Chapter 148 A Duel.
When having the upper hand in a battle,
there’s no need to take unnecessary risks.
Just grind your enemy down,
until they’re tired, and helpless.
Then crush them.
Nuriss, the Maiden of War.
{28} Kilako (October) the 20th
It’s been a long march. While we did hunt for magical beasts on the road, without the orcs' sense of direction in the forest and our limited time, none of these small creatures provided me with a lot of ectoplasm to drain. Berthold often asked for us to camp for a day or two so he can scout deeper into the forest and track a larger prey, but I decided to refuse his suggestion. We've wasted enough time approaching Pear City as it is.
During the evenings I alternated my time between teaching Ovin and Zoe useful cantrips. Some physical training with Salik. Starting a few lessons in the language of Nim
Finally, after nearly three weeks march we’re nearing Green Pear City. Not that I feel much of the tiresome travel while riding on Loyal’s back. Unlike normal horses, my hips do not get sore from riding on him despite not using a saddle. Something about the adhesive effect of his skin shifts enough to prevent friction as well as adjust itself perfectly for me like a padded seat.
Berthold goes ahead to scout the night before our arrival. He comes back and reports that the city is still controlled by the orcs, and that they have a lot of human slaves in there. He also reports that the orcs have noticed our approach and are preparing the city walls for a prolonged siege.
I give the order to halt when Salik notifies me that we're nearing an arrow range from the city walls. The forest around the city have been cut down so we cannot hide an army of such magnitude, but we did not come here to hide. The tall wooden walls surrounding the city are quire similar to Red Cedar's walls. The only difference is the crowd of dark skinned orcs glaring at my army with clear battle lust in their brown and golden eyes. One of them draws a bow. He aims high and loosens an arrow. The lone projectile trails in the open sky and lands just shy of fifty meters ahead.
“Salik, wear the necklace. I’ll need you to command the army.” I hand him the piece of oversized jewelry.
He nods and puts it on. The soldiers all shift their heads to him with an eerie sense. I wonder what kind of magic that necklace has… I wish I could ask the hag…
“Inara, they’re sending a group out,” Berthold says from atop his shaggy mare.
I note the small group of orcs that leaves the city gates.
“We’ll go meet them. Kolag, Zoe, Ovin. With me. Salik. Keep the army ready for a charge. Berthold, set up. I want you to find whoever seem to be their leader, chief, shaman, anyone of import. If their army moves or if I give you the sign, shoot them.”
“What’s the sign?”
“I’ll scratch my head.”
He nods. “I don’t mind killing the savage if you think it’ll save the people in the city… With the Maiden's blessing I can even make this shot from this far.”
“Good. Thank you. Let’s go Loyal.” I command Loyal forward with my knees, and we ride forward to meet with the delegation of orcs.
As we draw near, I notice a familiar orc amongst their small delegation. Elder Gorlor. The orcish elder of Balgrum's tribe, the tribe Kolag and I massacred. I'm surprised he survived. This is going to be annoying…
The gigantic orc at the lead is nearly three meters tall, and his sculpted muscles match his size. He wears a long headdress made of series of chained bones that reach his waist, and a fur skirt that turn into trousers below his thighs. His dark skinned chest and arms exposed, reflecting a shimmer of sunlight, while his golden wolf-like eyes give out a faint glow.
“I am Ga’aresh,” he declares. He's a little taller than I am even while sitting on Loyal's back. “We hafe been expecting you, Queen Inara.”
“Oh, you have? If you have this wolf among you,” I gesture at Gorlor with my chin, “I’m surprise you haven’t been marching on my lands.”
“We are on your lands, are we not?” The large orc says with a provoking smile.
I guess Gorlor is aware of my agreement with Tiara… I shouldn’t underestimate him…
I cross my hands on my chest. “You are. If you know that, and still came out here to talk, you must want something. Go on then. Let's hear it”
Gorlor steps forward. “Twisted Shaman of Old, Cursed Rhino. Why hafe you murdered my entire pack? Justify your actions.” His voice is a mixture of a snarling demand and a whining pain.
Kolag explodes. “You enslaved a whole city of innocents! And you’re doing this again! Do you really have to ask?!”
Gorlor nods like that's exactly the answer he expected to hear. “Your answer is your human honor, Cursed Rhino. We wolfs don’t respect such honor. Twisted Shaman, I hafe yet to hear your answer.”
