by Elian Tars
“There’s no end to them!”
I cast Tranquility of Darkness. Aura of Darkness got activated, slowing down a Wolf. A second later, it got activated again, this time accelerating one of the villagers’ regeneration. The skill worked the best in a crowd, but it alone wasn’t enough to win.
“Kane, help!” I heard Mara’s voice coming from my left. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a beam of cold-blue light, forked like a snake’s tongue. Sucking the “life” out of two Wights at once, the necromancer directed the received energy into the most valuable of his zombies.
“Oh…” I wheezed, missing a hit in the side. It looked like I would need healing soon.
“Senior Disciple!” Shawn shouted at the top of his lungs. “They want to surround us, damn it! We won’t be able to get to our healer!”
Though Kane, his Wights and I were trying to draw the most dangerous monsters to ourselves, we couldn’t protect all of the villagers from serious enemies. The medics were running back and forth, there were less and less fighters behind my back, and if the circle gets closed…
“They killed Ron!” somebody cried.
“And Nire, too!”
Damn! First victims. Would I really have to use the Altar of Light? I didn’t want to do it. The villagers might have questions after that. It would be difficult to assure these straightforward people that it was quite normal for a Senior Disciple of the God of Darkness to use Light. And it would be even more difficult to explain why they couldn’t pledge an oath to the hypothetical God of Light. Someone would surely start doubting the power of Darkness, seeing my last-chance weapon. The other problem was that the skill’s cooldown was way too long. In our suspended state, being left without a chance to use the Power of Light would be troublesome. Not to mention that I would have to accumulate a hundred lives again.
“Senior Disciple!” the chief cried out again when I defeated, I supposed, my fifth Formidable Bear Changed by Decay. “We are surrounded! They are tearing people to pieces!”
I cursed.
The hell with explanations! The people were more important.
I snatched the Altar of Light out of my inventory, thinking for about how much energy I should use. I, unfortunately, couldn’t use a hundred, looked at the results and tried again. Should I use all I have then? Thanks to the yesterday’s trip to the forest, I had two hundred and fifty three lives.
Use two hundred and fifty lives and activate the “Power of Light”.
The Altar became red-hot, burning my palm. It took tremendous effort to clench my teeth and not shout. Stretching out my arm, I aimed my weapon at the crowd of the Decayed and began waving it chaotically.
The beam was brighter than before, so much so that it seemed to turn the night into day. My eyes hurt, and I felt as if I had gone blind. The sounds of the battle subsided, and the world, covered with a snow-white veil, seemed to have gotten frozen for a few moments.
You have used the “Power of Light” х2.5.
The “Altar of Light” is overloaded.
The “Altar of Light” will not be available for the next 60 hours.
The message was followed by a notification about the gained XP. I counted only fifteen defeated enemies… On one hand, the amount wasn’t small; but on the other, it was definitely not enough to tip the scales in our favor. Deep down, I even felt sorry for spending lives on activating the skill.
A couple of seconds later, I heard roars and the clicking of mandibles. The decayed beasts had come to their senses after the shock and continued fighting.
“A-A-A!!!” screamed one of the villagers to the right of me.
“No! Let go off me!!!” I heard from the left almost at the same time.
I could finally see the outlines of the enemies’ figures. It was at that moment that one of the Wolves bit my side. I wheezed and pierced its head with the trident.
For twenty seconds I was fending rather than attacking. I missed a few more hits and drank a Healing Potion. When my sight finally returned, I was able to assess our poor state.
They stopped pushing us back for quite some time now. Having surrounded us, they were killing us methodically. The decayed beasts were crawling over their brethren’s bodies and over the defeated villagers. I had no more trump cards left; if anybody could reverse the situation, it was Kane.
Jumping onto another Spider’s back and throwing a bomb into a big group of monsters, I glanced at the necromancer. Fighting side to side with his faithful zombie, he was striking the enemies with blue beams of light. His face showed maximum concentration. Like a robot, he was assessing the situation, processing information and making decisions. But for some reason he was in no hurry to use his Altar. Was he going to retreat soon? What would happen to Ilyenta then?
However, the God of Darkness was merciful. The Old Man didn’t leave his congregation without support.
