The last of Book 5 is going to be published in a few minutes. This chapter and one more. I had to change a lot, so it was delayed quite a bit.
------------------------------------------------------
Garnet and Riley stood outside the gate to a city. This was the halfway point to Constantinople. The large sign at the gate said "Belgrade," but the gates were closed and it was heavily guarded. There was a line of people waiting to get in. Garnet and Riley were way towards the back and it was moving slowly. "This is even worse than Anzio," said Garnet.
"I'm sure they have a reason for something like this," said Riley. "Maybe they were attacked recently."
"Or maybe they're just paranoid," Garnet replied.
Slowly, the line moved forward. There were a few people who were turned away, but most people seemed to have been able to get in as far as Garnet could tell. At the front of the line were a few buildings constructed out of wood. They were more like shacks than actual houses or offices. Numerous guards were present, watching all of the people. The closer they got to the gate, the more guards there were. Even the top of the gate was lined with guards armed with bows. Leading them was a man in a grey cloak who was scanning everything in his sight. "To the right," said the guard.
Garnet and Riley stepped towards the right and were directed to the temporary building. KNOCK KNOCK. "Come in," said a voice.
Garnet opened the door and let Riley in. Garnet followed her right in. Inside was a single desk and five chairs. In one of the chairs was one of the guards. There were several guards positioned around the room. "Purpose of visit?" the guard in the chair asked.
"Rest stop on the way to Constantinople," said Garnet.
"Employer?" the guard asked as he began filling out the paper in front of him.
"None," said Garnet. "It's something for myself."
The guard suddenly raised his eyes and looked at Garnet. He was suspicious of Garnet now. "Guards, check them," he ordered.
Garnet stood up and removed her weapons. The staff, sword, short sword, and hand crossbow were all on the table. Riley removed hers as well. Two of the guards stepped forward and patted down their bodies, checking to see if they had anything else on them.
"She's clean," said one of the guards.
"This one too," said the other guard.
"Now arrest them," said the sitting guard.
"Really?" Garnet asked. "This is what it's going to be like?"
"We're at war, we have to be cautious," said the sitting guard.
"We'll just take our leave then," said Riley. She turned around and the guards all pointed their weapons at her.
"Looks like they're not going to let us leave," said Garnet. "I don't think it's a good idea to force our way through." Garnet took out the red and silver card given to her by Charles. "Will this help convince you of my identity?" she asked.
"I have no idea what that is," said the sitting guard.
"Alright, force it is," said Garnet. "I'll let you take this one."
Riley grabbed one of the swords pointed at her and with her bare hands, twisted it, turning the guard off his feet as well. THUD. He crashed into the ground. With the guard's sword in hand, Riley hit the head of another with the hilt, then grabbed him and swung him sideways, using him to knock down several other guards. As Riley turned around, there were only two guards still standing, deathly afraid. "Like she said, we'll be taking our leave," said Riley.
Garnet looked and saw that the remaining guards were scared. She took back all of her gear and headed away from the city. She did not want to deal with a city that was going to be so heavily guarded. Instead, she went further East. According to the map, there was another major city about thirty miles away called Kalemegdan.
Kalemegdan was another city. It was much bigger than Belgrade. At the entrance was also some security, but it was not as tough as Belgrade. The guards simply watched as people walked into the city, but they did not stop anyone. Garnet and Riley were able to walk into the city as well. There were archers positioned at the top of the city walls. The guards looked at them, but did not pull them over or anything. Compared to Belgrade, it was much easier to get in despite the heightened security.
HOWL. As Garnet walked closer to the city, she heard the howl of the Cerberus and looked around. She saw nothing dangerous, but it was clearly a warning. "Do you see anything?" Garnet asked Riley.
"No," said Riley. "But if the Cerberus are howling, then we should be careful."
The city itself was enormous. It was at least the size of Anzio. It looked bigger than Belgrade did from the outside, Within the city were guards everywhere as well. There was a large number of them positioned inside the walls as well as at the outer perimeter. Next to the gargoyle statues, the city looked far more intimidating than Belgrade did. She noticed that many of the guards looked a little pale despite standing out in the sun. It was a little strange. The first thing Garnet wanted to do was to find a place to rest. As they headed further East, stops were getting further apart.
