Draith
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Chapter 39 - The Village
🕑 Added 2025-03-13 14:00:10 +0000 UTCThere'll be a bonus chapter in an hour to celebrate reaching top 10 Rising Stars on RoyalRoad. Chapter 1/2 for today.
...Mage Lord Isekai...
The walk from the watchtower to the village was the longest mile I'd ever walked. Paradoxically, it was the smoothest stretch of terrain we'd encountered since we arrived in my domain.
Yet the responsibility pressing down on me was heavier with each step.
Such a small community would be tight knit. Would they welcome me? They’d been without a Magus for years.
By the time the village was in sight, it took a tremendous amount of willpower to keep moving. There was no longer any wisp of smoke. In fact, there was nothing. Despite the sun having been up for several hours, there was no sign of life.
Worrying. As I got closer, I came across a chasm. Only twenty feet across at the closest point. Basically nothing, if I was in Fang.
I was almost tempted to turn back to get the others. Instead I looked for another way across. After nearly a minute, I spotted a rope bridge located on the far side of the village.
Since the chasm seemed to wrap around the village, I started marching alongside it. The terrain was rough enough my attention was focused solely on keeping my footing. Which made it easier going than when I was worried about my first impressions.
I was halfway to the bridge when a noise made me look up. A giggle. From across the chasm. When I turned in that direction my jaw dropped open.
The chasm didn't just go around the village. It ran right through the center, nearly a hundred feet wide. Somehow, I'd mistaken it for the village's central street.
Which, in a way, it was.
Except the village wasn’t the buildings above.
In the chasm, it looked a bit like a harbor had been built on a piece of cardboard, then folded and shoved into place. There were dozens of rope bridges leading back and forth across the chasm, with dozens of buildings built into the walls. Most of the buildings looked like they’d once been ships, though some had the distinctive plainness that spoke of a warehouse.
There was rigging, rope ladders and hanging vines stretched everywhere, a giant interconnected web of rope and wood.
Another giggle drew my attention to a spot much closer.
A little girl, not more than ten years old, was sitting sideways in a rope ladder, staring across the chasm at me, curly brown hair hiding her eyes. Still giggling.
"What's so funny?" I found myself asking with a smile on my face.
"You're stiff," she replied, her voice surprisingly clear through the open air. Her freckled cheeks stretched into a grin. Without losing her balance, she held her arms in front of her, straight-out like she was impersonating a zombie. She even waved them up and down once before breaking into giggles again.
I was suddenly feeling a lot better about my prospective people. A child with this much enthusiasm was a good sign.
Before I could call out to ask her name, she looked over her shoulder. "Uh oh. Gotta go."
"Wait, I’m-" I called, but she was already gone. It was shocking how quickly she fled across the roof behind her before dropping down several stories to the buildings below.
I was still staring in shock when a gang of four men in dark brown tunics made their way up the ladders to where she'd been sitting. When one of them saw me, he barked out a word that sounded a bit like intruder but also could've been outsider.
Either way, the men following him all drew blowguns.
Well, I couldn't have that.
Despite the low ambient mana, I still had my own regeneration. And since I was almost to my third slot, I wasn't too worried about using a reduced strength Create Ice to throw up a thin barrier between us.
It only took up ten percent of my mana. I nodded to myself, satisfied. I'd have that back in about six minutes.
When they saw the barrier go up, their shouting intensified, though the wording changed. This time I knew exactly what they were yelling. "Frost Riven."
That… had been a somewhat predictable misunderstanding, hadn't it?
To be honest, this entire thing had me wildly off balance. Who builds their town in the middle of a chasm when you have flat space right there.
Obviously, the answer was, these folks.
"I am not a Frost Riven!" I shouted only to be met with a wave of darts crashing into my shield of ice. Despite my pleasure at seeing it hold, I was hardly pleased with the way this was unfolding.
"Maybe I should've just ridden in on Fang," I muttered. There wouldn't have been any chance of being mistaken for a Frost Riven then. Not that it would've meant a warmer welcome. Unless I counted Fang's steaming exhaust.
I closed my eyes and simply accepted I was going to have to break out a tier two combat spell. I wouldn't target them, I'd just…
What? Scare them into surrendering?
Shaking my head, I immediately discarded the idea. The smart thing to do was to simply back away.
So that's what I started to do. I took a step back. Then laughed at how useless my ice shield had been, as that single step had completely blocked their line of sight. I started picking my way along the edge of the rim back towards Calbern and Tresla, who I could barely pick out with Eagle Eyes, waiting where I'd first noticed the chasm. It didn't take long to leave the hubbub behind. There was an awful lot of noise, but whoever was in charge, it didn't seem to occur to them that I'd just leave.
Which I wouldn't have, if they hadn't decided to shoot at me.
I intended to meet up with Calbern and Tresla to discuss options.
However, I never got that far.
A large man popped over the lip of the chasm directly in front of me, one hand swinging him into place, the other hand on some sort of blasting rod I didn't recognize. Only the fact he didn't point it at me kept me from hitting him in the face with a Spark spell.
Best non-lethal combat spell in Nexxa's grimoire for dealing with mortals.
"Halt outlander, in the name of Grivis," he said. His voice was as rich as his face was handsome. Which was very. Still, it was a little hard to take him seriously with the way his legs were wobbling.
"Who's Grivis?" I asked, crossing my arms. The previous Magus Dominus had been named… Balltime or something like that. Not Grivis.
"Grivis is in charge around here. And he says all outlanders are to be brought to him. So that's what we'll do," the man said, the wobbliness in his legs having stilled enough for him to take a half-step towards me.