“WO-O-O!!!” A howl echoed throughout the battlefield. Jumping onto the back of a decayed Bear, I pierced its skull with the trident and looked in the direction of the forest from where the sound had come from.
“Good girl…” I muttered in astonishment. I jumped down and started slashing the enemies with renewed strength.
Suddenly, the Wolves fell silent. When I soared into the air the next time, I saw a grey-black stream gushing out of the forest, at the head of which was Vella. This gadabout dog hasn’t been hiding from me, she was gathering an army! The funniest thing was that I might have had something to do with it, too, as all of the Wolves in these parts had been “calmed down” by my powers of Darkness. Vella was a dark Bullkorg, and it looked like she had accepted our God as her master, and not me. Was her method of gathering the Wolves based on Darkness? It certainly looked like that. It wasn’t due to her girly charm, that was for sure.
The grey wave hit the Decayed from the back, immediately breaking the dense circle.
“Medics, move it! Save everyone who can still be saved!” I shouted. “Those who can fight — fight! Let’s help the Wolves!!!”
Our unexpected allies were much stronger than the villagers, so I could let myself become a buffer instead of a fighter. Tranquility of Darkness worked wonderfully on the Wolves, too, accelerating their regeneration. After drinking the Enhanced Mana Potion, that had a surprisingly refreshing mint taste, I started slowing down the most dangerous of enemies.
After several minutes of violent battle, it was obvious to everyone that we were winning this round.
“They are retreating! Retreating!” Shawn cried in triumph.
“Look, they are carrying away their fellows!” Golin blurted out in amazement. “Senior Disciple, should we follow them?”
It took m e a couple of seconds to grasp what was happening. The creatures were retreating into the forest, carrying away those who hadn’t been finished off by the villagers and the Wolves. That was surprising. Yes, they were controlled by a hive mind, but that could only be told by the pattern of their attacks. But now, the Mother of the Decayed, or whoever was controlling them, was trying to save what was left of their advanced unit, deciding not to lose them in a useless fight. I didn’t like such pragmatism. I would prefer the main weapon of the creatures of Decay to be their quantity, fearlessness and the Effect of Decay. Tactics and strategy I preferred to see only in humans.
“No, no need,” I answered calmly. “First of all, concentrate on helping the wounded.”
“.” Shawn approached me later, once the adrenaline was out of his system and he got a grip on himself. “What are we going do with the Wolves?”
I didn’t give him an immediate answer. I first went to Vella. The dog rushed toward me, stopped right in front of me, and then, after having paused for a moment, lunged forward. I stood my ground, ready for Vella to greet me by putting her giant paws onto my shoulders. Fortunately, the dog changed her mind and simply licked my face, playfully wagging her tail.
“Thank you. You have saved me again,” I said in a low voice, patting her neck.
‘Woof!” she agreed.
“Tell me, will your new friends be staying with us? Or will they be going back to the forest?”
“Woof!”
“The first option?”
“Woof!” she nodded decisively.
Well that was quite logical. There must’ve been so many animals around since the energy source was hidden here. And though it was weakened, it still had a beneficial influence on the environment. The Lake of Grace was the most powerful now. It benefited every living being in the area, while the Decay killed everything in its path. The animals could feel it. And since they were also loyal to the Darkness, and maybe to the ancient power in general, they gladly joined us.
“People of Ilyenta,” I loudly said, jumping onto a pile of three decayed bodies, addressing to the stunned villagers. “You all fought heroically today! We’ve won a great victory! I’m sad to say that we lost some of our friends in the fight. But they died like heroes! Protecting their home and their loved ones! We will never forget their deeds! Ilyenta will never forget their deeds! We will remember our heroes, both fallen and alive! My friends, today we have proved to the whole world that the Followers of the God of Darkness are undefeatable! Not only do humans serve our Patron, but wild animals as well! These animals are ready to share their strength with you! Everyone who has reached the level 15 can choose, with the blessing of the God of Darkness, a Wolf-companion. You can become a Wolf’s friend. And even a Wolf rider! Accept this gift! I will teach you how to use it!”
