North Tarak [foot of the Torrent mountain range], local time [1793.11.29]
Aisha dodged another heavy strike, using the momentum to kick the second opponent in his heavily armored head. The force made him stumble backwards a few steps as she was catapulted to the side, making some distance.
She peeked up at the balcony. It was empty.
“Krono, you bloody coward! I will find you, and I will kill you!” she shouted in rage at the top of her lungs.
She contested the coming blow with one of her own, the brief moment was enough for her opponents to catch up. Two hammerheads met midair. The one glowing white from heat exploded with fire and streaks of violet lightning which were sucked up and suppressed by the second, black one. The explosion caused by the clash of physical and magical forces pushed the combatants back a step. The marble floor underneath was obliterated, fragments of it flying in all directions. She caught a flanking attack of claymore user with the shaft of her weapon, her Onji’s Mana flowed downward disrupting the Spell around it. Using the ensuing explosion of vapor, she distanced herself once again.
She was spending her internal Mana at a prodigious rate. If she stayed too long in close combat, things would get dangerous. Worse yet, her Veil was on the brink of collapsing.
The spear user barreled at her at that moment. She barely dodged the thrust by moving her hammer downward and bending backwards, the spearhead’s edge skidded on her strengthened chest armor.
She couldn’t see him, but her ragged Veil provided enough information. He overextended.
But she was in no position to retaliate.
Or so her opponent had thought.
Her brain recognized the familiar pattern. Before she could make a conscious decision, her hands reflexively released the shaft, pushing it sideways, and grabbed his left arm. Her feet barely touched the ground and an enchantment activated, planting them in place. She rotated her body, cracking the floor and pulling him with her. Releasing the enchantment, she quickly spun her lower body in the same direction.
Her foot landed on the side of his knee as he was taking a step. His armor didn’t have protection against perpendicular forces and with a loud snap of ligaments and metal, his leg bent sideways.
One less… the thought flashed through her mind.
Normally, she would have finished the job or thrown him at her opponents, but there was no time. Following the previous movement, she caught the shaft of her weapon that was still spinning midair.
But she wasn’t able to block the coming attack.
She managed to move with the blow, minimizing the damage. The heavy hammer strike sent her flying to the side, breaking at least a few ribs and ravaging her Veil. She thrusted blindly with the back of the shaft in the direction she was moving, forcing the claymore user to dodge the spike at the top, then quickly pushed it downwards, using the leverage to vault herself above him before he could retaliate and dodging a half-assed slash.
The pike with the toxin broke before the ball at the end buried itself in the floor, but she traded it for a moment of breath to regenerate her Veil. The smoke from the burning temple was getting dense and only she wasn’t influenced by it.
He actually dared to set a trap to kill me… the thought flew through her mind, fueling the flames of rage.
She came prepared, but she couldn’t have expected three post-hundred veterans. If not for P’pfel’s new explosives, she wouldn’t be able to escape that heat-proof room. And those guys were experienced enough to challenge her in a one-on-one fight. Each one of them.
It didn’t help that the enemy knew a whole lot about her Skills. A shame they didn’t have their protection against heat and smoke with them.
Kwan’s guards and people hired by her kept the rest of the mob occupied.
She bared her teeth. Now that the scales were evened out, it was time for retribution.
Krono, you mad bastard. I will destroy you and your lunatic church, I promise you that!
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While archers were providing covering fire against the enemy at the flat rooftops around, the frontline was quickly pushed back. Thankfully, they were near the town’s outskirts, so there weren’t many positions the enemy shooters could have taken. Buildings were lower and sparser, the terraces gone.
As fighters from wagons at the back started converging to the frontline, the fight quickly dissolved into a series of skirmishes all around the first few carts. Mana effects of different kinds shook the air in their explosive reactions, drowning the shouts and screams. It wasn’t to the extent Aisha demonstrated, but the scale was disorienting.
The enemy had a two-to-one advantage on the ground, making things difficult. Kwan and Ghan were duking it out somewhere ahead, wreaking havoc.
He cursed internally, throwing another javelin partially filled with Mana-L and distracting one of the combatants. The guy died a moment later at the hands of his opponent. He had thrown explosive beads all around beforehand, but the density of Interference Veils around was so high that his Mana tendrils were pulverized before he could activate them.
Now I understand why it is named an ‘Interference’ Veil… he thought in irritation.
He stayed inside, not only because he was physically weak in comparison to the people around, but also because he didn’t want to make himself a target until the battle became more chaotic. His presence meant the Gremling was also here, and he was sure he himself was also wanted.
An arrow flew through the front of the cart, skidding off of his Telekinetic barrier and impaling a crate behind him.
Zeph located the shooter’s position and released the charged Mana beam, this time powered by the Scrubbing catnip module. The previous shot with the Heat module did almost nothing – he was too inexperienced in beam usage to force more profound effects, and the distance to the archers on the rooftops was additionally detrimental.
