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Chapter 198 - Breakthrough (Thank you for your support, Bilbo Baggins!)
🕑 Added 2024-11-17 12:18:01 +0000 UTC“Even with a bow like that?”
“You don’t know how debuffs work, do you?”
“Debuffs? What is that?”
It seemed that the word wasn’t common here… it made sense. It was more of a gaming term, after all.
“The negative effects that bolts enchanted with dark energy can cause. They only work on living beings, not on objects.”
Even my decay arrow only worked on living beings, but I wasn’t planning to reveal that kind of information. Still, perhaps I could find a way to destroy those towers. At least one of them before morning comes would be fine.
I sat down and then began to write down some scrolls. It would take a lot of mana, but it would do the trick. I couldn’t see anyone close to the towers, so it would be perfect. They might fall from fifty meters of height, but that wouldn’t kill the dwarves.
The skill Scroll Crafting leveled up. You received 1600 experience points.
I probably should use the other skills of that class to unlock new ones. Now that I had enough ink to last for a while, it was the best option. Making scrolls for Great Fireball was granting me a lot of experience, though. The only problem was that the other skills were a bit harder to use…
You received 80 experience points.
You received 80 experience points.
You received 80 experience points.
“All right, this should do it.”
I could see the sky on the horizon getting a bit more clear, so it looked like I pulled it off just in time. I attached them to an arrow and then got ready to unleash it. I activated the skills to power up my arrows. Shadow Mark, Precision Mark, Deadeye Focus, and Power Shot. Thanks to that, when I unleashed the arrow, it flew while making a high pitching sound.
When anyone heard the sound of the arrow, it was already too late… a magic barrier emerged the moment the arrow got too close to the tower, but it soon was dispersed when the arrow exploded. While the arrow didn’t reach the tower, the scrolls were destroyed close enough to the tower and, thanks to all the light, I could see their shape.
It was basically a building that could move… since they could add all kinds of runes and enchantments to the structure, it could move while still having a lot of resistance to attacks. Still, the Great Fireballs hit the base of the structure and then made it slowly fall backward while the metal was melting.
“All right, let’s go.”
“Wait, we need to let some people see us.”
We had to let people realize that someone with a dark bow was able to do that, but that went against every single logical thought in my mind. So, I couldn’t help but get impatient… Regardless, the impact made the dwarves in the area and nearby towers think that they were being attacked, but soon they realized that it wasn’t the case.
They found us staring coldly at the tower that was still burning and soon they grabbed a bunch of thick crossbows to attack us, but we left the area before they could hit us.
“That was very impressive… I didn’t think that anyone would use scrolls on arrows and make them explode when the attack happens.”
“If you only do what others tell you to do, you will have a safe path and can achieve as much as them. Only by trying new things you can try to achieve more.”
It made sense, but… This was particularly difficult for Clarice because, in Elven society, heritage was pretty much everything. One’s lineage and the accomplishments of their ancestors were a source of immense pride and a defining factor of their place in the world. For Clarice, the idea of stepping away from the traditions that honored and preserved her family’s legacy felt almost like betraying the very foundation of her identity.
Still, she couldn’t ignore the wisdom in the words. The notion both challenged her and offered a new perspective. It suggested that while honoring her ancestors’ achievements was important, she could truly honor them by daring to forge her own path and adding to the legacy in her unique way. It was a battle between staying true to her roots and embracing the uncertainty of growth.
She didn’t say anything after that, but I could tell that she was thinking deeply about it. That could be bad. I didn’t want to put any weird ideas in her mind. Who knows what someone like her could come up with using those words? Hopefully, nothing insane, like going on a quest to take over the world.
“How long do we have to keep moving?”
“For a few hours, just to be safe. The dwarves aren’t fast, but the other members of the unseen arrow definitely are. Why?”
“Are they close?”
“I don’t think so… they will approach with caution. Again, why?”
“I want to try something.”
