Chapter 64
“On the brink of death”. Part 8
Everything seemed to be going well until it ceased to be.
Despite the dozens of monsters Caranthir had taken out with his fire and the multitude of spells he cast in an interspersed manner, many more continued to pour out of the portal. They almost looked like a bunch of crazy ants coming out of an anthill.
“Caranthir, don’t you have a way to shut that thing down?” Kalysto complained, pointing at the portal as she varied between throwing ice blades, arrows and purifying everything around her.
“No one can do such a thing!” he replied in alarm.
If portals are a common problem in their world, shouldn’t they have already started investigating them? She thought. But just as had happened with the black plague, people in this world seemed more inclined to solve their problems with magic than to try to make advances in science.
“Can’t you freeze it, or at least fill it with ice stakes so that everyone who passes through it will die or block their way somehow?” She shouted, as she began firing arrows left and right at any monster halfway nearby that had survived Caranthir’s continuous magical attacks. “Ice arrow!” She conjured, and a crude imitation of an arrow was created in her hand, yet she still launched it at the gaping mouth of a monster in the distance. Concentrating on trying to spread the ice across its mouth as soon as the arrow cut its throat, but it didn’t seem to work as well as she had hoped.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Caranthir asked her after teleporting to her side while drinking one of his special mana potions.
“Leveling up my ability, of course," Kalysto replied, but Caranthir looked at her as if she was crazy.
“At a time like this?”
“It’s as good a time as any," she replied with a shrug.
“At least make a decent arrow, not a crude imitation of an ice stake.”
“My mana sense is low and my ability to manipulate it is even worse so...” Caranthir suffered at the sight of the saintess’s disastrous attempts to manipulate the ice. He felt embarrassed. And after creating a couple of magic circles that threw fire at his enemies, keeping them away from where they were, he landed behind Kalysto and put his hands on her back.
“Breathe and close your eyes for a moment and feel the mana I am introducing into your body," he instructed, while checking that no one was approaching them.
“But I don’t feel .... Oh... so that’s what the mana feels like?”
“How on earth have you been able to do any magic so far without knowing the basics?”
“Well, the system gave me the names of the skills and I read them and tried to mimic what it felt like every time it was right.”
“Try not only to feel but to visualize. The key to a successful spell is part not only of the mage’s mana capacity but also his abilities to handle that element and visualize the result he wants," Caranthir scolded her. Unable to believe how far she had come with her meager knowledge.
[The skill Mana Sense has level up to level 2.]
Kalysto smiled at the notification, realizing that she could finally feel the mana flowing inside her body, surrounding her heart.
“Look and learn," Caranthir told her, positioning himself next to her and conjuring a beautiful bow made of ice that left her with her mouth open. “Ice arrows!” he conjured, and three perfect arrows appeared in the air, ready to be shot from his precious bow that looked more like a work of art than anything else.
“I hate you right now,” whispered Kalysto, envy and pure longing mingled in her greedy gaze.
Caranthir smiled, full of arrogance.
“And that, my dear pupil, is a true arrow of ice. I hope the demonstration did you some good.”
“And I hope teaching me how to do that is part of our deal. I want to learn how to make a bow like that," she exclaimed.
If I can also learn to add penetration stats to it, it’ll be the perfect bow! She began to plan. I really need to start working on raising my professions.
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“Give me three liters of holy water and I’ll teach you," Caranthir tried to bargain. He wasn’t so sure that would work with her, though.
“We have a deal," Kalysto replied with excitement. “Now get me as much of some flammable liquid as you can and take me to the back of that portal. I have an idea.”
Caranthir took her first to the top of the hill, then approached one of his mages and ordered him to take anyone who was injured or who had been contaminated with the plague to the saintess wing.
The young mage obeyed his orders and began carrying more and more of the sick to the saintess and then back to the battlefield.
After several minutes of healing the soldiers, two violet-colored notifications appeared to her left.
[Jhil Ezhil skill has leveled up to level 8!]
