The king was already hitting the trolls from the back with a large, evil-looking mace, taking chunks out of their legs as rock flew in all directions. A troll turned around very slowly from the wall and tried to smash the king into the ground with both hands. Before the troll could hit, the king blurred for a second and reappeared on its other side taking down the other leg. The mountain of a troll, about five meters tall, hit the ground and sent a cloud of black dust from the charred goblin bodies into the air. After the dust had cleared, Ceras was able to see the king and the two young men pounding away at the prone troll, slowly taking down its health bar with each hit. When they had finished, the troll disintegrated into a pile of rock against the wall.
As the night went on this scene was replicated all along the wall, as Ceras provided magical protection to the king and his companions to slowly clear the trolls from the wall. Ceras noticed that the fewer trolls were hitting the wall the stronger the rest of it remained, allowing it to withstand the prolonged bombardment. By the end of the night’s battle all the trolls were reduced to rocks littering the battlefield, and the sea of goblins had slowly been dealt with via the combination of magic and showers of arrows.
Looking down onto the field with the king beside him, Ceras saw the mass of bleeding goblin bodies along the full length of the wall. The smell of death was already starting to make standing at the edge unbearable.
It was the king who broke the silence when he said, “This was too well-coordinated to be a coincidence. I need to get to the bottom of the duke’s treachery. A challenge is allowed under the law, but to use wild monsters in a power play is unforgivable as it strikes against everything that is dear in our world. It has always been humans against the rest of the world.”
The furious king turned and headed toward his castle, his coat sweeping behind him.
“That man certainly knows how to throw a good party,” said Rinaldo, shaken but still able to smile. “I thought that we’d have to dance tonight.”
“Hey, I wanted to dance with Symania,” said Qyndad, looking disheveled in his tattered clothes that had not survived the night.
“Well, you did get to dance with some trolls, so what are you moaning about?”
Chapter 2 Planning
The king was livid with rage as he paced around the throne room. With its large columns throughout, it looked like a forest with stone trees keeping the wooden ceiling aloft as if it was a forest canopy. Before the ornately-carved wooden throne on its raised platform, taking center stage was a group of tables that had been set up.
The king stopped and hit the thick wooden table with a loud thud that made everybody in the room jump. He was looking at a report about Moryam, the Duke of Riverwind’s resurrection point. Somehow one of the wizards in the service of the duke had, though magical spying, discovered the resurrection point of the duke’s family and vassal resurrection points.
“Oh, I admire the cleverness of the plan, but now they are beyond my reach it unsettles me to the bone,” said the king, starting to think more rationally as he turned to the wizard. “So, they all happened to make their resurrection points within the province that the duke controls.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It indicates that this was all planned,” said the wizard. “Normally people will set their resurrection point to the closest temple. For all the duke’s party to have set their resurrection points to such a distant part of the kingdom, meant they had decided to use it to escape the capital, Your Majesty.”
Ceras watched in silence as the king then turned to one of his generals. “So, do you have any information about how the goblin horde reached our city wall without any warning?”
The general moved a few steps forward and saluted with his hand banging his chest. “Yes, Your Majesty. They had the help of human wizards who led them through the kingdom with a spell of concealment. This is the first time that we’ve seen wild monsters, expressly goblins, working with the human race. We don’t know how the duke managed to do this as normally, goblins will just kill any human on sight.”
The king rubbed his face with his large hand that was now free of its armor. It had been a long night, what with clearing all of the troll and goblin remains away from the wall, and still nobody had slept. The king had immediately called a council in his throne room to discuss what had happened, but his fatigue was starting to show and he was getting short-tempered.
“It was unexpected that they would be able to move through the kingdom without any indication, so the kingdom was taken off guard when they attacked,” the general added. “We have always worked on the assumption that humans and wild monsters will not work together in any large-scale coordinated manner.”
The king unrolled the map that showed the route the goblin horde had taken from the mountain pass. Ceras noticed that it was almost the same route that he and the other adventurers had taken only a few weeks earlier. The king looked at the route and paused for a second, with his hand tapping against the table as he thought.
