The difference between the soldiers and civilians felt evident as the combined group marched. Despite the uneven terrain and the slippery patches of ice, the eleven knights marched in perfect formation the entire time. Not once did a single one of them fall out of it, their legs moving in perfect unison. Their steps and stride all matched, their feet striking the ground like drummers keeping tempo in a band as they proceeded in five sets of two with their commander in the front, next to Nick.
Meanwhile, Nick’s own group looked so disorganized in comparison as they marched, Nick leading the way with Mr. Walters. Behind Mr. Walters, walking in a jumbled mess, were his kids, who chatted back and forth as if nothing was going on. The only thing Nick could make out was that Elizabeth—thanks to the buff she’d gotten, Lover’s Embrace—was now strong enough to give Arnold a bit of sibling teasing about his “slow progress” as he did his best to argue that the buff wasn’t her own progress, so it totally didn’t count as they compared stats.
Meanwhile, Seo-ah and Maria were talking quietly behind Nick about the differences between the schools they went to growing up, and Reggie and Christina were walking too close together for Reggie’s intentions not to be obvious. Meanwhile, Adele and Topaz were having it out over Topaz’s “Ms. Muscle Sister” comment a little earlier. Allen was the only quiet one as he lagged behind the rest of the group, his head buried in his drone monitor as he played around with something on it.
While they were walking, the knight commander, seeing what looked like a large white-feathered bird flying above them, large enough to be a condor, pushed a small ethereal vial with a crimson glow into Nick’s hands.
“Here,” he grunted as he pushed the potion on Nick. “This concoction has great potency, but is incredibly rare. I would not normally part with it since it’s the last one I have, but you have to take it if something happens to you. I can’t let an avatar of Our Lady die.”
Nick eyed the liquid warily, quickly examining it with Omni-Trainer’s Insight.
Dragon Heart Elixir
Type: Potion - Advanced Healing
Rarity: Legendary
The Dragon Heart Elixir is a rare and powerful healing elixir that temporarily gives one the regenerative power of a dragon. This healing includes reattaching severed limbs and bringing individuals back from the brink of death.
Insight Note: Use of this Elixir will also temporarily increase the user’s Constitution by 100 for up to twenty-four hours.
“Are you sure I can have your last one?” Nick asked as he pocketed the vial in his inventory.
“Indeed," the knight confirmed, his voice a blend of reverence and caution. “It is distilled from the rarest of reagents, purchased from the Mythical Shop, and crafted by Our Lady herself. Use it wisely and only when absolutely necessary for the mission.”
Nick nodded, remembering just how effective the potion had been at healing the knight and his arm after the last battle. The commander had been on death’s door yet somehow had been pulled out of the fire and reconstituted.
“Is something weighing on you, kid?” Mr. Walters asked as they began climbing up the fourth hill in a row.
“I just . . . I don’t understand how effective charisma is as a stat. You know, that Black Witch from the time I went through the yellow portal? The one from the vision I told you all about this morning? I’m wondering now how many of my decisions are my own and how many of my decisions are because of her, because of her charisma. I can’t shake the feeling I’m being led to do things I wouldn’t ever do normally,” Nick told him, hoping the old man had some wisdom to share.
“Their mother was like that,” Mr. Walters laughed as he nodded with his head back at his kids. “They’re like that to me. Even my muscles are like that. Sometimes, I work out a ton, and I feel like I’m the king of the world. I find myself wanting to just lift up cars or crush things as I walk past them when I walk out into the real world. That adrenaline and testosterone pumping through my veins makes me feel like I am the center of the world, and everything orbits around me and my muscles.”
“And then?” Nick asked, not understanding how the man’s response connected to his problem. “I mean, I’ve never seen you try to lift a car before . . .”
