Bryan walked ahead of the group down the road, and Tali caught up to talk.
“Hey, I was wondering, how do you pick what comes out of your bag?”
That’s a good question, I hadn’t thought about.
“Well, I think of what I want, and if it’s in there it comes to me… I think.”
Zarethia butted in, “Ah, for once you are not quite right.”
Bryan, a bit confused, responded with, “Huh?”
“You think of what you wish to remove, apply mana, and if it’s in the bag you retrieve it.”
She smiled, walking with her book in hand, letting her arm sway.
Isn't that what I said....
“I said that?”
“You forgot the mana channeling. Without it that bag is as useful as a normal one.”
Bryan stopped a moment.
“Wait, so if you can’t do magic it is useless?”
Zarethia grinned widely. “Yes, ha, it is clear you don’t know everything.” cackling, she skipped off gleefully.
She has more than one screw loose, but she is smart.
“Ok, I’ve stretched my legs enough. I’m getting back on the wagon.”
Both he and Tali walked and got into the wagon, which Mirelle was driving.
“How you doing there, Calder?” Bryan asked, taking a seat opposite him.
“I am fine, sir. Unlike the others, I am keeping a watchful eye out for danger.”
We are only a week from the capital but ok sure.
Later that evening they arrived at a village.
“What is that smell… smells like bacon, but wrong?”
Mirelle solemnly responded, “The village ahead is smoking.”
They stopped at the center of the village and got out to look around.
“Surely this is too close to be the demons. They should be weeks out still?” Bryan said, sounding confused.
Calder stood up after inspecting the ground.
“An advanced scouting party, maybe.”
Sure I guess…
They looked around the buildings - mostly smoking, embering remains with a dark wet look around much of it.
The dark patches seemed to have killed the plants and grass that they touched.
Bryan asked the group, “What are these dark patches?”
Calder looked confidently. “Corruption, spread by the demons’ influence.”
Seems plausible.
Zarethia looked up from her book.
“Wrong. While it was the demons, it is an effect of a large amount of mana and malice combining. Humans can make it happen too.” She scowled at Calder.
Ok, well, I’ll believe her.
Calder scowled back. “This was documented by the church. This happens whenever demons attack.”
Zarethia grinned. “Yes, but not exclusively.”
Len shrugged. “Calm down, you two. If you don’t calm down you may upset Daddy.”
Len gestured to Bryan suggestively, who responded with widened eyes.
Calder and Zarethia stopped for a moment, laughed a bit, and almost in unison responded,
“Shut up, Len.”
Following this, everyone laughed before they got back into the wagon to continue.
Tali quietly said to him, “It’s really sad we couldn’t do anything for those villagers.”
Her ears flattened as she looked down at her feet.
“I know, but this happened last night. We couldn’t have done anything.”
To reassure her, he put his arm around her and pulled her closer.
She smiled softly at him.
They traveled into the night until the next morning they reached the next village.
They close in on the center of the next village. It seemed less damaged than the last but still clearly harmed.
Before the wagon stopped, Calder jumped off.
What is he doing?
“This feels wrong!” he said, immediately drawing his sword and shield.
As the others piled out of the wagon, it was hit with a fire blast, setting the top on fire.
Mirelle wrapped the reins and spun the cart around, heading for the edge of the village.
Best put that out.
Before Bryan could react, Zarethia had already launched water at it, dousing the flame.
They bunched up in the center, Tali and Calder on opposite sides.
They are hiding in the buildings.
He gestured at Zarethia, and both of them blasting a different building with fire.
The doors of eight buildings smashed outward, revealing ten demons in light armour and five demonic-looking boars.
Those things are as big as bears.
Bryan was about to give orders but heard -
“For glory!”
As Calder rushed toward the closest boar, he jumped in a way that seemed unnatural for his heavy armour and sunk his sword into its skull.
Ok that was the dumbest thing I have seen recently.
