There are a lot of people here. Hundreds of people showed up to help with the fighting, and not all of them are adults. Some are on the younger end of adulthood, such as fifteen or sixteen, while others are obviously younger. I see a few who are my age, maybe a year or two younger.
That wasn't expected, especially since Colt's friends are here, talking with him a little. I would expect that most nobles would avoid having their children going off on a major battle that could cost them their lives.
I can understand Aaron's parents letting him come out here considering his grandpa and uncle are both here. Even Peter came to help out. But the rest of the group? And all of these other kids? Plenty of them have magic items, so I can only assume they're the children of nobles, themselves.
Rather than joining them, I'm standing in the area where the raid leaders are supposed to be standing. Their Majesties are already in their spot, Lord Trenton is organizing those fighting with him into their group, Lord Benjamin is speaking with his group about something, Lord Richard is organizing those fighting under him, and Alphonse is standing here, watching. Henry has taken charge of organizing things for their group.
The sun hasn't risen yet, but the slimes are still active. Or at least, the ones that are still around. With probably two thousand hunters, mages, warriors, guards, and whatever else around, there isn't a single slime still around near us. It's not that they're avoiding us, is that all of the nearby ones were killed off.
I finally learned how slimes reproduce, too. That is, the reason why there are so many slimes despite them being constantly slaughtered. Apple-sized bits fall out of them and then rapidly expand to the normal size for a slime. That's one way.
Apparently, when people say monsters "spawn", they also mean it literally. I keep seeing slimes popping out of the ground, like the pale green one that just appeared at my feet. A [Flamethrower] destroys it in its entirety, not even a trace of the core remaining. That did create a bit of a hole in the ground, so I use earth magics to restore that. This is good practice for controlling the distance of [Flamethrower] while still keeping the heat immense.
"Magus Zanroval!" Someone calls out, and I look up from the sort-of restored ground to find a man I don't recognize approaching. "Hello, there."
He's probably a hundred years old judging by how old he looks, though still healthy. The man is also dressed in a black robe with a dark purple stripe running down the front of it. Hanging around his neck is an amulet, a stained-glass star with seven limbs, each limb the corresponding colors for the elements, the center piece dark purple. The metal used to hold the glass together and around the edges of it is dark grey, and it hangs from a dark brown cord.
"Do I know ya?" I ask once he reaches me.
"No," he answers, giving me a slight bow. "I am Father Patrick, a high priest from the Order of the Violet Star."
"You're a priest?"
"I follow all of the gods," he confirms. "Though the Order of the Violet Star worships Zanoralv the most."
"I ain't one for priests," I tell him. "I ain't answering your questions 'bout the Blessed Oaths and Blessed Statements."
"This is unrelated to that," he says.
"I ain't gonna answer anything 'bout my contact with Zanoralv."
Everyone seems to think I'm actually in contact with the god. It's annoying. Chasing them off is starting to take every ounce of my willpower to not involve stabbing them or chucking them over a wall.
"It's not that," Father Patrick tells me. "There were some people questioning who you were, so I thought I'd make it clear. If you use [Ears of Wind], you'll hear that many of them are wondering how a child earned the reputation of Magus Zanroval."
"Which reputation?" I ask.
"Of Magus Zanroval," he tells me. "Not of the terrifying boy from the slums. Not many people know of your reputation from the slums as a boy who's not to be crossed, though there are still a few here who know of that as well."
"I still ain't sure how I got that reputation."
"You have a habit of stabbing anyone who tries to bother you," he tells me. "Usually with whatever sharp object is nearby. If someone manages to 'get away' with stealing from you or hurting you, you also track them down later and do something to get even or punish them for it."
"And ya know this reputation of mine… how?"
"We already knew about you," he answers, then holds up a hand to stall my questions. "Not for the reasons you think. We only found out about you being you after you made the Blessed Statement to Lord Benjamin. We knew about you from before as we keep an eye on interesting people in the slums."
"Interesting people in the slums?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Yes," he nods. "Several of our members are capable of sensing Mana, and we could sense that you had a high amount of it for a Level 0 person. You were a prime candidate for being invited into our order when you turned twelve. One of the brothers approached you then to ask if you'd be interested in joining our order, but you tried stabbing him before running off."
"I never told anyone my birthday 'till now," I say. "I remember a guy with your crest coming on my twelfth, though, and you said 'when you were twelve'. How'd ya know it?"
"Zanoralv, God of Magic, often gives us the birthdays of those from the slums we're looking into recruiting," he tells us. "We use it as a gauge to know whether or not we should attempt to recruit them."