I repeat the Orcish sentence a few times in my head before speaking. “Al gah’ yompotasi, al gah’ kra’a no yoma’ari,"
“Ha!” The gigantic orc barks a laugh, “Kolpotasi. Gorlor, ik ria’arikal?”
“Kra’alusa potasi, ik gah’ sa’artapi,” <____ shaman, you did not answer,> Gorlor insists.
I sigh and speak the throaty words as slowly as I can, doing my best to pronounce them correctly. I know my impression over the buff orc matters if I want a chance to resolve it peacefully and possibly maintain my troops and save some people's lives. “Ik no Agilla yomh’ak Balgrum no kra’a o, al kolgaf o kola’a.”
The elderly orc breaks his calm facade and yells at me angrily. "Al gah’ krekolak o!"
I shake my head with a sneer. "Ik no nh’i kreoak. Ik krekolak o no nh’i ria’arikal a’arila."
"Ha!" Ga'aresh loud laugh cuts Gorlor's response. "Al kolgaf shee la’ark!" He exclaims, thumping his thigh with his large palm.
"A'aoko..."
Ga'aresh silences him with a sharp gesture. "You, red maned bitch. Speak your language, your wolf-tongue is bad. This Agilla bitch killed the male you lofed? (loved?)"
How did he reach that conclusion? Ugh... I guess my orcish isn't as good as I thought. Regardless it impressed him enough and I can use this misunderstanding. "Not only did Agilla kill him, she didn’t honor his word to me. If she had honored his word, I might’ve forgiven his death.”
“Was she aware of his word?” Gorlor tries again.
I sneer at him. “You were there. She used his word to me to make him look weak to the rest of your tribe right after I healed him from a curse. She challenged him to a duel when he was at his weakest, recovering from a curse. That is…”
“That is not story you’fe told us, Gorlor.” Ga’aresh cuts me off.
“She was chosen by bone chieftess!” Gorlor protests. “She won her battle to death and…”
Ga’aresh punches the elderly orc and knocks him back on his ass. “Al sa’ar jash a’ari riarikal luska. Kash o!”
A female orc in the delegation who looks like someone used her face as an anvil grabs the unconscious elder and hurls him over her shoulder.
“Did you truly murder his entire tribe?” Ga’aresh asks me while his golden eyes glide up and down on my body.
His eyes make me want to wash myself. “I did,” I reply curtly.
“By yourself?”
“Kolag did most of the job.” I gesture at Kolag by my side.
“I want a duel. Battle to death. Me and this Kolag. Cursed Rhino is it?" Gaa'resh eyes turn to Kolag, looking up and down on his armor and the weapons he carry. "Paladin to Noxi, are you?"
"Not anymore," Kolag replies with an echo.
"Grah, doesn't matter. I want a duel! If I win, I get to eat him, then I duel you, red maned bitch. If I lose to either of you, on my word and honor, my tribe will leafe without our sheep. And you can eat me.”
“I’ll be happy to accept!” Kolag says, dismounting his horse.
Not charging ahead again! You stupid snaking moron! Don't just accept on my behalf! “Oh no. That’s not going to happen. Who’s to say the next chief will honor your word?”
Ga’aresh grins at me, golden eyes gleaming in their ebony sockets. “She will. Won’t you Barol?” The tall female orc at his side nods solemnly with Gorlor on her shoulder. “I hafe already appointed my second. She is second stronger wolf in tribe.”
Kolag hesitates. He looks at me, then toward the city walls. "Marisha, I do want to do this, and I believe I'll most likely win. If you think there's a better way..."
Ok... At least he's learning... What better way do I have? I can have Berthold snipe this giant, and then the orcs will attack, but they'll leave this wall of theirs in order to do so and Salik's army is more than prepared for such a charge.
The back of my head itches for a scratch.
Zoe who's been quiet thus far, speaks up. "I agree with Kolag, Master. A duel can save a lot of innocent lives."
I turn to her, trying my best not to tuck some annoying hair behind my hair, just so Berthold won't mistake it for a sign. "Zoe. He heard all about Kolag's demon, and he still want a duel. Don't you think he's prepared for it?"
The orc growls. "I've killed many orcs at once. Nothing can challenge me no more. I wish to test myself against such strong opponent to appease the Bone Chieftess."
Right... "Ovin? Your thoughts?"