Garnet looked around until she saw a building marked "Inn." She walked by the two guards outside and wrote her name at the front desk.
"How long will you two be staying?" the woman asked. She had brown hair and fairly dark skin. She was dressed in what appeared to be a grey robe that covered her from head to toe.
"Maybe two or three days," said Garnet.
"The cost is 10 silver a night," said the woman.
"That's cheap," said Garnet as she took out thirty silver coins to pay the woman.
"It's because the King is providing for us," said the woman. "As long as he's here to protect us, we will be fine."
"Who is the King?" Garnet was curious.
"King Mutimir," said the woman. "He is the one protecting us from Belgrade."
"What's going on with Belgrade?" Garnet asked.
"Don't you know?" asked the woman. "We're at war with them."
"What?!?" Garnet was surprised. War was forbidden between countries because of Invasions. However, Garnet remembered something. Belgrade and Kalemegdan were far from any of the Invasion sites. Anzio, Constantinople, and Beijing were all many miles away. It was likely that they had never seen one. "Both cities are so close to each other, but I did not know because I'm not from around here," said Garnet.
"That's why our security is a little higher than normal," said the woman. "But the King has provided us with enough soldiers to keep us safe."
Garnet remembered all the guards that she had seen on the way into the city. "I wonder how the King provided all these soldiers," said Garnet.
"Things have been great for us since the King got a Wizard," said the woman.
"A Wizard?" Garnet was surprised. A local King had actually found a Wizard. If the Wizard was indeed great, they would be able to win against Belgrade easily. A strong mage could easily turn the tide of a fight if the opposing side did not have something equal. The only other kingdom that Garnet saw a Wizard in was Antium. Even the city out in the water only had mages, nothing that resembled a Wizard like Zedd.
"The Wizard was able to recruit all of these soldiers and bolster our army," said the woman. "Now, we can't lose."
"Thank you for telling me," said Garnet as she headed to her room.
"Don't you find those soldiers to be a little strange?" asked Riley.
"They're a little pale," said Garnet.
"Not just that," said Riley. "Don't they look a little like Romulus and Sylvia in terms of color and complexion?"
"Come to think of it, they do," said Garnet. She looked outside the window of her room and focused on one of the guards.
Name: Pale Guard
Level: 10
Class: Warrior
Sub-Class: Undead
Stats: High Strength, High Vitality
It was undead. Garnet looked at a few more to make sure. All of them were the same. They were all level 10 undead warriors. There were thousands of them throughout the city. If they were united, they could probably be a match for Antium. "They're all undead," said Garnet.
"Do you think it's another Dark Mage?" Riley asked.
"According to Zedd, it's either a Dark Mage or a Necromancer," said Garnet. "They're the only classes with the ability to raise a large number of undead."
"Can't Romulus and Sylvia raise the dead too?" Riley asked.
"They're similar," said Garnet. "Their undead are different. They were all raised from the dead at about the same time, meaning that something or someone else did it."
If there was another Dark Mage in the city, Garnet would have to be careful. Garnet had heard a few things about them from Zedd, but the fact was that they used other people to make themselves stronger. She had heard about extracting mana from other people to use and it was possible that the Dark Mage in the city was doing that in order to create the army of the dead necessary to fight their enemy. In a way, it was similar to how Garnet obtained power from blood. However, if there was really another Dark Mage in the city, it was possible that they could have detected Garnet's presence or be ready for her. Since a Dark Mage would want someone who had mana as a sacrifice for their arts, it was possible that they would want to capture Garnet to use.
"Keep an eye out for anything strange," said Garnet. "Someone might come after me."
"Alright," said Riley.
"I won't show any suspicion yet though," said Garnet. Knowing that all of the guards in the city could turn on her at any moment if they wanted to come after her. Despite this, Garnet knew that she had the power to take them on. Her own undead were also much more powerful than the Pale Guards stationed throughout the city.
