They left town quickly, following the guild official's advice. On their way out, Eleisa received a few sharp looks and muttered threats, but the aggressors always kept their distance. When they were safely strolling through the steppes that made up the surrounding landscape, Jared couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.
“How do cows learn to cast spells?”
Bonlanu chuckled, and Eleisa, who had read the background information before taking the job, answered.
“There are a number of ways such an event could occur. In this case, a dungeon broke several months ago. It was far enough from any settlements that it didn't cause much harm, but close enough to affect some livestock of a farmer on the outskirts of a small village. The magic of the broken dungeon warped the cattle, giving them the ability to cast spells. Their magic has been said to be chaotic, often creating baffling effects. They escaped and have been roaming the area in a herd ever since, but were left alone because they didn’t seem to pose much of a threat.”
“Until now.”
Eleisa met Jared's eyes and nodded.
“Until now. A few days ago, they attacked some farms in the area, setting free the livestock, growing the herd. Fortunately, the farmers were able to escape much harm, as the cattle were more interested in freeing their kin than razing the farm.”
“But I bet those farmers aren't happy. They probably make a large portion of their living from the cows.”
“You are correct. It was one of the farmers that posted the job.”
They continued chatting as they carved their way through the seemingly endless plain, the white grasses growing waist high in most places.
Sometime around midafternoon, Mimi abruptly pointed ahead and to the right of them. Jared shaded his eyes and followed her pointing finger, and after a moment, he could make out a few shapes standing above the horizon.
“Good eyes, Mimi. You mind helping us take a closer look?”
With a nod, she jumped into Jared’s arms, shifting into her rifle form as she did so. He raised her to point towards the shapes on the horizon and looked through the scope. It dialed in and focused on its own, giving him a clear view of the creatures, which were not exactly what Jared expected.
[Manawarped Rhinox](lvl 27)
[Manawarped Rhinox](lvl 29)
[Manawarped Rhinox](lvl 30)
…
When the job had said cows, he was expecting something like the cattle on earth; furry hooved creatures with small horns on either side of their heads and a generally placid temperament.
These animals, however, were something else altogether. They had the shaggy fur he expected, and seemed to be about the correct size and general shape, but that was where the similarities ended. They were heavily muscled, and looked more like rhinos than cows, with massive horns on their noses instead of coming from the backs of their heads. But what really drew Jared’s attention were the chaotic soup of magical effects surrounding the herd.
Coils of frost, flame, and electricity intertwined and struck out randomly in mesmerizing displays of elemental power. Some of the cattle shimmered and shifted colors constantly, and every now and again a bolt of coruscating multicolored light flashed out at nearby objects, creating a different effect each time. Activating the Eye of the Myriad, which was currently set into Mimi’s scope, he set it to Mana Vision, allowing him to see the magic in the air. He regretted it almost immediately.
The entire area around the herd was roiling with chaotic currents of mana in a nauseating array of colors, the magic moving around in ways that didn’t seem possible, making his head hurt and stomach threaten to revolt. He deactivated the magical lens vowing not to use it for the rest of the battle. He turned his attention back to the cows, trying to forget the terrible sight.
They didn’t seem to be doing much more than grazing at the moment, but they left behind a trail of destruction wherever they went, simply from the chaotic magic surrounding them.
Having identified their targets, the party picked up their pace, closing the distance until they were in Jared’s sniping range. At that point, they scouted the surroundings for an area that would play to their strengths and activating the bonus for Jared’s Sniper’s Sovereignty, which increased his stats if he assessed an area prior to combat.
They found a slightly raised position that gave Jared a good overview of the nearby plains, and nearer to the herd there were a couple of large boulders that could act as a bottleneck so that Bonlanu wouldn’t get overrun.
Jared put together a small hide in the tall grass while Bonlanu and Eleisa made their way to the boulders. When they were in position as close to the herd as they could get without risking discovery, Bonlanu summoned his weapons and stepped into the gap between the boulders, signaling Jared to commence his attack.
Since most of the cows were a lower level than he was, and considering the sheer amount of magic around them, he switched his first active title from Offensive Powerhouse to Spelljammer, then focused on his target and chambered a round. Picking one of the larger cows to start with, Jared focused his mana, feeling a warm sensation just behind and above his navel.
Affliction Arsenal: Shadestrider, moderate penetration.
Feeling his magic take effect, he squeeze the trigger and a slightly glowing purplish streak flashed across the plains towards the cattle. Just before it reached its mark, a colorless wave of energy swept out from one of the cows, completely erasing all the magic in its wake. As Jared’s bullet crossed paths with the wave, the purplish glow disappeared, leaving just the mundane projectile.
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An anti-magic pulse? That could be quite useful if he could add it to his list of afflictions.
Then the bullet completed its journey, slamming into the side of the cow he had aimed for, just behind the front leg. The beast bellowed in pain, kicking out with its back legs in surprise. A golden bubble expanded from it briefly before vanishing, leaving every other cow it had touched with a golden aura. Jared wasn’t sure of the effect, but it couldn’t be anything good for him or his team. He quickly aimed and fired again, and this time his affliction-empowered bullet slammed home, bringing the cow to the ground.
[Manawarped Rhinox](lvl 31) slain!
The death of one one of their own sent the herd into a panic, and magical effects flew in every direction. Then a massive cloud of thick green gas formed at the edge of the herd, and a split second later a rumble shook the plains.
Did a cow just…?
He was unable to finish the thought as a lick of flame came just close enough to the gas. With a whooom that was audible even to Jared hundreds of meters away, the cloud ignited, brightly illuminating the surroundings. When the flames dissipated, the herd of cows was in complete disarray. The fireball didn’t seem to have done much damage, but it did serve to increase the cows’ panic.
