M.D.Syl
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Chapter 118 colorless
🕑 Added 2023-11-23 11:42:59 +0000 UTCChapter 118 Gang War III
Save a man’s life and his yours to do as you please.
Yet, make sure not to cross the line.
If you do, you’ll find yourself with a dagger in your back.
Rakisha, Mother of all Demons.
With my heart pounding loudly in my ears, I run toward Ovin. He still gurgles on the ground in a desperate struggle to breathe. The battle rages around me, but both sides avoids me like wildfire, it’s not like they can harm me and they know it. I pull out the arrow shaft from Ovin’s neck, and blood sprouts like a red fountain from the dark hole at the side of his throat. He chokes and spits blood, trying to push my hands away from him.
“I’m trying to save your life! Stop fighting me, you peabrain!” I press my hand against the hole in his throat, and fix a healing potion against his mouth. “Drink! It’s your only chance!”
He holds onto my wrist, trying to gulp down the potion with a wounded throat.
I lift my eyes to see a man with a red spear armband, stabbing an iron tipped spear toward me. "Myrsha samir!" <Gravity protects!> My orange shield bubble blocks the weapon. To my surprise the orange color flickers and turns red as the spear slowly sinks into my shield as if moving slowly under water. I take out an arrowhead from my belt before the spear's tip reaches me. "Ritsa!" <Repulse!> The bolt hits the man directly in his chest. Instead of collapsing with a hole in his chest, he explodes into a gory bloody mess that gets slowed by my defensive magic, drops of blood floating in the air like odd red snow.
Ovin sits up. He gasps and coughs, massaging his neck and spitting blood. “Thank you, I owe you mah life!”
“Good! Now stop this mindless killing!”
“Charge!” “yarghhhhh!!!” “Gut the fishes!” “Break da spears!” I can hear the battle cries from the middle of the chaotic battle. I can’t see much, but it sounds like a third group just joined this bloody battle. This was a setup, the men on both sides who shot their leaders belong to a third gang… But how?! No one knew I’m going to meet Ovin today, who set this up? Someone with enough intelligence gathering skills… Or maybe it’s someone like Jerro… someone who can predict the future?
This is irrelevant, the time for talk is over. I’ll start killing now. I put my hand in my rose pouch, move my fingers in the correct gestures and chant. “Myrsha, nia tsaf lah, lah shitol ni latsa lah, fel ka’am J’an nia kent” <Gravity, I command you, you will give me to defy you, and move as I want>
I soar in a cloud of purplish smoke, a violet speck of light circles around me. From high above, I can see another gang attacking from the south, all while the Fishermen and the Red Spears are bashing each other in a brutal manner below.
With a quick count I can tell there are about a hundred of them. Even from high up in the air, I can tell that they’re all drenched in water from head to toe, their hair sticks to their faces, and their clothing sticks to their bodies.
Ryon was right, they didn't listen to him. This is why I threaten strangers with fire. These are Marvu’s raiders, and Gushar must’ve went back to report instead of taking my advice. I fly closer passing above the heads of the fighting Fishermen and Red Spears. “Nimuwal!” I aim my water jet in front of the charging army, raising it to wash the ones at the front.
“Snakes!” this low I can even hear their curses. This indeed must be a special preparation for me. An uncontrollable laugh escapes my lips, they really thought they had everything covered.
I fly a meter above the ground, floating between the charging gang who I assume to be Marvu's Raiders, and the battling Fishermen and Red Spears behind me. I increase the amount of water I conjure with an amplifying pattern. I wash the front of the enemy rabble, my water jet drenching them thoroughly and creating watery puddles in the muddy street below.
I fly lower, almost touching the ground in the left side of the street. I float right in front of their lead charging man, I see his brown eyes open wide, his mouth agape with a roar and a spear held tightly in hand, aiming from my chest despite the splashing water. l cut the mana supplies to the ‘Water Jet’ patterns and: “Rial aluwe ri!” <Cold surface stop!> I weave an ‘Instant Freeze’ cantrip.
The water puddles turn into crystalline black surfaces, and the drenched men in five meters radius are covered in a thick layers of frost, not ice statues like I had hoped for. Nevertheless, it’s enough to slow down their charge, they freeze in place or collapse, gasping for air. While I do catch their left group, the street is wider than this ten meters wide or possibly a little more.