The mix of his Mana, Mana-L, and force Magicules flew in a straight line, targeting slightly above the enemy that took cover. He applied a uniform force to the fast-moving Mana with his Willpower, burning the Will-Mana inside. The beam curved downwards in an arc, hitting a person and pushing them to the floor. Zeph forced the Spell to end prematurely, before it pumped all of his Veil away, and in a blink of an eye consolidated the extremely long line of his Mana into a temporary tentacle for long enough to use the Matrix ‘Force weave’ Spell at its end. He set it to push near the floor and in his direction.
After an explosion of air, a guy was thrown over the roof’s edge. He became an arrow pincushion before even hitting the ground.
Zeph waited for 10 seconds to replenish his internal Mana and rebuild a part of his Veil, then peeked outside. The fight was starting to die down. The number of combatants on each side was evening out, which meant they were winning.
He couldn’t see any Manacasters, but that wasn’t strange if both groups had a legal background. The ‘Mage’ Towers, as he liked to call them, stayed neutral in such conflicts. They were an independent government by themselves, after all. He would be more worried if the Guard was trying to intercept them, they had their own casters.
Seeing an opportunity, he activated three beads, speeding up the downfall of their enemy. Just when he wanted to look up in search of more archers, there was a loud crash and Kwan barreled back-first from behind the cart in front of him. Above, her strange, heavy battle club was flying away. She did a quick backflip to correct her posture and stop her momentum. Two long knives appeared in her hands. Ghan was sprinting in her direction, three of his man close behind. One was limping and the other two were bleeding heavily, at least by this world’s standards.
She was fighting with four high-leveled opponents this whole time. Zeph was impressed.
If only I could use the Flash…
He grabbed his loaded crossbow from behind and shot at the limping warrior just as Ghan reached Kwan. More arrows joined his bolt, but all were pushed aside by something that looked like a swirl of air manifesting around each of the targets.
That didn’t change much, as his enchanted spherical bolt tip exploded powerfully in the middle of the three running combatants. He tried to activate two nearby explosive beads, but their Veils were big enough to cover them already. The two at the front were just slightly stunned by the explosion, but the limping one received a handful of metal fragments to the face.
Zeph acknowledged the notification and jumped out. There was no reason to hide anymore – he was sure that someone spotted him already – and Kwan could be in trouble with her close-range weapons. She was dodging the unnaturally fast sweeps furiously, trying to get in range.
Like some of the fighters around, he sprinted in the direction of the two wounded combatants but moving close to the overpowered duo. Just as he was passing them, Ghan decided it was a good opportunity to kill him off.
Zeph’s mouth curved up slightly.
He had no chance to dodge his attack, the guy was way too fast. But he didn’t have to.
One Soul-whack later, courtesy of Gru, and a second later one heavy hammer alongside one cut-off head hit the ground behind him. A moment of stillness was all Kwan needed to finish the fight.
All according to the plan.
Almost immediately, shouts rang all around. The enemy started to flee. They could see clearly what the outcome of the fight was. Zeph helped with the last of the archers on rooftops and started using his detection Spells, mostly ‘Lesser Life detection’, through Mana tendrils to find the stragglers.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Meanwhile, Kwan was giving orders through the chaos and screams coming from all around.
“Rangers, hunt and scout ahead, you have three minutes! Causality report! Arhen, take your people and transport the wounded to the third cart! The rest, secure and pack those goods laying around. Four sentinels on each side of the convoy!”
The reports started coming in almost immediately.
“Two dead, seven incapacitated, three heavily wounded!”
Wow, that’s a fucking low causality rate… he thought in shock. The information was basically shouted out for everyone to hear.
“At least four people escaped. The hunting team is hot on their heels. Around 53 enemies killed!”
“Good job! What’s the status of the wagons?” she asked loudly.
“All in working order,” someone from the back shouted.
The gang was very organized. It looked like it wasn’t their first group fight. Zeph was a little busy gathering his items before someone stored them, but people quickly noticed what he was after and helped, giving him respectful nods.
Zeph finished gathering his beads and one javelin that was in good condition and jogged back to his wagon. P’pfel was peeking from inside, smiling widely and giving him thumbs up.
Before he could join him, though, Kwan intercepted him near the wagon. “Zeph, you freaking genius! Great work out there. I thought you would be useless. Instead, you probably dealt the most damage. I guess having a Manacaster on our side would do that, ha!” she said in an overly loud voice.
Is she trying to raise morale or something? he wondered but shrugged it off. Leaders do leaderly things.
“Thanks, I guess,” there wasn’t much he could say to that.
“You helped me avoid a wound. That means a lot,” she said, fully confident she would have won that fight. “You will be compensated later.”
She clapped him on his back and walked away to oversee the preparations.
