputate them and save your life before the ice starts affecting other parts of your body. This might hurt...¡± said Klyn as he started working on the man''s legs.
Everyone but three soldiers who had been standing behind the shield wall had been freed from the ice that had trapped them.
When Klyn finished amputating the man''s legs and using his healing chant to help close the wound he walked over to the three soldiers that Akira was inspecting.
¡°Can they be saved?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No... they''re frozen solid,¡± said Klyn after he finished inspecting the three soldiers.
¡°I am sorry for putting everyone in danger by working so close with the demigods,¡± said Akira as he held his helmet in his hand and looked at the three dead men.
¡°Lord there is no reason to apologize,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°I would say that this plan of yours was a huge success. I was able to get so much information out of them! Like several things about what they call classes and many of their skills, as well as famous demigods and deadly guilds that we should watch out for,¡± said Klyn as he looked over his notes.
¡°Don''t worry so much,¡± said Mileena as she stood on tiptoes and kissed Akira''s cheek.
¡°We need to hurry up and find a way to get out of here before they revive and start searching for us again. Anyone see an exit before the ice covered everything?¡± asked Akira.
The dead demigod''s bodies had already disappeared into light fragments.
¡°I think I saw a hole under that big poi poi guy while he was hopping back and forth,¡± said Dolph.
¡°Lord! It looks like those Demigods dropped their weapons!¡± said a soldier as he pointed towards the spot that Ben and Dover had died.
Akira walked over to the weapons and picked them up.
Ding!
Burning daggers(Rare): Burn damage 100% effective against low and medium rank ice monsters. Special skill allows the burn damage to be combined with other skills to create a combo attack.
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Blacksmith Poo''s Failed Experiment (Common): This 2h sword was created by a dark secret group and was supposed to have a special skill but was thrown away by its creator after not showing any sign of said special skill.
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Ding!
Requirements met!
Poo''s Midget sword (ultra rare): This special sword has a personality embedded into it.
Its true form is that of a one-handed sword. But the midget sword has a complex about its size so it prefers to stay in the form of a 2h sword.
Special sword skill size change: This skill allows the sword to either be a 1h or a 2h sword.
Attack power depends on what form the sword is in.
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¡°Oh, this looks better than my current sword. I guess I''ll use it,¡± said Akira.
¡°Let me look at those daggers,¡± said Mileena.
¡°...¡±
¡°Can I have them?¡± asked Mileena after swiping them through the air a few times and activating the burn skill.
Akira nodded since she was the best person suited for the daggers.
¡°Sir there was a bow and a bag of gold over there,¡± said Dolph as he walked back over to Akira.
¡°Maya you take the bow. Split the gold with the rest of the soldiers and guards. Make sure to check the back of the room to see if the other demigod dropped anything,¡± said Akira.
Dolph nodded and handed over the bow to Maya and passed out the gold to everyone.
¡°Hold onto him,¡± said Akira as he handed the heavy sleeping Fluffball to Vilkas.
Akira walked to the center of the frozen platform and half transformed so that only his arms were full of black fur.
He began pounding the ground, cracking the ice bit by bit, slowly revealing a dark hole in the ground.
When the hole was wide enough he returned his arms to normal and hopped into the hole and landed in a small room with a black metal chest but no exit, and he did not have the key to open the chest.
¡°Poi!¡± A small black poiyoing jumped out from behind the black metal chest and tried to attack Akira.
¡°Slash!¡± Akira sent out a blue light slash attack and severed the attacking Poiyoing in half.
Ding!
You have cleared the dungeon by defeating the [Deadly cute Poiyoing].
Level up x5!
You are now at Level 92!
+10 fame for first clear.
The soldiers, companions, and guards under your command have received a boost and have gained several levels.
Dolph and Vilkas have reached lvl 80 and have been promoted from soldier to veteran.
Fluffball has reached level 50!
The dungeon will reset after two months.
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Clank! A black key fell to the ground beside the dead Poiyoing, and the exit portal appeared.
¡°So, you decided to hide here huh,¡± said Akira as he picked up the key and opened the chest.
Flash! A bright light blinded him for a moment as the lid was opened. When he regained his vision he could see the inside of the chest. He quickly picked up everything and inspected them.
There were three containers of deadly cute anti-aging cream, 200 gold, and a black gem.
Ding!
This Black gem is the Super rare first-time clear reward and is able to be equipped in one of the slots of your ordinary bracelet.
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¡°Oh? What a lucky find! Wait...was this what the demigods were after?¡± Akira asked out loud.
Thump! Dolph jumped down next to Akira and looked around.
¡°Lord everything has been taken care of above. I found this staff at the rear of the room,¡± said Dolph as he handed over the weapon.
¡°Hmm, looks like it will be useful,¡± said Akira as he inspected the staff.
¡°We''ll be leaving the dungeon immediately,¡± said Akira as he turned to the swirling light and activated the party exit.
***
¡°...I see. Those poiyoings are the vermin of the south. They are like rats in the warmer climates,¡± said Yuki after listening to Akira''s explanation of what had happened.
Akira and along with everyone else had returned to the cave to discuss everything with Yuki and her grandfather.
¡°If I had been with you I could have stomped them all and made sure that this never happened. It was a dumb thing to fight alongside such vipers,¡± said Zundar unhappily.
¡°Trust me I won''t be doing something like that again. They only know how to bite the hand that helps them. All Demigods can not be trusted, even the weaker ones must be crushed so that they can not attack us,¡± said Akira.
¡°You say that you gathered information on the Demigods? I hope you won''t be keeping it all to yourself,¡± said Nollan.
¡°Of course not we are allies, so I will be presenting a copy of Klyn''s notes to the King and Queen when we meet them to make sure negotiations go smoothly,¡± said Akira.
¡°Did you get anything for me to sell?¡± asked Burkin who had been silently listening.
¡°Lots of ores and interesting rocks. Oh right... Yuki here is something that I found in the dungeon Mileena and Maya already received one of them as well,¡± said Akira as he handed over the last container of Deadly cute anti-aging cream.
Yuki''s eyes sparkled as she read the label but she only nodded her thanks to Akira with a cold expression not letting her happiness appear on her face.
Ding!
A bounty of 100 gold has been placed on your head by the Team Ultimate Ben Dover.
Defeat two bounty hunter teams to remove the bounty and gain the reward. A bounty can only be placed on someone once every thirty days.
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¡°We need to leave before they return with even more people. I have a feeling that it will be busy around here for a while,¡± said Akira.
***
¡°We''ve almost reached the ice forest which we need to pass through to get to the capital of IsKald,¡± said Yuki.
¡°TOOOOT!¡± ¡°TOOT!¡± BAM! BOOM!¡±
¡°Sounds like something is attacking the long nose ice tooters!¡± said Nollan in panic.
¡°The what?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Hurry! We need to make sure that they don''t die. They are an ally of our race and help us out with lots of things,¡± said Yuki urging Akira and the others to go faster.
¡°Chack, Mileena, Maya, stay here and protect gramps, Burkin, and the sleds. Well go ahead and take care of whatever it is,¡± said Akira. With a short whistle, the sled convoy stopped and Akira and his guards hopped off of their sleds all transforming.
¡°Zundar carry Yuki with you and follow me,¡± said Akira who had fully transformed into his werewolf form.
¡°Lord your orders?¡± asked Vilkas in his deep growling voice.
¡°Kill everything that isn''t an ally,¡± growled Akira before leading the soldiers forward in a swift run.
Zundar with one arm scooped Yuki up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and started running after Akira while carrying his new large hammer in the other hand.
Chapter 180: Enemies and allies
The werewolves charged towards the muffled sound of fighting, as Akira reached the top of a large snowdrift he could see a small area in front of them where the sound of battle was coming from was covered by what looked like a small swirling blizzard.
¡°Yuki, is that something we need to be wary of running into?¡± asked Akira as he pointed to the small blizzard.
Yuki raised her head up over Zundar''s shoulder and his furry arm that was holding onto her in order for her to look at the area Akira was asking about.
¡°You should be able to weather the effects with your fur and armor. It won''t have a negative effect on me,¡± said Yuki.
Akira gave another silent command with the whistle and led the werewolves into the howling mini blizzard.
Boom! Boom! Kaboom! TOOOT!
¡°I thought you said these guys would be easy!¡± shouted a female.
¡°Ugh! They won''t stop shooting ice at me!¡±
¡°Commander Smash, an unknown enemy coming from the rear!¡±
Hearing all this Akira let out a loud [Howl] that pierced through the wind and flying snow sending a chill down the enemy''s backs. The chilly fear only grew worse when tens of other loud howls replied to the first from what seemed like all over the place.
¡°Everyone with the tanking specialty, hold off those mammoths while we clear whatever it is behind us!¡± shouted Smash.
Akira and the werewolves reached the center of the blizzard where the fighting was taking place and found five large [Ice tooting Mammoths] fighting against 30+ Demigods.
Just under half of them were turned towards the [Ice tooting Mammoths] and were dodging blocking or knocking away the large icicles that were aimed at them. They all looked to have many different fighting styles. Even though they were all together there was no sense of a formation as they all fought solo doing their own thing.
The enemies that Akira was now more focused on were the fifteen or so demigods who had bows, swords, and staffs all pointed in his direction.
Zundar hastily deposited Yuki into a soft snowbank and continued his charge next to Akira and the shield wall.
¡°Oof! Don''t mind me... just toss me into the snow,¡± mumbled an agitated Yuki as she stood up. ¡°I''ll support you guys from the rear. This is my territory and my specialty.¡±
¡°Hurry! Blow those damn werewolves up with your largest spell!¡± Shouted Smash.
Several staff and wand users started to chant and point towards the charging werewolves, their legs trembling as the fierce large armored werewolves charged at them with their solid shield wall.
Pew~, fwoosh~, psssuuuu! All sorts of colorful skills both large and small shot towards the approaching werewolves and...
...were blocked by large ice walls that exploded into several ice shards as they received and stopped the deadly attacks.
Akira and the other werewolves weathered several bursts of ice shards as they ran forward.
¡°Someones blocking all our attacks!¡±
¡°Then stop using the larger attacks and get something that can pierce the ice!¡±
Before another wave of skills could be cast the werewolves and Zundar had already reached them and started to engage them in melee combat.
Akira had made sure that he ran towards the demigod that had been giving the commands and lashed out towards him with an attack.
¡°Ah! You''re that large bounty!¡± shouted Smash as he blocked the attack with the large metal gloves that he wore. Other than the large metal gloves, Smash wore little armor so that his large muscular body could move quickly and focus on smashing things.
¡°Everyone focus on this guy!¡± shouted Smash as he slammed his large glowing metal fist into Akira''s shield trying to knock him back.
¡°You are a ^&*% and smell like a #$@^ as well!¡± shouted Akira using the skill [Potty mouth].
¡°What? I don''t know what any of those things are but you''re making me mad because they sound like insults. Take this!¡± roared the muscular demigod as both his metal gloves started to glow even brighter.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The large metal fist attacks continued to rain down on Akira and the shields next to him as they offered their own counter attacks to the lightly armored demigod.
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¡°Casters! Why are you not shooting them!¡± asked the Smash as he turned his head slightly to glance behind.
Zundar, Nox 1 and 2, and a small bloody Fluffball were all standing over the dead bodies of the lightly armored ranged attackers. Even as he watched the dead bodies began to disappear into several small light fragments.
Smash tried to warn the demigods that were still tanking the [Ice tooting Mammoths] but...
¡°You should learn to use your subordinates better,¡± said Akira with a growl as he thrust his sword forward and cut through Smash''s thin leather armor and pierced all the way through his muscular stomach and out his back.
¡°Guuaaa...cough!¡± Smash spat out blood as he looked down at the sword piercing his stomach.
Without another word, Akira used the skill [Sword slash] while the sword was still inside of the demigod''s body.
The skill along with Akira''s strength split the demigod''s body into almost identical halves.
Before Akira could help take care of the rest of the Demigods that had been fighting the large [Ice tooting Mammoths] they were all wiped out by several waves of ice attacks, along with Zundar''s hammer, and Fluffball''s bites and tackles.
The small blizzard continued to rage around them as Zundar and Fluffball retreated back towards Akira and the other werewolves.
The five [Ice tooting Mammoths] in front of them were silently staring at them but did not attack.
Fwoosh! With a gust of cold wind, Yuki appeared between the two groups.
¡°Honored Long-nosed Ice Tooters! I am Yuki, the royal princess of IsKald. There is no need to worry about these werewolves. They are Allies from the northern town of Kodria.¡±
¡°Toot,¡± said one of the heavily wounded [Ice tooting Mammoths].
The swirling snow slowly began to disappear allowing for Akira and everyone else to see the [Ice tooting Mammoths] and their surroundings more clearly.
Akira was surprised at how large they actually were. They were even bigger than the large elephants that he had seen in the Caidia deserts.
¡°Let me help you with those wounds,¡± said Yuki as she walked towards the [Ice tooting Mammoths] with her hand raised.
She stood in front of each one for a few seconds and moved onto the next when all the wounds had been covered with a layer of ice.
¡°Toot~.¡± ¡°Toot toot.¡± The [Ice tooting Mammoths] all let out softer toots than before as they thanked her.
¡°I am sorry that something like this happened to you. Please return to your herd and let your leader know of the danger. You should be careful for now until we can make sure this issue is permanently taken care of,¡± said Yuki.
¡°Toot!¡± said the largest of the five before they turned and left with large thudding footsteps.
Ding!
The bounty contract has failed!
The gold will be deposited at the castle keeps bank.
The [Ice tooting Mammoths] relationship with Kodria has become friendly.
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¡°Using my skills so much is annoying, I just want to sleep. It''s a good thing we''ve already arrived at the Ice forest,¡± complained an irritated Yuki as she walked back to Akira and the others.
¡°Zundar, can you go gather the others so that we can continue traveling to IsKald,¡± said Akira.
¡°With my speed, it will be done quickly!¡±
***
Inside the large ice castle of IsKald.
Yuki stood in front of two large thrones that sat on top of a raised ice dais.
The sides of the room were filled with nobles and other government people who had been called to quickly convene a meeting.
¡°So what do you think, mother and father?¡± asked Yuki as she finished explaining all that had happened while she had been away.
¡°These demigods seem like they will be hard to handle,¡± said Queen Yukiko.
¡°General Chilliz what do you think? Can the city defenses take care of them?¡± asked King Fross.
¡°My King, from what the princesses has said, we will be able to hold them off but we may need to strengthen some areas,¡± said General Chilliz.
¡°And what about the alliance agreement?¡± asked Nollan who stood near Yuki and was leaning on his cane.
¡°Your majesty I feel this will not be of any benefit to our kingdom,¡± said the head minister of the nobles.
¡°Hmph! It looks like you again, only brought me more problems than benefits father,¡± said Queen Yukiko.
¡°Hey! What are you talking about? You just need to trust me. I know how to negotiate a good deal and that''s what we got. Don''t forget who taught you everything you know,¡± said Nollan with a smile.
A vein popped out on Queen Yukiko''s head as she tried to hold in her anger.
¡°What am I talking about? You used every chance you could to embarrass me when I was younger! And you still tell those stories about me!¡± said Queen Yukiko as her icy gaze drilled into Nollan.
¡°Hey, can''t a father dote on his cute daughter?¡±
Pew, Pew! Two ice shards shot out from the Queen''s eyes and nearly hit Nolan''s feet as they crashed into the ice floor before him.
¡°Ahem... We will have to look at the details of the alliance and discuss it with the werewolf repetitiveness later. General Chilliz, make sure to tighten the security of the city and send out messengers to the cities as well as the allied races. Minster Putzz please go over the alliance documents and have a summary for me before the end of the day,¡± ordered King Fross.
Both the military personnel and the government nobles left the room to take care of the tasks they had been given.
¡°We have more important matters to take care of right now than worry about the alliance and demigods,¡± said King Fross as he looked at Yuki.
¡°That''s true. Now that you''re back we can start with the ceremonies,¡± said Queen Yukiko.
¡°Do I have to? What about talking to Akira first?¡± asked Yuki looking down at the ground with a rosy pink face.
¡°We''re taking care of this now before you try to go on another one of your trips,¡± said her mother quite firmly.
¡°Glace is a nice boy and you both get along so there should be no problems,¡± said her father softly.
¡°Yuki, you can think of this as your next big adventure in life,¡± said Nollan as he affectionately ruffled his granddaughter''s hair.
Chapter 181: Yukis special ceremony
¡°It''s quite amazing that the city has mostly been built out of ice,¡± said Akira as he looked around at the several shops and houses that he and his companions were passing as they walked the streets of the capital of IsKald.
¡°It''s damn cold in this city! There is too much ice here,¡± said Mileena who was bundled up in full winter gear.
¡°I''m glad you like our city. There are several different types of ice that we can use when building. We have people who specialize in building with each type of ice and so they are put in charge of taking care of everything,¡± said Nollan.
The queen had ordered him to be the group''s guide partly as a punishment as well as to keep him busy while the rest of the city finished the preparations for the princesses ceremony that had been stalled while they waited for her to return.
¡°Isn''t this city very fragile? What if there is an unexpected warm month here or a massive fire happens?¡± asked Maya.
¡°You saw the greenhouse getting built back at Kodria right? Our buildings are made out of Ice that can withstand and will not be easily affected by fire. There is no need for us to worry,¡± said Nollan.
¡°Sire! The Queen has requested that you and our guest return to the throne room to talk about the alliance,¡± said a messenger guard who wore a blue leather armor as he ran up to the group and pointed to Akira.
***
Akira stood at the spot in front of the raised ice dais where Yuki had stood earlier in the day. The only two people allowed to join Akira were Dolph and Vilkas.
Zundar, Chack, and the girls were ordered to stay in the lobby while the meeting took place.
Looking around Akira saw that only one side of the room was filled with people who didn''t look to be fighters. The only fight they may have ever been in was probably only with ink and paper.
On the dais were three thrones, two larger ones in the center, and a smaller one that sat to the side and a little behind the Queen''s own throne.
This was the seat that Yuki was sitting in. She seemed to not notice Akira standing only a few yards away as she was staring off into the distance in a daze.
¡°Minister Putzz have you finished studying the alliance documents?¡± asked King Fross.
¡°We have sire!¡±
¡°What is your opinion?¡±
¡°There are no demerits that we could find but...¡±
¡°What is it?¡± asked Queen Yukiko coldly.
¡°The alliance looks good on paper but... we believe that it would lead us to more danger with the hostile Demigods that have an interest in the werewolves,¡± said Minister Putzz.
Several other ministers spoke up agreeing with Minister Putzz.
¡°Noted, Mr. Akira I have no reason to refuse the alliance but they do have a point about the demigods,¡± said King Fross.
¡°I disagree,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmph! Of course you would!¡± said minister Putzz.
¡°Quiet Putzz. Mr. Wolf, would you care to explain why?¡± asked Queen Yukiko.
¡°You may only know or view the demigods as old legends in a book that some historians wrote about long ago. But I have learned about them and dealt with them since I was a young kid. I have seen what they are really like. They do not care who they fight, humans, demons, or even other demigods.
During the third great war, I was too young to fight on the front lines but I saw and experienced many things during that war. Many people I knew were killed by demigods. They don''t care for their lives, once they find something they want, they don''t stop until they have it or until they have crushed it so no one else can,¡± said Akira remembering the death of Rodger.
¡°This is exactly why we need to keep to ourselves!¡± said Minister Putzz.
¡°That won''t protect you against them! The only way is to join together and fight them!¡±
¡°You just want us to save you,¡± said a female minster sitting next to Putzz.
¡°Do you not know how many countries they have crushed? There were over 20 human and demon countries, only a few of them had ever talked to a demigod the rest who ignored them were wiped out.
After 3 great wars, there are now only 4 large countries left. Several of the demon races and the kingdoms they ruled were exterminated. The situation we find ourselves in now is far different than the past.
The demigods have always disappeared after causing mayhem but now they seem to be here for good. There is no telling how strong they will get. If we do not stick together we will be picked off one by one,¡± said Akira who was getting angry.
The air around him was getting quite tense which put both Vilkas and Dolph on guard.
¡°You''re just a bunch of weak cowards that ran away and brought your troubles here,¡± said the haughty female minister.
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Both Vilkas and Dolph transformed and stepped up next to Akira.
¡°Is this how you treat your guest? Insulting our lord''s honor as well as all those of the Earth tribe who have fought and died?¡± asked Dolph in a flat voice.
¡°Lord please do not take this to heart. They are ignorant because they have not fought in the wars against the demigods. If they do not want an alliance we should leave,¡± said Vilkas quietly.
¡°...¡± Akira stayed silent for a few seconds before he raised his hand to stop the two from saying anything else. It was pointless to argue with the female minister and those that supported her.
¡°Are you really that against the alliance with Kodria? Do all of you agree with Putzz?¡± asked King Fross.
¡°Yes, I am, and no not everyone agrees with me,¡± said Putzz as she glared at the people who sat on the far side of the benches away from her and her supporters.
¡°So what...¡± said Yuki.
¡°Do you have something to say?¡± asked Queen Yukiko curiously.
¡°So what if the demigods are here. Mother, I don''t know why you are listening to these spineless people.¡±
¡°Yuki, you shouldn''t say things like that out loud,¡± said Queen Yukiko.
¡°I have listened to many of the first-hand stories from many of those who fought in the last two wars. Every kingdom and every race was drawn into the wars no matter if they wanted to or not. When I went to Kodria for the alliance talk I found out that one of those people who used to tell me stories of the past had been killed by the demigods. They have already started stirring up trouble with other demon races causing them to fight with each other. If we don''t start preparing now then we will be in the same place that they were in during the first great war.¡±
¡°Your majesty, I think we must agree to the alliance, but we need to know more about who our enemies are,¡± said minister Glarce who sat on the opposite side of the bench far away from Putzz.
¡°I really have no intention of declining the alliance proposal. But I agree with the ministers in the sense that we only know of the dangers they pose and need more information on the demigods so that we can deal with them properly.¡±
¡°If it is information on the demigods, then I have a copy of all the information we have on them. If that is all you need you can have it,¡± said Akira, taking out a small stack of notes that Klyn had copied for him.
A messenger came forward and took the notes while constantly glancing back and forth between the two transformed werewolves on either side of Akira who were glaring at him.
¡°For now, we will agree to the alliance but we will have to go over these to see what type of support we can give you. Minister Glarce, please study these notes thoroughly. Everyone is dismissed,¡± said King Fross.
Ding!
A temporary trade and shaky defense alliance has been created with the Yuki-onna race!
|
¡°Now that this is settled can we just hurry up and get the wedding ceremony and the rituals finished already?¡± asked Yuki when the ministers and nobles had left the room.
¡°Oh? Are you secretly really eager to get married?¡± asked King Fross.
¡°My cute daughter is finally all grown up and going to get married... haaa... time sure flies by...¡± said Queen Yukiko.
¡°You guys are just as bad as grandfather,¡± said Yuki. ¡°Can Akira and the others join the wedding and the rituals?¡±
¡°Don''t compare me with my father, and you know outsiders are not allowed to watch or take part in the rituals. They can stay in the capital for a while if you want to talk to them after.¡±
***
Ding-a ling~, Dum, Dum, several crystal clear ice bells as well as drums rang out everywhere in celebration of the day''s special wedding ceremony and rituals.
They had started several hours before and had continued the whole time as Akira and the others waited outside the large ballroom.
¡°Ah, what nice music!... I lie this noise is getting annoying!¡± said Chack as he held his gloved hands to his ears that were already covered by multiple hats.
¡°This is so exciting! I''m so happy that Yuki is getting married!¡± said Mileena as she kept looking at Akira who was ignoring her constant quick glances at him.
¡°Ah yeah....¡± said Akira, unsure what to say.
Boom! With the loud drum beats and the chimes stopped when the doors to the large ballroom opened.
Yuki exited the ballroom with a man who had a similar age and hair color as her. He was quite handsome looking. Both of them were dressed in very fancy looking dress robes that looked very expensive.
¡°Yuki! I''m so jealous! Who''s the lucky guy? Is everything finished now?¡± asked Mileena as she ran over to Yuki and hugged her and looked back at Akira.
¡°Hi, you must be Mileena. I''ve heard a lot about you guys from Yuki. My name is Glace Glazier. I''m kinda her only childhood friend so yeah...¡± said Glace.
¡°Your last name is Glazier? Any relation to minister Glarce?¡± asked Akira.
¡°He is my father.¡±
¡°Hmm, makes sense,¡± said Akira nodding his head.
¡°I have a present for you Yuki, to celebrate your marriage,¡± said Akira with a smile.
¡°Why does everyone have to make a big deal about this and keep calling it a celebration!¡± complained Yuki.
Akira took out the ice staff that had been dropped by the dead demigod ice mage. He had replaced the weaker gem that was in it with a stronger Cute ice slime stone.
¡°Cool bag,¡± said Glace as he watched Akira pull out the large staff.
¡°What''s this?¡± asked Yuki as she took the blue staff.
¡°It is a type of weapon that the demigods use. You should have seen similar ones when we fought the demigods on our trip here. I replaced the old gem with a better one so it should be far stronger than before.
If you use this I''m sure that it will help with fine-tuning your control over your ice ability and give you a boost as well. I''m not sure how well it will work for you since it came from a demigod,¡± said Akira.
¡°Hmmm... is it really that great? I''ll have to test it out on some targets later,¡± said Yuki as she curiously inspected the staff.
¡°I''m sure that if it works, you will be able to kick anyone''s butt!¡± said Mileena.
¡°So what happens now that you two are married?¡± asked Maya.
¡°We''ll... I''m not all that sure, but my mother said now that we are married, we have to start helping her and my father with taking care of everything. Glace is going to help and learn from my father while I have to help my mother.¡±
¡°We are now officially the next in line after Yuki''s parents. So they are trying to finish teaching us how to be proper monarchs for when they retire in the future,¡± said Glace.
¡°Ah~, I want to get married like you Yuki,¡± said Mileena as she looked directly at Akira.
¡°Yes, Yes. Hurry up and get married so that I can train your children on how to crush their enemies!¡± said Zundar as he nodded his head in agreement.
¡°What!? You guys already have a kid?¡± asked Glace shocked.
¡°No! Don''t pay attention to them! They''re crazy!¡± said Akira.
Chapter 182: Grarr
¡°That staff you gave me really is amazing! When I didn''t use it I could only blow up 100 targets at once. But now when I use it I can almost reach 1000. I''m sure if I practice more I can reach 1000 and even surpass it,¡± said Yuki happily as she and her husband walked to the throne room.
Akira walked slightly behind the two, due to a royal protocol where royalty was to walk ahead of all others in the capital. He was flanked by the ever-present Vilkas and Dolph.
¡°Is it really that strong? Or are you just too strong?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Well, I''m not weak but this thing really helps me with controlling my ice attacks and it feels as if they are stronger when I use it. I think I will make this staff one of the family''s inheritance that will be passed down from mother to daughter,¡± said Yuki as she walked through the large ice doors that were pushed open by several guards.
Today the throne room was rather empty as it only had the King, Queen, Nollan, and the two major leaders of the nobles.
Akira stopped in front of the large ice thrones and waited for Yuki to sit on the open throne next to her mother while Glace sat in the one next to the King.
¡°After some heated debating and input from the new future Queen and King, we have come to an agreement and have decided to fully support the deal,¡± said King Fross.
Ding!
A full alliance and trade deal with the Yuki-onna has been achieved!
The relationship with the Yuki-onna race has reached its max.
|
¡°Took you long enough, I told you that the deal was good for us,¡± said Nollan.
A quiet huff could be heard from one of the nobles as he seemed unsatisfied with the decision.
¡°I am very glad that my daughter was able to meet some fine people when she was away. I also want to personally thank you for the wedding gift you gave her. It is quite a powerful weapon. What do you plan on doing now that you have completed your mission?¡± asked the Queen.
¡°I guess we''ll have to head back north and return to our own town,¡± said Akira.
¡°I know that you have been looking for more allies so if you still have time I can give you directions to several different demon races that live southwest of us,¡± said King Fross.
Akira thought it over for a few seconds. They had made good time and had actually arrived at Iskald quicker than expected even with their detours. So they still had some wiggle room before needing to return before the warm months ended.
Nodding his head Akira looked to the King and replied, ¡°We have some time left before we need to return and as the grand elders gave me the task of gathering allies I would appreciate if you guided me to where I can find more friendly demon races to talk to,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''ll have someone give you a rough map that you can use to get to them before you leave. As for our alliance, I would like to send a few representatives with you before you return to Kodria.¡±
¡°Of course we will gladly accept them and make sure that they are safe,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''ll warn you now, the monsters that live south of here are not anything like those that you can find in the north. You''ll need to be on constant guard ready to fight at any moment so it is best to stay on the path we give you.
I would also warn you against getting too close to the twin volcanic peaks of the Smok mountain chain. A very troublesome guy along with a few others live there. If you wake them they will be a pain to deal with,¡± said Queen Yukiko.
¡°I''ll remember that,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s unfortunate that I can''t go with you guys since I have to stay here and take care of business,¡± said Yuki.
¡°I''ll be personally watching to make sure you don''t try to escape. You have a heavy-duty to fulfill now that you are truly next in line,¡± said the Queen.
¡°Ha! You talk to her as if you weren''t just like her when you were her age. How many times did I catch you trying to escape from the castle when you still had work to do?¡± said Nollan before quickly ducking as his daughter shot an icy glare towards him.
***
Several days had passed since Akira''s party had left the Iskald capital.
¡°I don''t think we can keep going this way since these rocky boulders are making it harder for us and will soon completely block the way for our sleds,¡± said Klyn as he looked forward.
They were currently stopped and discussing what to do as Akira looked at the map and the surrounding area.
¡°The only way to our destination is to go west in order to get around them,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°But if we go too far west we will be getting too close to the twin volcanic peaks of the Smok mountain that the queen warned us about,¡± said Akira.
¡°It will take too long to go east as the boulders spread farther east then to the west,¡± said Bo who had already sent his raven into the air and scouted the surrounding area.
¡°I guess we have no choice,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t worry, I can take care of anything that comes after us. I will give my all to protect you!¡± shouted Zundar energetically.
Garuuuu! Garuru~!
Several hundred howls rang out and echoed off of the many snow and iced covered boulders.
Over 200 giant wolves near the height of a horse full of thick fur, sharp teeth, and claws, started to appear out from behind the many boulders. Some even jumped up on top of them as they surrounded the werewolves.
Without an order needing to be given, Akira and the rest of the werewolves all transformed into their werewolves forms and stared back at the large wolves.
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The large wolves turned their gaze from Akira and the other werewolves to a large black-furred wolf that was slowly walking towards Akira.
''Who are you to have entered my territory without my permission?'' asked the large wolf using mental telepathy as he stopped in front of Akira [Garg pack leader Grarr lvl 86].
''Ah! These are one demon races that the queen mentioned before,'' thought Akira after inspecting the large wolf.
¡°Honorable Grarr. We did not come here to cause any trouble. We were just trying to head southeast to reach our destination and ended up here,¡± said Akira in his gravelly voice.
Sniff, sniff. The large Garg wolf started to sniff the air in front of him.
''You smell like those idiots south of here. But you''re all so colorful and your armor looks quite shiny. Similar but quite different from those bland idiots,'' said Grarr.
¡°It is good that we were able to meet. I am the commander of the large northern town of Kodria. As you can tell I and my cohort are from the Earth tribe and we are looking for allies to help fight and keep the peace in all of the Southlands.¡±
''You have to beat me in a fight if you want us to work with you. If by some miracle I lose then I and the rest of my pack will have no problem with becoming allies with you. If I win I will eat you for annoying me,'' said Grarr.
¡°Fine, any special rules?¡± asked Akira, not afraid that he would lose.
''No weapons. You need to fight with your bare hands and show your true strength!''
Akira unequipped his sword and shield and handed it over to Zundar who was glaring at the large wolves.
¡°If you play any tricks I will personally kick your butt,¡± said Zundar as he stared at the bear-like Garg.
¡°Akira do you need me to give you any buffs?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°No, that would be cheating,¡± said Akira with a shake of his head.
Wearing only his armor Akira walked forward and did a few stretches.
''Are you done yet?'' asked Grarr as he impatiently waited for Akira to finish.
When Akira nodded Grarr started to slowly started to circle to Akira''s left. Akira countered by walking to the right. The two circled each other watching every movement looking for a mistake that would allow them to gain the upper hand.
Akira made the first mistake as his foot stumbled when it stepped on something...
Grarr pounced towards Akira his jaw wide open ready to bite into Akira''s torso.
...but the stumble was a feint by Akira who rolled under Grarr and as he passed he lashed out landing a solid kick to Grarr butt.
¡°Gar!¡± Grarr let out an angry howl of surprise. As he landed he swirled around and swiped at the ground where Akira had been a second before. A large gouge appeared in the snow and ice as the sharp claw tore into the ground.
¡°You''re quite strong,¡± said Akira as they again started to circle one another.
''You''re quite cunning yourself. But I have confidence in my strength!'' said Grarr as he pounced towards Akira even faster than the first time.
Akira leaned to the side and punched Grarr in the jaw before grabbing onto the large garg with both hands. He used both the momentum of the jump and his own strength to flip the large Grarr onto his back.
¡°Guu~¡± Grarr let out an odd sound as he landed on his back. But he was back up on his feet within a few seconds and charged towards Akira once again.
Akira readied himself to grab Grarr and flip him again but when he reached out he grabbed nothing but air when Grarr jumped to the side and then rammed his body into Akira knocking him to the ground.
''Ha! Give up! You have lost!'' said Grarr as he placed a large paw on Akira''s chest and pressed him down into the snow.
¡°Don''t underestimate me!¡± shouted Akira as he struggled to get free.
''Just admit it yo...''
Akira''s foot kicked the back of one of Grarr''s hind legs causing him to stumble and lessen the pressure on Akira''s chest.
Akira shoved the leg off and used it to pull himself up. He slammed his shoulder into Grarr causing him to fall to his knees.
Akira latched onto Grarr large neck with both of his arms putting him into a headlock and started to pull his head back while he tightened his grip.
The two struggled for several minutes throwing snow and ice into the air. Akira was nearly crushed under Grarr''s large body several times, almost losing his grip but managed to move while still holding the headlock.
Grarr''s resistance was slowly growing weaker as the headlock was taking its effect on his strength.
''Let go of me!'' growled Grarr as he made a last try to crush Akira by violently thrashing to the side.
¡°Auughh!¡± Akira let out a pained voice as he was pinned between the large body and the hard-packed snow and ice. He did not let go and even tightened his grip.
The two stayed still and silent for several minutes both breathing heavily.
''Fine! I admit that you are not like those bland idiots to the south. As promised I along with everyone in my pack will become your allies.''
¡°Really?¡± asked Akira.
''Yes, can you let go before I pass out! I am the pack leader and I can not show such a shameful thing!'' said Grarr.
Akira slowly let go and Grarr stood up freeing Akira from his heavy body allowing him to also stand up.
¡°Garuuuu~!¡± Grarr let out a loud reverberating howl after he had regained his breath.
All but one the other large Garg howled in response. The one who was silent launched an attack at Grarr trying to bite Grarr''s neck.
Grarr used Akira''s own move and swatted the attacker''s head to the side while slamming his large body into the attacker''s side slamming him into the ground.
Grarr latched onto his neck with his powerful teeth and jerked his head breaking the neck of his attacker letting the limp body slump to the ground.
¡°Garu~!¡± howled Grarr as his gaze passed over the hundreds of other Garg''s that stood silently around them.
Vilkas, Dolph, and Zundar had all moved to join Akira to ward off any attacks from the other Gargs and were now quietly watching them with their weapons ready to strike down anything that moved.
The silent standoff lasted for another minute before one by one the large Garg started to kneel towards Akira with their heads lowered.
¡°What was that all about?¡± asked Akira who now had his sword and shield equipped again.
''Garrgr decided he was not happy with my decision and felt I was too weak to have lost against you. So he challenged me for the leadership of the pack,'' said Grarr.
¡°Was it necessary to kill him?¡±
''When you challenge the pack leader it is a fight to the death. There is no mercy to be given in a fight for the leadership of the pack. Once challenged the fight must end with either the challenger or the pack leader''s death. If they were allowed to live more problems would arise and destroy the pack from within,'' said Grarr.
¡°Well since we have taken care of everything here I guess we''ll be leaving to continue our travel south,¡± said Akira.
''I can not allow that,'' said Grarr.
¡°Why?¡±
''I can not allow you to walk or use that dinky contraption. It is beneath you and would be an insult to me who you defeated if you continue to use it. From now on I will carry you wherever you need to go,'' said Grarr.
¡°Is something like that okay?¡± asked Akira.
''Why would it not be? It is only natural since you were able to beat me. If any of your underlings also want to challenge anyone from my own pack and win then they may also become companions. That is only if they agree to fight against them. They will not pair up with someone who is not to their liking.''
¡°Wow! Do you know what this is?¡± Varbu asked.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira.
¡°If you go ahead with what he says Kodria will have a formidable Cavalry!¡±
Chapter 183: Little sister Big sister
A whole afternoon had been taken up by every werewolf but Klyn and Bo wrestling with the large Gargs.
Now each of Akira''s guards and the werewolf soldiers that had come along were all riding their own Garg companion mount. It was the start of Kodria''s own mounted cavalry.
Klyn, Zundar, Varbu, Chack, Mileena, and Maya who did not have a Garg mount were now in charge of controlling all of the sleds now that had been made into a train of several connected sleds pulled by the spry and limber reindeer.
¡°Make sure that you don''t cause any unnecessary fights on your way back,¡± said Akira to one of the soldiers that he had picked to lead the at least 200 Gargs that did not have a companion north to Kodria, where they would wait to be challenged by soldiers when Akira returned.
¡°We will head straight to Kodria! With our combined strength nothing can stop us,¡± said the soldier atop his own Garg mount.
Akira watched the Garg pack head north for a few minutes before starting to move again.
¡°Let''s continue to head southeast to where the Borra clan is staying,¡± said Akira.
¡°Grarr, your pack is quite small compared to others that I heard about,¡± said Akira while riding on Grarr at the front of the sled trains.
''That''s because we use strength and brains to fight and not numbers to overwhelm the enemy.''
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
''Does that annoying pup have to follow me all over the place? He is starting to get on my nerves,'' said Grarr as he looked at Fluffball who was keeping up with him as they moved south.
¡°Fluffball is a really good guy. I''m sure you''ll grow to like him,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball in agreement.
***
Akira continued riding on Grarr at the front of the sled train as they walked through a sparsely populated wooded area full of pine trees.
¡°Now that we passed the rocks and boulders blocking our way we need to move west a bit since we''re getting too close to the twin volcanic peaks of the Smok mountain,¡± said Akira.
''I''ve never been around here before so I don''t know everything that lives around here but I can definitely smell Ice Trolls,'' said Grarr as he sniffed the air and scrunched up his face in disgust.
¡°Everyone be careful It seems like this is the territory of ice trolls...¡±
Bam! Crack! Crash!
Just ahead of them the loud sounds a sudden battle echoed out as several trees were knocked down or turned into splinters from the fierce and sudden fighting.
With the trees that had blocked their view gone, Akira could now see ten large blue-furred ice trolls who were even taller than Zundar. They were all carrying wooden and stone clubs and were fighting one person who was only one third their size.
¡°Kyahahah!¡± a young and childish girl''s laughter rang out from the one who was easily dodging the attacks of the Ice Trolls.
The girl wore no armor on her body as it was covered by red scales and also covered a slim red-scaled tail. Her flowing fire-red hair fluttered freely in the wind creating a wild appearance.
Akira, who could only see her back, had a very bad feeling about getting too close.
Ding!
[Akira''s bad feeling] has leveled up by 2!
|
As the message popped up the red-scaled girl jumped towards one of the Ice trolls and its head disappeared into a mist of bloody pulp while its body was cut in half by a swipe of her tail.
¡°Everyone let''s hurry and go a different direction,¡± said Akira quietly.
''Good idea she gives me a scary feeling,'' said Grarr as he turned away from the ongoing fight and ran in the opposite direction away from the fight and the mountains.
Ten minutes had passed and they were still on edge but the sound of battle could no longer be heard any more since they were far away from the fight.
¡°Wait!¡± shouted a young girl''s voice behind the sled train.
Akira ignored the calls to stop and urged everyone to keep going even faster, but the young girl continued to follow them for over an hour. Akira, having no other choice, gave up and decided to see what the young girl wanted.
Zundar came to stand next to Akira while both Vilkas and Dolph joined him on their own garg mounts.
Akira watched as the Red scaled girl ran up to him with not even a hint that she was out of breath.
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Seeing her up close he could see that her red scales went all the way up to her chin while her face looked like that of a ten-year-old human girl. Her eyes were a fiery red matching with her hair but also had flecks of gold in them.
[???] was the only thing it showed when Akira tried inspecting her.
She was smiling as she stopped in front of Akira and looked around at everyone.
¡°You guys look interesting, what are you doing?¡± asked the girl.
¡°We''re just passing by to get to the Borra clan,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh? But why are there so many different demon races traveling together?¡± asked the girl.
¡°We are from the northern town of Kodria,¡± said Akira.
¡°Do they have little dogs like that up north?¡± asked the girl as she pointed at Grarr.
¡°Garu!¡± ''I am not a little dog!'' said Grarr angrily.
¡°So cute I want one as well!¡±
¡°No there are no native Gargs up north we only just met a few days ago,¡± said Akira.
The young girl clasped her fist under her chin and looked at the group again as if thinking hard about something.
¡°Alright! It''s decided then!¡± said the young girl nodding her head.
¡°What is?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Since I am bored I will join you guys in your adventure to the place called Borra clan!¡±
¡°What?¡± several people let out confusing questions at the girl''s statement.
¡°Um...the Borra clan is not a place. It''s one of the southern clans of the Earth tribe,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Are you sure you can be away from home? You look quite young. Where are your parents?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s okay, I can go wherever I want. My dad doesn''t care what I do,¡± said the girl.
¡°If you say it''s okay then I guess I can''t deny you coming along... oh yeah, my name is Akira what is yours?¡±
¡°FleurCarinaEldurWulkanDreki. My dad said he picked a short and cute name for me,¡± said the young girl.
¡°Short my rear,¡± grumbled Zundar.
¡°Um...can I just call you Fleur?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°I don''t mind it,¡± said Fleur after she thought about it for a few seconds.
¡°You''re so cute Fleur, how old are you?¡±
¡°I don''t know! I never counted,¡± said Fleur with a shrug of her shoulders.
¡°Why don''t you come and sit with big sis Mileena and we can chat while we head south,¡± said Mileena who was also a little sister herself and always wanted to say something like that.
¡°Oh! I always wanted a big sister!¡± said Fleur with big starry eyes, as she hopped onto the sled next to Mileena and got under the fur covers with her.
¡°Well, you''re quite young, so your parents might have another child and then you could become a big sis like me!¡± said Mileena as she pat Fleur on the head.
¡°I doubt it. All my dad does is sleep!¡± said Fleur.
***
''I can smell traces of those idiots around here. It seems that there are even more of them than there was the last time I fought with them. You guys grow like weeds,'' said Grarr, as they continued to move towards the caves of the east Smok mountain chain.
¡°It''s good that there is a large number of them since we need as many people as we can get to fight against the demigods,¡± said Akira.
''Are the demigods really that strong?'' asked Grarr.
¡°Right now they are not extremely powerful, but if we don''t prepare for the future there could be massive problems for us all,¡± said Akira.
¡°Awoooo!¡± ¡°Garuuuu!¡± several howls rang out as a group of ten transformed werewolves with fur all in different shades of white or light gray appeared.
They were all riding their own Garg mounts, but unlike Grarr and his pack, they were far smaller and skinnier when compared to each other.
¡°Honored guests I am known as Hy. Who do I have the pleasure of talking to?¡± asked a white-furred werewolf as he brought his Garg mount to stand in front of the other nine werewolves and looked for the leader of Akira''s group.
There was no doubt in his mind of the strength of Akira and his guards by just looking at the Garg mounts that they all rode so he had wisely decided to speak cautiously.
¡°Lord Akira of the Darkmoon clan, commander of Kodria and its armies, seeks an audience with the Earth clans who live here,¡± shouted Vilkas as he pointed to Akira who sat on Grarr between both him and Dolph.
¡°Ah... Lord Akira, you say? So that chief Max and the grand elders can prepare for a meeting with you. Can you tell me what it is that you want to talk to them about?¡± asked Hy.
¡°Since we are both from the earth tribe we would like to start trading as well as form an alliance between our clans,¡± said Akira.
¡°Understood we will escort you to the meeting caves where you can talk with Chief Max and the grand elders,¡± said Hy before he turned his mount around and started a quick run towards the meeting caves.
Akira and the rest of the guards and sled train followed behind him. They passed by several hundreds of small and big caves in the mountains which seemed to all have several hundred pairs of eyes staring at them as they passed by.
As they came to a halt near a small tunnel that had thirty white and gray werewolves guarding it Hy stopped and hopped off his mount.
¡°Please wait here while I inform the chief and the grand elders of your presence and purpose.¡±
Akira spent the next ten minutes quietly talking with those around him as they were under constant watch by the guards near the tunnel entrance.
Hy returned leading an older man with gray hair who looked to be in his fifties. The left half of his face and neck was covered in old burn scars.
The old man saw Akira looking at his scars and said with a smile ¡°It looks worse than it was. I got these scars when I was a young and dumb pup who challenged someone far stronger than me. I am chief Max, are you Akira?¡±
¡°You''re really old,¡± said Fleur rudely.
¡°Fleur don''t be rude. I''m sorry sir,¡± said Mileena, trying to apologize and to smooth the situation out.
¡°Why? My dad said I should never lie and he looks way older than my dad,¡± said Fleur as she pointed at Chief Max.
¡°Who is the charming child?¡± asked Chief Max as he sniffed the air. ¡°She has a familiar scent but I can not place it.¡±
¡°Her name is Fleur, we met on our way here,¡± said Akira.
¡°Fleur... never heard of someone around here with that name. We have several rooms already being prepared for you, your companions, and your mounts. Hy will lead them to their rooms while you can follow me to where the grand elders are waiting so we can get to know each other,¡± said Chief Max.
¡°Can my guards come with me?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It makes no difference to me to just don''t do anything to make the grand elders mad. It''s a real pain to deal with them when they get ornery,¡± said Chief Max as he led Akira, Dolph, and Vilkas into the tunnel that led deeper into the large mountain.
Chapter 184: The south Earth tribe clans
¡°...so you are a descendant of those clans that stayed behind long ago,¡± said an elderly man whose gray hair was all over the place.
¡°Yes grand elder Guold, I represent the four clans that have formed the growing trade town known as Kodria,¡± said Akira respectful. Grand elder Guold was nearly 100 years and still had a muscular body that denied his age.
¡°What clans did you say they were? And what clan do you belong to,¡± asked a younger Grand elder Yond who was around 60.
¡°I am the chief of the Darkmoon clan, the other two clans are the Longtail and Madmane.¡±
¡°You Have quite an impressive name. If you weren''t the descendant of the original hero as well as the current chief of his clan I would have questioned your parents naming you after such a great hero,¡± said Grand elder Audun as he continued to inspect Akira.
¡°So Grand elders, what do you think about his request to form a closer tie to fight and support one another?¡± asked Chief Max who stood near the entrance to the room.
¡°We accept,¡± said Grand elder Guold plainly.
Ding!
Relationship with the southern Earth tribe clans has turned to friendly allies.
|
¡°What so quickly?¡± asked Akira, expecting push back like everyone else he had dealt with so far.
¡°What? Did you expect that we would turn our backs on a fellow clan of the Earth tribe? If someone did that I would question their loyalty to the Earth tribe,¡± said Grand elder Guold.
¡°You are a strong leader and a strong warrior to be able to conquer a pack of Gargs and travel through the dangerous south lands and reach us all in one piece. We respect the strong because we are always fighting with the numerous nearby monsters. Since you are the descendant of such a great hero that also gives you a few bonus points,¡± said Grand elder Audun.
¡°Although we agree to help we will need to formulate the full details of the agreement later. For now, I will have chief Max show you to you around if you would like or he can take you to your room so you can rest and negotiate later with a clear head¡± said Grand elder Guold,
¡°I would enjoy a tour,¡± said Akira as she stood up from his stone chair.
¡°Then let''s begin,¡± said chief Max, as he grabbed onto Akira''s shoulder and pulled him out of the room.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, as he chased after them along with Vilkas and Dolph.
¡°We don''t have much to show since we live in rather bland caves,¡± said Chief Max.
¡°With everything happening, It all slipped my mind, but I have been wondering where the sun is,¡± said Akira.
¡°You''re lucky that you came when you did. Right now there are a few hours of sunlight during the day but the majority of the year it is always twilight or completely outside dark during the longest month of winter,¡± said Chief Max.
¡°Complete dark?¡± asked Akira wondering how they survived so long in such a place like this.
¡°This is one of the several tens of cafeterias, I suggest you and your companions use this or the one by your rooms. The other cafeterias are the personal cafeterias of the other clans. They are all quite territorial when it comes to food,¡± said Chief Max as he led Akira into a low ceiling rectangular room that had several hundred carved stone tables with stone benches.
¡°Just go up to that window and pay for the meal and you will get whatever the day¡¯s special is. You can pay more to get additional sides or toppings,¡± said Chief Max as he pointed at the stone window where Akira could see several cooks were busy preparing food for the next meal.
¡°Each cafeteria has different cooks and different menus every day. You can always find a lot of different types of cooked fish and vegetables, and on a good day, some rare meat is hunted from the wild. The benefit of being a chief is I can go to each cafeteria without too much complaint and see who has the best food for the day.¡±
¡°Onto the next destination!¡± said Chief Max, as he exited the cafeteria.
They walked through many hallways and past many rooms before reaching a large bowl-like room that smelled heavily of dirt and manure.
¡°This is one of the places where we grow most of our vegetables, herbs, and many different mushrooms. This is all made possible due to sun ore crystals,¡± said Chief Max pointing at the glowing crystals all around the room.
¡°These plants are...?¡± asked Akira pointing at a weird withered looking red plant. There were several other odd-looking plants near it as well each having their own row in the dirt and manure mixture.
¡°Don''t worry it may look like it''s a dead plant but that is just how it is. It is a really spicy herb used in many of our meals. We call it the ice-fire herb. It makes your mouth cold but soon starts burning hot like a fire. There''s also an evil eye turnip, ice potato, purple tomatoes, blue bell peppers along with several tens of different mushrooms,¡± said Chief Max.
The next place they walked to was a small dark room with the sound of water running inside.
¡°This is one of the many washrooms. I advise that you only take a quick bath in it,¡± said Chief Max.
¡°Why? Is it really cold?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No, the bath''s underground river is connected to a volcano. You will be boiled if you fall asleep.¡±
Akira was shown around a few other places before being brought outside where the sun was still missing.
¡°The last thing I have to show is that,¡± said Chief Max as he pointed to the sky above the mountains.
Akira looked up into the sky and found a long curtain of colorful lights shimmering in the sky with the sparkling stars surrounding it.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira in wonder as he stared at it.
¡°The southern lights. It is very colorful, isn''t it? It''s the main source of light for most of the year.¡±
¡°I am amazed that so many large clans are able to live down here in such a desolate place. Is there a reason you aren''t in contact with the two other northern clans?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Heh... they are just weak small frys compared to our clans. They came over long after we were settled here and when we offered to help them they ignored us.¡±
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¡°So this is where you were Max, you damn pervert! I have been looking everywhere for you!¡± said a loud female voice coming from the entrance of one of the nearby caves.
¡°Bell don''t call me a pervert! I''m on official duty so I couldn''t meet back up with you for dinner,¡± said a flustered Max.
¡°Don''t be going and corrupting the young pups with your perverted ideas. I''m sorry if my weapon loving pervert husband said anything weird to you,¡± said Bell.
¡°No, he has been professional the whole time,¡± said Akira who had no clue what was going on.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°I''m not a weapons pervert! I just like taking care of my weapons to make sure nothing happens to them,¡± said Chief Max.
¡°You need to stop treating your weapons like pets,¡± said Bell.
¡°...well I''m going to my room,¡± said Akira quietly. Both the arguing wife and husband were too busy to hear or notice Akira and his guards leave.
***
When Akira woke up he found Fluffball sleeping on top of him with his butt near Akira''s face.
¡°Fluffball you really need to stop with your bad sleeping habits,¡± said Akira as he pushed the small and heavy Fluffball away from him.
As he did, Akira received a kick in the jaw from one of Fluffball¡¯s rear paws.
¡°Yap,¡± complained Fluffball as he lifted up his sleepy head and looked at Akira before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.
¡°Fine you can stay here while I go to all of today''s meetings,¡± said Akira as he threw off the covers and started to change into his best clothes he had which included his fur cape with the Kodria crest.
When he opened the door Fluffball jumped out into the hall first, wide awake with his tail wagging and impatiently waiting for Akira to close the door.
¡°Don''t be giving me that look...¡± said Akira.
Ding!
Kodria has reached the requirements to upgrade to a 3rd tier city! Do you want to accept the upgrade?
|
Akira immediately accepted.
Ding!
Kodria is now a 3rd tier city.
A list of new blueprints for buildings and upgrades can be found in the proper areas.
Requirements for reaching the 2nd tier city have been updated.
|
¡°There you are Akira. I thought you had been swallowed by the bath or toilet since you didn''t show up for breakfast with the others,¡± said Burkin.
¡°I already ate some rations while I was getting dressed since I overslept. Are you ready for today''s meetings?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You can count on me to negotiate the trade deals for both of us,¡± said Burkin as he used his thumb to point at himself.
¡°With your help, we can hammer it out quickly and get to the more important matters of the demigods,¡± said Akira.
¡°These guys are really different than you and the other clans. A bunch of meatheads who just talk about fighting. Quite barbaric,¡± said Burkin.
¡°Well, at least we know that they are good at fighting, so that''s nice.¡±
¡°Wait! I also want to come with you!¡± shouted Fleur.
¡°Fleur stop running away from me! Big brother Akira is busy so why don''t you play with your big sister,¡± said Mileena as she chased after the young Fleur.
¡°Don''t want to!¡± said Fleur heartlessly escaping Mileena''s reaching arms and latching onto Akira.
***
¡°Are you a draconian from one of the nearby tribes?¡± asked one of the 13 clan chiefs interrupting the trade talk while he looked to Fleur.
Everyone''s attention turned to the young girl who had followed Akira into the meeting room and had been watching them the entire time without saying anything.
¡°Hmph! Don''t compare me to those mindless idiots!¡± said Fleur dismissively.
¡°Fleur don''t be so rude,¡± said Mileena who sat next to her and swatted her head softly.
Fleur began pouting and mumbling to herself, ¡°But he called me a draconian.¡±
¡°Anyways, back to the trade deal, is everyone in agreement?¡± asked Akira, trying to pull the conversation back on track.
¡°We have no disagreement with it but...¡± Chief Max looked around as if trying to find a spy before he continued in a whisper. ¡°...do you have any wine or other alcohol you can trade us? What we have here is too poor to be called a proper drink.¡±
The other clan chiefs all nodded their heads in agreement.
¡°Your alcohol is an odd and bland tasting drink but I wouldn''t call it all that bad since it has quite the kick to it,¡± said Burkin, a lover of all types of alcohol.
¡°Kodria is in the process of creating Winterberry wines, ales, and other drinks,¡± said Akira.
Every one of the clan chiefs'' eyes all lit up with stars as they heard his words.
¡°It has been many years since we last tasted a sweet drink! What was it? 10-15 years ago when the last merchant came to trade with us?¡± asked Chief Max.
¡°At least that,¡± said another chief.
¡°Burkin is more knowledgeable and has more connections for stuff dealing with the many different varieties of drinks so you can talk to him about it later,¡± said Akira, feeling uncomfortable at the odd facial expressions on the group of large muscular barbarian men.
¡°Right. We will make sure to talk it over privately,¡± said Chief Max as he wiped the drool from his face.
¡°We have read all the notes that you gave us on the Demigods as well as the information on Kodria and the northern clans and human settlements. It was quite a read,¡± said Chief Roc.
¡°The demigods seem quite an interesting enemy to fight. We have all come to an agreement that we need to wipe out any that come south as they are nothing but trouble. And the two large clans sound as if they haven''t changed since they arrived,¡± said Chief Xend.
¡°From what I heard your town sounds more like a small city that is growing fast. I think it would be best if we helped you stop them up there before they come down here. Is there anything you would like from us?¡± asked Chief Nem.
¡°I recently received news that it has reached the point that it can now be called a city. I would like to have an ambassador or representative from your clans come to my city so that you can see what it is like and meet with the other demon races,¡± said Akira.
¡°How about you become my clan''s vassal? You won''t need to pay that much in taxes,¡± said Chief Mok.
¡°...¡±
¡°Stop making tasteless jokes Mok. That''s an insult to Akira honor and his clan''s history,¡± said Chief Roc.
¡°I wasn''t joking.¡±
¡°That makes it all the more insulting. Enough, you know we already agreed on something earlier,¡± said Chief Xend.
¡°That''s right. Sorry Akira for this knucklehead, he only recently took over for his father. Of the 13 clans that have their own clan city in the mountains three have agreed to go north with you to help fight the Demigods,¡± said Chief Max.
¡°The three clans are Whitefang, Braveclaw, and Silverpelt. Each has distant ties to the clans that are living in Kodria so you should be able to get along. They will be bringing over 5000 warriors not counting the youngins and the reserve warriors.¡±
Akira was flabbergasted, he had only expected them to send representatives and their guards. The thought of sending even one entire clan let alone three never crossed his mind.
Seeing the quiet Akira chief Max spoke, ¡°If you are worried about them not being able to pull their own weight you don''t have to worry. They are no weaklings and can handle many different things from domestic problems to fighting.¡±
¡°I have no complaints about this decision. I am just surprised that three entire clans have decided so quickly to move. Will your settlement be okay to send away so many warriors?¡± asked Akira.
¡°That number is nothing to us and the quick decisions made by the three clans is nothing strange. There is always a constant struggle to make enough food for everyone as our clans grow.
With the three clans moving to Kodria we can lessen the strain and well as solidify a partnership with you and other trade partners.¡±
Rumble! Rumble!
Dust fell from the ceiling as the ground started to shake violently every few minutes.
¡°What''s going on?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s coming from outside! Everyone let''s go! We need to see what''s going on out there,¡± said chief Xend as he transformed and grabbed his weapon before rushing out the room.
¡°Oh sounds like something fun is happening outside!¡± said Fleur as she hopped out of her chair and ran after the others with Mileena chasing after her.
Akira waited for the rest of the werewolf chiefs to transform and follow him out before transforming himself not wanting to be ogled at by them.
Chapter 185: Head North
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
As the clan chiefs and Akira exited they were able to hear someone shouting.
¡°FleurCarinaEldurWulkanDreki, where are you?¡± shouted the loud reverberating voice that echoed throughout the land.
¡°FleurCarinaEldurWulkanDreki, did someone capture you?¡±
¡°Who is that?¡± asked chief Max.
The other chiefs whispered among themselves trying to figure out what was going on while Akira and Mileena both were looking at the young girl that was holding onto Mileena''s hand.
¡°Where is my cute daughter!?"
¡°Chief! It''s that guy! What do we do?¡±
¡°Oh, It''s my dad. He''s always saying ''I''ll eat anyone who tries to touch my precious cute daughter.'' and ''I''ll poke their eyes out if they look at her.'' What an embarrassing father,¡± said Fleur.
The clan chiefs all looked at the young Fleur in shock not at her words but because of who she was.
¡°I have to go home now or my dad might blow up a few mountains while trying to look for me. Big sis, I had fun! I hope we can play again!¡± said Fleur as she jumped into the air.
Small red wings sprouted out from her back and in mere seconds she had already disappeared from their view.
¡°I knew I sensed that she smelled familiar! What is wrong with your brain bringing her here? We''re strong but not that strong,¡± said Chief Max pointing at the burns on his face and neck.
¡°I don''t know whether to be in awe at your bravery or stupidity,¡± said Chief Xend.
¡°I had no clue who she was and she just joined us on her own,¡± said Akira trying to explain the situation.
The shouting and rumbling only lasted for a few more minutes before stopping.
¡°It looks like we''re safe...¡± said Chief Nem as he paused to listen for any disturbance.
¡°let''s hurry up and work on the preparations needed for the three clans to travel north. We''ll have to make sure that everyone''s armor and weapons are taken care of before leaving,¡± said Chief Kip.
¡°Akira I''ll leave Chief Roc, Xend, and Nem with you to talk over your plans for heading north,¡± said Chief Max with a wave of the hand before he returned to the tunnels.
¡°Let''s talk while we head back,¡± said Chief Xend who had returned to his human form.
***
Akira and his fellow companions all sat inside one of the many crafting workrooms.
In front of each of them was a bunch of leather and metal that they were sewing together with special metal thread taken from a rare spider monster breed.
¡°Ow! This needle really hurts when it pokes you,¡± said Chack as he sucked on his finger for the 100th time.
¡°Quit lying, you have scales protecting your fingers,¡± said Mileena whose fingers were covered with bandages.
¡°Yes, you''re good at sewing... I lie! I am better than you at something,¡± said Chack.
¡°You''re not better, you just have a cheat!¡± said Mileena.
¡°Quiet down guys. We''re already on the last few saddles for the Gargs,¡± said Akira as skillfully threaded the needle through the tough leather.
The saddles were nothing fancy like the saddles that the knights of some human kingdoms used.
They were just enough to help keep the rider seated during a hectic ride that you would not normally experience while on a horse due to the Gargs being able to move in every way that a horse could not.
Before they had started this project Akira had helped the werewolf blacksmiths with repairing and readying the weapons and armor of the warriors that would be coming north with the three clans.
As a gesture of goodwill, he helped teach them a few tips that he had learned while working with the Dwarves in Kodria.
All thirteen clans had come together to help with the preparations so things that would have taken weeks were getting done in days.
¡°Lord, the preparations are almost ready and the three clans are starting to gather everyone,¡± said Dolph as he entered the room.
¡°We''re almost finished,¡± said Akira as he made the last few stitches on the saddle in front of him.
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¡°Here finish this one,¡± said Mileena pushing her half-finished saddle over to Akira.
***
Akira and his guards sat on their Garg companion mounts at the front of the large caravan of sleds that were now heading north to the capital of IsKald.
The three clan chiefs and a few of their guards sat on their own smaller Gargs along with Akira.
Since a majority of their own guards did not have a Garg mount Akira had tasked a few of his own guards to help protect them as well.
The Kodria soldiers that had their own mounts were put in charge of the small number of other Garg riders from the three clans. He had given them the task of patrolling the long caravan line to make sure that everything was okay.
The clans 5000 warriors were stationed along the long caravan to take care of any problems that showed up.
¡°Does the snow and ice really melt at Kodria?¡± asked chief Nem whose clan was related to the madmane clan.
¡°Yes there are a few months known as the warm months but I think we will only be arriving at the end of it,¡± answered Akira.
¡°Your soldiers and guards all look sharp and well trained, are these your elites?¡± asked chief Xend who had a distant relation to the Darkmoon clan.
¡°I wouldn''t exactly say they are the elites, they are just well trained. Those who are part of my personal guard are among the top in the Kodria army and were picked for this duty so you could say that they are in a way elite but still young.¡±
¡°You must have some amazing training if your regular soldiers perform like that,¡± said chief Roc whose clan was related to the longtails clan.
¡°If you would allow it I can also have your soldiers undergo the same training,¡± said Akira.
¡°Would it help them? They are already strong warriors,¡± asked Xend.
¡°It would make them even more deadly,¡± said Akira full of certainty.
¡°Then I think it is a must for them to receive the training. Being strong is what we of the Braveclaw strive for.¡±
¡°We should be reaching the capital by tomorrow,¡± said Klyn as he looked at the map that Akira had improved when they had first gone south.
¡°If you say so,¡± said chief Roc who was looking at the crude map.
¡°You get used to it after a while,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Good, we can trade the furs and other items we gained from monsters to resupply,¡± said Nem.
***
¡°Akira, you really are something,¡± said Yuki as she pat Grarr on the head. Grarr gave an unsatisfied growl and shook his head.
¡°You managed to gain Garg mounts as well as convince three of the 13 southern clans to head north with you. It seems you are both blessed and cursed,¡± said Yuki as she looked out the window of the royal stables at the large caravan that was camped outside the ice city walls.
¡°You should keep the furs as we do not need them. I''m sure that they will sell for a lot farther north. You can help fund Kodria with their sale if you hold onto them,¡± said Yuki.
¡°So about the matter of sending merchants to your city to drop off the items for the southern tribes. Is that okay?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s fine with me since it will also bring more business our way as well, is that all?¡± asked Yuki.
¡°Yes,¡± said Akira nodding.
¡°In exchange for the other items, we will have the food and water prepared for you. Also, the representatives I talked about when you were here last time will be joining you on the trip north to Kodria. They will have a few of their own guards with them.¡±
***
Many days later the caravan was well north of the Ice forest.
¡°Lord! The scouts have spotted two Demigods fighting with talking bears!¡± said a soldier who had just run up to Akira and the other clan chiefs on his own Garg mount.
¡°Were they wearing armor?¡± asked Ieec the head representative of the Yuki onna.
¡°They didn''t say,¡± said the soldier.
¡°They could be one of our allies, the [Armored Polar Bear],¡± said Ieec.
¡°Are you sure there are only 2 of them?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Multiple people reported the same thing. Two demigods are fighting a large group of talking bears,¡± said the soldier.
¡°Awooooo!¡± Akira let out a howl calling for all the mounted soldiers of the three clans as well his guards to assemble.
***
¡°What was that?¡± asked a fully armored knight who was blocking several attacks from the multiple armored bears that he and his friend were attacking.
There were already several dead or dying bears slumped on the ground, their blood dying the snow a deep red.
¡°Ineda, stop daydreaming, and stay focused. If you slip up we could both die and then all our gains will be lost,¡± said a wild barbaric looking man who had long unkempt green hair and beard. He wore a dirty leather fur armor and was currently hopping around throwing hand axes as well as smashing open the bear''s armor with his spiked mace.
¡°Stop nagging me, Hary. I thought I heard some sort of howl just a moment ago,¡± said Ineda as he used a skill to pierce his sword through one of the Armored bears.
The two continued fighting with the numerous armored bears fully focused on gaining all that they could from the fight.
Rumble...the ground started to shake for some reason. The armored bears who had been fighting them fiercely just seconds before started to quickly retreat causing the two demigods to be confused as they tried chasing after them.
¡°Wait Hary, somethings not right,¡± said Ineda as he started to look around and froze in place when he found the source of his doubts.
¡°Why did you sto...¡±
Over 50 large monstrous giant wolves with furry humanoids as well as shiny metal humanoids riding on top of them were charging straight towards them.
On the largest of the giant wolves there sat a large person in all dark blue armor that stood out from the rest. His sword was pointed right at them!
¡°It''s the were...¡± before Hary could finish his sentence he lost his head to a blue light that flew out from the sword of the dark armored man. His body was bit in half by the large giant wolf seconds later.
The armored Ineda was more study and was able to withstand the blue slash attack. But staying alive was not possible as he was smashed into, trampled, and stabbed by all the passing large mounts and their riders.
He died an even more horrible way than Hary. He laid on the ground his body in a grotesque mess as all his bones had been broken and his armor turned into crumpled tatters.
The two demigods'' bodies disappeared into light particles while the large mounted knights halted their charge several yards in front of the armored bears who were huddled together in a defensive stance.
The largest of the giant wolves moved forward and the dark armored man pulled off his helmet.
¡°Hello friends, we bring greetings from a mutual friend, Princess Yuki. I am Akira lord and commander of Kodria.¡±
Chapter 186: Young companion event
Ding!
Ineda Badth and Hary Mandtis have been killed.
Level up! Your current level is 95!
Nox has leveled up! Fluffball has leveled up.
Fluffball''s skill frost breath has been upgraded to Ice breath.
|
¡°It''s a bit weird talking with you, I fought bears that held hammers in a dungeon several days away from here but they couldn''t talk,¡± said Akira.
¡°Don''t mention those brainless idiots. I don''t know what happened to make them that way but it is a disgrace! They give all of us armored bears a bad name,¡± said Beary, the leader of the group of armored bears that had been scouting and hunting for food.
Beary was now wearing a cloth bandage over his eye that had been stabbed by one of the demigods. The bandage made the large fluffy bear look more menacing.
¡°I''m sorry that we were a bit late coming to your assistance and now a few of your warriors died.¡±
¡°There is no need for such words. I am just glad that you came when you did. I will not forget the help you gave us. I will be sure to mention you to my clan chief when I return,¡± said Beary before waving to Akira with a large paw and leaving with the rest of his warriors who were now carrying their dead.
Ding!
The relationship with the armored bears has turned friendly.
|
¡°Alright everyone let''s head back!¡± shouted Akira after checking the ground for anything that the demigods may have dropped.
Unfortunately, he didn''t find any weapons or armor. He was only able to find a few expensive-looking healing potions and a pouch of gold that had a good weight to it.
¡°Yap!¡± shouted a miniature Fluffball as he happily followed and ran alongside Grarr through the large snowdrifts.
***
¡°Augh... all I''ve been doing is constantly gathering nuts, berries, and hunting for food nonstop,¡± complained Klyn as he sat next to Akira.
¡°We have too many mouths to feed right now we''re lucky we can find enough food to replenish what we have been eating,¡± said Akira.
¡°Didn''t they pack enough food when we left? We even bought more when we stopped at IsKald. Why are we gathering so much?¡±
¡°What happens if we run into a problem or bad weather and we run out of food because we didn''t keep replenishing the food stock?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s quite exhausting taking care of all the wounded and helping look after the children,¡± said Mileena who was leaning against Akira''s back while she ate piping hot stew that had some spices from the southern clans. Akira didn''t care much for the spices as they were very hot going in and out.
¡°Think of it as training for the future,¡± said Zundar as he pat Mileena on the shoulder with his large hand nearly knocking her to the side.
¡°You''re right,¡± said Mileena as she sat back up straight and slapped her cheeks a few times to refresh herself and clear her mind so that there were only happy thoughts.
¡°The hunting we are doing is important to keep the area safe for travel so that we won''t have huge problems with monsters attacking the caravan or any others that pass by,¡± said Akira.
¡°I thought we cleared it out good when we first came down but I guess we missed quite a few,¡± said Varbu as he ate a large chunk of sizzling meat.
¡°That or they just get born and grow too quick, the south seems like a perfect breeding ground for so many monsters. I am sure that we have only seen a small fraction of those that live down here,¡± said Akira.
Ding!
Local event quest has started!
Capture the young wyvern companion!
This event quest is for everyone in the local area. Anyone who wants a wyvern companion can join the event and receive directions to the destination.
Accept Yes or No?
|
Akira declined the event quest without need to think about it since he already had Fluffball as a companion. He also couldn''t go off on a hunt and leave the caravan that needed the constant protection that Akira and the rest of his Garg mounted soldiers provided.
***
¡°Did you hear about the scary Giant wolves who had people riding on top of them?¡± asked a Demigod.
¡°Don''t listen to that crap. It was probably just a regular [Ice wolf] that ate too much. The weaklings that got killed by them are just trying to make them sound scarier to cover up their shame from dying. We have killed hundreds of [Ice wolves] already. We don''t have to be scared of anything!¡± replied a second Demigod.
¡°Quit horsing around you two! We have to capture that wyvern and make it my companion!¡±
¡°Wait! I want it as my companion!¡±
¡°I already called it so you have to find something else,¡± said another demigod.
***
¡°Lord! We have found another group of demigods ahead of us, but... I''m not sure what they are doing. It looked like they were just running in circles as well as running all over the place for some reason,¡± said a scout that ran up to Akira to report the important discovery of enemies.
¡°How many this time?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I only saw four of them.¡±
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Akira blew on the dog whistle and alerted the rest of the Garg mounted soldiers as well as the soldiers guarding the caravan.
The caravan stopped and started to gather into a defensive formation while officers commanding the soldiers rushed to Akira to hear his orders.
¡°Mounted officers, let''s go take care of some demigods before they become aware of our caravan. The rest of you will need to make sure to keep everyone safe from an enemy ambush or wild monsters,¡± commanded Akira.
¡°I''m coming with you!¡± said Mileena as she hopped onto the back of the indignant Grarr who did not like anyone other than Akira on his back.
The officers sent out their own howls giving their commands to those under them. The mounted soldier all followed after Akira and the scout who led the way towards the area that he had last seen the demigods.
Akira motioned for everyone to halt behind a large snowbank so they could see what the demigods were up to before killing them.
They peeked out from behind the snowbank and watched as the demigods ran from one place to another seemingly for no reason.
¡°Is that some sort of new exercise?¡± asked an officer in a whisper at the back of the group.
As he watched the headless chicken demigods, movement further out caught his attention.
Something with a large wingspan was constantly flying into the air and then landing back on the ground.
As Akira focused on it he noticed that when it landed it would always turn its head and watch the demigods chase after it. [Baby Icefire wyvern (orphan)].
¡°What are they doing?¡± asked Mileena who had crawled up next to Akira.
¡°Shh...¡± said Akira as he watched the spectacle.
After a few more minutes of doing the same thing, the [Baby Icefire wyvern] grew bored of watching the slow demigods and decided to take a nap while it waited for them to get near.
The [Baby Icefire wyvern] continued to play a game of chase where it would fly a short distance and then go back to sleep while the demigods chased after it. They were always just out of reach of the [Baby Icefire wyvern] and were never able to get close enough to use a melee attack or any of their skills.
Akira quietly laughed as he watched not wanting to stop the enjoyable show of demigods being toyed with by the [Baby Icefire wyvern].
After a while, it seemed the wyvern grew tired of the game and flew off into the distance. This left the Demigods who were now winded from all the running with nothing to show for their fruitless hunt over the last half hour or more.
Akira could see several of the demigods jumping around angrily as they said things Akira could not clearly hear from the distance they were at.
Seeing the fun was over Akira blew on the whistle and the entire cavalry returned to their mounts and charged towards the demigods.
With raised his sword into the air above his head and rotated it in a circle ordered the mounted soldiers to surround the demigods but not giving the kill order yet.
The four tired demigods were completely caught off guard as they were surrounded by Akira and the rest of the soldiers riding the large Gargs.
¡°Holy crap! The rumors were true!¡± said one of the demigods.
¡°Yap!¡± shouted Fluffball taunting the demigod.
Akira focused on each of them to find out the names of the four demigods. Broccoli, Carrot, Pea, and Tomato.
They were all part of a guild called Team Veggie.
¡°I see you were having some trouble catching that baby wyvern. Which one of you is the one that wanted it to be your companion?¡± asked Akira with a laugh.
¡°Oh! Was that what they were trying to do?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Hey! We aren''t the proper class for chasing after things that can fly,¡± said Pea in defense of their failure.
¡°Who the f* are you?¡± asked Broccoli.
¡°If you came for the event, the wyvern just left. But we already called dibs on it,¡± said Carrot.
¡°Why can''t I see your name and level,¡± asked Tomato.
¡°Ah... I got a special item that blocks it...¡± said Akira, making up a quick lie on the spot.
¡°How did you get something as rare as that. It must be a superior grade or even higher,¡± said Pea who looked at Akira green with envy. Akira did not miss this and was fully on guard.
¡°I forgot, maybe it was something I got for killing something or someone,¡± said Akira trying to brush it off as nothing.
¡°Then we just have to kill him right?¡± asked Carrot quietly to the others.
¡°Look around you! Do you really think you can do something like that?¡± asked Mileena who could hear the four just as well as the other werewolves.
¡°We just have to kill him!¡± said Broccoli in a loud shout.
¡°Before we start killing you, I have a question that has been bothering me for some time!¡± said Akira quickly.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Pea, wary of Akira trying to pull off some type of trick.
¡°You''re the veggie team, but isn''t a tomato a fruit?¡± asked Mileena before Akira could.
¡°Screw you and your little dog too!¡± said Tomato.
¡°I''m not a little dog!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°No, I was talking about that little thing over th... where did it go?¡±
With a quick chop of his hand, Akira ordered the death of the demigods.
Fluffball jumped out from behind Grarr and tore out the nearby Tomato''s neck, letting him bleed red tomato juice all over the snow.
Grarr jumped forward and used his front paw to swat Pea to the ground leaving huge gashes in his chest from his claws. Akira finished him off by piercing him with his sword which extended out far enough for him to complete the attack.
The sword''s special trait was quite useful for situations like this.
While Akira was taking care of Pea, Mileena used her skill Blink and appeared behind Carrot, using her fiery daggers to pierce his back several times before jumping back towards Akira.
The fight was over in seconds as the other warriors trampled and cut them into pieces.
Ding!
¡°These guys were quite weak,¡± said Mileena as she wiped off her daggers.
Akira picked up the junk loot that the demigods had dropped and scanned the area for any other threats.
¡°Let''s head back, we have been away from the caravan long enough,¡± said Akira, feeling guilty.
As Mileena was walking back towards Grarr and Akira a large winged blur dived out of the sky and landed on her shoulders surprising everyone including Mileena.
Akira readied an attack to stop the attacker from flying off with her.
¡°Wait!¡± shouted Mileena, who was now wrapped up by the wings of the [Baby Icefire wyvern].
She was able to pull the wings apart to reveal the [Baby Icefire wyvern] rubbing its small head against Mileena''s face.
¡°Hey go away, she''s already taken!¡± Akira shouted at the [Baby Icefire wyvern] that was getting a little too cozy with Mileena.
¡°Pi! Pi! Pi!¡± retorted the [Baby Icefire wyvern] defiantly as it seemed to be very much attached to Mileena.
¡°I don''t think it intends to do me any harm,¡± said Mileena as she rubbed the [Baby Icefire wyvern''s] head. The [Baby Icefire wyvern] let out a few soft Pi''s.
¡°We don''t need another guy fawning after you,¡± said Akira.
¡°Pi!¡± shouted the [Baby Icefire wyvern] as it jumped into the air and flew over to Akira and began to swat him with its wings. After giving off a few angry ¡°Pi!¡± the [Baby Icefire wyvern] returned to Mileena''s shoulders.
¡°What was that all about!?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You don''t have to worry about another guy taking Mileena,¡± said Klyn with a laugh. ¡°That [Baby Icefire wyvern] is a girl.¡±
¡°That explains her ill temperament and why she was playing around with the demigods,¡± said Akira.
¡°I don''t think she''s a bad girl. She''s quite cute. Should I give you a name?¡±
¡°Pi!¡± said a happy [Baby Icefire wyvern].
¡°How about... Pii... or Pii''per?¡±
¡°Pi...¡± said the [Baby icefire wyvern] as it tilted its head as if it was in deep thought.
¡°We can figure out a name later if you want more time to think about it,¡± said Mileena as she walked over to Grarr and hopped on behind Akira.
Akira received a few thunks to the back of his helmet from the [Baby Icefire wyvern] wings.
¡°Watch your wings piiperella!¡± said Akira.
¡°Pi,¡± said [Baby Icefire wyvern] disinterestedly.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, warning the wyvern as he ran next to them.
Chapter 187: Cavalry
¡°Is that Kodria? It''s bigger than I expected,¡± said Chief Roc.
¡°You made it sound small but this is already a bustling city,¡± said Chief Xend.
¡°It is far warmer up here than back at the clan caves,¡± said Chief Nem.
¡°We just missed the last of the warm months,¡± said Akira as looked at the light dusting of snow that had already begun to cover the ground.
¡°Awooooooo!¡± several howls rang out as the south fort notified everyone that Akira had returned.
On the lake, Kodria''s naval ships patrolled the waters while numerous ships entered from the river and docked at the trade plazas docks.
The docks all looked to have been upgraded with stone pillars so that heavier trade goods could be unloaded and transported to shore easier.
Akira looked around for the large number of Garg''s that should have already returned north and found a few new large buildings near the south fort.
Thwack!
Akira received a few hits to the back of his helmet from Piiper who was still sitting on Mileena''s shoulders and had grown restless from Akira not moving to the city.
¡°Piiperela, you better enjoy your time while you''re small. Sometime in the future, you''re going to be too big to sit on her shoulders,¡± said Akira.
¡°Pii!¡± said Piiper unhappy at the thought.
Akira separated from the caravan and led the mounted Gargs of all the clans to the new housing and let them get reacquainted with each other as the soldiers all dismounted and started to take care of their own mounts who had been traveling almost nonstop for over a month.
Grarr, Akira''s own companion mount only let out a few growls of greeting to the others before he returned to Akira.
''As I said before I will not have both of us dishonored by having you walk,'' said Grarr.
¡°Aren''t you tired like the others? You can rest if you like,¡± said Akira.
Grarr gave a snort and ignored the question only nudging Akira to get back onto his back again.
Both Dolph and Vilkas were the only guards that returned to the caravan with Akira still on their mounts.
They continued to march north to the docks where several of the military ships were waiting to transport the mass of people that would soon become new additions to the city.
¡°Chief Nem, Chief Xend, Chief Nem, and Ieec, come with me. As soon as we reach the opposite shore we will head straight to the castle and meet with the grand elders to introduce everyone and catch each other up on what has and is happening,¡± said Akira as he stepped onto one of the smaller and more swift boats. With the rest of his companions also following him the boat was getting dangerously low in the water.
The four grand elders had all come to Kodria''s docks to greet and welcome Akira back to the city.
¡°From all that I have heard from the soldiers that arrived earlier and the large crowd of people, I assume you were successful in your mission,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
¡°There is no need to talk out here. Let''s invite the new guest back to the castle for some food and a warm drink to talk over everything,¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
***
¡°I see. This is worrying that you encountered the demigods so many times while travailing,¡± said grand elder Hegir.
¡°I guess that there are more of them coming here as time passes. We already have a good start on protecting the city but nothing is ever perfect. We need to think about building the second wall soon,¡± said grand elder Arron.
¡°I''ll leave the gathering of materials for the second wall to you. While you are doing that in order to help boost our fighting power I plan to find those that are suitable and create Kodria''s own cavalry force before I head north,¡± said Akira.
¡°What are you going up north for?¡± asked grand elder Carl.
¡°We still have some time before the full winter sets in. Now that we have somewhat cemented our position in the area I think we need to hash out the trade deals with the few friendly north settlements and the trading post,¡± said Akira.
¡°Are you sure there is enough housing for all of us?¡± asked Chief Nem.
¡°We made sure to build extra housing while Akira was away. It was supposed to be for the future expansion but it looks like it will only be just enough to cram everyone in. We''ll have to get to work on making some more housing and apartments,¡± said grand elder Seoc.
¡°I''m interested in the new cavalry unit. How many will there be and what are you going to be doing about the warriors of the three new clans, ¡± asked Arron.
¡°There should be around 300 in the cavalry when everything is said and done. As for what will be done with the warriors of the three clans, I have already talked with the Chiefs of the clans about putting them through a quick course of training to get them on the same page as our own soldiers,¡± said Akira.
The three Chiefs all nodded their heads confirming Akira''s words.
¡°I have a favor to ask,¡± said Chief Xend.
¡°What is it? If it is something we can do to help we will gladly do it,¡± said Carl.
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¡°My clan''s weapons and armor need some major repair due to the heavy wear and tear during the travel to Kodria. If you could help us with that I would be satisfied,¡± said Chief Xend.
¡°We have people that are highly skilled in such matters. It will be taken care of if you send everything to this place,¡± said grand elder Hegir as he passed a slip of paper over to Xend.
¡°Other than the building of houses and the gathering of materials for the second wall, here are a few other tasks that need to be taken care of,¡± said Akira passing over a list of things he had come up with while traveling south.
One of them was the creation of an actual road to their allies that would support faster movement between them as well as easier movement for the traders.
***
The next morning Akira watched from atop of Grarr as several thousand new warriors from the other clans went through the rigorous training alongside a batch of new recruits.
When he was satisfied with what he saw he left them and moved to the barracks where the entire Kodria army was formed up and waiting.
¡°I have called you all here to let you know that there is a new position in the army that needs to be filled. There is room for around 200 of you to become a part of Kodria''s new dominating cavalry. All those who wish to apply will step forward ten paces,¡± said Akira cutting straight to the point.
The over 1500 soldiers gathered in front of Akira all looked at the large Gargs that Akira, Dolph, and Vilkas, were all sitting atop all deciding what they should do.
A few minutes passed before the movement of the soldiers stepping forward stopped. Nearly 600 soldiers had stepped forward. None of the soldiers who were already scouts or heavy infantry stepped forward as they were happy with their role in the army.
The other few hundred that did not step forward were those who did not feel the cavalry was something for them after seeing the large Garg and thinking of what it all required.
¡°Those of you who do not want to apply for the new position may return to whatever your daily duties are. The rest of you line up!¡± shouted Akira.
When the 600ish warriors were all lined up in several rows Akira had Grarr walk in front of each soldier. Grarr sniffed each person and looked at them for a few seconds before giving them a pass or a fail.
When they had inspected everyone only 343 soldiers were deemed to fit Grarr''s standards to even have a chance at becoming a partner with the other Gargs.
¡°Those of you who passed the first inspection follow me to the docks!¡± ordered Akira.
Several minutes later Akira and the 343 soldiers were standing on the south shore near the fort and headed to the large buildings that were housing the 200 partner-less Gargs.
¡°Grawwrrrr!¡± with a few growls Grarr called out to all of the partner-less Gargs to come outside.
The soldiers and Gargs all walked out to a large clearing south of the housing and fort where they would have enough room to continue the selection.
Akira could already see several hundreds of people working on clearing and transforming the hard land into an actual road that led to their southern allies.
¡°In order to join the cavalry, you must pass this last test. It is in two parts. First, you must go to one of the 200 Gargs and introduce yourself. They will decide whether or not to acknowledge you. Secondly, If they do acknowledge you, then you may challenge them to a physical wrestling match with no weapons allowed. If you want to join the cavalry you must defeat them with only your strength. It is all rather simple so you may begin the last test immediately!¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball while Grarr gave a growling snort at Akira for making it sound so easy.
While sitting on top of Grarr Akira watched as the soldiers interacted with the large Gargs.
It took many tries for most of the soldiers to find a Garg who accepted their introduction. Those who did succeed in the first task moved off to the side to wrestle with the Gargs after transforming into their werewolf forms.
Just because they had passed the first test didn''t mean they would pass the second, and as expected several of the warriors were defeated.
The majority of people being defeated was due to around 30 of the strongest Gargs defeating the majority of them. They were rather picky in who they would allow to challenge them and had all defeated a least 3 people each.
The other Gargs didn''t seem too picky with who became their partner as long as they accepted the person both on the feeling they gave off and if the soldier was able to beat them in a fair fight.
The number of free Gargs was quickly shrinking as several soldiers won their match. After two hours of wrestling, there were only 10 Gargs left without a partner. Each of them were the strongest of those that had not already been picked by Akira and his guards.
Some of the soldiers seeing them defeat so many challengers gave up while others viewed it as a challenge to overcome.
Those who had given up or had already gained a companion Garg mount watched the matches as the last ten were finally defeated and accepted their new partners.
¡°Those of you who failed today can use this as motivation to get stronger so that in the future if there is a chance you will be ready to join the others in the cavalry. You may return to the barracks,¡± said Akira.
The 143 soldiers who had failed and were slightly dispirited walked back to the boats and headed back to Kodria.
¡°Congratulations to all of you who showed that you not only had the right character but also the strength to join the cavalry. Instead of your usual morning training, you will begin a new regiment that I have come up with to help you become familiar with your new role in the army.
Those of you familiar with riding horses into battle can forget all you know about that type of fighting as the Gargs are almost entirely different. You must train with all seriousness to become the elite cavalry of Kodria and the entire continent,¡± said Akira as he looked at the 200 soldiers and their new companion Garg mounts.
¡°Commander, we understand!¡± shouted the soldiers as one. Several growls joined them as the Gargs also agreed.
¡°First things first, in order for you to become an elite force you need to become well acquainted with your new partner. They are not like horses so do not treat them as idiots or you might end up with a few extra scars. To better understand your partner you will be spending the next few days here with them. Training will start bright and early tomorrow morning. Dismissed!¡±
Kodria''s army was truly starting to look like a real army with many of the rolls now covered.
Akira and his guards returned to the castle. After he reported his success to the grand elders he started to pack and gather everything he needed for his trip north.
¡°You''re leaving already when you just got back?¡± asked Azura as she hung onto Akira''s arm.
Seeing this Mileena grabbed onto his other arm.
¡°You guys I need to use my arms so I can pack,¡± said Akira as he tried to free himself from their grips.
He received several smacks to the head from Piiper''s wings for his trouble.
¡°Mileena, you should focus on strengthening Piiperela. I also hope you can teach her to stop hitting people in the head.¡±
¡°But she only hits you in the head,¡± said Mileena.
¡°And no, you can''t come as it will only be for a few weeks at the most...I hope. It''s all business and not for pleasure,¡± said Akira, stopping Azura''s next words.
¡°I''ll be traveling with Burkin and my guards by boat to cut down on the time it takes to travel. The fewer people we have the faster I can get there and come back,¡± said Akira as he shoved the last few items into his leather bag.
¡°Hmph! I don''t see why letting one more person come will be such a problem,¡± said Azura.
¡°If I let you come then Mileena will want to come and before we know it hundreds of people will have joined,¡± said Akira as he pat Azura on the head.
¡°Piii!¡± said Piiper happy that Akira was going away for some time.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, reprimanding Piiper.
Chapter 188: Meeting old acquaintances
Akira exited the boat and helped the shorter Burkin with a large pack on his back out of the boat and onto the shore.
Dolph, Vilkas, Zundar, Klyn, and the other bodyguards all started to help unload the sleds and trade goods from a second larger ship that had followed behind them with the supplies and Gargs.
''I hate riding on whatever that dinky wood thing is called,'' said Grarr. ''Why did I have to ride on the second one?''
¡°If you were with me on the first ship we would have been too heavy and sunk,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball looking at the large body of Grarr.
''I''m not fat!''
¡°So what''s your plan on getting to the Jerora trade post?¡± asked Burkin after he finished putting on new dry boots.
¡°We''ll be heading straight there, only stopping at a few places to replenish our supplies. You should be able to trade with whatever town we stop at,¡± said Akira.
¡°I guess that''s for the best, we can''t waste time stopping at every place we see,¡± said Burkin.
¡°I''m sure there will be a lot of fighting to keep everyone happy,¡± said Zundar, as he swung his hammer.
¡°Only a battle fanatic would be happy about that,¡± said Klyn as he gathered his items.
***
Akira sat in a sturdy wooden chair of a small square mud house sipping a hot steaming cup of warm winter nut tea. In front of him was Efrem the chief of the Puman village. This was one of the few stops they planned to make.
¡°Thank you for agreeing to trade with my small village. We don''t have much, but the items I mentioned are all that we can offer for trade right now,¡± said Efrem.
¡°How is the village doing safety-wise? Any problem with monsters or Demigods?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Since you last came and helped build a wall our small village has grown a lot. We have added more houses to the village wall protection to further strengthen the defenses of the village. It may not be anything like a city wall but it does its job.
As for monster attacks we have not faced any problems like before, but we have seen and dealt with a few demigods that have passed by. The few interactions we had were not that great as they tried selling us useless junk that we didn''t need or did not have the money for.¡±
Akira passed over a small bag of gold to Efrem. ¡°Use this to help strengthen your village''s walls and buy some better weapons and armor to protect yourselves.¡±
¡°How can you give me such a large amount of gold?¡± asked Efrem as he quickly counted around 100 gold coins.
¡°I view it as an investment. If you do well and your village can grow even bigger and stronger, then we will both benefit from this. You don''t have to think of this as charity. You can pay it back later when you make enough money. I just worry the Demigods might cause problems with you and I think it is best that you prepare yourself.¡±
¡°With this much money, we will be able to gather all the needed supplies to fortify the village and buy better equipment. I will be sure to put it to good use. May I ask where you are going next after you leave?¡±
¡°We are going to Jerora,¡± said Akira as he finished his warm drink.
¡°Now that you have loaned this money to me there is no use in holding onto it. Can I send my son with you to Jerora? I hope you can watch over him as he gathers and buys everything we need.¡±
¡°I see no problem since we are going to the same place,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ferem, you heard everything right? Be sure to gather all that is on the list and follow Akira''s orders. It will do you some good to get out of the village and see several different places,¡± said Efrem to a young 14 to 15-year-old boy who stood in the corner of the room along with his mother.
¡°Efrem, is that really a good idea?¡± asked his mother who looked at her young son with a worry-filled face.
¡°Mother, there is no need to worry. I understand father, I will do as you say,¡± said Ferem.
***
Ferem and two other Puman warriors joined the small group as they headed north. With the few conversations Akira had with him he found that he was a rather shy youth who was skilled in the use of a spear as well as javelins.
As they were only a day away from Jerora Klyn let out a shout of warning, ¡°There are three people running towards us from left in front of us!¡±
Akira who had been talking with Burkin looked over to where Klyn was pointing and saw the three people running out of a cluster of trees a good distance away from them. They were all wearing brown-furred clothing, with large heavy looking packs on their backs.
With a quick whistle, Akira ordered the small caravan to stop.
¡°Efrem, Burkin, and both of your guards stay here. The rest of you follow me,¡± said Akira as he grabbed Klyn''s outstretched hand and pulled him up behind him before leading the rest of the mounted guards to intercept the strangers.
As they neared them Akira could see that the three men kept looking over their shoulders at the patch of snowy woods they had just run out of.
When they saw Akira and the others running towards them they gained a second wind and started to frantically run towards them.
¡°Halt!¡± Shouted Zundar in a booming voice as he stepped forward and held up a hand to the three winded strangers.
¡°What are you running...?¡± Akira''s question stopped as he looked at the three heavily breathing men. They look extremely familiar.
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¡°You!¡± shouted the oldest brother in shocked surprise.
¡°Me,¡± said Akira as he looked at them.
¡°Wait don''t beat us up! We''re not trying to rob you!¡± said the youngest brother.
¡°That''s right! We aren''t bandits, we''re honest travailing merchants!¡± said the middle brother.
¡°Save us! The crazy demigods are after us!¡± said the oldest brother.
In front of Akira... were the three Idiot bandit brothers he had met several times back on the old continent.
¡°What did you do this time?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Nothing! They''re just crazy! They have been chasing us for over a day!¡± said the oldest Idiot brother.
¡°Ha! I found you three idiots! You can''t get away from me after saying what you did! I''ll also take that map back!¡± shouted a loud deep husky voice.
¡°We''ll make you pay! We''ve already put a small bounty on your head,¡± said a high pitched voice.
Akira looked to the large and huge muscular barbarian woman who had a square blocky face, rough skin, short hair, and wore a large cape made out of a three eye mutant brown bear. She was almost as tall and muscular as a blood orc. The large thick spear she held onto was just as tall as her.
Next to her stood a thin man who had a very angular face, unblemished soft skin, and long flowing blond hair. He also carried a spear but his thin arms looked too weak to do much of anything.
¡°Hand those guys over to me. They are my prey and I intend to teach them a lesson before killing them!¡± roared the barbarian woman in her deep husky voice.
¡°We''ll do it nice and slowly!¡± said the dainty man, who looked like he would be blown away if the wind started to pick up and blow a little harder.
¡°Wait! I have no love for these idiots... but killing them is overboard don''t you think?¡± asked Akira trying to calm things down as he inspected the two to see who they were.
[Etza Prap] [Imma Prap]
¡°No. Hand them over along with the map or we''ll kill you as well!¡± said the man named Etza Prap.
Akira gave up trying to talk and silently gave the order to his guards who had their weapons already drawn to dispose of the demigods.
Akira instigated the fight by sending a [Sword slash] towards the two demigods. The skill flew right over the three cowering Idiot brother''s heads.
Imma Prap held her spear out in front of her to block the attack while Etza Prap bent backward with great flexibility almost touching the ground to dodge the skill.
Unfortunately for Imma Prap the skill cut right through her spear and cut deep into her chest fatally wounding her.
¡°So.. strong...¡± muttered Imma Prap as her nearly severed body fell to the ground blood flowing out of the deep wound. The damage to her body was too large and she quickly disappeared into multiple light fragments.
¡°Sister!¡± Screeched Etza Prap, ¡°You demon! I will keel you!¡±
Etza Prap ran towards Akira with his spear glowing brightly as he came forward several guards threw javelins at him trying to pierce him.
But he was able to nimbly dodge them and slip past those who tried to block his way with their spears.
Etza Prap was amazingly agile and dodged everything as he was determined to attack Akira with his full power spear attack.
BAM!
Zundar surprised Etza Prap by blocking his path at the last second and received a full-powered attack from Zundar.
The large hammer slammed right into Etza Prap''s gut and sent his limp body flying nearly 50 feet up into the air before disappearing into several fragments of light.
¡°Thank you! You saved us! We are very grateful!¡± said Middle idiot brother.
¡°What did you do to make them so angry?¡± asked Klyn who didn''t know who the three were.
¡°Nothing much. We were just playing cards with them and kept losing money to them,¡± said Oldest idiot brother.
¡°They were using some type of cheat I''m sure of it. So when they offered one more round to win it all back as well as a special map, we took the chance and sorta made sure we would win,¡± said Middle idiot brother.
¡°Right, right, we only won that round and thanked them for their time and left,¡± said the youngest idiot brother.
¡°So they caught you cheating?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No way! I don''t think it has to do with anything like that. Brother is very skilled at cheat...I mean playing cards. They only got angry after I complimented them. I only told them that their names suited them very well before we left,¡± said the youngest idiot brother.
¡°They''ve been chasing us ever since! Who would have thought being nice would lead to someone trying to kill you!¡± said the Oldest idiot brother.
¡°It seems like they will be looking for you when they reappear tomorrow,¡± said Akira.
¡°Please let us come with you back to Jerora!¡±
¡°I beg you, keep us safe!¡±
¡°We can give you the map they wanted if you protect us! It''s some type of treasure map may be worth 1000s'' of gold.¡± said the oldest as he handed the map over to Akira.
Akira took the map as he inspected it. He did not know what the map showed or where one could find the area depicted on the map. In all his traveling he had not seen any area that had the features that were on this map. At the bottom of the map were several lines written in an ancient language.
Ding!
You have found the map that leads to the secret hideout of an ancient kingdom from long ago.
Use the map and the clues written to find the ancient hibernating kingdom and earn several great things!
|
''A hibernating kingdom? What is this? Hmm...they weren''t joking, this looks like a very important map,'' thought Akira.
After taking a few moments to think it over Akira rolled up the map and put it in his bag.
¡°You can join us and while we''re at Jerora I''ll protect you from the Demigods if they try to kill you. But after I leave you''re on your own.¡±
¡°Thank you!¡± the three idiot brothers all shouted.
¡°What are your names so I don''t have to keep calling you by your age?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I am Oib.¡± said Oldest Idiot brother.
¡°Mib.¡± said Middle Idiot brother.
¡°Yib, at your service,¡± said Youngest Idiot brother.
¡°You three better keep to yourselves and not do any stupid crap. I don''t need you causing me any problems. If you do, I will leave you to the demigods. Don''t talk to Ferem since I can''t have you corrupting him with your idiocy and bad habits,¡± said Akira.
¡°We will be so quiet that you won''t know we''re traveling with you!¡± said Eib, as they all stood straight and saluted Akira.
***
On the rest of the way to Jerora the three idiots loudly talked with everyone ignoring what they had said.
The weather was slightly warmer this far north compared to the south which had already entered the early weeks of winter.
When they arrived at Jerora the next morning they found that the whole outside of the city was jammed packed with several large tent cities everywhere. Which made the trade city look to be nearly 3 times as large as it was when Akira had last stayed here.
It was extremely crowded and the loud noises coming from everywhere was quite maddening.
As they walked through the crowded areas Akira could see several different demon races, along with humans, and even some demigods setting up tents.
¡°What''s going on?¡± asked Akira as he looked at all the chaos.
¡°Hmmm... not sure...¡± said Burkin as he looked at the large crowds.
¡°Ah! How could I have forgotten this big event was going to happen! It is that time of year again,¡± said Burkin after thinking of something.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The great once a year Mega Auction!¡±
Chapter 189: The Governor and the start of the Auction
Akira searched for an open spot near the city wall and found one on the right side. He had his guards box off an area with their sleds allowing them to safely pitch their tents inside.
The large Gargs milling around in the cramped area acted as guards for their items as well as the people inside.
''Why can''t I come inside?'' asked Grarr.
¡°You''re too big and there are too many people here for the auction. Even if there was no auction happening I don''t know if they would have allowed you to enter,¡± said Akira as he sorted out his items he would be taking with him into the city.
¡°When are we going to go trade?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°I don''t know how long I will be inside due to the large crowd. You can see what you can get done while I am in the city or you can wait and we can go together as soon as I get back from talking with governor Scoit,¡± said Akira. ¡°Zundar, Burkin, Klyn, watch the three idiots and make sure they don''t corrupt Ferem.¡±
¡°We''ll make sure to keep him safe,¡± said Yib, as he and his two brothers all stood ramrod straight.
¡°You don''t need to worry about us! We would never bully our little 4th brother,¡± said Oib.
¡°Don''t go adding people to your group, especially not him!¡± said Akira. He gave each of the three brothers a quick bop on the head before leaving with his guards.
¡°Ow... what was that for? Didn''t he want us to watch over little 4th brother?¡± Asked Mib as he rubbed his head.
The line of humans, demon races, and even a few scattered Demigods waiting to get into the city was extremely long. This was due to the governor heightening the security due to the mega auction that would be held soon. Everyone who wanted to enter the city was questioned while their names and faces were checked with a wanted list compiled by the larger cities.
After an hour and a half of waiting, Akira was finally able to enter the city along with Dolph and Vilkas.
They Immediately headed towards the center of the city where the city governor''s house was. When they reached the small street that led to the house they found another large crowd of people clogging the area.
When Akira saw a city guard walking by he called him over.
¡°Is there a way to talk to the governor Scoit?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Get in line,¡± said the guard pointing to the large crowd. ¡°And before you say that you are a lord or something, so are they. Just wait your turn and you will be able to see the governor eventually.¡±
Akira spent the rest of the morning and even into the early afternoon waiting outside just to talk to the governor. When he reached the front door of the governor''s house he looked behind and saw that it was just as crowded as when he had arrived in the morning with hundreds of people still waiting maybe even more than before.
¡°Who does he think he is,¡± complained a haughty female as she stormed out of the building with a male companion following behind her.
¡°Next!¡± shouted a guard from inside the house.
Akira and his two guards entered the building.
¡±What is your name and territory?¡± asked the guard stopping them from walking to the hallway that led to the governor''s office.
¡°He is Akira, lord of Kodria,¡± answered Dolph before Akira could.
The guard''s eyebrows raised as he inspected Akira before lazily waving him past where another two guards were waiting for them. Akira was led to the office by the guards at a quick pace.
¡°Akira, lord of Kodria, is to see you, governor,¡± shouted one of the guards in a formal manner as he opened the door.
¡°Akira you say? Ah yes, you''re that young werewolf that helped us clear the dungeon last winter. How are you? From the rumors I hear, you must be doing well with the large success of Kodria,¡± said a haggard and tired Scoit when he saw Akira enter the same messy office room that had not changed much other than getting messier.
¡°We are growing fast. There have been a few hiccups but we have taken care of them.¡±
¡°Please sit, who can I help you today. I will be frank with you, if you came to ask for favors towards the auction, or to get a list of the items, their prices, or the owners of the items, I can not do it no matter who you are,¡± said Scoit.
¡°No, I didn''t come here for the auction. I was surprised that something like this was happening. I came to talk about the trade deal between our two cities that you talked about with the grand elders last time,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ah... that I do really want to take care of that matter but that is not something we can take care of in a few minutes and as you could tell I am really busy today. I am swamped with greeting every noble big and small from every town and village in the surrounding area as well as those from far away.
There have even been a few Demigods that I had to talk to today. Can we do this after the auction has finished in a few days?¡± asked Scoit in a pleading manner. He wanted to work on the trade deal but was overwhelmed with work right now.
¡°I can wait a few days but I hope it doesn''t take forever as the situation south is quite tense. I only have one more question. Is there someone I can go to and in order to add items to the auction?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You can give them to me but they must be of a certain quality as this is not a normal low-end auction.¡±
¡°Do these match the quality you are looking for?¡± asked Akira as he started to take items out of his bag placing a bag of cut gems and a second one that had several [Cute Ice slime] stones.
Scoit''s eyebrows raised as he looked at the items inside the bags. He quickly scribbled some stuff on a piece of paper before putting the bags on a silver platter and motioning for one of the guards to carry it away.
¡°I will make sure that they are appraised and handled properly. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡±
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¡°No that was all I needed. I will return the day after the auction has finished, to finalize our trade plans. Good luck with your work,¡± said Akira as he stood up.
¡°Just wait until your city becomes this big. Then you will understand the terror of paperwork,¡± said Scoit as Akira left the room.
***
It took Akira nearly a half hour just to exit the clogged city so he could walk back to the campsite where the others were waiting.
As they drew near he could hear the three idiot brothers talking loudly.
¡°That Akira guy really has gotten quite scary since we first met him,¡± said Yib.
¡°Right, right! Back then he was such a weak guy, I could smack him around with my pinky,¡± said Oib.
¡°If only he didn''t sneak up on us then we wouldn''t have lost,¡± said Mib.
¡°Do you want to try me now without me sneaking up on you?¡± asked Akira from right behind the three idiot brothers.
¡°AHHH!¡± the three idiot brothers all nearly jumped out of their skin in shock as they turned around to see a scarily grinning Akira who had a wolfish grin on his face.
''What took you so long? It was so annoying having to listen to these three the whole time,'' said Grarr.
¡°The line to get into the city is no joke, and then there was a large crowd in front of the governor''s house as well,¡± said Akira.
¡°Did you take care of everything you needed to?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°No, we''ll have to wait a few days. Since it has tuned out like this I decided that we will also be attending the auction just to see what they have to offer,¡± said Akira.
***
The next day everyone including the three idiot brothers went into the city to take care of selling and buying the certain items they all needed.
With the large number of people that had gathered it was not hard to find a buyer for their items or find any of the items that they needed.
Akira made sure that Ferem properly spent the gold on the things his father had put on the list. When he had bought everything there was still a good chunk of gold leftover.
¡°You can save that for the auction and if there is something that you think will help you or your village use it then,¡± said Akira.
¡°Okay, I will do that big brother,¡± said Ferem, who had started to call Akira big brother after seeing how strong he was.
***
Day of the auction.
The large central market had been cleared of its usual wooden stalls and small tents and in their place, a massive tent was erected taking up the entire space of the large central market.
Inside of the massive tent were several hundred rows of wooden benches added in front of the raised stage where the items would be auctioned off.
Hanging from the tent''s ceiling were several chandeliers with burning magical fire lighting up the entire large tent. Akira did not know the cost but he guessed that It must have cost a small fortune to set up the Auction tent.
Akira was sitting in one of the several raised VIP boxes that overlooked the large growing crowd below him. He was only allowed to bring four guests into the VIP booth so he had picked Dolph, Vilkas, Klyn, and Zundar. Ferem and the rest of the guards had all found a spot somewhere nearby in the mass crowd.
Since his group had arrived at the VIP box ahead of the other groups that would be sharing it he was able to pick which seats he wanted to sit in. He chose to sit on the right side next to the VIP box''s wall.
¡°Look at the size of that guy, and that guy with the dark shiny armor next to him. I see, you must be Akira the young pup of that new werewolf city,¡± said a loud voice from behind as someone entered the VIP box.
An elderly dwarf with droopy eyebrows and a long gray beard appeared with three other Dwarves including Burkin.
¡°Are these seats taken?¡± asked the old dwarf as he stood next to the empty seats near Akira''s group.
¡°No, you can sit there if you like. May I know your name?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Names Drewpy. I''m Burkin''s uncle. You here for the auction''s big prize as well?¡± asked Drewpy, as he held out a dry and gnarled hand for Akira to shake.
¡°The big prize?¡± asked Akira as he shook the elderly dwarf''s hand which gripped his own with great strength.
¡°Uncle he came with me to do some trading, but with all that we have been doing, I forgot that the auction would be happening this week. He doesn''t know anything about it,¡± said Burkin.
¡°The Big prize is always the best and last item they auction off and it almost always makes the most money for them. So you need to save your money if you want it.
No one ever knows what it will be until they announce it on stage. There is always a risk of it being something that you can''t use making some wish they had spent their gold on other items. But if you waste all your gold on the smaller stuff and the big prize is something really special you will be cursing yourself for buying the small items,¡± said Drewpy.
¡°Ha you guys should just give up on buying the big mystery prize,¡± said an oily voice that was walking up the stairs into the VIP box.
Akira''s group along with the Dwarves looked to see a middle-aged man leading four others behind him. One of them happened to be Tormoid.
¡°Grand Elder,¡± was all Akira said in greeting as he nodded his head to him.
¡°Oh, you know Tormoid? I am grand elder Erock Nama of Crowmaw city. Looking at your age you must be that Akira I have heard so much about... You don''t seem like much,¡± said Erock as he walked over to the far left wall and sat in the front chair.
¡°What a surprise that we would all be put in the same VIP box,¡± said another voice from behind.
This time it was grand elder D¨´ghall who had arrived and was led by another Grand elder and three others who all chose to sit next to the dwarves.
¡°I''m Brod, grand elder of Bleur Shor city. I have heard a lot about you from grand elder D¨´ghall, I would like to talk with you later when you are free as I am sure we can both find benefit if we have a friendly relationship,¡± said grand elder Brod.
¡°Ha, your will just be bringing trouble on your head,¡± said Erock.
¡°Akira, I only heard of your grandfather''s death recently. I am sorry that I was unable to be there for his funeral,¡± said D¨´ghall.
¡°Ha, if he had not been so stubborn and listened to me he would still be alive,¡± said Tormoid.
¡°Thank you grand elder D¨´ghal. My grandfather believed in me and I believe I have not let him down with how fast Kodria has been growing. We will soon be building a great big 30-foot wall around the city,¡± said Akira.
¡°A waste of money and resources. You don''t need something like that I have none at my place and we are doing just fine,¡± said Erock.
¡°That may be fine for you. But I care for the people that live in Kodria and I do not wish any harm to come to them by any ill-meaning group of people or monsters who might wish to enter and cause problems.¡±
¡°Why did we get put in a box filled with a bunch of demon races?¡± asked a voice from behind.
¡°Ah that''s the guy who killed us!¡± said a familiar high-pitched voice.
¡°He also killed us!¡± said two others.
Akira looked to see Ineda Badth, Hary Mandtis, Etza Prap, Imma Prap, and one other person Akira had not seen before.
Everyone including Erock''s group had their hands on their weapons ready for a fight when they realized who the people were after they spoke those few words.
¡°Woah! What''s with the tense atmosphere here? We''re not here to fight we just want to bid on the items in the auction. I am sorry that my idiot friends offended you. I hope you still don''t have any hard feelings,¡± said the unknown man in a gentlemanly way as he gave Akira a bow.
¡°And you are?¡± asked Akira, not bothering to inspect him.
¡°Gen the gentleman at your service.¡±
Akira turned away from the demigod as he did not want to bother with them and also due to Gen''s face that made not only him but everyone else in the box want to punch it.
¡°Whatever as long as you don''t bother me I won''t bother you,¡± said Akira.
The others all slightly relaxed but did not take their eyes off of the demigods that had taken the leftover seats between the Erock and Brod''s groups.
Knock! Knock! A wooden hammer repeatedly slammed down onto another piece of wood echoing over the noisy crowd.
¡°The annual Jerora mega auction will begin now!¡± shouted the middle-aged male auctioneer.
Chapter 190: Mega Auction like never before
In the entire chilly auction tent, only a few dared to continue their whispered conversations while everyone else quieted down and watched the middle-aged auctioneer and his assistants bring out each item and auction them off one after another.
Akira paid no attention to the Demigods and the other werewolf clans, leaving that to Dolph and Vilkas who would notify him if something happened.
A quick scan of the large crowd showed that there were many other demigods as well as several different demon races situated all through the tent.
Several high and important lords that had joined the event had been acknowledged at the beginning of the auction letting everyone know who they were and where they sat. This also was used to help warn those in the crowd not to anger them if those lords wanted to bid on something.
¡°Next up item number 69, we have several boxes of small wall ballista that will be sold as one group. They are sold as-is and you will have to put them together yourself. We have only put together one to show off what they look like,¡± said the Auctioneer as two burly men carried out the small wall ballista and placed it on the stage for everyone to see.
The height of the small wall ballista was around the burly men''s waist, the front was as wide as the two men together. They were quite compact when compared to the normal large ballista that most larger towns used, but they were not as small as the large crossbows that soldiers would carry. There was also the fact that it was mounted on a swivel tripod which allowed for it to be steadily aimed without the user being hindered by its weight.
¡°A special feature of this small wall ballista is that the tripod is able to be adjusted up or down allowing it to fit many different types of walls. The starting price will be 50 gold, all bidding must be in increments of 1 or more gold pieces,¡± said the auctioneer as he looked out over the crowd searching for anyone that wanted to place a bid.
When Akira saw a small wall ballista he was reminded of an event he had seen in the past while he was searching for the werewolf clans. A sudden idea popped into his head and he decided that he would try to obtain the unknown number of small ballista.
Before he could raise his number paddle another finely dressed noble from a private box from across the tent raised his first.
¡°Number 420 bids 50 gold. Is there anyone else that is willing to bid? The price is still low and is quite a steal right now,¡± shouted the auctioneer.
¡°R32 bids 55,¡± shouted the auctioneer when he saw Akira''s paddle raise with the price.
In order to be a good auction presenter, one had to have two things a way with words and good eyesight. All other things such as looks were just a bonus.
The fancily dressed noble looked at Akira who was wearing only his dark armor that did not show off whether or not he was rich or not. The noble gave a huff not bothering to puzzle over who Akira was and raised the price.
¡°420 bids 69.¡±
¡°75¡± ¡°85¡±
¡°R32 bids 100 gold!¡± said the auctioneer getting into a grove trying to raise the price. ¡°Does the 420 noble gentlemen want to raise the bid higher?¡±
The nobleman looked at Akira angrily and grit his teeth before turning his paddle over to reveal its red back to decline to bid any further on the item set.
Since the total number of small wall ballista was not listed he did not know if he was vastly overpaying for a few of them or if he was getting a huge deal. He didn''t want to risk such a large amount of gold when there could be other more expensive items that he wanted.
Akira also had the same worries and only went out on a limb with his last bid, if the price went over 100 he would give up immediately.
¡°Going once, Twice, Three times...Sold to R32!¡± shouted the auctioneer after a long pause hoping others would jump in and bid.
Seeing the item was successfully auctioned off the muscular men carried the small ballista off of the platform and the auction continued with several other items that did not interest Akira.
Several items were successfully won by the other werewolf clans, dwarves, and the demigods that all sat in the same VIP booth as him.
Many of the miscellaneous rare items that Akira had handed to the auction presenters the other day when he had failed to sell them at the market had all sold quickly for a decent price.
¡°Auction item number 123 is...10 heavy medium wall mounted ballista. The star starting price will be 50 gold. Bids to raise the price will all be 1 gold or higher.¡±
Akira again decided to bid on this item as Kodria was lacking in the larger long-range defenses. The 50 gold was currently around 1/3 of the actual price that one could buy ten of the ballista for.
The ballistas were fought over by several others who wanted them causing the price to shoot past 100 gold and only started to slow down when it hit 130 gold which was nearing its actual price. Many dropped out as they had wanted to get them for a discounted price but it looked like that was not going to happen.
The last two people bidding on them were again Akira and the fancy noble.
¡°Sold! Item number 123 goes to R32 for 181 gold!¡± shouted the Auctioneer.
¡°With this, we have come to the halfway point of the auction. The auction will take a break as we gather and prepare the more expensive items for sale when we resume!¡± said the auctioneer before leaving the stage without another word.
¡°What there''s a break?¡± asked Akira as he watched the man and his assistants leave.
¡°It has always been like this. The cheaper items are sold in the morning and then there is a break so everyone can eat lunch and refresh themselves before the more expensive items are sold. The main mega item is always sold last just before the auction ends,¡± said Burkin.
Akira and his guards were the last to leave the VIP box as they waited for everyone to clear out of the tent so that he didn''t have to push through the large crowd that was trying to leave.
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As he descended the VIP box he found several nobles as well as their guards milling around the VIP box.
¡°Is there something that we can help you with?¡± Klyn asked the men blocking their path.
Vilkas, Dolph, and Zundar all had their hands on their weapons as they moved to protect Akira from any harm.
Seeing their actions one of the nobles let out a snort of derision.
¡°You are Akira? The werewolf of the small village, south of here?¡± asked fancy-pants Noble 420.
¡°I am,¡± said Akira who also was ready for any trouble that might start.
¡°My big bro has taken an interest in you for a while. When he heard from another merchant that your small village has some good gems and minerals that you have come across he was even more intrigued. From now on my big bro wants you to sell him all your items your village finds,¡± said fancy-pants noble 420.
¡°Not interested.¡±
Fancy-pants noble 420''s face turned red as he was not happy with being brushed off so lightly by some savage nobody who was only the chief of some small village.
¡°You have come here to sell such items right? My big bro will buy all of them for 70 gold.¡±
¡°Not interested.¡±
¡°Get out of here with your ridiculous offers,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°You are bothering our lord, move aside,¡± said Dolph as he took a stance for fighting.
¡°Do you know who I am!?¡± shouted the angry fancy-pants noble 420.
¡°Yes. You are fancy-pants noble 420,¡± said Akira.
The noble''s face turned even redder. If it was even possible Akira was sure that steam would have shot out from his ears due to the extreme heat generated by the man''s anger.
¡°I am here for my bro who controls one of the northern duchies. Duke Craven Moorehead!¡±
¡°Who''s that? Never heard of them,¡± said Akira disinterestedly.
¡°You...You...you should be happy that the great duke has honored you with the chance to sell him your items. He is a great man and even has Demigods who trade with him!¡± said the angry fancy-pants noble 420.
Akira was growing tired of talking with the idiot so his hand shot out towards the noble who had walked close to him as he had shouted. His hand stopped an inch away from the man''s face forming an armored fist.
¡°Ah! I caught the annoying fly,¡± said Akira as he slowly pulled his fist back.
The other nearby nobles were shocked and slowly took a few steps back while thinking, ''Who is this mad man? Why is he pretending there are flies? There is already snow outside so all the flies are already dead.''.
Fancy-pants noble 420''s face had turned white and stood stiff from the shock. His mouth was still wide open.
¡°If you don''t close your mouth you''ll swallow a fly,¡± said Akira as he moved past the man.
Two of the noble¡¯s guards moved as if to intercept Akira but a large arm reached out and knocked them to the side.
¡°Oops sorry I was stretching and accidentally hit you,¡± said Zundar as he walked over to the two guards and grabbed each of them by their shoulder with one hand, and jerked them back to their feet.
¡°There you''re fine,¡± said Zundar as he vigorously patted them on the head. To the two guards, it felt like he was trying to hammer them into the ground.
¡°What took you so long?¡± asked Burkin as he was munching on some warm grilled mystery meat on a stick.
¡°A few annoying flies stopped me for a few minutes,¡± said Akira.
***
As the guest gathered to join the second half of the auction Akira could see the tent was now less crowded. It was mostly due to the large price differences of the items that would be put on display, making it pointless for the poorer people to try and bid on them.
¡°I would like to warn all of our guests once again that fighting during the auction is prohibited and anyone who does will be fined, thrown out, and or banned from entering Jerora,¡± said the auctioneer as he looked at both Akira and Fancy-pants noble 420.
¡°Item number 124 is a rare book that our experts say has the writing of two ancient languages. It is several hundred years old but is in superb condition! The starting bid is 30 gold! What a steal for such an ancient book that would fit well on the shelves of any ancient book collector!¡±
The crowd was silent for over a minute as they all looked at the book and the auctioneer with puzzled looks. During that time no one offered up even the starting bid of 30 gold.
¡°Why are you selling cheap junk?¡± shouted a person from one of the VIP boxes.
¡°Is there anyone who wants to buy item 124?¡± asked the auctioneer now a little embarrassed at trying to sell the book.
No one answered him as they continued to impatiently stare at him.
¡°Lord! Hurry and buy that book!¡± said Zundar in an urgent whisper to Akira.
¡°Why? I have no interest in something like that,¡± said Akira.
¡°I doubt a muscle head like you would even know how to read something like that,¡± said Klyn.
¡°The book looks to be a dictionary written by one of the sorcerers from my old kingdom! I don''t want it but I am sure your weak glasses bookworm friend would find it interesting!¡± hissed Zundar hurriedly.
Akira only had a few seconds to decide.
¡°No one wants to bid on such a rare and ancient book?¡± asked the auctioneer embarrassed that he was unable to sell the item. ¡°I guess we''ll...¡±
¡°R32 bids 30 gold!¡± said Akira raising his paddle.
Everyone in the tent looked towards Akira wanting to see what idiot bought the useless item that was far too overpriced.
The auctioneer seeing Akira bid on it hurriedly went through the motions and quickly announced Akira as the winner of the book worried Akira might change his mind.
The auction had no other hiccups after the ancient book and continued to sell items that all started in the low 100s and slowly rose to 500+ gold.
Among the items were Akira''s Gems and the [Cute Ice slime] magic stones that were ready to equip to armor or weapons.
There were several other items that Akira was interested in but they were extremely expensive so he held off on buying anything more as he was waiting for the last item to appear and would try to use all his remaining gold to buy it if it was something he needed.
A loud fast-beating drum sounded as the last item before the mega item was successfully sold.
¡°We have finally come to the last and the most grand item that you have all been waiting for! I present you Item number 669 the mega item to dwarf all other items,¡± said the auctioneer pointing both arms towards the curtains where his assistants had gone to retrieve the item.
The drum continued to beat as the auctioneer held his arms up.
1 minute, 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes passed with the drums beating and the auctioneer standing still.
¡°They sure know how to draw things out,¡± said Zundar impatiently at the long waiting for the last item.
The crowd inside the tent began to get restless as they waited and started to loudly talk with each other wondering what was going on.
The auctioneer''s face was filled with puzzlement and sweat as he still held his arms up towards the curtains while staring at them as if trying to command them to open and reveal the item.
After ten minutes passed the auctioneer was forced to excuse himself and head back to find out what the problem was.
When he came back onto the stage his face was completely white in shock.
¡°The auction of the last item will be postponed. Everyone is free to return to their lodging,¡± said the auctioneer in a shaky voice.
This caused the crowd to go into an uproar. But Akira ignored the loud shouts since his nose had caught a whiff of something. His eyes narrowed and found that the scent was all over the man''s shoes.
Blood.
Chapter 191: Shadows, darkness, and bad feelings
¡°Honored guest, I have to ask you to please leave and go back to your lodging,¡± said the shaky auctioneer who was clearly shaken up from whatever he had seen.
For a second time that day, the majority of guests in the large tent sat stunned while a few hurriedly chatted with others around them.
The rest of Akira''s guards who had been sitting in the normal seating area, hurriedly moved to the VIP box to wait for Akira''s further orders. They had also smelled the blood that was coming from the man.
¡°What''s up with you dogs?¡± asked Gen the gentleman when he saw all of the werewolves in the VIP booth acting strange.
¡°I''ll meet up with you later Burkin. I need to do something first,¡± said Akira as he walked down the stairs of the VIP box and headed for the front auction stage.
When he reached the stage Governor Scoit was already finishing up trying to talk to the auctioneer in order to figure out what was going on.
¡°Make sure you check everywhere for clues,¡± said Scoit as he turned to leave. When he did come face to face with Akira and his guards.
¡°Sorry, I can''t talk about trading right now since something has happened. I''ll have to take care of this first,¡± said Scoit in a tired voice.
¡°I wasn''t coming here to talk to you about trade. I and several others were able to see and smell the blood. So I have come to offer my help to you. Our noses can be a great help to you in finding clues and maybe even the killer,¡± said Akira.
¡°Haaa... So you noticed that someone killed the assistants. By now everyone probably knows that the mega item was stolen. This will ruin our reputation greatly,¡± said Scoit with a sad sigh.
¡°What was the mega item? If we come across it or see someone using it we can try to retrieve it or at least let you know who has it,¡± said Akira.
¡°There is no point in doing something like that. It is a special one-time use item which is extremely rare that it might as well be one of a kind. Whoever stole it must have used it already or they will have already left and are now on their way to whoever they stole it for. I have too much on my plate right now, so if you can help me find the culprits I will reward you as well as allow you to negotiate better terms in the previously arranged agreement,¡± said Scoit. With a tired wave of the hand, he left the stage with his own guards trailing behind him as he went to take care of other urgent matters.
Ding!
New quest! Mega hunt!:
Your task? Find the person who killed and stole the mega auction item!
Reward: A better trade agreement and a stronger relationship with Jerora and its governor. With the possibility of military help in future.
|
Akira turned to Dolph and Vilkas who were more experienced trackers, ¡°Either of you want to take a crack at finding the culprit?¡±
¡°I can,¡± said Vilkas as he transformed. He silently walked ahead of the group and sniffed the bloody print on the stage before he moved to the curtains and walked to the other side.
Akira followed him into an area that was filled with several hundreds of boxes and items that had been shown off earlier in the day and were waiting for their bidders to pay for them.
¡°Hey what are you doing back here?¡± asked the surprised auctioneer who was sitting on one of the boxes. He had been staring at a spot on the ground before he felt that someone had entered.
¡°The governor has given them permission to find the culprit,¡± said one of the extra city guards who were now guarding the curtains on guard to stop another disastrous event from happening.
¡°Whatever,¡± said the Auctioneer who returned his dazed gaze back to the spot on the ground.
Vilkas moved towards the spot and stopped. There they found a large patch of slow drying red blood. The bodies of the assistants had already been removed and the blood had been sloppily cleaned up.
Vilkas sniffed the area for any scent clues, the other werewolves all stood back to allow him space to work.
When he was finished he turned to the dazed Auctioneer and waved his large paw in front of him to get his attention, ¡°The bodies, what state were they in when you found them? Were they in one piece? Any bite marks or noticeable stab wounds.¡±
¡°They... they... the head...arms and legs... all cleanly severed from their bodies,¡± said the stuttering Auctioneer as his eyes looked up as he clearly remembered the image of their bodies.
Vilkas continued sniffing the surrounding area and found something that caught his attention leading him deeper into the maze of boxes.
He stopped in front of a large wooden box that had its side open only a crack. He pulled on it and found that it easily opened up revealing the inside of the large box. It was completely empty.
The scent that had caught his attention was now extremely strong clinging to the wooden box. Every werewolf even those with the weakest nose could understand that someone had stayed inside the box for an extended period of time.
¡°So this is where the culprit hid. All we need now is to find out how they got in and who and where they are,¡± said Akira as he looked at the large box.
Vilkas raised a hand to ask for quiet as he stepped back and forth inside the box as if testing something.
He bent over and knocked on the ground only to hear a hollow echo bellow. It was not what they were expecting.
Stepping out of the box he roughly shoved it aside and knocking over other items that had been stacked nearby.
¡°What are you doing!¡± shouted the startled auctioneer as he stood up and started to stumble over to them with weak legs as if he were drunk.
Vilkas only pointed to the ground and waited for the auctioneer to arrive.
¡°Oh...¡± said the auctioneer as he looked at the open hole that led to the sewer system below.
¡°No wonder he had such a strong smell,¡± said Klyn who stood next to Akira with a scrunched nose.
¡°How did you not notice something like that?¡± Akira asked the auctioneer as he pointed to the large empty box.
¡°We were too busy working on keeping everything running smoothly. But I''m certain that we inspected each and every box before it was placed inside the tent,¡± said the Auctioneer with a puzzled look on his face.
¡°Klyn, please take Fluffball and go with Zundar, and the other guards to take care of gathering the items that we bought,¡± said Akira.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°And what are you going to do?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°I''ll be taking Vilkas and Dolph down into the sewers to see what else we can find,¡± said Akira.
¡°But the sewers should have many iron gates to stop people from roaming around down there,¡± said the auctioneer.
¡°Well obviously it didn''t stop whoever killed the assistants and stole the mega item,¡± said Akira as he hopped into the hole after Vilkas and Dolph.
***
Neither Akira nor his two guards were pleased with having to walk through the underground sewer. Luckily for them, it wasn''t overflowing and they were able to find some dry icy ground on the sides. The smell was far worse than above and Akira could feel the stink sinking into his body.
Akira and Dolph walked behind Vilkas who was following faint tracks and traces of someone who had passed by not that long ago.
The only light in the sewers came from the random openings in the streets above their heads which all had melted slush draining into the sewers. Even that light was fading as the dark night was coming on in full force and was only staved off with torches and lanterns.
As the assistant said the sewer tunnels did have many barriers to block one''s path but someone had already cleared a path to the central trade plaza where the auction was taking place. The large cuts to the metal gates looked to be clean and sharp just as the auctioneer had described the dismembered bodies of the assistants.
The tracks and faint scent led them to another large manhole. The half-frozen metal covering showed signs of scrapes on the edges as well as ice on other parts having been knocked off from being pried open recently.
The three quickly climbed up and exited the sewer to find themselves in a dark back alley standing in front of a large shabby pawn shop.
¡°I can''t get a good scent... and with all the activity that has happened around this area...¡± Vilkas said as he sniffed around and scrutinized the hundreds of footprints in the mushy snow that was now slowly freezing in the cold night air.
Akira could night blame Vilkas for losing the scent as he thought his own nose would be broken for at least a month after only walking through the horrid sewers, and that was while he was not transformed which would have amplified the sewers smell.
Akira walked across the dark street and pushed open the pawnshop''s door entering the pawnshop. He found himself standing in a small room that had a large counter and several shelves all full of broken junk.
Akira caught a glimpse of two scaly Ramia disappearing behind a curtain at the back of the room.
Akira''s attention was brought away from the curtain by an angry voice.
¡°Were not open, can''t you read the sign on the door?¡± asked the female human who sat next to a large pile of junk behind the counter.
A muscular man walked out from behind the curtain and only took one look at Akira before speaking.
¡°The general store is next door.¡±
¡°Did anyone acting funny or smelling like sewer come in here to sell you something or pass through?¡± asked Akira, ignoring the angry female¡¯s glare.
¡°The only strange and stinky people are you three mutts. Get your stinky butts out of here or I''ll call the city guards!¡±
Ding!
[Akira''s bad feeling] has leveled up to level 4!
|
Akira was unsure what the message and what his stomach was warning against but he knew that it was not a good idea to stay so he left the pawnshop along with his two guards.
Another hour of fruitless search brought up nothing new. The trail had truly gone cold :p, so they reluctantly headed back to their camp to clean up before reporting to the governor on what they had found.
***
¡°What do you mean he isn''t here?¡± Akira asked the three idiot brothers after having cleaned up.
¡°Several Ramia came and were talking to him like they were old friends. They led him somewhere else. I thought they were friends so I didn''t think it wasn''t a big deal,¡± said Oib.
¡°You idiots. I told you to watch over him and make sure nothing happened to him and you let him go off with strangers,¡± said Akira exasperated.
¡°Hey! At least we know where they went,¡± said Yib.
¡°And where is that?¡±
¡°The black market! They said that he should come with them and spend the rest of his money there,¡± said the middle idiot.
¡°Yeah, they said that sometimes the black market sells items they get from demigods. Supposedly the demigods have special stores back home where only they can buy these items,¡± said Mib.
¡°And where is this black market?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We don''t know,¡± said the three brothers all at once with an indifferent shrug as if to say ¡®How should we know?¡¯
¡°Lord, what about those two we saw entering the back room of the pawnshop?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°Right. Let''s go and bring him back,¡± said Akira as he left the camp with Fluffball and his two guards following him.
Bam! The pawnshop door was knocked wide open.
¡°You again!? I told you we are closed. If you don''t leave I will call the city guards,¡± said the flustered female.
¡°Go ahead. I am sure they would love to hear about the black market that is hiding inside this large building,¡± said Akira as he walked towards the back of the room.
¡°Wha... What are you talking about? Sir! You can''t go back there, only certain customers are allowed,¡± said the woman as she tried to stop Akira.
¡°Don''t worry, I''m not here to cause trouble with you guys. I am just going to bring back someone that was led inside,¡± sad Akira as he pushed her to the side.
¡°Who is it I can go and see if I can find them for you,¡± said the flustered woman as she tried to stop Akira from entering the back room.
Vilkas smacked her reaching hands away from Akira and stood between her as Akira passed into a dark hallway that had no lighting.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see that there were many doors in the hallway most of them closed. The man from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
At the far end of the hallway was a set of stairs that led up.
Akira waited a few seconds for Dolph and Vilkas to join him. The female stopped at the entrance of the hallway and was quietly hissing at them to stop and come back.
They could hear several voices and different conversations coming from many of the rooms as they passed by. They stopped for a few seconds to listen for Ferem''s voice as well as sniffing the air for his scent.
Akira was surprised when he heard the sound of Ground Elder D¨´ghalls voice causing him to pause and listen.
¡°It''s a shame that Akira''s grandfather was killed by demigods during such a trying time,¡± said D¨´ghall.
¡°His city seems to be doing well. Do you really think they would agree to a trade deal with us?¡± asked Grandelder Brod.
¡°He is not like that stubborn Erock or Tormoid. I believe if we genuinely asked him we would have no problem negotiating something,¡± said Grandelder D¨´ghall.
¡°I''ll leave that to you then,¡± said Grandelder Brod.
Akira noted in his mind that it seemed that D¨´ghall and his allies were not anyone that he should worry about. If they wanted to form a beneficial relationship between their cities then he would accept.
When they quietly moved to the stairs Akira felt an even stronger discomfort in his stomach.
Ding!
[Akira''s bad feeling] has leveled up to level 5!
You Better be careful!
|
Akira held up his hand and stopped the two behind him when they reached the stairs.
¡°Wait in one of the empty rooms here. I''m going to go check on something,¡± said Akira as he pulled out a cape that he had not used in forever. He had almost forgotten all about it.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, unhappy at having to wait and not join Akira.
¡°Lord, I smell traces of the target from earlier. The scent is old but it seems they were here within the last few days. They might even still be around,¡± said Vilkas as tried to stop Akira from going forward. But as soon as Akira put on the cape he disappeared from his guards'' sight.
The invisible Akira silently walked up the stairs and found that two Ramia guards were lazily leaning against the wall of the second-floor hallway guarding the entrance.
Akira quietly squeezed by the two not alerting them and continued walking down the hall towards the first room he heard voices coming out of.
¡°How are the plans coming along?¡± asked a raspy Ramia voice.
¡°We are not ready yet. We will have to gather everyone when we get back,¡± said the familiar voice of Erock who he had just met today.
¡°Hmph, you guys are always slow. It''s the reason why the demigods got the mega item before we could,¡± said the raspy voice.
¡°We said we will be ready so we will be ready when the time comes. We will join you and the others. But you have to follow the agreement to split the profits when we take his city,¡± said grand elder Tormoid.
Chapter 192: What in the hell is going on here!?
Akira stood still silently trying to process what he had just heard from the two voices. He stood there for over a minute silently. He only recovered from his stupor when he heard the loud thumps of footsteps coming up the stairs.
Akira moved farther down the dark hall while still sniffing for traces of Ferem.
A high pitch whistle from one of his guards below further alerted Akira to the danger of the people ascending the steps, forcing him to hastily move to the end of the hallway and hide in one of the darker corners.
The lazy Ramia guards were startled out of their half-sleep and stood up straight before they turned to block whoever it was stomping loudly up the stairs.
¡°You can not enter this hallway!¡± said one of the guards as he drew his weapon along with the other guard.
¡°Move aside or I will kill you!¡± said a cold cheerful female voice.
¡°Why are you so happy, Phobia? Could it be that you prefer lizards and snakes over humans?¡± asked a male from behind the woman.
¡°Stop stirring the pot Kooter, you know how she gets,¡± said another male voice.
¡°You''re no fun, Bland.¡±
¡°If I wasn''t in a good mood I would have killed you ten times over, and how many times do I have to tell you to move back at least 5 steps,¡± said Phobia as she stood in front of the two Ramia guards.
The two guards were puzzled at what to do with these three people with their odd personalities and their weird conversation. Finally the more outgoing of the two spoke again.
¡°You are too ugly to date us. Please leave and stop bothering...¡±
BAM! A bright flash of light and howl of wind from a skill lit up part of the hallway as the guard was thrown back into the wall and slumped down to the ground with his severed head falling to the ground.
The second Ramia guard either due to fright or bravery charged the woman with his sword and...
...was immediately cut in half by three different colorful skills from the three people in the hallway entrance.
¡°Haha, you were even turned down by those base lizard snakes,¡± said Kooter as he immediately jumped back a few steps to dodge an angry attack from Phobia.
The door to the first room opened shining a dim light into the hallway.
¡°What''s going on out here?¡± asked an irritated Grand elder Tormoid as he walked into the hallway followed by Chief Raibread the Ramia leader of the Auga tribe. Behind him were a few other underlings.
Their gazes all fell onto the dead Ramia guards causing them to hastily retreat behind their guards and underlings as they looked at the three culprits that were now lit up by the room''s light.
Akira''s cloak was nearing the end of its use so he tried to hug the dark corner to hide from the two groups, one of which he was now sure were Demigods.
¡°Don''t be a bunch of babies. We''re here according to the deal we made the other day,¡± said Phobia with a voice that dripped disdain for the two different groups in front of her.
¡°You have the Item from the...?¡± Raibread was interrupted by Tormoid who placed a hand on his shoulder.
¡°So It''s you guys. Let''s talk about this in the privacy of our room,¡± said Tormoid as he walked back into the room followed by Raibread and his underlings.
As the three demigods walked to the open door Phobia stopped and looked to the end of the hallway that was shrouded in darkness.
¡°Why are you blocking the door? Hurry up and move,¡± said an impatient Kooter.
¡°I feel something is watching us,¡± said Phobia as she took a few steps towards the end of the hallway.
Akira''s invisibility ran out right at that moment allowing Phobia to see a dark shadow.
¡°Who''s hiding back there? Why are you spying on us?¡± asked Phobia as she stepped closer ready to attack.
The door next to Akira opened and a large muscular rock-like arm grabbed the surprised Akira and pulled him into the room before slamming the door shut again.
Akira''s eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the dim light and found he was in a large candlelit room with many cheap-looking couches.
In front of him were several large-bodied stone gray bodies all wearing armor that was familiar to Akira. Akira was again surprised when he saw a familiar face in the group.
¡°Crulak? What...¡±
Crulak put a finger to his lips to tell Akira to be quiet and pointed to a corner of the room that was out of the direct sight of the door.
Akira quietly moved to the corner unsure what was going on. As he walked he heard a loud knock on the door.
Near twenty Kamen warriors joined Crulak at the door all with their weapons drawn before Crulak opened the door.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Crulak in a hostile voice towards the female demigod that stood in the hallway.
¡°Who was hiding out here?¡± asked Phobia.
¡°You don''t need to know that information,¡± said Crulak as he glared at the demigods with utter hate.
The Phobia and her companions all took a threatening step forward with their hands on their weapons.
¡°Who was it?¡± asked Phobia in a cold and flat voice.
¡°If you enter our room we will kill you. You demigods may kill a few of us but we are not weak like those idiot Ramias. I suggest you leave us alone and go play your scheming games somewhere else,¡± said Crulak unafraid as he also stepped forward along with the other warriors all ready to fight.
¡°We still have a lot to discuss, so what are you guys doing?¡± asked Tormoid as he poked his head out of the room to look at the Demigods.
Phobia stood there for several seconds exchanging glares with Crulak before answering him.
¡°Nothing important, just a rat that was spying on the hallway.¡±
¡°I would like it if you refrain from calling someone from my clan a rat,¡± said Crulak.
Phobia raised her eyebrows in doubt giving Crulak and his warriors one more look over before turning around and walking back to the room where the other conspirators were waiting.
Crulak stood at the opened door staring at the room the demigods had disappeared into for a few more seconds before closing the door behind him.
He pulled down a sound dampening curtain from above the door before walking over to Akira.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked Akira in a low voice.
¡°I could ask you the same thing. We came here for the auction when we heard about it from one of the dwarf traders. After it ended with such a bang we decided to stay the night and leave tomorrow.¡±
¡°No not that. I mean this building, it''s a shady black market. As for why I came here, I came here looking for someone that the Ramias dragged to this dump,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh you mean him?¡± said Crulak as he pointed to a tipsy Ferem who was drinking out of a large mug while other Kamen warriors cheered him on.
¡°We saw him getting dragged along and saved him from the Ramia as we headed to our own room. One of the locals introduced us to this place that sells... unusual and rare drinks,¡± said Crulak as he scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
¡°You let him drink illegal alcohol?¡± asked Akira as he walked over to Ferem.
¡°Hey! He said he was old enough to decide for himself,¡± said Crulak defensively.
¡°Oh, it''s you Akira! Come join the fun! This stuff is great! Wait... why are there four of you and why are you standing on your head?¡± asked a completely drunk Ferem.
Ferem tilted his head and then his body to the side to try and see Akira properly as his body tilted more to the side he fell to the ground with a thump and started loudly snoring. A snot bubble expanding and retracting as he slept on the ground completely passed out.
¡°Must have drunk too much. That stuff is crazy strong and makes you see lots of different things,¡± said Crulak.
Akira sighed and walked over to the passed-out Ferem and placed the young man''s arm around his shoulder and picked him up ready to leave the room.
¡°Wait! It''s too dangerous to leave alone. Stay for a bit and talk with me about what happened out there. We can leave together which will be much safer,¡± said Crulak.
Akira thought it over for a few seconds before placing Ferem onto one of the empty couches.
¡°There are a few people waiting for me so I can only stay for a little longer,¡± said Akira.
¡°No worries, we were just getting ready to call it a night anyways. But before that what was that about,¡± asked Crulak pointing to the hallway.
¡°It seems that the Demigods are the ones who stole the mega auction item.¡±
¡°I knew they were up to no good! But why are they meeting here?¡±
¡°It''s because the demigods along with the Saberfang tribe and the Ramia are scheming to take over Kodria.¡±
***
The mix of werewolves and Kamen warriors walked through the quiet night streets as they headed back to the gates to return to their camps so they could get ready to leave Jerora in the morning.
They were tempted to leave immediately but Akira cautioned against it. They still needed to inform governor Scoit of the situation and there was still the threat of Demigods doing something to the city.
As Akira half dragged half carried the unconscious Ferem he looked around the empty streets with suspicion. After a few more empty streets he stopped and placed the unconscious Ferem in an alcove of a nearby building.
The scent of blood reached his nose as a gust of wind blew down the deserted street. Further sending warning signals to his brain.
Both Akira and his guards immediately transformed.
¡°Awoooooo!¡± Akira and the other werewolves let out loud howls of warning which echoed throughout the quiet corner of Jerora.
The sudden howl surprised the Kamen warriors but Crulak who had been through many battles with the sneaky Ramia immediately understood what was going on.
¡°Enemy attack!¡± shouted Crulak alerting his own warriors.
Swoosh! Slice! Two bright colored skills a wind blade and a sword slash shot out from two different side streets. Both attacks were aimed directly at their group giving them no place to escape.
The Kamen warriors were able to hastily put up a defense against the surprise attack. When the attacks landed they left large gouges in the shields and armor.
Ramia warriors flooded out of the side streets, their weapons held high as they charged towards the Kamen and werewolves who were standing in the middle of the road.
In order to give the Kamen warriors more time to organize a better defense, Akira sent a [Sword Slash] flying out towards the rushing mob of Ramia. His attack caused several of them to fall to the ground as they were heavily wounded.
As Akira readied another skill attack, he saw someone moving quickly behind the mob of Ramia from the right side street to the left.
¡°Can you handle the Ramia?¡± Akira asked Crulak in a hurried growl.
¡°Ha! These guys are nothing! We can take care of this small group, just be careful that you''re not biting off more than you can chew!¡± said Crulak as his sword chopped down on one of the Ramias heads splitting it open.
¡°Fluffball protect Ferem! Zundar, help Crulak. Dolph, Vilkas, we''re going after the masterminds of this attack! Follow close behind me!¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
With that, Akira activated his skill [Shield Slam] and rocketed forward knocking the Ramia warriors out of the way clearing a path to the left side street. Both Dolph and Vilkas followed closely behind him, attacking any who tried to stop them.
As Akira rocketed out of the crowd he saw the three Demigods from the hallway just ahead of him.
They were just about to leave the area when Akira hurtled forward and slammed into the lightly armored female demigod with his shield. His own surprise attack sent her flying through the air only to stop after she crashed through a stone wall of a nearby building.
The two male demigods'' reaction to the attack was slow by a few seconds but as soon as they understood what was going on they shot off a few weak skills aimed at Akira who was just recovering from his wild charge forward.
The attacks landed on his armor and only left shallow marks. Although the attacks did not deal any damage to Akira he was still surprised that there were any marks on his armor It had been a long time since a demigod had been able to leave such damage to his armor since he had changed to his new armor set.
Seeing this he knew that the demigods were getting stronger and it was only a matter of time before they started to walk around with few people to rival their power.
Dolph and Vilkas arrived seconds later each leaping towards one of the two male demigods who were already readying a second wave of attacks aimed at Akira.
Dolph clobbered the Knight over the head stunning him for a second. This allowed Dolph to grab the knight in a bear-hug and begin to squeeze him. The sound of the metal armor crumpling could be heard as his large fur-covered muscular arms tightened around the demigod.
¡°Gah!¡± the knight let out a pained scream as his arms and chest were getting compressed.
Vilkas on the other side had been able to grab onto both of the nimble leather armored demigod''s arms. He was now holding the arms out to the side and started to stretch them not allowing the demigod a chance to use a skill.
¡°Ahhh! Let go of my arms you mutt! You''re going to tear them off if you keep stretching them like that!¡± shouted the leather armored demigod.
¡°That''s exactly what I''m trying to do!¡± said Vilkas as he applied more strength into his attempt at separating the man''s arms from his body.
Akira had already recovered by now and was charging towards the third demigod who was still struggling to get out of the rubble.
Although she was half standing she managed to send out two more Wind-blade skill attacks that slammed into Akira''s shield.
Akira''s sword came slashing towards the demigod''s neck which she quickly leaned to the side with just enough room to spare...
...but the sword suddenly grew longer and sliced through one of her neck arteries causing her to start bleeding heavily.
A bottle of red liquid appeared in her hands and she tried to drink the contents of the bottle while choking on blood and dodging Akira''s swift attacks.
She was successful in drinking the potion and her neck wound was visibly starting to heal. But unfortunately, she was now cornered from all of her erratic rolling around trying to escape from the attacks.
To make matters worse several shadow chains shot out of the ground and held her to the ground halting her attempts to escape.
She struggled to free herself but only received a sword attack that pierced her heart.
¡°Ha! I know who you are! You think you''ve won? Just wait until...¡± said Phobia with blood spitting out of her mouth. Before she could say more she disappeared into several fragments of light leaving behind a small bottle of black liquid on the trampled snowy ground.
The fighting behind Akira was also finishing up as Dolph killed the Knight demigod while Vilkas tore his opponent to pieces.
The Ramia seeing the Demigods getting brutally slaughtered started to back away ready to run away but Crulak had it all under control and kept them locked down and engaged in the fight maiming and or killing a large portion of them.
Akira grabbed the fragile glass vile that now had several cracks spreading as he picked it up.
Crack!
The bottle exploded into tiny shards of glass and the black liquid splattered all over Akira.
Alarmingly the liquid started to seep into the cracks of his armor and seep into his fur and muscular body.
Ding!
Rare [Night Quilin''s tear] potion has been used!
You have entered a fast-growth stage!
You have killed the demigod Phobia. Your level has reached 100!
Requirements to upgrade your class have been unlocked!
Updating 1%...
|
¡°What in the hell is going on here!?¡± shouted a captain of Jerora''s city guard as he ran down the street with over 60 city guards behind him.
Chapter 193: Goodbyes
Akira''s attention was pulled away from inspecting his armored body that had just absorbed the mysterious black liquid.
The fierce fighting had calmed down and now only a few more blows were being exchanged before the city guards shoved their way through the dead bodies and pushed the two groups apart.
¡°Who''s in charge of each of your groups?¡± asked the Guard captain as he scanned the two sides who were now glaring death stares at each other.
¡°I command the werewolves they are my bodyguards,¡± said Akira from the side street as Dolph Vilkas and Fluffball joined him in walking towards the guard captain.
When the guard captain saw Akira slightly hidden in the shadows walking towards him he gave a startled yelp of freight as the aura that was being released by Akira was full of cold killing intent.
The others who had spent long enough time with Akira had grown semi-used to the aura so that the intensity did not shock them anymore.
As he exited the dark side street the guards'' torches revealed a large menacing dark armored man and his two guards who were drenched in blood. As Akira walked closer the light seemed to grow slightly dimmer and have trouble fully lighting up the area around Akira as there was actually a slight dark aura emitting from Akira''s body.
Both the Ramia and city guards quivered at the sight but only for a few seconds before they regained their wits.
¡°And what about you guys?¡± the guard captain asked, pointing to the Kamen and the Ramia who were still staring at each other.
¡°I am Crulak and I command the Kamen tribe.¡±
¡°I command thissss group,¡± said a wounded Ramia at the rear of the group. He looked nearly identical to the others so it would have been hard to guess he was the leader of this attacking group.
¡°What in the hell are you three doing causing a ruckus in our city! I ought to arrest you all and let you rot in jail for several months. If you don''t give me a reason that''s what I''ll do.¡±
¡°We were just walking down the street and those werewolves and Kamen ganged up on us!¡± blurted out the Ramia leader.
¡°You dare spout such lies!? You attacked us first!¡± shouted Crulak angered beyond belief as he grabbed his weapon ready to restart the fighting. He was stopped by a few warriors around him trying to make sure that the current problem didn''t worsen.
¡°Arrest them. They are murders!¡± said several of the Ramia soldiers.
The city guard ignored the shouts of the two groups and looked to the frightening Akira waiting for his excuse.
Akira stepped forward a few steps with Fluffball staying in front of him and both Dolph and Vilkas flanking him on his sides causing the shouting Ramia soldiers and angry Kamen warriors to quiet down.
¡°We were on our way back to our camp when we were attacked by these guys,¡± said Akira as he pointed to the Ramia.
¡°Liesss,¡± shouted the Ramia commander.
The city guard commander was quiet for over a minute as he looked at each of the groups and mulled over their words.
¡°How can you prove it? Right now to me, it looks like the two of you ganged up on them and killed many of them. Judging by your strength even though they outnumbered you they would have to be stupid to attack you in the middle of the city,¡± said the guard captain pointing towards the tens of dead and severely wounded Ramia littering the street.
¡°That is true normal they would be too afraid to do anything but this time they were working with demigods and had no fear of the consequences. Look at the buildings there and there. They are the remnants of the demigods'' skills that flew at us drawing us into the fight,¡± said Akira as he pointed to the heavily damaged buildings.
¡°He''s telling the truth!¡± said Crulak.
¡°Why would they work with the demigods?¡± asked the guard fully aware of the hostile relationship between the demon races and demigods.
¡°I am not fully aware of their main goal but while working for the governor in searching for the stolen auction goods I saw them conspiring together. My guess is they were trying to shut us up. If you doubt my word, go talk to the Governor. I still need to talk to him so I can go with you,¡± said Akira.
The guard looked at Akira for a few seconds and then looked around the area before asking, ¡°Where are the Demigods?¡±
¡°We killed them,¡± said Dolph pointing back towards the dark street behind them.
This caused the guards to let out cries of surprise. They began to quietly talk between themselves before the captain turned back to the three groups.
¡°You all will wait here as we do our own investigation. The governor will be here shortly and will decide your fate,¡± said the guard captain as one of the guards ran towards the governor''s mansion.
The guard captain led a few guards around the area and inspected the street and its nearby buildings as well as the dead bodies. When they were finishing up inspecting the side street where Akira had fought the Demigods the Governor showed up with another 50 plus city guards.
¡°Bart what happened?¡± asked Scoit.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°It''s too crazy a story sir! A fight between three demon races with one side supposedly working with the demigods. That guy says he was working for you. Is that true sir?¡± asked Bart the guard captain while pointing at Akira.
Scoit was taken back when he focused on Akira who was still transformed and emitting a strong aura. He Immediately recognized Akira''s armor but this was his first time seeing him transformed and did not recognize his furry face.
¡°Akira?¡± asked the governor unsure if he had guessed correctly.
¡°Nice to see you governor,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball in greeting.
¡°You had better have a good reason for all of this. I don''t want to hear any excuses either.¡±
¡°What I have to say is rather sensitive and I think you might want to hear it privately.¡±
¡°Fine follow me,¡± ordered Scoit as he and several of his personal guards led Akira to a deserted part of the street and entered an empty building out of the earshot of any prying ears. Both of their personal guards stood outside.
¡°You have better not be playing any games with me. What is it that we needed to move in here to talk?¡± asked Scoit in a grumpy and irritated mood.
¡°It is about the Auction item,¡± said Akira.
¡°Did you find it? Wait... what does this have to do with you killing and destroying my city!¡±
Akira quickly explained all that had happened since they had last met.
¡°So you saw the Ramia, Saberfang clan, and the demigods meeting there?¡± asked Scoit.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Where is the vial now? Did they have it on them?¡±
¡°About that... it sorta broke in the fighting with the demigods. You should be able to see the glass shards where it broke the liquid escaped when the vial broke.¡±
¡°Are you sure it was the special potion?¡± asked Scoit as he studied Akira''s furry face trying to see if he was lying but he had a hard time with Akira''s changed face.
¡°It was a black liquid in a special looking vial just like you explained,¡±
¡°Damn...go back to your tents and don''t cause any more trouble while I go and verify everything in your story.¡±
¡°About the trade deals can...¡±
¡°If all of what you said is true then I will sign the documents for the basic trade agreement. However, if I find that you lied...¡± the governor left the last part unspoken as he walked out of the building.
***
That night many shady shops and the main black market in the pawnshop were raided by the city guards who were personally led by the governor. They arrested everyone they found participating and profiting at each place.
The governor was not playing around as he went around wiping out the rot in his city after learning about several secrets when he interrogated one of the people that had been arrested.
Akira did not go to sleep as he waited in his tent for the governor to finish his raids and inspections.
¡°The governor is here to see you,¡± said Dolph from outside Akira''s tent.
A snoring Fluffball woke up as Akira stood up from the cot that was layered with several fur blankets.
He gave a big yawn as he stretched and followed after Akira who exited the tent.
Governor Scoit stood near the large fire that was burning and currently had several other Kamen cooking a late-night snack.
¡°Would you like to talk in my tent?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I won''t be here long,¡± said Scoit.
¡°I have verified what you have said. Unfortunately, there is little we can do about it since it involves the demigods. The Ramia and demigods in question have all been banned from entering or trading with Jerora.
As for you, I am only letting you off because you solved the theft issue and we were able to clean up the city due to your initial information. As for the trade agreement you can tell your grand elders that I can not accept their extra demands but everything else is fine.¡±
¡°I am grateful that you have accepted to start trading with Kodria,¡± said Akira.
¡°I am not pleased with the damage you caused my city so I suggest you leave in the morning and not let something like this happen again.¡±
¡°I have no plans to do anything like it again but if the demigods attack me I will defend myself.¡±
¡°Keep your problems out of my city.¡±
¡°Whether you like it or not you will be a target of the demigods in the future. You need to strengthen your defense and guards before that time happens.¡±
The two traded a few more sentences before Scoit returned to the city.
¡°What do you plan on doing now?¡± asked Crulak as he munched on some steaming snacks.
¡°Can you escort Ferem back to his village on your way south?¡± asked Akira.
¡°That''s no problem.¡±
¡°What about us?¡± asked Oib.
¡°What about you?¡±
¡°The demigods may still want to kill us! How can we brush us off like this! Take us with you!¡±
¡°No. If you''re too afraid then maybe you can hitch a ride with Crulak. I have other important business right now so I can''t babysit you three idiots who are always causing problems.¡±
Before they could retort, Akira returned to his tent to get some rest before the sun rose.
***
Several hours after the sun had risen the camp was already packed and ready to move out. The majority of people who had come for the auction had also packed up and already started to leave causing the roads to be crowded with sleds and people walking or riding away.
Akira was surprised to see Grand Elder D¨´ghall come over to him.
¡°I hope you will let the other grand elders know of our wish to talk about further strengthening our clan¡¯s ties together,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall.
¡°I will let them know. I hope you keep an eye out for the demigods and make sure that your city is able to defend itself,¡± said Akira.
¡°Is there something we need to be aware of?¡±
¡°It is better to be prepared than to suffer the consequences of not being ready.¡±
¡°Alright I will let the others know of your warnings,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall.
¡°When we meet again I hope it is on a much happier note,¡± said Crulak as he gathered his people and the other guest that would be heading back south with him.
¡°I doubt we will have the luxury of that happening,¡± said Akira thinking of the possible storms in the coming months.
The two groups split with Ferem, his guards, and the three idiots joining the Kamen. Akira''s group walked to the other side of the city where there was another smaller group waiting for him.
¡°Are you ready? I''m surprised you accepted my invitation to meet with our clans,¡± said Burkin.
¡°I can only stay a day at the most as I have urgent matters to take care of at Kodria,¡± said Akira.
¡°If that is the case why don''t we head to Ribor city it is at the base of the mountains and is near the Unfreezing river.¡±
¡°That is a great idea. Since it allows me to immediately head back down the river to Kodria when we are finished.¡±
Chapter 194: Infected
¡°Damn this is too hard! How am I supposed to translate this?¡± grumbled Zundar as tried to read the old book that Akira had bought. He had been given the task to read and write down the proper modern translation of the words in the book.
Whenever the group stopped to rest or for a meal Zundar was working on translating the book.
¡°Didn''t you say that you knew how to read the ancient language?¡± asked Akira as he looked at the Mysterious cursive scribbles mixed in with hieroglyphics.
Grarr looked at the pages along with Akira and had no idea how someone could understand anything like written language. Some people and races were just too strange.
¡°It''s been over several hundred years since I last read something like this. I''m a bit rusty, and even back then I didn''t read much. I was more into training with my weapons...¡±
¡°Will you be able to translate the book or...¡±
¡°I already looked at the book and it seems to have three sections. I am ashamed to say I can only read the first section. Burkin do you know if your clan has any dictionaries to help me?¡±
¡°No,¡± said Burkin, shaking his head. ¡°We may have recorded information about the kingdom but there are too many kingdoms and cities that have all risen and fallen leaving only a footnote in our history books. Way too many to be keeping detailed language and other data for each one.¡±
¡°What is the book about? I hope it''s not someone''s random notes,¡± asked Akira. He was worried he had bought a worthless item.
¡°From what I have translated so far it seems to be the training manual used by the royal sorcerers of my past kingdom,¡± Zundar looked at his written notes for a second. ¡°Something about Holy specialization.¡±
Akira looked to Klyn who was standing next to Zundar looking at his notes. ¡°What do you think Klyn? Can you learn it?¡±
¡°I''m not completely sure since he hasn''t finished translating all of it. I have a feeling that it has a slight similarity to my own studies, it''s just going about it in a different way.¡±
¡°I hope that the two of you can crack the book''s secrets so you can put it to good use,¡± said Akira as he put out the fire that had been used to cook their lunch.
Several days passed as they quickened their pace towards Ribor city.
¡°We should be reaching the village either tonight or early next morning,¡± said Burkin as he looked at the nearby towering snow-covered mountain that had several pine trees covering its base.
The road leading to the village looked well maintained but they found no one traveling it all morning.
¡°Is this normal?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes we are a race that generally does not like to exit our mines and caves... but now that you mention it, it does seem odd that we have not even seen a merchant or farmer in the area.¡±
As they walked further along the path Akira and the other werewolves could smell a strong scent of blood coming from a clump of trees further down the road.
Akira followed his nose and stopped right under a tree. He looked up into the branches to see what it was.
''Someone is up there,'' said Grarr as he sniffed the air.
The other guards surrounded Akira and the tree in question. Their weapons were drawn as they stared at the shadow figure in the tree.
¡°Wait! Friends, there is no need to be hostile!¡±
The shadow figure jumped from the high branches and fell face-first into the snow below the tree.
A short man who was maybe a head and a half taller than Burkin, stood up and wiped his pale chubby face and brushed the snow off his raggedy clothing.
¡°I have no armor or weapons to attack you! Please team up with me! I need your help to fight some monsters so I can get my items back. The monsters are terrorizing the local area back at the caves,¡± said the fumbling man. Akira focused on the man to find out who he was [Billy B. Babyface].
Without a word, Akira gave the silent command to stand down. His guards were unsure what he was doing but followed his orders.
Seeing this [Billy B. Babyface] happily started to talk quickly, ¡°Thank you! You won''t regret teaming up with me I know the cave quite well.¡±
Akira ignored the man and turned around, he raised his sword to return it back to its sheath...
¡°If you just follow me you...¡±
Shunk!
¡°...Gurgle.¡± [Billy B. Babyface] fell to the ground. His neck had been pierced through and was almost severed by the sneak attack from Akira''s special extending sword. His face had an evil grin that had contorted into shock at the sudden attack that took his life.
Everyone else was just as shocked as [Billy B. Babyface] when they saw Akira attack without warning.
Ding!
You have killed Infected criminal [Billy B. Babyface].
With his death [Billy B. Babyface] has been cleansed of his infection.
Class upgrade... 50% ...
|
¡°Be on guard there may be more demigods lurking around,¡± said Akira as he sniffed the air. He had no time to be playing games with demigods. If they showed up he would kill them.
¡°Demigods!¡± said Burkin.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
The body of the [Billy B. Babyface] disappeared into many light particles only leaving a pair of blue metal gauntlets on the bloody snow.
¡°Grobe''s gauntlets? Why did that demigod have these?¡± asked Burkin as he picked up the gauntlets.
¡°What I want to know is where he was hiding them,¡± said Zundar. In his mind, there was only one place it could be and that was gross.
¡°Lord, I have found tracks that lead back towards the mountains. Do you want to follow them or should we keep going to the village,¡± asked Dolph.
¡°We need to check and see if there really are any dangerous monsters in the area,¡± said Akira as he hopped back onto Grarr and followed the footprints all the way to a small cave.
Akira took out a torch from his bag and lit it before tossing it into the cave to light up the darkness inside. He could not use his nose to see what was inside as the smell of blood was overpowering every other scent.
He was unable to find anything suspicious so he led the group inside with their shields raised.
Akira waited just inside for a second expecting a system message to pop up but there was none.
The cave was only a medium size but the ceiling was too far above them still covered in pitch black.
Looking around the cave he could not see any blood or waste on the ground or walls. Everything in the cave was covered in fresh snow that had been undisturbed.
In one corner of the cave, there was a pile of bones that looked to have been gnawed on. From what Akira could see the majority of the bones were smaller, but thick, meaning they were probably bones from dead Dwarves.
¡°Why is all this stuff here?¡± asked Burkin, as he walked over to a pile of metal armor, weapons, and tools.
Fluffball walked over to the pile and nosed around finding several piles of gold coins, uncut gems, jewelry, and even some stale food which he ignored.
¡°This looks to be the demigod''s stash of loot he took from those he killed,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he dragged a bag full of coins towards Akira.
Akira reached down to scratch Fluffball''s head when a loud high pitch sonic screech echoed throughout the cave.
¡°SCREEEEE!¡±
One after another, 100''s of screeches echoed through the cave, all coming from the darkness above them. The loud noise caused everyone severe pain in their sensitive ears causing some to try and cover their ears that were still under their helmets.
While they were in pain from the screeches hundreds of bats the size of an adult''s head, swooped down while continuing to screech before they collided with the werewolves and Zundar below.
[Level 60 Bloodsucking Bats]
¡°Damn annoying gnats!¡± growled Zundar as he ripped several bats off his body as they tried to latch onto him and bite open his tough skin.
The cavern was full of chaos as everyone was getting swarmed by the bats that were trying to claw and bite through their armor''s weak points.
Akira pulled Burkin away from the pile of loot and retreated back towards Klyn, Dolph, and Vilkas slashing at any bat that came near him as he protected the two.
Klyn quickly chanted off buffs for everyone while under the protection provided by the others.
Blood from a bat that had been split in two rained into Akira''s helmet visor and splashed his face.
Ding!
You have resisted the [Blood sucking Bats] Infection.
|
¡°Don''t get the blood on your skin! You too Fluffball, don''t go eating anything,¡± shouted Akira as he knocked back the swarm of bats trying to latch onto him and the two behind him.
¡°Too late!¡± said Zundar who was already drenched in the blood of dead bats.
¡°Roar!¡± said Fluffball who had already transformed and was just about to eat one of the bats he had slaughtered.
A few of the other guards exclaimed worried questions as they fought the dwindling numbers of bats.
They were forced to dodge and weave away from the bats attacks as well as the splattering of blood as they were killed.
The bodies of the dead bats piled up on the ground where they were killed. The cave floor was now slick with blood and melted snow.
¡°What about this blood?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°You need to wash it off immediately, you could be infected. Klyn please look over them and see if you can use your healing ability on them. Just don''t touch them.¡±
Akira looked at the dead bats on the ground trying to figure out their secrets.
When Klyn finished casting his buffs on those who had received wounds he walked up to one of the larger piles of dead bats near Akira.
¡°What do you think? Do they have something that can infect others?¡±
¡°From the wounds I saw, there wasn''t anything serious. But if it does end up getting worse I think I can take care of it or at least keep them alive until my grandfather can take a look at it,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Is...is that the last of them?¡± asked Burkin looking up at the quiet dark cavern ceiling.
¡°I can''t sense anything but let''s not stay here any longer. We can let the local guards know of this place and have them keep an eye on it. They can make sure no one uses it again for a hideout,¡± said Akira.
¡°Help me carry all the dwarven crafted items back so I can return them to their relatives,¡± said Burkin.
¡°What about the other stuff?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You can split it amongst yourselves or sell it to me,¡± said Burkin.
Akira helped Burkin pick up the items from the ground and stored them in his bag. There was quite a haul. It seemed that [Billy B. Babyface] had been using this place for quite some time.
As Akira and the others left the cave two human-sized red eyes opened and peaked out of a hole at the top of the ceiling.
¡°Damn that useless fellow! If he hadn''t already died I would go and kill him myself for leading such a large group of strong people to my cave! They killed all my minions! Now I have to start all over again...¡± mumbled an angry high pitched male voice as he stared daggers at the empty cave entrance.
¡°Should I go and kill them?¡± the voice changed to a flat tone as he asked himself the question while fuming at his loss.
¡°No...best to stay here and be safe...¡± said the high pitched voice.
¡°Right It''s definitely not that I am scared of them or anything. I just can''t grace those lowly people with my lordly presence.¡±
¡°Right! It is best if I rebuild my forces and take my revenge on them then!¡±
***
Akira and the werewolves sat at a large stone table inside of Ribor city''s clan meeting hall. Several other elderly Dwarves sat at the table with him and his guards.
¡°As Hiber said the book does look like something from the ancient kingdom you mentioned but we do not have any material to help you read it.¡±
¡°That''s a shame,¡± said Klyn as he had now had no clue how he could read the other sections.
¡°We''ll make sure that we keep an eye out for anyone around that area you mentioned,¡± said an elderly dwarf who had droopy eyelids that made him look like he was ready to fall asleep at any minute.
¡°We encountered some odd bats that may have infectious blood at that cave. So you should also be careful of them as well,¡± said Klyn.
¡°The culprit was a demigod so you cannot let your guard down. You should make sure that anyone who goes out there is not alone,¡± said Akira.
¡°We are grateful for your help in returning the stolen property of those killed. It is no problem for us to accept a basic trade agreement with you to further strengthen our relationship with each other,¡± said Hiber.
¡°I would suggest that you prepare for some hard times coming in the future. As there will be one or two armies passing by. As well as the demigod problem,¡± said Akira.
¡°Is there something you know that we should be aware of?¡± asked Hiber.
¡°Nothing concrete, it is just a warning so that you can be prepared.¡±
¡°Very well, we wish that you all to have a safe journey back to your city.¡±
Chapter 195: Buster
¡°How are they?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I have tried everything I know but the sickness has not been cured. All I can do for them right now is keep using my chants to see if it will help them get over it. The only good thing out of all this is that it''s not contagious,¡± said Klyn as he exited one of the ship''s connected small cabin rooms while wiping the sweat from his brow.
¡°Your healing chants and buffs are doing nothing but slowing the sickness,¡± said a pale Zundar. He was laying down on a large tarp hammock in the far corner of the dark damp room.
Their troubles with the sickness had started several days after they had started traveling down the river. Everyone that had been wounded in the cave became sick with their skin and faces turning pale each day that passed their strength weakened.
¡°You need to use the holy sorcery from the book to cure everyone,¡± said Zundar.
¡°I need more time! I have only started to study what you translated. It is hard enough trying to learn such complex sorcery but your writing is worse than Akira''s scribbles he calls maps. I need a few more days to study it before I can try and see what happens. I''ll need someone that will allow me to test it out on them.¡±
¡°You better test it on me as I have a stronger body than those guys in the other room,¡± said Zundar.
Over the next few days, Klyn spent almost all his time studying the notes in between taking care of the sick soldiers and Zundar.
¡°It''s no use! No matter how many times I try to get it to work nothing happens!¡± said Klyn in frustration after failing once again.
¡°Is there a possibility the translation was wrong?¡± Akira asked Zundar.
¡°No, I am sure it is correct. The only thing that I can think of that could cause the sorcery to fail is that it may rely on the ancient language to activate the effects, so reading the translation might be just reading words,¡± said Zundar, his voice far weaker than the normal booming sound.
¡°So I''ve been wasting the last few days on something broken?¡± asked Klyn in frustration.
¡°Look on the bright side, you at least know and understand what the first part says,¡± said Akira.
¡°I can give you a crash course in the language and how to pronounce the chants,¡± said Zundar in between several coughs.
¡°I''ll leave that to you while I go take care of other things,¡± said Akira as he left the room.
Ding!
***
With the swift navigation of the Unfreezing river, they were able to quickly return to Kodria.
¡°Make sure to set up the hospital tents away from any of the main areas. Be careful when transferring the patients to the tents so that nothing bad happens,¡± said Klyn giving a few orders to his underlings before they finished unloading the infected from the ship.
¡°Klyn, come with me. There''s a lot we need to report to the grand elders and I need you to help explain the sickness to them,¡± said Akira as he headed towards the castle keep.
On his way to the castle keep, many civilians and city guards recognized him and greeted him warmly.
Akira was happy to see the city was full of activity and the civilians he met all seemed to be happily going about their daily lives.
''I must do all I can to keep it this way. Those who get in the way must be put down no matter if they are part of the Earth tribe or not.''
¡°Piiii!¡± a loud screech rang out far above them. The screech was followed by a loud whistling of wind as something dived from the sky and headed straight towards Akira causing everyone to hurriedly surround Akira to protect him.
Swoosh!
Pii''per zoomed right over Akira''s head and flew back into the sky fiercely flapping her wings as she headed back towards one of the castle keep''s towers.
After seeing that they were in no danger Akira and his guards continued walking to the castle keep.
When they reached the castle Mileena and Azura were already waiting for Akira with Pii''per standing on Mileena''s shoulders.
Akira was surprised to see someone who had not seen in a while standing on top of Pii''per ''s head chattering while he ate some winter nuts that Mileena passed him.
It was a now somewhat chubby Stubby. It looked like he and Pii''per had gotten friendly with each other since he was last here.
¡°I''ll talk with you guys after I report to the grand elders,¡± said Akira as he gave Mileena a hug and quickly jumped to the side to dodge Pii''pers wings.
He escaped into the castle before anyone could say anything.
***
¡°How sure are you about this?¡± asked Grand elder Carl.
¡°I heard it with my own ears, and I saw them meeting with the demigods. It was not a coincidence that they attacked us when we left that night,¡± said Akira.
Stolen novel; please report.
¡°That rat Tormoid, I knew he was no good ever since he started causing problems back on Halrverold,¡± said Grand elder Aaron.
¡°How could he do something like this to his own tribe? Has he no honor?¡± asked chief Roc.
¡°To think he would even team up with the demigods...¡±
¡°I have no idea what he was thinking but the fact is that they are probably already marching north to prepare for coming to pay us a visit. We need to stop all other projects of focus on starting and finishing the second wall and other defenses before they arrive,¡± said Akira.
¡°It is a good thing that you managed to buy all of those ballista at the auction. With them we should have an easier time holding off any ship or ships that enter the lake and tries to come near the main island,¡± said chief Xend.
¡°Should we contact Grand elder D¨´ghall?¡± asked Grand elder Seoc.
¡°For help? I don''t think he can do anything right now. But I think we should form a deeper friendship with them since they seem to harbor no ill will towards us. If the shaman messengers can contact them and warn them of the dangers that would probably be for the best. We may not be their only target,¡± said Akira.
¡°I will personally make sure that the communication between our clans goes smoothly,¡± said Grand elder Heigar.
¡°Grandfather the problem with the infections is really troublesome. I have been trying my best but the ancient language is rather hard to understand along with some concepts of healing that I don''t quite understand. If you could help me on that as well I am sure we can cure the infected,¡± said Klyn who had been worrying about curing the infection for the past few weeks now.
¡°After the messages are sent I will head down to the tents with you and take a look at them. I am sure that we can figure out of that new book if we put our heads together. I am quite interested in seeing what the differences are between our modern chants and the holy sorcery of the ancients,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°Everyone, you have your tasks! We need to finish the main projects before anyone can arrive and cause problems,¡± said Grand elder Carl as he stood up.
¡°I''ll go down to the training fields and make sure to whip them into shape before they come knocking,¡± said Grand elder Aaron.
¡°I''ll go with you,¡± said chief Roc.
Ding!
Class upgrade 90%...
A new mission has been created!
A small army is being assembled to attack Kodria!
Finish preparations to defend the city of Kodria from the forces of Tormoid and Duke Erock!
Reward: to be decided...
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A few minutes later everyone had exited the room leaving Akira to stare at the ceiling for a few seconds thinking of the future plans that needed to be completed in order to keep Kodria safe and free from the influences of the demigods and those like Tormoid.
***
With the return of Akira and his guards, Kodria began to buzz with even more activity as several projects were started. The boxed ballistas were unloaded from the ships and assembled on top of the towers of the outer wall and the castle keeps towers. Every soldier and city guard started participating in special practice drills to learn how to operate the ballista. They were given dummy targets to shoot at on the lake to further familiarize themselves with the defensive siege weapons.
While all that was going on the second wall had begun to take shape and although smaller in circumference it was shaping up to be even taller and thicker than the outer wall.
With Grand elder Hegir''s knowledge on healing chants and Zundar''s tips on understanding the ancient language, Klyn was able to make a breakthrough in his own understanding of the basics of the ancient holy sorcery.
He was now working on curing those infected and from the reports, Akira had read, It would not be long before they were fully cleansed of the sickness.
Akira was currently taking a short break from overseeing the building of the second wall and the training of the infantry and cavalry.
Mileena quietly sat to the side watching him as he was tinkering with one of the many sleds that Kodria used in the winter to travel everywhere.
She could not understand what he was doing so when Akira stopped for a break she asked to clear her curiosity, ¡°What is that?¡±
¡°It''s something I thought up when I remembered the chariots from Caidia. Trust me this is a revolutionary idea for the local area,¡± said Akira as he took a swig of lukewarm wine from his bone flask.
Mileena looked at the crude-looking sled with doubt.
¡°Hey don''t look at Buster that way. He''s a prototype, so of course he''s not going to look that great. But I''m sure that this armored siding and the small swivel ballista will give us so much more flexibility on the battlefield. With the speed and range, we can hit the enemy hard and still stay out of their attack range.¡±
¡°Buster? You named it?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Can you even make enough of them before any of the fighting starts? Isn''t Delgar and everyone else at the forges working on repairs and creating ammunition and extra weapons and armor?¡± asked Mileena, deciding to ignore the fact that he had named an inanimate object.
¡°It''s not that hard to work on them. I''m sure I can get a few people to help me,¡± said Akira.
¡°Akira are you in here?¡± asked Klyn as he entered the workshop.
¡°I am.¡±
¡°Grandfather wanted me to inform you that he has gathered a few of the brighter shamans that specialized in the healing chants and has given both Zundar and I the task of teaching them the ancient holy sorcery.¡±
¡°How is that going?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It is a huge pain. Zundar is the worst kind of teacher when it has to do with this type of stuff,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Hey, don''t bad mouth me like that! I''m not that good with the book smart stuff. If you wanted me to teach you about combat there would be no one that could better explain it to you!¡± said Zundar from the doorway.
Akira watched as a pale Zundar walked into the room.
¡°Are you even fit to be up and walking?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°I may not look like it but my body is extremely robust. With a few more cleansings from Klyn I should be near full recovery,¡± said Zundar, before going into a fierce coughing fit.
¡°With Zundar''s vague teachings we should be able to fully understand the basics 100%. The intermediate and the advanced portion of the book are still unknown, cryptic, and hard to read, even for Zundar it is near impossible to understand,¡± said Klyn.
¡°You know what they are calling themselves?¡± asked Zundar who had recovered from his fit of coughing.
¡°What?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Holy shaman. What a bunch of oddballs,¡± said Zundar.
¡°You gave us that name as a joke, and now we are using it,¡± said Klyn as he turned away from Zundar and faced Akira. ¡°Grandfather has approved the naming of the new group. We have been put in charge of learning all of the sorcery in the book. The book has been a real help in deepening my understanding of the healing chants in an unexpected way. It is actually quite compatible with our studies into healing, cleansing, and other similar stuff. With the holy shaman, we should be able to make sure that Kodria is not wiped out by a minor plague-like many other starting villages and cities all through history.¡±
¡°I am counting on you guys to become an important part of our defense. A healthy city will last longer than an unhealthy one. Sorry to put even more responsibility on your shoulders,¡± said Akira.
¡°What is that?¡± asked Klyn pointing to the crude sled.
¡°His name is Buster. He is just a prototype that will storm the future battlefields and help us dominate them,¡± said Akira with a satisfied nod of his head as pat Buster a few times and started to explain every new modification of the sled in great detail.
Chapter 196: Class upgrade
Several days had passed by in a blur of frantic work.
Akira was in his room sitting on his bed, getting ready to sleep, when he received a message from the system.
Ding!
Class upgrade... 100%!
3...2...1... Beginning upgrade!
|
A black misty aura Enveloped Akira''s entire body, startling Fluffball who had just finished a midnight snack and was about to jump onto the bed and join Akira under the warm fur covers.
¡°Yap!?¡± Fluffball let out a questioning bark wondering if Akira was okay or if something was attacking him.
Running from one side of the bed to the other Fluffball tried to find an opening to the black mist aura that covered Akira but could not find one. He ran to the entrance of the room to find someone for help but found the door locked shut.
Akira had started to do this recently in order to keep the girls out of his room and give him some privacy.
Fluffball reluctantly walked over to the bad and sat down watching the black mist that had now solidified around his master. All he could do was wait and see what happened.
The dark night changed to early dawn. The early morning''s gray cold light fell on the solid black mist aura that covered Akira.
Crack! The loud sound alerted Fluffball who had dozed off.
Fluffball watched intently as large cracks started to appear on the outside of the solid black misty.
Pieces of the solid black mist fell down and disappeared before reaching the bed or the ground.
With the black mist gone Fluffball could now see Akira who had transformed into his werewolf form.
Fluffball senses could tell that his master had changed greatly. There was still a small amount of black mist that clung to his body. It swirled around him slowly and looked like it would not leave anytime soon.
Ding!
Class upgrade Successful!
You are now level 100 class rank C: Intermediate
Fame +10
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Character Name
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Akira
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Race
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Werewolf
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Fame
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170
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Level
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100: 0.00%
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Profession
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Son Of The Night
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Title
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One who flys without wings
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Health
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3250
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Mana
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1100
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Strength
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313
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Vitality
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325(+15)
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Stamina
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222(+10)
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Agility
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110
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Intelligence
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108
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Wisdom
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110
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Dexterity
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50
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Charisma
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25
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Honor
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30
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Charm
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20
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Endurance
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50
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Toughness
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70
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Attack
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35-42
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Defense
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267(+12)
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+ 10% Buff to Stamina and strength at night and dark places.
+10% boost to power if in werewolf form and moon is out
+ 25% Lesser poison resistance
+2 defense for each piece of heavy armor equipped.
|
Class skills and traits upgraded!
Werewolf fur has been upgraded to Intermediate 2.
[Eyes of the werewolf] has been upgraded (Intermediate 2, Active): Enhanced night vision along with a new skill effect. [Life detection]: When the skill is activated you are able to see the heat signatures of all living creatures within 500 ft. The skill lasts for three minutes.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
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New class skills have been learned!
Commander class skill - Darkness domain (Stage 1): Create a dark aura that covers a large area giving the skill user and allies inside the Darkness domain a buff to speed, vision, and morale.
Any enemy that enters the Darkness domain and is weaker than the skill user will receive a full debuff slowing them, obscuring their vision making it harder for them to see others, as well as lower their morale. The effects for those at or above the skill users level will be halved.
This skill is the base for multiple other skills. Leveling it up by using it repeatedly will increase the area that can be covered as well as its effects and the effects it has on the branching and related skills.
Black mist armor (Active): When activated a black mist aura will cover your body and act as an extra layer of armor to block skill attacks as well as physical attacks.
The skill is far weaker during the day but is able to show its full power at night or in darkness.
|
Akira opened his eyes feeling full of energy. He quickly read through the messages and was excited to try out the new skills.
He energetically jumped out of bed and found Fluffball on the ground staring at him with his head cocked to the side wondering what was wrong with his master''s head.
¡°Yap!?¡±
¡°What? My body?¡± asked Akira.
With Fluffball''s question, Akira looked at his body and found he was already transformed.
Upon further inspection, he found that he had grown at least a head taller and his Muscles were now far denser than before. They could now exert 2x the strength from before. His black fur was even more eye-catching as it was very glossy and had a firmness that was even stronger than some of the best chain mail. Everything with a point namely his teeth and claws had grown sturdier and sharper.
Lastly, he noticed a faint dark mist aura clinging to him even though he had not activated any skill. It was giving off a firm feeling of strength and power. As he swiped his claw at the mist he felt a solid resistance that only lasted a second before parting.
Akira returned to his human form and found that changes to his body also affected him here as well. He was taller, stronger, more handsomely rugged looking.
The black mist surrounding his body slowly faded until it was only a slight haze. To Akira''s surprise, it did not disappear completely.
Before he could test out the news skills loud hammering was heard on his door.
¡°Big brother! How long are you going to sleep in? There is a lot of work we still have to do and the second wall will soon be finished sometime today! Are you trying to push all the work onto your cute little sister?¡± asked Azura as she hammered on his locked door.
Akira sighed and started changing into clean clothes and warmer winter gear.
¡°Stop banging on my door! You''re going to wake up the rest of the castle! I''m getting dressed, hold on.¡±
When Akira and Fluffball exited his bedroom Mileena was also exiting her own room with Maya following behind her.
¡°Azura you''re always so noisy in the morning. Don''t you know how to be quiet?¡± asked Mileena with a long yawn. As she stretched, her furry ears twitched and her tail stood up straight.
¡°You''re just like a cat, always sleeping and complaining about your beauty sleep. Jeez, how did big brother get caught by someone like you...¡± said an unsatisfied Azura.
¡°Alright, no need to start fighting like cats and dogs. Let''s all eat quickly as we have a lot to do today,¡± said Akira.
¡°Did you grow taller?¡± asked Mileena as she came over to Akira and inspected him with drowsy eyes.
¡°There seems to be a faint haze around him as well,¡± said Maya as she looked at Akira.
¡°You guys are overthinking things,¡± said Akira with a wave of his hand brushing off their suspicion.
¡°What are you doing today?¡± asked Azura.
¡°As you said, I have to oversee the completion of the wall then, I will be reviewing the infantry and the cavalry. After that, I will see what is left on my to-do list.¡±
As they ate a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, they made small talk before leaving the room and heading out to complete the day''s tasks.
***
With the second wall completed Akira was now overseeing the placement of the new ballista on the second wall''s towers.
¡°How long until you can start on the third wall?¡± Akira asked the foreman of the wall projects.
¡°Lord, we can start immediately but if the mines can''t keep up with the supply of stone we will have to constantly stop and start again as we wait for them to send over the stone,¡± said a middle-aged werewolf man with spiky red hair.
¡°We should be able to produce enough for the third wall without causing many delays. We already have a small stockpile,¡± said a Muscular bald dwarf. The only hair on his head was his beard, even his eyebrows were missing.
¡°Alright, after you finish doing a full inspection of the second wall you can begin working on the third wall,¡± ordered Akira before dismissing the two.
He continued to walk atop the new wall looking out towards the lower first wall.
¡°This defense system you cooked up looks quite impressive,¡± said Zundar. He was walking next to Akira along with Dolph and Vilkas who were following a few steps behind him.
¡°We need everything we can get in order to stop those with ill intentions. Especially the demigods,¡± said Akira as he watched the city guards paroling atop the first city wall.
¡°Lord the Infantry and cavalry are waiting for your inspection,¡± reminded Dolph.
¡°You''re right, we should go and get that done so we can work on whatever is next on my list,¡± said Akira, as he began descending a set of stone steps. They headed towards the barracks using their Garg mounts.
When he arrived he found Varbu, Gobalina, Gobbers, and Klyn all waiting. Akira silently nodded to them and turned his attention to the large mass of soldiers from each demon race.
In front of him were the three fully trained armies. One from each demon race that lived in the city of Kodria excluding the Dwarves and few traders.
Each army currently held 1500 soldiers who were in full parade formation. Behind them stood another 500 soon to be young soldiers who were close to finishing their training. And even further back behind the werewolf army was a large group of 5000 warriors all from the southern clans who were also almost finished with their training.
To the side of the groups stood 300 of the 400 city guards. The Naval marines were all busy on their ships paroling the river and the lake and could not be here for the inspection.
Akira rode up and down the rows of soldiers and after inspecting each of the three armies, Akira was pleased as he found that several of the soldiers had reached the rank of Veteran which was level 80.
If they continued to grow stronger they would reach the Elite rank 1 at level 100.
Nodding his head Akira looked over to Klyn and asked, ¡°How are your studies of the ancient language and the understanding of the holy sorcery coming?¡±
¡°Everyone has the basics down. We are now trying to solidify that base so that we have an easier time trying to puzzle the next part,¡± said Klyn who looked like he had not had much sleep in the past week. This was accurate since he had been spending most of his time with the others studying the language and the book''s holy sorcery instead of sleeping.
¡°Varbu, Gobalina, Gobbers, your soldiers all look just as good as the werewolf soldiers, very nice. You should have no major problems with any monsters or other demon tribes in the future when you head out,¡± said Akira complementing the three.
¡°Gi, giii gii,¡± said Gobbers as he nodded his head in agreement.
¡°Alright, you can dismiss everyone. I still have to go and inspect the heavy and light cavalry,¡± said Akira with a wave of his hand before leaving the area.
When Akira had crossed the lake and arrived at the stables he found the 300 Garg cavalry formed up in three blocks of ten rows. On the left and the right side of the three blocks were 25 new Buster sleds making for a total of 50 sleds.
Akira had Delgar and those under him quickly knock out several of them based on his prototype. After looking at the finished product he was quite satisfied.
The armored sled held the small swivel ballista and had a max crew of three soldiers. One to drive the sled one to control the ballista and a spearman to fight off anyone who got close using several weapons including javelins, spears, and a sword. If needed each of the soldiers in the sleds could dismount and act as a quick reactionary ground infantry force of 150 soldiers.
Akira considered the sleds as light cavalry due to their weaknesses of not being as heavily armored as the Gargs or as fast as them since their sled was pulled by several reindeer, and relied on staying out of range of the enemy.
While the 300 Gargs were the heavy shock cavalry that could charge in and cause havoc before escaping and appearing elsewhere.
''Several young pups were born a short time ago and with time they will be ready to join the others,'' said Grarr with satisfaction. The growth of his pack had received a large boost with the abundance of food, water, and shelter.
This was also good news for Akira and Kodria.
As Akira and Grarr inspected the formation Klyn exited a small boat and rushed over to Akira.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira seeing the flustered Klyn nearly trip over his feet in the uneven snow.
¡°Grandfather has just informed me that the shaman scouts he sent out have reported a large gathering of werewolves disembarking ships several days north! He wants to know what you want to do.¡±
Ding!
Quest update!
Stop the Saber fang clan''s army from reaching Kodria! Accomplish this by either persuasion or by force, pushing them back and away from Kodria''s territory.
The mission reward has been updated: Special upgrade for the outer city wall.
|
¡°Awoooooo! Awooo! Awoo~!¡±
Akira sent out several howls commanding the armies to fully mobilize. The infantry was ordered to gather their equipment and rations and board the transportation boats, while the navy and city guard were ordered to go into their war battle stations.
¡°Calvary! You have 10 minutes to gather your rations. Then we will head out first and will intercept the approaching army,¡± shouted Akira.
¡°Why are you going to run there? Why not use the boats?¡± asked Klyn who hopped onto Grarr''s back behind Akira.
¡°If we put all the Gargs on the boats there would be none left for the infantry and they would have to march north and would be too slow as well as too tired to be effective. We are fast enough that we can meet up with the infantry as they disembark the boats further north to intercept the army and their boats. With the navy protecting them they should not have any problems,¡± said Akira as he watched the cavalry running back to their mounts with several days of rations.
When everyone was ready Akira drew his sword and pointed it to the north.
¡°Move out!¡±
Chapter 197: Rumblings and the start of conflict?
¡°Ah, my feet hurt when can we get enough money to buy new reindeer and a new sled to replace the ones we lost? This is taking forever...¡± complained a Purple skinned male merchant to four other merchants of varying age near him.
Their destination was the far south city Kodria, and each of them was pulling makeshift sleds with all of their goods on them. On their journey south they had the misfortune to encounter several monsters who killed the reindeer and destroyed most of the sleds that had all their goods.
¡°We should be there in a few days if we don''t run into any more monster attacks,¡± said an elderly purple-skinned merchant who was in charge of the group of five.
¡°We''re near enough that we might see other merchants that we can ask for help or see if they''ll allow us to tag along,¡± said a middle-aged man who was the son of the elderly merchant.
¡°Look! We have such good luck! A large group of people are coming this way! Let''s hurry and see if they will allow us to join them on our way to Kodria. ¡±
The large group that had been spotted on the snowy horizon soon became clear to see.
The five Puman merchants halted in their tracks as they watched the large fierce giant wolves with what looked like fully armored knights riding them, quickly near their position on the small snowy road.
At the front of the group was a large Minotaur running next to the largest of the fierce wolf mounts with a knight that wore dark black armor. On the other side of the dark knight, a small wolf ran playfully in the snow keeping pace with the large wolves.
300 of the large wolves carrying the knights along with 50 sleds pulled by reindeer stormed past the merchants not paying any attention to them. In less than five minutes the large group had disappeared from their view in the direction that the merchants had come from.
The five shocked Merchants took several minutes to register what they had seen.
¡°What was that?¡± asked the young complaining merchant.
¡°Look like someone''s army...¡± said the middle-aged man.
¡°I know that. But why have they gathered in such a great force?¡±
¡°I don''t remember seeing anything wrong when we passed through the area a few days ago... but their faces looked really serious...¡± said the old man as he tried to think of a reason for what they had seen.
¡°Father we should not stop for long tonight. Whatever trouble is north of use I do not want to get caught up in it. The faster we can get to Kodria, the safer we will be.¡±
¡°Good idea big bro. I don''t want to ever be on those guys'' bad side,¡± said the youngest.
They continued walking south for several minutes full of thoughts about escaping to Kodria.
¡°Damn it!¡± shouted the youngest suddenly surprising the others.
¡°What?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Did something happen?¡± asked the others at the same time.
¡°If we won''t be stopping tonight then I won''t be able to rest my sore feet!¡±
***
Akira and the Cavalry soldiers did not stop to rest and chose to eat and sleep on top of their companion Garg mount as they headed north.
The Gargs were unfazed with all the constant running. If they needed to, the weakest of the group could run nonstop for at least a week. Those stronger could run around two weeks. The reindeer were of hardy stock and could run for several days but were not as strong as the Gargs.
As the large group of fierce warriors had continued to storm north no sane monsters dared to peek out of their hiding places when they passed by. The few merchants and wandering hunters they passed had all been scared beyond belief when they saw them.
On the dark dawn morning of the third day, Akira could see several ships in the distance that were currently unloading werewolf warriors and supplies. Akira could see Varbu was next to the ships coordinating his own warriors he had brought along to help if a fight did break out.
Several officers saw Akira and the cavalry and came running to the edge of the quickly forming camp so they could greet Akira as he arrived.
¡°How long until we are ready to intercept the northerners,¡± asked Akira, not wasting any time.
¡°We should have everything in order before lunch,¡± said one of the Officers.
¡°Alright get back to your duties. There is no need to stay over here,¡± said Akira as he had Grarr turn around to face the cavalry behind him.
¡°Take care of your mounts and then get some rest while you can. We will be leaving after lunch,¡± said Akira.
The warriors all dismounted from their mounts and sleds before they gathered the prepared food and water to feed their mounts.
The Gargs normally did not like having to eat prepared food like this and loved to eat what they hunted but there was no time to go off and hunt and there was the possibility of a battle happening soon so they could not wander off. So they ate the dried meat and drank the water pulled from the Unfreezing river and then found a choice spot to lay down and rest for a few hours.
Their Riders joined them with their own ground coverings and blankets quickly falling asleep so they could be well-rested in the afternoon.
Akira and Klyn had a few more things to take care of than the others and were forced to stay up longer going over plans with Varbu.
¡°Make sure you send that message to the grand elders. They need to know that we have arrived and will move out in the afternoon,¡± said Akira. They had just finished looking over everything that would be needed in order for the coming campaign.
¡°Don''t worry, I''m going right now to see that it is down,¡± said Klyn.
The two parted ways and Akira walked back to where Grarr waited next to a simple tent that had been erected.
Two guards stood nearby, one guarding the flap while the other was patrolling around the tent keeping an eye out for everything that happened near the tent.
Akira nodded to the two guards who had saluted him and then he walked inside the tent with Fluffball following behind him. Inside the tent, he found Zundar already sleeping on a large fur rug.
Akira silently flopped down onto the lone cot with Fluffball jumping up next to him. He pulled the covers up and went to sleep to get a few hours of rest.
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***
¡°Miss you can not go in there! The commander is sleeping!¡±
¡°I am tired of waiting!¡± said Mileena as she burst into the tent and stormed over to Akira who was groggily sitting up.
¡°Get out of bed!¡±
Millennia pulled the covers off of Akira and Fluffball causing a cold wind to assault the two. This ended with her receiving a kick in the gut from Fluffball''s hind legs.
¡°Yap!¡± said a sleepy Fluffball who was unhappy at being rudely awakened and continued to push on Mileena''s stomach as he stretched.
¡°What time is it?¡± asked Akira. Worried he had overslept due to how demanding Mileena sounded. He saw that Zundar was not in the tent and had already left.
¡°An hour and a half until noon. I''m sorry commander I could not keep her out any longer,¡± said the guard. He knew that she was in a relationship with Akira so he was not too worried but did not want to get in trouble for her waking him up.
¡°It''s all right,¡± said as he waved the guard away. He turned to Mileena. ¡°What''s so pressing that you had to barge in past the guard and wake me up?¡±
¡°It''s just that all you do lately is work, travel, or sleep. We hardly have any time to talk or eat together and now...,¡± said Mileena with a pitiable face.
¡°Pii!¡± said Piiperella as she stuck her head into the tent to see what was going on inside.
¡°Sigh...come here,¡± said Akira as he waved for Mileena to come closer to him.
Mileena tried to but her gut was still being pushed back by Fluffball who was now stretched out in a weird body position and had fallen back asleep.
Akira moved Fluffball''s legs and pulled Mileena into a hug. For the next hour and twenty minutes, the two of them talked about trivial stuff and ate a nice grilled lunch as if there was not a large battle looming.
Akira exited his tent fully refreshed and equipped. He was ready to take care of whatever needed to be done. Mileena exited the tent and followed behind him along with an energetic Fluffball who had slept well.
The temporary camp was abuzz with activity as everyone made their last preparations before gathering with their units and forming up.
He hopped onto Grarr who was fully rested and pulled Mileena up to sit in front of him.
They rode in silence towards the large gathering of sleds and Gargs. All the words that needed to be said had been said already.
¡°AWOOOOOO!¡± Akira gave the order for the army to form up. After several minutes of frantic moving, the infantry were all in tight formations behind the cavalry. With Varbu and his orc warriors bringing up the rear as the rear guard.
¡°Today we march to block the Saber fang''s army! I would rather not have to fight fellow brethren but if talks do fail...DO NOT hesitate or lighten your attacks when the order is given,¡± shouted Akira.
Several howls rang out affirming their commitment to following Akira''s words.
¡°March!¡±
***
Tormoid lazily sat in his tent and drank some warmed wine and ate a few pieces of grilled fish for his dinner.
The Saber fang army was waiting for the Ramia and Demigods that were joining them for this adventure south.
An irritated Duke Erock Nama entered the tent and started angrily questioning Tormoid for the hundredth time.
¡°What is taking them so long? We should have been at Kodria two days ago!¡±
¡°There is nothing we can do. Plans like these never hold up, something always happens. We just have to wait for them. They should be here any day now.¡±
Just then the sound of a whistle rang out notifying everyone that a large group was nearing them.
¡°Finally that must be them,¡± said Erock, as he rushed out of the tent.
¡°Awo~!¡± he sent out the order for the army to begin mobilization so they could move out.
Both Erock and Tormoid went to the edges of the camp where the army was gathering so they could great their temporary allies.
Only a minute had passed when their faces changed from smiles to blank shock. The army marching towards them was not the Ramia or the Demigods but an army of several thousands of werewolves and Orcs.
¡°Awoo~!¡± Erock frantically sent out another order to hurry the warriors to gather for battle!
Akira stopped the army several hundred yards away, making sure that they were out of the range of any arrows.
¡°They know we are here,¡± said Varbu who stood next to Akira along with Zundar, Klyn, and the other elite guards.
¡°Do we attack now or wait to see what they do?¡± asked Zundar who was getting pumped for a fight.
¡°Let me know and I will coordinate the shamans'' buffs so that we are fully prepared,¡± said Klyn.
Akira was still unsure how to approach the other side to try and at least persuade them to call off their foolhardy plans.
His predicament was quickly solved when Erock, Tormoid, and several bodyguards separated from their army and rode out with a white flag of truce, only stopping when they reached halfway between the two armies.
¡°Let us see what they want,¡± said Akira, ordering those around him to follow. Before moving forward he made sure that Tanner carried both a white flag as well as Kodria''s battle standard.
100 feet separated the two groups as they stared at each other sizing up the other. Tormoid and the other werewolves along with him had already all transformed while Akira and his own guard had not.
¡°So, it is you,¡± said Tormoid with a sour look on his face.
¡°Yes, it''s me,¡± said Akira.
The two sides were quiet again for a few seconds.
¡°I see you brought the white flag out first. Does that mean you wish to call off this foolish endeavor?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We have no intention of surrendering! We have only come to ask you for your surrender and for you to hand over Kodria to us!¡± said Tormoid before Erock could speak.
Erock held up a hand and had Tormoid shut his mouth.
¡°How did you find out we were coming?¡± asked Erock. ¡°Even If you only found out when we arrived you should have not been able to mobilize so quickly.¡±
¡°You think the Demigods are your friends? They are just using you. We are all of the earth tribe, we should unite together and not fight among ourselves.¡±
¡°Stop spouting bull-crap,¡± said Tormoid.