The temperatures drop below zero, in the summer heat it’s rather refreshing, but I know that soon I’ll be feeling the cold in my bones. I float a piece of ice to my hand and move it on my lip like an odd lipdye as I fly to the right side of the charging group, the ones who keep charging, out of range of my freezing cantrip. “Felul.” <Wind.> “Shanim rial!” <Vapor cold!> I breath out the ‘Freezing Vapors’, and guide them with my ‘Breeze’. There are too many of them, and I have to spread my vapors around, so it’s not enough to create more than two ice statues. But the sheer cold is more than enough to cover them in frost and slow the rest of them down.
With all the ice around, icy spike spells are easier to cast. “Rinim rill shariss!” <Ice sharp fly!> I grow three icy bolts from the nearby frozen man and scatter them into the half frozen group.
Men collapse, men scream, both war cries and shouts for a retreat. They all eye me with awe and fear. Some turn and run, some hide behind their friends, others clench their shuddering teeth and attempt to hit me with their projectiles.
I turned the whole width of this ten meters wide street into a group of half frozen and bleeding men. Save for two, they aren’t all ice statues like in the bard’s tales, but the sheer cold and frozen body parts is enough for them to hunker down.
Their archers behind keep trying to pin me down, but I am a moving target. The very few arrows that do reach me, slow down right before they hit my body due to the scale armor under my dress. They mostly fall to the ground, sometimes touching my armor lightly.
I land on the frozen earth and cancel my flying spell, reaching for more rose petals. Since they struggle to move or circle the frozen patch of their group, I have enough time to chant and lift my hand. “Myrsha, nia tsaf lah! Nikit bach fukdi-ai fel ritsa!” <Gravity, I command you! Focus in hand mine and repulse!>
Unlike kinetic burst, this spell is silent. The strong repulsive effect sends the majority of this bandit group flying. Frozen body parts snap, bones break, and people scream. They get thrown off their feet and hit the buildings behind them, limbs sprawled.
The enemy gang’s morale was already faltering, now it breaks down into a rout. They push each other to run away.
They scatter into the alleyways, leaving over twenty broken bodies behind. I turn, expecting to see the Fishermen and the Red Spears in a midst of battle, but they’re no longer fighting. They all just stand there, looking at me with awe and fear, some even have worship in their eyes, like I’m a goddess descended upon the world.
I smile, it feels amazing. Yes! Worship me you little dogs. This is power! This is the power I’ve always wanted! I just stopped a charge of a hundred men and I didn’t use half of my power yet! With this, I can go home and keep everyone I love safe! With this, I don’t have to worry about ever becoming a slave again!
I cast a silent ‘Breeze’ to flow in my skirts and hair, enjoying every bit of awe from these men. I arch, taking a deep breath with my eyes closed. Their awe sends odd tingles throughout my body and mana-pools, it's like how I imagined strong wine would make me feel before I actually drank it. The rush of adrenaline in my veins is added by a small touch of sexual arousal. These people's awe is so strong that my crown-pool draws on it, I feed on it. The moment is extremely enjoyable and I don't want it to be over, but like all good things, it must end too. Only now do I notice that all the mana I used up in this battle is topped up, as if I've never cast a single spell.
“This da’ rat!” Ryon leads a man with a fish armband forward, Ryon kicks the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel. The man winces in pain, I can tell all of his right-hand fingers are broken, bent backward unnaturally.
Still riding on my odd rush of power I caress his cheek and hums. “Good job, Ryon!”
He nuzzles against my hand in an odd way, he did the same thing back when the hag touched his face. “Ah don’t want your words! Gimme some o’ that snake ya eat every day, an’ we call it even!” This gets confused looks from the men around us as they try to figure out whether we’re discussing real snakes or not.
Ugh! What am I doing? I tug my hand back like Ryon cheek is on fire, trying to bring myself under control again. “That can be arranged,” I answer with a smile, trying to ignore how red my face is. I approach the spy in the Fishermen gang. “So, who do you work for? Marvu or the flayers?”
He spits on my chest.
I ignore the provocation. “Do you think you can afford your pride right now? Do you know how it feels when your broken fingers are twisted? I’m not beyond forcing your hand. If you tell me everything I want to know, I’ll let you go.”
