Your Mind has increased to rank 186. Other modifiers: +12 from items. Available ability slots: 22.

Your sneaking has reached rank 24.

You have replenished 100% of your mana.

Elise and Ghost returned from their run just as I finished replenishing my mana. Opening my eyes, I beheld the pair stretched out on the ground and panting heavily.

“Good run?” I asked Ghost.

“It was,” she replied contentedly. “The fox is fast.” She smiled smugly. “I still beat her, though.”

Chuckling, I turned away to find Lucius’ gaze resting on me. “Are you ready to tell us what you plan on doing next?” he asked.

I nodded, my amusement fading. “I must swim across the river again.”

If Lucius was surprised by my response, he didn’t show it. “Why? Are you going to kill more nagas?”

“If they are so foolish as to give me that opportunity, then yes.” I sighed. “But no, that’s not the main reason. I have to cross the river so that I’m discovered.”

Lucis stared at me as he tried to process that. “You want the stygians to find you?” he asked finally.

“Yes.”

“Why?” he demanded flatly.

I blew out a troubled breath. “Because when the time comes for us to launch our assault, we must know how much of a barrier the river will pose to the stygians.”

Lucius rubbed his chin while he considered this. “I can see the value of determining that. But are you willing to give up the element of surprise in exchange? Won’t it be better to catch the nest unawares during the main battle rather than warn them beforehand of a potential hole in their defenses?”

I shrugged. “I’ve underestimated the stygians’ too many times to want to do so again. We’re assuming they have cause to fear water, but how much of that is grounded in truth, and how much is mere… distaste? I don’t know, and I will not risk not-knowing before committing our forces to what may very well be a trap.”

I shrugged again. “And besides, I think it’s already too late to count on surprise carrying the day. My first probe today may have fooled them. But I doubt they will stay fooled. You’ll see. I give it four or five more invisible-attacks before the void tree realizes their foe is not hiding in the foothills.”

The nagian bowed his head, conceding the point. “You’re probably right. But so what? What can the tree do? Send its spores to surveil the river? That’s a perimeter more than four miles long and impossible to cover entirely.”

“I won’t argue differently. But don’t forget, on the day of the main assault, there will be no disguising where our forces are deployed. The void tree will know that the storm of magic raining down on it is coming from across the river. What will it do then?”

Lucius rubbed his chin thoughtfully but said nothing.

I’d not meant the question rhetorically, though, and I waited for his response.

“I don’t know,” the golem finally admitted.

I leaned forward. “And that’s the point—we don’t know. But we have to know. The risk to our people is too great otherwise.”

The lives of too many were at stake for me to take the forthcoming battle lightly. Hundreds, if not thousands, of forerunners would be involved on the day of the main assault, and there was no way I, Safyre, or even Adriel would be able to protect everyone if the stygians caught us unprepared.

I had to ensure that didn’t happen.

“There is no such thing as a bloodless battle, Wolf,” Lucius said quietly. “Tell me you are not trying to fight one?”

I sighed. “I know that. And I’m not. But I will bend the odds in our favor as much as I can. To do that I need information.”

“And to get it you will needlessly endanger yourself?”

I smiled. “I would argue your use of the word ‘needlessly,’ but essentially, yes.”

Rising to his feet, Lucius bowed low from the hip. “Then we will do it your way, Wolf Lord.” He paused. “But if I may make a suggestion?”

I waved him on. “Go ahead, please.”

“The next time you cross the river, perhaps it’s best you do so with a better arsenal of spells.”

✵ ✵ ✵

You have successfully stored the furious storm spell in the ring, mage’s surprise.

You have acquired the direct-targeted spell, disrupting ray, from Lucius and will retain memory of it for the next 2 days. Disrupting ray (stolen) is a tier 5 spell designed to destroy an enemy spellcaster’s shield. This spell will not harm the target themselves but will deal 5x more damage than you ordinarily would against any magical wards or shields they have erected.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

You have acquired the direct-targeted spell, mana strike, from Lucius and will retain memory of it for the next 2 days. Mana strike (stolen) is a tier 5 spell that attacks an enemy’s mana pool, consuming and setting a portion of it ablaze, thereby injuring the target itself. The damage inflicted by mana strike is directly proportional to the size of the target’s mana pool.

You have acquired the direct-targeted spell, fireball, from Elise and will retain memory of it for the next 2 days. Fireball (stolen) is a tier 4 spell that inflicts fire damage to the targeted area on impact.

Thirty minutes later, I was back in the river, and this time around, I was armed with three wholly different spells.

“Lucius is asking for an update,” Ghost said, her mindvoice ringing loudly in my mind.

I rolled my eyes. The nagian mage hunter was fast turning into a mother-hen. Still, I did not refuse his request. “I’m approaching the river’s east shore, but I’ve yet to encounter any sign of the spores.”

“What about the rest of the stygians?” Ghost asked after a noticeable delay as she first fielded my response to Elise, then relayed Lucius’ next question.