We stopped moving and then landed behind a tree. After that, I began to take some pieces of leather from my magic bag and then created a tent that was big enough to fit five people. Once it was done, I attached some mana cores to the internal parts of the leather, and then soon the tent disappeared.
“What the… how did you do that? Regulus, where are you?”
“Stop shouting, just get in and don’t make any noise. I didn’t add the effects to muffle the sounds from inside the tent, so keep quiet.”
I moved the entrance and then Clarice was able to see the interior and get inside… it hadn’t changed a bit, it was just camouflaged. She soon saw the amulets on the back of the leather and understood what was going on.
“Can you erase the traces of our steps in the area? They still can find us if they began to search for us in a small area, right?”
“... Yeah.”
Clarice left the tent completely stunned and then went to erase the traces of our steps around. She also jumped to other trees ahead to make them think that we vanished far ahead. Creating a hideout hidden in plain sight was cool and all, but it was quite costly to make leather pieces that could last for that long.
Fortunately, I had the leatherworker class now, so making those faster and with higher quality would be easier. In any case, I began to make more scrolls to destroy more of those towers. If I wanted to finish things off here as soon as possible, I had to make myself known as fast as possible as well.
Clarice soon returned to rest in the corner of the tent. The place was five meters long and wide, so there was plenty of room for her to rest. I was planning to take a nap eventually as well to keep myself in tip-top condition.
“Did you learn all those things by yourself?”
“Some things I learned by accident, other things I was forced to improvise and that made me discover them.”
“Don’t you want to talk about what you have done since that time?”
I wondered if there was any point in talking about it. Still, keeping that information hidden wouldn’t change a thing. I just had to keep hidden the important details.
In the end, I revealed what I did since the time we parted ways. lying low as a fletcher, changing my identity, joining the start of the war between the humans and aquarians and then eventually finding myself in the underwater prison.
“You managed to escape that place?”
“Not on my own. Some pirates were with me. They died in the last battle, but I survived.”
Clarice studied my face and realized that asking further was not a good idea. She realized that I couldn’t have survived without fighting together with them and a lot of things should have happened along the way.
“After that, I lied low in the Skarnash Tribelands and after I finally decided to move on, the empire strikes. My timing is as bad as they can be…”
“Well, you are certainly unlucky… but at least all those situations are making you tougher. I was a bit better than you back then when it comes to archery, but now I can tell that I have been falling behind.”
“Not like you have been using your bow to take down a lot of enemies.”
“I guess the me in your head has taken a lot of lives. I only do such jobs when it is absolutely necessary and when the target deserves it.”
I wasn’t going to question her words, so I decided to stay quiet and focus on my own things. I didn’t have to make dozens of scrolls, so soon I had some time to rest. Still, it was a bit awkward to get in such a place to rest when we were alone and I had nothing to do. I could tell that Clarice was being wary of me, so I also wanted to keep my distance.
In any case, I managed to fall asleep pretty soon, but I woke up when I noticed some people moving around. They only decided to move late in the afternoon, when the forest was pretty dark and noticing them would be difficult. Still, we could easily see them through small holes in the tent that I had made for observation.
“Don’t look at them too much. They will sense you.”
“Why don’t we capture them all and force them to speak?”
“You think that you can do that?”
“I can try. It should save us a lot more time than your roundabout way of doing things.”
“I just want to avoid shedding blood needlessly.”
That was probably for the best… I decided to follow her lead for a while longer, since not doing so would only cause her problems. Causing problems for someone like her when she had family in high places would be unwise. Besides, thanks to her, I had access to dungeons and labyrinths in the Aeloria Dominion. Without her, I would have to waste a lot of time looking for it.
I felt a bit bad for being that calculating, even more so when I more or less forced her to accept my help… I had to at least work hard to make sure that she won’t face too much trouble thanks to me.
Comments
Zero
Spear-> speak
ThoMiCroN
Why don’t we capture them all and force them to spear->spar*
ThoMiCroN
After that, I lie->lied* low