Mr. Walters smiled. “I did though. I lifted my own when I hit 300 strength for the first time. Just to see if I could . . . but mostly because I knew that desire to lift other people’s cars was not right. No matter how compelling a feeling is, I know the owner of the car would be hurt if I did that. It’s like that with your abilities. I can feel the compulsion, that’s for sure, but it’s not like I can’t resist. It might shake me for a moment—I’m sure it shakes us all and would even if we were to try to resist—but I only do what I know is right. Despite all the powerful influences in my life—wife, kids, my own body, I choose what I do.”
“How can we be certain that I’m only acting on what I know to be right though?” Nick asked, still concerned about the Black Witch’s hold.
“Because if your charisma could convince anyone to do anything, then you wouldn’t have had to use your wits, guile, and strength to make all those dungeon monsters, those Russian gangsters, your cousin Roland, even your own overpowered grandfather yield. If it was an easy, one-trick solution, then the media wouldn’t be after you. And”—he paused for a moment, scratching his chin—“if that witch was so powerful, she wouldn’t have had to kill and replace the nobles the way you told us she did in your dreams.”
Nick nodded at the thought. It was both more and less uncomfortable as he thought of it, because if people were only going along with her suggestions because they wanted to do them in the first place, then he had to ask if he wanted to use cloak of madness without asking in the first place too.
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“Nick, I sometimes think of charisma and its magic like alcohol. It’s not making us do things; it’s not twisting our arms and forcing us to obey. It’s just removing the worries and doubts we’ve had that are stopping us in the first place. Most people already want to follow you, they want to be great, and they only need someone to give them that motivation. You, being a trainer, are there to do that. Never stop inspiring people to be great,” Mr. Walters said as he put a hand on Nick’s shoulder.
“Dad shoulda been a politician,” Elizabeth chuckled as she walked up to them, having apparently stopped harassing her brother long enough to listen to Nick’s worries and Mr. Walter’s pep talk. She put a hand on her dad’s back. “You’re awesome, dad.”
“Yup,” agreed Seo-ah, who had been listening as well. “You guys got lucky with him.”
“We all did,” Nick admitted, knowing exactly how fortunate he had been as his eyes momentarily fell to the ground. Mr. Walters was, after all, right.
Nick continued to contemplate what Mr. Walters had said as they pressed on, finishing their ascent of the mountain, only to be confronted with a large, sprawling, ghastly scene that was something Nick had never once in his life anticipated.
“Gods . . .” Seo-ah whispered, her voice barely audible above the howling wind.
In the distance, a few snow harpies could be seen circling just a dozen feet above the ground, occasionally swooping down and picking or prodding at something. As that something came into view, Nick could see what it was. A giant lumbering figure was leading a long line of humans while dire wolves prowled at the front and back of the line, their white fur shifting like specters against the stark-white backdrop. A wolf occasionally snapped at one of the chained figures, who all trudged towards a bleak encampment in the distance.
Nick's heart clenched at the sight of the hundred-plus people, shuffling through the snow with a haunting rhythm. Their breaths fogged the air in puffs. They were dressed in tattered rags that offered little protection against the biting cold, a fact shown by their pale, blue extremities and rose-colored cheeks. It seemed like frostbite and hypothermia were already setting in even as they were forced to walk. Nick could see the despair on the men, women, and children, their lifeless stares as they were yanked forward at a pace their feet could barely keep up with.
"Look at them," Lou murmured, horror etched onto his face as he observed the chained people. Even from their position on the hill, they could see the small trail of red blood droplets from blistered and broken feet as the prisoners’ shoeless soles tore on the occasional sharp rock or root.
“Those aren't just supplies,” said Arnold, his tone laced with shock. “They're prisoners.”
“Slaves,” corrected Allen, the word tasting bitter on his tongue.
“No . . . they could still be supplies . . . food. Every animal down there has canines,” Topaz noted, her usual humor draining away as she loaded her grenade launcher, looking over at Nick as if to say, “Can we please start murdering those bastards already?”
Maria's grip on her sword tightened, her knuckles turning white. “We can't let this stand. We have to free them.”