¡°I know the demigods are not our friends, but you are mistaken. It is not they who are using us, but we are using them to complete our goal. I will only ask you this once, surrender or we will defeat your army and capture you before taking over your city,¡± said Erock.
¡°I will have to decline that demand. I do not wish to fight you when we have a mutual enemy that we should face instead. If you put this to a stop now I will overlook this misstep just this once,¡± said Akira.
¡°Then we have reached an impasse,¡± said Erock.
¡°Take this!¡± said Tormoid as he reached back to throw a javelin at Akira.
Zundar, Dolph, and Vilkas all jumped in front of Akira, but the attack never came. Surprisingly Erock had grabbed onto the end of the javelin and was looking at Tormoid with an angry glare.
¡°You have already stepped on my honor by talking out of place. I overlooked that but trying to attack during a white flag meeting... Are you seeking death? I will not allow you to ruin my honor any further!¡± said Erock angrily.
¡°What honor? We''re going to steal his city, where is the honor in this?¡± asked Tormoid.
¡°That and this is different! There are some things you should not do! I will not allow you to ruin my battle honor!¡±
Akira thought he had a warped sense of honor.
Erock turned to Akira and said, ¡°Whoever wins this battle will be the owner of Kodria!¡±
¡°I will never accept that!¡± said Akira.
¡°I will make you accept it!¡±
As the two turned to head back to their armies, they were stopped when they saw two shaman were being carried on the back of two Garg mounts running towards them waving their hands frantically.
¡°Wait...¡± said Akira to the other party.
¡°What is it now? Do you want to surrender after all?¡± asked Tormoid.
¡°Lord! Horrible news!¡± shouted one of the shaman!
¡°Calm down! What is it?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°The Grand elders received word from the Coldpelt clan of Bleur shor!¡±
¡°And?¡± asked Akira.
¡°...They were attacked by a large force of demigods and their minions...
... and there are other groups headed to the other areas in the north! They will surely go to Crowmaw soon!¡±
¡°Don''t spout such nonsense!¡± said Tormoid angrily as he turned and ran towards his waiting soldiers.
¡°Where is your honor? You don''t need to use such weak mind games. If you are too scared to face me on the battlefield then just surrender now,¡± said Erock with disdain, before running towards his army followed by his officers and guards.
It seemed there would be a battle no matter what, but between who and where?
Chapter 198: Fight it out
BOOM! CRACK! SWISH!
Dazzling lights from the many skills being used lit up the dark evening sky. The different sounds of exploding skills echoed out over the water.
A random nomadic teepee village was currently under attack. The tepees near the shore were ablaze with crackling fire. Smoke covered the village like a heavy fog making it difficult to breathe and see several feet in front of where you stood.
The inhabitants of the small village were in a massed panic, fleeing with whatever they could quickly grab, before escaping into the nearby winter woods.
In the mass of confusion, a small child was sitting on the snowy ground crying loudly. The child as well as the snow he sat on were both dyed red from a nearby body that had taken several direct hits from the flying skills.
Moments later a frantic mother rushed over and picked up the child with one hand while carrying a bag in her other hand. She ran through the smokey miasma mostly on instinct making her way to the relative safety of the woods with several others ahead of her as well as a few more following behind.
In the smokey fog several small rowboats rowed their way to the shore while the skills continued to fly over their heads from the main ships they had come from.
When they reached the shore the shabbily dressed pirates inside the ships shouted in a manic glee as they jumped out onto the shore and started to run through the village.
Anyone that they found was killed no matter their age or whether they were male or female.
Several people tried to hide in boxes of equipment or large piles of hay and manure. But the manic pirates gleefully set everything on fire and used skills on everything as they searched for hidden prey.
For those who had been too slow or wounded in the initial attack, they were torn apart by several different skills as they were chased by the maniacs.
¡°Ha Ha Ha! Look at that! Have you ever seen something like this?¡± asked Kooter as he watched from one of the large ships.
¡°Tell me again why we the Demon hunters have to team up with those bunch of crazy cult guys from the Forbidden clan? They have horrible hygiene. They smell bad and their teeth and breath are even worse,¡± asked Phobia with a look of distaste on her face.
She did not disapprove of the killing that they were doing but the fact that each of them had sworn an oath to never show mercy or do a good deed ever again when they had first joined the Forbidden guild. They all followed this oath like fanatics, causing trouble not only for the humans and demon races but also the other Demigod clans.
¡°I don''t like them any more than you do. But with such few people here, we need to team up with them along with the Cunning shadow and Frozenblood guild in order to gain a foothold,¡± said Bland with a blank face as he watched what little of the chaos on the shore that they could see through the smokey fog.
¡°The Cunning shadow guild is just as bad,¡± said LieLie as she stood on a box so she could shoot several skills randomly towards the woods full of fleeing people.
¡°I have never heard of the Frozenblood guild. Who are they?¡± asked Phobia.
¡°It''s a new guild that was created fairly recently because of the large guilds including us, started to gather here in larger forces. Many of the smaller groups that have been here longer than we have all banded together to create the guild. It is just a gathering of a bunch of weird people,¡± said Berk.
¡°Did I hear someone talking about me?¡± asked a handsomely dressed man.
¡°What are you doing here Gen? Aren''t you part of The GentleFallen guild?¡± asked Phobia, stepping away from the new person.
¡°I Gen the gentleman, am a member of that guild. I''m just here to help out my friends that joined and formed the new guild you mentioned a few moments ago.¡±
¡°You''re just trying to gain benefits for your guild by leeching off others because your guild is too busy elsewhere,¡± said LieLie.
Gen being the gentleman he was, ignored her jab, and asked a question. ¡°When will we be attacking someplace bigger? Why are we only wiping out the smaller villages?¡±
¡°The Banished knights guild attacked a larger settlement and were all wiped out before getting a foothold here. Mainly due to the enemy having help from the surrounding villages. It will now take them a long time to return,¡± said Bland.
¡°It''s called tactics Gen. We conquer and take care of the smaller places allowing us to have a foothold to take on the larger villages, towns, and cities,¡± said Phobia.
¡°It''s just taking forever to get to the good stuff,¡± said Gen the gentleman.
¡°In due time we will get to them. We still have many other targets to get to first,¡± said Bland in a bland calm voice not worried about the slow pace.
***
Bright moonlight shone down on a large flat snowy battlefield.
The two werewolf armies faced off against each other. The only sound was the wind blowing the light dusting of new powder snow up into the air, swirling around obscuring their vision on both sides.
At once the loud howls rang out from both sides of the battlefield commanding their warriors and soldiers to transform.
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Hundreds of other howls rang out echoing the command, moments later the battlefield was filled with thousands of howls coming from the transforming werewolves.
Akira stood in front of the center of the army in his full heavy black armor. A dark misty haze hovering around his armor was visible to all who saw him standing at the front.
Seeing him standing there gave everyone the feeling of rock-solid determination. The killing intent emanating from him shocked the older soldiers who had fought in many battles and wars. Such a feeling only came from those who had battled and killed many thousands of enemies.
Behind Akira stood Tanner who held the Kodria flag which was dancing and snapping wildly in the snowy wind.
Ding!
Ledership skill active!
All passive buffs have been applied to those under your command!
|
Akira watched Erock from across the battlefield waiting to see if he would start the fight first, but despite his earlier fiery speech, he just stared back at Akira.
It may have been because of a lack of confidence due to being slightly outnumbered by Akira and the two other demon races who had combined their soldiers into one army.
Varbu stood in front of his orc warriors with the other Orc warrior chiefs. While Prince Gobbers commanded his own warriors from the rear.
Akira had had enough of the silent waiting so he jumped onto the back of Grarr and raised his sword drawing everyone''s attention to his slowly rising arm.
¡°Awooo! Awoo~!¡±
With two loud howls, Akira¡¯s hand sliced down and pointed at the warriors of the SaberFang army.
[Command skills [Full attack] and [Charge] have been activated!]
As if a dam broke loose, the soldiers of Kodria rushed forward with howls of their own, while still making sure to stay in proper formation.
Seeing this Erock issued his own commands through a howl and the Saberfang warriors leaped forward in their own charge to meet the Kodria soldiers that were rushing towards them.
Akira led the charge with Dolph and Vilkas right beside him on their own Garg companion mounts and Zundar trotting along with big thumping footsteps.
The rest of the Cavalry was charged with protecting the flanks from being outflanked, while also trying to do the same to the opposing army.
It only took a few moments for the two sides to clear the short distance between them, leaving little time for ranged attacks, before they clashed together in a loud booming ruckus as metal beat and slashed against metal, fur, and bone.
Howls full of blood-lust and pain rang out as the full-on battle commenced.
Akira had wasted no time in heading directly towards the instigators of the whole situation. Tormoid and Erock.
Surprisingly the old Tormoid had not shied away from the fight and was at the front of the battle along with several guards.
Seeing this Tormoid commanded his own warriors to intercept Akira while he followed behind them at a short distance.
Erock stayed at the center commanding and fighting, he was letting Tormoid take the full brunt of Akira''s attacks first before he would go and finish the job himself.
All those that neared Akira were severely wounded either by Akria''s wild slashing sword, Zundar''s hammer that knocked several warriors far back into the gathered warriors far behind, or the paws and sharp teeth of Grarr.
They were plowing through them as they headed straight towards Tormoid whose face soured at the strength they showed. It was much stronger than he had heard about during the last war.
They had greatly miscalculated the strength of Kodria''s army.
¡°Tormoid! Erock! Stop this foolishness now before we truly pass the point of no return!¡± roared Akira allowing all those around to hear as he continued to slash and wound those near him sending them tumbling to the ground.
¡°Ha! Only a coward would stop!¡± shouted Tormoid as he charged towards Akira.
¡°We are all of the earth tribe, we have many other enemies we should be fighting!¡±
Akira was not shouting to get the two leaders to stop but to try and persuade the other warriors under them to stop fighting.
But his words seemed to not have little to no effect.
¡°Fine! Don''t blame me for being rude!¡± said Akira.
Ding!
Darkness domain activated!
|
The eyesight of the Saberfang warriors near Akira was immediately blurred as a dark mist started to cover a large area around Akira, forcing them to rely on their sense of smell and hearing more than their eyes.
As Akira and Tormoid''s swords intercepted each other a loud howl full of alarm rang out from the rear of the Saberfang army.
Both Akira and Tormoid glanced to see what was wrong. Tormoid worried that the enemy cavalry had flanked them while Akira hoped that they had.
But there was no fighting happening at the rear, only a small group of what looked like several elderly shaman who were rushing forward letting out frantic howls.
Akira listened to them and found that they were calling for Erock to stop the fighting.
¡°I won''t let something like this stop me from taking care of a troublesome weed like you! You should have died long ago!¡± said Tormoid as he renewed his attacks with vigor. But his sword was blocked by a swipe of Grarr''s large paw and he was forced to jump back.
He was unable to fight at full strength due to his vision being blocked when he was near Akira.
The elderly Saberfang Shaman continued to call for the stop of the fighting, to which Erock spent several minutes contemplating what to do. Several moments later he let out a howl, halting the warrior''s attack and calling for them to retreat.
Akira seeing this also let out a howl of his own calling for the Kodria soldiers to stop pushing forward and pull back as well in order to see what was going on.
Tormoid did not heed the command of Erock and continued fighting Akira. His guards were quickly surrounded and incapacitated while Tormoid received a severe wound from Akira''s sword that had grown to a longer length surprising him and stopped the fight as he crumpled to the ground.
Akira''s guards captured Tormoid and bound his arms and legs before giving him a rough handling as they applied a bare minimum of first aid to keep him alive.
Akira pulled back with his guards and the newly captured prisoners while he waited to see what Erock would do next.
It didn''t take long before Erock parted ways with the elderly Shaman and rode out onto the now empty and bloody battlefield with a white flag and several escorting guards.
Akira and his entourage once again headed out to meet Erock halfway.
¡°I wish to call a truce,¡± said Erock immediately, not waiting to start talking.
¡°Why now?¡±
¡°Your words were correct. The demigods have completely whipped out several of the northern villages and are headed towards Crowmaw city!¡±
Chapter 199: Crowmaw city
¡°So we are all agreed on the terms of this truce?¡± asked Erock as he looked between Akira, Varbu, and the two goblin royalty.
¡°It''s the best we can do for now,¡± said Akira.
Ding!
Quest Completed!
The Saber fang clan''s army was successfully stopped from reaching Kodria!
Special upgrade for the outer city wall will activate when you return to the city.
|
Akira quickly closed the window and glanced at a pale-faced Tormoid who was still recovering from his wound. Tormoid did not look at Akira and continued to stare at the ground silently.
¡°What are we going to do with the northern Demigods causing trouble?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°It is such short notice and since we are not there to coordinate any type of defense, I need to ask you to put aside the grudges we have and help us push the Demigods back,¡± said Erock.
Everyone was silent for several seconds, their gazes all shifted to Akira to see what he would decide before speaking up themselves.
¡°I have no issue with helping you defend your city from the demigods. I just wish that you would have not started such a conflict in the first place,¡± said Akira.
¡°We will follow your lead,¡± said Varbu as he thumped his chest in salute.
¡°Gi Gii giiiii,¡± said Prince Goobers, voicing his own agreement.
¡°What are we to do with the wounded, and the Ramia that will be here any day now?¡± asked Erock.
¡°We''ll send the wounded to Kodria where they will be taken care of. A messenger group will be stationed here to wait for the Ramia and inform them of everything that has happened. We need to head north immediately as there is no time to waste.¡±
¡°My boats have a better carrying capacity than normal troops ships. We should transport your cavalry north first while your ships travel north and pick up our troops and transport them,¡± suggested Erock.
¡°Let''s do that,¡± said Akira. The faster they arrived the faster they could handle the crisis, and the most flexible units of the army were the cavalry who could quickly respond to almost anything the demigods had planned.
***
The boats traveled up the unfreezing river and made their way along the shore cutting through the thin layers of ice that was starting to cover the water.
¡°Crowmaw is just over there,¡± said Erock, pointing towards a large city made out of a large gathering of several hundred if not thousands, of tepees, other leather tents, and movable structures.
¡°Let''s get as close as we can and then we can start ferrying everyone to shore,¡± said Akira talking to the captain of the ship as he looked at the ice and the snowy shore.
Within a few minutes, they arrived at the spot closest to the shore that they could get without beaching the ship.
Akira and Erock both rode the first ship to shore so that Akira could organize the cavalry as they arrived onshore and Erock could start working on preparing Crowmaw for the arrival of the demigods.
It was the next morning when the first of the troopships started to arrive one after another.
Varbu arrived onshore in the first wave of troops. Akira made his way over to him to get him up to date on what had to be done.
¡°...that is all you need to do right now. Just make sure that you are able to cover the entire village to block any sneak attacks. I will be going out to scout the surrounding area and warn any villages we may come upon,¡± said Akira as he finished giving out orders.
Minutes later Akira bid Mileena goodbye, and then gathered all of the Calvary and headed out on their scouting mission.
They rode for nearly half a day before they encountered their first small village. Several dogs started to bark loudly warning the villagers of strangers.
Several loud children rushed to the tents and Yurts they lived in and then poked their heads out to see who had come. The many adults all exited the housing fully equipped in armor with their weapons ready.
¡°Who be ye? What do ye want with such a large force?¡± asked an elderly werewolf who seemed to be the leader of the small nomadic village.
¡°I am Akira, lord of Kodria, and the Darkmoon clan. The demigods have been terrorizing the northern villages and towns. I advise you to head towards Crowmaw for your own safety.¡±
¡°So the rumors were true?¡± asked the elderly werewolf.
¡°They are. We can not stay to talk with you longer as we have to warn others of the danger. Do you know of any other village or settlement nearby?¡± asked Akira.
¡°If you keep heading east there may be two other groups or they may have already packed up and left,¡± said the elderly man as he pointed to the east.
Akira waved to him and ordered the cavalry forward again once more. It was nearing dinner time when they saw the tents, tepees, and yurts of another nomadic village.
Unlike the last village, there were no barking dogs and no noisy children. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching snow as the Gargs ran through the snow as well as the slight hiss of the metal runners on the sleds that were pulled by the reindeer.
The blowing wind brought the smell of fresh snow that had a hint of stale smoke mixed in alerting Akira that there was something wrong.
Akira unsheathed his weapon and issued a silent order for everyone else to do the same. They split into two and silently surrounded the village.
The smell of stale smoke grew stronger as they reached the outskirts of the village. The outside dwellings seemed to be fine but as soon as they passed them they found that everything inside had been torn down and burned.
The village was empty of enemies as well as its original inhabitants.
''Several bodies were burnt here,'' said Graarr as he sniffed the air near a large ash pile.
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Akira hopped off and kicked around the ground uncovering several frozen bloody patches that had been covered by new snow.
¡°They were definitely killed by the Demigods. I didn''t see any footprints that indicated anyone escaped,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°The smells are only a day or two old. The demigods should be within the vicinity,¡± said Dolph.
¡°We''ll continue to search for them and warn anyone else we see. I fear that all the other villages and settlements from here on have already been attacked,¡± said Akira as he returned to Grarr.
They continued searching all through the cold winter night but could not find any traces of the group of demigods tormenting the area.
With little luck finding the elusive demigods Akira ordered the cavalry to return to Crowmaw village.
***
While Akira was away Varbu and the Kodria soldiers helped Erock move the village back away from the shore so that they could better defend against any shore attack.
When that was completed, they started creating temporary walls by packing snow and sprinkling water gathered from the ocean on the snow, creating a semi-solid ice/snow wall.
The demigods had been sighted and would be here soon. They had little time left to prepare and the naval ship could only give a small amount of relief as they would be unable to stand long against the demigod''s skill attacks.
***
Clang! Crash! Kaching!
The sound of a fierce battle reached Akira''s ears as they neared Crowmaw city.
''I think we found where the demigods went!'' said Grarr.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball who was running next to Akira.
¡°Awooo!¡±Akira let out a howl, ordering the cavalry to move towards the enemy.
They spread out from a marching line formation, into a battle formation that they had trained in several thousands of times.
The Gargs continued to let out short howls as they charged towards the enemy letting the allied Werewolves know of their presence.
Several howls echoed out from the temporary ice/snow walls of Crowmaw as fighting soldiers acknowledged their presence.
The Demigods hearing the howls all around them start to curse.
¡°Buther, I thought you said that this place was going to be easy to take down!¡± shouted Ranche one of the crazy pirates.
¡°Bland and his group are the ones that scouted them out and gave me the information! How was I supposed to know that they would have such a huge army!¡±
¡°We need to get out of here quick or we''re going to get surrounded and wiped out!¡±
¡°Retreat!¡± shouted Buther.
Of the several hundred demigods as well as the hundred-plus captured warriors that had started the fight against the werewolves, less than a hundred demigods were all that now remained. They had been met with heavy resistance which led to all of their captured warriors being killed before they could even help secure the supposed weak city.
The demigods turned as one and rushed to the shore fighting off their pursuers while trying to reach their boats before the cavalry could cut them off.
¡°Faster!¡± ordered Akira.
When the ballista sleds were in range, they started to shoot and zero in on their targets as they rushed forward alongside the other Calvary.
They were successful in scoring direct hits on several of the demigods piercing their bodies and creating many bright lights of fragments as the killed demigods disappeared from the battlefield.
Akira and the cavalry were not fast enough to stop the demigods from reaching their rowboats. The demigods all piled into their boats and pushed off heading back to the main ships floating farther out at sea.
The ballista sleds continued to shoot at the rowing boats trying to kill and poke holes into the boats. They were successful in capsizing one of the fast-moving boats sending its occupants into the freezing water, where they floundered with their heavy wet armor. Those that were not rescued by passing rowboats sank under the floating ice chunks and did not resurface.
Before the Buster sleds could target another boat, several fire, ice, wind, and other special skills flew off of the demigod''s large ships and targeted the sleds forcing them to turn around and head back out of the range of the ships.
The boats of both Kodria and Crowmaw''s navy used this distraction of the enemy to play footsie with them by getting close enough to shoot off several volleys of arrows and ballista at the enemy before turning around and sailing out of the range of the enemies skills.
¡°Damn it are they going to get away?¡± asked Varbu, who had joined Akira after chasing the demigods all the way to their rowboats.
¡°What are those?¡± asked Zundar as he pointed towards a spot on the distant sea.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Several more ships have appeared! Are they enemy reinforcements?¡±
Akira found the ships that were sailing towards them after a few seconds of searching the large icy sea. He could see that they were all a mixture of sizes and shapes.
They all had two things in common. One, the wood of every ship looked as if it was rotten, every one of their sails had so many holes in them. The second thing they all had in common was the flag they all flew. It had a certain skeleton''s head on each of the flags. Despite the extremely poor shape of the ships they sped across the icy water as if they were brand new.
¡°What is he doing here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You know them?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°They are the former inhabitants of the islands that now make up Kodria,¡± said Akira.
The demigods were spoiled for choice of targets and were now a little overwhelmed as they were being attacked from the shore as well as the naval ships nearby and now several other ships were coming to block off their escape.
¡°Target the approaching ships!¡± shouted the demigod commander of the ships.
The ships were not fully crewed by demigods, they also had several hundred warriors who had been captured and forced into serving them.
The ragged ghost ships continued forward weathering the barrage of skill attacks as if nothing was happening. On top of the decks of the ships skeletons milled around waiting as the ships raced towards their target.
Akira watched as the ships continued to sail straight towards the demigod''s ships and did not look like they were going to slow down.
¡°Move the ship to starboard!¡± shouted the demigod commander frantically.
Crack! Crash!
Akira was amazed at Captain Pegleg''s crude tactics.
He had t-boned the ships crashing right into the side stopping both ships with loud cracks and groans of wood.
¡°Kyahahahah! Your snips now belong to me!¡± shouted a skeleton who had a large black triangle leather hat on his head and two leather eye patches covering each of his empty eye sockets.
¡°My what?¡± asked the demigod captain.
¡°Kill them all!¡± cried Captain Pegleg.
Like a flood, the undead skeleton pirates swarmed from one ship to the other and started a fight with the demigods and those they had been forced to serve.
The demigods were dropping like flies because the skeletons kept on re-assembling themselves and attacking them when they were not looking.
The regular humans and demon races that had been captured saw this and turned on the demigods helping kill them.
Many of those that rebelled were cut down by the skills of the demigods and killed immediately, they were not undead so they did not revive.
Although the numbers were against the demigods, they were able to kill over half of the captured warriors before they were completely wiped out by the undead pirates.
Pegleg used a special type of magic and commanded the dead warriors to revive adding more skeletons to his naval force.
This scared many of those who had known them when they were alive.
Pegleg looked to the shore and saw Akira standing there.
¡°What''s this? Is that my old friend that is not my friend?¡± asked Pegleg as he held his hand to his forehead to block the nonexistent sunlight and stare at Akira on the shore.
¡°Take me to the shore!¡± shouted Pegleg.
***
¡°Weren''t we supposed to be helping the forbidden and Cunning shadow clans fight the werewolves?¡± asked Phobia.
¡°While they busy themselves with the small fry Crowmaw village we will be preparing to take over the human city Froit!¡± said Bland.
¡°What a sneaky plan,¡± said Kooter.
¡°Why risk attacking a strong force when we have a weak one we can focus on. We can build a base there to attack any other place we want,¡± said Bland.
¡°So that''s where we are going. Are you sure we can take down that city?¡±
¡°Trust me, I wouldn''t have started this plan if I wasn''t sure,¡± said Bland.
Chapter 200: Kodrias first test
¡°Captain Pegleg what are you doing here?¡± asked Akira who was still transformed.
¡°Have you grown taller?¡± asked Captain Pegleg as he tilted his head to the side and inspected Akira who was emitting an odd black mist that covered his body.
¡°You have changed greatly since I last met you. As for why I am here? We were just sailing along and when I saw those ships out there, I recognized them as ones that had attacked me and my ships before! How could I face my men as the captain, if I let our enemy getaway now that we are far stronger than before!¡±
¡°I thank you for the help you provided in eliminating the demigods that got away from us. Unfortunately, we can not talk for long as I am not sure what the demigods plan to do. So I need to return to my own city,¡± said Akira.
¡°What are you going to do with these sheps?¡± asked Captain Pegleg, pointing to the ships that had been captured from the Demigods.
¡°You can have them,¡± said Akira, before turning to Erock who had just arrived at the shore. He had come to see who or what exactly had finished off the Demigods.
¡°Erock, can you handle defending your city now or do you need some soldiers to stay behind and help?¡±
¡°We will be moving to our wartime lodging immediately. There will be no need for you to stay as we can defend ourselves when we get there,¡± said Erock.
¡°I''ll have the shaman inform Bleur shor city of the attack. They should also be moving to a safer location,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Captain Pegleg, how would you like to earn a few more ships?¡± asked Akira.
¡°How? You''re not going to try anything tricky with me are you?¡± asked Captain Pegleg.
¡°Just follow me and I am sure you will be able to acquire a few more ships. Oh, Erock, one last bit of advice for you. Invest in building a wall,¡± said Akira.
***
As soon as Akira stepped off of his ship and touched the busy docks of Kodria''s main island a system message popped up.
Ding!
Free wall upgrade reward is ready!
Would you like to implement the free upgrade now? Y/ N.
|
Akira accepted and immediately a blinding light flashed out from the center of the city and covered the outer city walls making them glow in a bright swirling milky white.
Ding!
Gathering information on local area specialties...
...special trait found!
Selecting a similar wall upgrade!
Implementing free upgrade ''Wall of Protection'' ... 1%...
|
Everyone in the city was shocked by the flash of light thinking it was some sort of attack made by the demigods. The most shocked were the city guards that had been patrolling the outer walls but now could not see the stone beneath their feet due to the bright light that covered the wall.
Akira had a front-row view of the light show as the outer walls were right in front of him. He stood still watching the swirling light that blocked the view of the walls waiting for it to disappear but after 5 minutes the wall was still glowing and Akira did not think it would go away anytime soon.
¡°Let''s head back to the castle and give the grand elders a full report,¡± said Akira as he led Klyn and his guards towards the opened glowing white gates of the city.
***
¡°You three guilds should be strong enough to capture Kodria,¡± said Bland who was sitting in a small meeting cabin on his flagship.
¡°That''s what you said about that werewolf village that was supposed to be small without any protection. They had been prepared for us with thousands of warriors and then out of nowhere undead skeletons boarded our ship and killed us!¡±
¡°It''s just your bad luck. Don''t put too much thought into it. It''s not like those skeleton pirates are allies to the werewolves. Now that you know what the werewolves are like to fight against, you can go after our main target. If you prepare correctly you can take over Kodria,¡± said Phobia.
¡°I doubt it. That is what you said about the other place,¡± said Buther. ¡°Why can''t you come with us?¡±
¡°We are busy working on something else,¡± said Kooter.
¡°If you don''t act now then your guilds will have a hard time capturing Kodria. You will have to wait until your full guild is here to try again,¡± said Bland.
¡°It feels like you are just forcing us to do all the impossible tasks,¡± said Ranche
¡°We get nothing from this! If you succeed all the rewards go to you,¡± said Phobia.
The other guild representatives left the ship in a huff, all seemed to be unhappy with the tasks they had been given, but they could not ignore the lure of owning Kodria for their own guilds base of operations.
If they could capture it there would be no one on this continent that could push them out. Only the major guilds that were busy fighting back on Halrverold would be able to do that and they had bigger problems to worry about than some demon race and monster-infested land.
¡°You think they will be able to succeed?¡± asked Phobia.
¡°From what I heard, the place is far more formidable than Crowmaw city. I highly doubt it but if we can have them deal a heavy blow to the city damaging it, it should make it easier to capture later,¡± said Bland.
¡°Come on we are behind schedule for capturing Froit. If we don''t have it under our control when Fela arrives with the other guild members we will be a laughing stock and then Fela will take over your position Bland,¡± said Kooter.
¡°There is no way I will let Fela cruise in here and take over all the hard work we have done. We will leave immediately!¡± said Bland.
***
Over the next few weeks, several reports of Demigod attacks on smaller villages reached Kodria.
The majority of that news came from the mouths of several thousands of refugees that were fleeing south towards Kodria and other cities that would take them in. Many of the ragged refugees were the survivors of the small villages and towns that were attacked.
Akira stood on top of the castle roof overlooking Kodria as he watched the winter sunrise up into the sky. Next to him stood Mileena who huddled close to Akira trying to keep warm on this cold morning.
Fluffball and Pii''per were messing around behind them on the roof as the two watched the city.
¡°That weird light is still covering the walls. What did you say it was again?¡± asked Mileena as she looked at the bright Milky light which still covered the outer wall. The guards and city people had grown used to it by now and no longer paid attention to it as they were far more occupied with working on the defense preparations.
¡°It is a special chant from one of the old books I bought from the auction,¡± lied Akira.
Mileena''s attention moved from the wall towards the large tent city that had popped up on the opposite shore near the outer trade plazas walls.
¡°More and more people keep showing up. How are we going to protect and feed everyone?¡±
¡°We have enough stored food for now but we should be able to buy what we need for Jerora and the Dwarves. As for protecting them, I have already talked with the Grand elders and they have agreed to start building an outer city based around the current trade plaza.¡±
¡°I am just really worried about the demigods rampaging up north. Now everyone is coming south to Kodria for safety, but what are we going to do when there is no place to go other than here? How will we withstand the demigods?¡±
¡°There is no need to worry that much. There are far larger cities to the north of us, who are just as strong or even stronger than us. They won''t go down without a fierce fight and before that happens we will help stop them.¡±
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Ding!
Free outer wall upgrade ''Wall of Protection'' has been completed!
Outer stone walls durability was upgraded to Rank 2!
Special statues of protection have been added to the outer wall!
|
With a bright flash of light, the walls that had been covered in the milky white light revealed themselves. The stone was now a deep white color that blended in with the fresh snow on the ground.
What interested Akira the most was the large 10-foot statues that were now attached to the outside wall.
There were now statues made of the same white stone, each statue resembled a knight standing with both their hands clasped on the hilt of a long sword that was also made out of stone. The long stone sword pierced the ground in front of them. The statues were placed at each corner of the city wall, there was also one on each side of the outer walls city gates.
The statues were quite an impressive sight.
¡°Doesn''t that armor look a bit like yours?¡± asked Mileena as she pointed at one of the statues after a quick inspection.
¡°Yap!¡± ¡°Piiiii!¡± Both Fluffball and Piiper interrupted their conversion with loud surprised shouts.
Akira turned to see what the problem was and found a ten-foot statue in the center of the roof. It was almost just like the statues below save for the fact that this one held its sword up into the air well above its head that was bare of a helmet like the others. The head of the statue had a canny resemblance to Akira''s furry face when he was transformed.
Piiper was sitting on the head of the statue, pecking at the face with her beak, but was unable to leave a mark.
Fluffball just sat at the bottom of the statue looking at the face of the statue while he sniffed the stone.
¡°It really is based on you...¡± said Mileena looking at the statue then back at Akira. ¡°What are these statues for?¡±
¡°I have no clue,¡± said Akira as he looked at the large statue. No matter what he did he was unable to figure out if the state had any special effect. To his disappointment, the statues seemed to only be decoration.
¡°I thought you said it was from a book you bought. Doesn''t it have information on it?¡±
Akira shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the statue along with Fluffball.
''Hey, system! That reward you gave me is crap! All it did was upgrade the durability of the outer wall,'' thought Akira. He was not impressed with the reward at all.
¡°Awoooooo~!¡± a faint distant howl that echoed from far away reached Akira''s ears.
He had been fearing this call for the last week unsure if Kodria was prepared for an all-out attack by the demigods.
¡°Awoooo~!¡± The faint warning howl was picked up by the guards at the river forts and relayed it to the city. Now there was no doubt about it, the time had come!
Akira could see a large commotion happening on the opposite shore as the tent city started to move with activity as the refugees scrambled out of their tents and rushed towards the short walls of the trade plaza where they would be safer from any attack that came.
Down below him, the once quiet and empty morning streets of Kodria were now bustling with activity as Soldiers and city guards started to move towards their battle stations.
Akira gave Mileena a quick kiss on the forehead and ran to the stairs to exit the castle.
Klyn, Vilkas, and Dolph were all waiting for Akira at the front doors of the castle.
The four of them headed down the hill through the busy streets towards the front gate''s towers.
When he arrived Varbu, Prince Gobbers, Princess Gobalina, and Four other werewolves were already waiting for him.
¡°Frang what are you doing here?¡± asked Akira, seeing his cousin was with the three other guards.
¡°I was recently promoted to be one of the four guard captains of the outer wall!¡± said Frang proudly.
Akira guessed the other three guards with him were the other three outer wall guard captains. Each of the city walls had four guard captains that were in charge of commanding the guards in their section.
¡°What''s the situation?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They should be here soon. The forts have raised the chain to block the river entrance and are ready with enough arrows and javelins to return fire with the enemy''s ships.¡±
From where they stood the large chain could not be seen as it was still hidden just under the water, this was to catch those unaware by surprise and allow the chain to cause the most damage.
¡°And the surprise?¡±
¡°They did not notice anything and have already passed by,¡± replied one of the Officers.
¡°Then all we can do is wait for them and see how the forts and city defenses hold up to a determined attack by the demigods,¡± said Akira as he stared at the river, waiting for the enemy''s ships to appear.
The enemy must have been taking their time as they sailed up the river cautiously because it was another hour before they arrived.
Unlike the fight at Crowmaw several weeks before, there was only one large ship this time that was leading the way down the river trailed by several dozen smaller ships of varying sizes.
When the large ship came into range, both forts started to shoot fire arrows at the deck and the sails of the ship. Several of the arrows struck true and started to burn. There was a happy cheer that ran through the guards stationed on the wall as they watched the start of the distant fight.
The cheer was short-lived as an icy wind blew over the entire ship and froze the fires stopping any further fire damage.
***
¡°Is that all they got?¡± asked a demigod who finished casting the ice wind skill.
¡°Down here, with the weather so cold, my skills are even more powerful!¡± said another demigod.
¡°Don''t get cocky, we are only at the mouth of the river, we still have to get to the main island!¡± said Buther.
¡°Everyone has permission to return fire!¡± shouted Ranche.
Almost a hundred different skills were shot off towards each of the forts. Ice, wind, fire, water, rock, and many other types of skill attacks lit up the surrounding area as they exploded against the stone walls of the forts with great force.
Boom! Swish! Swhoosh! Crack!
Wave after wave of skills rained down on both forts killing several soldiers who were unable to return fire because of the large barrage of attacks. Parts of the walls were cracked or crumbled as they received the massive waves of attacks.
¡°AWOOOO!¡± a howl rang out from the main island and the demigods found that all return fire had stopped as the soldiers in the forts had disappeared from the walls.
¡°Where did they go?¡±
¡°Don''t worry about the cowards, just keep up the attacks and clear the way for the ships behind us. It''s clear sailing after we push past the forts!¡± shouted Ranche.
CRACK!
Everyone on the ship was thrown to the ground and a few were even knocked overboard into the river as the ship came to an abrupt stop.
¡°What happened!¡± shouted Buther as he struggled to get back onto his feet.
¡°We hit something!¡± shouted the lookout.
¡°I know that! I want to know what it was!¡±
Screams started to emerge from below the ship''s deck as both demigods and their captured fighters rushed up out from the bottom of the ship.
¡°The front of the ship has been broken right off by a large metal chain! We''re sinking!¡± shouted a demigod who was drenched from the water that was flowing into the lower deck of the ship.
¡°You idiots just freeze the water around the ship!¡± commanded Ranche trying to stay on his feet as the large ship started to tilt to the side as it took on more water. The only thing holding the ship up right now was the chain that the ship was dragging down along with it.
Those with ice skills started to use them to freeze the water, but they were having to put their all into the skills as the unfreezing river was not staying frozen for very long.
¡°We can''t keep this up forever!¡± shouted one of the demigods.
¡°Just keep it up long enough for the other ships to pass! Don''t let up on your attacks on the forts!¡± ordered Ranche.
The smaller boats behind the sinking ship were able to sail by and over the chain that was being pulled down by the large ship. They were not harassed by the soldiers in the forts as they were still being suppressed.
¡°Everyone onto the rowboats!¡± shouted Buther when the last small ship passed.
The demigods abandoned the sinking ship and rowed to the smaller ships that had been waiting for them at the entrance of the lake.
¡°Head for Kodria! Don''t worry about the small trade plaza, we can take care of it after we get control of the city!¡± shouted Ranche.
¡°Wait! Where are Kodria''s ships?¡± asked Buther as he looked at the empty lake.
¡°They''re probably hiding behind the island. Hurry while we have the advantage. Everyone, keep sailing forward! Start bombarding the city walls!¡±
When the ships had well and truly entered the large lake they started to hear several howls coming from behind them!
Four large pristine warships along with several medium ships appeared on the river and passed by the forts and the chain that had been lowered to allow them to pass.
Each of the ships flew the flag of a howling wolf on a moon. The flag of Kodria!
Behind them was a mishmash of ships that all looked to be floating wreaks which seemed to have no problem keeping afloat. They flew the flag of the skeleton pirates that had attacked them at Crowmaw!
¡°We''ve been tricked!¡± said Buther with a horrified look.
The river was now blocked by several of the floating wrecks manned by what looked like skeletons.
While the rest of the ships were sailing right towards them!
¡°Blow their ships up!¡± shouted Ranche.
¡°Commander, we exhausted all of our power on the forts and as well as trying to keep the ship afloat! We need time to regenerate our power!¡±
¡°Prepare for boarding!¡± shouted the captain of one of the large ships.
Soon the Demigods were surrounded by the ships of both Kodria''s navy and Captain Pegleg''s ships.
Captain Pegleg helped lead the charge with his ship taking the brunt of the demigod''s attacks.
Melee fighting began on each of the smaller ships while the rowboats were just run over, causing the demigods to be dumped into the lake with nowhere to go.
Akira watched from the wall and was for the most part, satisfied with the results and the fighting prowess of the naval marines, who were battling it out with the demigods on the unsteady boats that bobbed up and down.
¡°The forts held up well,¡± said Klyn as the fighting on the ships was dying down.
Akira shook his head.
¡°This attack has proven that they are too weak. They need to be improved if they are to withstand even stronger attacks in the future.¡±
***
In a dark laboratory somewhere hidden on the continent of Halrverold.
The laboratory was filled with many bubbling bottles of eerie potions. Above the rack of the potions was the imprint of three triangles.
¡°Is it ready?¡± asked a dark-robed figure.
¡°Let''s check and see,¡± said Bonestringer as he took one of the newer finished potions from the wall and poured it out.
¡°Gyaaaa! Kill me! Have mercy and kill me!¡± screamed the man that was chained to the stone table in the middle of the laboratory.
The now-empty potion bottle was thrown to the ground with a crash.
¡°Hmmm... looks like it is almost ready. Not yet but soon,¡± said Bonestringer as he watched the screaming man jerk around on top of the table.
Chapter 201: The problem spreads
A full moon hung high in the sky towering above the thin night clouds.
From a small fleet of grimy ships anchored out at sea, a dark foggy mist began to slowly rise up into the air amid the echoing cracks of several glass bottles.
Singsong chants of those on the ships began to grow louder as they focused on their task.
The rising black fog began to quickly spread out from the ships covering the water and the sky blotting out all light from the moon and the stars.
As the dark wave of mist expanded out loud thunder could be heard inside of the wall of dark mist. On and on the mist continued to expand in every direction.
It soon reached the snowy shore where several nocturnal monsters were drinking the salty seawater.
As the black mist washed over them and everything around them loud horrifying screams rang out from inside the ever-expanding black mist.
A large rowboat detached from one of the grimy ships and began rowing through the dark mist unaffected by it. Those on the rowboat headed towards where the shore had been before their vision was blocked by the fog.
Everyone on the boat stayed silent as they rowed. The boat gave a slight lurch as it beached itself on the shore. They all jumped out into the shallow water and stumbled forward out of the water.
The once fresh white snow-covered ground was now nothing but thick black mud. A nearby tree had been fossilized by the fog and now it looked like a several thousand years old stone sculpture. Several different fossilized sculptures of various things could be seen a short distance from where they stood.
¡°The weather tonight is so nice. One might say it''s to die for,¡± said one of the dark-robed figures.
¡°It really is all coming together quite nicely,¡± said another man in a dark robe with three triangles sewn onto the chest pocket. His voice did not carry far as the dark mist seemed to dampen all sound but the loud cracks of thunder and the screams of pain that were growing more and more common inside the dark wall of mist.
¡°It''s all because of my hard work. If I didn''t do all the grunt work none of this would be possible. What are the Numbers doing in all of this?¡± asked another dark cloaked figure that was barely visible even though he was only a few feet away.
¡°They are taking care of things elsewhere. You are to take care of things here and make sure nothing unexpected happens until your supervisor arrives.¡±
¡°I don''t need a supervisor! I created this, so I know how to control it 100%. Plus there are several ways for it to spread so what could go wrong?¡±
¡°This has nothing to do with how well you can control it. If we do not succeed in this, all you have worked for, as well as all those who have died for our main goal over the many hundreds of years will have been ruined. If that happens we will be forced to start all over. We have to make sure that the demigods do not interfere in our plans.¡±
As they were talking a loud pained scream rang out nearby. The Dark robed figures stopped talking and looked to where the screams rang out from.
The sound was coming from the deep mud that now covered the ground. All along the shore, the sound of screams rose up and the sound of movement in the mud could now be heard mixed in with the cries of pain and the loud crack of thunder.
¡°It has begun...¡±
Out from the mud rose a...
***
A new novelty potion known as the [Immortality Potion] was spreading like wildfire throughout all the human kingdoms on Halrverold.
The [Immortality Potion] was cheap enough that anyone could buy it. This had led to the explosive use of the potion that had popped up out of nowhere, all fueled by word of mouth.
Everyone thought it might be a new potion created by the magic guild, but they denied having anything to do with it and bought several bottles for themselves to study and see what exactly it was.
¡°All I feel is a strong burn when it goes down. Similar to a strong whiskey,¡± said one of the test subjects after he drank the potion.
¡°Right, it feels like fire for a minute or so in your stomach. Fut it fades away after,¡± said another test subject.
¡°Drink a minimum of four [Immortality Potions] over four weeks to extend your life,¡± said the researcher as he read the short instructions on the bottle.
¡°In four weeks I want you all to come back and report on how you feel,¡± said another researcher as he handed out three more potions to the room full of volunteers before bidding them farewell.
***
On both continents, there was a mass migration of monsters that frantically rushed to escape the expanding fog that had appeared and started to cover the entire area.
They had been scared away by the moans, screams, booms, and squelching movement from inside the dark fog.
¡°That''s the tenth rabid snow wolf that has attacked the village. Is there something wrong with the local pack?¡± asked Junt, one of the village guards of the human village Norf.
The village was secluded far in the north of the continent of Foradverold. It was several weeks away from any road that could be used to reach another town whether it be human or demon.
Everyone that lived in the village liked the seclusion and were hard workers, which they had to be in order to keep living in such a distant place.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
On the ground lay the dead body of a snow wolf. On its body, there were many missing patches of fur. The parts where its skin showed there were patches of black stone covering it.
Junt had called Bunt, a hunter friend, over to inspect the dead monster. Now he was impatiently waiting for the results of the inspection.
¡°That''s odd,¡± said Bunt as he opened the snow wolf''s eyelids and mouth.
¡°What?¡± asked Junt, as he crouched down next to Bunt.
¡°Its eyes are completely covered in black stone, or should I say they have turned to stone. The same thing has happened to its tongue. It seems the wolfs'' gums and other parts are slowly turning into stone as well,¡± said Bunt as he poked the snow wolf''s mouth with his carving knife.
He slit a hole in the stomach and only a small trickle of black blood fell onto the snowy ground.
He moved to a few of the older dead bodies that had been tossed to the side. They all showed larger portions of their body covered in stone. Everything was the same as the first just at a further stage.
¡°What should we do with the dead bodies?¡± asked Junt.
¡°Whatever infected them has made the meat inedible and the fur and bones unusable. To be safe it would be best to just burn it to get rid of it.¡±
With this suggestion, Junt and the other guards created a fire big enough for the ten infected bodies which were dragged onto the fire.
Five minutes passed by and the bodies stayed the same, unchanging with the small fire burning under them.
¡°Add some more coal, the stony skin seems to be blocking some of the heat, ¡± said Bunt.
Several minutes later the small fire became a large roaring fire that rose high into the sky. With the intense heat, the bodies started to burn. A thick black smoke spread through the area and into the sky.
¡°Cough! Ughh.. what''s with this smoke it smells awful!¡± said Junt as he covered his mouth with his scarf to try and filter out the thick smoke that was now covering his vision.
¡°Put it out!¡± said Bunt between coughs.
¡°Awoo...¡± Junt''s dog whimpered after smelling the smoke and started tugging on his pants with his teeth trying to get him away from the now smoldering fire.
¡°What''s wrong?¡± asked Junt. He picked up his dog and pet him trying to calm him down while they walked back to the village with Bunt and the other guards.
The thick black smoke that remained from the half-burned bodies covered the entire local area including the small remote Norf village.
***
Ding!
Kodria has been upgraded to a 2nd tier city.
Requirements for 1st tier city have been updated.
Find all the new building blueprints in the building section.
|
Akira received the message while he was walking to the meeting room where the grand elders and representatives of several demon races and local villages had gathered.
He was glad to see the message as it showed that all his and the other clans'' hard work was paying off.
The happiness he felt from reading the message disappeared as he entered the meeting room. Every face in the room was full of gloom.
¡°Now that the tardy lord is here we can begin,¡± said Grand elder Tormoid who still had a sickly sheen to his face as he had not fully recovered from his ordeal on the battlefield, even though the physical wound had healed.
¡°I''m sorry, I was delayed by someone,¡± said Akira as he remembered the battle he had fought only moments ago as he tried to struggle for freedom and escape from Mileena''s grasp.
¡°Hmph...¡±
¡°Am I correct in assuming that everyone is aware of the new troubles in the north?¡± asked Grand elder Carl.
Everyone gave grim nods while a few gave a short ''Yes,'' in answer to the question.
¡°We need to decide now what we are going to do before it is too late and spreads out from the north,¡± said grand elder Hegir.
¡°We have dealt with it so far with little to no negatives, we can continue as we have been and keep everything at bay,¡± said Tormoid, not all that perturbed by the problem.
¡°Several dozen villages and even a few towns have been wiped out. That number is only going to grow higher if we don''t find a way to stop the spread,¡± said Crulak as he glared at Tormoid.
¡°Although it currently is not affecting my homeland since we live so far south, I agree that we need to take measures to stop the spread. I will send word to my queen and king to see what they would like to do,¡± said Ieec, the Yuki-onna representative.
¡°I have to talk with Erock before I can give you our stance on anything. But I doubt it will be different from mine,¡± said Tormoid.
Several other representatives of the different villages and demon races all said something about needing to talk to their leaders on the subject.
¡°It seems that we all for the most part agree that something needs to be done. Please send word to your leaders asking about the possibility of them sending some warriors to fight up north,¡± said grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°Alright then the meeting is adjourned until everyone has received a reply from their leaders on the subject,¡± said Grand elder Carl.
The meeting was over so quick that Akira was wondering if it was even worth the trouble coming to the meeting room. This had been happening over several days they would meet and leave after a few minutes of arguing.
The new problems of the north were clear to him and he knew what to do but he needed the help of the other clans and demon races to join him in stopping the spread.
The only way to stop the spread was by creating a joint army to go north and stomp out the demigods who were still plaguing the northern villages and towns.
***
¡°Damn this winter air. It''s drying out my skin and making me itch all over,¡± said Junt as he scratched his neck.
The black smoke was now gone but it had seeped into everything leaving behind the horrid smell that just would not leave no matter how much they aired out everything.
Junt continued to scratch even more vigorously to try and stop the itch, as he scratched his neck large black pieces of dead skin that looked like pieces of stone fell onto the snow unnoticed.
¡°Damn the weather just keeps getting worse and worse,¡± said another guard as he pointed to a black fog that was rolling in from the direction of the sea.
¡°You shouldn''t expect much from the weather, it''s winter after all, but it sure is strange to see fog like that,¡± said Junt as he continued to watch the dark fog roll in.
Crack! The sound of thunder rang out from inside the fog.
¡°See, what¡¯d I tell you! We better find some shelter before it starts raining. Don''t want to be getting drenched in this cold,¡± said Junt.
¡°Wait can you hear that?¡± asked the other guard.
¡°Hear wha...?¡±
¡°Shhhh...listen...¡±
Junt cocked his head to the side and strained his ears to listen to the surrounding sounds.
All he could hear was the wind blowing and the occasional crack of thunder.
Just as he was going to say something, new sounds reached his ears.
Moans, wails, and screams of pain were all coming from the direction of the dark fog.
As he continued to listen the sound of shuffling feet could be heard at the edge of the nearing black fog.
Something exited out of the black misty fog and made both Junt and the other guard cry out in shock.
¡°What is that?¡±
Chapter 202: Decision
With the mass wave of new merchants and survivors from the demigod''s attacks, many rumors and important bits of news reached Akira and the grand elders.
Each of the large cities of the north as well as the royalty were now aware of the danger that the demigods posed and were beefing up their cities defenses. They were now spending gold like water, hiring any adventure with a sword to become new city guards.
Earlier in the day, a small group of refugees who heard about the job opportunities had gathered together at Kodrias trade plaza and then headed north to try and test their luck at being a city guard for one of the large cities.
¡°Is Tormoid still refusing to join today''s meeting as well?¡± asked Akira as he sat down at the long wooden meeting table.
Bang! The door to the meeting room slammed open causing everyone to turn to the person that had just stormed into the room.
¡°Important news! The trade city Jerora has sent a messenger with word that the demigods are moving towards Froit! Although it is quite at their borders, for now, the governor thinks that after they take down Froit, they will come after Jerora. He wants us to send soldiers to help push back those that will be coming for them,¡± said Klyn. He was breathing heavily from his run to the meeting room.
Akira turned to one of the door guards and said, ¡°Go inform Tormoid that he''s needed for this meeting and if he does not listen then you have my permission to drag him here.¡±
The guard saluted and jogged off to the room that Tormoid was staying at.
Their wait was not long as they soon heard angry curses coming from down the hallway.
¡°Unhand me fool! I am the Grandelder of the Bloody claw clan!¡±
Tormoid was unceremoniously shoved into the meeting room and the door closed behind him immediately blocking his attempt to leave the room.
¡°Ahem...Grand elder Tormoid please stop giving the rest of us Grand elders a bad image,¡± said Grand elder ¨¤aron.
Tormoid straightened his shoulders and walked to the only empty chair at the table.
¡°What did you have the guard drag me here for?¡± asked Tormoid glaring at Akira.
¡°We just got word from Jerora and need your answer on sending troops north to fight the demigods,¡± said Akira.
¡°We will not be able to send any spare warriors for your war. We need everyone to protect our own people and can not go help Jerora,¡± said Tormoid.
¡°Understandable...¡± said Akira before turning to the others.
¡°The King and Queen have ordered a battalion to come north and join you in the fight against the demigods,¡± said representative Ieec.
¡°We will send out a company of our warriors as well! They are on their way here as we speak,¡± said Crulak.
¡°You know that all our warriors will join you in whatever fight must be fought,¡± said Chief Roc.
The other two chiefs nodded their heads in agreement with him.
¡°We Orcs do not want to get rusty so we will all go wherever you point us to! Plus it will be a great time to test the younglings in battle,¡± said Varbu as he thumped his chest.
¡°Gi gi giii!¡± said Gobbers, not wanting to be outdone by Varbu.
Everyone in the room had given Tormoid stares of disdain and were now ignoring him for his lack of sincerity even after all that had happened over the last few weeks and months.
¡°When your warriors arrive Crulak, we will make our way to Jerora. The rest of you can join us when your warriors arrive. Grand elders I leave the other items on the list for you to take care of,¡± said Akira standing up from the table.
Akira gave a small bow to the grand elders and left the room to start the process of gathering the supplies for a march north.
***
¡°Why are you traveling with us?¡± Akira asked as he saw Tormoid following along with the expedition force.
They had already sailed north and were now marching through the fresh winter snow to reach Jerora.
¡°I am only traveling with you for convenience and will be returning to my clan soon,¡± said Tormoid.
All along their march Akira had been sending outriders to warn the small villages and towns they passed. Many were already aware and were either fortifying or packing up to leave for a larger town.
There were only a few remote villages that did not know of the current events of the north.
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As they marched towards Jerora a large civilian caravan had started to follow behind them growing bigger after every town or village they passed.
Several of the warriors from the small villages and towns joined the march wanting to help fight and protect the north from the Demigods.
The gathering of warriors and soldiers from many different demon races as well as human villages was really a sight to see.
***
¡°What took you guys so long to capture this place?¡± asked Fela, standing atop the stone wall of Froit.
¡°We had difficulties,¡± said Bland.
¡°With this, our presence in the north is solidified and the other guilds will have to pay us to use the city. With the money I can raise here the guild will be able to afford all the new armor and weapon upgrades to keep ourselves at the top!¡± said Fela happily.
After her happy daydreaming, she returned her gaze to those standing near her.
¡°You guys are so weak. Why are you not stronger than the common nobodies back on Halrverold? What have you been doing that you still have not completed your mission?¡±
¡°That''s easy for you to say since you have been playing around over there having an easy time getting stronger, while we have been struggling and constantly dying to the strong monsters here,¡± said Phobia.
¡°It can''t be that bad. You guys are just slacking off. Gather everyone and after you finish cleaning up we''ll head out to our next destination,¡± said Fela, brushing off all their words as poor excuses coming from a lazy person.
¡°You''ll see...¡± muttered Phobia angrily under her breath.
***
Dong! Ding! Dong!
The deep booming alarm bell continued to ring from its large tower at the center of the city warning the villagers of an attack.
There was no need now as everyone could hear the clash of swords hitting metal armor and wooden shields along with the cries of battle.
¡°Kill them all! Gyahahahah!¡± shouted a crazed Demigod as he chased after fleeing civilians. He carelessly swung his sword out and slashed a fleeing man''s tendons.
¡°AH!¡± With his leg muscles cut the man fell to the ground in a cry of pain.
¡°Don''t worry, it is just a scratch. I won''t let you die yet, I have to practice some of my skills on you,¡± said the demigod as he severed the man''s right hand.
Several other demigods were rushing towards the tower where the bell was ringing. They were only able to break the solid wooden door after using several flashy skills.
With the door now in splinters they entered and began slaughtering those who were hiding inside the stone tower. Their bloody footprints soon reached the top of the tower silencing the ringing bells.
¡°Ah that''s better, those clanging bells were getting on my nerves. Now I can listen to the soothing noise of the clashing swords on flesh, the cries of the dying and the howls of ...¡± said one demigod.
¡°Wait...howls?¡± the demigods looked out one of the square windows of the large bell tower and saw a large mass of mismatched demon race warriors quickly surrounding the village!
¡°ENEMY ATTACK!¡± shouted the demigod frantically as he leaned out of the window trying to get the other''s attention to their impending doom.
Several demigods laughed when they heard him, ¡°Enemies? Where? There''s nothing but prey here.¡±
Others ignored him and continued torturing their captives by testing out their skills on live targets.
¡°Grrrr...¡± one of those torturers felt a quick gust of wind on his neck and turned around to see a massive white Snow wolf only an inch away from his face.
Yellow moisture ran down the demigod''s legs and before he could fall on his butt from the shock the large jaw of the Snow wolf opened wide and bit down on the demigod''s neck.
The demigod was helpless in the jaws of the large creature as he was shaken back and forth like a rag doll, his neck breaking in the process.
As the large snow wolf continued to shake the body two black wolves appeared near him out of the shadows.
''Stop playing with your food. We still have a lot of them that need to be killed,'' said Nox 1.
¡°GRRRR,¡± said Fluffball as he turned his back to them ignoring Nox 1''s words.
He gave the demigod one last shake to show his defiance before biting down and severing the man''s head with a crunch of bones. Several more crunches were heard as he chewed the demigod''s skull and swallowed his prize.
Soon after the body disappeared into light fragments.
Fluffball looked to the ground at the bloody mess of what he thought was a human. The body had had all of its skin flayed and limbs severed. As he watched the body breathed its last breath.
The town''s cries of pain switched from the humans to the demigods who were now surrounded wherever they went and were being hunted down by the combined army of many different warriors.
Even if they killed one or two there was another to take the dead warrior''s place.
¡°Stop! Do you know who I am?¡± asked a haughty demigod as he dogged a skill attack from Akira''s sword.
¡°No,¡± said Akira as he sent another attack flying towards the demigod cutting down a different demigod on his left.
¡°I am Eric Shun of the clan Demon hunters! You''re dead if you don''t stop attacking us!¡±
¡°Ooof!¡± Eric Shun was knocked to the ground from an attack on his back.
The heavy Fluffball stood proudly atop of the demigod who was trying to stand back up but could not.
Seeing this Grarr stomped down with his large paw and smashed the demigod''s head silencing the cursing man.
¡°GRRRR!¡± Fluffball gave Grarr an angry snarl for stealing his kill.
¡°Calm down Fluffball there will be more of them to kill in the future,¡± said Akira as he reached down from atop Grarr and ruffled the fur on Fluffball''s large furry head.
***
In the far remote corners of Foradverold, the dark fog continued to roll outwards slowly.
With the massive monster migration, many villages and small towns were overrun by them. The small hunter cabins and rural farmers were all wiped out.
In their place, tens of hundreds of shambling moaning dark figures appeared.
¡°Haa... this is so slow. I want to just kill them all,¡± said Tibia, annoyed at the fog''s slow pace.
¡°We can''t do that! That would defeat our whole purpose here! The many years of hard work would all be destroyed! It is slow now but once we get going it will be faster... I think,¡± said Bonestringer.
¡°Hmph... I''m going somewhere else,¡± said Tibia as she walked away.
¡°Your ... where are you going Tibia?¡± asked Bonestringer reluctantly following her.
¡°You''ll see soon enough!¡±
Chapter 203: Spreading pain and suffering
Several weeks before.
Fregoldawae, the capital city of merchant country Freopia.
¡°It has been really foggy inside the city over the last week. This is my first time seeing such weather at this time of the year,¡± said a city guard. He walked along the foggy streets next to his partner who always patrolled the same area as him.
¡°The dark fog is nothing. What I find creepy and unnatural is all the moans and cries of pain coming from the south sector of the city,¡± said the second guard. He scratched his neck that was bothering him due to its dry flaky skin.
¡°What were you doing in the south sector?¡±
¡°Billy had a severe case of stomach aches and was bedridden, so the captain had me take over his shift for him.¡±
¡°Did you hear about the magic guild testing the immortal potion on other people?¡±
¡°Where have you been? That''s weeks old news.¡±
¡°Do you know anyone who used it?¡± asked the first guard.
¡°Only a friend of a friend. I have no intention of buying one and using it. Who knows what crap is inside of the potion.¡±
The first guard took out two small potion battles from his coat pocket and showed them to his partner.
¡°Want one? They''re cheap, I had to dip into my drinking money but if they can do what they say, going a few days sober is worth the price.¡±
¡°No thanks, those things are probably what made Billy sick. I won''t be using such shady things.¡±
¡°Don''t be a conspiracy theorist. How could there be anything wrong with these potions? All the newspapers praise it as being the best thing since the creation of pineapple pizza. Several of the city''s politicians love it so much they are taking baths in the stuff.¡±
***
The researchers from the magic guild paced up and down the noisy hospital ward that had popped up to hold all the influx of people that had become severely sick.
¡°He...healing p...potion please,¡± asked a man weak from the intense pain racking his body. The blind man reached out from his bed into the air trying to grasp for something, anything. He had lost his sight several days ago and now could only hear, and even that was getting fainter.
The researcher looked to the nurse dressed in a full white gown with a hooded mask to keep away any disease.
¡°He already had a potion... several of them, so has everyone here. Nothing has changed even after they are given the potion,¡± said the nurse.
The researcher took a pair of gloves out of his breast pocket and put them on before grabbing the man''s outstretched hand to inspect it.
The man''s arm was black as unpolished onyx stone and when he tapped it was just as hard.
He opened the man''s eyelids and found that his eyes had become a solid black onyx orb.
¡°What type of pain are you in? How long has it been this way?¡± asked the researcher as he looked under the sheet and found the rest of the man''s body was just like his arm.
¡°It burnsss... my stomach... itch... all over... heal me~!¡±
As the researcher continued to inspect the man, the arm was yanked out of his hands and slammed into his gut knocking the wind out of him. He fell to the ground gasping for air.
¡°Ghaaaa!¡± with a pained roar the patient launched himself out of the bed and grasped the nurse''s head with both stony hands.
¡°Kyaaa!¡± the nurse screamed in fright and pain.
¡°GUARDS!¡± cried out the researcher as he struggled back to his feet and tried to detach the deranged patient from the nurse.
It was no use as the entire population of patients seemed to take the outburst of the first patient as a signal. They all roared and launched themselves at the nurses, doctors, guards, and magic guild researchers in the makeshift hospital.
¡°KYAAA!¡± the nurse cried even louder as more and more pressure was applied to her head.
Pop! Pop! All through the room, several loud squishy pops could be heard.
***
Bador, Capital city of Beorin.
King Titus had come to an old friend''s home after finding out that he had become gravely ill. The two were slowly talking with each other inside the man''s room.
¡°...Not only have I gotten sick...So has my son and wife...¡± said the old capital noble between pained gasps of breath.
¡°And you cannot remember where or what could have caused such illness?¡± asked King Titus. He looked at his old friend with pity. The old noble''s body was completely black and rock hard.
The old noble was silent as he blindly stared at the ceiling not answering the question.
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Thump! Bam! Bam, bam!
Sounds from the courtyard gate brought King Titus out of his daze. He hurriedly stood up and walked to the room''s wooden door and opened it. His wife was sewing while waiting with the guards that had accompanied them to the mansion.
¡°What''s going on out there?¡± asked King Titus.
¡°I''ll go check,¡± said one of the guards as he opened the door to the courtyard.
¡°Gyaaa!¡± The old noble defying his old years, jumped out of bed and onto the king''s back.
¡°What are you do...AHHHH!¡± the king let out a scream as a large chunk of flesh was bitten from his neck.
The two guards nearest him rushed forward with swords drawn and hacked at the king''s attacker. When the swords made contact they did little damage only chipping off a layer of the black stone skin.
The guards pried the old noble off the king and used the pommels of their sword to bash his head in until the black stone onyx figure lay still on the ground.
¡°Hurry, get the healing potion,¡± said one of the guards and he tried to find one in his own pouch.
Two of the most expensive potions were poured out onto the large chunk of missing flesh on the king''s neck.
As they waited for the potions to take effect they helped the king stand back up and inspect him for any other injuries.
¡°It''s not healing!¡± said a guard as he pointed at the black infected wound on the king''s neck. The wound had only temporarily stopped bleeding and was now swelling up. The dark infection was spreading out all over the king''s neck.
¡°Enough! We head back to the castle immediately!¡± said the king. He clasped his hand over the wound to block his wife and the guards from looking at it.
As they exited the old nobles'' room two doors on opposite sides of the hallway slammed open and two hairless black stone humanoids shambled out of the rooms, one of them was wearing a nightdress.
¡°AHHHH!¡±
The guard behind king Titus cried out as his ankle was crushed by the hands of the old noble that had his head bashed in.
The guard fell onto the old noble unable to stand anymore.
¡°Go!¡± shouted the king.
The remaining guards ushered the king and queen out of the house and into the courtyard where the sound of hammering and thumping on the gates was even louder. They slammed the door to the house shut to try and block the infected inside from getting out.
¡°Your majesty, there are a few of those infected people outside the gate! We''ll have to fight our way past them. We can push them back and create a space for you to escape. We''ll hold them off so that they can''t catch you after you get past them!¡± said the officer in charge of the guards.
The gates were pushed open knocking back the few infected that were right in front of the gates. The guards rushed out and plowed a path through the rest allowing the king and queen to pass. The noble¡¯s guards joined them in combating the infected allowing for a few of the guards to escape the melee and escort the king and queen.
The king''s neck was now completely black and his chest and head were starting to turn black as well.
As they reached the next intersection the queen let out a scream, ¡°Kyaa!¡±
Every street was full of shambling black stony figures. They all stopped what they had been doing for a second and looked towards the queen who had shouted.
The king quickly put one hand over his wife''s mouth to silence her and used his other hand to pull out his sword that was on his hip. The guards stood in front of them tensing up waiting to see what the infected would do.
The damage was done and now there was no use in trying to hide. The hoard rushed forward arms outstretched as they reached and grasped for the queen.
¡°We push through!¡± shouted the king as he ran forward while holding his sword in one hand and his wife''s hand in the other.
The guards rushed forward to spearhead into the crowd and open another small path for the king and queen.
King Titus hacked at any of the reaching hands that got close as he ran forward dragging the queen along behind him.
¡°Kyaaa!¡± the queen let out a frightened scream as an onyx hand grabbed onto her dress halting her movement forward.
King Titus hacked down at the hand but it was no use, ten other hands grabbed onto her dress. He was forced to use his sword to cut the dress allowing the queen to escape.
Their reprieve lasted only a second as more hands got past the guards and grabbed onto the queen''s hair pulling her to the ground before the king or guards could do anything.
¡°Titus save me!¡± shouted the queen as she was dragged into the large mass of infected.
King Titus could do nothing as he was fending off the infected that now surrounded him. All he could do was watch in horror as she was devoured alive.
***
¡°Prince! The King has returned and demands that you go see him immediately!¡±
¡°Father-in-law has returned from his visit?¡± asked Rodger. He wiped away his sweat from training with his sword.
¡°It is an emergency! Hurry!¡± said the guard whose face looked almost as white as fresh snow.
¡°Should I call the princess? What is wrong?¡± asked Rodger as he sheathed his sword.
¡°No, he only called for you right now. I can''t explain, it is too... just hurry and you will see,¡± said the guard. Rodger was surprised when the guard actually grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the castle gates.
Rodger did not complain and ran along with the guard as they headed to the guardhouse.
As Rodger entered, what he saw stopped his breath. All words escaped his mind leaving him speechless as he looked at the king.
In the middle of the large common room, two tables had been pushed together and the chairs had been thrown to the side. The king lay on top of the tables.
The guard pushed Rodger forward until he was standing next to the bald onyx stone man that laid atop the table.
¡°Rodger is that you?¡±
¡°Yes, father. Where is the Queen? What happened to you? It looks like something ate large chunks out of you and the rest...¡±
¡°Take this,¡± said king Titus as he reached out blindly, unable to see any more.
In king Titus''s shaky hands, was his crown that was now stained with blood and flesh.
Using a handkerchief, Rodger grabbed the crown and wiped it down.
¡°..and this..¡± said king Titus as he fumbled with a necklace around his neck. After a minute of fruitless fumbling, Rodger helped him remove the necklace.
The necklace had several keys along with the seal of the king for official documents and the pass used to give orders to the army commanders.
¡°...You... king... take care... Ruth... Beorin... Plage,¡± King Titus stopped talking. His face, arms, legs, and body started to inflate at an alarming pace.
¡°Protect the King!¡± shouted the guardhouse captain.
All of the guards near Rodger pulled him back and pushed him down to the ground as they used their bodies to protect him.
The guardhouse captain jumped atop the inflating body and wrapped his arms around the old king, both of them rolling off the table away from Rodger.
BOOM!
¡°AH~,¡± ¡°AHHH!¡± "Uuuuuhhh!" several cries of pain rang out as the inflated King Titus blew up sending rocky flesh shrapnel outwards.
The guardhouse captain stood no chance and was shredded to pieces by the explosion. His sacrifice was enough to blunt the force of the explosion that hit everyone else.
Chapter 204: Molten Onyx Necrosis Affliction
Rodger had to wait on the ground for over a minute covered by the bodies of soldiers. The weight on top of him was crushing but he could still breathe. As the soldiers and guards that were not wounded, began moving again, they came over to help remove the wounded soldiers piled on top of him.
When all the wounded soldiers were removed and before he was allowed to get up, he was quickly checked by one of the guards to make sure he had no major wounds that needed healing. He passed the quick check and was pulled back up onto his feet.
¡°Pahci! Where is that man? Someone go find him,¡± said Rodger still slightly shaken from what he had seen.
¡°Right away your majesty!¡± shouted a guard near the door. The door was slammed open as he ran outside to search for Pachi.
Many of the guards grumbled curses at him for leaving the door open and letting in the cold air.
Rodger was lost to all of this as his mind was now all a mess. He tried to slowly go over everything step by step to process everything so he could understand what it all meant and how it would affect his future life.
The wounded were all moved to the infirmary to receive immediate treatment and some required immediate surgery. The rest began gathering what little remains of the king they could find and put it all into an Urn. While they were cleaning up the mess from the explosion they tried to wash the blood and flesh off of everything.
Rodger was soon shaken out of his stupor as one of the gatehouse doctors started to inspect him thoroughly.
¡°Here drink this,¡± said the doctor handing Rodger a wooden cup that had large puffs of steam rising from it.
Rodger took a sip and found it was warmed spice wine. After downing a few more sips he felt his entire body warming up and his muddled brain was chugging along faster.
¡°You seem to be just fine, your majesty. Just a bit of frayed nerves. Give it some time and I am sure you will be right as rain,¡± said the doctor as he watched Rodger regain some color in his pale face.
The guardhouse door slammed open, and the previous guard that had left led a disheveled elderly man inside. The old man seemed to be only half awake and was wearing a fur coat over his sleeping clothes.
¡°Pachi, what has your damned guild created this time!?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°What? Oh, Prince, It''s you. Were you the one who ordered this oaf to abduct me from my sleeping quarters? I have no clue what you are babbling about,¡± said Pachi showing disdain for Rodger. This was how he talked to all but the king and queen.
The nearby soldiers who had heard the man''s words unsheathed their swords and pointed them at him. They all waited to see if Rodger would give the order to cut down Pachi for his insolence.
¡°Wha...! What is the meaning of this! I am the head of the magic guild in Beorin and the third in command of the whole guild! How dare you point your weapons at me! Prince, your games go too far! I will be taking this up with the king! Where is he? Bring me to the king!¡± sputtered Pachi.
¡°You''re speaking to him,¡± said a guard, whose sword moved closer to the frail-looking man in front of him.
¡°What?¡± asked Pachi, as he looked befuddled at the guard that had just spoken.
¡°Some sort of plague has started to infect people in the capital. What have you done!¡± asked Rodger more forcefully. He had regained more of his wits and strength back from the warmed spiced wine.
¡°If you''re talking about what I think you are, it is not us who did it! We did not have any hand in the creation of the [Molten Onyx Necrosis Affliction]!¡±
¡°The what?¡±
¡°The [Molten Onyx Necrosis Affliction] is what it has been labeled by headquarters in Freopia.¡±
¡°You knew about this?!¡±
¡°I only found out this morning! Something happened in Fregoldawae and I was going to inform the king tomorrow,¡± said Pachi.
Rodger glared at the man making him extremely uncomfortable.
¡°This joke has gone on long enough prince. Where is the king?¡±
Rodger only pointed to the urn that held the gathered remains of the late King Titus.
He saw the confusion on Pachi''s face and explained, ¡°The late King Titus came back only a short time ago heavily wounded and infected by this [Molten Onyx] plague you spoke of. He exploded and wounded several others after passing everything to me.¡±
¡°You let an infected thing like that in here!? Are you trying to kill us all!? Are the wounded in the infirmary? You need to lock it! Don''t let anyone in or out!¡±
One of the guards had had enough of the insolent guild master and poked him in the rump with the tip of his sword.
¡°HEEE!¡± the old man gave an odd shout of pain.
The outside door opened again and several more guards entered the common room that was getting rather cramped with everyone gathering inside.
¡°I''m surprised you have the guts and brains to insult someone when all you do is sleep,¡± said Ruth from behind the protection of the many guards that surrounded her and her handmaiden servants who followed behind her.
She pushed through the guards and reached Rodgers'' side.
¡°Is what you said really true?¡± she asked.
She already knew the answer as she saw the crown in Rodger''s right hand and the chain necklace in his left hand.
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Rodger only nodded his head and pulled her close to him in order to silently comfort her, he knew no words would ease the loss of both parents who had died in such a gruesome way.
¡°Pachi, how did this plague spread?¡±
¡°The headquarters guess that it has something to do with the immortality potions...¡± said Pachi flinching back from the hard glare that he received from Rodger.
¡°You will command all your shops in Beorin to immediately stop the sale of such potions!¡± Rodger turned to a guard near him.
¡°By order of the king! Take a few others and start clearing the streets of all civilians, inform everyone you see that the immortality potion is outlawed and must be handed over,¡± he turned to another guard. ¡°Put up a notice and gather a group of soldiers to go door to door informing everyone of this. If anyone is found to still have the potion in two days time they will be hanged.¡±
The guards saluted Rodger and quickly left the guardhouse to complete the tasks given to them.
¡°The rest of you man the castle walls and repel anything that gets near. Pachi, how do we clean up this mess?¡±
¡°The only method I know of is the holy water from the monasteries. It is not a cure but it will take care of the infected. There may be other ways but I have no other knowledge of it.¡±
¡°What are you planning on doing?¡± asked Ruth.
¡°I''m going to go and clean up the city,¡± said Rodger.
***
In front of the castle gates, a fully armored Rodger turned his warhorse around to address the elite castle guard army.
¡°Remember, those infected by the Molten onyx plague have a stone layer covering their body. You need to use blunt force to smash them apart! Keep your holy water ready to coat your weapons and use it to try and disinfect any wound you received no matter how small it is.¡±
With that, he turned back around and passed through the castle gates. Beside him rode Silias who still commanded the elite guards and was more than ready to retire, but he had not found the time to do so with so many things popping up needing the elite guard''s attention.
Rodger led the large force down the empty main street in search of the infected. Many frightened citizens hearing the loud noise outside peeked from the cracks of their wooden window shutters to see the large force pass by.
¡°A large mass of infected has been sighted! Ready your weapons!¡± shouted Silias as he stood up in his stirrups and pointed towards the infected that were slowly stumbling down the road.
Rodger urged his warhorse into an even faster gallop which everyone else followed suit as they kept pace alongside their new young king.
CRACK! BAM! Neigh!
The bodies of the Infected were sent flying through the air as the heavily armored warhorses crashed into them plowing through. Those not knocked back were crushed underneath the warhorse''s hooves and the blunt weapons of the elite soldiers.
With their charge forward blunted they were now getting bogged down and their momentum forward would soon come to a complete stop and be surrounded if they continued to fight.
¡°Don''t stop! Push through!¡± shouted Roger as he saw more and more infected stumbling out of side streets to join the fight.
They urged their warhorses forward as they crushed anything that got near them. They sliced a path of destruction through the infected.
The majority of the elite guards were able to push through but a few at the rear had come to a stop and were quickly surrounded by tens of infected. No matter how much they swung their blunt weapons they could not keep the grabbing hands and mouths away and they were pulled off their mount.
Both horse and man disappeared under the mass of onyx skinned infected and were eaten alive.
They rode down the main street until they reached a large intersection that was now empty of all traffic and did an about-turn.
After a few seconds of reordering themselves, they again urged their mounts forward at a quick pace and charged the infected.
They used this tactic until they had completely cleared the sector of infected. Rodger and the elite soldiers continued to move from one sector of the city to another joining up with the soldiers in the barracks throughout the city.
A whole day and night was spent clearing the streets of any infected. But there were still new cases of infected appearing inside houses where they were locked up with friends and family.
Many more people were killed or eaten by friends and loved ones before the army could come and kill those that were infected.
***
In the castle''s throne room a tired but stern-looking Rodger sat on the throne. He was holding Ruth''s hand, who sat next to him on her own royal seat.
They had been sitting here ever since Rodger had returned from clearing the streets. He had not slept in two days due to fighting, which was followed by the private royal funeral for the dead King and Queen.
Which was in turn followed by every city noble being summoned to the castle to swear their loyalty to the new King and Queen.
The last of the several thousands of city nobles had finally finished their pledges leaving only Rodger and Ruth inside the large torch-lit throne room.
Rodger turned and inspected Ruth who was staring at the doors that the nobles had used to exit the room. He was somewhat relieved at how well she was taking the loss of her parents but was also perturbed by the lack of emotion from her.
¡°I never knew there were so many of those guys living in the city,¡± said Ruth.
¡°That was only the first two tiers of Imperial nobles, they control a decent amount of men under them. There are even more low-class Imperial Knights who will be doing group oath swearing under the supervision of those that were here today. From what I read in recent reports there were several hundred nobles and their families that were completely wiped out because of the plague.¡±
¡°Can we afford to pay such a large number of nobles pensions?¡± asked a curious Ruth.
¡°Not with the current situation. I will make sure to work them hard in the coming weeks. The prosperous peacetime is over, the weak will soon be weeded out in the coming weeks. It is a good thing that this happened now in the winter months and not the spring or fall where there would be a heavy impact on our food creation. We can not afford to stay locked down for long otherwise the economy will suffer and people will starve to death. The cure must not be worse than the [Molten Onyx] plague,¡± said Rodger.
¡°So you are going ahead with the plan then?¡± asked Ruth.
¡°Yes, I can not sit here and allow the countryside and other cities of Beorin to be swallowed up by the infected. I will be leading the army out to stomp out any infected we come across. There are already reports of large infected groups roaming around along with many mutated monsters.¡±
¡°It seems to me that all you are doing is trying to put out a forest fire with drops of water. What are you going to do if you or your army is infected?¡±
¡°I have taken precautions for this. A few Demigods have been hired to help us. We can hire more if we need to,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Is that wise to trust such dangerous people?¡±
¡°I know it is a risk, but with the current situation, there is little left for me to do other than invite them to help. I hope you will trust me on this.¡±
¡°I will.¡±
¡°I am relieved to hear that. If I am to get through this I need to rely on your support as my wife and queen.¡±
¡°It is only natural that I, as your wife and queen, would support you.¡±
¡°I swore an oath to your father to protect you and the country. I will have a large guard force escort you to the northern castle that is far away from the capital city. You will be far safer and away from the large crowds of people who may be infected. The large force of soldiers already there will be able to keep it that way. Before you go you should write to your sister and let her know of your parent''s death.¡±
¡°I''m not sure if she would even care to know about it, with the state of her mind, but I will write to her,¡± said Ruth.
Chapter 205: Clean up
Vania capital of Vussia.
¡°Your majesty, we were able to find one of the sellers who sold the banned potions,¡± said the fully armored guard captain as he knelt in front of the large throne.
The guard captain dared not raise his head and look directly at the queen. He fought to keep his body from shaking as memories came to him of what had happened to the last two captains who held this position before him. They had become husks of their former selves all on the whims of the queen''s mood.
¡°Where is the seller of the potions?¡± Asked Jezebel as her hand gently caressed the head of a Mini Rock Golem.
The rock golem stood still, the only thing moving were its violet shining eyes. If the guard captain dared to look up he would surely recognize those eyes. Everyone under her control had such eyes.
¡°There was an accident and they had to be killed,¡± said the guard captain.
¡°Explain,¡± said Jezebel. Her hand stopped its motion as her attention was fully directed at the kneeling man.
¡°He was infected by something and tried biting and ripping apart one of the soldiers. His body was covered in a black rock substance. We could not reason with him and were forced to use blunt force to kill him.¡±
¡°Do you still have the body?¡± asked Jezebel, as she stood up from her throne.
¡°We were getting ready to dispose of it.¡±
¡°Bring me to the body,¡± said Jezebel. She walked up to the kneeling guard captain with the small golem waddling behind her.
With his head still bowed the guard captain stood up, still avoiding the queen''s sharp eyes that were staring at him.
On their way to the large furnace used for disposing of the dead, a commotion was heard on the streets.
¡°Your majesty, I will go see what it is. Please stay here...¡±
¡°No, I will go with you,¡± said Jezabel, as she headed toward the noise leaving the guard captain a few steps behind her.
The mini golem was now walking in front of her while her personal royal guards all surrounded her. If one looked close enough they could see a purple glow coming out of each of the slits in their helmets.
They reached the commotion quickly to find a disheveled figure hunched over the bloody body of a city watch patrolman.
The body was already half-eaten and the hunched figure was now eating one of the man''s legs.
¡°Capture that thing!¡± ordered Jezebel.
The mini Golem showed surprising speed for its short and heavy stone legs as it launched itself at the creature eating the patrolman.
With its stone hands, it subdued the struggling thing and dragged it before the Queen.
¡°Is this what you encountered earlier?¡± asked Jezebel as she inspected the former human that was now fully covered in black onyx stone.
¡°Yes, although the one from before was not at this stage of infection.¡±
¡°Interesting, let me try something...¡± said Jezebel with a somewhat disturbing smile on her face.
As soon as the guard captain saw her eyes start to glow he quickly looked away, not wanting to get caught by her bewitching gaze.
The struggling creature in the Golem''s hands stopped and stood still, its eyes now glowing with a purple glint.
Ring! Ding! Fweee!
The city watch bells and whistles all throughout the city were going off as more and more similar situations were happening everywhere.
¡°Controlling and using this skill is so tiring and hard. Now is the perfect time to practice! I might even be able to use these things to clear the dungeon!¡± said Jezebel in high spirits.
***
In a short time, many of the outskirt villages and towns of every country were overrun by the humans and monsters that were infected by the [Molten Onyx] plague.
Those escaping the spread were now living in cramped towns and villages closer to the countries capitals.
In each country, several odd and exotic cures and customs started to pop up which were supposed to ward off or cure you of the [Molten Onyx] plague.
Such a thing was happening in a small cramped village of Beorin.
¡°Hey wake up the surgery is finished!¡± said Dr. Cray.
There was a man still asleep atop the wooden table that acted as the surgery table, among other things. The man had been out for the entire surgery when Dr. Cray had completed a very complicated medical process of physical anesthesia, or in simple terms a hammer to the man''s head. The hammer was, of course, wooden, because of course, you wouldn''t want to cause any extra problems for the patient right?
He continued to slap the man''s face until he woke up.
¡°Huh? What?¡± asked the groggy patient.
¡°No need to worry about anything! It was all a success. I was able to amputate and replace your legs and arms for you!¡±
The patient''s swimming head slowly cleared up and he looked at his limbs in horror.
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¡°Bu...but doctor, I only came here to cure a cold...¡±
¡°Don''t worry about the small details. What you need is some fresh meat to regain your strength! Here eat this. It is freshly cooked and was delivered from the local restaurant Mystmeat,¡± said Dr. Cray as he pushed a plate of medium-rare meat towards the man.
Dr. Cray left the room and went to the dark secluded back room. A man was waiting for him at the back entrance of the room.
¡°You got the supplies?¡± asked the man.
¡°Right here,¡± said Dr. Cray as he picked up a closed wooden box that had blood dripping out.
In exchange for several gold coins, the box was handed over to the man.
¡°The customers at Mystmeat are demanding more and more of our special cure meat. Is there a way you can get us more than what you supply us every week?¡±
¡°No... right now, this is the limit. If we increase our output, then there might be questions. You might want to look into using those that died from that infection. If you remove the outer layer it might be edible.¡±
The man carrying the bloody box walked through the streets heading to his restaurant.
As he was halfway there, the village bells began ringing!
¡°An attack?¡±
The man ran to his restaurant and threw the box onto one of the tables before going behind the bar counter to get his sword and put on his armor.
He then ran out of his restaurant and headed to the front gates to help defend the village.
As he joined the rest of the ragtag village militia at the top of the gates the ringing of the village bells had already stopped. What he saw outside was vastly different than what he was expecting and fearing.
A large human army stood outside the gates.
¡°By the Order of King Rodger, you are commanded to put down your weapons and open the gates. You will allow us to inspect every villager and business for their health and for contraband!¡± shouted a knight that had ridden his horse forward to speak to those inside the village.
The restaurant man nervously fidgeted and looked at those near him wanting to escape. There were several others with the same idea as the gates to the village were opened.
¡°Stay where you are! Those who move will be cut down and run through!¡± shouted the messenger knight.
A large force of cavalry detached from the army and rode forward passing through the gates and halting inside the village for a moment. Behind them was an odd small group of people who wore mismatched armor, weapons, and clothes of all different colors. None of them had a matching set of anything.
¡°My King, what are your orders?¡± asked Silias.
¡°The usual, if anyone shows signs of infection, put them down. For anyone with contraband, take them to the square for a public execution. Order must be maintained.¡±
Silias saluted Rodger and barked off a few orders to the cavalry and the small group of ragtag demigods.
He turned back and watched the strong-willed Rodger overlooking the villagers who all had looks of amazement at seeing the king as well as some who looked at him with fear.
Silias was still surprised at how fast time passed by. It felt as if it were only a short time ago when the young king sitting before him was just a little runt that couldn''t even hit the broadside of a barn with an arrow.
In less than an hour, the small village had been completely turned over. Luckily for the villagers, no one had shown any symptoms of the [Molten Onyx] plague. As for contraband, there were too many violations to list.
Rodger stood at the center of the town plaza where a chopping block was being dragged over.
He was sharpening the large two-handed sword that had been handed to him by Silias.
¡°Did you find similar things in the food shops as the other villages and towns?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°Yes, luckily we arrived before they started to serve meat from the infected monsters and humans. My king...are you sure you want to do this yourself?¡±
¡°I have told you many times before. I gave the order so I will honor them by doing it myself. Only a coward would command someone to death and have another person carry out the act.¡±
When the large metal chopping block was placed at the center of the town square. Those that had been condemned to death for their various crimes were led towards Rodger and the chopping block.
The entire village was gathered around the area some only able to hear what was going on and unable to see.
¡°Dr. Cray you are accused of amputating your patient''s limbs and selling them for profit. I, as king of Beorin, find you guilty! For this crime, you are sentenced to death! Step forward!¡± shouted Rodger in a loud booming voice so that everyone could hear everything.
Mummers of shock went through the crowd as they watched Dr. Cray get shoved forward only wearing his underwear.
The back of his knees were kicked and his shoulders pushed down onto the cold metal chopping block. His body shivered due to the cold winter air and the sight of the large two-handed sword that Rodger was raising high into the air. A warm puddle formed on the ground beneath Dr. Cray''s legs.
¡°May your soul be tormented in the afterlife,¡± said Rodger.
Swish! Shink! The sword swung down in a flash severing the man''s head.
Rodger continued to list off the crimes and sentencing of those in violation of the country''s laws.
The crimes committed by those executed, filled the village people with more horror and nightmares than watching the executions.
***
¡°I''m ready. Has everyone fully recovered their energy?¡± asked a demigod in leather armor and also holding twin daggers.
¡°Almost, I need a few more seconds to recover all my skills. I should be ready on the way to the next dungeon room,¡± said a female demigod in cloth armor. She carried a book and a wand as her weapons.
¡°There are only a few more dungeon rooms on this floor, if we can clear them we can be first to the next floor! Just remember that the farther down we go the more heat there is!¡±
¡°This dungeon sucks! All my ice attacks are half as effective here than outside. The farther down we go the worse they get!¡± complained another female demigod who held a blue staff and wore purple robes with a matching pointy hat.
As they walked down the long winding stone hallways connecting one dungeon room to the other they heard the sound of a fight happening ahead of them.
¡°How could someone get here before us?¡±
¡°Hurry! Let''s see who it is!¡±
They rushed through the hallways and entered the next large room and stopped in their tracks.
In front of them were over 10 humanoid black onyx figures fighting with the dungeon monsters with only their stone hands.
The front of their bodies were cherry red and letting out a cloud of black smoke from their bodies, caused by the fire attacks that constantly scorched and slammed into them.
¡°What are those things and why are they fighting each other?¡±
¡°There was nothing in the data we bought about this type of monster. Maybe it''s a new monster that popped up?¡±
¡°Let''s just clear both of them and continue to the next floor!¡±
As the melee fighters rushed forward, one of the Black onyx creatures turned its head. Its purple eyes stated at the approaching demigods before getting blown to smoky bits by a barrage of ice attacks that caused a negative effect with the already red hot stone.
With the combined forces of the melee and skill users from behind, they wiped the floor of the strange creatures as well as the other dungeon monsters.
¡°Cough, this smoke smells awful,¡± said the leather armored demigod. He waved his hand in front of his face trying to get the black smoke away from him and clear his vision.
¡°Those eyes on the stone creatures... I have a feeling I saw them before... but I can''t remember where,¡± said the blue staff-wielding demigod.
¡°It doesn''t matter, they''re dead now. Let''s get out of this room the smoke is killing me.¡±
Chapter 206: If fail try again... and again
Present day Foradverold.
It had been less than a week since Akira and the army he led had started to encounter the Demigod raiding parties on their way to Jerora. Every small group they encountered were always surprised and unaware that a large army was moving around in the lower northlands.
The raiding demigods were only expecting to have to deal with small militia parties from surrounding villages and towns, and not the full army that seemed to come out just for them.
¡°We really can''t thank you enough for saving us. But...¡± the town chief happily thanked Akira and the other officers that were with him. They all stood on top of the town''s walls looking over the damage caused by the fight with the Demigods.
¡°You''re worried about what will happen when we leave,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yes, from what I''ve heard, the demigods are not one to give up when they want something...¡±
¡°There are only a few options. You can stay and fortify your town, join us as we make our way to Jerora and seek refuge there, or you can head south for Kodria or other towns that are being erected in the south.¡±
¡°That''s what I was worried about. Each choice has its difficulties...¡± said the worried chief.
¡°All because of this warmonger,¡± said Tormoid.
Thump! Varbu slammed his hammer onto the snowy ground in anger.
¡°That''s it! I am tired of your griping and backbiting! I have only ignored it this long because Akira decided to spare your life because you are both from the earth tribe. But now I am convinced he should have ended it all back on the battlefield. I am not from the earth tribe, so If you don''t shut your trap I will close it for you permanently, whether Akira agrees with it or not!¡± said Varbu. He thumped his chest with one of his fists and glared at Tormoid.
¡°Spoken like a true Man! Well done!¡± boomed Zundar as he slapped Varbu on the back a few times nearly knocking him over.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball taking Varbu''s side as well.
¡°What did you say? You little piglet!? Are you trying to pick a fight with me?¡± asked a flustered Tormoid as he tried to put on a front of strength in front of the two towering figures.
¡°Wait, you guys now is not the time to be airing dirty laundry. You can take care of it at another time. We need to continue on our way to Jerora before heading north again to clear out all the demigods,¡± said Akira stepping in between the two angry sides.
¡°Buruuu!¡± a war horn sounded alerting everyone to a small approaching party coming from the north.
Akira, his guards, the officers, and other leaders, gathered on top of the wall with their weapons at the ready as they watched the riders cross the open snow-covered farmland.
¡°The horses look to be of the variety you can find in the far north. Quite a study breed,¡± said Dolph who stood next to Akira.
¡°That doesn''t mean anything, anyone could have taken them from their owners,¡± said Akira as he waited for the five riders to reach the town wall. His twitching nose told him that he already knew who they were and his hand gripped the handle of his sword even tighter.
¡°Where is Yu huu?¡± asked the female who was wearing fluffy pink winter robes. The four riders beside her were all a mix of leather, metal, and cloth armor all using different weapons.
¡°You who?¡± asked Akira, confused.
¡°The person in charge of the scouting team I sent here a few days ago,¡± said the woman, getting impatient.
¡°Oh that guy...¡± said Akira.
¡°Look, you stupid man, stop playing games with me and tell Yu Huu to get his lazy ass out here!¡±
¡°Can''t,¡± said Akira.
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°He''s dead... Just like you will be soon as well...¡± said Akira. A black misty light covered his body as he transformed and jumped off the ten-foot wall.
Fluffball hopped off the wall transforming in mid-air and landed with a heavy fwump! Sending large clouds of powder snow up into the air.
Dolph, Vilkas, and the other bodyguards jumped off the wall transforming into their werewolf form as they landed next to Akira and immediately ran towards the demigods.
Klyn began hastily chanting his buffs making sure to buff Akira first before going to his bodyguards.
Zundar and Varbu who had not expected Akira to start a fight like this both looked at each other for a second before they each jumped off the wall screaming their war cries as they flew through the air and landed heavily onto the ground. They charged forward with their heavy war hammers held above their heads following after the others who had gone ahead of them.
¡°What are you bastards doing!? Pheromone! I thought you said the werewolves all lived far to the south!¡± shouted the stunned female leader from atop her horse still not moving.
The other riders did not answer their leader, they only grabbed the reins of their horses and urged them into a fast gallop to meet the charging enemy with their different weapons at the ready.
Different glowing lights of hastily cast skills flew out towards Akira and Fluffball who were at the head of the charge.
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Fluffball for all his weight and his large body was able to dodge the skills that rained down on him while the ones Akira could not dodge slammed into the weakened dark misty armor that surrounded his body before hitting his armor or shield dealing little damage as he plowed forward.
He launched himself into the air, his sword thrust forward... and pierced through a female rider''s stomach. The pierced rider was wearing cloth robes and wielded a long wooden staff that was glowing and about to let out another wind skill attack.
Akira''s momentum knocked the pierced rider off her horse and the two of them tumbled to the ground with Akira completing one roll before using the rest of the momentum to hop back onto his feet and pull his sword free of the rider''s stomach. He used a quick [Sword Slash] to sever the rider''s body in half.
Ding!
Demigod Phermone has been killed!
|
Bright light particles rose into the air from the dead body. Akira did not look to see if there was anything dropped by the demigod. He quickly scanned his surroundings for his next target but found that the other three were already engaged in battles.
Akira watched as Fluffball gracefully leaped from behind Vilkas, who was weathering several skill attacks from one of the demigod riders. Fluffball bit down on the man''s arm pulling him off his horse as he flew through the air dragging the now screaming man behind him.
Fluffball went to work at dismembering and shaking the screaming man to death. All this happened in only a few seconds.
Akira turned his attention to the woman who was the leader of the group and was still sitting on her horse dumbly looking at her escort getting torn apart by warriors that should have been far to the south.
Akira started running towards her snapping her out of her stupor as she frantically tried to unsheathe her rapier on her hip.
At the last moment, she successfully unsheathed her rapier and stabbed it towards Akira''s head.
Bang! With a fierce swing, Akira''s shield knocked the rapier and the arm that held it to the side.
Akira''s gloved claws shot forward and grabbed onto the female demigod''s neck. He pulled the defenseless demigod off her horse and held her in the air not letting her kicking legs touch the ground.
¡°Are there any other raiding parties nearby? Or are you the last of your kind around here?¡± asked Akira in a rumbling growl. He loosened his grip on her throat to allow her to answer.
¡°You bastard! You''re just like all men. A bastard!¡±
¡°I am no bastard. My mother and father were married when I was born,¡± said Akira.
¡°You %^&*$, %#%&*! Just wait here, I''ll be back with more people to kill you!¡±
¡°No thanks, I''d rather come and look for you than wait here. Thanks for teaching me those new colorful words,¡± said Akira.
¡°You...¡± Snap! Crunch! The female demigod''s voice was cut off as Akira''s gloved claw crushed her voice box and snapped her neck.
¡°If I were you I would get out of this land before you suffer any more deaths,¡± said Akira before swinging his sword and separating her head from her shoulders.
Ding!
You have killed demigod Fela.
You have leveled up!
You are now level 105!
|
¡°A little warning next time would be nice,¡± said Dolph as he walked up to Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball now in his miniature size as he happily hopped towards Akira through the thoroughly trampled snow.
¡°We have to hurry and help the town evacuate. They can join the others in the rear with the baggage train. Use the new horses to help carry their baggage,¡± said Akira in his gravelly voice.
¡°Understood!¡±
***
Three days later.
¡°Awooooo!¡± a scouting werewolf let out a howl that all could hear for a long distance.
¡°Again?¡± asked Mileena a bit peeved.
¡°Does she have a perverted hobby of dying?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Don''t tell me... she likes Akira and is stalking him!¡± said Zundar. He glanced over at Mileena whose face had turned into a scowl.
¡°Varbu, Zundar, you stay to command the soldiers in case they try a sneak attack on the baggage train and the villagers. Dolph, Vilkas, and the rest of my guard follow me!¡± said Akira as he urged Grarr to head towards the direction of the howl.
Akira and his bodyguards rode until they reached a decent-sized snowbank and hid behind it, waiting to ambush the persistent enemy.
¡°Fela, they know we''re here. That howl proves it! It''s stupid to keep going forward. You need to be reasonable and return to the army so we can come with our full strength and wipe them out,¡± said a voice that echoed through the cold air a short distance away from the snow mound that Akira and his bodyguards waited.
¡°If we keep doing this we are going to lose too much strength! I have worked really hard to get where I am and you keep ordering us to kill ourselves!¡± shouted an angry man.
¡°Hold your tongue Berk! I brought you along because of your insubordination from the other day. If you continue talking this way I''ll have the guild leader punish you!¡± said Fela.
The voices were headed right towards Akira!
¡°They only have a few people, with our numbers we should be able to kill them! ¡ That man. I will get him for daring to talk to me like that...¡±
As she said those words, she and 9 other riders crested the snowbank that Akira and his bodyguards were hiding at the base of.
Without a word or command the Garg mounts all pounced forward slamming their bodies into the frightened and whinnying horses who abruptly halted at the appearance of the large wolves jumping towards them.
The fight, if you could call it a fight, was over before it even began. Several of the demigods were knocked off their horses and were taken care of by quick slashes of swords and claws. Some fell to the ground along with their horses and got trapped underneath them and received the same claw and sword attacks as the others. While a few of the more unlucky ones became chew toys for the large wolves as they bit down on the demigod''s arms, legs and heads.
Akira stood over Fela whose leg was trapped under her horse that was trying to get back up onto its legs but kept falling back down on top of Fela causing her even more pain.
¡°I''m sorry Fela, It would never work out between the two of us,¡± said Akira with a serious expression on his face.
¡°What?¡± asked Fela, confused. She was now sitting up and gritting her teeth to try and ward off the pain she was feeling from her broken legs that were getting destroyed by the thrashing horse.
¡°You are a demigod, and plus I already...¡±
Shink! A dagger pierced through Fela''s neck and a second one through her back piercing her new leather armor and her heart.
Fela disappeared in hundreds of light fragments, and in her place stood Mileena who had used her blink skill to kill the obsessive Demigod.
¡°Hey, I was still trying to talk to her! Wait... where did you come from? I thought you were with Varbu,¡± said Akira.
¡°What more is there to say? You said all you needed to say right?¡± asked Mileena as she wiped off her daggers in the snow.
¡°Uh yeah... You heard what I said right?¡± asked Akira a cold sweat running down his brow.
¡°Yes,¡± said Mileena as she walked over to Grarr and hopped on his back behind Akira, grabbing onto him at the waist and hugging him more tightly than she normally did.
Chapter 207: Meet in the middle
¡°Fella you need to stop and think about this. We have only been giving them free horses and it is costing us a lot of gold that we should be saving,¡± said Bland.
¡°We can just take the army and crush them. Whenever we met them, they were only gathered in small groups,¡± said Fela.
The two were sitting inside one of the now empty houses of a small village that they had come upon during their march south.
¡°They are just a small nuisance. Ignore them and let''s continue to our next destination before any of the other Guilds start to get antsy and try to stab us in the back.¡±
¡°No! I can not let that damn werewolf stay alive! We will leave after everyone has finished taking all the supplies and loot from this village.¡±
Fela led the army south towards a direction she thought they would be able to find the small group of werewolves. They had little luck and were unable to catch sight of them until several long days had passed.
¡°The scouts say they have found a small group of werewolves camped outside a nearby woody area,¡± said Bland.
¡°Then we go that way! We must crush them or at least that man!¡±
***
¡°How long do you think it will take them to get here now that they know where we are?¡± asked Zundar. He was sitting next to the large roaring fire that was set up in front of Akira''s tent and was focusing on sharpening the spike at the bottom and top of his large hammer while he talked.
¡°Will they even come here?¡± asked Klyn. He was sitting next to Zundar and for the 1 millionth time was studying and going over his notes for the new holy shaman chants from the old book.
¡°There is no doubt that they will take the bait if that weird demigod is in charge. If they don''t come to us we will just have to go to them and hit them from behind. Since we know where they are heading it should not be that much of a problem to find them,¡± said Akira.
¡°If I had to guess it would be some time tonight or tomorrow morning,¡± said Varbu as he finished his large late dinner which was made up of only meat since it was hard to find anything else to eat in the winter while on the move.
The regular supplies were for the soldiers'' rations so they could keep fighting in top shape and high morale.
¡°Will they give us more horses again?¡± asked Zundar with a smile.
¡°I am surprised you orcs and goblins can handle the cold so well,¡± said Akira.
¡°We don''t like the cold, but this land is our home now. I just think of the old sayings of the elders from my tribe ''There are more ways to keep warm than there are to stay cool'',¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gii gii gii,¡± said Gobbers adding in his own 2 coppers to the conversation. Gobbers had only come to learn more about commanding so there was only a small force of goblin guards with him.
Only ten or so large fires like the one Akira and the others sat around were burning on the outer edge of the camp. The fires did their job of lighting up the surroundings and giving those in the area some much-needed warmth during the cold winter night.
Akira and the others went to bed late after waiting for several hours but still not hearing anything from any of the scouts who were on the lookout for the demigod army.
In the early morning well before the winter sun had even started to peak over the snow-covered horizon Akira was woken by what he had been waiting for.
¡°AwooooAWOOO!¡±
The Demigod army had been sighted!
Akira hurriedly put on his armor and sword belt before grabbing his shield and exiting his tent. He gave a quick nod to the two soldiers that were guarding his tent before joining his officers.
An unusual warm air had swept in over the night and had created a light fog that mingled with the smoke coming from the fires and now covered the entire woods. The gray smokey fog obscured the view of anyone that tried to look too far.
¡°They should be here within an hour or so,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gather your soldiers into the formation we discussed before!¡± ordered Akira as he hopped onto the back of Grarr.
He went through the small camp and continued to issue orders while gathering everyone.
Several minutes passed before a line of two thousand heavily armored orcs and werewolves got into full formation standing in a line extending from the foggy woods on their right.
They stood in front of their campsite on the flattened land that had been cleared of large snow piles the night before. The moved snow had been used to build a small wall in front of the camp to block the wind.
As the morning grew older, the fog that covered the field in front of the army, lightened but was still strongly covering the woods.
¡°They''re here! We will do this just as we planned!¡± shouted Akira after seeing a dark blur on the horizon approaching them.
***
¡°Fela! You said that there would only be a small group! Look! There''s over 2 thousand of them!¡±
¡°Hmph! Just look at them, they have both orcs and werewolves gathered. It looks like they just asked for a bunch of mismatched fighters to join them. The way you talk one might think that you are scared of them. I can assure you that there is nothing they can do to us. Send them our demands!¡± said Fela.
***
A horse rider separated from the demigod army that had stopped several hundreds of yards away from Akira and the others.
The horse rider stopped ten yards in front of Akira who she guessed was the leader due to the many warriors around him and seeing the flying flag with a howling wolf under a moon directly behind him.
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¡°I have come to issue my leader''s demands! If you want to live, you must hand over those who have repeatedly attacked, ambushed, and killed leader Fela and her supporters!¡±
¡°Ha! Bold of you to come all this way without a flag of truce!¡± rumbled Varbu, his fists gripping his weapon even tighter.
¡°Where is your honor!? Do you not view us as your equal in fighting power?¡± asked a heated Zundar.
The female demigod rider nervously looked at the two large hulking figures on either side of Akira. They were both gripping their large hammers ready to swing towards her fragile body.
Both their faces had smiles but their eyes were glaring at her as if they could see through everything that made her who she was. It was her first time seeing the dreaded Werewolves, Orcs, and even a rarer Minotaur.
Everything about them gave her the chills and she felt herself shudder from their gazes.
Akira held up a hand to stop the two from saying anything more.
¡°If you are going to come here with that nonsense then get lost! If you do not show us any respect there is no point in you coming here,¡± said Akira.
¡°Leader Fela knew you would refuse. So she demands a 1 on 1 duel with the leader of this small group. Winner takes all!¡±
¡°All of what?¡±
¡°The winner gets to order the losing side to do whatever they want!¡±
Akira pulled his officers and companions into a huddle.
¡°Don''t trust them or her!¡± said Mileena.
¡°She''s right, they have no honor and will not hold to their word! You should know this already,¡± said Zundar.
¡°No, this is a good chance for us! If he kills their leader that will make it easier for us to take out the rest!¡± said Varbu.
Akira listened to everyone''s opinion before turning back to the female rider who was sweating even with the cold winter wind lightly blowing by.
¡°I agree to a 1v1 duel. But... you demigods must stay over 200 yards away from the fight.¡±
¡°I will relay your words,¡± said the rider as she turned around and rode back to the demigods'' main force.
Moments later Fela departed the army with an escort of 10 other demigods and walked towards the center point between the two armies, the demigod army moved back another hundred or so yards so that they were just at the 200-yard mark.
¡°Varbu, Mileena, stay here. You know what to do if anything happens,¡± said Akira.
¡°But I want to go with you!¡± said Mileena.
Akira flicked her forehead and said, ¡°Follow my orders. There will be more than enough things for you to do later.¡±
Mileena crouched down and held her forehead with both hands as she watched Akira leave.
Akira moved out with his bodyguards as well as Zundar and Klyn to meet Fela at the center of the battlefield.
The demigods that had joined Fela and the guards that came with Akira both created a semicircle around their leader as they stared daggers at each other.
¡°You''re thinking something rude aren''t you!¡± said Fela as soon as Akira arrived.
¡°I have no clue what you are talking about. So, do you want to get it on?¡±
¡°Wha- what are you saying!¡±
¡°I''m all for it, let''s go!¡±
¡°How could you say something like that, you pervert!¡±
¡°HUH??? I''m talking about our duel. What are you thinking about?¡±
¡°It''s nothing...You really are a battle maniac!¡±
¡°Don''t flatter me too much or I might get embarrassed,¡± said Akira.
¡°That wasn''t a compliment!¡± said Fela as she launched a surprise attack towards Akira.
The sharp pointy rapier stabbed forward creating a wave of bright red light around it as a skill was activated.
BAM!
The surprise attack was stopped dead in its tracks as it was blocked by Akira''s shield and the black mist armor that now surrounded him as he quickly transformed.
Akira did not return an attack and just let her use several other skill attacks while he studied everything he saw.
He was using it as a training experience both mentally and physically so he could better understand the demigods even more than he currently did.
¡°Stop dodging and blocking my attacks! Take them like a man!¡± said Fela who was getting frustrated that none of her attacks were doing any real damage to Akira.
¡°I''m not a psychotic M like you! So why would I want to let you hit my body?¡± asked Akira as he dodged another attack but this time he used his skill [Sword Slash].
The skill flew out and created a spray of blood as Fela''s right arm was severed. She gave a low groan from the pain. She grabbed the falling arm with her left hand and rolled away from Akira who was following right behind her.
She took a potion from a pouch on her side and took a swig of it before smashing it against her severed arm to stop the bleeding and begin the healing.
Now using her left arm to wield the rapier, she continued to launch attack after attack at Akira trying to pierce through him. Akira weathered it all, gaining more and more dents and cuts in his shield and armor as he closed the distance.
Another blue [Sword Slash] flew out and sent her left arm flying in the air along with her rapier.
The nearby demigods seeing this drew their weapons ready to rush forward and save her. But Fela had other ideas and did not care what they did. She charged forward without any arms, her mouth wide open ready to try and bite Akira to death.
BAM!
She received a [Shield Bash] to the face knocking her to the ground in a daze, blood covering her face from a broken nose.
Not wanting to drag the fight out any longer Akira sent a blue [Cross attack] towards her body... severing it into four parts before the other demigods could jump to her rescue.
Ding!
You have killed demigod Fela!
You have leveled up!
You are now level 108!
|
¡°Awoooo!¡± Akira let out a loud howl commanding everyone to move onto the next phase of their plan.
The remaining ten demigods all released a barrage of skills at Akira and those around him. The werewolves had all transformed and now ran forward to support Akira.
The two sides clashed and started a mortal fight to the death where only one side would be left standing.
Varbu and Mileena began to charge forward with the two thousand heavy soldiers. At the same time, the demigod army also started to rush forward.
Zundar stood next to Akira and sent several of the demigod escort guards flying backward turning them into mangled and shattered husks, while he received many cuts and burns from the numerous attacks that hit his sturdy body.
The ten demigod guards were quickly finished off and Akira and his own guards retreated from the center of the battlefield to join back up with the charging heavy soldiers so that they were not swarmed by the demigods and their minions.
The dark morning was lit up by the hundreds of skills used by the demigods as they flew everywhere.
Just a moment after Akira had rejoined the heavy soldiers the two sides clashed together.
It looked to be an even match for a long moment. Then a howl was heard from the white foggy woods.
Many thousands of howls replied to the howl and moments later, thousands of howling werewolves jumped out of the foggy woods and slammed into the left flank of the enemy army hammering them hard and culling hundreds of their minions.
***
A dark black fog began to take over the plains and woods to the north of the two clashing armies who were still unaware of its gradual appearance.
Two dark-robed figures exited the dark foggy mist and looked around their surroundings.
¡°Lucky! Now this is what I was looking for!¡± said Tibia.
¡°What are you planning to do?¡± asked Bonestringer.
¡°What else is there to do? I''m going to join in on the fun!¡±
Chapter 208: Joining the fight
The cavalry that had been hiding behind several large snowbanks exited their hiding after the howls of the werewolves finished and had clashed with the demigods drawing their attention to their left flank leaving the right flank wide open.
The mixed force of allies, some riding the large gargs, others riding the gray and nimble reindeer found around the local area charged the enemy''s right flank and hammered it.
The force of the charge knocked some of the demigods all the way to the left flank where they were fighting off the werewolves and orcs that had exited the white foggy woods.
Akira was at the center of the fighting leading the shield wall forward step by step felling demigod after demigod. Whatever they dropped near Akira he would pick up and put it in his bag on instinct, not even looking at the item he picked up as he continued to fight on.
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball, who had been playing around chasing a distressed demigod, sensed something coming from the north and sent out a warning to Akira.
Akira looked to the north and saw a dark fog slowly moving south. Two people in dark robes stepped out of the black fog. The arm of one of the figures pointed in the direction of the current fight between the demigods and the allied army.
One after another hundreds if not thousands of dark disfigured shambling bodies of all types exited the dark fog and started a quick walk towards the two fighting parties.
''Demigod reinforcements?'' wondered Akira.
¡°Awoooo!¡± Akira let out a loud howl that echoed over the sound of battle, warning everyone of the new threat coming from the north.
They fought fiercely trying to kill as many demigods as they could before Akira gave the order to disengage. They needed to pull back their dead and wounded and organize a solid front against the large number of new enemies.
The small number of remaining demigods and their minions that had survived the onslaught were puzzled at why they had decided to retreat when they were on the edge of complete victory.
After experiencing such a devastatingly one-sided fight they did not have any intention of chasing after the allied army.
With grim faces they watched the large army reformed some distance away. They braced both their will and their tired bodies for the oncoming second charge that they would most likely not survive.
Before they could see the start of the second attack from the allied army they were swarmed from behind.
¡°Allies?¡± asked Zundar as everyone watched the grotesque scene unfold before them.
The demigods had been unaware of the enemy behind them. They were torn apart, eaten bit by bit by hundreds of these unknown creatures, the gruesome sight lasted until they died and disappeared into thousands of light fragments.
¡°I don''t think so,¡± said Varbu. He pointed at several of the shambling creatures that were now moving towards them.
Akira looked to the left and then right flank where the Buster light cavalry had been situated.
¡°Awooo! Awoo~!¡±
Receiving their orders from Akira they took a few seconds to aim at the targets that had been given to them.
Thud! One after another the large spear-like bolts flew out from the left flank and headed to their targets.
Several of the dark shambling creatures that were hit in the attack were knocked off their feet and into those behind them.
They were back on their feet in only a minute resuming their fast walk towards the allied army. The only damage for most of them was several large cracks on their chest or body part that had been hit.
The worst Akira saw was one that was now walking with one of the long bolts sticking out of its chest.
Thud! A second wave from the right flew out and over the heads of the thousands of creatures. Their target...the two dark-robed figures. Particularly the one that had given the order to attack.
Unfortunately, the majority of the bolts missed, hitting one of the swarming dark creatures near them as the range was just too far.
Only one looked to have nicked the commanding robed figure''s head as it cut a large portion of the black hood fabric as it passed.
Akira could not tell how severe it was from such a distance but he guessed it was not anything serious.
He watched as the dark-robed figure pulled the hood down further before reaching out a gloved hand and grabbing onto a passing dark creature.
In seconds, the dark creature stopped moving and slowly turned gray, falling to the ground in a pile of rubble.
Everyone was on edge seeing the large mass of creatures still exiting the dark fog.
¡°Awoooo~~~!¡± Akira, deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry, ordered a retreat.
Darkness domain activated!
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***
Tibia watched as her prey escaped somewhere into the white fog. Her vision was blocked by both the white and dark fog that had popped up around the escaping army.
¡°That damn idiot! What was he thinking ordering them to shoot at my face!¡± she grumbled as she lightly ran a finger over the new scar on her left cheek.
¡°That dark fog...Is it like ours?¡±
¡°How could he have something like that. The fog was created by the ancients and only the Elder numbers and you who perfected its use, know of it,¡± said Tibia.
Bonestringer watched Tibia touching the new scar on her face.
¡°Why did you use [Life Suction] instead of a potion? You wouldn''t have a scar if you used the potions I gave you. You also need to stop destroying the material that we need for later,¡± said Bonestringer.
¡°The potions dry out my skin and cause havoc to my smooth skin. [Life Suction] is really great at rejuvenating the dead skin and keeping everything smooth and full of life.¡±
¡°You dare compare the sacred skill [Life Suction] to a skin cream? If the elder numbers heard you talk that way they would punish you!¡±
¡°Those old coots are too busy on the mainland taking care of other tasks and playing mind games with each other to bother with little ol'' me.¡±
Bonestringer looked away from Tibia and watched over the large shambling army of disfigured monsters, humans, and demon bodies.
¡°All they care about is if we accomplish our task and gather what we need. They won''t care about such minor things,¡± said Tibia.
***
¡°Fela, how many times do I have to say that you can''t be acting like this! If you keep dying like this all your strength will go back to nothing. You need to think of the bigger picture. We need to plan before we do anything drastic. It has served me well during my time on this snowy hell of a continent.¡±
¡°Whahahah! Guys! I''m back!¡± said Yu huu as he entered the Froit city meeting room. Every other officer was already gathered inside.
Upon the idiot Yu huu''s return, everyone ignored him and continued to listen to the argument between Bland and Fela.
Yu huu walked over to an empty chair and sat down unaware of the others ignoring him and continued to try and start a conversation with the others.
¡°You guys, that last death was the worst. Being eaten alive bite by bite... that has to be my worst experience yet. Do you know what those things were? I wonder where they came from...¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Fela after hearing the last part of the complaining idiot.
¡°Oh, that''s right! I forgot that you were the first person out of everyone to die, and then it was Bland and everyone else dying in the first two waves. You guys need to get stronger,¡± said Yu huu, shaking his head at their failure.
A pink vein appeared on Fela''s forehead as she grit her teeth and said, ¡°Knowing you, you probably stayed in the rear center of the army so of course, you would stay alive the longest.¡±
¡°Hey! It sounds like you are calling me a coward! I was commanding everyone! Commanding I tell you. All the great commanders of history did the same... Or so I heard from someone who read a book.¡±
¡°Enough, tell me what you were talking about just before that,¡± said Fela.
¡°Some swarm of black stony things attacked us from behind and tore us apart or ate people one bite at a time. It was horrible, even worse than dying to the werewolves,¡± said Yu huu. His body shivered as he remembered the experience of being eaten alive.
¡°Allies of the werewolves?¡± asked Fela. She was well aware that there were several demon races and human cities that had joined together to oppose the demigod guilds.
¡°No,¡± said Yu Huu, shaking his head. ¡°They disengaged and reformed some distance away from us before we were attacked from behind. They saw them before we did and went on the defense.¡±
¡°This is not good. A third party has just entered the fight. Who are they....¡±
***
¡°What''s the death count now?¡± asked Akira.
Akira, Klyn, Zundar, and Varbu were currently talking inside Akira''s cramped tent. Gobbers was not here as he was sleeping in his tent after finishing a night shift with the rear guard.
¡°Over a hundred warriors were lost in the fight with the demigods. Those deaths were mostly from the volunteers of the small towns and villages. The rearguard has lost twenty men so far in the several skirmishes with the creatures following us,¡± said Varbu.
¡°The rear guard is losing that much? Is the enemy really that strong? Or is it a problem with the healers,¡± asked Akira looking to Klyn.
¡°Only a few of the rear guard soldiers died in battle when they were swarmed and torn apart. The others died from the wounds they received. Somehow they caught an infection of some type and it started to turn their body into something like what has been chasing us.¡±
¡°Have you tried your new holy shaman chants on them?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I have, but either I do not have enough understanding, or the chant is not strong enough right now to deal with the infection. All I can do is slow or pause the spread. Grandfather might have more insight on the matter when we get back to Kodria.¡±
¡°How many infected are still alive?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Just 5.¡±
¡°Keep them away from the others and keep a close eye on them. Get all the info you can from observing any changes. Just don''t let your guard down. I can''t have my most important chief shaman catch the infection.¡±
¡°For some reason, I am getting a heavy feeling of D¨¦j¨¤ vu,¡± said Zundar as he scratched his head.
¡°Are you saying this is something from back in your time?¡± asked Akira as he sat up straighter on the cot he was sitting on.
¡°To be honest most of my memories of the past are very muddy and vague. The feeling I get from hearing all this... It''s very similar to past events. I wouldn''t say it''s the exact same thing but I feel it is close,¡± said Zundar as he scrunched his face trying to remember the events from the past.
¡°Awooo!¡±
¡°Looks like the Yuki-onna army has finally arrived. should we use their help to go on the offense and destroy the enemy following us?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°We should first go tell them about the situation and see if they know what is going on or what those things are,¡± said Akira as he stood up readying himself to go and meet the arriving allied army.
***
¡°How are they?¡± asked Jezebel.
The royal jailer was kneeling on the throne room''s cold stone floor in front of the Queen.
¡°Your majesty the demigods are not immune to the [Molten Onyx] plague. All of the test subjects gathered from the dungeon have died now. Each one showed the symptoms that every other infected person has before they turn into dead husks and start attacking people. Fortunately, they disappeared into many light fragments as demigods normally do, not causing us any more trouble,¡± said the royal jailer with his head bowed.
Jezebel scowled at the man unhappy that the demigods who had killed her toys died such a simple death.
¡°Put out a royal decree. If anyone sees those demigods in our kingdom, they must arrest them immediately! I want them brought back to the royal dungeons for... questioning...¡± said Jezebel, smiling as she thought of the future ''Questions'' she would ask.
The royal jailer shivered even though he could not see her face he could still feel her gaze directed at him and her sinister smile.
Chapter 209: Disappearing treasure
¡°...they just kept coming out of the dark fog that covered the woods and swarmed down on us attacking the demigods and wiping them out,¡± said Akira finishing his explanation. He sat at a small campfire inside his wide command tent with several other people.
¡°What is their strength? Did you see what exactly they were?¡± asked Snuwball, a cold female officer of the Yuki-onna casters.
¡°I do not know how large their army is. As for their physical strength, it is also unknown as we did not engage in a full-on confrontation. I only saw a few demigods fight them and it didn''t look good. As for appearance I didn''t really look at every one of them but they seemed to all have a black stone skin,¡± said Akira.
¡°We did shoot at them with a few long-range attacks and found that their skin was like rock. They seem to be able to keep moving and fighting after taking heavy damage,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Where are they now?¡± asked Snuwball.
¡°They should be several days behind us,¡± said Akira.
¡°Should we engage the enemy in a few skirmishes to get a better understanding?¡± asked Breezard. He was a slim but muscular Yuki-onna officer, in command of the Yuki-onna melee warriors.
¡°No, we are not outfitted to fight such a strange army right now. We lack information and there is the fact that I sent a good chunk of our soldiers under the command of Varbu to escort the civilians to Jerora while we lure whatever this army is away from the main cities. We can not expect Varbu back anytime soon as they will have a long walk back as they have to take the long route to get back to the unfreezing river.¡±
¡°Then are we to return to Kodria so we can resupply and decide on what to do from there?¡± asked Snuwball.
Akira nodded his head, ¡°I don''t like it, but we cannot risk fighting something like this unprepared.¡±
¡°Hmph...¡± Grand elder Tormoid gave a snort of unhappiness at those words.
¡°Why are you still here? Weren''t you going to leave to go to your clan?¡± asked Akira.
¡°How could I leave with you attracting and attacking every damned demigod on the continent!? And now we are being chased by some type of undead army!¡±
***
¡°Make them move faster!¡± commanded Tibia.
¡°They are going as fast as they can!¡± said Bonestringer for the thousandth time.
Tibia watched with an irritated look on her face as one creature after another human, monster, and even a few demon races, walked by her at what one might call a fast walk... if the person was 90 years old.
¡°What''s wrong with them? Why are they still all the same?¡± asked Tibia.
¡°They are still in their growth phase. If you want them to grow they need to eat enough to show their true traits.¡±
¡°What? Why didn''t you tell me that before? Isn''t that a big deal if we are to take everything down and grow our flock?¡±
¡°Ah...something unexpected happened,¡± said Bonestringer, ignoring her question.
¡°What is it now?¡±
¡°For some reason, the dark fog cover stopped and won''t go any farther south... We will be without its protection and buffs if we continue south. It has already been getting quite weak since a few days ago.¡±
¡°Make it move!¡±
¡°I can''t! You know this is not some slave you can order around. The ancient scriptures are hard enough to understand let alone control. All we can do is ask the other elder heads if they have an idea of how to strengthen it or make it spread out farther,¡± said Bonestringer.
¡°We don''t need to contact them. Let''s just focus on growing our little cute minions.¡±
¡°Now you''re calling them cute? I thought you hated them?¡± asked Bonestringer.
¡°Alright! Our mission is now to find some food for them to munch on!¡± said Tibia slamming her left fist into her right palm.
Bonestringer did not say anything more and just followed after Tibia while commanding the army to stop following the allied demon army and follow her.
***
Zundar ran up to Akira who was riding Grarr and inspecting the passing soldiers as they marched south.
¡°Bo one of the rearguard scouts said he could not find the enemy. He thinks that they have given up the chase.¡±
¡°Any reason?¡± asked Akira.
¡°He said the black fog thinned and stopped going south a few days ago. If I were them I would still keep going! But they must be cowards to not want to fight us,¡± said Zundar as he slammed his fists together.
Other than Akira, Zundar was the only one that was over level 100. Dolph, Vilkas, and surprisingly Klyn were all nearing level 100.
¡°No, this is good for us. We can reorganize and figure out what to do without the immediate threat. I just hope Varbu doesn''t run into any trouble on the way back,¡± said Akira.
***
A while later Akira and the expedition army arrived back at Kodria with no more than normal difficulty.
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Those that had been wounded and showed signs of Infection were stationed near the south fort away from civilians and the trade hub.
Akira sat on the couch in the large living room inspecting the loot he had picked up during the many fights with the demigods.
Big Red(Rank B): A potion that gives a large boost to the user''s health. Last for 1 hour or until the health has been depleted from attacks. No expiration date.
Big Blue(Rank B): A potion for boosting the regeneration of Mana. Lasts for 1 hour. No expiration date.
Greater Elixir of health: A potion to restore 50% of the user''s health over 10 seconds. No expiration date.
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¡°So these are what those demigods were using every time we fought,¡± said Akira as he looked at the potions.
¡°No wonder they were becoming more of a pain to kill. If they use mana like me then this [Big blue potion] would explain how they can keep throwing so many skills.¡±
Akira turned to the armor and weapons that he had gathered, none of it was anything better than what he was currently using due to the dwarf runes and set effect that he had with his current equipment.
Although he would not be using them, he did not throw them away since he was a hoarder and would try to sell whatever he looted even if it would only get him a few coppers. 1 copper is not a lot, but a mountain of coppers can be converted into many gold pieces that can be used to buy other things!
Plus he needed more money to keep everything flowing well in the city of Kodria.
Fluffball yawned as he laid on the carpet in front of the roaring fire. He watched Akira as he made weird laughing sounds while he sorted through the large pile of junk.
The door to the hallway opened and Mileena, Maya, and Azura all walked in with fluffy robes and towels wrapped around their hair.
¡°Finished bathing?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I feel alive again! My skin was getting dry due to the winter air and not being able to properly wash,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Lucky, I had to stay here and take care of the paperwork with Maya,¡± said Azura.
¡°I don''t mind the paperwork. I find it interesting,¡± said Maya.
¡°Oh! What are these!?¡± asked Mileena as she made a beeline straight to the armor that was piled on the ground in front of Akira.
¡°Is this a gift for us?¡± asked Mileena, picking out a mismatched set of leather and chain armor without even letting Akira say anything.
The other girls also grabbed armor and weapons from the collection without a second thought or even a glance at Akira to see if it was okay.
¡°This should fit you Maya,¡± said Mileena as she held up a light brown and white hard leather armor chest piece.
¡°I don''t know... it looks¡ Odd. Where did you find this?¡± asked Maya. She didn''t wait for an answer and just grabbed onto the armor to inspect it.
¡°I know it does look a bit different than what you are used to, but it''s still better than your current armor,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Hmm, which one should I choose?¡± asked Azura as she held up two slightly different chest armor. The only main difference was the color.
¡°I think that color suits you better,¡± said Mileena, helping Azura pick between the two.
Akira sat there speechless watching the girls treat this as if they were shopping for new clothes. They were taking all of his hard-earned treasure!
¡°I''ll also take this, this, and this for Chack,¡± Azura.
With great sadness, Akira looked at the last and only item that the girls did not take. It was a large belt with a skull for the belt buckle.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Akira noticed that Zundar was staring intently at the belt.
With a deep sad sigh, Akira turned to him and said, ¡°You can...¡±
Zundar pounced on the belt before Akira finished the sentence and fastened it around his waist. He had a large satisfied smile on his face as he looked at the belt around his waist.
¡°Thanks, for the new armor Big brother,¡± said Azura as she gave Akira a big hug.
Mileena pried her away from Akira and gave him a kiss on the cheek, ¡°Thanks, I was needing a new set of armor.¡±
The hug and kiss from the both of them did nothing to soothe his aching heart from losing all his collected treasure.
Fluffball seeing everyone hugging and kissing Akira decided to hop on Akira''s lap and give him back lick across his entire face.
Akira wiped his face as he pushed Fluffball away and looked to Maya ready for whatever she was going to do. But she only looked back at him with an expression that said ''Don''t expect me to hug or kiss you.''
¡°This belt fits me perfectly. Thanks,¡± said Zundar, slapping Akira on the back.
Akira was knocked off the couch by the force of the smack.
¡°Opps,¡± said Zundar as he picked Akira back up and dropped him onto the couch.
¡°Why are you taking armor for Chack?¡± Akira asked Azura.
¡°Oh, I forgot to tell you. I made Chack one of my bodyguards. It suits him well since he doesn''t have to spend long weeks and months outside. He and stubby now always go around the city with me. Although stubby is getting a little chubby,¡± said Azura.
Stubby''s head popped out from the fluffy robe collar that Azura was wearing. He let out a few chattering sentences denying that he had gained any weight even though his chubby cheeks fully showed that he had.
¡°Is he really of any help?¡± asked Akira as he looked at Chack who was currently laying in front of the large fireplace snoring loudly.
¡°When on the job he takes everything seriously. A bit too seriously, and his jokes...¡±
Akira put the potions (the only thing not taken) back into his bag and stood up.
¡°I''ll have to talk with you guys later. Right about now the grand elders and other repetitiveness should be gathering for the meeting soon.¡±
¡°Geez, I rarely see you anymore! Spend some time with your sister! All you do is go to meetings and spend long months away fighting people!¡± said Azura with an unhappy tone.
¡°I''ll see what I can do,¡± said Akira as he gave a short wave and exited the door with Fluffball and Zundar following him.
Klyn and grand elder Hegir were the first ones inside the meeting room and were in a deep discussion when Akira arrived.
¡°Ah Akira, my grandson was just telling me about the creatures you faced. What a bizarre thing to happen and those that were infected...¡± said grand elder Hegir as he gave a sad shake of the head.
Akira pulled out one of each potion he had gathered from the demigods and handed them over to grand elder Heigr.
¡°Do you think that you, Klyn, and the other shaman could study these and see if you could replicate them or create something similar?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Where did you find these?¡± asked Grandelder Hegir as he opened a bottle and gave it a sniff.
¡°I picked them up from the dead Demigods. From what I could find out about them, they will not expire. I think they are either a new magic guild creation or something special that only Demigods can buy, as they have effects that I have never heard or seen before. Here is the full list of details for each one,¡± said Akira as he handed over a piece of paper.
¡°No expiration? Is it even safe to drink something like that?¡± asked Klyn as he looked at the potions.
¡°We can look into it, but you should know right now our main focus is on the Holy shaman chants. Although the book you brought us seems to only have the basics with a few notes explaining a few higher-level stuff we still only have scratched the surface at completely understanding it all.¡±
Chapter 210: Three Branches
Inside the Castles meeting room in one of the far corners sat Samuel who was quietly working on some paperwork.
¡°Thanks for helping my sister and the grand elders with keeping the castle running,¡± said Akira, as he walked over to him.
¡°It is my job, and purpose in life. There is no need to thank me,¡± said Samuel as he turned over a piece of paper and continued working on the large stack of files.
¡°Akira! What''s with this? Why are we having more meetings?¡± asked Crulak who had not been with the main force earlier due to a few problems near his own settlement.
The room was soon filled with the leaders and representatives of the allied demon races all taking their seats. Among them was the ever-present thorn in his side.
One person Akira did not expect to see was Captain Pegleg who was now sitting in the chair next to Akira.
¡°I will give a quick explanation for those that were not with us. On our expedition north we ran into the demigods and had several skirmishes,¡± said Akira.
¡°Did they overpower you?¡± asked Crulak.
Akira shook his head, ¡°No, we ran into another problem. At this moment... It may be even worse than our demigod problem. The new enemy seemed to be some sort of undead with a hard outer layer. Even when they received wounds that would have killed me or you, they still kept moving,¡± said Akira.
¡°The people controlling them had some odd skills,¡± said Klyn thinking back to what they had seen far off into the distance.
¡°Stop playing dumb! After thinking over all that I saw... it is now clear to me!¡± said Tormoid pointing his finger at Akira. ¡°I know you are in league with them!¡±
¡°What nonsense are you speaking now?¡± asked Grand elder Carl angrily. It seemed Akira was not the only one that was tiring of Tormoid''s rants.
¡°The undead enemy exited a dark fog and attacked the demigods. He... has been using such a dark fog lately during several of the fights! The most damning evidence is, he is friends with one of those undead!¡± said Tormoid as he moved his hand to point at Captain Pegleg.
¡°Don''t even dare compare me to those useless idiots! They are but puppets controlled by some $%#^&. I am Captain Pegleg! Ruler of Bone island and all the seas around it! Also... didn''t your mother ever tell you that when you point at someone you have three fingers pointing back at you?¡± asked captain Pegleg.
¡°My skill has nothing to do with those dark-robed figures who were controlling the massive wave of undead creatures. I will remind you that we were able to escape the enemy because we used it. Don''t sully the names of the several hundred in the rearguard that were killed or wounded trying to hold them so we could retreat,¡± said Akira angrily.
The meeting continued into a spiral of arguing between everyone on who was to blame ignoring the real reason everyone was called to the meeting.
***
Froit castle.
¡°Damn it! What''s with this damn continent! First, it was the damn werewolves and the other demon races. Now it is these damn infected things ruining all our plans!¡± screeched Fella.
¡°We tried to warn you before,¡± said Bland looking at the ceiling where a chandelier was burning several fat candles.
¡°Almost everywhere we go there are those infected things popping up! All the minions we need to fight are getting sick as well!¡±
¡°This place is a living nightmare. I am surprised we even managed to take Froit,¡± said Phobia.
¡°Since coming here I have lost so much gear and power that it is not funny, and that bastard even stole all my expensive potions!¡± said Fela.
¡°You''re preaching to the choir. We have lost more than you can imagine. All this for a mission that we have pretty much forgotten the main reason why we came here,¡± said Kooter.
¡°What was the reason again?¡± asked Berk the berserker.
¡°We were supposed to kill some werewolf, but it seems that the task is near impossible. Hey Fela do we still have to do it?¡± asked the short LieLie.
¡°Eh? You guys are still trying to do that quest? I forgot to tell you the guild leader gave up on it a long time ago. He is more interested in getting a foothold over here and making money to fund the larger goals of the guild on Halrverold. Why would you guys waste your time on such a pointless quest?¡± asked Fela.
Several of the people who had been affected the most by the quest coughed up blood as if they had received a heavy blow.
While others let out loud curses after hearing what she said. Many of them had lost quite a bit of strength and wealth due to the seemingly impossible quest.
They were quietly fuming over past events when they all received a message at the same time.
¡°What''s this?¡±
***
Ding!
The [Molten Onyx] plague main chain quest has started!!
The Main quest is separated into three main branches. You can choose to focus on one, or work on all three!
Branch one: Find the shadows behind the Molten Onyx plague: Little is known about this phenomenon that has popped up overnight in every country around the world. Your task is to discover all you can about the new infected and who is controlling them.
Branch two: The Molten Onyx plague Cure: The Molten Onyx plague has swept through both continents and has infected humans, demon races, monsters, and even some demigods! If a cure is not found the world will soon be swept away by the large tide of infected!
Branch three: War! Wipe out the Molten Onyx plague!: Kill every infected you see. You will also need to kill and bring to justice the controllers of this plague.
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Each Branch has several stages, and each stage can only be completed once. Whether it is completed by a large group or by a single person does not matter.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Once the stage is completed by a person or a group, the branch in question will move on to the next stage for everyone who has accepted that branch. Even if you were not part of the party that completed the quest.
There is something for everyone to do! It is suggested that you chose wisely as missing out on information will make the later missions harder to complete.
Difficulty: Single mission A class, all three missions S class
Reward: 1000 gold for each branch. It will be given to the person or group that has the most contribution to the quest.
Each branch when completed will reward the person or group with the most contribution to the quest with a special title.
Each title given out will have different special stat boosts.
Several other rewards will be given throughout the quests!
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Akira had been in mid-sentence when he received the message window for the new quest. He now had everyone staring at him waiting for him to finish as he just stood there staring off into the sky.
Grandelder Seoc cleared his throat loudly bringing Akira back to realize that everyone was staring at him.
¡°Ahem... I just got new information on the issue.¡±
¡°From who?¡± demanded Tormoid.
¡°Did someone from the clan''s shaman scouts contact you?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Something like that. This Plague has taken hold on Halrverold as well. It is apparently called the [Molten Onyx plague] I think you all can understand why. It is infecting everyone: humans, demon race, monsters, and even demigods!¡±
¡°What! Even demigods are not free from it?¡± asked grand elder Carl.
¡°How are we to fight this if even they are taken down by such a cursed plague?¡± asked grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°Grand elder Hegir, I need you and Klyn to help train more holy shamans. I have a feeling that if we are to get through this we will be relying on you and the shaman under your command.¡±
¡°I have a suggestion! Let us both go together and check on these idiots that got themselves caught under those puppet masters. I want to see what they are like. Maybe I can reason with them,¡± said captain Pegleg, placing a bony hand on Akira''s shoulder.
¡°Aren''t you afraid that they will try to control you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Don''t insult me like that! I can not be controlled! I do the controlling! Plus I do not care about some plague as I am already dead!¡±
¡°Alright, I have decided! I will go with Captain Pegleg and his undead sailors to scope out the infected. I will try to find out more about the infected and bring back some more samples for you to study later to see if you can see what makes them tick. Maybe you can find a cure that way,¡± said Akira.
¡°And if we have to we will kill them all!¡± said Captain Pegleg.
Ding!
All three Branches of the main quest have been accepted!
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¡°Have Captain Walcott take some ships to the designated spot and wait to pick up Varbu.¡±
¡°We will go with him to help secure the area until Varbu arrives,¡± said Snuwball.
¡°Right, can''t leave everything to the ship boys,¡± said Brizard.
¡°I''m coming with you Akira! I can''t let you go alone and my chants will be needed to keep you safe,¡± said Klyn.
Captain Pegleg looked over at Klyn with distaste. He could feel the same unpleasant holy aura that was present in the water coming from him.
¡°If you try anything funny around me I''ll poke your eyes out and eat them,¡± said Captain Pegleg.
His two bony fingers made a poking motion at Klyn''s face and his jaw made a loud clack as he shut as he pretended to chew on invisible eyes.
***
¡°What did the guild leader have to say about the new mission?¡± asked Kooter.
¡°They are taking on the third branch mission. I was told that we need to work on the first branch and inform them on any information we may discover,¡± said Fela.
¡°What are the other big guilds doing? How much competition do we have?¡± asked Phobia.
¡°From what I heard our guild leader and the rest of the guild are working in Beorin, the Purgatory guild in the Vussia territory, Banished Knights in Cadia, and the two forever rival guilds immortal dawn, and Blazing dawn are still fighting over the quests and territory in Freopia. Each of those guilds have stated that they are working on one or more of the branches of this mission but did not say which ones. They are putting the full weight of their guilds behind researching and the destruction of the infected army.¡±
¡°The two idiot brothers are still fighting in Fregoldawae?¡± asked LieLie, referring to the two guild leaders of the Dawn guilds.
Olbrou was the older brother and guild leader of Blazing dawn, while Yobrou was the younger brother and guild leader of the guild Immortal dawn.
The two were always fighting over anything and everything including the fact that they had such similar named guilds.
¡°It''s surprising that they are even in control of anything,¡± said Phobia.
¡°We need to prepare our gear and head out to find out more about these things. Get those under your command ready!¡± commanded Fela.
***
At a small village on the outer edges of Beorin''s territory.
A large fire raged inside a small village. A small smattering of arrows flew from atop the walls surrounding the village. The arrows flew towards the group of 100 or so attackers that had started to lay siege on the village.
A large hail of multi-color skills flew through the air bombarding the walls. Several of the skills were aimed at and continued to rain down on the wooden gate, blasting it to shreds.
¡°The gates are down! Kill them all!¡±
¡°This is great! Once we kill everyone we can claim this village as our own and start taking over the local territory. Then we can get taxes from everyone who comes here!¡± shouted a happy demigod as he charged forward into the village.
The slaughter was quick and brutal as there were mainly only the old and those too stubborn to leave and go to the larger towns and cities near the capitol. Those who had stayed behind had decided to stay and protect their village from the infected even if it meant that they themselves may die from the plague.
Sadly they did not die valiantly fighting the [Molten Onyx] plague but were slaughtered by the bizarre skills and weapons of the demigods.
¡°Ha! While the main guilds are so focused on the main mission we were able to take over a village!¡± said the leader of the group.
He stood on the balcony of the village chief''s home overlooking the dead villagers that littered the ground turning the streets into a muddy pink slush.
Movement in the distance outside the village caught his eyes and soured his mood.
¡°Everyone to the walls! Some leeches are trying to take our prize from us!¡± shouted the guild commander.
Over 200 mounted soldiers riding expensive-looking warhorses were headed towards the village.
A flag was flying at the head of the column which the guild leader immediately recognized making him let out a few curses.
He didn''t dare attack them so the mounted warriors were able to trot right up to the walls of the village unmolested before stopping.
¡°Why are you guys here bothering us? We are just a small guild and you are a large guild! Don''t you feel shame picking on someone smaller than you?¡± asked the guild leader from atop the wall.
The demigods outside the walls were silent, not answering him. They all looked towards the center of the formation where several officers sat talking waiting for orders on what to do.
¡°How many did you count?¡± asked Ualtar.
¡°Around 100,¡± said Scar.
¡°Guild leader, why are we stopping here to bother with them? We still have to join up with the others and work on our quest to exterminate the infected. If someone meets the goal before us it will be a great shame!¡±
¡°King Rodger gave me a side task as a favor for canceling the kill request from before. 1 gold for each person killed causing any of his villages or towns trouble. We need more gold to keep funding our growth. I count 100 gold in front of us. All we need to do is take down their names and kill them.¡±
¡°You demon hunters need to go play somewhere else! This is our prize!¡±
Ualtar looked to the man speaking replied in a loud booming voice, ¡°Dead wanted men shouldn''t be talking.¡±
Chapter 211: Rival
Rodger sat at his field desk inside his field tent. He was currently reading several reports using the dim candlelight.
He, as King, had spent more time away on a warpath to kill all the [Molten Onyx] infected, than he did governing the kingdom at the capital. He wrote letters to his wife periodically to reassure her that he was okay.
¡°My King! The Demigod guild leader of the Demon hunters has important information to share with you,¡± said one of the guards outside his field tent.
¡°Escort them in,¡± said Rodger.
He put down his feather pen that he had been taking notes with and rubbed his eyes before letting out a long yawn as he stretched.
Ualtar walked into the tent and only nodded his head to Rodger not showing the customary respect that was required when meeting with the King.
¡°On our skirmishes near the border we found that some of the infected had started to change in appearance,¡± said Ualtar straight forward.
¡°In what way?¡± asked Rodger.
¡°Right now nothing drastic, some were bigger, smaller, faster, slower. But if they keep changing who knows what they will become. It may be even harder to kill them.¡±
Rodger quickly wrote down a few notes and then looked back to Ualtar. ¡°I will keep that under consideration when I send forces out from now on. Is that all?¡±
¡°It is,¡± said Ualtar. He gave Rodger a wave and turned to leave the tent.
Before he left the tent Rodger spoke up, ¡°Ualtar, the work you are doing clearing out towns and solving problems around the border is much appreciated. You will be properly rewarded.¡±
¡°Of course. A large portion of my guild was going to leave for another place to do something but now that this plague has started we cannot let it spread in our new adopted home. This is more important and It seems the other guild leaders have chosen to do something similar,¡± said Ualtar.
***
Akira stood on top of one of the rickety groaning wooden ships as it sailed north up the unfreezing river.
His bodyguards along with Klyn and Fluffball and a few others all stood around him. When they had first boarded the ship they were skeptical if it could even hold their weight without breaking and sinking.
They still held their doubts and stayed on the top deck when they could in case the ship started to sink.
Wherever Klyn and his six subordinates walked the skeleton pirates cleared a large path for them while they stared daggers at them. Some of them even went as far as to not step on the same spots that Klyn and the others had stepped on due to fear that they might die from some holy cootie virus.
Besides the eerie ship groans and the flapping of the skeleton pirate flag, the ship was mostly quiet. The only talking or chatter came from Akira''s group or when Captain Pegleg talked to them.
¡°We will be arriving At our destination soon!¡± shouted Captain Pegleg from behind the large wooden wheel used to steer the large ship.
Farther up the river hanging over the land was a dark fog that grew darker the farther north you looked.
¡°Looks to be the same thing from before. What do you think about all of this Klyn?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I still need to get a closer look and we need to do a few tests before I can say anything.¡±
¡°Looking at that fog stirs my memory, but it is as murky as the dark fog ahead,¡± said Zundar as he stared at the dark clouds in the sky.
¡°How poetic of you. I didn''t think a big hornie guy like you would have it in you. I thought you were just a muscle head. There may be some hope for you yet,¡± said Captain Pegleg.
Zundar rubbed his large horns on his head and looked to captain Pegleg who was now standing next to him.
¡°The way you say that...it sounds more of an insult than a compliment,¡± said Zundar.
¡°What? I love your big sturdy horns. It''s about the only thing that you have going for you. Everything else is meh.¡±
¡°Wait, what are you doing here? Aren''t you supposed to be steering the ship?¡± asked Akira looking back at the empty steering wheel.
¡°It''s fine...the shnip can handle a few minutes without me babysitting it,¡± said Captain Pegleg waving a hand to dismiss Akira''s concerns.
¡°We''re headed right towards the left shore!¡± said Klyn pointing towards the approaching snowy beach.
There was a large jerk as two shorter skeleton pirates jumped towards the large steering wheel and started spinning it furiously to bring the ship back towards the center of the river.
¡°See? I call it my automatic pilot system. Works good enough but the ride is very jerky since we swerve back and forth. It still needs a bit of work,¡± said Captain Pegleg.
It took slightly longer to get to the destination due to the zigzagging but there were no major problems.
¡°Everyone but the regulars disembark and head to the shore!¡± ordered Captain Pegleg.
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The skeleton pirates all clamored to the side of the ship and either jumped into the river water below or started climbing down the side of the rotting ship. This was the same for all the ships under his command.
Soon there was only a small skeleton crew left on the ship. (:p)
¡°Aren''t you guys coming?¡± asked Captain Pegleg when he saw Akira and the others not moving.
¡°If we jump into the water we''ll get sick if we don''t stop and take care of ourselves,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh... right... I forgot you guys are fragile like that. I think I have something for that,¡± said Captain Pegleg as he walked over to a wooden chest.
He opened the chest and started to throw things over his shoulder while looking for something. Broken weapons, pieces of armor, and other useless treasures that had been collected during the many fights on the open sea started to pile up.
¡°It''s here somewhere...I think.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he sat next to the wooden chest. His tail was wagging furiously as he watched the bony hand take out item after item.
Drool started to form at the corners of his mouth as his head followed the arm back and forth.
¡°Fluffball, come over here,¡± said Akira.
Fluffball turned to Akira and gave him a pouting face.
¡°Come on, I''ll get you something better later,¡± said Akira. He did not want to start some trouble over a taboo subject that Akira knew captain Pegleg would not like one bit.
¡°Hmm, it''s not here...¡± said Captain Pegleg when the wooden chest was empty. The ground was now littered with all kinds of things. Everything on the ground was considered a treasure by Captain Pegleg.
¡°What is it you''re looking for?¡± asked Akira.
¡°If you can''t find whatever it is, we can just use your rowboats,¡± said Klyn.
¡°That! That''s what I am looking for!¡±
¡°Rowboats?¡±
¡°Yes, those small smips where did I put them?¡± asked Captain Pegleg scratching his head.
¡°Over there,¡± said Klyn as he pointed towards several rowboats hanging over the side of the ship.
¡°Right! Well, I''ll see you guys on shore!¡± said Captain Pegleg as he jumped off the Boat. There was a small ''pluoop!'', sound as he made a small splash in the water below.
Akira just shook his head at how odd Captain Pegleg could be sometimes.
Due to how poorly the rowboats were taken care of they did not try to fill them up completely and as this was the case they were forced to make a dozen or so trips back and forth from the ship to transport all the large Garg mounts of Akira''s guards.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he ran around and through the large gathering of bony skeleton pirate warriors who all had some ice covering their bones from the river water. He would stop at a random skeleton pirate and sniff them before continuing his inspection of the others.
The skeletons paid him no attention and continued to mill about not saying much.
¡°Are you guys ready yet?¡± asked Captain Pegleg.
¡°We are,¡± said Akira as he hopped onto the back of Grarr and rode up to Pegleg.
¡°What do you want to do?¡± asked Pegleg.
Akira turned to Klyn looking to get his input.
¡°I think we should get close to but not enter the fog. We should inspect and observe what is going on and try to see the things inside from the safety outside.¡±
¡°Agreed,¡± said Akira.
¡°I am glad you see reason. We can''t go charging headfirst into unknown trouble like you normally do, touching or biting off more than you can chew,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Hey! I don''t do it on purpose it just happens,¡± said Akira.
As they approached the fog-covered land the sky above them grew darker and darker. The bright light from the winter sun reflecting off the snow was turned into a dim gray.
The skeleton warriors walked in front of the group on top of the snow which did not sink down. They were all ready to fight if needed.
Their group stopped at a thick cluster of trees that could be used to block the winter wind and also as a sort of fortification due to how close the trees were together.
¡°You, you, and you pick a few others and start filling the gaps between the trees with snow and ice,¡± Captain Pegleg commanded some of his subordinates.
¡°This is a decent enough place,¡± said Klyn as he looked out from behind several of the trees onto the open snowfield in front of them. There wasn''t much to see due to the dark fog covering most of it.
¡°Hmm... this fog gives me a feeling that I have not had since a long time ago,¡± said Pegleg.
¡°Right! It gives me chills,¡± said Zundar.
¡°I can''t remember what it was since I don''t have my brain anymore,¡± said Pegleg.
As the two were talking Akira noticed a small boulder-sized shadow roll out of the fog, it stopped at the edge still covered in the fog.
Fluffball stopped his inspection of the Skeleton Warriors and turned his head towards the creature. He ran over to Akira and let out a loud, ¡°Yap.¡±
Fluffball continued to look back and forth from Akira and the shadow. As if sensing their presence the shadow started rolling towards the wooden grove.
Akira signaled for his guards to form a shield wall behind the small snowbank that had already been erected by the digging skeletons.
Pegleg joined Akira and also ordered his minions to get ready for a fight.
When it was fully out of the fog and halfway to them Akira recognized the now small boulder-sized white-furred figure rolling towards them.
It was a puffball creature like the one that they had met before when they first adventure south.
He doubted this was the same one as it was far larger than the one they had seen. As it rolled toward them Akira noticed that there were several large patches of empty fur where the skin was a stony black.
With a ''Yap!¡± Fluffball darted forward jumping over the small snow wall and squeezed through the trees.
¡°Stop him! That thing is infected!¡± said Klyn.
¡°Fluffball, get back here!¡± shouted Akira.
His words did not get through to Fluffball. Fluffball sensed that this was his old rival that had humiliated and wounded him when he was still a small pup.
Fluffball''s size exploded as he changed into his full size while charging towards his rival.
The rolling puffball started to roll even faster as it sensed Fluffball coming towards him.
The two smashed into each other with a loud thud! The hard and powdery snow was sent everywhere clouding up their vision for a moment.
Klyn started to chant one of his longer holy chants that he was confident in and directed it towards Fluffball.
The nearby skeleton pirates including Captain Pegleg all stumbled over each other trying to get away from Klyn.
¡°What the %^&$! I told you not to do any funny business!¡± shouted an angry Captain Pegleg.
¡°Fluffball don''t bite it! And don''t let it bite you!¡± shouted Akira as he and his guards started to move forward to join Fluffball who was now in a fierce fight with the infected puffball.
ROAR! RAWR!
Two loud roars echoed out from inside the fog vibrating the ground from the power of the roars.
¡°Crap! What now!¡± shouted Akira.
Chapter 212: Three way
Akira and his guards quickly formed into a small square formation as they exited the trees and moved forward to quickly help Fluffball and then bring him back to the defense.
¡°Faster! Build the walls faster!¡± shouted Pegleg slapping one of his officers on the head. The head was knocked off and smacked into a tree causing the skeleton to stumble around dazed for a second before he could walk over and pick it up and place it back in its proper position.
The skeletons working on the makeshift wall were frantically shoveling the snow into a pile some moving too fast that their arms dislocated from the jerking motions.
A few of the skeleton pirates ran back and forth from the river carrying buckets to pour over the snow wall that was being packed down to create an ice-covered snow wall supported by the several trees.
Fluffball let out a roar and launched a frost attack at the small boulder Puffball covering its outer layer in white frost.
Akira arrived next to Fluffball seconds later and used a [Shield Bash] to knock away the infected Puffball bolder who was jumping through the air ready to bite Fluffball.
Akira transformed his right arm and grabbed onto the fur at the back of Fluffball''s neck to stop him from chasing after the Puffball.
¡°Fluffball, calm down,¡± shouted Akira as he dragged the reluctant large ice wolf back towards the trees and the ice fort being built by the skeletons.
ROAR! RAWR!
As Akira and his guards squeezed back through the small entrance to the small fortification two echoing howls rang out from the dark mist.
Akira still had a firm hold onto the struggling Fluffball, while he looked into the dark black fog.
The sound of explosions and voices could now be heard. It was the sound of a battle! And the battle was growing closer by the second.
¡°Why are these things chasing us!¡± shouted a voice from inside the fog.
¡°How should I know? This place gives me the creeps and is making my skin dry and itchy.¡±
¡°Don''t stop or you''re going to be left behind!¡±
¡°I have to shoot skills to keep them away!¡±
¡°You''re just angering them more! Hurry!¡±
Ten Demigods ran out of the dark fog, a few looking behind them as they ran towards the trees in front of them.
Fwoosh!
A small hill-sized white-furred Puffball soared through the air out of the fog and landed with a fwump!
¡°GAH!¡± two of the demigods were immediately turned into light fragments when they were smushed under the landing Puffball.
A rumbling sound was heard as a second Puffball rolled out of the dark fog at a quick speed and curved right towards the lagers at the rear of the group.
Two more demigods were rammed into at high speed and sent flying into a snowbank taking a large amount of damage. They were too slow at standing up and were run over by the small hill-sized Puffball.
The rolling Puffball curved right, heading back into the dark fog, and reappeared from the left ready to roll over the rear Demigods again.
One demigod in a colorful mismatched set of heavy plate armor stopped running and spread his feet out and held a large square shield in front of him.
¡°BASTION!¡± a bright yellow light covered the entire body and shield of the demigod lighting up the gray overcast area.
¡°You guys! Escape and report our findings to Commander Fela,¡± shouted the knight demigod.
The other demigods did not spare a word of thanks or look behind them, they just continued running towards the trees.
Ding!
You have gained knowledge of the skill Bastion 50% knowledge.
Properly practice the skill as seen to upgrade your skill Harden.
|
BAM!
The spinning puffball hill of fur slammed into the demigod and was halted. The bright yellow light was dimmed greatly from the attack. The demigod still stood firm as the rotating Puffball tried to run over him causing the yellow light to grow even dimmer.
Fwump! The second Puffball jumped into the air and landed right on top of the demigod knight.
Rawr! It let out many howls of pain and started to roll back and forth due to its pain it had received.
The Knight demigod who had been flattened by the first attack soon disappeared into several light fragments as he was repeatedly run over by the large Puffball hill.
The spinning Puffball started rolling towards the rest of the fleeing Demigod''s.
¡°We''re going to have to fight those things out there. These trees won''t hold them back and will be even more of a danger to us than a help!¡± shouted Pegleg.
¡°Are you kidding me!¡± shouted Akira in exasperation.
¡°No, I am dead serious.¡±
With a howl, Akira ordered his men out of the trees and to form a square.
Captain Pegleg followed after the transforming werewolves and ordered his skeleton pirate soldiers to form up on either side of the werewolves.
Klyn continued to hurriedly chant his complex holy shaman chants giving Akira and everyone alive a buff. He ignored the loud curses and clacking jaws of the unhappy skeleton pirates that were near him.
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At the sides of the skeletons, the Garg mounts stood ready to pounce at anything that came near.
The Demigods faltered a few steps when they saw the small gathering of werewolves, skeletons, and large wolves pop out of the woods.
¡°Just run past them and let them take care of the crazy monsters,¡± shouted a demigod that Akira had seen before several times due to having killed him multiple times.
It was Yu-Huu.
¡°Javelins,¡± growled Akira while pointing towards the demigods that were coming closer and attempting to pass them and in doing so pass off the chasing puffball to Akira and his allies.
¡°Launch!¡±
Two of the leading demigods immediately disappeared into fragments of lights as multiple javelins pierced their bodies.
The remaining three Demigods stopped and tried to run to the other side but the large rolling Puffball arrived at that moment crushing another demigod and leaving only two left. The last two demigods turned and targeted the large puffball with two quick bright skills that flew out from their weapons and slammed into the mangy fur of the large puffball.
Akira could now see that just like the smaller bolder Puffball, these larger puffballs also had large black stony patches on their skin.
The smaller Puffball rolled out from behind the large puffball and growled towards the line of werewolves. Fluffball took the challenge and charged forward to fight it.
¡°Damn it Fluffball! You''re going to have triple training and be on a no snack diet when we get back!¡± shouted Akira.
His leg muscles tensed and then he shot forward as he activated his skill [Shield Slam]. He was plowing through the snow headed right towards the large Puffball to pull its attention away from Fluffball.
Bam! He slammed into the Puffball causing it to roll back one time before turning to look at what had hit it.
[Puffball Lvl 110] Akira cursed after checking its level.
Zundar jumped from the center of the werewolf square and landed right next to the remaining two Demigods. With a swing of his hammer, the leather armored demigod lost his head leaving only Yu-huu as the last one alive.
He dodged Zundar''s next attack and rolled away slamming right into the back of Akira''s legs knocking Akira onto his butt with Yu-huu trapped under his legs.
¡°You stupid demigod!¡± shouted Akira angrily as he kicked the Demigod away from him towards the oncoming puffball.
Akira rolled to the side and hopped back onto his feet. As he did this the puffball ran over the last demigod and passed right next to Akira.
Javelins and a Debuff chant were sent towards the large puffball as it turned around and headed right back towards Akira.
Akira decided to try the skill he had seen and took the stance he saw before, putting his shield out to accept the rolling Puffball.
Bam! Although he was able to halt the forward momentum... Akira was sent tumbling backward causing him to feel sore all over his body.
Ding!
+5 toughness. Failed to understand. Skill upgrade 75%.
|
The werewolves and skeletons charged forward and started to stab at the Puffball taking its attention away from Akira.
Zundar jumped high into the air and slammed his large hammer onto the top of the Puffball with a dulled THUD!
¡°ROAR!¡± With the dazed and pained roar came an answer from the other puffball that had been rolling around still in pain.
Fwump! It jumped and landed on a group of skeleton fighters who were attacking the other Puffball. But because the skeletons were already dead it only flattened them and pressed them into the snowy ground.
They used their old and crappy weapons to attack the Puffball''s wounds underneath it that were created by the demigod knight. Causing it to cry out in pain and jump away with black blood splattering the snow.
Akira used [Shadow chains] on the jumping Puffball to stop it from attacking at least for the moment.
The spinning Puffball rolled away from the werewolf guards and Zundar and targeted Akira who was once again getting ready for the charging puffball.
Bam!
Ding!
+5 toughness. Failed to understand. Skill upgrade 100%....failed.
What did you expect with such a poor excuse like that?
|
Ding!
New title received!
Classroom Dunce: You aren''t the brightest tool in the shed. But maybe if you bash your head against the problem a few more times you might figure it out.
|
Ding!
From utter failure, a new skill has been created!
Reflection(Unique): Like the reflection of the moon on a winter night lake, use your shield to block the damage from one attack and reflect 10% of the attack back towards the enemy.
Level up the skill for a higher percentage.
|
Akira had little time to read the new skill and messages in detail before the large puffball started rolling towards him again.
He positioned himself and activated the skill [Reflection] just before the puffball arrived.
Bam! Akira was not sent flying and only moved a few steps backward.
From his shield, a blue light shot out. It was the size of a small puffball boulder and slammed into the body of the large puffball piercing its fur and tough skin causing black blood to splash onto the ground.
The Large puffball rocked back and forth as it tried to decide which target to attack. Before it could decide it received another attack on the top of its head by Zundar''s large hammer.
RAWR! ROAR!
With their last howls, the large puffballs escaped back into the dark fog the small bolder puffball who had several new wounds also followed them escaping from the fight.
¡°YAP!¡± Fluffball now back in his mini form sent a defiant yap at his retreating rival.
He turned and trotted back to Akira who was now surrounded by his guards. Akira''s body was aching terribly from getting knocked around several times by such strong attacks.
Klyn chanted a few of the minor healing chants to help soothe his aches allowing him to at least move without much suffering.
Captain Pegleg pulled himself up out of one of the snowbanks where he had been buried by the large jumping puffball and looked around.
His two skeleton officers were also pulling themselves out of the snow near him.
¡°Is it over?¡± asked Zundar.
Akira shrugged and watched as Fluffball came over to him with his tail wagging, happy with the results of his fight.
Fluffball upon seeing Akira staring at him without saying anything cocked his head to the side and looked at Akira with his best cute and innocent eyes impression.
¡°That might work on the girls, but not me. Come here,¡± said Akira pointing in front of him.
Fluffball came over with his tail no longer wagging as he sat down in front of Akira.
Akira reached down and rubbed his head.
¡°You and I are going to be doing some extra training when we get back,¡± said Akira.
Fluffball licked Akira''s armored hand as if saying sorry.
¡°That fight nearly gave me a heart attack,¡± said Captain Pegleg as he walked up to Akira.
¡°I already had one now look at me!¡± said one of his officers pointing to his bony body.
¡°Captain Pegleg what happened to your arm?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Oh! I must have lost it. Where did it go?¡± asked Pegleg as he scratched his skull with his remaining bony hand.
¡°Fluffball, help him find his arm,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball fully recovered after hearing the order.
He ran through the snow right towards the trampled snowbank and started to dig searching for the buried arm.
Chapter 213: Spear fishing for danger
¡°Get back here with my arm you damn bone thief,¡± shouted Captain Pegleg as he chased after Fluffball.
Fluffball had quickly found the arm in the large snowbank but when Pegleg asked him to hand it over... he refused and ran off forcing Pegleg to chase after him.
Even though Captain Pegleg was just bones and could walk easily on top of the snow he was far slower than Fluffball who plowed through the snow and then would stop waiting for Pegleg to catch up before running away again.
The undead army seemed to not care or notice the game of chase happening with the arm and continued to have a conversation of their own to pass the time.
¡°My death was worse than your death,¡± said one of the undead officers standing near Akira.
¡°No,¡± said a second officer. ¡°My death was worse.¡±
¡°How did you die?¡± asked Akira.
The two both answered at the same time. ¡°I forgot.¡± ¡°I don''t remember.¡±
The two continued to debate who had a worse death so Akira ignored them and turned to Klyn.
¡°What do you think about the black fog and the creatures inside?¡±
¡°From what I have seen so far and what we can hear it doesn''t look good,¡± said Klyn as he scratched his head. He and the other holy shaman were looking at a few of the dead monster bodies that had been dropped by one of the demigods.
¡°The demigod''s seemed to be able to enter the mist without problem, do you think we can as well?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I wouldn''t want to risk it, they complained about it having a drying itch effect on their skin. My guess is that is how these monsters were first infected,¡± said Klyn as he poked one of the dead monster bodies with a stick.
Klyn looked up and searched for someone in the small group of shamen standing around the dead bodies.
¡°Bo, how well do you think you can handle taking control of another creature other than your raven companion?¡±
¡°80-90% control if it is another bird type. 50% or less for other types,¡± said Bo.
¡°Impressive,¡± said Klyn. The other shaman around him all looked at him with approving looks.
¡°Is that really good?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It is amazing to have such a high rate of compatibility! Normally the shaman scouts only bond with one specific type of companion and are unable to grasp control of other types even if they are similar,¡± said Klyn.
Zundar gave a snort at the skinny shamen who fought with their chants and brains instead of their muscles.
¡°Do you want us to try and fish for something inside the black fog?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Let''s try that. Hopefully, you don''t catch something we can''t handle,¡± said Klyn as he looked towards the black fog, where the sounds of chilling screams could be heard.
Bo sat down cross-legged on the cold ground, his eyes closed and his body grew still.
Akira gave a silent order for several of the werewolf guards to form a protective screen around Bo.
¡°Zundar, can you do us the honors?¡± asked Akira, giving the large muscular Minotaur several javelins.
Zundar''s face lit up and he pointed to his large chest with his large thumb saying, ¡°Leave it to me! I''ll catch the biggest monster!¡±
Zundar''s muscle strained as he raised his arm with a Javelin behind him and took aim. A second later he threw the first Javelin with his full might causing a loud whitelisting to sound out as it shot forward and flew into the black fog.
CRAA!!! A loud irritated roar sounded out from the mist.
¡°See, I got something on my first try!¡± said Zundar.
Everyone but Fluffball and Captain Pegleg who were running around behind them readied themselves for a fight.
The sound of heavy footsteps stomping through the snow could be heard. It was coming right towards them.
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Swoosh!
The black fog parted and a large stone black creature with the height of a standing human and the width of two, rushed out running with both its legs and arms.
Upon closer inspection, Akira found that the only thing not covered in the black layer of stone was its arms and legs which were covered in white fur that was tinted with blood-red at the tips.
[BloodySnowApe Level 100(Infected)]
Akira immediately activated his skill [Shadow chains]. Four howling wolf head chains shot out of the ground their mouths wide open as they shot forward and bit deep into the arms and legs of the [BloodySnowApe] causing it to slam face-first into the snow and come to a complete stop as the chains jerked it back.
¡°Bo, hurry do your stuff it won''t be trapped forever!¡±
Akira watched as Bo, still with his eyes closed, started to silently chant at a fast pace as he raised his right hand towards the [BloodySnowApe] in front of them.
¡°CRAAA!¡±
The [BloodySnowApe] let out a loud roar when it felt something attacking its mind.
Bo''s face turned pale as he continued to chant and struggle for control over the [BloodySnowApe].
¡°Cra...¡± a weak roar was let out before Bo forcefully battered away the last defenses of the [BloodySnowApe] and took control of it.
The [BloodySnowApe] grew still and stopped struggling. The shadow wolf chains disappeared moments later.
Akira looked to Klyn for confirmation.
¡°He has to inspect the body and get a feel for it before he can take partial control,¡± said Klyn.
They watched for several minutes as Bo''s pale face started to show beads of sweat forming on his scrunched forehead.
Moments later he opened his eyes and panted trying to breathe in great gulps of air.
Everyone looked at him wondering how it went.
Bo shook his head. He wiped his forehead with a sleeve and drank from a wineskin at his hip.
When his face had regained some color in it and his ragged breathing calmed down he spoke.
¡°I felt another faint presence inside... had to leave,¡± said Bo.
¡°Another shaman scout?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No,¡± said Bo''s shaking his head. ¡°I have worked with many other shaman scouts and know how their different consciousness feels. This one had an entirely alien feel to it.¡±
¡°Were you able to find out anything else?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°The organs and every part of its body other than its arms and legs were completely turned into stone. There was no blood flow in those body parts. The blood in the arms and legs were all black and gave off a feeling of death not flowing anywhere.¡±
Ding!
Main Quest Branch 1 - stage 1: Find information about the plague.
50% completed!
You have just barely scraped the bottom of knowledge but you have found that the rumors are true, someone is controlling these creatures!
|
Everyone looked at the [BloodySnowApe] that was still not moving. They were all in deep thought as they went over all that Bo had just said.
¡°Why isn''t that monster moving?¡± asked Akira after he finished reading the system message.
¡°It''s entire being was shattered when I fought it for control. Normally if there is no struggle then there is no harm to the subject that we take control of. If we have to fight, the soul of the creature is damaged beyond any type of healing,¡± said Bo.
''Soul? Those things still have a soul?'' thought Akira.
Akira looked around and saw that Captain Pegleg was still chasing after Fluffball cursing at him. Akira gave a sigh.
¡°Fluffball give him his arm back.¡±
When Fluffball heard Akira, he immediately dropped the arm from his mouth into the snow, not wanting to get in any more trouble.
He happily plowed through the snow towards Akira and ran around him a few times before sitting down next to Akira who was watching him. Fluffball turned serious as he sat there and scanned the area for any enemies.
Captain Pegleg picked up the arm and clacked his bony jaw in disgust.
¡°You damn bone thief, you slobbered all over my arm! It stinks!¡± said Captain Pegleg.
He held his slobbery arm by one of its bony fingers.
¡°Yap!¡± replied the disinterested Fluffball his tail wagging furiously as he ignored Captain Pegleg''s complaints.
¡°How can you even smell?¡± asked Akira.
¡°You''re lucky my bones are super strong and you didn''t leave any bite marks. If you did I would have to show you who''s the boss!¡±
Fluffball continued to ignore Captain Pegleg as he grumbled some more while he tried to wash his arm in one of the trampled snowbanks. He was having a hard time doing it with only one arm.
Klyn, Bo, and the other Shaman were all huddled together talking in more detail about Bo''s experience.
Akira could not understand them as they were using too much mumbo jumbo shaman lingo and other stuff that went over his head.
***
¡°Something or someone is messing with the toys in one of the southern sectors...¡± said Bonestringer as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Before he could find out more information his connection was cut.
¡°Who? Is it those damn Demigods that keep entering and killing things?¡± asked Tibia.
¡°Not sure. But there is definitely someone tampering with them. I felt their consciousness only for a second.¡±
¡°Send some of the completed minions to wipe out whatever it is.¡±
¡°Are you sure? What if they get destroyed and we lose all the work we put into them? I won''t be able to control them in battle as it is too far away. I can only give them an order before they leave.¡±
¡°We have enough that sending some to clear up this problem won''t matter much.¡±
Chapter 214: Explosive discovery
The sound of flapping wings mixed in with the roaring cold wind that flowed past the outstretched feathered wings high up in the dark afternoon sky.
The [Ice Falcon] used the cold wind to glide for long distances. Its sharp eyes looked down at the roiling black fog that stretched out as far as it could see in any direction. It was as if the roiling black fog were a large demonic black sea during a stormy night.
The echoing of thunder could be heard everywhere while hundreds of bright flashes lit up random parts of the black foggy sea every few minutes.
The [Ice Falcon] had been slowly flying high above the foggy sea for some time now inspecting, watching, and taking in everything that it could see and hear.
With a sudden motion, it pulled its wings to its chest. The [Ice Falcon] shot down towards the foggy sea and unfurled its wings as it reached a few inches away from the fog. The [Ice Falcon] flapped its wings several times to stabilize itself and continued to glide over the troubling fog, inspecting it and the sounds more closely.
The fog was too thick to see anything inside, but the sounds that reached it, ruffled its feathers the wrong way.
After watching and listening for a few more minutes the [Ice Falcon''s] eyes shined with determination and again dived down disappearing into the foggy sea.
The fog was extremely thick with little to no visibility, but the farther it flew down the more it started to clear up just enough to allow the falcon to see moving shadows below.
As it neared the shadows a large boulder-like head exited the foggy haze and appeared right in front of the [Ice Falcon].
''Squawk!'' With a cry of shock the [Ice Falcon] rolled to the right dodging the large mouth that had slowly opened to try and eat it.
''ROAR!'' a loud grating stony roar echoed out behind, as the [Ice Falcon] successfully evaded death.
The [Ice Falcon] looked behind to see that the boulder head was attached to an equally large body that stood at least 2x taller than the average werewolf.
''Squawk'' the [Ice Falcon] let out another cry as it saw the large being turn its torso and reach out with its large arms that were almost as thick as a man''s waste.
Flapping its wings even harder the [Ice Falcon] sped forward to get out of the arms range and was able to get a closer look at the large number of shambling figures walking below it.
As the [Ice Falcon] flew above them, the lifeless stony creatures all looked to the sky and stretched out their hands towards speeding [Ice Falcon] trying to grab it.
The [Ice Falcon] was soon past the several hundreds of infected creatures and began following the path that the large group had created. Everywhere the [Ice Falcon] looked it could see nothing but fog and muddy slush on the ground, no animals, or winter plants.
The [Ice Falcon] slightly deviated from the path and soon came upon several trees that look to be carved out of stone.
An irritating itch deep in its skin started to bother the [Ice Falcon]. Without a second thought, the [Ice Falcon] turned around and started to fly back towards the group of infected to see which direction they were going.
The seconds passed by and an annoying buzz started to sound in its head. The longer it stayed in the fog the buzzing noise grew stronger and started to tug at its mind.
With a last glance at the shadowy group in front of it, the [Ice Falcon] determined their destination, before using its powerful wings to flap as hard as it could. It shot up through the thick blag fog trying to escape the foggy sea as the pain in its head started to stab at its conciseness.
***
Akira looked up to the sky and watched as the [Ice Falcon] that was sent out by Bo earlier in the day returned. It dived down from the sky and crashed into a snowbank near the small cluster of trees and ceased moving.
Anyone could tell that something had gone wrong, so Akira looked to Bo who was seated in a meditation pose. His face had lost all color and was now pale as a ghost, with blood dripping from his nose.
His mind had been forcefully withdrawn from the motionless [Ice Falcon] at the last second. It took him several seconds more before he regained his senses. When he did, he clutched both his chest and head in serious pain.
Klyn was quick to react and stood over Bo. The rest of the shaman followed his lead and they started a group Holy chant which shot out and washed over Bo for several seconds.
Captain Pegleg and the other Skeletons cursed at them as they stepped back away from the group. Some of the skeleton pirates even started to throw snowballs at the shaman to show their distaste. They didn''t dare do anything more than that for fear that the chants would target them.
A small Fluffball ran towards the skeleton pirates throwing snowballs and started to run towards them. The skeletons remembering Fluffball''s love for bones and his actions the day before, all stopped throwing snowballs and ran away from the miniature fur demon.
Akira walked over to the now-dead [Ice Falcon] and inspected it from a somewhat distance. He could see that there were small patches of black stone on its skin. It was still slowly spreading to the rest of the body and feathers. Everything he saw looked just like what had happened to the warriors and soldiers that had been infected before.
Minutes past and Bo finally regained some color to his face. The pain in his head was also lessened to a numb throbbing headache.
¡°Report,¡± said Klyn.
It took Bo a few moments to find his words before speaking, ¡°The fog does not reach the heavens but it is spread out as far as one can see. There is no telling how much land it covers. I guess it would take weeks of flying to go from the south all the way to the north and even longer for east to west.¡±
¡°The horrors and sights are nearly indescribable... During my flight, I saw many of those infected millings about. But there was one large group of several hundred that was moving this way! They will be here at the slowest within an hour!¡± said Bo as he wiped the blood dripping from his nose.
¡°Ha! What''s a few hundred compared to our might!¡± said Captain Pegleg as he flexed his bony arms trying to show off his non-existent muscles.
¡°They are not all the same infected that we saw before!¡± said Bo shaking his head. ¡°There were all kinds of weird-looking things in that group, even giants!¡±
As he said this a loud ''ROAR!'' was heard coming from inside the black fog. It was hard to tell the distance as the fog muffled the sound. With the roar reaching them with such volume it showed the power of the voice.
Ding!
Main Quest Branch 1 - stage 1: Find information about the plague.
70% completed!
|
¡°Klyn, do you want to take that?¡± asked Akira, pointing to the dead [Ice Falcon].
¡°No, we already have enough research material,¡± said Klyn pointing towards one of the skeleton pirates who was carrying a large thick leather bag. The bag was full of parts from the dead creatures that they had gathered from the fishing over the past few days.
¡°Everyone back to the ships,¡± ordered Akira immediately making the decision to leave.
They had gathered a large amount of information and research material. They would be able to get a better understanding of the fog once Bo could fully gain his wits to explain what he saw and felt.
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The mismatched group exited the icy snow fort that they had stayed in for a short time and quickly made their way back towards the ragged ships that were still floating out on the unfreezing river.
Akira''s face turned grim and... ¡°Awooooo!¡± ...he let out a howl of warning to everyone around him.
¡°See! I told you we would find them!¡± said a voice of a familiar male demigod.
Yu Hu and 20 other demigods were running forward to block off their retreat to the ships!
¡°Screw off, you %^&*!¡± shouted Akira using the [Potty Mouth] skill. A second later a Dark misty light covered his body and transformed ready to fight.
The demigods offended at such vile name-calling stopped moving to block the group and turned their full attention to Akira readying their attacks to wipe him out of existence.
''ROAR!'' the sounds coming from the fog were growing even louder.
¡°Yu hu, something''s chasing them! We need to get out of here!¡± shouted one of the demigods.
¡°Don''t worry my specialty is escaping! We can destroy these guys and then leave before whatever it is gets here!¡±
Before he could say anything more a blue X slammed into his body and cut him into four pieces.
With grim expressions set on their furry faces, Akira and his bodyguards all charged forward riding on top of their Garg mounts. Fluffball, Zundar, and several skeleton pirates followed behind them all heading towards the demigods.
Ding!
Darkness domain has been activated!
|
A dark cloud spread out covering the entire group boosting all friendly allies while hindering the demigod''s vision.
A wave of the demigod''s skills sent blindly into the darkness slammed into them as they charged forward, causing several grunts of pain to sound out.
They weathered the attacks and continued forward until they were right in front of the demigods who unleashed several point-blank skills.
Several of the Skeleton pirates that had joined the charge were blown up from the skills, scattering their bones everywhere.
¡°Yap!¡± shouted Fluffball, as he shot out several frost breaths towards the demigods slowing their movements.
Fluffball, still in his miniature form launched himself forward and landed on top of a demigod''s head.
As the demigod tried to attack him to get him off his head, Akira riding atop of Grarr dealt a decisive blow, causing the demigod to disappear in a scattering of light fragments.
Fluffball continued to hop from one demigod''s head to another distracting them enough to allow for those they were fighting to get the upper hand.
Zundar, who had received many wounds on his body, was now plowing through any demigod that was near him. Their bodies were all sent into the air and soon scattered into motes of light.
ROAR! The loud howl was now too close for comfort. Everyone including the few remaining demigods left fighting trembled as they heard the roar and felt the ground shaking.
The shaking ground signaled that a disaster was now running towards the two groups that were still engaged in fighting.
Grarr jumped forward and bit off the head of the last Demigod that was blocking their way.
¡°Forward! To the ships!!¡± growled Akira as he pointed his sword toward the ships now visible in the distance.
Behind them, the sound of the roars and thudding of hundreds of footsteps could be heard getting closer and closer.
When they reached the shore Captain Pegleg formed a screen along with Akira, his guards, Zundar, and Fluffball who were now the rear guard.
¡°Klyn, shamans, and Gargs cross to the ships first!¡± roared Akira.
Klyn hesitated for a moment but gathered with the shaman and boarded several of the ships spread out along with the large Gargs.
They started to row towards the ships as fast as they could ferrying everyone to the ships. It was a large pain trying to get the Large Gargs onto the ships.
Klyn on his second trip transporting the last of the Gargs continued to look back towards the shore where Akira and the others stood guarding the small patch of river.
Akira''s face grew grim as he saw a large group off in the distance. It was full of the black stony infected walking towards them.
Just as Bo had said, there were indeed several different-looking Infected in the front of the group. There were a few different groups rushing towards them far faster than the slow-moving infected behind them. Including a giant boulder-like infected also started its charge towards them with its slow but huge footsteps.
A group of skinny infected managed to separate from the rest running ahead of even the others and were the first to slam into the rearguard.
Their hands reached out to grab onto whatever they could get a hold of trying to tear it apart. Above all of their heads was [??? lvl ??] Akira was unable to see the name and level.
¡°AWOOO!¡± Akira let out a howl of aggression as he swung his sword out in an arc to hack the head off of the infected.
Clang!
Akiras attack only managed to create a large gash in the stony neck not even going in farther than an inch deep.
Akira attacked again, this time lunging forward trying to pierce the head of the infected but again the hard stony skin stopped his sword from going any deeper than an inch.
Akira glanced around and found that everyone using an edged weapon was having just as hard a time as he was.
Zundar farther down the line was having a somewhat easier time as he smashed the skinny infected''s legs and arms, crippling them as he moved to the next target nearest to him.
Akira decided to use a [Shield Bash] on the nearest skinny infected, his shield glowed blue as it rushed forward.
The shield slammed into the chest of the skinny infected and a loud crack like that of breaking glass was heard.
The skinny infected in mid-attack stopped and fell to the ground no longer showing any signs of ''life''.
Akira was a bit surprised by this but soon received a system message.
Ding!
New Information on Grunners gained!
New Information on Growth Infected gained!
Attack the core gem''s on their body!
Main Quest Branch 1 - stage 1: Find information about the plague.
90% completed!
Main Quest Branch 3 - stage 1: 20%
|
Akira looked at the body on the ground and found that on its chest there was a red core that was now completely cracked. A dim red light was slowly disappearing from it and soon became dark.
Seeing all this Akira let out a howl informing the others of this new discovery. The struggle became more manageable as those fighting were able to find the cores and deal with them however they could.
A short while later the skinny infected were completely dealt with. Akira looked behind him and saw Klyn and the others rowing the several rowboats were now coming back to pick up Akira and the rest of the rear guard.
Unfortunately for them, the second wave of several different new types of infected reached them first. As they fought Akira found that different types of infected did not all have their cores on their chest, some had them on their foreheads as well.
Ding!
A member of your party has killed and gathered new information on [Puffers]!
Main Quest Branch 3 - stage 1: 40%
|
Boom!
Ding!
A member of your party has killed and gathered new information on [Chubbustibles]!
Main Quest Branch 3 - stage 1: 60%
...80%!
...90%!
|
Fluffball has reached a choke point in his leveling.
In order to level further he must reach the next stage:
Young adulthood!
You will need to help him find a way to make a breakthrough!
|
Akira could not keep track or pay attention to the multiple fast appearing messages as he was struggling to fight off several different infected.
Once he finally cleared one group of puffers, over 6 short and fat [Chubbustibles] started running right towards him!
As they neared Akira their bodies started to expand growing more and more round.
Akira attacked as fast as he could smashing 3 of their cores but 6 more [Chubbustibles] came towards him joining the 3 others. In only a few breaths they arrived right next to him trying to completely surround him in the front and to the side.
Their bodies were now extremely inflated that they could no longer run or walk normally.
Akira could do nothing but ready his defensive skills and brace himself for whatever attack they were going to unleash.
Before he could activate one of his skills... Fluffball slammed into his side knocking him away from surrounding [Chubbustibles].
BOOOM!
The 9 [Chubbustibles] all exploded with a far greater force than Akira had thought was possible for such small bodies.
The skeleton pirates that had been fighting near Akira were completely blown to bits.
A loud pained whimpering howl escaped Fluffball''s mouth as he was thrown back like a rag doll blood spurting out from his body.S
Chapter 215: Emergency treatment
¡°Fluffball!¡± cried Akira as he charged over to his bleeding fluffy companion.
Fluffball''s large body slowly reverted to his miniature size. Akira could see a large gash on Flufball¡¯s stomach, dying his white fur red from the blood that was slowly leaking out.
There was a decent-sized piece of black bone sticking out from the stomach wound, which worried Akira even more than the wound.
As quickly and as gently as he could, considering the urgency he felt as well as the wild battle that was still happening all around him, he scooped up Fluffball.
¡°AWOOOOO!¡± Akira let out a pained howl ordering a retreat towards the rowboats that had just reached the shore once again.
Several loud booms could be heard behind them as [Chubbustibles] continued to explode, severely wounding and even killing some of the rearguard soldiers including several of the Skeleton pirates.
The surviving werewolves including the large Zundar jumped, limped, and fell into the rowboats. When they were at full capacity they pushed off from the shallow waters and rowed towards the large ships.
Captain Pegleg and his remaining skeleton minions all ran into the water and made their way towards the ships.
Akira looked to the shore worried that the Infected would follow them but he found that they stopped at the shore and did not enter the water or try to attack them in any other way.
They just stared at the escaping prey with blank eyes.
***
¡°Damn it! Who destroyed my toys?!¡± shouted Bonestringer angrily as he looked into the distance.
¡°What? Did something happen?¡± asked Tibia.
¡°I lost contact with a large portion of the forces I sent...¡±
¡°No! All that energy wasted!¡± said Tibia, unhappy with the loss of all their hard work.
¡°I don''t know who it was, but when I do find out I''ll be sure to use them as a food source for the growth of these guys,¡± said Bonestringer.
***
With one arm, Akira pulled himself over the wooden railings while holding onto the miniature Fluffball with the other arm.
¡°Klyn!¡± shouted Akira in a hoarse growl, as he looked through the crowd of skeletons and werewolves that had gathered on top of the ship.
¡°Over here!¡± shouted Klyn.
¡°I need your help! Fluffball... he was injured by an exploding infected,¡± said Akira as he pushed through the crowd.
Klyn turned to the other shamen near him, ¡°I''ll handle this. You guys go see what you can do for the other wounded. If you can help them do it, if not... see to it that they are comfortable. Just make sure they are not able to cause trouble for everyone else.¡±
Captain Pegleg climbed over the wooden railing onto the ship and started picking at the ice that was now covering his bones.
¡°That was crazy. You definitely can not reason with those guys, they are far too gone,¡± said Captain Pegleg as he shook his head.
¡°Oh? What''s wrong with the bone thief demon?¡± asked captain Pegleg when he saw Akira and Klyn nearby with the injured Fluffball.
¡°We need to use your Captain quarters,¡± said Akira, while he led Klyn towards the large wooden door at the rear of the ship placed under the large wooden steering wheel.
¡°Eh...well okay. I don''t use it much anyways, just don''t mess up the d¨¦cor. It took me a while to get it just right,¡± said Captain Pegleg. He ignored the two and started to count the skeleton pirates that had survived the fight.
The wooden door slammed behind Akira and Klyn after entering the room, which was full of dusty wooden furniture that looked close to collapsing at any moment.
Akira kicked aside the wooden table in the middle of the room and flipped over the dusty carpet to its cleaner and less dusty side. He placed the small shivering body of Fluffball onto the carpet and started to rummage around in his bag.
Klyn inspected Fluffball from the side while he waited to see what Akira was doing.
Seconds later several glass bottles with deep red liquid were pulled out of his bag. He pulled the cork out of one of the bottles and poured half of the contents onto the bleeding stomach wound.
As the potion contacted the wound it reacted fiercely. Red sizzling bubbles appeared as if he had put grease onto a hot frying pan. A small gray and red smoke cloud started to rise from the wound.
Seeing this, his worries were confirmed. Something was severely wrong with the wound.
Klyn quickly chanted and waved his hand, which was now covered in a glowing white light, through the colorful smoke clearing it up.
Akira gently picked up Fluffball''s head, his eyes were closed due to the severe pain. With great effort, he opened his mouth to try and say something but there was only silence.
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Akira waited for a few seconds before slowly pouring the rest of the red potion into Fluffball¡¯s mouth, to not choke him. When the bottle was empty he noticed the shivering had lessened but had not stopped.
¡°Interesting,¡± said Klyn as he inspected the wound on Fluffball''s chest. ¡°The wound has stopped bleeding but it does not look like it is going to heal anytime soon.¡±
¡°Can you use your Holy shaman chants to cure him?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s the only solution I can think of at the moment, but mind you, we are still in the early stages of research on the use of holy chants on those who are infected. I can use this chance to test a few of my theories... Don''t worry! I feel I have a small chance of actually cracking the mystery,¡± said Klyn when he saw the torn look on Akira''s face.
¡°How small?¡±
¡°... 30% chance that one of my ideas work. It''s not that I lack confidence in my ability, but whatever we have tried on the wounded in the temporary hospitals has failed.¡±
¡°As for this wound, it is different since we caught it soon after it happened, unlike the others. We''ll see what I can do. But first, before I can use any chant we need to remove that piece of bone from his wound,¡± said Klyn, pointing to the black bone sticking out of the wound.
The area around the bone was now starting to show a darker shade of black instead of pink skin and white fur.
¡°Are there any tools you need for this?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Looking at that dark spot on his body, it''s probably not safe to touch the bone with bare hands. I need something to get a good grasp onto the bone since it looks to be embedded quite firmly.¡±
Akira looked inside his bag and pulled out an old pair of tongs used for blacksmithing and handed them over to Klyn.
¡°Hold him steady...This is not going to be pleasant for anyone...¡± said Klyn. He took a deep breath several times to calm his nerves and still his hand.
Akira firmly held down Fluffball''s shoulder and rump to make sure that he would not move.
Klyn''s steady hands use the tongs to grab onto the black bone piece. With a nod to Akira, he gently pulled on the bone piece trying to slowly pull it out.
¡°AWWWOOOWWWWOO!¡± the agonizing pained howl escaped Fluffball''s mouth as his head jerked furiously as he tried to escape the pain.
The sound stabbed Akira in the heart but he forced himself to hold Fluffball still.
Klyn let up on pulling after a minute of fruitless results. Fluffball quieted down and only let out a few more quiet whimpers.
¡°Not good... the bone feels like it is trying to fuse with his body,¡± said Klyn. He wiped away a bead of sweat that had formed on his forehead. The pained howls had shaken him a bit but his resolve was still firm.
¡°Let me try something else,¡± said Klyn.
As he held the tongs which were still grabbing onto the bone, he started chanting part of the holy shaman chant. White light appeared on his hands and extended onto the tongs and from the tongs to the bone.
Klyn again started to slowly tug at the bone piece and weathered the loud howls of pain coming from Fluffball.
The black bone started to slowly dislodge itself from the wound. After more than two minutes of battling with the force that was resisting the holy chant, the thin black bone the length of a pointer finger was successfully pulled out.
With the bone now pulled out a large puddle of blackened blood poured out of the wound as if Fluffball''s body was trying to push out the tainted blood. After the large gobs of black blood escaped the blood returned to a normal red. The area around the wound was still a dark shade of black.
Klyn Wiped his forehead and placed both the bone and the tongs into a thick leather bag and placed the bag into a metal box. The bone and tongs would be used for further inspection and research.
Akira once again opened one of the bottles with red liquid and poured half of it onto the wound which started to sizzle again and when it stopped so did the bleeding. The wound still showed no sign of closing.
¡°These potions are the ones from the demigod''s right?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Yes,¡± was all Akira said, as he picked up and placed the shivering Fluffball''s head on top of his lap. Akira gently pet him trying to comfort him after such a painful procedure.
¡°From what grandfather told me, those potions are even more potent than our healing potions or even the most expensive potions from the Magic Guild. For it to only be able to stop the bleeding...¡±
¡°What are you going to do now?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The first hurdle has been cleared. Now, I will start the chants, whatever help you can give me will be much appreciated,¡± said Klyn.
Klyn transformed to exert the most he could out of the holy chants.
Akira thought of what he could do to help as he watched Klyn hold his furry right hand in the air over Fluffball''s wound.
With a growl, Klyn started to chant. A bright white light covered his hand and shined down onto the wound.
Akira seeing this had an idea come to him and decided to try it out.
[Darkness domain activated! Boost to nearby allies activated.]
The dark smoky mist spread out and covered the entire captain''s quarters.
The holy light shone even brighter in the dark mist and soon it began to seep into Fluffball''s body in the area around the wound.
1 hour passed with the two of them sitting still as statues... 2 hours... 3... 6...
¡°huff... huff... I''m running on fumes I can''t keep going...¡± panted Klyn. His shirt was drenched with sweat and his face was a shade paler and sweaty. He furrowed his brows trying to keep his cold and cramped hand steady.
Akira was not sure if it would help but he passed Klyn a bottle with blue liquid inside and said, ¡°Try this.¡±
Klyn only glanced at it before taking a sip to test the contents.
A soothing warmth spread throughout his body washing away the cold stiffness in his body making him feel as if he had just woken up from a nap.
He took another sip and he felt full of vigor once again.
They sat there and continued this until the afternoon of the next day.
The area around the wound was now glowing white and was slowly spreading out over time as more holy light was absorbed into the wound.
The wound still showed no sign of healing, but Fluffball''s shivering and whimpers had all stopped and he was now in a deep sleep.
By now four of the other shamen had finished their duties the best they could and had come to help support Klyn.
¡°Even with this potion and my body being refreshed my mind is all fuzzy. I can not go on any further. I need to rest... you four take over for me,¡± said Klyn. He had a pale face and his sweaty hair was plastered to his face.
He took a swig of the almost empty bottle before standing up and walking over to an empty corner, where he laid down and fell asleep immediately.
The four other shamen, although weaker than Klyn at an individual base, made up a stronger force when combined and the white holy light covered even more of Fluffball''s body.
Akira was also tired but he willed himself to stay awake to keep an eye on Fluffball and keep the dark domain up and running the whole time.
All through the trip back, the shamen switched back and forth with Klyn. Doing this they were able to keep Fluffball in a sort of coma, where the wound seemed to be halted from worsening for now.
Chapter 216: Breakthrough and completion
In an underground room with no lighting, 50 shadows sat cross-legged grouped into multiple rings surrounding one another. Each of them held their hands up pointing towards the core of the several rings.
As one, they started to chant a complex and long chant. A white glowing light appeared covering their hands dimly lighting up the dark and cold underground stone room.
The light grew brighter the longer they chanted, revealing five furry figures sitting in the smallest ring closest to the core center. Two of the five were Klyn and Grand elder Hegir.
In the center of the multiple rings, Fluffball lay on a raised platform that had a blanket placed underneath him to block some of the cold from his small shivering body.
The light grew brighter as the chants continued but a dark mist appeared and covered all of those sitting in the rings and dimmed the glaring light for those outside of it.
That holy light from each of the 50 shamen was shining towards Fluffball''s small body.
The light only surrounded the body and ever so slowly started seeping in. As more time passed the light could be visibly seen getting sucked into a small whirlpool of light and entering Fluffball''s body near the gash on his stomach.
The chants grew faster as this happened, with even more light shooting forward keeping up a constant stream as it was sucked up by the whirlpool and sent into the wound.
On Fluffball''s body near the wound, a soft glowing white light started to spread out and cover his entire body.
When his body was completely covered in a glowing light it resembled that of a glowing white silk cocoon which only got brighter as the seconds passed.
Not only did the light grow brighter but the cocoon started to expand out and up. When ten minutes of chanting had passed the cocoon had just reached the ceiling.
From then on it stopped growing larger and began to slowly shrink back to the size it had started but with a condensed and greater power.
20 more minutes passed. Several of those chanting in the outer rings had large beads of sweat falling off their foreheads as they continued to use all of their willpower to stay focused and continue chanting.
Ten more minutes passed with no change in the size or brightness when...
BOOM!
A blinding light as bright as the sun exploded out in a ring, like an erupting star.
The force from the light knocked all 50 of the shamen over as it passed them and slammed harmlessly into the stone wall before dissipating.
They were all stunned for several seconds. Their vision was nothing but blurry white. Even for those who managed to close their eyes they still saw a bright white light.
Akira fought to clear his vision, blinking several dozen times. When his blurry eyes finally cleared up he received a system message.
Ding!
Fluffball has mutated a second time!
He has broken through the choke point and is now a level 80 young adult!
Mutation... Holy Ice!
All attacks now have holy power imbued in them.
Frost attack has now been upgraded to Ice attack!
Fluffball has gained the new skill Holy Ice armor!
Fluffball''s body has gained high resistance to all corruption poison and dark attacks. With his Holy ice armor active he is immune to all corruption.
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The bright white cocoon was now quickly dimming and revealed Fluffball who was floating in the air supported by the disputing light. As the rest of the light dissipated his body gently fell back onto the blanket.
In Akira''s rush over to the platform, he had to step over the several shamen that were still struggling to sit up and clear their vision.
The unconscious small body of Fluffball lay on top of the platform. His entire body was covered in a blue crystal-like ice armor that was emitting an extremely cold aura. The ice armor made Fluffball look as if some artist had carved him out of a large blue diamond.
Akira used the blanket to help turn Fluffball onto his side so he could inspect his stomach. He could just barely see Fluffball''s stomach through the frosty ice armor. No matter how hard he looked he could not see the corrupted wound.
¡°Did it work?¡± asked Klyn. He, along with Grand elder Hegir, walked over to Akira. Klyn was breathing heavily trying to suck in large amounts of air.
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The three other elderly shamen that had been part of the front ring joined them to inspect Fluffball.
¡°I''m not sure... all our other attempts failed to cure the infected,¡± said Grand elder Hegir. He wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his robe, drying the sweat that had formed.
The rest of the 45 shamen still lay on the ground panting heavily from exhaustion.
Their faces were pale and full of sweat, each of them feeling as if they had just finished running a marathon.
¡°It sorta looks like it?¡± said one of the three elderly shamen standing around Fluffball.
Ding!
Hidden sub-quest of Branch 2 completed!
You have found a way to keep someone who has been infected in a stasis mode!
Depending on how much energy is used, will determine how long the stasis lasts. It can last longer if it is supplied with energy every day or week depending on the strength of the power.
Reward: 100 gold, 50 Main quest activity points, +5 fame!
You are currently in the first place!
|
Akira shook his head and answered the shamen, ¡°No, the holy chant did not cure him.¡±
¡°What? How do you know?¡± asked another Shaman.
The Five shamen all looked to Akira waiting for his explanation.
¡°Before Fluffball was injured he reached a choke point in his growth. But with your holy light that entered his body, he was able to mutate and breakthrough forming a resistance/immunity to whatever was trying to corrupt his body. Check for yourselves you should be able to sense the mutation,¡± said Akira.
The five continued to inspect the small ice armored Fluffball. They soon found what was different about him other than the obvious ice armor.
¡°The holy light is gone... but such a strong holy power is still being emitted from his body...¡± said Klyn.
¡°My guess is if it were not for his mutation... Fluffball would still be covered in the cocoon in a stasis mode,¡± said Akira.
¡°From what you and Klyn told me about what happened on the ship and with the information of our experiments and tests, I believe you are right,¡± said Grand elder Hegir. He and the four others continued to inspect Fluffball.
¡°Does that mean we failed grandfather?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Yes and no. Yes, we failed to find a cure with our current chants. But we also discovered an important way to keep someone safe until we find a cure. We may have reached the end of this one-path of experimenting with the chant. All we can do now is work on how to make it stronger. But right now I still believe we should focus our main strength on the study and creation of a new potion to cure the infection completely.¡±
¡°Grand elder Hegir is correct. The current chanting is too draining, at most right now we could only keep two people in stasis.¡±
¡°Grandfather, I suggest we use the demigods'' red potions as a main ingredient of the new cure. With its power, it was able to stop the bleeding. If we find a way to further strengthen it or mix it with other ingredients we might have found a cure.¡±
¡°Right, we will need a large stock of those potions. We will also have to search for as many different healing plants and herbs as we can. We''ll have to start buying all the different ones we don''t have from the merchants and those from the Yukionnas southern greenhouses. If we have enough resources we could brute force our way through to figure out what works...¡±
Ding!
Announcement!
The First stage of branch 2 has been completed by blank!
Branch 2 Stage 2 [Building a strong Foundation] start!
Based on your understanding of the main ingredient that you have chosen, pick a combination out of these 5 ingredients to support and create a strong foundation for further potion concoction at the future stages!
(1: Dark moonlight Lilly) (2: Burning daylight sunflower) (3: Firestone) (4: Ice crystal ore) (5: 1000 year Sap)
|
The First stage of branch 2 has been completed!
You have picked your first viable main ingredient from one of the many different paths that are able to create a cure.
Reward 200 gold, 100 main quest points, +10 fame!
|
¡°Uh... now I think I remember hearing something about this when we were at Jerora''s auction. Something about some rare plants and minerals that were part of an ancient potion,¡± said Akira.
¡°What really? What were they?¡± asked Klyn excited at being able to try and pinpoint what they needed.
Akira listed off the five ingredients everyone stood there thinking for a long time.
¡°I have never heard of them before,¡± said Grand elder Hegir with a shake of his head.
¡°Which ones do we need? How do we prepare them? In what order do we add them into the potion?¡±
¡°I am not sure. All I know is that some of those ingredients are supposed to be combined as a foundation for the potion. They have to mesh well with the main ingredient, which is the Red potion.¡±
¡°We''ll have to contact those who know more about this land''s plants, stones, and ores,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°Who?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°The merchants and the Yuki-onna for the plants and the Dwarves for the stones and minerals.¡±
***
On both continents, the Demigods all received a notification that the first stage of Branch 2 had been completed.
¡°What! Someone completed it already?¡±
¡°Look at the gold and the main quest points they got!¡±
¡°Quickly find out which guild finished the first stage!¡±
¡°There was no name! How can we find out?¡±
¡°What main ingredient is it talking about!?¡±
¡°What are these ingredients? I have never heard of them.¡±
¡°How are we supposed to start this stage if we don''t have the main ingredient! Quick keep searching for the main ingredient!¡±
¡°What about the other ingredients!?¡±
¡°Look for them as well. If you find any of them, buy them immediately!¡±
Many such conversations were happening in each of the Demigod guilds and groups that were participating in the main quest.
This caused a large frantic buying of all types of potion ingredients in their local area in the hope that one of the items was the main ingredient that had been mentioned in the announcement.
Chapter 217: Unlock
Another hour passed as Klyn and Grand elder Hegir, along with the other shaman, continued inspecting the unconscious Fluffball, trying to glean anything new that would help them in their research.