Jumping off of it, he used his shield to defend against incoming attacks.
Bryan nodded and Tali rushed over to help him.
Len used his arrows to keep several pinned down.
Zarethia, having dropped her book and adopting her manic expression, is blasting rocks with one hand and fire with the other, causing three demons to defend furiously.
As Mirelle came down the main path, there was one in her way.
Lightning Bolt
A blast of lightning shot from his hand, striking the demon and killing it with violent shakes.
Mirelle made her way to him and blocked a fire blast with a shield of energy.
Ok Calder has killed 2 boars already, Tali a demon, Len has killed two demons and Zarethia three.
Zarethia said, “Bryan, we will lose this if you don’t use Mana Dump to save us.”
He sighed… seriously.
“No,” he said, shaking his head.
He drew his sword and concentrated.
But I have been wanting to test something out.
Mana channel… body… coating…
His hand glowed, and his body is enveloped in a faint glow.
Physical Enhancement Unlocked
He quickly darted toward the remaining demons, slicing them with insane speed.
Bryan cut through three demons and two boars like butter. Stopping, he panted.
Oh god, that is tiring… and I used a quarter of my mana.
Those he slashed slumped to the ground, blood pouring profusely.
Level Up
Turning around, Bryan saw Calder pulling his shield from the body of the last boar.
They gathered together, and Mirelle started healing Tali, who had some scratches.
Better talk to Calder…
Bryan walked up and stopped beside him.
“So what was that, exactly?”
Calder looked confused while yanking at the sword stuck in the first beast.
“I did well, didn’t I?”
Kinda yeah but not the point.
Squinting one eye, Bryan responded, “You ran in like a maniac.”
Calder pondered for a moment. “But based on observing the party, I thought you all just did what you wanted?”
Bryan rubbed his face in mild frustration.
“No, I mean people fight how they do best, but we need to work together… without teamwork we will die, this is already more chaotic than our lands.”
Well you likely will.
Pondering further, Calder nodded and managed to yank the sword out.
“Ok, I understand. I apologise, sir.” He then lowered his head.
Patting him on the shoulder, Bryan said, “Look, it’s not that bad. We will get there.”
Hmm, I could try to learn that shield spell.... Think it uses a lot of mana though.
Think i'll stick with dodging.
Len, boasting now, said, “Pretty sure I got the most of those demons.”
Really don’t think you did.
“Len, I do have a question.”
“What’s up?” Len asked, still smiling.
“Well, you fire a lot of arrows. How exactly? That quiver looks like it holds thirty at most.”
Len chuckled. “Archers would be useless if they could only carry thirty arrows. Most things we fight, they would break too quick.”
Well duh kind of why I asked.
Len started pulling out arrows, but the quiver looked to stay full.
“It’s not cheap, but it’s an enchanted quiver, kind of like your bag, but only holds arrows. Think I have like one thousand.”
Bet a big portion of his money goes to replacing those.
Len picked them up and put them back in the quiver.
“I also have some wood-only ones I make myself. I use those for weak things.”
Bryan nodded gently. “Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks.”
Looking over, Bryan saw Mirelle healing Calder while shaking her head.
Once everyone was healed and had collected their stuff, they got back to the wagon and carried on down the road.
Best check Tali is doing well.
Tali sat next to Bryan, her tail swishing lightly.
“How do you feel after that?”
Tali smiled. “Pretty good. Despite the craziness, Calder fights well.”
Calder doesn’t look up as he furiously polished his armour pieces with a rag.
I knew it…
“Well, yes, but you did good as well. I saw you kill a few, and I levelled up.”
A big grin spread across her face now.
“Thank you, I do my best.”
Glad she liked that.
Mirelle chimed in, from the front of the wagon.
“None of you take things seriously enough, and I always have to heal your recklessness.”
Eh… Should a healer be bored?
Bryan’s head tilted. “But isn’t that literally your job?”