“I want to murder those beasts as much as the next person here,” Seo-ah said, “but they have one of those huge armored-up super bears and a lot more monsters than we can handle. Even with the addition of the knights, we need a plan.”
“We could wait for reinforcements,” Reggie said, only to earn a scowl from Christina.
“There’s no time. If we wait too long,” Nick thought, “they’re going to reach the main army. Then every person there is as good as dead. We have to do something now . . .”
“Well, what do you have in mind?” Mr. Walters asked as he looked over at.
“I think we’re going to need to split the enemies up. There are too many right now,” Nick said as he looked at the foes in front of him. Even if he thought their team could win an open battle, he didn’t want to accept a single casualty.
“We could knock the rest out, but that bear took four of us last time, Mr. Walters and Arnold included,” Seo-ah noted, voicing Nick’s concern as they stared at the enemies.
“We await your command,” the knight commander interrupted.
Wait! Nick suddenly had a thought as he turned to the knight commander, remembering how furious the arctic ursine had been with the man in their last fight, taunting and yelling at the commander to the point he had even given up a free kill just to mock him.
“Commander, why did that arctic ursine hate you so much in the last fight? What did you do to get him to focus on you instead of just rampaging?” Nick asked.
“Oh . . . at the beginning of the battle, I had drawn him to me by insulting his fur coat. It’s a matter of pride with the ursines, and once you mock it, they will do anything and everything they can to kill you,” the commander explained. “I had done so to prevent him from killing off the weaker members in my squad.”
This information caused a smile to appear across Nick’s face as an idea crystalized in his head.
“Okay, then what we’re going to need first is a basic plan. We don’t have long before one of those harpies spots us, so Topaz, the moment I give the signal, I need you to gum up the ground right here,” Nick began, pointing at the ground just in front of them. “Reggie, don’t even tell me you don’t have caltrops, bro. Drop them on whatever snare goo Topaz creates. Make the ground as impassable as possible.”
“Got it,” Topaz said, spinning the cartridges on her launcher as Reggie pulled out caltrops from his inventory. When Nick had seen Reggie make them for forging practice, they were just small, fist-sized metal ones with four points. But Allen must have helped him because now Reggie had a large clear ball with dozens and dozens of them inside, as if it was perfectly crafted to explode and fling them in all directions.
Perfect, Nick thought, eyeing the harpies that seemed to be enjoying themselves taunting and humiliating the humans.
“We don’t have long to do this,” Nick said as he turned to Mr. Walters, “but I’m going to need you, specifically, to taunt that bear. You need to draw it away. If it hates insults about its coat as much as this knight commander is telling me, then we can just have Mr. Walters insult its coat to lure it away from its companions.”
“Nick, I can’t . . . I can’t speak its language,” Mr. Walters replied, pointing out the flaw in Nick’s plan.
“You don’t have to know how. I can use ViVi’s voice cloning,” Allen jumped in. “Just get the knight to repeat the words he used last time, and I’ll have ViVi say them from right behind you. It’ll sound just like you said them.”
“Got it, thanks,” Nick told Allen as he turned to the knight, getting his assistance with the taunt.
“Well then, get that robot ready fast because I can’t watch this scene any longer. I need to get down there and teach those monsters a lesson,” Mr. Walters was practically snarling as his hand gripped tightly into a fist, his anger obviously greater than Nick had ever seen it before.
“Mr. Walters, your job isn’t to fight the thing when the battle starts. You’re the only one fast enough, you need to taunt it and run. Keep it following you but don’t engage. When we clean up the smaller enemies, we’ll circle back and kill it as well as any of the guards that go with it,” Nick explained, a little worried Mr. Walters, in his rage, would try to battle the thing on his own.
Mr. Walters, apparently not happy that the plan involved him running instead of fighting, stared down at Nick for a moment but then blinked and sighed. “Alright. I’ll trust you. Let’s do this.”