As Garnet and Riley headed towards the the square. They saw three statues in the middle of the city. The first said "Viseslav, Son of the Unknown Archon, Founder of Kalemegdan." The statue was of a man with a beard. Looking at the years, it was clear that he had been dead for a long time. The next statue was "Caslav, the Liberator, Unifier of Lands." He too was dead for a long time. His statue wore a winged helmet and he had a mustache as well. The last statue was "Crossen, Grand Wizard of Kalemegdan." He was the current Wizard for the King. He was a man with shoulder length hair with part of it covering one of his eyes. He wore a mage robe and carried a book. It was likely that he was a Dark Mage as well. After looking around the square, Garnet headed to the market.
The market itself had numerous stalls, but they did not seem to have much for sale. The whole place was heavily guarded. As Garnet and Riley entered, they were stopped. "Halt," said the man in armor. It was one of the city guards.
Name: Zaheer
Level: 32
Class: Guardian
Sub-Class: Warrior
Stats: High Vitality
He was at least human unlike the others. "Do you have a ration card?" Zaheer asked.
"No," said Garnet. "I'm just a traveler who came into town today."
"Take this," said Zaheer as he handed Garnet and Riley each a card. "There is a limit on how much you can buy."
"Are supplies low because of the war?" Garnet asked.
"Yes," said Zaheer. "As a result, we can't just have people buying whatever they want and it prevents people from panic buying."
"I see," said Garnet. "Thank you."
"Just remember, they're not allowed to sell you more than what the card states and we will check you as you leave," said Zaheer.
As Garnet and Riley walked through the market, they saw the limited amount of food and clothes available. Despite travelers bringing more with them, there was a limit on how much they could sell to each person and the King took some of what each person brought in as a tax. It was a way for them to support themselves during the war. As a result of rationing, prices were not extraordinarily high like they were in Antium when King Caligula was in charge. This was indeed better than the alternative. The whole time though, the undead guards throughout the city were keeping an eye on Garnet. At this point, it was clear that they were watching her. Riley noticed it too, but did not speak up.
After buying some food and restocking on water, they left. "Show me what you bought," said Zaheer.
Garnet took out the three pounds of preserved meat, some dried fruits, and vegetables to show Zaheer. He carefully took each one and weighed them before returning them to Garnet. As Garnet stored them inside her ring, Zaheer was looking closely at her ring. He too was watching Garnet. At this point, she was certain that they were keeping an eye on her.
Back at the inn, Garnet and Riley began to talk. "The city guards are watching you," said Riley.
"I know, so is Zaheer," said Garnet. "I saw the way he was looking at me."
"Are you sure he's not looking at you because you're attractive?" Riley asked.
"I'm sure," said Garnet. "He wasn't keeping an eye on you, just me. The undead guards were doing the same. I'm almost certain someone is after me."
"Wouldn't it be best to just leave then?" Riley asked.
"I think if I tried to leave, they would stop me," said Garnet. "I'm almost certain that they have a way tracking me."
"I'll keep an eye out for you tonight," said Riley.
"Thanks," said Garnet. "But I have a feeling that Crossen is going to come straight for me otherwise the guards would have tried to grab me."
"Does he know that you're a mage though?" Riley asked.
"Maybe he suspects it and that's why he hasn't sent anything after me," said Garnet.
That night, Garnet heard a knock on the door. As she took a look outside the peep hole, she saw that it was the woman at the receptionist desk. Garnet opened the door. "What is it?" she asked.
"There's guards asking you to come down," said the woman.
Garnet got dressed and headed downstairs with Riley. There were about a dozen guards in total. In the front was a middle aged man who was human. The others were all pale and probably undead guards.
Name: Samir
Level: 30
Class: Guardian
Sub-Class: Warrior
Stats: High Vitality
The guards here were a lot stronger than the others that Garnet had encountered before. "You're coming with me," said Samir.
"Why?" asked Garnet.
"You are spies for Belgrade," said Samir. "The King has requested for you to be brought in."
"Don't you mean the mage Crossen?" Garnet asked.
Samir was suddenly surprised by this. "How did you know it was Crossen who asked for you?" asked Samir as he prepared to draw his sword.