He tries to spits on me again, but I catch the spit with a silent 'Minor Telekinesis' and push it into his left wincing eye. He grunts and speaks. “What do you take me for? Stupid? I tell you what you want to know and you’ll kill me anyway!”
“And jeopardize the way all of these people see me? Show all of them that my word means nothing?! You are stupid. No, if you tell me what I want to know within the next five minutes, I’ll let you go. If you force me to get it out of you, I’ll kill you.”
“Even if you let me go, Marvu will kill me.”
“I can ensure your safety too, I’ll personally escort you back to my camp. I don’t believe Marvu can fight twenty orcs and a small human army, can he?”
“He’s got people everywhere! He still has some people in the Fishermen, I bet the red spears too! Marvu even has people in the…”
At the edge of my vision I spot a man on one of the rooftops, aiming a bow at us.
“Myrsha samir!” <Gravity protects!> My orange bubble flickers around me and the spy. My reaction is right on time, the arrow gets deflected when it touches my defensive bubble. I snatch it from the air with my mind.
“Berthold!” Before I can even finish my friend’s name, his well-aimed arrow drops Marvu’s man from the rooftop.
This is irritating, the guy has people everywhere, I’m curious to know how they coordinate so well, how does he controls them? How do they communicate?
I let my defensive bubble go. “See? I can ensure your safety. Now talk! How does Marvu communicate with you? How do you receive his orders?”
“In my head, I hear his voice. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m telling you the truth!”
“I believe you. Come on, let’s get you somewhere safe…” That would explain the fast response of these men… I’m either dealing with a telepathic apprentice mage… or some type of fae… I hope it’s not a demon…
I turn to Shorr’s second in command, the man who calms down the Fishermen. Like Shorr, he has a black beard, only shorter. He is surrounded by his men. They keep giving him one bad idea after the other. One of them thinks they should attack everyone here, another suggests to kill Ovin here and now while he's in the open, and the third questions whether or not they can really trust me. “Excuse me?”
The men give way, but I can see the hatred in their eyes. To them it’s my fault their leader died, and no amount of words can change that. “Yes? Sorceress Inara, was it? Your Grace, I’m going to pull the Fishermen back to our territory, we’ll keep to ourselves until this conflict ends. Is that ok with you?”
Smart… the fishermen are lucky to have you as a second in command… “As long as you maintain order and you're loyal to me, that’s perfectly ok with me. I’m sorry for your loss. I couldn’t save your leader. I can’t do a thing about an arrow in the brain. I can’t bring the dead back to life, only avoid being hit in the first place…”
He nods. “Thank you, for trying. I’ll get back to you if I manage to organize everything. Does your offer to bring us food still stands?”
“Of course! I’ll bring food regardless, it’s meant for the people not for one gang leader or another.”
“Good to hear that.” His broad shoulders sag for a moment. “You have our loyality, Your Grace, but we all have families, we can't leave them unprotected."
"As I've said. It's ok. You've done enough. Go protect your families."
He bows deeply, hands held in a prayer gesture I've seen around Red Cedar often, then turn to leave.
"Two things before you go?” He stops. “You didn’t give me your name?”
“Ah, Daor, I’m Shorr’s brother.” I can see the similarities, same brown eyes, same broad shoulders, and almost the same height.
“A pleasure to meet you Daor, the second thing. This city has a sinister creature hiding in it, I’m not sure what it is yet, but it can communicate with the minds of humans. Watch for anyone who acts suspicious.” It’s better if you believe it’s a creature… telling you it might be a sorcerer will only make you more rebellious…
He nods. “Understood! I’ll get back to you once I have everything in order.” He marches his men toward the docks.
Most of the Red Spear members are gone by now, scattered back to their territory. Ovin is still here with a few of his men, he approaches me. “You saved mah life. Me and mah men are yours. Y’oll more than welcome to stay in our territory, I’ll fix you a house with everything for the night.”
“Thanks, but I don't believe we'll get much sleep tonight. Assemble your men. We're attacking the city gates within the hour. Sharla?"
The fae materializes from thin air. Her sudden appearance startles Ovin who jump back and mutters a few curses. "Yes, Mistress?"
“We have a telepathic Fae here, controls his gang from afar, ideas?”