"Yo'll askin' me?" The bald man raises his eyebrows in a way that twists his scar like a fat red warm.
"Yes. I want your opinion."
He scratches the back of his bald head casually "I say we kill 'em all here and now. Nothing stopping us."
The orc growls at the thuggish man. "If you do that, my wolfs will round up your people and impale them on the walls. You are not dishonorable, are you, Red Mane?"
So that's not really an option... I won't hear the end of it if I let so many people die... Playing my opponent's game, I'm not sure it's the wisest of moves...
“What’s wise then?" Kolag asks, making me realize I finished my thoughts aloud. "Fight a battle with these orcs over the walls? Risk the lives of thousands of innocents? Or have a simple duel, here and now. Do you really think he can beat me? Demon and all?”
“I’m just worried…”
“And I’m flattered that you care about me so much, but you have to let me take a few small risks when it's useful to do so, and this is the best option we've got. ”
“I guess you're right. Do go on…” I agree helplessly. “And be careful.”
*
A few minutes later we stand afar in a large space near the wooden city walls. Ga’aresh insisted on fifty meter between him and Kolag, as well as 200 meters between them and anyone else who might get hurt by the duel or attempt to disrupt it.
His stubbornness on the distance means he’s prepared for the demon … And he still wants a duel?! Something is off…
“So. I don’t have to shoot him?” Berthold ask me.
“Oh no. Stay ready. Something feels wrong about this…”
*THUMP!*
An orc strikes a large drum on the wall and the battle commence.
Kolag charges forward, holding his claymore with both hand.
Ga’aresh uses magic and floats a large boulder from the ground magic and hurls it toward Kolag as if he’s an orc catapult. Oh snakes! He’s a mage! How is that possible?! The orcs said that a chief can't be shaman!
Kolag keeps running, he swings his claymore and splits the boulder in half. A pair of boulders appear from thin air above the orc’s hand and fly toward Kolag who dodges the first, right into the second boulder’s flying path. No!
The second boulder turns to dust right before it’s supposed to hit Kolag. Oh that's right! Kolag is holding a piece of the assassin’s glass, or whatever that colorful object was. It nullifies magic. It didn't negate the first boulder, because the orc lifted it off the ground and threw it, but it does negate other forms of magic that he evokes out of nothing…
Even from afar I see the orc's confused expression, he then smirks with another chant and craters form in the ground right in front of Kolag.
Kolag easily avoid the holes in the ground, side stepping them and continue on with his charge. His claymore raised high.
The orc chants, taking out a wand from his belt and waving it toward Kolag.
*CRACK!*
A blinding flash of white light. I catch a glimpse of a forked lightning bolt within the dazzling light, striking toward Kolag.
The lightning is gone before it reaches Kolag. Absorbed into nothingness.
I smile uncontrollably. He’s wasting mana. Now even if he does somehow win against Kolag, I'll have much better chances. I wonder about that wand. I want it! And he'll have a spellbook somewhere too...
The orc raises a large stone wall from the ground. The wall is raised slowly, allowing Kolag to close the distance. By the time Kolag is nearing the wall, the wall is about seven meters tall and two meters thick.
Kolag turns to circle it, and the wall collapses on top of him, burying him under the mass of rocks. Kolag!!! Oh no… the demon will come out now…
The orc walks back calmly, taking his distance from the rubble and waiting for Kolag or Kolag's demon to emerge from under the pile. He raises more rocks and boulders from the ground, readying himself for a strike, but Kolag doesn’t surface. Come on! Come on! He won’t be able to win against a demon!
A minute pass, then two. But nothing shows up from the pile.
“Gra’a! I’ll dig and eat him later. Now we duel, Shaman Inara!” Gra’ash declares loudly enough to be heard at the distance.
Really? You sign up for this duel then lose your conscious and now I have to deal with the fallout?! Ugh!
I did agree to it... At least he didn't act on his own this time... And it did seem like the best solution at the time...
I go to the starting position for the duel. My dark robes fluttering in the wind, hiding my scaled leather armor underneath.
We’re fifty meters from one another. I warily eye the rubble. I have to stay away from that pile of rocks, if the demon emerges from it mid battle it can be... Disastrous...
*THUMP!*
The orc a top the wall strikes the drum and the battle begins.