After climbing to the wagon and taking a seat, he was met with a smug smile of the Gremling.
“And how did you like the properly enchanted explosive bolt?” he said, his gigantic nose would point straight up if it wasn’t crooked down so much.
He smiled wryly. “Yes, quite stronger than mine. I still wouldn’t pay 30 silver for them. They are consumables, what is the point if the price is too high?”
The Gremling harrumphed. “Everyone needs at least one hidden card up their sleeve. It will sell well, I am sure of it!”
“They better will. You still owe me for teaching you the Spells,” Zeph said in a mock-serious tone.
“Wait until you hear from Aisha. The bigger ones are worth every gram of Hydrargyrum put in them!”
They bickered good-naturedly for another minute until the adrenaline and stress from the fight left Zeph’s body. They were really fortunate no stray Manacaster was present on the battlefield. Causalities aside, the sheer unpredictability of such fights gave him chills. That was his biggest worry – he wasn’t exactly prepared to counter such people. His Mana-L tendril wouldn’t reach them in a similar environment. They would have to try and break through the defenses of each other, but… Zeph had almost none. Not for the physical effects of Spells.
He promised himself to work on that. Visiting Makani’s Tower was more and more tempting.
He shook his head – it was not the time to consider such things. Post-battle notifications awaited him.
[Profession] [Shaman] is now level 32! (+1)
[Seeded] [Class] [Force Generalist] is now level 3! (+1)
He scanned the information about his Skills and Spells leveling up and promptly ignored them. The live tests of his enchantments were necessary for the System to count them in the levels, so he expected those changes. They didn’t mean much right now. The new points, he started to slowly invest in Flexibility, after changing his Perk to auto-train for that PE. There was a risk of another fight. It would be disastrous if he was to make a mistake in close combat.
“Grraaarum!” Gru vibrated happily. It seemed he also got some levels.
“Heh, congrats,” Zeph whispered.
The next half an hour was uneventful. The convoy changed directions midway. Instead of riding out of the gate ahead, they were closing in on the nearby mountain cliff jugging out from the town’s panorama. The vertical wall was at least 100 meters high at the highest point, he was surprised it wasn’t visible from the inn.
Well, it is almost on the other side of the town, so maybe it’s not that strange. It’s hard to tell how far from town the mountains are because the terrain is almost flat.
As they got closer, the streets started to widen, just like near the market. The buildings also changed to mechanical workshops, warehouses, and a multitude of other business establishments. Although, almost everything was closed down.
Finally, Zeph could make out metal and wood constructs populating the whole wall, as if a part of the town was rotated upright. A multitude of ropes, gigantic metal doors, and tunnels made themselves visible not long after. Scaffolding and bridges covered the spaces between big platforms, buildings, and cranes.
And… everything was motionless and empty. Not a living soul could be found anywhere on the impressive structure.
“Umm, why no one is here?” he asked no one in particular.
“The season of air transport ended up a good few months ago,” Kwan answered. “It may look strange to you, but the Torrent mountains aren’t Mana-stable. Near the ground, Mana density stays mostly the same, as you could have noticed.”
Ah, indeed. We came from quite high up, he realized. It should be, for all reasons and purposes, an area of higher strata.
“The reason is unclear, but—”
“Actually, there are at least three theories with a high probability of… explaining…” P’pfel cut in with vigor but slowly petered out as Kwan coldly stared at him.
“But in exchange,” she started again a moment later, still staring at the professor, “Mana currents above certain height thresholds are instable. Present Mana density at fightable altitudes is too high, and the drift is too strong,” she explained, turning her head back ahead. “But don’t worry. We have good pilots, if not the best ones in this pisshole. The twins already proved they can navigate the fluctuations at lower altitudes. And with all our guests, we have enough offensive potential to ignore the aerial predators,” she said in a reassuring tone.
Zeph bit his tongue. He didn’t quite understand what she was talking about, but asking more questions would just sound strange. Evidently, everyone knew how airplanes worked.
They slowed down after getting close. More messengers visited them, and the convoy changed directions again. The empty streets were quite eerie, even if he intellectually understood that there was no business at this time of the year.
He looked up as their wagon was closing to the stone wall. The magnitude of what they created was even more intimidating from up close. The wind blowing through the structures howled loudly, and he had an impression that the wall was slowly falling forward as they moved towards it, deepening his apprehension.
As the sunlight dimmed, obscured by the rock ceiling holding up the whole mountain above, the sound of the wind changed into an empty, low hum. The tapping of multiple hooves echoed all around as they traveled deeper into the dark, vast tunnel.
After a few minutes they stopped, the vicinity illuminated only by a few enchanted lamps on the wagons. Metal doors opened to their right and a small man walked unhurriedly towards their wagon.