Jared watched incredulously as one of the cows levitated into the air, then began launching illusory copies of itself which flew several meters before exploding like a self propagating firework.
Just when Jared thought the cows’ magic was about to spiral out of control, another antimagic pulse flowed through the herd, calming the rampaging magical effects. This time, Jared caught a glimpse of the cow the pulse came from; a smaller cow whose eyes glinted with more intelligence than a cow should have. Then it disappeared into the herd once more, and magical effects once again began to surround the beasts.
Having decided it was an opportune moment to enter the fray, Bonlanu used his taunt Skill, getting the cows’ attention. Finally having a focus for their pain, fear, and anger, the entire herd began to move towards him, swiftly picking up speed. Before long, a full-blown stampede was flowing across the plains, leaving a trail of scorched, frozen, and otherwise mutilated grass in their wake. At the same time, Eleisa flew into the air above Bonlanu, lengthening her spear into a lance, and began her hit-and-run guerrilla tactics.
Jared kept up his assault, dropping most of the rhinoxen he hit with one or two shots while random chaotic magical effects erupted across the herd. Bolts of force flew in all directions before converging on Bonlanu’s shield while somehow missing every single cow in the way. Several of the animals spontaneously combusted, but didn’t seem much bothered by the fact that they were now on fire.
A different cow was lifted by a river of pinkish sparks and set down on top of one of the boulders, where it was subsequently surrounded by a bluish bubble. When Jared tried to take it out, his bullet glanced off the bubble, ricocheting wildly. How it had deflected a direct hit from his shot, which had been enhanced with two combined penetration effects, he had no idea, but luckily he didn’t need to worry too much about it, as the shield dropped a few seconds later allowing Jared to put the beast down.
The battle continued similarly for several minutes, Bonlanu holding his bottleneck, Eleisa zipping across the field, and Jared’s shots picking off those that seemed most immediately dangerous.
At one point, one of the cattle vanished, appearing right next to Jared in a cascade of delicious-smelling pastries. He barely had a chance to react before it kicked him, its back hooves slamming into his side with prodigious force, sending him rolling away.
Using the momentum of the strike, he rolled to his feet just in time to see a glowing purple eye appear in the middle of the cow’s forehead. As he did so, Mimi shifted into her doll form and tossed Jared his spear, moving to flank the rhinox. Jared moved around its other side as it lowered its head and charged at her. She moved to dodge out of the way, but it was as if it knew what she was going to do before she did it, and it was able to adjust its course enough to slam her with the side of its head as it passed. The force of its strike sent her tumbling, and Jared lunged with his spear, capitalizing on the moment the beast slowed down slightly to perform the attack.
Again, it moved as if it could tell what he was going to do just before he did it, and it was able to evade most of his thrust, receiving only a shallow cut. But that’s when its luck ran out, as its sidestep carried it directly into the range of Mimi’s fists. The beast’s skull caved in with a wet crunch as a haymaker carried all of the kinetic force she had stored up directly into the cow’s face.
Jared nodded to her, then got back into position. Mimi shifted back to her rifle form, allowing Jared to continue his barrage on the herd, which had been whittled down to only a handful. With Jared once again raining death upon them, the last few holdouts were quickly dealt with, although not without some more magical effects taking hold. A small thunderstorm rolled in, only affecting an area about ten meters in diameter, and as the last cow was vanquished, a tree sprung up beneath its feet. It grew with miraculous speed, growing to about two meters tall in seconds, after which, it grew flowers that speedily matured into four bluish, sparkling fruits about the size and shape of an eggplant.
After doing one final visual sweep of the area, cycling through the Eye of the Myriad’s different ‘modes’, he went over to the cow that Mimi killed and began to harvest its useful materials. About half of the face had been crushed beyond recognition, but it still had one eye intact, along with the glowing purple one. As he pulled them out, he got a bit of a pleasant surprise.
Manawarped Rhinox eye (Scarce, Great) - The eye of a rhinox that was warped by a dungeon break, imbuing it with chaotic magic. Gives a random effect when used in crafting.
Third Eye (Obscure, Supreme) - A third eye that was magically opened, giving its owner limited psychic and/or divination abilities. As they are very difficult to harvest and due to the power they grant, third eyes are extremely rare and sought-after.
He couldn’t wait to see what effects they might give the Eye of the Myriad, so he fed them to it as soon as he had identified them. The first didn’t give any additional effects, but the second did, and it promised to be just as incredible as he had hoped.
Eye of the Myriad (Unique, Supreme[Incomplete])
(Progress: 31/1000)
Effects:
- Greater Darkvision
- Thermal Vision
- Mana Vision
- Motion-Sensitive Sight
- Limited Predictive Sight
Limited Predictive Sight. I bet that was how the cow knew what Mimi and I were going to do before we did it. That will definitely come in handy.
If he was right, it was a powerful ability, and he couldn’t wait to see how it worked. On top of that, it was nice to get a new ability for the Eye. The last one had been a little over a week ago, and had been extreme low-light vision. The Eye then combined it with Darkvision and Low-light Vision to form Greater Darkvision, which allowed sight in all but complete darkness.
Next, he removed the cow's horns and hooves, then the pelt, allowing Mimi to eat the rest. He would have kept the meat, but he had seen a number of effects on the cows that were definitely more detrimental than beneficial, and he didn’t want to poison himself or his party. Mimi was fine eating it, though, as he’d yet to see anything that she couldn’t eat, if she put her mind to it. She just preferred valuable stuff.
Having finished with his cow, he made his way over to his party members to help them dismantle the rest of the cows and see what the heck that tree that had spontaneously grown was.