Walking up the short flight of stairs, Akira left the dark underground room and stepped out into the castle courtyard carrying a bundled blanket. He found Captain Pegleg standing near the entrance with a few of his two complaining officers.
While scratching his bony head, Captain Pegleg asked, ¡°So...how is the bone thief demon?¡±
Akira pulled down part of the blanket and revealed the unconscious Fluffball who was still encased in his new ice armor.
Captain Pegleg and his officers jumped back in fright, letting several curses fly.
¡°That damned bone thief demon has evolved into an even more terrifying King demon bone thief!¡± cried Captain Pegleg in shock. He along with his officers could feel the holy aura coming from Fluffball. ¡°What did you do to him?¡±
¡°I did nothing. It was the shamen that helped save his life. I thought you were planning to leave already, how come you''re still here? Did you need to talk to me?¡±
¡°No reason,¡± said Captain Pegleg, looking away from Akira. ¡°Since everything is all set we can leave now! I suffered many losses from those damned things. I have to go and replenish my forces. I''m going to gather more than I have ever commanded before so I can stop the scourge from giving me and my underlings a bad name!¡±
With that, captain Pegleg left the castle with his officers.
Zundar walked over to him and looked at the sleeping Fluffball for a second before turning back to Akira.
¡°That extendable sword you have needs to be changed to something different that works on those infected. How about using something like me?¡± said Zundar as he showed off his large and heavy two-handed war hammer.
¡°You''re right, I do need something better, and so do the front line troops,¡± Akira thought for a few seconds before coming to a decision.
¡°The large two-handed hammers like yours don''t suit me. I should just use a one-handed warhammer to go along with my shield,¡± said Akira as he nodded his head agreeing with himself. ¡°Right, I''ll have Delgar and the others start working on producing warhammers.¡±
¡°Awoo! Awoo!¡± both of the river forts let out a loud howl.
¡°Looks like Varbu is finally back from Jerora.¡±
***
Inside the castle''s large stone meeting room, the grand elders along with Akira sat around the long table listening to Varbu''s report.
¡°... the dark fog has not reached them. I would guess it would take maybe two weeks to travel to the dark fog from Jerora,¡± said Varbu.
¡°What about the demigods?¡±
¡°The demigods have also been blocked from making any attacks on the city because of the fog. That black fog is a blessing but also a curse.¡±
¡°And the situation in Jerora is...?¡±
¡°It has grown quite a lot. Their defenses and the army they now command is nothing to sneeze at. They can hold out but ask for more weapons and armor to be sent to them to further equip all the new soldiers they recruited.¡±
Varbu finished his report by giving information on the Infected they had encountered along their trip back to the ships at the unfreezing river.
¡°Your experience with them is similar to mine but I found a way to kill them quickly.¡±
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¡°How?¡± asked everyone at the same time.
¡°The ones that seemed to have mutated all had crystal gems somewhere on their bodies. Just by destroying them the mutated infected crumbled.¡±
Ding!
Announcement!
Branch 3 stage 1 has been completed by blank! Branch 3 stage 2 has started! Use the information gathered from stage 1 to kill 100 of each low tier infected.
|
The announcement was vague but Akira''s message was more detailed.
Branch 3 stage 1 completed!
You have fought and learned a great weakness of the many mutated Infected! Reward: 200 gold, 100 main quest points, +10 fame!
The crystallized gem core forms on those that have gathered enough energy allowing them to mutate into one of the many different infected classes.
The gem can be found on different parts of the body depending on which mutation the infected are. That gem is its life force and stores all its energy. Once it is broken it will weaken them causing them to collapse from lack of energy.
Branch 3 stage 2: destroy the core gem of 100 of each mutation to gather more information on each type and find ways to further exterminate the Molten onyx infected.
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¡°I have already sent someone to talk with Delgar about ramping up the production of Warhammers for everyone. With them, we should have a fighting chance. Even with those that have not mutated, it will be easier to dismantle them with the hammers than trying to use our swords.¡±
Ding!
Kodria has reached the requirements and is now a 2nd tier City! New buildings can be found in the blueprint section.
|
¡°Was there another recent large influx of residents?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Oh that''s right, you were gone when it happened. The Puman village disassembled their houses and took everything with them. They traveled all the way here and set up an encampment outside the trade plaza.¡±
¡°The north is becoming too dangerous even with Jerora becoming even stronger.¡±
¡°From all that we have gathered the only time the Infected left the dark mist was when they attacked Akira. So the villages not inside the range of the black fog should be safe but some still do not feel safe.¡±
¡°That''s troublesome... what about the investment form earlier?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They were able to pay off most of it by selling off everything they could not carry, to Jerora merchants,¡± said grand elder Seoc.
¡°They have decided to stay here for a time before heading out to a more suitable place to set up their new village,¡± said grand elder Carl.
¡°Another good thing that has happened for us, is because of the abundant food and warm shelter the Gargs have been multiplying quite fast which means more cavalry soon,¡± said grand elder ¨¤aron.
The blanket bundle in Akira''s hands started to stir just then. The weight in his arms and the freezing air lessened.
A small fluffy blue-white furred head popped out of the blankets. With his eyes still closed Fluffball let out a large and long yawn revealing his sharp teeth as he tried to stretch.
The blanket that was currently wrapped around him hindered his attempts. He opened his eyes and looked around seeing everyone looking at him.
He looked up and found Akira staring at him as well.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball in a lazy greeting.
¡°Good, you''re awake. We can now start your diet and super special training!¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball in protest.
***
The Demigods were unsure of what to do and were just killing everything they found since they had not found the proper information.
¡°What the crap! Another stage has been completed!¡±
¡°Hurry, let''s kill more of them!¡±
¡°We have to kill more or we will be left behind!¡±
***
Akira and Fluffball were running through the nearby snowy Forest that had deep snow as well as several monsters.
For a good workout, Akira had chosen this to help train their stamina with running and as well as fighting in the deep snow.
While Akira and Fluffball were in the middle of the super special training, a system message popped up.
Ding!
The requirements to open the sealed metal door under Kodria have been met.
Go find Zundar and have him open the door.
|
Chapter 218: Secrets of the underground refuge
¡°Where''s Zundar?¡± asked Akira, interrupting Samuel who was listing off all Kodria''s small matters that needed his attention.
¡°He should be at the trade plaza across the lake,¡± said Samuel.
¡°I''ll take a look at everything you have for me when I get back,¡± said Akira.
He gave a wave to Samuel and left the room that was supposed to be his office but he was rarely ever found inside. You would more than likely find Azura and Maya sorting through a mountain of paperwork.
Fluffball followed at his side as they rode a transport ship across the lake and hopped off onto the docks connected to the trade plaza fort.
The docks were just as busy if not even more than Kodria''s. There were ships and merchants loading and unloading boxes and sturdy sacks of items and all types of foods from all over the north.
As Akira walked towards the trade plaza he took in the surrounding sights. The area around the trade plaza was now looking more and more like a second city with the new houses, shops, and other buildings being built around it.
Akira passed through the busy trade gate without needing to pay the entrance fee. Fluffball walked ahead of Akira and made sure to clear a path for him through the crowded streets.
Several minutes passed as Akira searched for Zundar. It was not that hard, since he towered over everyone. The hard part was moving through the crowd to get to him.
When he arrived next to Zundar, Akira found that he was deep in thought as he inspected two artfully crafted bottles.
¡°These are the lost two I have to show you and they are also my best. This one comes from the faraway land called Caidia!¡± said the man pointing to the bottle shaped like a scorpion.
¡°This one''s from the northern royal company''s stock. They only make 100 bottles every year,¡± said the man pointing to a bottle shaped like a snow bear. ¡°Both are sure to keep your horns well oiled and shiny even in the extreme cold and dry air of the far south!¡±
Zundar spent another 5 minutes seriously inspecting and looking back and forth between the two bottles.
¡°I''ll buy both of them for him,¡± said Akira, paying the merchant who was extremely happy to hear these words.
¡°Lord, what are you doing here?¡± asked Zundar, as he happily picked up the two bottles and put them in a padded leather pouch.
¡°Some important things came up that requires your help. Let''s go,¡± said Akira, pulling on Zundar''s arm to lead him back to the transport ship.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, once again clearing out a pathway for the two as he ran ahead of them.
When they passed through the trade plaza gates Akira found three people he did not expect to see.
The three idiot brothers!
¡°What are you guys doing down here? You''re not causing any trouble are you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They came here with us!¡± said Ferem who had a large pack on his back just like the three idiot brothers.
¡°That''s right, we have found our calling as traveling merchants! No more underhanded tricks,¡± said Oib, while Mib and Yib both nodded their heads in agreement.
¡°Ferem, keep a tight leash on these guys and don''t let them corrupt you,¡± said Akira.
¡°Rodger! Will do lord!¡± said Ferem with a salute.
¡°We wouldn''t do such a thing to the fourth brother of our Super ultimate merchant team!¡± said Yib.
Akira waved them goodbye and returned to Kodria.
¡°Lord, can you tell me now what is it that you need me for?¡± asked Zundar as they walked towards the castle.
¡°The main door of the underground refuge has loosened, I believe with your help we will be able to open it,¡± said Akira.
Zundar was surprised at learning this and was very eager to help Akira.
On their way back they met up with Klyn who was just returning from one of the temporary hospitals for the wounded.
¡°Klyn, I might need your help so come and join me!¡± said Akira.
As they were passing the castle heading towards the rear of the hill, Pii''per dove down from atop the castle keep where she had built her nest in one of the corners.
¡°Pii!¡± Pii''per screeched as she dove at them a few times and then shot back into the sky and lazily glided while she followed Akira.
The citizens of Kodria had grown accustomed to Pii''per flying around above the city and paid her no attention.
She had grown quite a bit since she first started following Mileena, her wingspan had already doubled. Akira knew that soon she would be able to pick up people with her claws and carry them. He would have to make sure to be on his guard in the future if Pii''per''s temper flared.
The original entrance to the underground refuge was wide open, now it had a metal door of its own blocking anyone from entering. Two city guards were standing near the door with a large fire blazing next to them to keep warm.
The two guards seeing Akira immediately stepped to the side and stood as straight as they could while saluting Akira.
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Akira nodded to them as he took an unlit torch from its holder and lit it using the large fire next to the guards. There was no telling if the refuge behind the sealed door had any light.
The metal door silently swung open on well-greased hinges and the three walked down the stone steps with the glowing bricks giving off their cold greenish-blue light.
The medium underground room was just as it was last time, but a lot cleaner as someone came down every so often to keep it clean.
Zundar walked up to the large metal door that he had guarded for hundreds of years and inspected it for a few seconds before nodding. He placed both of his large hands on the door and began pushing.
Slowly, ever so slowly, a loud grating sound was heard as Zundar strained his muscles to the max and pushed the several hundred years old thick metal door open. A very old, dry, and dusty air escaped out from the small cracks smelling of ancient death.
Klyn quickly recited one of the holy chants three times covering the three of them in a thin layer of dim glowing white light.
Five minutes of struggling with the door passed before a space large enough for the three to squeeze through was opened.
Akira held the flickering torch above his head to light up the large stone room.
In the flickering torchlight, he was able to see several hundred people all in different positions, some standing, some sitting, and even a few were laying down.
All of them were like exquisitely carved gray stone statues. The statues had captured their last moments before they had turned to stone.
Pained faces of those tortured by something unknown, crying children held by their mother and father, blank emotionless faces of those who had accepted their fate.
As the three walked through the many eerie statues Zundar had a pained look as he looked over the many people he had known many hundreds of years ago. Near the back wall of the large room stood two large Minotaur statues guarding a man who sat on a simple stone throne.
¡°Zundar, are these people similar to how you were before I met you?¡± asked Akira.
Zundar shook his head and with a hoarse voice said, ¡°No, the Royal sorcerers used a chant that was supposed to help protect them... it looks like it was only partially successful.¡±
¡°In what way was it successful? How was it different?¡± asked Klyn hoping for a bit of enlightenment to help with his study for a cure for the Molten Onyx plague.
¡°It was successful in that they were able to escape the control of the evil dark force back then. I do not know the fine details of how the two chants used by the Royal sorcerers differ from each other. I only know that the one used on me was supposed to have a 99% chance of death. While the other one was close to 50%.¡±
Akira looked at the two large Minotaur''s that Zundar was staring at and asked, ¡°Who were they?¡±
¡°My younger brothers. I volunteered to guard the entrance and take the 99% chance of death while they were given the task of protecting the lord. I did this all to allow my brothers a higher chance of survival.¡±
Akira held the torch up and looked around the nearby area and found a large shelf made out of stone on the right of the man with a crown.
On the stone shelf, there were several red scrolls and one blue scroll which all reflected the light of the torch.
Akira walked over and inspected them closer, not wanting to touch them just yet, lest they crumble.
The scrolls were rather thick due to the type of leather that was used. The reason for the reflection of the torchlight was because the back of the leather scroll was covered in what looked like scales of some type of large lizard beast.
Klyn stood next to him and gave a happy shout upon seeing them, ¡°These look just like the ancient scrolls in the Dwarves library when I went there to study some time ago!¡±
¡°There is no need to worry about them crumbling. Whoever made these used some of the most sturdy material.¡±
Akira reached out and picked up the only blue scroll. It was extremely cold to the touch and felt more like metal than leather.
He unrolled the scroll and found the neat writing on the scroll to be something similar to the ancient language that was used for the holy chants but looked far simpler.
Ding!
You have discovered King Legend''s diary of the ancient dark times.
The diary has been scanned and fully translated.
|
Akira began reading the translated diary. As he read he learned even more about the dark times of the past, in no time Akira reached the last part of the scroll.
[¡ I am in a rush to write down these last few words. The dark army has started to gather across the lake in far greater force than before. Soon I will hand this scroll of history over to my body double who will go with the rest of my royal family to hide inside the sanctuary. By the time they discover I did not join them it will be too late to do anything about it. I have decided that I must fight along with the Royal sorcerers to protect the island, my family, and my people that are still alive. I am well aware that I will most likely die but what type of death I am unsure.]
[I hope this history and these last words help whoever you are reading this whether you are my descendant or someone unrelated.
The red scrolls I leave to you. The scrolls are a compilation of all the research conducted by the Royal sorcerers to brainstorm ways to combat the darkness. Some have been tested and have been found to hold off the darkness, for how long I do not know. The others have not been able to be tested due to the sudden movement of the dark army.]
[Lastly, be wary of the [Cult of Science] lurking in the shadows. I believe it is them who are the culprits controlling the dark army. As for what purpose, I have no idea and can only guess.
Signed King Pegasus Legend the 3rd.]
Ding!
Announcement! Branch 1 Stage 2, and 3 have been completed!
Blank was the first to find all the information on the shadows behind the Molten Onyx plague.
All those who find the info after blank will not gain credit.
Branch 1 Stage 4 starts now! Kill the culprits if you find them!
|
Branch 1 stages 2 and 3 have been completed due to you receiving all of the information on the ancient group [Cult of Science].
They are behind the Molten Onyx plague!
Reward: 700 gold, 600 main quest points, +60 Fame!
|
¡°These scrolls are just too great!¡± said Klyn as he read through one after another.
¡°Read this out loud for me,¡± said Akira.
He passed the blue scroll over to Klyn and listened intently, everything he read out loud was almost the same as the translation that he had read.
***
The demigod guilds were all up in a rage once again after receiving another notification so soon.
¡°This is madness.¡±
¡°Who is this blank!¡±
¡°Either they have a huge guild working on the quest or they are cheating!¡±
¡°Whoever they are, I do not doubt that they are cheating! How could they complete so many stages right in a row?!¡±
Blank had now gained an extremely negative reputation among the Demigods.
Chapter 219: On the move
Akira, unaware of his new unpopular reputation with the demigods, decided to see if any of the other scrolls on the stone shelf would allow him to learn anything new.
He pulled out a random red scroll from the bottom of the stack scrolls. The red scroll looked to be rather ragged and ready to fall apart.
Ding!
You have gained new information on the rare scroll of [Calm Mind].
|
Akira quickly read over the short intro.
[Calm Mind: Boost the strength of the reader''s mind and one personal skill of the reader. The reader of this scroll can only trigger this effect once in their lifetime. Uses: 2 uses out of 100 remain.]
Ding!
Dark domain has been leveled up to rank 2!
Dark domain now has a larger area.
Those inside the dark domain are protected against mind control.
|
¡°Klyn, seeing the wear and tear of this scroll, it must be something helpful,¡± said Akira as he gently passed the worn scroll over to Klyn.
¡°Hmm, let''s see what it says.¡±
Unlike Akira who had the assistance of the system to condense the scroll into a few sentences. Klyn took several minutes to finish reading the entirety of the scroll.
While waiting for him to finish Akira watched Fluffball who was still walking around sniffing each of the stone statues.
Ka-choo! Fluffball started to have a small fit of sneezes after sticking his nose in a pile of ancient dust.
Nearby Zundar was still deep in thought as he stared at the two large statues of his younger brothers.
¡°So it''s like this,¡± said Klyn, his eyes shining brightly with a new and deep understanding.
¡°This scroll has helped correct many misconceptions I had about the Holy chants. With this new knowledge, I feel as though I can exert at least two times the power than before! I must tell the others,¡± said Klyn excitedly.
¡°Be careful, that thing looks ready to fall apart at any moment. It might only be able to last long enough for one more person to read it,¡± warned Akira.
¡°You''re right, who should read it?¡± asked Klyn. He stood there for a few seconds thinking and then coming to a conclusion. ¡°It should be Bo. With his talent already so high, if he reads this he will make great gains. The only problem with this plan is he is not that good at reading the ancient language.¡±
¡°You guys are reacting weirdly to just a few old scrolls. They''re not anything that great. The library the king had back then was filled with thousands of such scrolls,¡± said Zundar, as he watched the two huddle over the scroll looking like starved men grasping onto a piece of meat.
¡°Zundar can these scrolls be copied?¡± asked Klyn. ¡°It would be a shame to lose such a large amount of information written on here.¡±
Zundar shook his head. ¡°There may be a few of them that you can. But if I had to guess, most of the scrolls had the protection chant used on them. This was normal procedure during the troubled times that they were created in.¡±
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¡°Protection chant?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°The protection chants of the royal sorcerers allowed anyone who knew the language to read the scrolls. But, once you try to write down anything from the scroll, only garble nonsense is written. Trying to tell another person what to write does not work either.¡±
¡°I guess we''ll just have to sort these scrolls the hard way, by just trying to write part of them to see which ones can be copied. If we can preserve and not damage the originals that would be great,¡± said Klyn.
Akira continued to help pick through the scrolls but much to his disappointment, none of them showed any reaction.
***
When they had finished inspecting the large tomb they returned to the castle to find Grand elder Hegir in his office.
¡°... and not only that there are several other scrolls. Many describe ways to help defend the city from something similar to the Molten Onyx plague. I even found a scroll describing the chant that was used on the lake water around Kodria giving it a holy aura.
There is also one for a purifying holy light fire. It was created to take care of the dead bodies of the infected. There were a few notes written at the bottom saying that they thought it might also work for cleansing the air of the effects of the darkness. I''m not entirely sure if the ancient darkness they speak of is the same as the dark fog that we are faced with now.¡±
¡°This... is indeed a startling and fortuitous discovery in our time of crisis. The clarifications you have mentioned make a lot of sense.
If the darkness truly is the same or similar to the Onyx plague, then with the holy shaman working with the soldiers and the city guard, we have a better chance to ward off and survive any attacks by the shadowy force behind this plague. No matter whether it is out on the battlefield or the walls of Kodria we must give it our all.¡±
¡°With so much new information I hope that you can continue to help instruct the younger generation when you have time,¡± said Akira.
¡°But of course.¡±
¡°Grandfather, what are we to do with the scrolls in the underground sanctuary,¡± asked Klyn.
¡°The scrolls are too important to leave such a small force guarding it. They need to be protected from any tampering or sabotage.¡±
¡°Already taken care of. I have given orders for a small outpost to be erected around the entrance with a minimum of 10 guards at all times,¡± said Akira.
¡°With your permission, I''ll be transferring many of the training recruits and researchers to one of the empty side rooms and continue our research and training there.¡±
¡°Granted. It is best if you have a secure place out of the center of the city to do such research.¡±
¡°Grandfather, can you look at this list of ingredients?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Is this what you want to use to create the cure potion?¡± asked Hegir, taking the piece of paper from Klyn.
¡°I found a scroll that had several ingredients listed for a possible cure, I thought that you might know them because of your skill in potions and your recent search for the other ingredients.¡±
Grand elder Hegir spent several minutes looking at the list and thinking. He pulled out a large book he had borrowed from the Dwarves.
While shaking his head Grand elder Hegir spoke. ¡°It''s no good. All but one of the ingredients no longer exist. Luckily, that one item that still exists is actually on the list of minerals we needed for our own potion. This saves everyone the hassle of going everywhere trying to search for the other items. Hopefully, it will be suitable with our main ingredient.¡±
¡°Grandfather, what do you think about letting Bo read the scroll? Or should I have someone else use it?¡±
¡°You are the head shaman now, you should make that decision. I am only an advisor now, so I can not decide for you. But I find no harm in strengthening Bo''s control and scouting ability.¡±
Ding!
Announcement!
Those Infected with the molten onyx plague are on the move!
Branch 3 stage 2 updated!
There has been a severe security loss due to the large influx of people and the massive migration of monsters.
Large groups of infected including those who have gone through a Growth have left the safety of the dark fog.
Objective: Save the cities and towns that the infected have started to attack and overrun.
|
¡°We need to gather everyone quickly!¡± said Akira. ¡°It seems that the Infected are on the move! They have left the dark fog!¡±
Chapter 220: The real problem...
A white falcon flew high in the air scanning the entire area around a small walled-off village.
Several hundred black stone bodies of various sizes and types were all gathered outside the village banging on all four walls. The majority of stone bodies looked like basic formless rock bodies with nothing special about them.
The falcon turned its head to inspect the walls in greater detail. On top of the walls, there were several fur armored warriors with spears pushing back and large hammers knocking down the stone bodies that tried to climb the wall.
It looked to be a desperate struggle as the villagers and warriors were heavily outnumbered and tiring fast. They had lost track of how long it had been since they had started to fight against the tireless enemy.
The white falcon glided on the cold winds high above, in the distance, it saw a large force of Gargs running towards the village.
Flapping its wings the falcon flew high above everything for several more seconds before diving down and landing on the shoulder of Bo.
Bo was sitting behind Dolph and when he opened his eyes, he looked to Klyn who was riding on a Garg next to him sitting behind Vilkas.
¡°I counted at least 10 [Grunners], [Puffers], and 5 [Chubbustibles],¡± said Bo.
The transformed Klyn nodded and, ¡°Awooooo!¡± let out a howl informing the other Shamen of the formation chant that they needed to perform.
The other transformed shamen were all riding on Gargs sitting behind the cavalrymen. As one, they began to chant in the ancient language creating a holy light screen that surrounded the entire Garg cavalry charging forward.
Akira was at the center point of the wedge formation with Zundar running on his left and a large Ice covered Fluffball on his right.
¡°Get ready,¡± Akira shouted to Mileena who sat behind him hugging his back with one arm.
Bam!
Before the slow-witted Molten onyx infected had time to discover the new threat. The cavalry force plowed through the 100 infected near the village''s front gate where there were no special growth infected.
As they pushed through the crowd of infected Akira used his new one-handed warhammer to easily smash the legs of whatever he passed.
Fluffball easily weaved through the mass of bodies continuously spitting out ice shards from his mouth which smashed into the bodies of the infected and froze whatever it touched.
Those that followed behind him had an easier time smashing the frozen parts to nothing but icy rubble.
¡°Piiiii!¡±
Not to be outdone by Fluffball, Pii''per swooped down and helped out by grabbing the shoulders of smaller infected with her sharp claws.
Using all of her strength she flew back up into the sky where unceremoniously dropped it on top of a large gathering of infected. The impact damaged several others and shattered the one that had fallen from such a high altitude. In this way, she destroyed the infected as well as damaged those it hit.
As the cavalry force passed through the 100+ infected over 50 of them were completely smashed to rubble by the blunt weapons and repeated trampling of the hundreds of Gargs.
As one, the Garg cavalry wedge turned around and picked up speed once again to start another charge.
By now the infected who had gone through a growth were reacting. They moved from the other walls towards the front gate where Akira and the others had just attacked.
At the last second the cavalry wedge turned right and avoided the gathering growth infected and plowed through the normal infected at the right wall.
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As they smashed their way through the infected Akira could hear several joyful cheers coming from the villagers on top of the walls.
Akira and the rest of the cavalry continued to use this tactic to dismantle almost all of the infected surrounding the village before they dared face the Molten onyx growth infected.
¡°Get ready! The Grunners are coming over! Remember to smash their core gem to kill them!¡± howled Akira.
The ten thin but nimble Grunners of different species lightly ran over the snow at a quick pace charging towards the fast-moving cavalry wedge.
The Grunners launched themselves at the nearest Garg while several others tried to stand in the way to stop the cavalry charge, but with their light bodies, they had no chance of stopping the several hundreds of charging Gargs and were soon trampled and had core gems smashed.
Behind the destroyed Grunners were the waddling short and fat Chubbustibles and Puffers.
¡°Fluffball, I leave disabling the Chubbustibles to you,¡± growled Akira.
¡°Awoooo!¡± Fluffball eagerly answered. He was happy to take revenge on the type of infected that had severely wounded him before.
The large ice armored Fluffball picked up speed and ran in front of Akira. A frosty blue light started to gather before his open maw growing bigger every second as he gathered energy for a heavier hitting ice attack. With the growing blue light, his ice armor that covered his entire body sparkled like a gem.
Pew!
A large ice missile the size of a large pumpkin shot forward and slammed into one of the [Chubbustibles] and immediately froze it in place.
He gathered energy four more times and froze the other four Chubbustibles before the Puffers started to spew out a gaseous smog blocking the view.
The shamen riding with the soldiers all started to chant even faster as they neared the smog, strengthening the holy screen around the cavalry.
Klyn and a few others started chanting one of the new cleansing chants they had learned. With the many battles they had been in over the past weeks they were able to get a lot of actual practice in using it and were now fairly skilled using it.
They quickly chanted and pointed their hands forwards at the smog and bright holy white light shot out from each of their hands. The light joined together to pierce the smog clearing all that it touched.
The holy light created a pathway through the smog allowing them to see the Puffers and frozen Chubbustibles.
Akira and nine other cavalrymen split off from the rest of the group and entered the narrow pathway each charging towards one of the Puffers.
The five frozen Chubbustibles were easily smashed to bits by the Busters while Akira and the rest of the group carefully used blunt weapons with extended handles to attack the puffers who were still continuously spewing out the poisonous smog from all over their body.
When the last Puffer had its core gem disabled, the holy light path was able to quickly cleanse the rest of the remaining smog around Akira and the nine others.
Grarr leisurely trotted back towards the main cavalry force with the nine other Gargs and their partners following behind him.
¡°Yap!¡± said a now small Fluffball as he slowly walked to Akira. He looked worn out from using several large ice attacks in such a short period.
Akira reached into his bag and then tossed over a blue jelly candy that had been created by Grand elder Hegir and the other potion makers when they had done several experiments with the blue potions.
Fluffball jumped up into the air and snapped up the jelly candy, chewing it a few times before swallowing.
The tired Fluffball regained some of his energy and charged forward, jumped up into the air, and slammed into Akira''s chest.
He sat down and got comfortable on Akira''s lap and began watching the cavalrymen all ride towards the village''s gate which was now opening.
Several tired fur armored warriors exited the gates to meet them.
¡°I presume you are lord Akira am I right?¡± asked a burly elderly man.
¡°You are correct.¡±
¡°We are grateful for your help in our time of need. The messenger that came to us months ago said we were safe since we were far enough away from the fog. We did not know that they would exit the fog and start targeting us,¡± said the man shaking his head.
¡°Neither did we. For everyone''s safety, we suggest heading to Kodria''s outer city. You will be safer there. But first, you must be inspected by our shaman to make sure no one is infected,¡± said Akira.
¡°Not a problem. All of us that have survived the siege are all healthy. We''re all packed and ready to leave. We were just stuck inside and could not escape.¡±
Akira waved for the shamen to follow the man back into the village, where they began inspecting the surviving villagers.
As Akira sat there waiting, Klyn called out to him.
¡°Urgent message from Varbu and Prince Gobbers! They request that we hurry back to the main force!¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°The next main town is surrounded by a large force of infected. They estimate that there are over 1000 surrounding the town... But that is not the main problem... The real problem is... there are demigods inside the besieged city mixed in with the civilians.¡±
Chapter 221: Wribrock
Akira, along with the cavalry, followed the directions given to them by the shaman messenger. They rode hard to reach the hidden encampment where Varbu, Prince Gobbers, and the rest of the main allied force waited.
As they passed through the army''s picket line Akira, his guards and Klyn separated from the cavalry and headed for the center of the encampment, where a large gray command tent had been erected.
On the inside of the tent, there were a few braziers burning the dry manure produced by the reindeer and horses of the army. Other than the braziers there was a small table which Varbu, Gobbers, and a few other officers were sitting around talking about their current problem.
¡°Is this the latest report?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°Gii, gii giiii giiiiiii gi,¡± said Prince Gobbers, nodding his head.
The group, hearing someone entering the tent, turned to see Akira, Klyn, and Zundar enter, while the rest of the group waited outside with the other guards.
¡°What''s the situation?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Commander, we just got new information from those keeping an eye on the settlement,¡± said Varbu as he held up a piece of paper.
¡°The scouts were able to see several of the Demigods die while fighting the infected outside the city walls. They also noted down the types of skills they saw being used. All this was nothing unusual, what surprised them was those same Demigods appeared back inside the city the next day fully in-tack and healthy although some were missing pieces of armor and weapons. The scouts reported that they have seen this happen at least two times so far.¡±
¡°This is indeed a strange and big discovery. We knew that they were able to revive but have never actually found any other information on the matter. Did the scouts find out a reason for why they appeared inside the city?¡± asked Akira as he sat down on one of the empty stools surrounding the table.
¡°They have not. With the large Molten Onyx Infected army surrounding the city, they have been unable to enter or get close to the city to listen in on any conversations. They have only been able to scout from high in the sky. If they get too close their familiars risk getting shot at by skills and projectiles of the demigods and city defenders.¡±
¡°How big are the two forces?¡±
¡°Three to five thousand civilians, most of them are people who fled from the surrounding smaller villages. There are around a hundred demigods but it''s hard to keep track of their actual number with them dying and reappearing all the time. As for the Molten Onyx Infected at first, there were only a few hundred and they were taken care of by the demigods. But, the city seems to be some sort of magnet as there are nearly 1600 of them currently surrounding it. From the reports, this force is not organized as a single army but is instead just a few separate large groups led by several of those new infected that experienced growth.¡±
Akira nodded, coming to an immediate decision. ¡°Zundar, Klyn, you are to support Varbu and Gobbers who will be fighting the infected outside the wall. I will lead a small team to take care of the demigod problem.¡±
¡°I''m coming with you!¡± said Mileena.
¡°Of course,¡± said Akira.
***
¡°Looks like my assessment of the situation was right,¡± said Akira as they arrived a short distance away from the small city of Wribrock.
There were several hundreds of Molten Onyx Infected milling about at the base of the left and right ice-covered wooden walls as well as the rear wall of the city. In each of the groups, there were several infected that had gone through growth trying to climb up the icy wall or repeatedly slamming into it trying to destroy the wall.
At the front wall just outside the city''s gate, there was a small pocket of demigods vigorously fighting the infected.
¡°Remember to keep to the plan!¡± shouted Akira as he motioned for Varbu and Prince goobers to start their attack.
The two led their forces to attack the infected near the rear wall. The soldiers that they led were mainly infantry, ranged troops, and a small force of cavalry to help take care of any troublesome problems that popped up.
They had chosen to attack the rear wall to make sure that the demigods would be on the complete opposite side of them, unable to interfere.
Akira watched for several long minutes as a large portion of the infected were pulled from the sidewalls and moved to the rear to face the new attacking enemy that had caught their attention.
¡°Forward!¡± ordered Akira, pointing his war hammer at the enemy far ahead of them.
As one, his guards and the remaining cavalry began their charge.
***
¡°Toshie, the number of infected seem to be thinning out,¡± shouted an orange robbed demigod male.
He then used his large orange staff to shoot a large fireball at one of the many infected that were surrounding them in a semicircle.
¡°Orange, don''t let your guard down! We haven''t killed enough for that to happen. They might be planning something,¡± shouted Toshie.
Tooshie stood on the front line along with fifteen other heavily armored knight demigods. They each used their various skills to hold back the infected and weather their attacks allowing the demigods behind them to hurl their powerful skills at the massed mob of easy prey.
Several other melee demigods watched from the city wall and saw the danger was lessening as the number of infected outside the gates decreased. They decided this was the right time to join the others outside so they could gain some benefits.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The demigods paid no attention to the rear or sides of the city since they had left those areas to the city''s civilians to defend while they farmed the infected near the front gate.
¡°Trex, why are you guys joining us only now?! We could have used your help earlier so the others wouldn''t have died,¡± shouted Orange. He hurled another explosive fireball that damaged several of the clustered normal infected in front of Tooshie.
¡°Watch where you''re shooting! That almost hit me!¡± shouted Tooshie.
¡°Orange I''ve died twice already! I was just waiting for the others to join me before coming out but now with the 60 or so of us we can make short work of them!¡± said Trex, who was also wearing robes but held onto a large blue book.
Trex held his blue book in his left hand and began reciting one of the skills stored in the book while pointing his right hand at one of the wounded Molten onyx infected.
Seconds later three water arrows formed above his right hand and shot forward each of them slammed into the same spot of the large wound on the infected''s head, managing to pierce all the way through.
¡°Even though we''ve been stuck at this village it has been a great benefit for us,¡± said Trex.
¡°You only care about the message from the guild leader saying whoever gets the most points will be promoted to an officer,¡± said Orange.
While the two were arguing Toshie noticed a swift black mist cloud coming right towards them!
¡°An attack for the left!¡± he shouted out a warning!
Unfortunately for him, the other knights and the raging barbarians who were standing in the front line were unable to move. They had used several different defensive skills that boosted their defense and balance at the cost of being unable to move their legs while the skills lasted.
Before those behind Toshie could form a proper defense the black mist cloud engulfed everyone, obscuring their entire vision.
***
As the cavalry pierced through the weakened gathering of infected, they continued charging forward slamming into the demigods. The demigods that could move were now blindly waving their weapons and shooting off skills into the dark, they were only able to see their attackers when it was too late.
They were trampled on, knocked senseless by the blunt weapons, and a few lucky people were even knocked into the reaching arms of the Molten onyx infected. They were torn apart in seconds.
As the cavalry continued their charge forward, not stopping, Akira and a small force made up of his guards and several volunteers already transformed jumped from their mounts...
...and latched onto the icy wooden front wall. Using their sharp claws of both their hands and feet they stabbed them into the icy wood and started to climb up.
Akira pulled himself over the wall and came face to face with a female demigod that was using a bow as her weapon of choice.
Before a skill could be used, Akira swiped his claws across the female''s neck nearly severing her head.
With a swipe of his tail, he knocked away a lunging spear from the rear. Dolph pulled himself up onto the wall and used sharp claws to pierce the heart of the attacker.
Pii''per struggled furiously to flap her wings and gently dropped Mileena down on the wall next to Akira.
The dark mist was now clearing up allowing the surviving Demigods on the ground to see once again. It was too late for them to do anything now that the front walls and gate to the city were under the control of Akira and his allies.
They now were stuck outside and did not have a force strong enough to hold off or destroy the infected that surrounded them. One by one they were pulled down, torn apart, and eaten alive.
Akira watched all of this from the wall. While watching the gruesome demise of the Demigods he witnessed an infected that looked like a fox, start to evolve after it ate one of the demigods.
A dark light emitted from its body and its rough and clunky stone exterior started to ripple becoming smother and skinnier. Several seconds later a purple gem formed on its chest just under its neck.
Ding!
You have gained more information on the Molten Onyx Infected by witnessing an evolutionary growth.
|
The fox that had just gone through growth gained a small portion of smarts back. It looked towards the remaining demigods and sent a silent command to all of those nearby to attack the demigods and not the walls.
¡°Mileena, Pii''per, and you other volunteers stay here to protect the wall and keep the gate shut!¡± Akira before he hopped off the wall with Dolph Vilkas and several other bodyguards following behind him.
He raced through the streets of the small city, sniffing the air searching for traces of demigods.
There were no fresh scents inside the city that he could smell. His nose was telling him that the area with the strongest scent was the town center plaza so he started to head in that direction.
Akira noticed that each of the buildings he passed had several pairs of eyes staring at him warily. He sensed no threat coming from them so he paid them no attention.
As he arrived to inspect the plaza along with Dolph and Vilkas. Two bright sparkling lights flashed in front of his eyes revealing two demigods.
The two demigods were both missing several pieces of armor and were already in a discussion not noticing the werewolves charging towards them.
¡°Damn, I died so quickly yesterday that I was unable to get any points! If I don''t show off my fighting skills I won''t ever get the chance to be promoted to an officer.¡±
¡°Ha! With your poor skill and constantly losing equipment, you won''t even be given the chance. You have to pay back that large debt of yours for every piece of equipment you keep losing before they would even allow something like that to happen.¡±
Before they knew what happened the two had their limbs torn apart and their heads smashed in.
Akira and the others continued to search the city for any hidden demigods but found none.
He made his way to one of the walls occupied by the defending city guards and civilian volunteers.
¡°Hail friend!!¡± shouted a skinny man with long black hair when he saw the furry Akira and guards approaching them. ¡°Did you take the front gates?¡±
¡°We did. What''s the situation here? Where are the rest of the demigods?¡±
¡°The situation? We have been held hostage here by the demigods! We wanted to leave when they first cleared the infected that had surrounded the city but they killed anyone who tried to leave. They have been forcing us to guard these walls while they fought the infected that continued to show up!¡±
¡°As for the rest of the demigods, they will most likely return later this afternoon. A large number of them died yesterday around that time.¡±
¡°Do you know where they''ll show up?¡± asked Akira.
¡°For some reason, they seem to always appear at the central plaza of the city. That is where you will be able to find them when and if they do appear.¡±
Akira nodded his head. ¡°We will be breaking this siege and when that happens the entire city needs to be ready to move out!¡±
¡°Send some messengers that the people will listen to and spread the word,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°Will do, friend! With your forces taking care of the infected outside, the walls should be safe enough for me to send some of my warriors to the central plaza and set up an ambush for the next demigods that arrive.¡±
¡°I''ll have a few of my warriors join them,¡± said Akira.
¡°Awooooo!¡± He let out a long howl giving new orders to those near the front gate.
¡°I''ll leave the wrangling of the citizens to you, we still have a lot of fighting to do,¡± said Akira in a rough voice.
He waved to the skinny man and headed back to the front gates to rejoin the cavalry so they could continue clearing up the infected.
Chapter 222: Let us in
Akira stood near the open gates watching as civilians evacuated the city, escorted by their own city guard as well as volunteers.
Ding!
Branch three, stage 2: Find more information by killing 100 of each low tier infected has been completed!
Reward: Gold 200, main quest points 200, +20 Fame. Ten levels will be given to the top four contributors: Akira, Zundar, Fluffball, Klyn.
All other participants will receive 5 levels.
Your level is now 120, Fluffball''s level is now 95!
|
Announcement!
Branch three, stage 3 starts now!
Kill 1000 of each low-tier type of infected.
|
Akira''s mood was lifted after reading the message for the large rewards.
He looked over the large gathering of warriors from each demon race and saw that they too looked refreshed and were cheerfully chatting with those next to them.
¡°This plague has been hell. At least our monster problem had been cleared up.¡±
¡°Yeah, but the bad thing is they have been replaced with those infected.¡±
Akira inspected several of the soldiers around him who had fought against the infected. He found that indeed they had all gained 5 levels with the average level now nearing level 80. The reward for completing the stage was a huge boost to Kodria''s military power.
¡°Were the scouts able to find anyone controlling the infected?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They found no one in the surrounding area,¡± said Klyn with a shake of his head.
¡°We didn''t see anything either while fighting. The only type of a commander, if you could call it that, was from those infected with the gems,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gii gii giiii gi,¡± said Prince Gobbers nodding.
¡°How are we to find and confront the culprits if they never show up?¡± asked Akira with a sigh.
Akira turned back to rummaging through the piles of rubble which was all that was left from the many infected. The piled rubble was filled with both humanoid and monster bodies.
He was searching for any loot that might have been dropped by the demigods.
Nearby, Fluffball was helping him by also digging through the rubble and stone body parts.
¡°Find anything good?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°I found quite a lot of the red potions that the shaman need for creating a cure. Fluffball also found some gold, and a few pieces of armor and weapons, nothing fancy,¡± said Akira.
¡°That''s good news. We''ll need a large stockpile of those potions to keep researching,¡± said Klyn.
¡°How many casualties did each of you take?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Very few deaths due to the help of Klyn and his holy shamen. Right now we haven''t gotten a full count but it is not as bad as I expected.¡±
¡°What''s more worrisome is that those who were wounded are now showing signs of infection,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Send a runner through the streets and see if you can hurry up the people. We need to be completely out of the city before the hour is up. There is no telling when the demigods will come back in force, that or the infected might once again flock here.¡±
The demon race army stood watch outside the city. They were still on guard for new waves of the molten onyx infected that might come to the city.
The several thousands of civilians burdened with the belongings that they could carry were all gathered outside and surrounded by the demon race army.
During this time they were fortunate to not have any demigods show up.
¡°We''ve done all that we could in this area. Let''s return to Kodria to resupply and rest up before finding our next destination! Move out!¡± shouted Akira.
***
Kodria''s castle.
Ding!
Announcement!
The Demon hunters have successfully completed Branch 2 stage 1.
They are the second to complete the quest and receive nothing for being 2nd place losers!
|
Ding!
Announcement!
The gentle fallen has completed Branch 3 stage 1.
Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
They are the second to complete the quest and receive nothing for being 2nd place losers!
|
The system messages jolted Akira from his thoughts of future plans.
He reread the messages a few times. These were the first messages about the quest being completed by another group. It reminded him that he was not alone in trying to complete the main quest.
Now with two other groups completing a stage and one of them now on the same stage, it really put him under some pressure to not be passed by the demigods.
¡°The potions that you have brought back will help us greatly,¡± said grand elder Hegir.
¡°How is your research on the wounded progressing?¡±
¡°Not much, the wounded that have been infected are starting to overwhelm the temporary quarantine hospital. The fatality rate has been 100% for those wounded when they reach the 4th week. By fatality I mean they are no longer themselves,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
He took a sip of warmed wine to clear his throat.
¡°They are constantly in pain during those 4 weeks and even with the demigods'' red potions, their pain is only relieved during the early stages of infection. Those guarding the area have been making sure to quietly take care of those who have lost all sense of themselves to not panic the others.¡±
¡°And the bodies?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They have been safely stored in the new underground research facility. We have made sure that they are out of reach of civilians, fire, or any of the water and food supplies. Until we have a way to properly dispose of them without the negative side effects they will have to stay like that. It won''t be long as I have been studying and teaching several others in the use of the new cleansing chants from the ancient scrolls.¡±
¡°Then...¡±
¡°Awoooooo! Awoo!¡± Several warning howls came from the east river fort.
¡°What are they calling me for?¡± asked Grand Elder Hegir.
¡°Not just you, they are calling for all the holy shamen...¡± said Akira.
¡°Whatever it is, it must not be good,¡± said Grand elder Hegir. He stood up and put on his large fur coat.
Akira joined Grand elder Hegir as he left the castle. Both of their guards, along with Fluffball, followed them to the docks.
Tens of other holy shamen had reached the docks and were already waiting for them.
¡°The situation is urgent so there is no need for us to wait for everyone,¡± said Grand elder Hegir, giving out an order to the boat''s oarsmen.
As soon as they reached the dock near the east river fort Akira hopped out. He held out his arm to help the elderly Hegir only to have it swatted away.
¡°I''m not old enough to need such help,¡± said grand elder Hegir as he pulled himself out of the boat.
The group of holy shamen led by Grand elder Hegir and the guards led by Akira made their way to a small group of werewolf soldiers who were gathered around Klyn and a few of his assistants. They were waiting near the end of the docks.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Hegir.
¡°They didn''t say. They only said ''It would be best if you see it for yourselves.¡¯,¡± said Klyn.
The group was silently led through the snow towards a large gathering of warriors who had exited the fort and were now surrounding something Akira could not get a good look at.
A group of curious residents from the outer city of Kodria, which was still being built around the market plaza, had now gathered some distance away from the main group of soldiers. They were being held back by several guards.
When Akira reached the group of soldiers he found that they all had their weapons drawn and were fully alert, looking at the cause of the commotion in front of them. He walked through the gathered soldiers and...
¡°We demand to talk to the leader of this city!¡±
¡°This is outrageous! Why are you treating us this way!¡±
¡°Let us in!¡±
...in front of Akira were around a hundred people. They were all wrapped in bandages and heavy fur coats that had long hoods to cover their faces in darkness.
¡°Quiet!¡± shouted one of the soldiers.
Another soldier jabbed his spear towards one of the people who tried to walk up to him. A solid thud was heard as the spear hit the person''s arm and was knocked back.
¡°We are refugees fleeing from the infected! Is this how you treat people in the time of their need!?¡± cried the angered man who had been hit by the spear.
Fluffball standing next to Akira transformed into his large size and his ice armor quickly covered his entire body.
¡°Roar!¡± Fluffball stood in front of Akira and continued to make threatening growls at the surrounded people.
Seeing this Akira and the others that had just arrived inspected the people more closely.
¡°They''re all infected...¡± said Klyn in a hushed voice after a few seconds.
¡°We''re not like those infected! We are fully healthy and in control of our bodies!¡± shouted a nearby person.
¡°We came here because we heard that you accept refugees! Why are you treating us this way!¡± shouted a female.
¡°Commander! When we stopped this group, they refused to let us inspect their bodies, so we were forced to use such measures,¡± said the officer in charge of the east fort.
Akira stepped forward with Fluffball and his guards arrayed in a protective formation around him.
¡°I am Akira, Lord of Kodria. If you wish to seek refuge here, you must remove the bandages and your hoods to show you are not infected. We can not allow those infected to cause harm to the tens of thousands of civilians living in both the inner and outer city of Kodria.¡±
¡°That...¡±
¡°We...¡±
¡°You heard the lord! Take off your hoods and bandages and show us you are healthy!¡± shouted the east fort officer.
The hundred or so refugees quietly mumbled between themselves for over a minute.
¡°So what if we were wounded! Our villages were destroyed and we are asking for your help and generosity to let us stay here!¡± shouted an angry woman as she flipped the hood off of her head.
Half of her head was bald and covered in a thin layer of black stone.
¡°Roar!¡± Fluffball let out a growl at the woman, warning her to not step any closer.
¡°Amazing that they are still able to move about with such an advanced stage of infection. It looks like they are in the 2nd week of infection,¡± said Grand elder Hegir. He had just made his way through the crowd along with Klyn.
¡°I''ll give you two options. You can stay here at our quarantine hospital where we can help you as much as we can while you are still you. Or you can leave and find some other place to spend your last days,¡± said Akira with a firm voice.
¡°Screw you! We''re not going to die!¡± shouted the woman.
¡°Grandfather, what you said before seems to be true. Those who are infected start to become more aggressive and angry,¡± said Klyn as he watched the infected refugees.
¡°Come on everyone, let''s go find some other place since we''re not welcome here,¡± said an angry man.
Over 70 people turned to leave with the man but there were still several dozen that did not move.
¡°What are you doing? Hurry up!¡± shouted the man.
¡°I''m not going! The pain is just too much!¡±
¡°I don''t want to turn into those infected and hurt other villages!¡±
¡°Fine!¡± shouted the man. He stomped away through the snow leading the majority of the wounded with him.
¡°Is it really okay to let them go?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°I agree with Zundar. They are only going to cause us more trouble later. We need to take care of them now,¡± Klyn.
¡°Would you have me kill everyone the moment they are infected?¡± asked Akira.
Klyn was silent.
¡°We can not go to such extremes. Just make sure to have a shaman scout watch them and we will deal with them when they are no longer themselves,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 223: Please help
¡°...be sure to keep buying all the supplies that Grand elder Hegir and the others need for their research,¡± said Akira.
He was sitting in his office behind the desk that he rarely used.
Samuel, his advisor, was sitting across from him going over several tasks that needed Akira''s attention. Such things as the funding of new buildings, a better wall for the new outer city around the trade plaza, and buying supplies for both the city and the army.
The army was costing quite a lot of money to keep fully equipped, fed, and paid with all the expeditions they were making.
Fluffball''s head rose from the rug next to the burning fireplace, his ears were raised and fully alert as he looked at the door intently.
Knock, Knock, Knock!
¡°Come in,¡± said Akira.
Zundar opened the door and squatted down to enter the room. Behind him, was a fierce-looking half-lizard half-snake Ramia warrior of the Auga tribe.
¡°Speak,¡± said Zundar, pushing the Ramia warrior forward.
¡°Chief Raibread of the Auga tribe, sends his greetings,¡± said the Ramia warrior with a short and stiff awkward bow.
Akira''s eyebrows raised hearing this. ¡°And why did he send you here? I am sure you know that we don''t have the best of relations between Kodria and the Auga tribe.¡±
The Ramia messenger held his head high.
¡°That is all in the past. I am here to ask Kodria to send its army to our stronghold of Madu. We require your help to clean up the strange creatures that are constantly attacking our outer nomadic hunting and gathering villages,¡± said the Ramia warrior.
The way he spoke sounded more like he was demanding them to help, and not asking.
¡°So they really have reached that far south? Is it really that bad that you have to come to us?¡±
¡°We would not have asked for your help if the situation was not what it is now. Every time we try to consolidate our forces in Madu or any of the outer villages and nomad camps, they are attacked as soon as they leave the walls of their villages and temporary camps. They have already received several casualties and wounded that have ended up adding to the creatures forces.¡±
¡°These attacks are preventing us from moving everyone to our stronghold of Madu. We could find a way to handle such a problem eventually, but there is no time now that we have discovered a large gathering of the creatures to the north of Madu. It looks like they are readying to make my Auga tribe only exist in history.¡±
¡°That bad?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We only need a bit of your help to ward off the attacks so we can gather our warriors and civilians from the outer villages and nomad camps.¡±
¡°What are your orders?¡± asked Zundar.
Although there was bad blood between the two demon races, Akira could not hold onto the grudge in this situation where the Ramia civilians of the Auga tribe would suffer greatly if not helped.
Ding!
Quest received!
The Ramia demon race needs your help!
Will you answer their call?
The reward will be based on results at the end of the quest.
|
Akira turned to Samuel, ¡°Send out the order that the patrols are to be doubled. Each one is to have at least one holy shaman with them. The grand elders need to be informed that I will be leaving to take care of a gathering threat to Kodria. Kodria must stay on high alert while I am away. The holy shaman must be ready for any attack on either the inner or outer city. I''ll leave the infantry under Varbu and prince Gobbers command.¡±
¡°Zundar, let''s go start mobilizing a force to help them.¡±
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Ding!
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he stood up from the rug and stretched before chasing after Akira.
***
As the situation had sounded urgent the full army could not be mobilized and march to Madu in such a short time, plus the cost of such a maneuver would not be cheap.
Kodria was going to go broke if they continued such large-scale expeditions.
So the cavalry had been all that was mobilized, mainly because it was easier to mobilize and they would be able to arrive at their destination faster.
¡°Why haven''t we seen any infected yet?¡± asked Klyn as he rode next to Akira on another Garg.
They were currently passing through an open snowy plain that was full of large snowdrifts which could hide who knows how many enemies.
Akira sniffed the air but could only catch whiffs of old odors of monsters that had passed by several hours before.
¡°We should be reaching one of our three outer nomadic villages. Trust me, they pop up whenever we try to escort them away. But since we don''t have enough warriors to send out while still protecting the Madu stronghold and other villages at the same time we are stuck in this situation,¡± said the Ramia messenger who was sitting in a Buster sled due to being unable to ride a Garg.
When they crested one of the large snow banks Akira saw a wide spread-out village full of fur-covered leather tepees a short distance away.
The village was surrounded by a makeshift leather and ice wall to provide a small amount of protection for those inside.
When the guards of the village noticed their approach, loud war drums were hit, alerting all the rest of the villagers.
Akira motioned for the buster sled carrying the Ramia to follow him as he headed directly towards the village''s makeshift gate.
¡°Reakrak. are these people with you?¡± asked a guard who stood on a platform behind the makeshift ice wall.
¡°Rookrek, they are the people that the chief sent for! With them, we will be able to all return to the Madu stronghold!¡±
¡°How well do you trust them?¡± asked Rookrek.
¡°Zero percent.¡±
¡°Then how can we possibly believe they can protect us as we make our way there?¡±
Reakrak shrugged his scaly shoulders.
Akira and the others were forced to wait outside the village as the villagers started to take down their housing layer by layer and pack everything into their large sturdy sleds.
The creatures they used for pulling were something interesting to Akira.
They were domesticated [White Snow Lizards]. The snow lizards were quite short at around 2 feet tall, 2 or 3 feet wide, and over 6 feet long.
¡°Will these things be able to move at a quick speed if we are attacked?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The Snoizrds are built for stamina and strength to pull things. They are not meant for speed like your large wolf things. Or the Reindeer,¡± said Reakrak. He was not sitting on top of one of the Snoizrds.
Graar gave a low growled at being called a wolf thing. ''Be careful of who you insult or I might eat you later as a midnight snack.''
Reakrak waved his hand dismissing Graar''s words.
The over 100 sleds were fully packed and formed up into two lines. The several hundred villagers were riding on or at the back of the sleds with some on the flat backs of the snoizrds. Akira looked to Rookrek and the other thirty-plus village guards.
¡°You will be in charge of staying with civilians to keep them moving and protect them if anything gets past us. Five of you should stay at the front and five at the rear while the rest stay at the center to be able to react to any trouble.¡±
¡°We know how to protect our people, we don''t need you to tell us how,¡± said Rookrek dismissively.
Akira watched as they did exactly what Akira had suggested. ¡°Dolph, take care of the right wing, Vilkas the left. Zundar, take some people along with a few busters to protect the rear.¡±
¡°But we need to stay by your side!¡± said Dolph.
¡°Don''t worry I have Klyn, Fluffball, and Bo with me. I''ll be safe-ish leading the small force at the front.¡±
¡°Awooo!¡± With a howl commanding Kodria''s cavalry, they split up taking up their positions around the Ramia sleds.
¡°We are going to move as quickly as we can to the next village! We can not rest until we arrive there!¡±
Tens of the lizard jaws could be heard snapping in disagreement.
¡°The nearest nomadic village is still several days away, maybe even a week depending on which way they moved before being stopped by the strange creatures. Do you want us to ride that long?¡± asked Reakrak.
¡°We have no choice, the longer we stay in a place with such a large amount of people, the more chances the infected have of noticing us and attacking us.¡±
An hour passed since they had left the ice walls of the last village and they still had not seen any infected.
High up in the sky a raven flew scanning the wide snowy plains from above. It was able to see behind the large snowbanks before those on the ground could, making sure that there were no ambushes.
With a loud Caw, the raven flew in a circle 5 times.
¡°Looks like they finally arrived!¡± said Akira.
¡°Fifty of them,¡± said Bo, after he counted the number of times the raven flew in a circle.
¡°We''ll have to take care of this quickly,¡± said Akira.
¡°Awoooo!¡± howled Akira. He pointed his Warhammer to the northeast and urged Graar to head in that direction towards the gathering infected.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball happily as he hopped off Akira''s lap. He grew to his full size and quickly caught back up with Grarr and continued to run beside him.
Klyn began reciting one of his holy chants as they charged forward, light began emitting from his body and enveloping those around him.
Chapter 224: Stronghold of Madu
Bam!
A heavy blow from a one-handed war hammer slammed into the chest of a Skinny Grunner.
Crack!
The blow to the chest hit the core gem causing it to crack wide open.
Akira did not spend another second to look at the Grunner as he continued to charge forward with Grarr as they cleared out the gathered mob of infected that had shown up.
CRACK!
The last of the infected attackers near Akira were finally disabled.
¡°Is that all of them?¡± growled Klyn.
¡°For now,¡± said Akira.
As they had made their way to each of the outer Ramia nomadic villages the attacks grew more frequent.
They were now on the last stretch heading to the Madu Stronghold. This trip, although slightly dangerous, was also a way for Akira to know exactly where the Ramia''s main Stronghold was as well as how strong its defenses were.
¡°I don''t know how much longer I can keep doing this. I need to get some real rest, something longer than the short 1 hour naps we have been taking,¡± said Klyn.
The white holy light disappeared from Klyn''s body and revealed a haggard face.
He reached into a leather pouch and ate one of the rock-hard blue candies to try and gain some energy back. Even though Klyn''s tired muscles and body were soothed, his mind was still groggy from lack of sleep.
¡°We should be there before the moon rises,¡± said Akira.
He looked over the large caravan of over a thousand sleds carrying the several thousands of Ramia Nomads and all their belongings.
The very young and old sat in the front of the sleds bundled up in thick fur coats and blankets that were made from local monsters.
Akira was no expert on Ramia facial expressions but he could see every one of them was worn out from the stress of the constant danger that everyone faced while traveling. They were only allowed an hour or so of sleep every day.
The only reason they stopped for an hour was to feed and water the Snoizrds and let them rest. The Gargs also took this chance to rest and eat something. Of course, it was a big risk stopping due to the many infected wanting to take a bite out of them.
As the sun was descending they indeed saw the Ramia''s Madu stone and ice stronghold in the distance.
But to their horror, they saw there was already a large mob of Infected outside the outer winter ice walls of the city. They were in a fierce battle with the Rami warriors.
At the head of the sled caravan, Akira stood up in the stirrups and swung his warhammer in a circle silently issuing an order to the caravan.
Instead of continuing forward the sleds curved out and created a several layered defensive circle.
Both Reakrak and Rookrek hurried over to Akira to see what he wanted to do.
¡°You and the guards from each village are to protect the civilians here. We will go and break the siege around the city.¡±
The two Ramia representatives did not say anything and just tiredly nodded their scaly heads.
Awoooo!
With a short howl, Akira gathered the rest of the cavalry. Klyn and the other exhausted holy shaman put a rock-hard blue candy in their mouth and immediately started reciting their holy chants creating a white glowing screen in front of the group.
As one, the werewolves and the Gargs let out loud spine-tingling howls as they charged forward in order to alert the struggling Ramia fighting outside the outer Ice wall.
Unexpectedly when the thousands of Molten Onyx Infected noticed Akira and the thousands of other civilian Rami... they turned around and quickly retreated towards a dark smoky cloud that had formed far to the north of the city.
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Akira was only able to reach the slow stragglers at the rear before the group of infected had fully escaped into a dark cloud.
¡°Awoooo!¡± Akira let out a howl commanding the others to halt their chase.
¡°Somethings not right,¡± said Akira.
He looked at the large dark smokey cloud. It was similar to the dark cloud far to the north, but it was not all-encompassing and only covered a large portion of the snowy plains. No matter how long he inspected it nothing changed, it did now grow and only stayed in place.
¡°This is my first time seeing them retreat,¡± said Zundar. ¡°You think it''s a trap?¡±
¡°Whatever it is, someone or something is definitely controlling them,¡± said Akira.
When Akira turned around, what he saw made him sigh...
The Ramia sleds from the caravan were already arriving at the gates of the city. Their stress and anxiety had gotten to them. So they had started moving as soon as the infected had begun to retreat.
Without Akira and the cavalry to escort them, it could have been a catastrophe if the infected had turned around and attacked again, but luckily nothing happened to them.
Akira and the rest of the cavalry headed back to the outer city gates where Reakrak was standing with Chief Raibread who wore a red feather headdress made from some monster.
This was Akira''s first ''Official'' meeting of the Ramia chief if you discounted the time he had seen him scheming with the demigods.
¡°Why are you guys so late? If you didn''t take so long to get here we wouldn''t have lost our outer greenhouses and extra food storage,¡± said Raibread, pointing to destroyed buildings around the outer ice wall.
Several Ramia warriors were salvaging what they could from the rubble.
¡°Wait... are you picking a fight with us?¡± asked Zundar. His blood started to boil, washing away his tiredness as he glared at Raibread. He stood tall towering over everyone with his arms crossed over his chest. His two horns were sharp, shining from the daily oiling.
¡°How uncivilized. You might want to get a leash on your cow,¡± said Raibread.
Akira held back a growling Fluffball with one hand and with the other, motioned for Zundar to be quiet.
¡°It is late and I doubt your ordeal with the infected that escaped is over. May we enter the city and get some rest? We''ll help defend the city if something happens tonight and will be out of your hair tomorrow,¡± said Akira.
Raibread looked to the thousands of civilians that were entering the city.
¡°We have no rooms for you to stay in. We are already going to be at max capacity, but you can camp out on the training grounds inside,¡± said Raibread, turning around and leaving Akira and the others behind.
After the thousands of sleds passed through the gates Akira and the rest of the cavalry made their way through the slushy snow that was quickly freezing once again and passed through the outer ice walls as well as the main stone city gates.
The tall stone wall looked rather new and was made out of gray and black rough-cut blocks of stone. It was amazing that they managed to get a wall built with such shoddy material. But what it lacked in quality it made up for in thickness.
As they exited the small gatehouse tunnel they were directed to the right of the gates where a large open ground that was normally used for training was, but right now it was full of sleds.
Akira led everyone to an open spot and started to set up camp and take care of other tasks such as feeding and watering the Gargs.
***
The moon was high up in the cloudless night sky.
Boom! Da da! Boom! Da da!
The booming sound of the stronghold''s alarm drums echoed throughout the city waking both warriors and civilians alike.
It was as Akira expected, something was going to happen tonight.
¡°Form up!¡± ordered Akira as he exited his tent and hopped onto Grarr''s back. A sleepy Fluffball let out a huge yawn as he trotted over to Akira.
Klyn took his position next to Akira and was now looking less of a wreck after getting several hours of uninterrupted sleep.
¡°To the gates!¡± ordered Akira when the cavalry had all gotten into formation.
The gates were already blocked by several thousand loitering Ramia warriors gathering to head out and face the Molten onyx infected.
The majority of the Ramia warriors were all poorly armed and armored. Them lacking armor wasn''t that big of an issue since they had thick scales that helped protect them, but their weapons made Akira doubt if they would even be of any help.
When the mass of unorganized Ramia saw Akira and the cavalry heading towards them they parted and opened a path to the gates.
Without a word, Akira and the cavalry stormed out both of the gates and stopped a short distance outside the outer ice wall while they waited for the Ramia infantry to organize themselves as they spilled out onto the battlefield.
Akira looked to the distant black cloud that blocked the bright moonlight from penetrating and revealing what was inside.
That moonlight had no trouble lighting up the rest of the snowy plains revealing a large force of infected marching out of the dark clouds. The gathering infected force was far larger than the one that had retreated earlier. Akira watched as the large force started to head towards the Stronghold.
At the rear of the infected group was one large giant infected [GaiAnt Lvl 130].
Akira could see that there was someone in a thick black robe standing on its shoulder who was pointing to several different points around the city [??? Lvl ???].
Seconds later, the infected stopped and moved into a different formation. When they were finished they then started moving towards the city at a faster speed.
Chapter 225: Battle of Madu
¡°MOVE YOUR SCALY BUTTS!¡± shouted Zundar.
He kicked a few of the Ramia warriors in the butt as they were fumbling around the place. The main force of panicked Ramia warriors tried to create some semblance of a formation under the guidance of Chief Raibread before the Infected could reach them.
Fluffball, already full sized, was running behind the battle line and head-butting those that were lagging behind, making sure they moved into the formation.
¡°Fluffball!¡± shouted Akira.
Upon hearing Akira''s voice, Fluffball abandoned herding the Ramia and ran to Akira''s side.
¡°Grrr,¡± said Fluffball, greeting Mileena who sat behind Akira.
¡°Raibread, I''ll leave holding down the center to you. We''ll attack from the sides and the rear!¡± shouted Akira.
Ding!
Leadership skill activated!
Darkness Domain activated!
Allied forces under your command have been buffed!
Leadership had leveled up and is now Veteran Officer lvl 4!
Darkness domain has leveled up and is now stage 3!
|
¡°Awooooo!¡± Akira let out a howling order the echoed across the snowy plain.
The officers all let out howls of their own, the Gargs joined them letting out their coughing barks as they jumped forward and ran past the right flank of the Ramia warriors.
Seeing this the ramia warriors started panicking.
¡°They''re leaving us!¡± ¡°Those damn mutts are fleeing!¡± ¡°We''re all going to die, that''s why!¡±
¡°Shut your traps! The enemy is here!¡± snarled Raibread loudly.
The first wave of enemies to reach the Ramia infantry was nearly 100 slim stony Grunners who slammed into the front line.
Just with this first wave of attacks the front line was already buckling dangerously as the Grunner infected continued to slam into the front line and latched onto the Ramia warriors.
The Grunners clawed through the leather armor and tried to devour the warriors by biting them but were having a hard time due to the Ramia''s thick scales.
¡°Get it off! It won''t stop gnawing on me!¡± shouted one of the warriors. He flailed around trying to smack the gnawing Grunner off of him with his free arm but his feeble attacks were doing little to no damage to it.
BAM!
The head along with the glowing core of the Grunner was shattered by a large mace.
¡°Get yourself together! There''s more coming!¡± hissed Raibread before he moved off to help others having trouble.
Akira and the rest of the cavalry continued their flanking maneuver, running far around the side of the main mass of infected who were running and stumbling towards the Ramia.
As the cavalry reached the halfway point to the rear of the infected where the dark smoky cloud that the Molten Onyx infected had exited, Akira was able to see the dark figure on top of the large GaiAnt more clearly. He watched as the dark-robed figure pointed to the approaching cavalry.
Immediately a force of Grunners detached from the main body and charged towards the werewolves to block them.
The Grunners running towards them were of the four-legged variant, former snow wolves, foxes, stray dogs, and large feline monsters.
The pack of running Grunners lifted their stony heads into the air and let out silent howls of challenge as they charged towards large Gargs.
¡°Awoooo!¡± Akira gave the order to smash through them.
¡°Klyn, get ready! We''re going to have to go near the dark clouds to take care of that person!¡± shouted Akira as he pointed towards the dark-robed figure standing on the shoulder of the large GaiAnt.
Behind Akira, Mileena slotted two blunt arrowheads into her small wrist crossbow, and then pulled out her two custom-made maces that had sharp blades on the bottom and a large blunt head on the top for smashing things.
Akira was leading the charge at the center of the cavalry''s arrow formation, so he was the first to make contact with the Grunners.
They leaped up into the air to try and tackle both him and Mileena off of Grarr.
Bam!
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On his left two Grunners slammed into his shield and fell back to the ground.
On his right, a third Grunner also lunged at him...
...and was knocked out of the air by Fluffball who had jumped up and intercepted it.
¡°Keep going!¡± growled Akira as they fought their way through the Grunners trying to block them.
The passing cavalrymen and Gargs made short work of the Grunners that were knocked to the ground trampling on them and smashing their cores.
But not all of the Cavalrymen were lucky, a few were knocked off of their Garg mount and torn to shreds.
The dark-robed figure seeing the Grunners fail to stop them waved his hand again and sent out several Puffers to block them. The Puffers began to exhale their toxic gas from their plump small rocky bodies as they moved with stubby legs to try and intercept the cavalry.
Fluffball sent a few icy blue blasts towards them, halting a few.
With a wave of Akira''s arm, the Calvary moved to the right curving around the area with the Puffers. They were able to outrun the slow Puffers with the Gargs running at a speed that far outpaced the Puffers.
Klyn and the rest of the holy shaman released the full power of their chants covering the entire werewolf force to try and protect them from the dark clouds ahead of them as well as the growing toxic cloud behind them.
All that was in their way of reaching the dark-robed figure was a hundred or so regular shambling Molten Onyx Infected that were surrounding the Large GaiAnt.
The infected moved forward to intercept the cavalry as the GaiAnt started to move away with its slow but long steps.
Seeing that their target was getting away, Akira urged Grarr to move faster.
Grarr sensed the urgency and instead of plowing through the Infected heading towards them, he gathered his strength and...
...launched himself into the air flying right over the infected, landing right behind them.
Fluffball followed suit along with Dolph and Vilkas. Zundar ignored destroying the Infected and plowed through them to join back up with Akira.
The rest of the cavalry that were unable to jump over were dragged into battle with the infected and were forced to fight them off.
Akira knew this was risky, but right in front of them was most definitely one of the main culprits responsible for the Molten onyx plague.
How could he let them get away?
Akira and those who had managed to follow him chased after escaping GaiAnt.
When they were only a few paces behind it, Grarr jumped forward and slammed his body into the legs of the large GaiAnt trying to topple it.
Fluffball shot out an ice attack at its legs as well.
The large golem stumbled but quickly regained its footing.
Akira could see that the Black-robed figure was now hanging onto the large head of the golem with both hands as he had almost fallen off.
Blink!
Mileena disappeared and reappeared behind the Dark Robed figure on the GaiAnt''s left shoulder. Using the sharp butts of her weapons she stabbed forward to impale the person.
The dark figure jumped into the air and with a flip, landed on top of the GaiAnt''s head. The dark-robed figure looked down at Mileena who was now moving her arms up to aim her wrist crossbows.
Swoosh!
The large Right arm of the GaiAnt swung up to try and knock Mileena off its shoulder, only to hit nothing but air as she ducked and rolled onto its back where she stabbed her weapons into the cracks using them like ice picks.
Akira launched himself off of Grarr''s back and climbed up onto the right shoulder, where he was greeted by a thrusting sword from the dark-robed figure.
Akira was forced to duck and lean to the side to dodge the multiple thrusts.
¡°What is the [Cult of science''s] reason for releasing this plague?¡± asked Akira in a booming voice.
This one sentence startled the dark-robed figure who had their arm raised in the air and was readying another attack to keep Akira pinned down.
¡°You know too much! I, Bonestringer will end your life here!¡± said a male voice from inside the dark hood.
Using the man''s hesitation, Akira Pounced towards the robed man and tackled him off of the GaiAnt''s head, landing on the left shoulder.
The GaiAnt was still busy trying to grab Mileena but was having a hard time since she was hanging onto its back where it had trouble reaching.
BAM!
The fist of the GaiAnt finally slammed into Mileena crushing her body.
Poof!
Her crushed body dissipated into a cloud of white smoke.
¡°Missed me!¡± shouted Mileena, who was now in a different position unharmed.
Two Mileena''s appeared at once. One on the right one on the left causing the GaiAnt''s small brain to have trouble deciding which one to smash first.
Bam!
It chose the left side again, crushing her into nothing.
¡°Missed again!¡± shouted Mileena. ¡°This new skill is amazing!¡±
Akira was still wrestling with Bonestringer whose hood had fallen off in their struggle and revealed his face which looked gaunt and emaciated like that of a skeleton.
The man was slippery and kept escaping Akira''s attempts to lock him down.
Bonestringer freed his left hand and reached out towards Akira. As it neared Akira it started to glow in a misty black light.
Ding!
Akira''s Bad gut feeling +2
|
Akira started to feel an odd force tugging at his entire being coming from Bonestringer''s hand. So without a second thought, he kicked Boenstringer away from him using his full strength.
Bonestringer was kicked off the shoulder and fell behind the GaiAnt while Akira rolled off the front of the GaiAnt.
As he fell he was caught by Grarr, who had been near the GaiAnt''s feet still harassing it.
The golem immediately stopped trying to smash Mileena. With a kick of its left leg, it knocked away Fluffball who was jumping towards Bonestringer who had crash-landed into the snow.
¡°GUH¡±
The golem turned sideways and grabbed Bonestringer with its large hands and then ran towards the dark smokey wall.
Millennia jumped off the back of the GaiAnt and landed behind Akira on Grarr.
Although Akira wanted to chase after Bonestringer he was stopped when he heard Klyn call out.
¡°We need to get out of here! If we don''t leave now we¡¯re going to be surrounded and cut off by the toxic gas and that black cloud!¡±
For a few more seconds Akira watched as Bonestringer and the GaiAnt disappear into the black cloud. With great regret that he was unable to capture him, Akira turned his attention back to the Puffers.
¡°Let''s get out of here! We still have a lot of work to do!¡± said Akira.
Chapter 226: Safezone
Several days had passed since the battle against Bonestringer and his large force of Molten onyx infected. The dark cloud that had covered the icy plains near the Madu stronghold was now nowhere to be seen.
Klyn, along with his subordinate holy shaman, had been busy over the last few days helping the stronghold''s healers work on hundreds of new patients who had wounds or illnesses from the hurried march to the city as well as those who had been wounded in the battle but not infected.
¡°That new skill of yours is such a cheat!¡± said Akira as he sat down and took off his helmet to wipe his brow that was covered in sweat from the hard workout.
Poof! One of the two identical Mileena''s disappeared into a puff of white smoke.
¡°I''m still getting used to the [Phantom] skill. I think if I practice enough, I can have more than one copy appear,¡± said a smiling Mileena. She sat down next to Akira and gave him a quick peck on his scruffy cheek.
Fluffball was still in his miniature form and had been napping next to Akira. He stood up and pushed his way between the two separating them as he yawned and went back to sleep.
¡°When are we heading out?¡± asked Mileena, ignoring Fluffball''s actions.
¡°Today, Klyn has helped them as much as he can with the limited supplies that we have,¡± said Akira. ¡°Ah, here he is.¡±
¡°I could feel my ears itching so I knew someone was talking about me. I hope you weren''t bad mouthing me,¡± said Klyn.
¡°No more than usual,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I just got a message from the Grand elders. They have found information on where to find one of the main ingredients for the experimental potion. It is supposed to be near the northern tip of the South mountains. Since we are the closest to the mountains, they asked if we could hurry and get it.¡±
¡°You know exactly where it is?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No, the future queen Yuki has been informed of our need. She has sent out a few guides to meet us on our way to the mountains.¡±
***
In a small secluded ice cave that was slightly hidden underground, 6 people with mismatched armor and weapons sat around a small fire warming up their hands and feet.
¡°Damn it! It''s way too hard now to even try and get stronger!¡±
¡°Those damn Infected are killing off all of the monsters in our hunting grounds and making everything too hard to hunt!¡±
¡°When will this damn event end?¡±
¡°Hey don''t say it like that. Some people are actually suffering from this.¡±
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¡°I think our best hope of having this end quickly is if whoever that Blank guy or guild completes it.¡±
¡°Yes. Blank, please hurry up and finish the quest so we can get back to normal!¡±
Clack! Clatter!
The six people looked towards the entrance of the cave.
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°It''s just some ice falling, don''t get so jumpy. We have been using this safe zone for several months now and no monster, human, or even animals have ever come here.¡±
Swish!
Four quick blurs bolted through the cave entrance which had become pitch black with toxic purple smoke.
The blurs slammed into four of the demigods that had their backs to the entrance. Stony jaws clamped down on the necks of the demigods.
Crack!
With great force exerted the four demigods'' necks were snapped in an instant!
The wolf-like Grunners shook the bodies of now immobilized demigods a few times before turning towards the remaining two. The two remaining demigods stood up and fumbled with their swords trying to hastily unsheathe them.
Two of the Grunners launched themselves at the two Demigods.
¡°Fuck!¡± shouted the first demigod as both of his arms were broken by the strong jaws of the Grunners who were now hanging off of his limp arms.
The second demigod was able to unsheathe his weapon and use a skill.
A red light flashed out as it slammed into the approaching Gunrunners causing a large wound to appear on their rocky skin. It was not a fatal wound and so...
...he was tackled to the ground and had his throat torn out. He disappeared into several specs of light seconds later.
The five other demigods were all still alive laying on the ground unable to speak or move their bodies. All they could do was move their eyes.
When they heard a sound of footsteps near the entrance of the cave their eyes all looked in that direction.
Out of the dark purple smoke, a dark-robed figure appeared.
¡°You did a good job,¡± said a male voice that escaped from the dark hood.
The dark-robed man reached down and patted the wolf-like gunners as if they were a household pet.
¡°So you are the fabled Demigods... You''re all perfect specimens to help me relieve some of my stress and frustration,¡± said the dark-robed figure.
As he inspected the demigods he started to pull out several sharp tools from a leather pouch.
***
On a small island a short distance (by boat) away from the entrance of the unfreezing river, many skeletons were shambling about doing nothing in particular. A few of them were rummaging through a pile of bones trying out different ones to see how well they fit their body.
Captain Pegleg looked over his newly recovered forces and nodded his bald and shiny bony head.
¡°Those damned stony undead slaves are making us look bad!¡± said Captain Pegleg. He was frustrated thinking back to all he had experienced.
With a flick of his hand, his new spinal vertebrae sword let out a ''Crack!'' as it snapped out like a whip with its sharp saw-like bones covering its entire length.
¡°Soon we will be strong enough to take them on once again! We need to go search for more old battlefields so I can grow my minions!¡±
Just then one of his subordinates ran up to him and saluted.
¡°Clack, Clack Clack Clack!¡±
¡°Where!?¡±
The skeleton pointed towards the distant south shore.
¡°Damn it! They have the guts to attack me on my own island!¡± roared an extremely angered Captain Pegleg. He shook his arm and made his bone whip sword snap loudly.
¡°Sound the alarm! To your battle stations! We''ll intercept them and see if we can use their bodies in our army!¡±
Chapter 227: Peng!
Far in the south lands near the most outer edge of the Smok mountain chain, Ten people were fighting a furious battle.
¡°Damn it... I can barely see anything with this blizzard!¡± shouted Kira Stera, her hair flying around in the cold winds.
¡°Stop complaining and stay focused! We just have to defeat this monster and then we can have all the rare crystals it is hoarding!¡± shouted Yu-huu while stepping closer to the edge of the blizzard.
¡°This monster is too deadly and ferocious! This is already our tenth attempt!¡± shouted Klee Torres in exasperation.
¡°This time, we can do it!¡± shouted Yu-huu.
Klee Torres gathered his energy and cast a glowing red skill towards the deadly monster that was partially hidden inside the blizzard.
¡°Peng!¡± roared the monster as it slapped Yu-huu using its right stubby blue wing.
¡°Ah!¡± cried Yu-huu as he was knocked into a snowbank far behind the group of Demigods surrounding the blizzard.
¡°Hey you fat bird over here!¡± shouted Kira Stera, stopping the vicious monster from chasing after Yu-huu.
With a newfound fire in its eyes, the ferocious monster quickly waddled through the blizzard winds to appear in front of Kira Stera who was now hiding behind her shield.
¡°Peng! Peng! Peng!¡± shouted the ferocious monster as it began slapping Kira Stera repeatedly with both its stubby wings.
¡°Damn... these hits are too hard! I''m running out of potions! Everyone Nuke him!¡± shouted Kira Stera.
¡°I can''t! I already used all my energy!¡±
¡°Sorry, I have no more potions!¡±
¡°What? Then why are we fighting him again?¡± asked Kira Stera, her voice almost cracking as the stubby wings rained blows down on her shield.
¡°Retreat! We need to regroup and resupply before anyone dies,¡± shouted Yu-huu.
The group of ten slowly backed away while sending light attacks, all of different colors, towards the deadly monster.
The deadly blue monster hidden inside the blizzard only followed them for a short distance before stopping and returning to guard the entrance of a large basin behind it.
The group of Demigods had found this basin several hours ago and it was the reason they were trying to get past the damn monster blocking the entrance.
Inside the basin, there were large amounts of rare crystals and minerals that they could sell and maybe even use in the main event quest!
¡°Damn it! How many times are we going to fail?¡± asked Yu-huu brushing the snow off of his armor.
¡°At least no one died,¡± said Kira Stera.
The blizzard around the entrance to the basin slowly dissipated revealing the deadly blue monster.
It was a giant chubby ice blue penguin with a fluffy-looking white belly and wide white feet that blended in with the snow.
The large ice blue [Pengi-pengin] was slowly waddling back and forth in front of the entrance.
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When it reached the right wall of the entrance and turned around. It took a glance at the group of demigods that were now standing out of its attack range. It then let out a loud ¡°Peng!¡± before continuing its waddle to the left wall.
Every time it reached one of the walls it would take a glance at the group and let out a loud ¡°Peng!¡±
¡°Damn it! Is it mocking us?¡± asked Klee Torres.
¡°It looks like it.¡±
¡°We won''t be able to get the Icipunium crystal at this rate...¡±
¡°Should we le...¡±
¡°What a cute chubby bird!¡± shouted a girl behind the group of demigods.
The demigods all whirled around and found that they were surrounded by over a hundred large black wolves each with a furry warrior sitting on their backs.
¡°Ahem...Mileena, control yourself. Where not here to gush over the monsters here. We may have to fight that thing later.¡±
¡°Pii!¡± said Pii''per disagreeing with Mileena. Pii''per had joined them on their trip south and was now flying above the group lazily looking around.
¡°Ah! It''s you again! Why do you keep following me!¡± shouted Yu-huu as he pointed to the furry Akira.
¡°I''m not, you just keep on going to places I have to go to,¡± said Akira.
¡°Listen up you weaklings. We have an offer for you!¡± shouted Zundar.
Zundar''s booming voice caused the waddling ice blue penguin to stop its patrol. It picked up one of the crystals from a nearby pile and began munching on it while it watched the two groups with great interest.
¡°Hand over your potions and we will kill you quickly,¡± said Akira.
¡°What if we don''t,¡± asked a demigod with long black robes and a tall black wooden staff.
¡°What''s a skinny beanpole like you going to do? You can''t even lift any weight let alone fight me,¡± said Zundar.
¡°That''s because I''m a wizard!¡± shouted the Demigod.
¡°I see, so you are a virgin," said Akira.
¡°No! I''m not even 30 yet! I''m a wizard, I shoot fireballs and other stuff.¡±
¡°Birgin, don''t argue with them! We will not give you werewolves anything!¡± shouted an angry Yu-huu.
With a wave of Akira''s hand, the Gargs charged forward.
¡°Disable them!¡± growled Arron.
Birgin launched several fireballs towards Akira but they flew well over his head due to poor aim.
Several grunts of pain could be heard as other skills launched by the demigods slammed into the gargs and werewolves.
Although the demigods were able to launch a few attacks they were not able to fight the overwhelming werewolf force.
They were quickly smacked down and disabled one way or another. Several of them had a Garg pressing a large paw on their chest pressing them down into the cold snow.
¡°Sorry... I killed a few of them by accident,¡± said Zundar as he stood over the broken mush of a dead demigod.
¡°Give us your potions and we''ll send you off quickly,¡± said Akira looking down at Birgin.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball threateningly.
¡°The weather is sure nice outside,¡± said Birgin, looking away from Akira and Fluffball.
Without Akira needing to give the order, Grrar bit him in half.
¡°GAHHHH!¡± Birgin turned into thousands of light fragments that flew into the sky disappearing. On the snow where he had been seconds before now had a small pile of blue and red potions.
¡°What he said he was out of potions!¡± said a nearby demigod.
Akira walked to the next demigod.
¡°Don''t give in! Birgin just got what he deserved for kill stealing all the time just like Kira Stera,¡± said Yu-Huu.
¡°I think she just pooped her pants,¡± said Klyn, pointing to a Demigod that had white pants which were visibly stained brown.
¡°Kira Stera, you''re making us look bad!¡± screamed Yu-huu.
¡°I''m not a kill stealer. You just take too long to kill anything. I''ll give you the potions just don''t eat me!¡±
One by one the demigods were dealt with. Akira was able to gather over 100 potions for Klyn to take back to Kodria to be used in their experiments.
¡°What are we going to do with that thing?¡± asked Zundar pointing to the giant Ice blue [Pengi-pengin] that was still standing in the same spot watching the werewolves group.
¡°Peng!¡± it shouted in defiance when it saw Zundar pointing at it.
¡°Do we really have to fight it?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°If it stops us from entering the basin, then yes we''ll have to,¡± said Akira.
Before the Gargs could take a step towards the [Pengi-pengin], a Red blur flew down from the sky and slammed into a large snowdrift between the werewolves and the [Pengi-pengin] sending up a cloud of powdery snow everywhere.
Chapter 228: What are you doing here?
The [Pengi-pengin] continued to munch on crystals from nearby piles as it watched the struggling red-scaled figure which had slammed headfirst into the snowbank.
Two red-scaled legs and a slim tail were sticking up out of the snowbank flailing about sending snow up into the air.
¡°That looks like...¡± said Mileena.
¡°Yeah...¡± was all Akira said.
They all watched as the red scaly figure slowly dislodged itself from the snowbank.
¡°Huh? Big sister? Big brother?¡± asked the young girl in confusion.
¡°Hey, Fleur. It''s been a while since we last met,¡± said Mileena with a wave of her hand.
Fleur tilted her head to the side as she looked at the large group trying to figure out some great mystery.
¡°Big sister, why are you playing around the bathroom? Let''s go play somewhere else.¡±
¡°Peng!¡± the [Pengi-pengin] nodded its head at the question while it continued to eat a crystal.
¡°Bathroom?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Yeah, this is one of the bathroom spots used by my father and his underlings. It''s really stinky here,¡± said Fleur, pointing at the basin.
¡°Stinky?¡± asked Mileena. She looked at Akira and the other werewolves next to her but they shrugged.
¡°Do you need to go to the bathroom? I''ll just tell the dumb bird to move.¡±
Thunk!
An Ice blue crystal hit the back of Fleur''s head.
¡°Stop throwing poop at me you perverted bird!¡± shouted Fleur in anger whirling around to look at the [Pengi-pengin].
Red fire exploded out covering her entire body, her fiery red hair fluttered in the light winter wind.
The [Pengi-pengin] turned around and ignored her, continuing to eat his crystal snacks.
In an instant, the look on Mileena''s face turned to disgust as she looked at the back of the giant blue bird.
¡°Not cute at all!¡± muttered Mileena, gripping her daggers tightly.
Ding!
Akira''s Bad gut feeling +1
|
¡°OH HO HO HO!¡± A loud laugh echoed off the nearby mountain walls.
Fleur whirled around in her anger and stared at their new guests.
The two new guests lightly landed on the ground near the fuming Fleur.
¡°Looks like someone likes getting poop thrown at them! OH HO HO HO,¡± said the loud girl as she held her blue scaled hand over her mouth.
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The loud girl was covered in blue shiny gem-like scales from her feet to her neck including her slim blue tail. Compared to Fleur she was far slimmer and less muscular.
Her blue hair was curled into several large drills on each side of her face. Judging by her height and youthful face Akira guessed that she was around the same age as Fleur.
Standing behind the loud blue scaled girl was an extremely buff elderly male with dull black scales covering his entire body up to his neck.
His scales were nowhere near as shiny as either Fleur or the loud girl''s scales.
¡°What are you doing here BorraEisZimaGeleiraDreki?¡± asked Fleur.
¡°I came here after hearing someone causing a disturbance. When I arrived, I was lucky enough to see my rival getting hit in the head with poop. OH HO HO HO!¡±
The red flames on Fleur flared up even higher as she listened to the explanation. She turned her back to BorraEisZimaGeleiraDreki.
¡°I Don''t have time to play with you BorraEisZimaGeleiraDreki. I''m busy talking to my big sister and big brother,¡± said Fleur. She walked towards Mileena and Akira ignoring the two people behind her.
¡°Fleur, I told you already so many times, don''t use my full name! Use the nickname you gave me! That''s what rivals do!¡± said BorraEisZimaGeleiraDreki.
¡°Borra, I''m busy.¡± Fleur turned her attention back to Akira. The fire covering her body slowly disappeared as she calmed down and asked, ¡°So why are you guys hanging out here?¡±
¡°We were searching for a mineral and thought that it might be in there,¡± said Akira pointing towards the large basin that they now knew was a bathroom.
Fleur quickly backed away from them and looked at Mileena full of suspicion.
¡°I don''t think I want to be friends with you anymore if you want to collect poop.¡±
¡°NO! We''re not like that damn uncute bird! We''re not here to collect poop! We''re looking for something called a Fire Stone,¡± shouted Mileena.
¡°Hey! I''m still over here!¡± said Borra trying to get their attention.
¡°Fire stone?¡± asked Fleur. She tilted her head to the side trying to figure out the puzzle.
Akira looked to Klyn who started rummaging inside his pack. After a few seconds, he pulled out a book and flipped through it before shoving the book towards Fleur.
¡°This is a Fire Stone,¡± said Klyn pointing to a hand-drawn picture of a red metal stone that was glowing from the heat stored inside.
¡°Oh, that junk. There''s a lot of that in my dad''s junk pile. It''s useless because my dad''s fire is OVER 9000 times stronger!¡± said Fleur proudly sticking out her small scaly chest.
¡°Well, my father¡¯s Ice breath is over 10,000 times stronger than that Ice Stone,¡± said Borra pointing at the Ice Stone on the next page.
¡°Why are you standing next to me?!¡± asked Fleur.
¡°Because we are rivals.¡±
¡°Hmph! Well, my dad''s fire is infinity times stronger than that fire stone.¡±
¡°My father¡¯s ice breath is also infinity times stronger...¡±
¡°I said it first!¡± said Fleur interrupting Borra and using her red tail to smack away the blue scaled hand pointing at the Ice Stone.
THWACK!
Borra used her tail to hit Fleur hard on the back.
¡°OW! Why''d you hit me so hard!¡± shouted Fleur red flames flaring up once again as she jumped away from Borra.
¡°OH HO HO HO. Is my meathead rival unable to take a little smack?¡± asked Borra as an ice-cold blue Aura started to be emitted from her body.
The raging fire and cold wind forced the Gargs and werewolves to take several steps back.
The two girls launched into the air to begin their fight to the death...
¡ before they could clash, the elderly black scaled man stepped in between the two and grabbed onto the back of the icy and fiery scaled necks. He separated them from each other and gently placed them down on the snow.
¡°Lady FleurCarinaEldurWulkanDreki, Lady BorraEisZimaGeleiraDreki, it is not becoming of young ladies such as yourself to squabble like the common folk,¡± said the elderly man with an expressionless face.
Akira could see no hint that the man felt the heat or cold coming from the two young girls as he stood between them.
¡°OH HO HO HO! You are correct, Alpants. I let the heat of the moment overcome my coolness.¡±
¡°Hmph!¡± said Fleur. She turned her back to Borra and looked to Mileena.
¡°If you want I can take you to my dad''s junk pile. I''m sure he won''t care,¡± said Fleur.
¡°That would be great!¡± said Mileena.
Chapter 229: Arriving at the Junk Pile
¡°Why are you following us BorraEisZimaGeleiraDreki!¡± shouted an agitated Fleur.
¡°Hey! I said to use my nickname like all rivals do!¡± said Borra with a large smile.
¡°If I do, will you leave me alone?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Then why should I?¡±
This had been going on since Fleur had started to lead them to the junk pile and it did not look like it would stop any time soon.
¡°Borra, how long have you and Fleur been frien... rivals?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Quiet cat. I''m talking to my Rival!¡± said Borra rudely.
¡°Hey! Don''t talk like that to my big sister or I''ll give you another burn mark!¡± said Fleur.
¡°Oh? Stupid cat! OH HO HO HO!¡± said Borra, as she covered her mouth with one blue scaled hand and laughed at Fleur.
Fleur stopped moving, red flames flared up covering her entire body. Beside her, an icy wind full of snow and ice particles started to swirl around Borra.
The nearby Gargs and werewolves all took several steps back due to the intense heat and cold wind storming around the two girls.
Fleur and Borra each took one step forward towards the other, turning their bodies to the side.
Swoosh! Fleur''s flaming tail and Borra''s Ice covered tail flew through the air toward the other.
THUD!
Alpants with an expressionless face once again caught the girls'' tails in his scaled hands. He lifted the two struggling girls up off the ground while they were still covered in flames and ice.
¡°Ladies, please stop arguing. We are almost at our destination,¡± said Alpants with a hint of annoyance.
He held onto the struggling girl''s tails until they calmed back down. Fleur glared at Borra who was smiling back at her with a Cheshire cat grin.
¡°Piiii!¡± Pii''per shouted a warning from far above.
Alpants looked up at Pii''per and then to a blurry blob in the distance far ahead of them.
¡°You two, behave while I go take care of whatever it is,¡± said Alpants. He dropped the two girls onto the snow without another word.
A black scaly helmet in the shape of a fierce roaring beast with large sharp curved teeth, quickly formed around and covered his head.
Alpants launched himself into the air causing the surrounding snow to explode outwards as he shot off into the air becoming a black blur as he disappeared.
In the short moments between the takeoff and becoming a blur, Akira had seen what looked like black wings extending out from Alpants back.
¡°Do you think it''s something dangerous?¡± asked Borra with a worried tone. She was holding her tail to her chest and stroking the part that had been gripped.
¡°Why are you worrying? How many war stories has your uncle told us? Whatever it is, we can just smash it!¡± said Fleur.
¡°I like your style,¡± said Zundar, his hand reaching out to pat Fleur''s head.
Smack!
A thin blue scaled tale slammed into Zundar''s hand knocking it away from Fleur.
¡°If anyone touches Fleur their hand must be chopped off!¡± said Borra with a glare at Zundar.
Both Akira and Mileena looked at their hands that had pat Fleur''s head several times.
A short while later a black blur slammed into the snow next to the two girls.
¡°Let''s continue forward,¡± said Alpants.
The helmet covering his head quickly receded to reveal his expressionless face.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Graar let out a howl ordering the rest of the Gargs to move once again. They followed closely behind Fleur, Borra, and Alpants and soon encountered a large caravan of lamia who were all various shades of blue.
¡°It is a great honor to escort both their majesties'' daughters while we make the pilgrimage to pay our respects!¡± said a muscular ice blue lamia.
Alpants just waved the man away as if he was a nuisance.
With that, the lamia caravan took up position on the side and rear of the Gargs keeping a respectable distance between them.
***
¡°What? You say there is a tribe of Lamia that live in a heat-filled desert on another continent?¡± asked the muscular Lamia named Lammy.
Akira had gotten to know Lammy the leader of this caravan while they had traveled. Lammy and his fellow Ice Lamia had thin and wide scaly heads like a cobra. Their appearance was more snake-like than the desert lamia he had met in the past.
¡°It''s true. They live a nomadic life in the sandy Acadia desert. It is extremely hot there,¡± said Akira.
¡°I can''t even imagine it. I think I would die from the heat if I even went to the north during the summer months,¡± said Lammy.
¡°Look, we''ve arrived!¡± shouted a happy Fleur. She was still doing her best to ignore Borra who was right next to her.
Ahead of the large group was another ice-covered mountain that shot high up into the sky.
When they neared the large hole at the base of the mountain, their path was blocked when several gray blurs exited the entrance.
¡°Halt! State your businesses or be declared an enemy of his majesty!¡± roared a man with gray scales covering his entire body including his head.
The hundred or so soldiers around him all looked similar with dull gray scales and no hair on their heads.
¡°I Lammy, have come here for the yearly pilgrimage to pay our respects to his Majesty!¡±
¡°Wait here. Someone will come out to deal with you in a bit,¡± said the scaly man before turning his attention to Akira and the others.
Fleur, Borra, and Alpants led Akira and his entourage forward not looking at the scaly man and soldiers blocking the way.
¡°Halt! Or you will be branded the enemy of his majesty!¡±
¡°Shut your mouth Draconian!¡± shouted Alpants.
The commanding officer of the gray scalded soldiers took a step back when he heard the sharp reprimand. He took a closer look at the three who were leading the group.
The gray-scaled officer immediately stabbed his sword into the ground and kneeled. The rest of the grayscaled draconian soldiers followed suit.
¡°Lady FleurCarinaEldurWulkanDreki, we salute you!¡± shouted all 100+ draconian soldiers as they looked down at the snow.
¡°OH HO HO HO! Looks like you need to train your minions better Fleur,¡± said Borra covering her mouth as she laughed.
¡°Stupid Draconians!¡± said Fleur as she stomped past the kneeling soldiers.
At these two words, Akira saw the fierce Draconians visibly shiver. They knew they had made a major mistake! If Fleur decided to report the matter to her overprotective father... who knows what would happen to them...
Akira and the rest of the Werewolf cavalrymen and Gargs entered the entrance into a large bowl-like cave that was large enough to house the entire city of Kodria.
The ceiling was filled with large dripping stalactites as warmth flowed out from deeper inside the mountain.
¡°Your underlings will have to stay here in one of the stone waiting rooms. Only you, and you, can come,¡± said Alpants, pointing to Akira and Mileena.
¡°We can not allow our lord to be unprotected!¡± said Dolph.
¡°Do you think so little of my honor? No one would dare attack guests of his majesty''s daughter. With me as an escort his safety is all but assured,¡± said Alpants with his blank expressionless face.
Akira waved a hand to Dolph and Vilkas letting them know it was okay. He and Mileena followed Alpants and the two girls as they headed towards another large entrance that led deeper into the mountain.
Fluffball and Pii''per ignored the glares of Alpants and followed alongside Akira and Mileena.
¡°Yap!¡± ¡°Pii!¡± They both let out shouts of glee as they inspected their new surroundings.
At each of the new caves they passed, the laughing and ruckus activity of the Draconian soldiers immediately halted when they saw Fleur.
They all immediately kneeled and did not look up until she had passed.
Over an hour of walking had passed before they reach the center of the mountain where the Junkpile was supposed to be.
The straight path towards the entrance to the Junkpile was blocked by two towering stone doors that looked to be made for extremely tall and wide giants. The doors were cracked open slightly revealing a gold light and allowing warm air to flow out of them.
The entrance was being guarded by over 200 gray-scaled Draconians.
¡°Lady FleurCarinaEldurWulkanDreki, If you had sent word to us earlier I would have led a force to personally escort you here,¡± said an elderly man with a bow.
He had dull black scales covering his body up to his neck. His face looked eerily similar to Alpants.
¡°Brother, why are you here with lady BorraEisZimaGeleiraDreki?¡± asked the older man.
¡°Alhants, the Draconians under your command are as sloppily trained as usual,¡± said Alpants.
¡°Oh?¡± asked Alhants.
¡°OH HO HO HO!¡±
¡°What''s with all the security here?¡± asked Fleur looking at the 200 + Draconian warriors.
¡°Recently there has been a spree of burglaries in his majesty''s jun... Treasure room,¡± said Alhants.
¡°How?¡± asked Alpants, looking at the mountain''s solid stone surrounding them.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The ground underneath them started to shake violently.
¡°They have come again! EVERYONE GET INSIDE THE JUNK ROOM! WE MUST CATCH OR KILL THEM!¡± shouted Alhants.
Chapter 230: Driber
The 200 plus Draconian warriors followed Alhants as he charged through the narrow opening of the two large stone doors.
Scales covered Alpants head once again creating the ancient-looking howling beast helmet.
¡°Follow me!¡± said Alpants, his voice sounding deeper and echoed loudly off the stone walls.
Akira and Fluffball led the charge forward with Alpants, while Mileena, the two girls, and Pii-per followed behind them cautiously.
Passing through the doors they entered a dimly lit cavernous room. It was wide enough that it could house several large cities inside and there seemed to be no visible ceiling.
Although Akira could not see the center of the cavern he could feel the intense heat and see the walls and stalactites reflecting the golden flickering light.
The flickering torches of the Draconians coasted long shadows on the walls and large mountains of glittering treasure.
The Draconians warriors weaved their way through the dark wandering paths surrounded by mountains of junk as they searched for the culprits.
¡°Young ladies, this is not time to play around, so stay fully armored. You need to stay back here with your friends while I help take care of the problem,¡± said Alpants.
Both Borra and Fleur''s heads were slowly covered with scaly helmets.
Fleur''s helmet was red and in the shape of a roaring beast similar to Alpants helmet but it had the feeling and look of a younger beast.
Borra''s blue scaled helmet looked like the beast was smiling a toothy grin. To Akira, it felt like the beast wanted to play with its food before eating it.
Alpants seeing that were fully armored launched himself into the air and headed towards his brother and the draconian warriors.
¡°Let''s go to the top of that hill,¡± said Fleur pointing to the nearby treasure mountain.
¡°OH HO HO HO! I''ll beat you there!¡± shouted Borra.
The two girls launched themselves halfway up the mountain of junk in one go. With another quick jump, they reached the top and began pushing and shoving each other as they argued over who had reached the top first.
Akira and Fluffball were stuck climbing the tricky mountain of junk while Mileena was picked up by Pii''per and dropped off at the top.
When Akira and Fluffball reached the top of the junk pile, the three girls were talking amongst themselves as they watched the fights happening deeper into the cave.
Akira caught his breath and looked out towards the action.
The gray-scaled Draconian warriors had split up into several groups and were chasing after and surrounding large bear-sized monsters that had thick gray and black fur. These monsters had spinning bone drills where their noses were supposed to be and their legs were extremely thick.
[Driber lvl 122]
¡°What are they?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Food? I think,¡± said Fleur, not sure.
¡°Yep, food,¡± said Borra.
¡°They''re Dribers,¡± said Akira.
¡°You''ve dealt with them before?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°No, I just remember seeing them in one of the monster encyclopedias,¡± said Akira.
As they watched the fight Mileena turned to Fleur and asked, ¡°Fluer, I have been wondering for a while and wanted to ask you, What Demon Race are you and Borra from?¡±
¡°|Demon race? I don''t know,¡± said Fleur with a shrug of her scaled shoulders.
¡°OH HO HO HO! My meathead rival doesn''t know!¡±
¡°Then you tell me what we are!¡±
¡°It''s easy, just think of the traits me, you, and our parents have!¡±
¡°Hmm... sleep a lot, like to eat, wings, tail, and scales...¡±
¡°When you put it all together... we''re the ancient scary demons known as...¡± Borra paused to give Fleur a chance to answer.
¡°...¡± Fleur just stared at Borra silently.
¡°...Humans! But we are the special kind that has wings,¡± said Borra, sticking out her scaly chest proudly.
¡°Oh! So that''s it,¡± said Fleur, nodding her scaled head.
¡°Um, Borra... I don''t think that''s right...¡± said Mileena.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
¡°Ah!¡± they all let out cries of shock as the mountain of junk they were standing on started to shake violently.
Boom!
The junk below their feet exploded outwards with two spinning bone drills poking through the junk treasure followed by two [Dribers] who shot out from inside the mountain of junk.
The explosion of junk treasure sent Borra and Fleur tumbling down the front of the junk pile while Mileena was thrown down the side right. Akira and Fluffball were knocked back and rolled down the rear of the junk pile.
A black mist covered Akira as he transformed while tumbling down the mountain of junk.
His sharp claws stabbed into the junk pile and abruptly stopped his fall.
Akira reached out with his other claw and grabbed onto Fluffball as he was tumbling past him, also stopping his fall.
They quickly regained their footing as they stood back up and watched the two [Dribers] land on top of the Junkpile.
The [Dribers] had their backs to Akira and Fluffball as they looked down the front of the junk pile towards Borra and Fleur. Their thick legs tensed up as they ready themselves to charge down the junk pile.
Thinking quickly Akira used his skill [Potty-mouth].
¡°Hey, you $%^& horny nosed ^&%# bear like things! Come fight me you @$#$#%!¡±
The [Dribers] turned around and looked at Akira who was stumbling up the treacherous junk pile towards them.
The two [Dribers] looked at each other and gave a visible human-like shrug before they started to charge down the junk mountain straight at Akira.
Akira stopped trying to climb up the junk mountain and tried to get into a more stable stance...
...and at the last moment, he gave up and rolled to the side while slashing out with his Ultra Rare [Poo''s Midget sword].
¡°Uragggggh!¡± a loud pained growl came from one of the [Dribers] as they stampeded past.
Fluffball''s small size quickly expanded back to his full size with his ice armor gleaming as it covered his entire body.
PEW!
Fluffball shot off an ice attack at one of the passing [Dribers]. The attack pierced the thick Gray-black fur and froze the butt of the [Driber] much to its anger.
¡°Nice one Fluffball!¡± shouted Akira as he ran down the junk mountain towards the [Dribers].
¡°GRAWR!¡± said Fluffball, happy to receive the complement.
Mileena reached the [Dribers] first when she used her skill [Blink] to appear at the frosty rear of the [Driber]. Her two daggers rained down on the frozen rump several times before she had to jump away.
¡°Uragggggh!¡± the [Dribers] were now thoroughly enraged.
¡°You damn food! Who said you could push me off my spot!¡± shouted Fleur. She had managed to climb back to the top of the mountain of junk, and her body was now covered in red flickering flames that matched her fiery anger.
¡°Let''s fight together like real rivals and show them who the real boss is!¡± said Borra who appeared next to Fluer, covered in a blue snowy wind.
The two girls launched themselves at the second [Driber] who had only received a cut on its side.
The [Driber''s] attention quickly moved away from Mileena and Akira, towards the two scaled girls dropping down from the sky towards it.
The [Driber] stabilized itself with its four thick legs and stabbed its drill nose into the air... directly hitting Borra in her scalded stomach abruptly stopping her fall and flinging her back into the junk mountain.
¡°You damn food!¡± shouted Fleur as she landed on the [Driber''s] head and smashed into it with her fiery feet.
The [Driber] fell to its knees dazed. It shook its head to try and clear its vision and in doing so sent Fleur flying off into the junk mountain.
Standing back up the [Driber] looked at the two girls who were also trying to stand back up. The dizzy [Driber] launched itself in a full charge ready to pierce one of the girls with its spinning drill nose.
¡°[SHADOW CHAINS!]¡± shouted Akira.
Four shadow wolf heads leaped out of the shadows and bit into the charging [Driber''s] sturdy legs.
Fluffball slammed into its head and knocked the spinning bone drill off course where it slammed into the mountain of junk a short distance away from Borra.
The shadow chains would only be a temporary hold, but it saved the two girls from the charge and allowed them to get back onto their feet.
¡°You damn food! You''re stuck now with nowhere to go!¡± said Fleur. She stood back up and launched herself at the [Driber] landing several punches with her fiery fists.
¡°Uragggggh!¡± the [Driber] weathered the punches with several patches of its thick fur catching fire. Its thick body was able to dull the impacts meaning Fleur''s attacks were doing very little damage.
¡°That hurt you damn food!¡± shouted Borra as she managed to stand back up with help from Fluffball who had dragged her away.
In her anger, she spat out a smokey mist towards the side of the trapped [Driber] creating a layer of frost over its fur.
Fluffball gathered his energy and created a blue ice shard that shot towards the [Driber] piercing the frosty section sending blood spurting out all over Fleur who was still wildly punching it.
Akira and Mileena could not help them as they were still fighting the first [Driber] which was now covered in hundreds of cuts, some deep and some shallow. Blood was flowing from its many wounds.
¡°Uragggggh!¡± shouted the enraged second [Driber] as it broke free of the shadow chains.
It swung its head to the side and knocked Fleur away with its spinning drill. It ignored Fleur and charged towards Fluffball and Borra who were redying more ice attacks.
BAM!
A dark blur slammed into the second [Driber] shattering its head before it could reach Borra.
Alpants, covered in blood, stood in front of the decapitated [Driber] for only a second before launching himself at the first [Driber].
FWOOOSH! A Long black flame exited out of his helmet and engulfed the [Driber] burning it into a large chunk of charcoal in mere seconds.
With the two [Dribers] dead he turned around and leaped back to Fleur and Borra who were sitting down at the base of the mountain of junk.
¡°You two, that was a dangerous thing to do! Those beasts are not like the dumb trolls you guys play with. Are you hurt?¡± asked Alpants.
He made sure to thoroughly look over the girls for any wounds.
¡°Look what it did to my scales! It scratched them!¡± said Borra pointing to a large white scratch across her stomach.
¡°Hmm... it''s not anything serious, it should heal within a month or two,¡± said Alpants as he looked at the scratch.
¡°Fleur did you see! I was able to let out a bit of my flames!¡± said Borra.
¡°Yea I saw...¡± said Fleur, a bit disheartened at being beaten by Borra.
¡°See, this is why you should team up with me, your rival, more often. I can teach you how to do it.¡±
Chapter 231: Down the hole
When Alpants was satisfied that the two girls were Okay he turned to Akira.
¡°Please make sure they don''t go doing anything stupid,¡± was all he said before he launched himself into the air headed towards one of the remaining groups of [Dribers].
¡°OH HO HO HO! We showed that food who the boss was. Although we can''t eat it now...¡± said Bora looking at the charred remains of the two [Dribers].
¡°Well... yeah, but I think Alpants did most of the work for us,¡± said Fleur.
She looked away from the dead creatures and returned to her spot at the top of the mountain of junk treasure so she could watch the last of the fighting.
Akira and Mileena continued to climb up the mountain of junk treasure while Borra continued to snoop around the base of the Junk mountain.
¡°Hey, Fleur! I found one of the holes they came from. It''s huge,¡± said Borra.
¡°Really?¡± asked Fleur. She jumped down from the top of the junk mountain landing next to Borra and out of Akira and Mileena''s view.
¡°Let''s see where it goes!¡± said Borra.
Fleur shrugged her shoulders, not really caring.
Before Akira or Mileena could say or do anything to stop them, the two jumped inside the hole.
¡°Come on Fluffball, we''ve got to drag those two back here,¡± said Akira while jumping off of the junk pile.
¡°What about me?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Stay here. If we''re not back by the time the [Dribers] are killed, then you need to tell Alpants where we went!¡± said Akira.
He waved to Mileena and then jumped into the hole to chase after the two trouble makers.
Mileena was not happy with just standing around and stomped her foot in frustration.
But she still followed what he asked her to do since she didn''t want there to be a misunderstanding with the disappearance of everyone.
***
The rock tunnel grew darker as Akira jogged down the tunnel and moved away from the entrance the light quickly disappeared turning to pitch black.
With his enhanced vision he was able to catch a glimpse of a dark figure turning down a tunnel ahead of him. With such poor vision, he was unable to tell if it was one of the girls... or something else.
Akira activated the skill [Life Detection], his eyes let out a flash of yellow as he chased after the two girls down the tunnel he thought they went down.
As he turned the corner of the tunnel his skill was still activated and he saw two bodies outlined in a yellow glowing light. The two bodies were as bright as torches and were now running down the far end of the dark tunnel.
¡°Fleur! Borra! Come back here!¡± shouted Akira.
His growling voice echoed off the tunnel walls but the two yellow glowing bodies did not stop and continued to run down the tunnel and disappeared from his vision when the [Life Detection] skill ended.
As he ran down the tunnel he placed his hand on the wall to help keep his balance in case he stepped on anything that might trip him.
The wall underneath his hand was surprisingly extremely smooth even though it had been drilled out by the nose of one of the [Dribers].
When Akira reached a 4-way branch in the stone tunnel, he stopped and focused his ears on the distant echoing footsteps. It was little use as the echoing footsteps seemed to come from each of the tunnels making it near impossible to find the right path the two girls had taken by sound alone.
He sniffed the air to try and get a better idea.
¡°What do you think Fluffball?¡± asked Akira.
Fluffball walked to each of the 4 tunnel entrances and sniffed the ground and the air.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball after finishing his sniffspection.
¡°I thought so too,¡± said Akira, nodding his head.
They picked the farthest right tunnel and again started to blindly run down the tunnel.
The walls of the tunnel grew smaller and shorter the farther they moved and soon Akira was forced to stay in front with Fluffball following behind him.
Their wandering in silence only lasted for a few more minutes before they started to hear the sound of battle ahead of them.
Akira put more strength into his legs as he ran even faster down the cramped tunnel.
The tunnel once again started to widen and inclined up to an exit which was glowing with a bright white light nearly blinding him due to his eyes being used to the darkness of the tunnel.
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¡°You damn Thieves!¡± shouted Fleur.
¡°Taste some of my fiery ice breath of justice!¡± shouted Borra.
¡°Fwuu... Cough, Cough, Cough... uhh... I feel like I''m going to be sick... Bluuuurghhhh!¡±
¡°Why are you getting sick in the middle of a fight, Borra!?¡±
Akira exited the tunnel and entered into a large cave that was covered in glowing white snow-moss which lit up the entire cavern.
Near a large pile of ''treasure'', Fleur was fighting with two small flying creatures trying to protect Borra who was bent over holding her stomach. She was getting smacked around and hit in the head with their wings.
[Theef Brying Munki lvl 100]
Akira activated the skill [Shield slam] and rocketed forward to slam into the two [Theef Brying Munkies] that were trying to scratch Fleur''s face with their claws.
They were knocked flying and slammed into the snow-moss-covered wall, knocking them senseless for a few seconds.
Before they could flap their wings and get out of danger Fluffball shot past Akira and let out two blue ice attacks which slammed into the [Theef Brying Munkies] bodies freezing their wings.
Akira sent two blue [Cross attacks] flying towards the frozen [Theef Brying Munkies] and severed them into four parts.
¡°Yap...¡± Fluffball was sad that he had not been able to land the final blow and walked back over to Akira sulking.
The remaining 20 to 30 [Theef Brying Munkies] screeched and chattered from the safety of the ceiling as they hid behind the stalactites.
¡°Borra are you OK?¡± asked Akira walking over to the two girls.
¡°I''m fine... Bleeeeeeh....¡±
Akira took a step back as a freezing liquid spewed out of Borra''s mouth.
¡°Really, I am fine. The fire just came out wrong. I think I may have swallowed some of it... BLLEEEEEEEH!¡±
Fleur stood as far away as she could while still being able to pat Borra on the back with the tips of her scaled fingers.
¡°How''d you end up in a fight with those things? Wait, why did you two just jump into the hole?¡± asked Akira. ¡°It''s dangerous to do stuff like that!¡±
¡°When we got here we found those mini fast food trying to steal the junk that the big food had stolen,¡± said Fleur ignoring Akira''s other questions.
¡°That''s right! We stopped those thieves cold,¡± said Borra, who was now wiping her mouth with her scaled arm.
As if to prove her point one of the [Theef Brying Munkie] popped its head out from behind the stalactite and threw a piece of junk at Fleur.
The blue rock bounced off her forehead and fell to the ground.
Fleur clutched her head as she looked up at the [Theef Brying Munkie]. Red fire flared up as her anger grew.
¡°You damned fast food! I''ll...¡± before she could jump into the air to start fighting the group, Akira grabbed her shoulder and slammed her back down.
¡°Hot hot hot!¡± said Akira waving his armored hand trying to cool it.
Fwosh! Fluffball tried to help by letting out a frost breath that created a layer of ice on the outside.
¡°Fluffball... thanks but...¡± Akira was forced to smack the frozen armored hand on his leg to break off the ice.
¡°There''s too many of them for you to handle,¡± said Akira looking at Fleur.
Fleur still fuming picked up a piece of junk and threw it at the [Theef Brying Munkie]... which it caught.
Nearly ten other [Theef Brying Munkies] jumped at the first to try and steal the treasure. They fought before one of them was able to fight off the others and kept the treasure for itself.
The 20-30 plus [Theef Brying Munkies] all looked to Fleur with pleading eyes, waiting for her to throw something to them as well.
This only made Fleur angrier so she decided to just ignore them.
Akira walked over to the two dead [Theef Brying Munkies] and found one of the severed frozen arms was still holding onto something it had tried to take from the pile of junk treasure.
He pried open the frozen hand breaking off a few fingers before he was able to pull out a yellow gem.
Ding!
A very important gem for the very unimportant [Super normal bracelet].
|
Akira was jolted with the memory of the gems and [Super normal bracelet]. With all that was going on he had entirely forgotten about it.
¡°Fleur... Is it alright if I take this?¡± asked Akira.
Fleur looked up from inspecting the pile of junk treasure.
¡°Eh? You like junk rocks like that?¡± asked Fleur.
¡°Not particularly, I just thought it would be nice to have this,¡± said Akira.
¡°Sure,¡± said Fleur with a wave of her hand. She continued to throw pieces of junk treasure into different piles as she sorted everything.
Borra walked over to Fluffball and began to thoroughly inspect him. She even started to pat him, causing Fluffball to give an annoyed look towards Akira.
¡°You are quite skilled with ice, I am very impressed,¡± said Borra.
Fluffball only responded by swatting her hand away with his tail.
¡°OH HO HO HO! I have decided that I will allow you to be my minion!¡±
Hearing this Fluffball snorted and turned his head away from her.
¡°Hey! Are you listening?¡±
Fluffball ran over to Akira and hid behind him separating himself from her and stared at her from between Akira''s legs.
¡°Look I have food~!¡± said Borra, pulling out a stick of cold mystery meat.
¡°Borra stop that. If you want a minion like that, just go find one yourself,¡± said Fleur as she continued to sort the junk treasure.
¡°Fine~. What type of minion is he?¡± asked Borra.
¡°Fluffball is not a minion, he is my companion. He is an Ice wolf and they can be found in great numbers up north. But Fluffball... is quite special. Plus I have trained him since he was a small pup.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°Alright! I will go north and get me a minion companion as well!¡± said Borra.
¡°I won''t allow that,¡± came a stern voice from behind them near the tunnel entrance.
Akira turned to see Alpants and Mileena entering the tunnel with a few of the other guards.
¡°What! Why?¡± asked a pouting Borra.
¡°The north is far too dangerous right now,¡± said Alpants.
¡°But they live there!¡± said Borra pointing at Akira.
¡°And we are constantly in danger. The reason we came here with you was to get material to try and create a cure for the dangerous Molten Onyx Plague that is affecting a large portion of the north,¡± said Akira.
¡°Thank you for your help in keeping them safe. I will see to it that you receive the minerals that you need,¡± said Alpants.
Chapter 232: Riber Library
Akira watched the land pass by as the fast Sloop-of-war sailed down the river nearing its destination.
Ding!
Announcement!
Blank has gathered enough resources to complete Branch 2 stage 2!
Branch 2 stage 3 Fermentation start!
|
Branch 2 stage 2 complete!
Reward: 200 gold, 200 main quest points, +20 fame!
Branch 2 stage 3 Fermentation: Search for an ingredient or experiment on ways to combine and ferment the main ingredient and base ingredient/s together.
|
Akira re-read the message once again as the sloop slowed down and weighed anchor offshore of the Dwarf city Ribor''s stone docks.
Only a few other people had joined him on this trip along with his guards.
¡°Big brother, you just got back to Kodria and yet you immediately dragged me all the way out here...¡± said a displeased Azura.
¡°I had no choice since I''m fighting against the fiercest general,¡± said Akira.
¡°Who?¡± asked Azura, looking around but seeing no enemy.
¡°Time.¡±
¡°Nice place... I lie, it¡¯s cold and nothing but snowy rocks,¡± said Chack, who was bundled in several layers of fur and leather armor to keep warm.
Akira looked at the Ribor city which was embedded into the mountainside and had to agree with Chack, there wasn''t much to look at other than the snow-covered stone-carved buildings.
¡°You think the Dwarves have a solution for combining and fermenting the minerals and liquids together?¡± asked Klyn. He had just finished reading through all of the most recent notes that had been given to him by his grandfather.
¡°If they don''t know, maybe there is something in their library that can point us to the right path,¡± said Akira as he climbed down a rope ladder into a waiting rowboat.
Fluffball jumped down into Akira''s arms rocking the boat fiercely from his heavy weight even though he was still in his miniature form.
Mileena silently descended the ladder and hopped down next to Akira.
¡°I still don''t know why I had to come...¡± said Azura.
¡°If you wanted to stay behind you could have told us. Your brother thought you would want to get out of the city and enjoy some fresh air,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Well... of course, but...¡± Azura only continued to mumble as she looked back between Mileena and Akira.
When Klyn and his subordinates climbed into the rowboat they headed to the docks. Zundar would have to wait for the next ride along with the other guards.
Upon reaching the bare stone docks they were greeted by a young 60-year-old dwarf. The young dwarf was the only person they could see outside of the stone buildings weathering the winter cold.
¡°I am Gu''red Meard. Are you Lord Akira?¡± asked Gu''red.
Gu''red was just as short as all the other Dwarves Akira had met before. His face was rather smooth and boyish compared to the rugged face of older Dwarves. His deep red beard that was braided into two, was also rather short only reaching his upper chest, this was also a good way to judge the age of most male Dwarves.
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¡°I am,¡± said Akira.
Fluffball was busy sniffing the air, snowy ground, and even Gu''red who stiffened up for a second as Fluffball walked by him.
¡°The elders sent me out here so that I can lead you to the library,¡± said Gu''red.
¡°So they were unable to figure out a solution?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°It is a great shame that we do not know enough about that mineral or the type of combination you asked about. The only thing that we can do is show you the recordings from past generations that may be of help. The elders are currently gathering several of the scrolls and books as we speak,¡± said Gu''red.
¡°Please lead the way,¡± said Akira when Zundar and the rest of the guards arrived.
With everyone gathered they headed off into one of the snow-covered stone buildings. It was quite cramped inside the building''s small front entrance and equal small tunnel until they reached one of the smooth main tunnels that were carved into the mountain to allow fast travel for large groups of dwarves.
Using the main tunnel they were able to quickly arrive at a large doomed cavernous room.
In the air, there were hundreds of floating metal balls emitting green light. The metal balls lit up the thousands of rows of bookcases and racks that held ancient scrolls.
The metal balls were also emitting waves of heat to keep the cold and moist air at bay so that it did not affect the books and scrolls.
There were a dozen or so long wooden tables near the entrance of the tunnel that they had just exited out of. Each table was large enough that it could hold 100 or more Dwarf sized people.
Gu''red led them to a nearby table that already had several large chairs replacing the smaller ones.
¡°The Elders will be with you shortly,¡± said Gu''red as he stood next to the table. ¡°Some of the books were written in the old tongue so if you need help reading them I can be of assistance for that as well.¡±
¡°It''s fine. I am well enough experienced and will be able to read the ancient Dwarvish,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Really?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Of course,¡± said Klyn as he pushed his glasses up his nose. ¡°You know reading and learning new things is one of my super-secret special skills.¡±
¡°I''m amazed you have time to be learning other languages with all the research you put into the holy chants, cure potion, and the Molten onyx infected,¡± said Akira.
A short time after arriving at the table, the dwarf elders exited from different parts of the library leading several other dwarves behind them who were all carrying large stacks of books and old scrolls nearly as tall as them.
With a thump! They placed all the books and scrolls onto the table around everyone that had gathered at the table.
One of the dwarfs who was only carrying a large fat scroll that looked brand new, only stared at Akira waiting for instructions.
Akira pointed to Azura who was sitting next to him. The dwarf silently nodded and strained his thick muscles to lift it up onto the table and place it in front of Azura.
¡°What''s this...?¡± asked a curious Azura. She unrolled a portion of the large scroll and read the first few lines.
Her head shot up and her eyes narrowed as she looked at Akira with a sharp gaze.
¡°You only brought me here to do paperwork!¡±
¡°I don''t know what you''re talking about...¡± said Akira as he grabbed a book from the pile next to him and turned away from Azura''s accusing gaze.
Azura stared daggers into his back as he ignored her and focused on the text as if it were the most interesting thing he had ever read before.
Time moved on slowly as they worked their way through the many books and scrolls. They made sure to take notes on anything they thought might be helpful for later.
Gu''red and a few other Dwarves came back a few hours later with several pots of warm steaming tea and trays of extremely dry-looking biscuits.
Akira put down the book he had been reading and stretched while letting out a long yawn.
¡°Thanks,¡± said Akira quietly enough to not disturb the others.
¡°We can''t have our guests dying from thirst or hunger,¡± said Gu''red equally quiet.
Akira looked over to Azura and saw that she had only gotten through a small portion of the paperwork.
Mileena, who was sitting near Akira, had already started to gnaw on one of the hard biscuits, but after getting nowhere with the rock-like biscuit, she threw it back onto a platter.
Klyn was still engrossed in his reading while Zundar was sprawled over the table snoring loudly with a snot bubble expanding and receding every time he breathed. The heavy reading must have knocked him out.
...buru...
A faint sound caught Akira''s attention for only a moment before disappearing. As he looked around the table everyone was still focused on reading, sleeping, or munching on rock biscuits.
...Buru...
Fluffball''s head raised and his ears perked as he turned to look at a distant tunnel at the far end of the library cave where the sound had come from.
BURU!
The loud echoing sound of a goat war horn echoed through the entire Library, vibrating the very ground as the sound bounced off the stone walls, ceiling, and floor.
Gu''red who was about to leave... spun around and listened intently to the war horn.
POP!
The snot bubble burst and Zundar leaped to his feet. ¡°Come at me! I''m ready for you! Oh...¡± said Zundar as he looked around and found himself in the library and not on a battlefield.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Klyn as he looked up from the book he held.
¡°Gountain city is under attack!¡± said Gu''red.
Chapter 233: Aiding Gountain city
¡°By who?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I have no idea. The relay warning is only for when they are under attack and need reinforcements,¡± said Gu''red.
Ding!
New quest received!
Gountain city under attack!
An unknown force is attacking the city of Gountain. Help drive off the attack!
If you successfully defeat the entire force you will receive a bonus reward.
Accept? Y / N
|
Akira stood up along with the energetic Fluffball.
¡°Chack you need to keep Azura safe here. Zundar, Klyn, Mileena, and the rest of you come with me,¡± ordered Akira.
¡°I understand. I will keep her safe during her own battle!¡± said Chack as he stood ramrod straight and saluted Akira.
Azura stood up and kicked him in his padded butt.
¡°It''s not a Battle!¡± she shouted.
¡°...I lie! It''s just paperwork!¡±
¡°What are you planning to do!?¡± asked Gu''red.
¡°Take us to the tunnel connected to Gountain city, we''ll help fight whoever it is.¡±
[+3 honor!]
Gu''red only paused for a moment before deciding to lead them through the many rows of bookshelves towards a large tunnel that the sound of the horn had come from.
As they entered and ran down the tunnel they passed many tunnels before reaching the main large tunnel which they followed until they reached a large spartan square room.
The room had several hundreds of small bunk beds carved into the stone walls all along the walls.
At the end of the room stood thirty or so dwarf warriors who were quietly muttering to themselves in front of a closed large stone gate.
¡°Open the gates!¡± shouted Gu''red.
¡°What for? The garrison force has already left,¡± asked an old dwarf with a large red nose and puffy cheeks.
¡°These guys want to help! Hurry!¡± said an agitated Gu''red.
The Dwarves guarding the stone gate looked at Akira and his odd assortment of companions and guards.
With a shrug, the older dwarf nodded to the other dwarves. Ten dwarves on each side of the gate pulled out the thick wooden beams securing the gate shut. With loud thuds, they were dropped to the ground.
Fifteen Dwarves on each side of the gate grabbed onto two large stone handles and pulled with all their might opening the gates just enough for Akira and co. to pass.
Akira was the first to pass through the doors into the dark tunnel followed by Fluffball, Mileena, and the others.
Although Gu''red had high stamina he was having a hard time keeping up with the rest of the group so Zundar picked him up and carried him like a sack of potatoes much to Gu''red''s discomfort.
They continued to run for over ten minutes before they heard the heavy footsteps of the sturdy fully armored dwarf warriors.
It was the hundreds of garrison dwarf troops that had left a whole before Akira and co. They were all running at a steady pace as quick as their legs would allow. The entire tunnel was lit up by the running dwarf warriors that were carrying torches to light the way.
¡°Make way!¡± shouted Gu''red looking over his shoulder at the Dwarf warriors ahead of them.
¡°Coming through!¡± shouted Akira as he jumped over, twirled around, and squeezed past the dwarf warriors.
The group''s appearance behind the warriors and rushing past them gave a great shock to some of the Dwarves that they fell on their butt holding their chest as their hearts raced wildly.
Akira and the rest of the group quickly passed the dwarf soldiers and continued running down the tunnel for another 30 minutes.
¡°We should be nearing the end of the tunnel!¡± shouted Gu''red.
ScreechCrackBam!
¡°#$%^&.¡±
The sound of a distant battle reached their ears just after Gu''red spoke. Somewhere ahead of them a loud sound of metal continuously clanging off of what sounded like stone rang out along with numerous curses in dwarvish.
As they exited the main tunnel Akira found himself once again in another spartan square barracks room.
The stone gates on the opposite side of the room were already slightly open and was the source of the fighting and cursing they had heard in the tunnel.
Ten dwarf warriors on each side of the gate doors were furiously pushing them forward trying to stem the flow of Molten Onyx Infected they were trying to swarm over the 60 or so heavily armored Dwarves armed maces and large shields that were almost as big as them.
They were in a life and death battle blocking the infected from entering the tunnel barracks and the many tunnels behind them.
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A black mist covered Akira as he fully transformed into a fierce black-furred werewolf.
A dark Aura spread out lightly covering the allied forces around Akira.
Ding!
Leadership and Darkness Domain have strengthened all allied forces.
Allied forces'' morale has risen to a point that they will not give up over a small matter such as being outnumbered.
|
Klyn finished chanting a holy spell and pointed a finger at Akira causing the holy light to cover his shield and warhammer creating a bizarre sight of a mixture of darkness and light.
Several of the Dwarves feeling the strong aura emitting from Akira turned their heads from the battle in front of them and stared with mouths open at the approaching group.
¡°Coming through!¡± growled Akira as he completely jumped over the dwarf warriors.
A full-sized Fluffball followed him along with Mileena, Zundar, Dolph and Vilkas, and the rest of the guards.
Klyn and the rest of the holy shaman did not jump into the fray, they stayed behind the dwarf shield wall and continued to chant buffs for the rest of the group.
Akira landed on top of a skinny human-formed Grunner and smashed its core with one swing of his one-handed Warhammer.
¡°Who are they?¡± a heavily armored dwarf asked Gu''red who had been dropped off behind the shield wall by Zundar.
Gu''red was still trying to settle his stomach from the unpleasant ride but managed to say, ¡°Allies from Kodria.¡±
With the appearance of Akira and co. adding their power to the small group of Dwarves they were able to push the molten onyx infected away from the gates of the tunnel.
The Dwarven Warriors fighting along with Akira were quick at picking up and learning to attack the crystals on the special Infected that had been causing them so much trouble.
Akira took a quick second to assess the situation outside the tunnel gates.
In the waning sunlight, he could see a large frozen basin shaped like a bowl. The edges on the entire right and left of the basin lead to a sharp fall where nothing could be seen.
As he looked out he could see that there were currently four separate battles happening.
Seeing Akira inspecting the battlefield a nearby dwarf in-between swinging his mace at an infecteds head, shouted out, ¡°We were caught off guard and separated.¡±
The battle at the south tunnel connected to the northern end of the basin was where Akira and the small group of Dwarves were fighting.
Not that far away from the southern tunnel was a second force of nearly a thousand Dwarven warriors fighting the molten onyx infected that were blocking them from accessing the large stone gates of Gountain city.
The third battle was at the north tunnel on the opposite side of the basin from the south tunnel. The Dwarven warriors from several other cities were trying to push through the swarm of infected and help clear the area up and join the main force near the city gates.
The last battle was a small group of 100 or so heavily armored warriors that had been cut off from the forces at the north tunnel. Although they were extremely stout and sturdy, they were being slowly pushed back towards the basin''s upper-right edge.
¡°Awooo!¡± Akira let out a howl and pointed his war hammer to the battle at the main gates.
With his command, those under his command started to help battle clear a path to the main gates.
The Dwarf warriors from Ribor city arrived moments later and without hesitation charged out to join Akira and the rest of the werewolves.
They knew that scattered forces needed to link up together so that they could present a united front and push the molten onyx infected back out of the basin.
When the Dwarves at the main gates saw Akira and the other Dwarves crushing the enemy with such great power they let out several cheers and shouts in dwarvish.
¡°Fight!¡± ¡°Fight!¡± ¡°Stand strong as stone!¡± shouted several of the Dwarven officers.
As Akira neared the main force their morale rose as [Dark domain] covered them and gave them a boost.
The combined werewolf and dwarf force was able to fully push the Molten Onyx Infected back away from the south tunnel and connect up with the main force in front of the main gates.
Akira did not stop at the main gates.
¡°Awooo!¡± he let out another howl and pointed towards the north tunnel.
The howl sent shivers down the back of the several thousands of Dwarves who were all glad that he was fighting alongside them and not against them.
Akira and Fluffball and Zundar were at the front of the charge smashing, bashing, and clobbering the molten onyx infected out of the way to connect up with those at the north tunnel.
Now with the three forces consolidated they were able to start pushing back on the swarms of Molten onyx infected.
The infected that had been somewhat scattered between the four battles were now more consolidated. They were giving a stiffer resistance now that they were only fighting on two fronts.
¡°I''ll be right back!¡± shouted Akira.
He activated the skill [Shield Slam] and rushed forward plowing through the infected, pushing tens if not hundreds of the infected off the edge of the basin as he made his way to the small group of trapped Dwarven warriors.
Unfortunately, his skill was only effective enough to create a path for several seconds before the Molten Onyx Infected swarmed again blocking Mileena and the rest of the werewolves and Dwarves. The only one that managed to follow alongside him was fluffball.
¡°We¡¯re here to take you back to the main force!¡± growled Akira as he smashed his way through the encirclement.
¡°You''re just going to be trapped here along with us!¡± shouted a long gray-bearded dwarf warrior who was using a two-handed Warhammer that looked to weigh as much as Akira.
Bam!
The warhammer swung forward and slammed into several infected crumbling several already damaged stone arms and legs.
¡°Just follow me! I''ll make sure to clear you a path!¡± growled Akira.
Step by step Akira helped lessen the pressure on their left flank and allowed them to head north towards the forces that were now fully gathered and pushing back on the infected.
Mileena, his guards, and Zundar were fiercely fighting on the front lines to try and meet back up with Akira.
Hundreds of Infected were being knocked off the edge as Akira and the Dwarves tried to rejoin the main force.
¡°SCREEEE!¡±
Fwoosh!
An unknown winged creature swooped down from the now dimly lit sky.
It grabbed onto two of the dwarf warriors next to Akira and flapped its wings to lift them into the air before releasing them over the edge of the basin.
Akira looked up at the new enemy staring at it intently. It was covered in black stony skin just like the Molten Onyx Infected that he was fighting on the ground.
[Bryer lvl 120]
The [Bryer] flew higher into the sky and swirled around for another attack.
Before it started to dive down for a second attack, Akira used his potty mouth skill, ¡°You @#%^ bird brain! Come fight me!¡±
The [Bryer] focused on Akira with its new hatred and dived at him with its sharp black stony claws wide open.
At the last moment, Akira stepped to the side and jumped up into the air swinging his warhammer at the wing right in front of him.
The [Bryer] immediately tucked in its wing and twirled out of his reach while simultaneously using one of its claws to grab onto Akira''s outstretched arm.
Before it could unfurl its wings and fly up into the air, it was hit right in the chest by the two-handed war hammer from the graybeard dwarf warrior.
Fluffball joined the attack with a headbutt. The two attacks plus Akira''s weight caused the [Bryer] to crash into the ground dragging Akira and Fluffball along with it as it rolled to the edge of the basin and fell over the side.
Akira tried to grab onto several of the frozen vines at the edge but they broke from the weight and...
...they were falling...
...disappearing into the darkness.
Chapter 234: Wind
Pain... Akira''s body ached all over.
The cold winter mountain wind tugged at his body which was no longer transformed. It continued to try to push and pull him from where he lay.
Akira slowly sat up and braced himself against the wind that was growing even more fierce. He checked his body to see how bad his wounds were. Oddly enough he found he had no broken bones or major wounds even though his body felt like every bone had been broken and was extremely uncomfortable when trying to move.
He did not know how long he had been knocked out and with how dark it was, he would have a hard time tracking time anyways.
Fluffball, only a short distance away, noticed Akira''s movement and struggled to stand up...
¡°Arrr...,¡± he let out a low whimper and fell back into the deep snow.
Seeing this, Akira forgot about inspecting his surroundings and crawled through the deep snow while fighting against the strong wind to reach Fluffball.
As he pulled his helmet visor up to inspect the wounded Fluffball, he received a rough lick on the nose from Fluffball.
After a quick inspection, the only visible damage was a broken front right leg that was covered in frozen blood.
Reaching into his bag Akira took out one of the several red potions he kept for emergencies. As gently as he could, he brushed off the snow and bloody ice from the wounded leg.
As Akira did this Fluffball did not let out any sound, but Akira could feel Fluffball''s body quiver as the bloody ice was removed.
When the ice was removed Akira poured a small portion of the red liquid onto the wound. Another small portion of the potion was slowly poured into Fluffball''s mouth leaving around half of the potion left.
Seeing the potion slowly taking effect Akira quickly took in his surroundings. From where he sat he was unable to see the stars above. The only light fighting against the complete darkness was coming from the gleaming icy walls of the mountain that shot up into the sky.
Even trying straining his vision to its max he was still unable to see any sign of the Dwarves or werewolves that had been fighting along with him. Even if the people at the top of the mountain shouted down the roaring wind passing by him ate most of the sound and replaced it with a cold wail as it rushed by him.
Because of the fierce wind, he could not light a torch to get a complete view of his surroundings. But there really wasn''t much to see, he was on a rocky ledge that jutted out from the icy mountain some unknown distance from the top.
He looked over to the spot he had woken up from and saw that only a few paces away there was a large freshly broken-off area that led to the empty black abyss.
¡°So that''s where the [Bryer] hit...¡± said Akira.
If Akira and Fluffball had not landed where they had they would have followed the [Bryer] all the way down to the bottom of the Abyss.
The biting cold wind was getting worse as Akira picked up his shield and warhammer that lay on the ground.
He placed his shield onto his back and his warhammer on his belt and then scooped Fluffball up off the ground as he walked towards the mountain wall to inspect it.
There was no way to safely climb the wall up or down with the injured Fluffball due to the ice being fickle.
As Akira walked along the wall with his hand sliding across the ice it dipped when it reached a crack.
This was what Akira had been looking for.
Using his right shoulder he slammed into the ice wall.
Crack!
The sound of ice breaking rang out as a large portion of the ice fell to the ground.
Akira again rammed his shoulder into the wall and the rest of the ice fell to the ground revealing a stone door that was as tall as his chest.
Akira rammed his full weight against the stone door causing it to let out a loud crack. As he continued to push forward with all his strength the sound of scraping noises rang out as the door was pushed open enough for someone to enter.
¡°I hope this is a tunnel made by the Dwarves...¡± muttered Akira as he crouched down and moved sideways to squeeze past the thick stone door.
The freezing wind followed behind him entering the dark passage ahead of him bringing in the powder snow and fresh air to the tunnel that had been closed off for who knows how many hundreds of years.
Akira was forced to climb hunched over, up a steep stone ramp that only had small worn-out steps that looked to have been built for the small legs of the dwarves. The steps were so worn that they almost melded into each other.
Akira thought that even the dwarves would have a hard time climbing the ramp.
As he climbed he felt reassured that he would be able to reach some other tunnel that could connect him to one of the other dwarf cities.
After a half-hour of struggle the tunnel leveled out and opened up into a small barracks room similar to those he had seen before.
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The sound of the outside fierce wind was now muffled but could still be heard all the way here.
But judging from the dust covering everything as well as a lack of any bedding on the stone bunk-beds that were carved in the wall, the place had long been abandoned.
In the center of the barracks, there was an old iron grate that held several chunks of black coal which had been left behind. In one of the corners was a pile of broken wooden chairs.
Akira picked up one of the chairs and broke it into smaller pieces before placing the pieces into the iron fireplace.
Using a flint, the old wood and coal caught fire quickly.
After putting a few more pieces of another broken chair onto the fire, Akira placed down an old cloak on the ground and sat on it with Fluffball laying on his lap.
¡°Although we need to hurry up and get out of here, we still need to warm up first or we''re going to catch a cold and die...¡± said Akira as he held his hands over the fire.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with Akira.
Akira once again looked over Fluffball and saw that his broken leg seemed to have healed but he would wait a little longer to make sure the potion had finished the healing process of all his wounds even those he could not see.
The small fire fought against the cold winter air that had filled the room and slowly warmed Akira''s body to the point where his hands and legs felt like he had several pins poking them as they thawed from the extreme cold and wind that had seeped into his body. If he had stayed out there any longer he could have had frostbite in both his feet and hands.
Now that he was somewhat safe and was warming up, Akira noticed several messages were waiting for him.
Branch 3 stage 3 completed!
Reward: 300 main quest points 300 gold. +30 fame.
A bonus reward of 20 levels has been given to the top contributors: Akira, Fluffball, Zundar.
All other group members who participated will receive ten levels.
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Level up!...
Level up ¡
Level...
You have reached level 143!
Fluffball has leveled up to lvl 117!
+10 toughness
Leadership level has reached Veteran officer lvl 7!
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Seeing this, Akira was able to understand how he was able to survive such a fall and the cold wind without dying.
If it were not for the healing from the level up, he might have been in worse shape than Fluffball and maybe even frozen to death.
Once again Akira was happy to have completed one of the main quests as it saved his life as well as strengthened him and the other allies of Kodria that had fought against the infected.
Ding!
Countdown to the start of the S rank Branch 3 stage 4 begins now!
The dark forces behind the plague have noticed your actions in cleaning up the areas and killing thousands of their undead pawns.
They have decided to take action and are gathering a large force to start a massive wave attack of molten onyx infected!
Their target?
Kodria!
89 days and 15 hours until the wave attack begins!
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Similar messages popped up to warn the Demigods who had accepted this branch of quests. Each guild was warned of a coming wave towards the cities they called home.
This message sucked out all the warmth and happiness Akira had been feeling just moments before.
A fierce shiver ran down his back as he re-read the message to make sure he had not misread it.
Fluffball felt the change in Akira''s mood and looked up at him questioningly with his head cocked to the side.
Akira rubbed Fluffball''s head, reassuring him that everything was fine.
¡°We can''t stay in this place for long. We have to get out of here and get back to the others,¡± said Akira as he leaned closer to the fire to receive more of the heat.
When his body was fully thawed out the fire was now only burnt down to red coals that let out pops every so often sending sparks and ash into the air.
Akira placed Fluffball onto the cape and walked over to the door that led out of the barracks.
It was tightly closed forcing him to once again use his shoulder to slam into it and push it open.
Step by step he moved forward. The sound of whistling wind surprisingly grew louder as he pressed the door open to a point where he could get through without any trouble.
The sound caused Akira to stop as he listened intently. Then he walked back to the ramp and listened to the wind that came from there. It was quiet compared to the wind on the other side of the door he had just opened.
Fluffball seemed to have noticed the difference as well as he let out a ¡°Yap,¡± he stared at the slightly open door fully alert as he stood up and walked over to Akira.
Akira picked the old cape back up and placed it in his bag before walking back to the cracked door only hesitating for a second.
Fluffball followed right behind him as they passed through the tight opening.
***
¡°Miss... I said ten times already that going down that way is suicide!¡± said an elderly dwarf who was being bandaged up by several other dwarf doctors.
Luckily his wounds were not infected but were caused by weapons that the infected had used. This was the first time seeing such things being used by the infected who normally acted in a way that weapons were useless.
¡°We can''t just leave him down there! We have enough rope and people to climb down don''t we?¡± said Mileena in a fit.
¡°Jumping off or climbing down by rope is suicide! Not only will the wind knock you around like a piece of cotton, the creatures and other inhabitants living down there will eat you alive for entering their territory.¡±
¡°I can feel it here. He is not dead,¡± said Mileena, placing a hand over her heart.
¡°We must go and find our lord! If you will not help us then...¡± said Vilkas, not finishing the sentence as he shot a look to the dwarf.
Several of the other werewolves including Zundar all stared at the dwarf with sharp gazes.
¡°Friends, there is no need to look at me that way! I only said we can''t go that way, not that we would give up on searching for him. I am sure if we ask some of the elders who are knowledgeable of the maps of the mountains, we can find a path down to where he may have fallen.¡±
The stares did not lessen.
¡°Follow me,¡± said the dwarf as he stood up and walked down a branching tunnel from the barracks where 100''s of others were being treated for minor wounds.
Chapter 235: Wandering Wind spirit
Ding!
You have entered the Wandering Wind spirit dungeon!
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Akira had only passed the door when he had received the notification.
¡°What the...? Fluffball, be on guard, this is not a normal tunnel. Nox, come out,¡± said Akira.
Both Nox 1 and two jumped out of Akira''s shadow and stood to the left of Akira while Fluffball stood on the right.
Nox had been doing many covert missions recently and had been leveling up just as quickly as Fluffball.
''What''s this? Only the two of us? It feels like old times,'' said Nox as he transmitted his voice to Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball letting Nox know he was there.
¡°I have no idea how to fight a wind spirit,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball telling Akira to not worry so much.
¡°Alright, we''ll just wing it,¡± said Akira.
The three continued walking down the tunnel, its walls and the floor were extremely clean and had a dim green glow that lit up the tunnel.
As they continued to walk forward the path started to dip down and turn into another treacherous worn-out path that went deeper into the depths of the mountains.
Akira sighed as he tried to climb down the steps that looked to have almost eroded by time and wind.
When the ramp leveled out once again the sound of the wind was even louder.
¡°I hope this place is connected to a main tunnel or at least some sort of exit...¡± said Akira quietly as he walked forward cautiously with his shield held out in front. Both Fluffball and Nox hid behind him.
Akira could not afford to be trapped in this place for long since he only had enough food and water in his bag to last at most a week.
Akira''s gut feeling was telling him things were getting dangerous so he decided to transform.
The black aura surrounded him and his body grew larger and thicker turning his hands and feet into sharp claws. His teeth grew into sharp canines ready to tear through any flesh.
The thick black aura surrounding his armor and thick fur quickly faded only leaving a light black mist that continued to swirl around him.
Akira activated the skill [Life Detection] and his eyes let out a flash of yellow as he stared down the dim path into a cavernous room. No matter how long he looked he saw nothing change.
Although he hadn''t used this skill much he was certain that if there was something living it would show up.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball warning Akira of something inside the room as he sniffed the air and confirmed Akira''s suspicions.
¡°Let''s do this,¡± said Akira, steeling himself as he led the way into the room.
The sound of the Roaring wind was just as loud as it had been outside. Although Akira found nothing at the bottom of the dome-like room, when he looked up, there was a small palm-sized green whirlwind floating up high above near the ceiling.
Above the small whirlwind was an equal small transparent green body that had two thin arms. Its mini head only had two black eyes. There was no nose, mouth, or hair.
[Wind spirit level 120]
Akira continued to slowly walk forward trying to make his way to the exit tunnel on the opposite side of the room.
Since he had no knowledge of any type of spirits he decided to try and pass it without fighting if he could.
Both Nox and Fluffball were extremely tense as they watched the wind spirit which had not moved yet.
When they had reached the center of the room the wind spirit jerked its head to look at the three below it. Its eyes shrank to two black pinpoints as it watched them slowly make their way to the entrance.
When Akira had taken two more steps forward the green whirlwind beneath the Wind Spirit expanded to cover its entire body.
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The small whirlwind zipped forward at a high speed passing Akira, Nox, and Fluffball only to stop right in front of the exit tunnel.
The green whirlwind grew to the size of a human adult blocking the exit completely.
At the center of the green whirlwind were two large black eyes that were staring at Akira who was still walking towards the tunnel.
¡°If you want to block the way, then I''ll just have to push through,¡± said Akira.
A second later he activated [Shield Slam]. His leg muscles tensed up and then shot him forward at great speed with his shield held in front of him.
A muffled thud was heard as he crashed into the fierce whirlwind.
The green whirlwind curved in where Akira had slammed into it but it did not break.
Akira¡¯s leg muscles bulged as he strained to push his way forward but the wind only grew stronger and pushed back him as it clawed at his armor.
Two green wind blades flew out of the whirlwind and slammed into his side and back.
The impact caused him to lose footing and be pushed back away from the entrance.
The Whirlwind was once again swirling normally.
Akira, not giving up, attacked with his warhammer but the attack just bounced off the wall of wind.
¡°Che, che, chee,¡± an odd echoing sound came out from within the whirlwind. The large black eyes slanted as if they were laughing at Akira''s ineffective attacks.
Akira tried to use [Shadow Chains] but nothing happened because it was a spirit and had no shadow.
Nox and Fluffball were staying nearby watching and inspecting their target trying to learn its weakness.
Putting the warhammer into his bag Akira took out [Poo''s Midget Sword] and activated [Sword Slash].
A blue crescent shot out and cut right through the whirlwind, slicing it in half for several seconds.
The odd laugh immediately stopped.
¡°CHEEEE!¡± Screeched the whirlwind enraged. The whirlwind quickly returned to normal as several green wind blades were launched at Akira while the wind spirit made its move to slam into Akira.
Although the [Sword Slash] seemed to anger the wind spirit, Akira could not see any permanent damage to the spirit.
He activated the black mist armor and it quickly grew thicker as it swirled around him and fought back against the tearing force of the whirlwind that was trying to envelop him and grind him down.
''It''s only level 120 but I can''t do anything against It...'' though Akira as his mind was racing to try and figure out how to deal with the spirit.
¡°Damn it, if only Klyn was with me... Fluffball, Nox, do you have ideas?¡± asked Akira as he weathered the grinding whirlwind pressing against him.
His energy supplying the black mist armor was draining at a steady pace and if he didn''t do something it would be empty soon.
The blue candies he had were only enough for an emergency and unlike Fluffball he would need several of them to keep fighting at full strength which would cause them to run out quickly.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he grew to his full size and his holy ice armor covered his entire body. He charged forward and slammed into the whirlwind trying to headbutt it away from Akira.
¡°Ufff.¡±
Fluffball was knocked back and sent sliding several dozen feet as he tried to regain his footing on the smooth stone floor. His ice armor showed several large gashes.
A blue ball of icy light formed around his mouth and shot out straight into the whirlwind.
¡°Che!¡± said the agitated Wind spirit as the ice chunk shattered against the wind. The holy tribute seemed to cause the whirlwind to feel uncomfortable as the ice shard became thousands of small ice fragments that floated inside the wind and slammed against Akira causing his energy to deplete even faster.
¡°Fluffball don''t shoot it with ice anymore. You $%^& spirit look at me with your @#$% eyes,¡± shouted Akira using the [Potty mouth] skill.
¡°Chee!¡± The Wind spirit which had been getting ready to launch an attack towards Fluffball turned its attention back to Akira, increasing the pressure of the whirlwind trying to envelop Akira.
Feeling his energy was now running dangerously low, Akira decided to activate one last skill to see if it had any effect. He canceled the [Black Mist Armor] and activated [Reflection].
Two green wind blades slammed into his shield while the whirlwind slammed Akira as it tried to grind him into dust.
Ding!
Reflection has taken effect!
10% of the enemy''s attack is directed back at them!
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¡°Chee?!¡±
The whirlwind distanced itself from Akira as the large black eyes looked at him confused at how it just got hurt. It did not approach Akira and just looked at him for a second.
''Let''s see what I can do!'' said Nox 1, as he launched himself forward and...
¡ bit deep into the confused Wind Spirit''s whirlwind.
¡°CHEEE!¡± The Wind Spirit let out a loud cry of pain as the whirlwind was torn apart by Nox 1.
The wind spirit in its rage turned its attention to Nox 1 who was biting and tearing at the whirlwind.
It moved to grind him down with the fierce whirlwind but got attacked from behind by Nox 2 who also started to bite and tear large chunks of the whirlwind as well.
Both Nox 1 and two''s shadow bodies were being torn apart as they tried to tear the whirlwind to shreds.
It was a fierce fight as the two sides tried to tear or grind the other out of existence.
On a hunch, Akira activated [Darkness Domain] covering the entire area in a dark mist.
It had no major effect on the wind spirit... but both Nox 1 and two''s bodies started to heal their shadow bodies faster than the wind spirit could grind them down.
The whirlwind was now growing unstable and large gaps were appearing.
¡°Chee!¡± with an angry shout the whirlwind shrunk and speedily escaped back to the ceiling far above them.
The green whirlwind disappeared from the upper body of the wind spirit as it stared at the three down below it with a pouting expression.
¡°Che!¡± said the spirit as it turned its back on them not wanting to play with them anymore.
Chapter 236: Winding Windy Paths
¡°What the...?¡± Akira looked at the Wind spirit for only a few seconds before he walked forward into the tunnel that was no longer blocked.
Because of the unusual fight with the wind spirit, Akira was more cautious as he took his time walking down the new path. He needed to catch his breath and regain his energy spent on the fight with the wind spirit.
Nox and Fluffball were on full alert as they walked next to Akira ready to fight at any slight movement.
When they reached the next room which was similar to the last one, Akira''s energy had recovered and he was ready for whatever awaited him.
Akira looked up to the ceiling as they walked across the room and watched the wind spirit that showed no signs of movement.
¡°Nox,¡± was all Akira said.
¡°I got it!¡±
The same thing happened in this room as in the first room. After the green wind spirit was damaged enough it flew away from them and pouted out of reach.
Akira Ignored the pouting wind spirit and looked at the branching tunnel in front of him. He sniffed the air to try and get a sense of danger from each path.
¡°Fluffball, which path should we take?¡± asked Akira, looking at the branching paths. He could not see or smell any difference between the two.
Fluffball, who had also been pouting because he was not able to deal any damage to the wind spirits, perked up and shot forward to sniff the air in front of each of the tunnel''s branch entrances.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball after a few seconds of sniffing the air.
¡°As expected, they both have wind spirits. Let''s take the left and see where it goes,¡± said Akira.
''So you''re actually good for something after all,'' said Nox 1.
Fluffball ignored Nox and continued to walk alongside Akira, his head held high.
When they cleared the next room they were forced to stop, unable to move any deeper into the mountain since there was no other tunnel connected to this room, it was a dead end.
¡°Don''t tell me this place...¡± Akira looked at his map that tracked and revealed the explored paths he had taken so far.
¡°... is this place a maze?¡± Akira asked himself as they retraced their steps back to the previous room.
The wind spirit was still pouting and ignoring them as they exited the left tunnel and entered the right tunnel.
It was as Akira suspected, as he explored each path he found that for some reason the majority of the left tunnel branches ended in dead ends.
So Akira decided to continue to follow the right tunnel branches going deeper into the tunnel until he reached a path that had three branches.
¡°Let''s see what''s down here,¡± said Akira, stepping into the middle tunnel.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, reminding him that the others were still probably looking for them.
¡°I know, but I have a good feeling about this tunnel,¡± said Akira.
When they reached the end of the tunnel there was a Wind spirit hovering over a large green stone chest that was lightly glowing. The wind spirit looked at them and challenged them with a loud ¡°CHEEE!¡± and charged the intruders.
After a quick battle with Nox 1 and 2, who were now well experienced in fighting the wind spirits along with Akira''s Reflect skill, the Wind spirit floated back over to the chest.
The lid of the chest opened and a light green leather chest armor flew out. With the help of the green wind, the leather armor floated over to Akira.
Fluffball''s hackles were raised as he sniffed the suspicious armor.
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Akira could not see any malicious traps connected to it so he reached out and grabbed onto it.
Ding!
Wind spirit chest armor [unique]:
Defense: 35 Durability: 50/50
Movement speed +10%.
1 of 5 set pieces.
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¡°Sigh... It really is a nice piece of armor... but it is something I can''t use. I guess I''ll have a present to give her if I get out of here,¡± said Akira as he placed the chest armor in his bag.
He had no concrete idea of how long he had been inside the maze of tunnels, the only way he could judge the time was by the meals he and Fluffball ate.
Judging by the meals he had eaten, they had been stuck inside for around 3 days...
¡°Che!¡± harrumphed a Wind spirit turning its back on Akira in what seemed the 1000th time.
A green pair of leather boots flew out of the green glowing stone chest that stood in front of Akira.
Ding!
Wind spirit boots [unique]:
Defense: 10 Durability: 50/50
Movement speed +10%.
5 of 5 set pieces.
The Wind spirit set has been collected!
Effects of wearing the full set: Movement speed doubled. Gain skill Wind Walking.
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Wind walking: this skill can be used once a day.
Wind will gather around your feet allowing you to take three steps on nothing but air.
|
¡°As one would expect of a Unique set,¡± said Akira as he looked at the stats of the full set buff.
He shuddered at thinking how much of a pain in the butt a certain person would be using this along with her new skills.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball as he sniffed the boots.
¡°It can''t be helped. Once I received the first set-piece I had to get the other pieces. Plus I was able to find a lot of Wind ore in here,¡± said Akira as he pat Fluffball.
As they had been walking he had quickly mined the special green ore that had appeared on their path to the certain rooms so they could move forward. With all the mining his Dexterity rose over 10 points!
He wasn''t sure how useful the wind ore would be but he had enough to experiment with creating many different items to see what suited it best.
This dungeon was full of rewards but... with all the fighting they had been doing... they got 0 experience. Not even one point!
¡°I feel that following this path has taken us closer to the exit,¡± said Akira walking forward once more.
They continued walking down the many winding paths that had been slanting down leading them deeper into the mountain.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball. He had become excited after sniffing the air from the right tunnel branch. It had been a long while since they had received the last piece of the wind armor.
Fluffball ran ahead with Akira and Nox picking up their speed to follow him down the stone tunnel.
As they ran the air in the tunnel started to feel colder and damper. It had a far more heavy feeling to it than the air inside the dungeon.
¡°Is this the exit?¡±
Far ahead he could see a dim glowing white misty fog. It was swirling lazily at the end of the tunnel.
It was quite thick and blocked Akira from seeing anything past it.
Fluffball sniffed the air but could not find anything unusual other than the warmth of the fog that was battling with the cold air.
Akira, just to be safe, activated [Eyes of the werewolf].
He found nothing in the 500ft range in front of them... but that didn''t say much since the wind spirits never showed up whenever he used the skill.
¡°We''ve come this far, don''t get careless,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± Said Fluffball.
The three of them cautiously walked into the dim glowing white fog that surrounded them and deafened any sound including Akira''s footsteps.
Ding!
You have completed the wandering wind spirit maze!
+10 fame.
The Wind spirits have begrudgingly acknowledged your strength. They will not attack you or anyone with you if you enter any one of their many territories.
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New title received!
Wind spirit Bully.
You managed to fight every Wind spirit in the dungeon and took everything they had!
+10 fame
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''Could this be considered a sort of non-aggression pact?'' thought Akira as he looked at the messages.
¡°Skreeeee!¡±
¡°Kreeeee!¡±
Boom!
Chapter 237: Foggy forest battle
Fwoosh!
A strong wind swept through the white fog above Akira''s head, clearing the sky above.
Boom!
¡°Skreeeee!¡± ¡°Kreeeee!¡±
Akira crouched down deeper into the misty fog near the ground and held his shield over his head as he watched two large flying creatures far above him repeatedly slam into each other.
[Bryer lvl 151] [Stone Wyvern lvl 150]
Akira watched the two wyverns, one dead and one still alive, furiously smack each other with their wings as they continued to claw and grapple with each other while falling towards the ground at a quick speed.
Boom!
Fwoosh!
The two kicked each other away at the last moment and flapped their large wings with full strength only a few hundred yards above the ground where Akira, Fluffball, and Nox were crouching.
The white misty fog was pushed completely to the side as the two flying creatures shot back up into the air trying to get the upper hand over the other.
¡°Skreeeee!¡± ¡°Kreeeee!¡±
Akira slowly walked backwards towards the tunnel exit as he kept an eye on the fight. There was no point in staying out in the open and risking being discovered by these creatures. It was best to let them fight between themselves.
He didn''t know how long their battle had been going on for but they both looked to be full of deep cuts and cracks.
The [Stone Wyvern] was faster in reaching a height that allowed it to get above the [Bryer]. It did not waste any time and slammed into the [Bryer] once again trying to force it back down towards the foggy ground.
The [Bryers] stony beak shot up and pierced into the [Stone Wyvern''s] chest. The blood from its chest rained down on Akira.
¡°Fluffball,¡± said Akira, warning him of the danger.
Akira hurriedly tried to get out of the way using his shield over his head to try and block the blood that had been infected with the Molten onyx infection.
Thud! Clunk! Bang!
The warm blood raining down on Akira... had already turned into large frozen chunks that bounced off his shield causing Akira to let out a sigh of relief.
¡°Skreeeee!¡± The [Stone Wyvern] in its pain and anger, used its strong stone beak to bite into the already heavily injured neck of the [Bryer].
The two continued to smack and scratch at each other while the [Stone Wyvern] continued to gnaw on the [Bryers] neck.
A muffled ''Crack!'' rang out as the [Stone Wyvern] broke the neck of the [Bryer] separating the head from its body.
With its last bit of strength, the [Stone Wyvern] kicked the [Bryer''s] stony bone body away from it. The beak of the [Bryer] was still embedded deep in its chest as it continued to fall unable to flap its wings.
Boom! Boom!
Two large shock waves expanded out from the two bodies as they slammed into the ground far apart from each other. The wind from the shock waves cleared a large portion of the foggy ground allowing Akira to see the area better.
The area outside of the tunnel was a vast frozen pine forest. Now, there was only a little bit of fog swirling around at the base of the frozen trees.
Inside the forest, there were now two large craters with the large birds in the center.
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Akira, Fluffball, and Nox all stayed still as they inspected the two from a distance, not daring to get any closer just yet.
The fog continued to swirl around the two bodies in each of the craters but there was no movement.
¡°Let''s check it out,¡± said Akira quietly.
The three of them slowly walked over to the nearest body which was the [Stone Wyvern].
Standing next to the body Akira poked it with his armored foot before jumping back to see if it would move.
Nothing happened.
He once again walked up to the dead creature and took a closer look at the severed head of the [Bryer] that was still stuck in the gray scaly chest of the [Stone Wyvern]. The stony chest of the wyvern was now showing signs of a black infection even in its death.
To his surprise, he found a fully intact gem on the [Bryers] forehead and it was still glowing with a milky green light.
Akira took out his warhammer and smashed the gem after a few heavy attacks. The milky green light escaped out of the gem but... instead of dissipating, it flew deeper into the misty Ice forest.
Akira took note of this before continuing his inspection of the [Stone Wyvern].
Ding!
You have found two pieces of Wyvern equipment!
A pair of Unique armored claws and a Unique armored beak.
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Akira looked at the pieces of bony metal that he had pulled off the dead [Stone Wyvern] with shock.
Equipment?
¡°What the? I thought these were just part of the wyvern''s body... to think it actually had equipment for fighting... was it someone''s companion or a wild beast?¡±
Fluffball was curiously sniffing the bone metal as Akira inspected it.
¡°It might be a bit too big for Pii''per right now but if she has a growth spurt in the future she might be able to fit these better,¡± said Akira as he placed them in a large thick leather bag and then stuffed it into his bag. The wyvern armor took up a large amount of the space inside.
¡°Yap!?¡± asked Fluffball.
¡°You want some equipment as well?¡±
Fluffball nodded his furry head.
¡°I''ll have to talk to Delgar about how to make something for you when we get back. It''s a good thing we found a lot of rare ores in those chests back in that maze. Who knows, if it works well for you we might even create larger versions en masse for the rest of the gargs,¡± said Akira as he pat an excited Fluffball.
''Hmph... needing to rely on equipment. How weak,'' said Nox.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball in defiance.
''I am not jealous! Even if I could use such equipment I wouldn''t!'' said Nox.
Akira ignored the two and finished his inspection of the dead [Stone Wyvern] but found nothing else of interest.
Akira only looked at the body of the [Bryer] from a distance before deciding that it had nothing he could take.
¡°Alright you two, let''s go find a path out of here,¡± said Akira heading deeper into the misty frozen forest.
Only a half-hour of running had passed before Akira stopped at the edge of a clearing. He and Fluffball both hid behind the frozen trees and peek out from behind them.
In the foggy opening in front of them, an eerie sight could be seen, there were thousands of ancient stone markers shoved into mounds of dirt and snow.
Each had unrecognizable lettering carved into them with what Akira guessed were the names of the dead that lay under the stone markers.
All across the large graveyard where thousands of ancient rusted weapons stabbed into the ground or lay discarded covered in snow and ice.
This was not what had sent a chill down Akira''s neck.
It was the large humanoid bull creature in the middle of the graveyard that was covered in swirling green lights as it sat there with its eyes closed.
Behind Akira a silent invisible figure watched him wanting to see what they would do.
***
Vussia, Capital city Vania.
The winter moon did not reach the dark back alley where a ragged man ran along a frozen street carrying a small leather bag.
¡°Halt criminal!¡± shouted a city guard captain chasing after the man.
Ten other city guards appeared from several side streets and surrounded the skinny ragged man.
¡°I''ve done nothing wrong! I just went to buy some food for my family!¡±
¡°You should have been prepared beforehand! The queen gave everyone a warning!¡±
¡°We did prepare! But she said it would only last for 2 weeks and now it''s been several months!¡±
¡°Quit making excuses! You know that anyone not authorized to be outside their home will be treated as an infected,¡± shouted the captain.
¡°Please have mercy I just needed food,¡± cried the man as he kneeled and slammed his head into the frozen ground begging the guard captain.
The captain ignored the man and let his hand fall sharply.
The surrounding guards all stepped forward and as one thrust out their long spears.
Chapter 238: Gem holder
[Experimental Chimera gem holder lvl 145]
Akira stared at the creature sitting still in the middle of the graveyard for a long time. He was having a hard time trying to figure out what he should do.
The white fog that had been swept away from the two wyverns¡¯ battles, was once again gathering at the bottom of the mountain pass and was now covering a large portion of the creature''s lower body.
¡°Nox, Fluffball, do you think we can get past him by staying in the fog on the edges?¡± asked Akira.
Fluffball sniffed the air testing the scent of the creature at the center of the ancient graveyard, a moment later he shook his head no.
Nox, who was the best at moving around underacted, split up, having Nox 1 go to the right while Nox 2 went to the left.
The two silently slipped through the edges of the foggy graveyard. When they had both reached the halfway point they looked to the creature and then back to Akira.
''I don''t sense any type of monitoring aura coming from it,'' said Nox.
Akira looked at the green light swirling around the upper body of the creature. There had been no sign of movement the entire time he had watched it, not even the rise and fall of its chest to show it was breathing.
¡°Fluffball, follow me,¡± said Akira in a whisper.
The two of them followed the path that Nox 1 had taken and silently walked through the graveyard.
As they made their way past the tens of thousands of hastily created gravestones, Akira had his attention split between looking at the creature and the ground to make sure he did not trip over any ancient weapons stuck in the ground or a random body that was not fully buried.
''What is this place?''
Ding!
Akira''s Bad gut feeling +1
|
Akira''s head looked up from the ground and over to the creature. The green light surrounding it was slowly fading as it seemed to be sucked into the body of the chimera.
''Faster!'' said Nox 1 as he looked at the chimera and back to Akira and Fluffball who were now 2/3 of the way through the graveyard.
Akira started to move even quicker, giving up on his slow stealthy movement as he watched the green light disappear completely.
[Experimental Chimera gem holder lvl 146]
¡°$%^*,¡± Akira cursed under his breath as he saw the chimera level up.
Fluffball''s hackles raised as he grew fully alert to the dangerous aura that he felt sweep out from the body of the creature.
Sensing the Aura sweeping over them, Nox 2 decided to draw the [Gem holder''s] attention to itself so that Akira and Fluffball could reach the end of the graveyard.
Nox 2 silently left the edge of the graveyard and started racing towards the center.
The eyes of the [Gem holder] slowly opened. A fiery red glow emitted out from its eyes lighting up the dark area around it as it turned its head to look at Nox 2.
The [Gem holder] stood up and turned its back to Nox 2. Its attention was all on Akira and Fluffball who were trying to escape.
¡°RAAAA!¡± the bull head with its two sharp black horns, tilted back as it let out a challenge to the escaping Akira.
Nox 2 launched himself off the ground towards the chimera to take a bite out of its neck...
Fwoosh!
Two sturdy red wings unfurled from its lower back and with great power, the wings flapped once launching the chimera into the air revealing its full body.
The white fog in the graveyard along with Nox 2 was swept away by the force of the flapping wings.
Akira looked over his shoulder as he continued running towards the edge of the graveyard and saw the [Gem Holder''s] full body.
The head was that of a red bull head, its upper torso was that of a molten onyx infected human.
For its stomach and lower back, there were fading yellow feathers and wings of a giant gold eagle that was somehow not corrupted yet.
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Its legs were covered in silver fur and had the sharp claws of a silver snow lion as well as its silver tail that extended out of its rear end.[giggity]
On its forehead, chest, stomach, and two knees were glowing green [crystals] similar to the [Bryers].
¡°What the...?¡± said Akira.
BOOM!
The [Gem Holder] slammed into the ground creating a small crater destroying the graves where it landed and sending frozen snow and dirt into the air.
Its wings were strong, but they were not large enough to allow it to fly for more than a few seconds continuously.
Thus the [Gem Holder] used them to either glide or launch itself through the air to reach its target quickly.
The chimera flapped its wings and again shot into the air where it glided through the air looking at the escaping Akira.
¡°Power...Stone...Take!¡± shouted the raspy voice of the [Gem Holder] as it pointed to Akira.
With that, the [Gem Holder] angled down into a sharp dive towards Akira.
Akira threw a hard blue candy to Fluffball and ate one himself as well.
The two had been fighting on and off since they had entered the cavern and were continuously running on fumes since there were no safe places to take a nap longer than a few minutes.
A dark black mist covered Akira as he transformed into his werewolf form.
Akira raised his shield above his head and activated both his [Harden] and [Reflection] skills.
BOOM! The [Gem Holder] slammed into the sturdy Akira head first. Even with his skills activated Akira felt the jarring impact all the way to his bones.
¡°Graaaaa!¡± the [Gem Holder] let out a grunt of pain as it bounced off Akira''s shield and slammed into the ground taking a small amount of reflection damage.
The [Gem Holder] quickly rolled back onto its feet and unfurled its wings to shoot back up into the air.
Before it could leave the snowy ground a fully transformed Ice armored Fluffball bit into the silver furred right leg trying to keep the [Gem Holder] on the ground. Nox 1 and Nox 2 joined Fluffball by biting into the left leg.
Although the [Gem Holder] felt immense pain from the holy attribute ice armor it ignored the three biting its legs and launched itself into the air carrying them into the air with it.
When it had reached its desired height it flipped over and once again dived down towards Akira who was still immobile from the [Harden] skill.
BAM!
The impact once again sent the [Gem Holder] bouncing back with a small amount of damage. The force of the impact had also been enough to send Fluffball and Nox 1 & 2 flying in different directions crashing into the several gravestones which were smashed to pieces until their forward momentum was halted.
The [Gem Holder] repeatedly dive-bombed Akira trying to pulverize him but only ended up hurting itself.
After its tenth crash, the flustered [Gem Holder] tried to grab Akira and pull him up into the air.
But no matter how much it strained its wings to the max, or how deep its claws pierced, Akira did not budge. He stood there like a small stone mountain.
As the [Harden] skill effect was nearing its end, Akira activated the skill [Shadow chains].
The four wolf head chains shot out from the shadows and bit into the silver fur legs and the molten onyx arms, immobilizing the [Gem Holder] for a short time.
Fluffball and Nox launched themselves at the [Gem Holder''s] wings trying to tear them off its lower back. It was no easy challenge as they were forced to constantly dodge the tail that acted as a whip the shot out and slammed into them if they got too close.
Using this chance while it was busy dealing with Nox and Fluffball, Akira escaped the claws of the [Gem Holder] and attacked the closest crystals with his warhammer, which were on its knees.
CRACK! After a few well-placed swings the crystals were cracked open.
¡°Raaaa! Power... Stone... GIVE!¡± roared the chimera as it broke the shadow chains and launched itself into the air using its tattered wings.
Akira shoved his war hammer back into his bag, took out his sword, and activated the skill [Cross attack].
A large blue X flew through the air slamming into the hovering chimera who blocked it with his molten onyx arms causing deep cuts into the black stone.
The [Gem Holder] in its pain had lost all sense of rationality and once again dived down towards Akira not caring about defense and only wanting to tear apart that which had caused it pain.
Akira agilely dodged to the side and slashed out with his sword targeting the area between the legs and the golden feathers.
Ding!
You have learned a new passive skill [Bisect].
Bisect: when the enemy''s health is under 30% you have a small chance to sever a body part.
If their health is under 10% and you land a Critical hit there is a 50% chance that the enemy will be cut in half instantly killing them.
|
Akira looked at the chimera and saw it was still alive.
But... it no longer had legs.
¡°RAAAA!!¡±
Fluffball and Nox 1&2 pounced onto the back of the [Gem Holder] and tore into the wings biting and clawing them into sheds.
Akira slashed his sword towards each of the different sections of the [Gem Holder] and was lucky enough to activate the Bisect passive each time!
Even with its body severed the different parts were still moving only the legs were immobile.
Akira once again replaced his sword with his warhammer and smashed the crystals on the head and belly. But when he tried to smash the Green gemstone on the chest, there was not even a scratch.
Fluffball stood next to Akira sniffing the bisected parts to make sure they were of no threat anymore.
Akira was forced to take out his pickaxe and dig out the gem from the stone chest.
Ding!
Clap! Clap! Clap!
A chill went down Akira''s back and Fluffball''s hackles raised in full alert!
They both swirled around to see who was behind them!
Chapter 239: Ancient battlefield of darkness
Hovering behind one of the thousands of ancient gravestones was a transparent squared jawed dwarf warrior with a thick beard that reached his belly.
Both Fluffball and Nox, although slightly worn out from the fight, were now on full alert.
¡°Grrrr!¡± Fluffball let out a low warning growl after he was unable to smell any scent from the floating ghost.
From the heavy armor the dwarf spirit wore, as well as the aura that Akira could now feel emitting from the spirit, he was sure that it was an ancient spirit. The helmet he wore had three miniature stone hammers welded to the helmet making it look like three horns.
Akira tried inspecting his name and level but failed. [??? LVL: ???]
¡°Who are you?¡± asked Akira as he warily watched the ghost from behind his shield.
¡°I see you are on friendly terms with the wind spirits. Quite an achievement with their temperaments,¡± said the dwarf ghost. His voice was like that of stone grating against stone, rough and brutish.
¡°I don''t know if I would call it that. They kept getting in my way and I had to fight them until I was out of the mountain,¡± said Akira.
¡°Thank you for killing that thing,¡± said the ghost pointing to the remains of the Chimera. ¡°It has been desecrating the battlefield for several years now.¡±
Seeing that the dwarf had no intention of speaking his name, Akira gave up and decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while.
¡°What ancient battlefield is this?¡±
¡°Mine entire clan lies here along with me. This battlefield is where mine clan made our last stand to stop the darkness from wiping out the rest of the dwarf clans in their surprise attack. We were only half successful. The army that was sent here was defeated but everything was contaminated, with the dark aura giving birth to many dark spirits and creatures that breed in the darkness.¡±
¡°Dark spirits? We didn''t encounter anything like that around here...¡± said Akira looking over to Fluffball.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with him.
¡°That creature you killed was good for but also bad for this area. It was sucking in all the dark aura as well as absorbing all the dark spirits and creatures that it came upon. Over time the place has become cleaner while the creature got stronger. It was only a matter of time before it left this battlefield and it would have most likely caused a catastrophe for the dwarf kingdom. For that, I thank you for stopping such a catastrophe.¡±
¡°I really didn''t do it for that reason. It attacked me so I had to defeat it,¡± said Akira.
¡°It matters not your intentions, only the results. I was only able to helplessly watch on as it desecrated the graves of my fellow clansmen. That thing gave me the same feeling as the darkness from the past. You must not let such a thing spread or countless civilizations will be lost as it was in my time.¡±
Akira didn''t dare let him know that the current situation was already far worse than just a strong monster causing problems since the infected had already spread all over the northern continent.
¡°You are looking for a way to return to the mainland, yes?¡± asked the ancient dwarf.
¡°Yes,¡± said Akira, nodding.
¡°Follow me.¡±
With that spirit started to move in the direction which they had been trying to escape earlier.
Akira, Fluffball, and Nox were still on high alert as they followed behind the ancient ghost still unsure of his intentions. For now, they felt he was not an enemy, so they still walked along with him.
They encountered no creatures or other spirits while they continued walking in the quiet white mist for another hour.
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¡°That is the entrance that is most likely to allow you to reach your desired destination,¡± said the ancient ghost stopping just outside the entrance of a stone tunnel at the base of the ice mountain.
Akira was hesitant to enter the place since the spirit had stopped outside.
¡°I am unable to leave this battlefield. I thank you again, with your help, I feel as if my task has finally been completed,¡± said the ancient ghost.
With that, the ancient ghost dissipated into the white fog with a contented smile on his rough face.
The entrance to the tunnel was blocked by a thick layer of ice but it was nothing to Akira. He slammed his warhammer repeatedly until the ice was removed revealing an ancient stone door.
Akira took hold of the stone handle carved into the ancient door and with his full strength, he started pulling. It took him over ten minutes of starting and stopping to pull the door open wide enough so that he could pass through.
¡°Yap, ¡± said Fluffball.
¡°You''re right we can''t let other things come up through the tunnel,¡± said Akira.
He spent another few minutes trying to pull the door closed to stop anything from following them.
As they walked up the dark stairs Akira thought about the normal gems he had gathered. What powers did they hold that the chimera would go berserk wanting to obtain what he had?
¡°Huh?¡± Akira stopped walking and looked at a thick flat stone that was blocking his way forward.
He placed his hand on the smooth stone and felt around for a handle or some type of button to move it, but found nothing.
As he was inspecting the stone he felt a vibration go through the stone. He stopped inspecting the sidewalls and placed his hands on the flat stone trying to sense what was going on.
With each second the vibration was growing stronger, a short time later he started to hear the sound of something hammering on the stone.
Something was trying to get through!
Akira and Fluffball all moved away from the stone seconds before it exploded into large chunks.
Before Akira could react, something jumped through the hole heading straight for him!
***
¡°HaHa! The guild master will surely promote me to an officer! With this large haul of resources, our guild will be able to complete the current stage!¡± said a male demigod standing over the dead body of a monster.
¡°Hey! We helped!¡± said a pouting female.
¡°You only gave me the gold coins to buy better equipment. I am the one that is doing all the killing. Don''t worry I am not so selfish that I would not repay your kindness. I''ll pay back the gold you gave me and put in a good word to the guild leader. Who knows, you may even be able to join my party as sub-officers when I get promoted.¡± said the male demigod as he grabbed everything in the large pile of loot on the ground and placed it into his endless bag
***
Deep In the cold underground sewers of Froit, there were many pathways that led down deep into the ground. If one were to follow them a large network of Nest colonies would be found without much effort.
This was the home of the demon race the Ratmen.
In one of the deepest and darkest nests, a large fat Ratman with graying fur that had once been a deep black shivered as he looked at the 50 or so dead Ratmen warriors at the entrance of his throne room.
The remaining 200 ratman warriors just inside the throne room swarmed to protect the Ratking.
¡°Have we proved our strength to you?¡± asked a female in dark robes with a hood covering her face.
¡°Reee chee ree!¡± said the shivering Ratking, acknowledging the two dark-robed figures'' power.
¡°Weak,¡± said a male voice coming from the second dark-robed figure.
¡°We have an offer for you. Help us with this and we will help you expand your territory out of the dark underground,¡± said the female dark-robed figure.
***
The dark figure slammed into Akira and latched its arms around him and...
¡ Kissed him.
¡°I knew you were still alive!¡± said Mileena.
It took Akira a few seconds to realize that the messy-haired creature latched onto him was indeed Mileena.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball greeting Mileena as he passed through the hole to join the Dwarves that stood there watching the two with great interest.
Akira walked through the hole and nodded to the Dwarves while Mileena continued to hang onto him.
¡°Let''s return as quickly as we can,¡± said Akira, not showing any embarrassment.
After piling the ruble back up to temporarily block the hole, the 20+ dwarf warriors lead the way out of the dust-filled barracks.
As they passed a large statue near the entrance to the tunnel they all bowed and muttered several reverent words in old dwarvish.
Seeing the statue, Fluffball''s head cocked to the side before he looked back at Akira.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball.
¡°It does look like him...¡± said Akira.
At the base of the statue, was a name and a short sentence.
[King Derv Stonehammer. Savior of the Dwarven kingdom.]
Chapter 240: Prepare
¡°Are you sure that there will be a wave of enemies arriving in a week?¡± asked Frang.
Frang walked next to Akira along with the other two main wall commanders as they walked through Kodria''s castle stone hallways heading to the main meeting room where the grand elders along with Advisor Samuel were waiting for them.
¡°Yes, I''ll explain more when we get to the meeting room,¡± said Akira as he looked at the countdown for the branch 3 stage 4 quest. [7 days 12 hrs.]
Five heavily armored castle guards from the Madmane clan stood outside the door to the meeting room. Upon seeing Akira and the other wall commanders they saluted with great vigor.
One of the guards turned 90 degrees and pushed the door open allowing Akira and the others to keep walking without breaking a step.
¡°Akira! From what Klyn has been telling us you all had quite the adventure at the dwarven cities,¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
¡°If I was there I would have given them a wallop as well!¡± said Grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°We already know a bit about what happened to the group but we want to hear what happened to you,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
And so Akira spent the next ten minutes narrating what had happened to him after he dropped over the edge of the cliff.
¡°Fascinating, but I feel a bit helpless. It seems that you always get into situations that make it hard for your guards to protect you. You are the lord of Kodria. Put some more thought into your actions. If you keep doing stuff like this then what will we do if you are gravely wounded or killed?¡± asked Grand elder Seoc.
¡°It''s fine, he may be young but he can handle himself. Plus, a few wounds from failures builds character!¡± said Grand elder ¨¤aron pointing to the many scars on his body.
¡°We are all aware of his strength but it is never wrong to practice caution. My main worry right now is the new types of infected that you mentioned. The Bryer and that Chimera,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°I don''t think there will be other chimeras like that one but it is still a good idea to make plans in case such a creature appears again. As for fighting the Bryers? We''ll have to buff up the tower''s defenses and rely more on the shaman to help defend the skys,¡± said Akira.
¡°Akira didn''t you say you had important news to talk about other than those creatures?¡± asked Klyn.
Akira nodded his head. ¡°In a week or so there will be an enemy attack on Kodria.¡±
¡°What?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°What scoundrels dare?!¡± asked the other Grand elders, surprised and sitting up straight.
¡°All I know is that a large force is on its way. I don''t know what type of army it is, all I know is that it probably has some connection to the Cult of science. I think it will be safe to say the attack will probably be similar to what the dwarven cities faced just on a larger scale,¡± said Akira.
¡°A week? That''s far too little time to go over all that notes you all collected from the Dwarves. We still need to be careful with our experiments with the limited material we have,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°Don''t worry grandfather, we sorted most of it already on the way back here,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Do you know where they will be coming from?¡± Asked Seoc.
¡°No, but I have a feeling it will be from the north,¡± said Akira.
¡°I will make sure to send out more of my clansmen and increase the scouting range of their patrols in the northern sector.¡±
¡°We have no time to be sitting around here! Klyn, let''s go start working on the experiments!¡± said Grand elder Hegir as he grabbed Klyn and started dragging him out of the meeting room.
The two other Grand elders also stood up to leave the room.
As ¨¤aron passed Akira, he patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°I admire your strength and courage. But if there ever comes a point when you put yourself and those along with you in mortal danger that is not courage but stupidity. Make sure you know when to fight and when to retreat.¡±
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Akira was left with only the city wall captains and Nollan who had come to help represent the Yuki-onna kingdom along with rep Ieec.
¡°Nollan what will your people do? I won''t be asking you to fight on the front line but can we expect help protecting both cities?¡±
¡°There should be no problem with that. Unfortunately with the event of the dwarfs getting attacked and now Kodria we can not send more forces north unless we wish to put our kingdom in jeopardy,¡± said Nollan.
¡°What do you want us to do?¡± Frang asked Akira.
¡°Let''s go tour the walls of both the main city as well as the outer city to see what we need to work on to better survive this ordeal.¡±
Akira turned to Advisor Samuel and said, ¡°Get into contact with the other allied demon races and inform them of what is happening. I know it is a lot to ask for some of them but If they can help then that would be much appreciated.¡±
***
Delgar stepped outside the sweltering room where the sounds of bellows and non-stop hammering rang out.
¡°What does he think we are? This workload is just getting worse every day...¡± muttered Delgar as he whipped the cooling sweat off his face.
He sat down on a crate of cheap iron ore and looked at the many detailed blueprints that had been given to him.
One was fairly simple, it was a new type of ballista head that was blunt. It was needed to fight against the more dangerous stone armor of the Molten Onyx infected.
Another was for a larger ballista that would shoot the new blunt heads farther and with a greater force. They had a sharp tip that allowed it to pierce into and then crumple into a blunt attack with the rest of its head.
And the last was a proto-type for metal blade claws.
All of this had been dropped on his lap only a half-hour ago when Akira passed by.
He and those under him still had many orders and daily tools and equipment that they had to create to keep Kodria and the outer city running.
Delgar looked up from the blueprints and saw two young Dwarves eating nearby.
¡°Hey, you two quick slacking! Get back in there! We have no time to play around!¡±
¡°What?¡± ¡°We need to eat!¡±
***
Everyone was actively doing something to prepare.
Varbu was running along the walls of the outer city leading the Orc and werewolf infantry in their daily exercises before the more intense training.
While they did that Prince Gobbers was focused on drilling the goblins in archery since the majority of them were unfit to fight on the front line against the Molten onyx infected.
Mileena, Azura, Maya, and Princess Gobalina were working on helping the inner and outer city run properly as the population of both continued to expand quickly. With the coming battle that would arrive at their doorsteps they now also had to prepare the supplies for the armies as well as food to keep the cities alive.
***
Akira stood on top of a newly built stone tower looking over the outer city. The four city wall guards stood next to him.
¡°The outer city walls have been completed and all of the civilians are now living inside. For now, we have enough space and housing for everyone. But I have a feeling with how fast the outer city has been growing it will be far too cramped inside here and we will have to expand,¡± said Leif, a werewolf city guard who had been promoted to the role of wall commander of the outer city.
¡°The walls may have been completed, but we are expecting a large army of enemies, some possibly in the sky. You need to start installing the new large ballista into the towers as soon as the Dwarves deliver them. Since we only have a week to get everything in place. Make sure that your men are well trained on the devices as soon as you get them. I believe they are going to be very important for the defenses of the outer city. You four must thoroughly keep all 700 city guards on a heavy training scheduled for the next week.¡±
¡°They are already practicing on the medium versions which will be replaced with the newer ones sent by the Dwarves. What do you want us to do with them once we remove them from the towers?¡±
Akira looked at the sky for a short moment as he thought about what to do with them.
¡°Send them to the navy. They can be installed on the ships to act as a mobile defense for either the inner or outer city,¡± said Akira as his attention turned to the lake where several ships were practicing maneuvers and mock battles.
The Navy had grown even larger since its last battle. They now had 6 large warships with long rams on the front of each ship. Each large ship had a minimum of 50 naval marines as a fighting force.
There were now 300 naval marines which was a far larger force than the 60 that they had started with at the beginning of the naval marine force.
Along with the 6 large ships were tens of medium and smaller ships under the navy many of them were used for troop transports, messengers, or escorts for the many merchant ships of Kodria.
They hadn''t had many problems with pirates but it was only time before they ran into a problem on the rivers or at the sea.
He turned his attention to the forts at the river. They looked solid enough but he still wanted to further secure the walls, unfortunately, that had to wait until summer. So they would have to do with what they had.
At the south fort, the 500 strong Garg cavalry and 100 busters were conducting formation training in the snow. The 7000 strong Werewolf, 4000 Orc, and 4000 Goblin armies had joined them to get more hell training in.
It was breathtaking to see such a large force of combined demon race soldiers and cavalrymen marching in different formations.
Chapter 241: Drive them back
Six days passed.
Kodria and its 3 main armies, were in full readiness waiting for the coming enemy. The civilians all quietly huddled inside their homes to ward against the cold winter and the frightening outside world full of so many enemies.
Akira and Fluffball were getting in some last-minute training with the Cavalrymen before the big fight when...
¡°Awwwooooo!¡±
A distant howl coming from one of the northern scouting werewolf units alerted everyone in Kodria.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira out loud after listening to the howl.
¡°Is there something wrong?¡± asked Mileena who was eating a quick lunch while riding behind Akira. She was of course wearing the new green wind leather armor set.
¡°There''s a large enemy army marching towards the city... is this the enemy we are to fight against?¡± asked Akira to no one in particular.
¡°Piiii!¡± screeched Pii''per who was gliding high above them. She was fully equipped with her newly cleansed bone claws and beak weapons. They were still a little too big for her but Delgar had made some modifications allowing them to be easier to strap onto her small frame.
¡°I hope our preparations were enough,¡± said Akira as he watched the lazy Pii''per far above them.
¡°Why worry? We have done all we could to prepare. Now all that is left is for everyone to give it their all in defending Kodria and the citizens,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Yap!¡± shouted a happy Fluffball. As he ran around Grarr his claws sliced through the snow with ease from the metal claws strapped to his front two paws.
Akira had tried to have him use four of the new metal claws, one on each paw. Unfortunately, Fluffball was unable to walk or fight without stumbling or doing faceplants into the snow when using all four.
Grarr stopped moving and Akira stood up using the stirrups. With a wave of his armored paw, Akira motioned the entire Cavalry to move out towards the east river fort where the returning scouts would be arriving soon.
The over 500 strong cavalry and 100 busters crisply turned and made their way to the east fort.
They arrived at the fort the same time as the returning Bo and the 20 other scouts that he had led north to patrol part of the vast northern territory.
Klyn and several of his holy shaman were still on a transport ship halfway across the lake heading towards the fort to join up with Akira.
¡°Is it the infected?¡± asked Akira in a worried tone. The last week was far too stressful. All they could do was prepare and wait for the large wave of attacks.
¡°No,¡± said Bo, shaking his head. ¡°It''s...¡±
¡°Who?¡± asked an impatient Zundar.
¡°Over the last several days we have been encountering several small scouting groups of Ratman. So I scouted farther north to see where they were coming from and found a camp with a force of at least 1000 Ratmen,¡± said Bo.
¡°Are they migrating away from the molten onyx plague?¡± asked Akira.
Bo shook his head. ¡°We watched them for a day to be sure. Their target is definitely Kodria. Since there are no civilians with them I can only guess they have ill intentions.¡±
¡°Bait?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''m not sure. We scouted a wide area around them but found no other hiding forces.¡±
Klyn arrived at the docks of the fort and was quickly updated on the situation.
After a quick discussion between everyone, they came to an agreement on what needed to be done.
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¡°Awwooo!¡±
With a howl, Akira ordered the army, city guards, and navy to go to their battle stations. They all needed to be on guard for any attack.
¡°Bo, lead the way to this camp. The faster we drive them back and return the better. If we can defeat the problem before it reaches the city outskirts that is for the best. We''ll need to hurry up and return in case this is a trap to lure the army away from the city,¡± ordered Akira.
With that said Akira let out another loud howl, ¡°AWOOO!¡±
The 5 omega cavalry officers echoed his howling order and the cavalry force imitatively headed out following Bo towards the enemy force.
***
The majority of the groggy Ratmen were only now waking up and starting to cook a late breakfast.
They had been marching the entire night before to arrive at their destination on time.
¡°Chee ree re chee,¡± complained a tired and poorly dressed Ratman who was half asleep as he stood watch at the outskirts of the camp.
He had stopped feeling the biting cold in his arms and legs and was now feeling an odd drowsy warmth take over. All he wanted to do was drift off to sleep... but if he did that he would be scolded by the captain.
Those that were scolded, more often than not, ended up as rations for the rest of the army.
This thought made him shiver and the drowsy warmth was driven back once more to be replaced by the stinging cold which had invaded deep into his body and made it painful to move... but he had to endure the pain and keep moving so that he could battle the cold and try to stay warm.
Through his numb feet, he felt the snowy ground vibrating.
The Ratman guard stopped and looked at his nearly frozen feet for a few seconds before turning his gaze at the ground.
His muddied brain was puzzled, not understanding what was going on. As he stared at the ground the vibration grew stronger.
When he looked up he froze in place upon seeing a large black furry creature only a few steps away from him!
¡°Reeeeeeeee....! gurgle...¡±
The guard managed to let out one last warning before he was run through by a sword ending his life.
¡°Kill the Invaders! Don''t let them step a foot closer to Kodria!¡± growled Akira as he pulled his sword out of the dead Ratman.
¡°Awoo!¡± ¡°Awooooo!¡± ¡°Awoo Awooo!¡± several eager howls rang out in acknowledgment to Akira.
The Gargs charged into the encampment and plowed through the tents trapping and trampling hundreds of Ratmen inside their tents who were killed by claw, sword, and spear.
¡°REEE! Chee reee!¡± came the screeches of a Ratman officer. The office was trying to rally the Ratman soldiers that were already gathered near the cooking campfires at the center of the encampment.
The panicked and disordered Ratman soldiers started to filter towards the officer. When a sizable force had gathered the officer pointed forward towards the rampaging Garg cavalry.
¡°Reeeee!¡±
With no sort of formation, the mob of hundreds of poorly dressed and armed Ratman charged forward to stop the werewolves¡¯ advance.
Akira and the other werewolves met them head-on, easily curving out a large hole in them as they slaughtered their way forward.
¡°Is this all you got? You''re all so weak!¡± shouted Zundar as he swung his hammer creating several bloody pulps wherever he went.
Mileena shot out several of her disposable daggers, pricing the foreheads of the Ratman that tried to throw javelins at Akira. While Fluffball tore through the swarming Ratman near the rear.
Kodria''s banner stood tall behind Akira as tanner fought behind him while holding up the banner.
¡°Commander Akira! The enemy officer is abandoning the battle and is escaping to the north with 200 soldiers who look better equipped than this rabble. Do you want me to block their escape?¡± asked an omega officer.
¡°No. Bo, follow them with your familiar to see where they are heading. They may lead us to whoever is behind all of this,¡± shouted Akira as he cut down several of the weak Ratmen soldiers like cutting grass.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he shot an ice ball that exploded on the snowy ground, freezing the legs of several Ratman near Akira.
¡°What cowards! The strongest escaped with the officer...¡± said a disappointed Zundar.
¡°Is this really the great threat that was looming over the city?¡± asked Klyn as he continuously chanted, giving all those around him several buffs.
¡°We''ll know for sure when Bo finds their escape destination,¡± said Akira.
***
Far to the north was a large camp of tents surrounded with moaning molten onyx infected.
Inside the largest tent at the center of a camp, there was a heated discussion happening.
¡°Your first wave was driven back so easily. I''m now doubting if it''s even worth the trouble of having you allied with us,¡± said Tibia with great disdain as she looked at Rechee, the commander of the Ratmen force.
After searching for the proper words Rechee cleared his throat and began talking in a calm squeaky voice.
¡°It¡¯s okay, they were just the lazy dregs of our clan. Tomorrow I will lead my army and arrive at the city in force to soften them up for you. But you have to keep your promise that we will be allowed to rule over Froit.¡±
''Damn weaklings, can''t even set up a forward base without getting discovered and driven off. I''ll have to make them pay for making me look bad by putting them in the first major wave,'' thought Rechee.
Chapter 242: Whittle down
There wasn''t much useful stuff in the Ratmen¡¯s camp seeing as they were armed with very basic weapons and armor and the food they had was... less than appetizing for someone with a normal brain.
Even so, the werewolves spent several hours scavenging all the armor and weapons from the tents and the dead bodies.
Akira knew that Delgar and the other dwarf blacksmiths needed all the material they could get their hands on right now with the expanding army and constant battles that Kodria and its allies found themselves in.
With the dwarves¡¯ skills, they could use them as raw material and melt them down to create something more useful. The more minerals they had to work with was best for all.
As they were finishing gathering everything a black raven swooped down and landed on Bo''s shoulder.
The four guards protecting the sitting Bo loosened up their stance as Bo stood back up and headed towards Akira.
From the look on his face, Akira could see he had found something troubling.
Bo quickly gave his report without Akira needing to ask.
¡°They were heading farther north towards the dark mist. So I went ahead using the direction they were using to escape and I did find a larger group that I believe is part of their main force.¡±
¡°Part of?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Just to be sure I followed the tracks they made coming south... and I saw a large number of tents surrounded by an uncountable number of infected.¡±
Several gasps were heard from Akira''s guards who were standing behind him.
¡°Are you saying the Ratman are the ones controlling this attack on Kodria?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°I''m not sure, but from what I saw that might be a possibility,¡± said Bo.
¡°I have my doubts about that. That person we fought outside of Madu was not a Ratman but a human and definitely part of the Cult of science,¡± said Akira.
Ding!
Branch 3 Stage 4 S rank mission start!
The first wave of enemies is on their way to Kodria!
|
¡°What were the numbers of the Ratman army?¡± asked Akira.
¡°At least 15,000,¡± said Bo.
¡°That much,¡± asked a worried Klyn.
¡°HA! That''s nothing, the Ratmen are worse than those goblins. They breed like crazy but are just too weak,¡± said Zundar, shaking his head.
The goblins living at Kodria were breeding faster than all the other demon races combined and made up a large portion of the outer city¡¯s population. Each of their houses was crammed with tens of goblins. Even if they were small it always surprised Akira how many they could pack into a home.
Like the goblins, the ratman normally made up their forces with overwhelming numbers to wear down the enemy before sending in their stronger warriors to finish them off.
¡°From what I saw there were 4-6000 regular soldiers while the rest seemed to be similarly armed and equipped like the rabble we cleared up here,¡± said Bo waving his hand to the dead ratmen around them.
¡°Your orders?¡± asked Zundar.
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¡°There were no infected traveling with them?¡± asked Akira.
¡°None that I could see.¡±
¡°Alright, let''s head out!¡± ordered Akira as he hopped onto Grarr''s back.
***
Crack!
A black leather whip shot out and snapped above the heads of ten ratmen who were wearing thick leather harnesses.
¡°Reee che ree!¡± ordered Rechee angrily. He sat back down in his sled and covered himself with his thin fur blankets to try and keep the southern cold winter at bay.
The ten ratman who had been slowing down once again picked up their pace as they pulled the sled forward through the deep snow.
The unlucky ratmen tasked with this job were selected from the surviving warriors who had returned after their utter defeat to the werewolves that had nearly wiped them all out.
The officer in charge of that mission was now placed in the lead position of the harness forcing him to clear a path through the deep snow allowing those attached behind him to have an easier time.
This was the punishment they had to endure or die trying to complete.
Rechee was still angry with his father for sending him down south to lead this force of misfits. Even by the standards of the ratman he could see they were a poor excuse for an army.
He would have refused to lead this force if it were not for the sneaky black cloaks giving him thousands of random junk weapons and armor to his best warriors that had been sent with him.
The armor and weapons were far superior to anything the overworked ratman blacksmiths had created for the average soldier. Even Rechee had changed a few pieces of his equipment for the ones given out by the sneaky black cloaks.
¡°Chee re chee che...¡± grumbled Rechee.
Why, out of his 20 or so brothers, was he picked to lead this group? He was one of the youngest princes. Shouldn''t have one of his older brothers taken on this suicide task?
He felt that his father had sent him and the rabble south to clear up space in the crowded nests. If not, then why were the elite soldiers as well as the main army kept at the nest? He was only able to bring his royal guards along with him, which was nothing when compared to the task he faced.
Rechee tried to think positively. He would use this chance to outshine his older brothers. According to the sneaky black cloaks, Rechee and the ratman were not expected to capture Kodria.
The sneaky black cloaks tasked him with two main jobs.
The first was to set up a siege to block anyone from entering or leaving Kodria to wear down the city''s morale.
The second task was to test the strength of Kodria''s defenses and army. While completing several side tasks such as clearing any defensive traps, exhausting the city''s range munition.
If he completed all these tasks and reported the information to the sneaky black cloaks, Rechee was sure he would be able to complete their end of the deal. If it went as planned his father would have to acknowledge him when they started a new phase in the history of the ratman demon race.
Fwoosh! Splat!
Blood from a nearby ratman splattered all over Rechee''s blankets and face.