“They’ve settled down,” I reported. “The nagas haven’t returned to the tree, though. They’re roving the nest in ones and twos now—and their shields are still up.”

“What are you going to do?” Ghost asked, speaking for herself this time and not the nagians.

It was the same question I was asking myself.

I had two options: stay in the river and bombard the nagas with my stolen spells or climb up the riverbank and see how far I could get before being spotted by a spore.

Both choices had merit, and in the end, I expected the net result would be the same: the stygians would find me. But the second approach was one I had already enacted, and I could well predict the tree’s response. It would send hordes of lesser stygians my way and flood the area with spores.

And besides, I was eager to try my new spells.

“I’m going to launch another assault,” I told Ghost. Fixing my gaze on one of the nagas, I drew on my mana.

You have cast disrupting ray.

Motes of energy danced in the air in front of me as the spell took shape, and a moment later, a liquid bar of luminous purple shot out from my still-invisible hands to the distant naga.

Striking the black dome surrounding the elite, the viscous beam latched on as a leech would, then spread itself all around the shield, smothering it in a layer of purple for a brief instant.

You have hit a level 227 stygian naga’s shield for 5x more damage.

The shimmering dome of blackness surrounding the elite dimmed noticeably—a fact that neither the naga in question nor the rest of the nest failed to notice. And given the spectacular light show accompanying my spell, none of the stygians had any trouble tracking the source of the attack.

Multiple hostile entities have failed to detect you.

Of course, the stygians still couldn’t see me. But that didn’t stop all ninety-six remaining nagas from targeting my location.

A level 234 stygian naga has cast voidball.

A level 246 stygian naga has cast voidball.

…

Ignoring the wave of spells sailing toward me, I cast anew.

You have hit a level 227 stygian naga’s shield for 5x more damage.

There was no way I would survive contact with the horrifying wave of spells descending my way. My nether immunity depended on my void armor, and my void armor would be drained with every spell it repelled.

When it eventually failed—as it inevitably would—I would lose my immunity.

But I still had time before I needed to retreat. For all their destructive might, the voidballs were slow-moving. Focusing on my target, I kept casting.

You have hit a level 227 stygian naga’s shield for 5x more damage.

You have hit a level 227 stygian naga’s shield for 5x more damage.

Your target’s shield has been destroyed!

I did it! Grinning in triumph, I glanced upward. The closest voidball was three-quarters of the way to me. Not delaying further, I faced downstream and set down a windslide.

You have cast windborne.

Propelled by the ramp of air, I rushed through the river three times faster than normal. It was certainly a novel experience. Exhilarating too.

And when I finally slowed down twenty yards away, I was sure I was clear of the expected impact zone.

Still, I kept swimming as fast as I could. It was not only the naga’s assault that I had to worry about—

You have evaded a voidball.

You have evaded a voidball.

…

…

—and eventually the message I’d been waiting for arrived.

Multiple hostile entities have detected you. You are no longer hidden.

I stopped swimming. At least two spores had found me.

Now, to find out if I can get rid of them. Drawing mana, I unleashed another spell.

You have cast fireball.

Growing out of nothing, a ball of flames leaped from my hands to the riverbank, where it detonated.

Unfortunately, I’d guessed incorrectly as to the spores’ position and the flames fizzled out sadly. Undaunted, I drew more mana.

An etheric lash has failed to injure you. 3% psi consumed.

Ignoring the void tree’s telepathic assault, I kept casting.

You have cast fireball.

My second attempt did no better than the first and also raged away at nothing but empty mist and air. One more try, I thought stubbornly.

An etheric lash has failed to injure you. 3% psi consumed.

An etheric lash has failed to injure you. 3% psi consumed.

You have cast fireball.

2 stygian spores have died. You are hidden once more.

As abruptly as they began, the psionic attacks ceased.

The two spores that had been tracking me were dead. Still, I knew I didn’t have much time. More spores were likely already on their way, not to mention that the area would soon be saturated with voidballs and stygian thorns as well.

Swimming away and attempting to put as much distance as I could between me and the marked area, I drew mana and cast again.

You have cast mana strike.

In contrast to disrupting ray, mana strike was a ‘quiet’ spell. Leaping soundlessly from me to the target—and without any telltale trails to track—the casting detonated in my foe’s mana well.

A level 227 stygian naga has failed a magical resistance check! It is mana burned (mana and health consumed). Duration: 5 seconds.

In the distance, flames leaped out of the elite. Shrieking in sudden pain, the naga turned about in a frenzy, searching for the source of the conflagration.

But it was the source.

And there was no putting out the flames—not until the spell had run its course.

Continuing my swim downstream, I drew more mana.

A level 227 stygian naga is no longer mana burned. Total mana consumed: 5%. Total damage dealt: 15%.

Unfortunately for the hapless naga, my next spell was already ready, and I didn’t hesitate to strike at it again.

A level 227 stygian naga is mana burned. Duration: 5 seconds.

Chuckling quietly to myself, I kept swimming. Sooner or later the elite would be dead.