"I have my reasons," said Garnet. "Don't worry, I'll come along." Even if Garnet was surrounded, all she would need was a few seconds to cast Teleportation and escape.
"That's not a good idea," said Riley. "You could be walking into their trap."
"There's not a lot of things that can stop me," said Garnet. "I think I can handle this. The undead guards are not very strong."
Samir and the guards escorted Garnet and Riley North of the town square towards the castle. The castle itself was not too big. It was much smaller than Antium's and looked more like a glorified mansion with fortress walls. As Samir walked forward, the two guards in front opened the door. As Garnet walked by, she could tell that the guards were pale and undead. It was likely that they were everywhere in the castle as well. If Crossen wanted to take over the castle, he probably could.
Garnet was brought forward to the throne room. "Are you sure you don't need to cuff me?" Garnet asked.
"The Great Wizard Crossen needs not to worry about a child like you," said Samir.
Again, Garnet was being underestimated. She would use every bit of this to her advantage. As the doors to the throne room opened, she saw the Wizard Crossen with his shoulder length black hair, black robe, and carrying a black tome. It was almost like he was not hiding the fact that he was a Dark Mage.
Name: Crossen
Level: 34
Class: Dark Mage / Wizard
Sub-Class: Summoner
Stats: High Intelligence
At the center of the room was a magic circle similar to ones used in summonings. There was nothing special on the walls, just a few banners. "Welcome," said Crossen. "You have been chosen to help serve the needs of the King."
They were planning to use Garnet as a sacrifice. The mana she had was definitely going to make her a great sacrifice if it was successful, much like the Hero Summoning had. "So a Dark Mage huh?" Garnet asked.
"How did you know?" asked Crossen.
"The undead soldiers are everywhere," said Garnet. "Sure they look a little pale, but they are definitely undead."
"Are you a mage too?" asked Crossen.
"Of course," said Garnet. "I was wondering what you were like, but I'm a little disappointed."
"Well, you won't be alive for long," said Crossen. "Bring her towards the circle."
Samir walked to push Garnet forward. "Recall!" Garnet immediately channeled her spell and all eight Cerberus under her command appeared. "I have yet to fight a powerful mage such as yourself," said Garnet. "But there's a first time for everything."
Garnet saw that Crossen was enraged. "All soldiers, attack!" he commanded. The Pale Guards in the room began to advance towards Garnet. There were dozens of them and more were going to come through from the outside.
However, Garnet did not need to fight them all. "Two of you hold the doors shut," Garnet ordered. "The rest of you fight." Two of the Cerberus slammed the doors shut and held themselves against it. With their immense strength and toughness, little would get through. Before her stood Crossen with about forty Pale Guards.
Riley took this chance to destroy the magic circle that Crossen had laid out on the floor to prevent any tricks he might use with it. "Quickly, summon the others!" Riley shouted.
Garnet began to focus her mana to start calling out the other summons. They were severely outnumbered and in case the enemy ever broke through the two Cerberus, they would need to be ready. "What's the matter?" asked Crossen. "Is it too much for you to handle?"
"It's about handling it in a smarter way," said Garnet. "Call: Revenants! Call: Death Knights!" Garnet was aiming to at least even up the odds in her favor. Ten undead soldiers backed by three powerful knights. They all appeared in front of Garnet.
Crossen was not the least bit worried. "You're a Summoner too I see," said Crossen. "But let's see who is the better one." Crossen jumped back to the throne while Garnet's undead pushed towards him, easily cutting up his skeletons. Despite this, Crossen was not worried at all. He had a back up plan. Crossen placed his hand on the throne where a magic circle that filled the entire room lit up. "Call: Leilah!"
It was a summoning much like Garnet's own. As Crossen poured his mana into it, the magic circle grew brighter and smaller. A figure appeared on the throne. It was a young woman with bat like wings, long black hair, red eyes, and had dark skin covering certain parts of her body. It was something like a Succubus and resembled Garnet's own transformation, but this one lacked the scales on the body or the black in her eyes.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"You called me Master?" Leilah asked.
"Help me defeat them!" Crossen ordered as he pointed to Garnet and Riley.
