I sent out an exploding fire blast at the two guards who were obviously trying to figure out what was going on.
Ten thousand mana, plus my base damage which was now sixty-seven. Thirty-one for my level, and thirty-six for my intelligence. My intelligence was thirty-two with my new equipment, but Lara could now boost all our stats by four instead of three for a reasonably long time. Forever really, as long as I didn’t get too far from her. Point was, I did forty thousand two hundred and sixty-eight damage on both of their shields.
Dan did about three quarters of that, and Cassie’s lightning blast did about the same. That was another sixty thousand damage, and completely took out the shield’s mana shield. Since it was area damage, it also took out the other shield, since both shields took the same amount of damage. I felt stupid then, I thought this would be much harder. It would have been, if I’d sent single attacks, either the armor or the shield would absorb damage separately in that case.
Gwen shot the one on the right with an arrow covered in darkness. The arrow bounced off the armor, and as far as I could tell didn’t even leave a scratch, but the spell she’d imbued in the arrow went right through at contact. The alien scream was horrific as the thing died.
Steve shot a bolt covered with a gray miasma, and it did penetrate. The second creature went down as well.
The creature fired its rod as it died, but the bolt of plasma completely missed us. The fight had lasted less than ten seconds, and surprise had afforded us all a free shot.
Cassie cast a spell, and then her voice boomed out. Like a megaphone times ten, the sound of her voice blasted into the mine.
“This is a rescue, drop what you’re doing and head to the surface. You have six minutes, so don’t dally. At the end of the six minutes, I suspect you and the mountain you’re in will cease to exist. So, move it! To prove who I am, Rachel says hi.”
There was a loud explosion behind us. A guard on the lower level of the city ship had blown out a small airlock. We’ll, relatively small, it wasn’t man-sized, it was quadruped-sized, but obviously still just a personnel airlock.
“Our ship. Gwen, you should cloak and go get it, the rest of us will stay here to protect and get the slaves out. We’ll meet up five miles east, and then fly together back to the island to return the slaves, and to kill those two bastards.”
I wasn’t too worried they’d escape, they couldn’t fly out of the valley, and five minutes wasn’t long enough to escape on foot, even if a whole city of them made it out of the ship they were still dead. So were we, if we didn’t get a mountain between us and the city ship before it blew.
Gwen looked torn.
“Lara’s the only other one of us that can cloak, and we need her for the stat bonus, and she doesn’t fight offensively. You don’t want to send her, do you?”
Gwen scowled, “I said to stop making sense, you owe me a massage.”
I raised an eyebrow, and deliberately looked her up and down, “Is that supposed to be a hardship?”
She giggled, then she started to run, and she disappeared on her third step.
Guards started to jump to the ground, and then others which were in clothes of a sort. They saw us almost immediately, but they didn’t charge right away. Maybe they feared leaving their charges? Or perhaps they needed permission to engage? We still knew almost nothing about their society. Did they even have emotions?
Steve said, “I’ve been thinking.”
Lara tilted her head, “About?”
Steve shrugged, “This probably isn’t the time to discuss it. But those crystals we took with fifty thousand mana potential. We can’t enchant them, they’d probably explode if we did it wrong, and it’s far too complicated. But, adding them into a grand enchantment might be possible, it’s a lot simpler. If we hooked one of these with four expert grand enchantment stones of say fire blast like on the ship, then it would be a lot more powerful.”
I replied, “That might be too much power, it would destroy the other stones.”
Steve nodded, “Yes, if we tried to fire a fire blast that was fifty thousand mana, sure. But, the current grand enchantment of four can handle a thirty-two hundred mana fire blast, or four times that in damage right, twelve thousand eight hundred. We couldn’t fire a single blast stronger than that, but we might get away with the stone offering a much higher rate of mana regeneration. It would bleed into the four weaker stones, so we could fire a fire blast that strong every few seconds, instead of every couple of minutes.”
“Or…”
Steve sighed, “Or it would blow up in our faces. Still, we could try it, at worst it’s a dead end, at best we’ve just made our ship a lot deadlier. My concern is those smaller ships, how tough is their mana shield? If their stones are a million or two, then their shields are probably five hundred thousand to a million. Even with the new weapon it would still take a hell of a lot of hits. A hundred or so, to take it down.”
I nodded, “Our best bet is to take it on the ground. Sneak on board cloaked, and have Cassie release an EMP. The guards we can handle toe to toe, the ships we can’t without sneaky subterfuge, and definitely not with our ship. Maybe not even with our ship when we reach grandmaster level. Chances are we won’t find enough grandmaster gems for us, much less our ship. We can improve things of course once we hit master and can combine spheres, but it won’t ever be a powerhouse. Even if your idea works. Our ship doesn’t have a mana shield, they’d blow us up long before we could hit them a hundred times.”
Cassie cleared her throat to get our attention, “Guys, they’re moving in.”
We had maybe five minutes left, and so far, only two of the slaves were visible by the exit, probably the ones that had been operating the carts.