Mirelle sighed audibly. “But you don’t need to make it so hard.”
“We aren’t that bad. I haven’t been injured lately.” He smiled smugly.
Plus it’s not like she is perfect, pfft.
They are interrupted by Len and Calder arguing.
“Seriously, why bother polishing out here? There is no one to marvel at your shiny glory?”
Calder stopped what he was doing.
“It is not about what others think, it’s about a knight’s pride and duty.”
Yeah I’m not stopping this it could be funny.
Len chuckled. “So it is your duty to be the shiniest object around?”
Calder scoffed. “We can’t all be scruffy elves who make no effort.”
Tali tried to interject. “If he wants to be shiny, we should let him.”
Calder sighed, “It isn’t about being shiny.”
Could have fooled me.
“It’s about being presentable and taking pride in what you stand for.”
Len scratched his stubble. “So should I polish my boots and bow?”
What’s Zarethia doing… Of course she is asleep with a book on her face.
Mirelle talked loudly, “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but calm down, children. Honestly, we have a long trip ahead.”
She breathed deeply. “And I can’t deal with bickering for weeks.”
Damn, well, that killed the entertainment. Nap time.
They traveled for another week, seeing the landscape shift more desolate and damaged.
Bryan looked around, seeing the ground tinged red and the trees appearing dead.
“So roughly where are we now?”
Calder looked over to Zarethia, furrowing his brow.
“We entered the demon lands a little while ago.”
“Cool, everything looks quite different.”
Pretty sure I can see red cacti, strange plants, and something like a dandelion that ate a bunny.
Calder sat up straighter.
“The church teaches us that this is the influence of corruption.”
“Ok what does that do exactly?” Bryan said while stretching his legs.
Also, what church? I didn’t know there was a main one…
“Well, it warps the landscape and mutates animals and people who stay too long.”
Bryan nodded while he yawned.
“It spreads where demons are. We are not sure how. But we think they produce it in some way.”
He’s saying this because Zarethia is asleep, isn’t he?
“Ok, fair enough.”
Before he could start another conversation, the wagon shook with a boom.
Fuck…
The wagon stopped suddenly, and they got out.
In the distance, they saw a large figure stomping the ground.
“That looks big… what is it?” Bryan said as they all pulled out weapons.
Zarethia squinted. “I can’t be sure, but it looks like a Siege Beast.”
How informative…
“And that is?”
The beast finished stomping. It looked over and started walking toward them, the ground shaking with each step.
“It is a creature made for attacking cities and fortresses, hence the name.”
Guessing that’s why it has a massive hammer.
“Ok, Tali and Calder up front, Len, Me and Zarethia in the middle with Mirelle at the back.”
They got into position as it closed in on them, its size coming into view.
Yeah that has to be like 30 foot or bigger.
It got closer. Calder walked up front, holding his shield with both hands.
The hammer came down with a deafening crash against the shield. He braced and stayed standing.
Ok, damn, that was impressive.
Len begun firing a volley of arrows, aiming for the joints.
Zarethia is cackling again, and she seemed to just be standing there.
Tali ran up to join Calder, who had managed to push the hammer away.
Bryan concentrated for a moment.
Physical Enhancement.
Dashing as fast as he could, he swung violently at the back of the creature’s legs over and over.
The creature stampped a foot in anger, forcing Bryan to back off briefly.
It swung down on Calder again, but with both him and Tali blocking it, the blow had little effect, though it cracked the ground under them.
After a short while of this, Bryan retreated back to near Mirelle.
Ok, that didn’t do anything.
He panted while he collected himself.
Zarethia took this opportunity to launch the spell she was preparing.
A large ball of fire, 4-foot wide, formed in front of her and launched at the beast.
Oh shit, that’s not a good idea.
It hit it square in the chest, creating a large cloud of smoke obscuring it with a wave of air hitting them.