“Myrsha, nia tsaf lah, lah shitol ni latsa lah, fel ka’am J’an nia kent”
I cast my flying spell. By the time the first flying boulder reaches me, I dodge upward.
I soar fast, reaching the altitude of at least fifty meters high. From above I can see the city, their preparation for the siege and barricades inside, and the city square where they herded the humans.
I don’t have to worry about holes in the ground or… The orc aims the wand and a lightning bolt in my direction.
I laugh in delight. After being electrocuted I learned enough magical theory to know how to avoid it. The Lightning sub-element is one of the fastest and deadliest magic. Yet it’s very limited in range with a defining weakness. The range shortens itself by half if you aim it upward, and doubles if you aim it downward.
In short, a Lightning bolt wasn’t made to be thrown at a flying target, unless the target is below the caster.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
And indeed the flashing bolt doesn’t even reach me, it arcs back toward the ground with a blinding flash of light, much to the orc’s confusion.
My turn!
“Kushgari yefa”
The orc raises a thinner wall to block my projectiles, then send the wall flying my way, but it’s easy to dodge, not to mention the heavy object slows down its momentum the higher it goes.
“Nimwual!”
I fly above the orc and lower my altitude. Being above him means it’ll be easier for me to channel electricity with double the range. Due to my pattern limit I cannot swift cast, but I don’t have to do so when I'm out of his reach of interruption.
The moment he lowers his pyramid of earth, I take out lavender and cast.
“Reviss! Rit atrevika kas tak! Kas koarr oarofisia!”
As I cast, another boulder fly up my way, I dodge and channel my flashing electricity downward.
The ‘Electric Channel’ leaves my fingertip, flashing a blinding light of blue and white. The orc is caught in the electricity currents. He shakes and spasms in place. He clenches his fists, his muscles bulging. The flashing currents travels through his body to the ground flashing again and again throughout his burly figure. I grin. Now this is how you use electricity!
I get a headache from my overuse of light magic, but I keep channeling regardless.
“Kushgash!” I hear him shout, and a hole in the ground opens right below him. He fall into the hole and my electricity spreads around the edges of it, some of it still going for the orc but most of it absorbed to the ground around him.
I cancel my ‘Electric Channel’ and scream: “Kusharissa!”
And indeed the ground covers his head, but not before he’s hit by a sizzling stream of my acid. I fly up, looking for a spot he’d surface. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and tuck my hair behind my sharp tipped ear.
There’s silence for nearly a minute, then a pyramid of stone shapes up below me at the exact same spot he disappeared. I draw mana from my necklace. “Kushjak”
A sharp pain goes through the back of my head when something heavy hits me, stopped by my armor and the metallic grimoire on my back. It sends me flying forward through the air. “Ritsa!” I cast a repulse at the large object at my back. It doesn’t push it, but it slows down and falls.
I spin in time to see a large boulder falling down. Just to fly into the scatter shot of tiny rocks that the boulder turns into. Warm blood trickles down the left side of my face and neck, but the rest of my body is safe due to my repulsive armor. I should really wear a helmet... I fly upward, avoiding the orc's range.
The orc summoned a pyramid as a distraction and surfaced somewhere else. I underestimated him… He should be out of mana, and he can’t reach me this high… What if he has an item similar to my necklace? And he can just use gems…
I drink a healing potion and feel the wound in my bleeding ear heal up. I spot the tall orc on the other side of the field, around my original starting position.
“Let’s agree to a draw,” The orc shouts.
If we have a draw he can eat Kolag, I can’t let that happen! He’s bluffing. “You’re out of mana. Of course you’d want a draw. I can keep going, can you?”
He takes out a small magical gem from the pouch in his hand. “Of course.”
He’s really out of mana then! Let’s try something… I still have nearly half of my gravity mana, almost all of my water mana and other elements I didn’t use much yet… Not to mention the necklace is nearly topped and I have gems to draw on… “Myrsha, nia tsaf lah! Lu myrsha ni kull lah! Nia wuan nalahi myrsha!”
And lastly… “Revatol revisoroar, revatol revisarisoroar, sorev revisoroshak takoar tokari atrevi! Saja atakesh to Revisorserini!”
My head pounds in protest to the light magic, and blood trickles down my nose.
I drift sideways and circle the orc, weightless and invisible.