The soldiers were moving our way. Some of them anyway. Most stayed with the group of people outside the ship, but six of them were headed our way. My heart picked up again, and I felt adrenaline flood my system. Six was a lot.
They were still several hundred yards away when Dan created another wall for us to hide behind.
Steve chuckled evilly, I hadn’t even seen the spell, but the two dead quadrupeds were now charging for the other guards. More than that, they were firing the rods at the six approaching, and the mana shields had regenerated.
“Can I keep them boss?”
I laughed, then cringed as the other six opened fire.
I could see them, no point in waiting, so I released an explosive fire blast with ten thousand mana. I could send more, but I wanted to keep my twenty thousand mana strong mana shield. That way I’d at least take two hits from their plasma rods, before I was killed by the next one.
Dan and Cassie went with another fire blast and more lightning. Two of them died, the two that had already taken plasma hits from the undead quadrupeds. A third died with Steve’s crossbow bolt into center mass.
The last three had some damage to their shields, but not that much. They’d been toward the outside of my spell’s blast radius.
They fired their rods again as we ducked down, but we hadn’t needed to, they’d shot at Steve’s undead.
Steve jumped back up, and he fired off a miasmic ball. I didn’t even have to look, to know that the three new dead quadrupeds were stirring and getting up.
It’d been about five seconds, and I popped up and shot another fire blast. That time only five thousand worth of mana. It would take me about ten seconds to recover all ten thousand. Dan and Cassie followed my lead, as our undead friends shot two of them as well.
Steve sent another crossbow bolt, and one died, leaving just two.
The three undead behind those two, and the two chargers finished off the last two with the next exchange of fire.
I chuckled, as Steve sent another spell to the three dead quadrupeds. Now he controlled eight, and they started to lay down fire into the ones not armored. A few died, before the soldiers protected them by closing ranks and raising their insanely huge shields. Then as a whole group they started to retreat while
under fire.
“Good one.”
Steve grinned.
We had just over three minutes or so, and the slaves started to run out of the cave in a wave. There were a lot. I counted ten, twenty, thirty, and finished at thirty-four.
Dan cast a spell, and the deck plate thinned as it grew out even wider and longer.
Cassie asked, “Is that all of you?”
One answered, “The rest are already dead.”
“Alright, get us out of here Dan. Cassie, shield us from the wind. Everyone, sit.”
We couldn’t move all that fast, not without seats to absorb the G forces, and we didn’t want anyone falling off. Still, we had a few minutes, and we were able to get out of the valley, and then over another mountain past that. So, there were two mountains between us as he landed the ship against the side of a ledge.
Dan explained, “There’s bound to be a shockwave.”
Ten seconds later my spell went off.
Four seconds into the spell, apparently twenty was overkill, a large booming sound reached our ears. A mushroom cloud explosion filled the sky above us, and the shockwave of the explosion went around the mountain, and us, but we were still shaken by it.
Steve grinned, “Nice.”
We took off again, and we stayed low until we were forced up by another mountain. We saw then that we hadn’t over-estimated the destruction. The valley was a smoking crater, a fiery mushroom was still roiling in the sky, and the mountains close to the ship had if not been leveled, certainly had their tops blown off.
We could feel the heat of it, at least we knew we didn’t have to worry about radiation. I couldn’t help but wonder how much mana that was. It’d been fifty million when we left, but for all I knew the crystal had regened to a hundred million, or two hundred million before it was full. There was just no way to know.
Of course, added to that was all the one hundred thousand mana sheets that had probably been destroyed in the explosion, plus the fifty thousand mana fist sized gems that powered the automatons. Who knows what other crystals might have existed in the ship, we’d hardly seen it all. Oh, and all the disabled smaller ships still in dock, those must’ve had crystals with a million or two mana.
Congratulations! One hundred and fifty thousand three hundred and six quadrupeds have been killed! You have earned three hundred thousand six hundred and twelve Experience Points!
Congratulations! You don’t mess around! An alien invasion has been thwarted, though you were foolish enough to allow six of their craft to escape. They may not be able to take over the planet, but if not stopped will be able to settle and learn the true ways of magic as another evil race. You have earned five million Experience Points!
You have leveled!
You have leveled!
You feel wiser!
Congratulations! You’ve advanced the Fire sphere to expert level two. You have earned ten thousand Experience Points!
Congratulations! You’ve advanced the Water sphere to expert level two. You have earned ten thousand Experience Points!
Congratulations! You’ve advanced the Life sphere to expert level two. You have earned ten thousand Experience Points!
Congratulations! You’ve advanced the Meditation skill to expert level two. You have earned ten thousand Experience Points!
Congratulations! You’ve advanced the Sneak skill to expert level two. You have earned ten thousand Experience Points!
Congratulations! You’ve advanced the Builder skill to expert level two. You have earned ten thousand Experience Points!
Congratulations! You’ve advanced the Hunter skill to expert level two. You have earned ten thousand Experience Points!
