Chapter 96
“In the middle of the forest” Part 3
Rita immediately took advantage and thrust her sword into the animal’s back, backing away in time to evade its claws.
Meanwhile, Kalysto launched two more arrows on the wolf’s back, intercepting its next attack, and then one more arrow in its left eye. Rita, taking advantage of the moment, slashed part of its neck, but despite her effort, the cut was not deep enough to kill it.
Although that was enough for Kalysto to stop paying attention to her and after shooting a couple more arrows with penetration stats at the pair of wolves surrounding Edward, she focused on Madha, the only one of the heroes who was far away from the others and unlike the rest only had a single wolf as an enemy.
From time to time the bolts of lightning that the big white wolf threw towards the guards, landed near Edward’s feet but did not reach where Madha was, but prevented her from joining the rest of the group, leaving her at the mercy of the other predator.
From where Kalysto stood, she could see another body lying on the ground, apart from the one of the first guard who died, and several wolves, devouring the corpses.
I hope it’s not Eric. She worried, but if her calculations were correct, two more heroes were missing.
Putting those thoughts aside, she focused on Madha.
“Eagle eyes!” She whispered, focusing her gaze on the wolf attacking the young mage. “Duplication!” Then she shot the arrow with penetrating statistics into the wolf’s side. Then she sent three more arrows, making sure not to kill it, so she could help it reach level ten and choose its element.
“I think we should take the opportunity to escape," Eric whispered behind her. Kalysto’s first instinct was to turn, drop her bow, and draw a dagger from her inventory.
Taking by surprise the unsuspecting young man who did not expect such a reaction.
“It’s...it’s me. Eric.” The blue-eyed young man muttered nervously as he felt the tip of the sharp knife on his neck.
“How did you do that?” She replied instead as she very slowly moved away from him.
“I chose shadows.” Immediately his physical form blurred, transforming into a shadow that lost all form, melting and merging with the surrounding shadows and then reappearing a couple of meters away. With his hands in the air. “I didn’t mean to scare you," Kalysto observed him silently, turned her head to one side as she examined him and then spoke again.
“Can you go to Madha and tell her to kill the wolf and choose her element?” Although she didn’t say it out loud, Kalysto was sure that Madha would also choose shadows if the system gave her the option. “If necessary tell her to run and go into the forest, I’ll watch her back," he nodded silently. “And Eric? don’t let anyone see you. “
And while he turned into shadows and disappeared, Kalysto moved a little further away from the big white wolf that would lead the attack, and concentrated on eliminating some wolves from the periphery while launching every now and then an arrow or two at the back of the wolf Madha was fighting against and kept doubling the arrows with penetration stats.
Making sure to always keep at least one inside her inventory.
[You’ve gained 500 experience points!]
[You have gained 600 experience points!]
[You have gained 400 experience points!]
Just as she just duplicated another arrow, and put it away in her inventory, she saw out of the corner of her eye Madha running into the forest, with a wounded brown wolf chasing after her, followed by another completely unharmed one that decided to join the hunt at the last minute.
Kalysto ran, cutting through the forest and the thin beams that the big brown wolf sent towards her as soon as she entered the meadow. However, he was too busy with Koden, the twins, Sandra, the other four guards and two more heroes whose names Kalysto couldn’t remember, to go after her.
“Ice arrows!” She whispered, aiming for the head of the last wolf as soon as she had it in her sights. Then she launched two more arrows with penetration stats. “Ice blades! Water blades!” She added, trying to follow the zigzagging movements of the elusive wolf, and missing her last attack, so she drew her bow again, but before she could shoot another arrow at him, the wolf turned around and pounced on her.
“Kalysto, watch out!” Eric shouted, causing Madha to turn back, full of worry, and the first wolf eventually caught up with her.
Kalysto hit the second wolf with the bow the elves had given her, deflecting his attack. And to her surprise, the wood not only withstood the blow, but remained intact.
Still, she put it away in her inventory.
“Ice daggers! Ice manipulation!” And she launched herself against the ferocious animal that, despite its wounds, did not hesitate to attack her.
And while Kalysto fought the wolf, Eric and Madha did their best to keep the other at bay.
Kalysto jumped to the right evading the wolf’s strong bite and burying one of her long daggers in the side of her enemy, and with the other, she made a cut in one of his back paws, immediately pulled out a sword from her inventory, to replace the one she had lost. And walked away from the wounded wolf.
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But he was unwilling to give ground and allow her to walk away. And as she evaded each of the swipes, he sent and tried to find a better angle to attack, the cooldown time of her abilities reached zero.
And she threw the sword in his face, forcing him to keep some distance.
“Water blades, ice blades, ice arrows!” She summoned, launching all her attacks right between the eyes.
The wolf’s heavy body finally fell to the ground and two notifications appeared to her left.
[You’ve gained 500 experience points!]
How high is the resistance of these things? What the hell is their fur made of? Kalysto whispered in annoyance. Immediately she ran towards the other wolf, which although it had wounded the other two heroes, it had not been able to defeat them, since every time it was about to reach them Eric transformed into shadows and changed places, or mobilized Madha with him.
Kalysto ran towards them, cutting the wolf’s back paws with a single slash. Making him fall to the ground.