The wind picks up and carry me off course, but I do not drop either spell. If he had the mana to spare he’d go below ground by now… The fact he doesn't proves I'm right! I watch the orc, he’s shifting around, looking at all directions with his hands raised at the ready. His right hand glide over the beard of the axe at his hip. He crouches and touches the ground, murmurs something, then stands up and looks wildly around him.
I keep floating in silence, counting the seconds my spell will last. Once it's about to run out, instead of extending pattern, I cancel the weightless spell and cast silent ‘Light Weight’ and ‘Minor Telekinesis’, floating myself toward the orc despite the mana inefficiency. I have plenty of mana to spare after all.
Floating, I pass right above the orc like a weightless leaf, soundless and invisible. My head thumps like a mad hammer and the edges of my vision darkens, this is my limit with light spell. I cancel all spells, land behind him when my weight returns to normal, and place my hand on the small of his massive back.
He turns sharply drawing his axe, but it’s too late for him. I already cast an amplified ‘Kinetic Burst’. “Myrsha ritsa!”
The orc explodes in a hail of gore. Most of his upper body is still intact, but the lower half is meshed into a gory unrecognizable meat paste. A pair of detached feet stay amidst the bloodied pool.
His unattached torso falls down to the ground with a sickening splatter. He crawls on the ground and turns to face me. I move my hand to his head.
“You win… Gra’ah…” He coughs blood, struggling to sit, but it’s impossible for him to sit when everything below his ribs is simply gone.
*THUMP! THUMP! THUMB!*
The drums hit above the walls in the distant. “How… How did you redirect my lightning?” the orc asks at my feet.
Yes you little dog! Kiss my boots! How dare you hurt my puppy?! Giving into the ectsacy I place my foot on his head, forcing his face down into the bloodied ground. “I didn’t," I say smugly. "Lightning, like water and earth likes going downward. Air, fire and wood likes going upward. Lightning will go down on its own, I was simply out of range.”
Enough! I remove my leg and jump backward. He could've touched my leg and kill me! This is dumb and dangerous! Snakes! I can't let these stupid Fae urges take over me! Not now of all times!
The orc doesn't attempt to hold my leg or hurt me. He shifts his face away from his own muddy blood pool and leans up on his hands to look up at me. “I… See… What I learned at blue tower wasn’t enough. I did not think… How long were you behind me? I could no longer summon lightnings, my wand... *cough cough* You can eat me, my tribe will leafe.”
So he’s from the Sapphire Tower… That makes much more sense. A wand? Magical items? He did cast these lightning bolts rather fast! “I’d rather heal you and have your tribe serving under me. I’ll have to take your wand though…” I take out a potion. It won’t heal this… I’ll have to learn how to heal missing limbs and organs… But I can practice on him at least… And if I save his life and have him serve me… As my loyal dog!
He coughs and vomits a volume of blood and gore. “Ha… Efen if you heal me, they won’t follow a weak shaman like me… I took position of chief by force and now *cough* they all saw me losing. No. Wolfs respect strength, they won't follow me no more.”
“Then come work under me, become my apprentice. You’re skilled, I can use the assistance. Or you truly just wish to die out here?”
“Yes. Death by battle… to… a… superior… foe…” The light leaves his yellow eyes and his body goes limp. Eat him? I promised myself I'll eat the next time I defeat a mage who attacked me, but it's just so wrong...
No! the fact I insisted not to eat Luard is what caused the mess I'm in right now to begin with! Let's get on with it. I take out my soul bottle and attach it to his mouth. I fill up two bottles before I run out. Before I can regret the choice, I chug down the ectoplasm, trying my best not to wretch or listen to my guilty conscious. Oh great... I didn't even cook his flesh... yuck...
I pluck out the golden eyes and swallow them as fast as I can, trying not to focus on the bulging feeling in my throat. Let's hope this will be enough... Eyes tend to be strong enough for it to work, I remember the hag suggested that I'll just eat eyes in the past... Yes. If it's a Sapient creature I'll just eat the eyes... If it works and he does not possess me that is...
I take the pouch of gems he held, and sift through the gore, looking for the wand. I find it in a hidden pocket of the bloody furs, a long slightly bent copper wand embedded with five colorful bluish gems, all dark.
*THUMP! THUMP! THUMB! DUM DUM DUM DUM*
*THUMP! THUMP! THUMB! DUM DUM DUM DUM*
*THUMP! THUMP! THUMB! DUM DUM DUM DUM*
I raise my head when the drum beats grow louder and louder. The orcs charge from their fort toward my army, shouting ‘Ti-a’ark’ from the top of their lungs.