"Zanoralv talks with you?" I ask. "Doesn't he not interact with anyone? All the gods? Or were ya made to keep it secret?"
"We have a board," he explains. "We'll write down names if we have them, and characteristics if we don't. The birthdays simply appear in text that cannot be erased, but which disappears if we remove the rest of the information for that person. Zanoralv started this the year the gods went fully silent. Some of the other orders have similar things going on for them, but have kept it secret. We were never sure if he was actively doing it or if it was simply a parting gift he left us, up until yours."
"Mine?"
"We knew the name 'Max', but that was about it," he tells me. "I was adding another potential recruit to the board, a six-year-old, when your name – Maxwell Zanroval – appeared under 'Max', along with your birthday. We'd never received a name before. Accompanying it was a series of smiling faces, followed by one with its tongue stuck out. That's what informed us that Zanoralv was actively writing each birthday on the board for us… and that he found the potential recruitment of you amusing. Everything related to you disappeared from the board after the attempted recruitment. We assumed that meant you would never join us."
So the god who binds my oaths actually gave signs to his followers, but let them believe it may have been a parting gift before he left. Not only that, but he found it amusing that they would try recruiting me?
This could all just be a ploy to try to get me friendly with him, though.
"If you ever need healing or support, Magus Zanroval," Father Patrick tells me. "You are more than welcome to come to us. We will supply it to you at no cost, so long as it is reasonable. If Zanoralv watches you, then it is our pleasure to assist."
Suspicious. What is he really after?
"I'll think about it," I say. "The other leaders have come up here and the sun is beginning to rise."
Father Patrick nods and joins the group under King Arthur's command, and a few moments later, King Arthur calls out. The way his voice is carrying, he must be using [Amplify Voice].
"Attention everyone!" King Arthur calls out. "If you have not already been assigned into a group, you must come up here in the next twenty minutes to be assigned. We will assign your group based on your abilities! Come up here now and speak with either Lord Trenton or Lord Richard!"
For the next twenty minutes, over one hundred people come up, show their Statuses, explain their affinities and their styles, and then get directed to different groups.
"Thank you!" King Arthur calls out. "To those of you who don't know the full details, we will be attacking six of the goblin kingdoms today. They have been participating in joint scouting efforts and outpost creations, and the normal deterrence has failed! Today's attacks are not for total extermination, but for elimination of their most powerful and the elimination of the monsters which serve them!
"There will be many deaths," King Arthur continues. "During today's battles. We have over three thousand fighters present, but fewer than that will return. Please follow your leaders' plans, which will be given to you on the way there. This should reduce casualties on our side, but know that even with that, some of you will still die. This is not some petty skirmish, this is a war to ensure the safety of the valley!"
My estimates on our fighting forces were off.
"If we do not kill the Goblin Kings and the strongest under their employ," the king continues. "Then they will launch an invasion on this valley! Many innocents will die, and this attack aims to prevent that! So today, we will protect our kingdom and our valley! So let us go! And defend our land!"
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A lot of people cheer in response to that, and the other leaders all split off, their groups following them. Since I'm by myself, I simply cast [Flight Wind] and take to the sky, a violet-tinted [Air Barrier] forming in front of me.
Raizeul already knows about me and my "issue" with them, as the majority of the goblins I killed apparently came from there. If I attacked earlier than the other kingdoms are attacked, it won't be thought of as an attack on the other kingdoms, but me taking out frustrations on this one particular kingdom.
At least, that's what Queen Victoria told me last night. I'm still going to wait a little bit before attacking, though.
As I draw close to the kingdom, I conceal my air magics and use a [Light Cloak] to render myself invisible. My initial plan requires me to set things up without being noticed.
Arriving at the goblin kingdom, I float in place, assessing the city from above. It's around five hundred yards in diameter, and it's packed with crude huts and a few stone buildings. There are firepits everywhere, and pens for the trolls and the boars. Separate, of course.
Az'Raizeul isn't difficult to spot. He's even more humanoid than Na'Maerul was, and he's also wearing armor. The staff he's carrying is definitely powerful, but focused solely on air magics. There are four troll mages accompanying him as he speaks with some of the goblins. I'd listen in, but the winds from [Flight Wind] make using [Ears of Wind] almost impossible.
The kingdom has a few thousand goblins living in it, and it looks like around a thousand boars and five hundred trolls. That's a lot of stuff for such a small space, in my opinion, but it's really not.
Walls made up of logs strapped together surround the entire city, and like the outposts, they have walkways. They also have watchtowers that are manned by goblin archers and mages. There are four entrances to the kingdom, each one manned by goblins and troll mages.