“We need to develop a system of detecting large movements of creatures throughout the kingdom, even if they are concealed by human magic. General, get with the university department and see if anybody has any ideas that will work, but for now, increase patrol of the kingdom and place magic users in each patrol to test for concealment spells.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” said the general as he backed away from the king and bowed, before walking quickly out of the room with several of his lieutenants.
The king then addressed a hooded figure in the shadows at the back of the throne room who had been quiet for the whole meeting. “Find out how the duke managed to betray his own race by conscripting the monsters, and see what he plans to do next.”
The shadowy figure just turned and left the room without any reply.
“We’ll reconvene later in the day when we’ve had a chance to get some rest and come back with clear heads,” said the king as he looked around the room at the tired faces.
He then turned toward his daughter and said, “We’ll have another ball some other time to celebrate, as this one seemed to get a bit out of hand.”
Symania smiled at her father and curtsied. “Father, could we only invite people who are not going to try and dethrone you this time?”
The king just nodded his head, to a smile of delight from his daughter and wife.
“Off you go, everybody, and get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do.”
With this dismissal, the three young men walked out of the hall yawning and headed to bed. Ceras wondered if they would be back for the discussion later, as they had only managed to get invited to the council because they had been accompanying the king back from the battlefield. They’d had no involvement with the analysis of what had happened.
The long walk back to the wizard's level was tiring as they had to walk through several city levels, since the platform was being used for moving troops to clean up the mess outside the city. When Ceras was back in his bedroom he cast a cleaning spell on his robe to rid it of the smell of burnt goblin, before simply collapsing onto the bed.
--
Ceras sat on the grass in the Majesty’s college grounds; as a master of the college now, he had the privilege of being permitted to do so. Since the treachery of the duke against the rest of the kingdom, any opposition against Ceras in the capital had for a time quietened down, making it easier for the college to give him a fellowship. He was under a tree enjoying the shade on this hot day while copying into his own magical book from his study note book proved by Hidden-Caverns. It had been a week since the ball and the events that had occurred afterward, and in that time he, Qyndad and Rinaldo had not been summoned back to the palace, so they had returned to studying and fighting in the dungeon.
Ceras was happy with the progress he was making, in not only gaining the understanding to reach legendary level but also learning new spells. He checked his spell list with the goddess blessing:
Spells
Spell Effectivene
ss %:
1000
Name
Mastery
MP
Effects
Damage/Heal
Fire Shot
Master
100
200
2000
Frost Blast
Master
100
200
2000
Light
Master
10
0
Healing Force
Master
10
200
2000
Eye in the Sky
Master
10
Staff Enchantment
Master
-
Storage Spell
Master
Immobilization
Master
Max MP
Immobilize an object
Cook
Master
5
Cook a meal
Wash
Master
2
Wash body and clothes
Tidy/Clean
Master
3
Complete all the housework
Fire/Ice Ward
Master
100
200
Create a fire or ice ward to damage anybody crossing
2000
Illusion
Master
100
Create an image that is projected from the mind of the caster
Force Blast
Master
100
200
Blast of energy used to move or apply pressure to an object
Mental heal
Master
-
Work to bring people back from the edge of madness
Magical Shield
Master
-
-
Produce a magical shield over a designated volume
Temperature Extreme
Master
100
200
The heat of the sun and cold of the vacuum of space all in the same minute spot, causing it to tear apart any material with temperature cycling
2000
Temperature Extreme Hold
Master
100
200
The heat of the sun and cold of the vacuum of space all in the same minute spot causing it to tear apart any material with temperature cycling combined with the immobilization spell
2000
Cure Poison
Master
100
Cure poison
Terrifying
Master
100
Project a presence of terror
Hail Storm
Master
100
200
Area effect of a hail storm
2000
Bound Shield
Master
100
Produce a shield of light impenetrable on your arm
Cloak
Master
100
Illusion spell that cloaks your presence
Bolt of Magical Energy
Master
100
200
Attack with magical energy
Object Explode
Master
100
Teleport a fireball into an object where it explodes
Flame Shield
Master
100
Fire shield around the body
Winter
Master
100
Create a blinding blizzard
Ice Shield
Master
100
Ice shield around the body
Vision of Magnification
Master
-
Allow you to view small objects in great detail
Lighting Spell
Master
100
200
Produce light
2000
He had several new spells that he was keen to try out in a combat situation, and it seemed the world, as always, would provide an opportunity for him. He was now at level fifty as the battle had given him the final experience he needed to gain the legendary level, and all he needed now was to complete the task, which was in hand.
