As the Door opens slowly a kick from outside smashes it open.
“Finally you comply you old bag of…”
The next thing he saw was me piercing his stomach and pushing him right out. The shock did not really set in before he lied on the ground holding his lacerated abdomen. The twitching shows how the wind inside him perforated not only one Organ, he is not even able anymore to scream.
“Who the fuck are you?!”
“A passerby.”
“You will be dead after what you did to our Brother! Get him!”
Ugh… Can you not even bring something like ‘when we are done with you you will pe passed on’ or something witty? Lets start the slaughter.
With a heavy swing I split one right in half from crotch to skull, the Wind blade gets stronger the harder I swing and I swung hard. The archer gets a swing down with lightning and the lightning blade flies and fries him right after shooting the arrow. Nothing to worry about, the chitin can handle that.
“A fucking Mage! We have to…”
Whatever he wanted, he was beheaded right after. The last one tries to escape but not on my watch, I ram him and cut his leg. The scream is horribly loud, but no one is here to help you.
“Why are you doing this? Do you know what trouble you will have, if my brothers…”
A kick shut him right up.
“What will they do? Hunt a Mage?”
“I am sorry, just let me leave!”
Nah, not likely. I just grab his head and slowly increase the Mana intake of my Gauntlet. As it seems the violent reaction with the opponents Mana is always there, as he died not even two seconds later. And I hoped for better results with low output… whatever.
“Lo… Lord Mage, we did not know…”
The Farmer seems to babble something, but I have to look at the results. The whole stomach is mush from the one I stabbed. Only a slight bit of Mana should have activated, but has nearly liquefied his organs. Has it to do with the static mana frame? Monsters did not react in that aspect, but their Spirits flow like Reds, so is it that?
The archer is fried and has a rather nasty cut where the armor did not stop the Magic. As long as I cut, they just have a horrible day. Well this one has a rather crispy one.
The halved one was clean cut right through and the beheading too. So there is a rather good impact on non magical beings. Well let me clean up.
“Is there somewhere where I can put this garbage? It would only pollute your home rotting here.”
“Ah, Lord Mage does not need to make his hands dirty, I myself…”
“Stop it with the Mage here and there. I am not from this lands, so I do not care about how people are tiered by their magical standing.”
“Ye… Yes Lor… I mean Mister. Is there anything I can do?”
“First of, when do you think the rest will come to search for them?”
“Ah! They will kill me and my family! What shall I do?!”
Does he now remember what will happen? Well maybe he needs a reality check.
“They would have done the same to your Wife as your Daughter, then when they get bored of you, kill you in a gruesome way. Do you think they did all that just because they had to? They wanted to see you suffer, for whatever twisted reason they had in their minds.”
Not the smartest one, is he? Now that he realizes it, he fell to his knees and is silent. Well nothing I can do right now. Five guys came, maybe a sixth has been hidden, so it might not be long before they will be back.
“You should take your Family and flee.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“...to?”
“What was that?”
“WHERE TO?! We have nothing! Nowhere is safe! All we have left is despair, our Daughter got killed and fed to their dogs! We have no valuables and no food! We will starve! Please! Please just kill us!”
Huh, in that aspect he is right. Maybe I am not so smart myself. Should have known, there is nothing to do. So killing them in the most peaceful way should be their best option. Sad for them to die like that, such good materials… Wait, maybe I could…
“There is a small Village with nearly no people, their farmlands can be used and food and water is aplenty.”
“Stop spouting nonsense! It is Winter…”
“Not there. It is filled with Mana. A rather ominous place, but the ones living there would welcome you.”
“…”
“Just to be honest with you, the place itself is not without risk. As you are normal people, the high Mana could make you slightly sick, but you would live in peace there.”
“…”
No answer. Maybe he is already broken. He lost so much already.
“It was an idea. Sorry for the whole debacle. I will first hide the bodies and maybe they think some Mercs had killed them off on the way.”
“Please…”
“Huh?”
“If… If there is such a place. Please save my humble family!”
Well maybe he is not fully broken.
“Sure. Anyone else here around, who would like to travel with you?”
…
I did not think I would go back that early. Desperate Farmers in tow I go back. With a round trip I got together eleven Farmers. Three Families, Three Men, Two Women, six boys and miraculously a girl. She was hidden under the floorboards when the Bandits searched the home, so her Mother was taken, for whatever they do.
Most had it rough but such sadistic tendencies like the Belks, the Name of the first Family, were not there. Not saying much as they also were just let slowly die of hunger. Maybe it is a game to see who would first eat one of their family members for the Bandits.
To put their trust on a stranger, it shows how desperate those people are. But whatever. It will help me having farmers and maybe some experimental subjects.
…
“We are going through the dark Forest?!”
“Do not be afraid, I have permission from the guardians to go through.”
“Guardians? This is insane! We will die by the monsters or worse!”
Desperation is one thing, Fear is another. They all have a rather bleak way to see the world, I can understand their thinking, but…
“I am telling the truth. Nothing to gain from me to turn people into monster food. There truly is a hidden Village, as I am resident there. If you do not want to go, you can go back. I would understand.”
This shut them up. Now it is the farmers choice to do what they think is the right thing to do.
…
Right now we are resting in the middle of the way to the Crater. No one wanted to go back. They know what would happen to them. While I was foraging for a few berries, the families huddle together in a blob of people. They are scared out of their wits, but have to rest.
When the wolves appeared, they thought it was over, but after noticing me, they ran right away. Seems like they remember me from the time I was inside Twin. Maybe they notice me being too strong. Whatever the reason was, no wolf meat for Snow sadly.
The sun is starting to rise and although the people did not sleep well and are close to frozen to death we go further. When we finally reach the tunnel the people were shivering and had blue fingers. The children had it best, as they were mostly protected by the parents from the cold, but even now they notice the rather higher temperature coming from the tunnel.
“Follow me, we are here. Behind this tunnel is the Village.”
They do not speak anymore. Either it was to hard for them, or they have given up. Maybe they think it is a trap, but are too far to not go with me anymore.
Whatever the reason was, when we were on the other side the Temperature was in the realm of six degrees Celsius. Not warm, but it was not freezing anymore. Seeing the Houses, the light in their eyes start to come back. Right after the children started to cry and the Parents hug them to soothe their finally ebbing down stress.
“Welcome to the lost Village.”
Just named the Village on the fly. A real name did it never have.
“It is still growing, so you can at first take the houses you might like. Be careful, acid spraying snakes live here right now, but have been culled to near extinction by a dedicated giant Rat we have as a resident also.”
They seem to not quite understand, but at least the warning is understood.
“Lord Null, you are already back. And who are these humans?”
“...Elf…”
“Ah Leafy. Those were farmers, who were left to die by some bandits as fun. I brought them back to tend to the fields and maybe help with harvest. They might be useful to liven up the place.”
“Refugees, I see. As you wish Lord.”
Well she accepts everything I do. Rarely she interjects, like she is not allowed to. I wish she would come a bit along, but for now, I just hope of her being honest with me.
“Welcome to our Domain. If Lord brought you here, then your fate is now aligned with his. Please rest for now, I will make a warm soup to heat you up right away.”
With this finished, I need to find out what they need, to have a better stay here. Maybe there will be a way for them to help more than just farming. Who knows what those people can do for me. Worst comes to worst I have more Materials for Fusion experiments.