A direct assault was out of the question. The entire fort would be on us in seconds. I thought for a second about going for a distraction but dismissed it, splitting up added many more ways things could go wrong. Spending too long prowling about the fort was also a good way for a random kobold to stumble upon us.
The chamber the leaders were in had a balcony. If we blocked off both of the doors, it would hold off any reinforcements for some time. Then, we could jump in from the roof, take care of whoever was in the room, and leave.
It was a plan. Not the best of plans but a somewhat feasible plan nonetheless.
'Block entrance with wood? How fast?'
'Possible,' Vel signed back, 'setup time.'
I nodded.
'Kill sentries on roof. Block doors. Then drop …'
Before I could elaborate further, a kobold entered the room in a hurried state and started to talk very fast. I couldn't speak the language but from the reaction it created, I assumed someone had found the bodies we had left behind.
'Hold,' I quickly signed, 'change plans. Bodies discovered.'
It was then that chance smiled upon us. The priestess slapped the messenger and started to issue rapid fire orders. Two of her advisors left with the messenger in tow. Soon, the place would be crawling with search parties but we had a small window to act.
'Search starting,' I frantically signed, 'target and two enemies left. Low on time.'
'Block and hold,' Vel signed in return, 'escape through roof possible?'
'Yes,' there was no word for balcony but I mimed it and she seemed to understand.
'Take guards first.' She pointed at her bow.
I nodded in affirmation.
'I handle target.'
Vel gave me a thumbs up.
I pulled my new bow out and prepared two arrows. It was time to give multishot a live test. Vel pulled some small wooden knots from her pouch and I watched her magic flow into them. I realized she was preparing a way to quickly deploy a lot of wood. I enabled all of my abilities and made a small mental note to work on more buff spells.
After thirty seconds, we were ready. I gave Vel the signal and she counted down from three. I was already casting two shocking touch through my enhanced arrows. I quietly ran and aligned my shot as I went, a feat made easier thanks to my sphere. My two targets lined up with the door frame and I let go of the string.
Two hits to the throat. Behind me, Vel rolled one of her wood grenades towards the other door where it burst into a tangle of branches which were thickening by the second.
In one swift movement, I put my bow back and pulled one of my new daggers out. I stepped into the room and immediately aimed a void bolt at the priestess.
Behind me Vel dropped her second grenade at the door we had just crossed. We had a minute at best before the commotion we were creating reached the lower levels.
The priestess raised her arm and intercepted my bolt with a shimmering barrier. The duel was on and I pressed my advantage as the attacker. I cast my newly created rock tomb spell and the stone floor rose up to trap the priestess' feet. She avoided it but it disturbed her footing.
On her side, Vel was split between reinforcing the blockades and finishing off the other two lieutenants. Several vines had sprouted off from her and had made their way to them. This time she didn’t bother suffocating them and used the sharp thorns to cut their throat open.
"Dark Ones," she said, "I will enjoy feasting on your corpse."
I didn’t bother with a reply and started to fire more spells. The priestess hunkered behind her shield but I started to see the cracks appear in the barrier. She could too because she dropped and I felt her construct a spell. I knew I couldn't punish her for it so I dropped my own spell and threw up a light barrier.
I had never fought another spellcaster before. The duel was all about reading your opponent and countering their spells. With my shield up, she went on the offensive and sent several fire spells my way. I felt the drain but it was bearable.
What she had forgotten, with her attention focused on me, was Vel. I had forced her in a position where her back was to my girlfriend and she took the opportunity. In a flash, she plunged her dagger through the kobold's side.
The priestess stumbled, her concentration broken. I quickly closed the gap and stuck my own dagger in the side of her head. She slumped instantly.
We had been fighting for less than thirty seconds but it had already attracted attention.
"Get the relic," Vel said and my attention snapped to the golden bracelet. I pulled it from the dead priestess' wrist and dropped it in my pouch.
"I have grown branches to the roof," Vel continued, "hopefully we can escape from there."
"We can," I said, "I'll go first."
There were a few sentinels on the roof. I climbed the wooden ladder with only one hand while my other prepared a void bold. As soon as I cleared the top of the roof, I fired at the nearest sentinel and heaved myself on top of the roof.
I pulled my bow out once again and lined up my next shot. I aimed for center mass and hit the next kobold. Vel climbed behind me right as the third sentinel called the alarm. I shot him next but the damage was already done, our position was compromised. Vel shot the fourth one and we took off.
The kobolds had only taken over a small part of the fort, the courtyard and right side of the building, and left the rest unexplored. This had also left a gap in their perimeter we could exploit to lose any tail. We disappeared down a stairway back into the building, with no witnesses it would be hard to know where we had disappeared to.
Vel blocked the way behind us at the first landing. Inside I kept track of the patrols with my sphere. I led Vel through the hallways and we finally found our escape. A second floor window.
A group of kobolds was getting closer. Vel went first, she jumped down and landed quietly in the jungle below. I jumped after her and we took off into the thick jungle.
----------------------------------------
The kobolds were tenacious. It took us several hours to lose all of the tails after us. Most of them couldn't follow our tracks but there were a few with a high enough tracking skill to do so. They were also smart enough to stay as a group.