Wow. Two levels made a huge difference for our future fights. I know had fifty-two thousand mana, and I got back eighteen hundred seventy-two per second. I made my mana shield thirty thousand, so I could absorb three hits before being damaged from that enemy, which left me with twenty thousand free mana. That meant my attacks would do over eighty thousand, and I’d recover the mana for them in just under eleven seconds.
Suddenly, their shields didn’t seem all that daunting. Still couldn’t kill one on my own, but as a group we’d annihilate them.
I also got another wisdom that round, and two levels, which meant we had some studying to do to get to expert level three. We were also getting ten thousand experience per advancement in skills and spheres now, it’d gone up by another multiplication of ten.
We spotted the ship when we reached five miles.
Cassie said, “Dan and I need to stay to fly them back to the island, but you, Lara, and Steve should take the ship.”
I nodded, “Sounds like a plan. Let’s stay low.”
I created a small sheet of ice for the three of us, and we floated down from the metal platform. Gwen popped the canopy with a big smile.
“Glad you made it.”
I smiled, “Me too.”
We got onto the ship, and we took off. With Cassie shielding and redirecting the wind, we were able to get that platform up to about three hundred miles an hour. Fast, but it would still take us almost four hours to get back to the island, which was six hundred miles off shore, and we’d gone at least another six hundred miles inland to find the enemy.
Gwen looked at Lara, “Thanks for that boost, it lasted long enough.”
Lara smiled, “Anytime.”
“Boost?”
Gwen nodded, “She extended the boost on my stats. I didn’t think of it, but she realized we’d probably level when the ship blew up.”
Oh, good call. I didn’t even think of that, and I obviously hadn’t been paying attention when they’d discussed it.
Lara asked, “Do you think we’ll find the six smaller ships?”
I frowned, “I don’t know, but eventually they’ll break down. They also won’t be able to build more. I got the impression from the level information that they’d all go to the same space, start breeding, and become just one more among many evil races on this planet. So, either way it won’t be the end of the world.”
Gwen said, “Maybe, but we should still try to find out where they went. I’d rather exterminate them. This world is messed up enough.”
I nodded, “And if we find them? Unless we can sneak onto their ships there’s no way that we can take them out.”
Steve said, “We can assess that when we find them.”
If we find them. The world was a big place, and we didn’t know what direction they went in. It was also likely they went to a different continent or island.
We’d try, once we get the slaves back home, kill those two bastards, and grab some food and relaxation. That was… intense.
Chapter Six
Gwen smirked, “You enjoying yourself?”
“Yes, yes I am,” I said with a genuine smile.
Cassie snickered in exasperation, “Men, they’re all alike.”
Dan grinned, and said, “No doubt,” as his eyes roved over her. He added, “And you love it.”
I loved the way her gorgeous chestnut hair glowed in the sun, and her tight curvy lissome body in the light blue bikini was alluring beyond reason. We were finally getting our day on the beach. We’d flew in late yesterday, the four of us had gone ahead when we were just a mile or so away, and we’d quickly taken out the two guards left on the island. The last thing we’d wanted was for them to target the slaves after all the trouble we’d gone through to rescue them.
It was the next morning, and we were celebrating a job well done. We saved the slaves, no big war, and stopped an extremely powerful and technological race from spreading death and terror across the world. There were still six more ships to find, but they’d still be there tomorrow.
Usually, we’d be all workaholic about it, but we’d all changed after the horrendous war with the evil races back on our starting isle. We all knew if we never stopped to relax, that we’d burn ourselves out. All resting and partying was bad, and it had come close to driving all humans nuts in fa
ct, in our old perfect world, but going at things full speed ahead constantly was just as destructive in the long term. We needed to tread the middle ground.
Plus… Gwen in a bikini. I was fairly sure the other men were appreciating what their women had on too.
Sure, we all still felt the impetus to level and grow in power, but balance was important. It was only now I realized just how close to the edge I myself had been back on the old world. I hadn’t partied, but my quest for self-education and mostly avoiding society and connections wasn’t much better in hindsight. I’d been proud of it before, but not anymore.
Queen Rachel had been very happy with us for returning her subjects and ending the threat, and we were welcome in her kingdom anytime. The people were a lot friendlier as well, not as wary around us and quite welcoming. I had a feeling we’d be taking days off there a lot. I still loved the glade, and that would always be one of my favorite homes and places to visit on a day off, but it didn’t have a beach, or fresh saltwater air, and the relaxing sounds of the waves crashing on shore. All while I feasted my eyes on the love of my life.
Lara said, “Do we have a search plan?”
I shrugged, “The continent is vast, three thousand or so miles wide, and almost as tall north and south. I was thinking we could check all the kingdoms first. If we don’t see them anywhere, we’ll have to assume they’re in hiding. We know they didn’t come here, so something tells me they’re hiding.”
Dan said, “They have those ships though.”
I nodded, “They could take over six kingdoms, but they’d be stuck in their ships with a very small population. There can’t have been more than fifty of them on each of the ships. They need to find a safe place to start breeding first, to ensure the continuation of their race.”
Cleansing Fire Page 5