Hm. Looks like it was a good thing I spent the last two days working on my magical dexterity instead of anything else.
I soar around the outside of the kingdom, sending an invisible [Flashbang Bomb] to each entrance. Sustaining nine spells at once is nothing for me now, and I can maintain them over large distances. There are the four invisible [Flashbang Bomb]s at the entrances, the two I keep floating around me, the invisible air armor, [Flight Wind], and [Light Cloak]. I canceled the [Air Barrier] that protects me from flight magics once I got here. I generate a film of shadows over my eyes and manipulate the air over my ears to protect them from sound, just another proof of my training from the last two days.
Once I'm ready, I fly up to above the center of the city, then trigger all four of the bomb spells. These were not reduced-power bombs, either.
Four explosions sound out, the blast radii measuring over five hundred feet each. Walls, buildings, pens, and more are utterly destroyed by the blast, all monsters within fifty yards of the epicenters obliterated into nothing, the rest within the ranges either killed or severely wounded. Debris spreads even further due to the force they're struck with, embedding themselves in others and destroying more things and killing more monsters.
The thunderous booms no doubt affect many of the monsters still there, the flashes definitely blinding quite a few who survived or who were outside of the blast radii.
Most of the monsters who survived stand still in response. Then Az'Raizeul shouts commands and goblins and troll mages begin acting, releasing trolls and boars from their pens. I take advantage of the aftereffects of my bombs to ready another spell. A spell which takes me around five seconds to cast right now.
A spell which can cover more than a thousand yards in diameter.
I don't bother altering this one to remove the violet tint, the swirling storm of violet-tinted winds compact but visible. Then I drop it from my spot five hundred feet up in the air. It drops quickly, and it's a hundred feet from landing when Az'Raizeul, who had begun moving toward the southern exit, suddenly looks over and spots it.
Hearing his words isn't necessary to understand what he just mouthed.
The Goblin King Az'Raizeul just let out a swear. Now, he's layering up [Air Barrier] after [Air Barrier], protecting as many as he can.
My spell triggers before it lands, and the [Air King's Bomb] begins its gale, concussive blasts, and waves of [Air Spear]s and [Air Slash]es. Three [Air Barrier]s of my own form beneath me in order to protect me from the blasts as I watch the devastation suffered by both the kingdom and the forest.
Az'Raizeul's barriers are destroyed in their entirely, the Goblin King powerful but not that powerful. There were simply too many more powerful attacks hitting it with great force. Goblins have lower Magic than they do Constitution.
Though it seems as if the second wave of my spell tears him to shreds, I know it didn't. There's no Experience notification and special monsters always get their own. A moment later, I sense Mana behind me and I shift a [Flashbang Bomb] between us and trigger it.
"Gak!" I hear after the boom. "Power Hunter! You will-"
I set off the other [Flashbang Bomb] before turning around.
Az'Raizeul is covered in injuries, his armor shredded and his staff broken in half, the Goblin King holding the remaining upper half of it. He's only fifteen feet away from me.
"Oops," I say, making sure to speak in the language of the goblins. "Guess I missed."
Az'Raizeul thrusts his staff at me, and a dozen arrows of compressed air shoot out. I let them impact an [Air Barrier] I summon to stop them, finding that they only lightly crack my barrier. It mends within seconds, and I conjure a second to stop the invisible [Air Arrow]s that came at me from behind.
[Air Razor Bomb]s shoot out from my sides and fly toward Az'Raizeul, who conjures strong winds to push them away. The moment he does, however, I trigger them, merging all three of my [Air Barrier]s together while expanding them, creating a bubble of it around me.
The moment the blades of compressed air stop, I release my barriers and shoot [Magic Bolt]s at Az'Raizeul, forcing him onto the defensive. Every time he manages to get an attack in, I create a new barrier. Once I have three of them cast, I expand and merge them while triggering more bomb spells.
They're all of the air variety, as I can make those invisible and I do.
Once the bombs are used up, I dismiss my barriers and return to full offensive until the next barrier. Az'Raizeul seems to be getting more frustrated, but he's still managing to dodge or deflect most of my attacks and minimize the damage from the ones he does take.
None of his attacks manage to hit me, but that doesn't make this battle any less annoying to me. I guess this is why he's a Goblin King. Though I'm superior to him in every Attribute, he's still able to avoid getting killed.
Rather than barriers to stop my attacks, Az'Raizeul uses his spells to deflect mine, knocking them off-course by hitting them from the sides. He's also begun to realize my 'pattern' with the barriers and the bomb spells. That's mostly because I don't really have to worry about his attacks hitting me, so I'm keeping to a simple pattern.
