Pilus Horgson (Lv 24)
HP: 234/234
MP: 284/284
Status: Absorption, Protection
EXP: 460/2400
Skills: 3-Point Magic(+), 4-Point Magic(++), 5-Point Magic(+), 6-Point Magic(++), Acrobatics(+), Brewing, Butchery, Cooking, Detect(+), Enchanting(+), Foraging, Inkmaking, Inventory(+), Knotting, Literacy, Needlework, Negotiation, One-Armed(+), Ranged, Smithing, Stealth(+), Strength(+), Taming(+), Tanning, Two-Armed, Unarmed
Familiars: High Treehopper (Lv 10), Wooly Ramhog (Lv 10)
Surrounded by the huge Velgein freedom fighters, I couldn’t help but feel small as we moved out towards the nearby town of Teichar. The north didn’t have big, walled cities, but it had multiple smaller towns closer together, and Teichar was the closest town that housed a steel foundry, established long ago when the mine we had been holding up in was still active.
We moved quickly at first, fast and loud where speed was the only priority, until we neared the town and switched to stealth, creeping up to the town and hiding in shadows and between buildings.
“That’s the refinery, there,” Toch pointed out, while scanning the other buildings. “Most of the soldiers that hold the town are stationed in and around it, with a secondary bunkhouse and armory… over there, according to our intel.”
I nodded. “Get me to the armory, first. I’ll disable their guard, and we can stop them from bringing in reinforcements when we take the refinery.”
We slipped forward, masked with my invisibility and silence, and navigated to the building which stored all the swords and armor the kingdom had on hand.
Passing by a warehouse, I stopped to peek inside, seeing hobbled Velgein men and women who were packing steel ingots into small crates to be shipped back to the kingdom. Several guards stood by, watching with swords drawn, though they had a relaxed air which spoke to how long this operation had been running without much incident.
Toch nodded at me when we reached a building, and we slipped around the perimeter looking for a window, but it was secure and the only way in was the main door. Frowning, I looked around to see if there was anyone watching before I took a breath and cracked open the door to slip inside.
A handful of guards whipped around at the opening door, standing from their seats at a table and whipping swords up to the ready. I was invisible, so they saw nothing as I slipped inside.
One of the guards stepped forward slowly, checking on the door, peering outside cautiously before shutting it again.
“Just the wind,” he said after a moment, and the guards relaxed.
“Which one of you came in last? Did you not shut the door properly? Careless.”
“Don’t look at me. It was Rakim.”
“I shut the door properly, I swear to it.”
I ignored the men as they grumbled, looking at the interior. We were in a front room, and there was another door behind the men that was locked which must contain the weapons and armor. The situation was not that different from one I faced in Roko, so I approached it the same way.
A wide-acting calm curse sent the guards into a relaxed stupor and I moved through, putting them to sleep and securing them to their chairs, collecting up the weapons and rusting away their armor for good measure. The locked door opened to lock-destroying rust just the same, and the inside of the armory was an impressive display of weapons and armor.
I snuck back outside to Toch. “We’re in,” I whispered. “Bring the rest, we can arm up, use this against them.”
He nodded and moved away quickly, relaying the message to the other insurgents. I stood guard in case any other of the kingdom’s soldiers appeared.
Soon, I was guiding insurgents into the armory, watching the men and women quickly and quietly pick out blades and other armaments to take back their town. When everyone had filed back into the waiting area, one of the fighters looked back at the rest of the equipment.
“Shame to lose out on all this,” he said.
“We’ll smelt it and reforge when we take the refinery,” I muttered, and lifted my hands to concentrate. My golden 4-point magic circle was slotted into my belt over my scale armor.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Slowly at first, then gradually quicker and quicker until it was all gone, all the steel inside the armory turned into piles of red rust.
I pulled out an MP potion to recover from the exertion, and drank it quickly, then set up my Velgein illusory disguise.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
The insurgents approached the refinery from three directions, with my group headed for the front door. The other two units were to hold off the exterior guards and stop any reinforcements from entering while we secured the refinery.
“Get ready,” the leader of my group whispered. “Charge!”
I faltered slightly as the huge Velgeins rushed forward around me, pushing towards the front doors. I ran after them, my shorter legs failing to keep up even with my skills and strength. By the time I got to the door to the foundery, the guards at the entrance had already been felled and the doors were being pushed open. Insurgents spilled inside, and I followed, quickly taking in the insides.