Leilah took a look at them. Garnet could feel the killing intent from it. "Riley!" Garnet shouted.
"Transformation: Temptress of the Night!" From Riley's back, wings grew and black scales covered her entire body from head to toe. Her hair turned white and her eyes turned red and black.
"That can't be!?" Leilah suddenly showed fear.
"What's wrong?" asked Crossen.
"That's not something I can defeat," said Leilah. "You must escape from here Master."
"I will not run from them," said Crossen. "I will fight alongside you."
"It's too dangerous," said Leilah.
"You forget I am a mage," said Crossen. He was intent on fighting. Leilah would not be able to convince him otherwise.
Garnet's undead squad had already torn through all of the undead. Leilah charged forward. BOOM. With a single stroke, she smashed a Death Knight to the side. It broke into several pieces and shattered like glass before disappearing. She was not to be underestimated.
"Transformation: Temptress of the Night!" Garnet transformed as well, going through the same process as Riley.
"Another?!?" shouted Leilah. "That can't be possible!"
The other of Garnet's Cerberus and undead backed away to let Garnet and Riley fight.
"She can do whatever I can," said Garnet. "Lightning Bolt!" Garnet fired a bolt of lightning straight at Leilah.
Leilah raised her arm forward and focused the lightning into her palm. BZZT. She crushed the lightning and stopped it.
"Fire Lance!" Crossen threw a spear of flames at Garnet. Riley stepped forward and grabbed it with her hand. VWOOM. The Fire Lance dispersed into flames and disappeared. "It doesn't look like magic of that level will be resolving this fight," said Crossen.
"Jet Stream!" Garnet released a continuous stream of water from her hands.
"Magma Stream!" Crossen countered with his own fire elemental. At the center where their attacks met, stream erupted at an incredible rate.
As Garnet continued to channel the mana, she focused more into her mouth. "Sonic Scream!" SCREECH.
"AHH!" Crossen screamed as he put his hands to his head.
"Master!" shouted Leilah as she stood in the path of the Sonic Scream.
"I'm okay," said Crossen as he picked himself up. There was a little blood coming out of his left ear. The Sonic Scream had already damaged his hearing.
Riley charged forward and tackled Leilah, pushing her out of the way so that Garnet could continue her assault on Crossen.
"Earthen Wall!" Crossen rose the ground and created a barrier between him and Garnet.
"Fire Ball!" Garnet shot a ball of fire straight towards the wall. BOOM. The Earthen Wall Crossen had created earlier broke to pieces. Slowly, she was getting the upper hand over Crossen. Garnet's superior mana regeneration meant that Crossen would tire out long before Garnet would. She could already see it as Crossen was beginning to sweat and breathe more heavily.
Meanwhile, Riley was exchanging blows with Leilah. Riley's superior strength from the transformation allowed her to hold Leilah at bay despite Leilah being more experienced. Every punch or kick thrown by Leilah was countered by a parry. "You're no beginner," said Leilah.
"I've had many years of practice," said Riley. "Just no chance to use it."
Leilah dove straight for Riley. Riley raised her hands in a cross and caught Leilah's arm. "What?!?" Leilah was surprised. It was not just a simple block or deflection. It was a counter.
Riley twisted her arms and smashed Leilah against the ground. BAM. "Explosive Palm!" Riley immediately followed up with an attack meant to finish off Leilah.
"GAH!" Leilah screamed as she coughed up blood. She was injured, but she survived. The single attack had not finished her off.
"Wind Scar!" Crossen released a powerful burst of wind that cut straight through the stone on the ground. He was aiming to kill with his spells now. He was getting desperate and would not be able to hold out much longer. He wanted to finish the battle as soon as possible. He was no longer aiming to capture Garnet.
Garnet was able to dodge the first one. She sidestepped it as it when by. "Heat Wave!" Garnet countered with her own wind type attack. It was impossible to see because it left no visible trail.
"Mana Shield!" Crossen raised his book in front of him as the powerful burst of wind set the banners on the wall ablaze.
Garnet could see that Crossen was weakening. The Mana Shield had not protected him entirely. There were parts of his robe that was glowing red and were going to ignite at any moment. "Lightning Fire Bolt!" Garnet fired it straight at Crossen.