¡°Chee?!¡± shouted Rechee in surprise, slow to understand what was going on.
The ratman whose blood was splattered all over him no longer had a head, since the large metal barb had passed through it and over Rechee''s head.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Dozens of ratmen were being pierced and torn apart all around Rechee.
The ones that took the brunt of the attack were the ten ratmen pulling the sled causing it to come to a halt.
Rechee tumbled out of the sled and fell into the deep snow as he tried to dig towards the hard ground to get away from the large flying bits of metal all around him.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Several more projectiles flew over his head piercing dozens of other ratmen around him.
¡°REE! CHE REEE!¡± ordered Rechee from his hole next to his sled.
A thousand of the ratman warriors turned towards the area where the projectiles were coming from and started to run towards it.
When they reached the spot they found it was empty. But since the attacks had stopped, they returned to the main force.
Rechee stood back up and got back into his sled.
¡°Che reee,¡± said Rechee.
Several nearby ratman began removing the dead from the harnesses and quickly butchered them with well-practiced motions.
Of the 10 that had been pulling the sled only 2 were still living and the officer was not one of them.
Another 8 ratman from the original defeated group were dragged to the harnesses and attached to the sled.
Crack!
With the whip snapping above their heads the sled once again started moving.
Rechee was confident that they had chased off whoever it had been that attacked them.
A half-hour later...
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
And like this, Rechee learned a new hell as he was forced to continuously dive out of his sled and into the snow as they inched their way towards the city Kodria.
Chapter 243: Push them back
¡°Lord! We''ve spent all of our ammunition!¡± shouted the Omega officer of the Busters.
¡°We''ve done all we could to stall them and whittle down their forces. Let''s hope that Varbu, Prince Gobbers, Captain Wullcot, and the wall commanders have finished their last-second preparations,¡± said Akira.
¡°Did we kill enough of them?¡± asked Klyn. ¡°It looked like we only managed to kill a few hundred of them.¡±
¡°Why worry about such things? Everything was mostly ready when we left so it should be fine, we just have to smash these guys when we see them again!¡± said Zundar as he slammed his two fists together.
Akira stood up in his stirrups, his sword arm held high in the air as twirled it in a circular motion and pointed back towards Kodria.
¡°Awoooo!¡±
With his order, the Garg cavalry turned around and headed back to Kodria to join the others and await the Ratman army.
Akira felt more confident now that he had a general idea of what they would be facing.
***
The howl rang through the cold air and reached the ears of the ratmen.
Rechee shivered almost uncontrollably for a few seconds, not from the cold... but the chilling fear that swept down his back freezing him along with the thousands of soldiers he commanded.
They had been unsure who was attacking them since they would escape before the soldiers could reach the concealed area that had fired upon them. But now they knew who it was.
¡°REEE CHEE RE RE!¡± ordered Rechee when he regained his senses.
Due to the many ambushes, Rechee had surrounded himself with his most heavily armored troops to help block and shield him from the attacks that always seemed to be flying around him.
The entire ratman army quickly followed his orders and moved into a defensive formation with Rechee at the centermost protected area.
The Ratman army braced themselves for the attack they thought was coming but... after a half-hour of standing still in the cold wind, Rechee wondered if he had misheard the wind for a howl.
Although werewolves had only killed a few hundred soldiers the constant sneak attacks had broken a nerve in Rechee as well as the ratman warriors which was further exacerbated by their lack of sleep due to having to be constantly on guard for an attack.
The death of a few hundred ratmen was nothing to them. Currently, there were an estimated 20k younglings back at their offshoot nest network. It would be considered extremely lucky if 10k of them reached adulthood. The rest would be used as supplies to make the rest of the ratman clan stronger.
That number did not even include the many nest hive networks that housed all the many tens of thousands of adults.
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That ratman race was truly one of the most populous races, but being such a recluse race with a high population they had a rabid cannibalistic nature to supply the needs of the race.
The high mortality rate was nothing new to them. The ratman demon race as a whole was normally secretive and recluse, rarely showing themselves above ground.
This was partially due to their small size and overall weak bodies when compared to the larger races. The other part was they did not like the sun preferring the dark months. Although the south was dark for many months of the year... It was too damn cold for the ratmen.
So for the majority of the ratman in the moving army, this was the longest and farthest they had ever been away from the main nest network.
Ever since the sneaky black cloaks muttered their words to his father, the ratman demon race was set onto a new course that would allow them to expand and possibly grow even more numerous and maybe even stronger with the land they would acquire.
***
Ding!
Kodria''s security has dropped 3%.
Each day an enemy force is camped near/ or attacks Kodria there will be another 3% drop.
When the security falls under 50% the local monster population will start causing more problems by attacking the city and the citizens will start to lose morale at a higher rate.
|
¡°What are they doing?¡± asked Mileena as she strained to look at the Ratman in the distance.
Akira stood atop one of the outer city towers along with Varbu, Klyn, prince gobbers, and the commanders of the IsKald force that was stationed inside the outer city.
¡°Either bo''s estimate was off or they got reinforcements. It looks like there are nearly 20,000 of them,¡± said Akira as watched the ratmen trying to build up a quick base out of the attack range of the towers.
¡°We can''t let them have the time to set up their defense,¡± said Varbu.
¡°You''re right, Prince Gobbers, Snuwball, Breezard. I''ll leave you three and the warriors under you here to guard the walls against any unseen attacks. Varbu, Zundar, Klyn, let''s go.¡±
¡°Gii gii gii,¡± said Prince Gobbers, nodding his head and thumping his chest like he saw Varbu normally do.
Akira, his guards, and battle companions exited the tower and headed towards the gates where the combined allied armies were waiting. Akira looked down the long main street which was jammed packed with fully equipped soldiers.
The large force was reassuring to both Akira and the citizens of the outer city who were silently watching them from their windows and doors.
Akira looked at the many faces that were filled with worry both for themselves and their loved ones that would be fighting on the front lines. The sooner they could defeat the enemy and completely drive them off, the better it would be for Kodria and its people.
Akira reached the main gates that were now slowly opening and hopped onto Grarr''s back. As he did so...
Burruuuu!
A warhorn rang out from the east river fort followed by a howl!
¡°Awooo!¡±
The Ratmen seemed to not have any plans of letting them interrupt their setting up the forward camp and had already launched an attack!
A black mist covered Akira as he transformed on top of Grarr growing taller and bulkier. The sight and the aura that seeped out from him surprised the watching citizens of the outer city.
The attention of everyone centered on him. Tanner stood next to Akira with the flag of Kodria flapping in the wind.
Akira stood tall and strong and pointed his thick furred arm towards the advancing ratman army.
¡°Awooooo!¡±
The werewolves soldiers all transformed as one and replied to Akira''s howl with their own that echoed through the air!
¡°AWOOO!¡±
The orcs banged their fist on their chest armor and the goblins let out high-pitched screeches.
As a unified force, they moved forward to intercept the Ratmen.
Chapter 244: Battling the Ratman army
The combined allied army moved out of the outer city''s opened gates like a flood. Akira and the Garg Calvary exited the gates first and fanned out into formation as they waited for more infantry to form up behind them.
Akira watched as the army formed up and then without another word nudged Grarr to begin the charge forward.
Kodria''s flag with the moon and howling wolf fluttered in the wind held high by Tanner for all to see. Tanner rode on a Garg mount a short distance behind Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball ran alongside Grarr and Akira''s other personal guards growing to his full size as his holy ice armor covered his body.
Like a stampede of angered wild beasts, they charged forward across the flat battlefield that had a fresh white cover of snow, headed right towards the large detachment of Ratmen that were advancing to attack the east fort.
Akira and the cavalry slammed into the front side of the several thousand-strong ragtag army of Ratmen.
They plowed through them like piercing snow with a hot knife.
Akira did not need to use skills as every swing of his sword one or more head, arm, or leg was severed.
Grarr bit and clawed his way through any Ratman that tried to obstruct his way forward. He was helped by Fluffball who was plowing through any ratmen that came near him, freezing dozens of them as he ran alongside Grarr.
With the cavalry carving through the ratmans ragtag army it was split into two with more than 1000 ratman soldiers trapped between the fort and the infantry that had arrived moments later behind the cavalry.
The enemy''s advance was completely halted and now the Orcs led by Varbu were decimating the trapped ratman, it was an utter bloodbath.
Akira turned the cavalry force around for a second pass at the Ragtag army that was still several thousand stronger than the cavalry.
As they cut through them again Akira was cutting through a Brave ratman that had charged him when he received a large impact to his side chest nearly knocking him off Grarr.
Akira looked down at his chest to see a large dent where a Crossbow bolt had nearly pierced through.
¡°ROAAAR!¡± Upon seeing Akira getting hit, Fluffball''s angry gaze zeroed in on the ratman who had shot him and spewed several ice shards in his direction, freezing and shattering him into hundreds of small bloody chunks.
After Akira and the Cavalry finished their second pass and the infantry behind them started to push forward the ragtag Ratman army broke and began fleeing back towards the main army
The cavalry and Infantry hounded the fleeing Ratman, killing at least 1000 as they fled. When the main ratman army that was trying to set up defenses saw the approaching army they dropped what they were doing and fled ahead of the smaller ratman army behind them.
After an hour of chasing the enemy, Akira halted the cavalry and infantry chase. There was no knowing if there was a trap they were being led into so he decided it was better to call it off now while they still could.
Ding!
The first wave of enemies has been repelled!
The second wave will start tomorrow.
|
¡°Awooo!¡± ¡°Graaaaa!¡± ¡°Gii giii!¡±
The soldiers all let out celebratory roars into the air. While the shaman led by Klyn went around the battlefield treating the wounded warriors and allies of Kodria before beginning the treatment of any of the enemy wounded.
Akira urged Grarr to the front of the battlefield and stood up with his sword raised to gain the attention of the celebrating soldiers. Tanner followed behind him with Kodria''s flag held high. There were a few extra flecks of blood now on it.
A second wave of cheers rang out at seeing Akira and the flag ride in front of them.
Grarr stopped on a small snowbank that allowed everyone to see Akira clearly.
¡°Although we won a great victory today, the enemy will not give up so easily. They will be back again the question is with what type of ally? You all need to rest up now while you have the chance, I have a feeling that the next several days will allow very little sleep,¡± said Akira in his booming voice.
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¡°OOOOO!¡± The soldiers cheered and started the journey back to Kodria where they could return to their stations in the outer city to blow off steam while they could.
A few stayed behind to help the Shaman search the long stretch of the battlefield and carry the wounded allies back.
¡°Be sure to thoroughly question them about the enemy plans,¡± Akira ordered a few of the passing soldiers as they carried wounded Ratman warriors that had survived the battle.
***
¡°It is as you thought,¡± said Bo giving his report to Akira as they rode out the outer city gates.
¡°They are on the move?¡± asked Akira as he led the cavalry out the city gates to join Varbu and Zundar who were both commanding the infantry forces.
¡°Yes,¡± said Bo.
¡°These damn ratman don''t know when to give up,¡± said Zundar as he looked at the approaching ratman army that had been severely bloodied the day before losing several thousands of their warriors.
¡°Let''s Finish them this time so they don''t bother us later!¡± said Akira.
Akira waved his hand and gave the order to advance.
Similar to the day before the army moved forward towards the approaching ratman army.
The ratman had changed their tactics from the day before and now the full force of their army was headed to the east fort to try and take it over and use it as a base instead of setting up a camp in the open snowy field.
The allied infantry slammed into the rear of the ratman army who for some reason had been ignoring Kodria''s army and were just focused on running towards the fort. The infantry tried to swallow up the army but they were still outnumbered by the Ratmen.
Akira led the cavalry into a side charge of the Ratmen, tearing up and knocking back hundreds as they plowed through.
Everyone on the battlefield could track their quick progress by following the flying flag that was held high by tanner as he fought alongside Akira.
Rechee who had been at the center of the charging army turned and led his elite warriors towards Akira.
The two forces clashed and Akira was surprised that Rechee survived his sword attack that had killed hundreds of other Ratmen almost instantly. Along with Rechee most of his elite warriors were able to weather the initial clash.
¡°Chee reee chee!¡± Rechee cursed at Akira as he attacked Akira once again with his new sword.
Rechee was extremely happy for the weapons and armor that had been given to him by the black cloaks. He felt full of energy as his eyes continued to emit a red light that covered his entire eyes.
Akira fended off the attacks with his shield as he inspected the Ratman''s red eyes. He was not sure if their glowing red eyes were some sort of skill or a passive trait of the ratman race. Whatever it was, it made him feel a sense of danger.
Mileena disappeared from behind Akira as she activated her skill [Blink] to teleport behind Rechee and try to quickly assassinate him but.... the elite guards around him had fearlessly moved in front of her attack to block it.
The elite guards whose eyes were also glowing red jumped forward and mindlessly latched onto the clones that Mileena had created and received the attacks that were meant for their boss sacrificing their lives for him.
All around them the ratman army was being decimated by the allied forces and the cavalry who had moved to surround the front and sides of the ratman army.
Rechee did not sound retreat, he was mindlessly only focusing on attacking Akira.
The ratman warriors dropped like flies. They were no longer able to push forward and were now being pushed back. The brawling battle between Akira and Rechee also moved away from the forts.
¡°Awoooo!¡±
Akira''s face turned grim as he heard the howl coming from Bo who was keeping an eye on the entire battlefield.
The infected had shown up!
¡°Pull back from their rear! Kill as many Ratman as you can!¡± growled Akira. The officers relayed his orders and they pushed forward even harder slaughtering all that stood in their way while suffering only minuscule casualties themselves.
Kodria''s army straightened out as they pushed the Ratmen back.
Akira watched as the distant waves of stony black molten onyx infected appeared in the distance and slowly marched towards both the ratman and the outer city!
The Molten onyx infected that were marching toward the ratman slammed into their rear and started pushing through and walking over the ratman warriors.
All this made the surviving ratman warriors start panicking as they were taking damage from both the front and rear.
As this was happening the red light in Rechee''s eyes disappeared when Akira landed a heavy blow on his chest that had a red crystal embedded in the armor.
¡°Chee? Reeechee?¡± Rechee looked around surprised, taking his attention away from the battle with Akira.
Rechee was shocked to find himself on the frontline. As he glanced at the situation around him he was horrified at the low numbers of ratman warriors still alive. Almost all his elites were already gone.
Seeing the infected had arrived and that they were attacking anything in front of them, even the ratman who were supposed to be their allies, he immediately gave a screeching order ¡°Chee ree!¡±
Akira thrust his sword forward and managed to pierce Rechee''s shoulder. Several of the elite ratamn jumped forward and blocked Akira from landing another attack.
Rechee was able to retreat along with the surviving ratman as they escaped into the molten onyx infected mass to retreat. But in order to do this Rechee had to sacrifice several of his remaining elite warriors leaving him with only a handful left.
¡°Retreat to the city walls!¡± howled Akira.
There was no point fighting out in the open against such a large force right now when they did not have the full information on the enemy that was attacking them.
There was also the fact that the holy shamen were on the walls ready to support the army and battle the infected.
Akira could already hear the loud thunks of the tower ballistas, see the clouds of arrows, and bright white holy light flying through the air before they slammed into the clamoring wave of infected moving towards the outer city.
Chapter 245: The main culprits arrive
A dark mist covered a large portion of the allied forces that stood solid using several rows of heavily armored soldiers to protect the walls of the outer city. It was the Darkness domain of Akira that was boosting the morale of the soldiers it covered while blinding the enemy and disoriented the basic infected that wandered in.
These rows of allied soldiers were all that stood against the flood of Molten onyx Infected.
If they let just one of the Infected pass and it managed to get into the outer city or one of the puffers started coughing out smoke...
This was one of the reasons they had chosen not to hide behind the walls, the other was the fact that if they withdrew from the battlefield they would be stuck inside and the cramped city would be surrounded and cut off from the inner city and any allied forces. This was why they needed to keep a foothold outside.
It was several times more dangerous for the fighting soldiers but it was the best option they had to make sure that the civilians inside the city did not become infected.
Wave after wave of disoriented infected slammed into their defensive wall. Thousands of the special arrows and hundreds of the special large blunt bolts had been fired at the mass of Infected to help lessen the strain the warriors were under.
Unlike the day before Klyn was not on the front line battlefield and instead he was commanding the other Shaman from the walls alongside Prince Gobbers and the archers.
When a wave of infected had been smashed once again Akira watched as several brave soldiers rushed out onto the battlefield to gather the bolts and arrows that could be salvaged before quickly retreating back behind the shield wall.
With the shamans constant buffs and the holy shamans holy light combined with the [Darkness domain] the allied soldiers had been able to hold back the infected.
The fight they found themselves in was nothing like the fight from the day before where they had won a quick battle.
They had been fighting for almost the entire day. The winter daylight was now fading away as the sun descended to soon be replaced by the moon.
Akira scanned the trampled snowy battlefield and was and was happy to not see any of the special infected he had fought before. This also worried him that he could not find where they were.
¡°AWOOOO!¡±
A howl from the east fort rang out over the noisy battlefield reaching Akira''s ears. It was a request of what to do as they were having a hard time holding back the swarm of Molten Onyx infected.
Each of the fort''s three land-based walls were being hammered on by several hundreds of infected at the base of each wall. Even more Molten Onyx infected clambered on top of each other trying to climb up the solid stone walls.
The Orc and werewolf warriors inside the fort were frantically knocking the climbing infected off the walls into the swarming mass of stone bodies below.
Whenever one of the infected managed to climb into the top of the wall they caused mayhem. Luckily a large Orc officer was able to rush towards the troubled area and use his large two-handed warhammer to hit them in the stony stomach, sending them flying off the wall.
The Holy shamen that had been stationed in the east fort were ineffective against such a large swarm. Their holy light was like a drop of water in the ocean.
The forts had proven they could withstand a large beating and possibly the skills of the demigods, but the enemy right now was not the demigods who were small in number.
Akira could see the fort would not be able to hold out much longer with such an unusual force fighting to take over the fort.
¡°Give the order to abandon the east fort! Have them head to the ships and join the others in the west fort!¡± ordered a gruff Akira, his voice almost gone as he had been constantly howling out commands all day.
Tanner, who was guarding Kodria''s flag standard which had been stabbed into the ground near the gates, placed the war horn to his lips and with a deep breath, blew into it giving the order as commanded.
Burruurrr! Burrr! Burrrruuuu!
Akira cursed under his breath as another wave of Infected came forward. Today was only the second wave and they had already lost one of the forts.
They couldn''t let this continue.
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***
¡°Look! They are retreating from the fort!¡± said Tibia as she watched the fights from the rear.
¡°Well planned. We can now use it as our base for this siege until we hammer them out of existence,¡± said Bonestringer.
Rechee glared at the two as his wounds were re-bandaged by one of his army''s only surviving medics.
He had escaped the allied army attacks with over 3000+ warriors alive... but while retreating, some of the infected had attacked his soldiers leaving him with a total of 1776 survivors.
More than 90% of his army had been killed by either the allied army or the Infected.
Tibia and Bonestrigner ignored the deadly sharp glares of Rechee. He knew they had done something to him but he was not sure what it was.
¡°Why are the minions stopping at the river and lake?¡± asked Tibia.
¡°I''m not sure...¡± said Bonestringer, as he watched the infected in question.
¡°Order them to chase them, a little water is nothing,¡± said Tibia.
The clamoring infected received the order and mindlessly flooded into the river.
Step by step they moved forward.
¡°Somethings not right...¡± said Tibia as she watched.
It didn''t take long to see what it was.
The infected started to slowly disintegrate and fall apart as they moved deeper into the water. The clear flowing river water was turned into a dim gray as it was washed down the river heading towards the ocean.
¡°What is this?¡± asked Tibia.
¡°I think there was something like this in the history scrolls, some sort of holy chant melded with the water.¡±
¡°Whatever... we can just send in enough to pollute the water to negate whatever they have done. Keep going, we will take the river and lake!¡±
Tibia, Bonestringer, and Rechee entered the conquered east fort and took up positions on top of one of the fort''s walls to watch the waves of infected throw themselves into the river to be melted away.
Wave after wave of infected rushed into the water slowly turning the river gray but were still not able to make a dent in the lake.
¡°This pointless...¡± said Tibia after over a thousand infected had melted away.
***
Akira watched in shock as the infected moved into the water. He was apprehensive but soon that faded as he watched the infected disintegrate.
Ding!
The second wave of enemies has been repelled!
The third wave will start tomorrow.
|
Akira looked out in front of him and found that the infected that had been pushing forward were now retreating towards the east fort.
¡°I don''t like this one bit,¡± said Akira as he watched the infected that were now just mindlessly milling about near the east fort.
¡°Why did they stop their attack?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°Some type of mind game?¡± asked Varbu.
Akira turned to Klyn who was leaning on the wall nearby. He had only recently come out to make sure Akira was okay.
¡°How are the holy shamen holding up?¡±
¡°I am ashamed to say we''re already running on fumes. It''s great that they have pulled back allowing us to recover... but we won''t last if they decide to keep attacking non-stop. The good news is that Grandfather reported that he and the others protecting the inner city are still at full strength.¡±
¡°You did well today. With your help, we were able to hold them off and deal significant damage to the infected. Our losses today are far smaller than if we were to not have the holy light buffs and attacks.¡±
¡°It is fine today, but if we keep losing soldiers at this pace we will be bled dry,¡± said Varbu.
***
The next several days were the same as the second wave.
During the early dawn, the infected would start to move and launch a full-wave attack against the outer city wall. At night they would recede back to the base of the east fort.
The west fort was quiet and did not engage in any fights with the East fort as they were unable to cause a dent in the enemy forces. All they could do was keep an eye on them and make sure they were not up to any funny business. At the first sign of trouble, they would report to Akira.
On the 5th night as the wave of infected receded, a tired Akira''s eyes were stuck on the dark-robed figure that stood on top of the fort''s wall holding a golden goblet.
They had been there the past several days always drinking as they watched the show unfold before them.
Noticing Akira''s gaze, the dark-robed figure raised the golden goblet in salute to Akira before taking a sip and disappearing back behind the walls.
Akira had already tried to have the archers of the west fort, the naval ships, and the busters shoot the dark-robed figures, but every time they did, several of the Molten onyx infected would immediately stand in front of the figures to receive the attacks.
¡°I''m starting to really hate that person,¡± said a panting Mileena next to Akira.
¡°They are really getting on my nerves. It''s like they are taunting and playing with us every night by pulling back and attacking again the next day.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball who had been fighting as fiercely as anyone could.
¡°Don''t let it get to you. It could cause you to let your guard down which may be their intention. We''ll need to keep the Night watch at full strength again tonight. Rotate in those who have the most energy left from the battle. Klyn you and the other shaman need to rest up,¡± ordered Akira as he held his helmet and whipped his forehead.
Akira had no idea how long this siege would last and was starting to get worried that they would run out of supplies.
Chapter 246: On the river
Akira walked out of the cramped temporary wooden building that he was sharing with several other officers.
The cold morning wind slammed into him and filled his lungs making sure that he was fully awake by trying to freeze him.
The officer''s and soldiers'' temporary housing was not that far away from the outer city wall and gates. This was to allow them the ability to quickly react to an enemy attack.
A small campfire was burning in front of the building, sending up unpleasant smoke. Atop the fire was a large metal pot that was spewing large white puffs of steam. As the Guard-turned-cook scooped the slop out of the large pot, the white steam shrouded the ladle as the cold temperature tried to freeze the boiling slop.
Several officers and guards stood in line near the pot waiting with their metal and wooden cups.
Shhhlop!
When Akira reached the front of the line he received the thick substance in his large wooden cup. It was a thick oatmeal with milk added to thicken it. There were even a few chunks of meat inside.
Akira quickly started to drink down the slimy breakfast while it was warm making sure to chew the rare pieces of meat.
The meals were not as healthy as one would want it to be but with the entire population of Kodria holed up inside the walls and the fact that they were cut off from the other cities and towns, they were no longer able to safely buy and transport the remaining surplus from the northern towns. So now Kodria was having to ration their food until the crisis was dealt with.
With a belly full of warm slop, Akira walked to the walls of the outer city to watch the enemy camp to see what the coming day would be like.
As he walked down the several short side streets created by the many new wooden buildings, the sounds of soldiers finishing eating and cursing at the rations they had been given could be heard everywhere.
When Akira reached the top of one of the towers he looked to the south and in the dim gray morning light he was able to see a large gathering of storm clouds on the horizon far to the south.
¡°Great more problems. I hope that storm doesn''t reach us before the day is over,¡± muttered Akira.
He took a deep breath to help refresh and clear his mind that was filled with worry. The constant pressure of daily attacks was weighing heavily on him. Each day they lost many people either being killed on the battlefield or by being infected.
If this kept up they would be in serious trouble.
¡°BURRUUUU!¡±
The west fort sentries blew on the warhorn letting everyone know the enemy was once again on the move!
Akira hurried down the stairs to join the gathering army that was forming near the gates to once again meet the enemy on the snowy battlefield that was now trampled and bloody and in many places icy after being frozen the night before.
***
From his flagship, Captain Walcott watched the activity on land start to heat up as the two sides marched out to clash once again.
¡°Be ready to help if anything tries to cross again,¡± said Captain Walcott, his attention on the unfolding ground battle.
Movement near the east fort''s shore took his attention away from the land battle.
¡°What are those Ratmen doing now?¡± asked Captain Walcott, as he brought up a collapsible telescope to his eye.
¡°Signaler!¡± shouted Captain Walcott after a few seconds.
¡°Yes, captain?¡±
¡°Quickly send the orders for all ballistas to target those Ratmen!¡±
¡°Aye captain!¡±
The signaller began climbing up the rope net until he reached the crow''s nest and grabbed onto the signal flags that were stored in a wooden box.
He started to wave the different flags in different poses and directions to relay the orders to the many other ships on the lake. Those with their own signaler communicated back that they understood.
Seconds later several loud thuds coming from the ships with ballistas installed could be heard echoing across the calm winter lake.
Captain Walcott watched for the impacts through his collapsible telescope.
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¡°What are you guys aiming at! Hit the large group of Ratmen, not the fort!¡±
¡°Sorry captain, but we only had one week to train on these!¡±
¡°Stop making excuses and just stop them from dragging those rafts into the river!¡±
The ratmen on the east shore were cowering close to the wet shoreline trying to use the wooden rafts as cover.
Captain Walcott could see several heads pop up to look over at the ships that were silent as they loaded the ballistas with the large bolts.
Movement on the top of the east fort''s walls caught Captain Walcott''s attention. It was a person in a black hooded robe and they looked to be shouting at the cowering ratmen while pointing towards the river.
The several hundreds of ratman reluctantly grabbed their large rafts and once again started dragging them towards the river.
A second volley of large bolts launched towards the ratmen. This time the west fort joined in and started to shoot arrows and ballista bolts at the enemy on the other shore.
¡°Better,¡± said Captain Walcott, as he watched several of the wooden rafts drop to the ground as the ratmen were pierced and knocked away by the force of the large flying bolts.
The surviving ratmen all dropped their rafts as well and started to run towards the fort...
...but their escape route was blocked by a swarm of Molten onyx infected that spilled out of the fort to stop them. The dark-hooded-robed figure once again shouted something and pointed towards the river.
The ratmen were forced to weather the hail of arrows and bolts from both the west fort and ships as they picked up the rafts and started to drag them.
When the first raft reached the water the infected that had been waiting behind the ratmen silently moved forward and boarded the raft with several of the ratmen crowded at the front of the raft to guide the raft.
¡°Get us closer to those rafts! Shoot them off or just shoot the rafts to destroy them!¡± ordered Captain Walcott.
Several other rafts reached the river, some were full of ratmen, while others had a mixture of infected and ratmen.
As Kodria''s ships were moving closer to stop the rafts, a black swarm of bats flew out of the fort and headed towards them. At the center of the mass of bats was a large humanoid bat that had piercing red eyes.
¡°You weaklings! I will not let you attack anymore! Become infected and turn into my minions!¡± shouted the flying humanoid bat in a high-pitched voice.
¡°You idiot, why did you tell them what we were going to do?¡± said the humanoid bat in a flat tone.
¡°It does not matter! They are weak! Now is our time to get our revenge!¡± said the humanoid bat in a high-pitched voice.
¡°What is that thing?¡± asked the first mate as he looked high into the sky at the flying bats coming towards them.
¡°I have no idea... wait... could that be what infected the soldiers that one time?¡± asked captain Walcott.
¡°Signaler! Quickly send this order! Avoid being bitten by those creatures!¡±
¡°Aye captain!¡±
¡°Shoot them down!¡±
Arrows from each of the ship''s marines started to fly into the air piercing hundreds of the swarming bats. The dead bodies rained down into the lake to sizzle as they disintegrated inside.
¡°You weaklings dare to throw twigs at me!¡± screeched the humanoid bat in a high-pitched voice as it tried to dodge the arrows.
¡°Ow! Now you''ve done it! Attack them!¡±
The humanoid bat along with the swarm of smaller bats started to dive down towards the nearest ship.
¡°Piii!¡±
A swift blur dived from high above the swarm and plowed through it before slamming into the humanoid bat sending it twirling out of control towards the lake.
¡°Who dares interrupt my most graceful dive!!¡± shouted the humanoid bat as he thrust out his wings and flapped them fiercely to regain control.
¡°Pii!¡± shouted Pii''per as she again swooped down and grabbed onto the humanoid bat''s wing arms.
Pii''per flapped her wings to stay hovering while repeatedly whipping the head of the humanoid bat with her armored tail.
¡°LET ME GO!¡± the humanoid bat struggled fiercely to get out of Pii''pers grasp but the bone claws had bit deep into his winged arms causing him to start bleeding heavily and grow numb in his arms.
¡°Ha, you dumb creature! You have my blood on you! You will be my minion soon enough!¡±
Pii''per grew angry at begin called dumb stretched her claws out as far as she could to the side and began flapping her wings harder to start flying even higher.
¡°Stop! You''re going to tear me apart! ...wait, why are you still flying?¡±
The two shot up into the air and turned into a dark speck in the dull gray winter sky.
The dark spec once again started to grow bigger as it raced towards the river below.
BAM!
The frost-covered and torn body of the humanoid bat slammed into one of the front rafts that had been trying to cross the river. All the ratmen and infected that had been on the raft were knocked into the river as the raft broke into large chunks of wood.
The bat swarm that was attacking the ships grew disorganized and they started to fly all over the place not caring about the people they had been attacking moments before.
¡°Keep shooting them down!¡± ordered captain Walcott.
Captain Walcott turned his attention to the rafts still trying to cross the river. They had not even reached the halfway point and were all in a sorry shape.
Many had no surviving ratman and only had several infected which milled about on the unsteady rafts as they floated away from the forts. Several of the infected fell off the raft into the river and started to melt.
Captain Walcott turned his attention to one of the rafts that was just entering the river and saw a chubby puffer jump onto the raft and started to puff out its purple smog.
The ratman controlling the raft jumped off and tried to swim away from the raft and back to shore but they were too slow and were lost in the purple poisoned cloud.
The other nearby rafts that were full of ratmen quickly used all their might to move away from the infected no longer caring about getting across the river.
Another volley of fire arrows from the west fort rained down on the escaping rafts. Several of them caught on fire and engulfed the ratmen roasting them alive.
The river battle only lasted for another ten minutes ending when Pii''per helped by sinking the remaining rafts with medium-sized boulders.
Chapter 247: Full attack
BAM!
The Molten onyx infected swarm slammed into the advancing allied armies'' shield wall causing it to halt its advance. The warriors and their commanders stood firm with the white holy lights covering the very front line of soldiers in the shield wall.
The strength of the shield wall''s defense was largely due to the three main commanders, Varbu leading the left, Akira at the center, and Zundar on the right.
Even with their strength, they would not be able to stand long without Klyn and the holy shaman who were risking their lives fighting so close to the front line to provide buffs and what little preventive protection they could against the infected.
Tanner stood behind Akira fully transformed and ready to fight. Behind him was the large flag of Kodria on its long spear-like pole that was now planted in the icy ground. The flag fluttered in the winter wind high above everyone''s head letting them know where Akira and the center of the army was.
¡°How many more are we going to have to kill? We''ve killed several thousands of them already!¡± shouted Tanner as he slammed his blunt spear into a crystal of a grunner cracking it.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball before shooting an ice ball at the feet of a pair of molten onyx infected, freezing them to the ground allowing Grarr to swipe with his front paws and shatter their legs.
Akira finished them with his warhammer, smashing their heads and torso to rubble.
Standing tall, Akira raised his furry arm that was holding his glowing white warhammer and growled in a booming voice that echoed over the din of battle.
¡°Any infected we don''t kill today we''ll have to kill tomorrow! SMASH THEM ALL!¡±
¡°Awwooooo!¡± several howls rang out from all along the shield wall acknowledging Akira''s words.
The two armies battled each other for several minutes before Akira saw a large swarm of black bats shoot into the sky from inside the east fort and watched the swarm head out to the lake towards the naval ships.
Seeing this Akira finally noticed the battle happening on the river''s edge.
He was unable to do anything about it since he was stuck in a fierce battle with the massive swarm of molten onyx infected.
¡°Piii!¡±
Akira looked up into the sky and watched Pii''per flying towards the lake. As she passed by overhead Klyn quickly chanted a holy buff and sent it towards her.
Thud! Thud!
The loud thudding footsteps coming from the rear of the Molten Onyx infected swarm drew Akira''s attention away from the river battle.
A large GaiAnt was pushing its way through the swarm, destroying anything that got in its way without a care. It was headed straight for Akira wanting to stop him from interfering with the river crossing.
On its right shoulder stood a dark-robed figure and on the left shoulder was a man that Akira had never seen before. The man was not hiding his face.
Grarr plowed through the nearby infected and jumped into the air slamming into the chest of the GaiAnt stopping its charge forward, the attack did little damage.
Akira and Mileena jump off Grarr and up onto the giant. Fluffball continued to shoot ice balls at the dark-robed figure on the shoulder allowing Akira to climb up.
From behind the shield wall, Klyn chanted a quick holy buff and covered Akira in white light.
The GaiAnt roared in pain as Akira scurried up his right side with the holy light biting deep into its large stony body. Its large hands tried to smash Akira, but he jumped into the air and grabbed onto the giant hand as it was descending.
Akira swung around the large arm and landed on top of its arm, he used it to climb up to the shoulder where the dark-robed figure was dodging fluffball''s ice balls.
¡°So I have to fight you instead of that Bonestringer?¡± asked Akira as he used his skill [Sword Slash] sending a blue crescent flying towards the robed figure.
The blue crescent was blocked by the arm of the GaiAnt as the robed figure jumped into the air flipping backward onto the head of the GaiAnt.
¡°You take care of that girl and the mutt down there and I will fulfill your request,¡± said a flat female voice that came from the dark hood.
¡°Are you looking down on me? I am a top-ranker! Any guild would love to have me helping them!¡± asked the large muscular man.
The dark-robed figure ignored the man and focused on Akira who was readying another attack.
The demigod male slammed his two metal fists together and shouted, ¡°Bulk!¡±
Upon using his skill his already large muscles exploded out once again making him grow even larger and thicker. His red skin emitted a large amount of heat into the winter air.
¡°Triple punch!¡± shouted the demigod as he aimed his large metal fists at Mileena and punched down three times.
Three red fists flew down towards Mileena slamming into her body.
¡°Ha! Too easy!¡±
Poof! The body disappeared into smoke.
Mileena used blink to sneak attack the demigod from the rear.
Her daggers stabbed the demigods back but it felt like she was trying to pierce metal. There was only a little blood leaking out of the small cuts which quickly healed.
The GaiAnt swung its stony arm at Mileena forcing her to jump into the air to dodge.
¡°Ten Punch death!¡±
As Mileena landed on the stony shoulder ten red energy fists shot towards her. With her agile movements and help from her clones, she was able to dodge 9 of the attacks.
The tenth slipped through her defenses and slammed into her stomach knocking off the shoulder and into the open air.
A green wind appeared under her feet stopping her tumble towards the ground. Mileena used the green wind to jump up into the air twice heading straight for the demigod that had hit her.
The demigod was not going to let her rise back up. He jumped off of the stone shoulder and aimed his large glowing red fist, straight at her.
Mileena used her last wind step to jump backward and lightly land next to Fluffball on the snowy ground.
BAM!
Snow exploded into a geyser high into the sky as the muscle demigod slammed into the ground.
¡°Hey big guy, that cult is both the human and demon race''s enemy, they will betray you as soon as they see an opportunity!¡± shouted Mileena as she readied an attack.
¡°Shut up!¡± roared the meathead.
¡°Why is the Cult of Science working with the Demigods?¡± asked Akira while battling with the dark-robed figure.
¡°You talk too much. All of this is nothing personal, you just keep getting in our way, so please die,¡± said the low female voice. It was muffled slightly because of the black veil that covered her full face under the hood.
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Her hand snaked out towards Akira''s head but was blocked and knocked away by Akira''s shield.
Akira could feel a dangerous suction coming from her hands and knew that he could not allow her to grab onto him.
Tibia continued to grab for Akira with both her hands. Whenever Akira used a skill she would somehow squirm out of the way just barely dodging it.
During one of the GaiAnt''s fits Akira was forced to dodge the flying fists targeting him, Tibia used this as a chance and tried to flip around to Akira''s unprotected back to grab him.
As she jumped forward to latch onto his back...
Thump!
¡°oof!¡±
She was hit in the stomach with Akira''s tail knocking her off of the GaiAnt... his short victory was spoiled as she was quickly grabbed out of the air by the GaiAnt''s large hand.
Akira sent a cross attack after her forcing her to jump off the hand and into the crowded swarm of infected below where she blended into the swarm and disappeared.
The Meathead demigod was causing havoc on the frontline wounding and killing several of the demon race soldiers.
Mileena and Fluffball were trying to keep him in check while Akira handled the dark-robed figure and the GaiAnt.
¡°Die! Ten punch death!¡± shouted the Meathead demigod punching towards Tanner who was still standing his ground and guarding Kodria''s standard along with several other nearby warriors.
Fluffball jumped in front of Tanner using his holy ice armor to take the full attack that would have killed Tanner. Loud ice cracks were heard as Fluffball was knocked back into the crowd of soldiers behind them.
The dark robbed female jumped out of the molten onyx swarm and grabbed onto a low-rank officer who was holding the line and shouting out orders for those around him.
¡°Get off...¡± the officer weakened at an alarming rate and fell to the ground where he was grabbed by one of the molten onyx infected and dragged into the swarm to be torn apart.
The dark-robed figure slunk back into the swarm to find a new target. Akira saw this happen but he was still fighting with the large GaiAnt stopping it from plowing through and collapsing the shield wall.
While all this was happening on the ground, two Bryers flew into the air and headed towards the outer city walls and started harassing the soldiers on the wall by dive-bombing and garbing a few of them and then dropping them from high in the air.
On their next pass, the tower ballistas fired their large projectiles at them, knocking them off course of their dives. The new blunt projectiles were able to pierce into the rocky bodies and leave large cracks.
The pain from the attacks caused the two Bryers to turn their attention away from the wall soldiers towards the towers that were reading more bolts to fire at them.
¡°Pii!¡±
Pii''per swooped down from high and slammed into one of the Bryers knocking it off course and out of the sky.
BAM! It slammed into the ground sending up snow and ice as it rolled through hundreds of the molten onyx infected, sending them flying in the air.
The second Bryer rolled to the side and turned its attention to yet another enemy that was interrupting its attacks.
High above the outer city Pii''per and the second Bryer started an acrobatic battle of diving, slamming into each other, and using their claws to try and rip apart each other.
The soldiers on the walls all cheered for Pii''per after seeing her knock one out of the sky and engage the second. The holy shamen that were not occupied with supporting those on the battlefield sent buffs towards Pii''per while the towers supported her by constantly shooting their blunt bolts into the enemy before the two clashed again.
Akira was repeatedly hammering its core causing the GaiAnt great pain, Akira was forced to scurry out of the way of the flailing arms of the enraged GaiAnt as it stomped through the infected and werewolf soldiers. It did not care who or what it crushed or kicked out of its way.
Smash!
With one last heavy attack, Akira managed to crack the core and jump into the air as the GaiAnt stopped its rampage and fell forward with a loud thump!
Unfortunately, several people who were too slow were crushed under its large body along with tens of regular infected.
With the GaiAnt now out of the fight, Akira turned his attention back to trying to find and stop the dark-robed cultist that was slinking around and surprise attacking the front-line officers.
Several minutes of battling on the front line passed as he searched for her, but he could not detect any trace of her. Akira decided to put the hunt on hold and help Mileena and Fluffball who were still struggling with the Meathead demigod.
As he made his way over to Mileena and Fluffball he cast [Shadow-chains] which grabbed onto meathead and held him still.
Mileena, Fluffball, Tanner, and the other soldiers around them all ganged up the meathead and started attacking him with their full power.
They hacked and slashed at him but his bulky muscles cushioned the attacks and he continued to heal quickly. But as the attacks continued to rain down on him the healing speed became slower.
Mileena used her skill Blink and stabbed at Meathead''s heart, opening a deep gash.
Fluffball followed the attack with an ice attack that pierced the rest of the way through the opened wound.
¡°Ughhh...,¡± Meathead grabbed his chest, falling to his knees before turning into several light fragments and disappearing.
The nearby soldiers all cheered, happy to have vanquished the demigod.
¡°Quit your celebration! We are still in the middle of a battle!¡± growled Akira as he arrived next to them.
Tibia used this moment to launch another sneak attack successfully dragging down another officer.
¡°That damn witch!¡± shouted Mileena.
¡°Keep focused! We need to push these infected back. You and Fluffball should take a few soldiers and start tracking her down to see if you can bait her out so we can attack her or at least be able to react and try to capture her,¡± ordered Akira as he tried to calm the shield wall that was growing unsteady.
Akira looked into the air and saw Pii''per still battling with the two Bryers now high above the battlefield. Although neither side had been defeated yet the side that looked the worse for the wear was the bryers. They were not out of the fight yet as it was still a 2v1 battle.
Several grueling hours passed with an unending swarm of molten onyx infected showing no signs of stopping their push forward. The dark-robed cultist had been quiet ever since Mileena and Fluffball had started their hunt for her.
As the sky was darkening from the approaching winter storm, Akira was trying to give it his all and rally the soldiers who were fighting with their last bit of energy.
The battle was far larger than any of the previous battles. The waves were not going to stop until one of the two sides was whipped out.
¡°ROAAH!¡±
A loud startled roar from the right-wing of the allied army rang out. Akira turned to see the shout coming from Zundar.
¡°Your sneak attacks won''t work on me!¡± Roared and enraged Zundar.
Tibia had managed to surprise Zundar and grab onto his muscular arm that was holding onto his large two-handed warhammer.
Zundar hand let go of his weapon and grabbed onto her arm before she could jump back.
BAM! CRACK!
A loud crack could be heard as his other fist slammed into her stomach and sent her flying through the air breaking several of her ribs.
Tibia landed far away in the swarm of infected which blocked Zundar''s path stopping him from being able to finish her off.
Akira could see that Zundar''s complexion had turned a shade whiter as a lot of his energy had been sucked out by Tibia.
Several of the nearby infected crumbled next to tibia as she used them as an emergency repair for her broken rib bones.
Akira looked to the south and saw the stormy winds growing faster as the blizzard rushed north, it would soon reach the battlefield.
No matter how hard they tried they would be unable to finish this fight before the blizzard reached them. Fighting in such a blizzard was a recipe for utter disaster.
¡°AWOOOO!¡± Akira howled out an order to consolidate their forces and slowly move back towards the city walls so they could at least protect their rear and know that the enemy was only in front of them and give them a better chance at fighting in the blizzard.
The infected sensed the change in the werewolf''s formation and started pressing harder at the shield wall trying to break it.
Those that had been heavily wounded by the Molten onyx infected knew there was currently no cure and they would die sooner or later...
...so they put it all on the line and stood their ground to hold back the infected to buy some time for the rest to retreat.
Swoosh!
The fierce blizzard winds rushed past them followed by the whiteout of heavily falling snow.
The werewolves continued to fall back even though they could barely see anything in front or behind them.
Crack! Smash!
Loud sounds started to sound farther out in front of them as they continued to battle the infected in their slow retreat.
Clang! Crack! Kaching!
¡°Did a group get stranded out there!¡± asked Mileena as she stranded her ears to hear the sounds of fighting.
Krack! One of the bryers fell from the sky with a large ice chunk piercing its body and pinning it to the ground.
¡°Tooot,¡± the sound of a loud tooting came from the southeast where the new battle sounds were coming from.
Soon the pressure on the retreating allied army started to lessen.
After several hundred more steeps Akira and the army reached the outer city wall and everyone was surprised when they stepped right out of the blizzard.
Looking around them Akira found that the blizzard was swirling around the entire city but no snow or wind was blowing inside the city.
The sound of battle to the south-east was growing even louder as the cracks of ice slamming into the infected in front of them were being pelted mercilessly.
Looking to the south wall Akira saw a large army of combined demon races engaged in battle with the Molten onyx infected.
Seeing this, Kodria''s allied army received a second wind and once again charged forward to deal with the nearby molten onyx infected.
The tables had turned!
Chapter 248: Capture them!
Chapter 248: Capture them!
The fierce blizzard continued to push outwards creating more space between the blizzard''s windy walls which shot up into the sky and the outer cities walls.
Inside the windy walls, the sound of loud cracks and shattering ice could be heard along with the roars and Toots coming from the southeast.
As the blizzard wall pushed out the massive swarm of infected nearest to the outer walls were either completely frozen, heavily wounded, or turned into piles of rubble.
The trampled bloody battlefield that the blizzard passed over was completely covered in fresh snow and ice covering the majority of the gruesome battlefield and the thousands of bodies of the allied forces that had not been completely torn apart.
From the southeast, Akira saw a small group of different demon races briskly walking towards the allied army where Akira stood in his stirrups watching everything unfold.
¡°Zundar, Varbu. Take command of the troops and take care of the rest of the infected,¡± said Akira.
¡°We will shatter all of the bodies that have not been taken care of by the blizzard,¡± said Varbu saluting with his fist thumping his chest.
Akira turned his attention to the approaching small group and urged Grarr to walk over to them. Fluffball followed Akira from behind along with Tanner who was still carrying Kodria''s flag that was still fully intact and flapping in the wind.
The small group was made up of five different demon races that Akira was well acquainted with to certain degrees.
¡°Toot!¡± said a large furry mammoth in greeting as Akira reached the group.
¡°It''s great to see you once again, great warrior,¡± said Beary, a large armored bear that now wore a black leather patch to cover his eye that had been destroyed by demigods.
¡°It''s an honor to meet you! I am Sir Mittens. Chief Socks sent us north to help,¡± said Sir Mittens, who was of the Nyanntail demon race and someone Akira had not met before.
¡°We have come, sorry that we are so late,¡± said Crulak, chief of the Kamen demon race.
¡°I am grateful to see everyone. King Fross, Queen Yukiko, what are all you guys doing here?¡±
¡°We all heard of the massive molten onyx army that was coming south and decided that if Kodria fell we all would be next. So we decided now was the time to strike while the enemy was gathered in one place.¡±
¡°This was a hard decision for many of us, if it were not for the future Queen Yuki contacting each of us and convincing us all that now was the time to strike a massive blow, I feel we would be facing an entirely different and dire future,¡± said Sir Mittens.
¡°Did you contact the Ramia as well?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We did... but that lot of cowards did not even answer us or even pay attention to us as we passed their stronghold on our way north,¡± said Beary.
Although Akira had hoped for their help after they had done them a favor, this did not surprise him with the rocky relationship between the two races.
¡°What about the safety of Iskald and your territories south? Is it safe for all of you to come so far north?¡± asked Akira.
¡°We did what we must to fight this dark enemy that is a threat to the entire continent. We had to come north to be able to activate and control our trump card,¡± said Queen Yukiko pointing to the raging blizzard.
¡°It will take us at least a year to recover the resources and energy to use this once again. But with this we hope to hammer the dark forces hard,¡± said King Fross.
The Blizzard was pushing out faster covering more land and Akira could now see part of the windy wall was thinning as it reached the rear of the swarm of enemies.
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¡°Piii!¡± shouted Pii''per who was flying high above them.
¡°What is she saying?¡± asked Crulak as he looked up into the sky.
¡°The enemy leaders are trying to get away!¡± growled Akira angrily.
Ding!
The final wave has been stopped!
Part 2 of branch 3 part 4 starts now!
Chase after and kill the leaders of the wave attacks.
|
¡°AWOOOO!¡± Akira sent out a howl, commanding the Garg cavalry to join him.
¡°Can you guys help the infantry clean up the rest of the infected?¡± asked Akira.
¡°And what will you be doing?¡± asked King Fross.
¡°While you guys clean up the surrounding area, I will take the cavalry and capture the culprits behind this attack.¡±
Klyn, Mileena, Dolph, and Vilkas all joined Akira and the Garg cavalry before they moved out and headed north through the remaining blizzard that was still nipping at the remaining 10% of the molten onyx swarm that had survived the massive blizzard attack.
***
Both Bonestringer and Tibia sat on top of the sole remaining Bryer that was heavily wounded. They were flying north at a fast pace to get away from the battlefield.
¡°What was that?¡± asked Bonestringer in a worried tone.
¡°Damn those demon races! We were so close to victory. If we had taken that city, imagine all the material we could have harvested,¡± said Tibia.
¡°Should we gather another swarm and attack again?¡± asked Bonestringer.
¡°We can''t. We just lost at least a third of our material. If we gathered the rest into an army and that was also wiped out, then what would we do? We must lose any pursuers and return to our hideout to immediately start the ritual.¡±
¡°You''re right, it is best we gather what we have now.¡±
***
Pii''per flew in the sky, high above leading the slower cavalry to the destination that she had followed the two enemy leaders to earlier.
Their final destination was an abandoned small town.
Akira was not sure how long the town had been abandoned now that it was on fire. The raging fire was sending large plumes of smoke into the air blocking their vision. But from the look of the nearby trampled ground which had already received a fresh coating of snow, there had been some sort of large army that had been using the town as a base.
Just outside the village in a large crater was the rubble corpse of the Bryer that the two dark-robed figures had escaped on.
Akira scanned the snow for traces of their target and found two human tracks left in the deep snow that led into the snowy woods that were now starting to burn.
The fire was slowly spreading out from icy tree to icy tree as the snow and ice melted off of them.
The smoke from the burning trees made it hard for them to see that far into the forest. The thick forest was surrounding a small desolate mountain range with no known inhabitants.
¡°What should we do?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°If we go in there we may be walking into a trap. Even if it is not, with the fire spreading we will be trapped sooner or later,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Even if it is a trap we can''t let them escape just because we are afraid of a little bit of fire,¡± said Akira.
The entire cavalry both Garg and werewolf Cavalrymen had not had proper sleep for several days now and were mainly running on the energy they received from the emergency blue candies that had been supplied to them by the shaman researchers.
It was dangerous to be heading straight for a fight in such a state, but every minute that they wasted sleeping, was an extra minute that the enemy had to make good on their escape or give them enough time to gather another army if they still had such resources left after such a large loss at Kodria.
¡°Prepare yourselves. The enemy is in there somewhere, we will break through the fire and ride forward to capture them!¡± said Akira.
The cavalrymen took out the blue candies and fed them to their Garg companion mounts and then ate one themselves feeling energy flowing through them helping them recover a bit.
''Don''t shame me or our ancestors! We can run through a little bit of heat,'' growled Grarr to the rest of the Gargs.
¡°AWOOO!¡± with a howl from Akira the cavalry leaped forward and charged into the smoky burning forest.
***
¡°Where is she?¡± asked Rodger as he looked at the empty and broken northern fort.
The fort was small enough and had a stronger defense than most cities allowing it to withstand attacks with a small force of guards yet it was now in shambles.
¡°Maybe, the queen escaped to another fort?¡± said Ualtar. He had been completing his Main quest mission to repel the Waves of Infected and now was escorting King Rodger as they fought Infected.
It was a win-win for both of them.
Rodger looked at the dead bodies left in the fort but did not see the queen''s body or any of her main Royal guards.
¡°Let''s hope she was able to escape to another fort,¡± said Rodger.
Chapter 249: Black mountain
Without showing any fear, Grarr lead the way deep into the forest jumping over the burning logs of fallen trees and agilely making his way through the maze of the tall slow-burning trees.
The air was thick with smoke and gray burning ash which fell from the sky like fresh snow.
Fluffball had given up trying to run through the fire and was now laying on Akira''s lap in his mini form. His small body was quivering due to the oppressive heat that was pressing down on them coming from everywhere that they looked.
It was nearly impossible to see where they were going even with the brightly burning fires all around them. They had to trust Grarr and the other Garg''s sense of direction and hope that they could break through the fire.
Akira breathed a sigh of relief ten minutes later as they managed to pass through the worst of the fire and were now trying to outpace the spreading wall of fire behind them.
The smoke around them was still thick but it was not as bad as before since there was an easterly wind that was blowing through the area every few minutes fanning the flames but also clearing the air of the smoke.
Akira pulled down his cloth face covering to try and sniff out the scent of the cultist enemy as he scanned the ground and trees for any traces of their passage.
Unfortunately, the smoke clogged his nostrils and made it impossible for him to catch their scent, even Fluffball and the Garg mounts were having a hard time using their noses to find anything.
¡°We need to keep going forward, I have a gut feeling we will be able to find their tracks farther ahead,¡± said Akira in a hoarse voice due to the thick smoke. He replaced the cloth over his mouth and taped Grarr on the side to continue forward.
Several minutes later they found the trail once again. It was leading towards several tall gnarly dry trees that had little to no needles or leaves left on their branches.
The cavalry silently followed the path into an area where the thick maze of trees was thinning out. This was good as it allowed them to spread out and move faster. The fire was still raging behind them slowly moving forward and would soon reach the dry wooded area.
THUMP!
¡°Ahhh!¡±
A cavalryman cried out behind Akira and Grarr.
Akira turned around and saw a man had been knocked off his mount because he hit a branch. Up to this point, with the superb movement of the Garg mounts, they had been successful at dodging anything that may have hindered them.
¡°Be careful! We can''t afford any slip-ups with the fire right behind us!¡± shouted Akira as the cavalryman jumped back onto his mount.
Thump!
¡°Growl!¡±
This time when Akira looked behind him he saw that the large Garg had been tripped up and face planted into the ashy snow.
With this happening shortly after the first accident, Akira felt something was wrong and scanned his surroundings as they ran through thinned-out dead trees, but he found nothing suspicious around them.
Several other cavalrymen were knocked off their mounts as they moved forward, but no matter how hard Akira searched and thought about the situation he could not figure out what was happening.
But then it hit him and he was finally able to understand.
Thump!
Akira, Mileena, and Fluffball were thrown off of Grarr as a branch struck out from a nearby dead tree.
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Akira rolled to his feet and focused in on the branch that had popped out to knock him off Grarr.
[Zombie Treant lvl 110]
¡°The trees!¡± shouted Akira, his voice echoing in lukewarm air.
As if his warning was a trigger, the entire surrounding trees woke up, and several branches from the immobile trees started to whip out and attack the passing Gargs dismounting several of the cavalrymen before they could understand what was going on.
Akira lashed out using his skill [Sword slash] sending out a blue crescent to cut down several tree branches that were whipping towards him.
Several branches targeted Mileena and pierced right through her.
Poof!
Using the [Blink] skill Mileena appeared above the attacking branches and sliced them apart with her daggers as she fell back down to the ashy snow and rolled towards Akira.
Fluffball grew to his full size and his holy ice armor gleamed in the fiery light as several branches reached him and slammed into his body.
Those branches were immediately frozen by Fluffball and torn apart as he smashed way towards Akira and Mileena.
Grarr was making his way towards Akira, slashed his way through several branches before he was able to stop and pick up both Akira and Mileena.
Fluffball joined Grarr in slashing and shooting ice chunks at the [Zombie Treants] that were blocking their way back to the others.
As they were dealing with the attacking branches that were constantly blocking their way forward, the fire was creeping forward and soon leaped onto the dry [Zombie Treants].
Loud creaking groans of pain could be heard all through the forest.
¡°Just keep pushing through!¡± shouted Akira as he constantly sent [Sword slash''s] out in front of him to cut the burning branches that were aimed at them.
When the [Zombie Treant''s] started to receive major damage they switched tactics and...
Pew, pew, pew!
¡°AHHH!¡± ¡°Gahh,¡± ¡°Growl!¡±
...shot the remaining needles on their branches towards the cavalrymen wounding them as well as the Gargs.
But Akira and the cavalrymen continued to push forward through the fire and hail of needle projectiles.
¡°I see an opening up ahead! Keep going!¡± growled Akira.
As they weaved, hacked, and slashed through the branches of the [Zombie Treants] the Garg cavalry successfully exited out of the forest and the reach of the [Zombie Treants].
¡°HALT!¡± shouted Akira.
He saw several shadowy figures ahead of them and did not want to continue running into unknown danger now that they had just escaped the fire and the [Zombie Treants].
Everyone was in poor shape, all sporting scrapes, bumps, wounds, and some had minor burns.
Akira strained his senses to look at the dark figures that were shrouded in shadows and covered by the gray smokey air coming from the burning forest.
The wind once again rushed past them pushing the smoke aside for some distance and revealing several large black stone statues.
As Akira inspected the statues he felt that they looked to be carvings of dwarven warriors but they seemed to be a little different than those Akira was familiar with, like Delgar and such.
The rows of statues lined both sides of a rocky path that appeared to head towards the base of the dark mountain. Akira could not be sure as the majority of the path was covered in the smoky fog blocking all sight.
Ding!
+1 to Akira''s bad gut feeling.
|
The statues made Akira feel a sense of danger, but looking at them intently revealed no special information at all. They were nothing but creepy statues.
¡°Those statues, I think I remember reading something about them in the scrolls from the dwarven library,¡± said Klyn.
¡°What are they?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They should just be statues. But I think they are carvings of the Dark Dwarves. This could be one of their lairs.¡±
¡°Dark Dwarves?¡±
¡°They are supposed to be an offshoot clan of the main branch. The Dark Dwarves were viewed as evil and were supposedly wiped out by past generations of the Dwarven clans who waged a fierce war long ago.¡±
¡°Why go to such lengths? I thought Dwarves took kinship very seriously. Killing off an entire branch of clansmen seems unlike them,¡± asked Mileena as they inspected the statues from afar, not daring to get close yet.
¡°According to their records, the Dark Dwarves allied themselves with what I believe to have been the cult of science during the ancient dark plague that wiped out many demon races and kingdoms.¡±
¡°How fitting for the cultist to escape here. With the statues in such good shape, do you think that some were able to escape the culling?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Could be...¡±
¡°Everyone should treat their wounds while I go and check and see what is ahead of us. It''ll only take a moment and be back soon,¡± said Akira, as he hopped off Grarr and slinked into the smokey pathway.
Chapter 250: Guarding the entrance
Akira walked down the smokey pathway that was only wide enough for three people to walk side by side. As he moved as silently as possible, he stayed close to the statues hiding in their shadows.
The hair on Akira''s furry neck was raised as he had an intense feeling that the statues were staring at him as he passed but no matter how much he inspected or stared at them nothing happened.
Akira quickly hid behind one of the statues when he heard the muffled sound of voices up ahead of him. He squeezed in behind the statues and the stone path wall and slowly moved forward so he could get a better look at what lay ahead.
Peeking out from behind one of the statues he was only able to see a few nearby Demigods guarding the end of the pathway. Akira''s eyes glowed yellow as activated his skill [Detect Life].
He quickly counted a total of 23 demigods guarding the end of the path with the group having an average level of 90.
Beyond the demigods was a large plaza, near the center a fist-sized floating red light moved around slowly.
Akira deactivated the skill and the glowing outlines of life disappeared. At the center of the plaza slightly hidden in the smoky fog was a new type of Molten Onyx infected that he had never seen before.
He decided to call it a Giant zombie for now. The Giant zombie had a dark stony onyx skin and wore a heavy set of mismatched armor. It''s glowing red eyes scanned the area as it slowly wandered around in front of two dark black stone doors embedded into the mountain, and were cracked open wide enough for an adult human to enter.
A glowing red mist swirled around the body of the Giant zombie further obscuring its body and the area around it.
Everything Akira saw made him feel that his gut had been right and this was the place the two cultists had escaped to.
With his inspection of the area complete he listened to the conversations the nearby demigods were having.
¡°... and now we''re stuck here guarding this path.¡±
¡°The boss monster behind us is strong enough to do that. Why do we have to?¡± complained a demigod.
¡°We really are missing out on hunting so we can get stronger.¡±
¡°You idiot. What monsters can we hunt with all these infected contaminating everything?¡±
¡°Why didn''t we just join a guild and be done with it. Any guild would like to have me,¡± said a Bare chested demigod that Akira had seen fighting at Kodria.
¡°Then why are you stuck here with us?¡±
¡°... I was captured by them when I first got here...¡±
¡°Let''s all join Frozenblood when this is over. I hear they accept anyone.¡±
¡°Will those two crazy people even let us go?¡±
¡°Sigh... everyone else is lucky to be able to work on completing the Main event quests while we are stuck standing here forever.¡±
¡°Hey, it is not all bad. Remember they said if we do this and they succeed in their ritual, then we will be rewarded with one of those powerful gems they have. With those things we''ll be able to kick butt far above our levels,¡± said a demigod trying to raise everyone''s morale.
¡°Didn''t Panker already get one of those? Where did he go?¡±
¡°That guy has no sense of loyalty. He left all of us bros here as soon as he received his reward.¡±
¡°He and the others are so lucky.¡±
Akira silently walked back down the path using the statues to block anyone catching a glimpse of his body.
Mileena, Fluffball, and two other cavalrymen were guarding the entrance to the path when Akira returned to the group.
Everyone had grown restless as they stood around waiting for Akira while the [Zombie Treants], now fully engulfed, continued to creak and moan in pain behind them.
Akira explained all that he had seen so that they could brainstorm how to handle the situation.
¡°It''s not impossible, but it will be difficult to get in there. We also don''t know if they have any other surprises inside,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Our main problem is the pathway not being wide enough for us to use our numbers to fight them,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Klyn, once we get past the demigods we will need your holy chants to shield us from that large Giant Zombie boss,¡± said Akira.
¡°The first three to spearhead the attack should be me on the right, Dolph on the left, and Akira at center,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball in protest.
¡°Don''t worry, you can follow right behind me,¡± said Akira as he rubbed Fluffball''s head.
¡°Should we go in with a bang or do a stealthy strike?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°GYAAAAAH!¡±
A loud pained scream echoed down the stone statue path alerting the werewolves that something big was going on.
The werewolves and Gargs formed up and quickly jogged up the pathway while hiding behind their shields as best they could.
¡°What is that thing doing!¡±
¡°Did that woman betray us?¡±
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¡°RETREAT!¡±
The muffled shouts of demigods reached them as they arrived near the end of the statue pathway.
The 23 demigods that had been guarding the path''s exit were no longer there. Akira looked out towards the plaza and found only two demigods were still standing at the edge of the plaza with their weapons drawn ready to attack... but they only stood there like statues.
On the ground the Zombie knight that Akira had seen before laid on its back with its hands outstretched in a grasping motion towards the remaining two demigods. Its lower half had been severed by several attacks from the missing demigods.
A large whirlpool of red energy was swirling above the zombie knight. Underneath the whirlpool, there was a cone of mist stretching down and touching a glowing red gem necklace.
The red energy in the whirlpool was coming out of the demigod''s bodies causing them to turn pale. Their arms snapped from the weight of their weapons which clattered to the ground.
Moments later the last two demigods disappeared into thousands of light particles but the particles did not disappear... they were sucked into the red whirlpool and then into the necklace.
The zombie knight''s attention jerked to Akira and the werewolves standing at the end of the pathway and it grasped for them from where it lay.
Akira started to feel a tug at his energy as well as an invisible force that was trying to lock his movements as it drained him.
¡°Get back!¡± growled Akira through gritted teeth.
Dolph and Vilkas were having the same experience as him and felt their energy decreasing but the people behind them felt nothing.
Still, they followed orders and retreated over ten paces.
Sensing something wrong Klyn started to chant with his hands pointed towards Akira.
Akira grabbed onto both Dolph and Vilkas'' arms and with all his strength he launched them back towards the others.
He spat out blood covering a patch of the snowy path in red as he fought against the suction force pulling at his entire being.
A white light launched from Klyn''s hand and covered Akira.
Akira''s body was freed of the heavyweight pressing down on him allowing him to move, but even with the protection from Klyn, he felt his energy slowly decreasing.
Step by step he moved away from the plaza and felt the effects lessen and completely disappear when he reached the rest of the werewolves.
¡°Grooooor!¡± the zombie knight on the ground roared in anger at its prey escaping. It tried to move towards them but it seemed like it was stuck to the ground and could not get off its back.
Akira took out a spear from his bag and gathered power into his muscles before launching it with all his might.
The spear was accurate and hit its target... the red necklace. He now believed that the red necklace was the red light he had seen when using the skill [Life Detect].
The spear was only able to leave behind a white scratch before it bounced off and clattered against the mountain wall falling to the ground out of reach for Akira to retrieve.
Akira took another spear out and launched it but the result was the same.
¡°It''s no use,¡± said Dolph after looking at the results of the several spears that now lay on the ground near the end of the plaza.
¡°What are we going to do? If we get too close that thing will lock us down and...¡± said Mileena.
Klyn stood next to Akira and started muttering a holy chant and sent a wave of white light towards the immobile zombie knight.
¡°GROOOOR!¡± The zombie knight let out a loud pained roar as the swirling red mist swooped down and covered its body blocking the white light.
Beads of sweat started to run down Klyn''s forehead as he tried to force the white light through the red mist to reach the zombie knight.
¡°I can''t breakthrough... it''s draining too much of my energy,¡± said Klyn as he gasped for air and dropped his hands.
The white light slowly disappeared and the red mist once again returned to swirling above the necklace.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°You sure?¡± asked Akira. ¡°Then see if you can hit that necklace!¡±
Fluffball stepped up next to Akira and grew to his full size. A blue light started to gather near his mouth as he gathered his holy ice energy into an ice ball and launched it at the red gem necklace.
Crack! The ice smashed against the necklace!
Akira was able to see a small sliver of a crack appear but before they could celebrate the swirling red mist covered the necklace and the zombie body for a few seconds and when it returned to its previous position the necklace was once again a flawless surface even the white scratch marks from Akira were gone.
Fluffball once again launched another attack but the same thing happened after another crack appeared.
¡°You did well, but we may need to figure out another way, don''t wear yourself out,¡± said Akira patting Fluffball.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball, not giving up. His body glittered as his ice armor covered his body and he once again gathered a blue holy ice light near his mouth and...
...jumped forward charging towards the downed zombie knight before Akira could grab him and stop him.
¡°Fluffball! Get back here!¡±
Klyn and the two other holy shamen seeing this started to chant and sent a white light towards the reckless Fluffball.
When he was ten feet away from the downed zombie knight the blue ice ball shot forward just as Fluffball''s legs gave out and he collapsed to the icy ground and slid several feet towards the zombie knight.
CRACK! The holy ice ball smashed into the red necklace and shattered against it.
For one second there was complete silence then...
BOOOM!
The energy inside the red gem necklace exploded out with great force and sent Fluffball flying back towards the path.
Akira, not fearing the explosion, leaped forward to catch Fluffball.
The wave of red energy spread out to collide with everything in its way. But before the full brunt of the explosion reached Akira the red mist whirlpool started to swirl even faster and halted the wave of energy. The forward momentum reversed and it was sucked and compressed into two pea-sized red energy balls below the Whirlpool.
Akira felt a chill as he looked at the small balls. The compressed energy inside just one of the balls was enough to kill everyone behind him if it exploded.
The red energy balls hovered in the air for a moment before the red misty whirlpool disappeared revealing an empty spot on the ground where the body of the zombie knight had been.
The two red energy balls shot towards two different dark dwarf statues on either side of the open stone doors leading into the mountain and entered the open mouths of the statues causing the eyes to glow red.
Moments later the eyes once again turned back to their black onyx.
¡°What just happened?¡± asked Mileena in shock.
Now that the Immediate threat was neutralized, Akira paid the surroundings no more attention and focused on Fluffball.
He checked him for any wounds and found none.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball weakly. He was exhausted to the point he could not lift his head to lick Akira''s face.
Seeing this Akira took out a blue potion from his bag and gave Fluffball a sip since he had no energy to chew one of the hard blue candies.
Klyn and the other shaman came over to Akira and cast their healing chants on Fluffball while they also inspected him.
¡°He seems fine. But he needs to rest and regain his energy naturally. Whatever that thing was, I hope there are not anymore like it inside,¡± said Klyn pointing towards the open stone doors.
Fluffball had gained some of his energy back after getting fussed over by everyone and squirmed in Akira''s arms to get into a better position. When he was satisfied he closed his eyes and started to doze off.
With a relieved sigh, Akira looked at a system message that had popped up moments before.
Fluffball has killed [Life absorption Chimera Panker]!
You have both Leveled up!
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Chapter 251: Entering the Ancient Dark Dwarves Mountain
¡°All of you with wounds will stay out here and recover,¡± said Akira as he walked up to the front of the open entrance and peered inside.
It was quite dark inside and the only thing he could see from where he stood was three branching tunnels that led deep into the mountain.
¡°What''s the plan?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°We can''t have the entire force enter. If we did and everyone was wiped out that would be bad for Kodria,¡± said Akira.
¡°Plus we need someone to guard the entrance,¡± said Klyn.
Akira turned to the gathered Werewolf cavalrymen with a determined expression.
¡°I need thirty volunteers that are in the best shape.¡±
Nearly all of the hands shot up.
¡°Nubs, Put your hand down. You are in no shape to go anywhere right now,¡± said Dolph.
Akira quickly picked 30 volunteers and formed them into 3 teams each one having a holy shaman to provide whatever limited protection they could.
Akira''s group had Klyn, Mileena, Dolph, Vilkas, and 5 other Cavalrymen.
¡°We''ll just be going in for a quick reconnaissance to better understand what we are dealing with, so don''t be so jittery,¡± said Akira as he looked over the 3 teams.
¡°The rest of you should hurry up and patch yourself up and keep an eye out for any demigods. They may come back here from the woods or they may even somehow reappear nearby.¡±
Akira crouched down and rubbed Fluffball''s head. Fluffball was looking far better but was still recovering.
¡°I need you to stay out here with Grarr and help guard the entrance while you recover,¡± said Akira.
Fluffball did not respond to him as Akira stood up and joined the others as they started to pass through the gap in the two black stone doors.
Akira was the last to pass through the entrance and as he did he felt something ram into his back pushing him forward a few steps.
Ding!
You have entered the Ancient Dark Dwarves ritual grounds.
If you trust your eyes you may or may not die.
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What a useless message thought Akira.
Thump!
Something soft rammed into Akira''s back. He turned to the side and looked down at the ground to see what it was.
¡°Fluffball, I told you that you need to rest! Go back!¡±
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Akira turned the rest of the way and found that Fluffball was right!
The gap between the two black stone doors had silently closed!
Several of the werewolves slammed their large bodies into the stone doors trying to ram them open, but they failed at budging it or even causing any damage to it.
All of their repeated attacks made no sound as it was muffled by the soft inner stone. The only results they had to show for their effort were bruised furry shoulders.
¡°What are we going to do now?¡± asked Oroo, the officer in charge of the 2nd group of ten as he rubbed his bruised shoulder.
Akira silently looked at the three pathways in front of them that now had a dull gray glow coming from the walls.
¡°If all thirty of us try to go down one of these and something happens we will be too clogged to do much of anything,¡± said Akira.
The tunnels not being wide enough there would be major problems if they needed to advance or retreat.
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¡°I don''t like splitting up,¡± said Vilkas.
¡°I don''t either but this place seems to not want to give us a choice,¡± said Mileena looking down the empty tunnels.
Akira activated his [Detect Life] skill and scanned the three tunnels but found nothing suspicious in the immediate area. He, along with several others, stood there sniffing the air for any clues.
Mileena looked at Akira with a questioning look, he shook his head letting her know he found nothing close by.
¡°There are traces of someone going down each of these tunnels... who gets which tunnel?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°The most recent scents are going down the center path. We will take that one,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''ll take the right,¡± said Oroo.
¡°I guess we will go left,¡± said Nort.
Akira picked up Fluffball and placed him on his shoulders so he could rest. There was no way he was going to just leave him at the entrance.
¡°Don''t be reckless, there is no telling what this place once held or if those cultists made any modifications of their own,¡± said Akira as he walked towards the center tunnel.
¡°If we find something that we can''t handle we will retreat and meet back up here,¡± said Nort.
Dolph and Vilkas stood on either side of Akira as he entered the center tunnel. Their group created a 3 by 3 row formation with the tenth person acting as a rearguard a few steps behind them.
Both Mileena and Klyn were placed in the center position with Klyn in row 2 behind Akira and Mileena behind him in row three.
They continued to inspect the gray glowing floor, walls, and ceiling for any irregularities before moving forward.
Because of this, their movement was now set to a slow walk.
When a half-hour had passed they came to a halt upon reaching a section of the tunnel that had dark black and smokey gray stone slabs arrayed in a checkered fashion covering a distance of more than 100 ft.
Akira scanned the ceiling and found nothing wrong, but when he looked at the two side walls along either side of the checkered stones there were visible small holes...
¡°Pressure traps?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°Appears so...¡± said Akira as he pulled out a heavy hammer and tossed it out onto the checkered path.
He and others behind him all hid behind their shields as they watched the hammer spin through the air and fall.
The hammer landed on a black square with a loud ''thunk!'' and nothing happened. It bounced and skidded off the black square and came to a stop on a gray square.
The square visibly sank a few inches and loud CLUNK! CLUNK! was heard from either side of the surrounding walls.
¡°Is it a dud?¡± asked Klyn from behind Akira, after watching for several seconds but seeing nothing exit the holes of the wall.
¡°Be careful of the gray stones,¡± warned Akira.
Akira, Dolph, and Vilkas started to hop from each black stone making their way across the checkered floor.
Klyn, Mileena, and the other cavalrymen followed behind them.
When Akira landed on a black stone halfway across the checked hallway it gave out and Akira nearly fell into the pit. If it were not for the quick reactions of Dolph and Vilkas who grabbed him and Fluffball they would have disappeared into the black abyss below.
¡°%^#@,¡± cursed one of the werewolves after seeing this. They were already halfway across and now they could not even trust the black stones to be stable.
¡°A false trap,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Cunning, a trap disguised by using another trap set up,¡± said Mileena.
Akira had to admire how far Mileena had come when it came to traps. But he was still afraid that her clumsiness would set something off. That was part of the reason she had been placed at the back.
¡°I want to punch whoever designed this in the face,¡± said one of the cavalrymen.
¡°That person is probably already dead,¡± said Akira.
They were forced to test each step before moving forward, further slowing them down.
When the last person was jumping onto the last solid stone to join the others, the stone fell, opening a pit filled with sharp stone spikes.
The people near him were a little too slow only managing to catch him as his body fell into the pit.
¡°AAAA, my leg...¡± groaned the man as he was hauled up.
A large hole could be seen in the man''s leg which was badly bleeding. Klyn quickly crouched down next to the man and started first aid by pouring a bit of a red potion on the leg to stop the bleeding. He then started a healing chant.
When he was finished the man was able to once again walk on his leg.
¡°It''s not 100% healed but you won''t be bleeding out or have too much trouble keeping up with everyone,¡± said Klyn as he slapped the man''s shoulder.
¡°Let''s keep moving,¡± said Akira, leading the way.
After the checkered path, they found several other oddities built into the tunnel.
One of such things was when the tunnel branched off into three different paths but then joined each other once again only after a short 200 to 300 feet.
¡°Seriously, what is the point of all this?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Maybe they were unable to finish building the traps in this tunnel?¡± said an unsure Mileena.
Moments later.
¡°Kiyaaa!¡± Mileena let out a loud cry forcing everyone to stop and look at her.
She had fallen onto her butt and was looking at something only a few inches right in front of her face.
A dead rotten humanoid skeleton had fallen from a hole in the ceiling that had not been there when Akira had passed.
The dead body was hanging by a rope and was slowly swinging back and forth in front of Mileena.
¡°Seriously what''s wrong with the designers of this place!¡± said an angry and completely embarrassed Mileena.
Akira helped Mileena backup and did not say anything for fear of getting kicked in the shin.
They once again started to move forward.
¡°Is it just me... or is the light growing dimmer?¡± asked Dolph.
Chapter 252: Bump in the Night
¡°Where?¡± asked Akira.
Dolph pointed behind them and everyone turned around to look at the dim gray walls.
If Dolph hadn''t said anything, Akira would have not noticed it.
With every second that passed the light behind them was slowly, ever so slowly growing dimmer. Akira turned back to the path ahead and saw that the light was as bright as ever.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°You''re right, we need to hurry forward. It''s dangerous but we need to pick up our pace. I do not want to find out why it is growing dimmer,¡± said Akira.
¡°It is most likely a trap,¡± said Klyn before he began to silently chant off a few buffs for the group.
¡°I rather run to a trap that I can see than stay bumbling in the darkness,¡± said Akira.
Everyone else was not keen on the growing darkness behind them so they all started to quickly walk forward in the only direction they could.
For the next ten minutes, they quickly walked down the path and did not run into any traps, tricks, or oddities. With their fast pace, they had managed to get ahead of the dimming light behind them.
Until they found a large open door at the end of the tunnel that had a nearly blinding white light coming out of it.
Akira held up his hand to try and shield his eyes so he could get a better look inside, but the light was too bright. It was like a wall of light.
¡°We wanted light, but...¡± said Mileena, as she looked at the light with squinted eyes.
¡°No use in stopping now,¡± said Dolph.
Fluffball and Akira both sniffed the air trying to gauge the danger that may lay behind the blinding light but they were unable to sense anything.
They walked to the light and despite Akira''s fears of some type of door that would transport them, they found it was indeed just a bright light.
They entered the room and shielded their eyes trying to get used to the brightness.
As Akira squinted through the slits of his fingers and grew accustomed to the brightness, a loud ''Thunk!'' was heard behind them.
¡°Well, that was not unexpected,¡± said Klyn, as he and the others inspected the room they found themselves trapped inside.
The ground they now stood on was moist black dirt, far different than the sturdy stone floor they had been walking on up until now. The ceiling and walls of the room were the same as the tunnel, just a regular gray stone.
In each of the four corners of the large room, there were four large ponds of dark water.
Each of the ponds were separated by wide black dirt paths. At the center of the room where the four dirt paths met was a large white square altar that rested on a black stone platform.
This white altar was the source of the bright blinding light.
¡°Don''t get too close to the water''s edge,¡± said Akira after finishing his inspection of the room.
¡°How do we get out of here?¡± asked Mileena.
Everyone was silent, a few shrugged not knowing what to do. They all looked over to Akira.
¡°Klyn, do you feel anything coming from that altar?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Nothing good, that white light is not giving off any holy feeling I know of. It feels more like a blanket covering something menacing underneath...¡± said Klyn.
¡°We can''t just stand here and do nothing...¡± said Dolph.
¡°The three of us will go and check out the altar. The rest of you stay back and be ready to fight. Keep Klyn safe as he is our trump card if we encounter any of those Molten Onyx infected.¡±
Mileena and Klyn stayed with the 5 other warriors and watched Akira, Dolph, and Vilkas slowly move forward towards the glowing altar.
Nothing happened when they reached the altar, so Akira started inspecting it while Dolph and Vilkas kept an eye on their surroundings.
Underneath the white light, Akira could see black stains on the altar that ran down its side and into a bowl carved out of the black stone platform.
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It was ancient dried blood. Other than that, the altar was plain having no other decorations.
Ding!
Akira''s bad gut feeling +1.
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Akira hid behind his shield and began scanning the area.
Everyone saw him do this and also got into a defensive formation while searching for whatever it was that had alerted Akira.
¡°Somethings coming,¡± said Akira in a calm voice.
As he said that the bright light from the altar started to slowly become less blinding.
Out of the corner of his eye, Akira saw something move.
He whipped around and looked at it but nothing was there.
He and the others continued to scan the surroundings as the blinding light grew dimmer. Several times Akira thought he saw something black near the ground out of the corner of his eyes but whenever he looked nothing was there.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he continued to erratically turn his head trying to catch the thing that was always just out of their range of vision.
The others noticed this as well and were constantly trying to see what was stalking them.
As the light lessened the dark object that could only be seen from the edge of their vision, continued to get darker and more solid in its shape.
Out of the corner of his eye, Akira could see the object was a dark hand that looked to be made out of a black mist tinted with red.
As soon as he tried to look at it he was still unable to see it as it would disappear when he directly looked at it.
¡°It''s a hand reaching out of the ground,¡± said Akira.
¡°I see one as well,¡± said Klyn as he started to chant and point his hand over his shoulder aimed at the misty hand that was out of his frontal view.
A bright white holy light flashed letting out pop. Klyn let out a grunt of satisfaction.
¡°Looks like it doesn''t like my holy light,¡± said Klyn.
¡°You guys keep Klyn safe. Klyn, how long can you keep using that holy light skill?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Hard to tell, it all depends on how long and how quickly I have to cast it. I have enough blue candies to last me for a while but they will be used up quickly if I have to keep casting it nonstop...¡± said Klyn as he shot another white light and blew up another misty hand.
Akira, Dolph, and Vilkas started to slowly back away from the altar.
But with each step they took the altar seemed to be growing dimmer at an even faster pace as if it was trying to stop them from joining back up with the others.
The misty hands out of the corner of each of their visions started to multiply and grow more distinct.
Soon the light from the altar was just as bright as the gray glow that had been in the tunnels.
The black hands became more firm and were now reaching out of the ground revealing long black arms that were reaching for everyone in the room wanting to grab onto them.
Pop! Several dozen black arms were blown up by Klyn.
Many of the reaching arms disappeared as soon as Akira or any of the others looked at them, but those that disappeared showed back up from a different direction, always at the edge of their vision.
Akira activated [Darkness Domain] to try and cover the room and his allies to try and hinder the reaching arms, but it did nothing to them as the arms continued to grow more physical and numerous as the light dimmed.
Klyn began a long chant and pointed at Akira casting a white holy shield around as the light in the room became pitch black.
Akira could only see a few feet in front of him due to the glowing white holy light that covered his body.
From the rear, he heard the sound of battle start as swords and spears tore into the black fleshy arms that now hid in the darkness.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he jumped down onto the ground near Akira and grew to his full size.
A bright blue light gathered around his mouth lighting up the area as he gathered power into his ice attack.
Pew! The ice attack shot out towards the reaching dark arms that were now surrounding them just outside the range of the holy light.
Akira activated several of his skills and successfully destroyed tens of the arms with each attack but they were soon replaced with a hundred more arms that shot out of the dirt.
The sound of battle nearby could be heard as Vilkas and Dolph also fought the arms, but Akira could not see them.
¡°Dolph, Vilkas! Come to me! We''ll have to retreat to the others and figure it out from there,¡± shouted Akira.
He waited for a response but only heard the sound of battle.
Akira moved a few steps to the side trying to find Vilkas and Dolph but he found nothing; he only saw the reaching arms part away from the holy light.
¡°Klyn? Mileena?¡± shouted Akira, but the only response he received was silence.
Splash! Splash!
The sound of repeated splashes behind Akira caused him to whirl around and try to see what was going on but he could not see anything.
In total 7 splashes had come from the rear right and left pools.
After the 7th splash, the holy light covering Akira began to quickly fade.
Two more splashes were heard nearby as Akira turned around to get closer to Fluffball who was doing all he could to keep the reaching arms away from them.
Akira and Fluffball launched many attacks that lit up a small area as they flew out and exploded destroying the hundreds of reaching arms. The arms were swarming towards them now that the holy light was dimming.
In the last of the holy light, Akira saw dozens of arms grab onto Fluffball. He tried to slash at them and to free Fluffball but his legs were soon caught as well.
The entire room became pitch black blocking Akira''s view of Fluffball.
A splash was heard nearby as he fought to free himself from the pulling hands that were also dragging him towards the upper right pool.
Splash!
Akira fell into the pitch-black pool as he let out one last [Sword Slash] and began to quickly sink as hundreds of the arms pushed and pulled him deeper and deeper.
Chapter 253: Pool
Air bubbles escaped out of Akira''s mouth as he was pulled and pushed down the dark water passage.
The hundreds of grabbing hands were not gentle with him. They slammed him into the smooth stone wall one second and then pushed him down away from the wall immediately and into another wall. He was continuously bouncing from wall to wall with his armor making muffled clangs each time.
Akira tried to hold his breath for as long as he could but he was fighting a losing battle with the constant disorienting crashing into the walls. Each time he slammed into the walls several air bubbles would escape his mouth and were replaced with the pitch-black water which had a stale flat taste.
He tried to spit it out more of the dark water seeped into his mouth to replace it.
Several minutes had passed since Akira had been pulled into the pond and now his lungs were screaming for air, but there was nothing he could do as he continued to descend the dark water tunnel.
With a great thrust several dozen arms thrust Akira down even harder than before causing him to shoot straight down.
Several seconds later his back slammed into a hard stone floor knocking the wind out of him completely, even more of the stale water flooded into his mouth.
Akira was desperate to find air and used his muscular legs to launch himself up off of the stone floor. He shot through the murky water and as soon as he reached the hole he had exited, the arms grabbed him and pushed him back down into the stone floor.
A small glimmer of gray light caught Akira''s attention in the far corner of the black underwater cell he found himself in.
In a last-ditch effort, Akira used his full strength to jump towards the light. The light was far above him but it was a shining beacon beckoning to him, silently telling him that it was the way to freedom and fresh air.
The gray light grew brighter as he shot upwards and kicked the water with all his might trying to reach the surface. None of the dark arms reached out for him and just let him pass by.
Swosh! Akira''s head burst out of the pool of pitch-black water that was in the center of the large room that was emitting a bright gray light almost blinding Akira who had been in pitch dark moments before.
Cough! Cough!
Akira took in large gasps of air as he spat out the stale black water and filled his burning lungs with the somewhat damp and stale air.
To Akira, it tasted utterly sweet, and he could care less about the staleness as he was just happy for any air he could get.
BAM!
A red light slammed into his helmeted head leaving a shallow gouge.
The red light knocked Akira''s head back under the water for a second before he came back up sputtering, still gasping for air and spitting out a fresh mouthful of the black water that he had not swallowed.
¡°I thought you said you could kill anyone in one hit with that skill?¡± said a female. The voice was not from someone Akira had heard before.
As Akira was spitting out the water he scanned his surroundings trying to find who or what had attacked him.
¡°I just hit him in the wrong spot! Watch, this time I will succeed!¡± said a gruff man''s voice.
A bright red light slashed forward from the far end of the large gray room heading right towards Akira''s head reaching him in mere seconds.
Akira gasped in some of the stale air and ducked his head back under the water dodging the attack that flew above the water and slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the room.
From under the water, Akira could hear the muffled laughter of the female and a few choice curses from the man.
Several seconds went by as Akira looked at the bright surface of the dark pool waiting to see if his attackers would come closer to the pool to allow him a chance to attack them.
When Akira could not hold his breath anymore he was forced to surface in a different spot and gasp in the stale air.
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As soon as he did, two red slashes immediately flew towards his head forcing him to dive back under the water.
Akira now knew he was in trouble, he was a sitting duck and the attackers seemed like they would not be coming any closer than they were.
¡°Stop playing around and kill it! I want to return the gathered energy to them so we can complete our mission and get out of this creepy dungeon!¡± said the muffled female voice.
¡°I''m not playing around! If you want to finish this, then help me and don''t just stand there,¡± said the frustrated and angry man.
¡°Humph! Some boyfriend you are, making me fight.¡±
As Akira surfaced from under the water for the third time he immediately cast his [Darkness Domain], shrouding the area around the pool in darkness.
A red and a green skill flew over his head as ducked back into the water and came back up in another spot now hidden by the [Darkness Domain].
¡°Your little tricks won''t work on us! We know where you are and you can''t hide from us!¡± shouted the angry man.
A barrage of red and green skills flew over the pool''s surface as the two tried to blindly hit Akira.
Akira swam under the surface of the water to the edge of the right side of the pool. As he grabbed the edge he summoned Nox 1 and 2.
''Why are you swimming in your armor?'' asked Nox 1 as he appeared at the pool''s edge along with Nox 2.
¡°We don''t have time to chit chat! There are some people out there trying to kill me! Stall them so I can get out of this pool,¡± whispered Akira.
Several attacks flew towards Akira''s head as if homing onto where they had heard his voice.
Both Nox 1 and 2 dodged the attacks and moved deeper into the Darkness Domain. While the two demigods could not see them, Akira watched them as they left the pool and snuck up on the two demigods that were sending out skills randomly.
As one the two jumped onto the demigods'' back and bit into their necks trying to tear the muscles and break their neck bones to immobilize them.
¡°GaH!¡± ¡°KYAAA! Something is attacking me!¡± Both of the demigods stopped their attacks on the pool and tried to remove Nox 1 and 2.
Akira used this distraction to pull himself out of the Dark pool, the dark water splashed all over the stone floor and the draining water created a streaming pitter-patter as it exited his armor creating enough noise to let anyone know where he was.
The two demigods paid no attention to the noise he was making as they were struggling to pull off Nox 1 and 2.
As Akira gained a somewhat solid footing on the slick gray stone floor he launched a cross attack towards the male Demigod who wore a thick fur cape over his bare chest.
He was too preoccupied with trying to slash Nox 1 with his long black two-handed sword to notice the attack.
The large blue X slammed into his body as the demigod landed a solid hit to Nox 1 knocking him off.
The skill bit deep.
Ding!
Critical hit!
Bisection has activated!
|
The male demigod was severed into four parts and soon disappeared into hundreds of light particles.
Before Akira could launch another skill attack at the female demigod, a loud snap was heard.
Nox 2''s bite broke the female demigod''s neck and allowed her limp body to drop to the ground.
Akira walked up to the now immobile demigod and tried to question her.
¡°What were you two doing here? Who are you working for?¡±
The female demigod only looked at Akira, who was shrouded in a dark misty aura, with a horror-stricken face as if she was seeing the scariest monster of her life.
Several moments of complete silence passed before she breathed her last breath and shattered into hundreds of light fragments disappearing in front of Akira''s face.
Akira looked at the ground where the two demigods had been and found several items had been dropped by the killed demigods. Since Akira was not one to let such good loot go to waste, he made sure to gather everything up.
Ding!
Energized Chimera gem gained!
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The system message popped up as soon as Akira picked up a red gem off the ground that was mixed in with the potions and gold that had been dropped.
¡°What''s this?¡±
Akira looked at the gem but could not figure out what it did or how to use it, so he just put it in his bag.
After making sure to collect all the loot so that it would not be left behind and lonely, Akira inspected his surroundings further.
There was not much to see in the large room. It was just a plain domed room with the only thing of note being the dark pool at the center of the room and an open passage that looked to lead deeper into the mountain dungeon.
Since there was no way for him to swim back up to the room he had been in when everyone was separated he left with no other choice but to enter the passageway.
Nox 1 & 2 exited the room along with Akira, happy to be of use to Akira.
As the three were walking down the passage Akira continued to strain his ears and listen for any sound.
He was surprised to have not run into anyone or any trap in over a half-hour of walking down the path.
Clang!
The muffled sound of a distant battle finally reached his ears causing him to perk up.
¡°That may be the others fighting!¡± said Akira as he quickened his pace.
Chapter 254: Ritual
Akira and Nox 1 and 2 raced down the tunnel towards the sound of battle quickly reaching an intersection, the first one since they had left the large pool room.
The sounds that had caught his attention were coming from the new path so they turned onto the path and ran up the path as it curved back diagonally from the main tunnel.
Akira made sure to hold his shield in front of him as charged up the dim tunnel.
¡°Yap!¡±
Crack!
Bright blue light from the ice attack temporarily lit up the tunnel revealing a Dark armored Knight with its back towards Akira and Nox 1 and 2.
The [Dark Knight lvl 140] stood firm blocking the path as it took every attack from Fluffball and Klyn.
With jerky motions caused by the thin layer of ice covering its body, the [Dark Knight] used its long sword to chop down with a great force only managing to nick Fluffball''s Ice armor as he jumped back.
Fluffball made sure to stay in front of Klyn as he acted as a tank protecting the squishy Klyn using the Holy ice armor that covered his entire body to block any attack. The Holy Ice Armor already had many large gouges from the Dark knight''s longsword. Luckily none of the attacks had gone deep enough to pierce his furry skin and draw blood.
Klyn kept Fluffball fully buffed with every buff he knew and continued to send the few debuffs he knew towards the [Dark knight] allowing Fluffball to fight with the higher leveled monster.
Fluffball''s ears perked up and looked between the [Dark knight''s] legs to see Akira Approaching.
This made him fight even harder to show off his strength. A blue ice shard formed around his mouth and shot right for the dark helmet of the[Dark knight].
The attack blew off the [Dark knight''s] helmeted head, sending it bouncing off the wall and rolling all the way down to Akira.
As Akira kicked the helmet aside, he noticed it was empty. The [Dark knight] without its helmet revealed that there was no physical body inside the suit of heavy armor. The loss of its helmet did not hinder it as it still fought on as best it could with all the ice covering its body and the many holes it had received.
It was stumbling from side to side as Akira ran up behind it and used a [Sword Slash] sending a blue light out severing the black armor in half.
The [Dark knight] still continued to move until Fluffball along with Nox 1 and 2 ripped apart all the pieces of the armor using their teeth claws and ice attacks.
¡°I am so glad to see you,¡± said Klyn, as he bent over to catch his breath.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball proudly strutting over to Akira ignoring Nox 1 and 2. He was extremely proud after managing to fight against such a strong monster with only Klyn up until Akira had arrived.
Akira ruffled Fluffball''s furry head as he looked to Klyn and asked, ¡°What happened to you and the others you were with? How did you end up with Fluffball?¡±
Klyn shrugged his shoulders, ¡°We fought against those arms but Mileena and the cavalrymen protecting me were dragged into the different pools one by one. When they were all gone I was pulled into one of the pools as well. After reaching the bottom I swam to a glowing light above me and found Fluffball was already fighting two people in a large room back that way. They were Demigods who had been waiting for us to exit the pool.¡±
¡°No one else was there?¡±
¡°You are the first person that I have seen other than Fluffball,¡± said Klyn.
¡°And that thing?¡± asked Akira pointing to the shredded [Dark knight].
¡°We ran into it as we were walking down the path, it was pacing back and forth blocking our path so we had no other choice but to fight it.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, nodding his all-knowing wise furry head.
''What now?'' asked Nox 1.
¡°There is no going back. We need to keep following the path forward and face whatever is there. Are you two okay or do you need a second to catch your breath?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I don''t know about Fluffball, but I need a quick break to regain some of my energy,¡± said Klyn as he sat down and rested his back on the cold gray stone. He popped a blue candy into his mouth and then closed his eyes as he began to meditate.
Fluffball decided to rest as well and sat down next to Akira chewing on a blue candy. Even though Fluffball wanted to hurry, he really did need to regain some of his energy as he had been on high alert ever since entering the dungeon which was mentally draining, and then the two short battles took their toll as well.
When ten minutes had passed, Klyn opened his eyes and stood back up.
¡°I''m Okay now,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, letting Akira know that he was also better now.
Akira stood up and looked at Fluffball seeing that the many major gouges in his ice armor had mostly smoothed out to the point of only showing minor cuts and cracks.
Akira led the way down the tunnel path back to the intersection.
¡°Yap!¡± warned Fluffball as they reached the intersection.
Everyone stopped and became fully alert as they listened to the faint sound that had alerted Fluffball.
It was a faint swishing and clicking sound and it was coming from the wall and ceiling.
The sound was like hot water passing through a cold metal pipe as it was warmed up.
Akira had not paid much attention to the gray stone pipes lining the walls and ceiling but now as he looked at them they started to glow red as some sort of red energy started to flow through them.
This reminded him of the red energy that had come from the Chimera Knight outside the dungeon.
Now, there was a constant flow of that similar red energy and it was all heading down the tunnel deeper into the dungeon.
¡°There definitely is something happening down there,¡± said Klyn, as he watched the flowing red energy rushing down the many pipes like a tsunami tidal wave.
As they resumed their quick walk down the main tunnel they did not find any other intersections or monsters that were patrolling the tunnels.
The only odd thing they saw was the constant flow of red energy into even larger pipes that were all headed deeper into the dungeon.
The absence of any traps or guards unnerved Akira as he knew that there was no way the cultist would have left such a large stretch of tunnel unguarded.
As they walked deeper the large stone pipes started to hum and buzz as the red energy flowed through them growing brighter and then lighter every few seconds giving Akira a feeling that they were veins leading to a beating heart.
¡°Yap...¡± said Fluffball quietly warning them.
Akira and Klyn stopped and listened intently trying to block out the hum and buzz coming from the pipes.
Akira''s ears twitched as he listened intently, he was able to quickly pick up on what Fluffball had heard.
He could just barely make out the low chanting of several people. As he listened for a few seconds, he could not make any sense of the chant as it was in some language unknown to him.
Akira looked over to Klyn who shrugged.
They continued to walk down the tunnel path still not finding anyone guard blocking them. The chanting grew louder and louder until it sounded as if it was coming from inside their heads.
The group stopped walking forward when they reached a glowing milky light that was swirling over what Akira guessed was the entrance to the deepest part of the dungeon.
¡°Another one of these things?¡± said Klyn in a worried tone.
They had no clue what was on the other side so Klyn was hesitant to move forward.
¡°... should we really be going in there with only the four of us?¡± asked Klyn.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°There is no other choice. We must stop whatever dastardly plans the Cult of Science has put in motion,¡± said Akira, his mind firm.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball letting Akira know he was not afraid to fight the cultist!
Akira cast [Darkness Domain] covering everyone before touching the swirling light.
Ding!
Entering the ritual room!
Nearby party members will join you.
|
Akira hoped that the other scattered party members would be brought into the ritual room by using this portal. But when the white flashing light cleared he was disappointed, only Fluffball, Klyn, and Nox 1 and 2 had been teleported into the glowing red room along with him.
Akira and the three other party members stood at the edge of the red ritual room covered in darkness. The [Dark domain] blocked the pulsing red light from piercing through and reaching them.
At the center of the ritual room was a raised platform where the many hundreds of glowing pipes ended.
On top of the platform were 9 [Life absorption Chimeras] each wearing a red gem necklace.
They were all chanting in a formation that created three triangles which were positioned to create one large triangle. At the center of the large triangle sat the dark-robed cult of science member Bonestringer.
The red energy was flowing out of the pipes into the [Life absorption Chimeras] and from them into three ornately carved paths on the platform that all connected underneath Bonestringer who was solemnly chanting in a guttural ancient language that was different than the chants from the [Life absorption Chimeras].
Akira felt a raging heat coming from his bag and grabbed onto the item... it was the Energized gem. The heat was so strong that he had to throw it away lest it melt his armored hand. The raging energy inside the gem was also sucked out and sent to the chanting Bonestringer.
Seconds later a bright flash of red light spread out from both of Bonestringer''s hands which were holding onto a large red diamond.
When the red light died down the red diamond was no more. It had been transformed into a crystal clear diamond with no flaws or defects.
Bonestringer held out his hand to the left where Tibia appeared from the shadows of the platform and placed the diamond into a small ornate wooden box.
¡°Some uninvited guests have arrived. Can you handle them Tibia? I still need to refine the second core,¡± said Bonestringer.
¡°Leave it to me,¡± said Tibia.
Akira and the others heard what they said and became fully alert.
Ding!
Main quest update!
You have found the culprits! Now stop the ritual and kill those responsible for controlling the molten onyx plague.
|
¡°We must stop this ritual they are performing!¡± growled Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as his holy ice armor grew even colder.
¡°How are we to stop it?¡± asked a worried Klyn.
¡°Kill them all!¡± growled Akira as he charged forward to attack with Fluffball running along with him on his right and Nox 1 and 2 on his left.
The darkness domain moved along Akira, blocking Tibia''s view of the intruders. Even if she was unable to see who they were she knew of only one person who had such a skill like this.
A blue crescent sword slash shot out of the dark mist and headed towards the immobile Bonestringer.
Tibia stepped forward and with a flick of her hand and red crescent flew out from one of the Stone pipes and collided with the blue [Sword slash] stopping it from reaching Bonestringer.
Several more skills along with ice shards shot out from the approaching dark mist.
None of the attacks were aimed at Tibia, they were all aimed at the Chimeras and Bonestringer behind her. This forced Tibia to focus on defense to protect the ongoing Ritual.
After several frustrating minutes of blocking all the skills, Tibia stood straight and grabbed onto the clear diamond with her right hand. With her left hand, she pointed at the slowly approaching black mist.
¡°I didn''t want to use this skill but you are forcing me to use it! I can not let you interrupt the ritual! Die and become energy for the Core!¡± shouted Tibia.
Akira stopped moving forward and sidestepped to the side away from her pointing hand. Fluffball, Nox, and Klyn all did the same.
Tibia had started to quickly chant something under her breath causing sweat to run down her brow that was hidden by her hood.
When she stopped chanting no skill or light shot out towards them. She just let her hand fall.
Akira looked to Klyn and Fluffball to see if something had happened to them but as he did, his vision grew blurry for a second. When it cleared he saw Mileena groaning on the ground several dozen paces ahead of him.
She was severely wounded and had blood pouring out many of the fresh wounds.
Akira rushed forward to cover her from any attacks that were sent their way from Tibia.
¡°What happened to you? Did you receive those wounds from the demigods or the cultists?¡± asked an angry Akira as he tried to pull out a red potion to heal Mileena.
Mileena lifted her head and with gritted teeth said, ¡°They...¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°...want you dead!¡±
With those words, the wounded Mileena stabbed her daggers into the small gap of Akira''s armpit armor.
¡°Aaaa!¡± Akira stumbled back in pain, blood now dripping down his arm and chest.
¡°Mileena! What''s wrong with you? Snap out of it!¡±
Mileena ignored his words and lunged at him again, her blood splattering on the ground as her wounds grew worse with each attack.
Akira tried to keep dodging each of the attacks from the crazed Mileena but he kept getting several minor wounds that were quickly stacking up. He had no choice but to at least try to immobilize her.
He leaped forward and used the skill [Shield Slam] right into her face.
Crack! A loud sickening sound rang out when the shield connected.
She skid across the stone floor and lay still not moving as the blood pooled out of her body quicker than before.
Before Akira could move forward his vision blurred for a moment and Mileena disappeared.
Akira shook his head to clear his vision and found both Fluffball and Klyn were immobile with blank stares.
¡°Fluffball! Klyn! Snap out of it! That cultist has cast some sort of hallucination on you!¡± shouted Akira as he ran over to Fluffball to shake him out of the spell.
When he shook Fluffball his body shivered and then looked to Akira with glowing red eyes.
Akira jumped back as Fluffball tried to jump at his neck and tear his throat out.
¡°Snap out of it, Fluffball!¡± growled Akira, as he blocked an Ice shard from Fluffball.
He was being pressured once again by Fluffball slowly getting covered in frost that was slowing him down.
Akira was once again forced to fight with and eventually immobilize Fluffball. His vision once again blurred and Azura appeared in front of him.
¡°Azura? What are you doing...¡± Before he could finish his question she launched an attack with her rapier.
Akira had felt something was not right but now that Azura had appeared in front of him, he knew that it was not the others around him that were caught in some sort of spell, it was him.
He had no idea how he had been hit with it or how he could break out of it. So he decided to just try and brute force his way out of it.
He launched an attack towards Azura and severed her body making it so she could no longer fight, in doing so his vision blurred again and a new opponent appeared causing Akira to grow extremely angry.
¡°You filthy cult of science!¡±
In front of him stood his dead grandfather!
One after another Akira was forced to fight and kill those closest to him whether they be dead or alive, family members, friends, and acquaintances.
After what seemed like the 100th fight Akira''s vision cleared and he heard the sound of snarls and the crack of ice smashing into stone.
¡°Akira have you broken free from the spell?¡± shouted a worried Klyn.
Klyn chanted a buff and sent it towards Fluffball who was fighting Tibia along with Nox 1 and 2. They had her surrounded and were slowly pushing her back towards the platform.
Even so, each attack they made was blocked by a red slash of light.
¡°I''m fine now,¡± said Akira. Both he and Klyn were still hidden in the [Dark domain].
Klyn sent several buffs after Akira who ran forward to join the fight near the platform.
Fluffball sensing Akira join them, jumped to the side allowing Akira to take over the main attacking role to keep the pressure on Tibia.
Tibia tried to send a red slash towards the escaping Fluffball but missed as he jumped behind Akira.
With Akira joining the fight it became more heated and one-sided as Tibia was getting pushed back faster and faster.
Crack!
The last of the red power from the pipes flowed out into the [Life absorption Chimeras] and was transferred from their bodies into the path, their bodies began to crack open as the last of the red light faded from them.
The [Life absorption Chimeras] crumbled and turned into red energy light that was sucked into the red diamond.
As the last of energy rushed into the diamond it started to let out a flash of red light to fully complete the ritual.
Fluffball shot past both Akira and Tibia and bit into Bonestringer''s neck. Tibia was unable to stop him as Akira attacked with a [Sword Slash] trying to behead her.
Bonestringer with glazed eyes sat still and continued chanting as Fluffball bit deeper into his throat, silencing the chanting as he ripped Bonestringer''s neck open, nearly severing his neck with just that one bite.
With a swipe of Fluffball''s sharp icy claws, Bonestringer''s head was severed and rolled to the side as the bright Red energy light started to fade.
Seeing this Tibia ignored the incoming attack from Akira receiving a large gash on her left arm as she launched herself towards the clear crystal diamond held in the hands of the now-dead Bonestinger.
Fluffball acted fast and snatched the diamond with his mouth and jumped off of the platform dodging two red energy slashes sent by Tibia.
Fluffball hugged the platform to stay out of Tibia''s vision as he ran around to the front where he jumped behind Akira who was readying another attack to finish Tibia along with Nox 1 and 2 who were trying to flank her once again.
Klyn focused his chants towards her, sending several debuffs to give Akira and the others an easier time to finish her.
Tibia, although conflicted about how things had turned out, made an immediate decision seeing how bad things were looking.
POOF!
A red misty light exploded outwards covering her.
When it cleared, she was no longer standing on the platform.
Akira and Fluffball looked around cautiously, sniffing and listening to their surroundings.
Akira activated [Life detection] but still found nothing.
They searched the room for any secret escape trap doors but again found nothing.
Ding!
Completed ritual dungeon!
Completed ritual sub task!
|
Chapter 255: Reaping the rewards
Akira knew that allowing one of the Cult of Science masterminds to escape would only allow for the partial completion of the main quest, meaning any additional reward was unlikely.
During Tibia''s escape, she had managed to take the completed clear diamond which Akira had no clue what their use was for, only that it must be for something important if they went through such trouble to create it.
Akira''s thoughts were interrupted by a flood of several system message windows.
Ding!
Your companion Fluffball has landed the last blow on the Cult of Science member Bonestringer.
Level up! Level up... level...
You have reached level 150! New class skills have been unlocked!
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Advanced Quadrupedal Running [AQR]: You are now able to use four limbed running to its fullest potential making it far faster than just using two legs. While using [AQR] you will have a lower profile which helps with dodging enemy attacks and increases your evasion. Stamina will be used up faster while using [AQR].
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Dark Shockwave [sub skill of Darkness domain]: Depending on how you slash or Stab your sword into the ground you will send powerful shock waves through the ground for a short time.
Those at or under your level of strength will be knocked down and any skill being they are channeling will be interrupted.
Bosses or targets with higher strength or level then you will not be knocked down but will be stunned for 1 second.
Effects of this skill will be stronger when used inside the Darkness domain. The skill''s range and duration will upgrade whenever the Darkness domain reaches a higher tier.
|
Announcement!
Blank was the first to finish Branch 1 stage 4!
Blank was the first to finish Branch 3 stage 4 part 3!
|
Branch 1 stage 4 complete!
+40 Honor, +400 gold, +40 fame.
Branch 3 stage 4 part 3 Partially complete!
+40 Honor, +400 gold, +40 fame.
Additional bonus rewards and title will not be received.
Rewards for completing two branches of the main quest will be given to the top ten contributors [Plus 30 lvls]: Akira, Fluffball, Mileena, Klyn, Zundar, Varbu, Vilkas, Dolph, Prince Gobbers, Pii''per.
The remaining Branch 3 stage 4 participants will receive 15 levels.
|
You have leveled up to lvl 180!
Fluffball has leveled up to lvl 150!
Nox 1 and 2 have leveled up!
|
Fluffball''s Compression skill has been updated.
Advanced Compress: allow the user to fight with their full strength and skills while in their compressed form if they choose to.
|
With such a jump in levels Akira felt unsteady on his feet. The heavy mental strain and deep aches that had been plaguing his mind and body were washed away with the large jump in levels also contributing to his unsteadiness.
The serious armpit wound as well as many other cuts and bruises were completely healed. With all this unsteadiness he was still trying to process all the messages and what it meant for him, Kodria, and the Werewolf clans.
Akira shook his head to try and clear it. He decided to push the messages to the side and see how Fluffball and Klyn were doing.
Fluffball who had suffered several wounds and was just as tired if not more than Akira was now fully healed and brimming with energy from leveling up as well. But like Akira, the sudden increase of levels had also made it so he was slightly unsteady on his feet.
Seeing Akira staring at him, Fluffball wobbled over to Akira on his unsteady feet. He looked like he was a newborn pup that was just learning to walk.
Fluffball spat out the Crystal clear gem letting it land on the ground near Akira''s feet. With the battle finished he shrank down to his compressed form but still kept Holy Ice armor covering his body just in case.
A quick inspection of the Holy Ice armor let Akira know that it was just as durable as the Holy ice armor Fluffball used while he was fully transformed. In the future he would definitely be a little nightmare to anyone that met him and underestimated him due to his size.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, full of energy.
¡°Alright, I''ll look at it and see what you managed to snatch away from those guys,¡± said Akira, rubbing the icy covered head of Fluffball.
As he picked up the Crystal Diamond, he could feel an immense power had been crammed into the diamond. There was so much energy that it buzzed with enough force to make his hand numb.
Ding!
Crystal energy core received!
This crystal was created by gathering and compressing the Molten Onyx Plague energy clouds as well as the energy from all monsters, demon races, and humans that were Infected in Foradverold.
It contains an almost unlimited amount of energy. Even if the energy inside is used up this special energy core is able to slowly gather energy over time.
|
New quest has been received!
Kodria''s new strength: Return to Kodria and place the Crystal energy core in the empty slot of the statue atop Kodria''s castle. Reward will be received upon completion.
|
Akira continued to look at the diamond with an odd expression.
¡°What is it?¡± Asked Klyn as he walked over to Akira and Fluffball.
¡°The compressed and refined energy gathered from the Molten Onyx Plague,¡± said Akira.
Klyn looked at the diamond in shock.
Akira placed the diamond in his bag as he said, ¡°We need to get out of here and see if we can join back up with the others. But first...¡±
Akira walked up to the platform and jumped up onto it landing in front of a Black stone chest that stood next to a swirling white exit portal that had appeared.
On the ground in front of the chest was a Black key which Akira picked up and used to unlock the chest.
Swoosh!
A white orb shot out of the black chest and flew past Akira and Fluffball. It kept flying until it slammed into Klyn''s forehead disappearing just as fast as it had appeared.
¡°Crap! Klyn are you ok?¡± asked Akira as he and Fluffball rushed over to Klyn who was standing completely still with blank eyes.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he paced back and forth in front of Klyn.
Akira didn''t want to touch him lest he interrupted whatever was happening and caused further harm. As he inspected Klyn, he saw that he was still breathing in a calm manner and did not show any signs of pain. Whatever was going on it didn''t seem like it would kill him... Yet.
Akira and Fluffball tried to get Klyn''s attention for the next ten minutes by just using their voices.
¡°I''m fine... I just have a headache... It was just a lot of information to take in...¡± said Klyn as he came out of his stupor and started rubbing his temples.
¡°What was that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It seems to have been some ancient will that left behind Knowledge on Holy chants. With this I now have a far deeper understanding of how to use the skills. And I think I have found a way to create a potion to cure those infected and protect others from any future plague the cult of science might come up with,¡± said Klyn. He held his hand out and a white orb of Holy light appeared on his palm.
¡°Really?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It is only a guess. I have to go back to Kodria and test it out with my grandfather and the other researchers.¡±
¡°Let''s gather all the loot and the rest of the stuff in the chest, then we can leave,¡± said Akira as he started gathering the weapons, gold coins, and different potions that lay on the ground where the demigod chimeras had died.
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Akira returned to black box and found a White gem inside along with 2000 gold and a blue ring.
Ding!
Gained White gem belonging to the super ordinary bracelet.
Gained Blue ring(Unique)[1 time use consumable]: Usage requirements not met.
[Tip: Wear the ring at all times in order to be sure you will receive the [secret] if it activates. Even when you are taking a bath!].
|
Akira looked at the weird description of the Blue ring with doubt but still decided to do what it said to do and placed it on one of his fingers. Of course not his ring finger... that could lead to a bad end for him...
When the Ritual room was scraped clean of anything that they could take with them, they touched the swirling white portal and were immediately teleported to the front entrance of the dungeon.
To Akira''s great relief, Mileena, Dolph, Vilkas, and one other cavalryman were also waiting there for them.
***
¡°Tibia, you have greatly disappointed us,¡± said Number 1 in his calm husky voice.
Each of the head numbers of the Cult of Science had gathered to talk about their results.
¡°You have only managed to gain one Energy core when there was at the very least enough for two,¡± said Number 6 angrily.
¡°Don''t blame me for the failure caused by that man. We originally could have created three but I was forced to use a large amount of energy to fight the intruders and protect the ritual as it was in progress. If it was not for me there would be no energy cores coming from Foradverold,¡± said Tibia coldly.
Several more bickering statements from the other Numbers were flung back and forth before Number 1 stood up and slammed his fist on the table.
¡°Enough bickering. We can not squabble over what has been done,¡± he turned to Tibia and asked. ¡°Is there a way for you to retrieve the crystal that was taken?¡±
¡°No, even with the full might of the infected swarm army they were able to defend their city. The only way we could try would be if all the demigods fought under our command. But that is impossible with them being so fractured into what they call guilds. They are constantly fighting between each other and refuse to cooperate.¡±
¡°Fine... we will have to go ahead with the plan and hope that the three energy cores that we were able to create are enough. The ships are waiting for you and will quickly bring you back. We need that energy core to start the next phase.¡±
***
¡°We gained nothing from this main quest!¡± said Nuth, a low-level demigod grunt in the Frozenblood guild.
¡°Don''t be too angry, the other guilds were just as unlucky. That damned Blank stole all the rewards!¡± said his friend.
¡°I heard that the other major guilds are all now starting to gather up what is left of their money to buy the best equipment they can!¡±
¡°It looks like now that the threat of the plague is mostly gone they will start making their moves.¡±
¡°Should we try to get some benefits as well or should we just join a faction in the guild?¡±
¡°We''re too small to grab such benefits for ourselves. We''ll just have to see who offers the best rewards for joining them.¡±
***
With the disappearance of the main army of Molten Onyx Infected, Rodger was able to lead an elite team of knights to the last hidden royal hideout that was located at one of the farthest southern points in Beorin.
He was hoping that he would be able to find his wife and her guards who had disappeared from the north in haste. They had reached the rocky coastline that was several days'' travel away from the nearest abandoned town.
As he neared the hideout, he held up his hand pointing to himself, his two guards, and the captain of the elite guards.
The four of them walked forward passing through the stone entrance alert for any trap, ambush, or stray infected that managed to survive.
Immediately they heard the sound of pots and pans clanging as something was being stirred and scarped.
After a few more steps they had reached an open thick stone door that led into a large cave.
A large fire pit was burning inside of the cave and was being tended to by several servants and guards. Above the fire was a large pot that had a red liquid being stirred as the fire underneath slowly warmed the liquid.
In a large pan next to the pot, were several fresh fish crackling in grease as they cooked on the hot metal.
¡°Be sure to add more spices to the wine this time,¡± said a familiar female voice.
¡°Yes queen,¡± said the guard stirring the red wine.
¡°Ruth?¡± asked Rodger surprised but happy to see her.
Ruth was lazing about on a plush couch wearing thick fluffy clothes. She was sipping on warmed red wine using a straw that disappeared under a veil she was wearing covering her lower face blocking out most of the smoke.
¡°Oh, husband you''re here! Has the kingdom''s problem been solved? Or have you come here because you could not bear staying away from me any longer and needed to see me?¡± asked Ruth, not bothering to get up from the couch.
¡°Saying something like that... you are starting to remind me more and more of your mother when we were younger. She always tried to embarrass us by saying such things to your father in front of us.¡±
Ruth didn''t say anything and only raised her eyebrow at that statement.
¡°What happened to you that you had to escape the northern fort without leaving a message? I have been so worried and we have been looking for you for many weeks now,¡± said Rodger.
¡°Sorry, we were unable to leave a message as those Infected were on the move. If we had stayed a second longer we would have been trapped and overrun. I guess the messengers I sent out never reached you?¡±
Rodger shook his head no.
The two were extremely happy to be reunited once again and ate a simple lunch together as they talked over the events that they had both experienced while away from each other.
***
Akira, Fluffball, and Mileena were standing on the roof of Kodria''s castle in front of the large stone statue that looked like Akira.
Ding!
Branch 2 stage 4 has been cleared by Blank.
+40 Honor, +400 gold, +40 fame
The main quest event has been completed!
Final results:
1st Blank
2nd Demon hunters
3rd Forbidden
Title received: Thickheaded determination! +5 fame.
|
Akira nodded his head. He had been confident that Klyn would be able to create a potion to cure all those that were still infected.
The method that he had chosen was to use the holy light to ferment the material allowing it to combine. Now that they had found a complete recipe, all that was left was to start mass-producing it.
Once the infected received the first batches, they could start giving it to the other residents of Kodria. Kodria would then be able to sell it to other towns and cities at a low price to cover the cost of the materials.
With the ritual sucking up all the energy from the molten onyx infected and the black smog, the only Infected that now roamed the land were those that had not been fully infected during the ritual.
Akira guessed that more than 95% of the infected had been destroyed and sucked up by the ritual. All that was left was to clean up the rest and cure those that they could.
With all that had been going on he had been unable to check both his and Fluffball''s new stats. So he took a quick look.
Fluffball: Level: 150
Race: Double Mutated Snow Wolf young adult
Title: Yap!
Personality: Inquisitive
Hunger: 10%
Skills:
Tear
Charge
Lacerate
Compress+
Holy Ice shard
Holy Ice Armor
Due to mutation more XP is needed for each level.
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Character Name
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Akira
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Race
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Werewolf
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Fame
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470
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Level
|
180: 0.00%
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Profession
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Son Of The Night
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Title
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Thickheaded determination!
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Health
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5500
|
Mana
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1900
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Strength
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553
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Vitality
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550(+15)
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Stamina
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372(+10)
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Agility
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190
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Intelligence
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188
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Wisdom
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190
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Dexterity
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60
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Charisma
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25
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Honor
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163
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Charm
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20
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Endurance
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60
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Toughness
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90
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Attack
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53-79
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Defense
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267(+12)
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+ 10% Buff to Stamina and strength at night and dark places.
+10% boost to power if in werewolf form and moon is out
+ 25% Lesser poison resistance
+2 defense for each piece of heavy armor equipped.
|
Seeing such a large uptick in his vitality and strength and stamina it was no surprise why he had been feeling odd. By completing the main event quest his Fame and Honor had also skyrocketed because the Molten Onyx Plague had affected the entire continent, not just a small group of people.
Akira turned his attention back to the statue in front of him. His eyes found the empty socket that he now knew was meant for the Energy core diamond.
Without a word he reached up and placed the Energy Core inside the socket.
Ding!
Mission complete!
[Wall of Protection] has been fully activated!
With the current energy [Wall of Protection] can be activated once a week and can last a maximum of one day.
|
As Akira finished reading the message, a blue light started to shine from the tip of the statue''s sword.
The light started to slowly spread out like water to form a dome arching down towards the outer walls of Kodria''s inner city where the many stone statues stood against the wall.
A gasp escaped Mileena''s mouth as she saw the statues slowly extend their stone shields out in front of them.
Seconds later their other arm which held a sword that was shoved into the ground slowly pulled the sword out and pointed them into the sky receiving the water like a light dome that flowed down and covered each of the statues firmly anchoring itself all around the inner city.
Ding!
Kodria has Reached 1st tier city.
New buildings'' blueprints have been unlocked.
The requirements to reach 3rd tier Capital have been updated!
|
Mileena turned her gaze to Akira who she was hugging tightly and asked, ¡°What are you thinking?¡±
Akira looked away from the blue watery light dome at a smiling Mileena.
¡°I''m thinking about you,¡± said Akira.
¡°I''m thinking about how many kids we should have,¡± said Mileena.
¡°What...?¡± Akira''s question was halted as Mileena''s head shot up and latched onto his lips pulling him into a deep kiss.
Chapter 256: Special day in every way
A week had passed since the siege. The damage that the east river fort and the outer city had endured was quickly patched up.
There were at least a thousand different funerals over the past week for those that had died during the siege. With there being so much happening in such a short time Akira was unable to go to all of them while also taking care of Kodria''s management.
With the cost of paying for the city upgrades, war materials, and funeral wages Kodria''s yearly budget was quickly disappearing. Even so, Akira had handed over a large sum of gold to Grandelder Hegir for him to buy enough equipment and materials to start mass-producing the potion that the shamen had developed.
Akira placed his feather pen back into its holder now that he was finished with his paperwork. As he stood up he stretched his arms and rolled his head around trying to loosen the tight muscles.
Fluffball lay in front of the nearby fireplace and yawned at Akira when he saw him stand up. Seeing this caused Akira to also yawn as he walked around his desk and over to Mileena who had fallen asleep on the couch. Her blanket had slipped off and was now only covering half of her body, the other half was laying on the ground.
Akira stood a few steps in front of the couch and looked at her for a few seconds. Messy hair, drool coming out of the side of her mouth, and a twitching tail and cat ears.
Without saying anything he nodded his head and reached over to the sleeping beauty.
¡°Mileena...¡± said Akira as he shook her lightly.
¡°Huh? I''m not sleeping...¡± said Mileena, as she shot up into a sitting position her hair and clothes frazzled and disheveled with drool still on her face.
¡°Let''s get married,¡± said Akira with a serious face.
¡°What...?¡± said Mileena, not registering what he just said. The hand that was rising to wipe away the drool on her cheek stopped in midair as she looked at Akira trying to figure out what he had just said.
Fluffball with his tail wagging furiously, watched the two closely to see what was going on.
¡°Let''s get married.¡±
¡°Why now?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°I wanted to have the wedding in the summer but... With all that is going on and all that we have to do I doubt there will be much free time for a long while. We should strike while the metal is hot.¡±
¡°Pinch me... I must be dreaming.¡±
Akira pinched Mileena''s cheek and pulled it side to side.
A quick blur shot out from under the blankets and kicked Akira in the side of his stomach.
¡°Fine... since you asked, I guess it''s okay,¡± said Mileena with a red face as she turned away from Akira, too embarrassed to look at him. Her ears and tail were twitching erratically.
***
The news of the wedding spread quickly through both the inner and outer city of Kodria.
With all the negative events that had been happening everyone was happy to talk about and turn their attention to the wedding.
The taverns and bakeries were working non-stop in their kitchens to gather ingredients and started prepping it all for the massive festival that would be thrown because of the wedding.
Of course, Akira had permitted them to use more than the allotted rations and paid them to create the food. He even went on hunts with Fluffball and others to find more meat for the city but due to the Molten onyx infected army having been so close not long ago there were only slim pickings.
The fishermen had a better haul as they gathered fish from the ocean along with a small portion taken from the fish hatcheries near Kodria.
The allied races that had come to Kodria''s aide were ready to return home but upon hearing the news of the wedding they stayed to celebrate the event along with everyone else.
***
Akira stood at the entrance to Kodria''s castle gates. He wore his best dark blue clothes with Kodria''s crest and his heavy fur cape. His hair was slicked back with a special mysterious goop that he had received from Fleur.
Next to Akira was Fluffball who had been forced to take a bath and have his hair trimmed and thoroughly combed by Maya and Azura who took great glee in the task.
Dolph, Vilkas, Zundar, and several other royal guards stood behind Akira and Fluffball, their armors freshly oiled to the point of shining brightly in the winter morning light.
The delegates from the other races were all standing behind them as they waited for the wedding march to start.
The several minutes of waiting felt like an eternity to Akira.
Clack clack creak! The castle gates were unlocked and opened revealing those standing behind them.
Akira was mesmerized when he looked to see Mileena. She wore a simple dark blue dress and a dark blue thick fur cape similar to Akira''s with Kodria''s crest on the back.
Her face was covered by a thin silk veil. Her long hair had been tightly pinned into a bun on top of her head styled in a way that made it look like a crown. Her bangs were free from the bun and had been curled by the maids who had helped her prepare for the wedding.
The only makeup that the maids had applied to Mileena was a pink glossy lip balm to keep her lips moisturized for the outside winter wedding.
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Mileena slowly moved forward with Maya and Azura standing on either side of her as bridesmaids.
Behind her was a solemn Chack in several fur layers along with several other maids.
Akira held out his arm for Mileena when she stopped next to him. She linked her arm with his and the two turned to the main street that led through all of Kodria''s inner city.
¡°Are you ready?¡± asked Akira in a quiet hoarse voice.
Mileena only nodded her head not speaking.
Du-du-du duuuuuu-! A nearby bugler blew out a loud tune signaling to all who could hear it that the wedding march was going to start.
The royal guard walked several paces ahead and to the side of the two as they started walking down the main road. The Grand elders and delegates all followed behind them.
The sides of the streets as well as the doors and windows of the buildings were filled with the residents all trying to get a look at the lord and his soon-to-be wife.
When the crowd saw the two walking past them, they let out a wild cheer and threw dried flowers into the air covering the road, Akira, and Mileena as they passed.
This happened all through the city as they made their way out and onto a flat transport ship. The inner-city citizens all flowed out of the city and stood near the shore as close as the guards would allow them.
Several people had already gotten into small rowboats but were being herded away by Captain Walcott and his naval ships.
As the flat transport ship moved to the center of the lake between the inner and outer city Akira could see that the outer city walls and the nearby shore were packed with all the residents as they also wanted to watch the wedding ceremony.
With tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers, and allied warriors all watching Akira and Mileena, they gave their vows in loud booming voices that echoed across the lake so that all could hear.
With their vows said they placed rings on each other''s hands and kissed.
Loud cheers erupted from both shores of the lake as the several tens of thousands of people cheered upon the completion of the marriage ceremony.
***
Several hours later Akira was once again in the castle making his way towards the large bath pool to wash away the day''s stress.
As he entered the outer changing room he found Mileena already inside with three other maids trying to help her out of the dress that had been tightly tied up at the back out of her reach.
¡°Lord, do you need help undressing?¡± asked a meek and bashful girl.
Akira vehemently shook his head no.
After being traumatized by his bath experience in Vussia''s capital, he had vowed to not be like the perverted nobles that could not dress or wash their own body. He did not have any maids that helped him with anything and so Mileena was the only one that they served.
¡°You three can leave us,¡± said Mileena.
The maids bowed and left the room quietly with knowing looks.
Akira walked over to Mileena and picked up where the maids had left off and started to try and unfasten the several knots that had been tied to keep the dress tightly hugging her body.
¡°Those girls acting all shy...,¡± Mileena shook her head. ¡°They normally all have some loud mouths on them. But now they are acting so reserved.¡±
¡°How can you even breath in this?¡± asked Akira as he picked at the knots that were troublesome since some were wet from the ice that had formed on them and then melted soaking the thread.
¡°It''s not that bad,¡± was all Mileena said.
The two were silent for several minutes as Akira made slow progress in loosening the knots.
When the dress was loose enough Akira turned around and undressed down to his underwear before heading into the large warm steam-filled room where the warm pool bath was.
The windows to the outside were open showing the starry night sky. Akira quickly rinsed himself before getting into the pool and settling down with his eyes closed.
As he let the warm water seep into his body he could hear the loud festival activity outside happening everywhere throughout the inner and outer cities.
A soft click was heard as the door to the room was opened and closed. Akira could hear the soft footsteps of Mileena and the splash of the cool water as she rinsed herself.
¡°Scooch forward so I can wash your back for you,¡± said Mileena.
Akira didn''t want to have others wash his back but felt it was okay since she was now his wife.
Akira moved forward and heard a small splash as Mileena got into the steaming pool behind him.
¡°When did you get all these ugly creatures drawn on your back?¡± asked Mileena as she ran a washcloth across his back and inspected the many new tattoos.
Akira shrugged and said, ¡°I stopped paying attention to it a long time ago so I don''t really know what''s there.¡±
When Mileena finished washing his back the two of them rested against the smooth warm stone and quietly listened to the night activity outside while watching the stars.
A half-hour of soaking passed by before Akira felt fully refreshed from the day''s stressful events. He got out of the pool first followed by Mileena and they both dried off and put on their warm fluffy robes.
Akira turned to Mileena and swooped her off her feet into a princess carry.
¡°It is time for me to do my husband''s duties,¡± said Akira as he quickly walked to their new shared bedroom.
¡°And what is that?¡± asked Mileena shyly.
¡°Don''t worry I will show you my fighting technique is not the only thing I am good at!¡±
Akira tossed Mileena onto the bed and belly-flopped onto the large bed sinking into the feather bed next to Mileena.
Mileena pulled Akira over to her and started to passionately kiss him.
The two were rolling back and forth on top of the bed and [Redacted].
With the fierce movements of the two, the covers and sheets were thrown off the bed as the two [Redacted].
Mileena pounced on Akira pressing him down and [Redacted].
Akira picked up the wild Mileena and [Redacted].
Mileena bit Akira''s shoulder as [Redacted].
Akira could hear several system messages popping up, but paid no attention to them as he was busy fighting a tough battle where he was [Redacted].
And so, the dark and cold winter wedding night was filled with much [Redacted].
***
Akira woke up with the winter morning light falling on his face. He had only slept for a few hours due to [Redacted]. His body was filled with red scrapes and bite marks making him look like he had been through a life and death battle with a monster.
Beside him Mileena lay silently sleeping, her hair was a mess and partly covered her face that had drool on her cheek.
Akira turned his attention to the system messages from the night before.
Ding!
The Blue ring has activated!
...
The effects of the Blue ring have begun to take effect!
50%...
100!...
|
Ding!
Achievement completed!
You have made Babies!
Congratulations!
|
¡°What?¡±
Chapter 257: Clean up
With the Molten Onyx plague clearing up so quickly after the completion of the main quest. The many guilds were left wondering what they should do now. Many of them had spent all of their gold on trying to complete the main quest.
The one guild that stood out from the others repeatedly getting second place in many of the stages was the Demon hunters guild.
With the completion of the potion creation stage, they had also come in second.
¡°Do we have enough resources to keep producing the potion at this pace?¡± asked Ultar, the guild leader.
Scar looked at a piece of paper on a clipboard before answering, ¡°Everything is flowing in and out without a problem.¡±
¡°...and those that are outselling it, have they run into any problems?¡±
¡°A few. Some minor guilds and local lords of certain towns were uncooperative but we took care of it. We have struck it rich with this potion,¡± said Scar lifting a small glass vile that held a white liquid.
¡°Good. With all the gold we are receiving from this, we will have an easier time funding our future plans.¡±
While the demon hunters focused on gaining more gold by selling the potions, the many other Guilds were left scrambling to figure out how to get stronger and earn more gold so that they would not be left in the dust of the Demon hunters.
And so they decided to start making plans to hunt even harder targets to gain achievements, fame, gold, and levels.
***
Deep in the Orc held mountains.
¡°Hold!¡± shouted Tornok. He stood tall at the very front of the rearguard battle line along with many of his strongest Orc warriors, all while skills from the demigods continued to rain down on them.
With all the stress from the last few years, Tornok''s hair had already turned completely gray.
¡°We must stand firm and allow the others to retreat to the second line of defense!¡±
¡°Why are they attacking us now out of all times?¡± asked Chop, Tornok''s aide.
¡°Gi, giii gii,¡± said King Gobgob, too focused on fighting to speak in an understandable language, he had grown larger in the belly compartment due to his stress eating.
With the constant fighting, the Orcs and Goblins had been forced into, they had all grown a lot stronger.
The two kings, although old in the tooth, were still holding their own in battle as they led their warriors to protect the retreating civilians and soldiers from the first defensive line in the mountain passes.
The defensive fort town they had been living in was no longer strong enough to stand against the Demigods'' barrage of skills and weapon attacks.
Luckily there weren''t many civilians staying at the fort city as it was just one of the few buffer zones to protect the main caves in the mountains that now housed both the Goblin and Orc clans.
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Demigods began to jump over the broken wooden walls of the fort town and ran right into Tornok and King Gobgob''s waiting warriors.
¡°You guys look tough. Let me kill you so I can get strong!¡± said a female that wore a black silk outfit that fit tightly to her body and covered her entire body only leaving a square patch for her eyes.
She stabbed forward with two daggers, sending out two red lights aimed at Tornok''s head.
Tornok leaned to the side dodging one of the red lights but the second pierced his shoulder armor and cut deep into his shoulder sending out a spurt of blood.
¡°This is such a great place to farm!¡± shouted an excited demigod as he started to shoot glowing green arrows at the Goblin warriors.
¡°Let''s not tell the other guilds about it so we can have it all to ourselves!¡±
¡°Screw you!¡± Roared Tornok as he Swung his large studded metal club at the giddy demigods in front of him.
Several managed to jump out of the way but the black silk-covered demigod was too slow and received the club attack which slammed into her ribs and tore right through her unarmored body separating the top from the bottom.
The female demigod''s eyes were open wide and showed shock as her two body halves fell to the ground with a thump. She quickly turned into a bunch of light particles and floated up into the sky disappearing from the battlefield.
¡°How careless of her,¡± said a demigod as he continued to shoot fireballs into the rearguard Orcs and goblins.
King Gobgob appeared in front of the man with an impressive speed that one would not think possible with his large round belly.
Jumping into the air, he swung his large staff down with all his weight and cracked open the man''s head.
King Gobgob and Tornok continued to fight the demigods, receiving many wounds. Several warriors fell to the dozens of flying demigod attacks but the rear guard managed to hold back and defeat the attacking forces.
¡°This is not good,¡± said Tornok as he looked at the dead warriors and the destroyed walls of the fort town.
All the supplies and usable items had already been taken away by the main force that was now rushing to reach the second line of defense that was now turned into the first line of defense.
¡°This place can''t be salvaged,¡± said Chop, as he looked at the large splinters and rubble which was all that was left of the walls and buildings.
¡°We now know their current strength so we should use that knowledge to further strengthen our defense everywhere else,¡± said Tornok.
***
8 months passed by in a blur of activity.
During that time Akira and the rest of the nearby allied forces spent their time destroying the remaining infected all-around their territories.
The clean-up of the area and sorting out of Kodria''s many minor problems, allowed Kodria to regain back the security that had been lost from the plague and the siege.
With the main quest finished both Akira and Kodria''s army had gained big rewards allowing the Army to gain a massive level boost to help become a powerhouse and still be able to fight against the fast-growing Demigods.
During the past 8 months, Akira had only gained 5 levels reaching lvl 185. This was mainly due to taking care of the low-level monsters and the many domestic needs of Kodria as it continued to grow.
The door to Akira''s office slammed open.
Mileena waddled into the room with a large belly followed by Fluffball and two maids.
¡°Mileena, how many times do I have to tell you that you''re going to break the door doing that!¡± said Akira as he stood up from his desk and walked over to help the pregnant Mileena into a wooden rocking chair.
¡°It''s too troublesome,¡± said Mileena as she sat down.
¡°What brings you here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Your pregnant wife can''t visit you when she wants?¡±
¡°You can, I was just wondering if there was anything you needed,¡± said Akira as he looked at Mileena''s large stomach.
Mileena rubbed her belly and said, ¡°The shaman doctor gave me a check-up earlier and everything is fine. I just wanted to spend some time with you since the warm months will be arriving once again and everyone including you will be even busier.¡±
Akira thought for a moment before sitting down next to her.
¡°You are right. In the next few days to a week, the other allied demon races will be coming here for several important discussions and trade talks. Until they arrive we can enjoy each other''s company.¡±
Chapter 258: Delegates and Surprises
¡°Is that them?¡± asked Klyn as he shielded his eyes from the blowing winter wind and dim sun to look out over the lake at the approaching flatboat.
¡°How can you not recognize them, when we have spent nearly a year working together on clearing up the infected?¡± asked Akira.
On the flatboat were several delegates from the other allied Yuki-onna, Nyantails, Kamen, dwarves, and even a delegate from Jerora who was now one of the major powers in the north. This was mainly due to spending the last 8 months consolidating and building up the old trade post city so that it could better house all those that had migrated there during the Molten Onyx Plague.
Along with the other demon races, representatives from the Coldpelt werewolf clan came with grand elder D¨´ghall. The Saberfang clan had also come south, this time without Tormoid either due to him falling out of favor or the grand elders of Saberfang wanting to put their best foot forward with Kodria and not step on any toes.
When the boat reached the inner city''s main stone docks, the occupants disembarked and joined Akira and the grand elders that were waiting to greet them. Surprisingly Fluffball was not with Akira as he was with Mileena, whose belly was still growing, to help her with any tasks she needed as well as provide protection for her.
¡°Glad to be here once again,¡± said grand elder D¨´ghall, shaking Akira''s hand.
¡°It''s good that we are taking care of this now before the warm months arrive,¡± said Jerm, Jerora''s representative.
¡°Ah, I forgot you northern cities are always busy in the warm months,¡± said Nolan.
¡°Although I called everyone here to celebrate the completion of our clean-up, we still have a few other matters to take care of. Namely updating our trade deals and contingent plans against any future attacks by the Demigods,¡± said Akira, shaking the hands of the delegates one by one.
¡°The outer city looks to be thriving far more than the last time I was here during the siege,¡± said Crulak, looking back at the bustling crowd swarming in and out of the gates of the outer city near the shores of the lake.
¡°We have big plans for the outer city when the warm months arrive. We will be expanding and adding another wall so we can house more people, as well as have better protection from a siege like the one we faced not long ago,¡± said Akira.
¡°It is already larger than the inner city and now you are going to expand it even more? Kodria will soon dwarf everyone with your population and the size of just your outer city.¡±
¡°Everyone can rest assured that the minerals you left with Delgar have been manufactured into the armor you requested as payment for helping us during the siege. You can pick it up before you head back to your people.¡±
As Akira began to lead the delegates down the stone dock towards the city gates a large commotion could be heard across from the lake near the outer city docks.
Akira continued walking with the delegates and turned his head to see what all the shouting was about.
With his eyesight, he had no trouble seeing that the cause of the commotion was what looked like a drunken brawl between several dock guards, a large orc, and a small goblin warrior.
The guards seemed to have everything under control, so he returned his attention to leading the delegates to the castle.
¡°Akira, tell those guards to bring those two to us!¡± said Varbu in a serious voice.
¡°Giii?¡± asked a confused Prince Gobbers. He could not see as clearly as Akira or Varbu could, so he paid the scuffle no attention.
¡°Why?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I can''t be 100%, but that guy... he shouldn''t be here,¡± said Varbu, squinting to look at the struggling orc warrior.
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Prince Gobbers also squinted his eyes trying to see the fighting goblin warrior more clearly, but only managed to make his small face uglier.
¡°He''s not one of your men?¡±
Varbu shook his head, ¡°He''s from the main tribe.¡±
It took Akira several seconds to process that. ''The main tribe?''
¡°You''re saying they''re one of the people that stayed behind?¡± asked Klyn.
Akira did not hesitate anymore and let out a howl that traveled across the lake.
The struggling guards stopped their fight to get control of the two and looked over to Akira who had just sent out the howl.
Akira nodded to them. They grabbed the arms of the two they had been fighting with moments before and dragged them into a small rowboat and rowed them across the lake.
The rest of the delegates looked confused at what was going on, with only grand elder D¨´ghall understanding what those few words ''The main tribe'' meant.
¡°Are they delegates from a different tribe or clan?¡± asked Crulak.
¡°I''m not sure,¡± said Chief Socks, the leader of the Nyantails. As his name suggested, his furry feet were black while the rest of his fur-covered body was white making him look like he was wearing socks.
When the rowboat reached the stone docks, Varbu and Prince Gobbers rushed forward to talk to the two warriors and see what they were doing so far away from the main tribes.
Up close the large orc warrior that had seemed menacing and full of strength at a distance, was a sore sight to see. He was bordering on nothing but skin and bones. His face was covered in several scars with the left half of his face sagging slightly from a crudely healed scar that looked like it was from a failed attack that had tried to cut his head in half.
Varbu reached out to help him out of the boat but found the Orc''s entire left arm and shoulder were missing.
The goblin warrior was in just as bad of a condition as the Orc warrior. He was wearing an eye patch over his right eye and was missing his right ear and hand.
Akira focused on the two foreign warriors to see their levels.
[Chop lvl 101] [Gnob lvl 100]
Their levels being so high was not something Akira would have thought possible knowing the strength of the Orcs and Goblins from the past as well as their near-dead look. Apparently, the two demon races had been through a lot since the younger generation had separated.
¡°Chop is that you?¡± asked Varbu.
Chop nodded his head and immediately said, ¡°We bring important news and warnings to the allied demon races of this continent.¡±
With that said he handed Varbu a small weathered brown leather pouch.
Varbu untied the leather pouch and found a thick packet of wax-sealed papers inside.
Upon seeing the writing on the packet Varbu''s face changed.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°... my father''s last will,¡± said Varbu.
¡°You two, follow us. This is no place to be talking about serious matters,¡± said Akira. He immediately turned around and led the group back to the castle.
The once cheerful atmosphere was now replaced with a serious one as the delegates quietly talked between themselves.
***
¡°... and even though the head warrior chief Tornok and king GobGob led their warriors to victory holding the demigods back at the third and main defensive lines several times. They both succumbed to the numerous fatal wounds several days after the attacks stopped,¡± said Chop.
¡°Gii giiiii,¡± said Gnob, agreeing with Chop while tears began welling up in his left eye.
Prince Gobbers thumped Gnob on the back a few times to try and comfort him, as he too had tears in his eyes. Princess Gobalina had a face full of sadness but her eyes were full of determination.
¡°What is the current situation now that both of them have died?¡± asked Akira.
¡°First thing, before they passed they wanted me to make sure to tell you under no circumstances are you to go back to the main continent to try and avenge their deaths. The demigods are growing in numbers and strength as they claim areas they call farming zones.¡±
¡°Gii,¡± said Gnob with a nod.
¡°The situation has stabilized now that the demigods have repeatedly failed to pass the third defensive fort town that was reinforced by the dwarves. It has turned into a stalemate with the Orc and Goblin clans unable to leave the safe haven and the demigods unable to enter. Anyone that goes outside of the protection of the fort city for any amount of time is soon found and hunted down.¡±
¡°Then how did you two get here?¡± asked Jerm.
Chop took a deep breath to calm down his emotions and said in a quiet voice, ¡°When we left. There were ten other fit and strong warriors that had fought many battles with the Demigods... we are the only survivors that somehow managed to make it to Kodria, broken as we are.¡±
The room was silent as they let everything sink in.
¡°If I had to make a guess, the way things are going, the safe haven can hold out for another 5 to 10 years before they are overpowered by the demigods. The other demon races are probably in a similar state,¡± said Chop.
Chapter 259: Dukedom
Ding!
Kodria has been upgraded to Rank 3 Capital!
Requirements for Creating a dukedom have been met!
Rank 3 Capital has changed to rank 3 Dukedom!
The Dukedom Kodria has been founded.
A notification will be sent out when you officially announce the Dukedom and take on the role of Duke.
|
Title received!
First Duker: Kodria is the first true dukedom to duke it out!
|
Ding!
With the founding of the Kodria''s Dukedom, you have unlocked a new main quest!
Main quest Foradverold Kingdom Maker has started!
All who own land or manage to get land in the continent of Foradverold are allowed to join this main quest. The main objective of this quest is to create a kingdom by building or taking over towns, cities, territories, forts, and other dukedoms, to reach the points required to build a Kingdom.
Each conquered, settled, allied territory or town/city that joins will add points to your kingdom-building score.
All participants with a single territory, no matter the size, will start the main quest with that territory as their base of operations. If you lose your base of operations you will lose all benefits and must either quit or fight to regain a new base of operations.
Small, medium, and large towns/cities, along with forts, all have a different number of points and benefits that will be added to your score.
Along with the points you are able to receive a tax from them in gold, resources, and bodies to help build your armies to fight for or defend your territory as well as build up new and old towns and forts.
This mission can be completed by economic, conquest, or alliance.
|
Ding!
Current map of Foradverold faction control points.
[Detailed information will only be shown for areas that you have been to.]
|
A map of Foradverold appeared in front of Akira''s face full of colors and text. As he scanned through it, he was able to see just how devastating the Molten Onyx Plague had been to the North.
The northern coast even after having 8 months to recover, only had three large areas with different colors signifying three different factions, the rest was all gray. There were many dots of varying sizes pinpointing villages and towns that had the words [Abandoned] or [Wiped out] next to their names.
There were a few small dots of different color here and there if he looked closely but they did not stand out that much. The three main factions of the Northern coast were Coldpelt, and Saberfang, with the tag [Werewolf] under their territory''s name. The last was Froit, which had the tag [Demon hunters guild and allies]. Each had around +100 points next to their territories name.
Looking down from the top of the map there were hundreds of small colorful dots in the mass sea of gray pointing out the many small towns and territories of the humans and demon races in the north. Each one having around +10 or +20 points next to their names. That was not much as the empty and abandoned places all had a plus +1 or +2.
Below them was Jerora which was the largest colored faction in the area followed by the Dwarves both trailing behind the northern territories by a few points.
Looking at Kodria on the map he was able to see that both the inner and outer city were separated into two cities each with separate territorial points, [Inner +84], [Outer +69]. The three forts controlled by Kodria also added +10 points each as well as their defense bonuses to the overall territorial score.
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Each of the demon races and their territories were colored on the map. Although it was not an exact position map it revealed a lot to those that could see it.
The two southern Smok mountains caught Akira''s attention as they were colored red and blue but the name for both of the two factions was [???]. Akira knew that that territory had to belong to Fleur and Borra''s fathers but was unsure why it was not labeled.
While Akira was fully focused on reading the new system messages and inspecting the map, the others were still dealing with the information brought up by Chop and Gnob.
¡°What do you plan on doing now that you are here and have delivered your message?¡± asked Nolan.
¡°If we can, I would like to relay the information that we gathered from our many fights to our warriors here so that when the demigods come knocking they will be more prepared,¡± said Chop.
¡°Giii,¡± said Gnob, agreeing.
¡°I am sure we can arrange a time for the both of you to give lectures to all of the soldiers as well as the trainees about the demigods,¡± said Varbu.
Prince Gobbers was nodding his head in agreement.
¡°Anything that can help us fight the demigods will be appreciated, right Akira?¡± asked Varbu, turning to Akira.
Akira did not respond as he was in his own world drawing on a piece of large paper that he had pulled out of his bag. Everyone at the meeting noticed that he was drawing something and turned their attention to look at what it was.
Akira, in his spare time, had been working hard on his drawing skills and it showed. Now everyone could at least understand that the scribbles and squiggly lines put together were supposed to make up a map.
A few more silent minutes passed before Akira stopped drawing and started to scribble out a few names on the map.
When he put down his feather pen he looked up and said, ¡°With the plague now completely taken care of, the demigods in the north just like those on the continent of Halrverold, will not sit still.¡±
Several of the delegates all nodded their heads including Chop and Gnob.
¡°This, and this,¡± said Akira pointing to two points on the map. ¡°Will most likely be their main targets if they get their courage and strength up to attack.¡±
¡°That''s you and you,¡± said Akira, pointing to the Coldpelt and the Saberfang delegates.
¡°Us? We haven''t done anything to provoke them,¡± said Grand elder D¨´ghall.
¡°I don''t like the demigods any more than you guys, but in the dealings, our tribe has had with them, they did not seem to harbor any murderous intentions towards us,¡± said Erock Onama, Saberfang''s chief.
¡°As many of you know, the demigods that are now in control of Froit are known as the [Demon Hunters guild]. As you can tell by their name, they have one purpose... the hunting of demon races.¡±
Many grunts and nods of agreement came from the delegates.
¡°From the last reports we had about the city of Froit, several dozen such demigod guilds are residing within the city but they don''t get along all that well. They have been cooped up in the city due to the Plague and I believe they are now ready to break out and start causing problems and staking claims to the surrounding land and towns.¡±
¡°How do you know that this will happen?¡± asked the skeptical Erock.
¡°Did you not listen to what we said about the demigod''s movements in Halrverold?¡± asked Chop.
¡°What do you suggest we do then?¡± asked D¨´ghall.
¡°You have three options: 1 - stay and fight. You will need to immediately start working on your defenses and stockpiling resources for a siege. 2 - move south and plant your roots somewhere safer. Or 3 - move to Kodria, further strengthening our defenses and ability to fight against the demigods if they come knocking.¡±
Everyone was quiet as they mulled over the options trying to decide what was best for them.
¡°Jerora is not out of the woods either and you should also take some precautions and use the summer months to expand and further strengthen your defenses. If needed we can sell you some of the stone bricks we carve out to help solidify your walls,¡± said Akira.
¡°Why not just go and attack them at Froit?¡± asked Erock.
¡°We have no information on the number of enemies at Froit or their power. If you have information on the enemy there and it is possible then I would agree that taking the fight to them would be best.¡±
¡°Well... last I heard there were a few hundred demigods holed up in Froit... but that was before the plague hit and now another 8 months have passed. So... I am not sure if the information is accurate anymore.¡±
¡°I speak for the Coldfang clan and not the Coldpelts. The Coldfang clan will move to Kodria if that is Okay with you and the grand elders. I am sure that I can convince Brod and the other grand elders of the Coldpelt''s to come with us,¡± said D¨´ghall.
¡°We welcome all clans that are a part of the earth tribe to come to Kodria,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°I represent Saberfang and I feel that it would be best if we moved south. But we do not, and will not, allow ourselves to be ruled over by another clan. We will be finding a new place to set up down here,¡± said Erock.
¡°Alright, with that settled I have another matter to talk about,¡± said Akira.
Everyone looked at him expectantly.
¡°With the fast-paced growth of Kodria and the soon-to-be addition of the Coldfang and possibly Coldpelt clans I will be announcing the [The dukedom of Kodria]. It is time that we look to the future and make plans for our security to expand, gather resources, fortify certain areas against invasions, and have more breathing room for Kodria. I hope that you all will continue to support us.
Akira turned to Kodria''s Grand Elders and said, ¡°Grand Elders, I hope you agree with my plans of expansion.¡±
¡°It is only natural,¡± said grand elder Seoc.
¡°It seems only like yesterday you were just a pup,¡± said grand elder Arron.
¡°With Kodria becoming a dukedom that will make you a Duke... This means you will hold an even more important role in Kodria. Don''t mess it up with one of your poorly thought-out adventures,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
Chapter 260: Restless Froit
Far to the north in the Snow Owl tavern, a dim yellow light lit up the common room as well as the usual small groups of demigods that sat at the tables all day and drank away their gold. Today they seemed more agitated than normal.
Jas wiped a clean mug for the hundredth time while he watched the small groups quietly whispering to those at their table ignoring everyone else at the other tables.
He was only able to hear a few snippets from each of the groups as he put more fuel on the tavern''s central firepit. From what he did hear, it seemed like each group was talking about the same new ''mission'' they had all been tasked to complete.
Bam!
The tavern door was kicked open with such force that one of the worn hinges broke when the door slammed into the wall. Now it hung crookedly against the wall still attached to the door frame.
¡°What is the meaning of this? Are you going to pay for breaking my door?¡± asked an angered Jas.
A group of ten demigods fully armored entered the tavern along with the cold wind, they each had their hands on their weapons as they looked at each group of demigods sitting at the various tables.
The ten demigods ignored the angry Jas and continued to scan the tavern room that was now losing its warmth.
A male demigod with a large two-handed sword on his back stepped forward one step from the open entrance.
¡°A new decree has been issued by the [Demon Hunters] clan leader. Anyone that is not a part of the [Demon Hunters] must leave Froit TODAY. If you wish to leave your guild and join the [Demon Hunters], now is your only chance. If you do, you will be allowed to join as a probationary member,¡± said the man.
¡°What nonsense are you talking about?¡± shouted a similarly large demigod male who wore beast fur armor.
¡°This is our base of operations! Why do we have to leave?¡± asked a female with a bow.
¡°We have been paying you hundreds of gold each month for our guild to be able to live here! That doesn''t even include the cost of food and other things we spend our meager gold on. Are you trying to start something with us?¡±
¡°We don''t make the rules. We are just enforcing them. If you have a problem with it, take it up with the guild leader later. Right now you are trespassing on the [Demon Hunters] property!¡±
¡°I''m not leaving,¡± said a knight standing up.
The rest of the demigods from each of the small groups all stood up as well.
¡°Are you refusing to leave?¡± asked the two-handed swordsman, his hand reaching for his weapon.
¡°Yes, we are,¡± said the knight, also reaching for his shield and short sword.
In an instant, the demigods from both sides grabbed their weapons and readied themselves for a fight.
¡°Wait! Wait! Just wait for a second! You guys need to take this discussion outside!¡± shouted Jas.
He had already experienced several drunk brawls between a few demigods and it resulted in much damage that he had to pay a large amount of gold to repair.
Although the demigods from the demon hunter guild were outnumbered, their equipment was several degrees better than the others that stood before them.
¡°You were given the option to leave peacefully. Now each of you will be put on the permanent ban list. You are not allowed to come near Froit ever again. If we see you here we will kill you again.¡±
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¡°Let''s see you try!¡±
¡°You guys stop!¡± shouted Jas as he crouched down and peered over the counter at the two opposing sides.
A multitude of colorful sword slashes, arrows, wind blades, fire, and ice balls flew through the air as an all-out battle between the demigods started without any command.
The two-handed swordsman that had led the talks was targeted by several of the demigods in their rage. Even though he had some nice shiny-looking armor it quickly became tattered as he charged forward swinging his two-handed sword separating opposing demigods into two halves.
He only lasted a few seconds more before succumbing to the concentrated attacks.
Jas dived to the ground covering his head with his hands as the skill attacks started to fly everywhere, some even carving large chunks off of the bar just above him.
The sound of battle lasted for over ten minutes as skills flew through the air. Every minute or so several curses and cries of pain rang out before a demigod disappeared.
Jas continued to hug the ground even though the sound of battle had stopped for over a minute.
He did not dare to raise his head for fear of getting mistaken as a rebel demigod and getting attacked.
¡°Jas! I have returned to give you a few coins like I said I would! I made a killing this time selling my stuff to those new people. They were real push... overs?¡±
Burkin stopped just inside the doorway of the snow owl as he looked around.
¡°What the hell happened here?¡±
The entire tavern was filled with holes in the floor, walls, and ceiling. The tables, chairs, and benches were all split apart or shattered into wood splinters littering the floor.
The only people he saw were two people bent over huffing and puffing as if they had just run a marathon. Their bodies were full of severe wounds and one of them was missing an arm.
The two demigods stood up and turned to look at Burkin as they pulled out deep red potion bottles from thin air and began chugging them down.
The wounds immediately stopped bleeding and started to heal. It was now that Burkin realized that they were Demigods.
¡°Jas?¡± asked Burkin, now a bit nervous about the current situation. He didn''t dare enter the tavern but he also could not run away as he was being watched like a hawk by the two demigods as they recovered.
Jas gathered his courage and peeked over the now ruined bar counter and saw the short and stout Burkin standing in the doorway.
¡°Ah... it''s you Burkin. Unfortunately, you have come at a bad time,¡± said Jas, still hiding behind the counter.
¡°Who are they?¡± asked Burkin, pointing at the two demigods that looked ready to do something.
¡°Whoa! You guys, Burkin is a traveling trader friend of mine. He has nothing to do with the other demigods so you need not worry about him,¡± said Jas, standing up to get the demigods'' attention.
The two demigods turned their gaze from Burkin towards Jas.
¡°We have come to take you to Commander Fella. She has a great offer for you. I suggest you come with us and talk to her,¡± said the female demigod wearing tattered robes and leaning on a wooden staff.
The arm that the male demigod had lost was already slowly growing back. It was a sickly sight watching the small baby-sized hand sprout from the bloody wound and start growing in size and length.
¡°Hey! If you''re talking about some type of business deal, you need to talk to me, since I represent Jas and the Snow owl in such matters!¡± said Burkin, regaining some of his normal spunk.
¡°Burkin, it''s fine...¡±
¡°Nope! How can I let you talk to them alone? Knowing you, you''ll get walked all over in the negotiations!¡±
¡°We don''t even know what they want.¡±
¡°All the more reason for me to be your main negotiator!¡± said Burkin.
¡°Hey, dwarf shut it. You need to leave Froit now. You''re lucky Fella allowed you to sell your stuff here. If you keep bothering us, don''t blame me for not being nice,¡± said the male demigod.
¡°Wait! I''ll come with you guys, but as Burkin said, he represents me in any negotiations that we may need to hash out,¡± said Jas.
The two exhausted demigods glared at Burkin for several seconds before lowering their weapons.
¡°Hurry up. Commander Fella is a busy person so we can not make her wait,¡± said the female demigod.
Jas walked to the door and joined the dwarf Burkin.
¡°What''s going on?¡± asked Burkin in a whisper.
¡°I''m not completely sure but something big has stirred up the demigods to start infighting and...¡±
¡°Stop lollygagging and start walking to the lord''s mansion,¡± growled the angry female demigod interrupting Jas.
Chapter 261: Seasurfer, Pointy, and Hail
Akira stood on the top deck of K.S. SeaSurfer. The ship was one of the large naval ships that Kodria owned. She, along with the two medium ships K.S. Pointy and K.S. Hail had led the delegation of Kodria, Saberfang, and Coldpelts up the river to continue their discussions with the various coastal werewolf clans.
Each ship had its own marine detachment to assist in defending the ships as well as boarding any enemy ships or landing onshore for land battles.
Akira had taken his normal guards with their mounts along with Graar, Fluffball, Klyn, and Zundar.
Chack and Pii''per had been tasked with helping and protecting Mileena who was staying inside Kodria''s castle while Akira was gone. Both prince Gobbers and Varbu had been given separate important tasks that made it so they could not join this excursion.
They had already stopped at the Saberfang''s clan and had taken care of everything there. Now they were headed for the Coldpelt''s territories.
Fluffball stood next to Akira, his front paws on the wooden rail of the ship as he snapped at the cold wind, trying to bite it as it blew into his furry face.
¡°Lord, we are nearing the territory of Froit. Since it is now controlled by demigods, I suggest we take a curving detour further out away from the land so that we are not seen and attacked,¡± said captain Walcott, who had taken command of the flagship K.S SeaSurfer.
¡°For the safety of everyone we should take every precaution that we can,¡± said Akira, looking out over the sea that now had several large broken ice chunks floating everywhere.
With the warmer winds already reaching the north of Foradverold, the ice was easily plowed through by KS Pointy which received her name from the large reinforced metal ramming prow at her front that also allowed her to clear the way for the other ships. The warm months would soon reach Kodria as well, Akira just hoped that he would be able to arrive in time to oversee everything he had planned.
He watched the crows-nest where the signaler of KS SeaSurfer silently waved his various flags in different motions and speeds to convey the new orders for the other two ships.
KS Pointy acknowledged the orders and was the first to turn to port plowing through the harder ice clearing a path away from the enemy-controlled territory.
Akira admired the skill of the captains that were navigating in such troublesome waters, they had not run into any problems yet, due to their skilled maneuvering along with the warnings of the lookouts in the crow''s nest.
For over an hour Akira silently listened to the cracking sound of ice as they continued to sail for the Coldpelt territories.
The signaler in the crows-nest started to converse with the other ships ordering them to return to their previous course now that they were well away from the enemy territory.
As the ships turned to the starboard and started to approach the land several distant flashes caught Akira''s eye.
He looked to the sky to see if it had been lighting that he had seen, but the sky was still a dreary gray calm winter day with no dark storm clouds.
¡°Captain Walcott please lend me your spyglass,¡± said Akira, his hand reaching out waiting for the collapsible telescope.
Captain Walcott looked to the area Akira was focused on as he handed over the spyglass.
With Akira''s keen sight and the added range given by the spyglass, Akira could now make out two separate groups running near the shore quite a distance behind the ships.
The first group looked to be a human and a dwarf, both males, who were running for their lives. For some reason, each of them was carrying a small wooden chest.
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Behind them was a small group of 5 or more demigods that were chasing them with smiles on their faces. Behind this group was a larger group that looked to be following the first group of demigods at a distance.
¡°Captain, please position your ships so they can support those two. Ready the whaleboats so that I can lead the marines to the shore,¡± said Akira, handing the spyglass back to Captain Walcott.
Captain Walcott used the spyglass to see what it was that they were up against.
¡°Signaler! Relay these orders! In ten minutes drop your anchors. KS Hail will take point and aim her two smaller ballistas and marine archers at the approaching demigods!¡±
When the orders were passed along KS SeaSurfer slowed down allowing KS Hail to pass through the narrow ice clearing to get into a better position.
Each ship''s sails began to be raised as the end of ten minutes drew closer. The fast-moving ships began to slow down before coming to a complete stop when the anchor splashed down into the icy water where it dragged on the sandy floor for a short time until it caught on a rock.
Both KS SeaSurfer and KS Hail readied their ballista, the numerous skilled marine archers lined the starboard side of KS Hail which was closer to shore than the other ships allowing them to stay in range to shoot at the approaching targets. KS pointy began to lower its whaleboats filled with marines.
With the ships not moving Captain Walcott changed his method of communication to the silent whistle.
When he deemed the enemy to be in range, he blew into the whistle with all he had. The sound traveled out from his ship, reaching the others quickly.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Each of the ship''s ballista fired, sending several large bolts flying through the air.
Swoosh!
Burkin tripped over his feet frightened by the large bolts that had come from the sea and flew right over his head.
¡°GAH!¡±
The pained cry of a demigod echoed across the snowy shore as he was impaled in the stomach and sent tumbling backward before disappearing into thousands of bright lights.
¡°Get up! They''re right behind us!¡± shouted Jas as he grabbed Burkin''s fur coat and pulled him forward just barely avoiding getting hit by a wind blade that had been shot by one of the Demigods.
¡°Damn it! It''s bad enough those maniacs are toying with us but now someone else is shooting at us!¡± growled Burkin, as he stood back up with the help of Jas.
They did not dare to look back as they were too focused on looking ahead to not trip on the icy rocks of the beach. But they did glance out to the sea ahead of them to look at the new harassers.
Burkin saw several dozen arrows arch up into the sky and lost sight of them as they passed overhead. Seconds later, he heard the sounds of arrows hitting the metal and leather armor of the chasing demigods along with the grunts and groans of pain.
Still, the demigods continued to chase them not wanting to let such juicy targets get away.
Burkin looked closer at the large whaleboats that were now in the water heading towards the shore.
In the lead whaleboat stood a man in full black armor with a large shield. Behind him stood a familiar large horned muscled fighter Burkin was well acquainted with.
¡°It''s them!¡± shouted Burkin excitedly, almost tripping a second time.
¡°Who?¡± asked Jas as he held Burkin up.
¡°Kodria! We need to run to them!¡±
They were still a long distance away from the ships and the whaleboats were not all that fast, although they had started to angle towards the shore to land just ahead of Jas and Burkin.
More ballista bolts flew dangerously close over their heads and pierced several demigods along with the hail of arrows, only two demigods that had been in the lead party chasing were unharmed the rest had disappeared into thousands of lights.
The demigods trailing behind them had already stopped their pursuit not wanting to suffer the same fate.
With great reluctance, the remaining two demigods turned around to escape the deadly ballista and hail of arrows. Unfortunately only one of them made it back to hunker down with the other group.
Akira jumped from the whaleboat and waded to shore in the knee-deep icy water where he waited for the exhausted Jas and Burkin to arrive.
He watched the demigods in the distance for several moments as his guards and the marines joined him onshore. The demigods may have stopped following Jas and Burkin but they did not show any sign of leaving. They continued to loiter just out of range of the ballista and arrows.
¡°Akira! Boy am I ever glad to see you!¡± said a huffing Burkin, when he reached Akira and the marines.
¡°Likewise, I''m sure the two of you have a long tale to tell about how you ended up like this but it''s not safe to chat here,¡± said Akira as he waved the two to follow him.
¡°Sure, sure, best that we hurry up and get to safety first! Oh, by the way, this is Jas. You met him several years ago.¡±
Akira gave Jas a nod and the man returned one to him. He was too exhausted to speak now that they had finally reached friendlies.
Chapter 262: Bleur shore
¡°... so how did you two end up being chased by so many demigods?¡± asked Akira sitting behind a small wooden desk.
Jas, Burkin, Zundar, and Klyn were also sitting in the cramped captain''s office situated at the stern of the flagship. Two braziers were burning to keep the ocean chill away.
¡°It''s a wild tale and not even I can believe that we are still alive,¡± said Burkin. He took another large gulp of a strong wine that had been warmed up over one of the brazers to give him back some of his vigor.
¡°It all started when the demigods of Froit started to kill each other right in front of me at my tavern. After the fight ended, Burkin showed up and decided to help me deal with the demigods who said they wanted to talk about some type of business deal,¡± said Jas.
¡°That''s right! He would have been helpless without me,¡± said Burkin, slapping Jas on the back.
¡°When was that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°All the crazy stuff happened in the afternoon after we finished meeting with that crazy woman.¡±
¡°Wait, you were being chased since yesterday afternoon?¡± asked Klyn.
Akira looked to Jas who began to explain, ¡°We were led to the current leader of Froit, a female demigod named Fela who also seems to be one of the Demon Hunter''s head officers. She offered to buy my Tavern that had been completely destroyed by the demigods'' fight. The only requirement was if I sold the tavern, I was to leave Froit and migrate somewhere else. I really had no other choice, so with Burkin''s help we negotiated for a decent price.¡±
¡°It seems they are buying up all the businesses in town and sending the people away. The demigods are pushing out anyone that is either not from their guild or not an ally,¡± said Burkin.
¡°... and I have a hunch that those leaving Froit all had a similar but far worse experience of being chased down by demigods. We would have had a similar fate if not for the demigods taking pleasure in taunting us by nearly missing every time they launched attacks at us,¡± said a glum Jas.
¡°They attacked so suddenly that we were unable to reach any of my waiting ships... I was only able to see one of them escape while the other two and their crew were... well I did manage to sell all the goods so I have a large sum that will cover all the expenses related to compensating their families.¡±
¡°Why would they turn on each other as well as hunt each of you down? Was it because of the gold you each held?¡± asked Akira.
¡°That''s probably one of the main reasons, Fela did not do much haggling over the price and gave us several thousand gold coins. Those first few demigods that had been chasing us were from the Demon Hunters. My hunch is they were supposed to kill us and take back the gold...¡± said Jas.
¡°Hey! I am just too good of a negotiator that is why we both made a killing! Even with the death payments the gold I managed to earn from the trades is enough to buy new ships and higher a new crew!¡±
¡°So... why were there other groups of demigods trailing you and the Demon Hunters?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Before all of this started, I heard many demigods whispering about some type of mission that had gotten everyone worked up. I think whatever it was caused the relationship with the groups to quickly sour. My guess is whatever this mission was, it requires a lot of gold, so the two of us became ripe targets for the demigods.¡±
¡°Right, those Demon Hunters wanted to take back the money they gave us, while the other groups seemed to want to steal it from either us or the Demon Hunters. It didn''t matter to them who they stole it from.¡±
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Akira started to piece two and two together and came to an understanding that the new dukedom main quest had started to stir up the relatively calm northern territories already.
¡°Sounds like they are trying to take complete control of Froit,¡± said Zundar.
¡°With many of the demigods now barred from Froit this will definitely cause some new problems with the smaller towns and villages in the north,¡± said Jas.
All that Akira heard was what he had feared would start to happen. They needed to hurry up the talks with the clans living at the nomadic city of Bleur shore, to make sure that they were able to escape any raiding demigods that he knew would be moving out in the future to take over as many places as possible.
¡°What do you two plan on doing now that you''re safe?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I need to return to Kodria so I can rest for a few months, that chase really took a lot out of me,¡± said Burkin.
¡°I''m not sure, but I guess it won''t harm me. I¡¯ll follow Burkin and settle down somewhere out of the demigod''s range of influence,¡± said Jas.
¡°Don''t worry much! Kodria''s outer city is growing so much that there are never enough seats in the few taverns that are built there. With your relationship with Burkin you should be able to bring in many customers with all the crazy kinds of drinks he finds on his travels!¡± said Zundar. He happily slapped Jas on the back nearly sending him flying into the opposite wooden wall if not for Burkin helping him stay seated.
***
Akira stood in the melting snow on the shore as he watched Kodria''s three naval ships depart from the Bleur Shore coast which was empty of any buildings, tents, or tepees. They were now escorting two smaller ships that held several elders of the Coldpelt''s clans along with Coldfang''s elders.
¡°Yap!?¡± asked Fluffball who sat next to Akira in his miniature form.
¡°They should arrive at Kodria well before we do,¡± said Akira.
¡°With Jas and Burkin also traveling on the ships they will be able to transfer all of the updated information to the grand elders allowing them to understand the volatile situation in the north. I hope it will be enough for them to handle anything that pops up while we are gone,¡± said Klyn.
¡°I want to thank you for deciding to help escort our clans on our way down to Kodria,¡± said Dughal.
The size of both the Coldpelt and Coldfang clans were far too large to transport on the limited ships that they had. It would take several months of back and forth trips to transfer everyone and they would be passing heavily occupied demigods territory each time. Which was not a smart idea, so they were forced to take the longer route south.
¡°I also appreciate it,¡± said Grand elder Brod.
¡°Since both of your clans and your subordinate clans have agreed to come together and be a part of Kodria it is the least I can do,¡± said Akira.
Akira had offered up his own cavalry to act as a part of the coldpelts own cavalry force. Both D¨´ghall and Brod had accepted immediately, allowing Akira''s force to help escort the large caravan of civilians and warriors part of the many small, medium, and large clans of the Bleur shore city.
He was rather intrigued by the Coldpelt''s cavalry force. They had not gained large fierce mounts like Kodria''s cavalry. Instead, they raised a sturdy breed of white-bellied elk that acted as their steeds.
They were sturdy and strong enough to be able to move through deep snow as well as keep their balance in rocky terrain. Although their maneuverability was not as great as Garg''s, their straight-line burst speed charging was quite deadly when you added in their sharpened horns. These horns had been modified with various metals to allow them to withstand the impact of a full-on charge.
That, along with their riders'' own deadly weapons, would cause any foe that faced the charge to think twice about standing in their way.
Unlike what Akira had expected, the many clans gathered under the Coldpelt and Coldfang had already expected something like the current situation to happen and had already started preparations to migrate out of the demigods'' range of influence.
What they had not expected was to be making the long journey south to Kodria.
Akira turned to those that were gathered around him.
¡°We best be off now that we know the demigods are starting to get active. The sooner we leave the less of a chance we will run into any demigods,¡± said Akira.
Everyone quietly agreed and headed to various points in the caravan that had already formed up.
Akira hopped onto Grarr''s back and led his own cavalry force to the front of the caravan to help clear the way forward.
''It''s nice to get out and stretch my legs! I have been lazing about back at Kodria for so long that I almost forgot what it was like to move,'' said Grarr.
¡°Hey! I had a lot of things to take care of at Kodria. I can''t always be out on adventures,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 263: Old Fort
As Akira and his other allies were traveling south Varbu and Gobbers had gathered several small scouting teams and had sent them out to explore the entire area around Kodria. They took an artist along with them to draw the areas they passed onto a canvas.
The reason? The Goblin and Orc tribes had already doubled in size since they had first reached Foradverold even with the many deaths they suffered.
With the new main mission starting a race to claim land and Kodria''s population expanding faster than they could build new houses, Akira thought it was time to expand Kodria''s presence out even farther than the cramped outer city.
Since the south was very inhospitable the majority of the year, there were no local abandoned cities, towns, or forts that they could occupy like in the north.
The many different demon race cities in the south were few and far from each other, some not even having a fixed spot as they lived a nomadic life.
The southern cities may not be as active or prosperous as the northern cities or Kodria but one thing they did hold above the others, was they were strong and hardy people who were able to persevere through the harsh winters.
The areas that the artist were drawing would be used by the group of grand elders, orc chiefs, prince Gobbers, and princess Gobalina to decide on where any of the new settlements and forts would be erected when the warm months arrived.
They were moving as quickly as they could to explore all of the nearby lands because the warm months were almost upon them.
The dwarven miners in the large quarry were back in full production mode as they mined large chunks of stone for the new expansions and plans to update Kodria''s outer city as well as the east and west river forts and the south lake fort.
When the needed stone for Kodria''s upgrades was met, they would have to work on gathering the stone that would be used for future settlements and forts.
***
As the large caravan of werewolves moved south, Akira was able to see the map update the areas they passed clearing up foggy areas, while renewing information about old areas he had been to in the past.
During the trip south, he encountered many groups of humans with their own small caravans traveling out to reclaim their lost towns and villages that had been abandoned for over a year due to the plague.
Each time they met one of these caravans Akira passed on the warnings about the demigods possibly taking over their village, and he was continually amazed at the lack of concern that they showed towards the warnings, some even viewed it as a good thing.
Other than Jerora which had transformed from a decent-sized walled-off tradepost to a bustling city, there were only a few towns that took their warnings seriously.
The many deserted towns that they passed was surprising even though enough time had passed to allow the survivors to come back and claim it once again.
Because everyone had a sled as well as the sturdy elks to pull them, the caravan had covered far more distance than Akira thought was possible in the short time they had been traveling south.
As a new day dawned Akira led his guards to scout ahead of the main body to make sure there were no ambushes along their path. There had been only a few attackers on the caravan which had been made up of starved monsters due to the majority of their prey having been killed off by the Cult of Science''s Molten Onyx plague.
They had already passed Jerora and were now entering Kaldrbiod. They only saw a few abandoned towns this far south. The former residents had either given up reclaiming them or had all been wiped out.
After several hours of travel, Grarr stopped in front of a simple-looking stone fort''s gates and sniffed the air along with Fluffball and Akira.
The walls were rather tall and were thick enough that they showed no sign of wear and tear from the rough winter weather. The scents of any living person that might have occupied this fort were long gone.
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While Akira checked the new dukedom map and the new places that had been revealed, Klyn checked the crude map Akira had been drawing along the travel south and compared it to an old professionally drawn map.
¡°This area is pretty barren. It''s like a no-man''s land from here to Kodria, there is nothing else between them,¡± said Klyn after studying the updated markings that Akira had just made.
¡°Do you think we should take over this fort and station some soldiers here?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s pretty far from Kodria or Jerora... that could lead to problems,¡± said Klyn, trying to accurately measure the distance on the crude map.
¡°If we have a strong enough force here we could at the very least use it as an advanced warning post and at most a temporary block to stop any forces that want to try and invade the south easily. It would also be easier for us to send help to Jerora if they ever need our help.¡±
Klyn had to agree that the idea had merits as the fort blocked the easiest and most well-kept road to the south.
The road was one of the main reasons the caravan was able to keep up such a fast speed through the wild untamed snowy wilderness. Although now it was pretty much just a narrow path that disappeared after a few days'' travel past the fort.
¡°If you want to take control of the fort, then we should claim it now!¡± said Zundar.
Akira thought for a moment before rummaging through his bag and pulling out a spare flag of Kodria.
¡°Zundar, I''ll need your help,¡± said Akira.
¡°With my strength, it''s no problem,¡± said Zundar flexing his muscles for a few seconds.
¡°Yap!¡± shouted Fluffball, running around Akira wanting to join in on the fun!
Akira hung his shield on his back and sheathed his sword before jumping off of Grarr''s back right at Zundar.
Zundar held both of his hands out in front of him like a step and caught Akira. His two muscular arms rippled as he launched Akira up through the air right towards the top of the fort''s walls.
As Akira landed on top of the wall his feet slipped out from under him and he fell on top of something which let out a loud crack as his heavily armored body smashed into it.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball.
¡°Akira? What was that sound? Did you break a bone?¡±
¡°No, I''m fine!¡± said Akira as he rolled over onto his knees to stand back up.
He looked down to see what he had landed on... It was a skeleton.
He didn''t know what had happened to the person or this fort''s former owners, but that did not matter at this moment as this was now going to be the most northern territory of Kodria.
After gaining his footing on the slippery stone wall he walked over to the old flag pole sticking out from the roof of the stone gatehouse.
Whatever flag used to fly on the flagpole was no longer anywhere to be seen.
With quick movements, Akira was able to secure Kodria''s flag to the aged flag pole and hoist it high above the guardhouse and the fort.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he saw the flag flying high in the wind.
¡°Can you open the gates Akira? I want to get out of the wind while we wait for the rest of the caravan,¡± said Klyn.
¡°I''ll see what I can do,¡± said Akira as he searched for stairs leading to the ground.
When he reached the door of the gatehouse he had no problem getting inside as the door was already slightly ajar with a decent amount of snow piling up inside where the crack in the open door was.
On the right wall of the gatehouse was a large metal crank with thick chains and metal bars. It looked like it would need several regular humans to pull it to raise the gate.
In the nearby corner of the room was another skeleton.
A black misty light appeared around Akira as he fully transformed, growing taller and more muscular.
With his clawed hands, he grabbed onto two of the metal bars that stuck out and started to pull and press down with all his strength. A loud suborn creak was heard as the rusty contraption started to slowly move.
Akira kept pulling and grabbed onto the next metal handle continuing to pick up speed.
¡°We''re in!¡± shouted Klyn near the door of the gatehouse.
Akira held onto the crank with one arm and reached out towards a nearby lever and pulled it down to lock the wheel in.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball greeting Akira as he exited the gatehouse.
¡°Is it me or does this fort give off an odd feeling to you guys?¡± asked Klyn.
Akira took a first look at the entire inside of the fort and found that all but a few stone buildings that were built into forts walls, were broken down littering the ground and covered in snow.
¡°There are a few dead skeletons left from who knows when. It might be those things giving off an odd vibe,¡± said Akira.
Fluffball came back to Akira after sniffing around one of the dead skeletons, not taking any interest in them.
The sound of constant crunching snow and slick metal runners on snow reached their ears. They all climbed onto the top of the wall and watched as the caravan made their way down the path towards the fort.
D¨´ghall and Brod rode out ahead of the group when they saw Akira and the others standing atop the fort''s wall.
¡°You picked a good place to stop. We''ll stay here for the night to allow everyone some rest,¡± said D¨´ghall with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the flying Kodria flag.
Chapter 264: Stone squares
Froit. Inside the former town chief''s house.
¡°What do you have to say for yourselves?¡± asked an angry Fela.
Several dozen demigods knelt in front of the glowering Fela, they were separated into two different smaller groups. Behind her were the guild members of the enforcement squad. They were ready to enact punishment if Fela ordered it.
¡°We were stopped by a large force of unknown warriors. Onezhot and a few others were killed instantly by long-range ballista from the enemy''s ships. We were outnumbered and I was lucky to survive,¡± said the first group''s leader his head bowed in shame.
¡°And what is your group''s excuse?¡± asked Fela.
¡°We got lost...¡±
Fela looked at the two group leaders with scorn.
¡°All of you are to hand over all of your money right now to pay back what you lost.¡±
¡°...¡± the demigods kneeling all were silent looking at each other to see what they should do.
The enforcement members walked forward and stuck their hands out.
¡°Fine,¡± said the first group leader with gritted teeth. He took out a large leather bag and handed it over to the enforcement member.
The other members reluctantly did the same.
¡°1000... 2000... 3000... 3569. You''re short 3500.¡±
The demigods stayed quiet and did not mention the 69 extra gold she had added.
¡°Either sell your equipment for the rest of the gold or work it off by doing errands for me. I''ll be having you pay it off quickly by participating in all of the coming clashes with the other guilds to try and gain some benefits for ourselves.¡±
***
Kodria.
With the weather warming up everyday the large caravan of the Werewolves clans was able to move faster and reach Kodria on the first day of the official start of the warm months.
Akira was swamped with hundreds of tasks that needed his attention now that he was back. It didn''t help that the warm months had arrived and added even more tasks to that list.
Currently, Akira, Grand elder D¨´ghall, Brod, and several elders from each of the werewolf clans stood next to a long wooden table inside a large tent with the flaps open allowing the cool breeze to enter the tent.
¡°You should be safe and out of the way if you set up the temporary camp near the south wall of the outer city,¡± said Akira pointing to a position on a crude map.
¡°We have no complaints living in our tepees as we have done for several years now. How long do you expect we will have to wait to move into proper houses?¡± asked D¨´ghall.
¡°The outer city is quite cramped right now. Mainly due to the hastily built clusters of housing each time a new wave of people arrived over the past few years. With the flood of new people constantly coming in from the many troubles everyone faced, it was hard to properly plan it all out.¡±
D¨´ghall nodded his head. He had seen the many small, medium, and large wooden houses that cluttered the inside of the outer city all in random clusters with no order other than the roads that separated them.
¡°Now that the warm months have arrived, we will be tearing down the old housing and replacing it with larger and sturdier stone houses each being several stories high, giving enough room for many families to live more comfortably. I have already given the blueprints to the builders who should be starting the first of the teardown and rebuilds today. When every building inside the outer city has been converted we will be working on expanding the outer city further by building a second wall if there is still not enough room.¡±
D¨´ghall and the other grand elders looked at the new blueprints of the outer city that now lay atop the map. Unlike the crude map, the blueprints had been drawn up by several skilled architects all according to Akira''s vision from the systems city planer. This was done to make sure that no mistakes happened, as even a small error on such a large scale as this would be painfully time-consuming to fix.
¡°Impressive. This looks like it will require a lot of stone. Do you have enough? What about the stone needed for the new settlements that you were talking about?¡± asked grand elder Brod.
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¡°We have already stored up enough stone for at least one wall for our future settlement. They can get by making use of bricks for housing for now. The miners led by the Dwarves are working as fast as they can to create as many stone blocks for the houses of the outer city. The most recent attack made it clear that wooden houses will not cut it when an enemy comes knocking.¡±
¡°Is that why you have the houses lined up like this?¡± asked grand elder Brod, pointing to the several square formations of housing.
¡°Correct, After discussion with the grand elders and architects we decided to do something similar to Kodia''s inner city.¡±
Akira pointed to an outer square of buildings on the blueprint, ¡°These buildings will be the first to be torn down and rebuilt. They will be the new shopping district that replaces the old trade plaza that the outer city was built around. The space that the trade plaza takes up can be better used by building more houses.¡±
¡°But why are they seamlessly all connected and have the doors on the inner wall of the square facing the inner city? Shouldn''t they all be on the outside wall of the square facing the gates allowing for quick access to the market?¡± asked a clan elder, pointing to the bare road that ran between the entire main wall and the largest square wall that Akira said would be the market district.
¡°Where are the openings in these square stone building walls? How are they supposed to get to the center of the city?¡± asked another.
Akira pointed to two points on the square wall that looked slightly different.
¡°There will be two gatehouses built into each of the square walls. The reason for connecting the buildings in squares like this while placing the doors on the inside is because they will be used as makeshift defensive walls if there is ever a siege again. They will be used if the main wall is ever breached. The roofs of these buildings have all been modified to allow for soldiers to be stationed atop of them and defend against any enemy.¡±
With Akira pointing this out, the way they saw the entire blueprint transformed revealing something remarkable as they imagined what the finished outer city would look like.
¡°You''re building a maze of fortresses each within a larger fortress,¡± said D¨´ghall as he looked at the blueprints with new understanding.
Each of the square walls only had two gatehouses. The first square wall had its gatehouses on the east and west wall. The next square building wall was built taller than the first and had the gatehouses built on the north and south wall. Each square wall alternated where the two gates were built. As the walls grew smaller in length they continued to grow taller than the previous wall towering over the first fall the closer they got to the center of the outer city.
On the blueprints, the former trade plaza was replaced with large towering stone buildings for housing many citizens.
¡°Correct, we will not make it easy for anyone to enter the outer city to cause havoc or kill our citizens. That is why we have decided to focus much of our stone output on this major project. Not only will we be able to house everyone more comfortably, but it will also be far safer than before.¡±
¡°We of the Coldpelts will offer ourselves to help in any way you need,¡± said Brod.
¡°Our clan as well. We can not just sit around and do nothing,¡± said D¨´ghall.
¡°Your help will be much appreciated. With the manpower you can provide, I am sure that we can finish this major project before the warm month''s end,¡± said Akira.
When Akira finished answering the questions of the grand elders and their clan elders, he headed back to Kodria''s castle.
¡°You''ve finally come to pay me a visit? I thought you forgot about me,¡± said Mileena, as she slowly waddled down a garden path over to Akira. Her large belly showed through her loose clothing and was hard to miss.
She was helped along by Yuki, Azura, and Maya who had been keeping an eye out for her for a while now.
Yuki had arrived several weeks ago to support and keep Mileena company. She was determined to stay with her friend even with the uncomfortable warm months arriving.
¡°Piiii!¡± screeched Pii''per as she swooped down, nearly colliding with Akira as she landed next to Mileena and folded her wing, and waddled along with Mileena.
¡°You know how busy the warm months are. There are too many projects with so little time to complete them all before the winter months arrive again,¡± said Akira.
¡°The least you could do is spend a few hours with her every day,¡± said Yuki.
¡°Pii!¡±
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°Hey, it''s not like we never see each other. I spend all night with her every day!¡±
Due to their pestering Akira rescheduled several meetings for the next day so he could spend more time with Mileena.
***
The next day Akira was busy overseeing the work done by the architects and several thousands of workers who were dismantling the outer wooden housing inside the outer city as well as ferrying the large amount of prepared stone across the lake.
The dismantling of the tens of hastily built barracks and houses were easily torn down and stacked up in newly created warehouses outside the city. The wood would be reused for other future projects and if needed, as part of their future settlements.
The ground where the new stone buildings were to be erected was currently being dug out and leveled to allow for sturdy slabs of stone to be laid out to create a solid foundation. It would not do any good if the stone buildings crumbled because of a weak foundation underneath.
¡°Awooo!¡±
Akira''s ears twitched as he heard an excited howl from Azura come across the lake. Every werewolf stopped what they were doing and looked towards the main city.
Those nearest to Akira looked at him to see what he was going to do.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°I know! We have to hurry back!¡± said Akira.
¡°Lord, we will take care of everything while you take care of more important things,¡± said the lead architect.
Akira nodded to them before transforming and using the [AQR] skill to reach the boat faster than running on two legs. Fluffball managed to keep up with him while his guards were several seconds behind.
¡°Hurry up! My wife has gone into labor!¡± growled an impatient Akira.
Chapter 265: White and Silver
In a cluster of trees far outside the range of the patrolling werewolves sat two hidden figures.
¡°What''s on over there?¡± asked a quiet squeaky voice.
¡°Something important must have happened,¡± said another.
¡°Should we go and disrupt whatever it is so we can deal a massive blow to them?¡±
¡°If we can''t do it without revealing ourselves then it is not worth it.¡±
¡°Alright, let''s see what we can do!¡±
¡°Remember, no Vussian.¡±
¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡±
The two demigods sprinkled a powder over their bodies and then quietly used the shadows and trees to stay out of sight. Fortunately for them, the snow had already melted away making it so no glaring tracks were left behind as they sneaked their way towards Kodria.
***
When Akira reached the castle Maya was waiting outside for him.
¡°Where is she? Is everything okay?¡± asked a worried Akira.
¡°Everything is fine. The midwife is with her right now and is taking care of everything,¡± said Maya.
¡°Take me to her.¡±
Maya led Akira and his entourage through the halls of the castle and reached a stairwell that led down into several secure underground stone rooms.
Ten Werewolf, Orc, and goblin castle guards stood guard near the stairs as an added security measure to make sure nothing interrupted Lady Mileena''s important moment.
Seeing Akira, they all stepped aside allowing Maya and Fluffball to follow him. But the rest of Akira''s guards were forced to wait along with the guards near the stairs.
Akira descended the stairs jumping from step to step skipping several steps at a time.
A second group of soldiers was guarding the bottom of the stairs as well. Akira only returned a sloppy salute to the stiff soldiers that had parted to make a path for him.
¡°Which room is she in?¡± Akira asked Maya.
There were several rooms down here that were either used for storage or research rooms by the Holy shaman.
¡°That one,¡± said Maya, pointing to the farthest room. Akira and Fluffball raced down the hallway passing a few patrolling guards and burst into a dark cool room. The only light inside was a few burning candles attached to the walls of the medium-sized square room.
¡°What took you so long,¡± asked a grouchy Mileena.
Aside from Akira, Maya, and Fluffball that had just arrived there were only 3 other people inside the room. An elderly midwife from the Darkmoon clan, Azura, and Yuki.
While the midwife readied several towels, a large basin of warm water, and sterilized other tools of her trade, Azura and Yuki helped wipe the sweat from Mileena''s brow trying to keep her cool and providing emotional support as she lay on a cushioned bed that had been made just for this moment.
¡°I was overseeing the rebuilding of the Outer city. I got here as fast as we could,¡± said Akira.
Mileena silently held out her hand for Akira to grab onto. He did so without her having to say anything. Her grasp was like an iron vise and she had no intention of letting go now that she had clamped onto his hand.
Several waves of pain shot through Mileena''s body as the labor pains intensified causing her grip to squeeze his hand with an even greater force as if she was trying to squeeze the life out of his hand.
¡°Would it help if I gave you a sip of one of the red potions I have?¡± asked Akira.
It was not Mileena who answered but the midwife who had stopped her preparations for a moment, ¡°Although those potions are helpful the majority of the time. If you were to use it right now you would be harming not only your wife but also your offspring.¡±
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With that, she turned back to finishing the last preparations before turning to Mileena once again.
¡°Everything is ready. You can start using the exercises just like I taught you before,¡± said the midwife.
Akira lost track of time as the midwife worked her magic while talking in a calm manner helping Mileena through the pain she was experiencing. His hand had already grown numb due to Mileena''s constant vice-like squeezing, he could hardly feel anything anymore.
¡°Keep going just like this! I can see the head!¡± said the midwife in a firm and encouraging voice.
A heavily sweating Mileena focused on following the midwife''s instructions as she tried to ignore the immense pain that she was in. She used all her will to focus and not get distracted by anyone else in the room as they worked on the tasks given to them by the midwife.
¡°Push!¡±
Several more minutes passed as Mileena focused on the new instructions from the Midwife.
¡°Waaaa!¡± the sound of a crying baby sounded out as the midwife swooped in and scooped up the newborn. With skilled hands, she used her tools to take care of the umbilical cord and stop the bleeding.
¡°Congratulations on giving birth to a boy!¡± said the midwife as she placed the baby boy on a temporary bed made out of one of the large soft towels in a large basket.
Akira''s full attention zeroed in on his newborn son taking in everything that he could see in the dim light.
Unlike human newborns, his son did not have pink skin but was covered in wet fur. Although his fur was wet and a little discolored, Akira could see that the fur that covered his son''s entire body was all one shade of white. His little furry ears twitched at the several sounds inside the room while his little furry nose scrunched up as he smelled the cool air and smoke from the small fire that was warming a basin of water and the greasy smoke from the candles. The small eyelids were only opened slightly revealing his electric blue irises before they closed again.
¡°We have a son!¡± said Akira turning to Mileena who was still sweating profusely and constantly having her brow wiped by Azura and Yuki.
¡°Yap!¡± said an excited Fluffball who sat next to Akira and looked back and forth between Akira and his newborn son.
¡°We''re not done yet! Keep up the exercises, only one more to go!¡± said the midwife.
This shocked Akira, he knew that Mileena''s stomach had been large but she had never mentioned anything about twins!
The process repeated itself once again.
¡°Congratulations on giving birth to a daughter!¡± said the midwife as she placed their silver-furred and silver-eyed daughter onto a blanket next to their son.
The midwife checked Mileena''s vitals before giving her a special herbal drink created by a shaman to help her recover her strength and soothe her pain.
When Mileena passed the inspections, the midwife turned her attention to the warm water as she grabbed a clean towel and dipped it into the water before starting to gently wipe down both babies'' fur, cleaning all the gunk and blood off and then gently patting the fur dry with a new towel.
Their clean fur showed off their true colors, a pure white and a deep silver.
Of the two babies, Akira''s son was larger and definitely had more werewolf genes showing. His daughter was slimmer than her brother but she also had more werewolf genes exhibiting only a few noticeable Nyaan traits from her mother.
Ding!
Hereditary title granted to your children!
Title: Children of the night!
|
¡°Congratulations on the birth of the Snow Prince and the Silver Princess!¡± said an unusually cheerful Yuki.
When both their son and daughter had been cleaned up, the midwife carefully handed each of them to Mileena who was now propped up with several pillows.
¡°The Snow prince and Silver princess,¡± said Mileena repeating the names, as she held the two newborns.
¡°I have to admit the nickname fits them well,¡± said Akira. He was somewhat relieved that their fur was more fitting for the snowy landscape in which they would be growing up for the majority of each year. It was far different than his fur which stood out like a sore thumb.
Azura, now an aunt, looked jealously at Yuki for giving her niece and nephew a nickname before she could.
¡°How long will they stay transformed like this?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°The shortest I have seen is a few days, the longest a week or so. They say the longer they stay transformed the stronger they will be when they grow up,¡± said the midwife, as she continued to clean up the mess made from the birth and cleaning.
¡°Really?¡± asked Mileena looking at Akira.
He shrugged his shoulders as he didn''t know stuff like this. It was all a new experience for him as well.
¡°Let''s hope the summer children can last longer than a few days. The winters and life in Kodria are not easy. The longer they last the brighter Kodria''s and the Darkmoon''s next generation will be!¡±
Akira agreed that it would be for the best if such a thing happened but either way he would be supportive of them even if they only lasted a few days.
¡°In an hour when you have regained some of your strength, we''ll have your husband carry you to the new room that I set up for you and your children,¡± said the midwife while pointing to Akira.
She turned to Maya, Yuki, and Azura. ¡°Two of you will have to carefully carry one of these baskets with the newborns to the room.¡±
Yuki and Azura stepped forward before Maya could respond and grabbed onto the small baskets that had a soft blanket inside for a bed.
¡°As an aunt, I will take care of this duty seriously!¡± said Azura.
Chapter 266: Securing the future
Akira used his muscular arms to carry Mileena up the many stairs and into her old room that was next to the one they now shared as husband and wife.
Her old room had been modified and everything inside was new, such as the reclining couch near the window, a thick carpet to cover the entire cold stone floor, and the large wooden crib that was large enough for the twin newborns.
The room had also received a mixture of white and light blue paint to cover the stone walls to help soften and light up the stone room. The room''s single window had been torn out and rebuilt to allow more sunlight to enter the room while still being able to keep out the cold during the long winter months. The window was currently open letting in the cool fresh air along with the rare warm sunlight.
Maya hurried forward and positioned several pillows on the reclining couch before Akira set Mileena down on the couch and allowed her to get comfortable.
Azura and Yuki entered the room taking slow and careful steps as they each held a basket with one of the newborn twins. Fluffball followed beside them making sure nothing happened.
When they reached Mileena the midwife helped bundle the two newborns up in a light blanket and transferred them into Mileena''s arms, her son in her right arm and her daughter in her left arm.
With her tasks finished the midwife retreated and sat down on a small wooden cot that had been placed in one of the corners of the room. The midwife would be staying in this room with Mileena for the next several months to help her take care of the newborns and get comfortable with her role as a mother.
A large smile was plastered all over Mileena''s face as she stared at the two bundles of joy. All thoughts about the pain from earlier were washed away as she stared at them. Akira stood next to her with his hand resting on her shoulder as he also watched the two resting in their mother''s arms.
¡°Maya, aren''t our new nephew and niece so cute!?¡± asked Azura.
Maya nodded her head and pushed her glasses up her nose, ¡°You are correct. It already looks like they are showing off their personalities.¡±
Azura looked back and forth between the two newborns and also had to agree.
Yuki chimed in with her observations, ¡°The Snow Prince seems like he will grow up to have a calm personality, while his sister the Silver Princess will probably be a wild child.¡±
Akira could see how she came to that conclusion, apart from the first few minutes after his birth his son did not cry or fuss much and had already gone to sleep as he lay on his mother''s chest.
His sister on the other hand had cried far longer than him and continued to fuss and squirm about forcing Mileena to rock side to side and mummer soft words to get her to calm down. Currently, she required more attention than her brother as she would start to fuss every so often until Mileena calmed her down.
¡°That may be true now but who can tell how they will end up,¡± said Akira. He thought about two childhood friends that made complete 180* changes when they became adults.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he sat next to Akira and stared at the two newborns.
¡°Yeah they will be your new friends who can play with you when they grow bigger,¡± said Akira.
¡°Although calling these two the Snow prince and the Silver princess is not bad they still need a name. Have you two thought of what to name them?¡± asked Maya.
¡°We have thought of a few names,¡± Mileena.
¡°We haven''t picked anything yet. It is a serious thing to give them a name and I have a feeling we should base it on their traits,¡± said Akira as he looked at the twins with their white and silver fur.
The sunlight coming through the window dimmed as an upside-down scaly head appeared in front of the window.
¡°Piiii?¡± asked Pii''per as she looked at Mileena and then turned her head to the smaller furry bundles in her arms. Her body was far too large to enter through the window so she had to settle with hanging upside down from the castle''s stone wall and sticking her head through the window to join in on the fun.
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¡°Pii''per and Fluffball, I''ll be counting on both of you to help protect and play with our children as they grow up. What do you tow think?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Piiii~.¡± ¡°Yap!¡± both Pii''per and Fluffball nodded their scaly and furry head agreeing to help.
Akira and Mileena spent the rest of the day greeting several trusted personnel as well as their strongest allies that lived in Kodria allowing them to see the newborns and offer congratulations. Zundar, Varbu, Prince Gobbers, Princess Gobalina, and the grand elders were some of the few people that were allowed to see them.
To not wear out Mileena who was still recovering and to not distress the newborns, the vast majority of meet and greets had been put on hold to allow her and the children to have some quiet time. This free time was largely taken up by feeding the twins and changing their cloth diapers.
Those unable to see the newborns now had to wait for the birth celebration that was being planned to take place in a week or two. That would also be when many of the major projects would have already gotten over many of the starting hurdles that they faced.
This would also help the workers relax and blow off steam in between the large workload that everyone living in Kodria faced.
***
The next day was just as busy as the day before if not even busier now with the news of Kodria''s Duke having a daughter and son born to secure the future and carry on his bloodline.
Along with the many projects already in motion the bakers and hunters were given notice of the upcoming festival and had to change their plans to prepare for the strain that they would feel.
Although the warm months had arrived, Kodria''s food supply was still dangerously low due to the massive expansion in its population and all the other factors that had to do with the molten onyx plague and the constant dangers from demigods.
There was a little surplus in the north that Kodria could trade for due to the many small farming villages and towns being wiped out or abandoned. Those that had already been resettled still had a while until they could bring in the first harvest. Even then they would be selling the majority of their produce to the larger northern towns, including Froit, before even thinking of selling it to Jerora or any of the southern demon race towns and settlements because most of the smaller farm towns were now mostly funded by the larger towns to have an easier time to rebuild and reclaim the lost town''s.
Some of the rumors that Akira heard was that many of those new settlements were being funded by various groups of demigods.