She shakes her head. “Can be a lot of things, from gray pixies to vampires. You asked me about the Rakshasa a few days ago and a Rakshasa is also an option, it should be able to communicate and dominate mortals telepathically. Though if it was a Rakshasa behind the scenes here, we’d see a flourishing city, not this mess, not so soon. Telepathy is a pretty common ability amongst the Fae, one in four Fae species is either born with it or gets it at some point in their lives. I need more than just telepathy to go on, and even then, I’m not an expert.”
Great, this isn’t getting anywhere… “You’re the closest thing I have to an expert on the Fae. We have a prisoner here, you can ask him everything. I want to know what we’re dealing with.”
“You could ask Jerro, he holds a surprising amount of knowledge about the Fae, even if it’s not always accurate. But I guess you aren’t wrong, I’ll talk to the prisoner.” She steps toward our newly acquired prisoner. "Did you see Marvu? How did he look like?"
"No. Never seen him." Annoyance wells in my chest at the predictable answer.
"Ah make him talk!" Ryon grabs the man's hair and twists his head a little as the man squirms.
Sharla shrugs. "You can try, but I don't think he actually saw Marvu. Something is off with him. He smells wrong, I... I think he's no longer alive? I'm not sure. He smells like undead anyway."
"I'm alive!" The man protests. "Please don't hurt me! I'll tell you what you want to know, but I never saw Marvu, please, good lady, take me out of here before another bowman gets here."
I cross my hands "Fine. Take him away, Ovin. I'll have you interrogate him later, Ryon, and all the snake meat you want when we're back in camp. Sharla, get past the gates to Salik, have him attack the city gates from outside as a distraction exactly at dusk."
"It will be done, Mistress." One moment she's there, the next she's not. I know she simply turned invisible, but Ovin men have their awe flooding my veins in volumes. Yes. You're all my pawns, look at what my pawns are capable of my little dogs and serve me... UGH STOP. Focus. Breathe. Did Sharla do that on purpose? Of course she did... but why? Is she trying to make me act on my bloodline or something? To what ends?
I take a deep breath, bringing myself under control. "Ovin? Please keep an eye on your people for suspicious behavior…”
He grins, his red scar twisting. “Yeah, I heard the warning you gave them Fishes. When will you start teaching me magic?” There is an eagerness to begin learning in his brown eyes.
"Not today. Today we're attacking the gates and securing a passage for my men into the city from the camp outside. However... Zoe? Did you get to the wood mana pool yet?” I turn to my first apprentice.
She shifts awkwardly. “Yes master I’m currently working on it, since water magic strengthens wood magic I thought it’d be a good idea and…”
“For the time being Zoe will teach you how to form your wood mana pool.”
Zoe wrinkles her nose in disgust. “Why me?”
I cross my hands. “Because I need to think, and it's simple enough that you can teach it. Regardless it'll be tomorrow when we have time. We're attacking the gates. Get your men ready, Ovin."
"Yeah. Of course, Mistress?" He bows lightly and turns, gestures us to follow him.
Zoe keeps wrinkling her nose at Ovin but she does begin to explain the wood meditation method to him as we walk. Berthold walks by my side, watching the rooftops with his bow half drown. Ryon is gone, but I can tell he's shadowing us. The prisoner is dragged by Ovin men toward his camp.
*~*~*
Interlude 118.1
Kolag
Kolag watches with fury as Grokar’s head falls off his shoulders. He just broke Inara’s trust with this action, the realization weighs heavy upon his heart.
This little incident will grow into a bigger conflict, all because he couldn’t control his rage, he couldn’t watch this injustice happening right in front of him. And his god demands it. Maybe Inara was right, what will he do if Noxi orders him to attack her or someone else from their group?
“Kill theM all!” The demon bellows in his mind. “Suck theiR juicy Wet guts! DrAin their fEces! Rip their inTestines and stRangle them! WEt! Wet and jUicy!”
“Kill them all!” His god orders. “They’re nothing but animals! Below animals! How dare they defile the dead?! Do they think power is everything? Show them the true power of a god!”
And Kolag shows them what a true power is, he hacks, slashes, and stabs. The bright light shining from his armor blinds the orcs. Just like the blind savages they are, they attack without a thought. Two of them attack each other, four swing in the wrong direction, only the orc at Grokar’s side manages to reach Kolag with his axe.
Kolag slashes the orc’s wrist with the tip of his trusty claymore. The orc attempts to use his left hand, but Kolag adds another deep cut on the orc’s lower abdomen before he can even draw another weapon. The orc drops to his knees, organs spilling out.