Heat poured over me from the primitive blast furnaces and molten metal that was being worked within. Guards rushed forward to intercept the freedom fighters, and I bypassed them entirely to head to the lines of prisoners who were chained up to work the various refinery processes.
Swords clashed, insurgents against soldiers, and screams filled the air as some on both sides were cut down. The heat inside the building was intense, and a sweat broke out over me as I navigated through the building and battle, coming to a stop near some Velgein men and women.
“I’ll get these chains off you,” I said, bending down and rusting them away quickly. A surprised Velgein face gaped down at me, and I just shrugged, moving on to the next. It didn’t take long to free all the people being held captive inside as forced labor with my magic. “Go!”
I saw some of the prisoners flee, others joining the fight against the kingdom’s soldiers. It didn’t take long before the interior of the refinery was taken, and a small cheer went up amongst the insurgents.
I pushed past them again, stepping back outside to see how the others were doing.
Throngs of soldiers were surrounding the refinery, far more than I had expected. Many of the Velgeins who had been holding the exterior were down, some dead and others badly injured.
“Fall back to the refinery!” I shouted, putting back a second MP potion and grimacing at the feel of it joining the first in my gut.
Kingdom soldiers sneered and shouted as they pushed forward, closing the gap. They would easily overwhelm the comparatively few insurgents inside. I couldn’t let that happen.
I took a big breath, focusing on everything in front of me, focusing on the outside of the refinery. There was too much metal inside, and I couldn’t manage this if I wasn’t precise. I visualized the space, concentrating on my planned sweep, then unleashed my magic.
Soldiers began to gasp and backpedal as I moved my focus across the wave of oncoming bodies, chewing away at their weapons and armor, pulling the rust into a spinning ring above me. I saw faces shift from sneering confidence to rank horror as parts of their armor fell away from them, disintegrating, as swords melted to dust in their hands.
Continuing through the ranks, my sweep moved over the entire group of soldiers, until no man was left with any trace of steel or iron in their possession. Floating above me was a viciously cycling cloud of red dust, which I focused on and compressed down into itself, forming it into a spinning orb of angry oxidized metal.
Using 5-point magic to amplify my voice, I spoke.
“Leave this place and do not return.”
The ranks broke, and soldiers fled. Screams filled the air at the prospect of facing a combat mage of unknown power, and I watched as my countrymen deserted their posts, abandoning the town.
Slowly, I brought the orb of compressed rust to rest, stilled and delicately placed on the ground. As I released the magic, rust sloughed off, piling up around it.
I staggered, and dropped to my knees, exhausted. My illusion faded, my hair returning to black and eyes returning to blue. Turning back to the door, I saw some Velgein faces gaping, and then breaking out into smiles. I gave them a weak grin.
“We did it!” a voice shouted out, and cheers broke out from inside the refinery.
I smiled, tired but electric. Now we just had to sweep the town, free any remaining prisoners, but the town was ours. We could get the refinery working again and start constructing weapons for arming a larger insurgency, and continue taking back the northern towns from the occupying force.
For the moment, at least, we had won.
* * *
In the dim light of the next day, I stood outside the town, looking back west towards the mountains that blocked the sea. The gas giant that filled the horizon that I was so used to seeing was mostly hidden by the tall peaks, and I could only make out a small part of the orange celestial object. The purple rings were entirely obscured.
My magic was recovering slower than usual, I noticed. The magic seemed so thin here. Was it because we were separated from the ocean? Was it related to why the Velgeins didn’t have MP? As always in this world, everything new added to my ever-increasing list of questions. New mysteries to solve abounded.
I took a deep breath of frosty air. It was so much colder and darker up here, north of the mountains, but it was still beautiful in its own way. Though there was still so much work to do with the rebellion that I had tied myself to, I was also excited about the prospects of exploring this part of my new world.
If the rebellion was going to successfully push the kingdom out of the north entirely, I would need more power. I would have to find new beasts, maybe improve my taming in the process. I would have to discover and defeat more dungeons, and unravel the secrets of that magic if I could.
By tying myself to these people and this goal, I knew that I had changed my future entirely. I may even be affecting the future of not just one, but two countries in this world. I hoped I was doing the right thing, but it felt like something I had to do.
I leaned my head back, reaching a hand up towards the sky, then clenched my fist. I’ll get stronger, I promised myself. So I can help people. Make this world better.
My hand dropped to my side and I turned back to the liberated town, stepping towards my uncertain future.