Chapter 101
“Unexpected Re-encounters” Part 2.
The problem with living in a world that seemed to still be stuck in the Middle Ages was not only the lack of the internet to find information, but she found absolutely no books about psychology in the huge royal library.
Although she did find a couple about mental magic in the restricted section.
Among them, the most useful was the oldest of them all. She had even duplicated it several times from the original, fearing that it would be damaged by turning the old pages of what she assumed was a strange and very distorted version of parchment paper. On it was a quote describing a much faster way to learn the complex art of mind magic.
‘Mental magic is an old art that very few today are likely to learn. Yet there is great value in it, for it not only helps the magician to know his own mind and that of his enemies, but also to defend against both external and internal enemy mental attacks, protects the magician from the dark magics of the night elves, from demonic possession (and if one is strong enough, one can even block that of the mysterious and elusive outer gods), as well as to distinguish illusions (even those of the fairies). It also helps to know one’s own mana flow perfectly. I always thought the latter was a result of constant and disciplined study of the mind. But over time, and through one of my students, my own firstborn, I have discovered a much faster path to what used to take decades to learn... If the disciple who is entering the arts of the mind, first educates himself in knowing his own mana flow and in creating his first magic circle, it will be much faster for him to progress in the mental arts. And if he then learns to raise his defenses, learning the art of telepathy will make it much safer for him to enter other minds, and investigate even into his own memories without running any risk...’
And it was the latter that drove her to concentrate on that book. Not only could she find a way to safely defend herself from Persephone, but she could also finally recover the memories of those lost years of her childhood that, until now, had been a mystery to her.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard she searched, she could not find any more books written by Donndubháin D.
So she had decided to focus on the books Caranthir had given her to study everything she needed to know about creating mana circles. But as soon as Kalysto saw the orc that had nearly killed her a couple of days ago standing as if nothing at the top of the steep street, something in her was awakened. And in a way that was unusual for her, seeing him alive bothered her to the point where she felt her blood boil and she completely forgot about her other problems.
Kalysto growled.
Everything in her was focused on the pressing need to kill him. And taking advantage of the fact that the rest of the heroes’ attention was on the horde of monsters descending from several blocks above, the former language student quickly pulled out three of the four skill crystals Caranthir had given her as an apology, and stowed the book she had been reading in the inventory.
[Does the user wish to absorb these three skill crystals?]
[YES/NO]
Yes! she thought and three violet windows opened to her left.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Perfect Shot. Level 1!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Multiple Targets. Level 1!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Telekinesis. Level 1!]
A slight dizziness seized her, and she took out a small vial of holy water, drank it, and put it away again, then pushed the others away from the carriage door, kicked the door at the same time she took out the bow from her inventory and stood under the frame.
Hawkeye! Perfect shot! She thought as she felt the sting of holy water on her chest, but mostly in her head.
“Ice arrows!” She shouted, focusing on the orc’s chest, but even though she hit the target, her arrows didn’t penetrate. Instead, they bounced off his heavy armor.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Koden questioned her, almost shouting in her ear, as he tried to stop her.
That’s what I’m asking myself... Kalysto turned to look at him with a blank stare. Why the hell did I do that?... And since when do I shoot my first arrow at the chest and not at the eyes or the neck, which are easier?.... That startled her, and she blinked a couple of times, trying to compose herself.
“Strange, I could have sworn your eyes were lighter," Koden muttered with a frown. “Are you okay?” He asked with confusion, while Kalysto’s face lost all color as she realized the implication of what he was saying and a shiver ran through her blood.
Come on Kalysto, focus! This is no moment to be wasting time! She scolded herself, glancing sideways at the guards who were fighting, some still mounted on their sleek horses, against the monsters that had just come upon them.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
[The passive skill 'Mental Defense' has been activated.]
And as soon as the usual coldness and emotional numbness she always felt when the skill was activated, helping her to think more clearly, immediately, the fervent anger that had seized her at the sight of the orc dissipated.
“He’s here!” She clarified, still surprised at how impulsive she had been, and this time instead of attacking a distant target, she began to shoot at the necks of the monsters that were beginning to break through the protection that the knights of the king and the temple were giving them, as she finished exiting the carriage.
[You’ve gained 10 experience points!]
[You have gained 5 experience points!]
[You’ve gained 7 experience points!]
“Who?” Koden asked, pulling out the sword and the large mithril shield he had been given for this mission.
“The orc that almost killed us in the forest is here!” Kalysto growled as she pierced the necks of two blue goblins with the same arrow. Edward’s face and Koden’s face paled at his words and immediately they both raised their gazes to where Kalysto had pointed an arrow at them, looking fearfully at the huge and intimidating orc.