"Master!" Leilah shouted as she leapt towards him. BOOM. The powerful bolt struck Leilah as she wrapped her arms around Crossen to protect him. As the explosive power of the spell created high winds, Garnet saw that the spot where the two of them were standing was now just a hole. It was possible to see the sky outside. A few feet away Leilah was laying on the ground with Crossen. "Ugh," Leilah groaned as she picked herself up.
Level Up: Lightning Fire Bolt (Level 2)
New Skill: Wind Blade
Attack with a blade of wind that is unseen, but can cut through almost anything
MP Cost: 200
When Leilah turned around, Garnet saw that she was hurt. One of Leilah's wings was missing about a quarter of it. Blood was flowing from the side of her mouth and she was holding on to her arm. "You're still alive I see," said Garnet. "Do you surrender?"
"You must escape Master," said Leilah. "You can always resummon me."
"I spent years planning this takeover," said Crossen. "All of it ruined by two women."
Crossen began to run and went outside through the hole that Garnet had just created. He was fast and quickly disappeared along with the presence of his mana. It was like he was never there in the first place. Leilah stood her ground, covering for her Master's escape. "Why do you serve a Master like that?" Riley asked.
"He gives me what I need," said Leilah. "We have a mutual agreement."
"Something like a contract?" Garnet asked.
"I suppose," said Leilah. "You know if you kill me, you can chase after my Master."
"The fact that I could not sense his mana means that he is already long gone," said Garnet. "It would be difficult to find him anyways."
"You're smarter than you look," said Leilah. "To think we would be outmatched this greatly."
"If I find that your Master is using people as sacrifices for his summon again, I will kill him without hesitation," said Garnet.
Leilah charged forward. "If you won't fight, I will!" she shouted. She stood no chance, but fought to cover for her Master. She could be resummoned anyways.
Leilah aimed to thrust her arm straight into Garnet, realizing that she was the mage and Riley was the summon. Garnet raised her own arm to meet Leilah's. BOOM. As their fists made contact, a fierce shock wave was released by their might. Their fists repeatedly made contact as they struggled to land a hit on each other. Each one released a powerful wave. BAM. One of Garnet's fists made contact with Leilah's chest, but she continued to press on.
Riley charged at Leilah from the side, forcing Leilah to retreat. Even though Leilah was already injured, she was still strong. "To think, I would meet two Queen Succubi working together in a place like this," said Leilah.
"It does not matter who we are," said Garnet. "We're just here to stop people like you. Even if you're a mage, you should not be using people to fuel your magic."
"Aren't you being hypocritical?" asked Leilah. "Don't you use people for your magic?"
"I don't," said Garnet. "They are created from my own mana. I have yet to use the mana of innocent people, only those that have tried to kill me and or have been aggressive enough to attack others."
"Then all those are created from your own magic?!?" Leilah was surprised.
"Yes," said Garnet. "They are created from my own power."
"I see," said Leilah. "There's no way I can win then if you have that much power. Hurry and finish it."
"I won't," said Garnet. "You just want to protect your Master."
"But if you don't kill them, won't they just create more trouble?" asked Riley.
"Even if I killed her, her Master can just summon her again," asid Garnet. "It makes no difference since Crossen got away already."
"She's right," said Leilah. "Kill me and my Master can summon me again. Don't kill me and I just get to fly away. It makes no difference."
"If you ever want to serve a different Master," said Garnet. "I'll be here."
"Not unless my current Master dies or breaks the contract," said Leilah. "I'll remember the two of you."
With that, Leilah flew away. With Leilah gone, Garnet and Riley returned to their normal forms. Garnet just remembered Samir was still in the room and was shocked by what he saw. "Are you okay?" Garnet asked.
"What just happened?" Samir asked.
"A battle between Dark Mages you must not speak of," said Garnet. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes," said Samir. "Where is the King?"
"Most likely dead or turned into one of the undead," said Garnet. "I suggest you look into it."