XP 100 of 60 to level 51 Wizard (Task required for progressing from Master to Legendary not completed)
Checking his character sheet, Ceras studied his increase in stat points. He was still waiting on gaining the legendary level before he selected the skills that he had earned.
Character Name:
Ceras
1st Class
Wizard
Character Total Level*
50
Major
Strength
Fortitude
Agility
Number
221
221
221
Major
Intelligence
Charisma
Knowledge
Number
792
60
242
Minor
HP
MP
Stamina
Carry Limit
Number
983
8340
1115
452
Regen Sec
22.1
159.4
23.1
N/A
As he was looking down onto the grass, he suddenly saw a shadow of a girl with long hair approaching him across the ground. Looking up, he saw the smiling face of Calipe as she approached him confidently. He had not seen her since the college dinner.
“Won’t you get into trouble for being on the grass?” he asked Calipe as she approached.
“I think that I’ll be OK if the newest master of the college is happy with me being here. Are you happy with me being here?” the girl asked with a sly smile.
“It’s fine,” said Ceras noncommittally. He was wary of this girl's interest in him, as it had already cost him some serious gold.
She’s looking very pretty in her new robe and with her hair braided that way… but I wonder if her name is a warning to all that see her.
The beautiful, smiling girl sat next to him as he tried to return to his books, feeling slightly nervous.
“So, what were you doing on the night of the goblin horde attack on the city?” asked the girl as a way of getting Ceras’ attention. “The college students were getting ready to support the army on the wall on the second level, but nothing broke through the first level so I only saw the fighting in the distance. It looked pretty dramatic with all the magic being worked.”
Ceras just answered without thinking. “I was with the king clearing the giant mountain trolls from the city wall, providing magical coverage for him to attack.”
“Are you a noble?”
“No, of course not.”
“How were you with the king, then?”
“Oh, I was at the palace ball when the attack happened, so I was with the king’s party on the wall. He asked for my help.”
Silence followed this statement as Ceras carried on reading from his book, but after a while he looked up, wondering why it was so quiet. Calipe was looking shocked and slightly concerned as she watched him. Her gaze seemed to be trying to penetrate her existing understanding of who he was, until it finally changed from one of shock to determination and she smiled sweetly again.
“So, when you get invited to the next ball will you invite me to go with you?” the girl asked sweetly.
Ceras must have looked like a deer staring into some bright magical light and gulped, but he did not want to offend her. “Yes, but I doubt that there will be another one.”
“Well, remember that you promised me you'd invite me if there is.”
Calipe jumped up and kissed him on the cheek, and ran off toward one of the college dorms as Ceras returned to his books. The re
st of the day passed quietly in study in this pleasant spot, until it started to get cold and Ceras grew hungry after a full day buried in his books. He had brought a packed lunch but that had disappeared a long time ago.
In a matter of minutes, he was back home sitting at a table with a meal of cold meats and bread in front of him and making a roll of bread and meat to take into what was he calling his laboratory, to do some research into the evening. He entered the room he’d had set up for him by the gremlins in the cellar of the house, with thick stone walls that were now full of protection inscriptions to confine the magic. Ceras had had a solid wooden benches made. He now cleared of anything, as he was just starting his magical experiments. He also had a target area where he could conduct his experimental work with different spell effects.
Legendary Weapons Page 2