[The skill Ezhil Purification has leveled up to level 9!]
I wish I could raise my magic skills that fast. Kalysto wished and took the opportunity to bless all those elves who were ready to leave, asking again to one of them if they could conjure arrows for her while she healed them.
[The Blessing skill has leveled up to level 3!]
At last! thought Kalysto.
By the time Caranthir returned, he found fifteen of his men being healed at the same time he saw them stacking arrows on a pyre.
“What is the meaning of this?” He asked her.
“What? It’s a fair deal! They give me arrows and I give them a blessing. Or did you think they were free?” Caranthir wanted to object, but seeing how well his warriors, especially his fire mages, were performing on the battlefield after receiving her blessing, he preferred to keep silent.
Kalysto noticed this.
“Did you get what I asked for?” She asked him as she finished blessing the last of the elves and prepared to put away her new collection of five hundred arrows.
“Don’t you think that’s too many?” He asked, looking at the arrows.
“One can never have too many.”
And I need more items to enchant. She thought.
Caranthir frowned before speaking again.
“I’ll give you ten thousand arrows if you bless my entire army.”
“As long as they’re willing, we have a deal," she replied with a smile. “What are you waiting for? Bring them here!”
And for the next twenty minutes Caranthir did just that, along with the other fire mage who could also teleport, but only for short distances.
Kalysto noticed during that time how the Elven army finally began to significantly diminish the invading horde, while Caranthir destroyed them from the rear. Thanks to her blessing, the attack power of all the fire mages multiplied, which led to the morale that had fallen hours before, to rise again.
[The skill Blessing has leveled up to level 4!]
[The Blessing skill has leveled up to level 5!]
When she finally finished with the batch of blessings, she took a break to drink some holy water as soon as she was left alone. And she let out a long sigh as soon as her headache began to subside.
“Now I understand why people don’t usually hurry up a skill quickly,” she said quietly, but there was no one around to hear her. She ate a thel, blessed herself and, using her eagle vision skill, began to shoot purified arrows at all the dark creatures she observed on the battlefield.
[You have gained 2000 experience points.]
[You have gained 2000 experience points.]
[You have gained 3000 experience points.]
[You have gained 2000 experience points.]
[The user has leveled up to level 16!]
[You have gained 1500 experience points.]
[You have gained 2000 experience points.]
[You have gained 1500 experience points.]
[You have gained 2000 experience points.]
And despite all the chaos in that valley, Kalysto smiled.
The boss was right, it was definitely convenient for me to come here. She thought.
A few minutes later, Caranthir teleported to her side.
“Can you bless me again?" he asked.
“Where are my ten thousand arrows?”
“Are you really asking me for them now?”
“I’ve already kept my part of the deal and I haven’t seen you keep your part.”
“Do they fit into your inventory?” Kalysto shrugged her shoulders.
“That would be my problem, not yours.”
And after letting out a long sigh full of exasperation, Caranthir teleported and then appeared a few seconds later and threw her a small leather bag tied tightly.
“What is this?”
“My part of the deal. You can open it here and start counting them if you want.”
“I’ll count them later, but if they’re not complete, I’ll start deducting gallons of holy water from our deal.”
“That won’t be necessary. Now, can you bless me?”
“Yes, but I want you to take me to the back of the portal.”
“Okay," he said, and she approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder before casting a blessing.
[The Blessing skill has leveled up to level 6!]
Immediately, Caranthir teleported them.
“What shall we do now?” he asked curiously.
“Now, I want you to throw the flammable liquid I asked for on the other side of the entrance and set them on fire.”
“Are you out of your mind? That will cause a fire in the forest.”
“Then we’ll worry about the forest. If those monsters come to your city, what do you think they will do to your people? Sing love songs to them?”
Caranthir frowned before doing as she asked.
And as the temperature began to rise and Kalysto heard the scream of the monsters being devoured by fire as soon as they stepped through the portal, a half-smile came across her face.
“All right, it’s time to test my theory.”
And as if it were glass, great lines began to form inside the portal.