*~*~*
Interlude 148.1
Dana
Dana is now on a ship to Sajarev. They didn’t give her any choice about it. No. No choice. The terrifying Shaf of Tiyadi was quite clear. Help us, or die horribly.
Dana still can’t understand why in the name of all the venoms a Shaf of Tiyadi would aim to eliminate an assassin guild. But if she understood all the snows who hear the maddening whispers of the Silver Lord, she’d be one of them herself…
This man is cold. Colder than any other cleric of death she have met… Nothing moves him. She tried everything, from a subtle seduction to direct spite, it’s like talking to a statue.
The other two are quite typical for men. She knows Rukhan is a bastard, and she's quite used to how he eyes every woman in sight by now. As for the other guy, Ryon, isn’t much better. The two of them been getting along greatly, much to Dana's disgust.
It’s been days with these three monsters. Dana almost wishes she could die, only because the Silver River will be free of those three.
They’re finally docking at Sajarev, and Dana isn’t sure if she wants to step in the City of Light ever again… This is the biggest city Dana had ever seen in her life, and her short visit earlier this year wasn’t enough to cover it.
The white walls stretch all the way to the tall mountains south of the city, where a massive statue of a man with his sword up high break up into the sky. Noxi, the God of Light. Also the sworn enemy of Jalier, God of Magic. Jalier, the god Dana had been worshiping since childhood. The god she turned her back on in favor of Tiyadi God of Death.
The party steps into the docks, and a group of soldiers with the sun and sword on their uniform stops them. “States your names and business within the city, northerners!”
“Oh sir! It’s so good to finally be here! You have no idea how much we’ve been through to finally get to the holy city! Is it true that there are no sorcerers here?!” A beautiful woman steps off the boat, fawning over the officer.
Dana sneers, she tried that already, it doesn’t work. She seduced the guards during her first time here, but these guards are either snowing mad, or aren’t interested in women.
Yeah… It’s not so easy entering this city. Dana had to plea for a few days until they checked her background with a Priest of Light in order to let her in. It is impossibly hard to hide the truth from a Radiant of Noxi. Back then she was easily exposed to be an assassin, and was sent to the Night Blades guild. She really thought it was over for her back then.
The lieutenant can’t help but look at this voluptuous woman, he tries his best to harden his voice. “Your story! Why did you venture south?” he demands to know.
“That’s…” the woman looks like she’s having a hard time to breathe. “That’s a difficult story to tell, Sir… I…” She falls down feinting. Dana got to admire her dedication to the act. She steels herself, she and the three men are next. Speaking of, where in the five hells is Rukhan?!
Jerro moves in to hold the falling woman.
“I’m sorry, Sir, we’ve been through a lot…” he explains in a detached voice.
“That’s ok…” The lieutenant eyes soften. “I understand, but we still need to take you in for questioning, see if your story checks out, before we welcome you into our city.
“Of course, Sir.” Jerro nods. “I’m a Shaf to the Silver Lord of Time. I’m told that my kind are welcomed in this city?”
“Ya!” Ryon chimes in. “We killed two o them sorcerers and now dey hunt us for killing cruel rich peeps! You don’t have cruel rich peeps here, do ya?”
The guard smiles gently. “We do not. Welcome to Sajarev followers of Silver. You might want to check the Last Rest Inn on Arch Radiant Hilde street, and the Jewelry shop on Arch Radiant Nulix street.”
Dana stares, mouth agape. Just like that?! How?!
“Thank you kindly, Sir. We shall head for this Inn first. Mind giving me directions?” Jerro lifts the unconscious woman, who seems to be truly unconscious. Who is she?!
Jerro listens to the guard captain’s directions and the guards let them through. Just like that…
“How?!” Dana asks, baffled.
“It is impossible to claim you are part of my Lord’s clergy if it is not true.” Jerro replies, detached.
“What happens if you try to claim that?”
“You’ll either become a Shaf to my Lord, or my Lord will collect your soul with an unfortunate death.” He’s still carrying the unconscious woman in his arms.
“Where is Rukhan?” Dana demands to know, she can’t be looking over her shoulder for the bastard.
“He’ll join us soon. Not to worry. Get some rest. You’re going to need it.”