“You are late,” he informed shortly as a greeting, handing some documents to Kwan. His soft voice echoed in the silent pass. “Everyone else already arrived.”
“Good to hear,” she deadpanned while checking the papers. “Which hangar?”
“Twenty-one. And hurry up,” he informed before turning back.
Three minutes later, they arrived at a big hall. The entrance was at least four meters high and twice that wide, it was the only open one in the tunnel. A system of cranes and lifts was set up high above inside.
Coiling doors slowly slide down behind them as everyone jumped out of the wagons. Most people moved to the lifts set to their right, some stayed to direct the carts. Operators started to lower big platforms suspended on the cranes in preparation for the reloading. Kwan was supervising the whole process.
People were entering in pairs, so Zeph and P’pfel took one lift for themselves, even if around ten people could have fit in the cabin. It was made from blueish metal and there were no buttons inside. Instead, there was a panel, which P’pfel touched. After inserting some Mana, probably, a number 21 showed up on the black glass-like surface.
Zeph had to give them that, the upward acceleration was something else. His legs almost buckled from surprise, and he had 60 Power.
“By the way, what will happen to our cart and horse? Also, I don’t really understand why flying low is considered dangerous, can you give me a quick explanation?” he asked, taking advantage of the fact that they were alone.
“Ah, I suppose Aisha didn’t mention it to you. We are paying for the aerostat course with them. It’s actually quite a cheap price. As for the flying, it’s very, and I mean VERY hard to keep the avion at a stable altitude when near the ground. Mana currents rising from the ground are patchy and depend on the living beings’ population in the area. Mostly. The wing and sail cannot be adjusted that fast.”
Zeph hummed in thought. He wanted to ask some more questions, but the lift started to slow down.
They opened the doors and a shocking sight welcomed him.
It was a fucking steampunk airport. At least that was his first impression.
He looked around with wide eyes. The hall was enormous and decorated with big plants. From the empty space he was in, he could see three tiers of balconies. Everything was made from wood, brass, and glass. Much too big pipes run along the wooden walls and ceiling. Bright, yellowish light was flooding down from multiple lamps, reflecting from polished surfaces almost like in a mall. People were loitering about, some sitting on the tables set around, some perusing small shops on the first floor, some strolling between miniature gardens set around.
To his left, glass walls separated them from an enclosed platform. On it, an oval-shaped monstrosity was laying, kept in place by a multitude of supports. It was made, similarly, from something resembling brass and wood. The shape was somehow similar to a flattened ship, except for the pipes and strange shapes fixed all around it. Something resembling a folded umbrella frame was set horizontally on the sides and the deck. He could see as their cargo was slowly moved inside by cranes.
He was woken up from his stupor by a familiar voice. “Heh, a country-bumpkin.”
Rude, he thought, looking at the offending woman.
His eyebrows raised. “What happened to you?”
Aisha wasn’t looking that good. She was smeared in soot all over. Her weapon was the worst – it was basically pitch black. Parts of her armor were seared, deep gashes and dents decorated the metal parts. Some of them were deep enough to indicate serious wounds. Her face had its own collection of bruises and cuts. A big one on her neck looked like it was cauterized. Her hair was a total mess and he was sure it was much shorter.
The asymmetrical cut somehow looked good on her, though.
“Eh,” she shrugged nonchalantly, but he could see signs of exhaustion in the gesture. “The typical. Found a new mortal enemy. Escaped the trap. Fought this and that. Got a fuckton of Soul fragments. By the way, that’s how you look after getting a standard level worth in an hour,” she said with a small smile, pointing at her chest with a thumb.
He shook his head at the absurdity. “Let’s just sit somewhere and you can narrate it to me. I am sure it’s quite an epic story,” he started, looking around. “Where is P’pfel?”
“He got bored with your frozen expression of awe,” she smirked. “I think I saw him going in the direction of balconies.”
They walked slowly to a table set between two medium-sized decorative trees, chatting about the situation in the city. As they relaxed, Aisha started describing her adventure in detail. He couldn’t even tell if she was exaggerating or not, no matter how ridiculous some parts sounded.
It was a perfect action movie scene; the whole fight was.
Her story was coming to the grand finale when a woman’s voice interrupted them.
“Ah, there yo— What is this?!”
“Hi, Kwan. How was your day?” Aisha asked, putting her chin on her hand.
She started to massage her forehead. P’pfel, who was standing beside her, was just gaping in silence. “Can you give me a short version?”
“Three post-120 veterans with support. The new faction of churches has gone insane,” she explained, putting her hands behind her head as Kwan sucked in her breath.
“How are you even alive?”
“I held a tactical advantage,” she simply stated, smiling at P’pfel.
Before they could continue, a cimbalom sound echoed through the hall.
“We will finish this talk on the aerostat. Let’s go,” Aisha said, jumping to her feet.
It was time to depart.
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Interface: (changes only)
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