Chapter 26
Disturbances
We lost nineteen in that battle, but people bore the pain of loss bravely. Our victory, and the faith in our own strength, didn’t let them shed tears.
Of course, the relatives of the dead and their close friends were inconsolable. I decided not to bother everybody with condolences. My passionate speech took root in the hearts of many listeners; they would be able to console their fellow villagers more sincerely.
“Senior Disciple! Senior Disciple, are you sleeping?” Shawn asked, knocking at the door.
Having just finished breakfast, I got up and went into the parlor.
“What happened?” I asked, opening the door. I expected another trouble, but the Old Man had mercy.
“Senior Disciple,” the man sighed and looked at me guiltily, “There, eh… Not many people want to work in the fields… Everybody wants to train. And, eh… If you wanna know my opinion, I agree with them. Nobody wants to die, you know? And we’ll have food anyway. Someone will still work in the fields. Some halfwits don’t want to give up their family business.”
Glancing at me warily, the chief seemed unsure in his words. Who, if not the villagers, knew better what it meant to show initiative? That’s why most people preferred to stay in “the land of their ancestors”, and if somebody left home, they would surely come back by nightfall.
Shawn was afraid of going against my orders. It was brave of him even to come to me with such a proposition.
“Okay,” I said calmly. “Today we’ll train extra hard then. I’ll support you.”
By the evening it was clear that the day wasn’t spent in vain. I created a cavalry of Wolf-riders by ordering level 15 people to spend three everyday points on Riding. As planned, I divided the villagers in leagues according to their levels and fighting skills. My riders fought separately, not in the “battle royale”, but as a united front against the “unclaimed” wolves. Thus, both people and their “horses”, and the currently available predators, were grinding simultaneously. Everyone should get an equal chance, after all.
I didn’t have time to spar with Kane, because I was casting Tranquility of Darkness non-stop, healing a crowd of villagers and running to the Lake of Grace to replenish my mana. Having realized in the very morning that he wouldn’t find a sparring partner in me, Kane and Mara went into the forest to restore the number of his Wights. After dinner, he and Mara trained together. I didn’t heal them but let them go to the source.
The grinding process went pretty well, the most eager of the villagers asked to “let them continue their training right after supper”. By the end of the day we had several level 20 warriors.
The next morning I went into the woods after breakfast. Yesterday, I ordered not to plant potatoes near the Lake so that the training villagers could restore their stats themselves. I also needed to refill my supply of lives.
I took Vella with me, as it was faster and more fun like that. Besides, I could immediately return to Ilyenta in the case of an emergency. Kane’s “Crow No. 1” was flying above me; he would inform me if something happened.
I got pretty far from the village and I spent more time riding and looking for Wolves than actually “calming down” the animals. I managed to get seventy five lives and clear the whole area. Next time I would have to go further to the east. “Shelt” isn’t far from there; I could bump into Baron Alv Gotz’s men…
Vella had a quick “talk” with every defeated Wolf — she’d sniff them, woof, and wag her tail. Seems like we’ll soon have more members in our ranks. At least, the predators fended for themselves.
“Oh! The Senior Disciple is back!” Shawn waved his hand amiably. He got up from the common table and approached me. “We were waiting for you. We didn’t want to dine without you.”
I froze for a second, trying to understand what he was saying. I glanced at the villagers. Not everybody was glad that they had to sit and wait while their food was getting cold. Mara was frowning more than others, though she had just a mug of wine in front of her. Kane didn’t feed the girl in public. Sitting with his gaze lowered, he was showing humility. Of course, he didn’t particularly admire my authority; he simply did everything he could so that the villagers would support him. Still a united congregation was the source of our Old Man’s power, and his power was Kane’s best bet of saving Mara from deferred death.
Still, delayed suppers could have bad consequences. Hungry citizens meant angry citizens. It was my fault for not telling them that they could dine without me. I was so busy and, honestly speaking, I didn’t expect Shawn to do something so… Extraordinary.
“I’m sorry for being late,” I said with a bow. The villagers weren’t used to being bowed to, so this would boost their little pride. “My training was grueling, but thanks to it and the God of Darkness I became a little bit stronger. For the future, if I, or anyone else, is late, don’t wait for us to eat. Those who are late, like me today, can only blame themselves for the delay,” I smiled and went to my seat.