Akira now stood on the walls of the East river fort as it was being revamped and upgraded. He looked at the large gathering of volunteer Orc and Goblin warriors.
¡°Although I would love to stay here and celebrate the birth of your children, we are fighting against time to complete all the tasks we need to finish before the winter months arrive,¡± said Varbu as he leaned on his large metal club looking at the warriors gathering below.
¡°Giii gii gi,¡± said Prince Gobbers, agreeing wholeheartedly.
¡°I understand. Both of your settlement expeditions are vital to Kodria''s future. The more we can expand and gain control over the local territory and its resources, the stronger we will be. If everything goes as planned we will not have to be reliant on Jerora for trading things that we are lacking,¡± said Akira.
¡°I don''t expect everything to go our way, that is why we decided to gather so many warriors to make up the first wave of settlers,¡± said Varbu.
¡°I hope the supplies we have gathered will be enough for you,¡± said Akira. He looked at the many boxes of dried meat along with the several cages of domestic animals as well as the larger variants that were tied to the many sleds that now had removable wooden wheels attached to the metal sliders which were useless without snow.
The settlement expeditions were one of the main reasons that Kodria was now hurting for supplies as they needed to hand over a large amount of food to keep them alive as they set up or took over abandoned villages. This was only temporary in the near future the settlements would be drawing away many of the more adventurous Orcs and Goblins allowing the strain on Kodria to lessen to a more manageable level.
¡°We should be fine as long as we ration it and supplement the rest with hunting and foraging. With me and Prince Gobbers leading the settlement forces we will be unable to oversee the remaining clan and tribe members. That being so I have promoted Chop as my second in command who will oversee everything while I am gone,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Gii gi giii giiiiii giii,¡± said Prince Gobbers pointing to Gnob who stood near Chop next to the gates of the fort.
Varbu and Prince Gobbers were not the only people that would be heading out and leaving Kodria on this day. Several merchants who had been waiting for the warm months had gathered their wares and were ready to travel from one town and village to another in the nearby deep south while the mild weather lasted.
Along with their wares they each would be carrying letters that had been hastily written up by the Grand elders filled with the latest news of the northern demigods, news of the birth of Kodria''s new royal twins, and information on the coming celebration for those that were near enough to attend it.
It was unfortunate that many would be unable to attend and many of the replies sent would only arrive in Kodria several months after it ended due to the long distances that separated the many Demon races. Some of the replies might only arrive when the winter months had once again covered the land in snow and the sky turned a cold gray once again.
Chapter 267: Baby Troubles and Battle Woes
Akira spent the rest of the morning helping with the many projects that were going on all around Kodria.
His main focus was helping make sure that the farmers had enough tools to quickly clear and till the land to plant the fast-growing crops needed to support Kodria through the majority of winter. He also made sure to keep Kodria''s army busy by patrolling Kodria''s territory and hunting the monsters that were slowly popping back up in numbers after their population had been decimated by the Molten Onyx Plague. It just went to show how troublesome they were if they were able to bounce back so quickly after nearly being wiped out.
He only took a short break in his busy day to return to the castle to eat a quick lunch and check up on Mileena and the twins.
¡°How''s our prince and princess?¡± asked Akira, as he and Fluffball entered the brightly lit baby room.
¡°They won''t stop soiling their diapers! Azura, Maya, and Yuki are constantly having to wash multiple diapers every day!¡± said Mileena. She had bags under her eyes from only getting a few random hours of sleep every day.
¡°This is normal, until they grow older you will have to deal with this every day,¡± said the elderly midwife.
She was sitting in one of the two rocking chairs as she was knitting a small silver wool hat to go along with a pair of small silver socks she had already finished.
¡°Is it really okay to not give them names yet?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°We can reveal their names to everyone when the birth festival starts,¡± said Akira.
¡°But the festival is in another two weeks...¡±
***
Far to the north, deep in Demigod territory, a group of over fifty demigods from the guild [FrozenBlood] hid in a small cluster of trees. They were one of several other groups that the guild had sent out on specific tasks.
¡°That''s our target?¡± asked a female wearing red robes while leaning on her long red staff. ¡°Looks like their guard''s strength is weaker than ours.¡±
¡°Don''t let that fool you, just look at what happened to those that attacked Kodria.¡±
¡°That''s different. These riffraff are nothing,¡± said the female demigod as she looked at the dirt walls.
¡°This should be the last bandit stronghold in this area. If we can clear this town we can complete the requirements to finally take control of the entire area allowing our main settlement to thrive! It will only get better when we capture the minor surrounding towns and villages!¡±
¡°Enough talking, we need to finish this quickly so we can join the other teams in capturing more villages and towns,¡± said a demigod in full plate armor.
The demigods holding staffs, wands, books, and bows readied their skills and blue potions to begin their bombardment.
¡°Now!¡± commanded the knight captain.
Dozens of different color skills flew from the cluster of trees and raced towards their target.
Kaboom!
Several of the skills slammed into the earth wall sending dirt exploding into the air opening large gaps in the wall. Another portion of the skills were targeted at the visible patrolling bandits.
The remaining few skills exploded in the air high above the fortified earthen bandit base sending out several area of effect fire, wind, and water attacks.
¡°AHHH!¡± ¡°Enemy attack!¡± ¡°It''s the demigods!¡±
¡°Forward!¡± shouted the knight captain pointing his sword towards the broken earth walls.
Over 30 demigods with various melee weapons charged out of the trees. They did not bother to use any type of formation as they rushed toward the openings in the dirt walls.
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Arrows began to fly through the air towards the charging demigods in a pitiful response to the ranged attacks.
The bombarding range attacks continued to rain down on the earthen stronghold sending plumes of dirt into the air, and bodies tumbling to the ground maimed or dismembered. The attacks only lessened when the melee fighters reached the destroyed dirt walls and started a rampage inside what remained of the fort.
¡°Be glad you can be the first that I test my new skill on!¡± shouted a demigod with two axes.
Several skills flew through the air as the demigods activated their skills and cut down over a dozen bandits with ease.
¡°Gahhh!¡± cries of pain rang out as the bandits were cut in half or had limbs severed.
The bandits holed up inside the dirt fort were little more than villagers with farm tools that had been crudely reforged into weapons. They wore little to no armor.
With the might of the demigods and the surprise attack, the bandits stood no chance and were completely wiped out in under ten minutes. No one was allowed to escape.
¡°Is that all of them?¡± asked the knight captain. He looked at the roughly 130 mangled dead bodies that littered the black dirt which was now turning crimson from the leaking blood.
¡°We found a few that were trying to hide in hidden holes but took care of them. That should be all of them,¡± said the demigod holding the two bloody axes.
¡°Did we lose anyone?¡± asked the knight captain as he tried to get a head count of everyone.
¡°Only Dom Bass,¡± said a nearby demigod.
¡°Why do we even bother with him? He is always dying and wasting the equipment and potions we give him.¡±
¡°Because we need everyone we can get to stand against the Demon Hunters.¡±
¡°Captain! Bad news! I just got a message from the guild master!¡± shouted a female demigod.
The other demigods that were looting what valuables they could find from the dead bandits stopped what they were doing and looked up towards the panicked girl.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°Our main settlement was just attacked!¡±
¡°How bad is the damage?¡±
Tears filled her eyes as she repeatedly tried to say the words, ¡°It''s gone! We no longer control any territory!¡±
¡°Who attacked?¡±
As they tried to figure out what was going on everyone received a guild message at the same time.
[Everyone is to gather at the Alpha meeting point! We will be launching a counterattack to retake our lost territory! We are facing the combined forces of the Forbidden guild and the Cunning Shadow guild!]
Similar things were happening all over the far north as the demigod guilds fought over the towns and villages like they were the most precious thing in the world. Even abandoned and destroyed towns were treated like they were piles of gold.
Many smaller groups of demigods not part of the larger guilds all tried to get in on the action but were brutally underfunded and lacked the manpower to keep the territories they captured for long.
The many towns and territories were changing hands every day, sometimes multiple times in a single day!
***
Time continued to move swiftly by, in Kodria many projects were being completed and new ones started.
Akira sat on a cushioned chair holding his daughter while Mileena fed their son.
His cute daughter was not fussing right at this moment. Her silver eyes were just quietly staring back at Akira as he continued to smile and study her cute face.
Both of the twins had already reverted back to looking like normal babies.
Their daughter had stayed transformed for 9 days before reverting to her now smooth pink skin, silver hair, and eyebrows.
Akira could definitely tell that many of her facial features took after her mother.
Their son had stayed transformed for 11 days before reverting back to a normal baby like his sister with the only difference being his white hair and eyebrows. His facial features took after Akira''s own. He was noticeably larger than his sister and always ate more than her. Leaving Akira with an extended time to hold his daughter and bond with her while his son finished eating.
With both of them staying transformed for over a week it made both Mileena and the midwife very happy. Akira was not sure if what the midwife had said held any truth but decided that he would just have to wait and see.
¡°Tomorrow you will have to behave yourself during the festival,¡± said Akira as he looked down at his daughter.
She only stared back at him.
¡°I know it will be tough with all the loud noises and thousands of unknown people, but if you can stay strong and tough it out, it would help your mother a lot,¡± said Akira.
¡°Can she even understand you?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°I don''t know, but it can''t hurt to talk to her,¡± said Akira with a shrug.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he looked back and forth between the twins, not sure who to sit next to.
¡°Is everything ready for tomorrow?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Should be. Almost all of the envoys from the local allies and towns have arrived. The last few should be arriving in the morning.¡±
¡°Let''s hope everything goes as planned.¡±
Chapter 268: Birth festival
¡°... and then the festival will start with the three main events. The private meeting with allies in the courtyard, the parade down the main street to the Docks, and boarding the flatbed ships to announce the news to the residents of the outer city.¡±
Samuel read off the day''s schedule as Mileena straightened Akira''s collar and re-positioned the Dark blue silk cape that was clasped to his shoulders.
As usual for the twins, their son was napping while their daughter was wide awake and quietly staring at her mother and father. Whenever she started to fuss Azura and Maya helped distract her with handmade stuffed animals that they had personally made.
¡°I hope our son doesn''t have similar hair like you,¡± said Mileena as she gave up trying to tame his wild dark hair.
¡°It''s not that bad, but who knows his sister might get my thick hair instead,¡± said Akira as he walked over to the cushioned baskets that the twins were laying in.
¡°You should carry your daughter as she causes fewer problems when you''re around,¡± said Mileena as she picked up the basket holding their son.
¡°Alright, is everyone ready?¡± asked Akira.
Mileena and the three other girls all nodded their heads, while Fluffball wagged his tail furiously excited for whatever was happening.
The small group was led down the stone stairs towards the courtyard. At the castle''s large doors Akira''s personal guards joined them as they walked outside to the warm sunny courtyard garden that was a buzz with several conversations between the different allied dignitaries, special envoys, and grand elders of the various werewolf clans.
¡°Bu Buu!¡± a member of the castle guards blew on their horn announcing the arrival of the Duke and Duchess.
The small gathering of important people all halted their conversations and turned their gazes towards the new arrivals.
Akira and Mileena walked up onto the low platform that had been erected while their guards stood in front and at the sides of the platform ready to block or cut down anyone that tried anything suspicious.
Akira looked at each person one by one as they started to gather in front of the platform, many of their faces were familiar while there were also many new ones as well.
¡°I know for many of you, your time is valuable due to there only being a little over 2 months left to get things done during the warm months,¡± said Akira.
Several of the envoys nodded their heads.
¡°We thank you for coming here to celebrate with us in this important milestone for Kodria and the Dark moon clan,¡± said Mileena.
¡°With that in mind, let us introduce the main stars of this festival and start the naming ceremony.¡±
Akira placed the basket down and scooped up his daughter. Mileena did the same with their son.
The guards all became even more alert for any trouble.
¡°This cutie is Silvra [Silvy], the Silver Princess!¡± boomed a proud Akira as he cradled his daughter in his protective arms and showed her off to the small crowd of dignitaries and envoys.
The crowd politely clapped as they turned their gaze to Silvra, trying to guess the meaning behind her title. The Grand elders had all met the twins already so they understood the title related to her fur.
With so many gazes of unknown people staring at her, Silvra started to fuss and squirm letting Akira know she was not happy. He held her closer to his chest and rocked her a bit to calm her down.
Mileena stepped forward holding their son who was still napping on Mileena''s chest while ignoring everyone that had gathered.
¡°This handsome baby is Wyt, the Snow Prince.¡±
Again several people in the crowd were left guessing at the title as they clapped.
¡°With the birth of Wyt and Silvra, the dukedom of Kodria now has two heirs to carry on our legacy!¡± said Akira.
Several of the envoys and allies that had not been part of the earlier meetings were just now hearing about Kodria turning into a dukedom. They were listening very intently taking in all the information that they could so they could relay everything back to their leaders accurately.
After the short introduction, the allied delegates along with envoys lined up to present their gifts and well wishes to the young duke and duchess of Kodria.
The first in line was unsurprisingly Zundar.
¡°I have been waiting a long time for you to create an heir and you two have not disappointed me! I do not have a gift right now but when they are old enough just leave the training to me! I will be sure to teach Young Wyt the manly way of fighting! I can also help the princess with her weapons training.¡±
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¡°Ah... thanks Zundar, that will be helpful,¡± said Akira, not sure how to take Zundar''s odd compliment.
The next to arrive in front of the platform was Delgar, he was using all of his muscles to pull a large metal contraption on wheels behind him.
¡°I represent all the Dwarves of Kodria in presenting our two gifts!¡± said Delgar pointing to the large black metal contraption that had a square bottom and a round top.
¡°This here is the newest and most secure baby carriage that we have put together!¡± Delgar pulled on part of the metal roofing to open it up revealing several sheathed weapons laying on thick padding and cushions that covered the entire inside.
¡°And these are a full set of training weapons that I have worked on with a few of my apprentices. They have been dulled, shortened, and lightened to allow for the young twins to use when they first start training in a few years!¡±
¡°We thank you for such... thoughtful gifts,¡± said Mileena.
Captain Pegleg stepped forward, his body clattering and his jaw clacking. Behind him, there was a wide opening as the other delegates were uncomfortable being in his presence. With the Molten Onyx Plague still fresh in their minds, they had no good feelings toward the undead captain even if he was not hostile. Some still harbored suspicion against him.
¡°I have come to greet my skin-covered bony friend and offer congratulations. I have no gift that would be suitable to you who live, so I will offer a free ride on my Shnips to the two younglings whenever you want to take up the offer!¡± said Captain Pegleg, his jaw clacking as he talked.
¡°We will be sure to take you up on that offer in the future,¡± said Akira.
The rest of the delegates were not as... Unique as the first few in line.
The main delegates from the Nyaan clans, Dwarf mountains, Kamen, Jeora, Puman, and lastly Yuki, all gave useful items such as books, clothes, or other trinkets.
One envoy Akira was surprised to see was Reakrac from the Ramia who only passed along a short congratulations and nothing more.
With the naming ceremony and gift exchanges finished, Mileena returned to the castle to take care of the twins'' feeding and diapers before the next event.
Akira was left to talk with the delegates while sipping fresh juice and snacking on the several light foodstuffs that the bakers had prepared for the festival. He continued to work on further strengthening Kodria''s friendship with everyone present.
A half-hour passed by leisurely before Mileena once again arrived, this time pushing the new metal baby carrier which the twins fit in well with enough room for them to still be able to use it for a few years before they would be too big.
Akira and Fluffball joined Mileena next to the metal baby carriage and inspected it closely.
The royal guards formed up around them and as one, they moved towards the castle gates. Behind them, the delegates and envoys formed up into two lines to follow them.
High above in the sky, Pii''per flew in circles watching everything happening below.
¡°Bu BUUU! Make way for the Duke and Duchess of Kodria!¡± shouted a guard on top of the castle''s walls next to the castle''s main gate.
The castle gates slowly opened just enough for the guards to exit and form a blocking screen on the main street, allowing Akira, Mileena, and their personal guards to start the parade down the street.
With the appearance of the two royalty of Kodria, the gathered crowd cheered wildly. When they saw Mileena pushing the metal baby carriage with the young babies inside. Several similar questions were shouted out toward the couple.
¡°What are their names?¡±
Mileena stopped for a moment and looked to the crowd on either side of them. Akira stayed next to the carriage to keep Silvy company and calm. With all the noise Wyt was unable to sleep and was also becoming grouchy.
The crowd seeing the small parade halt quickly quieted down to listen to what they had to say.
¡°Their names are Silvra [Silvy], the Silver Princess, and Wyt the Snow Prince!¡± said Mileena proudly.
Like a tidal wave, the twin¡¯s names and titles spread out from the nearby crowd reaching everyone else in the inner city just by word of mouth!
The small procession once again continued down the main road to the city''s main gates with many shouts of congratulations and roaring cheers.
Amid all the cheering and celebrating citizens, Fluffball shot off running towards the wall of Kodria''s front gates. His body quickly expanded to his full size while his Holy armor glittered as it covered his body.
The crowd oohed and ahhed at the sight as they watched Fluffball fly down the street.
¡°Fluffball?¡± shouted Akira, wondering what he was doing.
¡°Roar!¡± Growled Fluffball sending an alarming warning Akira!
¡°Pii!¡± Pii''per started a steep dive in the same direction as Fluffball was headed, yet Akira saw nothing.
As he was squinting at the wall, four glowing green bolts shot out from thin air heading right towards him!
Without time to think, Akira instinctively transformed. The black mist covered his body as he grew taller and his thick black fur covered his body. His hands turned into sharp deadly claws, while his teeth turned into razor-sharp tearing daggers and his large tail burst out from his rear.
A strong killing aura burst out from his body as he dived forward to intercept the four bolts. They were not targeting him, but the baby carriage!
With a swipe of his right claw, he managed to swat away two of the green bolts receiving deep cuts to the pads of his clawed hand. The two bolts went off course and embedded themselves into the stone pavement a short distance away.
With a second swipe using his left claw, he managed to swat a third green bolt off course, sending it slicing through his right shoulder and flying into a nearby building where it dug deep into the stone wall.
To Akira''s horror, he had missed one of the bolts! He lunged forward trying to block it with his body before it could reach its intended target... but the bolt was too fast!
Clang!
Fortunately, Mileena had reacted quickly and had shut the metal roofing of the carriage which the green bolt slammed into and bounced off into the nearby crowd of citizens.
¡°Ahhhh!¡± a woman''s pain cry rang out as she was hit by the green bolt.
Akira hovered protectively in front of the baby carriage along with the guards that now tightened their loose escort into a secured shield wall around them.
¡°Who dares attack my children!¡± roared Akira. His voice echoed through the inner city and was loud enough for even those from the outer city waiting at the shoreline to hear.
Chapter 269: Looking to the shore
Semore Budz and Doot both cursed their bad luck. Their attacks negated the expensive one-time use invisible potion that had been given to them by the guild leader of the new BenDover guild that they had recently joined.
They holstered their two small hand crossbows and without a second thought jumped off the wall near the gatehouse escaping before any of Kodria''s guards could intercept them. They only received light fall damage that was mitigated by rolling to lessen the impact.
¡°What were we thinking to accept such a stupid mission!?¡± asked Semore while he ran as fast as he could trying to stay ahead of Doot.
¡°We needed to show off our skills and not be outdone by the Veggie group who joined the guild at the same time as us,¡± said Doot.
¡°Why is our luck so bad? If we had succeeded, with how new the guild is we could have risen to a high position...¡±
¡°We''ll¡ AHHHHH!¡±
Semore looked to his side where Doot was just a moment before and found no one!
¡°Help!¡± shouted Doot, his voice coming from high above. A Wyvern had grabbed his arms and was now flying high into the sky!
Semore ignored his partner and long-time friend, he was beyond saving. Instead, he quickened his pace running towards a thick patch of weeds where two small canoes were hidden.
Multiple sharp objects pierced the back of his neck before he could reach the canoe. Not willing to be captured alive or tortured, Semore used the last of his strength to bite into a poisoned candy just before his body went limp and he no longer could feel his arms or legs.
Fluffball''s nose caught the scent of the poison and spat out the demigod''s neck and hopped back several paces not wanting to be contaminated by the poison.
The demigod limply fell face first into the muddy weeds of the shore and started to convulse and make odd gurgling noises as the poison took effect.
Fluffball let out a snort, he was unhappy at being unable to take care of his target himself. The demigod soon disappeared into hundreds of lights leaving only a few items on the ground.
With his target, dead Fluffball looked up into the sky where a small dot was growing bigger as it fell from high above. With another unsatisfied huff, he turned around and ran back to Kodria''s gates which were now swarming with infantry and city guards that were heading towards the shoreline.
Splat!
***
Back inside Kodria''s castle.
¡°It was made out of silver,¡± said Zundar holding a smashed silver bolt that he had pulled out of the building that it had slammed into.
¡°No wonder the wounds are so deep and not healing quickly,¡± said Klyn, as he treated the large gashes on Akira''s hands and his shoulder.
Even with the help of Klyn''s holy aura to cleanse the wounds and even pouring the red potion on them, the wounds were still slow to heal.
¡°How is the woman that got hurt?¡± asked Akira.
¡°The bolt went all the way through her leg. Luckily it missed the main artery,¡± said Klyn.
Akira only nodded, ¡°The rest of the day''s main events are canceled.¡±
¡°What about all the food that was prepared for the festival?¡±
It would be such a waste so Akira was only able to relent on that. ¡°The evening festival will still be held for the citizens of Kodria to not waste the food.¡±
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The remaining festival would not be as cheery as before but that was all the more reason to keep the festival running to try and pull their minds away from the current events.
When his hands and shoulder were fully bandaged, he walked over to Mileena who was trying to calm down the two newborns inside the metal cart while surrounded by a shield wall of heavily armored guards.
¡°How are they doing?¡± asked Akira while placing a bandaged hand on her shoulder to reassure her.
¡°Was this a bad decision to have the festival? What if they are mentally scarred by this?¡± asked Mileena, as she played with a stuffed animal trying to get Silvy to stop fussing.
¡°Nothing like that will happen. With them both receiving our love and care I have no doubt that they will be fine,¡± said Akira.
Both Silvy and Wyt were looking at Akira with great interest as he was still transformed and was still emitting a strong aurora that made weak people frightened, and even strong people uncomfortable.
The two didn''t seem to be affected by his aura at all and only stared back at him.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he returned to the castle finished with his quick battle.
¡°Who was it?¡±
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°I see. Of course, it was demigods...¡±
¡°Yap.¡±
¡°Understood. Samuel, send out an order to add cutting the weeds at lakes shore to the weekly chores. We must not allow any blind spots or places for people to hide things or people in those weeds.¡±
***
All through the north, the power shifts were massive as old groups and smaller guilds fell from volatile infighting and battles with other guilds for territory.
Many of the guilds¡¯ power and the number of members fluctuated greatly depending on the results of their battles for territory. Some guilds lost large groups of people who splintered off to join other guilds that now owned territory.
Unfortunately for the smaller groups of demigods, they were having a hard time doing anything solo with the battles for territory and resources becoming more fierce. It was now getting to the point where It was too painful to try and grow without a guild as more and more things came under the control of the large, medium, and small guilds.
The small groups were forced to join or create their own guilds. One of these newer guilds was the BenDover guild, a small but fast-growing guild.
The core members were all from the former group known as [Team Ultimate Ben Dover].
Multiple oddballs and groups that did not fit in with the other guilds had joined them all wanting to have a town or village controlled by a friendly guild.
This was because everyone was currently being harassed as soon as they entered the territory of another guild. If they were allowed into the occupied town they would only be taxed out of all their gold. If they were truly unlucky they would be denied access to the only local place to sell their loot and recuperate from a hard battle.
The guild benefiting the most from the small groups joining them was the FrozenBlood guild. Although they were not as strong or as well equipped as the Demon Hunters they had more low-ranked members.
Even though they may have recently lost their territory, all was not lost. If they could get a new base of operations they could start building up their power and get better equipment and grow stronger at a faster pace.
¡°It is like you said there is no point trying to continuously bash our heads against the walls they have hastily built. If we continue to die our strength will drop too far and we''ll be unable to take over anything,¡± said Igluu, the second in command of FrozenBlood.
¡°We''ll have to cut our losses. From what I heard a short time ago, there should be two large coastal prizes no one has captured yet,¡± said Nameless Officer 1.
¡°Their population and fighting power is no joke, although they do not have the advantages we have, we can not be careless. Just remember what happened to the main guilds that attacked one of them some time ago,¡± said Nameless officer 2, who was the brother of N.O.1.
¡°We are far stronger and more numerous than even they were back then. We will have no problem capturing one of them,¡± said Coldman, the guild master of FrozenBlood, as he looked at a map of the shoreline.
¡°We will take this village as our own. Gather our guild members and all of our resources. We must move out as soon as possible before others figure out what we plan to do. We can not let them interfere with our plans.¡±
***
In the woods, the small [BenDover] guild were looking over a highly detailed map they had recently bought.
¡°The large guilds are fighting over Froit and the surrounding villages and towns. The FrozenBlood guild and the two allied guilds are fighting over this area here... so we should steer clear of them,¡± said Ben.
¡°So should we take this place? It''s nearby,¡± asked Dover pointing to a spot on the coast.
¡°Hmm, no one seems to have picked it due to the hard difficulty. But if we chip away at it, we should be able to take it over before anyone else thinks of trying it.¡±
¡°Then let everyone know that we have decided on our first target. We will make it our base of operations or die trying!¡±
Chapter 270: Coastal settlement
¡°Shhh... stop talking, the large coastal settlement is just up ahead. Everyone get ready,¡± said Ben. He pulled his hooded silk cape up to cover part of his face and then used a light scarf to cover his lower face. When he was finished disguising himself he gripped his two newly made daggers ready to stab them into anything that appeared before him.
With a silent hand motion, the small guild moved out from the protection of the trees and into a field of tall grass that separated the woods from the large coastal settlement.
The area was quiet save for the lazy rustling of the tall grass as the moist wind blew in from the sea and the cries of the seagulls that flew up high in the air looking for scraps of food to steal.
As they quickly made their way through the tall grass Dover tapped Ben''s shoulder and pointed to his ear with a frown, Ben only shrugged.
The group leaped out of the tall grass into a large clearing ready to start slaughtering a few people from the demon race before escaping...
¡°Uhhh... is this the right place?¡± asked Boot.
¡°Shouldn''t there be several thousands of werewolves here?¡± asked Shaker.
¡°And a lot of houses and resources for us to take control of!?¡± said Ivan.
¡°It should be,¡± said Ben, opening the event map. His face turned dark when he saw the map.
Now that they had arrived at the previously undiscovered place, the fog on the map that had covered it was now gone and was updated with new information.
¡°Abandoned...,¡± said Ben, looking at the +1 on the updated map.
Hearing this everyone looked at their map and were shocked to see that all they had been preparing for was for nothing...
¡°What do we do?¡± asked Sir Bumpalot.
Ben looked over to Dover who was scanning the area around them. There was nothing but unkempt grass.
¡°Dover you have any opinion on whether we should go find some other small village or set this as our base?¡± asked Ben.
¡°We''re here already. The longer we wait, the more places will be snatched up by others. The fight for those places is too much for us. We should just take what we can,¡± said Dover.
Ben turned to the rest of the waiting guild members and said, ¡°Alright everyone, there has been a slight change in our plans due to the current situation. Shaker, use your whip sword to mow the grass and clean up the area for us. Everyone else, we will be gathering wood to fortify our guild''s new base of operations. Use whatever skill will get the job done the fastest.¡±
Without complaint, everyone moved out to complete their tasks. This would make the guild stronger and if the guild grew stronger then they would also be able to grow along with it.
***
The FrozenBlood guild moved with quick speed. With their current numbers, they did not fear any other guild trying to hinder their movement. They were still a bit ragged due to the hard-fought battles that ended in their defeat and the loss of all their territory and stored resources.
Even so, a new fire had been lit in the hearts of every guild member with the new plan to capture the unclaimed zone and make it theirs.
Once they completed this task they could solidify their position allowing them to strike back at those who had backstabbed them and joined the two allied guilds after they took over the [FrozenBloods] main territory.
There was no point in the [FrozenBlood] guild trying to hide their large numbers so they opted for speedy movement and a quick and concentrated attack that hit hard. Hopefully, this would be enough to knock down and take command of the demon race that controlled the area.
The guild''s members moved in groups of ten each being led by people that Akira would have recognized at first glance due to the several encounters with many of them. There were people such as Ineda Badth, Hary Mandtis, Etza Prap, Imma Prap...
Even though they were ready to storm the demon race''s territory, Coldman halted the advance.
A small gathering of several officers and the sub-guild leader all gathered around Coldman.
¡°Somethings not right... shouldn''t there be a large nomadic tribe here?¡± asked Coldman.
They looked out onto the freshly cut grass plain and only saw a small wooden fort outpost at the center of the grassy plain. Near the sides of the fort were crude-looking farms that looked to be freshly tilled. It was late afternoon and yet they saw not one person outside.
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Igluu looked at his map and found that it had been updated.
[Territory owned by BenDover guild: +10 points]
¡°BenDover guild? Who are they?¡± asked Igluu.
None of the officers knew anything about or anyone in the guild. This situation was completely out of their expectations. The difference between fighting a human or someone from a demon race was far different from fighting a demigod guild depending on how strong the guild was.
Their grand strategy to rise from the ashes had turned into something far more complicated than before.
While they were discussing this new curiosity, Lolebl, a low-level noob lookout for the BenDover guild, was startled to see such a large force of demigods gathered at the edge of the cleared grassy plains.
¡°ENEMY GUILD!¡± shouted Lolebl, in his excitement, his voice cracked as he kept shouting.
The rest of the guild members who were just finishing up eating their late lunch were startled into action.
¡°Make sure the gates are locked! Bring all the stored arrows we bought up onto the wall! Dover and Sir Bumpalot take your groups of melee fighters and protect the gates from any enemy that breaks through. Everyone else up onto the wall and get ready to repel the enemy guild!¡± shouted Ben while he ran to the fort''s wooden wall.
When Ivana reached the top of the wooden walls she started casting her ice wall skill to overlap it with the fort''s wall further strengthening their weak wooden fort. She was forced to drink her expensive potions like water to recover all the energy she was expending to complete the task before the enemy could launch an attack.
Boot stood next to Ben with his bow in hand, while Semore and Doot stood nearby ready to fight along with several other ranged guild mates.
Shaker held her whip at the ready while she paced back and forth on top of the fort''s wall facing the enemy. She was here to help Ben and a few other melee guild members with fending off anyone that tried to jump or climb up the wall.
¡°Which guild is it?¡± asked Ben as he tried to squint and see the enemy from afar.
¡°It''s the [FrozenBlood] guild,¡± said Boot, who had the best long-range vision.
Ben stood there lost in thought. There was no other way to get out of this situation. They would have to fight since the other side would not give up so easily.
Meanwhile out at the edge of the grassy plain.
¡°It looks like the fort''s occupants have taken notice of us!¡± said Igluu, seeing the ice walls starting to cover the fort''s wooden walls.
¡°Is that all they have to defend the fort?¡± asked Coldman.
¡°...¡±
¡°Listen up everyone! We outnumber them by a considerably large number! Don''t hold back your attacks, let us go in quick and hit them hard! The faster we take them down the faster we can start on our path back to victory. Show them no mercy for our blood is frozen!¡±
¡°For FrozenBlood!¡± shouted the guild members.
As one the buff meathead melee demigods charged forward valiantly, while the ranged demigods started casting their skills aiming at the fort.
The ranged attacks flew well above the charging demigod''s heads and slammed into the thick ice covering the wooden walls.
Crack! Smash!
Large chunks of ice exploded out with sharp shrapnel fragments that were deadly enough to kill anyone standing in front of it.
Several other skills created large spiderweb cracks in the wall while a few fireballs slammed into it and melted through a large portion of the wall before being extinguished.
Ivana was forced to repeatedly cast her ice skills to patch the damaged ice wall, desperately trying to keep it up for as long as she could.
The fort''s ranged defenders were no slouches and returned a smaller focused counterattack. They chose to try and target demigods that they believed to be in charge of the many small groups rushing forward. Those that were hit were turned into light particles in mere seconds, some of these people were officers but the majority of the people they targeted were just low-level grunts. Even so, they were able to cause them a bit of trouble by killing over a dozen people in quick succession.
Bam!
Even under the intense hail of arrows and deadly skills several of the melee fighters were able to reach the ice wall and launched their strongest attacks smashing through the protective ice wall before they were targeted by the defenders and turned into thousands of light particles in seconds after being torn to shreds by the attacks.
The second wave of fighters reached the walls before a new ice wall could be fully formed.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
With a new wave of attacks, a small gap was opened in the wall. The melee fighters did not bother trying to attack the gate which was far more sturdy and chose to focus on a section of a side wall.
Dover and Sir Bumpalot rushed to the gap in the wall along with the other melee fighters.
Crash!
Sir Bumpalot slammed his shield into the armored face of a Frozenblood fighter that was trying to push through the hole dazing him and allowing him to be pierced and smashed by several spears, swords, and maces.
The hole continued to widen as a large rainbow of skills flew back and forth causing the defenders to have to spread out to block the attackers from entering.
The BenDover guild members on the wall made sure to rain down skills at the small gap that had turned into a deadly kill zone.
The Frozenblood guild members were being torn to shreds but in these few short engagements, the melee defenders led by Dover were wiped out on the third major push through the hole in the wall.
The only melee defenders were now on the walls trying to protect the ranged attackers who were now being sniped by the Frozenblood guild members.
Another twenty minutes of fierce fighting passed before the last of the defending [BenDover] guild members were killed.
With the [BenDover] guild completely wiped out, the conquest map once again changed to show the territory''s new owner.
[Territory owned by Frozenblood guild: +5 points]
***
Far to the south oblivious to the struggles of the North, Varbu and Prince Gobbers were in full swing setting up and building Kodria''s new settlement.
Every few days they were receiving large deliveries of stone to build the walls of the settlement and the buildings inside.
It was only a matter of time before the settlement would become a secondary stronghold of Kodria''s dukedom.
Chapter 271: Bent-Gii
The Frozenblood and BenDover guild''s battle for the abandoned territory was only a small skirmish compared to the many other settlements that were under constant leadership changes.
If it was not one of the Big 4 guilds of the Foradverold continent fighting for the territory, then it was dozens of smaller new guilds that popped up as new small parties arrived to participate in the event.
Togower was one of these small northern human villages that had less than 1000 residents. Their village was nothing special, the only thing to boast about was the small river that passed by and the plentiful farmland.
The inside of the town''s only tavern was filled with gaunt and haggard village people who were nursing their cheap beer as if it was the best brand that would be offered to a king. It was the first batch that had been produced in well over a year and they sorely needed it after all the hardships they had gone through.
The atmosphere inside the tavern was dark as their thoughts, which were filled with the village''s current predicament. Although they had survived the Molten Onyx plague and had returned to their village... their troubles were far from over.
In one of the tavern corners, a trio of young men sat quietly discussing the newest information they had managed to hear from the latest occupiers.
¡°...they are all the same. We thought the first group was bad because they killed the village chief but...,¡± grumbled Whan.
¡°Shhh...those guys might be listening and reporting us to the demigods,¡± said Tou, taking a side glance at a few of the known betrayers that sucked up to the demigods to gain benefits.
¡°I heard in the other villages the same thing happens just like here. They kill the leader of the town or village and then take over,¡± said Dree.
¡°I doubt they have had as many different demigod groups fighting to take over a village like ours. What are we on, the 4th different group?¡± asked Whan.
¡°These demigods are too ruthless. They treat the strong like kings, while the weak are treated less than dirt,¡± said Tou.
¡°Right, we have already lost nearly 100 villagers to the constant fighting, and now some of the demigods'' way of thinking is sinking into our generation,¡± said Dree.
¡°I guess it''s not all bad, with the three of us awakening our...¡± said Whan.
¡°Shhh...¡± Tou again shushed them to be quiet on the topic.
¡°How much longer can we last?¡± asked Dree.
¡°I hope the villages and towns that have managed to hold off the demigods continue to stay strong.¡±
***
¡°...do you think they are okay?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°Stop worrying. The whole point of this trip was to let you relax and have some time away from the stress of taking care of Wyt and Silvy. Your sister and Azura will be able to handle taking care of them for the short time, we are gone. The security has been toughened up since the last attack. With Pii''per there to help keep an eye on things there should be no problem,¡± said Akira.
The two were riding inside a new spacious armored carriage that Delgar had finished recently. On one side of the inner carriage was a cushioned couch that Akira and Mileena were sitting on and on the other side was a small bed that could just barely hold two people if they lay on their sides.
Now, instead of having to travel out in the open on mounts or sleds, they could travel both quickly and in comfort.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball, as he lazed on the carriage''s cramped floor space between the couch, bed, and Akira and Mileena''s feet.
¡°We''re lucky that Delgar built this with reinforced leaf springs to handle all of your weight,¡± said Akira reaching down to rub Fluffball''s head that was resting on Akira''s feet.
Ding!
New urgent mission!
Kodria''s new settlement danger:
The new settlements have just been raided by bandits! This will continue until the threat is taken care of.
Save the settlement from its impending doom!
(Failure will mean the loss of the settlement and several negative effects will be added to the dukedom of Kodria.)
|
Akira''s calm smiling face turned stern as he read the message.
Seeing his face go through such a sudden change a worried Mileena placed her hand on his shoulder and asked, ¡°What''s wrong?¡±
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With a sigh, Akira said, ¡°Our trip won''t be as peaceful as I hoped, it seems some bandits have been harassing the settlement.¡±
Mileena did not ask how he came across the new information and just said, ¡°That''s fine. I need to let off some steam. What''s better than smacking around some bandits!¡±
¡°It may not be so simple,¡± said Akira before sticking his head out of the window of the carriage door. ¡°Grarr, pick up the speed! We need to get to the destination as fast as you can pull us.¡±
Hearing this, Grarr who was in the lead along with the other Gargs that were pulling the carriage, picked up the running speed. The other escorting guards riding their own Garg mounts also picked up speed to provide a protection screen for the carriage.
With the Gargs running at such a fast pace, the occupants of the carriage could feel all the bumps and dips of the roughly built dirt road that had been recently cleared to connect the new settlement and Kodria.
Although it was crude, it made their land travel far faster than if they were to just travel through the wilderness which had many obstacles that would force them to make many detours.
With the burst of speed, they managed to arrive at the settlement two days earlier than they had expected.
Akira looked out the window at the new settlement and could see several lines of a dozen or so orcs pulling on sturdy ropes that were part of a pulley system. At the other end of the rope was a large stone used for walls of towns or forts.
Atop the nearly finished town wall were hundreds of Goblins that chattered out gibberish commands as they slapped on some gray binding agents to the stones and guided the large stones lifted by the orcs, into their proper place.
Aside from these workers, there were a few small groups of orcs and goblins fully armored with weapons in their hands as they patrolled the outer territory in front of the settlement. The rear of the settlement was secure enough due to it being built on the bend of the rushing river.
One of the patrolling groups that was made up of mainly Orc''s spotted the carriage and the escorting Garg cavalry on the new road. They immediately changed their marching direction and headed towards the road to welcome the new guests.
¡°Akira! Welcome to the Bent-Gii settlement. You''re here earlier than I expected,¡± shouted Varbu as he ran up to the door of the carriage that had slowed down to a crawl.
Akira hopped out of the carriage along with Fluffball while Mileena stayed inside.
¡°The building of the town walls looks to be going up all according to plan,¡± said Akira scanning the entire town wall.
¡°We would be farther along if it were not for the interruption every day,¡± said Vabu with an irritated look on his face.
¡°I heard about the bandit problem. Have you managed to figure out who they are or where they are based?¡± asked Akira.
¡°No,¡± said Varbu, shaking his head. ¡°The only thing we know so far is that they are probably human. They only show up at random times during the day and come from different directions each time. They shoot a few arrows at us before escaping. So far we have been unable to chase them down. That''s part of the reason I have been leading one of the patrols to try and ward off the attacks and if possible to try and capture one of their groups.¡±
¡°How many attackers do you think there are? How many people have you lost?¡±
¡°I haven''t been able to count them all or see if they are the same people attacking, but if I had to guess... it is at least 2 dozen. A combined total of 9 orcs and goblins have died from the attacks but at least 50 more have been injured and are still recovering from various wounds.¡±
Buruuuu!
A war horn held by a patrolling goblin unit rang out interrupting their discussion as it constantly rang out a warning of an enemy attacking force.
¡°Speaking of the devil,¡± said Varbu with a sour look on his face while looking towards the area where the bandits had shown up.
Akira ran over to Grarr and unhitched him to the carriage and hopped on his back as he transformed into his werewolf form.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball as he excitedly followed Akira.
¡°Awoooo!¡± with his howl the escorting cavalry formed up on Akira. He drew his sword out of its sheath and pointed it toward the bandits that were rushing forward to launch a quick attack.
The swift Gargs bolted forward and reached the bandits before any of the other patrolling groups could. The Garg Calvary curved around the bandits and cut off all their paths of retreat before tightening the noose and surrounding the 20 or so poorly equipped human bandits.
The sudden change in what was supposed to be a quick raid, just like the several dozen they had performed before, caught them all off guard. Their wild charge came to a complete stop as they stared at the large growling Gargs that now surrounded them.
Thunk!
Akira raised his shield to block a cross bolt that had been fired by a young teen with an itchy trigger finger. The faces of several of the bandits showed horror at seeing this.
¡°Roar!¡± Fluffball let out an angry challenge to Itchy trigger causing him to stumble back into another person behind him.
¡°Who is the leader of your group,¡± asked Akira with a gravelly growl.
¡°There is no one leading our group!¡± said Itchy trigger.
Akira turned his gaze to Itchy and urged Grarr to walk up to him. Grarr let out a low growl that caused all the bandits near itchy to step back.
¡°Then who are you guys and why are you attacking the Bent-Gii settlement?¡±
¡°What''s it to you? You aren''t a Goblin or an Orc.¡±
¡°This settlement belongs to Kodria. Which means you are attacking my territory,¡± said Akira pointing his sword towards Itchy''s chest.
¡°H... hey...I''m a demigod! If you touch me I will kill you!¡±
Akira pulled his sword back to itchy relief... for a second.
The sword shot forward, stopping after only piercing the cheap leather armor and poking the man''s chest, drawing a small amount of blood.
¡°HEEEEE!¡± the startled Itchy cried out and fell on his but as he tried to dodge the attack far too late.
¡°I am not some country bumpkin that has never seen a demigod. I will give you all one chance to tell me everything you know or you die pretending to be something you are not.¡±
¡°Big brother! We are sorry for offending you!¡± shouted Itchy who saw the error of his ways and had a change of heart. He immediately got on his knees and slammed his head into the dirt.
The rest of the bandit group did not hesitate and followed his lead and shouted.
¡°Big brother please forgive us!¡±
¡°We will tell you everything!¡±
Akira was puzzled by their sudden change of heart. He was ready to get even more physical if necessary but they had caved so quickly.
Chapter 272: Bandits
¡°So... they said it''s here?¡± asked Varbu, as he pointed to a spot on a crudely drawn map.
¡°Gii gi giiiii,¡± said Prince Gobbers as he stroked his smooth green chin and studied the map in a very scholarly way.
¡°Right, I would not have expected bandits to take up one of the abandoned nomadic villages so close to us,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Bent-gii was built here because it is in-between several past and present abandoned villages and forts that we could easily rebuild and expand Kodria''s reach. But it seems we will have to clean up the area''s group of bandits first,¡± said Akira.
¡°What are you going to do?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°It''s only half a day''s ride away and if we are to believe what Itchy told us, they are all at a similar strength and armed with cheap armor and weapons. It shouldn''t be too hard to take control of the situation there, but I''m not going to trust everything they said so easily. To make sure there are no hiccups, I''ll just take a portion of the royal guards and some of the orc warriors to help clean up the bandit camp.¡±
¡°What about me?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°You¡¯re supposed to be relaxing, so just stay here and enjoy the scenery while I take care of the problem. Fluffball you can stay here and help protect Mileena with the rest of the guards,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap...,¡± Fluffball reluctantly accepted Akira''s order even though he wanted to go out and fight with Akira and the rest of the guards.
Akira exited the large stone building that acted as Bent-Gii''s town hall.
A short distance away Akira saw several large carts filled with raw material pass by. The captured bandits were harnessed to the carts and were being used as horses to pull the raw material back and forth from one workstation to another keeping everyone fully supplied with building materials.
Each cart had one or two goblins who sat on top of the raw materials. Their pointy spears were ready to stab at the bandits'' backs if they tried anything funny.
As one of the carts passed, Akira shouted out to the goblin guards, ¡°If they try to revolt and attack anyone, Kill them. We''ll deal with them when I return.¡±
The bandits pulling the cart, one of them being Itchy, shuddered at hearing Akira''s words.
¡°Big brother, there is no need for that! We aren''t going to attack anyone!¡± said Itchy.
¡°How many times do I have to say stop calling me big brother,¡± said Akira.
¡°Sorry big br... sorry bro. I will try to remember.¡±
Akira shook his head as he watched them pass. Itchy reminded him of a few special idiots from the past.
Turning to Varbu, Akira said, ¡°I''ll take care of the bandit problem, you guys just finish the walls and the buildings of Bent-gii.¡±
¡°That will be no problem. The walls should be finished by nightfall if everything goes as planned,¡± said Varbu.
¡°Giii gii,¡± said Prince Gobbers nodding.
With that said Akira hopped onto Grarr''s back and led half the escorting royal guards out of the walled settlement. Several of the patrolling Orc warriors joined them running behind the royal guards at a steady pace.
***
Night time in a small village outpost to the north of Bent-gii.
¡°Awoooo!¡± a sorrowful wolf howled at the sliver of a moon that hung in the sky sending shivers down the backs of the patrolling bandits.
¡°Why do we have to stay here? This place is barely defensible and the monsters are already coming back in force after being wiped out from the plague,¡± asked Skeny, a skinny bandit. He was one of the three guards that were walking along the wooden fence that had been put up to keep out the less ferocious monsters.
¡°There are hardly any merchants that pass by us and no other villages to really loot stuff from,¡± said Hort, a short bandit as he held up a burning torch high above his head to ward off the darkness.
¡°It''s all your fault that you shot your bow at that guy,¡± said Phatella, a round female bandit.
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¡°Hey, I was ordered to by the captain. If we all hadn''t been pushed out of the good spots by the large bandit groups we wouldn''t have to beg for scraps,¡± said Skeny.
¡°What''s taking today''s raiding group so long to return?¡± asked Phatella in between bites of a dry sandwich.
Pa pa! Pa pa! Pa pa! The sound of running feet could be heard out in the darkness.
¡°They''re finally back, now we can switch guard duty,¡± said Hort. The three of them stopped near the fence''s gate and waited for the approaching raiders to arrive.
Several dark shadows started to form as they came closer and closer to the outpost using the torchlight as a guiding light in the night.
The speed at which they were approaching caught the waiting bandits off guard.
¡°Wait... that''s not...¡±
Out of the shadows several grinning faces of wolves nearly as large as horses appeared. On their backs were even more fierce-looking furry faces of humanoid wolves, their eyes glinted and reflected the torchlight making them look even more fierce.
The sudden appearance of a frightening foe was such a shock that Phatella dropped her sandwich and clutched her heart. She fell face first onto the ground where she lay still, unmoving.
Hort and Skeny did not bother with checking on Phatella and turned around running right for the fortified wooden building that was used as the main building of the bandits.
Every night the bandits holed up inside the three-story building and slept there to protect themselves from the more dangerous local night monsters.
Unlike Kodria, the local night monsters around here regularly attacked anyone that left the fenced-off area and sometimes even attacked the patrolling bandits inside the fenced-off area.
As the large force of unknown foes reached the wooden fence gate the door to the fortified wooden building slammed shut as the two bandits escaped inside. The outside was once again left in darkness with the small sliver of the moon lighting up the area.
A large commotion could be heard inside the building as the two caused a storm by shouting hysterically.
Grarr and the other Gargs easily jumped over the wooden fence while the Orc warriors just hacked or slammed their way through the flimsy wooden fence.
Akira held up his hand to halt the forces when they reached the front of the three-story building.
¡°Bandits! By order of the Duke of Kodria you are ordered to cease your activity and surrender!¡± shouted Dolph who was on Akira''s right while Vilkas was on the left.
A window from the third floor opened just a crack spilling yellow candlelight out onto the gathered werewolves, Gargs, and Orcs.
¡°Who?¡± asked a shaky male voice.
¡°The Duke of Kodria! The leader of the territory you are staying in and attacking.¡±
¡°Never heard of him,¡± said the voice.
¡°Your acting is horrible. It is pointless to keep trying to stall us, surrender now,¡± said Akira.
¡°We can''t,¡± said the voice.
¡°Why?¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°Attack them! All of our debt to those guys will be completely paid if we do!¡± shouted the man''s voice.
Five other windows cracked open and the tips of bows and crossbows appeared and fired!
Swish! Thud! Crack!
The arrows and cross-bolts rained down on the waiting werewolves and Orcs.
¡°Awooooo!¡± with Akira''s howl the Gargs charged forward and slammed into the large reinforced double wooden doors of the building. The Orc warriors rushed forward and hugged the building''s wall to hide from the raining arrows and bolts as best as they could.
After the third ramming attack into the door by Grarr, the wooden doors burst open with a loud crack as the wooden beam holding them shut was split in half.
Akira and the rest of the werewolves hopped off their mounts and along with the orc warriors stormed into the building where the bandits were holed up.
Several bandits stood in the hallway and fired cross-bolts and arrows at near point blank piercing the armors of several of the orcs and werewolves near Akira, wounding them.
A few of the bandits fearlessly charged down the hallway to try and stall the attackers... but they were cut down immediately.
¡°SURRENDER!¡± growled Akira.
The bandits paid his words no attention and continued to fight to the death.
In each room and on each floor it was the same thing over and over.
When Akira reached the last room on the third floor, the door opened and the captain of the bandits stepped into the hall with the remaining bandits.
¡°Surrender and you may live,¡± said Akira.
¡°Either you will kill me or they will,¡± said the captain of the bandits.
¡°...?¡±
The remaining bandits along with the captain charged at Akira and the other werewolves not saying another word. Their faces were completely calm and at peace as they ran forward to their death.
Even when Akira tried to just disable them so he could get information out of them they continued to fight or intentionally kill themselves.
¡°What''s wrong with them?¡± asked Dolph.
Ding!
Bent-Gii is under attack!
You have managed to take care of the bandits that have been harassing the new settlement but the mastermind behind setting up the bandit group has launched the second stage in their plan.
Return to Bent-Gii and fight off the attacking force. If you are too late and you lose the settlement, Kodria''s dukedom will lose 50% security for a month, causing more monsters to spawn in the territory.
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¡°AWOOOO!¡±
The cheering Orc and Werewolf warriors that had finished off the bandits turned around to look at Akira wondering if what they had just heard was correct.
¡°The enemy is attacking the settlement! We are going back now!¡± said Akira, clarifying with words.
Chapter 273: Letter
Ten dark cloaked figures silently dashed from one shadow to another trying to hide from the sliver of moonlight that lit up the area which was quite hard in an open field.
They stopped some distance from a tall wooden weave fence that stood some distance in front of the settlement''s main wall.
¡°We need to do this quickly. Over the fence and up onto the walls next to the gatehouse so we can open the gate and then disable it. Don''t send the signal flare to the main force until we have completed this task,¡± said a screechy female voice.
¡°Skreemi, we know. Let''s just get this done and over with,¡± said another female in a dark cloak.
The group darted forward, running across the short opening that had been cleared out all around the settlement in front of the wooden weaved fence.
With nimble movements aided by their special boots and other equipment they wore, the group was able to silently reach the wooden fence and climb up and over the fence dropping down onto the ground on the opposite side.
Skreemi immediately froze, sweat appeared on her forehead in great quantity.
Several large dark furry bodies that blended in with the dark night were peacefully sitting around a young woman with furry cat ears and listening to her talk.
With the sudden appearance of a new guest showing up right next to them the large dark furry creatures stood up blocking Skreemi''s view of the young woman.
The large golden eyes of the dark furry creatures stared back at the new guests looking deep into their souls.
Along with the large furry creatures, a least two dozen heavily armored furry soldiers rushed forward to surround the young woman.
¡°Oh shi...¡± Skreemi could not finish her sentence. She looked down to see a pair of daggers sticking out of her chest from behind before she shattered into hundreds of light particles.
The death of their leader caused the rest of the dark cloaked people to start crazily launching attacks at the charging dark-furred creatures, who when lit up by the flying skills for a few seconds, looked to be frightening nightmare creatures which further distressed the cloaked guests.
Mileena used the body of a demigod she grabbed hold of to take the brunt of the attacks aimed at her.
¡°Stop! Don''t hit me, I''m wearing my rare gear!¡± shouted the female demigod.
The other demigods did not listen and bombarded the body hoping to get to Mileena.
With such a large barrage of skills, the demigod shield was turned into hundreds of lights leaving Mileena without cover for a few seconds which caused her to take a few hits.
¡°Yap!¡±
Luckily several of the skills were blocked by Fluffball''s large ice-armored body which slammed into the lightly armored guests and tore them apart along with the rest of the large furry nightmare creatures.
The sudden commotion erupting below the settlement''s town walls caused the guards and everyone inside to go on high alert.
***
¡°Why are they taking so long?¡± asked a male demigod as they waited far out of sight of the settlement looking at the sky for the signal.
¡°They better hurry up. We need to get this done while the settlement''s main force is gone.¡±
¡°Wait... Skreemi just died!¡±
¡°What!¡±
¡°The entire infiltration team was wiped out.¡±
¡°How? Isn''t the settlement supposed to be nearly empty since they sent an army towards the idiots?¡±
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¡°I don''t know. We''ll have to send more scouts to see what is going on. The others died too fast to send us any information on the settlement.¡±
***
Akira and those that had gone with him on the bandit hunt, arrived back at the settlement as the morning sun was rising for a new day.
The fact that they had been running for nearly a whole day along with the short battle the night before meant they were not in the best shape to fight an all-out war. But with the help of the blue candies, they could ward off the sleepiness and aching muscles long enough to take care of whatever came their way.
Akira looked around and saw the settlement was still intact with no army surrounding it.
¡°Burrruuuu,¡± the goblin''s patrolling the top of the walls noticed Akira and his group and let everyone know of their return.
Akira went directly to the town hall building and sat down to listen to Mileena, Varbu, and Gobbers explain what had happened while he was away.
¡°I see, so it was the demigods again. It was lucky that we managed to take care of such a problem quickly.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball proudly.
¡°Yes, you did good,¡± said Akira, rubbing the miniature Fluffball''s head.
¡°We really need to do something about these sneaky demigods. I''ll have to have Klyn and the other shamen look into it.¡±
The four of them spent another ten minutes setting up plans for the defense of the settlement if and when it was attacked again by the demigods.
With that finished, Akira, the royal guards, and Orc warriors who were all exhausted, were able to take a short nap.
***
Akira was awoken by the sounds of war horns when the sun had nearly risen all the way to the center of the sky.
He hurriedly splashed some lukewarm water on his face from the washbasin next to his cot before he donned his cape over the armor that he had slept in.
He quickly made his way out of the temporary tent and headed towards the settlement''s gatehouse.
Dolph and Vilkas followed by his side along with Fluffball.
Mileena, Varbu, and Prince Gobbers were already waiting on top of the gatehouse looking out towards the open field.
¡°What''s going on?¡± asked Akira.
Mileena pointed to an approaching small group of mounted knights holding a white flag that was carried by a man in shining white armor that looked more ornamental than durable.
The small cavalry force stopped in front of the woven wooden fence and looked up to the gatehouse where several people had already gathered waiting to see what the knights wanted.
¡°I have heard that the leader of Kodria is here! I would like to speak to him!¡± shouted the white armored Knight.
¡°Who are you?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Ah... please excuse my impoliteness of not introducing myself. I am the Knight Roli Rover, and my fellow knight companions behind me are Ting, Ding, Ling, and Ming,¡± said Roli Rover, pointing out each of his four companions as he introduced them.
¡°Why do you want to talk to Kodria''s leader?¡± asked Mileena, who was standing near Akira holding onto his arm.
¡°Beautiful young miss, I have an important letter to deliver to him.¡±
¡°From who?¡±
¡°An old female friend,¡± said Roli Rover. He held up a neat-looking leather pouch and pulled out an undamaged white letter with a red wax seal.
Mileena wanted to pinch Akira''s arm but it was covered in armor. The only thing currently not covered was his face so she poked his cheek hard.
Akira motioned for Dolph to go and take a few other soldiers to receive the letter.
Seeing this Roli Rover made a guess that he was indeed Kodria''s new duke.
Nothing suspicious happened as the hundreds of goblin archers all had their bows pointed at the knights while Roli Rover handed over the letter.
Dolph brought the letter to Akira. He turned to the side and used a small dagger to open the seal of the letter. As he unfolded the letter the name at the top of the letter made Akira groan with dread.
¡°Jezebel? Who is she?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°A childhood friend that went crazy,¡± was all Akira said as he began reading the letter.
The first part of the letter shocked him as he had no idea how she had found out that he had married Mileena.
The rest of the letter was confusing to understand and a bit out there. It read like some teens crazy love fanfiction.
From what was in the letter, he gathered that she was mad at Mileena for taking Akira from her and she claimed that she was now pregnant with Akira''s baby.
Reading this Mileena became angry and kicked Akira in the armored shin only to hop around holding her sore foot.
¡°Hey don''t look at me like that! I told you she''s crazy! None of this is true! How could I have gone to the other continent while I have been here the whole time?¡±
Seeing this interaction between the two, Roli Rover said, ¡°Comrade, I support your love!¡±
¡°What are you still doing here?¡± asked Akira unhappy at being brought such a bomb of a letter.
¡°I have one last message to deliver. The guild BenDover will be taking this settlement a half hour past noon. You may surrender now or face a full assault. We will return later.¡±
With that, the cavalry left the area carrying their white flag fluttering in the wind.
Chapter 274: Battle for Bent-Gii
As noon arrived with the midday heat so did a small force of demigods who approached the outer territory of the settlement.
¡°The report just came in that the Grand elders had already sent out half of the army several days ago to come to our aid but...¡± Zundar did not finish his sentence as he, Akira, and prince Gobbers watched the approaching demigods from atop Bent-Gii''s northern stone wall that they had been patrolling and checking up on the warriors and ballista.
¡°They are too far away to help right now,¡± said Akira.
¡°We can just hold them off until they arrive,¡± said Mileena as she arrived on the wall to stand next to Akira.
A small cavalry force detached from the demigod''s main group and rode forward. Leading it was the demigod from the earlier letter exchange, Knight Roli Rover.
¡°I have been sent to demand your surrender of this settlement,¡± shouted Roli Rover, using a metal bullhorn to be heard.
Ding!
Give up settlement?
Y / N
Kodria will take a large hit to its security if surrendered.
If you successfully defend the settlement you will receive a reward depending on the victory.
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¡°I refuse,¡± said Akira.
¡°My fellow comrade in love, that is an unwise choice.¡±
¡°Why do you keep calling me comrade in love?¡± asked Akira, feeling the heated gaze of Mileena piercing into him.
¡°I have seen that you are also a lolicon,¡± said Roli Rover. Pointing to Mileena standing next to Akira.
¡°I''m not a loli! I am older than you and already a mother!¡± shouted Mileena.
¡°Comrade in love, I see you are truly a man of culture. But alas, although we are brothers in this never-ending conquest for love, sadly I must fight you for her as well as this settlement!¡±
¡°... should I consider this a declaration of war?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It is not a war! It is a battle for the love of a young maiden! I am a gentleman and will fight you as such!¡±
¡°Alright.... then I will consider this as a declaration of war. Those of you who do not want to die, leave now or face death.¡±
The demigods hearing this all laughed. Why should they leave? Even if they died in this battle they would only have a few setbacks such as losing a bit of strength, equipment, and items. On the other hand, everyone inside the settlement would stay dead once killed.
Akira slashed his arm down.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Swoosh!
Several wall-mounted ballista fired along with a hail of arrows. The force of the large spear-like bolts shot right through Roli Rover and the two demigods standing next to him knocking them off their horses as they disappeared into hundreds of light fragments before their bodies hit the ground.
The demigods still alive shouted angry curses seeing Roli Rover die in the sudden attack. With several battle cries, they launched waves of colorful skills towards the sharp wooden stakes surrounding the settlement, cutting down several of the sharpened wooden poles that had been put up recently. With their concentrated attack, they created openings in the wooden outer defenses that were wide enough for several people to pass.
The demigods were being pierced by dozens of arrows by the archers on the wall, they had given up escaping and decided to do as much damage as they could to the defense and the people behind it while they were alive for a few more seconds before disappearing into hundreds of light fragments and dropping armor, weapons, and items.
The armored war horses that had survived the quick skirmish were nervously prancing around in front of the wooden fence, a few had run off into the distance when their rider had been killed.
Several long-range skills from the main demigod forces were aimed at Akira but the majority of them either slammed into the wall or flew high over his head hitting nothing. Many of the Orcs and Goblins ducked down behind the thick stone walls protecting the ramparts, only raising their heads to peek out and aim an arrow or ballista bolt at the distant enemy.
The thick stone was weathering the many attacks well and had not cracked or crumbled yet.
This stalemate went on for what felt like several hours but Akira had not paid attention to the actual time.
During a lull in the flying skills above their heads several of the orcs and goblins stood up to check the area... only to be cut down by a well-timed wave of skills that had waited a short time before using skills again to cut down anyone that popped up.
And thus the first deaths of the battle had arrived. It was bound to happen.
¡°Don''t get careless! Stay in cover until you need to shoot!¡± shouted Akira as he moved along the wall crouched down giving the warriors encouragement.
The demigods tried the same tactic several more times but when it failed to produce any more results another long lull in attacks stretched for a long time.
***
¡°What are you ranged guys doing?¡± asked an angry Shaker, as she slashed out with her whip sword and cut several arrows. ¡°You are supposed to be killing the enemy so that we have an easier time taking over the settlement! All I see is you breaking a few twigs and hammering that stone wall or shooting at the stars in the sky!¡±
¡°If you would properly protect us from the arrows and ballista we would have better results!¡± shouted an agitated Boot, as he ran to the left to try and dodge several arrows flying in their general direction.
¡°What? If all we do is stand in front of you we''ll be riddled with holes!¡± said Sir Bumpalot, ducking down to hide behind his shield.
¡°We''re sitting ducks out here! When are we going to attack?¡± asked Kira Stera.
¡°What was the guild leader thinking only sending us here we should have attacked with the full guild¡¯s might,¡± asked Ivan.
¡°The guild leader and several of the new recruits are working on capturing another place to use as a base.¡±
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¡°Then why are we attacking this place right now?¡±
¡°Well... last night...¡±
¡°Enough talking! It looks like we won''t be able to take this city by attacking it from afar. We''ll just end up using all our resources and energy... Melee members, Form up! We''re going on the attack! Ranged members cover us!¡± shouted Dover.
The ranged demigods all pulled out a blue potion and chugged it down quickly, recovering the energy they had already spent.
***
On top of the stone wall Akira watched as the demigods switched up their strategy.
¡°Varbu, Gobbers, I''ll leave the right and left wall to you!¡± shouted Akira as he ran to the gatehouse to help protect it from being overwhelmed by the demigods.
On the ground behind the closed gates of the gatehouse were the Gargs who were ready to fight if the gates were opened or breached.
As he arrived at the gatehouses a new wave of colorful skills rained down on the gatehouse and those near it.
The melee Demigods charged forward while being pelted by arrows, several were hit but they continued forward unhindered as they jumped through the open gaps in the wooden fencing.
They did not wait to form up a sort of formation and only rushed forward toward the gate in front of them.
Bam!
They slammed into the gates with both their bodies, heavy weapons, and skills. Several of the melee demigods that soon arrived after the first few raised their shields above their heads and those that were focused on attacking the gates, giving them what little protection they could offer as they tried to hug the wall to stay out of the view of those above them.
Akira and defenders had to lean out a bit to aim their attacks at the hiding demigods.
With how serious the situation was Akira used the skill [Sword Slash] several times to slam into the demigods and weaken their defenses.
At this time a few of the demigods gave up hugging the wall and started to try and climb up the wall using their full strength to pull themselves up the wall using the smallest of cracks to climb.
They became immediate targets for almost everyone drawing attention away from those attacking the gate. Even with all the arrows and spears thrown at a large fat Demigod with several of them still sticking out of his body he still managed to reach the top of the wall while drinking a red potion.
[Tomato lvl 130]
Akira met the large Tomato head-on.
¡°Wait, aren''t you that fruit guy who thinks he is a vegetable?¡± asked Akira using the [Potty mouth skill] while simultaneously swinging his sword at the demigod, cutting off his path and successfully stopping him before he could start a massacre by attacking the weaker warriors around him.
¡°I''m not a fruit! I AM a vegetable!¡± shouted the fat Tomato as he swung his weapon at Akira thoroughly angered with his full attention now on Akira.
¡°It has not been that long since I last saw you but you have already grown so... big...¡± said Akira while attacking the round man.
¡°Thanks! Even if you flatter me it won''t change anything. I''m still going to kill you!¡± said Tomato happily as he tried to chop Akira in half.
Akira activated the skill [Shadow Chains] to immobilize him.
¡°That was not a compliment!¡± said Mileena as she used her skill [Blink] to appear behind him and sink her two daggers through his leather armor deep into his well-padded back doing little critical damage.
Nox one and two jumped out of Akira''s shadow and bit into the large Tomato and started to tear him apart.
The already heavily injured demigod was torn to shreds and cut to pieces before he could free himself from the shadow chains and drink another red potion.
¡°Help Varbu and Gobbers with any demigods that show up on their walls!¡± ordered Akira sending Nox 1 and 2 off to different walls to provide support.
Crack!
The gates below received a heavy blow that managed to cause some serious damage.
¡°They''re going to breach the gate!¡±
¡°Mileena keep everything under control up here!¡± shouted Akira as he jumped down from the gatehouse and joined the cavalrymen and Gargs that were next to the gate that was already showing large cracks.
As he was falling to the ground a black misty light covered his body and a deep killing aura rushed out of his body as he landed fully transformed with a light dark mist armor covering his body. Akira activated [Darkness Domain] which quickly spread out enveloping all his nearby allies.
¡°Open the gates!¡± roared Akira.
With the sudden opening of the gates just before they were fully breached, the remaining ragged melee demigods were a bit taken back. But they had no time to think about it deeply and were forced to quickly re-adjust their stances and gather together as a black mist rolled out from the open gates and hindered their vision.
¡°The molten onyx plague!?¡± several of the demigods shouted out in alarm.
While the demigods were in disarray and confusion, Akira led a cavalry charge out of the gates and slammed into the ragged demigods, cutting all but one of them down with both claw, sword, and maces.
The only demigod that managed to survive the charge was encased in a gray suit of stone armor that had many cracks from the battle while holding a large metal club that was four feet long.
Akira was forced to pull out a secondary sword and his shield, before activating the skill [Sword Slash] at the towering demigod.
The blue slash crashed into the large metal club that was being used like a shield, but the attack was not Akira''s main goal, distract him long enough to allow him to activate another skill and keep the attention away from the other nearby cavalry who were using ranged attacks to harass the demigod.
With his shield held in front of him, Akira activated his skill [Shield Slam] his tensed muscles launched him forward in a head-on collision with the large stone-armored Demigod.
BAM!
From the force of Akira''s full weight slamming into him, the demigod was pushed a dozen feet back away from everyone else.
While the stone armored demigod was still unsteady on his feet Akira activated the skill [Tremor] as he slammed his sword into the ground causing a large shock wave to rush out from around him and finally knock the demigod down.
As Akira was ready to activate another skill to try and lock down the demigod...
¡°ROAAAR!¡±
The demigod, enraged at being unable to do anything, rolled to his feet under heavy attacks while a red aura surrounded his body and metal club, using the forward momentum of his roll he attacked Akira with the glowing red metal club in a second.
Akira blocked the attack with his shield and counterattacked with his sword but after a few exchanges, the sword was staring to show cracks.
When it clashed with the red metal club it shattered into shrapnel flying into the demigod''s face and piercing through the stone armor severely wounding him.
With a quick motion, Akira took the chance to slash down on the demigod''s neck and severed his head turning his entire body into light fragments.
Ding!
New skill has been learned!
[Shatter Sword: When your sword is damaged you can let it explode right sending shrapnel into your target].
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¡°What a uselessly expensive skill,¡± muttered Akira, as he looked around the main cavalry charge that had been taken up by Fluffball and others had wiped just wiped out the last of the ranged demigods who had no idea what was happening near the gates due to the dark black mist covering their vision. Thanks to Fluffball''s help there were only a few minor casualties on their side.
Ding!
Successfully defended Bent-Gii!
Reward: +10 points to Kodria''s dukedom, 10k gold, +50% Security in the surrounding area for two months along with a guaranteed bountiful harvest for any crops grown in the area.
+10 Fame, +10 Honor
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Ding!
Kodria''s dukedom has been upgraded to Rank 2 dukedom!
New building blueprints are available! See details for requirements to reach the next rank.
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Ding!
Leveled up! You are now at level 187!
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Before anyone could celebrate their victory, assess that damage, or even gather the loot dropped from the demigods a warhorn from atop the settlement''s wall rang out.
¡°Burruuuuu! Buru Buru!¡±
Akira looked towards the direction it was warning about and saw a large group in the distance coming towards them.
¡°Awooooo!¡±
Akira let out a howl and ordered everyone back inside.
Chapter 275: Making deals
Akira and everyone else inside Bent-Gii held their breaths as they watched the large unknown force appear from the north. They were already tired from the fight with the demigods and were not sure how much longer they could fight or even if they could survive another full-on attack like before.
Akira now held his war hammer and shield tightly since his sword had been shattered, it was his only other main weapon.
Mileena squinted her eyes trying to see the distant targets clearly, while Akira and several other sharp-eyed werewolves looked at the dark blobs on the horizon that were lit by the last of the day''s light which was slowly fading.
¡°Should we go and stop them?¡± asked a cavalry officer.
¡°It would be best to stay here. We are in no shape to fight out on an open field, nor do we have the numbers to do so,¡± said Akira.
As the unknown force made its way closer to Bent-Gii, Akira was able to make out several makeshift wagons, flags, and many people walking with large packs.
¡°Refugees?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°They look like it,¡± said Akira.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief as the caravan did not look to be filled with demigods. Even so, Akira did not give the order to greet them and they all waited to see if the caravan would come to the settlement or pass it by.
The caravan kept marching forward and came to a stop right in front of the hastily repaired wooden barricades in front of the settlement''s stone wall.
The caravan was made up of over 30 large makeshift wagons, converted sleds, and several hundred backpack-wearing humans and dwarves. There was a large number of warriors standing at the outer edge of the caravan wearing leather armor and holding shields, swords, and spears so that they could protect the wagons and backpackers.
A familiar man with a black flag only having the three letters O M Y on it, stepped forth, and with a loud voice shouted out, ¡°We are a traveling band of merchants! May we seek shelter here for the night? We have goods and news from the north to trade with you!¡±
¡°Oib, Mib, Yib and Ferem. It looks like you all are doing well,¡± said Akira.
¡°Ah! That voice... the duke of Kodria is here!¡± said Oib
¡°Why is the duke here? Did he get sent out here as punishment by his wife?¡± asked Yib.
¡°Why would she do something like that?¡± asked Ferem.
¡°It''s what Mib said wives do, they send you away when they are mad,¡± said Yib.
¡°Scary...¡± said Ferem.
Akira ignored their chatter, not daring to look at Mileena who stood next to him. He cleared his throat and said, ¡°Your traveling caravan is welcome but I am not sure how safe you will be as you can probably see we were recently in a scuffle.¡±
¡°Your hospitality is much appreciated. As a show of goodwill, I can give you one free piece of news when we are settled down! It''s the least I could do for you while you are out here on punishment duty,¡± said Mib.
¡°Uh... that''s kind of you,¡± said Akira, looking everywhere else but towards Mileena. ¡°You guys can settle in for the night while we take care of the cleanup around here and deal with a few bandits under our control.¡±
This time, the loss of life was not small, several orcs, goblins, and even a few werewolves and Gargs died.
Those still alive were given the order to finish gathering the dead Orcs and Goblins and start burying them in a new graveyard near the new Bent-Gii settlement. While the dead werewolves were put in wooden boxes to have a funeral for their family who was waiting back at Kodria.
Along with the dead bodies, they gathered weapons, armor, gold, potions, and even rare skill gems.
***
Halrverold, the main continent, [Demon Hunters] guild office.
¡°What can I do for you Olbrou and Yobrou? It is a surprise to see the rival [Blazing Dawn] and [Immortal Dawn] guilds coming to see me together.¡±
The [Blazing Dawn] and [Immortal Dawn] guilds were run by brothers who were always competing to beat the other at whatever they did. That included creating a guild because the others did.
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¡°Ualtar, why is your guild playing in that backwater continent? There are already several large kingdoms here and with your strength, you could take one down,¡± said Olbrou.
¡°Are you and the other guilds worried that my [Demon Hunters] will take the rewards for this event?¡±
¡°...¡± Olbrou stayed silent and did not answer the question.
¡°Our guilds might be labeled as being in the top ten but we still are nowhere near the level of your [Demon Hunters]. If you are planning on hogging all the events...¡± said Yobrou.
¡°Don''t worry. I have no real interest in the event, as you said yourself, it is just a backwater undeveloped place.¡±
¡°Then why are you being so heavy-handed with Froit?¡±
¡°I said I have no interest in the event but not that I want to give up on such an easy gold generating territory. Right now I need all the gold I can get. You know how expensive it is to keep upgrading the armor and weapons for the guild''s main farming team. My main focus is to keep getting stronger. To do that requires better gear for both me and the other guild members on the farming team. Last I heard both your guilds farming teams are lagging far behind your strength. How inefficient, they won''t be able to do much for you with such weak strength.¡±
Yobrou grit his teeth, ¡°Unlike a certain guild we did not have a certain potion to sell for large amounts of gold.¡±
¡°Our guild''s main farming team have been forced to farm in less than ideal areas due to lack of gold, equipment, and resources which a certain guild bought out,¡± said Olbrou as he looked at Ualtar.
Ualtar ignored their sharp words and said, ¡°If you are looking for some decent armor... It just so happens that my guild has some that we have outgrown. If you have the gold I am not against selling it to you. After all, our guilds may be competing but our real enemies are those of the Demon race.¡±
With a wave of a hand from Ualtar, Scar who had been standing nearby presented two clipboards with similar contracts that had been written up well before their meeting almost as if Ualtar had been expecting them.
The two brothers looked at the price and their eyes almost popped out of their heads.
¡°This price is almost the same cost as buying it brand new!¡±
¡°Why don''t you just rob us! Selling used equipment for such an outrageous price!¡±
¡°None of it is even enhanced or upgraded!¡±
Ualtar only sat behind his desk with his hands clasped under his chin as he looked directly into their eyes and said, ¡°This gear has been treated well and repaired to like new conditions, you are wrong about the cost. The gear has a set of special gems that somehow help those using it grow stronger at a faster pace. That is the reason for its cost.¡±
¡°Gems? Why would you be selling us something rare like that?¡± asked a suspicious Olbrou.
¡°They are nothing much, we have already replaced them with stronger gems.¡±
¡°Even so, we are your rival guilds. Selling us this gear will help us rise faster. Are you not afraid we will be able to challenge your guild''s first place position?¡± asked Yobrou.
¡°Do you know how boring it is to win everything without any competition? Plus with the money you pay us, I can start funding the second and third farming teams that have been lagging behind.¡±
This comment frustrated the brothers as even the [Demon Hunters] 3rd tier team had better gear than them. To hear that they were considered to be lagging behind was unpleasant.
Olbrou and YoBrou looked at each other silently deciding on what to do. The cost would nearly wipe out their guild''s savings. If they made this purchase then they would only have their personal gold to buy potions and resources.
Currently, both the brothers and their guild''s main farming teams were using long-outdated gear that did not suit their strength. Those in the other teams below them were in even worse shape.
¡°Although it is pricey... with this purchase we could hand down our current gear to our second-tier farming team making them even stronger.¡±
¡°If we are to do this our guild''s first and second farming teams'' strength would definitely be able to launch our guild into the top 5.¡±
The two whispered back and forth for some time before deciding to sign the contract.
***
Bent-Gii, central building''s meeting room.
¡°...and you are?¡± asked Akira looking at a young woman that held a notepad in her hands. She looked to be a member of the Elkmen demon race, with her two stubby horns on her head and a small bushy brown tail and tan fur all over her body.
¡°I am Erkia, the head writer of the number #1 best-selling traveling Demon race newspaper.¡±
¡°Was there something like that? Never heard of it.¡±
¡°Well... due to some problems, we have been delayed for some time as I was holed up in Jeorra during the molten onyx plague. Normally I travel all around the place documenting important events for others to read.¡±
¡°What can I do for you?¡±
¡°I would love to get an interview with you, the duke of Kodria. Since you are one of the rising shooting stars of the demon race I am sure everyone else would love to hear all about your life. Also If I can, I want to talk to your wife about some gossip I heard recently,¡± said Erkia.
¡°Uhh... okay. Do you want to do the interview now?¡±
¡°Nope. I must find your wife first as that story is juicier... I mean the readers would be more interested in her story,¡± said Erkia as she left the meeting room in search of Mileena.
¡°Don''t worry she is always like that. But it is true that her monthly newspaper is always sold out whenever we reach a new village or town!¡± said Oib.
¡°You three haven''t been telling her any weird stories about me have you?¡± asked Akira.
With blank faces, the three idiot brothers along with Ferem shook their heads no.
¡°We would never do something like sell information about you to her for a really large sum of gold that would help us fund our merchant caravan,¡± said Yib.
Akira highly doubted that.
¡°As for the information you mentioned before? If the price is low enough I don''t mind paying you to explain the current situation up north.¡±
¡°I''m sure we can come to an agreement! It is important information about demigods and their spawning habits.¡±
Chapter 276: Unimp Town
Unimp, a small human town in the northern lands of Foradverold.
¡°... sire there is a large gathering of warriors outside the town walls. They want to speak with you,¡± said the town''s guard captain between gasps of breath as he tried to calm down after running so fast.
¡°Why tell me this? You know I do not like being disturbed by random people,¡± said the town''s leader, not looking at the guard captain.
He continued to ignore the guard captain while he lay on his cushioned couch and flipped the pages of a secondhand monthly newspaper he had bought from a passing stranger.
¡°Interesting... is that so... I never saw it that way...¡± muttered the leader as he read about many different things he had never heard about or seen before.
¡°...sire...¡±
¡°What? You''re still here?¡±
¡°These people outside the town will not leave. If you don''t speak with them I am afraid that...¡±
¡°Fine! I''ll go see them.¡±
¡°Sire, do you think they are here for Unimp?¡±
¡°What would they want with our town? We just started back up and have nothing to steal.¡±
The guard captain escorted the town leader to the wooden gatehouse so that he could talk to the warriors on the outside and get them to leave.
A dozen guards were already standing guard on top of the gatehouse with their weapons ready as they looked down at those below them.
¡°What do you vagabonds want?¡± asked the town leader as he looked at the 5 or so ruffians that stood outside the gates. Their armor and weapons all looked extremely worn out and tattered.
¡°Surrender your town or die!¡± shouted one of the ruffians.
¡°Captain, kill them all,¡± said the Town leader.
The town guards raised their bows and waited for the captain''s order to fire.
¡°Sigh... we wanted to take this town without damaging it... Everyone Attack! Leave no one standing!¡± shouted the Vagabond warrior that looked the worst out of them all.
30 plus warriors rose from their hiding places in the long grass and joined the others near the gate as they began a full attack on the town.
The weak wooden gates were shattered into small splinters under a massive wave of colorful skills.
A large burly vagabond warrior holding a spear in his muscular arm aimed at it at the top of the gatehouse and hurled it forward. A bright purple light covered the spear as it shot forward.
Thunk!
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The spear pierced through the town leader''s stomach like butter. The force behind the attack knocked him off his feet and sent him falling onto the dirt road, where the spear embedded itself deep into the ground and pinned down the town leader where his blood slowly spilled out and turned the dirt red.
Several of the vagabond warriors passed him gleefully whooping in excitement as they chased after fleeing townspeople.
The town leader grabbed onto the spear sticking out of his chest and tried to pull it out but his bloody hands kept slipping.
¡°Ahhhhh!!¡± ¡°Mommy!¡± ¡°You monsters!¡±
As his strength fled him, he could only lay still and slowly die while listening to the horrors that were happening all around him.
A burly arm reached out from the corner of his vision and grabbed the end of the spear tearing it out of his body with one quick pull.
¡°Gah!¡± the town leader let out a cry of pain as blood and guts flew into the air.
The burly man left without saying a word. But a second person walked up to him and crouched down next to his head while smiling at him.
¡°Look at you, looks like that wound hurts. If you had surrendered, we would have killed you all quickly. But now...¡± the man''s dagger slashed out and lopped off the town leader''s right hand.
¡°... I get to play with you.¡±
¡°Sniky, quit playing around. We have to clean up this place, repair our armor, and create a stronger defense structure to stop the other guilds from taking it.¡±
¡°What''s the point? All the good spots are already taken and we are being forced to take over a small backwater town like this that has nothing going for it. The larger guilds will probably come here when they are tired of fighting each other and we will lose all the work we put into it¡± said Sniky.
¡°We just have to gain as many benefits as we can while they are busy fighting each other. We may be able to hold them off for a time if we prepare properly.¡±
The majority of juicy targets in the north were all being gobbled up and now there were only a few easy targets left. The only towns left were the hard nuts that in order to crack, would take their full focus to handle. But right now the demigods were focused on consolidating their forces first.
Jeora was one of these hard nuts that had not been cracked and was now far stronger than was before.
***
Bent-Gii settlement.
¡°Burrruuu!¡± the war horns of Kodria''s army announced their presence. Even though they had marched as fast as they could to arrive and support Akira they were still several days late.
The army stopped outside the wooden fence and inspected the damaged stone walls that showed cracks in several places as well as a destroyed ballista that lay on the ground where it was pushed off the wall.
Akira exited the settlement''s gate and turned to Mileena who was packing her belongings back into the carriage they had arrived in. ¡°You should head back with the guards and take care of the kids. I have to take care of taming the surrounding area and stop any more of these problems from popping up.¡±
¡°... alright, but you need to make sure you don''t take any unnecessary risks and stay as safe as you can,¡± said Mileena reluctantly.
¡°Don''t worry, I will be well protected with so many soldiers supporting me. Nox 1 and 2 are always ready to help me if I get into any tough spots.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he watched Mileena get into the carriage.
¡°With the new batch of soldiers from Kodria, Bent-Gii can hold out if any bandits come again so there is no need to worry about us right now as long as we fix the damage,¡± said Varbu.
Akira watched for a long time until the carriage and its guards disappeared down the dirt road heading back to Kodria.
¡°Alright! Men, we are going to be traveling around the nearby territory to clean up any and all bandits! We must make sure no demigods are setting up any camps near our territory,¡± shouted Akira as he turned to the large waiting force of soldiers waiting outside the settlement.
¡°We''re coming with you!¡± said Oib.
¡°How could I not come with you and document such an exciting adventure!¡± said Erkia.
¡ and so the traveling merchants decided it was best to move along with the army as they would be protected and they could help them sell and buy things wherever they went.
Chapter 277: Unknown Group
As Akira and the Army marched the dukedom map continued to update the surrounding area that they passed through. The traveling merchants hugged the rear of the army making sure not to stray too far away from their protection as the army went further off the main dirt roads.
There were very few permanent towns close to Kodria and even those that existed were a good distance away. On their travels, they saw signs of many different old campsites of people that stayed there for some time but were now gone.
¡°Ah!¡± a group of demon race travelers were surprised and jumped out of the way upon seeing the flag of Kodria flying out in the deep wilderness along with the large army that started passing by them.
The Kodria army paid them no attention as they had run into a few others with the same reaction, but these encounters were few and far between as most people were too busy with the warm month tasks they had to get done before the long winter arrived once again.
¡°According to the scouts from earlier, we should be coming up on a nomadic warm month settlement,¡± said Klyn as he raised his hand to block the summer sun''s glare.
¡°We''ll just do a quick checkup to see if they are doing OK and see if there are any bandits in the area. Who knows they could be bandits themselves,¡± said Akira. He shuffled a bit in the saddle on Grarr''s back trying to get comfortable and allow blood to circulate and wake up his rump that had fallen asleep.
¡°Since it is a temporary settlement there are bound to be many tasks that they need help with. By helping them with any task that they need such as clearing out local monsters or shoring up their defenses, some of them might decide to relocate or at least view us more favorably,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Remind me later to bring up the idea with the grand elders about allocating some gold and mined stone for creating new roads leading out from Kodria,¡± said Akira as he looked at the small dirt trail that was not a road but a very old path created and used by animals and monsters.
¡°They already have funds set aside for the new road to the settlement that will be starting soon as well as the road to the north. I''m sure we can figure out some way to get what we need for a few more roads,¡± said Klyn while he looked at a few notes and began scribbling more tight miniature words.
¡°Awooo!¡± a scout ahead of the main force let out a howl alerting the rest that they had found the settlement.
As they continued forward the shabby temporary settlement they had been expecting was nowhere to be seen. In front of them was a small town with a dirt wall at least ten feet high with a wooden wall supporting it from behind.
Akira raised his armored hand to command the entire force to halt.
¡°You don''t think that....¡± asked Klyn, his voice trailing off not completing his thought.
¡°That the demigods got to them and took it over? I don''t know,¡± said Akira as he looked at the Dukedom map and back at the settlement in front of them.
There was no information saying it was controlled by a group of demigods but the large change in the nomad settlement''s security was unexpected.
Akira turned to Bo who was sitting behind him on another Garg mount along with Tanner who held Kodria''s flag high.
Bo silently nodded his head to Akira and became motionless as his familiar launched itself from his shoulder and flew high into the air to get an aerial view of the settlement in front of them.
Akira watched as the bird became a small dot far out of the reach of normal arrows and demigods'' ranged skills only then did it begin to fly over the settlement.
The army nervously gripped their weapons, their bodies tense and ready for the order to attack if it was an enemy that was occupying the settlement.
The raven swooped down and landed back on Bo''s shoulder and he once again opened his eyes.
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¡°Looks to be a settlement of the nomadic Elkmen. There are at least 30 houses inside the walls. I was unable to see any human or other demon race inside the settlement,¡± said Bo in a quiet voice.
Akira nodded his head and looked to tanner who held the flagpole in one hand and his war horn in the other.
¡°Send the orders to move forward and continue to sound the war horn to let the settlement know we are coming.¡±
Buuurrruuu!
The warhorns were repeatedly sounded throughout the army as they moved forward making it impossible for the settlement to not notice them.
As Akira had hopped, the top of the earth walls started to have several dozen antlered heads appear to see what was going on. Seeing such a large army approaching them, they too started to use the settlement''s alarms to notify everyone that something was going on.
Akira sent Tanner forward with 5 other guards to announce their presence. Kodria''s flag fluttered in the light wind as they rode forward. Those on the wall all tensed up as they saw the approaching flag and guards. Some even pointed to it realizing who the army belonged to.
Only a short while later the main army joined Tanner and the guards who had been conversing with the Elkmen guards.
Akira moved forward a few paces so that they could see who was in charge.
¡°Duke Akira my apologies, if I Erk Mahn, had known you were coming we would have prepared a welcome party for you,¡± shouted Erk Mahn, a burly Elkman who stood nearly 6 ft tall.
His entire body that was not covered by his leather armor was covered in a light tan soft fur that could blend in with the trees of the local woods and forests. On top of his head was a large set of horns that branched out and were well-taken care of. His fur was one of several colors that the wandering tribe had, some had white fur that blended in with the winter snow and gray fur that blended with the rocky terrain of the southern mountains.
¡°This was a last-minute decision I made after an unpleasant meeting with a group of demigods. We are not here to bother you. We only came to see if you were having any troubles that we could help clear up for you. Bandits, monsters, defenses.¡±
¡°We are grateful that such a strong dukedom as Kodria took the time to come out here to offer help. But as you can see, we are not lacking in much of anything since another helpful group passed by some time ago and took care of everything for us.¡±
¡°Who?¡± asked a startled Akira, unsure of who could be going around lending help to temporary settlements.
¡°They didn''t say who they were. All I know is their leader was named Big Sis Teresa. From what I observed while they were here helping us they definitely weren''t human... or even from a demon race.¡±
¡°Demigods!?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Most likely. I don''t know why but they helped us and they were nothing like what I had heard about demigods before. I am sorry that you came all this way for nothing,¡± said Erk Mahn.
¡°No this information you have told us is very important and well worth coming here. Ah, that''s right we have some traveling merchants with us. Do you need any supplies or want to trade?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''m sorry we don''t have much gold left as we spent most of our remaining gold with the demigods, and we don''t have anything worth much to trade right now. Our crops are still growing and there is still some time before we can harvest them and sell the surplus. But they are welcome to come inside and show their wares off and see if anyone wants or needs what they have to offer,¡± said Erk Mahn sheepishly.
Akira looked to the idiot brothers and they turned to the other merchants.
¡°You heard him! Let''s go show them our best items! We should make it quick so we don''t make Duke Akira wait too long for us.¡±
¡°I can smell a big story here! I better catch up with some old friends while we''re here,¡± said Erkia.
As the merchants and Erkia went into the city with their guards to show off their wares, Akira and the rest of the officers gathered to discuss the new information.
¡°This doesn''t sound right. Demigods helping people?¡± said Klyn.
¡°They have all gone rabid and are lusting after any type of settlement no matter how shabby it is so what is going on?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°They definitely are planning something. If we run into this group we''ll have to have a long chat with them,¡± said Akira.
A few hours passed before the merchants finished the few trades that could and exited the settlement. Many were sad at having sold or traded nothing. Erkia was one of the few people happy as she had gained a lot of new information.
The army and merchants once again marched off in search of bandits, settlements, aggressive demigods, and now this questionable group of demigods.
The next two nomadic settlements they passed had similar stories to the Elkmen. A group of unknown demigods had helped them greatly with all their needs.
As the army was clearing a path through the grassy wilderness towards a new settlement that they had been told about from the last place they had visited, the sound of battle ahead of them alerted Akira.
Akira looked to Bo who had immediately gone into action to scout the area ahead. The wait lasted only a short time as Bo opened his eyes once again.
He looked at Akira and said only one word.
¡°Demigods.¡±
Chapter 278: Big sis Teresa
Akira pat Grarr''s side urging him forward. They led the charge towards the colorful flashing lights that were partially blocked by the tall grass growing everywhere.
Tanner followed behind Akira''s royal guards with Kodria''s banner held high fluttering in the wind, the rest of the army followed behind him with their weapons and shields ready.
Akira and Grarr were one of the first to burst out of the tall grass into a freshly cut open field with his shield held forward on his left arm. They paused for a moment to see what they were dealing with.
The thick scent of fresh blood immediately caused everyone to be on high alert as their gazes zeroed in on the culprits of the flashing and exploding skills.
A decent-sized group of around 30 or so mismatched armored and robed people were chatting and laughing as they went about searching the blood-soaked ground for loot.
Akira''s eyes zeroed in on their weapons and saw that all of the melee weapons had fresh blood still dripping off of them.
The sight and scent was enough to send several of the werewolves into a fit, ¡°These damned demigods are always killing people from the demon races!¡±
¡°Awoooooo!¡± Akira let out a howl and they once again resumed their charge toward the murders.
The demigods hearing the howl stopped their chatter and looked towards the howl with several of them showing shock at the hundreds of large wolves, werewolves, goblins, and orcs headed right towards them.
Those that had kept their cool were intrigued by the dark misty light that exploded out from Akira''s body blocking him from their sight for only a few seconds before once again clearing up to reveal a tall muscular body with a menacing furry face with an evil grin full of sharp canines and a pair of piercing blue eyes that were staring daggers deep into them.
The hundreds of other werewolf warriors underwent something similar but less dramatic as they also transformed ready to go all out.
A female demigod at the center of the group said something that Akira could not hear, but the demigods around her all reacted by taking up a defensive stance around her, ready to take on the full attack.
...but before the two sides came to clashes, two teens from the Kamen demon race ran out from the group of demigods waving their hands wildly in the air as they ran in between the two forces.
¡°Wait! Wait!¡± ¡°Don''t attack!¡±
Akira patted Grarr''s side with his left hand while holding his armored fist up to halt the charge only twenty or so yards short of crashing into them.
¡°What is going on here?¡± asked Zundar, looking between the two teens and then glancing at the demigods behind them, they were still in a defensive formation surrounding the female demigod.
¡°It''s not what you think!¡± said one of the teens, seeing the werewolves looking at the blood covering the freshly cut tall grass.
¡°Save your breath. If they want to fight we will fight!¡± said a haughty deep female voice coming from a round female demigod standing in the first defensive ring. Her leather armor was straining to keep everything inside and protected while she wore large iron gauntlets on her fists.
¡°There''s no need to fight!¡± shouted one of the frantic teens running around and flapping his arms to try and calm the demigods down as well.
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¡°Kip is right. Look at the flag! If I am not mistaken you are the duke of Kodria right? It is an honor to be able to meet you. I was unable to go to Kodria for the recent celebration but I did see your wedding when I visited Kodria to trade for supplies.¡±
¡°Why are you two helping the demigods slaughter those of our demon race?¡± asked Akira, ignoring the two''s excited chatter.
¡°So what if they are helping us? Are you their mother?¡± asked the round demigod again.
¡°What? NO NO NO! We would never do that! Big sister Teresa is not like those other demigods!¡± said Kip waving his arms even faster.
¡°That''s right she is different and just wants to help out! They were just helping us clear out the area,¡± said the second teen.
¡°You two should know better than to be playing around with demigods. Even if you are ignorant of the many demon races that were wiped out in the past by demigods. You should know of the current demigods that roam the land killing and causing mayhem,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Who do you think you...¡±
¡°Rondie, that''s enough. We don''t need to be starting fights with them,¡± said the female demigod at the center.
Akira focused his attention on her to bring up her name and level above her head. [Lvl 50 Teresa guild: none].
Her looks were nothing to write home about nor was she ugly. Even with the large distance separating them he could feel a kind and sweet aura seeping out of her which made Akira warier.
He quickly scanned the rest of the people around her, including the deep-voiced Rondie. They were all around the same level as Teresa except for three girls who stood the closest to Teresa and Rondie. The four of them were over level 100.
¡°If these demigods are threatening you or holding your family hostage, just say so and we will exterminate them,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Hey don''t talk bad about big sis Teresa!¡± shouted a low-level no-name demigod.
¡°Are you trying to pick a fight with us by being rude to our big sis?¡± another low-level demigod asked.
Several other demigods made threats and glared at Zundar as if he had killed their grandma.
¡°We have received suspicious reports of a group of demigods going around to each settlement, are you that group they mentioned?¡± asked Akira while staring straight at Teresa.
¡°We are.¡±
¡°What is your intention in doing all this?¡±
¡°We only wish to help those in need,¡± was all she said.
¡°That''s right! If we wanted to kill you all, we would have been fighting nonstop and already be a lot stronger like those in the main guilds,¡± said no-name low-level demigod number 2.
¡°We all follow big sis Teresa and work on mostly peaceful ways of getting stronger!¡±
¡°But you''re demigods...¡± said Akira, not believing them.
¡°Who ever heard of a peaceful demigod? All they want to do is kill kill kill,¡± said Zundar.
The rabid low-level demigods all shouted out excuses trying to defend sister Teresa''s honor. Many of them were males but there were several females as well.
From the way they looked at Teresa it was as if they worshiped her. It was a bit unsettling for Akira to see the expressions on their faces.
¡°You stay over there away from sister Teresa!¡± said one of the low-level followers.
¡°Don''t come any closer!¡± shouted another.
The group of low-level demigods stared angrily at Akira and the rest of the Kodria army.
¡°Duke Akira, please allow me to escort you and your soldiers to the town. I can bring you to the town''s chief so you can peacefully clear up any misunderstandings,¡± said Kip.
Since the demigods in front of him were not attacking them or the town, Akira decided to ignore them and accept Kip''s offer even if he did not trust the words that came out of the demigod''s mouth.
All of this just made him even more sure that they were up to something. But he was not sure what.
¡°Lead the way.¡±
Kip made sure to lead them in a wide arc around the demigods to make sure that no clashes happened that would start a fight.
Zundar stayed at the rear of the army to guard against any sudden surprise attack from the demigods who only stared back at him as they marched to the town.
They reached the town''s new dirt ramparts without incident.
¡°Zundar, make sure nothing happens while I am talking to the chief,¡± said Akira quietly as he passed him.
¡°You can count on me to swat them down if they try anything!¡±
Chapter 279: Some Nobody That Got Lucky
¡°We''ll stop here for a short rest,¡± said Akira pointing to a thick cluster of trees that could provide them the only shade on the wide open grassy planes that surrounded them.
Akira hopped off of Grarr and stood there for a moment gazing out at the large green grassy plane that covered the land as far as one could see.
A light breeze swept past him and caused the grass to visibly sway as the wind swept by making it look like a flowing green wave.
The silence of their surroundings and the sight of the several green grassy waves was quite calming to watch. With all that they had been having to deal with it was nice to pause a moment and watch nature.
Another type of nature called Akira so he excused himself from the others and walked into the trees, stopping a short distance away before hiding behind a large tree to quickly do his business out of sight of his nearby bodyguards.
As he finished and was tidying up himself, he heard the rustling of dried leaves behind him.
Annoyed at his guards not allowing him to have privacy to use the bathroom by himself he turned around.
¡°Dolph, Vilkas, could let me go to the bathroom in peace?¡±
¡°Who''s that?¡± asked an unfamiliar voice.
¡°Never heard of anyone with that name.¡±
¡°We sure struck gold this time! Look at his armor! We could sell it for a large amount of gold.¡±
¡°It would be enough gold for us all to buy new armor and maybe weapons depending on what else he has in that bag.¡±
Akira frowned as he heard these words.
Six people exited the shadows of the trees revealing themselves to Akira. They all wore matching black leather armor with drooping black hoods that covered their upper faces only revealing their nose and mouth. The armor design was nothing he had seen before.
Out of the group of 6, one of them was noticeably far smaller than the others. Just by the aura, smell, and weapons, Akira had a hunch that they were demigods.
Hearing Akira call their names Dolph and Vilkas rushed out from behind a nearby tree and joined Akira glaring at the demigods.
¡°Oh? You have two guards?¡± asked a female demigod.
¡°New Guy, we can''t waste time here, we need to hurry up and kill them,¡± said the short demigod.
¡°You''re right, let''s have fun doing it, Meget,¡± said New Guy.
Akira, seeing that these people were not here for a friendly chat, reacted without thinking and immediately transformed. A black mist covered his body blocking the enemies¡¯ view while letting out a deep bloody killing aura that swept through the entire area.
The soldiers and guards that were relaxing in the shade at the edge of the large cluster of trees jumped to their feet when they felt the aura wash over them.
¡°Protect the lord!¡± roared Zundar as he charged into the thickly wooded area. The narrow openings between the trees made it hard for him to charge in a straight line toward Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball in alarm as he quickly transformed and rushed into the cluster of trees.
¡°Edeot, you said he was supposed to be an easy target!¡± said one of the demigods, just now noticing the soldiers of different demon races flooding through the narrow trees rushing right at them.
¡°This is bad! He''s gathering his power around himself for something big! We need to get out of here before they can target us with it!¡± said a frightened demigod as he stared at the black misty light that was sending out waves of killing intent directed right at them.
¡°Shadow chains!¡±
Eight wolf-headed chains shot up from the shadows on the ground and bit deep into the arms and legs of two of the demigods. It was only recently that Shadow chains had advanced to rank 2 allowing the skill to bite into two targets for a longer period than was previously possible.
Nox One and Two silently jumped out from the black mist surrounding Akira which was quickly disappearing to reveal a large muscular werewolf with black fur, a long tail, razor-sharp teeth, and claws.
''Hmm, another fight?'' ''Looks like the enemy this time is those wimps over there.''
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Both Dolph and Vilkas had already transformed and were ready to attack or defend as soon as Akira or the demigods took action.
¡°Go,¡± was all Akira said in his gravelly voice.
¡°RUN! They''re going to kill us!¡± shouted a female demigod as she turned around and began escaping leaving the others behind.
Nox One and Two shot forward and tackled two of the nearby demigods slamming their shadow bodies into them with a surprising weight behind their attacks.
¡°AH!!! GET IT OFF!¡±
¡°Gah!...gurgle...¡±
Akira crouched down and activated the [AQR] Skill and shot forward as he ran on all four limbs. He ignored the two demigods trapped by the shadow chains and the two that were being shredded by Nox One and Two, to instead chase after the two female demigods that were trying to run away.
Fluffball, Dolph, and Vilkas tried to keep pace with Akira, but he was gaining speed with each step forward allowing him to quickly outpace them while also catching up to the two demigods who had a head start.
While still running Akira activated the basic skill [Pounce] and launched himself through the air with his sharp claws stretched out in front of him.
His claws grabbed onto the nearest female demigod''s shoulders and pierced partially through her leather armor causing small lacerations. Then Akira''s heavy body slammed into her, knocking her off her feet and into a nearby tree.
With the wind knocked out of her and her head spinning from slamming into a tree she was unable to regain her senses immediately.
¡°Get off of her you pervert!¡± shouted the second female demigod who was now behind Akira and too close for comfort.
Without looking, Akira swiped his tail behind him making contact with the arm of the demigod. Only a half second later a bright light flashed by cutting down a tree only a few paces away from Akira''s head.
¡°You idiot are you trying to kill me as well?¡± shouted the demigod trapped under Akira.
Moments later the second female demigod was run through by Dolph and Vilkas'' swords ending her attempts at attacking Akira a second time. She disappeared into thousands of light fragments with a pained and unhappy expression on her face.
¡°I''ll get you back next time whoever you are!¡± shouted the first female demigod as she tried to escape from the claws that were tearing deep into her back.
Akira removed his right claw and straightened it into a knife. With one quick motion, his attack pierced her leather armor and her heart.
Her body disappeared into bright motes of light leaving behind a few trinkets, potions, and a small pile of gold on the ground which Akira fell on top of.
Luckily the potion bottles were not weak and did not break, that would have been a shame.
Akira stood up and quickly scanned the claustrophobic battlefield for any more danger but could not see or smell anything that might pose a threat to them.0
The rest of the demigods had been taken care of by the soldiers and Zundar.
¡°What''s the damage?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Jarm lost his right arm... no way to reattach it as it was shredded by one of the demigod''s skills. A potion was used to stop the bleeding. Other than that nothing but a few scrapes and wounds that can be healed normally,¡± said Zundar as he walked up to Akira.
Akira could see some of the so-called scrapes and wounds on the others. They looked pretty bad and could cause trouble if not taken care of immediately.
¡°Everyone patch yourself up as best as you can.¡±
Ding!
Bounty quest rank 2 has been completed!
You have successfully wiped out the Edeot bandit group that preyed on all those who stopped in this area to rest.
Reveal your name to the issuer of this bounty?
[Y/N]
|
Akira quickly picked No without needing to think about it.
Ding!
The Demon Hunters guild has paid out the 200 gold reward for the successful completion of the bounty!
The gold has been placed into Kodria''s treasury.
Honor +10, fame +5, Kodria''s security has risen by 5%.
|
''The Demon Hunters guild? What did these demigod bandits do to get such a large bounty?'' thought Akira as he looked at the decent sum of gold that would go a long way to help Kodria. Even though it was a great help it still left a sour taste in his mouth, it felt like he was working for the demigods and getting paid for it.
¡°This place is probably the bandit''s main base. Search the area and see what else they have stashed. There is a high possibility of finding loot from other people they have robbed or killed,¡± ordered Akira.
¡°On it!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± said several nearby soldiers who were fully patched up from the fight.
Akira sighed as he watched them head off into the woods in pairs of ten to search for the hidden loot.
¡°These damn demigods won''t even let me pee in peace.¡±
***
¡°Captain Fela! That bounty we put up a while ago was just completed!¡± shouted a female in dark blue robes and thick glasses as she burst into Fela¡¯s office.
¡°Who was it that completed it?¡± asked Fela, looking up from the paperwork and accounting of the money flow that was coming in only to be immediately spent on maintaining their position in the northern lands with all the turmoil happening around them.
¡°No clue. They did not reveal their name, guild, or group they were with. But they had to be one of the main guilds as those idiots in Edeots bandit group are not the usual trash.¡±
¡°Hmph! They get what they deserve for saying what they said to me!¡±
¡°I hope whoever completed the bounty was not one of our rivals. I would hate to be funding their guild''s attempts to attack Froit to take it over. Money is tight right now so we can''t be harming ourselves while aiding our enemy.¡±
¡°You''re thinking too deeply on this matter. It''s not like they would go out of their way to do that right now. It was most likely some nobody that got lucky.¡±
Chapter 280: Meeting old acquaintances again
¡°Halt! Why have you brought such a large army here?¡± shouted a Ramia city guard from the top of one of the sturdy walls of the Madu stronghold.
Tanner looked to Akira who nodded back to him.
The Garg that tanner was riding took several steps forward to stand out from the crowd. He held Kodria''s flag high so that there was no doubt who they were.
With the flag flapping in the wind and the large force of Garg mounts, the Ramia guard would have to have been living under a rock to not know who they were or to mistake them with some other force.
¡°We have come to inform you of the demigods that have been active in the north and now in the south. They have been taking over towns and cities causing mayhem and misery wherever they go,¡± shouted Tanner.
The guard looked to one of the several other guards standing next to him with an odd expression that Akira could not place. That guard shook his head.
¡°You told us now. Is that all?¡± asked the city guard.
Akira nudged Grarr forward to stand next to Tanner.
¡°If it is okay with your lord. We would like to stay for a day or two while we trade or pay for supplies that we need. We recently came into possession of a lot of expensive things that you might like,¡± said Akira.
¡°Who it is that wishes to speak directly to the lord?¡± asked the Ramia guard in a dry voice, his scaly face held no expression as he looked directly at Akira.
Several low growls and grunts came from behind Akira as they listened to the disrespectful tone coming from the guard. Even an idiot would know who Akira was. This situation was far worse, seeing as it was only a year or so ago that he had led a force to help them with the siege during the height of the Molten Onyx Plague.
¡°You have the pleasure of speaking to the honorable Duke of Kodria!¡± said Tanner in a loud booming voice.
¡°I will inform the lord of your arrival and request,¡± was all the guard said.
Akira and the rest of the soldiers behind him watched as the guard walked out of sight. Only a few seconds later several hundred new Ramia guards started to appear on top of the stronghold''s walls to stare at them.
¡°What''s their deal?¡± asked Tanner.
¡°They''re an ungrateful lot. Their actions in the past and now are highly unhonorable,¡± said Zundar as he walked forward to stand next to Akira along with Fluffball and Akira''s other guards.
The reply to their request did not come even after an hour of waiting outside the city walls in the summer sun. This was starting to irritate the soldiers who felt that they and their lord were being ignored.
After another half hour had passed everyone was growing restless while they watched the watchers on the walls and silently waited for the guard that had left to return with a reply.
Just when some of the more hotheads in the group were going to say something, the guard finally returned.
¡°The lord has agreed that your men can camp outside. As for entering Madu, only you and 10 others will be allowed to enter at any time. If you wish, you and any ten of your followers may pay to stay at one of our inns for as long as you are here,¡± said the guard in his dry voice.
Many grunts and mutterings of discontent could be heard behind Akira. Although he was unhappy with the poor reception they were receiving, especially towards a friendly ally that had helped them before, Akira raised his hand to quiet everyone.
¡°I''ll accept your offer,¡± said Akira.
As the gates slowly opened Akira quickly called out the names of his bodyguards, Zundar, Klyn, and a few of the traders to join him in entering the stronghold.
¡°Tanner.¡±
¡°Yes, lord?¡±
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¡°You will stay here with the rest of the soldiers. Make sure to keep an eye on everything,¡± said Akira.
¡°I will!¡± said Tanner as he moved to join the rest of the soldiers who had moved to the side of the dirt road and started to set up a temporary camp.
Akira and the ten people he had picked all walked through the gates together and were met by a small group of twenty or so Ramia soldiers.
¡°I am Reeekree. I will escort you to the inn you will be staying at during your stay here,¡± said an elderly Ramia. The scales all over his face and body had lost almost all of their luster and were dull with many scars received from a long life of hard fighting.
¡°Please lead the way,¡± said Akira.
The Ramia soldiers spread out around the new guests and escorted them down several side streets until they reached a... decent looking three storied inn named [Average Nights].
The Inn had no paint or anything other features to make it stand out. Attached to the left side of the inn was a small tavern with the name [Average Tavern].
Reeekree opened the door to the Inn and stood to the side as the noisy sound of boisterous chatter and clatter of utensils being used to eat escaped from inside the building.
Akira nodded to Reeekree and entered the warm inn with the ten others right behind him.
The inside of the Inn was just as he had expected from just looking at it on the outside.
A large portion of the front room, mostly on the left, was filled with chairs and tables for the tavern''s guests. At the front of the left side of the room was a large wooden bar with a few stools. Behind the counter was a grumpy-looking Ramia that was standing still as he watched the chattering guests that were currently eating. He only moved his arm a few times to tend to the fire that was being used to cook food. This fire was a large reason why the inn was far warmer inside than outside air.
The only ventilation was two small windows set high in the wall to stop people from looking into the tavern.
The right side of the large front room had a second wooden counter to check in and out for those wanting to stay at the Inn. A bored Ramia, who appeared to be in his teens judging from his young face and unblemished shiny scales, sat behind this counter.
Akira only took a glance at the two Ramia, before he and those behind him zeroed in on the small group that was chatting and eating.
¡°... we can''t always win.¡±
¡°This is quite a setback. We lost a lot of stuff this time since they probably already raided everything we left behind.¡±
¡°Next time we have to sell off stuff more regularly.¡±
¡°You think they were sent by the Demon hunters?¡±
¡°I highly doubt they would send a group from the demon race to do their dirty work. You know, with their name and all.¡±
One of the guests facing the door looked up from his food and saw the new group that had just entered the room. His smiling face immediately went blank.
¡°What''s wrong with you New Guy?¡± asked a female demigod that was sitting across from him.
Seeing such an unusual change in his face the others at the table turned to look at what had caught his attention.
They all jumped up in fright and backed away from the table while drawing their weapons.
¡°It''s you!¡± they shouted as they pointed at Akira and his men.
¡°Yo! Long time no see!¡± said Akira.
¡°What the hell do you lot think you are doing in my tavern!¡± growled the grumpy Ramia as he angrily pointed his cooking utensil at the demigods.
¡°They''re here to kill us!¡± shouted Edeot.
The grumpy Ramia man looked over to Akira''s group and saw that they did not have their weapons out nor did they look like they were here for a fight.
He looked back at the frightened demigods and asked. ¡°What makes you think that?¡±
¡°That guy and his followers killed us several days ago!¡± said Meget, the short demigod.
¡°So you demigods really can die and come back to life. Must be nice,¡± said the grumpy Ramia.
¡°Hey! It''s not like we enjoy dying!¡± said one of the female demigods.
¡°So true Qwiin. That time I was eaten alive by that rock zombie thing during the plague...¡± said the second girl with a shudder as she remembered the death.
¡°Gorl, it''s okay they are no longer able to eat you alive anymore,¡± said Qwiin as she patted Gorl on the back trying to comfort her.
¡°It is really unpleasant to die, not only do we lose a little bit of our strength, there is a high possibility that we will lose gear and other items...¡± said Hardyhar.
¡°Even if all this is true, do you not have a brain to know not to start fights inside buildings? Take it outside!¡± growled the Grumpy Ramia man.
The demigods whispered between themselves for a few seconds before looking at the grumpy Ramia.
¡°We''ll be heading to our rooms, please send our future orders there.¡±
¡°Humph....¡± was all the grumpy Ramia said in reply.
When the demigods had rushed up the stairs onto a different floor out of everyone''s view the grumpy Ramia looked to Reeekree who had quietly entered the room.
¡°Why are you bringing trouble to my place? Do you have no shame? You should know that the demigods and those people do not get along.¡±
¡°Don''t blame me Reekrull, I am just following orders!¡±
¡°Let me guess you want these disasters in waiting to stay here as well?¡±
¡°Correct. That is the lord''s wish.¡±
Chapter 281: What do you want?
Reeekree left the Inn not wanting to stay any second longer than necessary. His departure was so quick that Akira could not ask him when he would be able to meet with chief Raibread.
¡°All of our large rooms have already been paid for in advance up to the next week. If you want to stay here you''ll have to settle with using two smaller rooms,¡± said Reekrull.
¡°That will be enough for us, we only plan on staying a short time. About before... you should really watch those demigods. They are no good,¡± said Akira.
¡°Humph... they are paying customers. Don''t be butting your head in where it doesn''t belong and don''t go starting trouble in my inn or I will kick you out even if the lord wants you to stay here,¡± said Reekrull staring grumpily at Akira for a few seconds.
¡°Rucereee, after they pay, show them their rooms and hand them their keys.¡±
¡°Yes father,¡± said Rucereee. The young Ramia had been paying close attention to everything that had happened since Akira had entered the inn.
Klyn, who was put in charge of the finances of this expedition, walked over to the young Ramia and paid the few coins needed to rent the rooms for two days.
¡°Please follow me,¡± said Rucereee after placing the coins into a metal box that was secured to the stone floor.
The young Ramia slithered out from behind the wooden counter and over to a steep stone ramp. Ramps, instead of the stairs that bipedal humans and demon races used, could be found in any Ramia building that was taller than one floor.
The stone ramp was well-worn with certain spots polished enough that just stepping on it would send you tumbling back to the first floor.
Akira looked at the ramp for several seconds with the others as they tried to figure out how to not make a fool of themselves. Rucereee easily climbed the slippery ramp unaware of the predicament that Akira and the others found themselves in.
Akira was the first daredevil to step forward and instead of walking up such a slippery ramp normally, he used the wooden railing on the right side of the ramp and began using his large arm muscles to pull himself up the slippery ramp.
Everyone else seeing this followed suit. They had to pull themselves up two sets of slippery stone ramps to reach the 3rd floor where they would be staying for their time here.
¡°You guys must have a lot of fun going on so many adventures and fighting with demigods. So cool!¡± said Rucereee upon reaching the third floor well out of the view and hearing range of his father.
¡°It''s nothing like that really. We were just cleaning up the area of troublesome people,¡± said Akira.
¡°I want to go out on adventures as well! I have been practicing my martial arts with my friends every day that I can,¡± said Rucereee. His scaly tail twirled in the air and snapped out with a crack as he showed off some of his skills as well as chopping the air with a knife-hand.
¡°But... I can''t go out because I have to help my father with running the inn and tavern,¡± Ruceree said with regret as his eyes full of longing stared at the armor and weapons Akira and the others wore.
¡°Even if you can not go out on adventures you can still use your skill to help protect the inn and your father from any troublesome people,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Nothing like that ever happens here. Everyone that comes here is just cheapskate introverts. Oh! I''m not calling you one, since the lord is the one that sent you here.¡±
¡°Either way, you are a man! Keep up the hard work and pack on some more muscles... you look too skinny,¡± said Zundar smacking Rucereee on the back in encouragement. With this ''light'' touch, Rucereee was nearly sent flying down the hallway.
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¡°But out of all my friends, I have the most muscles...¡±
Ruceree became completely quiet as they passed a set of 4 rooms that all had their doors closed.
Akira could just barely make out soft muttering from one of the rooms but no matter how hard he tried to focus on the words, everything he heard was a garbled mess. For some reason, there was a constant buzzing sound that interfered with listening to the conversation.
The two rooms that Akira and co. would be using, were at the opposite side of the building of the first four rooms were probably the rooms that were being used by the demigods.
¡°These are your keys. You can be assured of your room''s security as there are only two sets of keys for each door. You now have one set and I have the other downstairs.¡±
With a bow, Ruceree left them.
Zundar inspected the first room to see if it was safe before Akira and the others entered the same room and closed the door.
Akira walked over to the opened wooden shutters on the only window in the room and latched them shut. With that, he activated his darkness domain filling the entire room with the muffled darkness that interfered with the sight and sound of unfriendly peeping toms, while not also not affecting Akira or the other allied members inside the room.
Only after the skill was activated did he turn to everyone with a grim face.
¡°What is that damned Raibread doing sending us here to wait at this average place. He has no honor!¡± grumbled Zundar, letting out his frustration at everything that had happened since they arrived.
¡°These petty actions are to be expected from him and are not the real problem...¡± said Klyn.
¡°He is allowing demigods to stay inside his own city, and these are the worst type of demigods...¡± said Akira.
¡°Everyone must stay on guard for any tricks or ambushes that they may try while we run our errands here and wait for Raibread.¡±
***
The next morning Akira was sitting at one of the tavern tables with Dolph, Vilkas, and Fluffball, eating the local Ramia middle-class breakfast when the tavern door opened and a Purple-haired female human entered.
Akira only glanced at her to see if she was a threat but quickly returned to his food after not sensing any killing intent coming from her.
Her footsteps stopped at his table and the chair opposite him was pulled out as the female sat down.
Akira looked up from his food confused at why this person had decided to sit down at their table.
Dolph and Vilkas put down their utensils and had their hands resting on their weapons as they glared at the person sitting across from them.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball threatening the woman.
¡°Can I help you with something?¡± asked Akira, as he patted Fluffball to stop him from biting her.
Now that she was sitting directly across from him Akira''s nose was twitching in discomfort.
Ding!
You have resisted the calming effects of the passive skill [Perfume].
|
Akira''s eyes became sharp as he glared at the woman before him. He had never seen her before but he was now sure that she was a demigod. What he did not know was if she was part of the bandit group they had tussled with before.
He glanced at Dolph and Vilkas and saw both of them had their noses scrunched as they both could smell something was wrong with the scent coming from the female in front of them.
The female demigod in front of them had a bright smile on her face and acted as if she did not see the four sets of glaring eyes directed at her.
¡°Huuuuh~,¡± there was a loud exasperated grunt from ReekRull behind the counter as he watched what was going on.
Again Akira spoke, this time with a harder tone to his words. ¡°What do you want, demigod.¡±
¡°My what a hard nut you are. You should loosen up.¡±
Akira and the others were silent and just stared piercing gazes at her.
¡°My name is Sue. Sue Duza. I am the leader of your fan club,¡± said Sue, holding out her hand.
Akira did not take it and only stared at her trying to figure out what she was talking about and why she was here.
Akira noticed a flicker of light in her eye.
Ding!
You have resisted the skill [Seduction Illusion].
|
¡°What do you want?¡± asked an angry Akira for the third time. His anger was now boiling to the max and was about ready to lose his cool!
Chapter 282: Playing with fire
¡°Okay... and is that all you want?¡± asked Akira with gritted teeth as he tried to hold back his anger while his muscles tensed up ready to fight.
Dolph and Vilkas also shook their heads to clear them and placed their hands on their weapons once again ready to draw them.
¡°Tut tut, you''re no fun. I''ll see you guys later,¡± said Sue Duza, with only a sly wink at Akira before she walked out of the inn''s door.
¡°I would appreciate it if you stopped drawing lighting down near my building. Sooner or later that lightning will hit and destroy this building,¡± grumbled a moody ReekRull behind the counter as he cooked food over an open fire.
¡°I was just sitting here minding my own business!¡± said Akira in protest.
¡°It would be more interesting if it hit,¡± said RuceReee quietly.
After such an odd experience Akira and co decided to return to the main camp and see what was going on and how much longer the traders and everyone else needed to sell their wares and restock the needed resources.
¡°...so if everything goes as planned you should all be finished by the end of the day?¡± asked Akira while standing in a large tent near the center of the encampment of the Kodria warriors and the random merchants.
¡°That''s correct!¡± said Oib.
¡°Then what should we do while we wait for Raibread?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Didn''t you mention that there was a report from the scouts about a possible dungeon nearby? We could go and clear it as a sign of goodwill to the Ramia,¡± said Akira, letting the other officers think over the suggestion for a second.
¡°Will that even work? They aren''t the easiest of demon races to get along with,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Who knows? We can probably still get some nice materials from it even if the Ramia ignore us clearing the dungeon for them.¡±
The debate on what to do only lasted for a few more minutes.
With the day''s activity decided, Akira started gathering a force that was strong enough to take on the dungeon. He had to manage a balancing act of also keeping a large and strong enough force at the camp to protect their belongings and the merchants from any thieves or sneaky people that may want to enter the camp and cause trouble, mainly the demigods.
Tanner was one of the people who was chosen to stay behind as he was in charge of watching over Kodria''s flag which was now placed at the center of the camp.
When all the preparations were finished, Akira and the selected warriors moved out of the temporary encampment and headed toward the dungeon.
¡°Sqwak!¡± ¡°Sqwak!¡± ¡°Sqwak!¡±
On their way to the dungeon, a flock of angry [Two-headed Prickly Turkey] monsters attacked them.
This flock of wild monsters attacking them was an odd breed of bird. They did not fly, nor did they live in trees or have normal feathers.
¡°Damn monsters. They are all getting more numerous than before now that the Molten Onyx Plague is gone,¡± growled Akira as he raised his shield to block the sharp needle feathers that flew toward him.
¡°Their natural enemies were nearly wiped out from it, so many of these low-tier monsters have had a major boom in population,¡± said Klyn.
Akira was not too worried about the hail of needle feathers from the [Two-headed Prickly Turkey], since they were not sharp enough to pierce his armor. The problem was the poison that coated the needle feathers. If it got on your skin then that area would be numbed and parallelized.
Akira sliced his way through the small flock of [Two-headed Prickly Turkeys] along with the other warriors who used swords and crossbows to take down the pesky monsters.
There was not much they could gather or use from their dead bodies as it was all contaminated with poison. Asking Klyn to clean all the low-tier material was not worth the effort.
¡°A bunch of bird-brain monsters that don''t know how to judge their own strength,¡± said Akira, shaking his head.
As they continued on their way toward the dungeon they continued to encounter several small and medium-sized groups of monsters that were all fairly easy to handle but they all had some sort of paralyzing attack. To name a few: [Bonehead Snake] [100-eyed Spider Moth] [Giant razor Centipede].
The [100-eyed Spider Moths] were the most troublesome as they were small and agile enough to make it hard to accurately hit. They also liked launching sneak attacks by jumping at their targets from dark places.
If their sneak attack failed or they needed to move while in mid-air, they just used their small wings to help them dodge attacks before latching onto their target and trying to bite them sending a venom into the targets system to paralyze them and slowly soften up the fleshy area to allow them an easier time to eat.
¡°Bo, are we on the right path to the dungeon? What''s with all these small fries attacking us?¡±
¡°It should be. I made sure to scout the path to the dungeon and the area around it yesterday. I didn''t see any groups of monsters hiding along this path...¡± said Bo.
¡°Check and see if there is some disturbance up ahead of us that would cause these guys to flee this way.¡±
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¡°All right,¡± said Bo as he re-positioned himself on the special saddle atop a Garg. The saddle was made to hold two people Bo and the warrior who was in charge of protecting him.
Bo''s familiar, which was flying in the air high above them, stopped its circling and flew out ahead of them at a high speed quickly disappearing into the distance.
Several minutes passed as the group continued forward at a slower pace while they waited for Bo to scout the area ahead of them.
Bo jerked out of his trance as if stung as he held his head.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°There are no other monsters that I could see causing a ruckus, but in front of the dungeon, there is a small group of demigods camping. One of them tried to shoot me down with a long-range skill but failed, only grazing my leg and wing with a few attacks,¡± said Bo through pained gasps as he held his head.
¡°Either someone is waiting for us or they decided to clear the dungeon themselves,¡± said Akira.
¡°Should we really be going there if the demigods are already camping there?¡± Asked Klyn.
¡°Let''s take a different route. We''ll curve in from the side and see what they are doing.¡±
The others all looked at Akira, not too happy about this decision.
¡°Didn''t the bandits say they get weaker every time they die? If this is true and If they are waiting for us and those petty traps made out of monsters were set up by them, then it is best to take care of them now before they cause us any trouble later when we might be too busy to deal with them. ¡±
As they curved away to the right, Bo''s familiar swooped down and landed on his shoulder letting out a pained chirp while holding out its bleeding wing and leg.
Bo took out a red candy and fed it to the black raven before he soaked a cloth in a red herbal mixture and wrapped it around the wounds.
The dungeon which looked to be a large burrow that went underground, appeared in front of them as they slowly made their way toward it from the side.
There was little to nothing to hide behind so Akira and co tried to approach as quietly as possible.
It was just as Bo had said, a small group of demigods was camped outside the entrance of the dungeon. Upon closer inspection, they did not look like they were preparing to enter the dungeon.
Surprisingly there were no men in the group. It was only made up of women.
As Akira and the rest of the soldiers slowly crept forward they listened intently trying to hear the conversation that the demigods were having.
But all their attempts at being stealthy were in vain as Akira watched a female demigod excitedly point in Akira''s direction shouting something that he could not hear.
Seeing as their cover was blown, there was no point in trying to hide and so they cautiously moved forward.
¡°What a coincidence! We are meeting again so soon!¡±
¡°What are you doing here Sue Duza?¡± asked Akira.
Sue Duza stayed silent as several of the female demigods near her squealed with girlish delight upon seeing Akira.
¡°It''s him!¡± ¡°WOW!¡± ¡°So cool I can''t believe it!¡± ¡°I''m your biggest fan!¡± ¡°I love you!¡±
¡°What''s with these disturbing women?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°Something''s wrong with their brains,¡± said Bo.
Akira ignored all the chatter and asked Sue Duza, ¡°Are you here to clear the dungeon?¡±
¡°Nope, we the ''Akira fan club'' just came here hoping to see you.¡±
¡°Well, you saw me. Now can you leave?¡±
¡°We can''t do that!¡± said all the girls at once.
Ding!
Sue Duza has used the skill [Seduction] on you!
The skill has failed!
|
Without warning each of the Female demigods launched attacks all directed at Akira.
¡°What are you guys doing? If you are my biggest fans aren''t you supposed to protect me?¡± shouted Akira as he hid behind his shield.
¡°No! It means only we are allowed to kill you! That is the main purpose of your fan club!¡±
As Akira transformed and his body was covered in a black mist, he activated [Darkness domain] covering the area and the allied warriors near him.
¡°ROAR!¡± shouted an angry Fluffball as he transformed and jumped forward to swat down several attacks aimed at Akira.
A fierce fight started as dozens of colorful skills flew through the darkness all aiming at the last spot they had seen Akira.
Akira could hear several grunts from his guards as they blocked several of the skills allowing Akira to safely move to a different position.
The demigods, after failing their first attack, started to randomly bombard any area that launched an attack toward them causing several warriors to be wounded.
Akira was hesitant to order everyone forward as Sue Duza was casting several skills that were visibly changing a large area around her into a pink haze. Judging by her previous attacks it had to be some type of mind-altering attack.
As he watched the pink fog spread out, he noticed that it stopped when reaching the darkness domain and did not enter the dark fog. The soldiers near the edge also showed no signs of being affected by the pink fog after several long seconds of it hovering around only a short distance away.
Seeing this Akira did not hesitate anymore and roared, ¡°Cut them down!¡±
¡°Awooo!¡± Several howls rang out as the soldiers acknowledged the command.
The darkness domain moved forward along with Akira and pushed back the pink mist and engulfed the demigods in a half-blinded and deafened state.
Even half blinded several of the demigods were able to put up a fight against them for a few seconds before they were torn to shreds.
Nox 1 and 2 hid in the darkness and only revealed themselves by launching surprise attacks on the sneaky demigods that were trying to launch their own sneak attacks toward Akira. The hunters became the hunted and were torn apart.
The fanatic female demigods as well as Sue Duza did not show any fear on their faces as they were torn apart. Nor did they try to escape.
Instead, they seemed to take a perverted liking to it as they went all out trying to find and kill Akira with creepy smiles on their faces as they laughed maniacally.
¡°Huff... is that all of them?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I think so,¡± said Klyn who was also breathing heavily from using several buffs and holy skills trying to keep everyone alive. Without his help, the dozen or so people that had been heavily wounded by the bombardments of skills would have perished.
¡°What did I tell you they definitely have a screw loose in their heads,¡± said Zundar.
¡°That''s just normal for demigods, they are all crazy,¡± said Akira.
Looking at their state they were in no shape to clear the dungeon.
¡°We''re heading back to the camp. I don''t think it''s safe to stay around here for another day.¡±
¡°What about your meeting with chief Raibread?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Write a letter explaining everything to him while we head back. If he wants to play with fire then so be it.¡±
Chapter 283: New Human dukedom
Far to the north of Kodria and the other southern territories held by the demon races, the pace at which territory switched control between the guilds was cooling down as the top guild''s strength started to solidify in the areas that they managed to keep under their control, even after daily raids by several other smaller guilds and groups.
Although the fights around the main bases had simmered down, that did not mean that the battle for territory had cooled off. It only intensified the fighting for the unclaimed territory farther south now that they had a base to gather their strength and prepare war material to aid them in the capture of the southern towns and villages.
The small towns were taken over easily but holding them was a pain.
The larger settlements owned by the human royalty in the north now became the focus of everyone. The human royalty of each town realized what would happen if they resisted, so many of them became vassals to the local demigod guild that controlled the territory nearest to them.
Doing this the human royalty were allowed to stay in control of their cities, but the cost was rather severe. They now had to pay a heavy monthly tax, as well as gather a certain amount of resources to help keep the demigods'' war machine running, and the most troublesome requirement... they and everyone in their city had to fight on the front line battlefields if the demigods called on them to do so.
If they did all this their demigod overlords promised to protect them from other demigod guilds. With this protection, many of the cities grew faster than the other local towns and villages. With this new power that was backing them, they were able to slowly take over their neighbors and in this way, the many demigod dukedoms grew quickly.
Many of the human royalty of the north were swayed into joining one side or another without the demigods having to fight a bloody battle.
***
With the southern clean-up finished Akira had decided to take a trip north to the new fort that had been taken over by Kodria and her allies near the border between the northern Foradverold and Kaldrbiod. When he arrived at the fort he had been greeted by a waiting messenger from Jerora.
¡°So this is the new human dukedom that popped up recently?¡± asked Akira pointing to a spot on a beautifully drawn map. Of course, it was not drawn by Akira.
¡°It is. With it being so close, they are causing us a severe headache every day,¡± said Grub, the chubby messenger from Jerora.
¡°If it was just that, Governor Scoit would not have sent you to us. What was so troubling that you had to come here to directly see the duke?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°It is as you say, there is a serious problem that will soon include Kodria if the matter is not taken care of now. Recently they have exploded out of nowhere, the rumor that has been going around is that they have started talks with one or two demigod guilds and have received several expensive gifts from the demigods. If one of the guilds can gain control of the large territory so far south near the border, it will allow them to quickly expand and conquer the local territory without much interference from the northern guilds that are still in a struggle to control all the land around them. And...¡± said Grub as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
¡°It will be a base for them to launch attacks into the demon race''s territory,¡± said Akira finishing Grub''s sentence.
¡°Correct, even though all of this information is nothing but rumors, there isn''t much else to explain their sudden growth and their aggressive attitude toward everyone around them including the traveling demon race merchants who are harassed and mistreated in their territory.¡±
¡°And what is the name of the human that is in charge of this place?¡± asked Akira.
¡°His name... he forces everyone to call him King. That is all we know.¡±
¡°It sounds like this guy wants us to teach him a lesson,¡± said Zundar while slamming his large fists together.
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¡°If you did that it would cause more problems for everyone. I am here to ask you to come with me to try and talk sense into the ''King'',¡± said Grub waving his hand to dismiss Zundar''s comments.
***
Inside the throne room of King Beegus DeKus.
¡°Lord, our scouts have found a large force of warriors from the demon races and a few humans entering our territory,¡± said a sly-looking bald woman.
¡°What did you say, Slytha? Who dares enter this King''s territory? Don''t they know who I am?¡± asked King Beegus DeKus, unhappy at being interrupted from his playtime.
¡°Lord King, you are the greatest. Everyone knows who you are. As for who has come,¡± Slytha looked at her notes. ¡°It seems to be the duke of Kodria along with several other human envoys from nearby towns both small and large including Jerora.¡±
¡°Drag them in front of me and let me teach them a lesson,¡± said King Beegus DeKus.
¡°Lord King, such violence would be an unwise thing to do right now.¡±
¡°Fine, drag them in front of me nicely.¡±
¡°...¡±
***
As the group of envoys neared the main stronghold of King Beegus DeKus'', Akira made sure to look at everything in great detail. Now was the time to gather information before any conflict broke out.
¡°It''s... rather plain,¡± said Akira.
In his opinion, the stronghold was nothing special, it was just a standard fortified city that was far smaller than Kodria or even Jerora.
Akira opened the Dukedom map and saw that it was lower in points compared to many other towns nearby as it was only recently formed.
Its strength came from the resources in its territory that allowed them to prosper as the demigods sent them many gifts wanting to add them to the territory under their control.
When the delegation of envoys reached the stronghold, the gates opened without the usual haughty guard banter that most places went through when encountering groups of unknown people.
¡°I guess they were expecting us,¡± said Akira.
¡°They would have to be blind to not have seen us enter their territory several days ago,¡± said Bo who had been on high alert the whole time scouting the way ahead for any demigod ambushes.
When they passed through the gates, they found several dozen shiny heavily armored guards waiting for them.
¡°Which of you is Kodria''s duke?¡± asked a guard with a large red feather flopping on top of his helmet.
¡°I am. Is there something you wish to say to me?¡± asked Akira.
The floppy feather guard and his subordinate guards around him, hesitated a few seconds when they saw the intimidating person that had spoken while sitting straight on top of a large fierce black wolf.
With a nod of Floppy feathers head, his subordinates moved to surround Akira.
Grarr let out a low growl warning them to back off.
¡°Yap!¡± said a small Fluffball, not really intimidating anyone.
¡°The King has ordered us to bring you to his throne room,¡± said Floppy Feather.
Several of the guards gathered their courage and reached for Akira''s arms and legs to try and drag him off of Grarr.
Akira did not bother attacking them as it would defeat their purpose of trying to get the ''King'' to change his mind. They were also not giving off any killing intent nor were their faces filled with hate or malice. Instead, they were all filled with fear, yet they continued forward and reached out with their armored hands.
Fluffball transformed and plowed through several of the approaching guards before stomping on them several times to show his dominance.
¡°ROAR!¡± said Fluffball triumphantly.
Grarr had stopped his low growl and smacked four guards away with his tail. With his right claw he swatted away two guards on the right, another blur shot out as his left claw knocked down the remaining 3 guards on the left.
Akira paid no attention to the groaning guards that were rolling on the ground in pain or being humiliated by being stomped on by Fluffball.
¡°My legs work fine. If you want to escort me to this town''s leader, that is fine as I and my companions have much to talk about with him,¡± said Akira.
Floppy feathers face was filled with sweat seeing his subordinates being easily dealt with. This group''s strength was something that he could not match.
¡°O... of course. Please follow me,¡± said a thoroughly shaken Floppy feather.
Floppy feather stumbled a few times as he turned around.
¡°Clear a path for the respected envoys!¡± shouted Floppy feather.
The guards still standing fell over each other trying to run away from Akira and the group of warriors with the excuse of clearing a path down the busy main road.
Chapter 284: Meeting the King
The throne room''s doors were hurriedly opened by the guards.
Bang!
Their hasty actions caused the doors to slam into the throne room walls as the handles slipped out of their sweaty hands.
Floppy feather ran into the room as soon as the doors opened. He desperately wanted to get away from the sharp gazes piercing his back.
¡°Lord King Beegus DeKus the 1st, Envoys from afar have come to see you!¡± shouted Floppy Feather as he knelt on the stone floor.
At the far end of the throne room, a plain-looking middle-aged man who had been playing around just seconds before looked up with a frown towards the large group of people rudely entering the throne room.
Akira watched as a bald woman appeared from behind the throne and whispered a few things into the man''s ear which further deepened the frown on his face.
Akira paid close attention to this woman bringing up her name and level above her head.
[Name:???, Guild: ???, Lvl: 130].
This confused Akira, for some reason he could only see her level. No matter how long he stared at her no name appeared. But with such a high level there was no doubt that she was a demigod and not a human.
The bald woman felt someone staring at her and locked eyes with Akira. A small smirk appeared on her face before she disappeared behind the throne once again.
King Beegus DeKus sat up straight while shooing away the few females that sat with him on his throne.
With uncontrolled giggles, they also escaped from view by running behind the throne.
¡°...and who do I have the ''pleasure'' of speaking with?¡± asked Beegus DeKus, while glaring at Floppy feather.
Akira stepped forward and said in a booming voice, ¡°I am Akira, Duke of Kodria.¡±
Fluffball proudly moved forward and said, ¡°YAP!¡±
Grub stepped up next to Akira and said, ¡°Grubb, a special envoy from Jerora.¡±
The other envoys all stepped forward and introduced themselves one by one.
Hearing the names of the people, and where they were all from, was causing King Beegus DeKus to feel uncomfortable. Many of these people were not small fry that he could push around easily.
¡°How can I help you all?¡±
¡°We all personally came here to ask you about some troubling rumors as well as accusations that you are causing problems with your neighbors,¡± said Akira.
¡°Rumors are just that, Rumors. They should not be listened to. As for what I do with my territory, there is nothing to talk about with you since it does not concern you.¡±
Several of the smaller town envoys let out a few quiet curses as their towns were definitely being threatened as well as Beegus Dekus claiming part of their land as his own territory for his new dukedom.
¡°We do not want to meddle with you ruling your own territory. But the rumors and accusations are troubling for all of us and seem to have some truth to them. That is why we have come here to ask you directly what is happening,¡± said Akira, speaking up after no one else said anything.
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¡°What blasted rumors!?¡± asked King Beegus.
¡°You are talking with several demigod guilds in the north. Some think you may have already joined one of the guilds,¡± said Grub.
¡°What? That''s preposterous!¡± said King Beegus, as he glanced over his shoulder towards the hidden door behind his throne. ¡°I have only accepted their gifts. I have not accepted any new masters. I like to keep my options open and you have no say in what I can and can not do!¡±
¡°Duke Beegus, you don''t seem like an idiot, so why are you playing with fire? If you are looking for allies all you have to do is ask one of us and we will help you as much as we can,¡± said Akira.
¡°I thank you for your offer, but as I said before, I like to keep my options open on who to call allies,¡± said King Beegus.
An angry Zundar stepped forward and pointed one of his large fingers at Beegus DeKus, ¡°Don''t fool yourself. The only reason that the demigods are sending you gifts and offering minor help to you, is because they think of you as an easy-to-use pawn. Right now you are useful to them but what happens when they clear out all the roadblocks? You will be of no use to them. Even if you manage to survive that long, you will still have to survive the several guilds who will no doubt send small armies to knock on your front gates as soon as you pick a side.¡±
¡°I am not someone''s pawn! I make my own decisions!¡± roared Beegus DeKus.
Akira placed a hand on Zundar''s shoulder to calm him down and said, ¡°You may not know about the history of the past three great demigod wars on the main continent, so allow me to enlighten you about the personality of the Demigods. As a result of the three great wars, the dozen or so Human and Demon race kingdoms were condensed into only 4 human kingdoms. The four kingdoms only managed to survive by taking in the many demigods who had already destroyed several other countries. These demigods picked who would be the winning country in each of the major conflicts.¡±
¡°That only makes it more appealing to accept their offer. If I am to survive, I must have the strongest allies. Also, I am a human, not someone from one of your demon races. Everyone knows that the demigods do not like the demon races which is why you all have migrated here!¡±
¡°You would be a fool to think that the demigods care who they kill. In the last great war I witnessed the demigods plotting to kill the King of Beorin, it ended with my foster brother being killed to protect the king. The king, my brother, and thousands of regular humans died from the attacks of the demigods. None of them were connected to any demon race. So what is to stop the demigods from doing this again? What happens when they are done with the puppets and want to become the kings themselves? You should ally with us. We will not stab you in the back,¡± said Akira.
King Beegus actually listened to this intently and was quiet for some time as he thought about what both Zundar and Akira had said.
¡°Something like that will never happen,¡± said a slippery smooth voice coming from behind the throne.
The bald woman from before once again appeared at the side of the throne.
¡°We are not looking to kill off our warriors during a war,¡± said the bald female demigod.
¡°See! You heard her. They are nice people and would never do that,¡± said King Beegus with all his doubts now washed away.
The gathered envoys'' deepest fears about the situation and the woman were confirmed with this short interaction.
¡°Do not be swayed by her words! If you believe the snake standing beside you you are a fool!¡± said Grub angrily.
¡°For the last time, I am no fool! You are a crazy conspiracy theorist making up false accusations!¡± shouted Beegus Dekus as he shot up to his feet in anger.
¡°If you have nothing else to say then you can get out of my territory now!¡± said King Beegus pointing towards the open doors.
¡°Think hard about your decision. Once the milk is spilled there will be no way to put it back,¡± said Akira before turning around and leading the group of envoys out of the throne room.
King Beegus watched their backs until they disappeared from his sight.
¡°Are you sure this was the best choice?¡± asked Beegus DeKus.
¡°If you want to survive the coming storms and become a powerhouse of Foradverold, then you must crack a few eggs to make an omelet,¡± said Slytha.
¡°...¡±
¡°Are you going to just let them escape like that? Now is not the time to hesitate! If you agree to the terms we can help you secure your position and lead your warriors to take care of the other troublesome people. We will also offer you equipment to arm your soldiers to help protect and expand your territory.¡±
¡°... If it means that I can survive. Then... I agree.¡±
With the last two words spoken, a flash appeared in Slytha''s hand as a binding contract glowed brightly.
Slytha placed it into a secret pocket and then with a sly smirk said ¡°You will not be disappointed. We will start making preparations to take care of everything.¡±
King Begus Dekus had no idea what was planned for the future. Before he could ask any more questions.
Poof!
A black cloud of smoke covered Slytha''s body and when the smoke was gone, so was she.
Chapter 285: Demigod Village Helpers
Akira and the rest of the delegation of envoys were wary when they left Beegus DeKus'' stronghold. They all stayed together for safety as they traveled out of the enemy territory. Although they thought Beegus DeKus would do something stupid like attack them when they left, nothing happened and everyone was able to return to their territories safely.
When Akira and the other escorting guards arrived at the border fort under the control of Kodria and their allies. Klyn went quiet and sat still as he started to receive a message from another shaman from a long distance away.
Klyn only sat still for a short time before opening his eyes and taking a shaky breath.
¡°What was so important that the grand elders needed to use a shaman messenger?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Because of the distance between me and the shaman in Kodria, the message was rather short and lacked concrete details. All I know is that one or more demigod guilds have set up a small settlement near Kodria''s outer territory. We are the closest to it right now. If I remember correctly there are several semi-nomadic demon races and a few newer human towns that are around that area.¡±
¡°They said there are rumors that the demigods of that new village have been going around helping the nomads and other villages with all sorts of problems ranging from building projects, monster extermination, and farming.¡±
¡°That kinda sounds familiar, like that one weird group we met a while ago,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Which one? To me all demigods are a bunch of crazy people so that does not narrow down which group or guild,¡± said Akira.
¡°The one with all the fanboys and girls that were all fawning over that demigod girl...¡± Zundar rubbed his horn as he thought for a second. ¡°I think her name was Sister Teresa or something like that.¡±
Akira let out a long sigh and said, ¡°You know, I didn''t expect to be running around like a chicken with its head cut off during the warm months. One thing after another has popped up and now the last weeks of the warm months are already around the corner.¡±
¡°I know it is quite painful to be away from your wife and newborn children for so long, but this is a serious problem. We need to investigate this and if need be, we must take care of the potential problem before the winter months set in and large-scale movement becomes far harder than right now,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Alright, let''s go check what this group of demigods are doing. I doubt it will be anything good with them setting up a village so close to our territory,¡± said Akira.
¡°Varbu will be leading a group of warriors to meet up with us sometime later. We will definitely need their help if we are to take action. We should just inspect the situation and wait until they arrive to sort out any issues. If there are none then he can just escort us back to Kodria. We will probably arrive well before the last harvest celebration starts,¡± said Klyn.
¡°That''s good news. I also hope that the outer city is finished with its rebuild. It would be a pain in the butt to work during the cold months,¡± said Akira, as he was remembering the hard work that they had gone through at the beginning of building up Kodria.
***
¡°Thank you so much! With the sudden appearance of the wild monsters...¡± said an elderly man as he wiped away tears of relief. ¡° If you had not appeared and taken care of the problem, several people would have been killed or wounded and our crops would have been ruined!¡±
¡°It was nothing. We were just passing by and decided to help. We are living in a village several days from here so it is only natural that we help our neighbors. We hope that you don''t forget about us and let everyone else know that if they need anything they can come to us,¡± said a young female wearing cheap iron full-plate armor and holding an expensive shield.
A large cheerful smile covered her face making her look less barbaric.
¡°We won''t forget your guild''s help and if there is something that comes up in the future we will definitely ask for your help!¡± said the old man. He stood at the edge of the town and continued to wave to the small group of oddly armored people as they left the nomadic village.
¡°Kira, I didn''t know you had such a kind heart,¡± said a red-robed man in a mocking tone.
¡°Shut it, Klee,¡± said Kira her fake smile gone. ¡°Birgin, what are you doing lagging behind?¡±
¡°I still don''t get it. Why did we have to say things about us that are not true?¡± asked Birgin, he was using his long black staff as a cane to walk slowly behind the group as he was deep in thought.
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The others ignored him and looked around to see if anyone had followed them. No one was in sight.
Now that they were well out of range of the village''s view they stepped off the small dirt road and walked towards a nearby small cluster of trees that looked dead but still had several leaves growing on them. At the base of the trees were several hardy bushes.
Kira reached behind the bushes and began pulling out several large cages. Klee also reached in and grabbed onto the handle of a small hand cart and pulled it out.
Inside the cages, several hisses, growls, and constant scratching could be heard. The cages were neatly stacked on the hand cart once again. A few of the cages were empty.
¡°Birgin, don''t act like an innocent idiot. You know that our guild needs to build up a good reputation to allow us to further grow and conquer the nearby territory. The guild leader''s plan is way too smart,¡± said Kira.
¡°We''ll need to capture a few more monsters on our way to meet up with the other groups. Birgin killed a few of them instead of knocking them out,¡± said Klee.
¡°Hey, my skills are used for killing, I can''t weaken them! Plus it was more believable with blood being spilled.¡±
¡°Let''s hurry up! We need to get back to the next town. That should be around the time when the guild leader''s main plan starts!¡±
¡°Wait. Do we really need to carry these monsters anymore if we are going to meet up with everyone else?¡± asked Birgin. He was tasked with pulling the cart and did not have to deal with the heavy cart full of angry monsters only inches away from his back.
¡°Hmmm, you''re right. There''s no point in keeping them now,¡± said Kira.
They all stepped away from the cages and used a long stick to open the latch on the cages one by one.
As soon as their cage was open many of the monsters ran off and escaped from the three who had repeatedly knocked them out and put them back in the cage.
A few of the more angry monsters tried to charge them but were quickly cut down.
The remaining monsters that neither ran away nor attacked the demigods had decided to get in a fight with the other nearby monsters that they viewed as being in their territory.
Similar things were happening all around the local area. Several small groups of demigods were ''Saving'' or ''helping'' the nomadic tribes and nearby towns.
But soon after they left, the previous small problem turned into an even worse disaster.
***
As Akira and the others headed toward the territory that was claimed by the demigods. They encountered more and more signs of disasters and an unusual amount of monsters that were not native to the area.
With a swipe of his sharp claws, Akira sliced a furry [Buck toothed Ponkey] in half.
It was a monster that looked similar to a monkey he had seen in Acadia. But unlike the monkey, these [Buck toothed Ponkey] had thousands of poisonous quills all over their body mixed in with their fur. Its two large front teeth were as sharp as daggers and could pierce light armor easily.
¡°This is the third abandoned nomadic town that we have come across... what is going on?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Demigods?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°But the reports stated that they were supposed to be helping clear up the area?¡± said Akira.
¡°We''ll find out soon enough. We should be reaching our destination in a day or two,¡± said Klyn.
Akira and the others spent the next two days killing the wild monsters as they moved toward their destination. On the third morning of clearing the area, they finally reached the outskirts of their destination, the suspected demigod town.
Akira looked at the Kingdom map and watched as the territory information updated to show that it was indeed controlled by a demigod guild.
¡°What''s with all the tents, teepees, and shoddy shacks being built outside of the town walls?¡± asked Klyn to no one in particular, as he looked at the large crowd of humans and even a few demon races that had gathered outside the town.
They stayed out of sight for well over an hour and a half just watching the town. But they only gained little to no information from this.
¡°Let''s go see if we can talk to the people outside and see what is going on. If demigods show up for a fight we will not back down!¡± said Akira as he stood up from the hiding spot.
¡°For Kodria!¡± Everyone chanted as they stood up.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°What about waiting for Varbu?¡± asked Klyn quietly as they started marching towards the town.
The people in the new ramshackle camps soon noticed the group that was led by Akira.
As they got closer to the camps Akira sensed something was off and instead of heading further into the outer encampment he held up a hand and stopped the rest of the group.
The eyes of the refugees in the outer encampment were staring at Akira and those around him with hostile and angry looks. More and more people were gathering and pointing at them whispering things that Akira could not hear.
As Akira was about to try and ask them what had caused them to end up in a situation like this, the crowd split apart allowing several people wearing mismatched armor to pass through.
Akira recognized almost all of them from past encounters in the wild. He also recognized some of the demigods were part of the group that had led the failed attack on Bent-Gii.
Immediately Akira and the others drew their weapons ready to defend themselves from any attacks.
¡°See everyone! Look at them. Are they not the brutes I told you they were?¡± asked Ben who stood at the front of the group of a few dozen demigods.
¡°You guys sure have guts coming here after all that you have done and all the disasters you have caused! Now you''re pointing your weapons at us!?¡± shouted Dover as he pointed at Akira.
¡°...¡±
¡°What?¡± asked Akira, completely lost at what was going on.
Chapter 286: Tricks and Plots
¡°Don''t play dumb!¡± shouted Boot.
¡°We know what you did!¡± shouted Shaker.
¡°You caused several disasters so you could blame us and then gain the support of the local people. All so that you could kill us and throw us out of the town we built!¡± said Ivana.
The gathering crowd continued to chatter and point as they looked at Akira and the other werewolves around him with even more hatred.
¡°It''s because of you my father died!¡± shouted a young teen from the gathered crowd.
¡°My mother!¡± ¡°..son!¡± ¡°... entire family!¡± ¡°... our crops were all lost!¡± Several people were shouting out angrily.
¡°We have nothing to do with whatever you are claiming we did. We just arrived in the area and had to clear up many disasters around this area to reach this town,¡± said Akira.
¡°Quit lying! We know it was you causing problems! Otherwise, why would you come here seeking a fight? Everyone knows that Kodria''s duke hates Demigods!¡± shouted Ben.
Akira held in his growing frustration and said, ¡°Near the beginning of the warm months a group of demigods repeatedly attacked our new settlement and killed nearly a hundred Kodria warriors and workers. So when I heard a demigod town was set up nearby, of course for Kodria''s safety, we had to come and see what was going on!¡±
¡°So what? What does that have to do with us?¡± asked Dover.
¡°Several of those I fought against are standing right behind you! I recognize the others that were not part of the attack as those that have fought me and Kodria''s warriors in the wilderness trying to kill us. You are the most suspicious people here, not Kodria who has supported the area and sheltered everyone that needed it during the Molten Onyx Plague!¡± said Akira pointing directly at several of the guilty demigods.
¡°It¡¯s a dishonor to meet you again, my rival in the fight for true love,¡± said the knight Roli Rover giving a shallow bow to Akira.
Both Ben and Dover sent glares at him causing him to stand straight and stay quiet not saying anything else.
Fluffball could sense the hostile sentiments in the air, he silently grew to his full size. His gleaming ice armor glittered in the sun.
¡°Roar!¡± said Fluffball. He let out a few growls directed at the demigods he recognized.
The crowd of refugees were now pointing at Fluffball some interest in his wondrous transformation but the majority were quivering at the fierce growls coming from him.
Akira placed his hand on Fluffball''s head to calm him down.
¡°Your lies will not fool us! You claim we have fought before, but I have never in my entire life met you once! You are trying to spin tales to justify your attacks on us!¡± shouted Ben who stood firm and was not fazed by Fluffball''s growling... even though a new puddle had appeared beneath his feet.
Several angry murmurs started to boil up from the crowd. These murmurs became angry shouts that rang out from the gathered crowd.
¡°Leave us alone!¡± ¡°Get lost!¡± ¡°We don''t want anything to do with you!¡±
Akira still stunned at what had happened, led everyone away from the town after seeing that there was nothing that they could do to change the minds of the people right now.
When they returned to their previous observation spot they were silent for some time.
¡°What just happened!?¡± asked an infuriated Zundar.
White steam was escaping from his nostrils every time he took a deep breath and exhaled to try and calm his boiling anger.
¡°I''m not entirely sure but it seems the demigods are trying to play some dirty game and are trying to stop the locals from supporting us,¡± said Klyn as he held his chin in a thinking pose.
¡°I don''t care what they have planned. I''m not going to play their games with them. This is too dangerous of a situation for Kodria and the rest of the demon races to allow such a cancerous guild to take root so close to us,¡± said Akira after calming down and thinking over the situation.
¡°So what do we do now?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°For now, we should clear out the rest of the monsters in the area. We can also check for any traps that may have been set up by the demigods while we wait for the rest of the soldiers from Kodria to arrive. Only then can we take care of the demigods, no matter what the locals think of them.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said an energetic Fluffball, ready for a fight.
For the rest of the day, Akira led the warriors around killing all the troublesome monsters that they had missed on their trip to the town.
While killing the monsters they made sure to thoroughly scout the local area and checked for any dastardly traps or contraptions that may have been set up by the demigods.
The only thing that they had found during the half day of fighting came as the sun was setting, there were dozens of metal and wooden cages hidden in holes, bushes, and behind tall trees.
Akira squatted down next to one of the cages and looked inside. Several of these cages still had several small angry monsters chattering inside. While many of the other cages had been gnawed or shattered with the previous occupants escaping into the wilderness.
¡°So... now we know where all the odd monsters came from,¡± said Klyn as he walked up to Akira.
¡°The owners of these cages are probably the demigods... they are the cause of all the recent disasters,¡± said Akira as he scanned the rest of the cages.
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¡°What should we do with them? Take them back to the town as proof?¡± asked Zundar scratching his head near his horns.
Akira shook his head, ¡°No. The demigods would just turn it back around and say it is proof we sabotaged the nomadic villages.¡±
¡°It would be our word against theirs and the locals have already had their eyes and minds clouded by the demigods...¡± said Klyn.
Akira suddenly rolled to the side while grabbing Klyn and dragging him down with him to roll into a few thick prickly bushes.
A second later, a hail of a dozen or so glowing green energy arrows pierced the ground and cages all around the spot Akira and Klyn had been standing.
¡°Enemy attack!¡± growled Akira as he shot back up onto his feet and began transforming.
A black mist covered his body as he shot out from the bush. His transformation was finished as he landed on the ground and activated the [Advanced Quadrupedal Running] Skill.
He nimbly jumped to the right, dodging the second volley of green energy arrows that disappeared as soon as they slammed into the ground.
Fluffball and Zundar without hesitation charge forward to join Akira.
The rest of the guards and soldiers followed and tried to keep up with them. As they ran they transformed, allowing their running speed to increase as they charged toward the area where the green arrows were flying out.
The demigod that had sent several volleys aimed at Akira, did not wait for Akira or the others to reach his hiding spot. Instead, he used a skill that covered his feet in a green wind to greatly boost his speed and bolted from the hiding spot running away from those chasing him.
Even with the skills speed buff, Akira and Fluffball were hot on the demigod''s tail and were gaining ground every minute that passed.
Swoosh! Boom! Crack!
Several different colorful skills exploded in front of Akira, causing him to jump to the side and retreat a few steps out of the range of the explosions.
Four demigods jumped out from hidden holes in the ground and charged at Akira and Fluffball. They did not care for their lives or the fact that they were severely outnumbered.
They were just here to stall for time!
The original ambusher continued running until he hopped onto the back of a waiting horse.
The speed buff skill was once again activated, this time on the horse the demigod was now riding.
The green wind no longer covered the demigods'' feet, instead, the horses'' four hooves were shimmering with the green wind. With a speed of at least 3x faster than its normal speed, the horse shot off, opening a large gap between Akira and the other pursuers.
Akira was unable to use any of his skills to stop the demigod from escaping as he was now out of his range and the remaining demigods were still rushing toward him.
He pounced forward slashing with his claws creating a large bloody gash in the armor of one of the closest demigods.
Using the man''s body, Akira launched himself toward another Demigod and bit them in the neck, tearing out a large chunk of flesh.
His tail slashed out behind him, tripping a third demigod that had raised their glowing red sword high above their head and was ready to slash down with full force.
As the demigod fell down the skill sliced through the air well off course and ended up slicing through his allies legs crippling him.
Akira let out a pained grunt as he received an attack from the last demigod that was still able to stand. Akira used his armor to blunt the attack.
Fluffball shot past him and tackled the demigod.
¡°Ahhhh...!¡±
The pained cries rang out as Fluffball and the others finished off the demigods, sending thousands of light fragments into the sky.
Oddly enough even with their pained cries they did not curse or swear at Akira in their final moments. They all had smiles as they silently laughed at Akira before disappearing.
Akira and the rest of the soldiers did not pause to catch their breath, they continued chasing after the escaping demigod who had launched the ambush. The direction they were running to was toward the new demigod town that was only a few hours walk away.
With the high speed of the chase, the time it took to arrive at the town was cut in half.
¡°Help! The Kodria dogs have gone mad!¡± shouted the demigod as soon as they neared the outskirts of the town''s territory.
¡°Help!¡± He kept shouting to get the attention of everyone as he rushed towards the town''s walls.
The remaining demigods that were in the town rushed out upon hearing the shouts. Once again the locals were roused from their projects and misery to see what was going on.
When the winded demigod and horse that was frothing at the mouth stopped in front of the gathered demigods Ben stepped forward.
¡°What is it? What has happened?¡± asked Ben with a straight face.
¡°Hurry and get ready for an attack! Those dogs from Kodria have gone mad and are coming to kill us all! They tried to kill me and my group while we were out hunting for food. I was the only one able to escape. But that''s not the worst of it! They even attacked locals that saw them commit this crime and killed them to try and silence them!¡± said the demigod sweating and panting heavily from repeatedly using his skills to stay ahead of the pursuers.
When Akira and the soldiers with him reached the town their growls and killing intent soared. They had heard the last few sentences out of the demigod''s mouth and were enraged even further.
¡°If we don''t kill them now they will keep harassing us and start killing you as well!¡± said the demigod as he looked to the gathering civilians that had all grabbed tools and crude weapons to protect themselves.
¡°ENOUGH OF YOU STUPID GAMES!¡± shouted Zundar full of rage. White steam was billowing out of his nostrils making his head slightly shrouded in mist with only his glaring eyes staring out at them.
¡°Roar!¡± said Fluffball, equally angry at the demigods.
The two sides faced off against each other staring daggers at one another.
Akira stepped forward. His body was tall, muscular, and majestic with a dark mist aura swirling around him. ¡°Our grudge is not with all of you who are not demigods! Step aside and allow us to cleanse the land of the cancer standing next to you!¡±
A few of the civilians wanted to leave but hesitated for a moment when they saw the rest of the people standing next to them. They were unwavering in their conviction and only glared at Akira.
Several of the more daring civilians walked up to stand next to the demigods, joining them in a shabby battle formation.
¡°This is my last warning! I do not want to kill any of you as we have more in common than you have with the demigods! If you do not step aside the dukedom of Kodria will view you as enemies in league with these criminal demigods!¡±
This deceleration caused several gasps to be heard and many people shivered when Akira looked at them directly. Just from his gaze, their legs lost most of their strength, and a few of them fell to the ground.
The killing intent from both sides crashed against each other trying to overpower the other with just their fighting will. The oppressive pressure rose to such a height that several of the weaker-willed civilians fainted.
The black mist around Akira started to gather as he readied himself for an attack.
Fluffball and the rest of the warriors all tensed their muscles as they readied themselves for a quick charge toward the demigods to end the fight.
Akira did not want to involve the nomads and would do his best not to kill them.
When the killing intent from both sides rose to an almost unbearable point...
¡°What''s going on here?¡± asked a soft feminine voice that seemed to cut right through the fierce battle of wills.
Everyone from both sides of the conflict turned as one to see who had just spoken.
Chapter 287: Surprise!
Akira grew even warier of the newcomer when he noticed who it was.
With a quick swipe of his claw, he gave a silent signal to those under his command. As one they quickly distanced themselves from the demigods in front and the third party that had just arrived on their right.
Since they did not know if they would help the BenDover guild Akira decided it was best to have a large enough distance between them to allow them to react to any attack from them.
¡°Teresa, what are you doing here?¡± asked Dover with a sour look on his face.
¡°I was in the area when I heard from a few travelers about disasters happening around here. So I decided to come and take care of them,¡± said Sister Teresa.
Upon inspecting her, Akira found that Sister Teresa had reached lvl 61. He scanned over the demigods that were all gathered around her.
With just a quick head count he could see that her entourage of low-level demigods had at least doubled and all of them were guild-less.
She was still being protected by Rondie and the three other high-level female demigods that were all now all around level 110.
From what he saw it looked like she had gathered all the weaker demigods that had nowhere to go and did not want to or could not participate in the bloody battles up north.
¡°Shouldn''t you be playing in the south with the demon races?¡± asked Ivana. She was not happy to see Sister Teresa here.
The local area nomads who had been caught between the two sides before were all excitedly chattering as they realized who the leader of the third party was.
Many of them had personally met her before or had heard rumors from others who had been helped by her. Due to these rumors and stories, it was partly why they were willing to trust her words far more than the BenDover guild or even the Kodria soldiers that were about to clash with each other.
¡°What is going on here?¡± asked Teresa again, ignoring the failed snarky jabs made by Ivana.
¡°Those mutts have been causing disasters and trying to kill us!¡± said Shaker with an indignant expression on her face as she pointed at Akira.
Sister Teresa looked at Akira and recognized him from their short meeting not too long ago. She did not say anything and only waited for him to speak.
Akira thought over his previous interactions with her and after a few seconds of silence, he explained all that had happened up to the point where she had arrived.
¡°Is that all?¡± asked Sister Teresa.
¡°It is. If you still want to take the side of the BenDover guild there is nothing I can do about it right now. But we will remember it,¡± said Akira, ready to make a quick retreat.
¡°Roar!¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with Akira his ice armor still shining like a gem.
Sister Teresa turned to Ben and his gathered guild members.
¡°Don''t look at me like that! He is the real culprit! He caused disasters so that he could steal the resources from the towns and encampments that were abandoned by everyone here!¡±
¡°Guild leader Ben, every demigod knows of your temperament and your scheming nature that often lands you in hot water when your plans fail. All this sounds exactly like something you would do!¡± shouted Rondie.
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¡°We have proof,¡± said Dover as he waved for his guild members to bring something forward.
The demigod that had led Akira and co on the short chase back to the town handed over a chest to Ben. Several other demigods did as well.
¡°While we were hunting we came upon the Kodria mutts scavenging inside one of the villages so we fought them to stop them from looting all the resources. We took the chest they had and brought them back to return the items to the people they belong to!¡±
Hearing this the armed refugees fury reached a new height. Behind them, a demigod blew a cloud of fine dust into the air and activated a soft wind skill unnoticed by everyone.
The dust further agitated the angry people and as if a dam broke, their anger reached a boiling point that clouded their judgment and removed all fear of the terrifying aura coming from Akira. They rushed towards Akira and those around him.
¡°Everyone calm down!¡± shouted Sister Teresa, but her words did not reach them as they were focused on one person.
At that moment several smaller groups of demigods not part of the BenDover guild appeared on the wooden walls of the town and launched a surprise attack.
The different types of skills that shot through the air pierced, tore, burnt, froze, and exploded several bodies.
Large plumes of light fragments burst into the air all around Sister Teresa as dozens of lowest-level demigods were instantly killed by the attacks.
¡°Surprise!¡± shouted a large female demigod on the wall as she laughed maniacally and launched many skills toward the low-level demigods.
Rondie jumped in front of Sister Teresa protecting her from the raining skills.
With a guttural roar, her body expanded, increasing her height several feet as well as her width. Her leather armor tore apart revealing a rubbery suit underneath.
She used her body as a shield and began to smash the incoming attacks with her metal fists knocking away or blocking the attacks that were targeting Sister Teresa.
The three other high-level demigod females grabbed Sister Teresa and pulled her away from the battlefield.
A large portion of the low-level demigods were enraged at being attacked and began launching their own attacks toward the town... but their attacks only managed to cause minor damage. While they were attacking even more of the low levels were being cut down by the raining skills.
¡°HaHaHa! Teresa with your low level you shouldn''t be sticking your nose where it doesn''t belong!¡±
¡°Serves you right for being a demon lover!¡±
¡°After her!¡±
The demigods hastened their skill casting trying to wipe out everyone they saw!
¡°Awoooo!¡±
Akira and the werewolves were not spared from the attacks either and several of them had been wounded.
With the chaotic situation spiraling out of control he decided to temporarily retreat not wanting to kill the locals as well as being unsure how many demigods were hiding inside the town or how strong they were.
Because of this, they ended up retreating in the same direction as Sister Teresa and the surviving followers under her command.
He did not care that they were running together, his only focus was on keeping his forces alive.
The slower demigods at the rear were being picked off by the chasing demigods.
As Akira looked back he saw a large majority of the low-level demigods had all given up running and had instead stopped and turned around.
Even though they were out-leveled and were using inferior armor and weapons they charged toward the chasing demigods and blocked them from nearing the escaping Sister Teresa.
With their help, both Akira''s and Teresa''s groups were able to lengthen the distance between the chasing mob to the point they could see but could still hear the fighting behind them.
There were still several demigods that did not want to let this chance go and broke through the low-level blockade with a few skills and ignored the rest as they chased after two groups.
The chase lasted over an hour. Akira could have stopped to handle them but if he did then the mob of reinforcements would catch back up to them if the fight took too long.
Skills from behind keep flying over their heads missing by a long margin due to the long distance they were launched from.
As the last of the daylight was disappearing, a large number of shadows on the distant horizon caught Akira''s attention.
A thought jolted Akira into action as he ran toward the shadows which were also moving at a fast pace.
In less than an hour of running Akira finally made out what the shadows were... It was Varbu and the reinforcement soldiers that were sent to handle the demigod problem!
The few remaining demigods that were chasing them immediately stopped when they sensed something was wrong and immediately hightailed it back the way they had come.
Chapter 288: Why fight for them?
Varbu ran up to Akira and his escort with several other hardy orc warriors and werewolf soldier reinforcements.
Upon seeing demigods so close to Akira he immediately took a few steps back and grabbed his large war hammer ready to fight.
¡°Hold up!¡± said Akira, raising a hand to stop Varbu while he bent over and tried to catch his breath.
¡°Where''s the real Akira? Why are you hanging out with demigods?¡± asked Varbu as he squinted at heavily breathing Akira.
A light drizzle started to fall from the dark sky.
¡°We''ll set up a temporary camp here,¡± said Varbu looking at the soldiers behind him.
Several makeshift tarps were set up as temporary cover instead of pitching tents.
Klyn and the other shamen with him began to inspect and mend the wounds of those who had been wounded in the attacks. Of course, the demigods were inspected last as the shamen were still wary of them. This was also their first chance to do a thorough inspection of a demigod''s body while they were still living and not under a hostile situation.
Akira led Varbu and Teresa along with the officers of each group to one of the larger tarps to explain their current situation while the muffled sound of rain fell upon the tarp above them.
¡°...¡± everyone was silent for several seconds when he was finished. They were all thinking through all that had happened, trying to figure out what to do next.
¡°I know that the relationship between the Demon races and demigods is not that great right now, but that does not mean it always has to be that way. I propose that you allow those of us who survived the ambush to fight along with you and free those civilians from the clutches of the BenDover guild,¡± said Teresa.
¡°What makes you so sure those people want to be saved? From what Akira has said they seemed to be thirsting for blood,¡± said a werewolf officer.
¡°How can you fight alongside us when you have such a frail body?¡± asked Varbu as he looked at Teresa with great suspicion.
¡°It is true that I am too weak to fight in a melee battle. But that is not my specialty. I have devoted myself to learning as many healing and cleansing skills as I could find. With my help, more people can stay alive.¡±
They spent a few more minutes sparing with words and hashing out the details of what they would be doing next.
¡°... so is everyone in agreement with this temporary non-aggression pact? If you have any more concerns let''s get them dealt with before we head out. We need to hit them hard before they have any more time to prepare,¡± said Akira.
There were only grunts and nodding heads as they reluctantly accepted the help of sister Teresa and her surviving demigod followers. They could not ignore the help that she could offer. But that did not mean they trusted her.
¡°My followers will show our sincerity and join the vanguard to help screen and block the skills from the BenDover guild and their allies,¡± said Teresa.
¡°And I will be leading the vanguard''s charge to make sure that they don''t try anything funny...¡± said Zundar as he rubbed the tip of his well-polished horns and stared at Sister Teresa.
***
Inside the new settlement, there was frantic activity as they continued to prepare for the coming battle.
Inside one of the small thatched houses.
¡°Damn it! Why do all our plans keep crumbling!¡± shouted Ben angrily as he slammed his fist onto a table in his small office.
¡°Those chasing the demon lovers and the Duke of Kodria returned a while ago. They confirmed your suspicion. A large hostile force will be here soon,¡± said Dover.
¡°...and what about the nomads?¡±
¡°In all the commotion we were only able to capture a dozen of them. The rest escaped.¡±
¡°How are we supposed to use them as a shield if we only have a few of them!?¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°Whatever, continue with the plan as before.¡±
***
Only after a short rest and patching up the wounded did Akira and the coalition army of demon race soldiers and demigods marched back to the settlement using the darkness of the late night to quietly move to their destination.
Those who were too wounded to fight in the main battle were left to guard the supplies and baggage of the temporary camp from any pillagers or sneaky opportunists.
When they arrived at the outskirts Akira did not announce their presence or demand the surrender of those inside the settlement. He knew they would not willingly surrender and that was fine with Akira, it just meant he had to bash a few heads to knock some sense into them.
As they marched forward Akira looked at the area surrounding the settlement town and found it to be abandoned, no longer housing the refugee nomads that had been camped there during the day.
Behind the empty tents and shacks, the settlement''s walls were now covered with a layer of thick ice that was letting off a cool misty fog in the warm night breeze that was softly blowing it away.
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The light drizzle had stopped some time ago and now the soggy ground beneath the marching army''s feet quietly squelched and splashed with each light footstep.
Sister Teresa was true to her word and had the surviving demigod followers standing alongside the heavily armored orcs and werewolves that made up the vanguard.
They along with the soldiers would be drawing the enemies'' attention and taking on the attacks that would be coming from the town so that the other warriors behind them could reach the town safely. The demigods were supporting them by casting several dozen odd buffs that both Akira and Klyn had never seen before.
Akira was still hesitant and not sure if this was a deep plot to trap him but he could get cold feet here and still had to go ahead with the attack just as they had planned it.
Everyone agreed that prolonging the fight by sending out several prob attacks would do nothing for them. They would just use their full force to overwhelm the enemy and wipe them out in one go!
¡°Those demigods are too despicable!¡± said Bo, who was near Akira. He had just come out of his trance-like connection with his familiar that was monitoring the area high in the sky.
¡°What did they do now?¡± asked Akira. There was little time left for chit-chat as they would soon be entering the range of the demigods'' long-range attacks.
¡°They have at least a dozen of the nomads cuffed and hanging on wooden posts embedded into the top of the walls. They are trying to use them as human shields to stop us from returning range attacks.¡±
Akira was speechless but not surprised at this. Before he could think any deeper on this Zundar let out a roar.
¡°Forward! Let''s show those wimps what true strength is!¡±
Several howls from the werewolves that had all transformed and howls of the brutish orcs answered Zundar''s roar as they charged forward.
Just as planned they were drawing the majority of the attacks from the demigods inside the town who were trying their best to stop them.
Behind them was the second portion of the army in which Akira was sitting atop Grarr at the front along with his royal guards. Just behind him was the flying battle standard of Kodria.
They continued to march forward with only a few attacks aimed at them as the vanguard and low-level demigods took the brunt of the attack farther ahead. A black mist enveloped the front portion of the second wave of the army making them nearly impossible to see them in the dark night.
The only light outside the settlement came from the several flashing skills that flew from atop the settlement''s wall. Soon the empty tents and shacks started to burn, allowing the demigods to see pockets of the dark battlefield.
As they marched forward Klyn and his subordinates along with sister Teresa quickly treated any of the wounded soldiers from the vanguard they came upon who had fallen to the ground with grievous wounds.
¡°Awoooo!¡± howled Akira.
¡°Roar!¡± ¡°GRRRR!¡±
Fluffball and Grarr both answered his howl along with the rest of the cavalry and army as they charged forward at full speed using the cleared path that Zundar and the vanguard had cleared.
The Garg cavalry rushed forward right towards the ice wall where Zundar and the heavily armored vanguard were trying to set up ladders and throw grappling hooks to get to the top. The skills and attacks from the demigods were not stopping and still rained down on them.
Every other second light fragments disappeared into the sky as the low-level demigods died.
There were no gates to bombard or enter as everything was covered in a thick layer of ice. The casualties were increasing with each minute that passed.
When Akira reached the wall he, along with the other cavalrymen, used the forward momentum to launch themselves off of their mounts into the air. Several of them managed to land on top of the wall along with Akira, while the others slammed into the top of the icy wall and had to climb the rest of the way up.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Seconds after landing on the wall the large bodies of the Garg''s slammed into the ice wall creating large cracks in the ice.
Akira felt the wall shake under his feet and heard large chunks of ice fall to the ground.
Without pausing, Akira activated the skill [Call of the wolf pack].
Nox 1 and 2 jumped out of his shadow and joined Fluffball who had also jumped up onto the wall. The three of them immediately started to cause havoc.
Before the demigods could send out many attacks toward Akira he held his sword high in the air and activated the skill [Dark Shockwave].
His sword pierced into the top of the frozen wall causing a large crack to appear as the skill activated and large tremors spread out in waves.
The cracking wall and rumbling sent several of the nearby demigods falling off the wall. The lucky ones fell inside the city walls while those who fell outside were immediately killed.
The royal guards and cavalrymen had already been told what to expect so they were not surprised and were able to use this as an opportunity to take care of the demigods that had fallen near them.
Several of the demigods on top of the wall were still using the chained nomads as shields as they hid behind them and launched attacks at the werewolves and Akira.
¡°YOU %^&*! Fight like a man! Don''t use scummy tactics!¡± roared Akira as he used the skill [Potty mouth] to draw the nearby attention of those that had not been affected by the tremors.
Anger flared up in all of their hearts at being called a [%^&*], whatever that was. This momentary change in their attention was deadly for them as the other werewolves pounced on them and tore them apart.
The wall continued to shake and crumble as the Gargs rammed it with their bodies and clawed at the portion with large cracks caused by Akira.
It was at this moment that both Ben and Dover appeared in front of Akira to try and take him down!
¡°You will not win! Even if you kill us we will still come back and fight you again!¡± roared Ben as he charged forward fearlessly. Death meant nothing to these demigods.
¡°Awoooooo!¡± Akira activated his Skill [Howl].
Both Ben and Dover along with the other minion demigods near them all flinched and stopped their attacks for several seconds.
Ding!
The skill ''Howl'' has successfully Intimidated the targets!
|
Akira and the others did not let this chance go to waste. They were like reapers as they swept through the demigods sending thousands of light fragments up into the sky. With so many deaths the light fragments were lighting up the area as if it was the middle of the day.
The already damaged wall finally crumbled revealing a large hole.
The coalition army swarmed inside and began cutting down all who opposed them.
Several of the enemy demigods seeing Teresa and her followers fighting alongside the Demon race army cursed them.
¡°@#$%,¡± shouted Ben angrily as he regained control over his body just in time to block an attack from Akira... only to be cut down by several attacks launched by the low-level demigods that were being led by Rondie who was still protecting Sister Teresa as they entered the town and began working on healing the wounded allies even while the battle was still raging all around her.
With a pained voice full of anger Ben shouted, ¡°Rondie why are you and your friends doing this? With all of your strength, you could easily be officers in any of the main guilds. But instead, you are following a demon lover like Teresa! Why?¡±
Unfortunately, he was unable to get his answer before he disappeared into hundreds of lights.
With the fall of the core members of the [BenDover] guild, the rest of the allied demigods that had joined them were wiped out.
Chapter 289: Outrageous Idea
Several system messages popped up vying for Akira''s attention.
Ding!
The new Fharway Settlement has been successfully conquered
+10 points have been added to Kodria''s Dukedom.
|
Kodria has reached the requirements for advanced to Rank 2 Dukedom!
New blueprints and requirements for the next rank have been updated.
|
Akira looked at the updated information on the dukedom map and saw that Kodria''s territory had expanded to include the settlement Fharway while also increasing its score.
Even though the fight for the small settlement town was a minor battle compared to bloodbaths in the north, this victory still brought several benefits to Kodria.
They had protected their territory, expanded Kodria''s power, and the dreaded demigods had been driven away for a while. They would no longer have a nearby base to re-spawn and threaten the southern demon races.
At least for now.
Akira returned to reading the system messages.
Level up! You have reached level 200!
|
Akira''s mind went blank as a dark misty aura burst out around him and grew thick to the touch.
Along with the dark mist, a deep killing intent blasted out causing everyone within 100 feet of Akira to pause what they were doing and shudder.
They could definitely see and feel that he had just broken through a bottleneck and his power surged even higher than before!
Sister Teresa curiously stared at Akira who was covered by the dark misty aura. Seeing everything happen and the feeling of it all made her think it was all somewhat familiar to when she had seen others advance in their class.
¡°Odd,¡± was all she said.
The remaining low-level demigod followers and bodyguards who had survived the fight, all became fully alert while shivering from the killing intent.
They swarmed around sister Teresa to protect her. They were unsure if Akira was reading an attack or if something wrong had happened to him.
After ten minutes passed the killing intent and thick mist slowly disappeared to reveal an absentminded and fresh-faced Akira who was still in his own world not noticing everyone staring at him.
Son of the Night has been upgraded to Rank B: Advanced.
(-15%) reduced stamina cost
(+15%) boost to strength while transformed and the moon is out.
A new [Advanced] class skill has been learned!
|
Minor Lycanthropy (Advanced active skill):
During a full moon, you can convert both humans or demigods into a minor lycan by biting their neck and activating the skill!
Minor lycans are a subordinate race to the one who infected them. They are not as strong as true-born werewolves and can only transform at night or with help of external command skills [Darkness Domain].
Staying inside such command skills can extend the time Minor Lycans can stay transformed while giving them a complete buff to their power and defense.
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Minor Lycans gain the same traits and weaknesses as true-born werewolf, stamina is still required to stay transformed.
Any normal skills that the targets may have learned before becoming a Minor Lycan can still be used by them.
The number of times [Minor Lycanthropy] can be used at one time depends on the person using it.
|
Akira was once again frozen in place after reading the new skill. His mind was in chaos as he tried to fully understand it. He was forced to read it over several dozen times before it fully sunk in.
''This skill... is just too outrageous!''
Actually turning normal humans and even Demigods into minor lycans!
''With this... Kodria''s power could skyrocket as more and more people become minor lycans. But looking at the requirements, this skill is not so easy to use. I''ll have to pick wisely who can become a Minor lycan and slowly build Kodria''s newest strength every month.''
Akira took a sneaky glance at sister Teresa and the surviving demigods around her as she was still treating the wounded.
The majority of heavily armored Orc and Werewolf soldiers that had bore the brunt of the attacks all had various injuries ranging from minor cuts to life-threatening wounds.
Sister Teresa felt someone staring at her and caught Akira''s sharp eyes that stared deep into her own for a second before he looked away.
''Even if we are in a temporary non-aggression pact there is no way to guarantee that these demigods will not turn around and back-stab us,'' thought Akira.
¡°The town is ours. What do you want us to do with it?¡± asked Zundar as he stood next to Akira, not hiding his new wounds that had been patched up by Klyn.
¡°As much as I would like to occupy this town, we can''t be spreading our resources and soldiers too thin. For now, we can only leave a garrison force to make sure no bandits try to use it as a base. I''ll have the messengers send out a notice to our allies that there is an open town they can settle in and build up if they need some place to move to or expand,¡± said Akira.
¡°Good idea. I just worry that the demigods will come back and try to retake the town,¡± said Klyn.
¡°From what we know, and a few guesses on my part, the BenDover guild, and their allies will most likely be reappearing in the northern human dukedom of Begus Dekus. There is still an entire day until they respawn and it would still take them a while to travel down here. By then the area''s defense should be solidified.¡±
¡°What do you plan to do now that you have cleared out the [BenDover] guild?¡± asked sister Teresa. As she walked over to Akira she used her hand to wipe away the sweat on her forehead.
Akira thought for a moment before replying, ¡°At first light in the morning. I plan to go search for and gather the scattered nomadic people and refugees that ran away from the demigods and help them recuperate and set them up here. Once that is finished I heard there was a dungeon nearby so I want to clear it to make sure nothing happens to the new town after we leave.¡±
¡°I would like to join you. With my help, the scattered people will definitely not be afraid and agree to come back. I can also help smooth out any misunderstandings between your two groups.¡±
Akira felt awkward having a demigod offer to help mediate peace between him and the others.
Normally it was him doing that, and out of all people mediating the peace, it was a demigod!
With his new skill still fresh in his memory, it only took him a few more seconds to come up with a new idea and a plan to see it through!
How rare was it to find such demigods that did not want to kill you at first sight?
Extremely rare, especially now with the major battles and fights between the demigod guilds who were trying to control the vast lands and territories. There was no telling if there were actually any good Demigods or ones that could be trusted.
So with this in mind, why not use this as a test to see their true colors?
''If they truly have no ill motivations and don''t try anything funny, then I can offer them a chance to become my first test subuje... the first to enjoy the wondrous transformation of being a Minor lycan.''
¡°I accept,¡± said Akira as he held out his hand for sister Teresa to shake.
Both Klyn and Zundar looked at Akira with stunned expressions.
They both knew his hatred for demigods, and understood his accepting the temporary non-aggression pact was only done to take down the demigods in this town.
But now the danger was over and there was no need to team up with them again.
They unceremoniously grabbed Akira and dragged him by the arm away from the demigods and started to hurriedly question him.
¡°Did you hit your head?¡± asked Zundar as he inspected Akira''s head for any large bumps.
¡°What are you thinking accepting help from demigods?¡± asked Varbu.
¡°This is too dangerous!¡± said Klyn.
¡°What will the grand elders say when they hear we allowed you to do something like this?¡±
¡°I''m more worried about Mileena coming after us...¡±
¡°You were just fully against Begus Dekus not joining the demigods but now you want to join up with them? Isn''t this a bit hypocritical?¡±
Akira put his hand up and stopped them, ¡°This is exactly the best time to test out their loyalty when we have the overwhelming power to crush them if they try anything. Trust me, I have this all thought out.¡±
Everyone was still unhappy with his decision but they decided to go along with it for now.
¡°Did you finish your chat?¡± asked sister Teresa, when Akira returned to his previous spot.
¡°We have.¡±
¡°If you are still worried about the town we can stay here and help protect it,¡± said sister Teresa.
¡°That would be very helpful.¡±
Akira helped the soldiers finish clearing up the town and made sure that the wounded were comfortably set up inside the houses so that they could recover.
A small garrison force would stay here while the rest of the army went out in the morning to gather the stray wanders.
Chapter 290: Corrupted Child Maze
While Akira and the rest took care of things in the south far to the north in the new dukedom Begus Dekus.
Flash!
In a short span of time, several flashes appeared at the center of the city''s main plaza, shocking the common folk who were going about their daily activities. Some of the people that appeared were naked while others were missing parts of armor such as their pants or chest armor.
It was the Demigods who had died the day before. They were the first to have died earlier in the day and so the rest who had died had still not re-spawned.
They were cursing under their breath as they quickly equipped their spare armor and began pushing their way through the crowd toward a basic two-story house that they had bought as their temporary base.
With the door slamming shut the trade plaza once again returned to its normal activity.
¡°What are you guys doing here?¡± asked Slytha looking up from a set of papers she was inspecting.
¡°The duke of Kodria along with his underlings killed us,¡± said one of the demigods.
¡°Odd,¡± Slytha said as she tried to take all this new information in and decipher what it meant.
¡°Any news from the guild leader about what''s happening down south?¡±
¡°Nothing,¡± said Slytha, shaking her head.
¡°They say no news is good news,¡± said one of the demigods.
¡°Is that so?¡±
***
¡°Are you sure this is the dungeon?¡± asked Akira, glancing over to sister Teresa.
They had spent a large portion of the day searching and gathering the refugees and nomadic people before arriving at the area that Sister Teresa suspected was a dungeon.
The wooded area in front of them was full of thousand-year-old thick and tall red trees that were clustered so close to each other that they made a thick wall that was impossible to pass through without cutting them down one by one.
Sister Teresa seemed to stare off in a daze at something that Akira could not see. Seconds later she nodded her head.
¡°I have seen a similar dungeon before. It is an irregular dungeon made from nature¡¯s plants and is unlike the normal dungeons with walls made of dirt or stone. There must have been a great mana source here in the past to spur the growth of such a dungeon.¡±
''Odd,'' thought Akira. His eyes squinted as he stared at her upon hearing the word ''Mana''. He had only learned of the term from his status window. Everyone he knew referred to it as energy or spiritual energy. The other demigods around her did not show any reaction to the term so they must be familiar with it as well.
Akira looked over to Bo who was motionless as he scanned the thick woods from the sky using his familiar.
Teresa and her high-level bodyguards standing near her all took great interest in the werewolf shaman.
¡°Your werewolf shamen are quite talented with unique skills, especially your healing and cleansing skills,¡± said Teresa complementing the nearby shamen who had spent most of the night working on patching up the wounded.
Several of the low-level demigods that had died early the day before had revived and rejoined sister Teresa once again bolstering their force to near-max strength. They weren''t too happy about messing around with the demon race but they believed in Sister Teresa, so they all kept quiet but sent sharp glares at Akira and the others that got too close to her.
¡°It''s nothing...¡± said Klyn, not sure how to reply to the compliment from the odd female demigod.
Moments later, Bo opened his eyes. He shook his head in the negative while saying, ¡°Can''t see anything inside. I even tried to enter from above, but the thick branches and vines have created an impenetrable roof. Even if it is not a dungeon, this wooded area is not normal.¡±
Zundar was pacing back and forth near the trees looking for an alternate entrance to the only one they had found, but so far he had found nothing. He stopped in front of one of the old trees and punched forward with his full strength.
When the attack landed the tree did not even shake nor were there any leaves that fell from its branches. Zundar once again tried another punch but the results were the same.
¡°Why not use your weapon?¡± asked a nearby Orc warrior.
Zundar shook his head and said, ¡°It''s no use. If I wanted to cut through this tree I would be stuck here all year long.¡±
The orc warrior scoffed and stepped forward swinging his large two-handed war-ax at the tree only for it to bounce right off showing no damage to the rough red bark.
¡°Guess there really is no other way in but this way,¡± said Akira as he watched Zundar and the orc warrior.
Klyn and Varbu were still looking at Akira like he was crazy and were worried that at any minute there would be an ambush.
Dolph and Vilkas were sticking to Akira like glue making sure he was only a step away from them. The other guards were similarly antsy as the distrust and tense atmosphere filled the area.
Akira was not naive about the situation, after so many encounters with demigods he knew there were likely untrustworthy demigods inside this group. He just didn''t know who or how many of them there were or what they were planning.
So this was the only way he knew how to weed out the incompatible test subj... potential future allies.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, voicing his readiness to fight off any ambush.
¡°Of course, I''m counting on you to help out,¡± said Akira as he reached down and ruffled the thick fur on Fluffball''s head.
Akira looked at the entrance of the dungeon and could see right at the start it split off into two branches, one to the left and one to the right.
¡°It is most likely a type of maze,¡± said Teresa as she looked at the entrance with him.
¡°We will take the right path. You can take the left path,¡± said Akira.
¡°Are you sure?¡± asked sister Teresa. ¡°Will it not be better to team up and clear the dungeon together?¡±
Akira shook his head, ¡°No, this way we won''t get into each other''s way or cause any problems. If everything goes as planned we will meet back up near the Dungeon Guardian''s room if there is one.¡±
¡°Okay, if that''s what you want to do then we''ll follow that plan,¡± said Sister Teresa nodding her head and accepting his suggestion.
The two forces split up and entered the dungeon heading down their separate paths.
Ding!
You have entered the [Corrupted Child Maze] dungeon!
You are the first to enter the dungeon!
Exp will be boosted for the next week or until the dungeon is cleared!
Fame +10
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The light inside the maze pathways all had a green tint from the sunlight being filtered through all of the green leaves far above their heads.
Akira and co were weaving in and out of the winding paths as they searched for the Dungeon guardian room. Some of the many branching paths intersect with each other or curve back around causing them to have a hard time finding the correct path to the heart of the maze.
As Akira rounded another corner his sword slashed out sending a blue moon crescent as he used a quick [Sword Slash] skill to slice apart a green vine monster that had been waiting to ambush them.
Fluffball ran over to the dead plant monster and tore it apart as he looked for something for several seconds before finally finding it.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball sounding slightly muffled as he ran over with a green monster core in his mouth.
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Akira bent over and rubbed his head before taking the core and looking at it.
Minor Stamina Leaching plant core
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The sound of a muffled battle on their distant left could be heard constantly as several battles broke out where Akira guessed the Demigods were.
¡°This place is definitely a good place to farm these plant monster cores,¡± said Akira as he placed the core into his bag joining the others.
¡°Indeed,¡± said Klyn as he inspected one of the cores that had been given to him.
¡°Another X intersection is ahead of us,¡± said Zundar looking frustrated. He was starting to get frustrated with all the winding paths and backtracking they had to do.
Fluffball stopped and started to sniff the ground as he caught an interesting scent.
Boom!
As soon as Akira and the rest reached the X intersection they were attacked!
Blood spurted out of several soldiers'' bodies as the colorful skill attacks landed direct hits.
''What''s going on!'' thought Akira. These were not the attacks of low-level demigods that he had been expecting. Several of the warriors had been careless thinking that even if there was an ambush it would only be small scratches, burns, and frost that they would receive from such weak demigods.
Akira dragged several of the wounded back behind the shield wall that had been formed where they were continuously passed to the center rear so that they could be treated by the shamen.
Klyn and several other shamen near the well-protected center began to hurriedly chant several buffs for everyone.
The attacks had come from one of the paths directly next to them which had been hidden from their view.
Instead of retreating, the attackers exited the pathway and started raining colorful skills down on Akira and the shield wall that blocked them.
Akira scanned over the attacking group of demigods and found that he had never seen them before. They were an entirely different group of demigods from Sister Teresa''s group.
¡°Who did you piss off this time!¡± shouted Varbu who was standing near Akira.
¡°Honestly, I have never seen them in my life!¡± said Akira as he traded sword attacks with a demigod.
Akira and the rest of the shield wall slowly retreated toward the path they had come from to help defend and get a better understanding of what was going on.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball warning him of new arrivals.
¡°Hey! Why are you attacking our allies?¡± shouted a low-level demigod that appeared out of a second path with several other low-level demigods.
¡°Stop attacking our allies!¡± shouted another low-level demigod that led another group of low-level demigods from the third path.
Several warriors slightly paused their attacks to look towards Akira while they still held their shields up to protect from the demigods'' attacks.
Akira was completely unsure of what was going on. He motioned for them to continue to retreat into the path they had exited from so that they could defend against any more attacks until the situation could be sorted out or they killed all of the attackers.
The attacks were still raining down when the low-level demigods charged forward to attack... launching a large cluster of skills that hit the retreating combined demon race shield wall!
They were now surrounded from three directions. Several Orcs and werewolves dropped to the ground from heavy wounds after being pounded by the combined power of dozens of skills.
The low-level demigods rushed forward to finish them off.
¡°Serves you demons right!¡±
¡°We will not allow you to corrupt our Idol Sister Teresa!¡±
¡°Sister Teresa and her bodyguards may have been fooled by your nice talk, but we have not fallen for it and we will do what we must to save her!¡±
¡°You all must die so that she can stay pure!¡±
Their true colors appeared revealing a rabid fanaticism for their idol that they wanted to protect.
Akira supported by Fluffball, Dolph, Vilkas, and Zundar sliced, crushed, and smashed anyone that tried to come close to the fallen wounded while other nearby soldiers grabbed the wounded on the ground and pulled them to safety.
The shield wall tightened as the last of the wounded was pulled back and they reached the pathway once again where they held off the attackers.
Individually the low-level demigods were nothing much but the constant barrage of minor debuffs and various attacks that were pouring out like no tomorrow were nothing to laugh at as you could still die from 1000 paper cuts if you bled to death.
While Akira was fighting off one of the high-level demigods, movement from the fourth intersection caught his attention as a new group appeared!
It was Sister Teresa and personal guards along with a few low-level demigods that were trying to talk her out of entering into the fray before them.
¡°What are you all doing!¡± shouted Sister Teresa, her voice loud enough to pierce through the din of battle.
Her followers already engaged in battle did not pay attention to her as they were focused on their task with great determination!
The majority of her followers had been saved or had been greatly helped by her which had ended with them worshiping her. They were sacrificing themselves with this attack all in order to protect their idol!
¡°Stop fighting! We are all allies!¡± shouted sister Teresa. But neither side listened to her as one wrong move could be fatal.
¡°Block Sister Teresa! Don''t let her interfere!¡± shouted a low-level demigod that seemed to be in charge of the mob attack.
Several of the demigods in the rear turned around and moved to intercept Sister Teresa but were stopped by the small group of courageous low-level demigods that had stayed with her.
Although the demigods that blocked the rabid demigods were the weakest of the entire group of followers, which was why many of them had stayed with sister Teresa because they feared that they might die if they strayed away from the higher-level demigods. They were also the most supportive of Sister Teresa as she continued to help them every day and always encouraged them as they worked hard to get stronger as the world around them became more hostile and dangerous.
¡°Step aside! What you are doing is against sister Teresa''s wishes!¡± shouted a loyal low-level demigod.
¡°No, we will not stop! You have been brainwashed! You must see the light and join us in protecting and keeping Sister Teresa pure!¡± shouted one of the fanatics.
The two forces were stuck in place with their verbal fight not getting anywhere when Rondie stepped forward and... launched a skill attack with her fist!
The attack pierced the stomach of one of the low levels that were blocking the way forward.
¡°GET OUT OF MY WAY OR I WILL PUNCH AS MANY HOLES IN YOU AS I CAN BEFORE YOU DISAPPEAR!¡± yelled Rondie as she started a rampage smashing up the fanatic demigods in front of her.
Having no other choice, the fanatic demigods launched their own attacks at the weak loyal demigods and Rondie to stop them from interfering. They all made sure to aim their attacks so that none of them would go near their idol.
Rondie stepped forward and blocked several of the attacks that were about to cut down several of the weaker loyal demigods behind her.
As she grunted from the new small cuts and burns all over her arms and face she felt a jolt of pain in her butt!
¡°WHAT THE...!¡±
A fanatic that had hidden among the loyalists had stabbed her in the rear while she was protecting them!
Before she could turn around to punch their head in, the real loyalist all mobbed the attacker, killing him before he could attack anyone else again.
With a sad sigh and a few tears dripping from the corner of her eyes, Sister Teresa gave an order to the rest of her guards. ¡°Take care of this situation. Maybe they will have cooled off when they come back tomorrow.¡±
¡°I highly doubt that!¡± roared Rondie as she smashed the head of another fanatic.
With the help of Sister Teresa''s guards and the few weaker loyal demigods, the fanatics and their allied demigods were the ones now caught in the pincer attack.
Several of the higher-level demigods that had attacked first saw the situation turning for the worse and tried to disengage from the fight to escape.
Akira and the allied soldiers under his command did not allow them such a chance.
Akira stabbed his sword into the ground as he activated the skill [Dark Shockwave] causing the majority of demigods in front of them to trip or fall all over each other. Nox 1 and 2 and Fluffball all launched themselves at those who managed to keep their feet even with the ground trembling fiercely.
Their throats and limbs were all torn from their bodies leaving them bleeding and on the ground for several seconds before they disappeared into hundreds of fragmented lights.
Only after a few more minutes of intense fighting did Akira let out a long breath as the last of the fanatics were killed. He still did not let his guard down as he inspected the surviving demigods that stood next to Sister Teresa.
The weak low-level demigods stood in front of her trying to protect her from any attacks that Akira might launch. Both groups were on high alert for any attack the other might launch.
¡°Was it really necessary to kill them all? Some of them were trying to surrender at the end,¡± said Sister Teresa.
¡°We can not offer such leniency to an enemy that wants us dead. In the matter of life and death, there is no gray area to be found for myself and the people of Kodria, it''s kill or be killed. If you are an enemy we will not stop until you are cut down,¡± said Akira as he stared directly into her eyes watching her reaction and those around her.
A brief silence filled the air as sister Teresa thought over his words.
¡°I understand your concerns over your... weakness. We do not have such a problem, so it is sometimes hard for us to remember and fully understand the problems it causes you.¡±
Akira did not answer her and only continued to stare at her and the other demigods still alive.
A long stretch of silence passed by with only the heavy panting of those trying to catch their breath and moans from the wounded who were being treated.
¡°Are we just going to stand here like mutes or are we going to finish the dungeon?¡± asked Rondie who was uncomfortable with such wordy back-and-forth games. She would rather just punch her way out of whatever obstacle was in her way.
Akira looked to Varbu, Zundar, and Klyn to see what their thoughts were.
¡°Let''s clear the rest of this dungeon and get the hell out of here,¡± said Zundar, he really wanted to get out of this maze that was causing his head to hurt as he tried to remember the way out.
¡°The faster we can finish this dungeon and return to Kodria the happier I''ll be. But that does not mean I trust you guys,¡± said Varbu pointing his finger at the demigods.
¡°Nor us of you!¡± said one of the loyal demigods.
¡°As long as we understand each other and agree to not stab the other in the back, then we can continue working together,¡± said Akira, holding out his hand to sister Teresa.
She pushed the low-leveled demigod out of the way and stepped forward grabbing onto his hand and lightly shaking it in a well-mannered way.
While this happened most of the soldiers under Akira turned their attention to cleaning up the battle area taking the loot that had dropped from the attackers before returning next to Akira.
They had to wait for a short time for Klyn and the other shamen to patch the wounded up to the point where they could defend themselves from attacks.
When everything was settled and they had caught their breath from the battle, they all turned to the path that had a large swirling white portal door.
¡°Let''s do this!¡± said Akira.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball.
Chapter 291: So fast?
¡°Roar!¡± the dying screams of the Dungeon guardian [Corrupted Child of the World Tree] echoed in the cramped lair of the Guardian which was filled with hundreds of trees that were trying to block the path of everyone inside.
The trees had been constantly moving so that they could cut off people from the main group.
With the Dungeon guardian''s death, the moving trees came to a complete stop looking like normal trees.
Ding!
You have cleared the [Corrupted Child Maze] dungeon!
+10 Honor, +10 fame!
Level up!