"Perfect. Exactly the man I need to talk to. Why don't you go get him, and let him know the new Magus Dominus has arrived," I said, uncrossing my arms and shaking them out.
A second later, I heard two heavy thumps behind me.
Without turning around, and before they could get their legs under them, I fired off gust, knocking both of the guards behind me on their sides, away from the chasm. At least, I was assuming they were guards. The one in front of me seemed like the type.
"Grivis isn't going to like that," the guard in front of me said, though he couldn't stop a small smile from forming as he did. "Not gonna like that one bit."
"Ugh. Why're you talking to him, Tanis? Just shock him and-" I risked a glance behind me just long enough to locate the guard who was talking and hit him with Spark. He collapsed atop his fellow guard, eliciting a wheezing grunt.
"Yeah, Tanis," I said, smiling back at the big guard who was smiling even wider now. "Why're you still talking to me? Let Gravis know I'm here. And anyone else you want to tell, while you're at it." I nodded across the chasm to the village. "I'll be waiting for him. Or whoever is in charge. Neutral ground."
"On it, boss lady," Tanis said with a grin.
“I’m not-“ I started, but before I could correct him, he was already hefting himself back over the edge without so much as looking. Uncertain whether he was actually that stupid, I wasn't able to keep from peeking over the edge. Tanis was swinging to the far side with a thick rope in one hand. He let go in mid air and grabbed another, making his way across the cliffside village.
Somehow, in the middle of the frost-ridden Frigid Peaks, my village was full of acrobatic vine swingers.
After ensuring they weren't in any condition to immediately follow me, I relieved the two guards of their weapons before jogging back to Calbern and Tresla.
Now that I had a better idea of what we were dealing with, our next meeting was going to involve Fang. I hadn't wanted to scare a bunch of helpless villagers, but this bunch was far from helpless. Having Fang there, along with Calbern and Tresla, would go a long way to establishing credibility.
For a second, I felt a pang of regret that we hadn't waited for Inertia. As Tresla had said, having an eight-foot, two-tonne war machine at your shoulder made a certain kind of impression.
It was fine. I returned to the others, and it only took a single cast of Create Ice to set up a ramp for Calbern to get us across. It cracked a little as we ran over it, causing my heart to crack right alongside it. Still, we only warbled a little more than usual when we landed.
Then Calbern turned Fang towards the cluster of buildings I'd mistakenly assumed was the village. When we got close, I counted seven buildings, all of them built long and narrow with thick stone walls and stone slate roofing. None of the wood buildings I'd seen in the initial map Althon had shown me were anywhere to be seen.
I had to admit, despite knowing there hadn't been one on the map, I was also a touch disappointed there wasn't a wizard tower. The closest thing were the peaks looming around us.
We rolled up to the backside of one of the stone buildings, and deciding not to be a totally horrible person, I didn't immediately poke my head inside to investigate.
Instead I asked Calbern to check.
"It seems to be dried vegetables and other preserved goods, master Perth," Calbern reported a few seconds later. “Though they’ve been tossed about somewhat.”
"Makes sense, I guess," I said as we moved back a hundred feet from the building. "Just glad it wasn't full of slaves or anything."
"It is forbidden for a Magus Dominus to keep slaves," Calbern said. Before I could say anything, his face twitched. "Though, I suppose so far from any of his peers, Magus Balthum may not have been held to the same standard."
"I doubt the goons he left in charge would've been much better than their boss either," I said, still watching for them. Not that I expected to spot them before Calbern.
"Seems more likely they'd be as bad as the Riven, if not worse," Tresla said, her pipe out for the first time since we'd split up with Inertia.
"They only tried to shoot me with poisoned darts and arrest me, so I'm not too concerned yet," I said. There was a loud whine and my eyes narrowed.
"Back on Fang. Move!" Calbern ordered with unusual sternness.
I didn't question it. Calbern didn't let Tresla climb on board, chucking her with adrenaline fueled strength. Thankful I'd maintained my routine with Calbern, I hopped inside but still landed half upside-down when Calbern hit the acceleration.
My awkward position meant I saw when the explosive hit where we'd been parked.
"That was my bad," I said, shaking my head. "Gave them a free shot."
"At least this confirms their hostility," Calbern said, even as we circled back to take another look.
"Yeah. And that was a physical object. Not magic. That means they've got a limited supply."
"Yes, but a big limit or a small one?" Tresla asked, having managed to get herself upright and turned around, a feat I was still working on.
At least I had a good view of the sky. Scanning the air, I didn't see any more projectiles falling towards us. "Did you see where it came from?"
"I believe it was lobbed from near the center of the village, master Perth," Calbern replied, slowing Fang as we got close to the impact sight. The fire was still burning. Some sort of thick black sludge.
Had they lit crude oil on fire and flung it at us? That was more crazy than brave.
"Hmm. Inertia probably knows exactly what that is," Tresla said, standing up in her seat to peer down. "But it seems to be some form of protheum."
It took a second for me to connect the word she used to my understanding of Elinder. The language didn't have any refined words for crude oil products. Neither did Alvian.
Interesting.
"Pretty sure it is," I agreed, keeping my eyes on the chasm. "There'll probably be more projectiles if we sit still. The question is… do I want to let them waste precious resources?"
"It seems unlikely this Grivis character is going to come out to meet you, master Perth. An alternative strategy may be in order," Calbern said, already driving us away.
"Fair 'nuff," I replied, staring back at the still burning remnants clinging to the wall. "Guess it's time for black ops."