Once the meal started, people gradually relaxed and began their usual conversations about the day’s successes and failures. Rira bustled around me as usual. Though our “waitresses” worked in shifts, this girl stated her willingness to work every day.
“Senior Disciple!” slamming his mug down on the table, Golin said. “Maybe you’ll show us your Light attack, huh?”
“That again?!” Shawn was indignant. “You’ve been told that that was special magic! Stop harping on!”
“What do ya know?” Golin made a wry face, “Maybe someone can do it, too, huh? Everyone managed with the inventory!”
As I expected, Power of Light left hell of an impression on them. I had to tell them that the spell was so unique that only people closest to the God of Darkness could have it. “Why does our God have Light in his arsenal” they asked. I explained them the interrelation of all things in the world, and that Darkness gave rise to Light, and Light to Darkness. I also drew their attention to the fact that Darkness wasn’t evil, and that it was just one of the parts of our lives. I didn’t know how much they understood, but they listened with open mouths. Later, Shawn came to me and said that some people felt uncomfortable with “our evil nature.” So, with the help of Power of the Light and the made up explanations about its nature, I eased some villagers’ concerns about being on the “dark side”.
The bad news was that Golin and some of his friends were so impressed by my skill that now they were stalking me no less th
an Rira.
“It won’t happen. Drop it, Golin,” Rira said loudly and clearly said. People got quiet, looking at her with astonishment. Nobody expected to hear such a firm and confident reply from her. I also stared at the permanent waitress with curiosity. “Senior Disciple keeps telling you that, Golin,” she continued in a calm tone. “Maybe you should stop bothering him. If you want to talk, there are other, more important question to ask,” the girl turned to me. “Tell me, Senior Disciple, why should we hold onto these lands? And you, my friends,” she glanced over the rest of the villagers, “think about it, too. Why? Because our ancestors lived here? Now that’s a stupid reason to die to the beasts. Then, maybe, it’s because we’ll die from hunger if we go south? Or do you think that the noblemen won’t let us go further and will force us to return? But will they be able to do so? With Senior Disciple’s help we can become stronger. We have enough food. What prevents us from packing our stuff and going far away from the decayed lands, and continuing to train every day? The magic lake? Is it really worth dying for?”
Silence followed the unexpectedly long speech. People looked with puzzled expressions at each other, at me, and at Rira. Nobody dared to speak. I was trying to understand how did this simple girl manage to think of such a long, and quite a logical speech? Did she think of it herself? I would never believe it. Either she, as I feared, wasn’t a simpleton at all, or somebody helped her.
Of course, Shawn was the first to speak.
“Are you insane? What the hell are you talking about? Do you want to become brigands?”
“I wasn’t talking to you, Uncle Shawn,” the girl brushed him aside, staring at me. Our eyes met and I realized that an ordinary rural orphan couldn’t have such an authority. No, it wasn’t some magical aura; rather, it was the feeling of total superiority over the opponent. In my home world, bald, brawny fellows in G-Wagons looked this way at nerds.
I sighed tiredly and shook my head.
“Rira, you shouldn’t talk to elders like that, especially to the chief of the village. Shawn cares for the well-being of every resident of Ilyenta. Show him some respect,” I said calmly and took a sip of wine. “As for your question, I’ll answer it. Right now, even the weakest guardsman of some baron would be too much for you to handle. And even if you managed, nobody would send their half-educated trainees against you. Your opponents would be of level 30 at the least, level 50 at the average. Do you get it? You have a chance to develop yourself and become stronger near the Lake of Grace. Take that chance,” I said not glaring at the insolent girl, but speaking to everyone present. “Those who fought against the creatures of Decay must have already appreciated its effect, right?” The people nodded grimly. “That’s why, Rira. Thank you for your question. But we can’t leave for now. Instead, we’ll train harder. Twenty-four hours a day! No more farming. Shawn, organize the teams so they can train in shifts. Now we’ll fully impose the martial law. We’ll be using the Lake of Grace only for healing. If you don’t give up, we’ll be fully prepared for the next attack of the Decayed. None of your loved ones will die a horrible death ever again!”