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Akira picked up the dropped key and green core from the dead boss, his back seemingly unprotected with big sis Teresa and her underlings behind him.
His royal guards were all glancing sideways to see if the demigods'' greed would get the better of them.
But sister Teresa didn''t pay the key and the newly spawned green chest any attention, and just continued to talk with Rondie and her other guards.
Akira didn''t waste any more time on this test and quickly opened the chest to see what goodies were inside.
¡°...¡± he stood still in confusion as he looked at the empty chest.
''Wait aren''t we the first to enter this dungeon? Why is there nothing inside?''
Puzzled at seeing nothing he put his hand inside to feel around to see if the items were invisible or hiding in a secret compartment.
As his hand was searching his eyes zeroed in on the only thing that looked out of place and was sitting at the bottom center of the chest.
It was a small green pebble no bigger than the tip of a pinkie finger. He had not seen it at first due to it blending in with the wood of the green chest.
''This is the reward?'' thought Akira as he reached for the green pebble.
When his hand grabbed the pebble it went numb from a buzzing energy stored inside.
A green flash exploded out blinding Akira and those around him. When Akira regained his sight, he once again looked at the green pebble, which was now pulsing with a green light in a rhythmic beat almost like a heartbeat.
¡°Akira are you okay?¡± asked Klyn, rushing over to him ready to heal or cleans him of any bad effects with one of his holy chants.
Dolph and Vilkas grabbed Akira''s arms to steady him and make sure he did not fall.
¡°I''m fine,¡± said Akira in a slight daze as he looked at the new information window that appeared above the green pebble.
Ding!
You have received a legendary pure seed of the [Child of the World Tree]!
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[Child of the world tree]: When this seed is planted, the surrounding area in a 5-mile radius around the [Child of world tree] will receive a permanent buff to the growth of all plants while also making the land more fertile and less susceptible to crop failure as long as the [Child of world tree] stays alive.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
When sprouted and grown into a young sapling the range of the buff extends to 10 miles. Side effects may appear at this time and cause an uptick of more wild animals and possible monsters due to the aura of the [Child of world tree].
When the [Child of world tree] has matured into an adult tree its effect range is extended to 100 miles.
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¡°Wait... that looks familiar...!¡± In his shock, Klyn didn''t finish his sentence. He immediately looked toward the demigods behind him, fully alert.
Dolph, Vilkas, and the other guards did not know what the green pebble was but from both Akira and Klyn''s reactions, it was something important! Something others may kill for it.
They immediately surrounded Akira and formed a human wall between the demigods.
¡°What are you guys doing?¡± asked Rondie.
¡°Making sure you don''t attack us,¡± said Dolph, as he pulled Akira away from the chest and towards the other Orc and Werewolf warriors.
The demigods'' eyes all zeroed in on the green pebble in Akira''s hand.
¡°Is that the only thing inside?¡± asked Rondie.
¡°Yes, you can go check for yourself if you do not believe me,¡± said Akira.
¡°Everyone you can be at ease,¡± said sister Teresa. ¡°We do not want to take your world-tree seed.¡±
¡°You''ve seen this before?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I have only heard rumors of another guild that received something similar on the main continent. They sold it to the desert country Cadia for a large sum of gold and a position in the country''s minor royalty. We have no interest in the seed.¡±
¡°We''ll leave first, we can continue our discussion outside,¡± said Akira as he walked up to the swirling white portal and touched it, instantly disappearing with his own people.
Teresa and the demigods appeared outside the dungeon entrance near Akira and other demon race soldiers. The two sides stared back at each other for a few minutes once again not saying anything.
¡°Sister Teresa, may I talk with you in private for a moment?¡± asked Akira, breaking the silence.
¡°You pervert! We won''t allow you to seduce our big sister!¡± shouted one of the low-level demigods.
¡°I''m already married with children!¡± shouted Akira trying to defend his honor.
¡°That makes it even worse!¡±
Teresa held up a hand to stop the chatter and nodded her head accepting Akira''s request.
Off to the side out of the range of everyone''s hearing, Akira spoke in a low voice trying to make sure that this was only heard by the two of them.
¡°You may not know this, but I accepted your offer of help as a sort of test of your character along with your fanatic underlings. It went about as well as I expected it to.¡±
¡°Why are you telling me this? Is there some greater meaning behind it? I am sorry for the ambush they planned. I have no control over the majority of them. The only ones that are loyal and listen to me are the ones still standing over there.¡±
¡°What about the majority of those that were killed the night before by the [BenDover] guild? Are there any others that are loyal to you?''¡±
¡°No, they all have similar beliefs as those that attacked you today. Why?¡±
¡°This may sound bizarre or even distasteful for you but hear me out!¡±
¡°I''m listening.¡±
¡°I have a certain... ancestral ability that I have recently awakened. With it I can transform humans and... possibly even demigods into a [Minor Lycan] a sub-group under the Earth tribe,¡± said Akira, watching Sister Teresa''s face for any change in expression.
¡°Was that what all the crazy mist and intimidating aura around you was about back then?¡± asked sister Teresa.
Akira nodded.
¡°And this was why you tested us? You want me and the others around me to become [Minor Lycans]?¡±
¡°Yes, but this is just an offer. Nothing is set in stone as I can not make such a monumental decision on my own. If you accept this offer you and those you deem loyal to you and not a threat to the demon race will have to come back to Kodria to be questioned by the grand elders and chiefs of the tribes living in the dukedom of Kodria.¡±
Sister Teresa was only silent for a minute before she stood straight and nodded her head confidently, shoving her hand out for Akira to shake.
¡°I accept!¡±
¡°So fast? This is not a simple thing. There are many pros and cons to this as you will become part of the demon race,¡± said Akira.
¡°This will be more fun, and doing this will allow me to help more people!¡±
Ding!
You have successfully recruited your first test subjects!
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New title received!
Mad Scientist: Only the crazy would think of experimenting on a demigod!
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Chapter 292: Can we trust them?
Akira stood on a small flatbed boat that was transporting several of his officers, royal guards, and sister Teresa along with her four personal guards.
The rest of the low-level demigods were being watched over at the south fort in a new campsite next to the grarr dens. It was far enough away from both the inner and outer city which was still being worked on. The first two outer rings of walls and buildings had already been completed allowing for the Kodria citizens who were without homes to camp inside the walls now providing them farm more protection than their campsites. There was still a lot of work to do to complete the inner walls and the basic buildings that would allow the new outer city to thrive when completed.
¡°Are you sure this list is accurate?¡± asked Akira pointing to a hastily written list that had several dozens of names scrawled on it with a few notes on who they were and what their skills were.
¡°That is everyone who attacked you as well as all their skills that I saw when they were fighting alongside my loyal friends. If you would like more information on the situation in the main guilds and who to watch out for you will have to give me and my remaining followers some guarantees,¡± said Sister Teresa who was as calm as ever.
The list in Akira''s hands held important information and would be used to update Kodria''s list of known demigods and the types of skills they could use in a fight. The information that they gathered was available to all their allies to help them understand and be more aware of the enemies fighting ability so they could at least have a chance in making plans to fight against them. The lists also acted as a kill-on-sight target list for those with the ability to do so.
Along with the list of names he had learned much more information about demigods in general while talking with sister Teresa casually. Most of the information was unverifiable but what he could verify was still groundbreaking in his understanding of the demon race''s main enemy.
Roundie and the others were not as calm as sister Teresa since they were surrounded on all sides by warriors from the demon race. Sister Teresa paid their nervousness no attention as she watched several other large flatbed boats float by. These boats were filled with several rows of thick stone blocks in stacks taller than an average human.
Duuum! Duuum!
Slow and steady drum beats were heard from each of the boats as those in control of the boats followed the rhythm to slowly and gently row the boat forward since any major uncoordinated movement would cause water to flood into the boat that was just barely staying above water with such a heavy load of stone blocks.
As the flatbed reached the main stone docks of Kodria''s inner island there were already several hundreds of civilians gathered to gawk at the demigods that the rumors had said would be arriving in Kodria.
It was an entirely different feeling for many of Kodria''s residents for the first time seeing demigods that were not here to kill them. Many of those gathered had scowls as they looked at sister Teresa and her guards with distrust due to the hardships that the demon races had to endure throughout several generations, all caused by the demigods.
Along with the growing crowd of civilians was a large force of city guards that had come to escort them back to the castle.
It would not do Kodria any good in negotiations with sister Teresa if she and her followers were attacked even before the negotiations had started.
¡°Akira! Welcome back!¡± said Frang happily hugging Akira. He was the commanding officer put in charge of the city guards that would be escorting them to the castle.
Some of the royal guards were unhappy with such informal talk and actions but held back their disapproval.
¡°You''re still doing well I see,¡± said Akira as he looked at the several dozen well-trained city guards who quickly took up positions around sister Teresa and her followers.
¡°Same to you. We can catch up later but right now the grand elders are waiting anxiously for your return. They have been acting weird for a while but now I can see why. The rumors were really true,¡± said Frang.
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¡°Right, lead the way. We can''t let them go crazy from waiting,¡± said Akira.
***
Akira spent the next hour and a half bringing them up to date on the current situation that the entire continent including both the humans and the demon races faced. He explained everything that happened to him while he had been away in greater detail than he could with the short coded letters and transmissions that had been sent between the shamen.
Although his report was filled with important news the grand elders and the other chiefs of the demon races that made up the population of Kodria seemed impatient for him to finish.
¡°We will keep all this information in our memory as we deal with the enemy forces. But... the main reason we asked you to join us in this discussion is not about all of that,¡± said grand elder ¨¤aron who was the most agitated.
¡°I understand. You want to know why there is a small group of demigods waiting outside this meeting room, am I right?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes, what is all this about? I am shocked that you out of everyone here would be the first to not only bring such people here but also suggest that we trust them and have them become our allies,¡± said grand elder Hegir. The grand elders and chiefs all had an intense hate for the demigods just like anyone else.
¡°Grand elders, fellow leaders of the other demon races, you all know of the ancient heritage I carry within my body.¡±
¡°Yes, everyone is well aware of it. What does that have to do with the demigods?¡±
¡°During the last battle with the BenDover guild, I was able to awaken a deep and dormant ancient skill that had been lost for centuries. It is only because of this skill that I dared to even think of such a thing. Even with this special skill, I only decided upon it after testing them and weeding out the many that were not fit to be an ally to the demon races. Those that passed the initial test are here at Kodria waiting for your decision.¡±
The elderly men that were sitting inside the room all sat up straight upon hearing this. Boasting about such a thing was not something they would take lightly when the entire future development of Kodria, its people, and its army rested on this decision.
¡°How can we be sure that they won''t stab us in the back when we are in a compromised position that could cause our downfall or a major defeat in a battle?¡±
¡°With this recently awakened skill, I am almost 100% sure that they will become loyal subordinates under me. Even if they had ulterior motives it will all be in vain, once the skill takes effect.¡±
There were several gasps at this revelation.
¡°Why are you not 100% sure?¡±
¡°Nothing in life is ever 100% guaranteed. Although I doubt it would happen, something could go wrong. I would guess that 99% of the demigods are not compatible with our cause. But that one percent we should grasp and bring them onto our side to help battle the other demigods. With their help, we can have them take on the more dangerous missions that would mean certain death for our normal soldiers. With the help of these demigods, we will be able to save hundreds if not thousands of soldiers from certain death allowing them to be able to participate in other major battles to protect Kodria. With their help, we will also be able to have demigods that can enter the demigod''s circles of communications to gather information.¡±
¡°With such a skill why do we not just form a hunting team to capture demigods and have you use your skill on them?¡±
¡°Although I have not used the skill yet from what my instincts tell me, that wouldn''t work. from what I understand the target has to accept the changes from the skill. It will change their entire being. Plus I am unable to use the skill on a whim because there are requirements and restrictions.¡±
¡°And those are?¡±
¡°The main restriction is my own strength. I am unsure how many times I can use the skill. As It is not some small-time skill. The second thing is in order to activate the skill there needs to be a full moon.¡±
¡°There will be a full moon soon...¡±
¡°That is why I rushed back as fast as I could so we could get this all settled. I hope that you will thoroughly investigate the demigods that have come here and accept my proposal before the full moon arrives.¡±
¡°This is such a major event, we must talk this out before seeing them first! There is too much to discuss! If we are to test out your new ancient skill...¡±
¡°I will let you all handle the rest of this. If you need my input on anything or any other information I can provide, you know where to find me,¡± said Akira before standing up and leaving the meeting room that was now bursting with heated discussion between the grand elders and chiefs.
Since Kodria had become a dukedom the grand-elders had taken on more responsibility. The chiefs had also been promoted into positions where they could help take care of more tasks to lighten the grand elder''s workload.
It was all growing into something similar to high ministers and the low misters of the human kingdoms. Although it was not as cutthroat as their system and still followed the earth clan¡¯s system of Grand elders and clan chiefs.
Chapter 293: Full moon ceremony
Over the next three days, the small group of demigods were each thoroughly inspected both physically and mentally by several holy shamen under Klyn, before they were ushered into the meeting room one by one to be interrogated by the Grand elders and the chiefs.
There were always several dozen soldiers, mainly werewolves and orcs standing guard around the demigods at all times.
Heavily armored orcs with large shields stood in front of the Grand-elders and chiefs to block any attacks that might be sent towards them.
In this way, they were able to get a deeper understanding of who the demigods were and what they were actually like, in order to gather enough information to decide on the matter before the full moon arrived.
While the Grand-elders were interrogating the demigods Akira was keeping company with Mileena, Silvy, and Wyt.
¡°Why do you have to do this!?¡± asked a pouting Mileena.
¡°I have to do it in order to keep Kodria safe. If Kodria is safe it means you and the children are safe!¡± said Akira while he held Silvy and gave her one of the handmade cloth dolls that Azura and Maya had made out of scrap cloth. Upon grabbing onto it with her small hands she brought it to her mouth where she began to slobber and gnaw on a third of the large head of the doll.
¡°But you''ll have to bite them...¡±
¡°Don''t worry it is only to activate the skill there is no other meaning behind it!¡±
¡°But still...¡±
¡°Do you want me to bite you tonight?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Stop! Don''t say stuff like that in front of the children!¡± said a blushing Mileena.
***
The three days had passed by leisurely for Akira while he had waited for the grand elder''s decision.
Akira had just entered the large meeting room where the grand-elders were waiting along with Sister Teresa.
¡°Good you''re here,¡± said grand elder Heigir. ¡°We have thought long and hard and have had many fierce discussions between ourselves on this matter. Although everyone on this council despises the demigods for all they have done in the past, both to our clans and the many demon races that have been wiped out... we have come to an agreement that if we can receive the help of demigods that are not hostile and as long as you can keep them from going rouge... we accept their offer to help.¡±
The entire council of grand-elders and chiefs all had solemn or stony expressions on their faces as they looked at Sister Teresa who was the representative for the small group of demigods.
¡°I thank you for your consideration. I can assure you that I and my close followers will not cause trouble for you. We only wish to help those in need,¡± said sister Teresa.
¡°Although we have agreed to accept you as allies. There has been a long feud between the demon race and demigods. So it would be troublesome for you to stay in Kodria''s main city which might cause several fights or attacks on you and your followers. So, after this ceremony you may stay at Bent-Gii or any other future settlement that we settle as they are largely made up of disciplined soldiers and will be more pleasant for you to interact with,¡± said grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°Thank you for your thoughtful consideration.¡±
¡°In a few hours the moon will be at its highest, that is when we will begin the... ceremony. Prepare yourself and make sure your followers understand what is going on. They are being brought over to the courtyard as we speak,¡± said grand elder Seoc.
¡°I will,¡± said Sister Teresa with a bow.
***
The full moon floated high in the sky lighting up the courtyard with its silvery light allowing the large gathering of people to see without the need for the burning torches and lanterns on the walls.
The grand elders and chiefs stood safely on top of the castle looking down at the platform that had been erected in the courtyard. The courtyard was jam-packed with castle guards and city guards all keeping a sharp watch on the demigods that were gathered behind the platform.
Akira exited the castle''s main doors along with Fluffball trailing behind him. Mileena had decided not to come watch the ceremony and instead would be staying with Wyt and Silvy.
The guards all parted to clear a path for Akira allowing him to walk up onto the stage unhindered.
Akira stood on the stage for a few seconds just looking at the moon high above him, soaking in the cool evening air and the silvery light. Fluffball sat down next to him enjoying the attention he was receiving while staying next to Akira.
Without any words spoken he transformed in front of everyone. A black misty light covered his entire body blocking their view as an intense killing aura burst out from his body and several odd sounds came from inside the dark mist which only lasted for a second or so before fading to only a thin mist that covered his body revealing the large muscular furred Akira with his eyes glinting with killing intent and his claws and teeth shining in the silver moonlight as he grinned.
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Several of the low-level demigods were shaking in fear from the strong killing aura that was washing over them. A few fell to their butts while one created a new puddle on the ground.
With a clawed hand, Akira reached out and pointed to Sister Teresa and then motioned for her to step up onto the stage.
With a calm face and demeanor, she walked up next to frightening Akira. She wore a white cloak over her equally white armored robes and said no words and only moved her hair to one side revealing her neck which had baby-smooth skin.
Akira grabbed a hold of both her shoulders to keep her steady before... biting deep into her silky smooth neck.
Fresh blood spurted out from the puncture wounds on her neck as Akira wasted no time and activated the [Minor Lycanthropy] skill while still biting into Sister Teresa''s neck.
Akira instantly felt a tug on his consciousness and his energy as the light black mist that covered his body slowly moved from around him and began to completely cover Sister Teresa and enter into the neck wounds where his teeth were deeply embedded.
The low-level demigods that were watching it all were shaking even harder as they saw Akira viciously bite into sister Teresa. They were now on edge, wounding what they had gotten themselves into, and were now unsure if this was the best thing to do after seeing the bloody bite.
When sister Teresa was completely blocked from view, encased in a black misty cocoon, Akira on instinct, backed away and watched closely to see what would happen.
The black mist slowly swirled around her for a minute before silvery moonlight started to be sucked into it, before long the black mist slowly changed into a glowing gray mist that pulsed along with Sister Teresa''s heartbeat.
Inside the gray mist, several loud pained grunts could be heard as odd popping, tearing, and cracking sounds echoed out over the silent courtyard and bounced back off the stone walls.
The grand-elders and chiefs along with the guards all watched in excited amazement. This was a major historical event happening in front of them!
The demigods on the other hand were watching in horror as their heads began to fill up with thoughts of the painful experience that they would be going through soon.
After ten minutes passed the grunts and noises died out and...
¡°Awoooo!¡± as a silky smooth howl escaped the pulsing gray mist which gave one bright flash of light before bursting out away from sister Teresa to reveal a slim furred female werewolf with light gray fur that was almost nearing white.
The gray fur slowly disappeared as sister Teresa reverted back to her human form. Her face was full of sweat as she panted trying to catch her breath and recover from the exhausting experience.
Ding!
Conversion successfully completed!
Teresa has become a [Minor Lycan] subordinate underneath your command.
|
Akira grabbed sister Teresa''s arm to help keep her standing as he escorted her off the stage.
¡°With this, I will be creating a guild for all who have accepted the transformation,¡± said Sister Teresa said before she hobbled over to Rondie who hurriedly began to inspect her while also asking several dozen questions.
The demigods all gathered around her and listened to her answers trying to learn all they could to prepare themselves. The nearby shamen under Klyn were also listening closely and were writing down notes furiously.
Since there was a limited time for the ceremony Akira could not let them mingle for too long.
¡°Next!¡± growled Akira, interrupting their questions.
The demigods all looked at each other for several seconds, no one offering to go next until one of the youngest-looking and lowest-leveled males of the group stepped forward with a determined expression. [Beater, Lvl 39]
He walked up onto the stage his hands balled into fists and held at his side as he stood straight and defiantly stared at the moon while exposing his neck.
Akira nodded at his determination and stepped forward and again the process once again repeated itself with Akira feeling a small tug at his consciousness and the black mist covering and entering Beater''s body.
When ten minutes passed once again...
¡°Awoooo!¡± a firm howl rang out from inside the gray mist before bursting out to reveal a buff werewolf with dark gray fur that was almost nearing black.
Akira helped the exhausted and stumbling man off the stage and only had to wait a few seconds before the next person stepped up onto the stage.
In this way, each of the demigods that had gathered near the stage underwent the painful transformation all gaining werewolf transformations with fur ranging from a light gray like sister Teresa to a dark gray like Beater and also in between.
They all joined Sister Teresa to quietly discuss in hushed tones too quiet for the werewolves to hear about what had changed with their bodies and other matters related to demigods.
After activating the skill to transform the demigods Akira felt both mentally and physically exhausted and could barely stand.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball as he stood protectively around Akira.
¡°I''m fine,¡± said Akira.
Zundar and the royal guards all rushed up onto the stage and helped escort him through the crowd and into the castle all the way to his large room.
He was in no shape or mood for talking to the demigods or any long meetings with the grand elders.
Akira hobbled into the room with the help of Fluffball where he flopped into his empty cushioned rocking chair next to Mileena who was still pouting.
Although it was well into the night long past midnight both Silvy and Wyt were wide awake.
Mileena had her hands full with Wyt who was getting a late-night snack, while also trying to get Silvy to go back to sleep.
Akira reached out and scooped up Silvy out of the crib and sat back as he slowly continued rocking back and forth in his cushioned rocking chair.
Sometime later when Mileena was finished tucking the sleeping Wyt back into the crib, she looked to Akira and saw him dozing with Silvy also fast asleep on top of his broad chest.
The sight brought a smile to her face and washed away all of her previous thoughts. She silently laid a light blanket over Silvy and returned to her own rocking chair to fall asleep several minutes later.
Chapter 294: Main character
Akira woke up from his deep sleep feeling fully rested even though he had slept in the rocking chair and not his bed.
Mileena was still sleeping next to him in her rocking chair. After such a long night of trying to take care of Wyt and Silvy, she looked like she would be out for several more hours.
He gently picked up Silvy who was still sleeping soundly on his chest and placed her in the crib next to Wyt. There was now a large damp spot on his chest where she had drooled all over while sleeping forcing him to have to change into different clothes.
He quietly exited the nursery room and entered his room to change. The sunlight was already starting to enter the room through the window and since there was much to do today Akira was forced to hurriedly change his clothes and wash his face before heading out to his first meeting.
Akira ran through the castle''s hallways with two pieces of buttered toast in his mouth.
¡°I''m late!¡± said Akira between bites of his tasty toast.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he ran alongside Akira.
¡°AH!¡± ¡°Waaaa!!!¡± The two nearly ran into several servants and maids as they rushed down the hallways and past several corners.
Akira abruptly stopped at the castle''s front entrance as a thought popped into his head.
¡°Why does this morning feel like I am the main character of a romantic comedy...¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball matter-of-factly.
¡°My life is not a comedy! You know... Fluffball... you have been gaining some weight lately... I should have Mileena, Azura, and the other girls stop sneaking snacks to you. They can give them to Stubby and Pii''per!¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball aghast at such a threat.
Dolph, Vilkas, and the other royal guards that were already waiting for Akira in the courtyard did not pay attention to the energetic and odd conversation the two were having as they had gotten used to their odd behavior.
Without much chatter, the guards all saluted Akira as he joined them. They surrounded Akira and exited the castle jogging through the early morning streets. The only other people that were already up so early were the shop and restaurant owners, farmers, and fishers who were all haggling over the bulk selling price for the fresh vegetables and fish that would be sold and used today.
At the docks, a flatbed boat was waiting for Akira and his guards, with skilled ease the boat took them to the south fort where his first meeting was to take place.
¡°Roar!¡± Grarr greeted Akira as he jumped off the boat and onto the fort''s small dock.
¡°Good to see you as well. Enjoying your free time now that you''re back?¡± asked Akira.
''I have no time to play since there are so many young pups that I have to properly train and keep in line,'' said Grarr through his mental speech.
¡°Have the guest caused you or any of the cavalrymen any trouble?¡± asked Akira as he climbed onto Grrar''s back and headed towards the temporary tent camp that had been set up near the fort.
''Nothing unusual, just a lot of gawking at us like the other people from nearby towns like to do.''
Sister Teresa and the recently converted demigods were all standing near the tents waiting for Akira.
Although they had several hours of rest, they still looked tired and worn out from the drastic changes that had happened to them the night before.
Akira walked up to the gathered minor lycans and held out his hand for sister Teresa to shake, which she grabbed and shook lightly. Akira did not care about the formality of differing ranks between him and her and tried to keep everything as simple as possible.
He sniffed the air and received an entirely different scent that normally came from the demigods, it was a more earthy wolf scent. Along with this change, Akira sensed a faint aura coming from each of them, it was definitely different from the day before, and would be hard for others to mistake them for enemies based on smell alone.
¡°Let''s head into the fort where we can have a proper breakfast to re-energize you guys while we catch up on everything that has happened and discusses important matters,¡± said Akira waving his hand towards the fort that had opened its gates.
Akira and his guards commandeered the officer''s cafeteria and seated the demigods who started to ravenously eat the food that had been prepared for them. They acted like a pack of wolves that had starved for several weeks during the harshest time of winter. Akira was a bit embarrassed watching them as they shoved large cuts of meat and eggs into their mouths.
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Sister Teresa, unlike the rest of her followers, kept her calm and cool composure while eating and chatting with Akira, who was now unsure if feeding demigods was even necessary since they were semi-immortal.
¡°We need to eat just like anyone else,¡± said Sister Teresa as she watched Akira staring at the others.
Akira only raised an eyebrow as he continued to eat his egg and toast breakfast.
¡°I have already finished creating the guild and everyone here has joined it. I took inspiration from last night''s ceremony and named it the [Full Moon] guild,¡± said Teresa between bites of the gooey oatmeal that she was eating.
¡°That simple? No hoops to jump through or committees to decide if you can or can''t make a guild?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s too complicated to explain. You wouldn''t understand the explanation as it had to do with demigod stuff. Let''s just say it cost us a lot of gold.¡±
Akira nodded in understatement and then asked, ¡°How is the size of the guild compared to the other guilds?¡±
¡°We''re little more than a hunting team compared to the other guilds. A weak one at that, with only Rondie and the few others strong enough to somewhat hold their own in a serious fight,¡± said Sister Teresa as she blew on a spoonful of hot oatmeal. ¡°With the large influx of demigods coming here for the major current events, the small guilds and hunting parties that once ran roughshod all over this continent are being dismantled or swallowed up by larger guilds that are forming and fighting for territory up in the north. In short, as I have said before, don''t expect us to be able to fight head-on with the major guilds in the north. The best we can do is help keep the area safe as well as support Kodria''s main army if there comes a time that it is mobilized.¡±
Akira understood all of this even though he had spiced up his speech a bit for the grand elders and clan chiefs. The majority of the new minor lycans were even weaker than Kodria''s soldiers.
¡°What can you tell me about your experience from last night and any changes you have noticed?¡±
¡°Besides the obvious changes to our bodies. All of our previous...,¡± sister Teresa paused as she tried to think of a proper way to explain what she was thinking. ¡°... occupations have changed.¡±
¡°You all have day jobs? I thought you just roamed around and did whatever you wanted.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball agreeing with Akira''s assessment while he chewed on a large bone which was now cleaned of the large chunk of meat that had been attached to it only a short time ago.
¡°It''s not like that. It is a system of classification we demigods use to differentiate the type of skills and fighting techniques we each use. Like differentiating between craftsmen such as an armorer or a swords smith.¡±
¡°Oh... I see,¡± lied Akira, ¡°and is this a big deal? Or...¡±
¡°Of course it is! Normally we are stuck with our... occupation forever. I was a Cleric but now I have become a holy shaman! There have only been a few random encounters where someone was able to change it and all of them can be counted on one hand. In each one of those events, it was only 1 person. I am telling you now, rumors of last night''s ceremony where a small guild''s worth of demigods was able to change their occupation has already taken the demigod community by storm.¡±
¡°And you''re warning me of this because...?¡± asked Akira.
¡°With such news, Kodria will be seeing an uptick in encounters with demigods. I am not entirely sure how it will all play out for good or bad. But you can be sure that there will be several ¡ interesting people that come here.¡±
¡°Noted, I''ll have the patrols strengthened and made aware of the possibility of meeting more demigods in our territory. Is there anything else that you have noticed that has changed?¡±
¡°Several, the main one that comes to mind above the others is this constant connection in my mind that I feel while near you.¡±
Akira looked at her with an odd expression but as he thought about it he realized the constant itch he was feeling in his mind was probably from the many connections with the minor lycans. If he focused on one of them he was able to get a basic and primitive feeling of the target''s emotions they were currently feeling.
This was quite troublesome to Akira as he realized the significance of what the connections meant.
¡°Now that you mention it I also feel a connection to everyone. Do you feel any emotions or thoughts on your side?¡± asked a worried Akira.
¡°No,¡± said Sister Teresa shaking her head. ¡°It is more like a stern will that we can not go against. If we are to help you with this issue we will need your permission to set one of your villages, towns, or cities under your control as an anchoring point.¡±
¡°... and this does what?¡±
¡°It will allow us to return to that spot if we are to die during a fight. Right now many of us are anchored to various places in the north and they are all slowly getting taken over by enemy forces. If any of us who went through such a thorough transformation by changing into a demon race ended up in their territory, we would be captured and held by the guilds for interrogation and likely never be able to escape them easily.¡±
¡°I''ll talk to the grand elders about this.¡±
Akira and sister Teresa continued their talk for nearly a half hour before Akira was caught off guard by a system message interrupting their conversation.
Ding!
New multi-phased mission received!
Full moon guilds rise to the top!
-1. Build up the guild with a minimum number of at least 20 members.
-2. Level the guild members to at least the average level of Kodria soldiers.
The reward will depend on the final results.
Do you accept: Y / N?
|
¡°What is it?¡± asked Sister Teresa.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball, his head cocked to the side as he stared at Akira who was acting weird and had several expressions crossing his face.
¡°The previous plans for you and the others have changed. In a few days after I get everything set up, the [Full Moon] guild will be starting hell training.¡±
Chapter 295: Show me what you got!
In the northern town of Togower.
A trio of shabbily dressed young men secretly trailed a small group of demigods around the town by pretending to be carrying large wooden boxes to an unknown destination. The boxes were empty and only being used as a prop to allow them to stay close to the demigods so they could eavesdrop on their conversations.
¡°... they popped up out of nowhere. Rumor is that the guild is now led by that crazy woman,¡± said a female demigod with short and spiky purple hair.
¡°That''s not the real problem here! I heard from another guild member that they all changed their... occupation. But that''s not all! Their bodies mutated to become part of the demon race!¡±
¡°If they continue to grow and recruit others, they will become a major sore for the big shots that are looking to capture the whole continent!¡±
¡°What are the big guilds doing allowing something like this to go on?¡±
¡°They have their hand''s full holding onto what they have right now. Plus those people are all noobs that are even weaker than you and me. What harm can they do right now?¡±
¡°I think we need to be proactive and make sure to stop their growth by blocking anyone who tries to travel south. That goes for both demigods and humans. Who knows if they can change them as well... that would be a disaster.¡±
Thunk!
One of the trio accidentally dropped the end of the wooden box on his foot in his shock at what he had heard. He hopped around on one foot as he cursed from the pain., even if it was empty it still hurt.
The commotion caused the demigods to stop talking and look at the group suspiciously.
¡°Let''s go somewhere else. We don''t need riff-raff listening in on our conversations,¡± said the purple hair demigod.
The trio of young men acted as if they did not hear the demigods and busied themselves with escaping down a side street.
When they were well out of sight and hearing range of the demigods, they dropped the wooden box on the ground and escaped to their normal corner of the dark tavern. The tavern had become more worn out and aged due to all the massive changes and fights constantly happening in the town.
Still, it was the only place that could offer alcoholic drinks even if it was some of the worst they had ever tasted. You could only manage to drink it by mixing in other ingredients to mask the worst of the ''unique'' flavor.
This was the price they had to pay for such a luxury in a small town where the price of the bottles and barrels sold by the traveling merchants was way too expensive for them to even dream of wasting money on it.
¡°So, we''re all agreed that we will go...¡± said Whan only to be interrupted.
¡°Shhh! They''re listening,¡± hissed Tou in a quiet voice just barely audible to the other two.
¡°... to the market and offer our service?¡± said Whan, completing his sentence.
¡°You think they will allow us to join in on the activity?¡± asked Dree.
¡°Our bodies might not be compatible with the work they have. Even if we can''t join in on our first choice, maybe they have another place or task that we can fit in with our set of skills,¡± said Tou as took a large gulp from his cup and winced at the burning flavor.
¡°Then it is decided. We will go to the market!¡± said Whan.
***
¡°In order to properly train you, and in the future, put you in the proper positions during any future fights, I must know what skills you have along with your fighting style and the strength of your new bodies,¡± said Akira who stood in the open field that was next to the south fort.
¡°I''ll go first!¡± shouted the energetic Beater before Akira even had a chance to pick someone.
Akira stood ready with his newly forged sword. Just behind him Dolph, Vilkas, and Fluffball were all hovering protectively and were ready to jump in if the demigods tried to attack Akira and not spar.
Beater took up a fighting stance and took several deep breaths in and out to calm down before raising his morning star weapon high above his head.
Akira shifted from one foot to another to get into a better stance to block the coming attack...
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¡ that did not come. Instead, Beater whacked himself in the head... once, twice, three times... the attacks hitting his body.
¡°Umm... what are you doing?¡± asked Akira as he watched the bizarre sight before him. As the seconds passed, bruises and small cuts started to appear all over Beater¡¯s face.
¡°I''m powering up!¡± shouted Beater.
¡°Okay...¡± was all Akira said as he looked at the demigods behind Beater. They were all embarrassed and looking away from the sight in front of them.
¡°Why are all demigods so weird?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°Hey! Don''t lump us all in with this idiot!¡± shouted Rondie.
¡°Yeah, we don''t know him! Never seen him before in my life!¡± said Sweety, one of the high-level bodyguards standing next to Sister Teresa.
¡°What? But you''re my sister!¡± said Beater, not pausing his powering up as he looked over to his sister.
¡°That makes it worse!¡±
Akira waited for a little more time to pass by before asking, ¡°Are you ready?¡±
Beater who looked like he was ready to fall over dead from beating himself up, activated a skill that covered his morning star in a dark gray light. The light grew brighter and brighter as he stood still swinging the morning star above his head.
¡°Behold my true power after unlocking the ancient gate that was holding it back!¡±
¡°OOOOOO,¡± said Dolph and Vilkas dryly as they clapped for him.
¡°Quit encouraging him!¡± screamed the embarrassed Sweety.
With all his strength, he swung down his morning star which was blazing like a gray shooting star as it crashed into Akira''s shield!
BOOM!
The dark gray light exploded out blinding those who were not ready for it.
When the light disappeared they looked toward Akira and his shield to see what the damage was.
¡, not a scratch. And Akira still stood like a statue not moving one hair''s width from the attack. Overall, it was little more than a visual distraction when used against Akira.
¡°Interesting, I am sure with more strength and more practice with that skill, you will be a force to reckon with in the future. Right now we could use you as a disrupter. But why do you need to beat yourself up?¡±
¡°It''s part of my berserk occupation! The more damage I receive the more enraged I can get which buffs my attacks!¡± said Beater proudly.
¡°I see, is that all you have to show?¡±
¡°For now. When I get stronger I will be able to unlock new and more ancient powerful skills! With them, I will be able to show you my true form!¡±
¡°Next person!¡± shouted Dolph ignoring Beater who was still talking mindlessly about unlocking new gates of power.
Sister Teresa stepped forward and quickly chanted off a few words and pointed towards Beater who had been dragged to the side by his sister.
A gray light, almost white, enveloped him and in only a few seconds Akira could see the bumps and cuts on his face quickly heal.
She used several chants on him making it so Beater was able to jump around full of energy once again looking as if he had not just spent several minutes beating himself up.
¡°Would you like me to demonstrate the skills on you?¡± asked Sister Teresa.
Akira fearlessly nodded while those behind him grew tense.
Again sister Teresa chanted off several skills sending different gray lights shooting towards him entering his body as well as covering him in a soft glow.
Ding!
Health regeneration doubled!
Stamina usage halved!
Mana regeneration doubled!
¡
|
None of the skills affected him negatively allowing everyone next to him to let out sighs of relief.
¡°Beater, come over here and use this to prick your finger,¡± said Akira.
Beater took the small dagger that glinted in the sunlight and poked his finger. Akira dabbed a few drops of a red potion on the wound and saw it was far slower to heal than a normal wound.
¡°So you all have received our weakness to silver as well,¡± said Akira looking at the wound and then back at the silver dagger.
¡°We knew the risks when we decided to go through with the ceremony,¡± said Beater, full of bravado.
¡°Can you heal this?¡± asked Akira, turning to sister Teresa.
She silently cast a few healing skills but they had similar results of healing the wound at a slow pace. It would take a much longer time to fully heal.
After sister Teresa''s demonstration, Rondie stepped forward.
¡°Let''s do this!¡± she said banging her large metal fist together.
She activated a skill to make her body larger and tougher and then charged toward Akira like a bull.
She activated another skill while running forward, which sent several gray metal fist phantoms toward Akira and slamming into his shield blowing up when they landed.
Her constant ranged attacks did cause Akira to move half a fraction of an inch before she rammed into him with her large body and all her forward momentum was halted instantly.
The impact from the ramming attack shook the ground and those nearby.
She continued to try and pummel Akira''s shield with multiple types of gray fist skills.
After showing off her skills Sweety showed off her skills using a bow.
One by one the others came forward and showed their various skills: fire, wind, water, swords, and bows.
When everyone had shown off the best of their skills, Akira was quite happy with everything he had seen.
¡°Alright! With all the testing out of the way, we should get to the main purpose of having you all here!¡±
Everyone other than sister Teresa looked at Akira wondering what it was.
¡°... and that would be... The first phase of Hell training!¡± said Akira, giving everyone a wolfish grin.
Chapter 296: Expanding the Full Moon guild
The morning sun was only just fully rising from the horizon as the minor lycan members of the [Full Moon] guild arrived back at Kodria''s south fort.
¡°Did we finally make it back to the fort?¡± asked Rondie while wiping the sweat from her forehead.
¡°Why do I feel like this was all just an excuse to have us help with chores that could have been done by anyone else,¡± said Beater while drinking from his nearly empty waterskin.
¡°The only reward we got for all that work was food...¡±
The new recruits of the [Full Moon] guild had been split up and sent to three different allied towns where they had helped the residents take care of several tasks that needed to be done before the warm months ended.
This was partly to get their names and their guild''s name out there to show everyone that they were friendly. It was also a way for Akira and the grand elders to see if they were really committed to being allies to the demon race.
When they had finished with all of the menial tasks, they had been given new orders to return to Kodria for the next phase of their training. But... on their way back they had been asked to carve out a wider and more even road from the allied towns to Kodria.
The small footpaths, hunting trails, and hilly pathways that snaked all over the place were transformed into actual dirt roads as the [Full Moon] members used their skills to cut through all the obstacles that would have stopped or taken months for demon race workers to get through.
¡°What took you guys so long?¡± asked soggy Sweety, as she looked at the dusty Beater and Rondie.
¡°We''ve been waiting for you here so we can start the next phase,¡± said Crowbahr, who was also one of the high-level bodyguards of Sister Teresa. She had shoulder-length black hair, tanned skin, and the leather armor she wore made her look like a sporty gangster. It didn''t help her image much when you could always find her chewing on a small twig or piece of grass while holding a metal crowbar on her shoulder as she stared at you silently, not talking for several seconds.
¡°We had a lot of rocks and hills to go through!¡± said Rondie.
¡°Ha! We had it worse. So many damn roots everywhere!¡± said Crowbahr as she swung her metal crowbar through the air mimicking slicing through an obstacle.
¡°How was that hard for you? All your skills are based on fire! We had to work in a swampy area. What a pain in the butt that was trying to keep the road from disappearing¡± said Sweety.
Beater looked around and asked, ¡°Why don''t I see big sis Teresa with you guys?¡±
¡°Since she has chosen to become a holy shaman healer she was taken to train with the head Shaman.¡±
As they were chatting Zundar walked out of the southern fort and headed towards the gathered [Full Moon] guild members.
¡°Good, you''re all here! You are in luck to arrive back today! A new batch of army recruits will be starting boot camp today and you''re joining them. Let''s go!¡± shouted an energetic Zundar.
¡°What? We just got back!¡± said Crowbahr.
¡°Don''t worry. Training with everyone will build character. No more complaints, this is a direct order from the duke,¡± said Zundar while he started herding them toward the recruits'' training ground.
¡°Let''s do this! They say that what doesn''t kill you makes you stronger...¡± said Beater after slapping himself hard a few times to pump himself up.
¡°We''re not perverts like you,¡± said a tired Sweety.
***
For the next weak the [Full moon] guild members were treated as new army recruits and were put through the wringer. They were not treated any differently and were forced to march, learn formations, spar with each other, and participate in manual labor for Kodria to build up goodwill with the locals as well as some muscles on their frail bodies.
While the members of the guild were run ragged with training, Sister Teresa spent her time chatting with Klyn and the other holy shamen about the finer details of certain skills and healing chants as well as the ancient arts of healing using medical herbs and self-made potions.
¡°Teresa, the grand elders want to talk with you about the future plans of expanding the guild as well as a few other concerns,¡± said Akira when he found her in one of the castle''s gardens.
She only nodded to him while setting down the book she was reading and stood up to follow Akira.
As they were walking down the stone hallway of the castle Akira asked, ¡°Are you planning to join in the new training phase later today?¡±
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°I''ll be taking the rest of the members out to hunt as a regular hunting pack later today if everything works out after we deal with this meeting and a few other minor errands.¡±
¡°Hm... hunting is not really my thing but I may join you just to make sure everyone is okay. I heard that there have been migrant demigods wishing to join my guild. What''s the number so far?¡± asked sister Teresa.
¡°Too many. I''ll need your help with screening and interviewing them when this meeting is finished. It shouldn''t take too long, as we should be able to see who is really here and if they want to join for good or bad reasons. We have to see if those that want to join are willing to go through the ceremony or if they are just here to spy on us for the other major guilds and have no intention of converting to a minor lycan. Our time is limited so we can not play around with them.¡±
The guards in front of the large doors to the meeting room saluted Akira before opening the doors for the two of them. Akira nodded to them and passed through the doors along with sister Teresa which closed immediately behind them.
Only Grand elder Hegir and Grand elder ¨¤aron were sitting at the meeting table this morning.
¡°The other elders and grand elders are all dealing with other important matters and could not make it for this meeting,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°We won''t waste your time as we have our hands full with finishing the local projects as well as the harvest before the cold winds arrive,¡± said ¨¤aron.
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¡°Don''t forget the large harvest festival is just around the corner as well as managing the influx of trade that will be coming in the next few weeks to months as we gather and trade for what Kodria needs for the long winter months,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°That, and also keeping an eye on our ever-present demigod problem to the north. They can''t be trusted and they won''t stop expanding because the winter months are coming. No offense meant towards you,¡± said ¨¤aron as he looked at Sister Teresa who sat down next to Akira at the table.
¡°None taken,¡± said sister Teresa.
¡°The main problem right now is, we can''t keep having these random demigods show up at Kodria asking to join your guild,¡± said Hegir.
¡°None of them have been screened or investigated as well as we would like since our information on the growing plague of demigods is little to nothing. We can not allow such dangerous people to stay near the inner or outer city where they can cause trouble. Do you have a way to put out a message to the demigods that want to join you and have them go somewhere else where they can wait until we can confirm they will not be a harm to Kodria?¡± asked Grand elder ¨¤aron.
¡°That can be easily done through our demigod ways. Where would you like them to stay?¡±
¡°That''s Great! That would be a load off of our shoulders. As for where, I''ll have to check with the other Grand elders first,¡± said Hegir.
Grand elder ¨¤aron leaned forward over the table as he stared at sister Teresa and asked, ¡°How big do you plan on making this guild you have created?¡±
¡°I don''t have any plans on turning away anyone who sincerely wishes to join in order to protect the weak and help those in need. If that means only a few more join or hundreds join it is all the same to me.¡±
¡°Alright. Do you have any plans set in place to make sure that those you recruit will not be a danger to Kodria?¡±
Akira spoke before Sister Teresa could, ¡°After we finish this meeting, we''ll be testing out some measures to see what works. Do you have anything that you think we should try?¡±
¡°A few.¡±
***
¡°Gather around!¡± shouted Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he headbutted and herded a few of the more shy demigods forward.
Akira stood in front of the southern fort which had all its soldiers on the walls watching the new demigods like hawks.
Garg cavalrymen had created a protective semicircle around them to make sure that no outsiders could interfere with the interviews. This was to protect Kodria from any rogue demigod as well as protect the demigods from any citizen that had a grudge against the demigods and wanted to enact their own justice.
Until the gathered demigods proved they had no ill will towards Kodria they would be watched like this until they passed the tests and went through the ceremony to officially join the [Full moon] guild.
Behind Akira stood sister Teresa and each of the minor lycans of [Full moon] guild. They all had complicated looks on their faces as several of them were grumbling about their ''training'' that they had been pulled away from to attend this meeting with new guild prospects.
Although they had leveled up several different skills as well as their physical strength, the majority of the guild members'' levels were still the same as when they had joined Kodria. They had been so focused on doing chores and training with the army recruits that they were definitely being left behind by the other guilds.
¡°You have all come to join the [Full moon] guild,¡± said Akira as he looked over the crowd scanning each of their faces for any changes. He saw many male and female demigods whose strength varied widely and from the weapons and armor they looked to have many different ''Occupations''. Akira made sure to remember their names and faces to put them down on the growing list of demigods that they were keeping track of.
¡°But as much as I would love to have the guild grow to help Kodria in the future, we can not accept everyone as some of you may have impure feelings towards Kodria. There is also the fact that you may not be able to fit the requirements that Sister Teresa has for you to join. I am no expert in this sort of thing, so I will have Sister Teresa, the guild leader of [Full Moon], give a short explanation on what it takes to become a member.¡±
Sister Teresa stepped forward and in a soft voice said, ¡°You will not be able to join the [Full moon] guild as you would normally join one of the northern guilds. There will be no tax to join or weekly dues that you need to pay the guild. Instead, we have decided to only allow you to join if you go through the Full Moon ceremony which will change you into a Minor Lycan. Those who can not handle pain will be unable to complete the ceremony. It is worse than any death you may have experienced so far.¡±
Several hands went up in the crowd each having questions.
Akira randomly picked the closest small group of three teen males to speak first.
¡°Umm... we aren''t demigods. Can we still join?¡± asked Whan.
¡°What? Are you human?¡± asked Akira, as he quickly checked their names and levels.
¡°We may be humans and not of the demon race but we have awakened our special skills and want to join Kodria in taking down the demigods! Is it still possible for us to become a minor lycan?¡± asked Tou.
When he said this several demigods that were standing around them all looked at them as if they were idiots.
A few held hostile expressions for a second or two before going back to blank expressions.
¡°Well, you look a little too weak to join the full moon guild,¡± said Akira.
The trio looked down at the ground dejected. They had spent all of their life savings and belongings to make the trip south evading the blockade of demigods.
¡°But that does not mean we don''t need all the help we can get. If you want to help Kodria, you can join the current class of army recruits. You''ll have a lot of catching up to do as they are already a week ahead of you.¡±
At this, the three brightened up. ¡°We accept!¡± ¡°...and about the transformation?¡±
¡°If you prove yourself then we can see about that later,¡± said Akira as he waved for a nearby guard. ¡°Take them to the other recruits.¡±
When the guard had escorted the trio away, Akira took another question from a redhead female demigod.
¡°Sister Teresa said the only requirement to join is to go through the full moon ceremony. Does that mean we have to wait here for another month until a full moon arrives?¡±
¡°No. We will do it right now,¡± said Akira as he transformed into a werewolf.
¡°What? It''s the middle of the day? There is no... owww!¡± Beater was thumped on the head by Zundar who stood next to him. With a glare sent his way, Beater stayed quiet not finishing his sentence.
¡°What do we need to do?¡± asked a shivering pink-haired girl as she looked at Akira.
¡°It''s simple,¡± said Akira, his furry face turning into a large grin that showed off his sharp teeth.
¡°You only need to receive a bite from me on your neck,¡± said Akira, his gaze drilling into each of the demigods in the crowd.
¡°You must be joking!¡± shouted a male demigod with piercings all over his face.
¡°He is not. How else do you think we were able to have such a drastic transformation changing our bodies into what they are now? Didn''t you listen to Sister Teresa?¡± said Rondie.
¡°Still... that seems a bit... dangerous,¡± said the man.
¡°Don''t worry. I won''t bite hard,¡± said Akira, snapping his jaw shut and making a loud clacking noise as he stepped forward toward the crowd.
Over half of the demigods that had come looked at each other and decided it was time to leave.
¡°We''ll... I think this is not something I would be suited for. I don''t like seeing blood or experiencing pain, so I will be leaving,¡± said a female demigod.
¡°Me too,¡± a large portion of the demigods chimed in their agreement as they had only been here for other reasons or were just curious and did not want to go through with such a barbaric ritual.
¡°Why leave so soon? You just got here?¡± asked Akira calmly.
¡°Oh, well I have something cooking over the fire back at my house. I need to go check it,¡± said a demigod nervously as he looked towards the cavalrymen that were slowly tightening the semicircle.
¡°But I insist you stay. You came such a long way it would be a shame for you to go away empty-handed,¡± said Akira with a steely voice. With a motion of his hand, he gave a silent signal.
The demigods wanting to leave took this moment to try and escape as well.
¡°Finally some action!¡± shouted an energetic Beater.
The combined forces of the Garg cavalry, the fort guards, and the members of Full Moon engaged in battle with those trying to escape.
Chapter 297: PePo!
Although the average member of the [Full moon] guild were not as strong as most of the gathered demigods, with the help of Kodria''s soldiers there was no major problem. Only a few wounds here and there came from the battle but they were quickly healed by the holy shamen and Sister Teresa.
When the cleanup from the quick battle was finished, only a few dozen demigods were still standing unharmed as they had not moved and were not targeted.
¡°We will begin the ceremony one by one in the nearby tent over there,¡± said Akira pointing to a large tent that had thick leather walls to block the view of others seeing what was going on inside.
One by one the Kodria guards took the demigod inside the tent to be tested by Akira.
When a demigod entered the tent he said nothing and just slowly leaned in close enough to bite their necks. His motions were slow enough so that he could pay close attention to their reactions. Those that did not react negatively or try to dodge were knocked out and given a pass... for now.
For those that had other intentions... they were taken care of. One such example was a female demigod with purple hair.
As Akira was closing in towards her neck, her hand was immediately covered in a purple glow and shot towards Akira''s furry neck.
Akira took a step back allowing the glowing purple hand to cut through empty air. As she was off balance he used his tail to ''sweep the leg!'' and pounced forward tearing her throat to shreds and letting her bleed out and turn into hundreds of light shards that quickly disappeared.
The blood covering his face helped to sell the fact that he was going to bite them for the ceremony.
With the last demigod sorted, Akira exited the tent still with blood covering his furry face, ¡°All right! [Full Moon] members, you have been building some muscles and discipline for a while now. Are you guys ready for some real training?¡±
The sight of Akira with a bloody face was a little unsettling when they thought about how it got there but they did not waver from the sight of a little blood.
¡°We''re ready!¡± shouted Beater.
¡°Alright then let''s start with some easy patrolling of the local area. If I deem you ready we can progress to some other fun stuff as we go along!¡±
***
In a nearby thickly wooded area Akira was flanked by Dolph and Vilkas, while Fluffball led the way and Zundar brought up the rear behind him. They were walking along with Akira to keep him safe as they patrolled Kodria''s nearby territory along with the [Full moon] guild members.
With the day ending and the darkness of night arriving they were currently on the hunt for wild monsters that could cause problems for the local people of Kodria.
Akira paid close attention to the minor lycans and made sure to keep them in their proper formations as they walked through the trees.
¡°Beater, get back in line!¡± growled Akira.
¡°Sorry!¡± shouted beater as he quickened his pace to rejoin the others.
With Akira''s heightened sense he could hear the sounds of rustling bushes and the crackling of dried leaves still a good distance ahead of them.
Akira stepped to the side and said, ¡°Do everything just as we practiced several times before.¡±
Each of the minor lycans, including sister Teresa, scrunched their faces as they tried to transform into their werewolf form. Their faces, which were turning red, all looked like they had varying bad cases of constipation or diarrhea.
After a minute of no success, Akira sighed. This was a problem he had not truly paid much attention to. Natural-born werewolves after their first few transformations were able to go in and out of their werewolf forms as easily as putting clothes on.
The full moon guild members on the other hand were still having trouble transforming into a minor lycan.
The sound of the approaching monster was getting louder, so Akira was forced to activate his command skill [Darkness domain] covering everyone in the dark aura.
Now that they were inside the domain they received several buffs and small nudges. Quickly after this, their constipated faces relaxed as they were able to transform into their muscular furry lycan forms.
¡°When we get back, I''ll be sure to train you 10x harder so that you can transform without my assistance! Remember, you are to take the monster out without using any of your skills. Relying on your skills all the time can dull your skill in fighting!¡±
¡°In the future, you will be the shield against the growing threat of enemies in the north! You will be given the harshest missions because of your special bodies! This training is to prepare you to be such an elite force that can fight even if the enemy counters your skills. You will still be able to fight back.¡±
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The low-level members all formed a shield wall with a second line behind it as they waited for the fierce and deadly monster to show itself.
Rondie and the other high levels were standing at the rear of the group. Although they were participating, it was more as support for the lower levels. They were also using this chance to practice fighting in their newly transformed bodies and improving their teamwork with the others.
Akira was not worried about the high leveled members as they knew how to take care of themselves. It was the rest of the guild''s low-level members who had gained their levels from doing random things other than fighting, that he had to watch out for.
Seconds after they finished getting into position, the sound of a loud and menacing monster could be heard right in front of them!
Swoosh!
An orange pumpkin was thrown out of the bushes and landed a few feet in front of their shield wall.
¡°Where is it?¡± asked Beater.
¡°Let''s hurry up and fight! We don''t have long before we''ll run out of steam and revert to our normal bodies,¡± said Crowbahr as she scanned the trees and bushes where the pumpkin was thrown out.
The area was completely quiet as they tried to use their enhanced senses to find the target hiding in the bushes.
¡°Is it trying to stalk us?¡±
¡°Ahhhh!¡± Sweety was dragged out from behind the shield wall by a thick green vine and held upside down high in the air.
¡°Enemy attack!¡± ¡°Where''s the enemy!¡±
They immediately followed the vines down to the ground and to the large orange pumpkin that was sitting still.
Sensing everyone looking at it, two eyelids opened up revealing pitch-black eyes that stared right back at them.
A jagged jack-o-lantern mouth opened into an evil grin revealing its sharp orange teeth.
Akira watched from the side to see how they would handle the lvl 60 [PePo Pumkin] monster that was several if not dozens of levels above most of them.
¡°PePo?¡± asked the orange [PePo Pumkin] while it looked around the unfamiliar area that was now covered in a dark fog.
¡°What''s it saying?¡± asked Beater.
¡°Forget about what it''s saying! Get me down!¡± shouted Sweety who was still dangling upside down. She grabbed onto one of the vines binding her legs and clawed at it trying to cut her way free.
¡°PEPO!¡± shouted the [PePo Pumkin] growing angry.
Sweety was thrown down towards the shield wall like a club. The shield wall parted so they did not harm Sweety with a large collision. Instead, they attacked the vine with their weapons and claws.
As they stepped aside after cutting a few of the vines, two more vines shot out of the [PePo Pumkin] and grabbed onto two more of the low-level lycans.
As soon as its vines were harmed or cut, they would quickly heal or regrow as an orange sap seeped out of its wounds.
From this point on, the fight devolved into just an ugly and brutal slugfest that was based on strength, stamina, and sheer determination.
The full moon lycans had the advantage in numbers so they were able to slowly overwhelm the [PePo Pumkin] and slowly tear it to shreds.
When the [PePo Pumkin] finally lay smashed on the ground there area around it was filled with several large piles of vines that had been cut off.
The low-level [Full moon] lycans were laying on the ground huffing and puffing. They were no longer transformed since they did not have any more stamina to stay transformed.
Several of them had minor cuts and bruises. The worst wounds being a broken bone or two from being swung around like a club.
Sister Teresa was skillfully handling their wounds while testing out new things that she had heard about from Klyn and the other shaman.
¡°Duke sir. How''d we do?¡± asked Beater between deep breaths as he sat up. ¡°I gained a level from the fight!¡±
¡°That was pretty bad...¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball, pitying the low-level scrubs in front of him.
Zundar only shook his head.
¡°Hey, we aren''t used to fighting without our skills,¡± said Sweety, who was getting her broken arm straightened enough to heal properly with a potion.
¡°Now that you mention it... whenever we encountered a problem as we wandered the land, there were so many of us that we had little to fear. We just bombarded the problem with all of our skills. But now that there are only a few of us left...¡± said Beater as he remembered their past fights.
¡°And with such a large group of people everyone''s growth was pretty slow,¡± said Crowbahr.
¡°Such fighting methods won''t cut it anymore. You all need to step up and take charge!¡± said Rondie.
¡°That''s why I have a perfect fighting spot being prepared just for you guys,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh, what type of monsters will we fight? Dragons? Wyverns? Salamanders?¡± asked Crowbahr.
Everyone looked to Akira ready to hear what dangerous monsters he had in store for them!
¡°Nope! Ice Slimes!¡±
¡°...¡±
¡°Slimes?¡±
¡°Yes. Ever since we had the dwarves help us expand our slime farm it has been getting a bit overcrowded and out of control. So we need to cull them and gather the cores that any of them may drop.¡±
¡°But that''s...¡±
¡°Trust me, you may think this is an easy task. But I made sure to set up a nice arena for each of you to fight one on one with all the slimes you could ever want.¡±
The full moon lycans were speechless, what kind of farm was this? one on one arenas? Were they going to become gladiators fighting for massive crowds of Kodria citizens?
¡°If you are afraid that there are not enough slimes for everyone you don''t have to worry about that. You will be able to level up in leaps and bounds from the overflowing number of slimes we need to cull. And if the low-level ones are too weak for you we have many large ones that have begun swallowing others and have become mutated giant slimes.¡±
¡°But we''ll die from exhaustion!¡±
¡°If you do then you''ll just have to work 2x as hard to make up for all the strength and time you lost,¡± said Akira with a blank face and even tone.
¡°...¡± everyone was speechless as they stared at Akira.
¡°HA! I knew creating a slime farm would come in handy someday!¡± said Akira now with a large evil smile as he nodded his head in an all-knowing way.
Chapter 298: Steps to Doom
¡°So how''s their training?¡± asked Akira, who was stuck behind a desk in his office finishing up all of the paperwork that had been piling up while he was out on his adventures hunting bandits and demigods.
¡°Which group? The new demigod recruits or the members already in the [Full moon] guild?¡±
¡°Ah yeah... I still need to set a date to hold the ceremony for those new members, I''ll have to do that later. I was really asking about the [Full Moon] members'' hell training.¡±
¡°I have been training them every day as you have asked,¡± said Zundar. ¡°After their horrendous performance, the first few days leading to several broken bones they have taken my training to heart and have learned to dodge, dip, duck, and dive away from my attacks... most of the time.¡±
¡°And the slimes?¡±
¡°The farm is almost empty. I have been keeping them fighting the slimes every minute that they are not training with me. There were a few close calls but no one died, not that it matters with them. They have all grown noticeably stronger... but that''s not saying much because they were all weaklings before.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with Zundar. He returned to chewing on his new stuffed Wyvern toy that Mileena had made for him. The chew toy looked a lot like Pii''per...
¡°The most promising of the weaklings so far is that weirdo Beater. I have been training them to be able to transform at will during the night but they still seem to take a bit longer than normal. They''ve been resting since yesterday since I didn''t want them to die from exhaustion.¡±
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Akira looked to Zundar questioningly to see if he had called someone else to join him.
Zundar shook his head no.
¡°Come in,¡± said Akira, unsure who it could be interrupting his private meeting.
Klyn stepped into the room and after closing the door immediately said, ¡°The Kamen have sent a request for Kodria''s help. There is a dungeon close to where one of their towns is and it is nearing an overflow. They sent a group of warriors to clear it but have not heard from them since they left... Do you want us to send some of the soldiers and a few shamen to see if they can clear it for them and if they can find the missing Kamen clearing party?¡±
Akira perked up at hearing this, he wiped off the ink from his feather pen and dropped it into a small jar holding similar feather pens.
¡°All the most recent reports we have received have said that the dungeons nearby are nowhere near reaching an overflow. How did we miss something like this?¡± asked Akira. ¡°If one happens so close to the harvest festival... Those that will be traveling here to join the festivity as well as the merchants on the roads will be swarmed by the escaped dungeon monsters. There is also the high possibility of the towns and villages near the dungeon being wiped out.¡±
¡°I know Kodria is still on high alert for any mischief so it will be hard for us to spare many soldiers, but it was a request that we can not really ignore,¡± said Klyn.
¡°That''s not a problem, I have the perfect solution for that,¡± said Akira standing up from his desk.
¡°Samuel, let Azura know that I have taken care of the majority of the paperwork. She should be able to take care of the rest while I am gone,¡± said Akira to his aide standing in the corner.
¡°I will let her know immediately,¡± said Samuel.
¡°Let''s go Fluffball! Zundar you should come as well.¡±
***
Akira and the main members of the [Full Moon] guild rode as fast as they could to reach the dungeon that, according to the Kamen reports, was dangerously close to an overflow.
The minor lycans of the [Full moon] guild were no longer wearing the mismatched, ragged, and rusted armor that they had been using for a long time due to a lack of money and skilled blacksmiths in the remote areas they had been traveling through.
Now they were all outfitted with similar matching dark blue metal and leather armor that was several times stronger than what they had been using.
On the upper right chest of their armor, there was a large picture of a silver full moon with the Initials FM underneath. It was made out of a colored metal to give it more of a pop to catch people''s eyes.
¡°Remember, normally this dungeon would be just right for you to clear. But right now it has gone into an overflow state. The monsters will be more frenzied and there will definitely be more monsters breeding faster than normal,¡± said Akira as he once again reminded the members of the [Full Moon] guild.
¡°I haven''t seen an overflow before, is it really as bad as they say?¡± asked Galena, one of Sister Teresa''s 4 high-level guards. She was skilled in wind attacks, and speed buffs.
¡°That''s surprising since you are high-level,¡± said Zundar.
¡°I have cleared many dungeons, just not any that are ready to overflow.¡±
¡°Not all overflows are the same, some are less dangerous than others. Although Kodria has nothing to fear from this dungeon. The traveling civilians and nearby towns will stand little chance in withstanding such a wave of monsters if they escape,¡± said Akira.
¡°Duke Akira! I see a campsite up ahead!¡± shouted Crowbahr who was at the front of the group with the scouts and was now pointing in a direction ahead of them with her new metal crowbar. Even with her new armor she still looked like a hothead ruffian who was ready to start trouble if you didn''t hold her back.
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¡°Let''s go check it out!¡±
When they reached what looked to be a temporary campsite they found no one there. The equipment and food left in the tents were definitely from the Kamen race. Zundar searched the ground around the campsite while Akira and Fluffball sniffed around the campsite they were unable to find any sign of a struggle or the smell of blood in the area which is a good sign. The fires were several days old so the Kamen warriors were probably able to make their way to the dungeon.
¡°I sure hope everything is alright,¡± said Sweety as she looked around the area.
Everyone stayed on high alert as they left the temporary camp and headed to the dungeon.
When they were nearing the rocky area on the map that the Kamen had pointed out to them a voice rang out.
¡°Stop!¡± shouted a male from inside the cave-like entrance of the dungeon.
The man who had shouted stepped out of the inner entrance and blocked their path.
Akira looked at the man to see who he was [Grub lvl 70].
¡°The [Cunning Shadow] guild has claimed this dungeon. You are not allowed to enter until we finish our mission. If you really need to enter, then you can pay a small price for each person that wants to enter,¡± said Grub.
Akira had no patience for being polite with such a person but sister Teresa spoke before he could.
¡°We are looking for a group of Kamen warriors. Have you seen them?¡±
¡°Nope. I''ve been standing out here the whole time. No demon race has entered this dungeon yet. Even if they did, what could they do?¡±
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball as he sniffed the ground and then Grub.
¡°I agree, they''re inside,¡± said Akira, stepping forward to bypass Grub and enter the dungeon.
¡°Wait! You haven''t paid!¡± said the demigod side-stepping in front of Akira with his hand held out.
Akira''s hand shot out and grabbed Grub''s wrist and yanked it behind his back, nearly popping his arm out of its socket.
¡°I''m not one of the weak civilians that your kind like to torment,¡± said Akira sniffing the air around the demigod.
¡°What are you, some type of pervert? Why are you smelling me? Owwww! Let go of my arm!¡±
¡°I can smell day-old blood on you... don''t try saying it''s just monster blood. I know the difference,¡± said Akira as he shoved the man to the side and entered the dungeon''s entrance.
Ding!
You have entered the ''Steps to Doom'' dungeon.
|
Behind Akira, the sound of breaking bones could be heard as Zundar quickly took care of the demigod.
¡°There may be a chance that a few of the party members are still alive... but if they are not, we will gather their bodies and return them to the town for a proper burial,¡± said Akira.
As everyone entered the dungeon, the darkness was lit up by a magical gold flame that floated in the air several steps away from the group.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the gold flame, everyone huddled together and looked around searching for monsters or demigods, but found nothing.
With the gold light shining and lighting up a large portion of the space around them they were able to find a large set of spiraling stairs in front of them. The stairs were just large enough to have 4 people standing next to each other.
From what Akira could see, the stairs spiraled down deep into the dungeon. There were no walls or handrails on either side of the spiraling tower of stairs. The area around it was just a wide-open and empty pitch-black abyss, which was impossible to tell how wide or deep it went.
¡°Listen up everyone. This is the real deal to test out how far your training has come! Form up like you learned before!¡±
Four of the heavily armored Minor Lycans took up the front row while Zundar and three others guarded the rear. Akira, Fluffball, Dolph, and Vilkas were in the second row. While sister Teresa and the other weaker members stayed in the center.
With a silent command from Akira, they began to carefully descend the spiraling stairs.
As they descended, the floating gold light did not follow them and just stayed where it was. The light slowly grew dimmer the farther they went down.
The gold light far above them was extinguished leaving everyone in darkness for a few seconds before a new floating gold light lit up next to them nearly blinding everyone.
They stopped for a second to regain their vision and scan the area for any enemies but found everything was just as before.
This continued several times before the group reached a small square checkered 10x10 platform that the stairwell ended on. On the other side of the small platform was another set of wall-less spiraling stairs that continued to descend into the darkness.
After a quick scan of the platform, they found no monsters, demigods, or bodies of their allies. Only the scent of old blood lingered in the air and on the checkered stone floor.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball.
¡°Let''s hope that''s not what happened,¡± said Akira as he looked over the edge and into the deep darkness that had no end.
As they continued down the spiraling towers of stairs attached to the checkered platforms, they continued to find that each of them was empty. The gold lights that lit up their paths continued to extinguish themselves when the group was out of its range and a new one would light up a second later nearly blinding them each time.
Akira began to take notice that the farther they went down the wider the stairs were becoming, from the initial four people to five, and then six.
They could now see signs of hard-fought battles all over the stairs and platforms with discarded broken weapons and armor littering the ground. Some of the weapons and armor only had slight damage and could be fixed if one knew the basics of blacksmithing.
Since many of the discarded weapons and armor had been made out of special minerals Akira was not one to waste such a gift and grabbed everything, shoving it into his bag.
When they reached the fifth checkered platform they found that the spiraling tower of stairs no longer descended into the darkness but were once again ascending into the darkness high above them.
Again there were still no signs of monsters or the bodies of the Kamen warriors.
Akira walked to the edge of the checkered platform and looked into the endless darkness to see if there was a floor below them but could see nothing. Nor could he hear any sounds coming from the darkness no matter how long he tried to listen.
¡°This dungeon is creepy,¡± said Sweety.
¡°Which dungeon is not weird or creepy?¡± asked Rondie.
¡°The slime arena,¡± said Beater.
¡°Ugh, don''t mention that place!¡± shouted Sweety.
¡°Everyone, although we have not found anything so far, this is no time to be slacking off. Let''s continue pushing forward!¡± said Akira.
The large stairs were starting to be a pain to climb as they climbed up several hundred steps that were getting slightly taller and wider for every level that they rose.
Akira held up a hand to stop everyone.
He along with everyone stood there quietly and listened intently.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball excitedly.
¡°Someone is indeed fighting above us. Everyone, pick up the pace. If that is the Kamen warriors fighting, then we need to help them!¡±
Chapter 299: What the hell are they doing?
Akira and the others with him rushed up the large steps to see who was fighting.
As they reached the last few steps before stepping onto the checkered platform, several colorful skills flew high over their heads and exploded out in the dark abyss lighting up the area for a few seconds.
¡°Why are you, the [Cunning shadow] guild, attacking us? Our guilds are not at war!¡± shouted a skinny twig-like knight who wore thin metal armor.
The knight''s shield began glowing as he activated a skill and charged toward a fat demigod that was wearing leather armor and holding long daggers with blades that were over a foot long.
The fat demigod disappeared and reappeared behind the skinny knight and pierced his body with both the glowing red daggers that tore through the metal armor like butter.
¡°You know why! Don''t act like this is a surprise,¡± said the Fat demigod as he pulled out the bloody daggers.
Akira focused on the fat demigod to see who he was [Erek Shun lvl 100].
Several other 1v1 battles were taking place all over the large checkered platform as the two demigod guilds spammed waves of skills as fast as they could trying to mow down their opponents.
Erek Shun and his guild members now had the upper hand as more and more of their opponents disappeared into light fragments.
¡°Damn you! We''ll be coming back to kick your butt!¡± shouted the last demigod from the opposing guild as he disappeared into light particles seconds later.
¡°Haha! Come and try it! We will be the guild to take the reward and be long gone before this time tomorrow!¡± said the ragged Erek Shun.
The small group of surviving [Cunning Shadow] demigods sat down and began drinking different potions and bandaging up their wounds.
Before they could get back to their full fighting power, they noticed a new group staring at them from the steps leading to the platform.
Seeing that they had been discovered, Akira and the Minor lycans rushed up onto the platform.
¡°Tch, another guild has come?¡± asked Erek Shun.
¡°I thought this was supposed to be a secret?¡± asked Ran Chee as she held her staff to her chest and rocked back and forth. She was the younger sister of Ranche from the [Forbidden] guild but had decided to join the [Cunning shadow] guild to be with one of her friends.
¡°Those idiot guild leaders, they wasted all of the money we made in the last month buying this information that everyone seems to know about!¡± said an angry Erek Shun.
¡°Kill them,¡± was all Akira said.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°What? Wait! Our guilds can work together and split the reward!¡± shouted Ron chee as she tried to stand up along with the other guild members.
¡°There are other guild members ahead of us! You''ll need our help!¡±
Akira did not listen to their pleas and watched as the minor lycans engaged and easily cut down the wounded demigods.
They did not bother transforming or using skills for this fight to save their strength for any harder battles that lay ahead of them.
When they had picked up all the loot that had been dropped by both of the demigod guilds they continued climbing the spiral staircase tower.
As they reached the next checkered platform their expressions hardened.
Blood, guts, and scattered limbs and bodies of the Kamen warriors lay on the ground.
Several dozen footsteps could be seen in the dried blood on the ground. It seemed that several groups of demigods had passed the dead warriors not caring about them. The bloody tracks lead to the new set of spiraling stairs that continued to climb into the darkness high above them.
¡°Gather as much of their remains as you can...¡± said Akira.
As they gathered the bodies in one spot Akira noticed that there were several missing body parts including even the upper and lower halves of some of the warriors.
The most likely explanation was that they had been tossed or pushed over the edge...
When all they could gather was in front of Akira, he opened his bag and placed them all inside making sure to separate them from his other items. It was quite messy inside and he would have to figure out a way to clean it up later.
They continued marching up the stairs that now required them to actually pull themselves up each step.
The sounds of grunts, curses, screeching of metal, and chatter reached Akira''s ears as they continued to climb towards a platform above them that was at least 10 times larger than the small platforms they had seen before.
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¡°Hurry up you guys! We''re out of potions from all the fighting with the other guilds. We can''t keep going on like this. If another guild comes to take the reward...¡±
¡°We''re trying but it''s not as easy as you would think to herd all of them like this!¡±
¡°Whoever leaked the information for this secret mission... I''m going to repeatedly kill them until they have to start from scratch.¡±
¡°You think that this will really work?¡±
¡°How should I know? I have never heard of artificially creating... enemy!¡± shouted a demigod near the large steps.
The warning was too late. The five demigods standing near the stairs were pulled off the platform and onto the step below them by Akira and the minor lycans who quickly tore them apart with their weapons and skills.
¡°Crap! Another guild has arrived! What is Erek Shun doing letting people pass him?¡±
¡°Push harder! We need to complete this before they can come and take credit for it!¡±
¡°Idiots don''t use your skills! You''re killing them! That defeats all the work we put into this mission!¡±
Akira and Zundar got into sturdy stances and cupped their hands allowing the minor lycans to step onto their hands before being launched up onto the platform. This way they were able to quickly get everyone up onto the platform quickly and far safer than getting attacked as soon as they tried to climb up over the edge.
Zundar was the last one on the step as he tossed Akira and Fluffball up onto the platform.
What Akira saw as he steadied himself almost made his jaw drop.
Nearly a quarter of the large platform was swarming with several hundred if not thousands of small watermelon-sized black furry rock bodies that had bright yellow glowing eyes.
[Furry Abyss lvl 100]
''They actually looked kinda cute in a rock pet kinda way,'' thought Akira as he looked at them.
The demigods had surrounded the monsters and were pushing them all into the swirling blue portal that led to the Dungeon guardian''s room.
Only two demigods moved away from the defensive line that was slowly moving forward and rushed towards Akira and the minor lycans to try and stall them for time.
¡°What the hell are they doing?¡± asked Zundar as he saw the swarm of monsters disappearing into the swirling blue portal.
¡°Is this where all the monsters in the dungeon ended up?¡± asked Beater.
¡°I don''t like this one bit,¡± said Sister Teresa as she watched the disappearing monsters.
Akira stepped forward to block several of the colorful skills shot by the demigods while the minor lycans returned fire with their skills cutting the two approaching demigods into pieces before they could reach them.
¡°Damn it, hurry! We''re almost finished!¡± shouted a [Cunning shadow] demigod who was part of the front-line defense pushing forward.
The [Full moon] members launched several more skills towards the unprotected backs of the [Cunning shadow] guild members slicing, burning, and freezing the other demigods who were unable to do anything about it because if they were to turn around they would be swarmed by the massive wave of monsters in front of them.
One by one they started to disappear causing the defensive line to be overwhelmed.
As the last demigod disappeared into light particles, Akira and the others now realized something important...
The hundreds of [Furry Abyss] monsters that had been corralled and smacked around for several hours, were now free. Their full attention and rising anger was now targeting Akira and everyone else around him!
¡°Even if you guys are cute, this is too much!¡± The words accidentally slipped out of Akira''s mouth, but luckily everyone else was paying attention to the rising anger of the [Furry Abyss] in front of him.
¡°Crap! No matter how strong I am, I know we can''t defeat all those enraged monsters!¡± said Zundar.
Akira felt that he had a high chance of surviving the swarm of [Furry Abyss] but Fluffball, Zundar, and the royal guards might die and unlike the minor lycans, they only had one life to live!
Akira''s mind was racing to try and figure out a way out of this situation.
Retreating was not an option. They would only be swarmed as they tried to climb down the tall stairs. There was also a high possibility of falling off into the dark abyss if they were too hasty.
Only one other option was left.
¡°Sister Teresa! Buff me!¡±
She did not ask any questions and did as he asked, quickly muttering several chants as she pointed at him, allowing him to feel the effects of the buffs as they washed over him.
Akira slammed his sword into the ground and activated the skill [Dark shockwave].
A rumbling wave of dark energy shot out from his sword into the ground and spread out slamming into the charging swarm of [Furry Abyss] monsters who tripped up halting their charge in its tracks for a short moment.
Akira did not stop his actions at that, he crouched into a runner¡¯s pose with his shield held in front of him, his muscles straining as they gathered power.
He activated the skill [Shield Slam] and shot forward plowing through the hundreds of [Furry Abyss] that were in his way.
Akira''s charge deep into the swarm of [Furry Abyss] monsters shocked everyone. They were going to follow after him to try and save him but Fluffball and Zundar stopped them.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°Just wait!¡± said Zundar.
Akira''s dash forward was losing speed as he reached the core of the swarm that was least affected by his [Dark shockwave].
He launched several [Sword slash] attacks cutting down a group of [Furry Abyss] that were standing in his path before he was able to reach the target of his charge!
As dozens of the [Furry Abyss] started to surround him, with even more jumping through the air to try and dog pile him, Akira reached out a hand and touched the swirling blue portal.
Ding!
Do you want to enter the Abyss guardian''s lair?
[Y/N]
|
Akira immediately accepted it.
A blue flash of light covered Akira.
When the light disappeared Akira was no longer standing in front of the portal.
The few [Furry Abyss] that had jumped through the air had no way of stopping their attacks now that their target had disappeared and they ended up flying over the edge and falling into the dark endless abyss.
Ding!
Your party has successfully been transferred to the Dungeon guardians lair.
|
Chapter 300: The Fight with Doom
As soon as the lunching feeling in his gut and the swirling light disappeared, Akira held his shield out ready to bash any [Furry Abyss] monster that had been pushed into the dungeon''s guardian room before him.
But he was met with silence and darkness for several seconds as he adjusted to the heavy darkness that covered his sight.
Sounds soon came to him slowly as he heard the heavy breathing of the minor lycans behind him.
¡°Watch your step. Knowing what we have seen so far, it is not wrong to think that one wrong step will send you tumbling into the endless darkness,¡± said Akira while he reached into his bag and took out a prepared torch before handing it to someone behind him.
When the torch was lit, it was only able to light up a few feet away from the group giving them little information on what the dungeon''s guardian room or the guardian looked like.
The only thing they could see was a checkered stone floor that extended out in each direction.
¡°Which way should we go?¡± asked Zundar as he and everyone else scanned the darkness for any signs of an enemy.
¡°Where did all of the [Furry Abyss] go?¡± asked Beater scratching his head in confusion.
Akira held up a hand as he sniffed the air and tried to listen for any trace of the [Furry Abyss] or the boss.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he looked in a certain direction.
¡°Over there? Are you sure?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°Everyone stay close! Let''s use a square formation. Zundar I''ll leave the rear to you.¡±
¡°Leave it to me!¡± said Zundar, thumping his chest. ¡°If anything tries to ambush us from the rear I''ll smash them to bits!¡±
They slowly moved forward towards the sounds that Fluffball had heard and soon were able to hear muffled sounds that soon turned into panicked cries that were loud for one second and slowly grew fainter as if they were traveling far away.
As they took several more steps forward the muffled cries stopped.
Akira stopped everyone and scanned their surroundings.
Fwoosh!
Two floating gold flames flashed brightly piercing the darkness all around the large orbs of flame, while also blinding Akira and others for a second before dimming down to fist-sized flames.
¡°Damn it!¡± grumbled Beater as he tried to blink and regain his eyesight. ¡°Well, at least we have some light to fight the Guardian.¡±
¡°Everyone, now''s probably the time to transform!¡± said an alarmed Akira.
The two golden flames were floating inside of the sockets of a large stone head that was covered in black fur, and they were staring right at them.
[Abyss Golem of Doom lvl 180]
The [Abyss Golem of Doom] was over 7ft tall with thick furry legs and arms that were the width of an average adult human''s body. It held two thick square stone shields, one in each of its massive hands. These stone shields covered half of its body on each side allowing it to protect itself from two directions easily.
When Akira''s words finally sunk, the royal guards, Fluffball, and the minor lycans all began their transformations. The sounds of popping, tearing, and stretching filled the air as they transformed from their human form into a werewolf and minor lycan forms.
Akira also did not waste any time and was covered in a misty darkness as he also transformed.
The fiery flickering golden lights watched all this silently without emotion or movement.
As Akira and everyone else managed to successfully transform they looked towards the Guardian.
¡°Wasn''t this supposed to be a low-level dungeon?¡± asked Sister Teresa looking at the Guardian.
Akira remembered that demigods could also somehow judge the strength of monsters they fought with their demigod ways that were too complicated for him to understand. Unlike normally he was not the only one that noticed the huge level gap between the minions and the dungeon guardian.
It was far stronger than it was supposed to be, most likely from killing all the [Furry Abyss] monsters that had been pushed into the guardian room before them.
Akira had a guess that If it grew a bit stronger it could break out of the dungeon. Truly a disaster.
Sister Teresa, now covered in light gray fur, began to chant off buffs for the rest of the minor lycans who were severely out-leveled by the Dungeon guardian.
With the buffs flying out, the [Abyss Golem of Doom] moved its head to look toward sister Teresa.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Four more golden fiery lights appeared floating in the air with two floating on each side of the [Abyss Golem of Doom].
Akira immediately realized that these floating golden lights were exactly what had led them down and up the spiraling staircase.
Without warning two of the golden lights shot forward.
¡°Urgh!¡± Beater who was holding the torch grunted as one of the lights shot past him and created a large gash in his arm cutting all the way to the bone. The wound was not bleeding as it was automatically cauterized by the heat. The torch was dropped and in its fall, extinguished, only leaving the light that was coming from the golden fiery orbs.
¡°Your sneak attacks won''t work with me here!¡± roared Rondie. Her metal fists glowed as she activated a skill and swung them toward the approaching fiery orbs.
Pow!
With perfect hand-eye coordination, the second golden orb was stopped and knocked away from its target, Sister Teresa.
The two golden fireballs curved around and returned to floating around the [Abyss Golem of Doom] as it stared at them.
¡°This looks to be quite the problem,¡± said Crowbahr.
A blue crescent light shot forward from Akira''s sword as he activated the skill [Sword Slash].
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¡°As expected,¡± muttered Akira while watching the [Abyss Golem of Doom] move one of its shields to block the attack which only left a small gash on the thick stone shield.
The [Abyss Golem of Doom] retaliated by sending two golden orbs shooting toward Akira.
A black mist burst out from Akira as he activated the skill [Darkness Domain] covering everyone.
When the golden orbs reached the Dark mist, their speed immediately slowed down as if they had dove into a thick pool of mud. With this speed, even the lowest level minor lycan could dodge the deadly attack if they were paying attention.
The Golden orbs were easily blocked by Akira and they once again returned to float around the [Abyss Golem of Doom].
With this Akira finished his inspection of the guardian and finally came up with a plan.
¡°Rondie, take half of the minor lycans and move to the left, Zundar take the other half and go to the right. Both you and the other high-level members need to do your best to keep the lower levels alive. The more people we have alive the more damage we can put out!¡±
¡°I''ll do my best!¡± said Rondie.
¡°What about me?¡± Asked sister Teresa.
¡°It''s probably best for you to stay with Rondie and the others. The rest of you should also split up and support each side. Fluffball and I can handle attacking from the front.¡±
¡°ROAR!¡± said the large muscular Fluffball, fully agreeing with Akira.
¡°We''re staying to help!¡± said Vilkas.
¡°Right, can''t let you face the full brunt of the attacks alone!¡± said Dolph.
The two were still out-leveled by the dungeon guardian but it was not as bad as the low-level minor lycans.
In this way, they split up into three smaller groups and surrounded the boss in a semicircle. The [Abyss Golem of Doom] was struck with indecision on which of the three groups it needed to block, as it only had two shields.
Akira and the others did not let it have any time to think and they began to attack it with various ranged attacks.
In the end, it decided to block the blue ice shard attack shot from Fluffball''s mouth and the attacks from Zundar''s side. The stone shields bore the brunt of the attacks showing only small gouges and minor burn marks from the attacks.
The attacks from Rondie''s side were able to slam into the black fur on the [Abyss Golem of Doom''s] unprotected side. Although most of the attacks were not lethal, if there was enough of them over time they would be able to do major damage.
The [Abyss Golem of Doom] opened its large mouth and let out a silent roar of pain. In a silent rage it counter-attacked Rondie''s group sending all four of its fire lights toward the attackers.
But with the [Darkness domain] slowing the golden orbs, they were able to narrowly dodge or block them.
In the next wave of attacks, the [Abyss Golem of Doom] decided to block the attacks coming from Rondie as well as the attacks coming from the front leaving itself wide open for Zundar''s side to hammer it with attacks.
This hot potato back-and-forth attack, block, and counterattack kept switching back and forth with little damage to the werewolves or minor lycans. Sister Teresa was also doing a great job keeping everyone alive and fully buffed.
The flying gold orbs continued to try and attack anyone that was not on guard causing several close calls.
The thick layer of black fur covering the guardian''s body was becoming extremely raggedy. With each failed attempt of blocking the attacks on its body, the [Abyss Golem of Doom] grew more and more enraged. Its fiery eyes grew larger and slowly turned a deep red.
POOF!
The black fur on the [Abyss Golem of Doom''s] body entirely went up in flame, revealing a slightly slimmer black rock body. This surprising thing was not from any of their attacks, but a result of the rising heat coming from the enraged guardian.
The [Abyss Golem of Doom] for the first time, moved from the spot it was standing in and rushed toward Zundar''s group. Its red eyes latched on a minor lycan that had been the last to launch an attack.
Akira activated the skill [Shield Slam] and shot forward to intercept the [Abyss Golem of Doom], slamming into it from the side, halting its charge and sending it stumbling a few steps sideways.
Unfortunately, two of the minor lycans were run over by its large feet before Akira could stop the attack.
The two minor lycans disappeared into hundreds of light particles leaving Zundar''s side under-powered compared to the rest.
Before the guardian could launch another charge, Akira activated the skill [Shadow chains] to disrupt the boss''s enraged charge toward Rondie. Giving everyone a few moments to reorganize and launch attacks toward the immobilized dungeon guardian.
With each attack, the guardian''s body began to flash red as it took more damage while it silently let out roars of rage.
¡°YOU %^# look at me!¡± shouted Akira using the [Potty mouth] skill to draw its attention away from the other groups that were dealing damage to its stone body.
With several of its charges being blocked by Akira, the enraged [Abyss Golem of Doom] turned to the major thorn in its side and strained against the shadow chains restricting it as it tried to crush Akira.
Akira readied himself by taking a sturdy stance and activated [Harden]. From the side, sister Teresa quickly cast a buff on Akira further increasing his defense.
With a silent roar, the [Abyss Golem of Doom] broke free of the shadow chains and charged at Akira.
Bam!
The [Abyss Golem of Doom] slammed into Akira causing him to slide back several feet until the energy behind the charge was halted.
Akira let out a few pained grunts, the impact was no joke. The power behind the charge was brutal, considering how heavy the [Abyss Golem of Doom] was.
Akira activated another round of [Shadow chains] to hold [Abyss Golem of Doom] in place allowing everyone else to rain attacks down on it.
With each attack, the [Abyss Golem of Doom''s] body was growing a brighter red.
It had lost all its will to block attacks and only focused on bashing and slamming its shields into Akira who was trying to defend against it as best as he could.
The only problem with this, was as its body continued to grow brighter and its attacks grew heavier and started to have a hot touch causing Akira''s armor and shield to start to glow red from the heat. With each heated attack raining down upon Akira one after another his armor and shield slowly started to deform.
¡°Duke Akira!¡± shouted an alarmed Vilkas.
¡°Don''t worry about me! Focus on the [Abyss Golem of Doom]! I can feel it in my gut that he''s almost finished! Everyone use your best attacks and finish him!¡± shouted Akira through gritted teeth.
Even though the [Abyss Golem of Doom] was near death it still held on for several more minutes enduring multiple waves of skills.
It was enough to thoroughly wail on Akira.
If it were not for sister Teresa''s constant buffs and the ice mist from Fluffball covering the body of the [Abyss Golem of Doom], he would have been in a worse shape.
After enduring the guardian''s wild attacks to his limit, the [Abyss Golem of Doom''s] red body finally exploded sending a large fireball out, covering a large area before dying down and revealing a large puddle of molten magma. The ground all around Akira is glowing red as well from the ''heated'' :p battle that had raged around the platform.
The golden fiery orbs that had been attacking several of the minor lycans fizzled out as when the [Abyss Golem of Doom] exploded.
Ding!
[Abyss Golem of Doom] defeated!
The [Steps to Doom] dungeon has been cleared!
|
There were several happy grunts and chatter from the minor lycans as they all chatted about their strength rising from the defeat of the dungeon guardian.
Ding!
You have leveled up to level 202!
Fluffball has leveled up to level 160!
|
Ding!
Hidden mission alternative route finished!
Blank and the [Full Moon] guild have successfully stopped the artificial overflow!
Instead of causing a dungeon overflow, you have chosen the second hidden path and have successfully cleared the [Steps to Doom] dungeon!
+10 fame +10 Honor
+5 to the levels of those under level 150
+2 to those over 150.
|
¡°Oh!!¡±
Several happy cries rang out from the demigods as they received an extra large boost to their levels each of them leveled up by at least ten levels bringing the average level to 110 while the four main bodyguards reached level 145.
Both Fluffball and Akira sighed with disappointment as they only received two extra levels. Bringing his level up to 204 and Fluffball''s to 162.
Chapter 301: Rewards and Cleaning up Breakfast
A Floating blue swirling portal appeared above the platform lighting up the surrounding area and revealed a large chest that had a large floating red key next to it.
Akira had a hard time moving toward the chest as parts of his melted armor were cooling down and hardening.
¡°Here let me help you get out of that ruined armor,¡± said Zundar as he walked over to Akira.
¡°Allow us to also help,¡± said Dolph.
With the help of Zundar, Dolph, and Vilkas, Akira was able to be pried out of the ruined armor that was now half hardened and half still glowing a light red from the heat it had received. He had to be careful not to burn himself on the molten metal now that he was no longer transformed as it was easier to get burned.
When he was out of the armor he let it sit on the ground and poured the water in his waterskin over it sending a plume of steam into the air as the armor quickly cooled off and hardened allowing him to place it into his bag. The metal it was made out of was not common so there was no point in abandoning it even if it was now scrap.
Akira rummaged around in his bag and put on spare armor that he had found recently.
He turned back to the floating red key, grabbed it, and inserted it into the keyhole. A bright red light flashed and flipped open the lid revealing several unknown metal alloys, several large stacks of gold, and several different colored potions.
But the most interesting thing that caught his eye was a black stone core that sat in the corner.
[Abyss core]: Grants the ability to control abyss fire lights for a total of 5 times.
|
¡°Why didn''t we do something like this instead of farming slimes for so long?¡± asked Sweety as she and the other minor lycans searched the platform for usable materials from the dead monsters and dungeon guardian.
¡°Because you were far too weak and crappy at fighting. If you had tried to complete a dungeon like this, you would have all died,¡± said Zundar, who was helping.
With the dungeon rewards stored away in his bag, Arron turned to Sister Teresa who was sitting down and taking a breather. She was feeling a bit ill from overusing blue potions to keep her energy up allowing her to wildly cast the buffs and heals for everyone in the fight.
¡°Don''t worry the rewards will be split between everyone when we get back. But there is one thing that I would like to ask you,¡± asked Akira.
¡°I will answer the best I can,¡± said Sister Teresa as she wiped her forehead.
¡°What was all this about? It must have been a big thing since there were several demigod guilds coming here during a time that everyone should be focused on fighting in the north?¡±
¡°It is probably some special task that they all got. Unfortunately, the Full moon guild was left out of the loop and we were left unaware of this until just moments ago.¡±
Akira nodded, ¡°Make a note of those that died during the battle. They will have to do extra slime farming as punishment.
When everyone had finished scanning the platform and picking up everything that could be used by them, Akira clapped his hands.
¡°Let''s get out of here! We have more important stuff to do than spend our time in this hot and gloomy place.¡±
He turned around and touched the portal with the tip of his Now melted sword.
Ding!
Exit the Dungeon Guardian''s room?
[Y/N ]
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Akira without hesitation accepted it and the entire party was teleported out of the Dungeon guardian''s room.
***
Outside the dungeon a small group of demigods was gathered, they were doing their last-minute checkups on their armor and weapons before entering the dungeon.
¡°Alright everyone! The rumor has it that this is the hot-spot for the secret mission! We have searched for a long time and finally found it!¡± said a heavily armored demigod male who had his face and body hidden underneath his armor.
¡°We would have found it earlier if you were not the one navigating!¡± said a female demigod who was wearing revealing leather armor while holding circular blades in each of her hands.
¡°I''m sure we will find what we are looking for here!¡±
¡°All our hard work has finally paid off if we can complete this dungeon!¡±
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°Come on! Let''s get pumped to do this dungeon! If we finish it we will be recognized by everyone and be accepted for who we are!¡± shouted the knight demigod.
¡°Wooo! I''m already pumped, let''s go!¡± shouted one of the members of the group.
Flash!
As the demigods pumped themselves up and were ready to enter the dungeon that was only just a few steps away... a blue portal popped up next to the entrance.
Akira, in his secondhand mismatched armor, along with Fluffball and his guards and the surviving [Full moon] minor lycans, stepped out of the portal into the fading sunlight as the sun was slowly descending below the distant horizon.
A few of the pumped-up demigods'' faces began twitching as they saw this happen. The appearance of the portal only meant one thing.
¡°....wooo... I am not pumped at all...¡±
¡°We were too late...¡±
Akira looked at the heavily armored Knight who had just stepped in front of him.
[Wall lvl 90]
¡°You sure do like to keep some weird company with you,¡± said Wall looking at Zundar.
Akira was slightly tired from the ''heated'' battle they had just finished and was not in the mood for dealing with these nuisances. He did not reply to the demigod and tried to move to the side and pass him.
¡°Hey, we''re all demigods. Why don''t you share some of the rewards from the mission you just completed? We can pay you some gold for part of that thing that you received. There should be several of them, right? You can sell us one right? What do you think bro?¡± asked Wall quickly as he blocked Akira''s path again. With the way he was talking, he obviously had no clue who Akira was.
¡°Move aside,¡± said Akira in a low growl. A strong aura of bloody killing intent washed over Wall as Akira stared at him causing the knight''s legs to tremble.
¡°I am Egg, and I will not allow you to bully us!¡± said Egg as he stepped up next to Wall. He was a round demigod covered in an orange cloth robe. If you tilted your head he really did look like an egg.
¡°I Toast, agree!¡± ¡°I Bacon, agree!¡± ¡°I Milk, agree!¡± said three other young males stepping up next to Wall.
The female demigod with revealing leather armor sighed seeing what was going on and joined them.
¡°I, Butter, can not allow it either.¡±
¡°We are the [Breakfast gang] and can not stand being bullied!¡± shouted each of the 6 demigods at the same time.
Akira could not help but notice that one of these names did not fit with the others.
Sister Teresa stepped forward to try and smooth out the situation, ¡°Come on you guys, we just finished a hard fight and just want to leave. Stop blocking us, there is no need for you to start any conflict with us. We don''t want to have to kill you.¡±
¡°Speak for yourself, they look too weak to even hold me here,¡± said Zundar.
Akira looked over the levels of each of the Breakfast Gang and saw that Zundar was correct. They were all around level 80 to 90. This was a threat to normal soldiers and civilians, but the [Full moon] guild members had shot up in levels and were now well above those who stood in front of them.
Wall looked at Akira''s mismatched scavenged armor that had many dents and scrapes and even a few holes in it. The other members behind Akira were not in any better shape. It was a sharp contrast to the shiny and well-oiled armor and weapons that he and the other [Breakfast Gang] members were equipped with.
¡°Ha, you guys are just scared! Come on just share the rewards with us! You guys are no saints! You wanted to cause the overflow just like us. So don''t act...¡± said Butter in a mocking tone trying to goad them into handing over part of the reward.
Before she could finish her sentence a half-transformed claw shot out and tore through her unprotected neck. Blood spurted out everywhere drenching Akira and the others around her.
Butter tried to clasp her neck with one hand to stop the flowing blood and reached for her bag for a potion, but the blood continued to drain out too quickly and she lost all her strength collapsing to the ground before she disappeared into hundreds of light fragments.
Although she was gone, the blood remained and it stained the ground and Akira''s face red.
An even stronger bloody killing intent along with an oppressive aura exploded out of Akira as he looked at the other demigods who were trembling from the sudden attack.
¡°I was going to let you live as I am trying to turn over a new leaf,¡± said Akira as he glanced at Sister Teresa and the other members of the [Full moon] guild. ¡°But you are all rotten to the core already...¡±
The minor lycans behind Akira, without any command needed, launched attacks at the [breakfast gang] in front of them, cutting, burning, freezing, tearing, and biting them to death.
Akira paid no attention to the fighting around him as he squatted down and picked up the items that Butter had dropped.
It was a pair of interesting circular blades as well as several potions and a few gold coins.
His anger lessened as a new idea popped into his head and changed his focus.
¡°Hmm, these might make a nice present for Mileena. I should bring her back a present since I keep having to travel away from Kodria and the babies. I hope this will be enough...¡± said Akira as he inspected the new future presents.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he sniffed the blades helping Akira inspect them.
¡°That won''t be a problem, she doesn''t have to know that I got them from a dead demigod.¡±
When Akira stood back up after pocketing the dropped items he looked around to see that the rotten demigods had been taken care of.
Sister Teresa was off to the side taking care of the few wounds that the full moon members had received from the short fight.
Akira clapped his hands to gather everyone''s attention.
¡°I know everyone is tired, but we can''t rest here. If we do, we are bound to meet with another group. It''s a high possibility that several of the groups that were killed inside the dungeon will come back looking for revenge,¡± said Akira.
¡°That''s probably for the best. We should head to the Kamen''s town and hand over the clearing party''s remains, possessions, and the news of what happened to them. With that done we should be able to rest there before we head back to Kodria,¡± said sister Teresa as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
She was extremely exhausted, constantly casting so many holy chants was not a small task and was even more taxing on the mind than the body.
They wasted no time in marching away from the dungeon and heading toward the Kamen town while keeping a close eye out for any trouble as they traveled through the wilderness.
After such a wild day, it ended uneventfully after reaching the Kamen town safely and transferring the remains of the deceased.
The town''s chief was very happy to bring the situation to a conclusion but was still sad at the loss of such strong warriors.
Chapter 302: Legends and Myths are real
Akira woke up in his own bed and yawned as he squinted at the dawn light pouring in through the window.
Today was an important day for many reasons, so he could not stay in bed and rest even if he felt tired from all the fighting and the travel to and from the [Steps to Doom] dungeon.
As he threw the covers off and got out of bed he found that Mileena had laid out his royal dark blue clothing along with the furred cape with the royal crest on its back on a nearby chair. There were also matching shoes, socks, and leather gloves to go along with everything.
After quickly getting dressed, Akira exited the bedroom.
¡°You''re finally up. With how deep you were sleeping, I was wondering if you were going to sleep through the whole day causing me even more embarrassment,¡± said Mileena as she fed Silvy.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he rolled slightly to the side, away from his warm spot near the crackling fire so that he could look at Akira while stretching.
¡°No need to worry about that. I am sure you would come to wake me up,¡± said Akira as he grabbed a piece of buttered toast on the table.
¡°I will be with the little ones for now, so I won''t be able to join you for the first event but I should be able to have some free time later today,¡± said Mileena.
¡°Don''t overwork yourself. When you come out to play I''ll have a surprise for you so you should look forward to it,¡± said Akira.
¡°I should be saying that to you,¡± said Mileena as she thought of all the traveling Akira had been doing lately. Almost the entirety of the warm months had been spent away from Kodria.
¡°You know I can''t just stay here while things are happening around Kodria,¡± said Akira as he finished a second piece of toast and washed it down with some fresh milk.
¡°I have to go, see you later!¡± said Akira as he kissed Mileena and then the two babies on the cheek, before he left the living quarters along with a yawning Fluffball.
When he left the castle his usual royal guards joined him on his quiet walk through the inner city.
Akira stopped at Delgar''s smithy which was busy as always. Several new dwarf apprentices were working inside.
When Delgar noticed Akira standing just inside the doorway he stopped his lesson and walked over to where Akira was waiting.
¡°What can I do for you today?¡± asked Delgar.
Akira reached into his bag and took out several armfuls of the new dark minerals that he had received from the dungeon and heaped them on the ground nearby. He also took out the old and now half-melted [Dark moon] armor set and placed it next to the pile.
Delgar, seeing the pile of minerals that he had never seen before, became intrigued but a second later his face turned into a deep frown as he saw the melted armor which he had worked on.
¡°What happened to this?¡± asked Delgar as he touched the scrap armor.
¡°The dungeon guardians'' attacks were too much for it. This armor set lasted me a long time, but now I need a new set of armor with a shield and a sword. Do you think you could do this for me?¡± asked Akira. He knew that Delgar was swamped with all the orders coming in from Kodria and its citizens so there was little chance of him getting to it within the next month or so.
¡°I can do it right now!¡± said Delgar eagerly. This reply was not what Akira was expecting and was pleasantly surprised.
¡°What about your backlog of orders?¡±
¡°The apprentices can work on them, it''s good work for them. All this repetition of making the same simple things over and over is driving me insane! I need something more challenging and this is perfect!¡± said Delgar.
¡°I also have these. I was hoping you could use it as material to create new weapons and armor for my guards,¡± said Akira pulling out the remaining broken demigod armor and weapons that he had been gathering for some time.
Delgar sifted through the pile of scrap inspecting them to see what materials had been used to create them.
¡°These are pretty decent. They were made with a lot of semi-rare minerals that are harder to find around here. I''m sure we can make some good armor and weapons out of them. I''ll leave it to the senior apprentices since this is already scrap. What about your old armor? Do you want me to repair it or I can give it to them to create new armor and weapons?¡±
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°Can you make a better armor set out of the new minerals?¡±
¡°Most definitely! I''ll have to gather the old codgers to help me with the runes but the new set of armor, weapons, and shields I can make with it should be far stronger.¡±
¡°Then you can scrap the old armor set.¡±
¡°Is there any design or shape that you want the new armor set to look like?¡±
¡°Nothing in particular, you can surprise me.¡±
¡°Alright! I''ll get to work on this right away! Everyone, gather around! There are new tasks for everyone!¡±
Akira left Delgar''s smithy and headed to the docks where a flat ferry boat was waiting.
When he reached the docks near the outer city he was greeted by several dignitaries from nearby territories and allies. They had been waiting in the outer city for several days, some even weeks, just for this event. Klyn was also waiting next to the group as he had been in charge of gathering everyone and keeping them company. Next to him was the large Grarr who was silently grooming himself.
Today''s special event, along with the harvest festival, had been postponed from their original date until today due to the pressing matter with the dungeon and rogue demigod guilds.
''How can I let you walk for such a big event? Get on my back!'' said Grarr with his mental voice as he stood up.
The now expanded group of dignitaries and guards walked along with Akira to the opened front gates of the outer city.
Even though it was still early morning when most people were not out and about, the outer city was alive and roaring as crowds of civilians from all over Kodria as well as those from the different demon races from allied territories, cheered wildly upon seeing Akira arrive.
The inside of the city was completely packed with people who were here to celebrate. Only a few rows of guards held the crowd back to allow Akira and the dignitaries to squeeze past each of the newly built rings of city walls.
¡°GRAAWWW!¡± Grarr occasionally let out a happy roar towards the crowd who would cheer even louder.
Akira and the dignitaries continued to wave to the gathered crowds as they passed through the outer city heading to the very center of the city.
The parade-like procession took some time to get to their destination as they neither moved too fast nor too slow, but when they arrived, the waiting crowds of people were just as numerous if not even more jam-packed here.
At the very center of the city, there was a large square patch of dirt that had not been paved over with stone slabs or had any buildings on or near it. It had been blocked off by rope and had a small group of city guards surrounding it to keep the curious civilians back.
Next to the patch of dirt was a platform that Akira and the dignitaries silently climbed up onto.
Tuuu Tuuu Tutu!
A trumpet announced the start of the event and the roaring crowds slowly became quiet as Akira stepped forward.
¡°Citizens, Friends, and guests! I welcome you here to celebrate the completion of the outer city rebuild!¡± shouted Akira, his voice booming and echoing off the walls and buildings of the city.
The crowd cheered loudly.
¡°But that is not the only reason or even the main reason I have invited you all here! So why have I invited you here? It is to witness a historical event!¡± Akira reached inside his bag and pulled out a small round seed that was glowing green glowing and placed it on his outstretched palm showing it to the crowd that was quietly whispering among themselves.
¡°This is the seed of Legends and Myths! The [Child of the World Tree]!¡± said Akira, stepping off of the platform and onto the square patch of dirt.
¡°By planting this here today, I will consecrate the city with this legendary seed and you will all be able to see that the legends are true!¡±
With that said, Akira bent over and shoved the seed into the already small hole that had been dug.
He used his hands to shove the loose dirt over the hole and patted it down before grabbing a nearby metal watering can and pouring its contents over the patch of dirt.
When the water can was empty he quickly stepped back and walked up onto the stage again.
Everyone clapped after seeing this and were waiting for Akira to continue his speech, but they saw he was still staring at the place where the seed now rested so they all turned their full attention back to it and waited.
Not long after a slight tremble under their feet could be felt, it was almost like an earthquake. The next moment the shaking grew in intensity making the gathered crowds slightly fearful.
Fwoosh!
A thick green sapling sprouted out of the ground and shouted up into the air growing quickly. It was soon towering over the nearby buildings, only then did it start to slow down.
Ding!
Child of the World Tree:
When this seed is planted, the surrounding area in a 5-mile radius around the [child of world tree] will receive a permanent buff to the growth of all plants while also making the land more fertile and less susceptible to crop failure as long as the [Child of the World Tree] stays alive.
When fully sprouted and grown into a young sapling, the range of the buff extends to 10 miles. Side effects may appear during that time and cause an uptick of wild animals with a possibility of more monsters appearing due to the aura of the [Child of the World Tree].
When the [Child of world tree] has matured into an adult tree its effect range is extended to 100 miles.
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Ding!
Kodria has become a 2nd tier Dukedom!
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Chapter 303: Harvest festival and looking to the future
The crowd was silent as they watched the newly sprouted [Child of the World Tree] finish its quick burst of growth.
¡°Everyone!¡± shouted Akira, drawing their attention away from the tree after some time. ¡°Let the harvest festival begin!¡±
Another loud cheer swept through the entire outer city. With the start of the harvest festival, it officially marked the end of the warm months and the start of the long winter.
Everyone wanted to enjoy the last few warm days as the weather was already slowly changing into colder mornings and nights.
Almost as if they had been waiting for Akira''s official announcement, the fragrant smells of cheap but tasty street food and sweets floated through the air coming from every part of the newly rebuilt city. With such an enticing smell the large crowds that had not eaten breakfast yet were lured to the many stalls causing large lines to form as the few people behind the stalls tried to hurriedly cook the food as fast as they could.
Besides the major new year''s winter celebration, this was the last time they would be able to eat as much as they wanted without worry. After the festival, everyone would have to be careful with their money and their stored food so that they had enough to last through the long winter.
For those that had not joined the long lines for food, there were many platforms throughout the city that had many different storytellers, jugglers, and puppeteers for children. For adults, there were several groups of actors both large and small performing the newest plays that they had created as well as a few old ones.
Along with food and entertainment, there was a large influx of seasonal merchants that had arrived to trade and barter away goods that the citizens needed. They also bought newly crafted items and resources that were rather rare in the north but abundant in the south so that they could make a large profit when they arrived in the northern villages and towns.
It was a wondrous sight to see such lively activity as well as the smiles and laughter from the children of the outer city. It was not too long ago that everyone was set with grim determination as they were under siege and then close to starving from the dangerously short food supply.
Although Kodria''s population had exploded, that also meant that there were more people to help farm and gather food while also being able to provide muscle to the build projects of the dukedom. With its expansion, Kodria''s army and navy had grown into a formidable force even when you did not include the future powerhouse that the [Full moon] guild would grow into after they gained more levels and fighting experience.
Akira could not stay and enjoy the festival as he was needed elsewhere, so the guards helped clear a path through the raucous crowd of people celebrating with their friends and family.
When Akira exited the outer city, he saw the outer walls which had been bare only a short time ago, were now covered in thick green vines that had popped up from the ground. This was probably the extra protection and strengthening that was mentioned in the notification.
Akira and his royal guards hopped onto the waiting transport ship and headed back to the inner city. He was not free to go see Mileena just yet as he had an important meeting with the grand elders to take care of first.
***
Akira sat at the large table in the main meeting room of the Grand-elders and silently listened to them.
¡°... and it was a close call but we managed to fully restock the food storage warehouses and the grain silos that had nearly run empty,¡± said Grand elder Seoc who finished reading off the important data about Kodria''s current status.
Akira looked over the documents that had been passed to him and asked, ¡°How are our finances?¡±
¡°With the amount of gold coins and rare materials that you and the adventurers bring in, we are not lacking any gold. But...¡±
¡°Is there a problem?¡±
¡°Recently we have been noticing that some of the gold coins that have been taken from the demigods, disappear as soon as they are spent... this has caused a few slight problems on numerous occasions...¡±
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
¡°Ha! You call that mess just a short time ago a slight problem?¡± asked an aggressive ¨¤aron. ¡°We nearly had a riot on our hands.¡±
¡°Are they using fake gold coins?¡± asked Akira sitting up straight and his expression growing firm.
The grand-elders shook their heads.
¡°We had several dwarf mineral experts examine the gold coins but there were no differences. They even melted them down to see if there were any runes or other contraptions built into them but found nothing wrong, it is truly just regular gold. Even so, some of the newly minted coins that had been melted down, still disappeared when spent.¡±
¡°This does seem troublesome. Are there really no ways of telling which gold coins are real?¡±
¡°Unfortunately no. It seems to be random, as some of the coins used by the members of the [Full moon] do not disappear when used. We have also had many issues with the gold you have gathered from the defeated demigods as well. It is quite a troublesome issue so we are in an odd state right now with both the real gold coins and ghost coins in circulation.¡±
¡°We have talked to Sister Teresa about this and she has described some hard-to-understand concepts about special tasks and hunts that they can do. The problem is most likely from the odd way they receive rewards from these tasks.¡±
¡°What''s the point of being rewarded these ghost coins if they disappear when spent?¡±
¡°We were also told that there are many shops that only demigods can use that accept their gold. It is exactly the same as any other gold coin so it is impossible to tell the difference.¡±
¡°Have the treasury go through each coin and create a simple system to ''Spend'' it on something to sort out the ghost coins,¡± said Akira after silently listening to the details.
¡°Already tried that. Fake spending the coins does nothing. You need to actually use it to buy goods, services, or wage payments for any effect.¡±
Akira rubbed his face. This was quite the problem if they needed the gold coins for something importation in the future but it disappeared after paying for it... Kodria was most likely not the only one dealing with such a problem with the demigods wandering everywhere. The various towns and cities treasuries could be holding large amounts of ghost coins and not know it.
¡°I''ll think of something later. Let''s talk about security. With the planting of the [Child of the World tree], there needs to be a strong barrier built around it for protection while also not restricting its growth. It also will need a constant guard attachment as well,¡± said Akira.
¡°We can easily arrange for that to happen,¡± said Grand elder Seoc.
¡°How is our stock of weapons, armor, and other munitions looking?¡±
¡°Not as good as we would like. We are still lacking in almost every area. This is mostly because the smithies have all been focused on producing the farming and building tools needed to complete the projects before the warm months ended. They were also in charge of completing repairs around the city for various things. But it should be no problem now that the harvest and outer city rebuild have finished,¡± said Grand elder Hegir.
¡°The reports from allied cities and towns all report similar things. It appears everyone is now ramping up their production of armor and weapons for the long winter ahead.¡±
This was a fact that everyone who lived long enough knew well and true. During times of strife, trouble always brewed after the calm warm months ended and the last of the food was stored.
¡°With that in mind we should go ahead with secret plan number 2,¡± said Akira.
¡°Are you sure? We will not be able to hide the activity from any demigod spies that may be around.¡±
¡°All we need to do if anyone asks is say it is a new storage for the outer city. When will the hired dwarves arrive?¡± said Akira.
¡°Sometime this week. The only requirements they had besides their wages and a place to stay was for us to import several barrels of their preferred ale from the mountain dwarf clans.¡±
¡°It''s worth the cost to make sure that this project is done right and is built to the highest standards. Doing it this way there will be no mishaps down the road.¡±
The grand-elders all nodded at this.
¡°That''s all we needed to discuss with you. You can go and enjoy the festival while we take care of everything else!¡± said grand elder Seoc.
***
Akira joined Mileena who was waiting for him near the entrance of the castle.
¡°The babies?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Maya and Azura are taking care of them so that we can have some free time,¡± said Mileena.
¡°I''ll have to thank them later,¡± said Akira. ¡°AH! I almost forgot.¡±
He reached into his bag and pulled out two shiny circular blades that he had picked up from one of the odd demigods not long ago.
¡°Here. A present for you. Although they are different from your normal daggers, they are far stronger and have more uses other than stabbing,¡± said Akira as he handed them over to Mileena.
¡°You can''t bribe with only this little bit,¡± said Mileena as she happily inspected the new blades. ¡°You''ll have to work a lot harder for me to forgive you for traveling so much.¡±
Akira let out a sigh as he wondered what he was going to have to do to calm her unhappiness.
Chapter 304: Secret project
After spending the rest of the day enjoying the harvest festival with Mileena, the two returned to the castle and relieved Maya and Azura of their babysitting duties.
¡°Was there any problem while we were gone?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°No more than usual,¡± said Maya as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.
¡°It was nothing that we couldn''t handle ourselves!¡± said Azura proudly sticking out her chest.
¡°We already gave them a bath so you don''t have to worry about it,¡± said Maya.
¡°Thanks for the help,¡± said Mileena as she walked to the sleeping Silvy and Wyt.
Azura and Maya both left after a few more words, leaving Akira and Mileena alone in the room with the sleeping twins.
¡°How long will you be staying in Kodria this time?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°As long as I can. I hope that there are no other problems that call me out of the city. I want to stay here and spend more time with you and the twins,¡± said Akira as he placed his arm around her shoulder and watched the sleeping twins along with Mileena.
Fluffball sat next to them fully alert and also watched the babies as well.
¡°With the warm months ending there will be a high chance of something happening so don''t get your hopes up just yet. Until we have taken care of the demigods for good, there is no way we can rest peacefully.¡±
***
The harvest festival was going to last an entire week so many travelers and seasonal merchants continued to arrive and join the festival when they arrived a few days late.
Akira kept his word and spent most of his time with Mileena and the twins only spending a few hours a day taking care of pressing matters and checking up on the new building projects that had started up after the completion of the main walls and buildings.
There was no major work being done just yet due to the festival, but the materials for the projects such as additional floors to the many large apartments and inns were all being gathered and ferried over to the outer city as well as the main resources and tools needed for the new secret project.
Akira was now waiting at the outer city''s docks for the dwarves that would be arriving from the mountain clans. It was a last-minute thing that he had not planned for as he did not know the exact day that they would be arriving and had only recently received a notice from a naval messenger that they would be arriving soon.
¡°I have to take care of this so you three can go hang out together and have fun,¡± said Akira as he looked to Mileena, Maya, and Azura who were all waiting nearby.
¡°Work, work, work, that''s all you think about,¡± Azura.
¡°Come on, let''s go see what the new merchant stands have. Maybe we can spend all his money while he is stuck here,¡± said Mileena.
Akira let out a long sigh as he watched the three pass through the outer city''s main gates.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°Don''t say that!¡± said Akira with a sharp stare at Fluffball. Fluffball only stared back at Akira with a wolfish grin on his furry face.
After a half-hour wait the boat transporting the large group of dwarves finally arrived.
¡°Blasted boats! I want to kill whoever made those torture devices,¡± said Humdol after his feet landed on the sturdy stone docks.
Humdol was an old dwarf with a long pointy gray beard. Currently, his face was almost a shade of green, and looked ready to blow out the contents of his stomach.
¡°I hope your trip was uneventful,¡± said Akira as he grasped Humdol''s rough calloused hand. He was the leader of the group of dwarves and had been the person that the grand elders had negotiated with during the few talks about the secret building project.
¡°Old Humdol, if we didn''t take them up on their offer for a ride, we would still be traveling and would be greatly hindered by the coming snowfall and malicious wandering demigods,¡± said a younger dwarf.
¡°I can still feel the ground swaying back and forth! Am I really on land?¡± asked a third dwarf who was slightly swaying back and forth on wobbly legs.
¡°You guys have no stamina! How can you call this a bad ride? The rivers are at one of their calmest points of the year! If you want a rough ride you should try sailing when the warm months first start and all the snow and ice is melting into the rivers,¡± said a rough-looking werewolf who was the ship''s captain.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°Now that I know that, you won''t catch me anywhere near a boat during the beginning of the warm months!¡± said Humdol with a glare at the ship''s captain.
He turned to Akira and said, ¡°Before we talk business, we need a few drinks to recover. Did you get the ale we asked for?¡±
¡°It is waiting for you at your new lodgings. But since there is only a limited supply you will have to be careful with it,¡± said Akira.
¡°Of course, we know that. We won''t waste a drop!¡±
Akira, Fluffball, and the royal guards led the group of dwarves into the boisterous outer city that was still in full swing celebrating the successful harvest.
¡°Kodria is far different from what I heard described before. And far more lively,¡± said Humdol.
With well-trained eyes, he and the other dwarves were inspecting the ground, walls, and buildings as they walked toward the center of the city.
¡°If you would like, you can enjoy the festival before starting your work on the project,¡± said Akira.
Humdol shook his head, ¡°No. We came here to work. I want to complete the job and return to the tunnels of my home city. It''s too wide open here.¡±
Akira had heard of dwarves like Humdol who did not like the outside world due to its wide open spaces.
When they arrived at their destination, a newly built inn without a name, the handful of city guards that were standing guard around the inn quickly saluted Akira and stepped to the side.
In the Inn''s large common room, they found several wooden tables had been placed together with enough chairs for each of the dwarves with a few extra for Akira and other guests.
Klyn was already waiting inside the common room with a few of his subordinates.
¡°Did you gather everything?¡± asked Akira as he sat down next to Klyn.
The dwarves all rushed over to the large barrel of ale that had been set up on a wooden counter and grabbed one of the several dozen clean wooden mugs that had been placed next to it.
¡°It''s all here,¡± said Klyn as he slapped a pile of documents in front of him.
Humdol, now with a full mug of murky ale, sat down next to Akira. After he took several quiet sips he let out a long sigh of satisfaction.
¡°That''s much better,¡± said Humdol as his face slowly relaxed and regained some of its vigor.
Akira searched through the stack of papers and pulled out a few of them. He unfolded them making sure they were the correct thing he was looking for before sliding them over to Humdol.
¡°This is just an idea of what we want. Do you think you can do something like it?¡±
After another long sip, Humdol smacked his lips and then looked down at the neatly drawn plans. They were clearly not drawn by Akira.
¡°This project may be extremely ambitious and the first of its kind, but I have never faced a project that we were unable to finish! We have the talent to build anything... but...¡± Humdol paused for a moment, hesitating as he tried to find the right words.
¡°Is there a problem with the terrain? Or is it because the city is already built atop the project site?¡± asked Akira worried that all their plans and money spent were all for nothing.
Humdol waved his calloused hand dismissing Akira''s worries, ¡°That''s nothing to us, even if it were a swamp we could complete the task. The problem is that tree of yours.¡±
¡°You saw it?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°I did, as it is kind of hard to miss. But before that, I and the others had already heard about it from the rumors that reached us in the mountains.¡±
¡°It''s only been a short time since it was planted, how could that be?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Rumors have a way of flying to the ends of the world before you even know it. The rumors are not the problem... the problem is the roots of the [Child of the world tree]. It may be impossible to work on the spot you want without damaging the roots. I would suggest we move the project to another zone.¡±
Akira smacked his forehead at this major blunder that had completely gone unnoticed by him.
¡°That would defeat the whole purpose of the project if we move it to some other place,¡± said Akira disheartened.
¡°There is no need to move to another spot!¡± said Klyn confidently.
¡°How so?¡± asked Humdol. ¡°Everyone knows that if you damage the world tree and its offspring you will gain bad luck. We don''t want to work anywhere near it if we can help it. We want to save ourselves from any disaster happening.¡±
¡°These two gentlemen next to me are the best shamans we have in Kodria. They are skilled in various chants for nurturing, controlling, and communicating with plants,¡± said Klyn pointing to the men next to him.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira and Humdol at the same time.
¡°We have the skills to ask the young tree to move its roots out of the area,¡± said Casat, the shaman on the right.
¡°But being able to talk to a world tree or its descendants is just a legend,¡± said Humdol.
¡°We will prove that it is not a legend but fact!¡± said Popill, the shamen on the left.
¡°Big words, but unless we are 100% sure there are no roots in the project zone, then we will not begin the project no matter how long we have to wait.¡±
¡°You can count on us to take care of that for you!¡± said Casat.
¡°I won''t hold my breath,¡± said Humdol.
¡°While they are sorting out that problem we also have this project that I was wondering if you can help us with,¡± said Akira, sliding another piece of paper over to Humdol.
¡°This is for your castle?¡±
¡°It is.¡±
¡°Seems fairly simple. If you want, we can complete it quickly before we start the main project. If they actually get the roots out of the way that is.¡±
¡°That would be great!¡±
***
During one of the nights that had a full moon, Akira found time to once again induct the new demigod members that had passed all the tests and strict monitoring.
With the new members, the [Full moon] guild its strength was increased no longer being the size of a small hunting group.
All of this was another happy thing for Kodria to celebrate as it meant more powerful fighters on their side in the future.
Chapter 305: New Armor set
After enjoying the last few days of the harvest festival with Mileena and the twins, Akira could not put off the several pressing things that still needed to be checked up on.
He left the castle with only Fluffball, Dolph, and Vilkas and headed towards a certain blacksmith shop. Loud construction noises could be heard coming from the castle where Humdol and the dwarves under him were working on the quick project.
¡°Is that him?¡± asked a man who was fully covered up in thick winter clothes even though everyone else in Kodria was still only wearing light jackets. He was in a faraway building that had a wide view of the inner city.
¡°How do you not know who the Duke is? Why did you even accept their request if this was the case?¡± asked a second man who was also bundled up to cover his identity.
¡°I''m from the north, not like you guys. I also needed the money and the rewards are too good to give up.¡±
¡°Will they really protect us and give us the rewards if we succeed,¡± asked a female with a scarf covering her face.
¡°With their power, why would they lie? Let''s split up. If we try to act together the target will notice something and be on guard.¡±
¡°I was going to say the same thing!¡±
¡°May the best person win!¡±
With that, they left the building and headed to pre-planned positions to test their luck.
When Akira entered the blacksmith shop Delgar shot up from the small stool he was sitting on. In front of him were several dark pieces of heavy armor laid on top of the large but low table.
There were several other old dwarves surrounding the table each with special glass spectacles in one eye as they looked over the armor.
¡°We''re just inspecting it to make sure that everything is as it should be,¡± said Delgar as he looked at the armor proudly.
¡°It''s finished already?¡± asked Akira happily.
¡°Yes... a little too quick,¡± said Delgar with a slight frown on his face. ¡°I only wanted their help for the final rune inscriptions... but when they heard of the new material and that the armor was to be made for you, they insisted that they help with everything. If not for them I could have spent another few days working on it by myself.¡±
Akira was not sure why he was unhappy about finishing so soon.
¡°Don''t be petty, how could we let you hog all the fun?¡± said one of the elderly dwarves who was still inspecting the black armor.
A vein in Delgar''s forehead popped out as he heard this, his face had turned a slight red.
¡°... and the results?¡± asked Akira.
¡°There''s no need to worry. We made sure that no errors were made while we worked on it. This armor should be far superior to the slag you brought us,¡± said an elderly dwarf.
¡°Why are you guys like this? Stop treating me like a child!¡± said Delgar.
The elderly dwarves all silently raised an eyebrow showing their doubt but did not voice it.
¡°Everything should be safe for the duke to use!¡± said one of the elderly dwarves as he took the spectacle from his eye.
¡°This is my first time seeing such a rare metal. It has such a dark aura trapped inside it that it can''t help but leak out,¡± said the elder pointing to the armor.
When Akira looked more closely he saw that there was a slight dark shimmer around the new dark armor.
He walked up to the table and could feel the dark aura coming from the armor while he was still a few steps away. He reached over and picked up the Helmet to inspect it.
Instead of the basic helmet that he had been expecting. He found the helmet to be a work of art that was in the shape of a black wolf''s head. When the face plate was opened it made the wolf look like it was howling.
¡°Hurry up and try wearing the armor! If there are any problems we can quickly get to fixing them!¡± said one of the elderly dwarves gleefully.
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¡°The second best part of our craft is indeed watching it get worn for the first time and then perfecting the armor ridding it of any minor problems.¡±
¡°You guys do not need to do that! I can do it myself,¡± said Delgar.
¡°There is no need to trouble yourself junior. We know that you have a large backlog of orders and we do not want to keep you away from such pressing matters for too long.¡±
Delgar saw that they would not budge and angrily grumbled as he stomped off to a forge that was already warmed up and ready to be used.
¡°Don''t mind him, he hasn''t slept for the last few days so he is easily irritated,¡± said an elderly dwarf. ¡°Hurry and put on the armor!¡±
¡°Does this set of armor have a name?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Indeed it does, we named it the [Abyss Armor],¡± said the elderly dwarf.
¡°I named it that!¡± shouted Delgar angrily from the opposite side of the large workroom.
Without much need for further pushing Akira quickly grabbed the armor and put it on. Although it looked thinner than his old armor the weight was heavier.
Ding!
You have equipped the full [Abyss] armor set.
The Abyss armor set boost will be applied.
|
Several other windows popped up vying for Akira''s attention but he ignored them as the elderly dwarves began inspecting him with well-practiced eyes only a few steps away.
¡°It does indeed look like we had hoped!¡±
¡°We did well to choose a nightmare as the theme.¡±
¡°He truly is something from a nightmare.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, agreeing.
Even if they said all this they were unfazed by his fierce appearance and the dark aura seeping out of the armor.
Akira stood still and inspected himself along with the elderly dwarves.
With the abyss armor now equipped, he could feel the armor''s dark aura seeping into his body.
As he looked at everything, he noticed that there was a slight theme that they had gone with. Sharp.
His elbows, knees, and tip of the boots were formed in a way that they could act as sharp weapons that could stab an opponent. His gauntlets were sharp like his claws.
The rest of the armor was smooth and angled in a way to allow for weapons and arrows to slide off.
The new armor felt roomy enough to not be suffocated, but at the same time, it was snug to the point that he would not bang around inside an oversized armor.
The large shield that he now held in his left hand, was an inverted curved isosceles triangle tower shield that had sharp edges that could be stabbed into the ground for more support and or into the bodies of the enemy.
The new black Abyss sword was sharper than any sword he had used before.
One of the elderly dwarves moved around to look at his back for a second but stopped when he saw something.
¡°You forgot to attach the last part!¡±
Akira looked at the armor piece still on the table. It was a collection of scaled armor pieces contracted into a smaller semicircle. Since he did not know what it was he had not equipped it.
Seeing his confusion the elderly dwarf grabbed it and pulled the smaller end of the scaled armor while holding the larger scaled piece. When it was fully extended it looked like a long snake made out of the half circle of interconnected scale armor.
The elderly dwarf walked up to Akira and attached it to his butt. Akira had been feeling a slight draft but soon after it was blocked by the new piece of armor.
¡°Your old armor had some major flaws regarding your demon race''s specialty. But we made sure to fix it in this set of armor so that nothing could be used against that weak spot.¡±
Angry hammering rang out through the room.
¡°Transform and test it out!¡± said the elder as he collapsed the sharp armor scales once again.
Akira did so. With a Dark misty aura covering himself and the armor.
The slight dark aura from the [Abyss] armor set became several more times noticeable as if it had been given a burst of power. Now the hazy darkness made it hard to properly look at Akira who was like a shimmering mirage of a sharp demon that one might find in the corner of your vision during a nightmare.
There was no longer any extra room inside the armor as he was snugly embraced by the armor.
His tail, which had sprouted out of his bottom, was now covered on the upper half by the semicircle-scaled armor pieces.
¡°This armor will retract and extend with your tail as you need it. We worked hard on how to fix the imperfections from before! We hope you like it!¡±
¡°I most definitely do!¡±
¡°Do you feel uncomfortable? Any poky parts? Is it too tight or wide in certain areas?¡±
¡°Nothing seems off, it all fits nice and with nothing irritating standing out,¡± said Akira as he moved around a bit and rotated his arms and legs.
The elder dwarves all dragged short stools over to Akira and stood on them before beginning to inspect the armor up close.
They used all sorts of techniques to test out the armor such as flicking certain spots with their fingers and then listening to the sound.
This continued for a long time to the point Akira was getting stiff standing still.
When he was nearing his limits Akira spoke up, ¡°How is it?¡±
With a slap to the armor one of the elderly dwarves jumped down from his stool and said, ¡°It should be fine. With how much trouble it gave us when trying to smelt it and hammer it into shape, you won''t be having such a hard time with fire attacks if I had to guess.¡±
Chapter 306: Luck or Misfortune?
¡°What''s taking him so long?¡± asked a hidden young male voice coming from the shadows.
¡°Why are you still here standing next to me?¡± asked an older man''s voice.
¡°Because... don¡¯t you think this is pointless? Shouldn''t we just tell him about all of this and get a guaranteed reward?¡±
¡°What? Don''t tell me you''re getting cold feet?¡±
¡°It''s not cold feet. I just think our chances of getting the most out of this situation is to talk to him! The demigods are not known for their generosity.¡±
The older man stealthily looked around making sure no one was close enough to hear them before saying, ¡°Come over here.¡±
The first man moved quietly through the shadows and stopped beside his companion.
A flash of steel coated in a black sap shot out and stabbed into the young man''s neck before he could react or make a sound.
As the body fell to the ground, the bloody wound started to turn black and spread out to the rest of the dead man''s body. A bottle of white liquid was pulled out and poured onto the wound stopping the blood flow and blocking the scent of blood.
¡°Hmm, these gifts truly do work,¡± said the old man in a quiet voice. He shoved the dead body into a temporary hiding spot before escaping the area and heading to a new spot.
***
Akira walked out of the blacksmith shop where angry hammering could still be heard all the way out onto the street. He was no longer wearing the new armor as he did not want to scare the citizens and the guards.
That could be embarrassing if the guards surrounded him and treated him as a threat.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball.
¡°We still have to go see how Klyn is doing,¡± said Akira while absentmindedly inspecting his new sword as he walked down the street toward the docks.
Fluffball stopped moving and sniffed the air looking in a certain direction.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yap!¡±
Akira frowned and sniffed the air for several seconds but found nothing unusual. ¡°Come on, we can''t be keeping them waiting. The faster we get this new project settled the more at ease I will be.¡±
Fluffball reluctantly followed, not sure why he had caught a whiff of blood for a moment.
As they continued through the town Akira continued to test out poses and different attack stances with his new sheathed sword. He swung it all around to get used to its length and weight which was not too dissimilar from his old sword.
Near the docks, Akira''s arm shot out to the left while not looking forward as he practiced a quick jab with his sheathed sword.
¡°UUUGHHH....¡±
Upon hearing the pained sound, Akira looked to the left and saw a heavily bundled-up dockworker on the ground holding his hands between his legs as he rolled around in pain.
¡°Ah! So sorry! I should have been paying more attention,¡± said Akira.
The heavily bundled man slowly stood up and quietly mumbled in an old voice, ¡°No need...¡± before he stumbled out of Akira''s view.
Sheepishly seeing that many others saw the aftermath of his clumsy actions, Akira stopped his wild practicing and got onto the transport ship with Fluffball. Dolph and Vilkas were already on the ship and had been waiting for him to arrive.
As the transport ship reached the docks Akira and Fluffball, followed by his guards, hopped off of the ship onto the stone docks as soon as they were close enough.
¡°Ah! Lucky!¡± said Akira as his sharp eyes spotted a shining silver coin stuck in a crack of the stone docks. As he rushed forward and bent over to pick up the coin, a dock worker tripped and flew right over Akira who was bent over.
Splash! The dock worker who was covered in several thick layers of clothing head to toe, spluttered and splashed about creating a large commotion as he tried to stay afloat with the now heavy waterlogged clothes that were trying to drag him down.
¡°Help!¡± shouted the waterlogged man between gasps and gulps of the freezing water.
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When several other dock workers that were moving goods from other ships saw this, they let out several shouts of alarm.
A nearby ship hearing the shouting began ringing its bell, ¡°Man overboard!¡± shouted the lookout who had been about ready to come down from his high position.
Several ropes and other devices were thrown towards the floundering man before he was finally able to grab onto one of them and be pulled up onto a ship.
The man''s lips were already turning blue from the cold water as he shivered and said, ¡°Thank you!¡± repeatedly to the burly sailors that had pulled him out of the cold water.
¡°Huh. I guess it''s true what they say. When one person gains luck, another receives misfortune,¡± said Akira as he pocketed the silver coin and watched the shivering man bow to the sailors.
¡°Yap!¡±
Akira walked past two muscular men who were carrying one side of a large heavy wooden crate they lowered it down onto an oddly flat shaped stone only a short distance away from the city wall and the docks.
Crack!
The two muscular men were startled by the sound and were frightened that something inside the container had broken. They hurriedly opened the lid to look inside but found nothing wrong with the bottles full of various liquids and the other sensitive goods inside looked undamaged.
Oddly the flat stone was now deformed but did not draw any attention from the muscular dock workers who shrugged their shoulders as they turned around to unload another large crate from a merchant ship.
When they returned and set down the second crate they scratched their heads.
¡°Wasn''t there a large rock here?¡±
The second man shrugged, ¡°Who cares if there was or wasn''t, hurry up. The faster we can finish unloading the ship the sooner we can go get a drink and warm up!¡±
As Akira walked through the main gates of the outer wall and strolled down the market streets in the outer ring he looked at the numerous goods on sale.
An item caught his eye and so he stopped walking forward and turned towards the booth to check out the trinket.
¡°Watch out!¡± shouted a merchant from a nearby merchant stall.
A towering stack of crates that had been previously roped down was now teetering dangerously as the stall owner tried to steady it. The towering crates swayed from their original path and tumbled down onto another man that was only a short distance away from Akira.
Pained moans came from the man underneath the heavy boxes as several other bystanders in the morning crowd worked to pull him out.
¡°How could my rope break? I just bought it not that long ago! Great, now many of my items are ruined!¡± shouted the merchant as he looked at the mess. His broken wooden crates and scattered items were scattered all over the street.
Vilkas and Dolph had stepped in front to protect Akira from any harm and they were now looking around the area glancing at every person with a sharp suspicious glare.
¡°Duke, there is no time for shopping. We should hurry and meet up with the Head Shaman,¡± said Dolph.
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°You guys are right. Buying a few gifts for Mileena can wait,¡± said Akira.
¡°If the honored sir would like, I can hold several of this item in reserve for you to inspect later,¡± said the female merchant behind the row of trinkets laid out on a table.
¡°No need. I do not want to hinder your business. If they are bought out before I come back I will just need to look at buying something else.¡±
Several other people ran into misfortune as Akira made his way through the outer rings of the city. Around 15 minutes later Akira, Fluffball, Dolph, and Vilkas arrived at the center of the city where the [Child of the World Tree] was planted.
There was already a chest-high stone wall built around the large cleared-off area around the tree. Outside the wall were several serious-looking guards who were protecting the half-built wall.
Inside the walled-off areas were a few shamen who were sitting cross-legged with their hands out as they silently chanted in an ancient language.
Akira sighed as he looked at the tree.
¡°What''s got you down?¡± asked Klyn as he walked up to the sighing Akira.
¡°Today I realized that there are some truly unlucky people in this world. I''m glad my luck is not as bad as theirs.¡±
¡°Oh?¡±
¡°But for some reason, I kinda get the feeling of D¨¦j¨¤ Vu...¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap?¡±
¡°It''s nothing. Anyways, how is the root problem coming along?¡±
¡°In a few days, the area should be totally clear. I was surprised that it was so easy to not only communicate with such a legendary existence but also get it to agree to our requests,¡± said Klyn as he looked at the large tree that had grown a little more since the ceremony.
¡°Good, the dwarves are almost finished with their project at the castle and can come here to start working without any unnecessary delay.¡±
¡°Will this really work?¡±
¡°I believe with their skill there is no need to worry. When this is finished we can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the citizens will be safe.¡±
***
Somewhere else inside of the outer city a group of haggard, stinky, limping, soaking wet, and thoroughly bruised people shuffled through the town angrily as they headed for the exit.
¡°Out of the way!¡± shouted one of them as they shoved a few people who were looking at a merchant''s trinkets.
Immediately several angry city guards surrounded the group.
¡°You ruffians dare to cause trouble here! A few weeks behind bars will straighten you out!¡±
The group of ruffians were so surprised at the quick action of the guards that they did not resist and were easily led off with the guards swords pointed at their backs.
¡°Who were those rude people?¡± asked Azura who had been shoved.
¡°Who knows, never saw them before but that is nothing new with how fast the city is growing,¡± said Mileena.
¡°There will always be such rude people in cities. You need to keep a large force of city guards to keep them in check,¡± said Maya as she pushed up her glasses.
¡°I''ll make sure big brother upgrades the outer city''s security. We can''t just let anyone in!¡± said Azura.
Chapter 307: Deep Southern Activity
Several weeks before, deep in the south past even the most southern werewolf clans.
A fierce cold wind blew the soft snow past a small mountain that stood out in the dark land that was covered in darkness, snow, and ice all year.
Inside a large hidden cave at the base of the mountain, there were several people gathered quietly chatting among themselves.
The cave was lit by glowing ice crystals with no trace of a fire anywhere.
¡°Is everyone here now?¡± asked a woman whose body was completely made out of ice.
¡°Ecyoman, is there even a need to ask that? It''s only our three hidden factions that know about this!¡± said a male Ice lamia, his upper half looking like a human while his lower half was that of a snake.
¡°Lamry, be nice to her you know she is a bit...¡± said a male draconian whose body was completely covered in gray scales.
¡°I don''t need your ''help'' defending my actions Dranc,¡± said Ecyoman.
¡°So have the two of you thought about what we talked about last time?¡± asked Dranc.
¡°I know I have and I think we have all agreed that now is our best chance to start the plan,¡± said Lamry.
¡°That Beech will not know what hit her! I will get back at her for the humiliation she and her demon race caused me all those years ago!¡± said Ecyoman.
¡°We all have our different motivations to go through with this plan. The people I represent do not like the lot we have been given and can only fight to win our freedom from that tyrant!¡± said Dranc.
¡°It is the same for us... but can we really trust those northern weirdos? That woman was bald. My mother always said bald women lost all their hair from repeatedly telling lies,¡± said Lamry.
¡°I agree with you about them not seeming to be the trustworthy type but... people don''t go bald because they lie,¡± said Dranc.
¡°What! Are you calling my mother a liar!? I''ll have you know she had a full head of hair which was not missing one strand of hair!¡±
¡°Quit bickering your two!¡± said Ecyoman as she glared at the two with her icy gaze. ¡°All we can do is make preparations for any snags we might encounter. They said they will take care of the northern allies so all we have to do is deal with the southern forces.¡±
¡°Still, they only have to deal with one or two while we have to deal with everyone else!¡±
¡°Quit complaining! With the magical healing potions, these enchanted treasure weapons, and the other items they gave us we can keep fighting without care!¡±
The three were silent for a moment as they thought about the pile of treasures that had been given to them.
¡°There is no point in delaying our decision any longer. When will we head out to attack?¡±
¡°Immediately. As soon as we leave, gather your forces and head to the agreed meeting place. When everyone has gathered we will march the rest of the way together and take them down!¡±
¡°Really? Isn''t that place too close to the target!¡±
¡°It''s fine, we won''t be staying there for long.¡±
As the three finished planning out their actions they exited the hidden cave into the eternal night snow land.
SCREEE!
The sound of a high pitch fast moving wind startled the three as an icy blue blur shot down from the top of the mountain.
BOOM!
Snow and ice shot up into the air as a large object slammed into the ground in front of the three groups.
¡°What the!¡± ¡°Ambush!?¡± ¡°Who!?¡± shouted the three leaders as they stumbled back trying to stay on their feet.
When the snow and ice cloud was blown away by the harsh wind, a large Bird the size of a house was staring at them. Its body was completely covered in blue feathers that were made entirely of ice and were gleaming like well-polished armor.
¡°What''s a legendary [Blue Ice Birb] doing here? I thought they were extinct!¡± said Lamry in a panicked voice.
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The others'' expressions and emotions were not any better than his.
¡°Chirp! Is what you three just said true? Are you really going to fight them? Chirp!¡± asked the large Ice Birb ignoring the panicking Lamry.
The three looked at each other, ¡°Crap! Someone found out!¡±
¡°Chirp! Do not Fret! I want in on the action to settle some old grudges! Chirp!¡±
***
Sometime later in southern IsKald, the Yuki-onna kingdom.
Yuki was chatting with Fleur, Borra, and their guards in one of the spare rooms inside the castle. The two girls had come to stay with Yuki partly to keep them out of trouble and also to keep them safe as the land had gotten more dangerous with the many wandering groups of demigods.
¡°You got married? What''s it like?¡± asked Fleur.
¡°Big sis Yuki you''re going to be a queen?¡± asked Borra.
¡°It''s not anything special,¡± said Yuki blushing. She immediately tried to change the topic by turning to Borra. ¡°Both you and Fleur are princesses and will be married in the future and be queens as well. You will be able to find out about it when you get older.¡±
Both Alpants and Alhants nodded their heads agreeing with Yuki.
¡°Me married?¡± asked Fleur.
¡°Do you have someone you are going to marry?¡± Asked Borra.
Alpants and Alhants both listen intently, ready to hear the name of the unfortunate man that would most likely die from the fierce gaze of her father.
¡°I can just marry big brother!¡±
¡°Uhh... that''s not going to happen. He''s already married to your big sister Mileena,¡± said Yuki.
¡°Pick someone else!¡± said Borra.
¡°Why? Father always says that he can have multiple wives if he wanted to but he just decided to only have one wife. So I should be able to marry big brother as well!¡± said Fleur, sticking out her small chest as she pointed at herself.
Alhants'' looked away in secondhand embarrassment after hearing Fleur''s words.
¡°Ehhh? But I heard that your dad is scared of your mom and that''s why he only has one wife?¡± said Borra as she cocked her head to the side.
Alhants burst into a coughing fit for a few seconds before turning to look at Borra. ¡°You''re still too young to know about or even be talking about stuff like this. Who has been filling your head with such nonsense!¡±
¡°Alphants,¡± said Borra bluntly.
Alhants turned around and glared at Alpants, ¡°You...¡±
Burrrrrruuuuu! Burrrrrruuuuu! Burrrrrruuuuu!
Everyone in the room became silent as they listened to the large horns blare out a warning.
¡°I''m sorry you two but I have to leave. My father will probably be looking for me soon,¡± said Yuki as she stood up.
¡°What''s going on? Is there something that we can help with? We are allies so there is no need to be shy about asking for our help. The warriors we brought along with us lack any special skills, they are not any weaker than your own warriors. We boast an even greater defense and higher stamina than your front-line warriors if I am to be honest with you,¡± said Alphants.
¡°I don''t know what it is but it is some type of major emergency for them to sound the alarm like this!¡± said Yuki.
¡°We want to go as well!¡± shouted Fleur.
And so Yuki exited the room with Fleur and Borra still hanging on her arms as she led the group of draconian warriors under the command of Alpants and Alhants toward the command post that her father would most likely be heading to.
When they arrived there was loud chatter between the city guards and several armored Bears who looked to be wounded.
¡°What happened?¡± asked Yuki as she stepped in front of the guards who were standing next to the command outpost''s door.
¡°Ah! Princess Yuki! The king and your husband are inside talking with Beary of the Armored Bears. It seems like some trouble is brewing,¡± said one of the young guards.
¡°Or orders are to not let anyone disturb the meeting but since it is you... we will not block you, but they can not enter,¡± said a second guard as he pointed to Borra, Fleur, and the rest of the draconian soldiers.
¡°They are the Princesses of one of our strongest allies! If there really is trouble coming, they, along with their guards, should be allowed into the meeting so they can understand how best they can help us.¡±
¡°... fine but the underlings have to stay out here with everyone else,¡± said the guard pointing to the area where the wounded armored bears were milling about.
They issued a few commands to the draconian soldiers as they entered the command post. It was already packed with many officers, some were standing while the more senior officers were sitting as they listened to a scarred and bandaged Armored Bear told his story.
¡°... like I was saying. We were just minding our own business clubbing some noob seals when the enemy attacked us from the rear.¡±
¡°And you''re sure that the attackers were the Ice lamia demon race?¡± asked King Fross.
¡°There is no doubt about it and it was not a small group. We could see in the distance a larger group was headed our way, otherwise, we would have stayed and finished off those who attacked us!¡±
The officers all began debating with each other as they tried to figure out what this all meant and if it had anything to do with them. King Fross only continued to look at the ceiling deep in thought for some time.
When his gaze lowered from the ceiling he held his hand up to stop the chatter.
¡°Send out scouts in all directions around the city. Just in case this is more serious than we think right now, we should also send messengers to our allies and ask for help. I hope this is not what I think it is... but if it is, we will not cower. We will face whatever trouble is lurking in the darkness!¡± said King Cross with a firm voice.
**
¡°You idiot! How could you let those Bears get away? Now they know we are coming!¡± shouted Ecyoman.
¡°So what! We have the treasures given to us and sir Blue Birb is on our side!¡± said Lamry
¡°If you didn''t mess up this simple task, we could have run all over them before they even knew what happened to them!¡± said an angry Dranc.
¡°Chirp! It matters not if they know! The more that gather in one place, the faster our task will be finished! Chirp!¡±
Chapter 308: Fierce Battle at Yuki-Onna capital
Two days later two of the scouts that had been sent to the south were the first to return and they had grim news to report.
Inside the command building the officers were listening to King Fross read the report out loud.
¡°Two forces are gathering at the nearby frozen lake...¡± said King Fross as he read the note given to him.
¡°So our worst fears are true... but who are they and why are they attacking now?¡±
King Fross looked at the note again.
¡°There were several groups camped at the lake. One group was a decent-sized gathering of Ice elemental humanoids while the other was a medium-sized group of Draconians.¡±
¡°What!? Those underlings are attacking? Did Father order that?¡± asked Fleur as she looked at Alhants who immediately shook his head.
¡°Even though we sent messengers to all our allies, with the enemy secretly gathering and so close there is not enough time for our allies deep in the north or south to respond!¡±
¡°We will just have to fight along with the Armored Bears, Ice Mammoth tooters, and the few warriors that the young princesses have offered to help defend the city.¡±
Cough... ¡°You all are forgetting that there was another group of Ice lamia that attacked us as well.¡± said the armored bear officer who was still healing from the attacks.
Everything inside the city was chaotic as the city guards and army prepared for the coming siege while the businesses were ordered to close early and the civilians were told to stay inside their homes or root cellars for protection.
While that was all happening the city walls and towers were strengthened with several more layers of ice.
***
Burrruuu!
A few days later the southern watchtower inside the city sounded the alarm as the guards spotted several enemy scouts coming from the south where the enemy army was supposed to be.
Several of the patrolling guards on the city walls were pointing at the approaching enemy scouts and watching them closely.
As everyone''s attention was on the approaching enemy scouts the watchtower in the north rang out.
Burrruuu!
Everyone''s worries about more enemies showing up were quickly swept away when they saw the army marching in from the north was the combined force of Armored bears and Ice tooter Mammoths.
With the allied army marching toward them the enemy scouts stopped in their tracks and began a full retreat not stopping to look behind them in case they were surrounded and captured.
With the allied army entering the city the officers were trying to figure out if they were strong enough to go out and hunt down the enemy force or if they should let them come and deal with them from the safety of the city walls.
Baruuuu! Baruuu!
The decision was made for them later in the day as the enemy army arrived outside the capital and hastily created a defensive encampment well out of the range of the city before they marched forward and began sending harassing ice and arrow attacks at the city guards on the walls.
Yuki and the two young princesses were standing on the roof of the central tower that was well behind the main defensive wall. They watched as the incoming ice and arrow attacks slammed into the wall and blew up in the sky.
The guards defending the southern city wall and its towers also returned fire with their own arrows, ballista bolts, and ice attacks. The Ice Tooter mammoths were too large to stand on the ice walls so they stood behind them and blindly shot ice attacks over the wall with the help of spotters on the wall.
None of the ranged attacks managed to enter the city thanks to the guards and soldiers that were using ice skills to block them.
¡°It really is those underlings! Why are they here attacking your city? Don''t they have enough work to keep busy?¡± asked Borra.
Yuki also pulled out a large long bow and froze the arrow as she nocked it in place.
Peetuuu! When the arrow shot into the sky ice blade fins sprouted out to help stabilize the flight and also had the benefit of being sharp enough to cause extra damage to anyone they struck.
¡°Ohhh! You''re so good at using ice attacks! You should teach me how to do such a cool skill!¡± said Borra.
¡°Big sis Yuki is strong. She is way better than you Borra,¡± said Fleur.
¡°It''s because she is older than me!¡± said Borra.
Yuki, hearing this, jerked a bit and had a twitching smile on her face as she remembered the two girls'' actual ages which were far older than hers. Even though they were still considered kids in their race, they had lived far longer than she had been alive!
¡°I''m not that good with a bow. But I can''t do anything so I decided to try this out,¡± said Yuki as she shot another ice arrow toward the harassing ranged units.
¡°I want to fight as well! We can show them our Superpowers that we have been practicing!¡± said Fleur.
¡°OH HO HO HO! That''s a great idea. As expected of my best rival friend! We should go out there and see which superpower they like eating best,¡± said Borra loudly.
¡°WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING IN MY EAR!¡± Shouted Fleur.
Yuki has seen them practicing their ''Superpowers'' before. They were... very lackluster. Half the time they failed to do anything, the other half... chaos.
¡°No. Absolutely not. You two can not go out onto the battlefield!¡± said Alhants firmly.
¡°What would your fathers say if we let you go out there and you got hurt!?¡± said Alpants.
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¡°Hmph you guys are no fun,¡± said Borra.
¡°Fine. I didn''t even want to use my Superpower because all the ash and smoke from burned things always gets into my scales and it''s smelly, gross, and hard to keep clean,¡± said Fleur pouting.
The back-and-forth ranged attacks lasted for several hours as the enemy did not show any intention to do anything to break the stalemate that had set in.
Screeee! A loud whistling sound screamed through the air from high above as a fast-moving object approached the battlefield. It was a large Blue bird that was covered in Ice!
Several of the officers and city guards shouted out in worry when they saw a new threat that was circling high above.
¡°It''s an [Blue Ice Birb]!¡± ¡°Didn''t they go extinct!?¡± ¡°How are we going to handle something like that if it attacks?¡± ¡°We just managed to gather all the materials to once again use our trump card... we can only use it as a last resort.¡±
The [Blue Ice Birb] did not waste any time in showing who it was here to support. With a flap of its wings a shower of ice feathers as thick as spears shot toward the ice walls as well as the guards and soldiers who were using ice skills to block the ranged attacks.
Several of the unprepared guards and soldiers were cut down in the first wave of attacks. It was a rather unpleasant sight to see. To survive such attacks they were forced to work together to block each wave of attacks from the [Blue Ice Birb].
Their hopes of being able to defend the city until stronger allied forces could arrive were quickly dwindling as the stalemate started to shift. After a half hour of using all their power to try and block the constant attacks from both the [Blue Ice Birb] and the ranged attacks from the ground forces, several of the guards and soldiers began fainting.
Several of the more unlucky ones were pierced by the attacks which managed to break through their defenses. Even though they tried with all their might to retaliate against the [Blue Ice Birb], they were unable to do any real damage because it would only swoop down for a few seconds to attack before escaping high into the sky.
¡°With the number of skill attacks the enemy has been sending over here they should be exhausted soon,¡± said Yuki.
But as time passed by the waves of attacks did not lessen which caused the officers on the walls confusion. The enemy should be just as worn out as them with many soldiers dropping from exhaustion. But nothing like that was happening.
With many holes in their defense showing up the ice walls started to have several large cracks and holes pierced through them. It was looking weaker and weaker as time went on.
Screeeee! The [Blue Ice Birb] seeing all this let out a happy cry. The morale of the enemy army was sky-high. Their main army was gathering into a formation reading for a charge on the weakened wall.
¡°Gather the items!¡± ordered King Fross who was commanding from the top of the ice wall and was staring at the army formation taking shape.
All they could do now was use their trump card and hope that it was enough to batter the enemy into retreat.
¡°Soldiers! Prepare to push the enemy back!¡±
As King Fross was rallying the soldiers to repel the attackers...
ROAR!
Everyone inside the city looked to the south, and their jaws dropped. A decent-sized group of a mixed enemy demon race soldiers was running for their lives trying to join the main army as they looked over their shoulders in fear. They were the last of the soldiers who had been part of the rear guard that was supposed to be protecting the main army from surprise attacks.
¡°Ah! Father has come. For some reason he seems to be mad,¡± said Borra as she quickly hid behind Fleur.
High in the sky a large dragon with glimmering blue scales was flapping its wings as it gathered a massive fiery blue ball in front of its wide-open maw revealing its razor-sharp teeth.
Kaboom! The large icy fire shot out from the dragon''s mouth and slammed into the ground in between the fleeing enemy soldiers.
In a wave of blue light, the icy fire expanded out covering them while simultaneously freezing the land all around them and also burning the soldiers into ash.
¡°Yep, he''s mad. I hope he didn''t find out about the few treasures that I broke,¡± said Borra.
¡°I don''t think that''s why he''s mad,¡± said Yuki.
¡°I''m sure he won''t care about a few broken things. My dad never cares about the junk room treasure that has all the broken stuff in it,¡± said Fleur patting Borra on the back to comfort her.
¡°That''s a relief. I guess I don''t have to continue hiding the cave that has a few hundred broken treasures,¡± said Borra.
Yuki''s mouth was slightly open in amazement. A few hundred? Wasn''t it only 2 or 3 just a moment ago?
The large blue dragon in the sky was at least two times larger than the [Blue Ice Birb].
When the [Blue Ice Birb] noticed the flashy arrival of the large dragon it let out an angry ''SCREEE!'' and dived down at a high speed to attack.
A blurry icy wind covered the [Blue Ice Birb] as it dived.
The large blue dragon did not shy away from the fast approaching [Blue Ice Birb] and opened his mouth sending a jet of icy flame gushing out to cover the sky in front of him. At the last second, the [Blue Ice Birb] rolled out of its dive and tried to curve around to attack from the rear.
Each time it tried to approach it was forced to abort its attack and try another angle. The [Blue Ice Birb] was extremely fast and very nimble.
With the fierce attacks of the two constantly clashing a fierce blizzard started to form around them in the sky. The ground troops of the enemy were running around in chaos as large ice chunks were falling from the sky or exploding like shrapnel and being scattered everywhere by the fierce wind.
More and more soldiers were being wounded or crushed to death.
After several failed dive attacks [Blue Ice Birb] managed to land a claw attack, but the only results it had to show were a few white scratches on the shiny blue scales.
Screee! The [Blue Ice Birb] in its frustration did not run away and launched a point-blank attack with its spear-like ice feathers.
ROAR!
Blue blood spurted out from the fresh wounds where the spears had pierced its scales.
Yuki quickly reacted and placed her hands over the two girls'' eyes.
¡°I''m not a kid anymore, I can see adult stuff!¡± shouted Borra as she peeked through Yuki''s fingers.
Screeee! The [Blue Ice Birb] let out a happy cry.
Although the blue dragon was wounded, its long neck shot forward and bit down on the leg of the [Blue Ice Birb] before it could roll away and escape.
¡°Chirp! Let go of my leg, you oaf! I will have my revenge! Chirp,¡± screeched the [Blue Ice Birb].
Fwooosh!
Ice fire shot out from the dragon''s mouth burning off both of the [Blue Ice Birb''s] legs and scorching its underbelly.
Even with such damage done to its body the [Blue Ice Birb] still somehow cheated death. Now legless, it tried to fly away at a high speed with smoke trailing behind its charred underbelly.
But the dragon was forming another large ice fireball that quickly formed and shot out heading right at the fleeing [Blue Ice Birb].
POOF! A large ice and snow explosion covered the entire [Blue Ice Birb] and the air around it in a cloud of snowy fire.
Out of the cloud, a charred body fell from the sky and crashed into several large snow banks leaving a long skid mark before coming to a stop.
The blue Dragon swooped down and smashed the head of the [Blue Ice Birb] making sure it was really dead.
¡°ROAR!¡±
The Blue Dragon was not done yet and flew back into the sky where he continued to rain down terror on the enemy army of rebelling demon races.
Gushes of icy fire rushed out of his mouth in long lines slamming into the ground and exterminating tens of enemies as streams of fire passed over them.
The battlefield had turned into complete chaos as the enemy soldiers tried to flee. It was useless as those that were the farthest away were targeted first.
Their situation was hopeless! Many of the soldiers started to break down and cry with their tears freezing moments before they were killed.
Of the army that had come to attack the capital... no one survived the icy fire.
¡°On second thought, I don''t think I should tell him about the few broken treasures...¡± said Borra as she watched her father rampage around the battlefield.
¡°Yep, I agree,¡± said Fleur, nodding her head.
Chapter 309: Start the Plan!
With the enemy completely wiped out, the large Blue dragon calmly flew over to the large ice walls that were now going under emergency repair.
Boom! Its large body landed in front of the ice wall sending out tremors and a large puff of snow into the air.
The soldiers on the walls could not help but shiver from fright at the sight of the large dragon whose head was towering high above them as it scanned the city looking for someone.
¡°As king of the Yuki-onna and ruler of IsKald, we welcome one of the great kings of the south!¡± said King Fross from a short distance away as he was walking along the wall to stand in front of the large dragon.
The large dragon hearing these words moved his large head to look at King Fross. The dragon took several large earth-trembling side steps to stand directly in front of King Fross.
¡°Honored guest, why are you here? We did not have enough time to call for your help so we were surprised to see you,¡± asked King Fross as he stopped walking now that the dragon was towering above him.
The blue dragon opened his large mouth revealing a horrifying mouth of sharp teeth to answer but paused for a few seconds as he thought over what words to say.
¡°Some annoying bugs tried to cast some type of enchantment or spell on me,¡± said the dragon in a slow, rusty, and unpracticed voice that boomed out loud enough for everyone inside the large city to hear him. ¡°It caused my head to itch and get a headache. I think they were trying to mess with my mind.¡±
¡°They dare to do such a thing!? Even though our meeting was under such strange circumstances, we are grateful for your help.¡±
¡°It''s nothing, I could not let those bugs get away with such actions including the attacks these dead rebels made against an ally. With this I was able to kill two humanoid problems with one breath.¡±
¡°Ah...Yes... It is as you say.¡±
¡°Borra? What are you doing here?¡± asked the Blue dragon, his head swiveling to look behind the king.
Both Borra and Fleur were hiding behind Yuki as they walked toward the wall to meet Borra''s father.
Borra peeked out from behind Yuki shyly and said, ¡°Oh, father it''s you. I didn''t see you until just now! I was just here playing with Fleur and big sister Yuki.¡±
The large blue head of her father nodded now that his confusion was cleared up. ¡°I hope you are being a good girl and not causing problems.¡±
¡°I''m being a good girl. I definitely have not broken anything,¡± said Borra, still half hiding, half peeking out from behind Yuki.
¡°She has been well-behaved and has not caused any problems!¡± said Yuki quickly.
¡°Good. If that is all... then I will head back and take care of a few other things,¡± said the large dragon letting out a large yawn as he unfurled his large blue wings ready to fly away.
¡°Wait! Sir, we have a small problem right now but if you could help us it would be solved quickly,¡± said King Fross hurriedly.
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°We sent out some quick messengers to the northern allies some time ago to ask for help. But now that the situation was taken care of by you. When they receive the message they will send an army down here to help. I was wondering if you could fly north and let them know that everything is fine?¡±
¡°Such a simple task is easy for me. Which place is it that I need to go to?¡±
¡°The capital city of Kodria.¡±
¡°Oh? I''ve heard my daughter speak about this place quite a bit and have been meaning to check it out but I have been too busy with... stuff.¡±
¡°Bad father! You''re not supposed to be eavesdropping on my conversations with Fleur!¡±
The large blue dragon moved his head away in embarrassment not looking at Borra who was pouting.
Without another word, he used his large muscular scaled hind legs to launch himself into the air. His large wings flapped hard, sending strong gusts of wind down and knocking over several people before he quickly rose high into the sky and disappeared into the horizon.
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***
¡°The plan in the south should have been activated by now right?¡± asked a demigod hiding in the shadows talking to the demigods hiding next to them.
¡°With that army taking care of the southern demon races, there will not be a similar situation like last time,¡± said another demigod.
¡°Then should we enact the plan?¡±
¡°Do It!¡±
¡°They won''t know what hit them!¡±
With these words, the demigods dispersed and headed out to inform the rest of the demigods that were waiting in different areas elsewhere. Their major plan they had been planning for was now a go!
***
Some time later south of Kodria.
¡°I hope we will be fast enough to come to their aid,¡± said Klyn who sat atop a running Garg.
¡°I can not express the full extent of how thankful I am for your quick mobilization to help our city!¡± said Friige. He was the fast messenger who had nearly killed himself from exhaustion in order to reach Kodria as fast as he could and relay the call for help.
¡°With such short notice, we were unable to mobilize a large force to come to your aid. But with the little information you gave us, it is unlikely that we could even march there in time with a full army to face the unknown enemy army. We can only once again ride south with our fast cavalry and deal with whatever foe stands in our way. Even so.. we may be too late,¡± said Akira who was riding in a saddle on top of Grarr.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The loud sound of drumming and flapping wings coming from the southern sky caught everyone''s attention.
They didn''t have to wait long to see what was causing the noise.
A large blue dragon was headed right toward them.
Without Akira needing to issue an order, the cavalry formed up into a defensive square formation with their arrows and spears ready to launch an attack if needed.
Akira was wearing his new dark and sharp armor that was crafted by the combined wisdom of the old Dwarves. If a battle truly broke out it would be its first true test.
¡°Wait! Wait! There is no need to be alarmed!¡± shouted Friige.
¡°You know this monster creature?¡± asked Akira.
¡°He''s not a creature! He is one of the two kings of the southern Smog mountain chain!¡±
¡°Is that so? Then why is he flying around here?¡±
¡°I don''t exactly know... it is extremely rare for either of them to leave their mountain caves.¡±
¡°We''ll probably find out why soon enough,¡± said Klyn pointing to the large dragon that was swooping down toward them.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball watching the large dragon.
Even with Friige telling them that he was not an enemy, they still kept their guard up as they had many experiences with people doing the unexpected before.
BOOM!
A large cloud of fresh snow flew into the air as the dragon landed.
¡°Are you from Kodria?¡± asked the blue dragon in a slow booming voice.
¡°We are,¡± said Tanner who stood forward holding the battle standard high for all to see. ¡°May I ask who you are and if there is anything that we can help you with?¡±
¡°I need no help from you. I am only here to pass a message from King Fross to Kodria''s ruler. The situation in the south has been taken care of.¡±
Swoosh!
Before anyone could reply the large dragon jumped back up into the sky and continued to fly north.
¡°...¡±
After a short silence Klyn spoke as he looked at the setting sun, ¡°If I remember correctly there was a new nomadic town a few hours behind us. We can see if they have extra room for us to stay with them or at least camp inside their walls. It will be far safer than camping out here.¡±
Akira looked to Friige, ¡°How sure are you about his character?¡±
¡°100%! He is an honorable king. He would never stoop down and lie or be deceitful. With his overwhelming power, he just does everything out in the open.¡±
After a few moments of thought Akira once again spoke, ¡°Alright let''s head back to seek lodging at the nomadic village. What will you do you Friige?¡±
¡°I am too exhausted to make the trip south safely. I will head to the village with the rest of you.¡±
***
¡°Is that the main target?¡± asked a demigod quietly.
¡°Yes, two of them!¡± said another who was looking through a long collapsible looking-glass.
They were hiding far away from Akira and the others using the snow banks to cover themselves and block their scents.
¡°We''ll wait for a better chance. Right now isn''t it.¡±
***
Near BentGii.
¡°The targets have been found!¡±
¡°Go!¡±
***
Near the large river north of Kodria.
A large merchant caravan had set up their campsite next to the river.
¡°Nice! We were given the easy target!¡±
¡°Forward!¡±
***
Kodria.
Millennia and Sister Teresa were shopping in the outer city''s new market with Zundar following behind them to keep an eye on sister Teresa and also fulfill his duty to protect Mileena while Akira was gone.
¡°Damn It. Why did we draw the short straw?¡±
¡°The three targets are staying together all day with no room for us to act!¡±
¡°We have to be patient! We can not be like those fools from before who did not know how to stalk their target!¡±
¡°We will succeed this time!¡±
Chapter 310: Balue
As the last of the sunlight was disappearing Akira and the rest of the cavalry arrived at the nomadic town and asked around about guest lodging.
¡°Is that the building they were talking about?¡± asked Akira, who was looking at a well-worn building that looked like it had been dismantled and rebuilt at least several dozen times if not a hundred.
¡°The sign on the building is the same as the name they gave us...¡± said Klyn.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he looked at the sign with a scrunched face.
¡°That building is not going to hold everyone inside even if every room was free,¡± said Friige.
*Cough*, ¡°Excuse me,¡± said a man in a rough voice from behind Akira.
Everyone turned around to see a middle-aged man in a long and thick blue fur coat with an equally thick blue scarf covering his neck.
¡°Oh, sorry for blocking the front door,¡± said Akira as he stepped aside, allowing the man to walk up to the door.
¡°I guess we could check and see if there are enough rooms here to just cram everyone in like sardines,¡± said Akira.
¡°It''s worth a try,¡± said Klyn, as they also walked towards the Inn''s main door that was now being pushed open by the middle-aged man.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as his hackles were raised and fully alert! But the warning was too late.
Bam! SWOOSH! Swish! Splat!
As soon as the door was pushed all the way open several colorful lights from skills slammed into the man''s stomach knocking him onto his back in the snow.
Sticky red blood was now leaking out and staining his tattered blue coat as he lay still on the cold ground that was slowly turning red.
Akira and the others with him immediately took defensive stances. Both Akira and Fluffball did not hesitate in transforming ready to go all out.
As the black mist covering Akira''s body disappeared a dark heavy aura shot out from his body along with a fierce killing intent.
Although those nearby had experienced his transformations before, with his new armor boosting his fierceness combined with his recent surge in power there was no comparison from the past experiences. The tail armor that had been retracted was not extended and covered his upper tail allowing for more protection as well as creating an extra melee weapon for him to use.
¡°Awooooo!¡± Akira let out a howl to call all the werewolves to him so they could charge into the building and take care of the problem inside.
¡°Awo!¡± Awoo!¡± A wave of howls came from the edges of the village acknowledging his call.
Akira listened intently to the movement inside the inn to try and get an estimate of how many attackers were inside.
¡°You hit the wrong target!¡±
¡°How was I supposed to know he would enter before the target!¡±
The people inside the inn continued to argue about what to do next, giving Akira and the others time to prepare.
As the werewolves rushed down the short streets of the nomadic village, the village chief, also hearing the chilling howling, hastily threw on a coat and joined the passing werewolves.
¡°Hey what is going on!?¡± shouted the village chief as he flailed his arms in the air trying to get their attention.
¡°Wait! Please don''t destroy the Inn!¡± shouted the village chief as he rushed towards the gathering group.
Akira had his helmet closed causing him to look like a fierce demon wolf. When he turned his attention to the village chief, the village chief became a wooden pole as his legs stopped and began to shiver uncontrollably.
¡°Please don''t break it! It''s one of our sources of income during the winter months allowing merchants and other travelers to stay the night.¡±
Akira took out a handful of gold coins from his bag and tossed them to the trembling village chief.
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¡°You have a demigod vermin problem. I will help you exterminate it. That should be more than enough to cover the cost of repairs or for you to be able to buy material for a new inn.¡±
The village chief''s mouth kept opening and closing as he tried to say something but failed to as he looked at the gold in his and back at the terrifying Akira in his sharp nightmare armor that had a black mist hovering around his body.
¡°Whose the dead guy?¡± asked Tanner as he joined the others outside the Inn.
Everyone looked at the middle-aged man who received the full brunt of the enemy''s attacks to his chest. There was no sign of breathing nor had he shown any movement since the attack. The ground was now dyed a deep red from all the blood that had spilled.
¡°Call some of your villagers to take him away and give him a proper burial,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yes... yes of course!¡± said the village chief.
¡°Don''t go killing me off when I''m not dead!¡± shouted the middle-aged man as he opened his eyes and stood back up.
With movements that were almost too quick for Akira to see, the tattered blue coat was replaced with a new one.
¡°... as for my name, I really don''t have one but my rival best friend calls me Balue.¡±
Balue had a sad expression on his face as he pulled out a tattered water skin that had red sticky liquid still dripping from it.
Akira tried to scan him for information but was only able to see that his name was indeed Balue.
¡°My wine is all gone now...¡± said Balue as he looked up at Akira.
Now that the Balue was staring right at him, Akira had a clear look at him. His face looked rather young but Akira could see faint wrinkles here and there. The only other thing that stood out was his deep blue eyes that felt like they could stare holes into you.
¡°Ah... so you''re a hermit,¡± said Akira.
Balue ignored Akira''s words and turned around before saying, ¡°You say you want to kill these people called Demigods? Allow me to help!¡±
Before Akira and the others could react, Balue rushed forward and charged into the building, his arms held out in front of him as a shield.
As soon as he stepped through the door another wave of attacks washed over him but he pressed forward not using any armor or weapons.
¡°We have to help save that fool before he gets himself killed!¡± shouted Klyn in shock.
Akira, Fluffball, and the rest of the werewolves that were already transformed rushed forward to take care of the demigods.
It was dark inside the inn as no fire or lamp was lit. For some reason, It felt even colder than the outside temperature.
Despite what they had all thought, Balue had not been cut to pieces and was fine.
Akira saw several skills repeatedly hammering into Balue who seemed to not notice them as he rushed forward and began wailing on the attacking demigods with his gloved fists.
Bam! A demigod''s head disappeared into bloody light fragments after a few hits.
Akira was greatly impressed by his body''s durability. If he tried this, he would definitely get many cuts and wounds.
Akira joined the fight taking on the Demigods that were trying to hide in a side room and snipe them.
With the Werewolves, Fluffball, and Balue crushing the attackers it did not take long before only a few demigods remained.
The walls and doors of the first floor and its rooms were all torn apart and in shambles. There were large holes in the wooden floor.
¡°Wait, don''t kill the last two!¡± growled Akira.
¡°Why?¡± asked Balue.
¡°We need to interrogate them, to see who they are. I do not recognize them from any guilds that usually cause trouble around here.¡±
¡°You''re in luck. I specialize in interrogation!¡± said Balue as he quickly switched out of the tattered blue coat and into another similar one as the first two.
Akira was not sure how many of these coats he had or where he was hiding them since he was not carrying a bag.
¡°Oh? Then I hope you can offer your help. But these demigods are not easy to crack,¡± said Akira. He had grown to respect Balue as a comrade after fighting side by side with him.
The feeling seemed to be mutual as Balue nodded his head toward Akira in agreement.
Akira and Balue walked into the last room that was still somewhat intact and dragged the last surviving demigods inside for questioning.
After some time the two exited the room without the demigods.
¡°You''re quite skilled with interrogation tricks. Even the demigods who do not fear death were no match for you. I did not know bodies could bend like that,¡± said Akira in praise.
¡°It''s nothing, I''ve had several years to practice It when I was bored,¡± said Balue rubbing his head in embarrassment at being praised.
¡°Still... I have a bad feeling about the new information.¡±
Ding!
+1 to Akira''s bad gut feeling!
|
¡°I don''t think we can stay here any minute longer!¡± said Akira.
¡°You two freaks of nature may be able to keep going, but the rest of us need to sleep! We have been going non-stop trying to reach Iskald, but now that the situation there has been resolved we are ready to fall asleep as soon as we lay down and close our eyes,¡± said Klyn. He was looking a bit haggard now that the adrenaline from the fight was wearing off.
¡°If it''s okay with you, I would love to join you in your journey north,¡± said Balue.
¡°I have no problem with that as long as you do not have any ulterior motives,¡± said Akira as he looked at Balue with a questioning expression.
¡°I have no ill will towards you. I just want to see the new dukedoms of the north and see what goodies I can gather for my collection.¡±
Chapter 311: Everyone gets a free Attack
Far to the north of Akira at the new town Bent-Gii.
¡°Gi~!¡± shouted Prince GobGob on top of the town''s new and sturdy stone walls.
At his command, a wave of arrows shot into the air and rained down onto the charging enemy.
¡°AH!¡± several cries of pain rang out as some of the arrows hit their targets. Even with several of them being hit, the enemy charge was not stopped. They only took out glass bottles filled with red liquid and drank them as they continued running forward, now with arrows sticking out of their bodies.
¡°These damn demigods don''t know when to give up! Are we going to have to kill every last demigod on the continent to make them stop?¡± asked Varbu as he watched the demigods charge forward under the raining arrows. The attacking demigods showed no fear in charging such a heavily defended town. This was something that Varbu and even the bravest warrior would have to think twice about before doing it.
¡°Ah! Not you guys, you''re okay. I''m sorry your hunting was cut short by this attack,¡± said Varbu turning to a small group of Minor lycans that were standing next to him watching the enemy come closer.
¡°Your feelings are understandable. I have no love for most of those you call demigods. They are not my family! It is a good thing we came here to help clear the area of winter monsters, now we get a chance to show off our training again!¡± said Beater.
The other minor lycans all nodded their heads in agreement. They had originally come here to help clear the more troublesome monsters hiding in the surrounding area. This was because the monsters had become more aggressive now that winter had arrived and the food supply was dwindling.
¡°Isn''t it a bit odd to be fighting against them?¡± asked Varbu as he watched the approaching enemy demigods.
¡°Do you feel odd when you fight against another demon race?¡±
Varbu scratched his head and said, ¡°Not really... we''re not related so...¡±
¡°Gii! Gii giii!¡± said Prince GobGob looking towards Varbu and the demigods with a scowl. Several goblins were getting wounded and they were just chatting like a battle was not happening.
¡°We''re ready to fight, don''t get angry!¡± said Varbu.
¡°Remember we have to let them get close and think that it is only you guys here. Then we will launch the trap and attack them when they are all trying to get inside,¡± said Beater.
¡°Are you guys sure you can do this? What if you die?¡±
¡°It''s fine. We already set Bent-Gii as our base of operations. So if we do die we''ll just reappear here tomorrow at the same time we died.¡±
¡°I''m looking forward to getting payback,¡± said Crowbahr.
¡°Me too. I was constantly bullied by the northern guilds and guild members. They were always stealing my gold, equipment, and potions. Some of them even killed me multiple times. If it weren''t for them, my strength wouldn''t have been so weak for so long! Luckily sister Teresa took me under her wing and helped me grow and regain trust in others,¡± said Beater.
¡°Giii!¡± said Prince Gobgob pointing at the enemy.
The enemy demigods had reached the walls and were now using their various skills to create a ramp or ladder to reach the top of the wall. At such a close range the demigods that were not hiding behind shields or protective skills were shot full of arrows.
Several unlucky demigods turned into hundreds of light fragments after being careless and were unable to drink a potion before dying.
¡°It''s time to cut them down!¡± said Varbu. ¡°We''ll defend the walls while you deal with them down there.¡±
While Prince GobGob and Varbu fought off the demigods'' attempts to climb the stone wall, Beater, Crowbahr, and the rest of the minor lycans transformed into their dark and light gray werewolf form.
¡°Awooo!¡± With a new powerful feeling filling their entire body, they let out an energetic howl before jumping off the wall and falling onto the gathered demigod''s ramp and ladders that were being set up.
BAM!
Beater landed on top of a demigod slamming them into the ground. Before the demigod could stand up, a sword stabbed through the small gap between their helmet and breastplate piercing his neck. Blood gushed out of the wound for a few seconds before the demigod underneath Beater turned into light fragments and disappeared.
¡°Good kill,¡± growled Crowbahr as she landed next to Beater.
¡°It''s a good thing that night arrives so quickly in the south otherwise we would be stuck defending with our normal skills!¡± growled Beater as he swiped at a demigod with his claws, tail, and sword, confusing those that were around him due to his erratic and wild fighting style.
¡°We are on borrowed time now! We need to get this fight finished quickly before we run out of steam!¡± growled Crowbahr, as she caved in the chest of a female demigod that tried to intercept her.
At the rear of the attacking demigods, the guild member that was commanding the attack looked to his friend in confusion. ¡°Didn''t the reports say that there were no werewolves here? Who are they?¡±
¡°No idea. We just have to cut them down before they cause any trouble with our plan! Who cares if they are here? Once they are dead then that''s one less problem for us when we attack the main city.¡±
The two pushed their way past the other demigods who were still focused on attacking those on the walls. Many of the ranged attackers were ignoring Beater and the other minor lycans as they were pouring out waves of attacks towards the ''Easy'' targets such as Prince Gobgob and Varbu.
When Beater saw the two demigods pushing through the crowd heading their way, he grew angry upon recognizing the commanding guild member that was rather round.
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¡°Muckbong!¡± Growled Beater angrily as he cut down an enemy demigod who had managed to cut him several times leaving new bloody wounds on his body. A light gray light was covering his body as his berserk skill was already activated from his wounds.
¡°Ah... so it''s you Beater. The rumors were true, you really are a traitor who has joined the demon races. There is no need to deny it as I can clearly see what you have become. You should have listened to me back then,¡± said the round Muckbong.
¡°I will gain my vengeance today!¡± shouted Beater as he launched an attack at Muckbong.
The two locked blades as they pushed back on each other trying to overpower the other.
¡°I still have not forgotten that time when I spent over an hour fighting that rare monster only for you to come in and steal the kill and loot it. I remember you also killing me while laughing about it!¡± growled Beater as he remembered the past event.
¡°And I''ll do it again! I told you those who are solo will not make it. You should have taken me up on the offer to join the guild. Now you have been added to the kill-on-sight list,¡± shouted Muckbong as he pressed hard against Beater.
¡°I''m not the weakling from before!¡± growled Beater as he pushed back and quickly leaned to the side. When he did this, his tail shot out and slammed into the back of MuckBong''s leg causing it to buckle.
Beater used this advantage and continued pushing down on Muckbong who was now kneeling and being pushed backwards. The other minor lycans continued to protect Beater from any attacks while he fought the leader of the attack. But surprisingly, the other demigods were still mainly focused on attacking those on the wall. They were only fighting with Beater, Crowbahr, and the others if they were attacked by them.
Beater¡¯s tail repeatedly battered Muckbong as he pressed down with his sword which was getting closer and closer to Muckbong''s neck. After a dozen blows to his back and his legs, Muckbong lost balance and Beater''s sword slipped past his defenses and sliced a large chunk out of his neck!
Muckbong frantically tried to defend himself with one hand as he fell to the ground. Blood was now gushing out of his neck as he tried to use his free hand to reach into a bag to pull out a red potion.
Swish!
Beater activated an attack skill, sending a gray light shooting out and severing Muckbongs hand.
¡°Goodbye!¡± said Beater before slicing through Muckbong''s head sending light fragments into the dark sky.
¡°Awwooooo!¡± Beater howled triumphantly. ¡°KILL THEM ALL!¡±
***
Near the edge of a large flowing river was a large caravan of traders who had set up camp for the night.
The majority of the traders were dwarves who disliked living on the boats so they were anchored nearby.
The humans that had joined the caravan humored the dwarves'' odd behavior and joined them around the campfires near the shore as they cooked dinner with them and also drank ale to keep warm while they laughed and chatted about long lost brighter times in the past.
While they were having a good time, the hired guards were patrolling the perimeter of the makeshift fence that had been set up around the campsite. Snow had been packed over both sides to create a simple temporary wall.
¡°Halt! Who goes there!¡± shouted a caravan guard as he hid behind his shield and raised a torch higher up into the air to try and push back the shadows and light up a larger area.
The Merchants hearing the shout near the wall, all stopped what they were doing and grabbed their weapons. Although they were not true warriors, with how dangerous things were getting they had to learn quickly how to defend themselves and their property from monsters, bandits, and demigods.
The now-armed merchants gathered together with the 30-plus hired guards making their fighting force over 100 strong which was good enough to fight off most troubles.
Burkin was among the dwarven traders and was now looking into the dark treeline trying to see the hiding enemy.
¡°Show yourselves, you bandits! We won''t allow you to steal our gold or our goods! So get lost or we will fight you to the death!¡± shouted Burkin.
As soon as he said that multiple skill attacks shot out from the woods and they were all aimed at him! Burkin fell to the ground and hid behind the snow wall as the attacks flew right over him and slammed into the ground and the river behind him.
The attacks kept raining down in the general area he was hiding and quickly tore up the snow wall forcing Burkin to roll to the side to escape before the wall was completely gone.
The attacks died down as Burkin was helped back onto his feet behind a more intact snow wall.
¡°What was that all about? Why did they target me out of everyone else!?¡± asked Burkin.
¡°Did you anger someone?¡± asked one of his friends.
¡°How could I? I''ve been with you for the entire time!¡±
The silence from the dark woods lasted for some time.
¡°Who are you guys and why are you attacking us!¡± shouted Burkin as he peaked over a portion of the undamaged snow wall.
Immediately the colorful skill attacks once again shot out towards him forcing Burkin and those around him to dodge the attacks. Burkin rolled to the side as the wall crumbled again.
¡°We can''t keep this up... Burkin for whatever reason they want you dead. So you stay here and bait them. Try to keep their attention on you. We''ll flank them and take them out,¡± said Franker, one of the long-time guards of the caravan.
¡°What?! You want me to be bait! I''ll die!¡±
¡°You''re doing a good job already! Just keep doing what you are doing and we''ll be able to take care of the problem!¡± said Franker, slapping Burkin on the shoulder before leading a large portion of the guards to a dark corner and quietly sneaking out of the encampment to attack the hidden enemy.
¡°Hey youuuuu guuuuuuuys!!!¡± shouted Burkin as he popped his head up above the snow wall before ducking back down.
The attacks immediately lit up the night as they bombarded the spot Burkin had just appeared at.
¡°Damn it! Why am I playing whack the mole with these killers!¡± growled Burkin as he rolled on the ground again before popping back up to draw the enemy''s attention away from the guards that were approaching them from the other side.
***
Kodria outer city.
¡°I can''t wait to try on these new items!¡± said Mileena.
¡°I don''t see what''s so special about those rocks,¡± said Maya as she pushed her glasses up her nose.
¡°Not rock,¡± said Princesses Gobalina. Who had been hard at work learning and practicing speaking Common.
Mileena, Maya, Azura, Princesses Gobalina, and Sister Teresa were all chatting after finishing a shopping spree and were now walking towards the stone docks where the transport was waiting.
¡°Let''s go see the baby Gargs before heading back!¡± said Mileena.
Zundar and the other guards in charge of protecting Mileena joined them on the trip to the southern fort and Garg dens.
As they were exiting the boat onto the small south dock...
¡°Die!¡± screamed three lunatics as they popped up from around the shoreline snowbanks and charged at the group.
¡°Protect the duchess!¡± shouted Zundar, while he charged forward to intercept the three enemies that had appeared.
Several skills shot out and slammed into Zundar causing him to let out a grunt but he did not stop and managed to close line two of the targets instantly stopping their attacks as they fell to the ground clutching their necks and trying to breathe.
Rondie was right behind him and began to clobber the third attacker into light fragments.
Zundar and the other minor lycans made quick work of the attackers that were rolling on the ground causing them to also disappear into light fragments only leaving a few gold and potions behind.
¡°Everyone back to the castle! We need to send the alert to all of Kodria to be on alert for demigod attacks!¡± shouted Zundar as he tried to herd the girls back onto the ship.
Chapter 312: Next stage!
¡°So this is the rumored Kodria that I have heard about? ¡ it looks smaller than I expected,¡± said Balue as he looked at the southern fort and barracks where the cavalrymen and Garg''s lived.
¡°Ahem... that''s just the southern fort... the inner city of Kodria is over there and the outer city is there,¡± said Akira pointing towards the island and then the large towering walls of the outer city which had a large tree growing out from the center.
¡°Right. I knew that, I was just testing you. Interesting tree you got there. I can feel an energy flowing out of it. Such a warm feeling.¡±
¡°That was a recent addition to the outer city. It is something that we take great pride in as there are very few like it,¡± said Klyn.
As they were talking a fort guard rushed forward and saluted Akira.
¡°Duke Akira the duchess has left word to inform you of an attack that happened while you were gone and wishes you to head to the castle as soon as you return so that she can talk with you,¡± said the guard while still holding his salute.
Akira''s face hardened upon hearing this, ¡°...and the attackers?¡±
¡°Were taken care of by sir Zundar and the other guards!¡±
¡°I''m sorry Mr. Balue, but my offer to give you a tour has to be put on hold while I go take care of a personal problem.¡±
¡°Not to worry this is more interesting, mind if I come to offer my help?¡±
¡°...I''m not sure what you can do since the situation seems to have already been cleared up. You are more than welcome to come with me and chat with the elders about the local news and other things if you like.¡±
¡°That is perfect!¡±
Akira and the rest of his entourage made their way back to the castle as quickly as they could. On their way, they found that there was a heavy presence of patrolling city guards on the walls and the streets while the citizens were all skittish as they scampered from place to place.
¡°Interesting place...¡± said Balue.
¡°It''s not normally like this. It is far more lively usually... but with the recent attacks and the guilds in the north all looking to gobble up more land, we are a prime choice of meat for them to try and bite into.¡±
¡°Ah... I did not know that these demigods posed such a problem. I only thought they were bandits trying to stir up trouble, but from all that I have seen so far... if we don''t do something about them they will cause everyone on this continent problems.¡±
¡°We''ve been trying to figure out how to deal with them but they are like weeds, they just keep coming back. So we had to go get some of our own weeds to help fight against them,¡± said Klyn.
Mileena and Azura had already been informed of Akira''s return and they were already waiting for him inside the castle''s courtyard when he passed through the castle gates with everyone.
¡°Were you or the children hurt?¡± asked Akira as he rushed over to Mileena and looked her over trying to see if there were any visible fresh wounds.
¡°The children were not targeted, and the wounds I received were only minor scratches. The real problem was the three who attacked us died too quickly,¡± said Mileena.
Zundar, who had just arrived, snorted and then said, ¡°Luckily we managed to capture two of their accomplices, cowards who hid when their other companions launched the attack on us. They were sent to the castle''s dungeon so that you could talk with them when you return. Unfortunately when we left them alone for a short time one of the prisoners killed the other. I made sure to tie the reaming prisoner so that he could not kill himself.¡±
¡°Oh someone to interrogate! It was the right decision to let me come here with you!¡± said Balue.
¡°...and who are you?¡± asked Mileena.
¡°He is a friendly guest I met while on my way to the south to help the Yuki-onna. He has quite the talent for interrogation,¡± said Akira introducing Balue.
¡°I would not say it is a talent. Just hard work and a LOT of practice.¡±
¡°Any friend of my husband is welcome here,¡± said Mileena giving a half bow towards Balue.
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¡°Ah, so you are the wife of the duke... how odd. Well, why don''t we go check on this demigod that you have captured.¡±
Akira led the way through the maze of hallways and checkpoints to reach the dungeon where the demigod was staying. While walking Mileena filled Akira in on what had happened while he was gone.
Rondie and sister Teresa were standing guard outside the door keeping a close eye on the prisoner to make sure they did not break free of their shackles and try to kill themselves.
¡°Sister Teresa, I hear that you are one of the reasons that my wife was saved from major harm,¡± said Akira.
¡°It was nothing much as they also seemed to be targeting me as well,¡± said sister Teresa.
¡°I don''t like this one bit. The northern demigod guilds are getting more and more bold,¡± said Zundar.
¡°We have one of the culprits still alive. I am sure they can shed some light on their current and future plans if you can just crack them...¡± said Rondie as she slammed her fists together. ¡°...but this one is a hard nut.¡±
Akira nodded at this in agreement and then pushed open the unlocked dungeon door.
A female demigod was chained to the far wall and also had a thick wooden stick horizontally shoved into her mouth and tied tightly to the back of her head so that she could not bite her tongue and bleed out a slow death.
¡°Mhhmmmf!¡± said the female in a muffled voice when she saw Akira enter the dungeon room.
¡°You need to pee? Well, I am sorry but I can''t help you with that,¡± said Akira, an expert at understanding such muffled speech.
¡°Mmmf,¡± said the female, shaking her head.
¡°I''m glad you understand,¡± said Akira. ¡°I was told that you were one of the attackers who was captured. This whole thing will be remembered as the worst decision you ever made in your life. Not only did you attack my wife but you also attacked my sister! Right now you are not just talking with the Duke of Kodria, but also the husband and big brother of those you attacked. What do you have to say for your actions?¡±
¡°Mhmmf! Mmmfh!¡±
¡°You want fresh fruit? Why would you ask for such a thing right now? You know it''s winter and all the fruit has been preserved so there is little to no fruit that is in season right now.¡±
The female shook her head but Akira continued to speak.
¡°You can deny it all you want but there is no fresh fruit! This is your last chance to speak to me before I let my friend Balue talk with you instead,¡± said Akira as he pointed to the smiling Balue.
¡°MMMMHF! MMHF! MFFF!¡±
¡°Alright, I have heard enough. Any last words before I leave? How about explaining why you killed the other demigod with you?¡± asked Akira, pulling the slobbery wooden stick out of the female demigod''s mouth.
¡°You got it all wrong! I was trying to protect you by killing him! Honestly!¡±
¡°Right... you sure know how to protect someone by trying to kill their loved ones,¡± said Akira putting the wooden stick back in her mouth.
¡°Balue, you can take care of the rest of the interrogation.¡±
When Akira exited the dungeon room he said ¡°Can you guys keep an eye on the prisoner for a while longer while I check up with the grand elders?¡±
¡°Not a problem,¡± said Rondie.
As Akira headed towards the meeting room a messenger runner came to him with a smile on his face.
¡°A large-ish human settlement in the north has bucked the reins of the demigods and has joined our alliance in the fight against the demigods!¡±
¡°Which settlement?¡±
Ding!
The requirements for the second stage of the Main event quest has been met!
|
Second stage: [The Culling] will start Soon? in the near future.
The weak will perish and the strong will survive!
Prepare now or perish!
|
Akira raised his hand stopping the messenger from answering.
¡°Just send the report to my office. I''ll read it later...¡± said Arron.
Akira sat in the meeting room while the grand elders droned on about importation matters, but the words just did not enter his ears as he was occupied with worrying about the new development in the main event quest.
Things were moving too fast now. He barely had any time to breathe with all that was going on around him and Kodria.
The door to the room opened and Balue was escorted in by Zundar.
¡°So this is where the big shots meet?¡± asked Balue.
¡°...and who are you?¡± asked grand-elder ¨¤aron.
¡°A guest interrogator,¡± said Balue, before turning to Akira. ¡°I have the information you wanted. The attackers were part of a larger plot to target key figures of Kodria''s dukedom. They launched attacks at the same time to try and take everyone out all in one go. That attack back in the nomadic village that hit me was meant for you. The other targets were: Your wife, sister Teresa, Bent-gii''s Varbu and Prince Gobgob, and the Merchant dwarf named Burkin.¡±
¡°How trustworthy is this information?¡± asked grand-elder Hegir.
¡°Very,¡± said Akira, even more worried with this news being added on top of his previous troubles.
Even so, he had to push it all aside for now. He could worry all he wanted after it was over. Right now he needed to prepare for the coming storm once again.
¡°Hurry and contact the shaman in Bent-gii. We need to know what their situation is. Send out a scouting team along the river to search for the merchant''s caravan. It would not do any good if either of them have suffered heavy damage or been whipped out. It could set back Kodria''s plans for the future.¡±
Chapter 313: Coming Storm and new allies?
Several days of hurried preparation could be seen throughout both the inner and outer city while the river forts and southern fort all received massive deliveries of dried rations, arrows, and medical supplies.
All of Kodria''s forges were working long hours every day trying to get as many arrows, bolts, and repair jobs done for the army and city guards.
Kodria''s guards on the city walls also received large bundles of arrows and stacks of long bolts for the wall-mounted ballista. The naval ships did not laze about in the still lake, they continued to patrol both the lake and the long stretch of river for any irregularity.
The army, along with its new recruits, were constantly training in the forest and surrounding areas killing any monsters that they came across. This was all done to lessen their worries. They didn''t need a massive mob of wild monsters also attacking them while whatever storm that was fast approaching arrived and started knocking on Kodria''s doorstep.
Such activity was hard to hide from the civilians who grew worried after seeing all of this. They did not know whether another tragedy was going to happen where several hundred or thousands would die once again.
The majority of Kodria''s civilians that had survived the Molten-onyx plague siege, were not as scared as some of the newer residents due to the massive upgrade that the outer city had received. There was also the child of the world tree growing at the center of the outer-city which had a slight soothing effect on their worries.
***
Kodria''s castle.
Akira sat in his office and listened to a new report being given to him by Klyn.
¡°The shaman in Bent-Gii has reported that they were able to take care of the attack and are on high alert and are ready if they launch a second attack. As for the team that went to search for the merchants, they found them camped on the bank of the river. Several of them have wounds that are still healing. The navy has taken it upon themselves to escort them to Kodria where they can hold up until the coming storm ends.¡±
Akira nodded his head and then asked, ¡°Any news from the shaman messenger and his escort that we sent to warn the northern allies?¡±
¡°Not yet, although we sent them on the fastest sloop we have, it will still be several days before his team can reach Jerora and warn them of the coming trouble.¡±
¡°Sister Teresa and the [Full moon] guild have already left to help Bent-gii ward off whatever it is that will be attacking. I just hope they are strong enough to make a difference...¡± said Akira as he became lost in his thoughts for a moment.
¡°Can we really trust them?¡± asked Klyn. ¡°Judging from how things are going. things are only going to get even more crazy in the coming months and years.¡±
¡°Although nothing is 100% guaranteed in life. I have a decent respect for Sister Teresa and her core followers. I feel that they will not stab us in the back and will become one of the core pillars of Kodria. Plus, with their subordinate connection to me, I can still catch those that are having improper feelings if I am near them.¡±
¡°I don''t know if they will be enough to hold off the main guilds with their small numbers. Although you have added another dozen or so to their numbers in the last ceremony, the large guilds in the north are constantly growing,¡± said Klyn.
¡°The problem for us is for every 100 demigods, there is only 1 who wants to convert into a minor lycan. Out of those who come to us only a few of them actually want to join the [Full moon] guild and help Kodria. Many of them just want to receive the... ''Job change'' as they call it, and then just leave back to wherever they came from. This is something we can not allow. Since this is the case, it will be a while before we gather enough honest candidates that are not up to their usual games.¡±
¡°Since I have finished with the report, I guess I should head out and check on the new hospital''s preparations for the coming storm. We can''t have any problems appear during that time as it may be the cause for even more loss of life,¡± said Klyn. He stood up and waved to Akira before leaving his office.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball as he yawned and rolled over to warm his other side next to the fireplace.
¡°You''re lucky you can enjoy being lazy right now. But I can''t. I have so much to do right now. But I expect you to be fully rested when we go out to face whatever is coming to greet us,¡± said Akira.
Fluffball''s ears flapped about as he listened to Akira but he decided to ignore his words and fall back asleep.
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Akira was not able to leave his office as he still had a desk full of paperwork that had grown too tall to ignore with all his time away coming back to bite him in the butt.
Although Azura had been put in charge of helping keep the stack of documents low by filling them out for him. She had a bad habit of picking all the easy stuff and ignoring everything else... whenever he brought this matter up to her, she also ignored him as well.
His cute little sister was growing quite rebellious. Akira didn''t know why she was going through such a phase.
Now, he had an expression of dread as he looked at the complicated documents in front of him. Just this one set of documents would make a normal person go insane or grow bald from the stress of overworking their brain. He still had a large stack of similar mind-numbing documents waiting to be filled out. Such a horrifying battle lay before him.
Several hours passed before there was a knock on the door.
¡°Sir! Klyn has come to see you!¡± said one of the guards through the closed door.
¡°Send him in,¡± said Akira. He sat back in his chair and began to stretch his arms while yawning.
Fluffball also let out a yawn as well as if infected by Akira''s own yawn.
¡°Tired already? It''s not even noon yet,¡± said Klyn as he saw both the yawning Akira and Fluffball.
¡°It''s this dang pile of paperwork that is killing me! Never mind that, is something wrong with the hospitals that you have come here to see me?¡± asked Akira as he looked at the large pile of paperwork with dread. The pile had only lost around 1/3rd of its original size.
Klyn shook his head, ¡°No... it''s something else... the shaman team we sent to Jerora was stopped by a group of soldiers of the Begus Dekus dukedom.¡±
¡°What?¡± asked Akira, sitting up straight and fully alert as his tiredness disappeared upon hearing this.
Fluffball''s head popped up and stared at Klyn after hearing Akira''s alarmed voice.
¡°No, it''s not what you are thinking,¡± said Klyn holding up a hand. ¡°From what the shamen managed to relay back to us, the soldiers seemed rather worried. They apparently want Kodria''s help in fighting the demigods,¡± said Klyn, holding up his hands to try and calm Akira.
¡°Why now of all times? This is the worst possible timing with the... could this be a trap?¡± asked Akira, stopping himself from mentioning the main event quest.
¡°It could be, but from what I have heard so far, they seem serious about the request and almost desperate.¡±
Akira was silent for some time while trying to use his brain that he had been working too hard all morning, and was not chugging along to figure out what to do about this new matter.
¡°Are they still with the soldiers?¡±
¡°They have made camp for the time being so that they can receive their new orders if there are any,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Take me to the shamen in charge of communicating. I need them to send a few questions,¡± said Akira, standing up quickly. He was ready to run away from the paperwork that was haunting him.
The walk to the secure shaman room was rather quick. The room was rather dark and silent inside as a large group of shamen sat on cushions ready to receive any transmissions or to send any out themselves.
Seeing both Akira and Klyn enter the room, their low chatter quieted and they sat up straight.
Akira did not waste any time and just asked, ¡°Can you ask the shamen in the north to find out why the humans want our help.¡±
Heod, the head shaman of this group, was quiet for a moment before he silently nodded his head. After taking a sip of a fragrant drink he and the others all joined hands before they started channeling their power into transmitting the question.
It was a restless wait as Akira and Klyn stood there for a long while until a reply was received.
¡°They have found out that the demigods are planning to take over the dukedom in the near future. Something about after finishing some quest or something. Their lives and their king''s life are in danger as they will be killed or if they are lucky enslaved by the demigods when they take over.¡±
''The quest mentioned is probably the main event quest that just appeared,'' thought Akira.
¡°Tell them they need to hold on for as long as they can. Kodria has its own problems that we need to deal with and can not send an army north right now.¡±
Another long silence lasted until the main shaman slowly opened his eyes and took another swig of the drink next to him before speaking.
¡°They are on their knees begging for help.¡±
¡°There is not much we can do...¡± said Akira as he paused and tried to think things over.
Although he was skeptical due to the past friction they had, he could not turn them away if this was an honest cry for help. It would be best to stay true to his offer from before and give them the help they needed.
If things all worked out in Kodria''s favor, they would have another ally in the north to help fight off the demigod guilds.
