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Chapter 33: Fairy Rescue and Troll Subjugation. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2020-02-08 19:01:00 +0000 UTCIdentify.
___________________________________________
Name: Bullhaz Level: 28 Race: Troll
Age: 18 Years Job: Shaman
Status: Health: 4974/4974 Mana: 1291/1291
Strength: 2181 Intelligence: 1040
Vitality: 1914 Wisdom: 1432
Agility: 1010 Stamina: 3045/3045
Effects: [Protective Water]
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Arcane Mind Lv. 5] [Mana Control Lv. 6] [Water Magic Lv. 6]
[Earth Magic Lv. 4] [Chant Revocation Lv. 5]
[Enchant Lv. 5] [Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 1]
[Mental Warfare Lv. 2]
Physical skills and related:
[Unarmed Technique Lv. 2] [Club Technique Lv. 4]
[Staff Mastery Lv. 5] [Stamina Strike Lv. 5] [Mana Strike Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Fangs Lv. 2] [Sundering Enhancement Lv. 1]
[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 4]
Sense and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 5] [Accuracy Correction Lv. 2] [Concentration Lv. 5]
[Presence Killer Lv. 5] [Prediction Lv. 4] [Danger Perception Lv. 1]
[Probability Correction Lv. 1] [Enemy Enhanced Sense Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 1] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Vision Lv. 3] [Night Vision Lv. 6]
[Evasion Lv. 3] [Acrobatic Lv. 3]
[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 1]
Resistances:
[Physical Resistance Lv. 7] [Pain Resistance Lv. 6]
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 5] [Bleed Resistance Lv. 4]
[Poison Resistance Lv. 3] [Paralyze Resistance Lv. 5]
[Torpor Resistance Lv. 7] [Water Resistance Lv. 4] [Earth Resistance Lv. 3]
[Wind Resistance Lv. 3]
Stat growths and related
[Troll Regeneration Lv. 8] [Health Recovery Lv. 7]
[Stamina Recovery Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 7]
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 2]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 3]
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 2]
Others:
[Alchemy Lv. 3] [Poison Creation Lv. 4]
[Woodworking Lv. 4] [Engineer Lv. 6] [Identity Blocker Lv. 4]
[Identify Lv. 4] [Leadership Lv. 3] [Dismantle Lv. 5]
[Thought Acceleration Lv. 2] [Parallel Thoughts Lv. 1]
[Starvation Lv. 7]
Ability List: [Strike] [Flash Punch] [Smash] [Quick Smash] [Charge Crush]
[Armor Crusher]
Spell List: Custom Magic:
[Create Water] [Greater Create Water] [Aqua Fin] [Create Crack]
Water Magic:
[Water Ball] [Water Wall] [Water Bolt] [Cleanse] [Protective Water]
[Droplet Torrent]
Earth Magic:
[Earth Wall] [Rock Blast] [Earth Strike] [Rock Bullet]
___________________________________________
<Deep Naga Staff of Protection: A staff made from the bones and scales of a naga who has lived for years in the deep sea. The magical protection of water is infused in this staff, improving all water spells. It allows the user to apply water spells on others. Channeling mana through the staff activates an aura that reduces all fire elemental attacks in the vicinity
Skill: [Water Amp] [Water Caster’s Oath Lv. 3] [Aquatic Aura] [Synergist’s Oath Lv. 4]>
Urgh, what is with their equipment?!
You had to hand it to these trolls, though. With a crippling weakness against fire, they were smart enough to find equipment to cover for this problem. The quality of their gear was beyond what I would expect from some wandering monsters, but what did I know? Whether they stole or crafted them, it really didn’t matter how they acquired this gear, but what mattered was that I had to deal with them now.
The shaman cast [Protective Water] onto all four troll warriors, increasing their Wisdom and therefore their magical resistance. Did he appraise me? My [Identity Blocker] was lower than his [Identify] so it is possible.
Jeez, this will be a tough battle…
[“Saori, be careful. I’ll leave the fairy to you,”] I gave her instructions.
[“I do hope you know what you are doing.”] Saori took a deep breath, her voice quivering a bit, then started casting [Shadow Dash]. [“Miss Fairy, I shall come for your rescue. Be ready!”]
Saori released the spell and teleported to the bottom of the gorge through the shadow of the troll closest to the fairy. The gorge wasn’t as deep as the Grand Canyon but it would break our bones if we jumped down unprepared.