Samir quickly ran towards the throne and turned right. There were doors that were hidden just so that if you were not standing right on the throne, you would not be able to notice it. As the doors opened, Garnet saw that it was a bedroom of some kind, but it was empty. "What is this place?" Riley asked.
"This is the King's safe room," said Samir. "In times of emergency, this is where the King can hide. If he knew something was wrong, he should be in here.."
Garnet escorted Samir through the small castle, clearing out the remaining undead along the way. Samir checked everywhere he thought the King might be hiding, but he was nowhere to be seen. It was very likely that the King had been turned into one of the undead. With no King and no Wizard, they would have to find another way to lead themselves. "Surrender to Belgrade," said Garnet.
"What?!?" Samir was surprised.
"This would solve your problems," said Garnet. "A renegade Dark Mage killed the King and took over as leader, using the army of undead to force your people to do his bidding and to fight the war. You may not have known it, but that's basically what happened. Force them to agree to the terms that as long as they help rebuild the city, they can rule it."
Samir thought about it for a second. The alternative was to have no leadership, which would lead to a power struggle and their eventual defeat. As long as the terms of surrender were acceptable, they would both benefit from it. "I suppose," said Samir. "I will propose it to the others."
"I'm going to take my leave," said Garnet.
"Why?" asked Samir.
"I just fought a battle with another Dark Mage," said Garnet. "It is likely that people will start coming here and asking questions. Worst of all, I know that others can track me because of my mana now. I must move before another mage who wants my mana wants to find me."
Garnet was not really scared. She knew she was more than a match for most mages in terms of abilities. There were few people that could really defeat her. However, if Crossen became stronger, it was likely that he would be a match. "Thank you for saving us from the Wizard," said Samir. "I promise I will not speak of you to anyone else."
"Good," said Garnet. "I will take my leave then."
Garnet and Riley left the city in a hurry before anyone else found out what had happened in the castle. "Was that the right thing to do though?" asked Riley.
"What do you mean?" Garnet asked.
"You just replaced a ruler and vastly changed the outcome of a war," said Riley.
"The alternative was to let someone sacrifice people to make an army of undead so that he could expand to another city and repeat the same," said Garnet. "Of the two options, I think this was the better one."
There was indeed a moral dilemma here. Garnet had used her own power to overthrow who was essentially the ruler of a kingdom. However, that was only because she was pulled into it by force. Had that not happened, she probably would have left things the way they were. She was starting to actively shape the development of her world because of it.
The worst thing was that there was another Dark Mage present. If Garnet did not have the Class Change, she probably would not have been able to win. It was due to her specialty in Lightning Fire that gave her a clear advantage. The spell itself was incredibly powerful, but it was not enough for the likes of the Invasion or probably anyone that commanded the Invasion. Garnet needed to become stronger. For now, all she could do was manufacture Mana Crystals.
Level Up: Magicraft (Level 9)
Skill Upgrade: Call: Revenant
Revenants can now become intangible.
Skill Upgrade: Call: Cerberus
Cerberus now possess poisonous snake tails.
Skill Upgrade: Death Knight
Death Knights now have increased magical resistance
Level Up: Minion Development (Level 2)
You can now allocate additional mana to improve the abilities of your summons based on the Mana Crystal within them.