His staff boosts the power of his spells, but its not enough. I suppose the damaged state weakened its effects enough that his spells can't overpower me. They'd still probably hurt if I got hit with too many in the same spots, though.
"Do you know what true stupidity is?" I ask Az'Raizeul in his language after yet another blast of bombs.
"That applies to you as well, Power Hunter," he responds in mine as we continue to throw spells at each other. "You may be doing the same thing over and over again, but your Mana reserves must be drying up. You've no doubt spent more than 2,500 Mana on our fights in the last five minutes. I can sense your pool drying up. And you've yet to land a decisive blow on me. I have vastly more experience in this than you, and you lack any magic items to reduce Mana cost. Once you're too low on Mana, I'll be able to easily kill you."
"You're right," I say in my own language. "I'm getting quite annoyed by how long this is taking and how much Mana I'm expending on this. But I'm not a one-trick boy, Az'Raizeul. You've already faced another of my tricks, after all. I'm quite impressed you managed to avoid it."
"Hah," he scoffs. "If you could use that again, you'd have already done so. You haven't let up even as we talked, yet I'm still succeeding in avoiding death, boy. And you're getting lower, so much lower…"
He chuckles a little.
"You're right," I say. "Even with my high Mana Regen, I'm running low. Tell me, as you are right now, how likely do you think you are to escape that spell again?"
"Incapable," he answers. "But I'm not going to give you a chance to cast it again. [Air King's Bomb] isn't something you can cast freely, I'm sure of it. You're too new."
"You're right," I say. "I can't just snap and it appears like I can with these others spells. That's why I've slowed my attacks while we were talking. It was so that I could devote the extra attention needed to casting it."
Az'Raizeul frowns, though he continues to deflect my attacks.
Then I move the [Air King's Bomb] out from behind me, letting it hover between us. My next few hits actually succeed in striking the Goblin King because of his shock.
"Goodbye."
I trigger it while simultaneously casting a triple-layer of [Air Barrier]s in front of me.
From this close, the Goblin King is unable to defend himself against my attack. [Air Spear]s punch holes through his body as [Air Slash]es cut him to pieces. I'm actually amazed by how much Experience I gained, considering this fight was more monotonous than anything.
+2,005.67% Experience! You have gained 21 Levels! Level 100 Reached! Experience can no longer be acquired until after you have Ranked Up.
[Goblin King Slayer] Earned! [King Monster Slayer] Earned! [Legendary Strength] Earned! [Legendary Constitution] Earned! [Legendary Agility Earned! [Legendary Perception] Earned! [Legendary Magic] Earned! [Legendary Vitality] Earned!
Those last six Titles are all from reaching 1,500 Points in their respective Attributes. Only two of them actually do anything – [Legendary Perception] and [Legendary Vitality]. My Perception Attribute now has a slight effect on my senses, and my Vitality Attribute now has a slight effect on my healing rate.
Even at such a high Perception, the effect isn't too high. Its effect really is slight compared to the value, so I won't be hearing a mouse's heartbeat from a mile away or anything.
Gaining that much Experience really was a surprise. I'd actually expected the Goblin King to die even faster than that, for the fight to be even more boring. That thing really did earn its place at the top of the goblins.
Being ridiculously powerful is amazing.
I examine the wreckage of the goblin kingdom below. There were no survivors after my [Air King's Bomb]s. Chances are, only the Goblin King himself survived the first one.
Perhaps the other two kingdoms were right in that their kingdoms would be destroyed if they had taken part in the war. It wasn't a god which smote this kingdom, though. No, it was just a seven-affinity kid.
Is there a spell that would have done it and been more 'godlike' with how it killed or destroyed everything, though? This really is a mess.
There's plenty of loot down there for me to pick up, but judging by the destruction caused by [Air King's Bomb], it'll mostly just be the magic crystals and the value in metals. There will be a group coming out just to scavenge this for loot, anyway.
I'll leave it, and instead, I'll go check out one of the two goblin kingdoms not being attacked. With [Light Cloak] and my recently-learned ability to conceal my Mana and magic, I can listen in on them and learn their language a bit more. I might even learn more about why they're afraid the gods would smite them for participating in the battles.
"Hello, Max," a voice speaks behind me. "Do you want to know how Experience works?"
Startled by the sudden appearance of someone whose Mana and magic I cannot sense, I turn with a spell ready to attack. What I find behind me… Elm. He's dressed in the same outfit as before, but with a necklace tucked under his tunic this time.
Elm is just floating there, looking as calm as he did the last time I saw him
"What the heck?"