Vel suggested we take a roundabout path to return and I agreed. I used water stride to get us across the river again. We crossed upstream from where we had before. When no kobolds showed on the bank of the river for the next thirty minutes, I knew we had lost them. Night would fall in a few more hours and I wanted us to find a safe place to rest.
"We should avoid the cave," I said, "don't want a random patrol finding us."
"Agreed," Vel said as she snuggled closer to me.
The map was spread between us and we were looking for a place to camp. Besides the cave, one of the higher trees was our best bet. A few of them were even marked on the map. They were a spot favored by scouts since very few monster species nested high up.
"Let's go to this one," Vel said, "it's on the way back without too much detour."
----------------------------------------
We reached the tree right on time and managed to setup the shelter. It was designed to be used in trees, with special straps to attach it to the trunk and branches. With how exhausted we both were, we opted to skip the watch and instead leave traps power on the tree in case anything tried to climb up. As a compromise we both kept our armor on.
"What a day," I said.
Vel was close against me, her head resting just below my chin.
"Yeah."
System Log
Your group has defeated [Kobold (Rank 3, Level 2)]
Your group has defeated [Kobold (Rank 2, Level 32)]
Your group has defeated [Kobold (Rank 2, Level 34)]
Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
Experience gain increased by 20% for an enemy above your rank
Experience gain increased by 20% for fighting a group
Experience gain increased by 30% for dangerous encounter
[Light Bow (II)] has reached level 6
[Niu Archery Style (I)] has reached level 16
Your group has defeated [Kobold (Rank 2, Level 16)]
Your group has defeated [Kobold (Rank 2, Level 18)]
Your group has defeated [Kobold (Rank 2, Level 19)]
Your group has defeated [Kobold (Rank 2, Level 17)]
Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
[Stealth (II)] has reached level 8
Reached Rank 3, Level 13
Gained 10 SP, 4 AP, 2 CP
"How many levels did you get?"
"I'm finally at rank three, level two. You?"
"Rank three too, level thirteen. I think the priestess and her group made up the bulk of it."
"Yes, the rank bonus was good."
I gave a quick glance to my status but decided to leave any decisions to the next day. I was too tired to care now. I had a girlfriend to take care of first.
----------------------------------------
Liscura Van-Niu
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
[Dark Elf]
Rank 3 | Level 13/60
45 SP | 35 AP | 2 CP | 2 AS | 0 Perks
Status
Health
2'025/2'025
+65%/h
Stamina
1'086/2'465
+75%/h
Mana
1'683/3'495
+110%/h
Focus
53/132
Bound Items
[Ravri Ritual Bracer]
0/9 spells, 0/1000 MP
[Ravri Ritual Bracelet]
-
Spell Slots
Magus (Arcane)
Max: 6th
17/28+5
0th: 1/9
Druid (Nature)
Max: 9th
46/50+7
0th: 3/12
Attributes
Strength
43
E
Intelligence
84
A
Agility
63
C
Wisdom
73
B
Vitality
41
D
Spirit
77
B
Endurance
57
C
Mind
66
B
Perks
[Blessing of Gaia]
[Multiclass]
[Magic Affinity]
[Perception Domain (10 FP, ON)]
[Magic Perception]
[Improved Senses]
[Night Vision]
Classes (2/∞)
Magus (LV 3)
Druid (LV 3)
Core Skills
[Arcane Magic (III)] [Weapon Enhancement (I)]
Core Skills
[Nature Magic (III)] [Nature Bond (I)]
Class Skills (6/10)
[Spell Strike (I, 1/20)]
[Multishot (I, 1/20)]
[Spell Combat (I, 1/20, 5FP, OFF)]
[Arcane Lore (I, 16/20)]
[Spell Slots (I, 5/20, 15FP)]
[Metamagic (I, 4/20)]
Enhancements (1/2)
[Damage (I)]
Class Skills (3/10) (1 SP)
[Nature Lore (I, 12/20)]
[Spell Slots (I, 7/20, 15FP)]
[Light Mastery (I, 1/20)]
General Skills (24/42)
[Daggers (I, 15/20)]
[Light Bow (II, 6/40)]
[Light Armor (II, 23/40)]
[Dodge (II, 3/40)]
[Niu Blade Style (I, 6/20)]
[Niu Archery Style (I, 16/20)]
[Anatomy (I, 15/20)]
[Diagnosis (I, 11/20)]
[Medicine (I, 13/20)]
[Surgery (I, 3/20)]
[Herbalism (II, 22/40)]
[Alchemy (III, 17/60)]
[Tracking (II, 3/40)]
[Stealth (II, 8/40)]
[Parkour (I, 16/20]
[Foraging (II, 12/40)]
[Identify (II, 7/40)]
[Meditation (II, 5/40, 5FP, OFF)]
[Memory Enhancement (I, 12/20, 5FP)]
[Logic Enhancement (I, 10/20, 5FP)]
[Mind Acceleration (I, 11/20, 10FP)]
[Mind Partition (I, 20/20, 10FP)]
[Niu Sign Language (II, 14/40)]
[Elven Language (IV, 12/80)]
[English Language (V, 6/100)]
Resistances
[Poison Resistance (I, 13/20)]
[Disease Resistance (II, 3/40)]