*~*~*
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 91
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: connected: 41 neutral gems. Conversion ratio: elemental : neutral-3:1, neutral : elemental-1:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 34 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 17 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 16/26 gems
Water: Affinity 6: connected: 73/75 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 8 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 17 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 88/113 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Effrat's Ember Vision. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Enhance Vision. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freezem. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burstm. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield IIm. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pullm. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.
Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.
Space: Lumina's Spatial Stepa.
Spells known:
Light: Wassho’s invisibilityb2x2. Rika's Electric Channelb1x3
Water: Mayan’s Boiling Waveb2. Tolste’s Icy Escape.
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x3. Tukado's Pushb1x4. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x5m. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2x2m. Lumina’s Kinetic Blast Boltb1x6a. Alino’s Crushing Weightb3.
Psyche: Lumina's Mind Touchb3
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.
(Little letters by the spells: m=mastered. a=advanced. b=bound spell, number near the b is how many gems of the mana pool binding the said spell takes. The number is determined by the elemental's size that's bound + the number of spells bound.)
Patterns Foci:
Air: 16
Fire: 8
Light: 12-13
Water: 21
Earth: 8
Wood: 8
Gravity: 22
Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.
Carried Wealth: 384 Magical Gems. 102 diamonds. 40 Golden Peas, 20 Silver Scales. 20 Copper Bits.
Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
4 potions of Lesser Healing.
5 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
34g Rose petals.
7g Lavender petals.
10g Sowbread petals.
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 39/100. Unlocked.
A bent Wand of Lightning Bolts charges 0/5
Present Pawns:
Kolag of house Befar. Control Method: My puppy.
Berthold. Control Method: His sister's health.
Ovin. Control Method: A promise of magic and power.
Zoe. Control Method: fulfilling her idle fantasies.
Salik. Control Method: Glitter.
Loyal. Control Method: Unknown! Fixated on me. Unreasonably Loyal. Potential threat.
Absent Pawns:
Jerro. Control Method: Sharlafyn's love.
Sharlafyn Nettledew. Control Method: Pity.
Ryon. Control Method: Food and Sex.
Languages:
Toml’a
Sinteo
Myrsha
Felul
Nim
A'arkalu
Injuries and scars:
Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related. Gone due to an unknown bloodline magic.
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Kingdom’s treasury: 25,234 Golden Peas. 765 Magical Gems.
Kingdom’s citizen:
Red Cedar City: 3,609 adults. 1,654 children.
Apricot City: 1,877 adults. 504 children.
Kingdom's army: 5,000 Men of Arms. 123 Footmen. 16 Peacekeeper Knights. 500 Blood Spears.
Total Souls: 12,644 souls.
Pawns at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder: Control Method: Threats on her life.
Jolla SilverQuill. Control Method: Pursuit of knowledge in her presence.
Talbot Bookkeeper. Control Method: Agoraphobia.
Aisha? Control Method: Humane acts?
The board has many pieces, which one to move, which one...
God's relationship: Unknown interests. Expect the worst.
Tukado: Unknown interests. Known pawns: Jolla.
Koshavi: Clearly Interested. Known interest: Kolag's love for me. Cordial so far. Wants something. Known pawns: Kolag.
Nuriss: Unknown interests. Possible pawns: Salik.
Noxi: Known interest: My death. Hostile. No known pawns.
Lokamesh: Unknown interests. No known pawns.
Tonisha: Unknown interests. No known pawns.
Amaret: Unknown interests. Assume hostility, Noxi's ally. No known pawns.
Brigit: Unknown interests. Assume hostility, Noxi's ally. No known pawns.
Rakisha: Unknown interests. Known pawns. Ovin.
Kilako: Unknown interests. No known pawns.
Tiyadi: Helpful so far. Wants something. Unknown interests. Known pawns. Jerro.
Mayan: Unknown interests. No known pawns.
Fae Monarchs Coalition: Unknown interests. Assume malicious intentions.
Twilight, Maiden of Darkness: Unknown interests. Assume malicious intentions. Known pawns. Sharla. Berthold.
Devil lords: Potential Unknown interests. Assume the worst.
Hot Iron: Unknown Interests. Assume malicious intents. Known pawns. Ryon.
Arch mages:
Maven of Mysteries: Known interest: An apprentice in her image. Currently distracted.