After several minutes of mulling over the problem, Akira looked up and said, ¡°Tell the shamen and their escorts to ask Jerora for help with the problem along with the warning of the coming storm. With their help, we can at least ward off a few attacks. Kodria will send a small undercover advisory team north to help protect Duke Begus Dekus and help them beef up the city''s defense against the demigods. With them monitoring the situation we will be able to keep tabs on the local demigods in the area as well. They must hold out for now. That is the best we can do with all that is going on.¡±
Several minutes of silence passed.
¡°They have accepted the offer, but are still pleading that you send a larger force north to help them.¡±
All Akira could do was shrug his shoulders and sigh.
Chapter 314: The Culling: first wave
As Kodria''s preparations were nearing as finished as they could be, Akira was growing antsier as he waited for something, anything, to happen to break the torturous waiting for the unknown event to happen.
He had little to no idea what it would be just from reading the few short sentences from the notification. But he knew it had to be a big deal if it allowed them time to prepare for the event.
The fact that it was connected to the main kingdom quest meant it was likely a power check for the dukedoms that were participating in the event. Both the human and demon races who were participating in it had only been warned by Kodria but they did not know of the great significance put behind the coming storm.
All while thinking about this Akira walked along the path atop the outer city''s first wall which was the largest of the 4 square walls that protected the city. Fluffball walked alongside him, not that interested in anything. The patrolling city guards on the walls paid him no attention and kept an alert lookout for any danger outside of the city.
Kodria''s army was now fully mobilized and was camping inside the first two walls in temporary wooden barracks that had been set up just for this event.
Akira turned his attention to the soldiers that were currently training on the ground below them. They were doing this to keep in shape and warm during the lull in action. On any other day, they would normally be hiding inside their homes or barracks drinking warm wine and eating hot food to ward off the cold winter. But now they had no time for such luxury. If they were rusty in their fighting when it mattered, not only would they lose their lives, but the civilians could also be affected as well. So this little suffering in the cold was nothing and they grew accustomed to such harsh training.
¡°It was quite expensive to equip everyone with newer or at least better armor than they had before,¡± said Akira as he watched the soldiers train. His attention was drawn to the trio of humans from the north that had joined the army. They were rising star rookies in the army mainly due to their hard work and the fact that they each had a special skill that they had awakened.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he placed his front paws on the top of the wall and looked down at the soldiers.
Most of the gold that was used to pay for such a massive amount of minerals and also pay for their production was not from Kodria''s coffers but Akira''s own pockets. If Kodria had paid for everything, then there would be no gold left to keep the city running properly or to make payments for the government workers.
He knew all this because his entire horde of gold was gone... 0 gold left! Although he was sure he could make more if he went hunting, sold off some items he had collected over the years, or just encountered some demigods.
Luckily Mileena had enough gold of her own from her adventuring days to buy all the minor household items she needed. But most of their needs were already taken care of by the castle maids so there was no pressing need for money right now.
¡°You are right Fluffball. It was all for the best. Now Kodria''s strength has grown even more. We should not be pushed around like before... I hope. One thing is for sure, with the many veterans that fought throughout the Molten Onyx siege we will not be as green in a similar situation as then.¡±
Ding!
The Culling: Monster outbreak!
The first main wave of three starts now!
|
Seeing the short notification Akira let out a sigh of relief, all of his worry now gone.
Now that he had a clear understanding of the challenge they would be facing, there was no need to worry. A wave of wild monsters? No problem. They had faced worse hardships before.
Akira immediately began to transform causing the city guards to be startled as the black mist covered his body for a second as he transformed and an oppressive aura burst out.
¡°AWOOOOO!¡± he let out a loud howl warning all of Kodria of the coming attack.
When he finished howling he activated the skill [AQR] and began running on all fours towards the tower that was currently being used as a command post.
Klyn, Zundar, Balue, and several other officers inside the tower were going over various minor plans trying to cover for every possible enemy that could show up. But when they heard Akira''s howl they all stopped talking. They all stood up straight and walked to the tower''s main door to see what was going on and were met by the transformed Akira who arrived as they opened the fortified door.
¡°Who is the enemy this time?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°A wave of monsters. I am unsure what type but it should be far more manageable than the enemies we faced in our last siege. Send the order that the army will head out to face the monsters. If we do not have to risk damaging the walls and other buildings outside it is better to take care of the monsters outside first,¡± Growled Akira.
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The officers in charge of the various sizes of wolf packs saluted Akira and then ran off to follow his command.
As the army started to flow out of the city the civilians were herded into the inner core of the city with the gates to each wall being closed and locked behind them.
Akira, Fluffball, Zundar, Klyn, and the royal guards all joined the army outside the city.
The ground all around the city for a long distance had already been cleared of snow, a task done each day by large plows pulled by sturdy oxen who were controlled by the soldiers. With this done there was little worry of having an even harder time trying to fight in deep snow.
As the army was forming into their units and joining either the right wing, center, or left wing of the battle line, the sound of the approaching monster wave reached their ears. It was coming from the woods to the east of Kodria.
¡°AWOOO!¡± Upon Akira''s command, the army started marching forward to intercept the monsters halfway.
Akira watched the edge of the woods trying to see what would appear. As they neared the woods hundreds of monsters jumped out of the treeline. Akira focused on one of them. [Vile Snow toad lvl 95.]
The [Vile Snow Toad] had a body that was the size of a large pumpkin. Their bumpy skin was completely white and looked to have a similar defense as thick leather armor. Although this wave of monsters looked rather weak compared to his current strength, if it were only him that had to fight this wave he would quickly become tired, and this was only the first main wave of monsters. There were still two other major waves to worry about. It was better to save the majority of his strength for when it was really needed and trust the army''s soldiers who were around the same level as the [Vile Snow Toads].
¡°Awooo!¡± The army stopped moving forward and the multi-layered shield wall formed up ready to receive the flood of [Vile Snow Toads] that was now hopping in the thousands.
¡°Begin!¡± shouted Klyn giving the order to all the shamen under his command at the rear of the formation. As one they started to chant their buffs to support the soldiers in the first row of the shield-wall.
The werewolves in the first shield wall were not transformed as it would take a lot of their energy to stay like that. This was not a race but a marathon they needed to conserve their stamina for as long as they could.
Fwooosh! Flowsh! A hail of arrows shot from the rear and arched high above the soldier''s heads and fell down piercing the ground and hundreds of the hopping [Vile Snow Toads] heavily wounding or killing them. With such a massive unorganized wave attack where the monsters were all clumped together, it was hard to not hit something.
As the [Vile Snow Toad] hopped forward they ate every visible vegetation not covered by the snow.
They were truly a plague and disaster for those that were not prepared or if they had winter crops outside their city. Kodria was extremely lucky this did not happen in the summer or fall before the harvest.
Balue stood next to Akira at the rear watching with great interest as everything happened all around him.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The unorganized mob of [Vile Snow Toad] began to haphazardly slam their hard bodies into the first shield wall. There were no tactics to their attack, just numbers.
The thick leather skin of the [Vile Snow Toads] only hampered the sword and spear attacks a little, overall the soldiers were able to kill them with two or three attacks.
As more and more of the [Vile Snow Toad] were slaughtered a new problem popped up. When they were stabbed or sliced open the blue blood in their body would spurt out all around them.
At first, they did not care about being covered in blood since being covered in blood and guts during a major battle with monsters was nothing out of the ordinary.
But when soldiers who received blood splatter on their faces or exposed skin they started to lose control of their muscles in the affected area while also feeling great pain as the blood was very slowly melting away their skin!
¡°Awooo! Awoo!¡± Akira quickly gave the command for those affected to fall back and warned the rest of the soldiers to be careful of the spurting blood.
The affected soldiers limped back or were carried to the waiting Holy shaman in the rear who immediately inspected the wounds and began treating them with both chants and potions for the more severe wounds.
When the last [Vile Snow Toad] was killed everyone let out a great sigh of relief.
But it didn''t last long as the sound of another wave similar to the first could now be heard coming from the woods once again.
They were forced to fight multiple waves of the [Vile Snow Toads] all throughout the day and even into the early night with only the stars and moon lighting the battlefield. Everyone in the first shield wall had been rotated out several times.
With such a massive number of monsters attacking the soldiers, they were all able to grow stronger as they continued killing the monsters. Their average level was now reaching the lvl 100 range.
This was great news, but also worrying for Akira as he knew that the demigod guilds that were strong enough would also benefit from the various monster waves attacking their bases.
The battlefield was littered with thousands upon thousands of [Vile Snow Toad] bodies. Forming small hills near the army''s shield wall.
¡°That seems to be the last wave... for now,¡± said Akira as he listened to silent woods.
¡°What are your orders?¡± asked an officer who stood nearby.
¡°Have those that are still fit to fight clear the bodies from the battlefield and see if there are any usable resources in or on their bodies. The wounded and exhausted soldiers can retire back to the barracks to receive treatment for any wounds they have and allow them to rest up before the next attack.¡±
¡°You mean these waves of monster attacks are not over yet?¡± asked Balue.
¡°No, such an easy attack can not be all that is in store for us. We must clean up the area and recover our strength enough to face whatever is coming tomorrow.¡±
***
Bent-gii.
The Fullmoon guild members had little trouble with the attacks that came to the city walls as the wave was far smaller than what Kodria had to face.
¡°Ah... such a pleasant feeling,¡± said Sweety.
¡°Far different from his hell training! I love this!¡± said Galena.
¡°This was too easy! I like Duke Akira''s training more,¡± said Beater.
¡°Shut up!¡± said Sweety, smacking her brother on the head. ¡°Don''t say such a thing! Are you trying to jinx us?¡±
Chapter 315: The culling: second wave
While the soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield and gathering materials from the dead monsters, they found that there was a high chance of finding a poison monster core that was perfect for equipping the weapons of the soldiers in the army.
¡°Have it added to the high-priority tasks for the blacksmiths. There should be enough to equip the elite veterans of the army,¡± said Akira after finishing inspecting the monster core and returning it to the soldier who had brought it to his attention.
Although there was not enough to equip every soldier''s weapon it was still a significant discovery and would be an overall boost to Kodria''s strength in the future.
With a salute, the soldier left Akira and the others who had been watching over the clean-up from the city wall. They continued discussing with each other how to fix the minor mistakes made in battle today and how to better coordinate their defense and offense power.
Akira said little and only listened to all the older officers who had far more experience in large-scale battles than him. He made mental notes on everything he heard trying to better understand tactics for large-scale armies as he had never studied such things before.
He was well versed in the small scale battles, but Kodria''s army, when you just counted the werewolf soldiers from the different clans it was already over 10k soldiers not even counting the other demon races such as the orcs or goblins which when added easily reached over 20k soldiers.
This number did not even include the city guards that were not weak as a large portion of them were retired veterans who had a few wounds that caused them to be unable to fight on the front lines but did not prevent them from holding a defensive position on the walls or to smack around some petty criminals. The navy had also exploded from its meager 4 large ships to now having several smaller patrol ships built to help keep up with the needs of protecting the river and lake. With two more large ships nearly finished.
The cavalry was the slowest to grow as the birthrate of Gargs was the limiting factor, only giving birth to a batch of young pups once a year at the most.
Currently, a large portion of Kodria''s army was split between the Bent-gii, the northern border fort, and Kodria''s main and outer city which had the lion''s share of the military protecting it.
All this was such a massive change compared to when Kodria was founded and had only a few thousand total soldiers to protect Kodria.
***
The next morning Akira woke to several howls that reached him in one of the small stone rooms inside the command tower where he and the other officers had elected to sleep. Staying in the tower instead of sleeping at their own homes made it so that they were able to reach the soldiers under their command quickly if anything unexpected happened.
¡°AWOOOO!¡±
The continued howling of the distant scouting parties caused him to hurriedly get dressed and equip his armor, which had been polished by someone the night before.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he stretched and yawned still underneath the warm fur blanket.
When Akira opened the small room''s wooden door, the cold air from the large central room hit him hard causing him to shudder and completely shake off any drowsiness that still lingered.
¡°Yap...¡± said Fluffball, unhappy with the cold air invading the small room.
¡°How long do we have before today''s attack?¡± asked Akira as he was handed a wooden mug filled with a warmed wine that was giving off white steam in the cold air.
¡°From what I heard so far, an hour at the most. They are coming from the south this time,¡± said Klyn.
¡°And the monsters this time?¡±
¡°Not the same as yesterday,¡± said Zundar. ¡°They are not sure what it will be today as the monsters blend too well with the snow and are all crawling low to the ground.¡±
¡°The soldiers are already mobilizing and eating a large meal to help prepare them for a full day of battle. Although I wanted to give them more time to rest, we will have to settle with what we were given,¡± said an older officer.
¡°Make sure everyone is ready to head out in half an hour,¡± said Akira.
¡°You werewolves are quite efficient with long-range communications,¡± said Balue, who was leaning against the ice-cold stone wall not showing any sign of sleepiness.
Akira only shrugged at that.
When a half hour passed, the army once again flowed out of the outer city gates. The gates all locked down after they had exited to protect the citizens inside.
The soldiers were all given dry rations. They would be able to eat it when it was their turn to rest in the rear of the army. Although they knew it was going to be another long day of fighting they were energetic and joked with each other as they marched south in the morning sunlight to wait near the southern fort.
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When 15 minutes had passed a group of fast-moving scouts riding Garg''s could be seen rushing towards them.
One of the riders came to a stop near Akira and the other officers and hopped to the ground before saluting them.
¡°The monster wave is only a few minutes behind us! Their speed is far faster than the toads from the day before. From what I was able to see it is probably a group of some type of reptiles!¡± shouted the scout giving his report immediately.
Akira nodded to the man and waved for him to join back up with the other scouts. He then turned to the officers around him.
¡°Gentlemen prepare yourselves and your men. After today I have a feeling there should only be one more day of attacks,¡± said Akira.
The officers were not sure how he knew something like this but did not question it as so many weird things always happened just as he said they would. They all left to take command of their soldiers.
As the army formed up into their proper positions several soldiers with good eyesight were able to catch rare glittering lights from the morning sun reflecting off of something smooth in the distance.
The approaching monster wave was far more silent than the loud toads the day before and if you were not alert and looking for them you would probably suffer from an ambush.
As the monster wave got closer, there was a low almost unnoticeable slithering sound as the wave of monsters charged forward. The sun that was still rising was able to shine more light on the wave of monsters headed their way revealing their glittering scaly bodies.
[Gray Coiling constrictor lvl 110].
With the sighting of the monster wave the Shamen under Klyn began their chants to fully buff the soldiers.
Akira watched as 500 or more of the snakes approached the army. Each of the snakes had patchy gray scales that helped them blend in with the snow and gray bark of the winter trees. The average size that he could see was over 14 ft long and they were as thick as an adult male''s bicep.
If it weren''t for their constant movement and the glittering scales from the sun it would be hard to notice them in the snow.
¡°Hmph!¡± said Balue showing disdain upon seeing the wave of monsters.
¡°Looks like we will have to help out on the front lines today,¡± said Zundar as he judged the strength of the [Gray Coiling constrictors] headed their way.
¡°Time for you to get some exercise Fluffball. They look quite agile so you should be careful,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball defiantly before disappearing into the crowd of soldiers on the right flank.
Zundar moved to the left flank while Akira along with his royal guards stayed at the center of the shield wall to help hold the line.
Balue was rather uninterested in fighting and had decided to stay in the rear with the reinforcements ready to help if he really was needed.
As soon as the snakes were within range the archers from both the infantry and the guards on the walls of the southern fort began shooting their arrows.
...but the arrows that did hit the slithering [Gray Coiling constrictors] at such a long-range only bounced off the Scales that were slick and as hard almost similar to low-grade metal armor allowing the fast-moving snakes to approach front lines with little damage done by the ranged attacks.
A small formation of infantry with crossbows stepped out from behind the shield wall and fired at almost point-blank range into the approaching wave of [Gray Coiling constrictors] and was actually able to penetrate slick scales killing several of them.
The crossbowmen were only able to fire off one volley and were forced to quickly retreat behind the shield wall before slippery snakes were able to reach them.
Bam!
The [Gray Coiling constrictors] one after another coiled up and launched themselves at the front-line soldiers with a force that was strong enough to break the bones of those not wearing heavy armor.
After slamming into the shields the large snakes wiggled and lashed out with their tails as they tried to wrap around the soldiers so that they could squeeze them to death. Some of the large snakes coiled up once again and launched another attack at the soldier''s armored necks with their fangs out dripping with paralyzing venom.
Many dents started to appear in the front line infantry''s armor as well as large bite marks in their shields as the snakes tried to pierce their armor, most of the time failing in this attempt, but not always.
The more unlucky front-line soldiers'' armor and shields started to look terrible as more and more dents and holes began to appear as they were targeted by the snakes.
Throughout the day three waves of 500 [Gray Coiling constrictors] rushed at the front lines not letting anyone pause their fighting until around midnight.
Although the number of monsters was far less than the day before, the attacking power of the individual [Gray Coiling constrictors] was stronger and required more than one soldier to handle them.
When they were finally able to clean up the battlefield Akira was disappointed that there were no monster cores found in any of the bodies. Even with this disappointment, they could still use the hard scales as a type of leather armor so he was not too bummed out.
***
Ding!
The Fruit guilds territory has been wiped out.
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The Tree guild has been wiped out.
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Message after message continued to pop up letting everyone know which territories were able to resist the waves of attacks.
Several guilds were destroyed the moment the first attacks happened.
The stream of constant messages caused everyone to stress out as they were also desperately defending their territory against the massive waves of monsters with the little forces they had. They were quickly burning through their potions and gold.
Each of the northern guilds was having a hard time protecting both their dukedom and the peasants which they needed to craft items for them as well as make food, drink, and other items to sell to fund their expansion. The number of injuries and deaths from both the demigods and the peasants was constantly rising higher and higher.
The small guilds and hunting groups that had been smacked down several times before by the stronger guilds were now all watching from a distance and were like hungry wolves as they paced back and forth ready to strike out and capture the territory if the occupier were to be overwhelmed by the waves of monster attacks or grow to weak and offer themselves up as a ripe fruit to be plucked.
Chapter 316: The culling: Final wave!
¡°Today''s wave of attacks should be the last of the attacks, right?¡± asked Klyn. He was standing next to Akira and the other officers on the 1st wall of the outer city.
¡°Should be,¡± said Akira as he switched back and forth between two distant areas where loud disturbances could be heard. One was coming from the east where the [Vile Snow Toads] had hopped in from, and the other was coming from the south where the [Gray Coiling constrictors] had appeared.
As the commotion from the east came closer Akira could feel a slight vibration under his feet every few seconds. The vibration was getting stronger as it got closer.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he glared at the distant blur that was taking shape.
¡°You''re right, this is something far more troublesome than the last two waves of attacks,¡± said Akira.
Whatever was coming from the east was massive. But judging from the sounds coming from the south whatever was coming their way was just as massive of a problem as the first.
¡°AWWOOOOO!¡± Several howls from scouts rang out from both the south and east. Their howls contained important information that the defending army needed to know about what they would soon be facing in battle.
Everyone that could understand the howls had grim faces.
¡°What is it?¡± asked Balue looking between Akira and Klyn.
¡°It seems two giant monsters have targeted Kodria. One from the east, and one from the south. These monsters that have arrived... just where were they hiding? The army patrols swept through the area everyday during the week before the monster wave attacks and found no traces of these monsters,¡± said Klyn pointing to the distance in both the east and south.
Akira could just barely see the giant monsters in the distance but was still able to bring up their information successfully at such a long distance.
[?? Vile Snow Toad lvl 170 ] was hopping in the east and in the south, a [?? Gray Coiling constrictor lvl 190] was slowly slithering towards them.
Seeing the levels above the heads of such large monsters made his expression even more grim. These were not simple small monsters with high levels but were similar to dungeon guardians who had higher strength, and defense, and were bigger in size when compared to other similar monsters with the same levels.
Akira had to make a decision on what to do quickly. Even though the giant monsters were slowly taking their time to get here, their speed was not something to laugh at.
The [?? Vile Snow Toad] was now growing extremely noticeable for those with good or decent far sight as it hopped into the air high above smaller trees and crashed down creating a large crater and a violent shock-wave around it.
The [?? Gray Coiling Constrictor] was harder to notice as it stuck to the snowy ground camouflaged with its slick gray scales as it slithered toward Kodria''s southern fort.
¡°Hmph! Such a base and boring serpent is not worth me even looking at it let alone fight it,¡± said Balue as if he was offended that it had shown itself in front of him. He turned to Akira and said, ¡°If you would like, I can lead the fight against that large toad coming this way.¡±
Akira immediately accepted his offer, ¡°That would be a great help! These two seem to be the leaders of the two monster waves that came here in the previous days. Their strength is as high as mountains compared to those that we fought the other day.¡±
¡°There is no need to worry about my strength, just give me some people that can help me keep it occupied. I would prefer a group of people that will not die too quickly. I should be able to take care of this big guy without too much trouble,¡± said Balue confidently.
¡°Alright, I will leave the majority of the defending army for you to pick and choose from. Although their levels are not as high as that thing out there, if they have the chance, they can dish out decent damage since they''ve been training hard to fight such battles. Anyone you don''t pick will be stationed on the walls to protect the city from any other attacks,¡± said Akira. He had grown more confident in the strength of Balue after seeing him fight alongside everyone over the last few days. His strength was similar to his own if not even stronger.
¡°Leave it to us!¡± shouted one of the commanding officers who was standing a short distance away from the other officers who were waiting for orders.
¡°We can not fight a battle with these giant monsters like we did in the previous days. Such a large force of weaker soldiers would just get in the way and cause more harm and trouble than it is worth. I will lead an elite team to take down the [Gray Coiling constrictor] in the south,¡± said Akira, making up his mind. Now that he had a plan he pointed out those that would accompany him in battle.
Even so, the officers of the army did not want such a small force to accompany him south. They all decided to send a decent-sized group of reinforcements to the south fort so that they could provide support for Akira if the need arose.
Akira and the chosen soldiers and guards left the outer city and jumped onto a waiting flatbed ship at the docks. The lake was also full of activity with every single ship of the navy as they patrolled the waters to ward off any attack that came from any other direction or the water. There were even small fishing boats being put to use as scouting crafts that were patrolling the river.
When Akira reached the southern shore of the lake near the southern fort he and his chosen elites separated from the reinforcements who headed towards the fort.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball, who was hyped for the battle. Unlike Akira who was stuck with so much paperwork and meetings that swamped him when he was not out on some adventure, Fluffball had been out and about helping the army clean up the area long before the wave attacks had arrived. During the fights he had fought alongside the [Fullmoon guild] as they tried to clear or exterminate several stronger monsters that inhabited the local. With all the fighting he had done in the last few days added on to all of this his level had already reached level 180.
Zundar was also not slacking and had reached level 170, while both Dolph and Vilkas were in the mid-160s. To round up their force there was Klyn who was level 150, and Nox 1 and 2 who were at a similar level.
''Hmmph! Acting all haughty. We don''t get much time outside that''s why our strength is lower than yours,'' said Nox 1 as he stared at Fluffball.
''We are actually quite good if you think about it. Us having such a high strength with the little time we have spent outside,'' said Nox 2.
Akira ignored the mental voices of Nox 1 and 2 who were pouting and focused on the approaching giant [?? Gray Coiling constrictor].
Now that it was so close, he was able to see it far more clearly.
The giant [?? Gray Coiling constrictor''s] body was as thick as a tree and was well over 100 ft long. With such a large size its heavy body could easily crush weaker opponents. This reassured Akira that his decision to not fight as they had the previous days was the correct one.
On each side of the giant [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] there were at least 10 smaller [Coiling constrictors] similar to the ones that had shown up the day before. They looked to be escorting the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor].
The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] must have noticed their presence as it stopped crashing through the snow banks and came to a complete stop. Its head rose high up into the air as it looked at Akira and those around him then towards the southern fort and the Garg dens near it.
Its body rose into the air as it used its entire length to tower high above the average height of the fort and city walls. It would be a menace if Akira allowed it to approach either the fort of the outer city. With such a large body it would be able to attack them from above and easily pick the defenders off the walls.
With its body now fully out in the open, everyone was able to see three sets of large gray wings folded along its body.
Without warning, the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] coiled up and then launched its body up into the air with its wings spread out wide. It flew through the air at a quick speed and used its wings to glide for several seconds allowing it to cover far more ground than it could with only its coiling jump.
Bam! It slammed into a snowbank sending snow flying everywhere.
¡°I''ll hold this big guy''s attention. You guys need to take care of the minions escorting it first, then we can take this big guy down without any interruptions,¡± growled Akira after transforming.
The other elite werewolves and Fluffball seeing this, all transformed as well.
¡°We''ll take out the pipsqueaks quickly! Just don''t go dying on us. I''m getting a strong sense of danger from that big snake!¡± said Zundar.
¡°Rawr!¡± said Fluffball as he warned Akira not to take risks.
They rushed forward to meet the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] who was fast approaching them already completing several large gliding jumps while the escorting [Gray Coiling constrictors] were left behind.
A loud croak and a booming crash could be heard coming from the northeast far behind them where Balue was. But Akira could not turn his attention away from the large monster in front of him and could only trust Balue and the fighters he had chosen to defeat the [?? Vile Snow Toad].
With the outer city''s defenses and the defending army manning the walls even if the worst case happened and they had to retreat he was sure that they could hold out until Akira could return to help them.
BOOM!
A large snow pile in front of Akira exploded as the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] landed only a hundred or so feet away, allowing Akira to see it up close.
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The gray scales all along its back and head looked to be as thick as plate armor. Even with such strong defense, there were still other weak points he could see. There were the cracks between the scales, the thinner scales on its belly, its eyes, snout, and its mouth... if it opened it.
¡°Hissss!¡±
Which it did right away as it showed off two large fangs that seemed to extend out when it opened its mouth all the way.
It stared at Akira who was standing still and the other elite soldiers that had scattered to the sides to fight the trialing [Gray Coiling constrictors] who were still trying to catch up.
¡°You ^%&$! Stop looking around like a $%^& and look at me!¡± shouted Akira using the [Potty-mouth] skill.
The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] did not understand the common language of the two-legged people, but from the growled words he definitely knew that it must have been some sort of insult! How outrageous for such a small snack to dare be so rude to it!
¡°HISS!¡± the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] decided the first thing it would do was eat the rude small snack!
Its large body coiled up and then launched itself through the air right at Akira. The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] used its three sets of wings to guide its aerial attack so that it could stay on target.
Bam!
Akira used the skill [Shield Slam] to dash out of the range of the attack just before the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] crashed into the snow where he had been standing a moment before.
Still enraged, the rampaging [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] repeatedly coiled and launched itself at Akira while Fluffball and the others focused on attacking its smaller escorts.
¡°HISSSSS!¡±
Trying to hold the attention of such a large monster was a real workout. Akira was constantly having to use his skills to dash forward, dodge the attacks by rolling around in the deep snow, as well as repeatedly use the [Potty mouth] skill to keep the [?? Gray Coiling constrictors] attention focused on him as the attacks from the fort and the elite werewolves started to chip away at the escorts which were slowly being cut down.
Akira and the elite soldiers could not ignore the loud croaks coming from the northeast as they could feel slight ground tremors each time a croak was heard. It must have been using its large body to jump around.
¡°Rawr!¡± roared an energetic Fluffball, alerting Akira to the fact that the few escort minions were now dead.
With the easier task completed Zundar, Fluffball, Nox 1&2, and the elite werewolves slowly circled around the outskirts of the torn-up landscape that was now full of craters where Akira and the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] had been dancing for well over ten minutes.
BAM! Another plume of snow exploded into the air as the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] missed for what seemed like the 100th time.
¡°Hisss!¡± the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] was now royally pissed and did not need much prodding from Akira as it lashed out trying to eat the small snack that would not stand still so it could eat him.
¡°Awooooo!¡±Akira let out a howl after a quick glance to see if everyone was okay. It was time to start the second stage of their plan.
When he dodged another attack he quickly pulled a few blue candies from a small pouch and ate them to recover a bit of his energy after having used his skills so many times already.
With his energy slowly recovering he activated the skill [Shadow chains].
Four howling wolf chains shot out from the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor''s] shadows and bit into 4 of its 6 wings as it was preparing to launch itself into the air for another attack.
¡°HISSS!¡± the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] was caught off guard and cried out in pain as its wings were bit by the sharp teeth of the four wolf heads. It was now tethered to the ground.
Each time it tried to move it cried out in pain. But that was nothing compared to the attacks that started raining down on it from the fort and the elite warriors more accurately now that it was immobile.
¡°HISSS!¡± the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor''s] frustration only lasted a few seconds before the chains weakened to the point that it was able to flap its wings and break free.
As it was doing this, Nox 1&2 charged forward and rammed into the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor''s] body causing it to once again fall back down before it could launch itself into the air. Their ramming attacks didn''t do much damage as it just rolled around in the snow and once again coiled up ready to attack once again.
Fluffball finished gathering a large icy blue light ball in front of his open mouth and spat it out towards the distracted [?? Gray Coiling constrictor].
Crack! The icy attack smashed into its face and covered it in several layers of ice.
The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] flailed about slamming its head into the frozen ground repeatedly trying to break the ice that was now covering its nose and eyes. It only took it a few tries before it succeeded and turned its dizzy head toward Fluffball now even more enraged at him than Akira.
Akira rushed forward and activated his [Dark Shockwave] sending a wave of tremors and snow into the sky before it hit the coiled [?? Gray Coiling constrictor].
The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] was fuming at constantly being interrupted just before it could launch an attack. So instead of continuing its attacks, it just coiled its large body like a small fort with only its head peeking out from inside the scaly protection.
With it giving up on attacking, Akira and the others were able to launch even more attacks but judging from the little effect they were having on the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] they would be out of arrows, bolts, and javelins long before it was even close to death.
¡°Awooo!¡±
Akira decided they would have to risk it all to defeat this monster!
He used the skill [Shield Bash] and charged right at it from the front while the others moved to attack from the rear.
BAM! Akira slammed into the slick scaly fort causing the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] to hiss in pain.
Even though Akira had hit it hard the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] ignored him and shot its tail out behind it swatting away the elite soldiers that were attacking its exposed wings.
The sudden attack sent them tumbling backward nearly a hundred yards as they crashed through several snowbanks.
Akira used this chance to launch several quick [Sword Slice] skill attacks through the small opening in the scaly defense. The attacks managed to leave small cuts on the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] face and refocus its attention on Akira and not those that had just been knocked away.
¡°Hisss!¡± The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] lost interest in the others and whipped its tail around to slap Akira away.
Akira acted quickly and launched another blue crescent [Sword Slice] which shot out and cut deep into one of the wings severing it. A second later he received the full brunt of the tail attack as it swept him off his feet and slammed him into the ground.
Crack!
The loud sound of something breaking made Akira slightly panic as he tried to see if he had any broken bones or if his new armor had cracked.
''Nothing broken so that''s goo..''
Before he could finish his thought the tail that had slammed into him jerked away but instead of moving away it pulled Akira along with it.
Akira could not stand up properly as the sharp points on his armor''s knees had pierced into the scaled tail and was now stuck.
¡°Hiss!¡±As blood continued to drip out of its tail, the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] demanded that Akira let go!
The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] squirmed about and was successful in detaching its tail after several seconds of struggle, but the wound it had suffered from the attack was torn wide open in the process causing it to lose several scales.
The head of the coiled [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] sprung out from its fortress and coiled around Akira along with the rest of its long body.
Akira was not fazed and immediately activated the [Harden] and [Reflection] skills.
The [?? Gray Coiling constrictors] body started to coil and tightly constrict Akira''s body but as it did the spikes on Akira''s armor pierced its scales causing fresh blood to leak out.
Ding!
The skill [Reflection] has successfully activated and the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] has received reflective damage harming itself.
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The more the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] tried to wind around and squeeze Akira, the more blood and wounds appeared on its body as it received more and more reflected damage every second.
Akira could hear the constant cracking of scales and even a few bones in its body as it kept moving trying to squeeze him to death!
As Akira was withstanding the crushing attack Fluffball launched another ice attack landing on the snake''s head once again blocking its nose and eyes.
The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] slammed its head into the ground repeatedly but still did not let go of Akira as it tried to get rid of the ice.
The elite warriors used this chance and launched attacks on each of its remaining wings successfully cutting them off and sending blood gushing out of the fresh wounds.
¡°HISSS!¡±
The [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] was still unable to see with its eyes covers so its tongue lashed out tasting the scents in the air and loosened its constriction of Akira so that it could swat the elite soldiers away.
Akira now able to move his arms once again used the skill [Dark Shockwave] as he pierced his sword into the ground to further loosen the constriction and damage the internals of the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] with the point-blank attack.
With the scaly body loosened even more he launched a blue crescent [Sword slash] at the gouged and bleeding wounds on its tail.
Ding!
Critical hit!
[Bisection] skill has been activated!
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Right before Akira, a large section of the [?? Gray Coiling constrictors] tail was cleanly chopped off!
¡°Hisss!¡±
The pain from losing its tail was too much causing it to not care about Akira''s thorny armor as it tried to repeatedly smash him into the ground only damaging itself further as its blood continued to pump out of its severed tail.
In its enraged state, its head, which was still covered in ice, shot out to try and bite Akira. Its large fangs were dripping with large drops of venom as its large mouth swooped down from above!
¡only to receive a sword pierced right through its open mouth and into its brain!
Ding!
Level up! Level up! Level up!
You are now level 208!
Your companion Fluffball in Level 190!
Nox 1&2 are now level 160!
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You have received a new Title:
[I''m an M]: You have weird hobbies. You like to just stand there and allow others to beat you up and you even come back for more.
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Akira ignored the notifications that were popping up as he lay on the ground breathing heavily from exhaustion. It was hard to breathe as the weight of the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] was still pressed down on him with a large portion of its weight.
The blood from the wounds of the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor] continued to pool around him and slowly cool down and turn into slushy red ice.
Chapter 317: Whats going on in the north?
Ignoring the notifications, Akira looked to the northeast where Balue had been engaged in battle with the [?? Vile Snow Toad].
But there was no sound of battle nor was the ground shaking from either the [?? Vile Snow Toad] or the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor].
Everything was strangely silent save for the cold wind that was blowing up from the icy south and the heavy breathing of Zundar and the elite soldiers who had just dragged the [?? Gray Coiling constrictors] heavy body off of Akira.
¡°Man... even though I''m exhausted, I feel like my strength has shot up quite a bit,¡± said Zundar.
Akira looked at those gathered around him and saw that their strength had indeed risen at least ten levels. He was sure that the people in the south fort and the guards stationed on the outer city walls received a few levels for the support they provided.
¡°Get some people out here to guard this body and scare off any monsters or animals from damaging the material that we can gather from it,¡± said Akira as he stood up and pointed to the dead [?? Gray Coiling constrictor].
The scales, leather, and bones could all be used as crafting material for various future projects or armor. He would have to get the dwarves to do the delicate work of dismantling everything from the body.
¡°I can keep an eye on it for you. What about the meat?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°We''ll just use it to feed it to the Garg. We won''t need to gather any extra meat for them for a while. Fluffball, let''s go see what''s going on in the city.¡±
¡°We''ll come with you,¡± said Dolph and Vilkas.
When Akira and his royal guards reached the battle site of the [?? Vile Snow Toad], the first thing he noticed was the large craters everywhere. They were far deeper and wider than the ones created by the [?? Gray Coiling constrictor].
There was large amounts of blood all around the messy battlefield. The next thing that caught his eye was the large dead [?? Vile Snow Toad] which was lying on its back with its belly up in the air.
On the dead [?? Gray Coiling constrictor''s] large belly was Balue who was sitting in silence while smoking a pipe, but strangely instead of smoke coming out of the pipe, frosty rings of mist escaped and froze creating various shaped rings of ice crystals.
¡°Ah! Have you finished your battle? I have been waiting for you for a while now since I did not want to interrupt your battle as I know some people hate to be helped or have their kill stolen by others,¡± said Balue, who looked more and more like a young man.
¡°I don''t mind help,¡± said Akira as he continued to look around the area. ¡°This is going to be a pain to fill in the holes. If we don''t then there are bound to be people who will get hurt by falling into them when snow piles up and hides them.¡±
¡°This creature was a real nice treat to fight. It had a few nasty tricks up its sleeves... well it doesn''t have sleeves but you get my point. Any time we dealt damage to it, toxins from its skin and its poisoned blood spurted out causing even more trouble for us as the battle went on. But with my skill you don''t worry, no one died. Although there are some with serious wounds.¡±
Akira let out a sigh of relief.
DING!
The final culling battles have been completed!
Over 30 villages and forts have fallen!
Those who have lost are disqualified from the Main Event mission!
Their territory is now free for the taking!
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Akira looked over to Klyn who was also surveying the land.
¡°In the last few days, has there been any news from those at Bent-gii or the small group we sent north?¡±
¡°I''ve been too busy to check up on the reports, but if something really did happen I think the grand elders would have been informed and we would have been called to a meeting. If you would like, we can go check and see how everyone is doing?¡±
¡°Let''s do that. We cannot rest now even though we have survived this ordeal. There is still the troublesome matter in the north to deal with,¡± said Akira as he followed Klyn to the temporary Shaman information post that was set up in the outer city.
¡°YAP!¡± said a happy Fluffball who was still full of energy after eating several candies from Akira.
***
North of the border. Begus Deekus capital city.
Three lifeless bodies lay on the ground with blood leaking out of the several wounds in their backs from cuts, arrows, and skill attacks.
¡°Awooo!¡± a pained howl came from a grizzled battle-hardened werewolf whose red fur was starting to show hints of gray.
The 3 dead on the ground were the shamen werewolves in charge of buffing and long-distance communication. They were part of the undercover advisory team that had been sent to help the potential ally.
¡°You vile snakes!¡± growled the red-furred werewolf as he slashed out at the attackers with his claws.
They had only reached the city the day before and had received a warm welcome.
Just moments ago they had been leisurely taking a tour around the city and gave their opinions to the guide on how to update everything to maximize their defense against an enemy attack. They were almost finished with the day''s tour when they had been attacked!
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Now human soldiers were flooding in from everywhere trying to surround the 7 surviving werewolves who had all transformed and were fighting for their lives.
¡°Captain Rud this is really bad!¡± said a middle-aged werewolf.
¡°Mace, I know it''s bad! I have eyes just like you! Keep pushing forward! We can''t stay here any longer!¡± growled Rud. His graying red fur was now splattered with the blood of his attackers, it less noticeable as it blended in with his fur.
¡°But what about Brun and the other two?¡± asked Mace.
¡°If we don''t leave now we will be joining them!¡±
They felt bad leaving the shamen¡¯s bodies behind, but now was not the time for such sentimentality as they had to leave now!
¡°Awwwwooooo!¡±
With the fierce howl echoing through the entire city, Rud led the charge down the main street that was only moments ago bustling with civilians going about their daily activities.
Now it was complete chaos!
The civilians were screaming in terror all trying to run away from the menacing werewolves while the city guards were flooding in from the side streets trying to halt the small group of werewolves.
The werewolves plowed through anyone that got in their way and cut down those that had a weapon or tried to attack them.
Thud!
A crossbolt flew only a few inches away from Rud''s face and slammed into a stall next to him. The attack had almost pierced the head of a cowering merchant who was hugging the wall of the nearby building.
Rud and the surviving werewolves did not slow down their charge as several more cross-bolts flew toward them.
¡°GRAAAAA!¡±
¡°UGGGH¡±
Several pained growls came from the group as several of the cross-bolts landed and pierced their armor.
¡°We''re almost at the wall!¡± growled Rud who had received a crossbolt in his shoulder.
With their path of escape to the stairs that led up the wall in sight, they all pushed forward gaining a second wind.
Bam!
A large body of a heavily armored knight fell from the sky and activated a skill as he landed right in front of the escaping werewolves.
Several other oddly armored fighters not like the local knights jumped out from their hiding places and joined the round knight.
¡°Hahaha! I knew you mutts would be coming this way! Allow me to play with you for a while! Begus Deekus you don''t mind right?¡± asked the large knight.
¡°Do what you want,¡± said King Begus Deekus, appearing from one of the nearby buildings.
¡°So you really did sell us out to the demigods!¡± growled Rud angrily as he saw the demigods and city guards all tighten the noose around them.
Rud and many of the other werewolves were all sporting various wounds, some were bad enough that if not treated soon, would lead to their deaths.
¡°It''s your own fault for coming here with such a small force when I asked for help. Don''t blame me!¡± said Begus Deekus looking away from Rud as he tried to wash his hands of this incident.
¡°What do we do Captain?¡± asked Pran, who was the youngest of the group. He had only recently been promoted to the scouting team position. Before the promotion, he had been a young message runner in several of Kodria''s battles including the Molten Onyx Siege.
¡°Awo! Awoo! Awooooo~!¡± Howled Captain Rud.
¡°Captain...¡± said Pran, with tears forming in his eyes.
¡°Don''t argue, just do it! I have the most experience fighting with demigods as I also fought in the last great war and every battle since!¡± growled captain rud.
¡°Hehehe. What are you guys talking about?¡± asked a demigod who was unable to decipher what their growls and grunts meant.
The furry faces of all of the werewolves hardened with determination and the next moment they all rushed forward right at the demigods that were blocking their path.
¡°You stupid mutts don''t know the difference between the heavens and earth. Go Die!¡± shouted one of the angry demigods. He along with the other demigods all activated skills and shot them at the charging werewolves.
The leading werewolves did not dodge the attacks and instead took them head-on and even took several attacks that were aimed at Pran. Two more werewolves fell to the ground dead from the barrage of attacks.
Only five were left when they reached the demigods. They plowed right into the demigods, tackling them to the ground, engaging them in a physical struggle to rip the weapons from their enemies'' hands, while also trying to tear their throats out and rip their limbs off.
In all the commotion a large gap opened allowing Pran to burst through and raced up the stone steps with tears in his eyes.
¡°Don''t let him escape!¡± shouted Begus Deekus.
¡°On it!¡± shouted a female demigod as she turned and aimed her staff toward Pran''s back.
A green flash shot out and slammed into Pran cutting through the armor on his back as he reached the top of the wall. The force from the attack along with the pain, caused him to stumble forward and fall off the wall outside of everyone''s vision.
¡°Go finish him off!¡±
¡°Like I would let you do that!¡± growled Rud, as he kicked away the person that was trying to block him and jumped forward tackling two of the demigods that were trying to chase after Pran.
Using his sharp claws as a knife he pierced their sides and back mortally wounding them.
¡°You damn mutt!¡± shouted the demigod that had just been kicked away. He rushed forward once again and pierced Rud through the back as well as his lung before pulling out his sword.
As Rud fell to the ground, he saw that only two other werewolves were still fighting to the death, blocking the demigods from chasing Pran.
Although the werewolves had killed a staggering number of city guards and demigods, it was not enough as they were in the enemy''s territory.
The last two werewolves were quickly overwhelmed and cut down with the various skills from the demigods who were chugging their potions to recover from the deadly blows they had received.
One of the demigods rushed up the steps to the top of the wall and looked over the edge.
¡°He''s gone!¡±
¡°What?¡± shouted Begus Deekus.
¡°There are blood stains where he fell, but I don''t see him anywhere!¡±
¡°Hahaha!¡± laughed Rud who had already reverted back to his human form. ¡°You won''t be able to catch him! Cough! Cough!¡±
Rud was choking on his blood that was filling his throat and lungs making it hard to breathe, but he still continued to gurgle and laugh. Pran had been part of the message runners because of his innate skill that he had awakened which boosted his speed to something even faster than the dukes quadruped running!
¡°Are you happy?¡± asked Rud through pained breaths as bloody bubbles popped out from his mouth. ¡°You have gained a permanent enemy of the entire demon race alliance! Hahaha...¡±
Shunk!
An angry Demigod who was standing over him slashed down with his sword and severed Rud''s head ending his laughter.
¡°You, you, and you go hunt him down! He is heavily wounded and can not last long in this winter weather with no supplies. The rest of you make sure they are all dead. Then we can hurry up and finish preparations for the next stage!¡± said the large knight as he pointed to the bodies of the other werewolves.
As one they launched several skills into the bodies of the werewolves, mincing, burning, and freezing them into an unrecognizable mass of meat.
***
¡°We have gotten news from the northern fort and Bent Gii. Everyone reported that they have all survived the waves of attacks,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Did they say anything about what and how many monsters attacked them?¡± asked Akira.
¡°They faced the same type of monsters but the attacks were far smaller than what we faced.¡±
¡°What about the support group who are staying in the Begus Deekus dukedom?¡±
¡°We haven''t been able to reach them but that is nothing unexpected as the distance is pretty far and it takes a lot of energy to receive and send information. They are probably too busy to chat with us.¡±
¡°For some reason, I feel all itchy when thinking about it. The faster we can leave and head north to join them the better it will be, then all my concerns will be put to rest.¡±
Chapter 318: A local hunter?
A large force of Kodria''s cavalry continued moving north after disembarking from the navy''s transport ships which had helped them cut down on a large portion of their travel time needed to reach the Begus Dekus dukedom.
Akira had decided to use the sturdy breed of white-bellied elk used by the coldpelt cavalry to help pull several sleds that held small wolf packs of heavily armored werewolf infantry to allow them to boost their overall fighting power while also keeping the quick expedition force at fast speed.
Fluffball who had been playing around in the snow far ahead of the cavalry rushed back to Akira excitedly.
¡°The weather is quite warm the farther north you go...¡± said Balue who was traveling next to Akira.
Balue had decided by himself that he wanted to continue touring the land with Akira, who really did not have a problem with it as Balue had proven himself several times over that he was a worthy and strong ally.
Akira did not think any normal person would call this cold winter weather ''warm'' but kept this opinion to himself.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball alerting everyone to a moving figure in the distance.
¡°A local hunter?¡± asked Akira. They were too far to see just who it was and since they were still at the border between the southern demon lands and the northern human lands it could be a human or someone from the demon races.
''There are no monsters or animals around this area. What could he be hunting?'' asked Grarr who Akira was sitting atop.
¡°Awo~!¡± With a howl from Akira, the cavalry changed their direction with well-practiced ease as they curved around and charged toward the lone person. Their weapons were held at the ready in case it was a cruel trap set by less-than-savory people.
When Akira was about to give the order to separate and surround the target he was finally able to see who the lone person was. It was a young man who he had seen several times on the battlefield delivering messages.
The young man''s body was hunched forward, his head looking at the ground as he dragged his stiff body and his gimp left leg forward through the snow. The young man''s right arm was hanging limp at his side while his left arm was dragging his short sword in the snow behind him.
Akira''s face turned grim as he remembered the report he had read detailing the small force they had sent to the north to help advise their potential new allies. He urged Grarr to rush forward and when he neared the young man he hopped off of Grarr''s back and landed in the snow right in front of the young man.
¡°Pran, what happened to you? Why are you here alone?¡± asked Akira.
Pran did not hear Akira and continued to half drag, half limp, in the direction of the distant river that was several days behind them.
Akira grabbed the man''s shoulders and gave him a light shake causing him to look up with glazed eyes staring at him with a blank gaze that was unfocused and unable to see clearly.
The rest of the cavalry and infantry had already surrounded them and were looking at Pran curiously.
Akira sighed and looked over to Klyn who was in charge of a small pack of the shamen that joined the expedition.
¡°He''s heavily wounded, see what you can do to wake him back up,¡± said Akira, handing over a red potion.
¡°I''ll see what we can do,¡± said Klyn.
Akira then turned to the rest of the gathered force. ¡°We''ll be taking a short rest here for a few hours. You can set up camp and eat or take care of your mounts while we rest.¡±
A short time later Akira sat in front of a warm fire where he waited for over an hour as Klyn worked his magic on Pran.
Fluffball was laying next to Akira''s feet and as he woke up from his nap, he yawned and stretched enjoying the fire that was holding back the cold winter air.
Balue was standing a good distance away from the fire as he relaxed on top of a tall snowbank that hid a large portion of their forces from any prying eyes.
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¡°Duke Akira! We have finished the task,¡± said Klyn as he exited a tent near where Akira was sitting.
¡°His wounds were not much of a problem, and although he was on the edge of starvation and severely dehydrated we fixed that easily. The real problem right now is that something really took a toll on his mind. He should be waking up soon. I hope you can be gentle with him as he has only just recovered.¡±
¡°I''ll keep that in mind,¡± said Akira as he stood up. Fluffball also hopped up and joined Akira as they entered the tent.
Pran lay on a makeshift wooden cot that had been set up near the back of the tent. Inside the tent, the temperature was far warmer with the leather walls and fires burning in the metal brazier that hung from a tripod at the center of the tent.
His eyes were fluttering as he breathed heavily while his arms and legs twitched a few times.
Akira only had to wait a few minutes before Pran opened his eyes and slowly looked around in a dazed manner.
¡°Wha...?¡± as his mind began to clear he sat up straight fully alert ready to flee as he remembered his mission.
¡°There is no need to be on edge. You are quite lucky to have run into us,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball looking at Pran.
Pran''s head whipped around and looked at who had talked.
¡°Lord duke!¡± said Pran in shock. In only seconds his dazed and alertness fled his body as he flopped back down on the cot and wept. Tears which had been unable to escape from him due to being severely dehydrated before now flowed out from his eyes.
Akira waited a few more minutes to allow Pran to gather himself.
¡°I''m sorry for showing you such a pitiful scene...¡± mumbled Pran as he wiped his red face.
Akira took a waterskin from a wooden stool next to the cot and handed it to Pran.
¡°Drink, you lost a lot of fluids and are still recovering.¡±
Pran nodded and took several large gulps.
¡°Why are you here alone?¡± asked Akira.
Pran''s expression hardened as he tried to keep his emotions under control.
¡°That vile human stabbed us in the back! We were touring the city offering them advice on how to set up proper defenses to withstand a siege from the demigods long enough for you and the rest of the army to arrive. But as we were nearing the end of the tour they killed our pack''s shamen in a sneak attack. We fought all the way to the wall to try and escape but it was hopeless as demigods blocked us. Begus Dekus was with them. They must have gotten to him before we could and the coward blamed us for not sending enough people so he sided with the demigods,¡± said Pran all in one go. He let out a long sigh as if a heavy weight was finally lifted off his chest now that he had completed the task the 9 others had entrusted to him before they were killed.
Akira''s rage began to boil and a palpable aura of killing intent was radiating out of his body, ¡°...and the others are dead?¡±
¡°Yes... they sacrificed themselves to allow me to escape. I almost died several times due to the demigods that were chasing after me while I was already heavily wounded. I was only able to escape them by running through a large den of Onbonga monsters. With my speed, I was able to escape while the demigods were taken care of by the angry pack of monsters. But I did not get out unscathed and received several of the wounds on my body that you saw before.¡±
¡°Are you well enough to travel?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I can still fight!¡± said Pran sitting up.
Akira pushed him back down onto the cot and then pulled out a piece of paper and a portable ink pot and a feather pen. He started to write as he spoke.
¡°You experienced a lot and need to rest. I''ll be sending you back to the border fort with a small escort. You will have to relay this information to the shaman there and have them send information back to Kodria and request a larger force be sent north. Preferably I want the [Full moon] guild to join us.¡±
¡°But I...¡±
¡°This is an important mission that will help decide the coming battles. The faster it is finished the more likely we will succeed,¡± said Akira as he melted the tip of a wax stick over the brazer and then used it to seal the letter and press on it with his personal metal duke seal. He blew on the wax to let it cool before he handed it over to Pran and exited the tent.
¡°Awooo!¡± Akira let out a howl ordering everyone to break camp and get ready to leave.
¡°So? What are we doing now?¡± asked Balue as he walked over to Akira.
¡°With the beast wave attacks finished. Now is the time to strike and clean up the troublesome thorns in Kodria''s side. We must strike while everything is still in chaos.¡±
¡°I like this idea! It sounds fun so I will continue to follow you to see what happens.¡±
***
Sometime later Akira and those under his command finally arrived at the Begus Dekus territory and were making good speed towards its main city.
A werewolf scout who had gone ahead of the main force was now rushing back as quickly as his Garg mount could run.
¡°Lord Duke! There is an army blocking the path north! In the far distance behind them, there was some sort of large fortification that is not on any of the maps we have.¡±
¡°So they have been expecting us to come and meet with them... Good,¡± said Akira as he stared into the distance but could not see the army that was hiding farther north.
¡°Hehe! Wonderful! I haven''t had the chance to see the Northerner humans fight in so many years! I''m getting all itchy in anticipation!¡± said Balue.
Chapter 319: Overcoming multiple roadblocks
A force of roughly 200 or so local human villagers, who were all poorly armored and equipped with weapons, blocked the path of Kodria''s combined cavalry and mobile infantry force.
¡°Stop where you are!¡± shouted a demigod who stood behind the army of humans.
¡°You have trespassed into the Begus Dekus dukedom''s territory. Leave now!¡± shouted another demigod who was similarly standing in the rear of the army.
Akira did not bother with talking and just slashed his arm down.
The rest of the werewolves and Garg''s all let out fierce howls and then the cavalry force split into three with Akira leading the arrowhead toward the center of the human army with the others swinging around to the left and right to bypass the humans so that they could all attack the rear in a three-pronged attack.
¡°You idiots! Don''t just stand there! Shoot them!¡± yelled one of the demigods angrily smacking a few of the nearby humans with his unsheathed sword.
The few demigods that were in control of the human army started shooting skills into the air aimed at the charging werewolves, but with so few of them, they were unable to do anything to stop the three-pronged attack. Still, their targets that were unable to dodge the skills and those that took several hits were forced to retreat to the rear to receive treatment for the wounds.
The human villagers were quaking at the sight of the Akira leading a force of large Gargs right at them causing most of them to fall or try to jump out of the way.
Those that did so were ignored by the cavalry as they rushed past them not bothering to stop. Their target was not the humans but the demigods, but the humans who tried to block their paths were shown no mercy and were trampled by the Gargs and cut down by the cavalrymen who were riding on their backs.
Seeing this, the majority of the humans all parted to the sides creating a path for Akira and those behind him to rush through. The left and right wings of the attack were unhindered by the humans.
¡°Useless! You are all useless!¡± shouted an angry demigod as he lashed out at the nearby humans that were cowering at the sight of the charging Gargs.
¡°AH!¡± Several humans cried out as they were cut down from behind by the attacks from the angry demigods.
The small human army no longer stayed still and ran forward to get away from the demigods. The escaping humans ran in between the large Gargs causing even more chaos as the Gargs and cavalrymen had to slow down and tried to navigate toward their targets.
The demigods were also using the commotion to hide behind the unorganized human mob to block the cavalry from reaching them while taking potshots at Akira and the other cavalrymen.
With more and more werewolves and Gargs getting wounded, Akira made the hard choice and howled out a command for everyone to push forward, even if the humans were in the way.
They pushed forward knocking through the panicked humans blocking their path and were finally able to reach the demigods who were in charge of this small army.
¡°We may have lost this battle but you will not win against our main force!¡± shouted a demigod as she launched her last skill before she was torn in half by two pouncing Gargs that played tug of war with her body.
The other demigods managed to get off a few more attacks before also disappearing into light particles.
¡°Round up the humans for questioning! Heal those that can be healed,¡± growled Akira. ¡°Everyone else that was wounded go seek treatment. We will be moving out as soon as our interrogation of the humans is complete.¡±
Akira frowned as he looked at the wounded werewolves and Gargs. This was a small skirmish and although no one died... the demigods'' attacks were growing in power and able to cause serious damage to them. If it was a larger force he was sure that there would have been a few deaths.
While Akira was lost in thought when an older male human tried to get close to Akira but was stopped by his guards. The old man did not care and shouted out to Akira.
¡°Are you the leader of this force?¡±
¡°I am. Why?¡±
¡°Please allow us to join you!¡±
Akira''s gaze sharpened as he inspected the man.
[Orud mun level 60]
¡°Don''t misunderstand me! We do not want to fight against you. Our families are being held hostage by the demigods who forced us to come here and fight. We do not blame you for the few of those people who were killed. All we ask is that you allow us to join so we can rescue our families!¡±
¡°... I''ll have to talk with my officers about this... after we figure everything out. You can go wait over there,¡± said Akira as he pointed at the group of humans that were being corralled.
***
¡°Are you guys giving me false scouting reports? Look at that army out there!¡± shouted an angry demigod who stood on the newly built rampart walls of the large fortress.
¡°We have only passed you the reports given to us from your own kind...¡± said a one-eyed Ogre slowly. The Ogre who spoke was standing on the ground and not the wall and he was still almost able to look over the 8ft (2.4384 meters) wall.
He, along with over fifty-plus ogres all with similar height and bodies made of nothing but muscles, stood there looking at the demigods with pained looks of worry and hurt that they were being accused of some wrongdoing.
Normally these ogres, who were not the sharpest members of the demon race, liked to cause trouble and show off their strength by rampaging and fighting in the wilderness. But now they were all quietly looking at each other hoping that the demigods were not angry. If they became angry that would be bad news for them!
¡°They don''t have just a cavalry force! There''s a large force of human infantry with them! They can not be allowed to get close to the fort! You guys go hold them off while we wait for the reinforcements to come in a few days!¡±
The Ogres although not that smart, knew this was a suicide mission and were hesitant to leave the fort.
¡°Go! Or you know what will happen!¡± ordered the demigod angrily pointing out towards the approaching army that was hidden from their view by the wall.
They silently gave up resisting when they heard this threat and slowly crouched down and exited the fort''s gates. When the last ogre exited the gates, they were slammed shut behind them and the sounds of the thick pieces of lumber being slid into place could be heard as the demigods secured and locked the gates.
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***
The cavalry force, which was not at 100% of its fighting force, moved at a slower pace toward the new fort that was in the distance. The reason was to allow the gathered human warriors to keep up with them.
After interrogation of the other humans they all gave similar statements of being blackmailed by the demigods and they all wished to join Akira in fighting the demigods to rescue their families. Some of them went as far as to demand Akira allow them to fight as compensation for the few humans that had been killed in the short skirmish.
Their individual fighting power was not enough to fight on the front lines so they were given a supporting role of using ranged attacks for now. They were split up into smaller packs and each one had a heavily armored werewolf infantry commanding them to better keep control over them.
¡°Raar!¡± Fluffball alerted everyone to the presence of the large ogres that were walking out of the fortress.
Akira knew that there were Ogres around this area but had never seen them. Generally, they liked to hide in the mountains and deep forests to ambush or play dangerous tricks on those that stumbled into their territory.
The large Ogres charged forward and stopped within shouting range of Akira and those around him.
¡°Leave this area or else we will be forced to make you leave!¡± shouted an Ogre with a red handprint paint on his armor.
¡°Hold up! We are all victims of the demigods! We should work together!¡± shouted Orud Mun from the rear.
The Ogres all looked at each other confused about what was going on for several seconds. They did not want to fight but they must to ensure that their families would not be killed.
¡°Do not try and fool us!¡± shouted another Ogre.
With that shout, several of the more hot-headed Ogres charged forward with their weapons held high.
A dark mist covered Akira''s entire body while sounds of ripping and stretching muscle and skin could be heard along with a scary bloody aura blasting out of the dark mist. A few seconds later the black misty aura covering his body thinned.
Although Akira''s body was hidden by his new armor, you could now see his black fluffy tail now sticking out and the upper half of the tail was armored.
The ogres had not noticed him before but now with such dense killing intent seeping out of his body, plus the nightmarish wolf armor he wore, a few of them slowed their steps upon seeing all of this.
Only the most hard-headed warriors of the ogres continued their charge.
Akira met them head-on and exchanged several blows with his sword and shield. Their size differences were vastly different. But even with their massive muscles, they were unable to unseat him from Grarr''s back.
Fluffball and the royal guards did not interrupt Akira''s show of force but they were all close enough to jump in if needed so that he would not be harmed.
In the quick fight, each of the Ogres was bested and received wounds. Coming to their senses all but one of them stopped attacking Akira and retreated to the other ogres that were just watching the fight.
The Ogre who had led this charge and would not give up, received a sword thrust through the heart. Which was no easy feat as his armor and thick skin were quite tough to pierce for any regular soldier.
At the end of the duel, the rest of the Ogres slowly walked forward with their weapons sheathed or hanging on their leather belts.
¡°I am the leader of Red and also the champion of these warriors!¡± shouted Red the Ogre with red hand prints on his armor. ¡°You have shown your strength to be strong enough for us to talk. Are you the champion of your force? Can you speak for everyone?¡±
¡°Champion? No, I am not a champion fighter. I am the Duke of Kodria and the leader of this force, my word is law in all of Kodria.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball with a grin at Akira.
¡°Be quiet Fluffball, that''s personal life stuff. It doesn''t count.¡±
The large ogre looked at Akira and Fluffball for a second before making up his mind. He quickly explained their predicament.
¡°Please help us save our families!¡±
¡°If you are serious about asking for help and willing to join us, then we will help you take down those demigods! But... I hope there are no grudges formed from the fight and death of that warrior that just died.¡±
¡°There is no need to worry. He died as a warrior should, in battle for what he believed in. We will join you and win our honor back by leading the charge!¡±
¡°Wait, hold up! What is the enemy''s fighting force like inside that fortification?¡± asked Akira, halting the ogres from charging right back at the fort.
¡°Only several dozen demigods are inside the fortress along with a large force of human villagers.¡±
After a quick meeting with the officers, Akira issued the orders to everyone.
¡°AWOOOO!¡±
With his howl, the mixed army began its charge towards the fort with the Ogres leading the charge. Each time their heavy feet slammed into the ground, a thundering drum noise was heard. As they ran, large plumes of snow shot up in the air. Even though their bodies weighed over 500 pounds(35.7ish Stone, 227ish KG) with most of that from their muscles, their speed was not slow at all.
Akira led the cavalry charge right alongside them on both the right and left wing.
As the distance to the fort lessened Akira activated his skill [Darkness domain] to help obscure the area and mess with the demigods'' accuracy. But even with this, their skills still managed to hit several of the charging ogres, humans, and werewolves.
When they reached the fort, the Ogres with their large bodies, slammed into the dirt wall causing large cracks to appear.
A demigod on top of the wall tried to repair the damage by filling it with an ice attack. But with each large Ogre body slamming into the wall the damage was too much.
Bam!
One of the large ogres managed to break through the weakened wall and charge into the fort.
Several of the demigods and a few humans that were standing on that part of the wall were sent tumbling onto the frozen ground where they groaned in pain.
Before the demigods could get back onto their feet the random villagers that were hiding behind the wall made a decision and instead of attacking the ogres that were now swarming in, they jumped on top of the demigods trying to kill them.
It was a bloodbath as the demigods who were still laying on the ground each launched several skills and killed tens of the weaker villagers before succumbing to their wounds received by the mob and turning into light particles.
The situation for the remaining demigods was bad. They had thought that the threat of killing their captive''s families would be enough to keep control of them.
It had worked in the past but now everything had unraveled and they were being mobbed from the inside by the low-level humans who were being slaughtered by skill attacks. But focusing on the small fries the Ogres and Werewolves were able to enter the fort and climb onto the rampart walls to fight with them directly.
The fight continued with one demigod after another disappearing into light fragments. Still, they did not give up as they had no fear of death even though the situation was hopeless and they would not be able to escape the inevitable, they decided to kill as many people as they could.
Even when the last demigod was surrounded he fought even harder, wounding several dozen warriors.
Akira had to step in and with a quick use of his skilled sword slash a blue light slashed out and severed the demigod''s head from its neck.
Ding!
Oger and human forces have been rescued!
The Begus Dekus fort has been conquered and added to Kodria''s territory!
|
Akira let out a sigh. With the capture of the fort, there was one less place for the demigods to show up again.
Now with the battle over, the sound of pained screams and moans was all that could be heard throughout the fort.
Akira inspected the grim battlefield and saw several piles of dead and wounded humans where the demigods had been standing.
¡°Klyn, see what you can do for the wounded while I talk with the leaders of these new forces. We need to assess our strength and how we are going to go forward, now that our fighting force has multiplied by a large number,¡± said Akira as he watched one of the werewolf cavalrymen raise the flag of Kodria on a makeshift flagpole making sure that everyone inside and outside of the fort could see who it belonged to.
¡°Even if they received treatment some of them will not be of any use out on the battlefield,¡± said Klyn.
¡°They can stay here and hold down the fort until reinforcement comes. It will be a great spot to fall back if needed. We''ll have to leave a few people behind to help repair the walls and clean up the mess.¡±
Chapter 320: Battle for Begus Dekus
¡°Looks like they really have been working on some big upgrades to the defenses of the city...¡± said Akira as he lowered the collapsible spyglass.
He and the mishmash army that was made up of werewolves, humans, and Ogres were currently standing on a decent-sized hill to the east and well out of the range of the enemy''s attacks.
Begus Dekus¡¯ main city had either used manual labor or special demigod skills to create what looked like a defensive rock field all around the city. Many of the rocks were tall enough to hide an adult male while others only came up to the waist. The rock field would cause a few issues for the cavalry but unlike a human army which used horses, Kodria''s Garg mounts were nimble enough to traverse through such terrain.
¡°I saw some of the demigods that were at the new fort the other day, lurking around those rocks,¡± said Orud Mun pointing at a small section of the rock field.
¡°It seems that several smaller groups have joined up and are camped around the city as well as inside. This won''t be an easy fight.¡±
¡°The most troubling part is the maze of rocks, although it does not block our path completely it is easy for them to hide and ambush us...¡± said Akira as he scanned the area trying to think of a way to break through with the least amount of casualties.
¡°Should we wait for Jerora?¡± asked one of the infantry officers.
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°That won''t work. The enemy knows we are here, the longer we wait, the more disadvantageous it is for us as there may be more demigods that show up to support the city or attack us. With the added humans and Ogres, our supplies will not last long enough for a siege. The reinforcements from Kodria will probably arrive around the same time or earlier since the ships allow for faster travel up the river.¡±
¡°Then why don''t me and you just charge right up and clear the rocks of those sneaky guys and smash the wall down!¡± said Balue.
Before Akira could answer, a loud nearby shout caught everyone''s attention.
¡°Fresh food! Hot drinks! Clean bandages! Materials to repair and keep your armor and weapons in their best shape! All this and more can be bought from me, the best wandering merchant!¡±
A young man with horns on both sides of his head, obviously someone from the Elkman demon race, was walking in from the north. He was now entering the no man''s land between the fortified Begus Dekus city and the army under Akira''s control.
Everyone from both sides of the conflict was silent as they watched the young man clear the snow on a small patch of snow then plant a flag in the frozen ground and place several bags on the ground.
¡°What is this idiot doing?¡±
¡°Is he trying to get killed?¡±
¡°That or he has some massive...¡±
Akira waved for one of the message runners to come to him, ¡°Go warn him of the current situation and help him off the battlefield.¡±
¡°...and if he refuses?¡± asked the young messenger.
¡°Drag him off,¡± commanded Akira.
Everyone watched as the message runner ran to the merchant who perked up at seeing a potential customer running to him.
They talked for several seconds before the merchant shook his head.
The message runner did not waste any more time and grabbed the merchant''s arm with one hand and his bags with the other and began dragging him away from the dangerous no man¡¯s land.
The flailing Elkman grabbed his flag pole while shouting as he was dragged away.
Only seconds later several long-range skills landed a short distance away from where the wandering merchant was standing previously. The demigods had made up their minds and had launched attacks trying to cut down the two.
When the messenger returned to Akira, he let go of the merchant''s arm and his bags.
¡°What''s the meaning of such rough handling!? If you wanted to talk to me just come out and say hi to me. I don''t bite people like you guys!¡± said the merchant as he straightened his thick fur coat and grabbed his bags.
¡°You almost died out there,¡± said Red.
¡°Nonsense, who would want to kill me, the best wandering merchant!¡±
Akira pointed to the scorch marks in the snow where several fireballs had exploded. The merchant was too busy arguing with the messenger to notice how close he came to being cooked venison for the local wild monsters.
¡°Even so, I am a merchant. I must have an open mind and not take sides so that I can sell to everyone!¡±
¡°That''s quite an admirable belief, but I don''t know if you noticed, the north is in complete chaos due to the war between the demigods and the locals. You are just putting yourself in danger doing stuff like this,¡± said Akira.
¡°Oh, is that why sales are so bad right now? I thought it was just me,¡± said the merchant as if he just realized something for the first time.
¡°You''re in luck, we are in need of supplies to support everyone. Just get off the field and head to the rear of the army and you can talk to one of the penny pinchers,¡± said Akira pointing to the rear.
The merchant perked up when heard that and said, ¡°GREAT! I''ll do just that!¡± before running off.
Akira turned back to Balue and said, ¡°Your idea has its merits...with the large presence of demigods occupying the city and the rock field the humans and werewolf infantry will be under heavy attack and constant ambushes. The death count will be high due to the human''s low fighting power... we can only go in and quickly clear up those that are hiding in the rock field.¡±
Akira turned to Red, the champion of the Ogres, and asked, ¡°Are you willing to join us as part of the first wave?¡±
¡°We have no fear! We must do this so that our families will be safe!¡±
Turning to the infantry officers Akira said, ¡°The rest of you will need to provide ranged support for us. We need you to keep them pinned down behind the rocks so that we can reach them without too much hassle. When we are ready for you, I will send the signal. Do not hesitate and get to the rocks as quickly as possible and reform into squads to help fight through the maze of rocks.¡±
¡°We will do as you command!¡± shouted the officers as one.
Like a lightning bolt, the Gargs shot forward and charged toward the large ring of rocks at a speed that was faster than they had ever run before. Slightly trailing behind them were the large Ogres that had joined the first assault on the rock field.
The few random skills and arrows that were shot at Akira all missed since the defenders were not ready for the sudden charge.
When Akira and the other cavalrymen reached the rock field they hopped off the backs of their garg mounts to allow them to move more freely in the maze that was the ring of rocks. It also took the target off their back since sitting on top of the Garg''s backs raised them up high in the air, some could be above the stones which allowed the defenders to target them.
¡°Is everyone okay?¡± growled Akira as he hid behind one of the large stones and scanned over everyone that had made it.
¡°I saw a few fall down after getting hit by random attacks... I''m not sure if they were wounded or killed,¡± said a cavalryman near Akira.
¡°None of us died, but we did take a few arrow wounds,¡± said Red.
¡°No issues,¡± said Balue after he changed into a new cloak.
¡°Everyone patch up your wounds as best you can, the enemy will not allow us to stay here for long. We will have to fight with them soon!¡± growled Akira.
The rock field in front of the city was a good idea but also a double edge sword for the city since it also allowed their enemies to hide from the archers and demigods who were on the walls. It also allowed Akira and the others that had joined him to somewhat safely send their own ranged attacks back at those on the wall.
Even though the demigods and city guards could not see them they were still pouring attacks into the many stones that Akira and the others were hiding behind. They were under constant bombardment from AOE attacks and were unable to move forward without being hit by an attack.
While the demigods on the walls continued to bombard them several other small demigod groups that had allied with the BenDover guild exited the city each leading a few dozen human warriors and cautiously ran toward the large stones.
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The plan to force demigods out of the city''s walls was going smoothly. The more they could lure out in the open where they were easier to kill the better it would be for Akira. It would allow them and them a better chance at assaulting the city after the defenders were thinned out a bit.
Akira could see several of the groups as he peeked around the corner of one of the large stones. With his sharp eyesight, he noticed one of the groups that had come out to fight was the Breakfast Club which he had fought outside of the dungeon not too long ago. Akira was still angry about that event and seeing them only stoked his anger!
¡°Awooo!¡± Akira let out a howl ordering the other werewolves near him to transform. A dark mist covered his body for a few seconds and the sounds of ripping and tearing could be heard as the werewolves all transformed.
After Akira transformed he activated [Darkness Domain] which spread out and covered everyone around him including the large rocks all around them.
¡°Let''s do this!¡± said an excited Balue.
¡°Fluffball, make sure to help everyone else, I can take care of myself,¡± growled Akira.
¡°Yap!¡±
With the darkness now covering a large portion of the rocky field in front of the city, the city guards were having a hard time aiming their attacks since they were afraid to shoot for fear of hitting their own allies. The demigods did not care and continued to rain down skills even if they would hit their own people.
Akira gave a silent hand signal ordering everyone to attack!
He rushed forward and pierced through the shabbily formed defense line that a demigod had hastily set up.
Egg, the demigod in charge of this group was surprised to be face to face with the enemy so quickly!
Before he could say or do anything... the world was spinning as his head tumbled to the ground followed by his body disappearing into light fragments and scattering into the sky.
Akira continued to jump in between the rocks dodging attacks from those with sharp eyes and ears while also trying to ambush the demigods that were leading the human warriors.
The demigods were his main targets since they were far more dangerous. He let the rest of the werewolves, Garg, and Ogres take care of the humans that were running around crazily swinging their weapons with no purpose after their demigod officers were killed.
A large portion of these human guards fighting alongside the demigods were not innocent villagers or townspeople. Some of them were cold-blooded killers just as bad as the demigods, others just followed orders and had no issues fighting against the werewolves and Ogres. Akira would not hesitate to fight them if they continued fighting against them.
Akira could hear the sounds of battle all around him, the sounds were somewhat deceiving as it was echoing off the stones making it hard to tell where the battle was happening.
In all the commotion there were occasionally howls of pain as a demigod struck a fatal blow to one of the cavalrymen that were engaged in battle with the humans.
Bam!
A large fiery explosion slammed into the stone just above Akira''s head as he was about to charge out and launch another sneak attack.
¡°I know you''re there werewolf! You''re surrounded so give up!¡±
Akira sniffed the air and indeed smelled two other people moving to try and flank him.
He did not hesitate as he stabbed his sword into the ground and activated [Dark Shockwave] sending a rippling shock-wave out from where he stood, causing the snow-covered earth to crackle and buckle. A large stone caught in the attack fell and landed on the demigod that was hiding behind it while two other demigods'' legs were trapped in the cracks of the ground that opened up and quickly closed.
Akira moved fast and with a few quick slices and stabs from his sword he was able to finish off the trapped demigods who were cursing up a storm.
With each death of the demigods who were controlling the humans, the werewolves, Garg, and Ogre''s hold on the rocky defense ring was strengthened.
Akira continued to ambush unsuspecting demigods from the shadows with only minor inconveniences.
¡°Awooo!¡± a troubled howl rang out through the air.
It was a request for help! A group of werewolves had been surrounded by demigods and were now pinned down behind two rocks unable to leave the cover due to defenders on the city wall bombarding them as well.
¡°AWOOO!¡± Akira answered the call activating his AQS skill and ran on all four limbs heading toward the direction of the howl.
He slowed down when he reached the encirclement and from the shadows of another large rock, he activated his skill [Pounce] and leaped forward slamming into a demigod¡¯s back as he was readying another skill... only to get his neck snapped as Akira grabbed his head and jerked it hard.
Even though the demigod was wearing a helmet it did nothing to protect him against Akira''s brute force.
The human warriors next to the demigod did not hesitate and stabbed their spears and swords at Akira trying to pierce his back... only to get their arms and weapons knocked away by his armored tail that swung behind him intercepting the attacks.
He swirled around and slashed out with his armored claws and grabbed two of the humans by the neck and pulled them close enough so that he could tear their necks apart with his sharp teeth and then dropped them to the ground.
One of the three remaining soldiers frightened by what he had just seen dropped his sword as he fell on his butt. The other two ran and hid behind another stone joining a different small group of guards under another demigod.
Right next to Akira an enemy soldier that had been hiding behind a rock and sending ranged attacks at Akira stuck his head above the rock only for his face to be pierced with a sword.
With Akira''s wild attacks taking the heat off of the werewolves that were surrounded, they were able to gather the courage to rush toward the opening Akira had made.
Even with Akira causing mayhem a short distance away many of the demigods did not want to let their prey go and launched attacks at the escaping werewolves heavily wounding many of them before they managed to dive behind another crop of large stones outside of the encirclement.
The full heated battle from the rocky field that ringed the city continued for another hour. There were only a few remaining pockets of enemy soldiers that were holding out. But for the most part, Akira and those with him held control of the area.
Akira had hoped that the city would send out more people to attack but they seemed to be content to stay inside the fortified walls.
¡°Awooooo!¡± Akira could not delay any longer and gave the signal for the rest of the armed forces to join them.
Although there would be losses from their charge toward the rocky field, it would not be as bad if they had joined Akira and the others in the first wave.
When Balue once again joined back up with Akira he stayed silent while he watched Akira helping treat the wounded werewolves behind one of the larger stones.
¡°Now that the easy part is finished, how do you plan to storm such a strong stone city wall and enter the city?¡± asked Balue when Akira turned to him.
¡°Easy? You call that easy?¡± asked one of the wounded Ogres.
¡°Compared to what lies ahead of you. Yes,¡± said Balue. ¡°Right now, although we have secured this area, everyone is still pinned down here at this rock field. We can not stay here forever.¡±
¡°You are right. We can only face them head-on...¡± said Akira.
¡°I may be able to help you with this problem!¡± said Balue.
With that said his human body started to shimmer like water in a lake when a stone is thrown in. As his body shimmered it began to change form and grow huge!
In only seconds a large blue scaly dragon was standing where Balue once stood!
¡°Ah... this feels much better! I always feel so cramped in that small body,¡± came the booming voice from the large blue dragon.
Everyone around Balue gave out shocked cries at seeing such a menacing dragon appear out of nowhere.
¡°Now I get it! Your human looks did remind me of some draconians I saw before!¡± said Akira as he looked at Balue up and down. Akira was a little shocked after the thought finally dawned on him who he had been chatting and hanging out with so leisurely over the past weeks.
¡°How dare you insult me in such a way! I am a dragon and not part of the lowly draconians! I will rip you apart!¡±
¡°Wait! There is no need to get angry! I am also friends with Fleur and Borra! You know them right? If my guess is right, you are one of their fathers?¡±
¡°Hmph.... well I guess I can let you off just this one time... Bora doesn''t have many friends so she would get very mad at me if I were to kill you.¡±
Akira wiped away the sweat on his face as he realized that he had just stepped on a taboo subject and just barely managed to advert a fallout with such a fierce person... or should he say dragon.
Balue still felt a bit angry so he let out a burst of icy fire at one of the nearby stones that a few demigods and soldiers were still hiding behind. With the icy fire washing over them they all froze to death not even knowing what happened.
¡°Let''s finish this battle now!¡± roared Balue as he shot up into the air and out of the Darkness domain which was hiding everyone.
¡°AWOOOO!¡± Arron gave the order to the Garg and Werewolves and then shouted out the order to attack in common for the Ogres and humans.
The remaining enemy soldiers outside of the city seeing such a large dragon emerge from the darkness all screamed in utter fright!
They soon heard the howls, growls, and war cries coming from the darkness, all of it heading right towards them! It was all too much and they lost all will to fight!
They ran towards the closed city gates and started to hammer them with their armored fists.
¡°Open the gates!¡± ¡°Let us come in!¡± ¡°Don''t abandon us!¡±
Their frightened shouts were all in vain as the gates stayed shut and did not open.
The demigods and humans manning the city defenses watched all this happen from high up on the walls and saw the darkness creep forward before it engulfed them soldiers banging on the gates. With their vision blocked, only the sound of pained cries could be heard as their own soldiers were cut down.
Soon no more armored fists were hammering on the gates or cries for help... Silence...
The demigods and guards were so occupied with what was happening that they did not notice Balue at first. Now that some were shouting out the alarm even if they wanted to help those below they were unable to!
Fwoooooosh! A large blue jet of icy fire raked the top of the walls, freezing tens of the guards and several of the demigods as the dragon shot past them and flapped his wings flying back into the sky well above their ranged attacks which were shot too late.
The demigods and human soldiers focused all their attacks on Balue who continued to dive down and rake the walls with jets of icy fire. But their attacks on the dragon were all but hopeless.
Even if they scratched his scales they were killed only a moment later.
The last straw that broke their will to fight was when...
CRACK!
¡ the city gates had been breached by the ogres who continued to ram into them with their large bodies!
Soon a major rout started as the human soldiers either laid down their weapons or ran away when the allied army of Humans, Werewolves, Gargs, and Oger warriors rushed into the city.
The demigods seeing this lashed out in anger killing several of the cowards. Seeing this the city guards gave up fighting the allied army and turned on the demigods next to them.
Many of the officers and city leaders were betrayed and arrested by their own guards who began them to the allied army. In doing this they hoped to be able to hand them over and be viewed in a less harsh light.
The battle for Begus Dekus was over far quicker than Akira had expected and with far fewer casualties. This was largely due to the help that Balue gave them.
All that was left to do now was to clean up the remaining resistance, recover and patch up the wounded from the battlefield, and count their dead. That last part he was not looking forward to as there were still many who had fallen in battle, Werewolf, Garg, Ogre, and humans they had all sacrificed themselves to free Begus Dekus.
Chapter 321: Trials
The civilians of Begus Dekus, many in ragged clothing, all silently lined the side of the main street and watched Duke Begus Dekus walking ahead of Akira who was pointing his sword at the duke''s back.
Walking on Akira''s left was Orud Mun and Red and on his right was Balue.
Behind them was the rest of the ragtag army as it silently marched down the main street toward the center of the conquered city.
The center market square had been converted into temporary barracks for the influx of temporary soldiers and the various groups of demigods who had occupied the city.
Only a short time ago the market square had been hastily cleared and a large wooden platform erected.
Now the market was already packed with civilians who had gathered to watch what would happen to the captured Duke.
A dozen or so werewolves walked into the crowd of civilians and started to clear a path for Begus Dekus, Akira, Balue, and the other leaders to walk to the wooden platform.
In the fading golden light of the winter day, Akira climbed up onto the platform and looked down at the quivering Begus Dekus who was looking at the ground.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he used his head to push the hesitating Begus Dekus up the steps and onto the platform.
With the allied forces now standing on the ground protecting the stage, the civilians moved as close as they dared and continued to silently stare at the shivering Duke.
¡°Duke Begus Dekus, you have been caught red-handed colluding with Demigods aiding them with their nefarious plans to harm Kodria. You have also been accused of serial murder, mass kidnapping, as well as blackmail. How do you plead?¡± asked Akira.
The duke was silent for several seconds as he tried to scan the crowd for a friendly face to save him but he only found blank faces staring back at him.
¡°...you have to understand. I had to do it! I ...¡± Akira stopped him from talking further by holding up a clawed hand.
¡°Witnesses step forward and state your case,¡± said Akira.
Both Orud Mun and Red stepped forward and gave similar statements while pointing directly at Begus Dekus.
The civilians hearing everything that the two had to say, were shocked. They had no idea that so much was going on in the background. They had all been in the dark about everything.
¡°Duke Begus Dekus, do you have any evidence that these statements are false?¡±
The Duke''s mind was racing at 110% as he tried to think of something to counter their statements but he was drawing a blank. After several minutes of silence, he gave a deep sigh of defeat and said, ¡°No, but...¡±
Akira did not allow him to blabber out an excuse as It was useless. He looked out over the crowd causing the civilians to shiver as his sharp wolf eyes stared at them, ¡°Is there anyone else that has grievances with the duke and wish to have them tried?¡±
The crowd was silent for some time before a young man stepped forward. ¡°The duke had my father killed for not following in lockstep with his plans.¡±
Duke Begus Dekus only stared at the darkening sky. All hope of keeping his position as the leader of the dukedom was gone.
He no longer spoke when Akira talked to him and ignored the several dozen accusers that came forward. He could do nothing to defend against the accusations as he had done so much just to get where he was that he had forgotten many of the people that had been stepped on or taken out when they would not bow to his or the demigods'' will.
¡°Would anyone like to vouch for the Duke''s innocence?¡± asked Akira.
A low murmur rose as the crowd chatted with those next to them and looked around to see if anyone would step forward.
Duke Begus Dekus'' last bit of hope was shattered as he watched silently. No one was willing to step forward.
¡°During this time of war, you have knowingly and willingly colluded with the demigods to cause massive harm to others as well as your own citizens. As Duke of Kodria and commander of its wartime Armies, I Akira, find you guilty of crimes against humanity and the demon race.¡±
Begus Dekus''s body started to shake and grow worse as he heard each word.
¡°The hundreds if not thousands of lives you have ruined can not be brought back to life. Only justice can give relief to those suffering.¡±
Akira stepped forward and before Begus Dekus could do anything, swiped his sharp claw across his soft neck nearly severing it in one attack. With a second swipe, the head was completely removed. The headless body fell to the ground spurting out blood everywhere.
In peacetime, such a war trial would be heavily criticized by different factions, but now was not a time of peace and to keep control of the situation, one had to put a foot down and handle the unpleasant business if someone crossed the line.
The crowd cried out in shock as they saw this. Many of them had faces distorted from the shock and horror of the beheading while those who had suffered were calmly staring at the dead duke''s headless body.
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Ding!
The main city of Begus Dekus Dukedom has been conquered!
Enemy forces will be unable to spawn in the conquered territory.
Do you wish to combine this Dukedom with Kodria or Rename it and install a puppet government?
|
Akira was not sure what to do right now. Although it would be nice to add such a large city and territory to Kodria''s dukedom the distance was too far away for the current power of Kodria to effectively rule it. So he decided to ignore the message for now until the rest of Kodria''s army and the army from Jerora arrived.
¡°Citizens of the Begus Dekus dukedom. We do not intend to rule over you as a conquered people. In the coming days, we will have a meeting to decide on how to restructure this dukedom and what form of government it will have. If you want your voices heard please nominate ten elders to represent you within the next day or two.¡±
The crowd slowly lost interest in the dead body on the platform and started to chatter with those next to them about what they should do or who they should nominate.
Akira descended the steps of the platform and stopped up to a young city guard that had been relieved of all his weapons.
¡°Lead the way to the families being held captive.¡±
The young soldier vigorously nodded his head not wanting to anger the fierce-looking Akira who was still giving off a bloody aura.
With the young guard leading the way, the human and Ogre soldiers whose families had been kidnapped, followed behind Akira and were happy that everything was now cleared up and they would soon be reunited with their family.
When they arrived at the large stone doors of the prison, the guards of the prison did not stop them and instead opened the door and stepped aside.
Akira began walking down the well-lit set of stone stairs that led underground. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he was quite interested in the large natural cave that he found himself standing in.
In the sides of the walls, several large crude rooms had been carved out and had bars placed at the entrance to block the occupants from exiting.
Seeing this place gave him an idea but he would have to get to that later since there were other pressing issues.
With a wave of his hand, the guards that were standing guard hurriedly used their keys to open the several dozen occupied cavern rooms.
The restless human and ogre soldiers rushed forward into the rooms calling out for their family members.
As the captive family members and villagers exited the room many of them were so skinny and weak that they had to be carried or helped out by the soldiers.
It was an unpleasant view especially when looking at the large Ogre bodies. It was hard to recognize them as Ogres compared to the healthy warriors who were helping them out of the jail room. They had been starved to the point that their large muscled bodies were just as skinny as the humans.
Akira''s expression hardened seeing this, it was far worse than what Begus Dekus had admitted to. Although he had doubts before, he now had no regret for his verdict.
***
While Akira waited for the reinforcements and delegates to arrive, the city''s walls and defenses were repaired and rearranged to better suit the purposes of defense against attackers, mainly the demigods.
As a punishment and a way to weed out the bad seeds in the city guards and the army, they were forced to do most of the manual labor as a way to reform them. Those that tried to rebel or escape from their duties were captured and put on hard labor duty where they were watched every second of the day.
One of the major projects given to them was tearing out the bars from the jail cells below the city as well as expanding the cavernous rooms and pathways underneath to allow for it to be used as a safe haven for the civilians.
It was a large change from being a place of terror and dread to being a place of safety for the coming times of trouble.
The cavern was really a gold mine as even rich trade posts did not have such a convenient place for their citizens to hide. They, along with the other villages in the area, had to just hide in their dirt basement cellars and hope their homes did not collapse on top of them in the fighting.
***
In the throne room of the Begus Dekus castle, a large table had been placed down with several chairs lining each side.
Several delegates from Kodria, Jerora, Begus Dekus, the Ogres, and various other local villages sat around discussing the current events.
¡°...then do we all agree on this decision?¡± asked an Ogre.
¡°Although it pains me to once again abandon our village after so much work to rebuild it. The current situation is once again not safe for lone villages to survive in the wilderness.¡±
¡°It is as you say, we are too widespread and are easy to pick off by the demigods,¡± said another village leader. The other leaders all nodded silently as well.
¡°Jerora is committed to accepting immigrants up to a point that we can support with our resources. For the rest we can help with the transportation and setting up new villages near Jerora,¡± said Jab the delegate for Jerora.
¡°We elders of the Begus Dekus dukedom agree with this idea and will follow your lead. Those that wish to may relocate here.¡±
¡°We of the Ogre tribes agree to relocate our villages so that we can be closer to this city for mutual defense.¡±
The moving of tribes and villages was nothing new for them as they were largely nomadic. Only Begus Dekus and Jerora were the more permanent cities.
¡°Then, if everyone agrees, I hereby declare the creation of the Tri-pact dukedom,¡± said Akira.
The Tri-pact was made up of the free nomadic villages of both human and demon races, Begus Dekus, and Jerora.
Ding!
The Begus Dekus Dukedom has joined the Jerora Dukedom!
The Dukedom has been renamed to the Tri-pact Dukedom!
|
When Akira read through the information on the new dukedom, he was able to see that it was not the third largest dukedom only behind Kodria and the largest demigod dukedom in the north.
¡°With Begus Dekus no longer alive. I suggest that you come up with a new name for the city,¡± said Akira as he looked at the elected elders of the Begus Dekus city.
¡°We have already thought of this problem and have been discussing it with the rest of the citizens. We are still unsure what to name it as this has all happened so suddenly.¡±
Akira nodded his head, this was understandable.
¡°With this finished, we can look to the future conflicts against the demigods. We have bought ourselves some time as they can no longer appear from thin air in our territory unless they capture a city or village once again. Don''t expect this to be the last we hear from those demigods. I am sure that many more deaths will pile up in the future as we are forced to cut down the plague that is the demigod guilds.¡±
Chapter 322: Consolidating the Tri-pact
Several days march north of Trine [Formerly known as Begus Dekus].
¡°Stop them!¡±
Fwoosh!
A colorful light flashed as a skill was shot out from the demigod who was shouting. He was on top of a small wooden wall that encircled the small village that their guild had captured some time ago.
A handful of other demigods stood atop the village walls while the villagers hid in their makeshift root cellars underneath their shoddy houses that had only recently been built during the warm months.
¡°We''re trying but there are too many of them!¡± shouted a female demigod with a bow.
¡°Who are these people? Isn''t the BenDover guild supposed to be in control of the local area? Did they betray us and scrap the agreement they had with us?¡± asked a skinny man with a wooden wand that was shooting out fireballs every few seconds.
In front of the village, a wave of shoddily armored human infantry was rushing forward under the hail of deadly skill attacks launched by the demigods. The majority of these attacks were intercepted by heavily armored infantry officers who were howling out orders to those around them.
Even with the officer''s help, several of the human infantry were wounded in the charge.
Those who could still move limped or crawled their way back to the rear of the battlefield to get treatment while those who were too heavily wounded lay on the ground hoping that a passing field medic would reach them in time before they bled out.
¡°Awooooo!¡± a loud howl came from the rear of the village as a swarm of werewolves appeared out of the woods behind the village.
¡°CRAP! These crafty humans are in league with the demon races! A few of you go and protect the rear wall!¡±
¡°ROAR!¡± a loud guttural battle cry coming from deep in the chest, sounded out from inside the forest right before the ground began to vibrate from the large bodies of the charging ogres.
¡°What the hell is going on?¡± cried a distressed demigod as he struggled to keep firing fireballs at the swarming human infantry that had reached the wooden village walls.
His attempts at trying to clear the humans away from the wall were useless as the flimsy walls were breached easily by both the humans in the front and the ogres in the rear who lowered their shoulders and rammed through the wooden walls sending wooden splinters everywhere and demigods tumbling to the ground. The werewolves just climbed or jumped up onto the walls engaging the defenders.
¡°Kill them all so that we can capture the village and deny them a place to reappear!¡± shouted Akira as he exchanged blows with a heavily armored knight demigod that was using a long two-handed sword.
In just a few minutes after the allied forces entered the village the last of the demigods was found and cut down. They did all this while trying to make sure not to damage the houses of the villagers.
Akira hurried over to the officers who were commanding the human infantry and asked, ¡°How are they?¡±
¡°It''s bad but not great, there were many casualties this time as well. However, on the plus side, no one died this time. They were far better than when I led them into battle the first time,¡± said a heavily armored werewolf officer.
¡°With each battle, I can feel that they are growing far stronger than they were before as well as more confident in their fighting abilities,¡± said another officer.
¡°It''s good that they are growing stronger. The problem is that nearly 1/4th of the infantry has already been sent back to the city to recuperate from their serious wounds and are now acting as reserve guards for the Trine city. We can not slow down our attacks. We need to clear out as many villages, towns, and wandering demigod groups before they start talking with each other or the larger guilds take notice,¡± said Akira.
¡°At least the wounded can tell those back in the city that they have done their duty to help clear out the plague of demigods. Do you want us to talk to these villagers here or have the human representatives do the talking this time?¡± asked an officer.
¡°Judging from the results last time, it will be quicker to just let the humans convince them,¡± said Akira.
The new Tri-pact army had joined up with Kodria to clear out the demigod-occupied villages and towns near their new dukedom.
The army had been split in two so that they could complete this task faster. Akira, the ogres, and the humans from Trine made up the Western army. While Jerora''s army teamed up with the [Full Moon] guild to make up the east army. Both the west and east armies were constantly getting new recruits to replace the wounded as they freed villages and towns.
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With each victory they achieved their forces grew while also pushing the demigod''s front lines farther north. Each town or village they captured blocked off a place for the demigods to reappear.
Although their blitz attacks were having high success right now, it was only against low-level groups of demigods who had only recently captured the towns after fighting with other demigods.
With each victory, the armies had to march farther away from the main cities of the Tri-pact to reach the next target. The tri-pact dukedom was quickly growing into the third largest dukedom only behind Kodria and the Demon Hunters Guild who were currently the number one guild in the northern conflict at the moment.
Akira knew that in the long run, they could not hold all the land or the nomadic towns and villages that they were freeing each day. This was why the human representatives were asked to talk to the human village and townspeople while the ogres and werewolves talked to the demon race tribes urging them to migrate to either of the major cities or the new and more permanent towns being built near them.
It was a hard sell to try and have the semi-nomadic villagers and townspeople migrate once again after just settling the land once more after the Molten-onyx plague. Many of them wanted to stay put, but after hearing about the troubling news and their brief experiences with the demigods taking control of the villages and towns, most if not all, decided to migrate once again in hopes that they would be safer.
Akira passed a few orders off to the officers and then walked to the rear of the army where the shamen were gathered busy working on the wounded. Among them were several who were in charge of staying in contact with Kodria.
¡°How is the transporting of the goods going? Any snags?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Everything is on track to reach their destination on time. The armor and weapons will be reaching both of the main tri-pact cities soon enough,¡± answered a demigod who was sweating even in the cold winter weather as helped cure the wounded.
¡°I feel like it is not really that great of an idea. We are just sending them our old used armor and weapons that have been lying around in the warehouses,¡± said Akira.
¡°You shouldn''t feel like that. From what I have heard in the last report, even though they are second-hand, they were created and repaired by skilled dwarven smiths. That makes them better than almost all the armor and weapons in each of the cities.¡±
Akira slowly nodded his head upon hearing this. Even though it was not the best, he hoped it was enough to help the city''s main forces be better equipped for the coming fight. Both Trine and Jerora were now able to give the new recruits the old armor and weapons their main army and guards had been using. Before this, they had no decent armor or weapons for the recruits.
Akira sighed in his heart as he thought about the ragtag army that they had combined. Although most of the new recruits that joined them were from the town and village guards, they had little experience in actual battles and their strength was far from ideal.
This led to the large number of casualties they were seeing with each battle. Even so, the humans had surprised many of those in the demon race with their willingness to fight even after seeing so many of their friends being wounded in battle.
They had had enough of being ruled over by the demigods and wanted to push them back as far as they could. With such determination, they were learning quickly with each battle. But it would still be a long time before they could match the strength and well-practiced movements of the professional soldiers.
Time was something they were short on right now. It was only a matter of time before they would hit a roadblock.
¡°... and what about the food and supplies that are being transported to the new towns near the two main cities?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Several deliveries have already reached them. With the several nomadic villages and towns dismantling their homes and transporting all their belongings and foodstuff along with them, we have not run into any snags yet as they had already been prepared for the winter months.¡±
¡°With the dwarven helpers and the raw materials being transported from the villages and towns there should not be too much trouble rebuilding the homes and a proper wall around them,¡± said the shaman as he finished tying a bandage and then washed his bloody hands in a cold bucket of ice cold water.
Akira nodded to this and brought up the dukedom map that showed the current territory owned by each faction. There were still several red marks covering the map. They all represented the demigod''s territories that they had control of. Day by day the number of red marks near the Tri-pact was disappearing at a decent rate.
They had to clear as many as they could in this short time to set up a buffer to allow them time to set up their defenses before the angered demigods and their allies retaliated.
***
As time passed many changes happened and although the dukedom map showed the tri-pact dukedom as a vast entity, it was only so on paper primarily from capturing all the widespread villages and towns that had been controlled by demigods.
With these nomadic villages and towns migrating to the two major cities or the new towns being set up near them, they were able to consolidate their forces. Now, the Tri-pact''s large size was mostly for show as they were no longer spread out all over the place.
The consolidation of these villages strengthened the Tri-pact dukedom allowing them to more easily react to any situation that arose as well as quickly gather resources or men for battle.
But this also freed up large swaths of land which the small Demigod guilds and allied groups all pounced and fought each other over slowly trying to eat away at the tri-pacts large empty land to the north.
All of this caused more conflict with demigods and the Tri-pact dukedom who were trying to protect their new dukedom and the buffer they had fought for to protect their main cities.
A few weeks passed before the demigods in the North began to hear more and more news about what was happening in the South.
In the beginning, the large guilds brushed it off as rumors by the smaller guilds, but when the news of the low-level demigods and their guilds being killed over and over.
They could not ignore the rumors and began to have meetings on what to do with these rebellious humans and demon races in the South.
¡°We crush them! What else is there to do?¡±
¡°I agree!¡±
¡°Then everyone should prepare for the push south!¡±
Chapter 323: Pyrrhic Victory
Over a couple of cold winter weeks, the Tri-pact army was able to solidify its position and land around its territory with the help of Kodria and the [Full Moon] guild.
It was at this time that they had begun receiving grim news from near the northern border of the Tri-pact dukedom.
When several wounded and shabby refugees managed to escape disaster with only the clothes they wore on their bodies, they told horror stories of what happened to them, their villages, and what they had to endure just to escape into the tri-pact dukedom.
From their words, Kodria and the tri-pact learned that the demigods were now attacking every nomadic village and town of both humans and the rare northern demon races that they came upon. If the humans did not surrender or were too slow with their reply they were exterminated and their territory taken over. This was done so that there was no chance of the populace uprising. As for the demon race towns and villages... they were exterminated with no offer to surrender being given out.
This was happening on both the west and eastern front of the Tri-pact dukedom''s border causing the allied army to stay separated so that it could deal with the threat.
***
Boom! Thud! Clang!
A fierce battle raged on in a now abandoned village at the North-west border of Tri-pact dukedom.
Akira danced around the burning debris of a fallen house outside the town walls as he traded blows with a Psychotic female demigod named Psyla.
He had only met her a week ago when the two opposing forces met near the abandoned village that had only recently been evacuated.
When he first saw her and found out that she was the leader of this group of raiding demigods. He felt that she looked out of place from the rumors of bloody conquest he had heard due to the shy smile she gave him along with her rosy blushing face as she bashfully fidgeted in place glancing at Akira before looking away like a young maiden.
It had been enough to stunned everyone, causing them to wonder if she was actually a captive.
Akira''s expression had quickly soured when he saw the shy girl''s face turn into a creepy wide open grin showing unusually sharp teeth for demigods. Her large eyes which were full of madness stared daggers at him as she let out a loud maniacal laughter and ordered her minions to attack.
This was now their third battle in which they clashed against each other and although the demigods were outnumbered they did not flinch from the fight.
Psyla continued to charge Akira and swing her two swords trying to cut, stab, and sever his body parts. All while her face switched in and out of her shy bashful expression and psychotic craze.
¡°Be careful! She got her eye on you!¡± shouted Dolph who was blocking a demigod on Akira''s right.
¡°Aren''t you lucky,¡± said Vilkas as he sliced off the arm of a demigod on Akira''s left.
They were doing their best to keep Akira safe by limiting those who could reach him. Several of the attackers had just reappeared from inside the town and were now pressuring them.
Unfortunately for the demigods, they were quickly surrounded by the allied forces and engaged in battle.
¡°Not lucky! I''m already married! She is just planning on how to kill me painfully!¡± said Akira as he parried Psyla''s attacks.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball accusingly, but Akira ignored him.
¡°Kyahahaha!¡± laughed Psyla as she launched a colorful skill attack that swept out from her sword and formed a red crescent that was aimed at Akira''s neck.
¡°You crazy woman!¡± shouted Akira as he raised his curved triangle shield to block the attack. ¡°What are you guys doing massacring innocent civilians?¡±
¡°Why do you keep on nagging me about this? Isn''t it hypocritical of you to ask such things since you attacked the weakling demigods? Why is it you start to cry only now after we, the [Demon Hunters] guild, have decided to join the fight?¡± asked the cackling Psyla.
¡°We are fighting against your brutality to save the civilians and their families that you have captured and are being used as blackmail,¡± said Akira, as he launched a counterattack with his sword sending a [Sword Slash] flying out causing her to jump back. In doing so she knocked over several demigods that were behind her.
¡°Don''t fool yourself! You like killing us to grow stronger just like we like killing you to grow stronger, a dog-eat-dog world! Now enough whining! I want to see how you take my special skill, the [Ultimate Supreme Powerful Swiftly Hard Hitting Mega Punch]!¡±
¡°What sort of name is that?¡± asked Akira as he grew cautious of Psyla and hid behind his shield.
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The oddly named attack that came towards Akira was...
...just a normal punch that was easily knocked away by Akira using his shield. His sword slashed out and sliced into her left arm which had been knocked away.
Ding!
Passive skill [Bisect] has been activated!
|
Psyla''s left arm continued to fly through the air away from her body as the blood pumped out and splattered on the trodden snow.
¡°Ku ku ku, you have done well to block that special skill but can you block this? I call it the [Scorned lover] skill!¡± shouted Psyla as she jumped forward at a high speed using a skill to boost her movement.
Akira activated the skill [Shield Bash] and slammed his shield into her face creating a loud ''Crack!''.
She did not show any sign of feeling pain from her broken nose that was now leaking blood or her severed arm, instead, she latched onto Akira''s shield with her right arm and her legs as she tried to embrace Akira like a clingy lover.
Her body immediately started to glow brightly as Akira tried to shake her off.
¡°Let''s go out together with a bang!¡± said Psyla as she started to glow even brighter.
Akira slammed his sharp armored elbow into Psyla''s head piercing through her flimsy helmet but she did not let go of the shield even with a fatal attack.
¡°Everyone get back!¡± shouted Akira as he let go of his shield and kicked it, knocking Psyla back into the surviving demigods.
KABOOM!
¡°AHHH!¡±
Cries of pain from both the demigods and soldiers of the Tri-pact army cried out as the explosion slammed into those who were unlucky or unable to escape in time.
The shock-wave from the explosion hit Akira as he placed his armored arms in front of him blocking the brunt of the explosion which sent him flying backward creating a large skid mark in the snowy battlefield.
With the suicide attack of Psyla, most of the demigods around her were killed causing the area to be lit up by the light fragments as their bodies disappeared. Those that somehow managed to survive were quickly finished off and also turned into light fragments.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball as he pawed at Akira who was half covered in a mixture of frozen dirt and snow.
¡°I''m fine,¡± said Akira as he accepted Dolph''s hand to help him stand up.
¡°How bad is it this time?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Most of the casualties are just minor wounds, only a few died... and those were from her blowing up at the end.¡±
Akira let out a deep sigh. This was a hellish battle they had been forced into and it was not even over a major city. It had lasted several days due to the constant flow of demigods showing up allowing others to reappear inside the city and continue the fight.
With this victory, they had finally halted the advance of the [Demon Hunters] and the other large guilds, at least for now.
Akira looked at the ruined town that they had fought so hard over. Only a few sections of the town wall were left standing, everything else inside and outside the town was nothing more than rubble or ashes all caused by the several days of battle.
Anything that may have been standing before was blown to bits by the explosion.
Ding!
You have gained a new title!
Spawn camper: You like easy kills so you just sit around the spawn point and smack down weaklings that appear in front of you.
|
Before Akira could think too deeply about the new title a messenger ran over to him.
¡°Duke! Bad news just came in! While we were fighting several other villages and towns were taken over! They have gained a foothold behind our current position!¡±
Akira cursed under his breath. If this was true then their supplies and reinforcements were now cut off if they wanted to hold this position.
With a grim face, he looked at the tired and battered soldiers who were worn out from the intense multi-day battle.
¡°We can''t stay here any longer!¡± said Akira in a booming voice gathering everyone''s attention. ¡°We have to link up with the reinforcements and knock down the demigod''s other bases that are threatening us in the rear! Let''s move out!¡±
***
The battles continued day after day. The once inexperienced civilians who joined the fight and were able to survive their first few battles were now battle-hardened fighters even if their training was not up to par with Kodria or Jerora''s soldiers. But for every person who made it out unscathed, there were even more inexperienced fighters who died or were severely maimed in battle.
There was little to no good news as the weeks went on. For every battle the allied army won, it seemed the enemy managed to win two others.
The allied armies were being slowly pushed back step by step.
The wild and outlandish attacks and plots from the crazy Psyla continued to hurt the allied army since each time she was on the verge of dying she instead exploded her body and always managed to wound or kill several people.
The only victory the allied army could cheer for, if you could call it that, was the fact that most of the villages and towns in the path of the demigods had all learned of the massacring campaign and had all migrated even farther south into the Tri-pact dukedom further strengthening their forces.
Even several groups of humans in the far north who were under the firm control of the demigods managed to escape to the south. The horror stories some of them told let them know that there were far more groups that set out wanting to escape and were never heard of again. Some died from wild monster attacks, but most were exterminated by the demigods that hunted them down for fun.
With each Pyrrhic victory that the allied armies won, there was little to cheer for as more and more defeats were suffered while they were occupied in other places causing the Tri-pacts territory to slowly be swallowed up by the demigod guilds.
It was not long before the only territory left to them was Trine, Jerora, and the two new towns had been built and were now crowded with villagers who had escaped the north.
...and things were not looking good as the demigods continued their march farther south.
¡°Scouting reports have come in! The demigod''s main force is gathering in the north. Their next target looks to be Jerora!¡±
Chapter 324: Stalemate
Jerora, the east city of the Tri-pact Dukedom.
¡°Have the civilians been evacuated?¡± asked Akira as he looked at the gathering winter storm in the north.
¡°The last group was escorted by the remaining wounded soldiers yesterday,¡± said Jerora''s governor Scoit.
¡°I sure wish we had Balue here to help,¡± said Zundar.
¡°He''s offered to help protect Trine. With his help, we don''t need to worry about the civilians there.¡±
¡°Their lives are more important than ours! I''m just worried about losing so much ground. If we keep going on like this there won''t be any land or cities left to defend,¡± said Scoit.
Akira looked around at Jerora''s quiet city. For the longest time, it was the oldest human-controlled ''city'' in the southern tip of the north. And by the looks, it showed its age.
However, in the past years, it had several face-lifts to its old walls and large expansions to accommodate the inflow of new civilians and businesses. It was unable to be compared with Trine which was a young city that had a better foundation, more defensible walls, and was easier to expand on. With the dwarves helping solidify Trine''s defenses and housing situation, there was not too much to complain about other than the worrying low food stockpile and other basic resources.
This was one of the reasons why they had decided to send the civilians and wounded to Trine and have Balue protect them and the city along with the Tri-pact dukedom''s west army.
Jerora was now little more than a fortress that held the east army and city guards of Jerora. Zundar, Klyn, and the [Full Moon] guild had joined Akira to help hold off the coming demigod attacks that were aimed at Jerora.
¡°I am grateful for your help but I have no grand delusions that we will be able to get out of this unscathed, it will not be an easy fight,¡± said Scoit as he looked at the distant small demigod camp that had just been set up in the early morning. There were only a few groups of demigods that had arrived so far, but from the reports, there were far more swarming south.
Akira, with his keen eyesight, watched as a demigod with what looked like a cone walked to the edge of their camp and spoke into it. Despite being so far away his voice sounded as if he was right next to them. It must have been a skill he had.
¡°Occupants of the former trade city Jerora! Put down your weapons!¡±
Many of the soldiers on the wall were startled to hear the voice in their ears and were looking around trying to find the person who spoke.
¡°Settle down!¡± ordered Akira as he held up his hand to calm everyone down.
The demigod seeing his first attempt to force them to surrender did not work and spoke again trying one more time. ¡°You have no chance against us. Surrender or we will attack!¡±
With no visible action being taken to follow his command the demigod went back into the enemy camp.
Akira did not fear such a small group, what he was concerned about was when the multiple guilds would arrive and combine their forces to attack.
As he watched the demigod camp he was surprised to see that they were actually going to attack with only a dozen or so fighters. Either they were extremely confident in their power and were trying to rush the attack before others came or they were misjudging their power based on the easy battles they had with other villages and towns in the north. If it was the latter they would learn a hard lesson today.
¡°Duke Akira. You should allow our guild to take care of this group for you,¡± said sister Teresa.
Akira nodded his head agreeing with her offer.
Klyn chanted off a few buffs for the [Full Moon] guild members who were all looking out at the fast-approaching enemy guild.
¡°Let''s do this!¡± said Beater as he hit himself a few times in the face to pump himself up.
Led by Crowbahr, they jumped off the wall, some landed nicely while others fell flat on their face in the snow. When they were all back on their feet they did not bother with any formation and charged forward.
The enemy demigods seeing the [Full moon] guild approaching them, started casting several colorful ranged skill attacks in their direction. Not to be outdone by the enemy the [Full moon] guild members returned the favor with their own skills as they dodged the incoming ranged attacks.
Bam!
The two sides clashed near the center of the battlefield. Their swords slicing at each other, spears stabbing at weak points, and hammers bashing the heads in of the enemy all the while several skills were shot off at point blank range.
Although the [Full Moon] guild members had a number advantage, the enemy looked to have high levels that allowed them to take several more hits. This added to their constant use of potions prolonged the fight longer than expected.
Everyone on Jerora''s walls watched the battle with great interest. For some, it was the first battle they had seen of the demigods fighting each other. To see such a show put on by two demigod groups was a wild sight. Everyone tried to soak in everything they saw hoping to catch a secret on how to defeat the demigods or if they had any weaknesses that they could use against the enemy demigods in future fights.
In all the confusion one of the enemy ranged demigods mistook one of their own members and bombarded him with a fireball in the back knocking him off balance. This mistake ended the man''s life when a bruised and bloody Beater used his hammer, which was glowing gray from his active skill, and smashed the man''s head cleanly off of his shoulders.
The enemy number was slowly dwindling and with each mistake they made they were rewarded with death.
Despite their great strength, the enemy demigods were wiped out one by one as multiple [Full moon] guild members targeted them until there were no enemies left on the battlefield.
The [Full moon] guild was not unscathed from the battle as there were a few of the newer guild members who had disappeared into light fragments after taking multiple heavy blows by the opposing forces.
They did not cheer at their victory or stoop down to pick up the gold, potions, armor, and weapons that had dropped from the dead foes.
¡°Our task is not done yet!¡± shouted Crowbahr as she waved the others forward.
Instead with well-practiced motions they formed up and marched toward the enemy camp to clear it of any hiding demigods. This task was easily accomplished and only took them a few minutes.
¡°Tear it all down!¡± ordered Crowbahr.
The tents were all uprooted from the snowy ground and the supplies and other items that had been left behind at the campsite were gathered up and taken back to Jerora. Along the way back they picked up the loot that was dropped by the enemy demigods. Overall what they had gathered was not a lot but any amount was a welcome site to add to the Jerora''s stockpile of food, weapons, and armor.
Each day that passed new groups of demigods arrived ready to attack Jerora and they were all repelled either by the [Fullmoon] guild or the combined force of the Western army that was inside the city walls.
With battles happening every day the fortress city was starting to show signs of the damage which was slowly growing worse. With the daily battles, there was little time or energy to repair the damage and many of the tired soldiers spent the night hurriedly repairing the worst parts of the wall before the next day''s attacks would start.
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After a week of non-stop fighting everyone in Jerora was suspicious when two days passed with no sight of demigods. Still, they used that time to shore up the fortress city¡¯s defenses and managed to bring it back to an acceptable almost new state.
Their suspicious minds were proven right on the third day when Klyn received a message from one of the messenger shamen.
¡°Trine was attacked! Do we need to send reinforcements?¡± asked a haggard and worried Akira who was looking over the death and wounded reports as well as the reports on the wall repairs and the needed materials to further strengthen them.
¡°There is no need to do that. Balue was able to repel them. There were only a few deaths from the demigod''s sneak attack thanks to his actions. If we were to send away forces from here, we would only be weakening ourselves making a ripe target,¡± said Klyn.
Akira nodded his head. They were having a hard time as it was, and it would be foolhardy to weaken themselves even more. Luckily they were able to have more time to rest over the last few days.
¡°There were also reports of demigods trying to bypass both Jerora and Trine after their continued losses at both the cities, but the border fort and the soldiers stationed there were able to fend them off. A few of the newer [Full moon] demigods have joined Varbu and the other orcs to defend the fort that has been receiving a large influx of soldiers to both guard the fort.¡±
¡°Are our supply lines safe?¡± asked a worried Scoit upon hearing this. ¡°We can not hold Jerora for long if we are not supplied with food, medical supplies, and other necessary items to keep fighting.¡±
¡°There should be no need to worry. The merchants that have taken up the call to transport the supplies from Kodria to the Border fort have all been escorted by skilled soldiers as well as their usual guards. Those with boats have been given escorts by our own patrolling naval ships,¡± said Akira.
¡°That''s a relief,¡± said Scoit wiping his forehead of sweat.
¡°How are the upgrades to the small blacksmith shops going along?¡± asked Akira.
¡°With the help of the dwarves, Jerora''s forges have all been expanded ahead of schedule. In a day or two they will be able to start work after the dwarves inspect everything,¡± said Klyn as he looked at a few reports.
¡°We can''t always rely on Kodria for repairs and new weapon and armor shipments. The sooner we get the forges up and working the faster we can repair our gear and craft whatever tools we need to keep the fortress city from crumbling underneath our feet.¡±
***
The battles outside Jerora become an every-other-day thing.
The strength of Kodria soldiers, the [Full moon] guild members, and the Tri-pact army continued to grow from surviving the constant attacks. Most if not all soldiers and guards that had survived this long now had many scars from healed wounds from their valiant defense of the fortress city.
Jerora continued to be damaged in battle and had now become a shabby fortress that had many broken areas that had been fixed with quick patchwork.
There was no longer any semblance of the once great city. Now the land all around it was torn up and had an aura of death to it.
Jerora had become a deadly fortress that was a great thorn in the demigod''s sides. The soldiers inside the fortress were all hardened killers.
Along with Jerora holding back the demigod''s push south, Trine in the west was also blocking the demigod''s advance along with its new fort, which was originally created by the demigods, now being used as a rear territory defense. Kodria''s border fortress was constantly being reinforced with both soldiers and builders to add to its defense. It was positioned south of and in between Jerora and Trine. Combined together the three acted as a wall that was able to stop the demigods from pushing any farther south.
This wall had been given the name the [Tri-pact wall].
Although the allied forces were unable to stop the demigod from launching their attacks, they were able to hold them back, and so a stalemate started to set in with neither side gaining much of an advantage.
The demigods wasted several tens of thousands of gold trying to take the three strong points of the wall that blocked them. But all they received in return was debt, when they continued to lose equipment and other items after being killed.
The items they dropped were all collected by the defenders and put to good use in arming those who were defending the [Tri-pact wall].
In a way, the demigods were partly to thank for allowing them to stay in the fight so long with them supplying the tri-pact with a constant inflow of gold, potions, armor, and weapons.
The allied forces were really just happy that the push south had been halted.
***
5 years of bitter stalemate has passed.
Many skirmishes and hard-fought battles have erupted at each of the strongholds of the [Tri-pact wall] as well as in the surrounding areas where demigods unsuccessfully tried to push through.
In these five years, Kodria''s Rank had increased to another tier higher! They were now a tier-one dukedom! Kodria was the first dukedom to reach the rank.
Its population and army were able to grow even larger than in the past, even with the constant fighting in the north. Kodria''s economy was even stronger as the booming trade with the northern tri-pact cities and southern demon races grew more and more along with the constant new roads being built.
Bent-gii, once a small village fort, was now far larger with its own multi-layered walled city and was home to thousands of people.
The core members of the [Full moon] guild that had proven themselves over and over again in the battles to hold the [Tri-pact wall] were now allowed to reside in the capital of Kodria.
It had grown to be a large guild that was based in Bent-gii.
With the help of the [Full moon] guild smoothing out talks, there was much more interaction with lone demigods and small groups that had heard of the famous guild. They had all traveled to the continent to join them wanting to become a part of the demon race.
To everyone''s surprise, there were even a few who managed to unlock a secret path to become part of the demon races not by becoming a minor lycan, but by talking to either Captain Pegleg or Balue!
There were now several skeleton demigods under Captain Pegleg''s command and they all enjoyed sailing and raiding the other demigod ships and settlements.
The handful that had managed to get Balue''s approval had changed into scaly Draconians and became part of his fighting force stationed at Trine which he had taken a liking to.
With such an influx of demigods, Kodria had formed the first and only Adventurers guild on the continent which was based in the outer city. It was only for the demigod allies who transformed into one of the demon races. At the Adventurer Guild, they could receive requests from the city or civilians.
***
Akira, Mileena, and their two children who were now nearing 6 years old were enjoying some free time near the lake. Right now because of the warm months, there was a lull in action near the border.
Although Akira personally trained the children in several things, Zundar had taken on the main role as weapons training teacher for both the children. However, Silvy was not interested in such things, unlike her brother who even at such a young age followed Zundar''s harsh training using his small training weapons. Along with being their teacher, he was also their main protector.
¡°How long are you going to be staying?¡± asked Mileena as she watched the two children playing near the shore of the lake.
Silvy was making a sand castle in the mud not paying attention to her brother who was sneaking through the reeds and recently cut tall grass.
Zundar was nearby watching over Silvy making sure nothing happened to her.
¡°I don''t know. That is all up to the demigods. If they decide to end the stalemate then I will have to leave,¡± said Akira as he watched his son''s slow crawl.
Wyt was slowly creeping up behind Zundar with his small training sword. When he felt he was close enough he jumped from reeds and launched himself at Zundar who was yawning with one hand covering his mouth.
Without looking Zundar used his other hand to grab Wyt''s head and held him back at arm''s length stopping the flailing young pup from being able to reach him with his arms or training sword.
¡°Failed again! Is this the 300th time?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°No! That was only 288!¡± said a defiant young Wyt who was still trying to struggle out of Zundar''s grasp.
Both Akira and Mileena had a smile watching all this happen.
¡°You know being gone is hard on them, especially Silvy. She always cries for a long time when you have to leave, only stooping when you hold her. I am glad that the last major battle was some time ago.¡±
As if hearing her name from far away Silvy looked up from the crude wet sandcastle and saw her father and mother looking toward her. She waved a sandy hand toward them and shouted, ¡°Come look at my sandcastle!¡±
With a smile, Akira and Mileena both walked down the sandy hill to the beach and crouched down to listen to Silvy explain to them how to properly build a sandcastle.
Wyt came over and crouched down next to Akira, sulking from his failure to surprise Zundar once again.
Akira patted him on the back and said, ¡°If you can''t do something right now, then you can either focus on what you can do, or you can keep training until you can do it!¡±
¡°I want to be a warrior like you!¡± said Wyt as he poked the wet sand with a stick.
¡°A warrior proves his honor when he protects his friends, allies, and those precious to him,¡± said the old man sage Akira.
¡°Like mom and Silvy?¡± asked Wyt.
¡°Yes,¡± said Akira, nodding as he rubbed the head of the proud Wyt. ¡°My little man is growing strong. In the future, you will be exploding with power!¡±
¡°Stop talking about your little man,¡± said Maya from behind them. ¡°People might think you''re a pervert.¡±
She and Azura had both finished their work and had come to join them in the fun outing.
Akira was unsure how to reply to his odd sister-in-law and just decided to ignore her words.
Now was the time to relax and enjoy this moment with his family.
Chapter 325: Operation Hard Thrust
¡°AHHHHHH!¡±
A blood-curdling scream rang out of the duke''s office and even echoed throughout the outer courtroom of the castle causing the guards all to stiffen in shock for a few seconds before rushing to see what had happened.
As they ran to the office their minds were filled with nothing but worry and bad premonitions.
Zundar was the first to reach the office and burst in without knocking or bothering with the guards near the door.
¡°Akira?! What was that scream about?¡± shouted Zundar as he quickly scanned the office for hostiles.
¡°Yap...¡± said a yawning Fluffball who was lying on his side enjoying the warmth from the fire.
Akira, the person everyone was worried about, was hopping on his right foot while holding his left foot and he muttered curses at the desk that was next to him.
Zundar and Akira''s personal guards all let out sighs of relief seeing that nothing was wrong with him.
They spent a few comical minutes watching Akira hopping on one foot until he finally turned to them with a scowl.
¡°What are you guys doing here?¡± asked Akira as he limped around on a sore foot.
¡°We thought someone had attempted to assassinate you. You know how tense it is at the border with nothing changing for so many years,¡± said Zundar.
Akira who had only been half listening to Zundar''s explanation only caught part of it, but those words quickly made him forget about the pain in his stubbed toe and he asked, ¡°What did you just say?¡±
¡°We thought someone had attacked you. If word got out...¡±
¡°This is perfect! Are our plans ready for operation ''Hard Thrust''?¡± asked Akira.
¡°...they have been ready for some time, but the enemy won''t take any of the bait we have offered. Why did you have to name it that? Can''t you come up with something better?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°What''s wrong with the name? It''s simple and describes what we plan on doing. Thrusting deep and hard before they know what hit them!¡±
¡°....¡± Zundar, Dolph, and Vilkas all looked at each other with silent knowing looks.
¡°Call the Grand Elders! I have a new idea on how to end this stalemate!¡±
***
The next day a rumor spread like wildfire claiming that the Duke of Kodria had been seriously wounded and was now incapacitated and was now holed up in his castle to heal.
Several hidden spies started moving into action with many of them reporting the rumor to those at the border. Some of them were close enough to the castle to have actually heard the roar of pain and were totally convinced that the rumor was true.
With this news, the demigods who had long been in a volatile non-aggression pact with each other, started to silently move more of their members and their human army towards the border. For most of the demigod officers, this was a now or never moment and so they were all preparing for a quick breakthrough that would allow them to rush towards the headless Kodria capital while their leader was recovering from his wounds.
In Kodria, as well as the Tri-pact dukedom there were similar discreet troop movements arriving at the main defenses along with the normal supplies being doubled.
Sometime later in a meeting room of Kodria''s castle.
¡°How has the spy hunt been going?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Those on the list were all rounded up and are sitting in the underground jails waiting for trial after the operation is finished,¡± said Grand Elder Hegir.
¡°They won''t be able to interfere with any of our plans,¡± said Grand Elder ¨¤aron.
Akira nodded before saying, ¡°I''ll be heading out with the last units of the main army and cavalry today. Varbu will be joining me with a large force of Warriors from Bent-gii. While King (In-training) Gobbers stays to defend the city and the local area from any surprise attacks.¡±
¡°What about me?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°You will be helping the navy and its marines. I need someone I can fully trust to oversee this core part of operation ''Hard Thrust''. How well you complete this task will be a major factor in determining if everything we are risking is a success or a failure.¡±
¡°...But you get to fight the big battle.¡±
¡°You will have plenty of battles to fight where you guys are going.¡±
¡°Where will the [Full Moon] guild be in all of this?¡± asked Grand Elder Seoc.
¡°They have already headed north towards their destination and should reach it before any trouble appears. The remaining soldiers and raw recruits will be stationed here along with the city guards. We can not take them as the coming battle is going to be bloody and many if not most of them would be wounded or killed.¡±
The Grand Elders and clan chiefs all had serious expressions on their faces as they knew that there were going to be many orphaned children in the coming battles.
There was no way around this fact. The Demigod''s power was strong in the past and had only grown stronger.
Kodria and its allies were lucky enough to stay afloat from their constant upgrades in armor, weapons, and constant skirmishes with the enemy that were trying to chip away at their defenses.
With this plan, they had decided to risk everything to wipe out the demigods. They did not want to even think of what would happen if their plan failed.
With the meeting over Akira walked through the castle hallways to reach his room so that he could say his goodbyes to Mileena and the twins.
¡°Do you really have to go?¡± asked Mileena. She was holding a crying Silvy close to her chest as she tried to calm her down.
¡°This battle is too important for me to not lead the defending army. Without me helping, I fear our chances of blocking their attack is little to none,¡± said Akira quietly. He reached out his hands and picked up Silvy who had stopped crying and was now sniffling.
¡°Why are you crying?¡± asked Akira as he hugged his daughter.
Silvy did not say anything and just hugged Akira harder.
Wyt, who had been hugging his mother''s leg, spoke up instead.
¡°Papa we heard that you''re going to fight a big battle... you''ll come back right?¡±
¡°Who''s been telling you about this? Is that why you are all worried?¡±
Wyt glanced at his mother but did not answer.
¡°The two were eavesdropping on a conversation I was having with Maya and Azura,¡± said Mileena.
Akira pulled Wyt closer to him and hugged the twins and he said, ¡°Don''t worry your father will be fighting along with many brave soldiers from Kodria and our allies. When I come back we can all have a party and your mother can prepare your favorite snacks.¡±
***
A week passed as the tension at the border continued to rise along with the forces on each side.
Akira had only just arrived a short time ago after using a ship to quickly head north and marched the rest of the way to the likely target of the demigod''s attack.
It was not hard to tell where the demigods were going to attack.
It would be the northern fortress which was the middle link of the Tri-pact wall and Kodria''s border of the north... or that is what Akira had thought.
¡°Are they really going to attack here? It''s been a week and still nothing?¡± said Akira as he watched the enemy forces from the safety of the fortress walls.
He along with his bodyguards had all been watching for any signs of attack since they got here. They had been rushing as fast as they could fearing that they may arrive too late or arrive during the battle. Having to wait several days made everyone antsy and stressed as they all knew a major battle was imminent but the wait was a killer.
¡°... and the humans under their control?¡± asked Akira.
¡°There is no point in trying to have someone prod the humans into revolting against the demigods. They have refused all our secret offers over the several years of standoff,¡± said Hort, the commander of the fortress.
¡°And the traps?¡± asked Akira as he looked out at the land far below the tall fortress walls that separated the demigod''s camp from the fortress.
¡°We have been preparing for years for such a time as this. Everything has been upgraded several times. They should all be ready by the end of the day.¡±
Akira only nodded and left the wall to roam the large fortress so that he could view the hardy soldiers that would be the core of the fortress''s defense to block the demigod''s push south.
What he saw were grim faces with little to no smiles or laughter in their quiet conversations.
***
At the break of dawn the next day a howl rang out throughout the fortress!
The enemy was attacking!
Akira was one of the first to head out of the main walls and take up a position with a small contingent of daredevil soldiers at the outer defenses to hold the enemy back.
The rest of the soldiers inside of the fortress gathered on the tall walls and manned the ballista and catapults that had been built in the several towers that overlooked the entire battlefield.
Thud, Thunk!
Large rocks and bolts flew high over Akira''s head as the ballista and catapults were the first to respond to the wave of attackers. The flying rocks plowed through the snow banks and the human bodies as they tumbled through their formations causing large patches of red snow to appear. The large bolts were not as flashy but when they struck a target, there were several humans being pierced together with just one of the large bolts. It was a grim sight to see as they struggled to stay alive. One man tried to dislodge the bolt from his stomach only for another person to cry out in pain and pull the bolt another way.
From what Akira could see this first wave of attackers was made up of mostly human warriors who were being commanded by a few demigod officers. The demigods did not pay attention to the large boulders and flying ballista bolts as they stood their ground at the rear of the marching wave of humans along with the ranged fighters. With a shout, the demigod officers and the ranged fighters launched their own attacks at the outer trenches and defenses that were set up to block them.
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Many of those standing alongside Akira were wounded by the constant stream of demigods'' attacks and arrows, but they stood their ground and continued to fire their own arrows at the approaching wave of humans.
When the wave of humans reached the outer range of the fortress''s archers, the demigods stopped moving and ordered the humans to continue forward while they launched skill attacks from the rear.
With Akira and the daredevil soldiers around him sending out constant long-range attacks targeting the humans, they became the target for the aimless human wave as they charged toward the trenches outside the fortress.
Akira silently watched as the humans ran through the thick snow. When they were only a few hundred yards away... ¡°AWOOOOO!¡±
With a fierce howl, he gave the order that the small force of daredevil soldiers had been waiting for. Together as one, they began retreating out of the trenches and back to the main defenses of the fortress.
The humans all gave roars of delight seeing the enemy retreating in fear of their charge!
Their morale was sky-high as they picked up their pace. The demigod officers, seeing the small force that had been blocking them were now retreating, decided to change their attacks to target other more important areas on the walls.
With Akira and his royal guards leading the rearguard and bearing the brunt of the attacks, they were able to successfully retreat back into the fortress.
Their mission had been fulfilled. Now it was time to see if everything would work as planned.
The approaching wave of humans rushed into the snowy trenches hoping for a place to hide from the ranged attacks of the fort.... but the trenches were dug so that the archers on the walls had a clear line of sight of anyone in them.
Arrows continued to rain down on the humans and a loud clatter was heard as flaming tarred logs rolled down from the walls and into the pits crushing legs, arms, and pinning dozens of the humans under the flaming logs. Those trapped all died an agonizing death by being burnt alive in the middle of the cold winter months.
The demigod officers who were commanding the humans did not pay attention to the rising number of deaths and continued to launch skill after skill at those on the fortress walls.
The attacking human''s morale plummeted as they were being hailed with all kinds of attacks and tried to hug the dirt walls to no avail. Small groups of men tried to rush out of the trenches towards the fortress walls but were cut down by arrows. Those who wanted to retreat also faced the same withering ranged attacks.
In less than a half hour the entire first wave of humans were either dead or severely wounded.
¡°Ah!¡± ¡°Mother!¡±
The dying moans of pain and cries for their family haunted the ears of those who were defending the fortress walls.
Of the first wave of attackers only a handful of humans had made it back to the demigods... only to be killed by skills launched by the officers. Failure was not tolerated.
Throughout the fortress, cheers erupted as they watched the demigods retreating back to their own encampment.
¡°Well done!¡± Shouted Akira, ¡°Don''t celebrate yet. That was just their first wave of attacks. We have not defeated them yet, they probably have many tricks ready for us. We must be prepared for such things and not let our guard down!¡±
***
Far to the North of the large-scale battle that was happening at the border fortress.
Zundar and a force of naval marines silently disembarked off their ships and silently rushed toward the walls of the shore town that was held by the demigods.
Zundar lowered his shoulder and charged through the wooden gate of the town!
¡°Enemy attack!¡± shouted a panicked guard who had been half asleep and was not trying to sound the alarm.
The rest of the town''s guards were just as unprepared for an attack. They were all taking it easy as the main army was battling far to the south and it was only a matter of time before they crushed the demon races.
The marines led by Zundar incapacitated the human guards before rushing through the streets to the largest building in the town.
A drunk and half-dressed demigod officer stumbled out of the building.
¡°Was go''n un?¡± asked the demigod as he looked around.
Shunk! A sword pierced his exposed stomach and sliced him open causing him to disappear into hundreds of lights before he knew what was happening.
Zundar and the marines rushed into the house to search for any other demigods but found no one else.
With their search finished they walked to the town center square.
¡°Kodria claims this town for its own!¡± shouted Zundar. This was the sentence that Akira had told him to shout only after clearing the town of all demigods.
The townspeople along with the guards that had been knocked over all looked at him cursorily but did not say anything or even cheer.
They were all tired and worn out from the constant changing overlords and the long work hours they had been enduring to produce war material for the demigods.
Zundar did not pay them any attention as he looked to the marines who had followed him. They all managed to complete the fight without receiving even a scratch.
¡°One down, a crap ton more to go! Let''s go!¡± roared Zundar.
And just like that, they left as quickly as they had arrived and escaped using their boats to sail up the river.
***
Near the dwarf''s territory in the northeast well behind the demigod''s main line of defenses, a similar situation was happening as the dwarves along with an allied force of mixed demon races marched through underground tunnels and launched attacks on the towns nearest to them.
One by one the demon race¡¯s combined army, navy, and marines conquered the lightly defended towns and villages that had sent most of their fighting force south.
The territory and places where the demigods could reappear were being pushed farther and farther north.
***
The attacks in the north behind the major demigod army in the south were not going unnoticed by the major guilds who had all gathered to break through the Tri-Pact wall. They were in the middle of a heated discussion on what to do about the troubling news.
¡°What the hell is going on? In the last day, we lost nearly half of our territory!¡±
¡°We must call off this attack! If we continue our guild will have nothing left!¡±
¡°No! We have already prepared and sacrificed so much for this attack! We just need one good push and we can break through! When we capture Kodria it won''t matter if they capture a few towns in the north. We can just turn around and smack them down!¡±
¡°That''s easy for you to say since you are not the one who has lost any territory yet!¡±
¡°That fort looks small, but those inside just keep being replaced one at a time! We won''t be able to take it out quick enough!¡±
Bang! The door to the makeshift command post opened letting in the cold winter air.
¡°I have good news! The Demon Hunter guild has just sent word they will be sending out the reserve forces to deal with the raids! We are to focus on breaking through and taking Kodria!¡± said a young demigod who was breathing heavily from running all the way to the command post.
¡°Great! That solves our problems!¡±
***
¡°The enemy forces have left the city. Do you want us to act now big sis?¡± ask Crowbahr.
¡°Wait. If a call for help goes out right now they can still return while we are attacking. Just to be sure we will attack later tonight.¡±
***
The fighting at the border fortress was growing more deadly as the demigods started to actually participate in the attacks on the fortress. This caused the death count to quickly rise in number as the defenders fought back the constant waves of attacks.
It was already midnight but the demigods had decided to go all out and launched a full-scale attack only using the moonlight to see. But with their poor eyesight, the demigods and humans were always receiving presents left by the defenders outside the fort.
Booom!
Several large explosions rocked the ground and minced the human soldiers and demigods that were the first to enter the area that held the present. The blinding light of the explosions caused havoc with their night vision.
Their charge faltered for a moment as the survivors tried to figure out what happened while they hid from the fortress''s ranged attacks.
¡°Forward!¡± roared all the demigods as they tried to kick and smack the humans into action.
With the massive attack once again moving the defenders were under constant bombardment of various skills from the demigods as fireballs, ice shards, wind blades, and all kinds of other attacks slammed into the walls and defenders.
Tens of hundreds of humans rushed to the wall with ladders and ropes with hooks placing them against the wall were cut down. The ladders were held in place by the pile of bodies at their base as more and more humans were pushed forward and up the ladder.
The defenders fought with all they had to knock down the ladders and cut the ropes off the wall while also engaging in melee combat with those who managed to climb onto the wall.
At the climax of the battle... for some reason, the demigods suddenly stopped attacking and retreated. This caused confusion in the defenders who had been fighting all day and were on the verge of collapsing.
¡°Sound the war horns to form up at the gates! Send out the order to enact the plan!¡± growled Akira.
Burru! Burru bururrur! Awwoooooo!
Two different orders were sent out.
The soldiers in the fort had no idea what was going on and only followed orders defaulting to the training that had been hammered into them.
Akira hopped onto Grarr joining the other cavalrymen that had been waiting for him. Without a word, they all charged through the tight streets of the fortress and headed to the fortress gates which had been heavily battered and were slowly opening up.
¡°Awoooo!!!¡± Akira pointed his sword forward and the cavalrymen followed him as they squeezed through opening gates while a flood of infantry rushed out to follow them.
Only the bare minimum of the most exhausted were left inside the fortress to hold it in case of a surprise attack.
The demigods and the humans under their command had had a head start and only needed to quicken their pace as they retreated back to their strong defenses. Only a few hundred humans were captured or killed before escaping back behind the defensive walls of their encampment.
¡°Ha! These stupid demons are asking for their death following us here! They fell into our trap! This helps us greatly! We can just wipe them out now!¡± shouted a gleeful female demigod as she watched the approaching demon race army from the safety of the fortified walls.
¡°We don''t have time to waste here! Froit the main city in the north has fallen to the enemy! We need to leave now! If we don''t every town will fall leaving us with nothing!¡± shouted another demigod as he was packing his belongings from his nearby tent.
¡°For Kodria! For the demon race! For the Tri-pact alliance! We must not allow any of the enemies to escape!¡± growled Akira as they charged into the gates that were slowly closing.
¡°What idiot left the gates open!¡± shouted an angry demigod as he rushed towards the gate to try and help block the attackers.
Many allied soldiers and cavalrymen were cut down by the attacks of the demigods, but they knew that they must press the attack for the safety of the entire demon race and allied human cities.
As the guild leaders argued over what to do with Akira and those attacking them at the front gates as well as the news about the fall of Froit...
...attacks started to rain down on the demigod''s fortified encampment from the rear, cutting down many unprepared demigods as well as those who were part of the reserves and were resting up from the battles earlier in the day.
Two large forces of infantry had appeared out of nowhere right behind them! If one were to really look closer when the sun was out they could see hidden tunnels in the ground.
The demigods were now the ones surrounded on all sides and were being hammered hard. Since the majority of fighters were near the front gates, the rear defense of the encampment was too weak to withstand the surprise attack and buckled allowing the attackers to quickly push into the encampment causing mayhem.
Akira continued to fight with one demigod after the other, cutting them down in his now bloody black armor causing several of the demigods to be afraid of him as he walked towards them.
With the collapse of the rear, the battle at the front gates intensified as more escaped towards the gate''s main fighters.
¡°Awwwoooo!¡± Akira used his skill [Intimidation] causing those in the area to twitch and falter in their attacks or defending attacks aimed at them causing a large number of bright particle lights to light up the dark night.
The demigods were all cut down and none were offered quarters.
***
Zundar, the Dwarven led army, the [Full Moon] guild, and the dozens of other allied forces that popped out of nowhere continued their raids and battles all through the night and into the next day with little to no rest.
With each town and village that fell the large army of demigods that had been defeated had one less place to reappear at.
The allied forces that had been waiting for years and had prepared for a time just like this went wild as they tried to wipe out the scourge of demigods that plagued the land.
Not all of the attacks were successful leaving some of the attacking forces to be wiped out by the defending demigods. But most of them were able to complete their tasks without many losses.
At the main shoreline towns controlled by the demigod''s naval forces, Zundar and the marines engaged in ship-to-ship combat as they fought to capture the ships and deny the demigods a chance to escape or interfere with other forces on the continent.
With each of the guilds losing most if not all of their captured territory many of them were unable to reappear on the Foradverold continent. There were still a few small groups of demigods that were scattered throughout Foradverold that had to be dealt with. That was not a problem anymore.
With such fast land acquisitions, Kodria''s dukedom grew to the point of bursting!
Ding!
Requirements for Creating a Kingdom have been met!
The Kingdom of Kodria has been founded.
Kodria has been upgraded to a Rank 3 Kingdom!
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Title received!
First KING: Kodria is the first modern King!
|
With the founding of the Kodria''s Kingdom, you have completed the Main quest Foradverold Kingdom Maker!
A notification will be sent out to the remaining participants along with the rewards based on your ranks!
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Chapter 326: Dream Reader
Over the past few weeks, the sweep up of the last remaining Demigods continued to roll on under the command of several officers and allies while Akira was forced to focus on work in the capital of the newly formed Kodria Kingdom.
One could say not much had changed for Akira with Kodria becoming a kingdom other than the fact that he was now a king instead of a duke... but they were wrong!
He was swamped with so much paperwork for the cost of paying guards, the castle city watch, funding city repairs, new roads, and building new housing and buildings for businesses just to name a few things.
He had been locked inside his office day after day not able to leave until the important matters were taken care of so that on the off chance he needed to leave the capital to take care of something it could function as usual with just the help of the Grand-elders and the clan chiefs.
During this time the Grand-elders were elevated to high ministers of the kingdom''s new government while the chiefs of the tribes and different demon races were allowed one lower minister to represent them in the royal court.
Since the kingdom''s formation there had only been a few meetings with the entire royal court in order to sort out a few details before Azura dragged Akira away and locked him back up in his office. Azura had been using this as a form of payback for having her do a lot of paperwork while he was gone.
Akira reached his hand out for the last piece of paper on his desk and pulled it toward him so that he could read it and decide what to do with it.
¡°Hmmm... the navy wants more gold allocated to these shipbuilders so that they can build more ships? Our navy is pretty bare bones right now using whatever we have to do all sorts of jobs... I''ll just consider it a future investment,¡± said Akira as he started to go through the fine print and fill it out properly.
¡°Finally done!¡± said Akira as he placed his worn feather pen back into its metal cup holder.
Seeing that Akira was done working, Fluffball hopped up from his favorite napping spot in front of the fireplace and rushed over to Akira, his tail wagging so quickly it was almost a blur.
As he stood up and stretched, a knock was heard on the door.
¡°Klyn has arrived,¡± said the guard through the door.
¡°Let him in,¡± said Akira as he rubbed Fluffball''s head while smiling and thinking of all the things he could do now that his torture was over... for now.
When Akira saw Klyn''s grim face as he entered the room, his smile disappeared and he asked, ¡°What is it? Did someone suffer a large defeat in the north against the demigods?¡±
Klyn shook his head, ¡°No messages of such a thing have reached me. I''m here to inform you of an important guest who came all the way from the southern Earth Tribe and has just arrived.¡±
¡°...do you want me to meet them?¡± asked an uncertain Akira.
Klyn nodded his head, ¡°She came all the way here with only her guards just to see you.¡±
¡°...and she is?¡±
¡°When I heard she was here I decided to come let you know personally since she''s the oldest living shamen priestess of either of the earth tribes. She has lived long enough to have seen the rise and fall of many Demon races. That is why I''m a bit surprised that she managed to make the trip here. Her age is not why she is a revered guest, it''s her rare skill of dream reading that has caused her to be a famous icon among the shamen. With her ability, she is able to predict the future from the dreams she has. She is adamant that she must see you as the kingdom''s future safety is at stake right now.¡±
¡°Is there a large counter-offense in the north that we don''t know about?¡± asked Akira while he exited his office with Klyn and Fluffball walking beside him down the stone hallways. The royal guards keep a good distance behind them allowing them to talk without interruption.
¡°None that I know of. Captain Pegleg has been patrolling the sea and coastline the past few weeks and has not encountered any enemy ships in great numbers yet.¡±
Akira stopped at the end of the stone hallway unsure which way to go.
¡°She is resting in one of the underground shaman research rooms,¡± said Klyn.
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Akira and Klyn rushed down the stairs two steps at a time and arrived at the dark underground room that the old dream reader was resting in.
¡°So... we finally meet,¡± came an old wizened voice from the open door. ¡°When you made your trip to our home in the south I was unable to meet you due to being sick at that time.¡±
Akira cautiously entered the dark room, his vision quickly adjusting to the darkness and focusing on a faded gray hooded cloak that covered the frail body of the old Dream Reader. Beside her were over half a dozen burly guards that had escorted her all the way here.
Akira nodded to the guards around the old dream reader but they did not return his gesture and stayed alert ready to protect her.
¡°Do not pay them any attention, they are no fun. I am sure you are wondering why I have made such a long journey here at my age just to see you.¡±
¡°It is an honor to meet you and yes I am curious to know the reason why. The trip must have not been easy for you especially with the current cold months weather acting up.¡±
¡°Although my old bones ache, I have faced harsher years than right now so it was no problem. The reason I had to come here was because of the dreams I kept having. All of them were different dates and events where I ended up meeting with you in order to receive an important message.¡±
¡°Dreams? Of me?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Yes. My dreams are not something to ignore or dismiss. In the past those that have not listened to me or taken my words to heart have always regretted it later after everything was said and done... if they were even still alive.¡±
Akira looked to Klyn who was standing next to him. He still had some doubt about this but when he saw that Klyn nodded to him confirming what she was true, he turned back to the frail old dream reader.
¡°What do you need me to do?¡± asked Akira, not sure what she needed from him.
¡°You right hand,¡± said the old dream reader, stretching out both her withered hands palms up for Akira to place his hand on top.
Since it was such a simple thing he stretched out his hand and placed it gently on her small hands.
Her small dry hands moved to cover his hand with the right hand on top and the left underneath. With that completed, she closed her eyes and started to silently mutter to herself while rocking from side to side.
As Akira watched the old dream reader, his vision started to slowly dim as the room seemed to grow darker and darker. While his consciousness was fading, the sound of fierce crashing waves and the cries of seagulls rang through his ears...
***
Smack!
¡°Ow!¡± shouted a startled Akira as he was woken up by the slap to the face.
¡°You finally woke up!¡± said Klyn.
¡°Why''d you hit me?¡±
¡°You have been standing there sleeping for the last 2 hours. I thought you were still in a trance but no, you were just snoring and sleeping making us wait so long! Madam dream reader has been waiting this entire time for you to wake up so that she could tell us what she saw.¡±
Akira sheepishly rubbed his face and looked over to the old Dream reader who was still sitting where she had been before he lost consciousness.
¡°Sorry... I haven''t slept much lately,¡± said Akira as he bowed in apology to the old crone.
She only nodded in understanding before motioning for him to sit in front of her.
Akira quickly sat cross-legged on the stone floor in front of her like a young student ready to learn from his elderly teacher.
Klyn let out a chuckle seeing Kodria''s new king acting like this. With a sharp look from the old crone, he also joined Akira on the stone floor.
¡°What I saw in my past dreams came true. I was able to receive a message just from the contact with you. Again I would advise you to take this warning seriously,¡± said the old dream reader slowly as she tried to think over each word so as to not make a mistake.
Akira nodded letting her know that he understood.
¡°A new danger is about to rise up... from it, there is a possibility that the tools of destruction will be created or found... there is a great possibility that this new danger will be able to wipe out both the human and the demon race continents if it is not handled properly...¡±
She was silent for over a minute before jerking as if she had been shocked by lightning.
¡°The danger will come from the sea!¡±
With those words, her body slumped limply into the arms of one of her guards who slowly laid her down on a cot that had been prepared for her.
¡°The reading is over. We can leave,¡± said Klyn in a whisper.
Akira nodded and left the room with Klyn, Fluffball, and the royal guards.
The old dream reader''s words continued to ring in his ears as he thought over them repeatedly trying to fully understand every word to make sure he did not miss any hidden meaning. He knew things like this sometimes came to people in incomprehensible riddles.
Luckily her words were rather concise and clear. While he mulled over her words in the back of his mind he was conscious of the fact that he had heard the sound of rough waves and sea birds before falling asleep. There was no doubt about that which led him to believe the old dreams reader''s words far more than some random fortune teller who read palms or guessed the future by looking at the stars.
As he reached the front inner courtyard of the castle he stopped in his tracks, cocked his head to the side, and listened to a distant sound.
Fluffball also stopped and listened.
¡°AWWWOOOOOOOOO! Awoooo!¡±
Akira frowned after listening to the message coming from both of the river forts. He turned to Klyn and said, ¡°I thought you said that Captain Pegleg was in the north patrolling the coast for demigod ships?¡±
Chapter 327: Forgotten human fish and waking legends
¡°That was what I read in the most recent reports. I did not hear anything about him having any plans to come down here,¡± said Klyn.
Instead of going back to his office, Akira led his small group down to the docks to meet with Captain Pegleg and see what had brought him here.
When they reached the stone docks, a large three-masted wooden ship which was flying a crudely drawn skeleton flag, was slowly sailing towards the docks where Akira was standing.
The ship was one of the largest Akira had seen before and it was not of any design that he had seen from any locals or coastal towns. It stopped a good distance out so that it would not run aground. The large ship was swarming with skeleton sailors that were running around like headless chickens doing who knows what, some of them actually were missing their heads.
Two large whaleboats were filled with the skinny Skeleton sailors with the last to join them being far taller than the others while also wearing a large black triangle hat along with an eye patch covering his left eye.
Splash! The two whaleboats were lowered slowly until about halfway before the rotted rope snapped and the two boats fell the rest of the way causing a decent amount of water to spray the occupants who were wearing leather armor which blocked most of the holy water.
Watching all this made Akira worry for the captain and his crew, but when the whaleboats bumped into the stone dock he was able to let out a sigh.
¡°Welcome back Captain Pegleg. What brings you here today?¡± asked Akira as he stepped forward and offered the captain a hand.
Captain Pegleg grabbed Akira''s hand with his own bony hand and shook it before using Akira''s arm to pull him up onto the docks.
¡°I came to inquire about buying new shnips from Kodria to help grow my fleet,¡± said Captain Pegleg as he shrugged his bony shoulders to reposition his captain''s coat on his slim skeleton body.
¡°Currently we don''t have any to sell, Kodria is also lacking new medium and large ships for its own navy since we have been focusing our resources on the battle supplies with only a few smaller troop transport ships being created recently. If you want I can help you put in an order for them, but I have a feeling that you won''t be able to receive them any time soon. The shipbuilders will soon be working on a new order of ships for Kodria''s navy.¡±
¡°Why worry about the small things? We have captured more than enough sheps. The only problem is it is so hard to keep them sailing at full efficiency. If you could help me by repairing my shaps then that should be just fine as well! With them all fully repaired I can continue my patrols and capturing prize shneps from those beings called demigods!¡± said Captain Pegleg waving a bony hand around.
¡°That shouldn''t be much of a problem. How many of your ships are in need of repair?¡± trying to stop his brain from being overloaded with the task of understanding the captain''s weird logic.
¡°Hmmm... maybe over a dozen or two that are still floating. There are also 6 or 7 that are docked at our base of operations unable to sail right now from the damage they received in the counter offense against the Demigods.¡±
¡°That''s... quite a lot,¡± said Akira. The number of ships that Captain Pegleg had captured was far greater than Kodria''s own navy!
Now he was really feeling the inadequacy of the small navy that had been neglected due to the land war, the rebuilding of Kodria''s inner and outer city, as well as the several other branching cities and forts under Kodria''s control. This issue would need to be fixed, and fast!
So far he and the other allies had not paid much attention or worried about building a navy since Captain Pegleg had been doing an amazing job at keeping the enemy ships under control. This allowed everyone else to focus on the demigods who were on land and were a greater threat.
Now with the old dream reader''s warning still fresh in his mind, he was really feeling naked with how small Kodria''s naval fleet of sea-worthy ships was. Most of their ships were only meant for river and shore patrols, not for sailing long distances in the wide open seas.
The only way to fix this was to throw gold at the problem and hope it was enough to fix it.
¡°That''s more than I expected, and how will you pay for these repairs?¡± asked Akira skeptical of the skeleton captain who was not carrying any gold or other trinkets.
¡°I know you are fond of gold but I have something better than gold! My help! I will help you with anything you need!¡± said Captain Pegleg proudly.
¡°That''s... kind of you, but the resources, labor, and travel to and from your ships will cost a lot of gold and time to do this. I don''t think that will be enough to cover the costs...¡± said Akira.
¡°Wait, I haven''t finished my offer! I know that your mini-navy is always cramped and bottled up here. I will give Kodria rights to a patch of coastal land on my island to create a deep-water naval base for your sea-worthy ships! This will also help you with being able to repair my ships easier and faster,¡± said Captain Pegleg, nodding his bony head proudly.
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The other skeletal sailors all clapped their bony hands together with their jaws clacking as they praised their captain.
Now this was a very tempting offer for Akira. It was true that the few larger ships they had didn''t do much but float around in the lake as it was not easy navigating the shallows of both the lake and the river.
With a naval base on the same island as Captain Pegleg''s own main base of operations, it would be far more safe than if they picked a random spot on the north coast. Plus it was both close enough to the main river and the sea which would allow them to react to threats from both areas. If Kodria kept the smaller patrol ships and troop transports on the lakes and rivers and the medium and larger sea-worthy ships at an outer base they would be able to reach farther out into the sea and handle any problems that may present themselves.
¡°I am willing to accept this offer. But I have to walk it past the Grand-elders to make sure they do not have any concerns,¡± said Akira.
¡°Great! When can we leave to start fixing up everything?!¡± said an ecstatic captain Pegleg who clapped his bony hands happily.
¡°Eh... we still need a lot of time to sort everything first. Give me a few days to gather the resources and workers needed for such a project. I want to personally head to your island and pick a spot for Kodria''s new naval base.¡±
¡°Fine with me. You just can''t take the spot we are already using,¡± said Captain Pegleg. ¡°So what am I supposed to do while I wait for you?¡±
¡°If you want you can join me in...¡±
¡°Awoooo! AWOOOOO!¡±
Everyone in Akira''s group turned their heads towards the river forts once again.
Akira''s sharp eyes saw several scaly heads with sharp long horns coming out of their foreheads pop up from underneath the river water. In only a matter of seconds, the entire upper body of the horned creates surfaced revealing them to be blue-scaled Quilins with white manes of hair fluttering in the cold winter wind. Their front hooves raised up and slashed the air as they whinnied announcing their presence.
Akira knew that with such creatures the lower half of their body was covered with thick scales and instead of a pair of rear hooves like a horse, it had a scaly tail similar to a dolphin which allowed it to maneuver in the sea so easily.
As more and more Quilin rose up out from underneath the river water Akira counted at least 20 of them and each one was pulling a war chariot that held at least three mermen warriors.
Behind them, a large dark shadow appeared underneath the water, and when it broke the surface, it revealed itself to be a medium-sized blue whale with a fancy cabin on its back.
Akira was shocked at seeing such a large creature manage to work its way up the river all the way to the lake!
Spoooolosh!
A large geyser of water was spat out from the hole atop the whale''s back, most of it turned into a slushy snow and mist mixture as it fell back down due to the cold air freezing it.
¡°Who are they?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°Oh them... I forgot about them. Those Human Fish asked me if I knew you and if I could lead them to you,¡± said Captain Pegleg as he pointed to Akira. ¡°They were quite happy to hear that you had a kingdom of your own and it was connected to the sea.¡±
The whale shimmied its way into the lake and slowly floated over to the main docks escorted by the Quilin''s who were pulling the war chariots.
When it reached the closest point it could get without becoming beached on the shore, the cabin door atop its back opened up and two female mermaids came out along with a dozen or more heavily armored guards. The two females each had small crowns on their heads letting everyone know that they were royalty.
The two mermaids and their guards slid off of the whale''s head and with great grace and acrobatic poise they swam over to the dock where Akira, Pegleg, and the others were standing.
The busy work all around both the inner and outer docks had come to a stop as everyone gawked at what they were seeing in front of them.
¡°Hey big brother! Long time no see!¡± said the youngest mermaid as her head popped up out of the water next to the stone docks where Akira was standing.
¡°Princess Cora, is that you? Wow, you sure have grown up since the last time I saw you!¡± said Akira, a bit shocked at meeting the princess of the East Mermaid kingdom so unexpectedly.
¡°Hehe!¡± she laughed shyly at his compliment.
¡°It''s nice to meet you again,¡± said the older female mermaid. Akira looked closer and saw that it was Princess Shaarla of the West Mermaid kingdom!
¡°Kodria welcomes you with open arms. If you had sent word I would have gone out to meet you instead of having you come here by such difficult means,¡± said Akira as he looked at the medium-sized whale.
¡°It''s fine! Little Blue is used to clearing and widening rivers. The hard part is over now. He can swim back out easier after dredging and clearing up much of the river on the way here. That''s part of the reason we were late,¡± said Cora.
¡°So what exactly brought you here?¡± asked Akira, getting straight to the point.
The two princesses'' smiles were quickly turned into frowns and worried looks.
¡°We have come to ask for your help!¡± said Cora with a look of determination.
¡°This is a major problem! If we don''t take care of it now, there is no telling what will happen!¡± said Shaarla.
Akira''s gut fell as he thought about the warning from the old dream reader as well as all that was happening now. This was no coincidence.
Whatever was troubling the two princesses must be taken care of no matter what!
...the only problem was their sea ships were quite lacking.
¡°Can you say what is troubling you out here or do you want to go back to your cabin so we can talk in private about the matter?¡± asked Akira.
¡°There is no need to hide this information as it will affect everyone,¡± said Shaarla.
¡°There are several sea clans of the demon race that have come together long ago to guard a top-secret zone in the deep sea. Those there are tasked with keeping the area as quiet and undisturbed as possible. But recent reports have come in that the ancient sea monster of the old legends is slowly waking up from its several hundred-year sleep!¡± said Cora.
Ding!
New mission received!
The awakening legend: With the help of the sea clans help stop the coming calamity and protect the sea, the coastal cities, and even Kodria!
|
Chapter 328: Forbidden Zone
With the grand-elders being informed on the current situation and all that Akira had learned recently, new plans were put in place to begin the production of a massive order for new models of medium and large sea-worthy sailing ships.
The shipbuilders who spent most of the winter months doing small carpentry jobs to fill the lull until the warm months were now full of joy when they learned how many ships had been ordered. At least this winter and for the foreseeable future there would not be any hard months where they could barely scrape by.
The dockworkers only took a day to fully load up the few ships along with its sailors and marines for the planned excursion to the north with the mermaids.
Akira had already bid Mileena, Sylvie, and Wyt goodbye before boarding the newest and largest ship of Kodria''s small fleet the [K.S. Wulfric] named in honor of his grandfather. [K.S. Wulfric] and its sister ship [K.S SeaSurfer] were the only large man-o-war ships in Kodria''s navy currently. The remaining 4 sea-worthy ships were all frigates which included a refit [K.S. Pointy]and [K.S. Hail].
The six ships were well-armed and manned for the dangerous seas. With the four frigates now carrying 9 medium-sized ballistas on each broadside of the ship while also carrying over 400 sailors and marines. The two large Man-o''-war ships had three decks and were able to carry over 20 medium-sized ballistas on each broadside of the ship with 500 to 700 sailors and marines. They both had large fore and aft castles to protect and allow the archers to have the high ground (Reeeeee!) on the open sea.
The two large Man-O''-war were far more spacious than the smaller frigates but that was not saying much as they were all crammed together on the ship with nowhere else to go.
The planned future ships for Kodria''s navy would be similar to [K.S. Wulfric].
Kodria''s navy had just enough sailors and marines to fully man each of the ships to their maximum capacity. This was not a simple patrolling mission and they were expecting to engage in a fierce battle with the legendary sea creature.
Since all of this was going to happen out at sea, Kodria''s army would not be participating in this battle and would be focused on protecting the new kingdom as well as helping continue to root out the remaining demigods that had not been pushed out of the continent.
Akira stood in the Aft castle allowing him to see everything clearly as they sailed down the river behind ''little blue'' the medium-sized whale that was plowing through the middle of the river causing the waters to become muddy as it cleared the bottom of the river and its sides.
He watched in amazement at the sight as long undisturbed fallen trees, sunken ships, and other obstructions were pushed out of the way creating a deeper and clearer path for all ships now and in the future. This unusual way of dredging the river would greatly help Kodria''s transportation and the merchants that would want to sail to the capital with ships filled with even more merchandise to sell.
Behind Kodria''s 6 ships was Captain Pegleg''s own ship, but for some reason Captain Pegleg had decided to join Akira on [K.S. Wulfric] instead of his own.
¡°You really do have some nice smips! Better than many of the ones I have managed to capture. But they are not enough!¡±
¡°We''re working on that. Hopefully, by the time we are back we will have one or two new ships ready to sail depending on how long this voyage will take,¡± said Akira patting Captain Wulcot''s shoulder. ¡°I''ll have to promote you to admiral with all the new ships being added under your command.¡±
¡°It would be nice to get some new larger ships like these. Then we could really rain a lot of pain down on the enemy ships and land targets! With ships like these we could carry a whole army of marines for shore raids,¡± said Captain Wulcot.
As he was talking with Captain Pegleg and Wulcot, one of the war chariots pulled up beside the ship holding Cora and a few guards. The Quilins pulling the chariot to keep pace with the ship looked like they were galloping through the water as they rose and fell along with the waves.
¡°When we reach the large island near the end of the river we will be waiting for the other warriors from the other demon race sea clans. If they are already there, then we can head directly to the forbidden zone,¡± shouted Cora so that Akira could hear her.
¡°That sounds fine. We are just coming along to provide any help you need. From what you have told me about this legendary creature this issue can not be brushed off or ignored,¡± said Akira.
¡°We can catch up on other stuff later when we arrive at the meeting place!¡± said Cora waving at Akira before her chariot bolted forward heading towards the cabin on ''little blue''.
With such a large force of naval power, there were no issues as they traveled down the river and reached the island that Captain Pegleg had claimed as his own.
There were half a dozen crudely built wooden docks jutting out far into the deeper waters where several ships of various sizes were tied to each side of the docks. Both the docks and ships were packed with skeletal sailors walking about doing who knows what.
Most of the ships tied to the docks had so many holes from the battles they were in that Akira was amazed they were still able to float. he knew that Captain Pegleg had some sort of secret skill that supported such ships to sail even in such conditions but no living human would voluntarily step onto them for fear of it sinking.
A short distance behind the docks atop a decent-sized hill there were several crudely built stone and dirt fortresses that had been built to guard the left and right flank of the docks. Behind the forts was a walled-off city that was teaming with the undead skeletons.
It was a rather odd if not creepy thing to see. If they were not allies he would be more freaked out about all of this. The population of skeletal sailors and warriors was far greater than when Akira had first met Captain Pegleg. Some of the skeletons looked to be sentient as they were watching the new ships arrive. He guessed that these were the demigods that had changed their race and joined Captain Pegleg.
¡°Well what do you think?¡± asked Captain Pegleg while watching the different expressions on Akira''s face as he stared at everything.
¡°It''s, uh, really something,¡± said Akira.
¡°If you like, I can have some of my sailors show you around the coastline. I know a few choice spots that I don''t want. When you pick the spot you want to build your base, I can have my men start clearing and building everything for you!¡± said the ever so generous captain Pegleg.
¡°That would be much appreciated but you only need to work on the most basic things as Kodria will bring its own builders to work on the major facilities and other structures needed. Right now I will let one of the naval officers more knowledgeable on this matter take the tour.¡±
Before leaving the ship Akira issued a few orders for a team to head out along the coastline of the island and scout for a decent build suit. Several other smaller scouting parties were sent farther inland to see what food, water, and other materials were on the island. It would be a real help if they could stock up on water and food before starting the voyage ahead of them.
Akira did not go far away from the ships as he stayed close to the shore so that he could talk with Cora and Shaarla catching up on events that happened with each other since the last time they had seen each other while they waited for the other sea clans to arrive.
Within a half hour, the first of the three sea clans they were waiting for arrived. They were the Jellymuns, a humanoid jellyfish demon race with tentacle hair and different shades of blue or pink skin.
A short time after them warriors with shark-heads full of sharp teeth arrived followed by a scaly humanoid demon race that had no hair or nose only two eyes and a mouth.
Akira was rather surprised to see several of the gathered demon races as he knew that they did not get along most of the time due to the deep grudges with each other over the many centuries worth of fighting.
This issue seemed to be severe enough that they were able to put down such grudges and fight alongside each other... at least for now.
Still, even with them working together they did not want to talk, and seeing that everyone had arrived they set out to the forbidden zone without saying a word.
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There wasn''t much to write home about the trip since everything looked the same and Akira could only tell the time by the sun and moon. They had already been sailing for over a week and he was told that they had just reached the edges of the guarded area.
Near the latter half of the week, Akira was looking through a long collapsible telescope and saw a group of 9 small black ships in the distance.
¡°Awooooo!¡± The lookout in the crow''s nest also spotted them and sounded the alarm repeatedly howling.
Sailors and marines all put down what they were doing and immediately went to their battle stations.
As Akira scanned the distant targets for several minutes he finally let out a sigh.
The ships were not headed towards them or the forbidden zone, but deeper into the ocean. From what he could see, they did not seem to be demigod ships.
¡°Everyone as you were! Stand down!¡± shouted Akira, not sure what terminology to use with the sailors and marines.
Cora and Shaarla came over to their ships to chat with Akira.
¡°We also saw the ships, but they seem to be heading somewhere else. They''re most likely merchant ships since similar ships pass by here all the time. We are only a few days away from our destination. We''ll need your ships to take control of the waters above us and keep away both human and sea creatures that may come to interfere,¡± said Cora.
¡°You never know what might happen. We can not allow others to interfere with this battle. If you have warriors that are skilled at swimming we can take them with us to help fight any minions that may be lurking around the area. The demon sea races will be the ones to fight the legendary sea monster as we are the most skilled in such fights,¡± said Shaarla.
¡°All of the sailors and marines can swim and fight so you can take as many as you want. The only problem as you probably know is they can not breathe underwater.¡±
¡°Not to worry we have enough enchanted breathing scales that they can use.¡±
***
When the allied expeditionary force reached the forbidden zone, a small group of guards in charge of guarding the area came up to the sea level to greet them.
They led the ships even deeper into the forbidden zone where they pointed out spots for the ships to anchor in a safe enough area while also forming a screening circle around pitch black center which Cora called the abyss pit.
¡°I can take you down if you want to help fight?¡± said Cora offering Akira a hand that was not even close to reaching him so high above the water.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball who did not like the look of the dark hole below them.
Akira rubbed Fluffball''s head and turned to the marines who had volunteered to swim down and provide support, ¡°Let''s not waste any time. Throw the rope nets over and let''s get in!¡±
A few splashes were heard as the rope nets were thrown over allowing the marines to climb down into the water.
Akira was one of the last to enter the water and... he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not freezing cold like the waters near Kodria.
Cora and Shaarla both agily swam over to Akira making sure that he and the marines were not going to drown.
¡°Well... I guess we could have worse helpers...¡± said Shaarla as she looked at the floating marines whose swimming skills were little more than that of a baby mermaid.
¡°Follow us!¡± said an energetic Cora before diving under the water.
Akira and the marines followed the two princesses down deep under water and as they swam farther the light from the sun grew dim and the water grew colder and colder.
The chariots pulled by the Quilin had light stones embedded in them and were bright enough to light up the entire area around each one so that no one got lost and were able to follow the princesses closer and closer to the pit.
Akira and the marines all gave a sigh of relief when they reached a large cliff that surrounded the huge pit that had a width that was even larger than Kodria''s lake. They were not entering the pit but joining the guards at a fortified watch post that had been set up on the cliff.
Shaarla escorted the marines to one of the buildings that had been built in a way that no water entered them allowing people to stay relatively dry and warm while sleeping or eating if they wanted.
Akira stared with Cora at the edge of the pit and looked into the silent darkness not seeing anything of interest. The only thing he noticed that was off was the water around the pit moving differently from the water everywhere else.
¡°That''s from its breathing,¡± explained Cora seeing Akira focus on the different currents. ¡°It will wake up anytime now. All we have to do is wait. If it wakes up and decides to go on a rampage we must stop it at all costs.¡±
Akira spent the next few hours standing near the pit but nothing happened so he returned to the dry building with the marines and spent a day doing nothing but waiting inside.
On the second day as Akira and the marines were finishing breakfast the fortified watchtowers'' silent alarms began to ring, warning everyone of movement from deep within the abyss!
¡°Everyone stick together! If we get lost in the darkness that will be the fastest way to be picked off! Do not leave the fortified area,¡± said Akira before hopping into the pool underneath the dry house and swimming out to join the gathering sea clans.
Everyone was on pins and needles holding their breath as they watched a dark shadow approach the surface.
The first thing that came to Akira''s mind as he saw the outline was, ''Looks smaller than I expected.''
As it got closer he was able to see more details. A long black scaly neck, sharp silver teeth, and three stubby horns on its head in the shape of a crown. It had a chubby little body with four small scaly flippers and a hard spiky shell covering its back.
Everyone was on guard ready to fight as they stared at the legendary beast.
¡°Uh¡are you sure this is the monstrous legendary beast?¡± asked Akira, as he stared at it for a while but nothing showed up above its head making him even more confused.
¡°I''m not sure... We have never seen it before, only heard stories about it...¡± said Shaarla.
The legendary beast did not attack them and instead ignored them as it chased some fish around, managing to catch a few and eat them after a few minutes of wild swimming.
¡°It''s... so cute!¡± said Cora pointing at the legendary creature.
That was when the creature first took notice of them and swam back towards the pit as it squeaked out something unknown language.
Akira had to admit it was rather cute. He could not think this was the menace that he had been hearing about for the past several weeks.
A deep aquatic voice similar to the squeak escaped from deep below in the abyss. The voice caused the ground below, their bodies, and the ships far above them to vibrate.
For the first time, Akira could see something appear in the abyss. Two enormous gold eyes were staring out at them. The young legendary beast looked at them one last time before returning to the pit and quickly swimming back toward the large unblinking yellow eyes.
Swooosh! In only seconds a head as big as a hill with a neck taller than the tallest tree that Akira had ever seen shot out of the abyss pit. Its mouth was filled with two rows of silver sword-length teeth. On its armored back, the smallest of the spikes were all taller than a 6ft human and just as wide if not wider at the base.
As Akira took in all this it finally dawned on him! The legendary beast was a mother now?
¡°Was she in the past protecting herself and her territory while pregnant?¡± asked Akira as he watched the legendary beast stare at them.
¡°There were too many reports about the destruction that was brought to coastal lands, sea cities, and ships being chased and sunk just for her to be protecting her territory...¡± said Shaarla.
The legendary beast was having a silent staring contest with them not moving or blinking.
The princesses who were able to speak with all sea creatures decided to break the ice and communicate with it using the odd echoing voice.
The conversation lasted for several minutes, and the looks on the two''s faces were quite comical as they listened and talked to the legendary beast.
¡°Well?¡± asked Akira.
¡°She''s uh... not that nice. She told us to not bother her,¡± said Cora.
¡°She said she only allowed us to stay here since we kept people from bothering her. Otherwise, she had no problem with coming out and eating us. We have unwittingly been her royal guards for centuries...,¡± said Shaarla.
¡°...and her past?¡±
¡°Well... she claims that she was just playing around with them and when she was bored with them, she just smacked them away with her tail and left,¡± said Cora.
¡°So... what are we supposed to do? We can''t have such a creature causing havoc like that for us!¡±
¡°I think we should leave her be! If she is not going to attack or go on a rampage,¡± said Cora.
The sea clans all argued for over ten minutes with the legendary beast watching them the entire time.
For what it was worth Akira sided with the princesses not wanting to anger such a fierce-looking creature that looked to be even more powerful than Balue.
With the clans coming to an agreement the two princesses offered their terms to the legendary creature who thought for a few moments before nodding its head and returning to the deep abyss.
They had formed a mutual understanding with the legendary creature. Not exactly an alliance but now they were not enemies or food...
Ding!
The awakening legend secret option was completed!
Level up!
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''That was far simpler than I expected....'' thought Akira.
With there being no need to stay any longer they all returned to the surface and climbed back onto the waiting ships.
Akira looked to the distant sky and saw a storm was brewing.
¡°That looks like a rather nasty storm being cooked up. We better head back to the island as fast as we can. We wouldn''t want to get caught by it,¡± said Captain Wulcot.
¡°Indeed,¡± said Akira as he dried off and hugged an energetic Fluffball that had not seen him for two days.
Chapter 329: The Old World
Out in the deep ocean, far away from any land, a group of nine small black ships were slowing to a halt as they adjusted their sails and began throwing large anchors over the side now that they had reached their destination.
The nine black ships were anchored extremely far apart from each other to the point that they could barely see each other. If one were to look at the ships from high in the sky they would see that the ships were positioned so that they formed three smaller triangles. When looked at as a whole the three triangles were positioned to form one large triangle¡ªthree ships in the southeast, three in the southwest, and three in the north.
Loud moaning chants started to echo out from the black ships as the sailors stopped what they had been doing and focused on chanting while staring at the calm ocean at the center of their formation.
¡°Baaaa!¡± The unhappy cries of a goat that was tied up were ignored as the dark-robed figures brought it up onto an altar that had been built into the center of the ship.
A knife glinted in the sunlight as it was raised and slashed down on the goat''s neck spurting blood all over the altar. As the chanting continued the altar seemed to drink the blood that was flowing and started to turn dark red and glow ever so slightly.
Similar scenes like this were happening on all nine of the ships even without communicating to each other they were all completing their tasks at the same time.
The calm ocean between the formation of the ships started to slowly churn as the chanting continued for many more minutes uninterrupted. With a second sacrifice from each of the ships, dark clouds began to form above them high in the sky.
The ocean water''s chaotic churning began to take form as it slowly swirled in a circular motion picking up speed every minute that passed.
When a half hour of uninterrupted chant had passed, a small whirlpool had formed and was still growing wider. As it did the whirlpool started to emit a gloomy gray light.
The fierce roar of the whirlpool was now drowning out much of every other sound as it slowly picked up speed.
Crack! Lightning from the gathered dark storm clouds shot down and slammed into the center of the whirlpool. As if a floodgate had opened the lightning started to repeatedly rain down on the Whirlpool as it was growing wider and moving faster.
When the whirlpool reached the ships the center of the whirlpool started to slowly part allowing one to gaze deep down towards the ocean floor where no human, demon race, or any other land-based creature had laid eyes on...until now.
But instead of the ocean floor... there was a pitch-black swirling gray portal that was growing as the whirlpool pulled farther and farther to the side. While this was happening Lighting repeatedly slammed into the growing swirling portal as if trying to destroy it.
¡°No! I don''t want to die!¡± shouted a ragged female human as she was dragged to the altar.
Slash! Blood spurted out of her neck and quickly drained out of her body as it was sucked up by the greedy glowing altar.
A loud groan echoed through the air coming from the swirling whirlpool, it was as if the world was being torn apart. The echoing groan shook the humans on the ships to their very core. After the third human sacrifice...
CRACK!
A giant bolt of lightning, that was over a hundred yards wide, slammed into the portal. But this time instead of a calm smooth surface, a tear had opened, and from that tear a piece of dark black land that looked to have been burnt was revealed. The dark ground was completely dry and did not look like it was ever underwater.
The chanting began to pick up speed causing the alters and the whirlpool to glow even brighter. Soul shuddering tears could be heard from the portal as the hole slowly tore open revealing more of the scorched earth. Large boulders and odd-looking plants and trees started to appear as the gray portal was repeatedly hit by the massive lighting strikes and was torn to shreds.
If one looked close enough, they could even see what looked like buildings!
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Soon there were only tatters of the portal at the sides of the whirlpool revealing a large island of scorched earth. The whirlpool that had stopped growing a while ago once again began growing wider as its center was slowly pulled back.
The nine ships all cut their anchors but they continued chanting and offering sacrifices as they began to try to pull away from the whirlpool''s growing radius. But the speed at which it was expanding was growing too fast for the ships and caught them.
Even so, the dark-robed figures continued with the ritual as they swirled around the top of the ever-expanding whirlpool.
The size of the revealed land could no longer be considered a small island, its size now surpassed the largest island that had ever been mapped.
As more time passed another loud groan from the center of the whirlpool was heard and the scorched earth began to rise out of both the portal and whirlpool that were continuously expanding as fast as it could while a small continent rose out of the abyss and above sea level.
Everything was now happening automatically as the 9 ships had gone silent as they tried to hold on to any handhold while the ship swirled around almost comp on its side.
After an unknown amount of time trapped in the whirlpool¡¯s clutch... the nine ships one after another slammed into the new burnt land shattering them and scattering the occupants along with the altars all over the small continent that was still rising out of the torn gray portal.
The dark clouds above the whirlpool began to pour out all the gathered rain soaking the parched land below as more and more of the continent was revealed and rose above sea level.
After over a week of stormy weather, the whirlpool and the portal had completely disappeared.
In its place was now a small continent.
***
Akira was walking along the shore of the island viewing the recently cleared land that the skeletons had worked on as well as the crude docks that they had built for Kodria''s new deep-water naval base.
For now, they would have to suffice as there were more pressing buildings and fortifications to work on.
Now that the builders from Kodria were here, they were closely watching and commanding the skeletons on each of the building projects. Although the skeletons could work nonstop without the need for sleep or food, they often had to redo the jobs more than once as they tended to slack off if no one was watching them.
Ding!
A piece of [The Old World] has been summoned!
A ritual has been completed and summoned a long-lost continent from the old world out of the deep abyss!
This new land has many secrets, treasures, and dangerous creatures. The land is inhabited and the races that live here are strong warrior races.
There is a chance for new allies to help fight wars or a possibility for new enemies that you will have to fight!
It is up to you if you want to explore the new land or ignore it and allow others to grow rich from their discoveries!
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Ding!
[Awakening legend part II] Conditions met!
-You have a key item from [The Old World] in your possession so the mission is automatically accepted!
-Gather the remaining pieces to the secret hideout of an ancient kingdom and use the clues written on each piece to find the entrance so that you may receive the many rewards inside!
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Akira''s mind was pulled away from the construction in front of him as read the notifications.
The second message confused him for a second before memories of buying an old map from the auction many years ago came back to him.
Ding!
Akira''s bad gut feeling +10.
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¡°Damn it! I knew that the legendary sea creature mission was too easy!¡± said Akira now realizing what this all meant.
¡°Yap?¡± asked a confused Fluffball, who had been grooming his rear.
¡°Klyn! Go gather everyone for an emergency meeting on [K.S. Wulfric]. If I am right I think I have finally found out what the old Dream Reader was talking about!¡±
When the mermaid princesses, Captain Pegleg, and Captain Wullcot joined Akira for the meeting he explained everything to them causing much commotion.
¡°For some reason, the remaining demigods that were holed up in the last city gave up defending it and escaped last night on several boats headed out to sea,¡± said Klyn.
¡°This is probably why... they are looking to strike it rich on this new land,¡± said Akira.
Klyn rushed out of the meeting and gathered the shamen to send a communication to the Grand elders back in Kodria about the troubling news.
There were so many decisions to make and so little time to prepare! The only bright side was they still had a large portion of their supplies due to the last trip on the ocean not taking as long as they had expected.
Chapter 330: Conflicts above and below the Oceans!
While the captains of Kodria''s large ships sent search parties ashore to find enough food and water to replenish the supplies that they had used on their short trip out to sea, another man-o-war ship sailed up the river and arrived at the island to join her sister ships.
Akira watched the large ship sail up to the docks and inspected it closely. It was the newest ship Kodria''s shipbuilders had managed to complete during the time they had been dealing with the Legendary sea creature.
A shiny anchor splashed down into the murky waters and several ropes were thrown to the dockworkers as a skinny plank of wood was lowered down to the dock allowing a young man who was in his early twenties to rush down and stand straight in front of Akira saluting him smartly.
¡°Captain Nue of the ship [K.S Greenplanks] reporting for duty! I am glad I managed to reach you before you left somewhere else!¡± said the young green captain.
¡°If you had come half a day later you would have probably missed us. So this is the newest ship built? With how fast they built her, is it sea-worthy?¡± asked Akira skeptically.
¡°I checked every nook and cranny before we set sail. The trip here was smooth sailing with no issues!¡±
¡°You are quite young to be a captain of a new ship. What was your previous command?¡±
¡°I have been the captain of an old patrol ship taking over for the previous captain who was killed by a demigod attack during [Operation Hard Thrust]. The other captains agreed to promote me after going over the other candidates. I can assure you that although my ship, my sailors, and myself are all a little green we will not show any less guts and grit than the older ships and their crews.¡±
¡°How are your supplies?¡±
¡°Fully stocked, but you can never have enough water.¡±
¡°If everything goes according to plan, we will be leaving in an hour. Be ready to leave at that time,¡± said Akira.
With a salute, the young captain rushed back onto his ship to inspect the ship one last time and recheck their supplies.
When the long-awaited hour had passed, the last of the scavenging parties returned to their ships allowing them to raise their anchors and set sail for the open sea!
Kodria''s 4 frigates and 3 men-o-war were not alone as half of Captain Pegleg''s ships joined them on their journey to discover the unknown disturbance out in the sea. The remaining ships of Captain Pegleg''s fleet along with Kodria''s remaining smaller ships would continue to patrol the rivers and the shoreline of the continent to ward off any enemy attacks or attempts to recapture land.
But with this new major event happening along with the news he had heard from the shamen, Akira was not sure if any of the demigods had their attention on their land anymore.
Since all of this had to do with such a massive change to the sea both Princess Cora and Princess Shaarla decided to join them on the trip as this could cause major problems for their underwater kingdoms. If an entire continent appeared out of nowhere, then that meant many sea creatures'' homes would have been disturbed or outright disappeared which was going to cause massive turmoil as they fought for new homes.
The first few days of sailing were quite boring as there was nothing much to see besides a few rare large fish jumping out of the ocean at random times of the day.
There was nothing but water everywhere you looked.
¡°I feel a lot of relief now that the demigods have been pushed out but for some reason, my gut is telling me to not let my guard down...¡± said Akira as he watched the waves of the open ocean pass them as they sailed towards a distant black dot on the horizon.
Ding!
Akira''s bad gut feeling +1
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¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he stuck his head between the wooden rails and tried to bite one of the flying seagulls that were lazily flying circles around them.
Kodria''s ships were sailing in a single forward line while Captain Pegleg had half of his ships on either side in a messy order. The two princesses swam underneath them protecting the ships from any troublesome creatures that had been disturbed by the growing conflict deep under the water.
¡°Awoooo!¡±
Akira''s absentminded gaze was torn from the distant dark clouds in the sky and turned to look at the lead ship that was far ahead of [K.S Wulfric] which was sailing at the center of the stretched line.
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¡°Awooo!¡± one after another each ship''s lookouts all howled alerting the captains.
Gong! Gong! Gong!
The large copper gongs on each ship all began to ring, alerting and calling all sailors and marines on the ships to their battle stations!
The sailors rush to their battle stations all over the ship, some manning the ballistas, others gathering buckets of water to fight any fires, and readied medical supplies to treat the wounded.
The Marines all donned their armor and buckled on their sword belt before grabbing their shield and crossbows.
Akira followed the Marines to the front castle to get a better view of what had been spotted by the lookouts. The [Full Moon] guild members that had joined Akira on this ship also followed him. They had been given the honor to protect Akira and the ship along with his royal guards.
As he scanned the flat horizon for several seconds with a collapsible telescope he finally found what the scouts were howling about.
A large three-mast ship was sailing in the same direction as they were. The ship looked to have gone through hell as it was torn up worse than Captain Pegleg''s ships. It was barely reaching the speed of a few knots since its sails had a few large tears.
As he looked at the ocean around the ship trying to see what could have caused such damage he only managed to see the last of a tall ship''s mast slowly sinking underneath the water.
No dead bodies were floating in the water nor was there anyone trying to swim away from the sinking ship. Either the ship''s crew had been rescued or... killed by someone or something... Akira shuddered at the thought of the ship''s crew being eaten by a sea monster.
A bright flash of light caught his attention once again and he turned back to look at the tattered ship.
¡°%$^&!¡± said several of the marines that were standing nearby and watching everything happening in the distance.
¡°It''s the demigods...¡± muttered Akira as he saw several colorful skills fly towards Kodria''s lead ship, only for it to smash into the ocean well short of the intended target.
A nearby loud splash in the water drew Akira''s attention away to the distant demigods. In the water, both Princess Cora and Princess Shaarla had appeared riding in one of their war chariots.
¡°Has something happened?¡± asked Shaarla. ¡°There are two ships ahead of us that are sinking.¡±
¡°Demigods have appeared,¡± said Akira pointing to the distant tattered ship that they were getting closer and closer to.
¡°With such a large ocean, to be able to encounter them... is our luck good or bad?¡± asked Cora as she looked at the distant ship.
¡°It has nothing to do with luck. This only proves my worries. They are headed to the same place as us!¡± said Akira.
¡°What are we going to do with the demigods and their ship?¡± asked Cora.
¡°We must get rid of them along with their ship!¡± said Akira.
¡°Allow us to take care of it quickly! There is no need for your ships to put themselves in danger so early in our voyage,¡± said Shaarla.
Without waiting for Akira''s reply the two once again disappeared under the ocean waves.
Akira nervously looked to the north where the demigod ship was, hoping that the mermaids would not be found out or attacked before they could deal with the ship.
As he watched the ship, he became puzzled at what he saw. The tattered ship began to rise out of the water! Was this some sort of secret skill that the demigods had?
Akira''s crazy thoughts were quickly washed away when he saw the large back of ''Little Blue'' rise up out of the water seconds later.
A large gush of water shot out from its water spout striking the ship that was stuck on its back. The force of the attack was so great that the hull of the ship cracked wide open!
Before the demigods could regain their footing and counter-attack ''little Blue'' had sunk back into the ocean.
The ship now had a huge hole in the bottom and was quickly sinking as the water gushed in.
When the first of the allied ships was in range of the demigod''s ship it was already underwater with the surviving demigods struggling to stay swimming above the waves.
The twangs of crossbows shooting could be heard as the marines on each of the ships targeted the floundering demigods.
Killing them while they were in such a helpless state was not honorable, but there was never any honor with these demigods when they fought. The more demigods that were killed the less there were to try and kill them, at least for a short time until they came back for revenge.
The mermaids did not sit back and watch, they also helped out by piercing the demigods with spears and dragging them underwater to drown.
This would not be the last encounter they had with the demigods on the high seas.
Every other day it seemed that there were groups of one or two old ragged ships crewed by demigods that had survived [Operation Hard Thrust] and had escaped the land armies only to meet the naval forces out at sea.
Each encounter was quick and brutal thanks to the help of the mermaid''s sneak attacks from underwater.
As each day sailing on the open ocean passed, the sky above them grew darker and darker.
¡°Awoooo!¡±
GONG! GONG!
Akira had grown accustomed to the daily life on the ships and the almost daily sea battles. He took his usual spot on the front castle and scanned today''s target.
¡°Aw crap...¡± Akira''s hope for a short and easy battle was shattered when he saw the enemy ships ahead of them.
There were at least six large ships and they were all in good condition.
¡°Awoooo!¡± the warning howl rang out from the lead ship.
¡°They''re turning around to face us!¡±
Akira already knew deep down this was not going to be like the previous battles.
Chapter 331: Battle on the rough seas!
Each of Kodria''s and Captain Pegleg''s ships was abuzz with activity as the sailors, both demon race and skeletons, were scrambling all over the ship tossing water on the sails and other important parts to try and make it harder for them to catch fire.
¡°We can''t use the previous tactics since there are too many of them and are far more prepared than the ragged ships we have come across so far. Wait for us to engage them in battle, then you can hit them hard from the rear and underneath,¡± said Akira, shouting down to the two princesses who were waiting below the ship in a blind spot to block their war chariots from being seen by the demigods.
¡°If that''s what you want then we will do it!¡± said Shaarla waving to Akira before disappearing into a wave.
With the stormy dark clouds above them, the water had become rough with waves that were larger than normal, but there was nothing too deadly and was perfect for the chaotic battle that would be flaring up.
Kodria''s lead ship had already stopped sailing north and had turned east with the other ships following suit and creating a battle line where they were able to fully present their full broadside to the fast-approaching ships. The distance between the allied ships had also closed up so that they could provide support to the other nearby ships if needed.
The first battle line was made with the three men-o-war taking up the center and with two frigates on either side. A second battle line was formed behind Kodria''s ships consisting of Captain Pegleg''s ships which did not have any form of long-range attacks like the ballista on Kodria''s ships.
The majority of the skeleton sailors held swords, shields, and spears with a few using arrows. They were more used to boarding the enemy''s ship and taking them over.
¡°Aim properly!¡± shouted Captain Walcot who was standing at a large wooden steering wheel.
Each captain of the ships was also in command of giving orders to the ballista men, but in hectic battles they had the second in command take over for the captain as they focused on steering the ship.
The ballista men went about loading and aiming the large bolt toward the approaching ships, while another sailor scooped out some tar and slathered it on the sharp metal bolt, then stood to the side with torches ready to light the fire.
Everyone watched with great anticipation as the large demigod ships sailed even closer now allowing everyone to see the occupants on each of their ships.
¡°Light!¡± commanded the Captains. The men with torches stepped forward and lit the tar on fire.
¡°Fire!¡± shouted the captains from many of the ships.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Over 90 large burning spear-like projectiles arced through the air as each ship launched a full broadside.
Akira used his collapsible telescope to judge the success of the attack and although the majority of them splashed into the sea next to the ships there were still several that managed to find their target.
The bolts that did hit their targets, embedded themselves deep into the wooden hull of the ships starting small fires or tore through the sails leaving behind a few burnt holes where the tar had rubbed off. These fires were easily taken care of by the demigods who used ice or water skills but in doing so they also damaged the hull and sails more.
The Allied ship attacks were not aimed directly at the demigods standing on the ship and were just shooting at the ship''s hull and sails to try and disable them. Among the attacks, there were a few lucky hits that sent bright fragments of light into the dark stormy sky lighting up the ships in the area for several seconds.
¡°Independent fire! Make them count!¡± shouted Captain Walcot as he focused more on sailing his ship and offering good angles for the ballistas to shoot at the enemy ships.
They managed to fire off one more full broadside before the demigods sailed into the range of their ships and started launching their attacks.
With the rough waves causing the ships from each side of the fight to bob up and down, it was hard to properly aim their ranged attacks. Because of this most of them tended to fly high over the ships or land in the sea just short of the ship.
But the attacks from the demigods that did hit caused massive problems! Ropes holding the sails taunt were snapped, fires were started, and both sailors and marines on the exposed top deck were wounded by the direct attacks that managed to hit them.
Unlike the Demigods, they had no special skills to deal with fires so easily.
The sailors, with the help of the marines, used buckets of water to put out any fire that they could and for the larger fires, they chopped or sliced off the parts that were burning and tossed them into the sea to stop the spread.
¡°Do you want us to launch our attacks now?¡± asked Crowbahr.
¡°Wait a little bit more, we need them to get closer so that we can catch them off guard and cause the most damage!¡± growled Akira as he watched the approaching ships.
Unlike the allied ships, the demigods were in no particular formation. Some of them were well ahead of others, not regulating their speed to stay with the slower ships that were still far behind them.
The lead demigod ships bore the brunt of the attacks and were now filled with burnt holes that had been frozen over to block the rough sea water from entering the lower decks. But with each wave slamming into the hull the ice was melting away slowly. Their sails were now full of burnt holes and many of the rigging ropes had been snapped causing the ship''s speed to slow down considerably as the wind just blew through the sail''s large holes.
Although most of the ballista men changed their targets to the lesser damaged ships behind them that did not mean that the slow and damaged ships were harmless since they were still filled with demigods who continued to launch attacks in their direction.
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Akira watched the hectic scenes all around him as sailors ran around with buckets and axes chopping and splashing water to take care of the fires.
As Kodria''s first battle line turned around to face the enemy ships again they were now at the range where the marines'' cross-bolts could reach the enemy ships. From each ship, there were loud thunks as the cross-bolts from the marines shot at the exposed demigods on the top decks of their ships.
As Kodria''s ships passed by the first demigods'' ships Akira could hear several curses being hurled at them by the demigods as they launched skill attacks at the ships and the sailors.
While passing a second demigod ship, they were so close that the demigods tried throwing grappling hooks on their ship!
Only a few managed to snag the rails of the ship with a few of them, the rest fell into the sea. The few that did catch caused the ship to groan and lean slightly to the side going off course slightly as it struggled against the heavy weight of the ship that was now attached to it.
The problem was taken care of quickly as the marines chopped the ropes separating them once again. Twenty burning ballistas launched themselves right into the side of the enemy ship as well as the already tattered sails causing more burnt holes to appear while also allowing water to leak into their hull.
With [K.S. Wulfric] being slightly slowed and pulled off course the enemy ship launched even more grappling hooks. Several demigods who were standing on the sail beams high above the deck unfurled long ropes and jumped down and swung through the air high over the sea before letting go of the rope when they reached the correct angle to fly the rest of the way to the ship.
The marines on the fore and aft castle tower opened fire on the Demigods who were flying through the air.
Fluffball joined them by shooting several quick ice attacks at the demigods.
Many of the demigods were pierced with so many holes that they turned to light fragments before they could even land on the deck. One of the demigods had misjudged his jump and splashed into the water well short of his target. No one was paying him any attention and he was quickly left behind by the ships as the waves swept him away and out of sight. Of the many that had jumped only two managed to successfully land but they were heavily wounded.
Even so, they were able to land several killing blows to those who stood near them before being overwhelmed by the marines and cut down.
¡°Now!¡± growled Akira.
¡°On it!¡± said Crowbahr.
The [Full moon] guild members opened up nearly point blank, targeting the unprepared enemy demigods on the ship sniping them before they knew what had happened. After the first attack, there were only a few wounded demigods alive along with the captain of the ship who gave up engaging in a melee battle with [K.S. Wulfric] and managed to steer the ship far enough away to protect themselves from being boarded... although that was not much help for them as they were taking on water like crazy and were now forced to focus on trying to stay afloat.
It was a fruitless attempt as their ship became dead in the water and started to sink.
The original first battle line had turned to chaos as the ships were engaged in 1v1 and 1v2 battles.
Captain Pegleg''s ships had all sailed in from behind the first battle line and were now all targeting several of the ships as they launched their grappling hooks, climbed the ropes, and swung from one ship to the other. With their light bodies, they were able to have several skeleton pirates swinging on one rope at a time allowing for faster boarding action onto the enemy ships.
The demigods had a hard time targeting the skeletons due to several of the attacks going right through or past their bones leaving them frustrated. Several of the ship battles became melee fights between the boarding undead skeletons and the never-dying demigods.
In a desperate attempt to destroy a skeleton ship that was latched to a demigod ship, one of the more heavily damaged demigod ships aimed its bow right towards the enemy ship and rammed it!
CRACK! The skeleton''s ship received a huge hole in its side, while the ship that had rammed it also received severe damage to its bow where large amounts of water was now rushing in.
No matter how many ice skills were launched at the hole it was still unable to stop the rushing water, all it did was manage to freeze both of the flooding ships together causing an even more troublesome problem as they began to sink.
The skeletons who were on the sinking ship gave up staying there with each skeleton launching themselves onto the demigod ship they were already grappled to.
The demigods on the sinking ship were not as lucky since they were too far away to do something similar. It did not help that their ship was also sinking faster than the skeleton ship which was now being pulled under as the fused mass sank together.
Fwush!
A large burst of water shot up into the air from under the ocean which began to churn crazily.
Akira grew worried about what was going on underwater as the mermaids had been missing in action the entire time and now there seemed to be a large battle underneath one of the ship battles!
A large gray tentacle the width of an adult elephant reached out of the ocean and wrapped around one of the slow demigod ships that was sinking.
Crack!
The tentacle flexed its muscles and snapped the ship in half!
¡°Sea monster attack!¡± shouted the lookout alerting everyone to the danger.
The tentacle disappeared once again only to appear high above another sinking demigod ship.
¡°Is it helping us?¡± asked Beater.
¡°I doubt it!¡± said Akira as he saw another tentacle rise out of the water right in front of them!
¡°Cut it down!¡± growled Akira as he transformed and launched a [Sword Slice] attack at the tentacle.
Several other skill attacks shot out from the [Full moon] guild members. The combined attacks caused the tentacle to receive deep wounds and flop back into the sea.
With the new danger of the sea monster appearing, two of the demigods'' ships who had been near the rear and had the least damage turned around and began escaping from the battle leaving the remaining ships and their occupants behind.
Three of those ships were sinking while the fourth was being bordered and the demigods were slowly turning into light fragments as the large number of skeletons who did not die from normal wounds mobbed them.
The battle underwater became even more fierce lasting for over a half hour.
Luckily for the surviving ships no other tentacles shot out to attack them. During this time the skeleton sailors managed to fully take over the remaining floating demigod ship.
When the sea calmed down once again to its normal rough waves Princesses Shaarla and Cora rose out of the water riding in their war chariots with their hair all over the place while also sporting a few bruises and cuts on their scaly tails.
¡°We managed to take care of that old grumpy Octy. He wouldn''t listen to reason and was rampaging around because his home was lost,¡± said Cora.
¡°What are we going to face next? Sharks with freaking light beams?¡± asked Sweety.
¡°I have no idea what those are. What happened up here?¡± asked Shaarla looking at the damaged ships and the several sinking ships.
¡°Two of the enemy ships managed to escape. They headed over there,¡± said Akira pointing to a dark blot on the horizon. If one squinted you could see a small island far off in the distance.
¡°Is that the cause of all our problems so far?¡± asked Cora.
¡°It seems so... we need to set sail and check it out. We can''t let the demigods cause too much trouble there before we can tell what is going on.¡±
Chapter 332: Zundar, what is this?
Back on Halrverold the main continent.
¡°What? A new event is happening?¡± asked a sharp-dressed demigod Knight whose armor was shiny but looked to be well-worn and in need of repair.
¡°Guild leader, reporting in! A new continent has risen out of the sea and is supposed to contain some secret!¡± said a demigod who was missing pieces of his armor and had no weapon.
¡°Then why are you here!?¡± asked the guild leader.
¡°We ran into a bit of trouble on our way there. We were attacked by several ships from the demon races... and since we lost our bases over there... here we are guild leader,¡± said another half-naked member of the group that had shown up.
They were all looking at the ground or the ceiling of the guild house, not looking at the guild leader as they passed on the information embarrassed at their utter failure and loss of so much gold, armor, and weapons. They hoped with this new information their guild leader would let them off the hook for their failure.
¡°Do the demon races also know about this so-called secret?¡±
¡°It appears so, otherwise why would they be sailing in the same direction as us?¡±
¡°They don''t hate us that much to follow us wherever we go. so...¡±
¡°You lot are lucky you brought this information to me. If it weren''t for this fact you would be facing some serious hardships to pay everything back all that you lost in the last main event! Go gather everyone from your group. You are going to be sent out as a raiding force and you will find that secret first!¡±
¡°Why can''t we send everyone? That''s what caused us such issues last time!¡±
¡°There have been a lot of events happening here. If we were to all go then we would be left out of the loop and be another step behind the main guilds!¡± said the guild leader dismissing their complaints.
Similar conversations were being held in various small and medium-sized guilds throughout the continent. Each decided to send out small raiding forces to try and find this ¡®secret¡¯ first.
***
Some time later out in the middle of the vast seas.
¡°It looks...¡± said sister Teresa pausing for several seconds as she was having a hard time describing what she felt upon seeing the new land as she looked down on it from the forecastle tower of [K.S. Wulfric].
¡°Barren,¡± said Akira as he looked over the gray sandy beach that looked more like ashes than sand.
It was supposed to be noon but so far the entire time they had been anchored off the shore the land had been covered in eternal night.
There was no normal sunlight shining down on this desolate place, only a red glow giving the land an even more eerie vibe. Akira looked up at the swirling whirlpool of dark clouds in the sky and squinted trying to see where the red light was coming from but saw nothing of importance.
Splash!
The two mermaid princesses'' upper bodies appeared next to the anchored ship.
He had been waiting offshore with the rest of the fleet while the princesses and their warriors scouted the shores of the new island checking for any dangerous traps or sea creatures in the area.
¡°We found what looked to be several demigod ships that either crashed or anchored on the far side of the island. Other than that we didn''t find anything else. This island is so strange. I have never heard of such an island in the ocean,¡± said Cora.