Saori then rushed towards the fairy and had her grab her fur. [“I apologize but I do not know the language you speak. Please, continue using [Telepathy].”]
It would seem like the fairy mumbled her thank yous in one of this world's languages if I were to interpret Saori's intent. Standing on the cliff of this gorge, I couldn’t hear anything but loud growls coming from the trolls.
Having established our inability to understand, the fairy accommodated our wish, [“Uhm, y-yes. I-I did not think you and your companions were a garm and a d-dragon.”]
[“Is there a problem with that?”] I asked.
[“N-No, no! I’m sorry. I meant to express my gratitude for your help, thank you. I thank the Dragon God, Kargryxmor, for your help, Miss Dragon. May the winds of Goddess Zephira bless you!”]
It seemed I just learned the name of another of this world's goddesses. Also, it seemed this dragon god was at least known by more than just dragons.
["You can thank us after we are done with this. You have dragged us into a pretty precarious situation, Ms. Fairy,"] Saori stated, giving nervous glances at the trolls she was facing.
During the time Saori needed to reach the fairy, the trolls had already reformed their formation. The four warrior trolls clad in fire-resistant armor and shield were guarding the front and side of the shaman, who stood in the middle, glaring at me with wary eyes. He was observing me with the caution of a veteran, mindful of my movements while he instructed his companions.
Besides the shuffling of metal, nobody made the first move. It was the calm before the storm. Neither side moved an inch, as we were both wary enough to understand the other was not someone you could beat with just brute force. The silence was deafening as we continued the standoff, waiting for one of us to do the first move.
Silence is the one thing an Idol cannot allow! Release all the salvo! With my command, all seven [Inferno Blast] shot at the trolls.
At the same time, the shaman’s staff started to glow, releasing a marine blue aura into the area. From here onwards, the shaman shot out multiple water bullets from a single magic circle at my fire spells, before weaving his mana to construct a humongous earthen wall to intercept my attacks.
The water bullets relentlessly continued flying towards my [Inferno Blast], but they evaporated before even reaching them from the sheer heat. The flames blew through the walls, obliterating them into tiny pieces, before crashing onto the ground, causing dust and stone fragments to rise.
I immediately prepared the next set of inferno spells, waiting for the dust smoke to disperse.
[“Can you two come up? I’ll cover you!”] I called over to the two, who were trapped in the canyon.
An apologetic voice entered my mind, [“My wings are too wet to fly up the gorge.”]
[“[Shadow Dash] does not allow me to bring Miss Fairy with me. Also, I need line-of-sight on a shadow. I need your assistance to get back up.”]
Proclaiming their predicament, my brain quickly ran through the possible solutions. Flying down into the canyon and then [Wind Blast] out of it was possible, but with the shaman eying me all the time, it could foil that plan. I did not want to forgo my high ground where I could provide cover fire to them.
As such, there was one idea I thought should do just fine.
[“I’ll make a stairway on the cliff’s wall, Saori!”] I declared.
Dispelling one of the [Inferno Blast], I delegated one parallel mind to start casting [Terra Wall] on the cliff’s wall. It would take some time but that should help Saori scale back up.
With the dust smoke dispersed, my [Prediction] warned me of an incoming water bullet. I dodged it, preventing it from hitting my head, but it still struck one of my wings.
Wha—?! My Stamina and Mana just dropped by a huge amount!
Looking at my wing, my [Draconic Barrier] was able to protect it from any harm at the cost of my Mana and Stamina. With my jaw agape, I only now realized my personal barrier also shared my weakness to water. Even in that fight against the garm, it was only able to protect me from some dark elemental damage, not all of it.
Considering my current size, I would be an easy target for any stray bullets. I was actually considering taking this fight in my dragonewt form, despite the reduction in stats, purely since it was easier to dodge in it. Of course, it was only worth considering for a second, as I had a better idea.
During this thought process, three of the warrior trolls advanced towards Saori and the fairy. In the backline, the shaman stood in front of the cave entrance and constructed a roof above him using the cliff wall behind him. He was being guarded by a single troll warrior.
I cast [Sanctuary] to act as my defensive shield and shot out another salvo load at the trolls.
“Emkant! Kizu!”