Moments later, as he was about to charge in, Calder came flying out of the cloud.
Barely reacting in time, Bryan just managed to catch him, but Bryan slid a few feet back.
His chest plate is dented, damn.
Mirelle rushed over and began healing him.
As the smoke cleared, Len was closer than he thought and saw the hammer coming down toward him.
Just before it landed, Tali’s shield intercepted it, managing to change its trajectory to the ground, but the force still knocked them to the side.
Bryan shouted to Zarethia, “Try to restrain it!”
She shrugged and focused for a moment. Out of her hands, two large glowing chains wrapped themselves around its arms and draped on the floor.
Bryan rushed behind it and concentrated.
Rock… growth… stalagmite.
Calder and Tali each grabbed a chain and began pulling as hard as they could.
Bryan’s hands glowed.
Large pointy rock formations burst from the floor and pierced the back of the creature’s knees.
Rock Growth Unlocked
The wounds, and Tali and Calder’s effort, forced it into a prone position.
He ran to the front, struggling to catch his breath. He stopped before its head, it struggled against the chains.
Zarethia shouted, “Now you have to use Mana Dump!”
No I really don’t…
Bryan pumped as much mana into his sword as he could.
Physical Enhancement…
With all his might, he swung his sword up its chin and out the top of its head, the force launching him upwards.
He landed with a thud, panting heavily as the creature slumped to the ground.
Level Up
Fuck nearly ran out of mana.
Each person sat while they caught their breath, and Mirelle healed them.
While healing Calder, Mirelle said, “You guys really like to make my life hell.”
Well we did win and no one lost a limb…
Bryan responded, “I think we did well. That beast is meant to take down castles.”
Mirelle sighed while she moving onto the next person.
After everyone was healed, set off again.
Still a bit chaotic, but I’d say we are getting better.
After traveling a few hours, they came across a nice opening off the road to set up camp.
They set up tents, chopped some corrupt trees, and set up a ring of them around a fire.
“We are fine sitting on these, right?”
Zarethia nodded. “Yeah, should be no issue.”
Good, last thing I want is my ass mutating… that would be weird.
Mirelle and Tali sat by the fire making a large stew for dinner.
Zarethia moved over onto the same log as Bryan and got very close.
Ok what is she doing…
She started running her nails gently up his chest with her head pointed down.
Lifting her head slowly and wearing a sultry expression, she spoke.
“Since you refuse to use Mana Dump, you could at least let me study you properly.”
She awkwardly tried to bat her eyelashes at him.
Oh god that is so unsettling…
He gently took her hand and pushed it away.
“Look, we don’t have time to mess about. We need to eat and rest.”
Plus I’m pretty sure her ‘Study’ involves dissection.
Her expression immediately went flat, and she sighed.
“Fine, be boring.”
She got up and sat down on another log and began reading.
Yeah I made the right call, that would not have ended well for me.
Tali started handing out food to each person, and they ate quietly.
After food, Len unpacked some ale, and they each took a tankard.
Obviously shouldn’t get drunk but a few wouldn’t hurt.
Calder sipped his drink while he used a small hammer to try to reshape his chest plate.
Len announced, “Well, I think that big beast counted as my kill. I mean, I hit it the most.”
Did he do anything?...
“You literally did the least.”
Len dramatically put his hand on his chest.
“You wound me. But realistically I’ll be much more useful with smaller opponents.”
Bryan took a deep inhale while shaking his head.
How did I find the one guy who is less serious than me.
Len placed a foot on a log and swigged his drink.
“Ok, so who wants to bet on the person to take out the Demon Lord? Smart money is on me.”
Ok… I’ll leave him to that.
Calder was still working on his armour. Bryan walked over and sat next to him; Tali followed and leaned against him.
“We have not spoken too much. What is your story?”
Calder stopped for a moment, and he took a deep breath in.
“Not that interesting. I grew up a prince. Could not stand the corruption of my father, so I left to be an adventurer.”