¡°I have read all the old maps that our ancestors created and there are also no mentions of such an odd island... and these maps all have the ancient islands and small rocks that have either grown from volcanic activity or disappeared from wear and tear. Whatever is on this new land and wherever it came from I have a feeling it is not such a simple matter,¡± said Shaarla.
¡°If everything is safe on the shore, then we can start working on the major repairs to the ships. Several of them need it badly,¡± said Akira as he looked over the ramshackle ships from both Kodria''s navy and Captain Pegleg''s own even more shabby ships.
¡°Lord Akira, there is no need to worry about our ships! We are skilled seamen and can take care of our ladies. You don''t have to stay here the whole time if you have other things you need to do,¡± said Captain Walcot.
¡°Well, then I guess I should take some people with me to head ashore and check out the local terrain. We can scout out a suitable place to build our temporary base of operations,¡± said Akira as he looked over the gathered people around him.
¡°I''m coming with you! There is no telling what type of dangerous or poisonous plants and monsters are on this island if it can even support life,¡± said Klyn.
¡°I have to keep watch over you or your wife would get angry with me if anything happened to you,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°How could I leave you behind?¡± said Akira as he scratched Fluffball''s head.
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¡°Take the marines with you,¡± said Captain Walcot. ¡°This is what they have trained for otherwise they will just be sitting around and drinking up our meager supplies of beer.¡±
Of course, Akira''s two long-time bodyguards would be coming as well.
¡°Sister Teresa I need you and the other members of the [Full moon] to stay here and protect the ships from any enemy demigod attacks,¡± said Akira.
¡°You can count on us!¡± said Beater, giving Akira a sharp salute.
With everything decided, the order was given out and several whaleboats from each ship were lowered along with a rope ladder for the marines and others that would be going to shore.
Captain Pegleg, seeing all the activity from Kodria''s ships, was also intrigued so he turned to his own sailors.
¡°Hurry lower the small shnips! We must join those fleshy dogs and see what this land has for us!¡± ordered Captain Pegleg. ¡°The rest of you stay here and protect the sheeps from any boarders!¡±
After several minutes of chaos, the whaleboats were filled with marines who were desperately holding onto the sides of the boat as they rocked up and down on the rough waves waiting for the last man to arrive. Those stationed at the ores had to use them to keep their small boat from crashing into the side of the large ship next to them.
When they were filled to the max a low-pitched whistle was sounded and the boats began rowing to shore.
Akira was in the first wave of whaleboats that came ashore and was one of the first to hop out onto the gray sandy shore, his feet sinking several inches into the ashy sand as he did so.
¡°Achoo,¡± Fluffball started to repeatedly sneeze after he sniffed a large amount of the ashy sand which ended up inside his furry nose.
Akira looked around the shore but found no plants, creatures, or monsters wherever he looked on his left or right. In front of him, there was a tall hill that blocked his vision of what lay behind it.
As Zundar, Klyn, the royal guards, and the rest of the marines landed on the gray ashy shore they all joined Akira and were also fully alert scanning the area for threats.
¡°This land... it smells familiar...¡± said Captain Pegleg as he walked over to Akira with his band of shabby skeleton guards.
¡°Uh...,¡± Akira was unsure how to reply to that as the pirate captain clearly had no nose and he was not sure if he could even smell. ¡°In what way?¡±
¡°Not sure... I just get the feeling of familiarity from seeing everything...¡± said Captain Pegleg as his bony head made motions as if it was sniffing the air. It really just looked like he had a bad twitch.
Akira turned his head away from the eccentric skeleton captain and began walking up the ashy hill that kept trying to suck his armored boots off his feet with each step.
When he reached the top of the hill he found it was flat and fairly firm with no plants or animals nearby. The hill''s height and its firmness would do just fine for a temporary base until they found something more suitable.
With his inspection of the hill finished he walked to the edge of the hilltop to look down at the land that had been hidden, he remained silent for some time as he took in everything.
¡°Are they all dead?¡± asked Akira a minute later.
¡°I don''t think so. Look, they all have small red leaves on them,¡± said Klyn as he pointed at several of the large trees that were all an ashy gray that looked like fossilized stone.
An entire forest of these stone trees covered the entire land below the hill and off into the distance in every direction. Akira was unable to see its end even with the help of standing on top of the tall hill.
Akira turned to one of the marine officers and said, ¡°Start setting up a redoubt atop this hill. If possible, cut down some of those trees and use them to fortify the place and set up a sharp barricade to stop anything from getting close.¡±
¡°And what about your protection?¡± asked the officer.
¡°I''ll just take a small wolf pack to help Zundar and the royal guards. We are just going to scout the forest and see what it holds,¡± said Akira as he began to walk down the hill with his hand-picked escort.
¡°I will come with you. Watching things get built is such a bore!¡± said Captain Pegleg as he joined Akira in the walk down the hill.
¡°Are you sure this is a smart idea?¡± Zundar asked Akira as he walked up to a stone tree and tapped it with his thick knuckle. The tree let out an odd gurgling echo from inside the trunk.
¡°We are one of the strongest groups out of everyone on this expedition. If not us, who else should scout out the area?¡± asked Akira as they walked through the maze of gray trees.
With the dark sky and red glow from the swirling clouds, the stony forest gave off a very creepy vibe.
It made Akira feel like there were eyes constantly watching them or that there was something that was waiting to jump out at them from the shadows. But it had already been an hour since they had entered the forest and they had not seen or heard any sound of a living creature.
Akira, Fluffball, and the other marine werewolves all stayed alert by sniffing the air for any changes every so often, but nothing had caught their attention so far.
¡°Ah, an opening!¡± said Klyn pointing to a distant gap in the clustered trees.
Seeing this everyone started making their way to the opening wanting to see if it was the end of the forest.
¡°Yap!¡± warned Fluffball. His twitching nose sensed something unusual from that direction.
They all slowed their noisy steps and cautiously walked to the edge of the treeline and peeked out.
¡°A village?¡± asked Akira quietly.
More than 80 gray brick houses with thatched roofs were built inside the opening. There was a large wooden fence surrounding the village. The thick fence had been made out of the stone trees, which answered one of Akira''s questions from before, the trees could be cut down.
¡°Is it an abandoned village? Where is everyone?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°I don''t think it is... look, the ground over there looks to have been freshly tilled. Those hardy-looking plants look like some sort of crop,¡± said Akira pointing at a large dry and gray field next to the village''s large fence.
Just as he said this... several unseen figures darted out of the shadows and launched an attack on them!
Zundar was the first to act as he jumped in front of Akira and grabbed the charging attacker, stopping their charge and effortlessly tossing the attacker onto the ground.
Similar things happened to the other shadowy figures who were all rolling on the ground in pain for several seconds before crawling back up onto their feet and grasping their spears ready to fight.
The noise of the short scuffle and pained cries was loud enough for several villagers with lanterns from inside the buildings to come out. With so many lanterns appearing the village was lit up brightly allowing Akira and the rest to see that they were all wearing shabby armor while carrying stone clubs or spears in their hands.
With the bright light shining all around them the features of the surprise attackers were revealed...
¡°Zundar, what is this?¡± asked Akira as he looked at the angry villagers.
¡°How should I know? I''m just as confused as you!¡± said Zundar.
The villagers standing in front of them... were all of the same demon race as Zundar!
Chapter 333: Minos
Several of the villagers with lanterns had joined the original attackers and were now glaring at Zundar as they continued to shout at him.
Unfortunately, Akira could not understand what they were saying. The language felt familiar but... he looked to Zundar but his face was blank not understanding what was going on either.
¡°They''re speaking in the ancient language! It is similar to the language my holy chants were based on!¡± said Klyn after listening to the shouting for some time.
¡°Hmm, now that you say that... I can sorta understand what they are saying...¡± said Zundar with his face scrunching up as he concentrated on listening to the villagers.
¡°Well? What are they saying?¡± asked Akira.
¡°... what a bunch of rude people!¡± said Zundar as he glared back at the villagers.
¡°They''re hurling some rather... unique insults at him if I am understanding the words correctly...¡± said Klyn.
A Female who looked to be in her 20s and had two stubby horns on her head stepped forward out of the crowd while carrying a spear that was as tall as her. She pointed the spear at Zundar.
¡°Ohiesuyuelpnoider?¡±
¡°What?¡± asked Akira.
Both Klyn and Zundar were able to understand her... sort of. They were a bit rusty as they did not use the language to speak much.
¡°She asked why Zundar is helping outsiders,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Can you tell her our purpose here? We are not here to cause problems,¡± said Akira.
The two whispered with each other trying to figure out which words to use along with the proper grammar.
The female and villagers were all staring at them with undisguised anger as they whispered for some time.
When they had decided on what to say Zundar was given the task to speak since he was of the same demon race as the villagers.
¡°Groblumabanuobubuubsrnice. deseismumbujumbu,¡± his voice sounded surprisingly barbaric as he spoke the ancient language... or at least tried to.
¡°Inonowahusai...¡± said the female with a frown and shook her head.
¡°What?¡± asked Akira.
¡°She doesn''t understand what he is saying,¡± said Klyn.
¡°You try it then!¡± said Zundar sheepishly, embarrassed at being so rusty.
Luckily for them, the female managed to understand Klyn''s speech and nodded her head.
Klyn turned to Akira and said, ¡°I told her that we are not from this land and are just here scouting the area around our campsite near the shore.¡±
¡°Is it wise to tell her that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°She and the other villagers all sighed when I said that,¡± said Klyn. ¡°Judging by their reactions so far I don''t think this land is too peaceful.¡±
Akira looked at their faces and saw that they had relaxed slightly but were still on guard against the new outsiders.
¡°Can you ask her if there are any dangerous monsters or cities around here that we should be worried about?¡±
Klyn and Zundar exchanged a few sentences with the villagers but when they looked at Akira their faces were not all that happy with what they had learned.
¡°There seems to be some major conflict happening on this continent. They thought we were here to raid their village for food and other supplies since you look slightly similar to their enemies minus a few major features,¡± said Zundar.
Ding!
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Main Quest [Island in a Cold War!]:
Two large factions, the Oni clans, and the Barbarian clans have been fighting with each other for ages upon ages. They have long forgotten the reason why the war between them started.
Choose one side of the war and participate in helping them conquer the island!
There are plenty of raids and skirmishes to earn rewards from!
The land is harsh and hard and so are the people that live on it!
|
¡°Ask her which side of the conflict they are on.¡±
The villagers immediately were on full alert as they looked at Klyn and Zundar with gazes full of suspicion that the two were trying to catch them in a trap. But after a few seconds of hesitation, the female in front of them answered the question.
A few other villagers shouted out some other things as well while shaking their fists in the air angrily at some unknown enemy.
¡°They are part of the Ancient Alliance faction but their enemy, the Oni faction, calls them the Barbarian faction,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Apparently from what they are saying the Oni faction is made up of demon races with slender and well-groomed looks. While the ''Barbarians'' are rough-looking with varying heights. The Oni live in the large central cities while the barbarians live in the outskirts and near the shoreline,¡± said Zundar.
With Klyn and Zundar acting as translators they were able to learn more about the land, its people, and how the many ''barbarians'' made a living.
The small farms of dry hardy-looking plants were a part of their main diets along with the shriveled fruits that grew on some of the gray stone-looking trees.
Many of the trees that were not fruit-bearing trees were hollow inside and produced a large amount of sticky sweet liquids. The tree''s special sap could be used as a sweetener and ingredient in many food recipes. It could also be turned into a beer and in a pinch and if needed it could be a source of food during harsh times.
Thus the trees and fruits were the main source of income to poorer villages who sold the products made from it to the larger cities in the central part of the island. The large cities would never give a decent price but would always demand more.
This new information caused a slight problem for Akira''s plans of fortifying their temporary base with the trees that were so important to the village.
¡°Can you ask them who owns this forest and if it''s possible to cut some trees down,¡± said Akira.
After a few tense minutes of fierce debates back and forth with many of the villagers, Zundar said, ¡°They say no one really ''Owns'' it but it is customary that the village that is next to the forest can take ownership of the forest and all that it produces as it is a source to keep them and their families alive. I''m guessing that this also includes other villages raiding and taking over the areas for themselves...¡±
¡°They are asking if we want to trade with them,¡± said Klyn.
Akira thought for a few seconds going over the supplies that they still had on the ships. They were in serious need of alcohol since they had drunk it all after all the fighting they had done on the sea.
¡°You said they make beer, right? If they will accept foreign gold then we will buy as much as they will sell us.¡±
Akira pulled out a leather pouch and grabbed a few coins to show the villagers as Zundar spoke to them. The villager''s eyes had all grown big at the sight.
Upon hearing Akira''s offer the female nodded her head vigorously and motioned for a few people to go gather everything.
The first person to return was an elderly man with two dull cracked horns. He was carrying a three-legged wooden stool and a gold weighing balance tool along with its small weights.
Akira offered the old man one of the coins to inspect. He rubbed his fingers over the gold coin and then flicked it before making a mark with his sharp fingernails to see if it was just metal that was plaited with a thin layer of gold.
When he was satisfied with the results he placed the gold on one side of the measuring tool and started adding the small weights onto the other side until both sides were evenly balanced. With another nod of his head, he wrote down some numbers and spoke to the female handing her the paper.
¡°He says that the coin is larger by almost half of the normal gold coins that the large cities use,¡± whispered Klyn.
¡°Make sure they don''t try to rip us off,¡± said Akira as he watched many of the young village men come back with small barrels on their shoulders, while others carried medium-sized barrels or rolled larger ones over to where Akira''s group was standing.
¡°You don''t need to worry! I am good friends with Delgar so I know the prices of almost all ale, wine, and beer by heart!¡± said Zundar, thumping his chest.
Over the next ten minutes, they haggled over the prices for each of the different-sized barrels.
When the price was finalized Akira handed over a small pouch of gold coins and then looked at the large cluster of barrels all sitting on the ground in front of them.
¡°How are we supposed to get all this back to the ships?¡± asked Akira as he scratched his head deeo in thought.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°That will take too long...¡± said Akira.
The villagers were all quite giddy at managing to sell their beer at a decent price for once compared to what they normally got in the cities.
When they saw Akira''s predicament they happily offered to help them carry them wherever they needed but they would need to get their wheelbarrows and small wagons.
¡°Tell them we accept... oh and ask them what they call themselves. Their demon race I mean, not their names,¡± said Akira.
Zundar and Klyn listened to their answer and then turned to Akira, ¡°They are called the [Minos].¡±
Chapter 334: That was unexpected
With the Minos villagers helping transport the barrels of beer, Akira and the others all took up positions around them to help protect the precious liquid cargo from any harm.
As they walked through the dark stone tree forest Akira continued to inspect the Minos that were walking near him. Almost all the Minos group that offered to come with them were young men and as he inspected each of them, he saw that their bodies all showed signs of scars from old wounds.
When he compared them to Zundar who was walking next to him, their bodies were severely lacking in muscle.
The female Minos villager saw Akira''s discreet staring and decided to walk over to him after saying a few words to one of the young men pushing a wheelbarrow.
She held her hand out to Akira and said, ¡°Spearia.¡±
Zundar scratched his head and said, ¡°I think that is her name.¡±
Akira grabbed her large hand, which was smooth and not as rough as he expected, and shook it while slowly saying, ¡°AKIRA.¡±
Spearia cocked her head to the side and slowly mouthed the name a few times before saying, ¡°aKEeYra...¡±
¡°Close enough,¡± said Akira.
With a nod of her head, Spearia walked away happily and returned to walk with the other Minos villagers.
Their walk through the stone forest was uneventful as the Minos knew the forest well and were able to exit the forest only a short distance away from where the ashy hill was being worked on by several dozen marines and even more skeleton pirates who had been hard at work digging into the hill and erecting an earthen redoubt with its walls supported by the thick stone trees that had been cut down.
Another group of marines on top of the hill sweating as they tried to finish carrying several ballistas up the ashy hill to be placed inside the redoubt so that it had enough firepower to hold off any would-be attackers. With the added weight of the ballista they were carrying, the ash was making the process even harder as their legs sunk deep into the ash with each step they took.
Spearia and the other Minos'' faces all relaxed slightly when they saw this. It confirmed that Akira had not lied to them.
¡°Come with us and see our ships,¡± said Akira motioning to Spearia and the other Minos.
Zundar translated his words to them and they nodded their heads and continued to follow them up the ashy hill. The Minos villagers had little to no problem with the ash as their sturdy bodies kept moving up even with the extra weight of the beer barrels.
When they reached the top of the hill they stopped next to one of the redoubts walls that were still being reinforced.
This height allowed them to look out towards the ocean and see the many ships anchored offshore with many smaller whaleboats ferrying people and supplies back and forth from the ships that also were teeming with activity as they were undergoing repairs.
¡°Unoriedouos. oudidorz,¡± said Spearia with a nod of her head. The others around her all nodded in agreement.
¡°They agree that we are not from the central cities and are outsiders that came here on ships. I guess they are relieved that we are not part of the conflict between the two factions,¡± said Klyn.
¡°Zundar translated this for me. Other ships came to this land that had dangerous people known as Demigods. The Minos really need to be careful if they meet them as more often than not they will kill someone from the demon race before talking to them. Even if you kill them they will reappear a day later,¡± said Akira.
Spearia and the other Minos all listened closely to Zundar''s explanation and then began to chatter with each other excitedly at a speed that was too fast for either Zundar or Klyn to understand.
Spearia turned to Zundar once again and said, ¡°Winodescridus. Estoei.¡±
¡°They have heard of such people from old tales passed down in ancient scrolls.¡±
With the help of the Minos, they were able to unload all their purchased beer near the shoreline for the sweating sailors to transport back to the ships.
With their task done and a few more words of goodwill shared with each other, the Minos waved them goodbye and disappeared into the stone forest returning to their village.
The marines and sailors seeing the new barrels full of beer all cheered wildly at seeing them.
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¡°QUARTERMASTER?¡± shouted Akira looking for someone in the crowd.
¡°Here!¡± shouted a werewolf wearing thick glasses and holding an open book in one hand and a feather pen in the other.
¡°Make sure that these barrels arrive on the ships fully intact. They are to be rationed out with the noon meal. We are far away from home and there is no telling if we can find another friendly village to replenish it if we drink all of it too fast.¡±
¡°It shall be done as you say!¡± said the quartermaster as he flipped several pages and then dipped the feather pen in an ink-pot hanging from his belt before he began to fiercely scribble onto the paper.
¡°I think we should help them in their conflict. They seem really nice,¡± said Zundar as they began to walk up the ashy hill once again.
¡°We can''t just think they are the good people here just from what they have told us. For all we know they could be the aggressors in this conflict. We have to do some more investigation and see what else there is to find around here. If there is another village then we can use both of their stories to see what is true and what is not,¡± said Akira as he looked at the earthen redoubt that was almost finished.
Klyn nodded, ¡°True. We can''t go headfirst into an old cold war that we have little to no information on.¡±
¡°We know that the Minos'' village is inland to the west of this hill but not south or north of us along the shoreline,¡± said Akira as he looked up and down the shoreline.
¡°Then let''s go!¡± said Zundar as he slammed his fists together ready to run north.
¡°Hold on!¡± said Akira, putting his hand up to stop Zundar from running off. ¡°The shoreline is too hard to travel on for long. We should use the whaleboats to row up and down the shoreline to get a better look. This way we can scout the area out quicker and we will be less noticeable than if we sent the large ships to do the job.¡±
¡°A good idea indeed,¡± said Klyn.
Akira and the scouting team commandeered several of the whaleboats and began rowing north along the shoreline scanning everything with their sharp eyes as they passed.
An hour had already passed with them finding little difference in the bleak ashy shores and stone forest that covered everything that could be seen.
¡°How long do you plan to have us row north?¡± asked Zundar as his muscles bulged and moved the twin oars into the water, sending the boat speeding forward.
Akira looked away from the shore and at the rowers who had been taking turns over the last hour.
¡°We can head to shore for a short break so everyone can rest and have a meal,¡± said Akira.
There was a light cheering from those in whaleboats as they turned to the shore and rowed as close as they could get.
Akira was one of the first to hop out onto the ashy shore followed by Zundar, Dolph, and Vilkas.
Fluffball who was still in the boat stopped moving as his ears perked up.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball warning everyone of a distant noise coming from the forest.
Everyone paused what they were doing and listened intently. Faint sounds of metal and stone clashing could be heard... and it was getting closer.
Akira motioned for everyone to get out of the whaleboats and form into a defensive position.
The sound of battle grew even louder and they could now hear curses and shouts echoing through the forest in a language that they did not understand.
Two people burst out from the forest, one stumbling from a fresh wound, the other rushing forward using it as a chance to strike a fatal blow severing the wounded man''s head from his body.
Akira watched with a blank face as the blue-skinned skinny man with one sharp blade-like horn jutting out of his forehead shook his sword to remove the blood and sheath it.
The blue-skinned man gave a roar of excitement and when he calmed down his gaze fell on Akira and the other werewolves who were watching him closely.
***
Brumon froze seeing such a large group of warriors only a short distance away from him.
''Who are they!? I have never seen anyone like them before.'' thought Brumon as his mind raced trying to figure out what to do. ''Are they potential new allies or enemies?''
As Brumon scanned those on the shore his gaze stopped on Zundar and his expression turned into one of disgust which was quickly masked by a smile as he quickly looked away from him and looked at the black-armored warrior in the center of the group.
¡°Honored warrior. Are you the leader of this... group?¡± asked Brumon forcing himself to ignore Zundar''s presence.
Brumon waited for a reply from the large black armored warrior but there was nothing but silence from him as he turned to the large Minotaur who spoke with another warrior from the unknown demon race.
¡°He is,¡± said the large Minos in a rough uncultured accent.
Brumon was sweating slightly wondering why the large Minos was not angry or looking to kill him after what he just did a moment before.
Brumon ignored the Minos man who spoke and directed his attention to the black armored man once again, ¡°Please excuse my unsightly reaction as I was taken over by the excitement of the fight. This fight was a personal matter and I hope that you will not interfere with such a small thing.¡±
The group of unknown demon race warriors all took note of him not looking at or responding to the Minos man and so the bookish man spoke instead. ¡°We do not intend to start a fight with you.¡±
Brumon''s face twitched as he tried to keep his smile on his face but it was hard with such barbaric use of the language.
''Are they like the others?'' Brumon wondered for a second as he looked at the whaleboats before clearing his mind.
¡°I will now leave¡,¡± said Brumon, wanting to escape quickly.
But there were still formalities that one needed to do to not offend an unknown force and so Brumon saluted them with his raised sword before slowly backing into the forest as he watched the group near the shore to make sure they did not follow him.
***
¡°What was that?¡± asked Klyn.
¡°That was unexpected,¡± said Akira.
¡°YAP,¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with Akira.
¡°For some reason, I have a feeling that he did not like me,¡± said Zundar.
Chapter 335: Underground
Akira and the other officers were all gathered inside the command tent that had been only recently erected inside the recently built large redoubt. Everyone stood around a small wooden table, the only furniture that had been pulled off one of the ships and had been carried up the ashy hill.
¡°...so far these groups are the only people we have encountered in our searches,¡± said Akira, finishing his speech.
Everyone nodded as they mulled over everything Akira had just told them about the two different factions.
¡°Awooo!¡±
A warning howl from the redoubts patrolling guards interrupted their thoughts and when they fully understood the howl they looked to both Akira and Zundar questioningly.
Zundar only shrugged his large shoulders while Akira beckoned Everyone to follow him out of the tent and up onto the freshly packed down reinforced ashy walls of the redoubt.
The patrolling werewolves that had spotted someone approaching moments before only pointed towards the edge of the stone tree forest when Akira and the rest joined them.
Akira looked out and saw that there was a decent-sized group of Minos walking towards the hill where everyone was standing. As he scanned their faces he found a familiar face, Spearia.
When the group of Minos reached the bottom of the hill they stopped and didn''t move any closer.
¡°What do you need?¡± asked Zundar, speaking in the ancient language.
Spearia and the other Minos did not get angry at Zundar''s rude and rough way of speaking as they had dealt with many remote villages that had many hermits whose speech was even rougher and harsher than his.
Zundar and a few of the Minos traded several sentences back and forth before he turned to Akira and said, ¡°Since they heard we have been exploring the nearby areas, they wanted us to know there are far more places to discover underground. If you want, they can show us the entrance to one of the main underground tunnel road systems.¡±
¡°What''s wrong with walking above ground?¡± asked Akira suspicious of the group''s ulterior motives. He had seen and experienced similar situations several times already with demigods and other hostile groups to not be suspicious.
Zundar shrugged and turned back to the Minos at the bottom of the hill speaking with them to clarify some of Akira''s questions and doubts.
¡°According to them... because of the Cold War, not many people travel above ground for long distances because of the dangers they would encounter. The land above ground is also harsh and hard to travel for long distances especially if you have wagons and other things you want to transport. Most of their long-distance travel happens underground using the many thousands of interconnected tunnels,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Sounds dangerous...,¡± said Akira.
¡°If we are to trust what Spearia just told me then most of the tunnels have not been used in decades. Many of the older paths have fallen into disrepair or have been taken over by monsters... If you step off of the main roadway and take the wrong tunnels you could find yourself in a maze or at a dead end.¡±
¡°... and all they want to do is show us the way to the tunnels?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Seems so,¡± said Zundar.
Akira only took a few short moments to think everything over before turning to the officers behind him.
¡°Continue fortifying our position here and work on those other plans we talked about. I''ll take some people with me to check it out. We can''t have such a place left wide open for the demigods to pop up out of nowhere,¡± said Akira, issuing orders to everyone.
***
Spearia led the group through the stone forest for over an hour and a half before reaching a large flat and circular stone leaning against a tall rocky hill.
¡°Endransu,¡± said Spearia pointing at the stone.
A few of the young Minos walked up to the large stone and began pushing it to the side revealing a large set of steps leading deep into the ground. Akira focused on them to see their names and levels [Mack level 50] [Jack level 70], they didn''t seem too strong compared to those that had been picked to come with Akira. They, like the rest of the Minos, were only lightly armed and armored.
With the stone now pushed to the side the two stepped aside to allow Akira and Fluffball to walk up to the open tunnel where the two sniffed the stale air that was now escaping the tunnel.
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Neither he nor Fluffball caught a whiff of anyone waiting farther down the stairs.
The tunnel was rather dark and even with his racial skills which allowed him to see more clearly in the dark, he knew that if there was no light source the best he could do was see shadowy blobs and rely on his sense of smell.
Luckily there was no need to grope around like a blind man since there was a rack of lanterns built into the stone wall of the tunnel''s stairs.
¡°Icontekoutubesilace,¡± said Spearia after some time had passed watching Akira and Fluffball sniffing the air.
Akira turned to Zundar who scratched his head and said, ¡°I think she is offering to take us to a special place underground.¡±
¡°Let''s do it!¡± said Akira. ''If this is a trap it''s better to get it done and over with now!''
¡°So fast? I thought I would have had to convince you to go...¡± said Zundar before he turned and relayed Akira''s acceptance.
Spirea took a lantern and placed a dark mineral inside before using a flint and a knife to start a fire inside the lantern. When the fire was lit it was used as a source to light the other lanterns that were handed out to several other Minos and a few of the members of Akira''s scouting party.
With a nod to everyone Spearia and the young Minos walked down the stairs first leading the way.
As Akira walked down the long stairway he kept his guard up constantly scanning the black stone walls and the ceiling of the tunnel to make sure there were no openings for sneaky people to spy on or attack them.
Akira soon lost count of how many steps they had taken and he noticed that the walls were becoming slick with moisture and moss of various types.
Every so often he saw large gouges and other types of damage dealt to the walls from ancient battles that had taken place in these tunnels. This only solidified his suspicion that there were more battles underground than above ground. Some of the damage to the walls looked completely unlike what a weapon could do which Akira guessed was from some unknown monster or monsters.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs they found themselves in a black stone room that had over ten tunnels that branched off in different directions. Each of the tunnels was different, some of them were large and square with a flat floor while others were short and rounded tunnels that had uneven floors.
Above each of the tunnels were words from the ancient language chiseled into the stone.
Spearia did not wait for them to inspect everything and walked into the tunnel that was on the farthest right of the stairs.
The tunnel continued to slant down heading deeper underground. Akira could tell that the air was getting even more humid as they descended which was intriguing.
After a long stretch of time, Akira could see the end of the tunnel they were walking down, not from the lanterns, but from the dim blue glowing light that was growing ever-so-slightly brighter as they walked closer.
As he passed through the tunnel''s exit and stepped into the bright opening he blinked his eyes several times to get accustomed to the bright blue light and what he saw was a magnificent sight.
A large underground lake stood before them.
The size of the lake was big enough that several thousands of people could swim in it at the same time and still have room for more! Akira was not sure how deep it was but either way, there was a lot of water here!
At the shore of the lake, there were thousands of flowers whose petals were glowing blue and the source of light inside the underground cavern.
Akira''s attention turned to the countless numbers of light blue butterflies that were Flying above the lake and the flowers. They had glittering wings that twinkled like stars in the night sky. As they flew from flower to flower, sparkly particles fell in their wake leaving a sparking trail behind them for a few seconds before disappearing. The sight mesmerized everyone who was not accustomed to it.
When Akira finally pulled his gaze away from the butterflies, he was able to see there were a few stone huts carved into the walls and several fully armored and armed Minos warriors were exiting them to come and greet those that had just arrived.
Unlike the villagers and the older teen who had come with Spearia, these guards were a little more muscular than the average Minos they had seen so far. They were still lacking in size and muscle when compared to Zundar but at least they did not look like tall twigs.
Spearia said something unintelligible before walking over to the guards to greet them with a bow.
Zundar leaned over to Akira and translated the parts of the conversation he could understand between the head guard and Spearia.
¡°This lake is very important to their village. There are many such lakes and underground rivers. Many towns settle near such places as a foundation and lifeline for keeping the village alive. Very important with how dry and harsh the land is above ground.¡±
Spearia left the guards who returned to their huts and walked back over to Akira and Zundar. She began chatting and pointing to places and things all around the cavern not bothering to pause in between her long-winded speech.
Zundar tried to keep up with his translation but was a little too slow...
¡°This lake is an ancient place that has been under their clan''s protection ever since the first ancestors of their clan found it. There was a rumor of another cavern similar to it that had a connection to an ancient great library but that is only a myth as there has been no one to find such a place in all the years and hundreds of generations that have lived here.¡±
Ting-aling-ting-aling!
The soft chime of a bell continued to ring out from the stone huts.
Upon hearing the sound Spearia stopped talking and looked over to the guards who once again were exiting the huts fully armored and armed.
They shouted over a few questions to her but she shook her head. The guards'' faces all became grim as they rushed to the entrance and got into a formation to block the entrance.
¡°It seems that some uninvited guests have followed us here...¡± said Zundar.
Chapter 336: Uninvited guest at the lake
Akira, Zundar, Fluffball, and the other werewolves all watched the Minos warriors prepare for the uninvited guest from near the shore of the lake only a short distance away from the tunnel''s entrance.
Most of the Minos warriors were using spears and short swords with shields. Only a few had a crossbow or a bow. Their choice of weapons was not based on preference or skill but on how cheap it was to produce and maintain them with the meager supplies and money that the village had available. Many such weapons were passed down from generation to generation.
Spearia turned to Zundar and said, ¡°Eguhepustaur.¡±
With that said she, along with the other young Minos that had come with her, rushed forward to join the Minos warriors at the entrance.
¡°Should we help them?¡± asked Zundar as he rubbed one of his horns and looked between Akira and the Minos warriors in front of them.
¡°You know we can''t interfere right now. We don''t know who the enemy is nor do we know if they are really the bad people in this conflict.¡±
The chiming of the bell got faster as the footsteps of the uninvited guest came closer alerting everyone that they were almost here!
Twack! Thud! Crack!
Various cross-bolts and arrows flew out of the dark tunnel and slammed into the armor and shields of the Minos warriors at the front of the formation.
Fwoosh! BAM!
Several dark shadows darted out of the dark tunnel and slammed into the hastily formed shield wall which nearly broke when one of the Minos warriors stumbled and fell to one knee from the brunt of the attack.
Sensing the weakness in their formation, several of the dark-clothed attackers whose faces were covered by drooping hoods, started to hammer on the kneeling Minos warrior¡¯s shield, not allowing him to stand back up.
A quick rapier jabbed forward in between the heavy blows but bounced off the shield only nicking the Minos warrior''s neck leaving a thin line of blood behind.
Spearia and other young Minos teens rushed over to help the wounded warrior fend off the onslaught of attackers using their spears to stab at and push away the attackers.
As they were dealing with one group a shadow dashed out of the tunnel and ran right towards the kneeling Minos warrior''s shield and used it as a springboard to jump up into the air dodging the attacks of the Minos below and landing behind the blocking formation at the entrance.
Instead of taking the chance to attack them from the rear, the dark-clothed attacker jumped forward and thrust their spear right at Zundar''s head!
Zundar snorted with displeasure and stepped to the side as he swatted the attacker''s spear shaft away using his fists.
¡°Why are you attacking me?¡± asked Zundar.
The black-clothed attacker cursed at Zundar in the ancient language, making Zundar''s head hurt as he tried to translate the curse while he knocked away the attacks.
Akira and Fluffball stepped forward to help but Zundar shouted, ¡°Leave him to me. I need to blow off some steam!¡±
The dark-clothed attacker paid no attention to the werewolves or Fluffball who were standing close enough to cut him down. Instead, he only focused on Zundar whom he attacked both verbally and physically.
Zundar''s head was now throbbing and he was growing frustrated with having to translate all the curses.
So he did the only thing he knew that could solve this problem... he lashed out with a quick fist and grabbed the attacker''s spear pulling him closer before slamming a fist into the man''s stomach.
With the sound of several bones cracking the attacker crumpled to the ground.
¡°I''m not like those weak Minos over there!¡± said Zundar as he spat on the ground near the attacker who was now screaming in pain.
Even with the first attacker dispatched another two attackers managed to get past the warrior''s formation and rushed at Zundar.
This time Akira, Fluffball, and the other werewolves did not wait and struck down the attackers disabling them. They were careful enough to not kill them as they still did not want to take sides.
They were only protecting themselves from the aggressive attackers.
With Spearia and the other young Minos working together to hold back the attackers the kneeling warrior was once again able to stand back up. But in that short amount of time, several of the Minos had received wounds from enemy attacks.
With Zundar and Akira taking the brunt of several rogue attackers the Minos warriors were able to properly reform their shield wall and start the counterattack against the stalled attackers.
After a handful of the attackers fell to the spears and swords of the Minos warriors, the few remaining enemy attackers dashed back into the dark tunnel while drinking from a vial as they ran.
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The frantic sound of battle was replaced with the sound of heavy breathing of the exhausted warriors as well as the moans, and cries of those wounded from both sides of the fight.
Based on what they had just seen, Akira and Zundar are not too impressed with the Minos warrior''s fighting skills.
Klyn was now busying himself helping bandage the Minos warriors that would allow him to get close to him. Most did not want his help as he was a stranger.
Zundar walked over to Spearia who was helping bandage a wound on one of the teen Minos fighters and asked in the ancient language, ¡°Why did they attack me?¡±
¡°You are a Minos by birth, so you are their enemy,¡± said Spearia as she paused in wrapping the bandage and pointed to the dead body of one of the attackers. The cloth mask and hood covering the attacker''s face had been torn off.
The attacker looked to be smaller when compared to the Minos and was of a thinner demon race that had a single horn growing out from their forehead.
¡°They thought you were the leader of the group since you looked to be the strongest and were standing in the rear,¡± said Spearia.
Akira walked up to Zundar and asked, ¡°Are they just going to let them run away? What if they call for more people to come and attack again?¡±
Zundar relayed Akira''s questions but she only shook her head and said a few sentences.
¡°They can not follow them. The enemy is too skilled at fighting in the tunnels and the sentries must stay here to protect the lake,¡± said Zundar.
¡°... and what will they do with the dead bodies?¡± asked Akira.
¡°She says they make great fertilizer...¡± said Zundar after listening to Spearia''s answer.
As Akira listened to Zundar''s translation another question popped into his head causing him to realize why he was feeling so uneasy about this whole situation. It had to do with what he had seen earlier from the attackers!
The last few attackers were drinking a red liquid from a glass bottle that was far too similar to the ones that demigods use!
¡°Zundar! Let''s go! We have to capture those attackers!¡± shouted Akira as he walked towards the crowded entrance where the wounded Minos were being attended to on one side while the other side was piled with the dead attackers.
¡°What why?¡± asked Zundar as he followed behind, unsure what he had said or done to make Akira want to leave.
¡°Either those attackers had contact with a demigod... or there were demigods that joined in that attack!¡± said Akira as he quickened his pace.
Spearia finished bandaging one of the teens and looked up to see Zundar and the rest jogging out towards the entrance.
¡°Wait where are you going? The sentries won''t be able to protect you if you leave now. You should stay here and rest for the rest of the day to make sure they have really left,¡± shouted Spearia.
¡°We don''t need your protection. From what I saw you''re the ones that need our help,¡± shouted Zundar.
The nearby Minos warriors who heard him say this frowned at his choice of words.
Akira did not ask for a translation and only said, ¡°Tell her that we have to capture those attackers. If she wants to come with us she is more than welcome to but we are leaving now.¡±
Zundar did as he was told but did not look back to see if Spearia or anyone was coming.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as transformed into his large ice-armored form and took the lead as he began sniffing the ground and the air as he ran into the tunnel hot on the trail of the escaping attackers.
Spearia seeing them enter the tunnel gave a few choice curses before motioning to several of her teen companions who were still in one piece after the fight. The group of young Minos did not say anything to the sentries nor did they try to stop them from chasing after Akira.
Akira Zundar and the rest of the werewolves all jogged at a fast pace following Fluffball''s expert nose through the many winding paths that veered off of the main road that they had taken to get to the underground lake.
Akira did not say anything as he heard the loud footsteps of the teen Minos running to catch up to them and stayed alert as they entered a large dark cavern that had a rubble-strewn floor that was uneven making it hard to stand on level ground.
Akira took a few steps into the room only to jump to the side as a dark body dropped down from the ceiling in a sneak attack!
Clang! The sound of metal hitting the stone echoed through the cavern. Before Akira could react, Fluffball shot forward and bit down on the attacker''s exposed neck. With a jerk, he yanked them off their feet. Fluffball let go of the attacker''s neck and sat on his back pinning him to the ground.
¡°RAWR!¡± said Fluffball proudly as he looked over to Akira.
¡°Weak!¡± roared Zundar as he lashed out with his large maul connecting with the dark shadow that also tried to ambush him as soon as he entered the cavern. The body of the attacker snapped in two and was sent flying into a nearby wall. He and the rest of the werewolves all searched the cavern but found no other hiding ambushers.
Spearia, who had been standing near the tunnel entrance while the short fight happened, looked around the cavernous room for any clues on where they were. But nothing looked familiar and she had no idea where any of the several branching tunnels led.
¡°Didn''t I tell you we shouldn''t stray from the main roads? What are we going to do If we can''t find our way back? Did you keep track of which tunnels you took?¡± asked Spearia to no one in particular.
¡°No one told you to follow us. We''ll be fine, this is nothing,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Don''t say that. People die down here all the time after getting lost. They are only found years later by the next person to be lost and all that is left is their gnawed bones,¡± said Spearia.
Akira ignored Zundar''s conversation and walked over to the still-breathing ambusher who was being crushed by the heavy Fluffball. He grabbed the man''s mask and hood and pulled them off revealing the face of a middle-aged Oni similar to the dead attackers back at the underground lake.
¡°Not demigods...¡± said Akira.
With his sword pointed at the man''s neck he searched his pockets and bags that he was holding. With a quick search, he was able to find what he was looking for.
It indeed was a potion that the demigods used all the time!
¡°How did you get this?¡± asked Akira.
The man only stared at Akira with a confused expression as he did not understand what was said.
¡°Zundar, get over here and translate for me,¡± said Akira.
When Zundar asked the man the same question, the man''s face turned into a scowl and he turned his head away from Zundar and did not say anything, just stared right at Akira with a defiant gaze.
Even with Klyn trying to speak with him they were still ignored.
No matter what they tried, the Oni would not break...
BOOM!
The ground underneath the Oni exploded knocking Akira and Fluffball away as the man''s body was raised high off of the ground in the grasp of a large red pincer claw!
Chapter 337: Lobsoach
The Oni fighter looked down at the large pincer with a horrified expression appearing on his face as he saw the monster that held him. He tried his best to struggle and escape but he was unable to budge the thick armored pincer.
SNIP! The large red pincer claw snapped closed with only a little force applied causing the Oni''s body to split apart raining blood and guts onto the dry rubble as the lower half fell to the ground.
The large red pincer lowered the Oni who was still half alive even with the lower half of his body severed and his guts hanging out...
The large red creature lowered the oni towards its wide-open maw that was lined with hundreds of sharp teeth! Crunch! The Oni was truly dead now as his head disappeared from his body.
Akira regained his and did a quick scan of the area to make sure everyone else was okay and no other monsters had jumped out of the ground.
Ding!
A mysterious rare [Lobsoach] has appeared! In ancient times meeting a [Lobsoach] was good luck... If you survived.
Kill it to receive a reward!
|
The [Lobsoach] monster in front of them was an ugly thing to see. Its body was low to the ground with a height of at most 3 feet tall using its stubby, but thick, 4 legs to move. Its width was 3 or 4 feet wide while its length was over 14 feet long largely due to its long tail. Its entire body was encased in a large red exoskeleton with the only things not protected were its underbelly pincers and the two antennae that were on its head.
The monster paid them no attention as it continued to munch on the fresh corpse in front of it creating many sickening snapping and crunching sounds.
Akira silently motioned for the werewolves and Zundar to get ready for a fight. Since he was not too confident with the help that the Minos might be able to provide he held up a hand to stop them from coming over to him, he did not want any of them to die here as it would be troublesome to try and explain it to the villagers and might start a blood feud that they did not need right now.
Even so, Spearia and the other young Minos inched closer to the werewolves to try and provide support.
When the [Lobsoach] finished with its messy meal it turned to see that the rest of its meal had all gathered behind it!
¡°SCRREEEEEEEE!¡±
With a howl, it rushed forward at a quick speed and attacked the closest person which was Zundar!
Snap! The red pincers cut nothing but air as Zundar leaped into the air out of reach of the [Lobsoach] pincers.
¡°You ugly roach I''m going to %^&$ to your $%^&!¡± shouted Akira as he activated his potty mouth skill bringing the [Lobsoach] attention to him instead of Zundar.
¡°SCRREEEEEEEE!¡± the [Lobsoach] scurried forward and swiped its pincers at Akira slamming them into his shield and trying to beat him into the ground.
As it did this Zundar fell onto its back and slammed his weapon down with a force that sent a shock wave into the ground that everyone could feel!
The [Lobsoach] squirmed in pain for a few seconds but resumed its attacks on Akira not worrying about Zundar as its armored shell had not been damaged at all from the attack.
Akira continued to activate his skills to keep the [Lobsoach''s] attention on him while everyone continued to hammer it with attacks.
The [Lobsoach] was growing more frustrated as it tried to get through Akira''s defenses while also trying to snap at the flies that were hammering its thick armor.
In its rage, it started to randomly stampede around the room slamming its tail into the rubble-strewn ground, sending large chunks of rock flying everywhere.
During its rampage a loud Crack! Was heard which continued to spread out from where the [Lobsoach] was.
¡°The floor is collapsing! Back into the tunnel!¡± roared Akira.
But it was too late!
The floor beneath their feet disappeared as it fell into a large hole that was opened up... the last thing Akira saw was a large flash as he slammed into a bright light that knocked the wind out of him.
As the light covered everything he was still falling through a bright nothingness...
***
OOF!
Akira let out a low grunt as he landed on something hard and rolled off onto the rubble-strewn stone floor with a clang, all of his breath being knocked out of him.
Ding!
You have killed the [Lobsoach] and have received your reward... your life and the life of your companions!
|
Cough! Akira waved his hand in front of his face to clear the dust that had exploded everywhere blocking his vision.
Several more grunts and clangs rang out as more people fell to the ground next to Akira.
Ding!
You have entered an ancient hidden [Underground tower] dungeon!
You are the first to discover this ancient research lab that was lost to time. All experience and rewards will be doubled!
You are on the first floor of ten. Climb up the ten floors of the [Underground tower] to escape.
An Overflow is imminent!
|
As the dust cleared Akira could only see dark shadows around him since the lanterns that they had been using had gone missing after falling through the portal and ending up here.
¡°Who''s all here? Did anyone get left behind?¡± asked Akira between coughs trying to clear his lungs from the dusty air.
¡°I made it through in one piece,¡± said Zundar as he stood up and patted down his shoulders while looking around in the dark cavern room.
¡°Uuuu I''m going to be sore tomorrow...,¡± said Spearia in the ancient language as she sat up.
¡°Yap...¡± said Fluffball as he shook his head. He had reverted back to his small form and was just laying on the ground regaining his breath after running around so much and then getting the wind knocked out of him from the fall.
Everyone else gave grunts or a few words to let Akira and the rest of the group know that they had not been left behind and were still alive.
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Akira pulled out two torches from his pack and lit one by striking a flint sending sparks everywhere lighting up the dark room for a brief moment before the sparks ignited one of the prepared torches. Using the lit torch he was able to easily light the second one which he handed off to Spearia who had landed on the ground next to him.
With the room now lit up he was able to look over at what he had fallen on and found it was the [Lobsoach] which was now impaled on a large stone spike that rose out of the middle of the stone room they were now in. He had been so close to also being impaled by the large spike.
¡°Never know when you''ll need a torch,¡± said Akira as he held up one of the torches to look up at the smooth and flat gray ceiling that was low enough to be touched if he jumped up with his hand stretched out.
There was no sign of a hole in the ceiling or the portal that had dropped them into this room. As he looked around at the smooth-walled cavern room there was little of interest save one exit from the room and the large spike in the center of the room.
Akira nearly jumped in fright when he turned and saw a gray statue step forward only to realize a second later that it was just Zundar who was covered in gray dust that made him look like a stone statue.
¡°Why are you acting so jumpy?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°Have you seen yourself in a mirror lately?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Like you can talk... besides we''re all covered in dust,¡± muttered Zundar.
¡°Where are we? And that portal...?¡± asked Spearia.
¡°A dungeon,¡± said Klyn.
Akira walked to one of the walls and placed his hand on it, as he walked along he knocked on it lightly to see if there were any hidden doors.
¡°So this is a dungeon?¡± said Spearia as she looked around.
¡°You know what they are?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°Of course! The ancients wrote about them all the time in the old scrolls. It''s just I have never seen one let alone been inside one. Is this normally how you get into one?¡±
¡°Not exactly,¡± said Zundar as he scratched his head.
When Akira had nearly finished a full round trip around the room and had arrived near the sole exit to the room his ears perked up.
Clickity-clack...Clickity-clack.... Clickity-Clickity-clack!...Clack-clack-clack!
¡°Everyone get up! A large group of something is coming our way!¡± said Akira as he set the torch down in the nearby corner of the room.
He then took a few steps forward and stood in the middle of the entranceway blocking much of the path as he braced himself with his shield in front of him. He stood firm to allow those behind him to regain their footing and join him near the entrance.
Fluffball was the first to join Akira and stood to his right just a little behind him so that he could hide. He had once again transformed into his large hulking ice armored adult form.
¡°Grrrrrr!¡± Fluffball let out a low growl aimed at the wave of clacking that was coming their way. Whatever it was that was coming their way was not deterred in the slightest so Fluffball began gathering an icy cold ball of energy in front of his open mouth.
Both Dolph and Vilkas took places on either side of Akira and Fluffball to fully block the entrance to the stone room.
As they did, Akira was able to see the first glimpse of the enemy rushing towards them... or should he say swarm of enemies.
¡°What do you want us to do?¡± asked Spearia from behind the group.
¡°While we hold these monsters back I need everyone else to help whittle them down with ranged or long-reach attacks. Anyone with the skill and melee equipment to stand on the front line needs to be ready to trade places with Dolph or Vilkas if they need it,¡± answered Akira allowing Klyn and Zundar to translate his orders.
¡°I''ll make sure that anything that leaks past you is clobbered!¡± said Zundar as he slammed his fists together and grabbed his large metal maul.
Fluffball spat out the glowing icy energy ball and shot it between Akira and Dolph as it flew into the dark room ahead of them and lit everything up in a blue light revealing the monsters rushing towards them. [Baby Lobsoach lvl 70]
The [Baby Lobsoach] were only the size of an adult human head and had a black shell. Although they did not look to be as deadly as the [Lobsoach] from before the entire floor was covered with [Baby Lobsoach] that were all crawling over each other in a swarm trying to get to the torchlight inside the room.
Bang!
The ice attack from Fluffball exploded in the air sending out ice shards all over piercing dozens of the [Baby Lobsoach] and freezing even more. But the wave of [Baby Lobsoach] was not stopped!
Fluffball began to prepare another attack while Spearia and the other Minos and werewolves with spears all stood a short distance behind the front line ready to attack.
Seeing that the [Baby Lobsoach] did not have the near impenetrable red armor he readied skill and waited for the moment when the [Baby Lobsoach] were almost on them...
¡°Now!¡± roared Akira as he stabbed his sword down slamming it into the ground and activated the skill [Dark Shockwave] sending out a shock wave down the tunnel knocking hundreds of the [Baby Lobsoach] onto their back where their soft underbelly was revealed and hundreds of pointy legs flailed trying to get off of their backs to no avail.
Several spears and other ranged attacks rained down on the helpless [Baby Lobsoach] but these [Baby Lobsoach] were soon covered by others that had been behind them and were now crawling forward over their squirming comrades as if they were not there.
A second gust of icy cold air swept past Akira as another ice attack from Fluffball exploded, it slammed into the pile of [Baby Lobsoach] sending shattered bodies everywhere while also clearing the path for a few seconds only to be filled back up with more [Baby Lobsoach] rushing forward!
Akira continued to activate his skill [Shield bash] and [Sword Slash] to try and push back and cut down the tide while everyone else beside and behind him constantly launched their own attacks to try and help whittle down as many of the [Baby Lobsoach] as they could.
As the fight waned on there were many close calls that made Akira sweat a bit... and it was not from the [Baby Lobsoach] attacks but the Minos'' wild attacks from behind him!
He had not noticed it before in the previous fight but now that he was right in front of them it was hard to not notice their skill at fighting... they were like a child in their first fight who was just swinging their arms around randomly like a windmill hoping to hit something.
He was unsure if they were trying to kill him with such close calls or... if they just really sucked at fighting.
Experiencing all of this brought back flashbacks to his past nightmares that had haunted him for months when he had first started hunting with Mileena. Back then she had been a specialist at triggering every trap... and now... well she was not as bad as before, he still had to stay alert when in a dungeon with her but he did not remember it being this bad.
When the last of the clacking [Baby Lobsoach] were blasted to pieces by one last attack from Fluffball the Minos teens behind Akira slumped to the ground exhausted.
Fluffball was also panting heavily as he lay down and closed his eyes trying to regain some strength after using his skills so many times.
Akira was also breathing heavily and covered in sweat... not from the actual fight, but from having to dodge the wild attacks of the Minos. He leaned against the nearby stone wall as he pulled out some hard blue candies and fed one to Fluffball before also eating one himself. The feeling of muddied thoughts and tiredness in his mind slowly washed away as his energy slowly flowed back to a somewhat normal state.
¡°So this is what a real battle is like!¡± said one of the young Minos teens.
¡°I can feel it! My strength grew a lot from just this one fight!¡± said another as he happily head-butted the first teen.
¡°What the hell was that?¡± asked Zundar looking at Spearia and the other Minos teens suspiciously.
¡°Fighting what else?¡± asked Spearia who was wiping her face that was covered in sweat and dust.
¡°You call that fighting?¡± asked Zundar. He was appalled to even be related to such weak and horrible fighters.
¡°Hey! We are actually pretty skilled fighters out of the other villagers and if we want we will be able to join the lake guards in a year or so!¡± said one of the teens.
¡°Stop!¡± said Zundar, holding up his hand. ¡°If this is considered skilled... then no wonder your faction has trouble fighting against those Oni. We are a warrior race! Why is your fighting skill so horrible? Where is your honor? Our bodies are built for battle! And yet...¡±
¡°You''re being a bit harsh are you not? We have not had much combat experience since we live far from the main battlefields in the center of the island,¡± said Spearia.
¡°With these pitiful skills in fighting you will not be able to defeat the Oni faction. Don''t even think of trying to fight against a demigod! They will just kill you before you know what happened,¡± said Zundar, not letting up on his opinions of the Minos standing and sitting in front of him.
Akira nodded even though he did not understand what Zundar was saying he understood that they were getting a good talking to. Although Spearia was somewhat better than the others since she was older, she was still far too rusty and had just as many errors as the other Minos.
¡°The demigods are far more powerful than you can imagine and are always growing stronger,¡± said Akira allowing Klyn to translate for him as Zundar was silent and trying to control his emotions.
¡°Then what do you want us to do? Not fight at all and run away?¡± asked Spearia.
¡°Hmph!¡± said Zundar with disdain. With a fist thumping his chest he said, ¡°I will make it my mission to train you green recruits into proper soldiers. You will know the true path of the warrior when I am done with you!¡±
The other young Minotaur''s all looked at each other not sure what to think about such crazy talk coming from Zundar.
¡°Judging from this fight... there will be plenty of battles for you to get experience with fighting... just make sure to aim your attacks properly. It wouldn''t be nice to make me think you are actually targeting me...,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 338: Slapped Into Shape
¡°Sloppy!¡± said Zundar as he watched the young Minos warriors finish off the last of the [Blue Lobsoach] that had filled this cavernous room blocking their path forward to continue rising up the underground tower dungeon.
They had been slowly making their way up through the stairs and cavernous rooms that were all filled with various types of [Lobsoach].
With the dungeon ready to burst there was of course a massive amount of the hard-shelled monster filling the dungeon giving Zundar a perfect chance to hone his training skills and try to slap the young warriors into shape.
Zundar walked up to one of the young warriors and poked them hard on the forehead with his large finger and bellowed out a growl.
¡°What was that jester show you just put on in front of me? You nearly stabbed the person on your right!¡± bellowed Zundar as he continued to poke the young warrior in the chest. ¡°This formation only works if the man next to you can trust you! How are they supposed to focus on the enemy when they are also likely to be stabbed by someone like you standing next to them!¡±
With Zundar constantly smacking them around they were slowly getting bent into shape while their worst habits were being smacked out of them.
Still, if they did not continue this sort of training after they got out of the dungeon Akira did not doubt that their bad habits would come back.
¡°Stop being scared of getting hurt! If you keep jumping around like that you will never be able to land a heavy blow against your enemy!¡± said a heated Zundar.
Many of the young warriors were bent over and breathing heavily as they wiped away the sweat keeping it from getting in their eyes. They had grown used to Zundar''s yelling now after being smacked around so many times for their failures on their way up the nine floors.
¡°We''ll take a break here. Rest up and get something to eat and drink. I have a feeling we are nearing the top of this underground tower,¡± said Akira.
Zundar walked over to Akira and leaned against the stone wall as he watched the Minos warriors quietly chat with each other.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he watched the Minos warriors with them. He had been in charge of keeping the young warriors from getting too banged up by the swarm monsters. It was a tough task but he was up to it constantly yanking them out of the way and blasting an area with his ice attacks.
¡°I just don''t get it,¡± said Zundar, shaking his head.
¡°They''re young. From what I have seen so far, it''s highly unlikely that they will stab us in the back on purpose,¡± said Akira, he couldn''t guarantee there wouldn''t be accidents.
With all the fighting side by side with the young Minos warriors he now had a better understanding of them and their beliefs. There was nothing better than fighting alongside another person in real fights to see their personality leak out even if they tried to hide it.
¡°When I was their age I was not that skinny or weak. I was able to split skulls and hunt large game all by myself!¡±
¡°At least we have found a few good apples in the lot,¡± said Akira pointing to one of the young warriors who wielded a custom-made bow that used arrows the size of short spears. With the power behind the large ''arrow,'' it was able to kill three or four of the smaller [Lobsoach] at a time as it pierced through several of them with each shot.
Spearia with a little coaching from Zundar was turning out to be not all that bad besides some rather hard to get rid of bad habits.
¡°We should wait until they have regained their breath and calmed down. We can''t go fight whatever is blocking our path with tired warriors. That will only lead to injuries or death,¡± said Akira.
Zundar nodded and said, ¡°If they died, then all my hard work would go to waste.¡±
***
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball complaining about the nice crunchy carpet underneath their feet.
¡°It''s not that bad,¡± said Akira as he took another step and crushed tens of harmless mini [Lobsoach] that covered the entire floor. There was no other way to get through the hallway in front of them but by stomping through the freshly birthed [Lobsoach].
They had already tried to use fire to scare them away but these [Lobsoach] just ignored them and continued to scurry about on the floor doing their usual [Lobsoach] things.
Klack...
Akira stopped and held up a hand as he listened to another sound that caught his attention.
Fluffball, Dolph, and Vilkas all tensed up as they listened to the new sound that reached them breaking through the skittering of the thousands of mini [Lobsoach] below their feet.
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Klack...
Klickety-klack!
Akira looked to the others next to him and they all nodded.
He turned to Zundar and pointed to Spearia and the other Minos warriors while saying, ¡°Let them know that something larger than what we have fought in here is coming our way. Possibly more than one.¡±
With his quick harsh words rousing them up off their butts, the young Minos warriors rushed to get into one of the main formations that Zundar had beaten into them.
As the sound grew louder the mini [Lobsoach] that covered the ground just up and disappeared into small cracks or ran out of the hallway and down the stairs leaving only the dead bodies of those that had been crushed.
Whatever was coming frightened the [Lobsoach] more than fire or being crushed.
Two gray blurs bolted into the room and came to a screeching halt as their many legs scraped against the stone floor.
The two large [Gray Lobsoach] were similar to Fluffball''s size.
Snap! Snap! ¡°KREE!¡± The two [Lobsoach] were not happy to see intruders as they snapped at the open air in front of them with their large pincers threateningly.
A sticky gray bubbly string was shot out from their mouths and bound the legs of a young Minos warrior who was jerked to the ground and pulled back toward the [Gray Lobsoach].
Akira stepped forward and attacked the bubbly string with a [SwordSlash] blue crescent severing the hold the [Lobsoach] had on the young Minos warrior. The other Minos warriors nearest the fallen warrior dragged him back to the rear where he was able to be freed from the sticky string binding his legs.
Fluffball, not wanting to be outdone by mere bugs, gathered an icy blue attack and launched it at the [Gray Lobsoach] that had tried to drag the warrior to it.
¡°Kreee!¡± the [Lobsoach] cried in anger and pain as it turned around to face Fluffball and snap its pincers in his direction threateningly. Its back armor was now covered in ice shards. The second [Lobsoach] also took note of Fluffball and also started to threaten him with its snapping pincers.
¡°Yap!¡± said a Defiant Fluffball.
The yelling match between the two sides quickly turned into a Dueling match between Fluffball''s Ice attacks and the sticky bubble strings shooting through the air causing everyone around Fluffball to retreat so that they were well out of the range of the [Lobsoachs] attacks.
While their attention was on the duel with Fluffball a spear-like arrow flew from behind Fluffball and pierced one of [Lobsoachs] eyes.
¡°Kreee!'''' The wounded [Lobsoach''s] head was having a hard time keeping its head up straight with the large spear-like arrow sticking out of its eye. Without care for itself it used one of its large pincers to grab onto the arrow and snapped off the majority of the shaft that was causing it problems leaving the rest still stuck in its eye.
While it was focused on removing the arrow from its head Akira had snuck up behind it and stabbed right through its exposed thin neck armor!
DING! Critical hit! Skill bisection activated!
With a quick swipe of his sword, the rest of the head fell off.
The second [Lobsoach] was not in any better shape as its body was covered in ice shards hindering its movement.
With its movement slowed to such an extent Zundar was able to rush forward and show off his prowess by smashing its head in sending bloody ice shards all over.
The two [Lobsoach] bodies lay twitching on the ground for several seconds before being still.
From each of the two bodies, a silk-like sack fell to the ground.
When Akira picked one up and inspected what was inside he found that it was a large coil of thick sticky thread.
¡°Nice, I can use these for a lot of things,¡± said Akira as he put the silk sack into his pack.
¡°Yap,¡± said an uninterested Fluffball.
While they were inspecting the dead bodies the rest of the Minos warriors who felt bad for not being able to offer any help in the fight, were now scanning the rest of the hallway for any signs of similar [Lobsoach] that wanted to ambush them.
But for some reason, there were no other signs of them or the mini [Lobsoach] who were still in hiding.
The battle had taken them down the hallway toward a glowing blue light that was coming out of a room.
¡°Keep moving forward,¡± said Akira, motioning everyone to fall in line.
When they stepped into the room with the blue light they found several piles of various sizes of [Lobsoach] exoskeletons littering the floor along with large amounts of the sticky string covering everything.
At the far end of the room, there was a blue swirling portal.
Seeing the portal, Klyn began to mutter off several chants making sure to place buffs on the main fighters of the group which included Akira, Zundar, and Fluffball.
¡°Another one of those weird portals?¡± asked Spearia as she looked at the swirling light with a look full of caution.
¡°It should be the last step in getting out of here,¡± said Klyn.
¡°It''s not going to send us back to the bottom?¡± asked Spearia.
After listening to the translation of their conversation Akira was stumped for a few moments as such a thought had not crossed Akira''s mind before.
¡°It shouldn''t... otherwise we''re in trouble...¡± said an unsure Akira.
They only had a limited supply of food and water and most of that was from Akira''s own emergency supplies he had stored in his pack.
¡°There''s no use standing around! Just do that thing you normally do and get us to the next place. If something happens, we can deal with it when we get there!¡± said an impatient Zundar.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with Zundar.
Akira nodded his head silently and used his sword to slice through the thick bubble threads blocking the portal.
When he stood in front of the portal he turned to everyone behind him and asked one last time, ¡°Is everyone ready?¡±
They all nodded their heads or gave affirmative grunts.
Reaching out his sword with his right hand he tapped the swirling blue portal with the tip of his sword.
Ding!
Would you like to enter the ''Royal Caverns'' along with your party? Y/N
|
Akira did not hesitate and accepted the offer allowing the swirling blue light to burst out and cover his entire vision and body.
Chapter 339: Royal Caverns
Ding!
You are the first party to have entered the [Royal Caverns]!
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When the bright blue swirling light cleared from everyone''s vision, they were able to see their surroundings clearly.
Glowing thick white marble pillars lined up along the white cavern walls lit up the rest of the white marble domed room.
Between the marble pillars, there were an uncountable number of holes in the walls... and all of them were crawling with [Lobsoach] similar to the ones they had killed earlier. Although these looked to be smaller and weaker there were still far too many of them!
¡°Aright you weaklings. Time to put your training into action!¡± shouted Zundar as he bashed his fists together.
The young Minos warriors all took a few moments to hype themselves up like Zundar readying themselves for the coming wave of [Lobsoach''s].
The sound of thousands of sharp pointy legs scurrying across the unseen marble floor echoed throughout the domed room causing more tension as the Minos warriors formed up around Zundar while the Werewolves and Fluffball stood with Akira.
Seconds felt like hours but the wait was soon over as a massive black wave of small [Lobsoach] gushed out of the hundreds of holes in the walls all around them. [Lobsoach level 50] [Lobsoach level 100] Their levels seemed to vary greatly.
To lighten the load for the young Minos warriors, Akira and Fluffball went into action first shooting off several [Sword Slash] and Icy attacks at the wave of [Lobsoach] coming towards them.
Akira''s attacks sliced through several dozens of monsters while the ice attacks exploded, freezing even more of them. Both attacks were able to cut out decent gaps in the large wave of [Lobsoach].
Before the [Lobsoach] reached them Akira took a sip of a blue potion and tossed Fluffball a blue candy to help him stay in top shape for the coming battle.
Although the [Lobsoach] seemed to be low level. There looked to be enough of them to cause a dungeon outbreak at any moment! Their numbers were enough to kill one person if they were worn down by the endless onslaught.
Akira did not let the thought of the [Lobsoach] escaping the dungeon enter his mind or any thoughts of havoc that they would cause to the local Minos villages. He only focused on hacking away at the swarming [Lobsoach] that were too young to use much of any special attacks.
His sword sliced through many of the younger [Lobsoach] bodies like butter while the ones with harder shells took a few more hacks from his sword as he led those around him into the fray of the wild battle with the swarm.
Fluffball had released his miniature form and had grown to his full size and was now encased in his holy ice armor allowing him to stand next to Akira, clawing and biting his way through anything that Akira did not attack.
They were not going all out to clear the [Lobsoach] as Akira knew this was a perfect time to help the young Minos warriors grow in strength so they made sure to let a good portion pass and reach Zundar''s group.
¡°Watch where you''re swinging and stabbing your weapon!¡± Roared Zundar.
The young Minos warriors were doing just fine with Zundar shouting out sharp scolding for any errors in their movements or attacks. There were even a few words of encouragement to those who were doing an above-average job compared to the rest of the group.
Spearia was silent the entire time as she just fought alongside the others.
The battle with the unending wave of [Lobsoach] continued for over a half hour causing a large wall of dead bodies to pile up before them.
This was causing more issues as the [Lobsoach] were now climbing up to the top and jumping through the air to attack people in the middle or rear of the formation making it hard to concentrate the attacks in one direction.
Akira seeing the need to change this situation readied his skill [Shield Bash] and plowed through the pile of dead [Lobsoach] sending the piled-up bodies flying through the air and to the side as he cut down the hill of bodies like a snow plow clearing a large snowbank.
With the large pile of bodies shattered the Minos warriors were able to continue fighting as before.
''Ahhhh, I wish I had it this easy when I was around their strength,'' thought Akira as he watched their individual strength continue to climb with each passing minute of the [Lobsoach] swarm.
Around 45 minutes of nonstop fighting the wave of small [Lobsoach], the swarm seemed to be slowing down. After another 5 minutes, the last of the [Lobsoach] exited the holes of the walls and continued to rush towards the party intent on trying to do what several thousands of their kin could not do.
The Minos warriors including Spearia were all breathing heavily from the long drawn-out battle.
SCREEEEEECH!
THUMP!
A massive body towering over 8 feet tall and nearly 5 feet wide repelled down from a hidden alcove in the ceiling. As it landed with a loud ''BANG!'' it crushed several of the young [Lobsoach] under its sharp spear-like legs.
The dungeon guardian had arrived! [Lobsoach Queen level 200 ??]
The Queen looked very similar to the [Red Lobsoach] they had fought with outside the dungeon. There was just one minor difference...
A freaking upper torso of a humanoid female was sticking out of the front part where the normal [Lobsoach] head would be! The upper torso was covered in thick black fur and the torso''s two long arms had hands shaped like large scissors. The Torsos head had thick black hair that fell down its shoulders with bangs that hung just above its 8 sets of eyes and its wide open smiling mouth that had hundreds of sharp teeth gleaming.
Akira looked over to Zundar and asked, ¡°You think that is part of some long-lost demon race?¡±
Zundar shook his head, ¡°No, it''s just some mindless monster.¡±
With how long the battle against the swarm of smaller [Lobsoach] lasted the young Minos warriors looked to be in no shape to even attempt to fight the Queen. Even if they were fully rested they lacked strength compared to the queen it would only be suicide to have them fight her.
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¡°Looks like it''s our time to shine. Zundar are you in for the fight or are you going to stay here with them?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Of course, I''m fighting along with you!¡± said Zundar.
¡°Fluffball, that means I''ll be leaving you here to help keep them safe! The rest of you need to kill the remaining small [Lobsoach],¡± said Akira as he pat Fluffball on the head.
Zundar relayed the orders to the Minos warriors before joining Akira in a charge toward the [Lobsoach Queen] with Akira and his guards.
¡°Roar!¡± said an unsatisfied Fluffball. He did not like getting handed the task of babysitting the Minos warriors.
Spearia and the rest of the young warriors had to pick up the slack left by the main powerhouses that had been helping keep everything in order. They were already struggling to keep up with the remaining attacking [Lobsoach].
¡°ROAR!¡± said Fluffball, giving out orders to the Minos who did not understand what he was saying.
It did not matter much that they did not understand him as he went about swatting them on the butt and pulling them back into position with his teeth in between shooting several ice shards at the small swarm.
With the help of Fluffball keeping them and the swarm in check they were able to somehow survive through the last wave of the small [Lobsoach]. With heavy breaths, they looked over to see how Akira and Zundar''s group was doing in their battle with the [Queen Lobsoach].
¡°You *^$# bug! Come here so I can &^%$$ you!¡± shouted Akira using the [Potty Mouth] to get the queen''s attention. Zundar, who had managed to move to the side of the queen, jumped up into the air and used his full might to attack the queen''s back torso with his large metal warhammer.
Crack! The sound of the queen''s hairy light exoskeleton torso was heard by everyone as blue blood started to escape from the open cracks.
In a pained rage, the queen''s tail swiped forward and smacked Zundar out of the air slamming him to the ground where he let out a low grunt.
The queen moved her attention to Zundar and sent her tail shooting down, piercing into the stone floor only managing to graze Zundar''s shoulder as he rolled away leaving a trail of red blood from his new shoulder wound.
The queen''s back was now facing Akira as she repeatedly attacked the ground with her tail and pincer claws trying to hit the constantly rolling Zundar.
With her tail in full view, Akira took the chance to charge forward and activated his skill [Cross attack!]. The large blue X shot out and slammed into the exposed tail''s weak point.
Ding! [Critical hit!]
The tail that had been shooting forward to pierce Zundar''s chest fell limply onto him as it was severed from its main body!
SCREEEEE!
The queen whirled around and slammed her large armored claws into Akira before he could brace himself, sending him flying back into a glowing pillar.
Akira coughed up a mouthful of blood as he stood back up and activated the Skill [Harden] as the Queen started to hammer him with her claws.
He could hold his shield firmly protecting him from the bombardment as he waited for a chance to attack and keep her attention on him while Zundar got back up and recovered himself, he had several new fresh wounds on his body now.
When he thought the time was right he activated the skill [Sword slash] and aimed it at the queen''s neck!
Only for her claws to swipe at the blue crescent and block it. The claws were not undamaged, although not deadly there was still a thin white line with a few drops of blue blood leaking out.
The enraged queen continued to slam Akira with claw attacks until he activated his [Shield Slam] skill shooting forward...
Only for the queen to sidestep and catch him in her pincers as she raised him up into the air and slammed him into the ground repeatedly.
Zundar, seeing Akira''s predicament rushed forward and jumped onto the queen''s back slamming his warhammer down on the hard shell trying to crack it open.
The sound was like a loud gong as the hard exoskeleton vibrated under his feet but there was only a large white crack where he had attacked.
However, it was enough to hurt the internal organs slightly causing the queen to swipe at Zundar with her free claw trying to catch him as well.
Akira, still trapped in one of the queen''s claws, activated his skill [Shadow chains].
The queen was just launching what looked like a sticky web from her hand at Zundar but the aim was knocked off course as four shadowy wolf heads shot out of the queen''s shadows and bit onto her two large claws and her lower body immobilizing her for a moment.
With her claws and body stuck her head shot forward with her mouth wide open as she bit deeply into Zundar''s wounded shoulder.
With the queen now biting him, Zundar grit his teeth and used his free arm to wrap around the queen''s neck and started to strangle her.
The queen tried to detach herself from Zundar but his muscles bulged as he ignored the pain and exerted power to choke her while pulling her neck back.
Akira, now fully recovered from the dizzying rag-doll slamming he had endured, managed to pry himself out of the weakening grasp of the queen.
¡°It''s now or never,¡± said Akira as he rushed forward and attacked with his sword using all his might to land an attack on the Queen''s exposed neck.
Ding! Critical hit! The [Bisection] skill has been activated!
Ding!
The [Royal Caverns] have been cleared!
The dungeon overflow has been stopped!
Additional experience has been gained as a reward!
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Level up! Level up! You are now level 211!
The level of Fluffball is now 199!
Low-level party members have been given a bonus of 10 levels for participating in clearing an overflow dungeon.
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A panting Akira looked over to Zundar and the others.
¡°That was harder than I thought it would be,¡± said Akira.
Zundar nodded as he looked at the large corpse of the [Lobsoach Queen].
When his uneven breathing calmed down Akira walked over to the black iron key that was floating in the air and walked to the black chest that had appeared on a small platform.
Using the key Akira was able to unlock the chest. As it opened a Black light burst out blinding him for a second before dissipating and revealing the contents inside. There was a large gold sack of what looked like a large pile of soft but sturdy gold silk. Akira guessed it was a good enough material that the skilled Kodria weavers could use to create an armored dress for Mileena.
Next to the gold silk was a large pile of gold coins and a small weathered leather scroll.
When his hand grabbed the leather scroll it began to let out a dim glow as he unrolled it revealing an incomplete map.
He felt a slight vibration in his bag and looked inside to see that the old map he had picked up long ago was also glowing!
¡°A pair? Or are there more pieces?¡± muttered Akira as he put the second map piece into his pack. As he did that the two map pieces stopped glowing.
He gathered the rest of the gold and silk inside the chest before rejoining Zundar who was currently being mobbed with questions from the excited young Minos warriors who had watched his fight with great interest.
¡°We can''t stay here for long, let''s get out of here everyone! I know everyone will be wondering where we all have gone. If we don''t show up soon there might be some misunderstandings leading to some trouble for us!¡± said Akira.
Zundar nodded, ¡°You¡¯re right. Now''s not the time to chat.¡±
¡°ROAR!¡± said an unhappy Fluffball who walked over to Akira''s side and rubbed against him with his cold ice armor.
¡°You did a good job as usual,¡± said Akira, rubbing Fluffball''s head.
¡°Get moving!¡± shouted Zundar to the excited Minos warriors as he started to herd them towards the swirling portal.
¡°STOP LOLLYGAGGING!¡±
He continued to smack and yell at them as he pushed them into the portal.
Fluffball, Akira, Klyn, and the werewolf guards were the last to exit the dungeon as the rear guard.
Chapter 340: Advice and Rewards
When Akira''s eyes readjusted to the flash of bright blue light he was already outside of the dungeon.
The rare sound of chirping birds reached his ears before he could look around and see that he was now fully above ground outside of both the dungeon and the tunnels of the cavern system below. The morning sun was rising high in the sky, allowing him to see a decent-sized dirt road that they were standing on with a dark grassy plane on one side and a light cluster of stone trees on the other.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball with a large yawn as he shrank back to his small form and the ice armor around him slowly melted back into his body. Fluffball ignored the many eyes of the Minos warriors all staring at him as he jumped up onto Akira''s shoulder to rest while letting out a long yawn.
¡°Where are we?¡± asked Akira as he looked around.
Spearia seemed to guess what he was asking and answered in gibberish causing his head to hurt more until Zundar translated for him.
¡°We are not in enemy territory, but we are still quite a ways away from the settlement.¡±
¡°How far?¡±
¡°About a day and a half if we walk. Could be two days.¡±
Akira knew that they were worn out from the fight in the dungeon and needed to rest if they continued to go on as they were then some accident might happen.
¡°Have some people scout the woods and see if there is anything inside, if not, then we can make camp inside and recover,¡± said Akira.
Zundar nodded and walked over to two of the young Minos and ordered them to scout the woods.
While they were doing that Akira was taking his time looking down both ends of the dirt road and something caught his eye.
A leather-bound book was lying in the middle of the road.
''Odd.'' thought Akira as he walked over to it and squatted down to pick it up.
It did not look to be worn out by weather meaning it had not been there for a long time.
He flipped it open and saw something unexpected, the words written inside were in common not the ancient language.
He closed the book, walked over to Spearia, and asked as he pointed at the book and then to her, ¡°Did any of you drop this book?¡±
Spearia looked at it but shook her head when she saw unfamiliar words written inside.
Akira shrugged and decided he could read a bit of it later to see who it belonged to.
Around that time the two scouts came back and motioned for everyone to follow them into the cluster of dead trees. The group followed them until they reached a small clearing at the center of the cluster of woods that was well hidden from the road and anyone traveling the road.
Akira watched as the young Minos warriors all gathered around Zundar like little ducklings. They viewed Zundar as a great hero warrior, but one with a fierce temper and so they listened to him go over the good and bad aspects of their fighting in the dungeon. They did not mind that Zundar would absentmindedly slip back and forth speaking both common and the ancient language in the same sentence.
¡°Although you are nowhere near elite warriors. You are not the green untested youths that entered the tunnels days ago. If you continue to work on the basic things that I have taught you, you will be able to keep those bad habits away and be a step above everyone else your age.¡±
The young Minos warriors nodded even though they understood only half of what he said.
Zundar placed his thick hand on his chin and walked up to one of the young warriors staring at the nervous warrior as he was deep in thought for a few seconds.
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The problem that Zundar saw with most of the young warriors was that they all used normal small spears or short swords which did not allow them to use their bodies full strength to their advantage.
Zundar went over the fighting style he had seen this young warrior use and then made a decision.
¡°Two-handed swords would fit you more than that spear. You should try it out and see if you like it,¡± said Zundar.
Seeing that Zundar was giving advice, the other young warriors all hopped on one foot and shouted with hands raised to be picked next.
And so Zundar spent several minutes going from each young person looking at their body and thinking of their fighting style and habits before deciding on what suited them best.
Most of the young warriors were told to go with 2h swords, large warhammers, and large clubs. There were only a few who were told they were fit to use spears or archery.
¡°With such large weapons, it is even more important to watch what you are doing otherwise you will either end up seriously harming your allies or exhausting yourself without landing any meaningful hits. Then there is the fact that your bodies need to be trained until you have enough muscles to be able to use the weapons properly and show the Minos races'' true strength!¡±
The young Minos warriors let out a raucous roar of approval at the last part even though it meant they would have to go through even more hardships to achieve such a lofty goal.
Zundar had a short conversation on the side with Spearia while the young warriors all got together.
Several of the young Minos were writing down everything that they had remembered from the training in the dungeon and everything that Zundar was saying to them outside. They were all discussing and comparing their notes with each other.
To Akira''s untrained eyes, it seemed they were working on compiling a training manual from everything that they had learned. Such a thing would greatly help them and their allies if they decided to give such information out to them.
Zundar, now finished with his speech and advice-giving, walked over to Akira.
¡°What are they talking about?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Many of them have decided that this experience has opened their eyes to new things. They are now planning on how to bulk up and become more like me,¡± said Zundar. ¡°Although I gave them advice on what type of weapons best suits them. Spearia told me with their situation they would have to use a large portion of their monthly income to get materials to make such weapons which would cause issues. Plus it is easier to buy and keep the cheap spears and short swords repaired.¡±
Akira thought for a moment and then looked into his bag only to nod his head to himself. There were many oldish used weapons he had gathered from the long drawn-out stalemate battles with the demigods.
¡°Bring them over here. Tell them I have a reward for their help in the dungeon,¡± said Akira.
Zundar raised an eyebrow but did as Akira asked and brought the skeptical Minos over to the wolf man who did not speak their language.
Akira paid their looks no attention and grabbed several of the weapons from his bag and handed them to Zundar.
¡°Give those to the warriors that are best suited to use them.¡±
¡°Well, that solves a major problem for them! Nice!¡± said Zundar, slapping Akira hard on the back.
Akira continued to pull out weapons and had Zundar give them to the best candidate. He felt a little ashamed at seeing the young Minos warriors with their big eyes full of joy at wielding their new weapons.
In reality, they were just old junk taking up space in his bag because no one wanted to buy them and the blacksmiths did not want to waste time extracting the common ores from them.
''Well, at least I can clear a lot of space with this,'' thought Akira.
One of the young warriors was so happy at getting his new weapon that he wanted to hug Akira but was stopped by Zundar. Instead, the young warrior bowed to Akira and said something in gibberish.
Akira looked to Zundar who explained, ¡°He said if you even get into a situation with anyone in the village or other nearby villages just tell your name is Mehart... although knowing his personality that might get you in even more trouble...¡±
When everyone received a new(old) weapon they all were happily swinging the weapons around wildly causing Zundar to rush over and thump several of them on the head and smack the youth into a formation where he gave them another lecture.
While Zundar was ranting, Akira pulled out the piece of map and the book he had found on the road. The map was incomplete and he had a hard time trying to figure out what it was depicting. He guessed that it would become clear if he was able to find more pieces and so he gave up trying to discover any clues and just put it back in his bag and began to read through several pages of the leather book.
Upon reading a short passage he had a feeling the content was rather familiar to him...
Ding
...the farther he read the more he grew sure about what the contents were about him!
He had a stalker!
Chapter 341: Search for Survivors
When the group was well rested, they continued on their march down the main road while being cautious of any ambushes, one of the Oni faction''s favorite tactics.
They were now several hours into their journey with little of interest to look at other than the dark burnt ground and the grim-looking black stone trees.
Sniff! Sniff!
Fluffball stopped jumping around and chasing the gravel that was kicked up and instead began sniffing the air fully alert.
¡°YAP!¡± was all he said before charging ahead of everyone down the road.
¡°Fluffball! What are you doing?¡± asked Akira as he rushed forward to try and scoop him back up.
As Akira and the others ran further down the road their noses perked up to the smell of smoke!
Spearia''s face changed to one of concern causing Akira to issue an order, ¡°Everyone slow down we need to stay on guard!¡±
They rounded the bend in the main road that was positioned between several large dark hills and were greeted by the sight of several dozen shattered and torn-down homes. A few of them had been burned to ashes which had alerted Fluffball to the village''s presence. There was no smoke in the air since the fire had burnt itself out the day before.
¡°Minos?¡± asked Akira pointing to the destroyed village.
Spearia seemed to understand his question even without a translation and shook her head and only muttered a few words before staring at the ruins.
¡°An allied demon race called the Lume. They are a part of the Ancient Alliance faction,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Search the village for survivors,¡± ordered Akira. As soon as he said that he felt a little foolish since from everything he had learned about the Oni faction he knew they would not leave anyone alive.
In their search for the destroyed village, they were unable to find survivors, but there were also no signs that anyone was killed there either.
¡°Maybe they were able to escape?¡± said Zundar as he looked around for evidence to prove this theory.
Fluffball continued to sniff around but found nothing of importance as everything worth looting had already been taken by those that had attacked. Everything else was smashed or burnt.
There was little they could do here so they once again continued down the main road now with even more caution.
They encountered several razed small villages and rural houses along their journey, several of them were Minos villages which caused Spearia and the other young Minos to be quite distressed.
¡°Is this normal for the Oni to raze entire villages to rubble and ashes?¡± asked Akira after they finished searching the fourth village.
Spearia shook her head when Zundar asked the question and only said a few sentences.
¡°According to her, they normally are too afraid to go out of their way to attack the villages directly unless they have an overwhelming force... they normally just ambush people that are alone and outside of the faction''s territory,¡± Zundar paused for a second when a thought hit him and he turned to Akira and asked, ¡°You don''t think that they have gathered a large force and have rounded up both the civilians and village guards?¡±
¡°It''s a possibility that a large force is out and about, but the Oni faction taking prisoners? I highly doubt that... it would be too much of a hassle for them,¡± said Akira.
Akira, Fluffball, and the royal guards all stopped what they were doing when they heard a silent whistle from one of the werewolf scouts who had gone out into the wilderness to search for clues.
Spearia was unable to hear the silent whistle but saw the odd reactions of Akira and the others.
¡°Wodeset?¡± she asked.
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¡°There is a large group camped out in the hills. Not sure who it is since it was too dangerous to get close...¡± was what Zundar translated to Spearia.
Spearia continued to chatter repeatedly pointing in the direction that the silent whistle had come from.
¡°She says that is where the emergency evacuation zone is for the several villages in the area. She wants us to go see if the survivors are there or if the Oni followed them there and ...¡± said Zundar trailing off.
¡°Of course, we''ll check it out. It would be foolish not to see what is going on over there,¡± said Akira as he picked up the small but heavy Fluffball pulling him away from his inspection of a destroyed house.
The group cautiously walked with slow and silent footsteps as soon as they reached the werewolf scout and continued to creep forward toward the hill that was hiding the large force on the opposite side.
As they were creeping up the hill a few of the eager Minos warriors were the first to pop their heads up just enough to see what was on the other side. When they saw who it was they stood up tall on top of the hill not hiding and ¡
Fwoosh!
A large spear sailed just over his head. He was only saved when the others near him pulled him back down immediately.
Akira was able to peek over and saw a mishmash group of warriors guarding a hidden tunnel entrance.
In the group below them, there were about a dozen poorly armored and armed Minos warriors along with several dozen red-skinned warriors that were far too skinny and at least two heads shorter than the Minos warriors. Akira guessed the skinny warriors were from the Lume demon race.
They were now shouting in an agitated voice causing even more poorly armored fighters to come out of the tunnel ready to fight off whoever came over the hill.
¡°Weitesosfomminos!¡± shouted Spearia near Akira. She was still hiding behind the hill not wanting to get spears thrown at her.
Several confused and skeptical questions were shouted back at them which Spearia answered well enough that Akira saw the fighters lowered their spears that they had been aiming towards them.
Only then did the young Minos warriors stand up. The fighters were visibly relieved upon seeing such a well-armed allied force show up. But when Akira and the other Werewolves stood up the fighters once again raised their spears fearing that it was a sneak attack by unknown foes.
¡°Hod!¡± shouted Spearia, stepping in front of Akira while raising her hands out to the side to block him and those near him from being targeted.
Another quickfire conversation was spoken between the two sides leaving Akira wondering what was going on as everything was happening too fast for him to keep track.
Eventually, the fighters below them lowered their weapons once again. They continued to ask questions towards Spearia and their faces were filled with a mixture of anger and sadness when they had heard her replies.
A few young children poked their heads out of the entrance but were scolded by the guards and pushed back inside trying to keep them and the other civilians safe.
The two sides continued to chat from where they were for a few more minutes due to the fighters still being wary of Akira and the others.
Zundar was trying to do his best in translating everything but... he was only capturing a little more than half of what was said due to how fast they were speaking and the slightly odd accent that the fighters used.
¡°They are saying something about a small group of elite fighters, far stronger than they have ever faced before, are the ones responsible for raiding the AAF villages,¡± said Zundar after a long pause.
¡°Demigods,¡± said Akira spitting out the word with great distaste.
¡°From how they describe them, that''s my guess...there were several Oni fighters with the group of raiders,¡± said Zundar.
Ding!
Main Quest: [Island in a cold war!]
Last chance to choose a side in the fight. If you do not choose a side you will be ineligible to receive any rewards!
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With the system message putting Akira on the spot he was hard-pressed to decide... but his choice seemed to have already been made for him now that the demigods had chosen the Oni faction...
After a long pause, Akira tapped Zundar on the shoulder causing him to stop listening to the rapid-fire conversation between the two groups.
¡°Zundar... tell Spearia that we will help them with their fight to protect their villages against the Oni and the demigods. But we are not going to be commanded by them. We have other things to do as well.¡±
Zundar was speechless for a minute before asking, ¡°What changed your mind? The demigods? And what could we possibly have to do here since this is our first time setting foot on this land?¡±
¡°Just tell her,¡± said Akira.
Zundar waited for a lull in the conversation and passed on Akira''s words which both sides heard clearly and immediately turned to look at Akira with blank faces.
There was no celebration from the homeless AAF fighters at the news of receiving new allies. They only started not saying a word causing Akira to feel like he had done something wrong.
The reality was Minos and the Lume demon race did not know what Akira and his small force could do to help them. They thought the most likely case was Akira and his group would more than likely just be more mouths they had to feed with their limited resources. Still, any help was better than nothing.
The awkward silence was only broken when several of the more outgoing young warriors that were close to Zundar began to happily chat with him while bowing to both Zundar and Akira in respect.
Chapter 342: Rescue Mission
The gathered demon races of the razed villages streamed out of the hidden entrance herded by the several dozen surviving village guards of the AAF who were little more than farmers with weapons.
¡°They want to take the civilians to a safer place before we search for the culprits causing the problems,¡± said Zundar.
Akira''s group of werewolves along with Spearia and the young warriors were put in charge of guarding the civilians as they once again started walking back to their own Minos village which was now less than a day away.
Instead of using the main road, they decided to stay in the wilderness and make detours to any of the known underground emergency hideouts along their travel route.
It was during this time that they met the first survivors of a village that had been unable to escape entirely.
Akira looked at the few dozen wounded villagers from the Lumen demon race who were lying on the stone ground of their hideout. Many of the survivors had lost limbs from attacks as they tried to flee. Several of the wounded were still being patched up with cloth bandages since the attacks had only taken place several hours before.
The reason it took so long to treat their wounds was that many of those with less severe wounds had risked their own lives to sneak back toward the area where the enemy had been encamped for some time. They did all this to try and rescue as many other wounded villagers as possible since there were many still alive but unable to escape.
¡°Zundar, help me translate that we have potions that can help heal most of their wounds,¡± said Akira.
After chatting with an exhausted old Lumen woman who seemed to be in charge of taking care of the wounded. Spearia came back and exchanged a few words with Zundar and the old lady.
Zundar returned to Akira and said, ¡°Since they do not know you or what your potions will do, Spearia needs to be the one to administer the potions to assure them you are not trying anything shady.¡±
With Spearia and Zundar now holding red potion bottles in both their hands they once again talked to the old Lumen lady who kept looking back at Akira. It was only after a few minutes more of hesitation that the old lady finally accepted their help. She still watched closely as Spearia pulled out the cork of one of the red potion bottles.
The old Lumen healer and her few helpers were muttering quietly with each other, still fearful that the potions were poison that would finish off those who took a sip. To calm their fears Zundar grabbed the opened potion from Spearia and took a sip showing the liquid in his mouth to the Lumen around him before visibly swallowing.
When nothing bad happened to Zundar after a minute the old lumen lady finally nodded and stood to the side to allow Spearia and Zundar to use the red potion on those who had the worst wounds.
There were slight gasps from the old lumen woman and her helpers when they could see the open bleeding wounds quickly scab over. This was the best help that Arron could offer the group right now since no miracle could replace or regrow their severed limbs and body parts.
Constantly being one step behind the enemy-raiding force was not a nice feeling for anyone. Spearia and the young Minos warriors were getting antsy as they helped those still recovering from the most severe wounds onto makeshift stretchers.
Now with several more battered and wounded people added to their group they had to hurry as fast as they could to reach the safety of the village if they wanted to keep the villagers safe. But the addition of the makeshift stretchers was slowing them down as they had trouble traversing through the trees while also being mindful to not run while carrying the wounded lumen villagers.
As they marched on every so often pained wails rang out from villagers as many of those with life-threatening wounds still died even after drinking the potions which had only cured their outer wounds. Many of the wounded had lost too much blood and their internal organs were too damaged from piercing and blunt attacks which led to their deaths.
A silent whistle sounded from further ahead of the main group causing Akira to motion for Spearia and Zundar to stop the villagers.
¡°Have the village guards hide the villagers behind one of those rocky hills! Quick!¡± said Akira frantically motioning for them to move back.
Spearia turned to the villagers and quietly passed on the orders. There was no questioning or refusal to follow the order as the villagers all quietly followed the village guards into hiding behind the hill. They all knew something was wrong and even the moaning from the wounded seemed to quiet down.
Akira motioned for Spearia and the young Minos warriors to follow him and the Kodria warriors.
They quietly jogged through the stone trees toward the scout who had sent the warning and was now making his way back to the main group.
¡°Did you see who it was or how many there were?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I only caught a glimpse of them from far away. They were fully armored so it''s hard to say what faction they belong to. The number of fighters they have is enough to be a problem for us if they are the enemy and want to attack the civilians,¡± said the scout as he pointed in the direction that the large group had been spotted.
¡°Spearia should know who they are so all we have to do is find a proper spot to scout them out,¡± said Zundar.
With Zundar asking Spearia a few questions she nodded her head and motioned for the scout to lead them back the way he had come.
When they reached the scouts'' previous hiding spot behind a small mound of dirt, Spearia moved to the front to look at the approaching warriors who were unafraid to use the open main dirt road to march to their destination.
Arron counted at least 100 armored warriors in the group. The armor they wore looked to be far more durable than any of the armor being used by the village guards who were protecting the civilians some distance behind them.
As the mass of marching warriors grew closer, Spearia was able to make out several identification marks on their armor and she began to excitedly point at them and spat out several quick-fire sentences.
¡°It''s a group of A.A.F soldiers,¡± said Zundar translating her gibberish to Akira and the other werewolves.
Now that they were close enough Arron was able to inspect the group in more detail and saw that although they were marching together there was no semblance of a formation or discipline, they were all just marching in a direction.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball.
¡°True...why are they here?¡± asked Akira.
Zundar shrugged and looked to Spearia for a response but she was not paying attention to them. Instead, she cupped her hands to her mouth and let out an odd bird call from their hiding spot.
The marching warriors on the road immediately stopped and looked into the wooded area where the birdcall had come from. They stood there for a few seconds before someone in the group sent a series of bird whistles back.
¡°Allies not enemies,¡± said Spearia, nodding her head.
With their secret message exchange complete, Spearia and the young Minos warriors stood up and waved to the warriors who began walking over to them with hurried footsteps.
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When the large group of warriors arrived at the hidden mound they ignored Akira and the other''s presence and gathered around Spearia while shouting out several questions which she answered but she also asked them a few questions of her own.
¡°It appears that they all gathered when they heard rumors of villages being attacked,¡± said Zundar translating the excited chatter between Spearia and the group of warriors. ¡°This group is just a vanguard of the AAF''s main force. They were sent out ahead of the main force to try and search for survivors and escort them back to the main underground fortresses where the rest of the AAF villagers have already evacuated to.¡±
The current conversation going on between the two groups caused Spearia to have a mixture of shock and confusion as she heard what the soldiers had to say about other rumors that had reached them.
¡°...and now an unknown enemy force has marched to one of the alliance villages and has taken it over. The AAF''s main force is already taking another path to the village to try and take it back,¡± said Zundar as he scratched his head trying to translate the conversation while also trying to understand what the heck was going on. Which was a hard thing to do at the same time.
When Spearia spoke a few more sentences Akira saw that several of the soldiers grew agitated and angry upon hearing her words. He guessed that she had just told them about the razed villages and those that had been killed. These attacks were most likely done by the same group that had just taken over one of their villages.
¡°Why not raze this village like the others?¡± asked Akira.
¡°From what I gather... this village has walls which is rare since most of the allied villages are constantly on the move to stay away from the attacking forces of the Oni. Apparently, Spearia''s village is in the minority as most Minos and AAF villages are nomadic due to the constant attacks,¡± said Zundar.
After a short discussion with Spearia, the soldiers agreed that the way they had just come from was safe enough for the village guards to escort the survivors to the AAF''s underground fortress.
Spearia rushed back to the waiting villagers and let them know that everything was okay now and issued new orders for the guards and villagers.
She watched them slowly march off down the road for several minutes before turning to Akira and blurting out a few sentences.
¡°Are we willing to help them take back the captured village?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°Of course, we can help. That''s what friends do,¡± said Akira, joining the group of AAF warriors on the road.
Spearia nodded her head when she heard Zundar relay his response.
The other AAF warriors all looked at Akira with slight interest but did not say anything and instead resumed their march down the road. With their main task completed they had to alter their course to loop around and after some time were able to meet back up with the main force.
While they marched to their destination Arron was able to spot glaring differences between the young Minos warriors trained by Zundar and the AAF warriors that marched next to them.
Even though the young Minos warriors were less experienced in real battles compared to the older AAF warriors they still looked far more orderly and followed Zundar''s commands immediately. The AAF officers were all leaders from each village who led their own groups and did things completely different from each other. This explained why even though they were all gathered together everything looked like a mess.
When they reached the outskirts of the territory controlled by the captured Lumen village, everyone let out a sigh of relief seeing that the village walls were still standing and looked to be in good shape.
Sadly that was the only good news as they did not see the attackers camped outside the village walls which showed a few signs here and there that a struggle had taken place.
With a little more searching of the area, they were able to discover a few dead bodies of Lumen warriors still littering the ground near the village''s wall.
It was obvious that the enemy was now inside the village... they knew not if the Lumen villagers inside were still alive or massacred.
A quick and heated discussion was hashed out by all of the gathered officers as they took a few minutes to decide on what to do.
Akira, Fluffball, and everyone else just stood back and watched as it was not his place to say anything since he was just here to offer help as a show of goodwill.
¡°There is no need to attack the village from the outside. Follow us,¡± said Spearia, waving for Akira and the rest to follow her.
¡°It seems they trust us enough to show us a special way to enter the village...¡± said Zundar after translating what she had said.
Spearia was really trusting them a lot with this sort of information. If they had ill intentions they could use it to easily take over the village for themselves.
They quietly walked to a large rock that hid them from anyone on the village walls when the patrol on the wall passed, a third of the AAF including many Minos warriors, Spearia, Zundar, and Akira with guards all rushed to a hidden nook in the wall. A ladder was pulled down from a hidden trapdoor in the wall and was used to climb into a cramped passage through the wall.
Akira and the others exited the short tunnel and appeared in the smelly animal pens in a far corner of the village.
Unfortunately for them as soon as they exited the animal pens they were discovered!
¡°Who are you?¡± asked a surprised male demigod upon seeing such a large group appear from the animal pens. He was holding onto a shovel that he had been using for many hours to further dig up dirt to reinforce the village walls.
Akira did not say anything and only activated the skill [Cross attack] sending a blue X flying toward the Demigod who tried to use the shovel to block the attack.
Crack! But the skill attack sliced through the wooden handle and sliced his body into four pieces before he could say anything. Upon his death, his body burst into light particles that floated up into the air and disappeared.
Spearia and the other AAF members were all shocked at seeing such a sight and were pointing at where the dead body disappeared.
¡°These are the demigods we warned you about. Although we killed him he will be back again in the future. So we have to clear this village before they have a chance to appear and retake it,¡± said Zundar.
The sound of running footsteps coming from the village''s north dirt road interrupted their conversations.
¡°I''m not lying I saw a light that looked like someone died!¡± shouted a male voice not that far away.
¡°Are you sure you haven''t been drinking too much lately and were just hallucinating?¡± asked a female voice.
Akira scooped up the items that the demigod had dropped upon his death and shoved them into his bag before waving the others to hide.
He and Zundar hid in the shadows of wooden buildings on each side of the dirt road and waited for the arguing demigods to appear.
As the demigods rounded the corner to busy bickering with each other Akira and Zundar launched their ambush and leaped out of the shadows.
With a powerful swing, Zundar''s large warhammer slammed into the male demigod''s chest breaking dozens of bones and pulverizing their internal organs as he was slammed into the ground. The half-dead demigod was still able to activate a skill that just barely missed Zundar''s head. But with the next attack from Zundar, the demigod''s head burst like a melon.
Akira jumped onto the female demigod, piercing her through the back with his sword.
She grabbed the sword with her unarmored hands and tried to push it out but only caused more pain for herself as she made the sword saw back and forth and cut her hands.
Akira pulled the sword out of her grasp. She held onto the wound and started to grope for something in her bag.
A quick sword attack sliced her arm off at the shoulder stopping her from pulling out a potion. Followed by a third attack that sent her head tumbling to the ground.
Akira was rather happy with the dropped items from the dead demigods, they included several interesting gems embedded in a weapon.
For the armor that one of the demigods dropped he handed it over to Spearia who looked it over curiously before hiding in a dark corner to quickly wear the newer armor.
¡°Zundar you take the AAF to clear any Oni warriors and secure the surviving villagers. We''ll take care of the rest of the demigods,¡± said Akira as he and the werewolves under his command transformed and ran off.
In this way they quickly cleared the village without much trouble there were only a few injuries and no deaths.
As Akira was scanning the village for any hidden threats an elderly man from the Lumen demon race ran over to him, hands outstretched as tears streamed down his eyes.
Two nearby werewolves stepped in and blocked him before he could get close but he did not care and continued to rattle off a bunch of garbled nonsense in the ancient language that he could not understand and had to wait for Zundar.
¡°A group of demigods left the village some time ago. They took his granddaughter with them most likely to some place called the [Thief city] which is where they came from to launch this attack...¡±
Ding!
New quest! Granddaughter rescue!
Old man Qorn has asked you to help rescue his granddaughter.
If you refuse this request Kodria will have trouble dealing with the Ancient Alliance Forces in the future.
Accept: Y/N
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¡°Tell him that we will help rescue his granddaughter. If the demigods have taken over another city we can not sit by as they strengthen their position. We must weed out this problem until they have all disappeared from this large island,¡± said Akira.
Chapter 343: Bad Luck and Bad Acting
Akira looked at the rising morning sun for several moments before returning to stare in the direction of a road that led to the distant sea where Kodria''s ships were stationed.
¡°It''s already several hours past the agreed meeting time... what is taking them so long?¡± muttered an impatient Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he sat down on Akira''s armored feet. He did not want to lay on the dusty ground or on any of the tall and sharp grass that covered the entire area around them.
Qorn, the elderly Lumen race grandfather, walked out of the tall grass that was hiding the rest of the gathered rescue party and walked up to Zundar who was standing next to Akira.
¡°Why are we not leaving? Every second we wait here is a second that my granddaughter could meet the end of her life!¡±
¡°We need the help of people who are similar to those new enemies who have joined the Oni. They are not simple enemies and all have special skills that they use to attack people and they are hard to keep dead. If what you told us about the people who took her then It would be too dangerous to try to chase them with our current force. It would be a death sentence to send normal fighters to deal with such kidnappers,¡± said Zundar slowly as he tried to calm down Qorn.
This only placated Qorn for now as he stopped speaking and began pacing back and forth.
They were forced to wait several more hours before the sound of several footsteps and a loud argument reached their ears.
¡°How was I supposed to know that was the long way around? This map that was sent to us looks like a bunch of squiggly lines. Trying to figure out which road is which from such a mess is nearly impossible, look at this and this! There are clearly some serious measuring errors in the lines drawn!¡±
When the noisy group rounded the bend in the road that passed through two large hills, their arguments stopped when they saw Akira picking up Fluffball and stepping out into the middle of the road to grab their attention.
¡°We finally arrived! We''re sorry that it took us longer than it should have but this map is really b... what are you waving your hand about like that for?¡± asked Sweety while looking at her brother.
Beater stopped his discreet gestures and made a motion with his eyes pointing at Akira. He knew of Akira''s hobby of drawing maps...
Although she was a little slow reading his silent gestures when she saw Akira''s depressed expression she realized the problem.
¡°Ahem... well we are here. What was so important that you called us here without explaining anything?¡±
¡°We thought you had been attacked by other demigods and were going to die... but you seem fine,¡± said Beater.
¡°It is related to the hostile demigods. They have captured this man''s granddaughter and taken her to a new hub of villainy Known as the ThiefCityy. Since we have little information on who or how many of them are holed up inside we need your help with infiltrating and scouting the inner city so that we can come up with a plan to rescue his granddaughter,¡± said Akira pointing to the pacing elderly Qorn.
¡°This is a perfect task! I always wanted to save a damsel in distress!¡± said Beater as he punched his chest to pump himself up.
¡°How are the ship repairs and fortifications going?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Captain Pegleg''s ships have all been fixed and are now patrolling the shoreline of this large island to ward off or capture any ship from any outside sources. Kodria''s naval forces are in fine shape and are currently protecting the coastline around our fortified encampment,¡± said Crowbhar.
¡°Alright, since our backup has arrived... Everyone, let''s go!¡± shouted Akira waving for the large group of warriors to exit the tall grass... Only Kodria''s soldiers stepped out of the tall grass.
Zundar let out an embarrassed cough staring at Akira who was flapping his arms before he turned and translated the orders to the rest of the hidden AAF warriors who had all volunteered to join this mission.
¡°What''s with such a large force? I thought this was supposed to be a covert rescue mission?¡± asked a confused Beater seeing such a large force pop out of the tall grass.
¡°Of course it is, but we also decided that we should liberate the town from its demigod control at the same time. They are too close for comfort and if we don''t take action now there will only be more problems for everyone. The thief city is still a few days travel away so we need to head out now. I just hope nothing happens to Qorn''s granddaughter during that time,¡± said Akira.
¡°YAP,¡± said Fluffball as he jumped out of Akira''s arms and landed on the ground next to him.
¡°We are not tired yet and can keep going but which direction are we supposed to take?¡± asked Sweety pointing at the multi-pronged road ahead of them.
¡°Mr. Qorn knows the way to the city so we should have no problems!¡± said Zundar.
¡°Ah! I feel so much better hearing that. I was worried that we would have to follow a map that ¡ ahem.¡±
With that said an awkward silence fell over everyone as they began marching in proper formation behind Qorn who was explaining everything to Zundar at the front as he pointed out which winding paths to take.
With each step they took they were marching closer to the center of the island which was the core of the Oni territory. According to Qorn the Thief city was in a neutral zone between the two factions and was used as a hub for trade. That did not mean it was safe. Far from It, there was more likely than not trouble brewing ahead of them.
***
¡°Is this the last of the monsters?¡± asked Akira as he slashed down and severed the head of a large black rodent that had over one hundred eyes on its head.
They were only several hours into their march and this was the third time they were attacked by odd-looking monsters.
Spearia was muttering something to Zundar with confusion clear all over her face.
Zundar quickly translated, ¡°It is odd how such rare monsters are popping out while we are traveling. Normally these rare monsters are only seen once in one''s entire life!¡±
Akira had been watching Qorn the entire time as he used a personal map to navigate to the Thief City.
Ding!
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Akira''s bad gut feeling +1
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Now that he thought about it, this feeling that he was getting from Qorn was horribly familiar vibes that he had not felt in a long time.
Wherever they went on the many different trails Qorn was constantly being smacked in the face by branches, tripping over roots, stubbing his foot on large rocks embedded in the ground, and now they were constantly running into extremely rare monsters...
''Yep... He''s one of those people...'' thought Akira as he watched everything happen to Qorn. It all made him remember his first few months traveling with Mileena. She had constantly set off every trap and lured all types of trouble toward them forcing them to endure many life-and-death situations.
Akira shook his head. Some people were just magnets for trouble and bad luck.
As night was falling the Mino''s forward scout came back to the main group with news of a large caravan camped on the side of the road for the night. It was not that far from them.
¡°Do we know who they are?¡± asked Akira.
Zundar frowned as he listened to the scout and then said, ¡°Slavers.¡±
¡°Is it possible that the demigods have teamed up with this caravan of slavers?¡± asked Akira.
The scout shrugged and spat out a few quick sentences answering Zundar.
¡°There are several cages with people inside them but he could not tell who they were, only which demon race they were from by their body outline in the night shadows from the camp''s firelight.¡±
Spearia pointed to the direction that the thief city was supposed to be and Akira guessed that she was saying that was where the caravan was headed also.
¡°There might be demigods with them so we can''t just storm in and attack. We might be able to overpower them but we would likely receive many wounded and that would jeopardize our secondary goal of freeing the town even if it is known as a lawless thief city...¡±
¡°They will kill all those they have captured to not allow us to be able to save them if we try something like that.¡±
¡°I will go over there and see how many of them there are and see what they are up to since I can take care of myself,¡± said Akira as he pulled out a furry beard that was from a rare goat species that they had encountered earlier. He poked some holes into the thick beard and tied some leather string to it before placing it over his ears to hold the makeshift beard mask in place. To cover up the string he wore a cheap leather helmet.
¡°Not bad,¡± said Akira as he looked at himself in a handheld mirror for a second. ¡°Zundar, you come with me. Act like my servant and we should be okay. The rest of you stay here and protect Qorn.¡±
Zundar was skeptical about this plan but decided to stay silent and silently walked behind Akira who was walking with a large wooden stick that had many fake packages tied to it.
A small group of werewolves continued to trail them from hidden positions off the road ready to rush forward and help them if something went wrong.
When they had walked half the distance to the encampment Akira remembered something important! ''I don''t know how to speak the ancient language! Oops!''
It was too late to turn back now as the guards that were watching the road started shouting and pointing them out to everyone else inside the encampment.
A few questions were shouted out in their direction to which Zundar answered.
Whatever he said caused them to stop being so rowdy as they just stared at Akira.
¡°You are here to buy slaves. Just act naturally and don''t speak, I will do the talking,¡± whispered Zundar.
As the two walked up to the half dozen Oni guards that appeared on the road they stopped a few steps away. Akira let out a sigh as he looked at their faces and saw the guards did not look all too concerned or suspicious of them and only made small talk with Zundar trying to see what type of slaves they wanted.
¡°Stupid hicks,¡± came a voice from a campfire near a large tent where two men sat. This voice startled Akira as it was spoken in common not the ancient language.
''Demigods! This has to be the group we were looking for right?''
¡°Tell the guards not to bother selling to this guy. He can''t afford the price for anything we have. If he tries to barter junk for a slave I will personally kill him,¡± said the demigod.
¡°Shhhh... one of them is looking at us,¡± said the second demigod.
¡°Who cares if they can''t understand us, we might as well try to trick them into signing a document to bind them into slavery,¡± said the first demigod.
Unfortunately for the demigods, both Zundar and Akira understood them all too well but kept their anger in check as they scoped out the camp and haggled for the price.
¡°You guys stop talking with them. Tell them to fuck off,¡± said the first demigod as he stood up and walked towards the guards.
¡°Let''s just kill them,¡± said the second demigod as he also stood up and started to walk over.
¡°Sorry guy I don''t care who you are but you came to the wrong people,¡± said one of the demigods to Akira not caring if he understood.
As they were reaching for their weapons Akira and Zundar acted first and launched their own attacks.
Unlike the weaker demigods from the village they saved, these two seemed to be skilled enough in combat that they were able to defend against the surprise attacks.
¡°Hey, what''s the big idea attacking us? We don''t want to harm you!¡± said one of the demigods as he jumped back dodging Zundar''s attack... only to launch a glowing red skill attack from his rapier that shot out and opened a large gash on Zundar''s arm.
With the start of the fight, the hidden werewolves rushed out and engaged the Oni guards leaving Zundar and Akira the task of dealing with the demigods who were bombarding them with skills trying to overwhelm them.
While trading blows with each other for over five minutes the demigod fighting with Akira tripped over a wooden stool behind him and exposed himself as he fell allowing Akira to pounce and stab his sword through the weak neck armor pinning him to the ground.
Akira stomped on the demigod''s hand that was trying to reach for a potion and then pulled out his sword before raising it up high and sending it plunging down with all his might to pierce through the thin metal armor covering his heart.
Zundar continued to trade several heavy blows with the demigod in front of him breaking many of his bones while also receiving many large wounds on his body from the piercing red skill attacks of the demigod.
With one last blow, he managed to crumple the demigod, finally killing him.
¡°Zundar, drink this,¡± said Akira tossing a small vial with red liquid over to him.
There was enough for a full mouthful which Zundar down in one gulp and watched as the wounds on his body started to stop bleeding and scabbed over.
Ding!
You have received a new title: Bad Actor!
Fame +10
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¡°Let''s figure out how to free these people,¡± said Akira as he looked at the several cages.
While Akira was searching for the keys In the demigods'' tents Spearia, Qorn, and the other AAF members all rushed to the encampment and started searching for their loved ones.
When Akira exited the tent he walked over to a large cage and used the keys to open it. To large red skinned men only wearing fur loincloths stepped outside. They were even taller than Zundar and just as muscular if not more so and they had three eyes not just two.
When Spearia and the others saw them they rushed over and began excitedly chatting with them.
Zundar helped translate the conversation allowing Akira to understand what had them so agitated.
¡°They are known as half-giants, a nomadic people. It was because of their demon race that the AAF was able to survive for so long but now there are not many of them left as they were all targeted in past wars due to their extreme power. It seems that these two were ambushed by over five demigods and managed to kill 3 of them before they were subdued.¡±
As Spearia chatted with the two large men they looked up and stared at Akira after hearing something interesting from her. a
The two walked over to Akira who could see one of the large half-giants'' faces had been scared by horrible burns.
¡°Ouwanotuonuu!¡±
¡°They want to join us,¡± said Zundar.
Spearia quickly ran over and began explaining to Zundar more details about the two men.
¡°They heard about our mission to save the Qorn''s granddaughter and since they were already headed to the thief city to look for their captured family members they would like to join us.¡±
¡°They are welcome to join us, the more people there are to help us the better!¡±
Chapter 344: Thief City
Akira looked at the forked road in front of him. If he continued to lead everyone down the straight path they would quickly reach the drawbridge that led into the high-walled Thief City. If this was the only entrance then they would be in trouble.
¡°Take the right path,¡± said Zundar, translating for Spearia.
¡°Riht...¡± muttered Spearia, repeating the word. She had been trying to learn common from both Akira and Zundar during their march. The rough lessons she received were little more than having her repeat the words as there was not much you could do in just a few days. Akira was also able to learn a few words from both Zundar and Spearia which was enough to answer ''Yes'' or ''No'' to an obvious question that did not need translation.
The right path of the branching road curved around the thief city and led to the next town several days away. The next town was of course occupied by the Oni faction. Taking the right path allowed them to pretend to be a caravan that was just passing by while also being able to survey the entire city''s defenses.
What troubled Akira about this city was the deep moat around it... if it were just that it would be fine but this moat was completely filled with water which was rare above ground on this dry island! The moat surrounding the city was the size of a small lake requiring an extra-long drawbridge for those who wanted to enter the city.
¡°How are we supposed to enter that?¡± asked Akira.
¡°It''s a thief city, we''ll just enter the same way as all the smugglers do. There are several secret paths into the city. This is why the black market is strong here, it allows for easy transportation of many rare items and even movement of wanted criminals,¡± said Zundar translating Qorn''s words.
Akira was sure that many of the secret paths were not so secret to the city rulers but since they brought a lot of trade and money to the city they were allowed to stay open.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball as he began trying to sniff out the smuggler''s entrance.
They continued to walk past the town for several minutes until the road ran between a set of dark hills. Instead of following the road Qorn stepped off the road and led them into the hilly terrain where they disappeared from view of any nosy people.
Qorn was looking left and right searching for something as they slowly walked through the hilly terrain. When he saw a familiar landmark he stopped and pointed at the large stone that was lying on the side of a large hill and then walked forward to stand next to the large stone.
RAP, TAP, TAP, RAP, CRACK! Qorn whacked the stone with his wooden cane several times in an off rhythm.
When he stepped back nothing happened for some time making Akira think it was the wrong stone. But the thought was thrown out when the large round boulder actually rolled to the side revealing a dark tunnel that had just enough room for one or two people to enter at a time.
Silently an armored arm extended out of the hole and held out its hand expectantly. Qorn took several silver pieces out of a pouch and placed them on the outstretched hand which pulled back into the dark tunnel after beckoning them to come in.
Since Akira was not willing to trust the goodwill of the hidden figures he took the lead and entered the dark tunnel first. Inside the dark tunnel were over ten well-armored brutes who were all from different demon races. They did not block his path and only stood on the side of the tunnel making it a cramped squeeze to get past them.
The guards inspected the large group that had been waiting to enter for some time before turning to Qorn who was now passing them.
¡°Old man, you brought back a lot of people this time. With so many people you will be noticed if you head out the normal way. That would be bad for businesses if we were linked with whatever you are planning so we will have to ask you to take the long way around,¡± said the guard who had just accepted the silver coins.
Qorn grumbled a few words and only nodded and waved for those behind him to continue following him toward a secondary path.
There wasn''t much to look at in the dark black tunnels that descended deep underground only to level out well below the moat that surrounded the city.
A short time later Qorn stopped at the end of the tunnel and pressed his ear to the wall that was blocking their path. He stood there for over a minute listening for any noise on the opposite side.
When he was confident that it was safe he pressed an indent on the wall allowing it to swing open on hinges. Their exit was a dark underground dungeon cell.
The cell''s thick wooden door was not locked so Akira was able to poke his head out and see if the coast was clear. While Fluffball stood next to him and sniffed the air for any threats.
¡°This level has been abandoned for several years due to several superstitions of it being haunted by the thousands that have died down here...¡± said Qorn.
Spearia placed her hand on Akira''s shoulder and said in broken common, ¡°Waet.¡±
¡°Since you and the other werewolves would draw too much attention, they want us to wait here while Qorn and a few check out what is going on in the city right now,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Fine by me. Everyone should rest now before we make our move. We may not get much sleep after we enter the town depending on how many Demigods are living in this city,¡± said Akira as he walked back to the tunnel and down inside the entrance where he could keep a close eye on the dungeon cell door.
The rest of the warriors from each of the Demon races took his advice to heart and settled down quickly, falling asleep in the dark tunnels. Their short nap was interrupted two hours later when Spearia and Qorn returned.
Spearia held out both her fists and said, ¡°Oni. Demigod.¡± She touched both fists together which Akira guessed meant that they two were working together in this town as well.
She turned to Zundar and started a rapid-fire explanation of all that they had found out about the current rumors as well as information on the current overlords that ruled the town.
Some of the rumors Zundar was translating were a bit troubling.
¡°Apparently, there is a new really good restaurant that opened in the town, its special dish is zombie meat... not sure what they mean by that.¡±
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After listening to everything that the two had to say Akira called over the [Full moon] guild members and hashed out a plan on how to take care of the demigods inside the city with little death or injury on their side.
¡°Even If we die there''s no need to worry about us being sent all the way back to Kodria since we anchored ourselves in Spearia''s town. With the village leaders'' permission of course,¡± said Crowbhar.
¡°This should be an easy task for us. From what Spearia said they sound like a bunch of drunkards that only like to go to the seedy parts of the town at night and get wasted before walking back before the sun rises,¡± said Sweety.
¡°Then we just need to wait for that and then strike?¡± asked Beater.
¡°I''ll come with you to help make sure nothing goes wrong,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°Of course you can come with me. But Zundar I need you to go with Spearia and those under her to take out the Oni city rulers. For our main plan to work we must eliminate both groups to stop them from activating the city guard or send messengers out to request from those outside the city,¡± said Akira.
***
Akira, Fluffball, and the [Full Moon] guild members were hiding in a rundown shack they had rented for a few coppers. They had chosen this shack as one of its windows allowed them to see the door of a seedy bar which they had been told was the favorite hangout for the demigods.
It was already well past midnight but there was little to no sign of any activity near the door. So Akira had volunteered to watch the only entrance and exit of the building while the others rested.
When the door cracked open and spilled out a yellow light across the dark streets Akira sat up straight.
Fluffball''s head popped up and looked at Akira sensing his movement. He grew tense ready to transform if Akira gave the order to rush out and attack.
The [Full moon] demigods also opened their eyes after noticing the two''s movements.
Together they all looked out the window and watched as a human-like figure, definitely a Demigod, appeared at the well-lit doorway! The demigod bent down and picked up a large burlap sack which was slung over his shoulder before he stepped out into the street.
The door closed behind the demigod with no one else exiting. Akira decided on the spot to not rush out and attack. If they acted now they would make too much noise and alert the other demigods who were still inside the building which would make their task even harder.
While Akira watched the demigod man walk away, he noticed the large sack that he was carrying was leaking a dark liquid on the ground behind him with each step.
Both Akira and Fluffball sniffed the air and caught a whiff of a familiar scent as the dry wind passed down the street and into their tiny shack. It was blood.
Another half hour passed before the lone demigod returned, this time without the bag.
Their stakeout of the bar lasted until the moon had already started to fall and its light was the dimmest of the entire night.
Akira quietly tapped his armored leg, alerting everyone in the shack.
The bar''s door had just slammed open.
¡°BRAH RAH AKAUH...!¡± a group of drunk demigods serenaded the night with their drunk song loud that made no sense.
They staggered out into the street along with a few Oni friends that they had made while bellowing at the top of their lungs not caring for those that lived nearby.
¡°Now,¡± whispered Akira.
This was all that was needed to be said as the [Full Moon] guild members leaped out of the window of the shack and silently landed behind the drunk group.
With only a few extra steps needed, they launched their sneak attacks piercing the backs of three of the demigods at the rear of the group immediately sending hundreds of bright fragment lights into the air.
The other drunk demigods sensing something was off turned to look behind them to only stare in shock with wide-open mouths as they saw three of their group disappear.
¡°DEATH!¡± shouted Beater as he swung his weapon at the head of one of the dazed demigods who had turned to look at him and received a caved-in skull creating another burst of light fragments.
Akira and Fluffball both jumped out of the shack to join the fight but half of the demigods were already dead and the surviving demigods were now struggling to survive but were now outnumbered.
With Akira and Fluffball''s help, they were the remaining demigods who quickly disappeared into fragmented lights. The Oni that had been singing with the drunk demigods had been killed in the crossfire of skills.
When Akira inspected their bodies he was happily surprised that they were not civilians but a few of the Oni rulers in charge of the city.
¡°That should make It easier for Zundar,¡± said Akira.
¡°We should go help them out just in case something went wrong on their end,¡± said Crowbahr.
They did not need to worry as Zundar and the other allies he had led were making their way back to the meeting point with their mission successfully completed.
¡°We did lose a few people in the attack... but we managed to take down the targets that were there,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Hurry, let''s go to the holding cells!¡± said an impatient Qorn.
¡°You know where your granddaughter is being held?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I managed to get it out of one of the Oni''s mouths before he died...¡± was all Qorn said.
They followed Qorn to the city''s central market guardhouse.
¡°She is being held in the holding cells underneath the guardhouse...¡± said Qorn.
Akira had seen such a place like this back in Cadia. The holding cells were most likely a place to hold the captured slaves and those who were being held for blackmail against their families.
He marched to the thick wooden door of the guardhouse and kicked it with his armored boot, breaking the flimsy lock and causing it to slam into the wall.
The guards inside had all been dozing off and were startled awake by the loud bang. They were alarmed to see a mob of people at the door. As they fumbled with unsheathing their swords, Akira and Fluffball rushed in and knocked them out.
Qorn rushed inside the guardhouse ignoring the guards that now lay on the floor. He opened the trap door in the ground that led to the holding cells and rushed down the steps. The two half-giants were right behind them as they both started searching for their loved ones.
Minutes later Qorn shouted and began frantically waving for Akira, who had just picked up the keys from the ground, to open up one of the cells that was in front of him.
Akira quickly rushed over to the thick metal door and had to try several keys before managing to open the door.
Qorn was crying as he rushed in to pick up his frail granddaughter who was little more than skin and bones. She was cowering in the corner of the cell too scared to look at whoever had entered the cell fearing that it was her tormentors that had returned.
Qorn with tear-filled eyes continuously tried to soothe her worries as he held her frail body in his arms. It took her a long while to recognize the voice and realize that it was not her tormentors who had come but her grandfather!
Akira pulled out a small red potion and handed it to Qorn and motioned to drink it as he pointed to the frail girl who had several wounds on her body.
Qorn did not hesitate and slowly fed her several sips of the red potion before giving her some water out of his own waterskin.
The half-giants also called out for Akira when they found a holding cell that needed to be unlocked. Inside the holding cell, they found a group of half-giants who were crammed inside and although they were wounded, they were still in far better shape than Qorn''s granddaughter.
Akira went to several of the other holding cells and opened each of them freeing the captured and demon race members that were waiting to be sold as slaves.
There was a lot of crying from them as they tried to hug Akira thanking him in the ancient language.
After managing to free himself he was going to walk to the last two cells but immediately the freed people began shouting and waving at him to stop and not open them.
¡°Murders,¡± said Zundar, translating their cries.
Chapter 345: Really sick
In a border city several days away from the thief city.
¡°The city has fallen to the barbarian forces,¡± said a skinny Oni who was hidden in the shadows of the tall dark building they were standing inside.
¡°I told those undying people that their limited forces were not enough to hold such a city... go accept the offer from those dark-robed people.¡±
¡°I don''t know if that''s a smart thing to do. They seem a little too eager to help us even though we have never met people like them before...¡±
¡°We need all the help we can get if we want to take the city back and start our conquest of the barbarian lands. In war, we can not be picky with those that offer to help us lest we offend them and they decide to back the enemy.¡±
¡°But those dark-robed people practice such barbaric...¡±
¡°That''s even more reason to have them use it on the enemy and not us. Gather everyone we have that can fight right now. We can let those guys do the dirty work and then we can come in and mop up everything else if it all goes according to plan.¡±
¡°The remaining undying allies that stayed here with us say that their friends who were killed in the city are not dead but they are no longer on this land and can not help us until they travel from a distant land all the way back here...¡±
¡°What a bunch of useless beings... tell them they will have to come with us to prove their loyalty.¡±
***
¡°Now that we have taken action they won''t sit still,¡± said Zundar as he looked over the inner city while standing on the city wall with Akira.
Ding!
The Oni have learned of the fall of the Thief City!
Defend the village and allow civilians to live in peace.
Rewards: The city will join the AAF and become a forward base for the alliance.
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¡°True, we can expect them to come back with a strong force to take the city back... we need to prepare for their arrival. But first, we still have to clean up the mess and all the problems they left behind,¡± said Akira.
¡°Those guys are a bunch of sick weirdos... and their weird symbols are all over their tools,¡± said Crowbahr.
¡°Judging from everything we have found so far the rumors were in fact true. This is a sick and twisted place. Luckily we were able to cleanse it of such people,¡± said Sweety.
¡°The rest of the residents seem to be a normal mixture of different demon races from both the Oni and the AAF. But their living conditions are horrible as most of them are extremely poor or were slaves living in the slums which made up the majority of the Thief City''s buildings. From what I learned most of them came here on their own even if it meant living in such squalor. It is far safer living here than living in a small village that constantly gets raided,¡± said Beater.
¡°What about the more well-to-do Oni that were living it up with the demigods and the Oni rulers?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Many of them escaped during all the commotion. They took all of their valuables with them as they left through the tunnels. As nice as the tunnels were for getting into the city they are also nice for the enemy to get out... or in...¡±
¡°Qorn, can you let the tunnel guards know that we will be blocking all the secret entrances for an unknown amount of time,¡± said Akira.
¡°How am I supposed to tell them that? They will now agree to this as it is their main source of money,¡± said Qorn.
¡°Let them know that the Oni will be back and they know who controls the secret paths. Which means they will be the first to be killed if they want to invade the city using the tunnels. I''m sure they would rather close the tunnels for now and live instead of dying,¡± said Akira.
¡°Alright, I''ll go talk with them. But there is no guarantee they will agree...¡± said Qorn.
¡°Good, the faster we can get this city sealed up the easier it will be to defend.¡±
¡°UrEallyOingOEepEsLace?¡± asked Spearia.
¡°Yes,¡± said Akira after listening to the translation. ¡°Although it''s a leaky ship right now... this will be a good bridgehead to build up forces to stop the enemy from striking out at the rest of the AAF villages. That only if we can shore up the many holes in its defenses.¡±
¡°If we take control of this city we will be able to launch our own raids and expeditions from here instead of having to move about all the way back at the shore,¡± said Beater.
¡°We still need to reinforce the walls so that they can at least last long enough for us to push back the enemy when they arrive. It''s great that this city already has a moat which should make our life somewhat easier after we plug up the holes. With our recent experiences in defensive warfare I believe we are well suited for this coming battle,¡± said Akira as he thought of the several years that they had held back the demigods from moving farther south towards Kodria. Although the situations here are far different from then.
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Everyone that was standing on the wall looked down at the watery moat below. It was true that it gave them a sense of security but also made them feel trapped.
¡°Everyone has their tasks so let''s get to it before the enemy can respond!¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap?¡± asked Fluffball.
¡°What are we supposed to do?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°We have the hard job of talking to the civilians living here. There is so much to sort out with them as well as see what they all plan on doing,¡± said Akira.
***
¡°I know you keep saying you want to live in peace... but that is not possible if the Oni army is truly marching here like the fluffy dog man says,¡± said Spearia.
¡°You should not have come here in the first place!¡± shouted an angry Oni.
¡°That''s easy for you to say! You were not being constantly harassed by those undying people and the city overlords!¡± shouted a young male representative for the Minos faction that lived in the city.
¡°What are we going to do about the large number of thieves and bandits that are still living here?¡± asked an Oni representative, ignoring the person who just spoke.
¡°The captured Oni conspirators must pay! They killed my son without reason and did not even pay for his burial!¡± said an elderly man.
¡°That is nothing, they have killed several dozen people from our section of the slums over the last month! Those who have been enslaved had it the worst as they were killed at the whim of their owner. No one knows how many of them have died! Are you all so blind to previous rulers'' treatment that you would rather have them ruling us with an iron fist again? Why do you hate the idea of freeing ourselves from their control and deciding our own fates? I vote to support the alliance and defend the city!¡±
The back-and-forth bickering about who had it worse as well as past grudges had been flying back and forth between the different demon races for several hours now. Akira had not said anything other than his initial offer to help them become an independent force separate from the main Oni cities.
Now that someone had initiated a vote, there were many shouts for and against this declaration. But after another ten minutes of fierce yelling back and forth a decision had been made.
8 of the 10 representatives from different groups in the city voted to support the AAF against the Oni overlords and their new undying friends that they had recently made.
¡°Zundar, I''ll need you to gather a group of volunteers to seal up the city. Spearia, please keep an eye on those two who voted against us... send a few people out to find and have a chat with the worst of the thieves and bandits. We need to understand who is and is not a threat. If they are a danger to the city you can send them packing,¡± said Akira, letting Zundar do the translating.
With the city locked down, the daily routine of the majority of the city was halted leaving a large portion of them with nothing to do. That was a great thing as Zundar and others who had work projects for the city were able to gather enough volunteers to immediately start their projects.
While that was going on Akira decided now was a good time to inspect the major hangouts and hideouts that the demigods had been holed up in during their stay in the city. He wanted to see what they were up to every night and if they had left any goods that they could use in the upcoming battle.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball who had decided to join him along with Dolph and Vilkas.
There was no one to stop Akira from stepping inside the seedy tavern since the original Oni owners had already escaped the city as soon as they found out the winds had started to blow a different way.
Akira looked around confused since the common room looked no different than any other tavern he had been to before. Despite its looks on the outside, the place was extremely clean.
¡°What is so special about this place?¡± muttered Akira.
Fluffball spent several seconds sniffing the air, the wooden floor, and the furniture all around them but could not find anything out of the ordinary.
¡°Yap...¡± said a defeated Fluffball.
Akira only shrugged his shoulders and walked across the room with Fluffball who was still sniffing up a storm beside him as they walked into one of the back rooms of the tavern where a set of stairs descending could be seen.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°You''re right. The fun must have been happening down there,¡± said Akira as he began to descend the small set of stairs.
Bam! He kicked open the locked door, breaking the flimsy wooden latch that was holding it shut.
¡°What the hell?¡± muttered Akira as he entered the room and looked around.
All along the walls and on stone pedestals were many different statues all made out of different materials, hardened clay, metal, stone, and a few wooden ones. In between all of the statues were many plush cushions and couches that looked well-used.
This was obviously the main gathering place the demigods used each night.
The numerous statues in the room would not have been out of place in some rich VIP room... if it were not for the gruesome expressions of torture and agony on each of the statue''s faces.
There was also the fact that most of their body postures were not normal either. There were some holding up their hands as if to defend against an unseen attack while others looked like the statue had been restrained as they were tortured.
The display of statues all gave off a creepy feeling.
¡°The sculptor of these statues has a sick mind. Why would the demigods indulge them in such a sick hobby and gather so many of them here?¡± asked Dolph.
¡°We could ask the members of the [Full moon] guild. They are weird enough that they would probably know why,¡± said Akira as he continued to look around the room for anything of value.
Fluffball had given up sniffing the stone floor and the cushions and was sniffing each of the statues one by one before returning to Akira.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball, his tail wagging furiously.
¡°What!?¡± asked Akira and his guards.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball even more energetically as he ran a few circles around Akira.
Although they were shocked for a few seconds they all focused on their enhanced sense of smell to sniff the air near the statues.
¡°...¡±
¡°These demigods... I never would have thought this was possible...¡± said Vilkas.
Akira balled his armored fist and slammed it into the chest of one of the hardened clay statues...
Shards of dry clay flew off as a large hole appeared. Instead of the statue crumbling it was still stayed standing... because of the decayed body and burnt bones that were inside of the statue.
Akira smashed his fist into several other statues and found that each statue had been formed around someone who had most likely been alive before they were encased in the material used for the statue.
¡°These demigods are really sick,¡± was all Akira could manage to say.
Chapter 346: Thief City Defensive Battle
Several days later inside a small building near the front walls of the thief city.
¡°How is the work going on covering the secret entrances?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Everything was finished this morning. We finished collapsing the last tunnel. Most of the workers are now focused on plugging any gaps they find. While the rest have been tasked with strengthening the walls and adding a few more makeshift wooden roofs for the walls to try and protect those guarding the walls from any incoming arrows or other projectiles,¡± said Zundar.
¡°I was out there this morning and helped slap some of the dredged dirt and gunk from the moat onto the outer walls to help stop fires and blunt the impact of projectiles. There really isn''t much we can do and I am not sure if that will really do anything but it was a suggestion from Spearia so we went with it,¡± said Akira.
¡°Better than nothing,¡± said Crowbahr.
¡°The city armory has been completely emptied and the civilians that are strong enough have all been armed to join the city guards,¡± said Beater.
¡°Have the two under your watch done anything suspicious over the past few days?¡± asked Akira as he turned to Spearia.
Spearia only shook her head.
¡°What about the messengers we sent to the main camp and the allied villages? Did they receive the information about our current situation?¡±
¡°Awooooo!¡± a lookout on the city walls let out a howl that rang throughout the city alerting everyone who was still hard at work that something was happening.
If they were still confused, not understanding what the howl meant, all that confusion was wiped away when the city''s central alarm bell began to toll, making sure that everyone knew the city would soon be under attack!
Akira and everyone who had been in the meeting rushed out of the small building and ran up the nearby ramp quickly reaching the top of the city wall that was now filling up with city guards and the civilian warriors.
The wall was now full of several different demon races including Oni civilians that had been tread on by the higher-ups and had no desire to be under their control again. The city was really a city of the downtrodden who wanted to stay free.
There were still several civilian workers who had been working on fortifying the outside wall and deepening the moat. But with the alarm bell ringing they had stopped their work and were now rushing through the open gate. When the last civilian passed through the heavy drawbridge was pulled back up by a dozen muscular Oni guardsmen.
Akira looked out over the charred black desert-like planes that surrounded the city. In the distance, he was able to make out a large column of dust moving towards the city directly towards the main gate. Whoever It was, they were not afraid to let the city know that they were coming.
Akira pulled out his spyglass and peered at the distant column. At the front were several dark-robed figures that were leading the group of several hundred Oni warriors.
Akira handed the spyglass over to Spearia to allow her to get a look at the approaching enemy.
¡°Only a few hundred Oni warriors. We should be able to defeat them or at least hold them off until allies arrive,¡± said Akira.
¡°That''s if they don''t have their own reinforcements,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°We should be fine Fluffball. I''m sure you will be able to get your fill of fighting today,¡± said Akira.
The enemy force continued marching towards the city before stopping well out of range of the city walls attacks.
¡°What are they doing?¡± asked Galena who was standing next to Rondie and Sister Teresa.
Instead of preparing a camp for a siege, or getting ready for an attack, the black-robed people were now herding the Oni warriors into several intertwining ring formations outside of the city spaced evenly in a wide semicircle.
The suspicious black-robed leaders of the enemy force walked into the center of the formation where three makeshift altars had been placed. Akira focused on the dark-robed leaders but was unable to receive any information about who they were...
The warriors in the circles all started to chant at the same time loud enough for those on the walls to hear them. To Akira''s ears the sound was like guttural roars and grunts and not actual words.
But to many of the civilians on the city walls, shocked gasps were let out as they heard the chanting.
¡°What is it?¡± Akira asked Spearia, seeing the shocked expression on her face as he stared at the Oni warriors. She absentmindedly muttered out a response.
¡°Ancient Dark Rune Casters. Only evildoers know how to properly use these types of evil spells. They use life force to cast their rune spells,¡± said Zundar translating her words.
As they were talking the Dark-robed leaders pulled over several animals to the three altars and began chanting as they swung their blades across the animal''s necks slitting their throats.
The flowing blood gushing out of the animals was drunk up by the parched black dirt as well as the three black altars which started to glow red from the absorbed blood.
The glowing red light from the altars soon turned into a red mist which rose into the air and covered the chanting Oni warriors who started to chant even faster.
At the height of the chanting several chained slaves who looked to be children from an unknown demon race were dragged to the altars... and were sacrificed on the altar letting their blood be drawn out and soaked up by the altars further strengthening the red mist that was now covering the warriors.
When the bodies had been drained of blood they were thrown to the side to lay on the ground with the slaughtered animals.
As the chants grew even more frenzied the red mist began to condense and seep into the Oni warrior''s bodies before disappearing. With the disappearance of the red mist, the chanting also became silent. The only sound on the dark plains was the dry wind blowing sand.
Akira watched for some time as the Oni warriors and black-robed leaders stood still and silent.
¡°Blublabloubabuu!¡± shouted a large black-robed figure as he pointed his purple hand toward the city walls.
¡°Raaaaaa!¡± the Oni warriors all screamed out as one and charged forward breaking the ring formation that they had been in. While the three black-robed figures stayed behind and continued to chant near the three altars.
¡°Everyone, prepare to push back the enemy!¡± roared Akira.
With this command, his werewolf guards all transformed and Fluffball grew to his large adult size ready to take on the approaching enemy.
Waves of Arrows from the city walls shot through the air and landed, hitting their targets but the charging Oni warriors did not care. They continued rushing forward, not bothering to use their shields to block the raining arrows that pierced arms, legs, chests, and even heads! The Oni warriors continued to rush forward, some with odd movements caused by their wounds.
The [Full Moon] guild members began to use their various ranged skills to try and cut down the approaching enemy which only led to several of the attackers collapsing while other attackers with large wounds continued to move towards the moat that blocked them.
Fluffball and Akira also lent their strength by using their own skills. Fluffball shot several Ice attacks at the enemy, freezing parts of their body which shattered when arrows from the other defenders hit them.
The wounded enemy warriors jumped into the moat without hesitation only to start floundering, many sinking to the bottom due to their heavy armor.
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Those who were lightly armored were able to swim across but they were pierced with so many arrows and bright-colored attacks from the [Full Moon] guild members that they were a gruesome sight to be held. They looked like pincushions that continued to move forward even as their skin peeled off and their guts poured out with large amounts of blood.
Those who made it to the city wall began to form ladders by stepping on each other''s shoulders allowing others to climb up the wall. These ladders were knocked down by the defenders using their long spears to pry them away from the wall and push them back.
But the attackers kept getting back up and forming ladders to climb the wall.
''Luckily the attacks were all focused in the front of the city allowing us to focus our defenses here,'' through Akira.
¡°Awooo!¡± Akira sighed as he looked to where the several warning howls had come from.
The heavily armored warriors whom he had believed to have drowned were now looking ghoulish and bloated as they crawled and pulled themselves out of the moat on the far side of the wall where the defenses were thinnest. They also formed ladders using each other to climb up the wall.
With the majority of defenders all occupied with keeping the mass of Oni attackers off the wall, there were far too few defenders on the wall to deal with the new threat. If he did nothing then the situation would spiral out of control.
¡°Fluffball hold down this part of the wall for me!¡±
¡°Rawr!¡± said Fluffball in between shooting several ice attacks.
As Akira rushed forward weaving in between the defenders to reach the far end of the wall, three of the heavily armored Oni warriors were able to latch onto the top of the wall and pull their waterlogged bodies up onto the wall.
¡°Step back!¡± shouted Akira warning the defenders before he activated the skill [Sword Slash] and shot out a blue crescent that sliced through the armor of the nearest bloated enemy.
With a hard kick to the chest, he knocked another attacker backward causing them to stumble and fall off the wall.
Clang! Akira blocked the heavy attack of a swinging morning star using his shield and continued to push forward with his shield plowing forward knocking the attacker off of the wall.
Akira looked down at the gathering of heavily armored warriors that were once again forming several ladders and then down towards the front of the wall where the larger force of enemies was. No matter how many times the enemy warriors were knocked down, nor how grave their wounds were, they continued to get back up and try to climb up onto the walls.
He noticed those that were the most wounded were now glowing red and the light was getting stronger the worse their condition got. Some of the lightly armored warriors were nothing more than skeletons with almost all of their flesh, blood, and guts either torn or burnt off. It seemed the only way to stop them for good was to completely dismember them or shatter them into tiny pieces.
Even with their best efforts, there were still several of the glowing red attackers that somehow managed to get onto the top of the wall and caused several of the AAF warriors along with the civilian defenders to be heavily wounded or even die before Fluffball, Akira, or the [Full Moon] guild members were able to take care of the attackers.
¡°Awoooo!¡±
¡°Enemies have broken into the city from a secret passage!¡± shouted Beater.
¡°Zundar, Fluffball, you keep command of the walls. I''ll go take care of the intruders! [Full Moon] members come with me!¡±
Akira jumped off the wall not using the stairs and ran through the streets that were empty with everyone hiding inside the ramshackle buildings that had been boarded up to try and protect the weaker civilians.
Akira needed no help finding the invading enemy warriors as the sound of breaking wood, frightened, and pained voices rang out in the distance.
The infiltrators were not wasting time and had already started killing civilians and destroying buildings.
When they found the attackers, they were treated with the sight of several glowing red bodies dragging screaming and struggling civilians out of their buildings. Unlike the attackers outside the walls, Akira noticed that each of them had rings that glowed red.
Among this group of attackers were Orny and Gyart, the two representatives who had voted against fighting against the Oni forces.
¡°Go save the civilians,¡± growled Akira as a black mist covered his body blocking him from the view of anyone for a short moment before a large heavy aura burst out as he transformed into his werewolf form. His large muscular body exploded with power as his teeth grew into sharp tearing daggers along with his claws and long black tail that was now covered by the tail armor that extended out with it.
¡°Awwwoooo!¡± Akira let out a howl before turning his gaze at the dark-robed figure who was standing in the middle of the street and was not attacking but instead had his purple hands raised and were moving as if he was conducting a music concert.
¡°Blubabu!¡± chanted the dark-robed leader as he pointed to Akira.
The infiltrators stopped their attacks on the civilians and instead turned to look at Akira before rushing at him, several of them still dragging civilians behind them as they rushed forward.
Neither Akira nor the [Full Moon] guild members could use skill attacks with the civilians being so near the enemy. As they got closer the infiltrators started to throw whatever they were holding at Akira and co. which included several civilians...
Akira and several of the [Full Moon] members were forced to run around and catch the flying civilians instead of attacking the approaching enemy.
¡°Get out of here!¡± shouted Akira as he dropped a third civilian onto the ground behind him and faced the glowing red attackers that were leaping toward him.
Akira activated [Darkness Domain] engulfing a large area around him.
¡°Everyone, no need to hold back. Transform!¡± growled Akira.
Dolph, Vilkas, and the Fullmoon members were able to transform before the enemy reached them and a full-blown melee broke out between them and glowing red fighters who would not die from fatal wounds. The [Darkness Domains] effects seemed to have little to no effect on the glowing red attackers as they were able to attack Akira and the others.
Akira sliced through several arms and legs of the red-glowing attackers, opening a hole revealing the black-robed leader behind them.
Akira Activated the skill [Cross Attack] sending a large blue X shooting forward through the hole ... only for it to be blocked by one of the glowing red warriors that used its body to jump in front of the attack and had its body severed into 4 pieces.
With so many attackers all ganging up on Beater who was protecting several civilians behind him, he had already received several small and medium wounds... but it only caused his berserk nature to grow stronger!
¡°TAKE THIS ATTACK!¡± shouted Beater as he knocked the group of glowing red attackers into several others in the rear.
This cleared a path for Akira who activated the skill [Shield Slam] and hurtled forward trying to break through the line of attackers before the hole closed again.
Several of the glowing red attackers threw their bodies in front of Akira and... blew themselves up trying to stop him but Akira plowed right through them only receiving minor wounds and burns from the explosions.
When he broke free of the mob, there was only the dark-robed figure in front of him.
The swaying purple left hand stopped its motion and grabbed a nearby wounded civilian''s neck, crushing it as he muttered a chant. The purple hand gripping the neck started to glow a bright purple as it was raised and pointed directly at Akira.
A large purple bolt of lightning shot out and slammed into Akira who came to an immediate halt.
¡°ARGHHHH!¡± he shouted out in pain as he dropped down to one knee and held his helmeted head in his hands.
A sharp pain pierced into his mind causing him to feel like his head was going to explode and the pain was only getting stronger as another purple lighting slammed into him again. The pain was making it hard for him to even think.
¡°RAAAA!¡± Akira let out a pained howl as he fought back against the mental attack that was trying to destroy his mind. As he resisted he felt something break causing the pressure of the mental attack to lessen and start to dissipate.
Before another purple lighting bolt could be launched, he gritted his teeth and activated the skill [CROSS ATTACK] sending a Blue X toward the dark-robed figure that was stumbling back from the backlash of the failed mental attack.
The attack did not kill the dark-robed figure but sliced into the body and destroyed the dark robe revealing an ugly humanoid creature underneath.
A purple Octopus-like face with tentacles for a mouth and no nose looked at Akira with anger in its eyes. Its tentacle mouth fluttered as it muttered another curse and pointed at Akira causing him pain. But unlike the first two attacks, the mental attack felt far weaker.
Akira stood up and gathered his strength as he weathered the mental attack and Pounced forward grabbing onto the purple Octy man''s arms and... tore them off!
He didn''t stop there as he tore off the man''s legs and head before stabbing his sharp armored fists through the purple chest piercing the heart.
Ding!
The Cult of Science''s plot to take over the city has been thwarted! The AAF has added a new town to its forces!
|
Ding!
You have defeated Number 4 of the Cult of Science!
You have leveled up to level 220!
|
With the death of Number 4, the glowing red attackers all fell to the ground lifeless. The sound of battle on the walls well behind them also became silent.
¡°What the heck? Not only are the demigods on this island but these freaks from Cult of Science have decided to show up?¡± muttered Akira as he looked at the dead body on the ground which was starting to quickly dissolve into a puddle of purple liquid.
***
In a dark room in an unknown place.
¡°I sense that Number 4 has died,¡± said the calm husky male voice of Number 1.
¡°How? Even the demigods can not resist his power?¡± asked the smaller playful female voice of Number 2.
¡°What could he have run into to have been killed? I am drawing a blank unless that place has some hidden protectors that we do not know about. They should all be rather weak,¡± said number 3 the golden lion.
¡°I hope he completed his task before dying... if not I will have to raise him from the dead and kill him again and again,¡± said the angry female voice of number 6.
¡°Even If he is dead there is still number 5 who has her helper with her. They should be working on the task as well...¡± said number 7 Tibia.
Chapter 347: Dungeon Ready to Burst!
While Akira oversaw the repairing of the damage to the city walls and buildings Klyn and several others made the trip out of the city to inspect the altars that had been left behind in a three-pointed formation. When their investigation was finished they destroyed them and returned to the city.
Akira made sure to pay extra attention to shoring up the walls'' defenses and further reinforcing the materials used to close off the secret routes into the city including the few new ones that had been burst open when the enemy had charged deep into the center of the city.
During this time of busy work Spearia, with the help of the [Full Moon] guild members cleaned the city of troublesome people who did not want to listen to reason or follow simple rules. It was a huge pain in the butt trying to bring the lawless Thief city around to a more civilized city now that the Oni and demigods were no longer in control.
The [Full Moon] guild members had also set the thief city as their current return hub. If they lost this city it could cause them major problems.
But a week had already passed with no sight of any retaliation from either the Oni forces, demigods, or the black-robed Cult of Science.
Akira considered all this and decided it was time to head out to scout the surrounding areas. Since he was still on a secret mission that required him to travel to and search the entire new island for clues he could not stay here forever.
¡°Spearia, I''ll leave the defenses to you and the other allied warriors. I still have other things I need to do in the area. I won''t be going far or be away for all that long so you should be fine. The reinforcements should be here soon enough,¡± said Akira.
Their previous messengers had been killed on the way to warn of the coming attack but the second group of messengers had managed to deliver the news and came back only the day before.
¡°Oos,¡± said Spearia, agreeing with his words.
With a wave goodbye Akira and the gathered [Full Moon] members walked through the city streets out the front city gate and across the drawbridge that was lowered. There was light traffic of people that were coming to the city for riches or adventure while others were leaving to some place farther away wanting to get away to someplace safer.
As Akira was walking across the bridge Fluffball jumped in front of him and let out a loud growl with his hackles standing straight up as he snarled at a short figure that now stood in front of them.
Akira''s attention had been distracted as he was checking his gear one last time but with the sudden snarling from Fluffball, he looked up to see the short man that was blocking their path.
The short man was bent over and was breathing hard. His entire body was a dark purple, similar to the color of an old bruise. Both his shaggy hair and unkempt beard were white as snow. While the iris of his eyes were a deep red.
¡°Good sir, can I ask for your help?¡± asked the Dark Dwarf between gasps. ¡°You seem like a strong knight that can deal with this pressing matter.¡±
¡°...and what might that be?¡± asked Zundar, stepping forward to stand next to Akira.
Akira did not say anything as he inspected the man in front of him.[Dark dwarf Knarl lvl 50].
Seeing this information, past memories of the ancient underground temple that had been created by the extinct ancient Dark Dwarves came back to his mind.
''So there are still some alive here?'' Akira thought to himself.
¡°A nearby dungeon has been discovered and from everything I have heard and read about in the scrolls of old, I think the creatures inside want to come out!¡± shouted Knarl.
¡°A dungeon overflow?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I''m sorry I don''t know what language he is speaking but is that what he calls it? Where is he from?¡± asked Knarl after hearing Zundar''s translation.
¡°Something like that,¡± said Zundar vaguely, not answering his question directly. ¡°Akira what are we going to do?¡±
¡°If there really is a dungeon ready to burst....we can''t let it happen. If we do then it will make the surrounding area and even this city unsafe and could lead to problems for the AAF villages as well,¡± said Akira.
The red eyes of the dark dwarf squinted as he tried to listen to and understand Akira but he only shook his head and gave up as he was unable to understand a single word that was said.
¡°We''ll help. But you have to lead us to this dungeon,¡± said Zundar.
¡°That''s great! We aren''t safe with the current monsters already roaming the lands and now another dungeon wants to cause more problems. With your help there should be no issue!¡± said Knarl as he turned and began walking in a direction toward the Dungeon.
The march to the potential overflow dungeon was less than a day away from the Thief City.
When they arrived at their destination Akira walked over to the edge of the large pit and looked into the darkness that swallowed all light. There was a set of weathered stone stairs that led deep into the pit but nothing else of note could be seen.
As they stood there silently listening they could hear many low and odd sounds coming from below.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball confirming what Akira had heard as well.
¡°Somethings down there for sure,¡± said Zundar.
¡°No point in us standing here all day,¡± said Crowbahr.
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¡°We should quickly clean out the dungeon and see what goodies we can find,¡± said Beater.
¡°Don''t get too excited, we need to do this properly,¡± said Akira as he and Fluffball stepped onto the stone steps and led the others into the darkness towards the odd sounds.
Akira looked behind him to see that everyone was following him before once again taking another few steps...
Thunk!
The worn stone steps all tilted at the same time creating a steep incline ramp causing everyone to lose their footing and begin to slide down into the darkness.
Akira tried to grab onto the wall but his armored hand just slid off of the slick stone. He even tried to use his sword to try and jam it into a crack in the ramp that he was speeding down but he only managed to create bright sparks that lit up the long circular slide that they were all shooting down.
¡°YAP!¡± shouted Fluffball as he moved past Akira, his four paws trying to find footing but were continuously slipping and spinning out of control.
Akira reached out and grabbed for Fluffball before he shot out of his range and managed to catch him.
¡°Yap,¡± said Fluffball, grateful to no longer be spinning wildly.
They continued to gain speed for some time as they shot down the large stone slide going further into the depths of the underground dungeon where the air was growing cooler and contained more moisture.
¡°Hold on!¡± shouted Akira as he held Fluffball closer to his chest. The reason for this was he saw a bright opening at the end of the stone slide that was now arching up into the air.
¡°What the heck!¡± shouted someone from behind him as they saw the end of the stone slide in front of them.
Fwosh!
One by one they were launched out of the stone stairwell and sent high up into the air where they stayed for several seconds as they arced through the air only to crash land into...
¡ something soft?
Splat!
Whatever Akira had landed had burst and let out a putrid smell.
Wiggle! Wiggle!
Akira looked underneath his body and saw a glowing green goop along with a large pile of bones.
Near him were several large square Slimes that were glowing green. They had fallen into a slime pit!
The slimes were still for several seconds as they registered the new objects that had fallen from the sky and destroyed a few of them.
¡°Damn it! Why did it have to be slimes!¡± shouted Sweety.
¡°Hey, these are different from the ones you fought before. They were ice slime''s but these slimes look like they could warm you up,¡± said Akira.
¡°Yap!¡± Fluffball as he transformed.
¡°More like melt my skin off first,¡± said Galena.
Ding!
You have entered the Ancient Experimental Labs Dungeon!
|
Akira looked up at the stone slide they just came out of and saw that it was well out of reach of anyone even if they tried to stand on each other''s shoulders or use a rope and hook.
Even if they managed to climb back up, the slide was too slippery...
¡°Quit complaining,¡± said Beater. ¡°If we don''t kill these slimes then they will melt off everyone''s skin!¡±
¡°There''s too many of them surrounding us. We need to clear a path to the exit over there!¡± said Akira pointing to the only reachable exit that he could see.
The exit was raised up off the ground with a few stone ladder rungs carved into the wall that led down into the pit. It was also directly across from the ramp slide that they had just been spat out of.
The cube slimes seemed to have decided what to do with the intruders and all started wiggling their way towards the new source of sustenance.
With so many cube slimes moving as one, they started to form a small green wiggling wave that was slowly picking up speed and size.
¡°Everyone ready?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Ready!¡± Everyone shouted without hesitation.
¡°Rawr!¡± growled Fluffball as he gathered power for an ice shard attack.
Akira''s leg muscles tensed before he activated his skill [Shield Slam] and charged forward just as Fluffball shot the glowing blue Ice shard that pierced through several cube slimes and froze large portions of the slimes in its path as they tried to recover from the hole that had pierced through them.
They did not get any such chance to recover as they were smashed to bits by Akira''s shield slamming into them clearing a path for everyone to follow him.
Galena with her water attacks and Minion with his wind skill attacks helped pierce through and thin out the wave of slimes in front of them as much as they could.
With the combined attacks of Fluffball, the [Full Moon] members, and Akira rocketing forward they were able to reach the stone ladder relatively unharmed.
¡°The rest of you get up the ladder first. If you can, help support our escape when you get up there. You should have a better view of what is going on from up there anyways,¡± growled Akira as he turned around with Fluffball joining him to focus on the wave of slimes that had halted and were hesitating after sensing several other slime''s death.
This hesitation only lasted a few seconds as they once again bunched up and started gathering momentum as they wiggled forward.
Akira launched several [Sword Slash] skill attacks joining Fluffballs Ice attacks slamming into the growing green wave.
They were able to hold them off, killing several dozens of the green cube slimes allowing everyone else to make their way up the stone ladder.
The slimes pulled back for a moment... and started absorbing the green liquid acids of the dead cube slimes. Those that did this all grew several sizes bigger than the average green slime cube.
After a third wave of slimes was stopped, skills from the [Full Moon] members started to rain down on the slimes from above.
¡°Akira hurry up! It''s not looking good down there!¡± shouted Zundar.
¡°RAWR!¡± said Fluffball as he shot one last ice attack and then reverted into his mini form and jumped into Akira''s arms.
Akira put Fluffball onto his shoulders and began climbing the stone ladder as fast as he could. Colorful skills from the [Full Moon] members continued to rain down behind them slamming into the slimes below.
As he reached the last few rungs of the stone ladder Fluffball jumped off of his shoulders and landed in the tunnel where Zundar was bending over and grabbed onto one of Akira''s arms.
With a full-force yank, he pulled Akira up the rest of the way and tossed him into the tunnel.
BAM!
The stone floor of the tunnel underneath everyone shuddered violently.
As Akira sat up and looked out into the pit below he was speechless at what he saw.
BAM!
BAM!
The entire pit full of green cubes had formed into a large tidal wave which was now repeatedly slamming into the stone wall just short of the tunnel they were in.
Large portions of the pit below was now empty of slimes that had massed together allowing everyone to see mountains of humanoid skeletons numbering in the thousands as well as skeletons of other monsters and animals.
If not for Zundar''s help Akira would have been caught in the first tidal wave attack!
BAM!
Chapter 348: Who is it?
BAM!
Akira watched the slimes for several minutes but the large wave of cube slimes was unable to reach them.
Seeing this, there was no point for everyone to guard the entrance so they continued walking down the tunnel hallway with the constant vibration from the cube slime wave attacks growing fainter the further they walked away from the slime pit.
Along their path, there were many old glowing green skeletons of humanoids. Most likely all that remained of those who managed to escape the pit in the past and died from their wounds received by the cube slimes. Throughout the tunnel, a glowing green moss was growing lighting the way for those who walked through.
The cold air of the tunnel was slowly growing warmer and held even more moisture to the point that Akira could now hear the sound of dripping water from the stalactites above them.
The glowing green light from the moss was soon overpowered by the blue light of a cavernous room ahead of them.
Akira held up his hand and stopped everyone at the entrance to the cavern and looked inside.
Hanging from the cavern ceiling high above them was an uncountable number of vines hanging down, each of the vines had hundreds of beautiful glowing blue flowers that were in full bloom. The vines all created a curtain that blocked the view of anything else further inside.
If this were in a normal cavern it would be a huge tourist destination due to how magical everything looked inside. But this was a dungeon...
¡°Fluffball, are you able to sense anything?¡± asked Akira as he tried to smell the air for himself.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°Well that''s good to know,¡± said Akira, heaving a sigh of relief. It would have been a pain if the vines were some sort of living monster.
¡°So?¡± asked Crowbahr.
¡°The vines are not going to attack us... but just to be safe, Beater, go out and poke a few of them,¡± said Sweety.
¡°Why me?¡± asked Beater.
¡°Your special power is getting beat up so you should be fine if something happens,¡± said Akira.
¡°That''s not my special power,¡± grumbled Beater as he walked forward and poked the vines cautiously.
Nothing happened. Even when Akira focused his gaze on them no information popped up making him feel more assured that they would not be ambushed and strangled by some type of monster vines.
¡°The vines should be fine, but Fluffball caught an old scent of something else that passed through this area a while ago... so everyone needs to be ready to fight if something tries to jump out at us,¡± said Akira as he followed the furiously sniffing Fluffball into the thick curtain of blue flower vines.
Akira tried to hack through the vines but there was only a thin white line left on the vines as his sword bounced off. If he wanted to chop his way though, it would require him to repeatedly use skills. That was not something he wanted to do as it would exhaust him before he even got to fight any monsters or creatures deeper in the dungeon.
This led to them pushing through the glowing blue curtain slowly trying to all stay close enough to see each other. Anyone with claustrophobia would be going out of their mind with how close the hanging vines were.
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As the minutes of silent walking passed by, a thin arm popped out of the vines and smacked Akira in the armored chest.
Without a word uttered Akira launched a [Sword Slash] at the half-hidden attacker.
Snap!
His attack easily sliced through the vines and the target in front of him causing the upper portion of the clothed attacker to slump to the ground.
¡°Yap?¡± asked a confused Fluffball.
¡°What!? It attacked me!¡± said an embarrassed Akira.
¡°Did the big bad scarecrow scare you?¡± asked Zundar chuckling as he kicked the twig scarecrow that had been chopped in half. It was indeed not alive and was just a scarecrow made out of sticks with clothes hanging on them.
¡°Who put something like that in here?¡± asked Akira as he pushed forward to try and run away from his embarrassment.
They continued to walk forward until Akira held up a hand after hearing the sound of something repeatedly clattering against the stone.
As they slowly crept forward the sound grew louder, they soon reached a point where they could see shadows moving on the other side of the vine curtain.
Akira motioned the others to attack and as one they charged out and into a small opening in the vine curtain.
At the center of the opening was a large bowl-like indent in the ground where at least two dozen small red creatures who had two pointy horns on their heads and mini wings on their backs. They were so small that they would only reach the stomachs of an average dwarf. [Imp lvl 60]
The sound they had been hearing was from these imps constantly playing some sort of game with finger bones.
¡°Sqwek!¡± shouted a young imp as he noticed the intruders.
The adult imps all looked up from the finger bone game. When they saw Akira and the other intruders they opened their mouths revealing their sharp dagger-like teeth as they let out a fierce war cry... ¡°Sqwek!¡±
As one the Imps flapped their wings and shot into the air with their heads and horns aimed at the intruder''s bodies as they picked up speed to ram them.
Unfortunately for the imps, they were all cut down as numerous skill attacks shot out from the [Full Moon] guild members.
¡°Am I the only one thinking this dungeon is kinda too easy?¡± asked Beater as looked at the dead imps on the ground.
¡°Don''t jinx us,¡± said Sweety.
¡°You call those slimes back there easy?¡± asked Galena.
¡°There is always a saying, if there are too many low-level monsters you need to be more cautious as their leaders could be lurking in the shadows ready to attack when you least expect it...¡± said Akira.
They continued to march through the cavern encountering only two other small groups of the weak Imps before reaching the exit to the blue flower cavern.
As they made their way through the connecting tunnels and cavernous rooms none of them were the same, each having different fauna and easily killed monsters inside.
Akira was starting to feel more and more on edge as everything they had fought so far was way too easy. He had to agree that Beater had a point, something was wrong.
Other than the slimes, there were no massive numbers of monsters that one would expect of a dungeon that was ready to burst.
When they entered the next large cavernous room everyone grew extremely alert.
There was a large flowing river cutting through the center of the cavern. A crude wooden/vine bridge was built over it. On each side of the river were various odd-looking vegetables, herbs, and other unknown plants growing.
Placed Inside the neat rows of plants were several battered scarecrows that looked to have seen better days. It was obviously some sort of farm.
But what really caught their eyes was a small log cabin some distance away from the farm.
Akira cautiously led everyone over the bridge. When he looked into the flowing waters of the river he saw that there was a fish pen underneath the bridge with odd-looking fish holed up inside.
¡°Yap...¡± said Fluffball quietly.
Akira turned his attention to the log cabin and silently walked up to the door and tried the doorknob but it was locked from the inside.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Akira was not expecting an answer so he raised his sword to try and cut the door down...
¡°Who is it?¡± came an old voice from inside.
Chapter 349: Find that book!
Akira, not sure what to do, looked to those around him and they only shrugged, not sure what to do either.
¡°Uh... sir?¡± said Zundar, unsure who he was talking to. ¡°We''re a group of adventurers who came to clear this dungeon.¡±
¡°So you''re trapped here as well?¡± asked the voice behind the wooden door.
¡°I guess you could say that?¡± said an embarrassed Zundar as he rubbed one of his horns.
¡°Are those damn Imps gone? They have been causing me no end of trouble lately,¡± said the voice after a short pause.
¡°You mean those small ugly things that attacked us? We killed several groups of them since they attacked us,¡± said Sweety.
The sound of locks clanking open could be heard before the wooden door opened. The inside of the cabin was dark as there was no light source. But Akira could see two glowing red eyes from the old man as he stood in the dark doorway.
When he stepped out into the light provided by the glowing plants on the cavern''s walls, everyone let out a sigh. It was just a skinny old man with gray skin and white hair who walked out and shaded his eyes from the bright glowing light.
He looked to be from some demon race that Akira had never seen before. He had overall average features that were not much to take notice of.
Fluffball, curious as ever, continued to sniff the old man but found nothing odd about him. The old man paid no attention to Fluffball and looked at Akira for a second before focusing on Zundar.
¡°Your voice sounds different than the normal dialect I am used to... have I really been trapped down here for such a long time that the way people speak has changed?¡± asked the old man.
¡°Ahem... well I am from a very remote village so that might be why. Some people have mentioned that before...¡± said an embarrassed Zundar as he rubbed his head.
The old man looked away from Zundar and scanned the tilled farmland with the hardy plants that were still growing.
¡°The damage doesn''t look too bad this time. I''ll count this as being lucky for once in my life. It was a real pain having to hide for the last few days while those imps roamed around in large groups,¡± said the old man as he sniffed the air and scrunched his nose in disgust. ¡°You all smell like you took a bath in slime acid and imp blood.¡±
Akira and the others had not noticed any odd smells as they were so focused on surviving the bizarre dungeon that they had not paid attention to hygiene much. After a sniff of himself, he had to agree with the old man that it was not a pleasant smell.
¡°We aren''t here to cause you trouble. We are just passing by on our way to find the last cavernous room of this dungeon so that we can clear it. Do you know of any other tough creatures that we need to be aware of? We haven''t met anything crazy yet...,¡± said Akira, having Zundar translate for him.
The old man looked at Akira curiously not understanding his gibberish language and only nodded his head as he said, ¡°Barbaric faction indeed.¡±
¡°He is from an even more remote village,¡± explained Zundar.
¡°I personally have not seen anything around here that would cause alarm other than the annoying Imps who constantly cause mayhem for my crops,¡± said the old man as he rubbed his chin in thought.
Everyone was silent as they went through everything they had learned so far about the dungeon.
¡°Although...¡± The man''s face twitched in pain as his body spasmed causing him to fall to the ground where he twitched for several seconds.
¡°Sir are you okay?¡± asked Akira and Zundar.
With the old man''s arms and legs flailing everywhere they did not want to get too close or cause him any harm as they were not sure what was going on. Only a few seconds later the man was lying on the floor breathing hard as he recovered from the flailing episode.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
He managed to stand back up and lean against the door frame of his log cabin.
Sister Teresa stood nearby inspecting him but could not find anything wrong with his body. There was nothing that she could do to help him.
¡°My health is not what it used to be... I was searching for a cure and documenting all my research in my book but when I was so close to completion... I lost my notebook when I ran from a group of imps while I was out on a research trip into the depths of the dungeon looking for medicinal herbs and minerals. Could... Could I ask you to retrieve my book for me? With it, I am sure I can finish my preparations and cure this ailment that curses...¡±
Again the old man fell to the floor twitching.
Ding!
New mission received [Find that book]!
The old hermit farmer of the Ancient Experimental Labs dungeon has asked for your help!
Will help him find his lost notebook?
Y/N
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¡°We are going that way anyways so that should be no problem. Do you want to come with us?¡± asked Akira.
The old man shook his head after listening to Zundar, ¡°With my current health I would be more likely to drag you down or die if I went with you. It will be safer for both of us if I stay here.¡±
What he said made sense and it would lessen their worry... but it was still a pain in the butt having to walk back here just to give him his notebook...
¡°We can do it for you. Just sit tight inside your cabin for us,¡± said Akira.
The old man nodded and said, ¡°I wish you luck.¡±
With that said he hobbled back into his hut and closed the door locking it once again.
Akira looked around the cave once more but found nothing of import so he silently motioned for everyone to follow him deeper into the dungeon.
As they made their way through the many odd cavernous rooms of the underground dungeon it was as the old man said there were no major threats, only roving packs of imps that would attack them as soon as they saw them.
¡°Where did he say he lost the book?¡± asked Akira.
¡°I don''t think he gave a specific location. Just said deep down,¡± said Zundar.
They had not seen any sign or clue of someone passing through the area before that could lead them to the lost book so all they could do was keep pressing on.
Akira did not want to waste precious hours hunting every nook and cranny for the notebook. If they happened upon it then that was fine. If not... Well, that was bad luck for the old man. They would at least come back to help him out of this place. The more skilled medics outside might be able to find a cure for him.
The lack of strong enemies caused Akira and the others to fear the worst case possible was now more than likely.
After battling their way through over a dozen cavernous rooms filled with roaming imps they finally reached a swirling portal that was glowing red.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he sprinted over to a worn leather knapsack that was on the ground hidden by some rocks.
¡°Good work Fluffball!¡± said Akira as he jogged over and picked up the leather bag.
His happiness was only short-lived as he looked inside and found that it only had several herbs and minerals but no book.
¡°Drat. Darn imps must have messed with the contents inside,¡± said Akira as he tossed the bag on the ground and looked at the floating portal in front of him for a few moments.
¡°My skin feels all itchy for some reason just looking at that portal...¡± said Zundar.
¡°I get the same feeling. Whatever is on the other side is not like these weak imps,¡± said Akira.
¡°I much rather have the weak imps to fight against...¡± said Sweety.
¡°We can just smack the head of whatever is in there a few times and show it who''s the real boss of this place!¡± said Beater, slamming his fists against his body.
¡°YAP!¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with him.
¡°Is everyone prepared? You need to be prepared to fight as soon as we enter,¡± said Akira.
¡°We are ready,¡± said Rondie.
¡°You should not be worrying about us. We can survive even if we mess up but you can not...¡± said sister Teresa.
¡°Alright...,¡± said Akira as he touched the portal with his sword.
Ding!
Do you want to enter the Dungeon Guardians lair with your entire party?
Y/N
|
¡°...HERE WE GO!¡± said Akira as he confirmed that he wanted to enter the portal with everyone.
With a bright flash of red light from the portal he along with everyone else in the party disappeared from the small cavern room.
In the dark corner of the tunnel, a pair of small red eyes blinked as they watched Akira and Co disappear.
Chapter 350: Hidden Flayr
A thick low fog covering all that could be seen was parted as a bright red light exploded outwards.
When the bright red light dissipated Akira was able to see once again. He quickly scanned the area around him but found nothing near him ready to attack.
Each of the werewolf warriors sniffed the air to scan the surrounding area while the Galena used her wind element skill to scan for enemies in the surrounding area. They also found nothing nearby.
Akira slowly took his time with his second look around the dungeon guardian¡¯s lair to inspect everything he could see.
The thick gray fog that came up to his thighs covered the ground everywhere he looked. The fog was glowing in a way that looked like there was a thunderstorm inside the low foggy clouds. Rising out of the glowing fog were uncountable large gray pillars that continued to rise into the sky only to disappear into the darkness.
There was no wind or other sound save for the breathing of those near him. The slightest noise of someone shifting from one foot to the other could be easily heard although it was a bit muffled by the thick fog.
It was eerily quiet.
Akira swung his sword through the thick fog in front of him, parting it for a few seconds revealing a worn gray stone floor which was quickly covered once again by the glowing fog.
¡°This silence is even scarier than having to fight a large monster...¡± said Beater.
¡°Shhhh!¡± said Sweety trying to hush him as his voice softly echoed off the pillars and muffled by the fog.
¡°There''s no point in staying quiet,¡± said Zundar and he looked around. ¡°Whatever is hiding knows we are here. My skin is tingling from being watched in secret.¡±
Akira again sniffed the air but was unable to catch any unusual smells in the moist air.
¡°We won''t get anything done if we just stand here,¡± said Akira. ¡°We''ll form up into a square to make sure nothing can sneak up on us. Everyone will be responsible for their portion of the wall.¡±
They quickly formed up with Akira, Dolph, Vilkas, and Fluffball at the center along with the ranged units.
Zundar took up the center rear with the rest of the full moon guild members and other heavily armored melee fighters all spread out evenly around them to protect the Akira and the squishy ranged units.
Since they had no idea where the dungeon guardian was hiding, Akira just pointed in a random direction and everyone started to slowly march forward with the shields and weapons out and ready for a fight.
They walked in silence for over ten minutes but saw nothing. Although they were walking at a slow pace to not trip over something hidden in the fog, they had still covered a large distance and the room did not show any signs that they would be reaching the end any time soon.
¡°I thought this was supposed to be the dungeon guardians'' lair?¡± asked Dolph as they stopped and looked around to try to decipher which direction they should go.
Thunk!
¡°WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!¡± shouted a surprised Beater.
¡°What?¡± asked everyone almost immediately as they turned to look in his direction for a second before returning to looking into the fog right ahead of them.
¡°Something just hit me in the arm!¡± said Beater as he looked around but found nothing amiss.
¡°Stay alert everyone. Whatever has been stalking us this entire time has finally decided to play with us,¡± said Akira.
Thunk!
¡°Ah! It cut me! I saw it,¡± said Minion as he held out his hand which now had a light cut across it.
Minion stopped moving before his arms and legs began to wobble. He was dangerously close to falling as if he were severely drunk. One of the members behind him put out a hand to steady him as he started to flail his arms and legs in an odd jerky way.
¡°Somethings wrong... I can''t ...¡± said Minion between gritted teeth before his body fell to the ground as his muscles spasmed.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball as he pointed out a suspicious object not far away. He did not wait for an order from Akira and quickly transformed into his large ice-armored form.
¡°Over there!¡± shouted Zundar as he threw a rock at the hidden object in the fog.
The rock was swatted out of the air by a quick blur before the hidden object, which was as big as a small boulder, started to rise out of the fog.
As it floated up into the air above the fog one of the most ugly monsters that Akira had ever seen before revealed itself to everyone.
Akira focused his attention on it bringing up limited information above its head [Flayr lv 190].
The [Flayr] was a floating big pink blob that looked like a round bumpy boulder-sized pink brain.
Its eyes were rather large and were like shiny gold balls. Underneath its large eyes was a small mouth that had several rows of sharp white teeth. On each side of its round pink body was a thick tentacle that thinned down into sharp red hook needles.
¡°What an ugly creature,¡± said Sweety.
The Flayr''s mouth opened and screamed... but no sound came out. A second later everyone took a step back as they felt a sharp pain in their heads when a mental screech rang through their minds!
Seeing the enemy was off guard the [Flayr] launched its whip-like tentacles out at the unprotected skin of a lightly armored ranged unit.
Clang!
Only for Sister Teresa to block the sneak attack with her wooden staff that she held with both hands.
¡°I know of this creature! It''s a Flayr. It can use mental attacks and if it can draw blood with its physical attacks it can make a connection with its target and try to control their body!¡±
Akira looked at Minion who was still acting odd.
¡°Then how do we stop it from controlling others?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°Don''t get cut. If you do ¡ the only way to stop it is to kill it!¡±
¡°Let''s see if this helps,¡± said Akira as his body was shrouded in a dark mist light as he quickly transformed. His body grew far more muscular while a burst of thick killing aura escaped his body.
He immediately activated [Darkness Domain] covering the area around him in a dark mist that protected them from enemy eyes.
Akira looked over and saw that Minion was still acting odd.
A second screech from the [Flayr] echoed in their ears but the mental attack was slightly muted leaving them with a slight stinging prick poking their minds.
¡°It''s better than nothing...¡± said Beater as he smacked himself to stay focused.
¡°Let''s just cut it down however you can!¡± shouted Crowbahr.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Several colorful skills were launched at the [Flayr] by Akira, Fluffball, and the [Full moon] guild members.
With the bright skills flying towards it, the [Flayr] used its long tentacles to cover its eyes and received many wounds on its meaty body causing it to let out several mental screams that drilled into their heads.
The large pink blob fell to the stone ground with an odd splatting sound as it was cut to pieces and ceased to move.
Minion, whose body had been flailing about, was now bent over and was breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon.
¡°Thanks,¡± was all he could say between gasps as he tried to suck in air. Trying to mentally fight against the [Flayr] taking control was exhausting.
¡°Was that the boss?¡± asked Galena after finishing casting a wind attack.
Akira was not sure but if he had to guess... it would be a No since he had received no notifications...
¡°Crap there''s another two of them!¡± shouted Sweety as she pointed to the east side of their square formation!
They continued to dodge, duck, and parry the sharp hook needle attacks sent their way but were constantly hindered by mental attacks from the [Flayrs].
The two [Flayrs] were quickly cut down by the several skill attacks. But another wave appeared! Each time one wave was cleared, a new wave would show up with at least one more [Flayr] than the last wave.
They were pulled into an almost nonstop fight making it hard too not to get wounded.
Even the smallest of scrapes led to several people losing control of their bodies to varying degrees. The quickest way to solve this problem was to kill the [Flayr] that had inflicted the wound ending the control over their body.
With the nonstop fighting their strength and stamina was being sapped away from them. Seeing that this would lead to even more problems, Akira, Fluffball, and Zundar took more responsibility onto themselves, helping everyone stay alive and unharmed.
After another hard-fought battle with a wave of floating [Flayr], Crowbahr''s last fireball that had missed its target flew up into the dark sky above revealing several dozens of [Flayr] monsters floating above them!
With the fire''s bright light blinding them they all covered their gold eyes with their tentacles and let out screeching mental attacks aimed at those below.
The fog on the ground thickened and a new wave of sneaky attacks started to target them as the many [Flayr] monsters above them let out loud mental screech''s drilling into everyone''s heads.
While everyone was dealing with the sneak attacks coming from the fog, Crowbahr would randomly sling a fireball into the air to keep track of the group above them.
What she saw was not good at all... the floating [Flayr] high above them started to mass up into a large group and were fusing together creating an even uglier large blob that had several dozen eyes on its body along with multiple carnivorous mouths and tentacles that lashed out at the air around it.
The [Blob Flayr] let out a powerful mental roar below and the last remaining [Flayr] mobs that were hiding in the fog shot out and flew toward the large blob.
¡°Shoot them down!¡± shouted Akira.
Crowbar, Galena, Minion, and Sweety joined Akira and Fluffball in launching attacks at the escaping [Flayr] mobs, managing to kill several of them. The few that did manage to reach the large blob were sucked into the large creature''s body adding even more sharp mouths and tentacles onto its body.
The [Blob Flayr] sent several of its hook tentacles to attack those below. The tentacles stretched out like rubber as they swiped at random targets and quickly snapped back to its body, not allowing Akira and the others to attack the tentacle.
¡°You &^%$ ugly sky jellyfish. I''m going to #$%$# with this sword!¡± growled Akira using the skill [Potty mouth] to get its attention focused on him since there were too many hook attacks raining down on the others.
The [Blob Flayr] let out an enraged mental attack targeting Akira as it launched the majority of its hook attacks at him. He gritted his teeth as he fought back against the mental pain and activated the skill [Harden] and stood firm blocking all attacks.
While Akira was soaking up many of the attacks the [Full Moon] guild members all used their skill attacks to target the weaker parts of the dungeon guardian''s body... its golden eyes!
Upon receiving attacks that destroyed and injured several of its eyes, the enraged [Blob Flayr] released a Mental attack targeted at everyone below.
With the mental attack catching them off guard there were several that were wounded from the quick strikes of the hook tentacles and they fell under the control of the [Blob Flayr] causing the others to have to dodge their wild flailing attacks. Several of these attacks were aimed at Sister Teresa but Rondie quickly stepped in front of her and knocked them unconscious while also parrying several hooked tentacle attacks with her metal fists.
There were still several hook attacks slamming down on Akira''s shield as he blocked them. As the [Harden] skill ended Akira activated the skill [Shadow chains]. Four wolfhead shadows jumped out of the shadows and bit deep into 4 different tentacles, not allowing them to escape or dodge the attacks of others while also holding the [Blob Flayr] in place for at least a short time.
With one of the captured tentacles right in front of him, Zundar used this opportunity to grab it and started to pull down with all his might dragging the main body down towards everyone.
He was forced to carefully watch where he was putting his hands as there were several sharp mouths on the tentacles that were snapping at his hands as he pulled the tentacle down.
Akira and Beater also grabbed one of the other capture tentacles and began pulling them down causing the main body of the Flayr to descend closer and closer to the ground making it easier for the others to target it forcing the [Blob Flayr] to use most of its free tentacles to protect its vulnerable eyes and body.
¡°Hand me a spear, quick!¡± shouted Zundar.
A nearby warrior handed him a spear and Zundar wasted no time taking his large warhammer and used it to smash the spear through the tentacle and embed it into the stone floor beneath them.
Seeing this, Akira and Beater also followed suit and took a spear from whoever was closest to them and pierced the tentacle embedding it into the stone floor just as the shadow chains were slowly disappearing.
The [Blob flayr] struggled to get free as it launched several hook attacks at the three who were grabbing its tentacles. But each tentacle was intercepted by the other warriors and knocked away.
Along with the hail of hook attacks, the [Blob Flayr] launched a mental attack towards Zundar causing him to stumble back away from the pinned tentacle that he was keeping pinned down.
Those near the tentacle launched their own attacks at the main body drawing the ire of the [Blob flayr] onto themselves allowing Zundar to recover.
While it was trying to break free, Minion teamed up with Fluffball as he used his water elemental skill attacks to cover the right half of the [Blob Flayer''s] body which was quickly frozen by Fluffball hindering both its sight and movement.
On the other side, Crowbahr and Galena teamed. With their wind and fire skill attacks combined they created even stronger and wider ranged attacks that engulfed the left half of the [Blob Flayr''s] body.
The deadly hot and cold attack! It was too effective!
The Flayr''s large body crashed to the floor no longer having the energy to stay floating.
It did not die without a fight, it lashed out with all its free tentacles slamming into everyone who had rushed forward to try and finish it off.
Akira dodged the hook tentacle that was aimed at him and rushed forward piercing his sword into one of its large eyes and pulled out his sword to repeatedly pierce each golden eye that was still blinking.
With the golden light disappearing from the last eye of the Large [Blob Flayr] its hook tentacles fell to the ground limp.
Everyone looked at the [Blob flayr] and then scanned their surroundings waiting for another wave to show up but...
Ding!
Ancient Experimental Labs Dungeon has been completed!
Reward for completion: All curses and mind control have been cured!
Level up! You are now level 223!
Your companion Fluffball is now level 205!
|
Akira felt his wounds healing from his level up but the mental exhaustion and phantom pain still lingered in his body making him feel rather sluggish and uncomfortable.
The gray Fog slowly began to dissipate revealing the stone floor that was covered in hundreds of the [Flayr] bodies.
Akira looked at everyone and saw that they were all in a ragged state and breathing hard.
Especially those who had received mental attacks and cursed with body control by the [Flayr].
Ding!
Quest [Find That Book] failed! There was no book!
New Title gained: Wild Goose Chaser: One that chased non-existent things.
|
Akira Realized a real issue after reading the system notification... there was no way to go back to the old man and he must have been controlled by the Dungeon guardian!
¡°Where is the treasure?¡± asked Zundar as he looked around only to see a floating white portal.
¡°I don''t think there is one...¡± said Akira as he looked around.
Fluffball sniffed the air but found nothing either. With the fog gone, it was easy to see the entire cavernous room that he had thought was endless... but somehow it looked smaller than he expected...
¡°So we just wasted all our time and strength for nothing?¡± asked Beater.
¡°Well, not exactly nothing. We stopped a dungeon outbreak. Just think of what would have happened if those [Flayr] managed to get outside...¡± said Crowbahr.
¡°Let''s get out of here, I don''t want to be here any longer than we have to...¡± said Sweety.
Akira reached out his sword and touched the portal.
Ding!
Do you want to Exit the Ancient Experimental Labs Dungeon with your entire party?
Y/N
|
With a bright flash, the portal light covered them and they disappeared from the dungeon...
Chapter 351: Collapse
Flash!
Akira and the others were spat out into a medium-sized underground cave which was lit up by the white portal for a few seconds before disappearing.
Akira quickly counted everyone to make sure that no one was missing and found that the old man from the dungeon had indeed not come out with them...
¡°We should rest here so that we can...¡±
¡°Who are they?¡± asked a voice near the entrance of the cave a good distance away from the group.
Akira and the rest of the group became fully alert as they looked toward the man who spoke.
At the entrance of the tunnel to the cavern there were a handful of sharply dressed Melee and ranged warriors who all wore armor with similar symbols on them.
¡°There''s no need to care about who they are. We can''t waste our time killing them individually right now. The target was rumored to be around here. If we miss our chance now, the guild master will be mad at us and fine us again taking all our loot...¡± said a man in heavy armor.
¡°Then let''s just do this!¡± said a robed female holding a thick book. She started chanting and pointed at the ceiling.
The others understood what she was doing and followed her lead and began casting and activating skills sending them flying at the walls and ceiling of the cave.
¡°They''re trying to trap us in here!¡± growled Akira.
¡°Rush them!¡± roared Zundar.
¡°Roar!¡± growled Fluffball as he followed right beside Zundar.
Even though they were in poor condition after just defeating the Dungeon guardian, everyone was able to dig deep into their body''s reserves and rush forward with a second wind of energy.
Several of the demigods'' skills were now aimed at them trying to hinder their charge as they had to block or dodge the exploding skills.
Crack! CaPuuu!
Akira glanced up and saw the ceiling started to crumble as a large crack started to spiderweb out quicker than anyone could run. ''Crap we''re too late...''
¡°It''s coming down!¡± shouted Beater.
¡°Defensive formation... Cover yourself!¡± shouted Akira as large rocks and boulders began to fall from the ceiling crashing around them sent up a large cloud of silvery dust that blocked their view.
Both the walls and ceilings of the cave were now collapsing in on them. It was pointless trying to regroup as they were too far apart now from their desperate rush towards the entrance. They could only rely on themselves and those closest to them to weather the storm of falling rubble.
Fluffball gave up rushing to the entrance and started to run back towards Akira dodging what ruble he could and letting the rest hit his armored body.
For good measure, the demigods sent several more skills towards everyone before escaping. Several of the attacks scored a few lucky hits on the full moon members that were closest to the entrance and gravely wounded them to the point a large falling boulder landing on their raised shield was enough to cause bright light fragments to bust out where they had stood only seconds before.
Everyone was forced to crouch down and huddle under what little protection they had whether it was their shield or someone else''s.
They held out as long as they could but even the strongest of them were eventually knocked unconscious by the falling rubble.
***
¡°Uh...¡± Akira groaned as he regained consciousness.
He felt a great weight pushing down on him from all the rubble on top of him.
As he opened his eyes he was unable to see anything around him as everything was pitch black.
He tried to move his legs and arms but they were pinned under the large amount of rubble that was piled on top of him all around him. What was even worse was there was some type of sand that was packed in between all of the rubble which had also seeped into his armor and into his wounds causing him more trouble and pain.
''I need to rest for a few seconds... then I can try freeing one of my arms to see what I can do.'' thought Akira as he let out pained gasps.
His body was aching all over and he felt a headache coming on after receiving so many hits to his armored head. His ears were still ringing from all the hits.
After deciding to rest he grit his teeth through the throbbing pain of his body and noticed a few new system notifications blinking for him to read.
Ding!
Your limbs have received massive blunt damage.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.Your right arm is unable to move and your actions will be constrained until you have been properly healed.
|
Blood loss from your wounds will become fatal if you do not seek medical help soon!
Your health is slowly dropping.
|
¡°Is that all...what else could go wrong,¡± muttered Akira.
Ding!
You are in the early stages of silver poisoning.
If you do not cure the problem or get away from the source of the poison, your symptoms will slowly grow more severe!
|
Akira groaned out loud when he realized what was surrounding him and why his body ached even more every second that passed. He stopped groaning when he heard what sounded like metal scratching against the silvery rocks.
¡°OVER HERE!¡± shouted Akira in a rough raspy voice as he coughed on the dust and gritty silver sand that had entered his helmet.
For a few seconds, he was unsure if whoever was digging had heard him as the sound had stopped.
But when it started again the sound started to grow closer and he could hear the sound of shattering stones and an intense cold coming from the digging direction.
A few long minutes later a small glittering icy tunnel next to his left arm opened up.
¡°Yap!¡± said a small Fluffball whose head popped through the small hole that was opened allowing rubble and the granny silver sand to fall off Akira''s upper left side.
¡°I''m glad to see you as well... I''m not in that great of a shape...¡± said Akira in between pained gasps as he reached his armored hand over to pat Fluffball''s head before reaching into his bag and pulling out a red potion.
As he drank down several gulps of the red potion he felt the aches lesson but they were not fully cured.
Ding!
The severity of your wounds has been lessened.
|
Your silver poisoning has worsened!
Due to silver poisoning your healing has been reduced. Seek treatment quickly or your symptoms will become severe.
|
¡°Did you find him?¡± asked Zundar''s voice echoing off the icy walls coming from deep within the small tunnel that was far too small for Zundar''s large muscled body to fit in.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball.
¡°Why did I even ask? Only Akira and some of the other werewolves can understand you,¡± said Zundar.
¡°He found me. I am alive... for now,¡± said Akira in a loud scratchy voice.
¡°Fluffball help him out, I''ll keep looking for others back here.¡±
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball before he started to dig and freeze the rubble and silver sand that was hindering Akira''s movement.
After several more tedious minutes, Akira was able to safely pull himself, with the help of Fluffball pulling his other arm, out of the semi-frozen pile into the small frozen tunnel that Fluffball had dug out.
Akira was still unable to use his right arm and it just hung at his side limp as the potion slowly worked on healing his internal wounds.
With how low and compact the tunnel was Akira could only lay on his stomach and pull himself forward with his left arm while he used his feet to push forward.
It was slow going as they had to inch their way forward to not damage the ice walls and cause a collapse of the hastily made tunnel. One wrong move could cause even more rubble and boulders to collapse on top of Akira and Fluffball which could be fatal.
When they were reaching the last part of the small tunnel Fluffball darted out and two large muscled arms reached into the tunnel and pulled Akira out into a small enclosure that had several tunnels of different sizes which had been used to gather the few people that were now sitting inside the enclosure that had been dug out and secured by Fluffball''s ice.
Zundar raised Akira onto his feet causing all the silver sand and dust that was in his armor to fall down and pile up in his armored boots and grieves some of it seeping out onto the floor.
¡°You look like you''ll live...¡± said Zundar as he looked over Akira. ¡°Those dwarves sure know how to build armor. A few dents but nothing serious.¡±
Akira saw that Zundar had several large bruises and cuts all over his body which had all scabbed over. He, like everyone else, was covered in silver dust but unlike Akira and the rest of the werewolves he and Fluffball were not hindered or affected by the silver sand.
¡°Here take this,¡± said Akira, handing him the rest of the red potion he had drank from.
Zundar took a few sips and passed it to some of the more severely wounded members that had been rescued.
¡°Did you find Klyn or Sister Teresa yet?¡± asked Akira.
¡°Not yet. We''re looking but it''s hard with all this rubble and silver sand covering everything. Luckily we have our special weapon, Fluffball,¡± said Zundar.
¡°You''re doing great work Fluffball!¡± said Akira as he took out a few blue candies and tossed them over to Fluffball who caught them in his mouth and crunched them into nothing before swallowing.
¡°Yap!¡± said a happy Fluffball as he felt his exhaustion slowly melt away.
Akira sat down and used his left hand to pull off his armored boots to let out the trapped silver sand inside his armor.
¡°Do you need help? I can''t have you dying on me,¡± said Zundar as he saw Akira''s armored hand shaking severely as if he had a bad cold.
¡°I''m fine. Find Klyn and Sister Teresa first. They will be more helpful for everyone instead of worrying about me,¡± said Akira as he ate one of the blue candies to try and soothe his mental exhaustion.
With the silver poisoning, he felt extremely weak. He could feel his stamina and strength being slowly sapped away.
¡°If you''re strong enough then you should use that tunnel to get out of here. I know you werewolves are allergic to silver. Just be careful, the demigods collapsed much of the exit tunnel as well. A few others have already exited out before you,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Yap!¡± said Fluffball, agreeing with Zundar''s suggestion.
¡°Will do,¡± said Akira as he put his armored boots back on and hobbled over to the larger tunnel which was big enough for him to crawl in.
He made faster time getting to the end of this tunnel than the last but his true challenge only started when he exited the tunnel that led into the cavern''s exit tunnel.
The exit tunnel was now half filled with silver sand dune which caused those that wanted out of the cave to have to push through the silver sand.
Climbing up the silver sand dune was going to be a real pain.
With a large sigh, he started the long troublesome climb out of the collapsed cave.
Chapter 352: Clean up
As soon as Akira managed to climb out of the silver sand dunes of the half-collapsed tunnel he found himself in a rock outcrop with many boulders scattered everywhere.
A hand was shoved in front of his face holding a large waterskin.
¡°Use this to wash off the silver sand and dust,¡± said Beater, who was still dripping wet from washing off the silver that had clung to his body.
¡°Wait! Don''t do it right there!¡± shouted Sweety. ¡°Go over there! We are trying to keep the contaminated water away from everyone else.¡±
Akira looked to where Sweety was pointing and found that there was a large bowl-like indent in the stony ground where he could see a silvery puddle forming at the bottom of the bowl.
Akira hobbled over to one of the boulders with stiff movements and leaned against it out of the view of others as he used his shaky hands to remove his armor.
The remaining silver sand that had been stuck inside was shaken off of his clothes and body as best as he could before stripping down to his undergarments. He quickly used his hand to brush off what remained on his skin.
Picking up the waterskin he used it to pour water all over his head, shoulders, and the rest of his body making sure to wipe off all the remaining silver sand and dust. He thoroughly rinsed the few cuts and wounds he had received from the collapse making sure they were free of silver as best as he could before pouring some of his health potion on them and bandaging them with fresh cloth strips.
The puddle at the bottom of the large indent in the ground was now even larger and the color was now an even thicker silver color.
His armor was still covered with silver sand so Akira had to spend several minutes rinsing and wiping it all down before he could put on uncontaminated clothes and put his full set of armor back on.
When he finished cleaning his armor and put it back on he noticed his shakes had started to calm down and he no longer felt his energy slowly being sapped away. He still felt congested and stuffy like he had a cold but it was far better than before.
Ding!
Silver poisoning symptoms halted.
|
As he walked back to the tunnel entrance he saw several others who managed to climb out while he was washing himself. As he looked down into the sandy exit tunnel he saw Klyn''s head pop up for a second only to then slide back down as he tried to climb out unsuccessfully.
Akira inched forward to the edge not wanting to get too close and held out his shield, ¡°Klyn, grab my shield I can pull you out.¡±
With a hard yank, Akira dragged the dusty Klyn out of the half-collapsed tunnel.
¡°Thanks!¡± said Klyn as he stood up and looked around. With all the silver dust covering him he looked like a statue. Which only brought memories back about the crude hobbies of some of the demigods back at the thief city.
¡°Use this, there''s enough water left to rinse yourself off over there. You should get a clean set of clothes on if you have any,¡± said Akira passing the large waterskin that was now over half empty before he pointed over to the large bowl indent where he had just come from.
Akira and the others who escaped from the tunnel waited outside as they slowly recovered from the silver poisoning and helped those who came out of the tunnel.
The last missing person was found several hours later and had to be carried out by Zundar. Their entire body was visibly shaking and twitching due to how severe their silver poisoning was.
Both Klyn and sister Teresa rushed over to Zundar and started washing and treating the person trying to stabilize them and stop the silver poisoning from getting any worse.
Fluffball''s small head popped out of the tunnel as he plowed through the silver sand and burst out of the half-collapsed tunnel shaking his body and sending puffs of silver sand and dust everywhere causing everyone to hurriedly ran away from the entrance.
¡°Achooo!¡± The silver dust storm Fluffball had created caused him to repeatedly sneeze.
¡°Fluffball stop! Come over here,¡± said Akira as he pulled out a new waterskin and a few blue candies.
Fluffball walked over to Akira who was standing behind a large boulder next to a thick silver pool of water.
¡°YAP?¡± asked Fluffball as he looked at Akira who only had his arm stretched out from behind the boulder.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°Sit right there,¡± said Akira, pointing to a spot that was within reach but still on the opposite side of the boulder.
When Fluffball was in place Akira poured a large portion of the contents in the waterskin all over Fluffball and immediately jerked his arm back into the protection of the boulder not a second too soon.
Silvery mud and water was flung everywhere as Fluffball instinctively shook off the water that had been poured on him.
Akira had to do this several times until he was sure that Fluffball was clean of any of the silver sand and dust.
¡°YAP...¡± said Fluffball, not happy with the repeated baths he had been forced to take in such a short time.
¡°Don''t complain, you needed a bath anyway. Here eat these,¡± said Akira as he tossed a few of the blue candies over to Fluffball.
The next several hours were spent resting, recovering, and being checked up on by Klyn and Sister Teresa.
***
Underneath a crudely set up cloth overhang inside the boulder outcrop Akira and everyone who had recovered from the worst of the silver poisoning were now holding a meeting.
¡°What are we going to do about the demigods?¡± asked Zundar.
¡°They seemed to be searching for someone,¡± said Klyn.
¡°It doesn''t matter who they are looking for. We now know that they are somewhere in this area so they have become our targets. We must hunt them down and make sure they are not able to complete their task or mess with the city since it is still working on consolidating its forces inside and working on permanently blocking the secret entrances,¡± said Akira.
¡°Are you sure we''re strong enough? Several of the [Full Moon] guild members were crushed to death by the attacks of the demigods and the collapse of the cave. And many of your warriors are still recovering from the silver poisoning. We are lacking the fighting force we had before...¡± said sister Teresa.
¡°That should not be a problem since we won''t be attacking them head and we''ll only attack when they least expect it so that any losses we take are at the minimum,¡± said Akira.
¡°Then let''s do this! We can''t just wait here and let them get farther and farther away,¡± said Beater.
¡°Yap!¡±
¡°I think we should wait since we are still recovering. Plus the shaman scouts I sent out are already tracking down the targets right now so we won''t have to go on a wild goose chase, we can reach them whenever we need to. Waiting here is a win-win for everyone,¡± said Klyn.
¡°OOOS,¡± said Spearia, nodding her head. She had only arrived recently after hearing of the issues that they had encountered earlier.
¡°That''s if the demigods stay still,¡± said Zundar.
¡°Until we get word from the scouts we wait,¡± said Akira.
***
The nighttime deadwood rock forest was lit up by the glowing clouds in the night sky. Every so often the dark forest was lit up by bursts of glowing flashes from above making it impossible for pitch-black night vision.
Akira and everyone who was fit enough to fight were slowly creeping through the dead tree forest looking ahead towards the colorful out of place tents that had been set up by the several demigods that had decided to make camp right here in the wilderness not too far away from the collapsed cave.
There was only one person awake in the camp and he was sitting next to a small fire that had a pot full of a thick soup that was boiling and was constantly being stirred by the demigod.
With no large leaves or twigs on the ground for Akira or the others to step on, their footsteps were as quiet as they could be while they stealthily snuck closer to the camp.
Akira rushed up to a large tree that was just at the edge of the firelight of the demigod camp. He looked over to the others who had spread out close to him all behind a tree.
Zundar and the other Minos warriors were hiding well back in the rear as their bodies were too big to hide behind one of the small trees near the camp.
Akira nodded to the others nearby and they returned the gesture in the affirmative.
As one they began to transform into their werewolf and minor werewolf forms.
With a silent whistle from Akira, they were ordered to attack before the demigod could notice their killing aura!
Akira led the charge into the demigods¡¯ camp by activating the skill [Pounce] leaping several yards through the air and slamming into the demigod by the campfire and pinned him down pressing him into the burning fire as he tore out his throat with his sharp teeth before a sound could even escape from his mouth.
A burst of light fragments scattered into the sky as Akira pierced the gurgling demigod''s heart with his armored hand.
The other warriors that followed him did not use any loud or bright attacks and silently snuck up to the tents before stepping inside and executing the sleeping demigods who were not wearing their armor or weapons making them all too easy to defeat.
Light fragments continued to burst into the air from each of the tents as each demigod died unable to react to the late night sneak attack.
Akira silently scooped up the gold, potions, and several pieces of equipment that had been dropped by the demigod he killed and inspected the loot he had gained.
[Salamander Fire sword. Requires level 200 to wield. For each successful attack Fire elemental damage will be added to the total damage dealt!]
It was not hard to see why the red sword would cause such damage as there was a thin layer of flame covering the sword.
He inspected the embedded gem in the sword and compared it with several of the other magic stones he had gathered over the years trying to see if there were any difference between the two.
When he brought one of the stones close to the embedded magic stone ¡ it was sucked into the embedded gem! The thin layer of fire on the sword grew even stronger and far thicker rising an inch out from the sword.
Akira pulled out an old sword and tested the fiery sword on it. He watched as it slowly sliced right through it!
¡°This is really strong... is it only a temporary boost or is this strength permanent?¡± muttered Akira.
With the camp fully searched and cleared of any hiding demigods Akira and the rest of the warriors looted everything of value including food and other supplies before they silently melted back into the woods as if they were never there.