By the time the orcs regain their senses and adjust to the bright light, Kolag had already killed two. Light comes out of each of his slashes, reminding him that Noxi supports this action. Noxi’s verdict is more important than Inara’s. Or is it?
Kolag will think about it later, he can leave it to Noxi to sort out. He has to show trust and faith in his god.
Another orc screams as Kolag’s large blade chops off his arm. Kolag steps aside from an axe that got thrown at him, and proceeds to cut the knuckles of the next orc in a fluid motion, knocking the axe off his hand. He takes a step back to avoid a blinded swing from another orc, and whips the orc’s committed shoulder with a quick slash.
*ding!* *cling!* Kolag’s head rocks in his helmet. An axe and a spear gets deflected by his adamantine armor. Bronze and bone cannot penetrate this armor. Yet, Kolag shouldn’t get complacent, should he topple over, or should one of the blade penetrate a weak spot in the armor, he’ll die like anyone else.
Kolag steps back, and positions all of the orcs at one side. He radiates Noxi’s light to blind them, and waves the claymore in their direction to keep them away. With the claymore’s superior reach and their short range axes, he can win this, Noxi is on his side.
Kolag deflects a fast spear stab, his reach cannot help him with this one, but Noxi’s radiance can. He prays wordlessly and the glow intensifies, the spear stabbing at him now stabbing blindly in the wrong direction. Kolag swings at the orc’s ankle and the blade bites into flesh. He pulls his claymore fast and blocks a blow from another orc as the first drops to one knee.
Kolag keeps moving, dodging the blind attacks and swinging death upon his savage enemies. And then, silence, there’s no one left to attack him anymore.
Kolag lets the light fade.
One of the orcs gets up and swings an axe with his left hand. “Ti-a’ark!!!”
Kolag’s step back out of reach for the swing and stab his claymore through the orc’s torso. The savage spasms, and Kolag kicks him off his bloody blade. Three of the orcs are still alive, groaning and clenching their wounds.
“Kill them! Gut them! Wet sweet juices!”
“Kill them my son. Slavers, monsters who enslave and torture women and children. They don’t deserve to live!”
The voices in Kolag’s head intensify. Kolag raises his sword and execute the three remaining orcs.
Kolag gasps for air, bathing in sweat. He eyes the bloodied field, leaning on his claymore for support. Eight gutted orcs. Eight gutted savages. Eight less slavers who’d torture women and children. Justice have been served.
If anyone had ever told him in the past that a warrior had managed to defeat eight enemies without taking a single hit, Kolag would doubt that person’s credibility. Noxi, his god, had a direct hand in this, and Kolag is merely his vessel, this knowledge fills Kolag’s chest with pride.
“You are correct to be proud, my son. Justice has been served! Evil has been cleansed!” Kolag hear his god’s words.
“My son, the man who had been wronged, heal his daughter. I will grant you the power to heal the sick and wounded from this day onward.” The next order and ability comes directly in his god’s voice. No longer praying and wondering whether or not his god can hear him, now Kolag’s god is with him, every day, every hour, every second.
*~*~*
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 79
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 16 gems. Conversion ratio: 6:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 26 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 19/20 gems
Water: Affinity 6: formed: 39 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 6 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 13 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 84/95 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield II. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.
Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.
Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.
Focus capability: 18 patterns.
Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Shaman of the Twin Moon Tribe. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.
Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.
Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
4 potions of Lesser Healing.
4 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
Glitter ingredients. (1 bag)
Fresh rose petals, 30g
Fresh lavender petals, 7g
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.
Present Companions:
Zoe
Ovin Bloodspear
Berthold
Ryon
Languages:
Toml’a <People’s tongue> Fluent
Sinteo <Speech> Fluent
Myrsha <Gravity> 8/10
Felul <Wind> 1/10
Nim <Water> 1/10
A'arkalu <Wolf Tongue> 3/10
Injuries and scars:
Curses:
-
Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems.
Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: 1,158 orcs. 293 orc children. 529 sheep-slaves.
Kingdom's army: 1,1156 Orc Warriors. 324 Footmen. 49 Peacekeeper Knights. 500 Blood Spears.
Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Marasi Chef extraordinaire (spymaster.)
Old Gardner Tiom.
Balgrum Orc Chieftain.