With these words, the armor and shields of all troll warriors glowed blue and were now surrounded by a weird spectral membrane. My inferno spells crashed against their shields as they used the shield ability [Shield Wall]. Shockingly, the warriors were only slightly damaged. Their advance did not slow down, as their abnormally high regeneration healed all wounds.
[“Unbelievable. How did he use [Enchant] that fast?!”]
Enchant?
[“What do you mean with enchant?”] I questioned what the fairy just said.
[“Uhh, the troll is an enchanter. He used his skill to enchant the warrior’s armor and shield with water.”]
Oh, that’s why my fire did so little damage, I frowned at the fact my favorite element was weakened by the abilities and equipment of these trolls.
Well, if fire can’t do anything, then how about another element?
I then dispelled all fire spells that were still in reserve and switched to casting [Sacred Smite]. Compared to my other spells, holy magic was my second strongest offensive element. Earth spells were too slow to cast, wind spells didn’t have the power to pierce their armor, and lava spells were even slower, making them hard to wield appropriately with my style of fighting.
Sacred Smite air strike!
Holy light began flooding the gorge like a bullet barrage, crashing on the freshly constructed walls from the shaman. Dust covered the area like a fog.
Relying on the shaman to protect them, the trolls finally reached Saori who stood close to the constructing stairway. Saori, although she wanted to escape, had to temporarily give up on that plan to buy herself some time as the staircase was being built.
Deftly dodging the incoming maces and swords, Saori tried to inflict the venom she coated onto her claws. However, any attempts were blocked by the troll’s pristine coordination, knowing when to attack and to defend. Their flexibility made it hard for my garm friend to land a single hit, especially with that armor covering their bodies.
Noticing this unfavorable matchup, my artillery barrage slowed down a bit as I began directly targeting the trolls. When an attack was close to hitting Saori, I interrupted them. The damage done was quite low, making me worried I wouldn't have the firepower to break through their shield.
Out of nowhere, the fourth troll warrior came out of the dust fog and threw his shield at Saori. She was able to dodge it in time, but that gave the other trolls the opportunity for an all-out-attack.
A shiver went down my spine. The timing couldn't be worse! Despite being able to keep up this stream of attacks, I still had to account for the downtime to recast spells. The trolls took advantage of this, slipping one troll through my attack.
“Wruck!”
[“Saori!”]
Saori was sent flying away by the troll's mace, slamming onto the nearly done stairway. Thankfully I managed to hit two of the three trolls, preventing the worst-case scenario by holding them back from ganging up on her. I immediately drop-down a [Sacred Field] onto Saori. [Moderate Heal] could only be cast directly in front of me. Although [Sacred Field] burst heal wasn't as strong, it had a good cast range, healed over time, and was an area of effect.
Unfortunately, the fairy couldn’t hold on tightly enough onto Saori and was left behind when my friend got blown away. She was swiftly captured by the troll with the mace.
“Guk guk guk guk guk!” He gave out a loathsome laugh, abhorrent to the core, while he showed me a haughty smirk. “Guk Grak grak grak… Graaaak!”
His crackle was interrupted when he vomited out a pool of blood. His skin began to turn a sickly purple as his eyes turned crimson red, crying blood out like an opened sink tap. He let go of the fairy as he clutched his throat with both arms, trying desperately to stop coughing out any more blood. The troll forced himself to talk through the pain, calling out for help from his comrades, but it all fell to deaf ears.
Eventually, seizures began to appear, and he was unable to control his body. He fell onto his own blood bath, twitching, and slowly but surely began breathing his last. The agony on his face was visible to everybody watching.
[“Ahhh, j-jeez, that hurt… I cannot believe I just took such a gamble, hehehe… That’s not like me.”] Saori stood up with a quivering smile, looking proudly but also in pain at the death of that troll. When I asked her what happened, she sent me a telepathic thumbs up. [“You were not kidding about your venom being strong. Helped me reach max level, though.”]
Saori just made an on-the-spot gamble. By taking the hit from the troll, she managed to throw a large volume of the toxin right into his throat, effectively sentencing him to a pretty terrible death. She managed to level up, so all her wounds were healed up, but she still felt phantom pain from having used her legs to narrowly block the mace strike.
I should really start testing this stuff before using it, but nice one, Saori!