It was a big improvement, but the problem was the incredible mana cost requirements. Even an upgrade to the Cerberus' defenses was over ten thousand mana. As a result, Garnet did not even bother to check the others. They were simply too high for Garnet to do anything with for now. For some reason though, the spirits and special ones like Romulus and Sylvia did not gain benefits from the Mana Crystal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spoiler :
Name: Garnet
Level: 32
Class: Chaos Mage / Queen Consort / Hero
Sub-class: Temptress of the Night
Stats:
HP: 2450/2450
MP: 8340/8340
Fame: 220
Strength: 57 (+5)
Dexterity: 52 (+7)
Intelligence: 230 (+22)
Vitality: 70 (+5)
Agility: 64 (+7)
Charisma: 37 (+20)
PROFICIENCY:Weapon:
- One Handed Sword – 7
- Hand to Hand – 3
- Staff - 1
Magic:
- Fire – 8
- Lightning – 14
- Wind – 5
- Water - 0
- Summoning – 12
- Blood – 6
- Spatial - 0
SKILLS:Weapon (One Handed Sword):
- Horizontal Slash (Level 3)
- Double Slash (Level 3)
- Crescent Slash (Level 1)
- Triple Slash (Level 1)
- Delta Attack (Level 1)
- Spiral (Level 1)
Weapon (Hand to Hand):
- Palm Strike (Level 1)
- Wind Palm (Level 1)
- Explosive Palm (Level 3)
- Lightning Palm (Level 1)
- Sweeping Kick (Level 1)
- Horizontal Kick (Level 1)
- Uppercut (Level 1)
- Ki Burst (Level 1)
- Demsey Roll (Level 1)
Weapon (Staff):
- Thrust (Level 2)
- Swinging Smash (Level 1)
- Double Strike (Level 1)
- Triple Strike (Level 1)
- Quadruple Strike (Level 1)
- Vertical Smash (Level 1)
Class (Dark Mage):
- Fire Bolt (Level 5)
- Fire Ball (Level 1)
- Lightning Bolt (Level 8)
- Chain Lightning (Level 4)
- Lightning Ray (Level 3)
- Light (Level 1)
- Air Bullet (Level 4)
- Wind Blade (Level 1)
- Aqua Strike (Level 1)
- Jet Stream (Level 1)
- Heat Wave (Level 1)
- Lightning Fire Bolt (Level 2)
- Crimson Lotus: Blade of Lightning (Level 2)
- Mana Armor (Level 2)
- Call: Cerberus (Level 1)
- Call: Revenant (Level 1)
- Call: Death Knight (Level 1)
- Call: Romulus, Knight of Blood (Level 1)
- Call: Sylvia, Priestess of Blood (Level 1)
- Call: Lilith (Level 1)
- Call: Nuria (Level 1)
- Call: Mazu (Level 1)
- Call: Sino (Level 1)
- Call: Meliae (Level 1)
- Recall
- Dismiss
- Enhanced Mana Regeneration (Level 4)
- Lightning Fire (Passive)
- Blood Absorption (Level 7)
- Blood Bind (Level 1)
- Blood Scythe (Level 2)
- Blood Sacrifice (Level 1)
- Blood Bullet (Level 1)
- Transformation: Blood Reaper (Level 1)
- Transformation: Elementalist (Level 1)
- Dance of Blood (Level 1)
- Teleportation (Level 1)
- Teleportation Summoning Circle (Level 1)
Sub-class (Temptress of the Night):
- Enhanced Body (Level 3)
- Captivation: (Level 3)
- Mind Read: (Level 1)
- Pleasure Inducement (Level 3)
- Sexy Walk (Level 1)
- Stealth (Level 2)
- Shadow Walk (Level 2)
- Sonic Scream (Level 1)
- Illusion (Level 2)
- Alluring Song (Level 1)
- Flight (Level 1)
- Aura of Fear (Level 2)
- Scale Armor (Level 2, Passive)
- Transformation (Level 1)
- Partial Transformation (Level 1)
- Transformation: Temptress of the Night (Level 1)
Tradeskills:
- Hunting (Level 5) - Hunter
- Cooking (Level 9) - Cook
- Inspection (Level 5)
- Sewing (Level 4) – Tailor
- Magicraft (Level 9) – Alchemist
- Item Enhancement (Level 9)
- Disassemble (Level 1)
- Inventory Expansion (Level 4)
Passives:
- Hand to Hand (Level 1)
- One Handed Sword (Level 1)
- Staff (Level 1)
- Reflex (Level 5)
- Haste (Level 2)
- Scale Armor (Level 1)
- Aura of Leadership (Level 1)
- Aura of the Hero (Level 1)
- Summoning Commander (Level 1)
- Queen's Presence (Level 1)
- Fire Mastery (Level 1)
Unique:
- Hero System (Level 3, Passive)
- Otherworldly Knowledge (Passive)
- Golden Tongue (Passive)
- Mana Compatibility (Passive)
- Quick Learner (Passive)
- Channeling (Passive)
- Charging (Passive)
- Night Vision (Passive)