“I suggest cutting its throat, as soon as possible. We must not waste any more time” and as they did so, Kalysto drew a map on the ground.
Suddenly, a pair of windows appeared to her left, indicating that the boys had finished their work. But Madha stood staring at the air in front of her with her face full of excitement. It was after a while that Kalysto saw her turn into shadows, and then both young men returned to form in front of her.
[You’ve gained 100 experience points!]
“What is that?” -asked Madha, full of curiosity.
“This," she said, pointing to the small elongated figure she had drawn, “is Balsac, the kingdom we are in, and this is Bhallys. For now, it is much safer to head there as their military power is much better than Balsac’s” then she took out twenty copper coins from her inventory and five silver ones.
“What are these? How did you get them?” asked the young woman.
“If you want answers, you will have to sign a binding magical contract with me that assures me that you will keep all my secrets,” said Kalysto half jokingly as she finished drawing a very basic map, but both young fellows looked at each other and nodded their heads.
“We agree with that," answered Eric. And Kalysto looked at them with surprise. “As long as you do not betray us, nor lie to us, we agree to swear the same and keep your secrets.”
To the surprise of both young fellows, Kalysto took the offer literally, and a window appeared in front of them.
[Does the user wish to enter into a soul binding contract with Kalysto Luna?]
[YES/NO]
Both of them selected yes, and to Kalysto’s surprise, two new dark gray dots appeared on her map. Indicating the location of the three of them.
This will definitely make things easier. She thought.
“Those are the currencies used in this world, though I’m not sure if all the kingdoms use the same currency. If they don’t, they must have exchange houses in some cities where travelers can exchange them. And I got them because I stole them from someone," she explained, “The silver ones keep them inside your boots and don’t let anyone see them. According to what I have heard from the talks of the guards, there are two prophecies given by the previous priestess. I have no idea what the first one says, but I know that the second one indicates that a huge tower full of monsters will rise in the west. And they fear that the darkness will devour them if the tower is not destroyed.”
“I’ve heard it too,” said Eric, gaining the attention of the other two women. “What, you thought you were the only one with access to classified information?” He said to Kalysto with a half-flirtatious smile plastered on his face. “The tower will come out in the Duchy of Brincy. There are those who claim that the maid who tried to kill the queen inside her chambers a few weeks ago was one of the king’s spies and mistresses. So he is now seeking to gain the favor of the duke, sending the heroes there to protect his duchy and eliminate the doubts that fall on him since there are those who believe that it was the king himself who planned the death of the queen, who is the daughter of the Duke of Brincy.”
“How do you know all this?” Kalysto questioned, full of curiosity.
“Before the king sent the court magicians on some missions, one of them sent me to spy on the king.”
“if the court magicians work for the king, how did they send you to spy on him?" Eric shrugged.
“How should I know?”
“Well, that doesn’t matter," added Kalysto. “Now, if after the ball in which the heroes of the kingdom of Bhallys will join us, more than two weeks pass and I have not communicated with you, get out of there and travel to the kingdom of Thaluz” she added, knowing that it was the closest human kingdom to the fairy kingdom, Bahram. “And stay near the adventurer’s guild there. Try to level up as much as you can and get information on how to create a portal.” She said, making sure to look them in the eye. “Don’t travel through any nearby cities or towns to the south. The demon king’s lands are to the south, as are the monsters that have been destroying several cities. Stay safe.“
Both young people looked at each other, fear reflected in their eyes.
“You’re not coming with us, are you?” Madha questioned nervously.
“No. I still need to know whether or not Alice came with the summoned heroes of Bhallys. As soon as I can confirm it at the ball, we’ll look for a way to escape. Koden and Rita want to leave as soon as possible. So as soon as they send us to a dungeon, or training like today, we’ll take the opportunity to do so,” they both nodded. And Kalysto handed Madha one of the bows she had taken from the goblins, along with the quiver she stole from the elf that was among the sea of corpses she came across the first day she arrived in this world. And to Eric, the dagger with which she almost cut his throat when he surprised her in the forest. “Arrows will appear in it if you imbue it with mana” Madha nodded her head and began to do so at that very moment. “And another thing, don’t say you’re a mage. Not everyone in this world has a system, and you don’t need one to be an adventurer. For the time being, travel as a rogue and an archer. Practice as much as you can. I will contact you as soon as I can.”
“And how are you going to find us? “
“The contracts we just made, it shows me your locations on my system map," Eric laughed as soon as he heard her say that. “What’s going on?” she asked him with a frown.
“The old wizard was right, then," Kalysto frowned even more, not understanding. “Be careful with him. He’s been watching you. And the other day, I heard him say that he was sure you could access your system, but that you just didn’t want others to see it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the warning," she said. “Now you’d better leave before someone else comes along and discovers us," she added. Pointing them in the direction of the path she had found earlier that morning.
Six and a half hours later, the small group of survivors returned to the castle on foot, their clothes torn, full of dirt and dried blood. Some of them could barely walk on their own, while the rest looked like they had survived a living hell.
“What the hell happened? Where are the other heroes?” The Duke of Brincy, near the entrance of the palace, growled as he saw them returning in such a bad state while holding a group of papers in his hands for an important meeting he had just finished.
“It’s... they’re dead... they’re all dead," murmured Sandra with a pale face, trembling hands and eyes full of tears.