Not interesting? That’s a lot to just say…
“I figured it would be a good way to help people and retain my honour.”
Bryan, looking thoughtful, said, “Well, it is a noble cause.”
Calder looked at Bryan. “The way you hold yourself and the spells you know suggest nobility.”
He paused briefly.
Isn’t that nice.
“But the fact you know nothing of the church and forgot courtesy with the king suggests you are not.”
“I’m not. Guess I am just good with magic.”
Well, technically true.
Calder scratched his head before continuing hammering.
“Either way, you seem a decent leader, so I’m honored to follow you.”
He lightly bowed his head.
He is so proper… other nobles don’t seem as genuine as him.
“Thank you, I’ll be over there.” Bryan gestured across the camp.
Some more time passed, and they had a few more ales.
Bryan sat on the floor, back against a log, Tali sat next to him humming while her tail swished.
“Zarethia, I have a question.”
“Sure, if you do Mana -”
Bryan interrupted her. “No, not doing that.”
She never gives up…
She sighed exaggeratedly. “Fine, what is it?”
“Why are you fighting against the demons? Are they not your own kind?”
Her brow furrowed. “That is a dumb question. Why do you kill bandits? Are they not your kind?”
Fair point…
“Ok, but is there a specific reason?”
Zarethia tapped her claws on her tankard.
“It isn’t complicated, I love to research and must understand things. The Demon Lord banned research, saying it was a distraction from our true goal.”
“When I protested he tried to have me killed. So I left.”
She said that like it isn’t a big deal, wow.
“And I take it you want revenge for that?” Bryan asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, he killed my family and burned down my lab…”
Ok, those are very good reasons…
“I will get vengeance for my lab. It had years of personal notes.”
In anger she crushed the tankard, her face contorted with rage.
Yeah she mental.
As quick as it came, it was gone, and she had a neutral expression.
“Sorry about that. I will get another cup.” She skipped off.
Tali nudged his side.
“Erm, that was kind of strange wasn’t it?”
Bryan took a deep breath with an awkward smile.
“Yes, it definitely was, but she seems committed at least.”
For the wrong reasons, but hey ho.
They talked for an hour or so before they turned in for the night.
The next morning, they awoke slightly groggy but packed up and set off quickly.
As they traveled, the land shifted into progressively deeper tones of brown and red.
Certainly a different aesthetic…
In the distance, while riding, Bryan spotted a large bear-like creature that got torn apart by something that looked like a deer.
Hmm lovely.
They travel through the day, the sky becoming a dark red tone.
Len attempted a chuckle, but it sounded forced.
“This place isn’t very inviting, is it?”
Yeah, think we are too busy preparing to laugh, buddy.
Calder had his eyes closed, as if he was muttering to himself, with a hand resting on his sword.
They sat in relative silence for the next hour or so, approaching a large hill.
Zarethia was sat, leg bouncing up and down, staring out of the wagon.
She almost seems excited…
In the distance, the loud screeches of a creature caused Tali to edge closer to Bryan.
As they reach the top of the hill, the wagon stopped.
Getting close now.
Mirelle spoke. “We should stop here briefly.”
As they got out, they could see the silhouette of a giant castle -jagged architecture rising ahead with a faint red glow from various areas.
Ok, very ominous.
Len awkwardly shuffled. “That is a bit more intimidating than I expected.”
Calder stood tall, holding onto his sword.
“Fear is not relevant here. It is our duty to end this war.”
“He isn’t wrong. We have proved ourselves strong already.”
Mirelle said, “We should preserve mana, so I recommend potions from here on out.”
Ever the pragmatist.
Zarethia smiled. “I look forward to seeing this place burned to the ground.”
She then skipped over and begun checking her books.
Tali, still by his side, said, “This could be very tough.” Her ears flattened.
Bryan stood up straight. “Don’t worry, we got this.”