Unease filled my mind as I just witnessed my venom showing unexpected results, though. I was glad to hear my concoctions were strong and even helped Saori, but when I appraised the troll corpse, I noticed he had [Poisoned (Major)]. [Cure] couldn’t get rid of status ailments above the moderate stage. It was no wonder I was so terrified by my own work!
["Saori, we need to clean that stuff off your claws!"] I called out to, expressing my fear through our telepathic link.
Saori gulped. “I guess, this is more than you expected, correct?” before trying to wipe the stuff off her paws.
The fairy and the surviving trolls were speechless, jaws slacked open, making no moves. Nobody could fault them for staring blankly at the corpse of the poisoned troll.
The trolls only returned back to life when they saw Saori strutting towards them. They flinched backward, realizing that they severely underestimated our capability, or at least, not accounting for our chemical weapon. Fear compelled them to back off from the fairy and they slowly moved to the cave entrance.
It looked like we would win this battle. Saori cautiously had her focus on the trolls while she approached the still dumbfounded fairy.
However,…
“Grahahaha, sianci slan!”
… a loud rumble and cracking resounded from the ground where I was standing.
Using the dust as a mantle and the chaos as cover, the troll shaman disappeared into the midst of my spell barrage, Saori's fight, and the gruesome death of the troll. He escaped our awareness with his stealth skills and managed to appear before the nearly finished staircase.
He activated his spell [Create Crack], sending a crack along all the [Terra Wall]s acting as steps. I thought it was impossible for a single crack to start crumbling this cliff, but I then realized I was hollowing the earth out. [Terra Wall] was molding and forming footholds using the earth its magic circle was on, but this meant I was simultaneously weakening my foothold.
The troll used that fact against me.
Oh, scheiße…
The crack, having reached the top, suddenly caused the wall to slide down diagonally. As the wall began crashing against itself, more cracks were formed, quickly causing a ripple effect that escalated with everything falling apart like a rock fall.
Saori was looking at the falling cliff when it all happened. The troll who threw his shield ran at Saori and tried to strike her down with his sword. My friend narrowly avoided the attack and tried to send him to an early grave with her still venom tainted claws, however, it missed.
With the same movement, he grabbed the fairy and threw her at the other troll. She tumbled through the air until she was roughly caught by the troll, like a baseball.
With the shaman rendezvousing with the troll group, they entered the cave with the fairy, leaving the shield-less troll behind.
Saori’s attention was quickly divided on the falling wall and the fleeing trolls, running away with the person we wanted to rescue. She wouldn’t be able to escape this rockslide.
If I were alone, I would be able to escape this situation with ease but that wasn’t the case anymore. I jumped off what remained from the cliff’s edge and turned my body towards the wall.
Using [Aerokinesis] and [Wind Blast] to their maximum power, I flapped my wings. Not only was I accelerating my descent, but I was also blowing away the falling rocks and boulders, sending them away from Saori.
Saori and the shield-less troll were able to escape from the landslide without a scratch. Having done what I could, I started double-casting [Scorching Sun] and [Lava Ball], my murderous intent clear to sweating troll. Beating my wings as if I was flying, I directed my gliding body towards the troll and crashed these devastating spells onto him.
Like a bomb explosion, the troll was slammed onto the ground by my spells and burnt alive. He laid there in a crater, wriggling and rolling around, trying to extinguish the fire and lava that was eating through his body. I quickly ended his misery with a [Spark Fang] to his throat and expelled the flame.
<Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko] has risen from [Level 16] to [Level 18]>
<Attributes have increased due to level up>
<Acquired 1100 skill points>
<Multiple proficiency requirements fulfilled. [Lava Magic Lv. 2] [Mental Warfare Lv. 3] [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 3] [Draconic Fangs Lv. 3] [Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 2] gained>
<Magic gained: [Lava Stream]>
I turned around and looked at my friend, asking with worry, “Saori, are you ok?” while quickly taking out some water from my storage to clean off the venom on her claws.
[“Still in one piece.”] she was breathing heavily, a sign that she used a lot of her Stamina.
Relieved, I let a deep sigh out and nuzzled my head on hers as a “good job” gesture. I then turned my head to the cave and readied myself for the nest battle.
[“Wait, what are you doing?!”] Saori ran in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.
[“What do you mean?”] I looked at her, confused. [“We need to chase after them. They got the fairy!”]