“Shit!” Koden complained.
“How did he find us?” Edward asked in a trembling voice as he struggled to draw his sword from its sheath.
“I don’t think he’s been looking for us!” Kalysto replied, this time firing at a two-headed blue panther.
[You’ve gained 15 experience points!]
“Rita, get out of the carriage at once! You’re an easy target in there! Koden, come with me! Rita, you too! Edward, you and the rest head for the saintess’s carriage. That way, if you get hurt, she or the other priests can heal you right away! The temple guards won’t hesitate to protect her, so you’ll be much safer there than here! Move!” she ordered as she watched hundreds of creatures of different colors, much larger than she was and that she had never seen before, descend the steep street. While another three hundred monsters blocked the road in front of them and Milo, along with the court mages, fought them, throwing fireballs in turns while taking mana potions to recover and passing the cooldown time of their skills. “What are you waiting for?” And after duplicating an arrow with penetration stats, she shot it to her left, piercing the neck of two monsters and the chest of another with a single shot, clearing the way to the third carriage. “Go, now!”
[You’ve gained 7 experience points!]
[You have gained 5 experience points!]
[You’ve gained 10 experience points!]
Edward obeyed immediately, followed by two other heroes and a reluctant but very scared Sandra.
“I’m staying with you!” Oscar, the hero whom Rita had flirted with a couple of times, up to the day of her father’s death and with no response from him. Oscar was a tall, dark-skinned man with beautiful green eyes of twenty-four years old, but the most eye-catching thing about him was the melodious tone of his deep voice. The rogue drew his daggers and positioned himself at Rita’s side, worried that something might happen to the extroverted young woman who had lost her spark after her unfortunate loss.
Wasting no time, Oscar slashed the throat of a blue goblin that approached the unsuspecting fire mage from behind.
“Rita, pay more attention to what’s going on around you. If necessary, use your mana sense! And get ready to throw fire like crazy as soon as I tell you to!”
“Okay!” replied the fire mage.
“Oscar, good job! What did you say you were doing while you were on Earth?” She asked with sudden curiosity when she saw how neither his hand nor his determination trembled when it came to killing a monster, nor did the expression on his face change.
“I never told you," he replied, and Kalysto smiled at the enigmatic answer.
“Ice blades!” said Kalysto, throwing them at the three eyes of a muscular, dark blue creature about three feet tall that approached them, causing one of the horses pulling the carriage in which they had been traveling to whinny and try to run away, despite the coachman’s efforts to keep the two horses under control.
[You have gained 12 experience points!]
“I want to help too!” Gabriel suddenly insisted. And his hands shook awkwardly as he tried to pull an arrow from his quiver, dropping it on the ground.
At the same instant that Kalysto turned to see him blushing with embarrassment, four monsters launched themselves at one of the three knights who had been protecting them, knocking him off his beautiful white horse and cutting his throat before his body hit the ground.
The horse, now riderless, neighed in fright at being surrounded by enemies, and as soon as it received the first wound it began kicking everyone near it, then galloped away from there, crashing into two other soldiers, knocking one of them off his horse and injuring one of the priests during its flight.
“Multiple targets! Perfect shot! Ice arrows!” Kalysto whispered, shooting three of the four blue goblins that jumped on top of the new fallen soldier.
[You have gained 9 experience points!]
[You have gained 7 experience points!]
[You’ve gained 5 experience points!]
“Rita, open fire! Now!” Said Kalysto, pointing to the space that the two soldiers, now absent, had been protecting.
“Fire creation!” Rita shouted, launching a flare of fire that burned five of the ten monsters that approached them through the new opening between the broken formation of soldiers.
Immediately Kalysto launched an arrow at the fourth goblin, but it had already stabbed the fallen knight’s side once, and launched another against his shoulder. Then the former waitress launched another five arrows at the monsters that were able to escape the fire.
[You’ve gained 4 experience points!]
[You have gained 5 experience points!] (x3)
[You have gained 10 experience points!]
[You’ve gained 7 experience points!]
And while the soldier still on his horse was fighting another monster, Kalysto noticed that behind the group of burned monsters, a batch of about twenty blue goblins was coming towards them, followed by another round of at least forty red orcs, fifteen huge dark blue panthers of five feet tall, and ten cyclopes. And there, up the street, more than forty meters away from them and where the portal was located, three gigantic two-headed cyclops emerged.
Followed by a huge dark red-skinned demon with two huge black horns decorating its forehead, and more than five meters tall.
“Shit!” Kalysto cursed.
And the demon’s mighty roar paralyzed them all.