[“Hestia, calm down. We cannot enter that cave like this. That is probably their base of operation, and you are trying to waltz into it? It is clearly a trap!"]
Saori's rational answer cooled my head down, bringing me back to reality. [“You can’t imply we leave her now, right?! I didn’t promise to save her, but giving up now would just leave a bad taste in my mouth.”]
Saori was already reluctant to help out at the beginning. She didn’t want me to risk our lives to rescue the fairy. She wasn’t trying to repeat that discussion, again, right? Right?
[“Calm down, I know how much you value your word. I know you hate breaking promises.”]
Phewyooo.
[“I just wanted to ask if you had a plan or not.”] I shook my head to her question. [“As I thought.”]
She then stayed silent, leaving me to tap my feet in impatience.
After what felt like one or two minutes, Saori asked me a weird question. [“Hestia, how many bombs do you still have?”]
She was speaking about the bombs I first made to fight agaisnt the orc and then used again against the garms. Now that I had [Terra Magic] and [Inferno Magic], I could slowly improve the design and functionality of them. [Pyrokinesis] also helped to control how much fire should stay in each bomb, helping the stability.
The first version was unstable, hard to carry around, and generally a major safety hazard. Its newest version was stable, could only explode by injecting my mana into them, and they looked less like the work of an elementary student during art class.
[“I have a ton of them. What are you planning?”] I asked, wary as I noticed Saori’s mouth forming a wolfish grin.
[“Hehehehehe.”]
I have the feeling we’re gonna cause some trouble today.
____________________________
Name: Saori Segawa Level: 25 Race: Young Darkness Garm
Age: 2 Month
Status: Health: 2041/2041(+522) Mana: 617/617(+160)
Strength: 1386(+461) Intelligence:421(+137)
Vitality: 905 (+231) Wisdom: 1036 (+241)
Agility: 2091 (+506) Stamina: 1491/1491(+354)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 3850 (+1800)
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Arcane Mind Lv. 4] (+3) [Mana Control Lv. 5] (+3)
[Dark Magic Lv. 5] (+2) [Chant Revocation Lv. 9] (+8)
[Silent Casting Lv. 2] (New)
[Mental Stability Lv. 2] (+1) [Mental Warfare Lv. 2] (+1)
Physical skills and related:
[Mana Strike Lv. 5] (+4) [Enhanced Claws Lv. 8] (+4)
[Enhanced Fangs Lv. 6] (+2)
Senses and movement skills
[Primal Senses] [Stealth Lv. 6] (New)
[Prediction Lv. 5] (+2) [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 6] (+3)
[Danger Perception Lv. 3] (New) [Tracking Lv. 2] (New)
[Night Vision Lv. 2] (New) [Presence Killer Lv. 5] (New) [Evasion Lv. 5] (+2)
[Acrobatic Lv. 5] (+2) [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 4] (+2)
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 1] (New) [Pain Resistance Lv. 5] (+3)
[Bleed Resistance Lv. 1] (New) [Poison Resistance Lv. 1]
[Paralyze Resistance Lv. 10] (New) [Torpor Resistance Lv. 1] (New)
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 4] (+2) [Fire Resistance Lv. 1]
[Earth Resistance Lv. 4] (+3) [Wind Resistance Lv. 1]
[Dark Resistance Lv. 2] (+1)
Stat growths and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 2] (+1) [Mana Recovery Lv. 2] (+1)
[Stamina Recovery Lv. 3] (+1)
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 4] (+2)
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 2] (New)
[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv.´4] (+2)
[Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 4] (+2)
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 2] (New)
[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 4] (+2)
[Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 4] (+2)
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 2] (New)
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 4] (+2)
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 2] (New)
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 5] (+2)
[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 3] (New)
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 5] (+2)
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 3] (+2)
Others:
[Identify Blocker Lv. 2] (+1)
[Identify Lv. 4] (+1) [Terror Aura Lv. 2] (New)
[Mana Weave Lv. 5] (+4) [Sewing Lv. 4] (+3)
[Royal Etiquette Lv. 1] (New) [Cooking Lv. 6] (+2) [Dismantle Lv. 1]
[Humanize Lv. 5] (New) [Telepathy]
Magic List: [Dark Bolt] [Dark Tendrils] [Shadow Dash] [Dark Slash] [Shadow Clones]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator] [Hestia’s Retainer]
